Happy New Year!

Mark says Edman is better than Bader. Not lately. Bader has been much better. The Phils dealt for Bader at the deadline, and he finished strong, with an .824 OPS and .305 BA in 50 games. For the full season, Bader hit to a .796 OPS with 17 HRs. Meanwhile, Edman had trouble staying on the field due to injuries and produced a . 656 OPS in 346 ABs. (Kim, in his too-limited role as a rookie, had a .699 OPS in 161 ABs.) Frankly, the Dodgers should have nabbed Bader last season as a full-time CF to put Conforto on the bench. Alex Call was a consolation prize. The sticking point now may be that Bader is reportedly is seeking the security of at least a 3-year deal, while the Dodgers want flexibility to accommodate their rising prospects. Tucker, Belli, Bader–all remain viable FA options for the outfield. If none work out, AF could turn to the trade market. Or maybe the Dodgers could do nothing more… and they’d still be the favorites to win it all.

Dodgers Digest (I think) had a good dive on Casparius that suggests that his internal numbers are nearly as good as Sheehan’s–and he’d be a great fit for a team that needs a starter. On the Dodgers, Casparius is now another righty in the bullpen. The arrival of Edwin Diaz and the returns from injury of River Ryan, Gavin Stone and Graterol means that guys like Casparius, Henriquez and Will “World Series hero” Klein could become trade fodder, along with usual suspects Knack and Bobby Miller.

Any second-rate franchise that needs pitching help. Perhaps Knack could be packaged with a second-tier prospect to get a decent prospect back. I’d be looking for a catcher.

Last season was the only season Bader has been better. Edman is better in OPS and OPS+ over his career… plus he is younger and more versatile. I cannot see AF signing a guy and paying for what was a career year, Likely never to be repeated.

That’s a lot of starters, including a lot of “openers.” But part of the reason was that the Dodgers decided to “slow-play” Glasnow, Snell and Shohei as they were coming back from injuries. It was a roster management decision. If the Dodgers had been in a tight race, these three probably would have taken the mound weeks before they did. The Dodgers knew they’d be in the postseason and they prepared accordingly. It all worked out, of course. But the slow-play strategy also enabled the Blue Jays to obtain the best record and home-field advantage….so it almost didn’t work out!

Remember we had 27 blown saves last year,but this year we will have a run away record to win the West and possibly the best record with the addition of Edwin Diaz ,Graterol back this year and Scott in a setup role.We won the World Series without having the best overall record with a 7-1 record on the road in the playoffs. Also if the bullpen didn’t blow the last game against the Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium on a Sunday ,we would have had the best overall record. You have to plan to be healthy when it really counts and to be injury free on the pitching side especially and hopefully on the position side for the October tournament. Trust AF and BG, they know more than all of us here combined and will come up with the best roster possible in October. That is the pledge they made to Ohtoni when he deferred his contract.

The race was tight in the West all season as the Dodgers only won it by 3 games. Check the final standings.

Good thoughts

I’d pass on Bellinger. His out field defense is just so/so at this point in his career; Pages is much better. Freeman has him blocked at 1st base; and, he doesn’t hit enough to be an all star 1st baseman-where you really need to rake.

On the topic of the day if we trade with Boston don’t get screwed like the one that brought Adrian Gonzalez.

Baltimore. They needed pitching and picked up position players. They have two excellent prospect catchers and might let one of them go or their current guy to make room. Give Smitty some time off.