Houston, You Have a Problem

Houston Mitchell is a writer for The LA Times and covers the Dodgers. Yesterday he stated that he was trying to make sense of the Dodgers’ off-season. Houston is a wonderful writer, but he has papers to sell and he knows that many Dodger fans are not sophisticated enough to understand how a successful team is built. He and The Times understand that the average fan is underwhelmed at what the Dodgers have done this offseason and creating discord helps them peddle their papers.

He knows that fans love to create “dream teams” and then bitch when their team doesn’t sign “almost superstars” to unconscionable, boat anchor contracts.

• Alex Rodriguez signed a $252 Million/10-Year deal with the Rangers, and the media was ga-ga over Tom Hicks who was all in to win many championships.
• When the Tigers broke the bank to sign Miguel Cabrera to a stupid, long-term deal along with several other stars, they were set for a long successful run according to the media.
• Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton joined Mike Trout and Arte Moreno was cited as “Taking LA from the Dodgers.”
• Zack Greinke bolted from the Dodgers to the Diamondbacks and along with some other deals left many anointing the D-Bags as champs. Shock Journalist Bill Shaikin’s headline said: “Being outbid by Arizona for Zack Greinke is disappointing for Dodgers, devastating for fans.”

Shaikin finished his silliness by writing : “The Dodgers are worse off today than they were last season.”  Shock journalism playing into the average fans naivete and having little basis in fact… that’s what it is. Mitchell wrote this shortly after Greinke signed with the D-Bags:

If Friedman and Zaidi are reading this, I hope they realize that most fans have lost faith in them. And if you just sign a couple of low-level free agents and don’t improve the offense at all, expect a lot of Dodgers fans to be unhappy. 

Yeah, the Dodgers moved on alright, winning the division repeatedly and getting to the World Series the last two years. Most bombshell acquisitions do not translate into winning titles or much less, even winning, so knock off the BS rhetoric that is purely for the purpose of peddling papers. Houston, you have a problem: You are working for a bunch of dinosaurs who want you to write the stuff that sell papers.

Evidently many Dodger fans were expecting the Dodgers to make a big trade or signing after The Farmer Trade. To call it a salary dump is really showing a lack of comprehension. Farmer has no value, but some people think Wood, Puig and Kemp did. Yeah, Friedman could have traded them to another team for a closer and a #1 starter, but he chose to trade them to the Reds because he didn’t care about value. “It was just a salary dump.” That’s what many believe and they can find many writers and bloggers who support that position. It’s easy to prove anything and just about everything.

The fact that the Dodgers cleared enough salary to sign AJ Pollock was not really mentioned by Mitchell, who evidently has a problem. He thinks its strange that they signed Joe Kelly – Houston wrote it – it must be true. Look, Andrew Friedman should have earned some trust by what he has accomplished. He’s not perfect, but I believe he sees something special in Kelly. I am open to what happens. Houston’s problem is that he has to sell newspapers (and that in itself, is a bad problem to have). Yellow Pages, Newspapers, Magazines and Dinosaurs are all in the same group… heading to extinction.

Houston did give away what many of us already knew: “Puig was Toxic in the Clubhouse.” He should know… he is there! Friedman obtained two Top 15 Prospects… maybe Top 10 soon. He got rid of malcontents and spent the savings on Pollock. The people who were naive enough to believe something else was coming, were disappointed. Evidently disappointed that the Dodgers did not include two of Verdugo, Lux, Ruiz and Smith in a deal for JT Realmuto. Mitchell went on to say:

I do hear a lot that Martin is a “good clubhouse guy,” which is certainly nice to have. But I’ll take the bad clubhouse guys who hit .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs every year and you take the good clubhouse guys who hit .200 with no power and we’ll see who wins more games.

What makes you think that there are only two types of clubhouse guys? Because you wrote it, doesn’t make it so. I said AFTER the Trade that even if the Dodgers did not make another move, it was addition by subtraction. They did not need to make another move to get better. The Dodgers were going to lose all three after this season with NO COMPENSATION, so they got what they could and improved in the process. But they did make another move, signing Pollock. Mitchell called the trade “thievery by the Reds” yet he has no clue who would have paid more for any of the players. Ha, Ha. Don’t you think Friedman knew how other teams valued the players? Do you really think he took less because he is dumb?

I doubt that Mitchell comprehends how good Lux, Ruiz and Verdugo can be. Frankly, I love his style, but his substance is wanting. Move on Folks, there’s nothing to see here. Now, Houston doesn’t always sink to huckstering newspapers. Sometimes he is the voice of reason in the room…. just not yesterday. As an example, on September 13, 2018 when the Dodgers were floundering he wrote this:

It’s what we have talked about all season. I get so many emails from readers filled with anger and rage after losses. They call the team a bunch of losers and choke artists. But here’s the thing. The Dodgers aren’t out of it yet. They are making it difficult for themselves, but they still can make the playoffs. I don’t know if they will. You don’t either. If they do make it, I don’t know if they will win the World Series. You don’t either. There have been teams that have won 84 games and won the World Series. There have been teams that have won 116 games and got knocked out before the World Series. Anything can happen, you just need some guys to get hot.

What I would recommend to some of you is that you don’t let each game linger in your mind. If you are still seething over a Dodgers loss more than 10 minutes after the game ends, then you are doing it wrong. Calm down. Relax. If being in a playoff race isn’t an overall enjoyable experience for you, then you may want to find something else to do with your time. It’s not worth the stress. There are fans of other teams that haven’t made the playoffs in years. They’d love if their team had won one division title recently, let alone five in a row. So, if you are angry, spend some time with your friends. Hug your significant other. Play with your kids. Pet your dog. But you can still ignore your cat, because cats are evil and were sent here from an alien planet as spies.

I would like to encourage you to do the same right about now. It’s easy to make sense of what happened this offseason. NEITHER HARPER OR MACHADO HAVE SIGNED! Why? Because they are not worth what they are asking! Pure and simple. Do you want Friedman to just be so in love with one player he signs that player no matter what and hamstrings the team for years like the cases I mentioned above? Who would root for a team like that? A bunch of dunces?

Friedman’s plan is crystal clear to those who will see. He has traded more prospects than most teams, but none have risen to be a big star. He was loathe to trade Seager, Urias and Bellinger and right now he is in the same corner with Ruiz, Verdugo, Lux and May. He simply wasn’t going to trade them – end of story. The Dodgers are still favored by Vegas to win the NL title and Friedman has been adept at swinging a trade or two when needed.

Many experts and Las Vegas have the Dodgers at 94 to 95 wins and we have no clue how the new hitting culture will impact the team. We have no idea when Keibert Ruiz will be ready. Most expected Bellinger to arrive a year later than he did. What does AF know about Alex Verdugo that you don’t? Will Ruiz be ready THIS season? Don’t bet against it. He is insanely talented.

There is a lot to be optimistic about. This team has the best rotation in baseball and the bullpen is loaded with potential. The Dodgers are taking steps to cure the poor situational hitting and like any other team, hope spring eternal as pitchers and catchers report today.

Peace, out! (which is better than peace off)