I Refuse To Yield To No Team

Lux seems to be the best 2nd baseman they have. Why would they not make it his permanent position? Why train him for the outfield so he can platoon, maybe? Guess they know best.

Dodgers didn’t lose Jordan Sheffield (or Cristian Santana or Cody Thomas) in the Rule 5 Draft. They drafted 2B Carlos Sepulveda in the Triple-A phase. The 23-year-old hit .243/.342/.285 in 448 PA with Myrtle Beach (A+). Good fielder, good contact. Needs strength. A good amount of strength, reportedly.

Here we go again Yankees making a play for Josh Hader lmao this is F$#@%&! hilarious lmao. Where you at Dodgers with the supposed big pockets and prospects, step it the F up

And this Rendon deal they didnt even try!! Cole, they just offered enough to say they tried they knew he wasnt gonna sign for that much they knew it had to be more, dont think they truley want to be better they just need to be good enough to go to the playoffs

I think the move to have Gavin Lux learn to play some outfield is a versatility move. Doesn’t mean he won’t play a lot of second base. Without a change in the infield, it would appear that it will be set with Justin Turner at third, Cory Seager at short, Lux at second and Max Muncy at first.

The outfield is already crowded. That could change with a trade or two.

Pitching, starters and relievers, through trade or free agent signing, would seem to be the focus moving forward.

I was remembering our signing of Greinke, the only major free agent we have ever signed under this ownership. And as I’ve said several times, the only reason we did that is because we had to show Time-Warner that we were going to put forth a very competitive team, in order to get the 7 billion dollar windfall deal. Kasten or another of the owners was quoted as saying. “We had to get him.” So when it was a matter of making big money, the Dodgers went for it. $200 million or so to make $7 billion.

But here is the really “interesting” thing. Even then, Kasten was looking for a way to dilute the purchase. Greinke and his agent wanted seven years. The Dodgers only wanted to give six. So Kasten said that he would give Greinke an opt-out clause after three years. That’s right, the Dodgers got their one big free agent, but gave him six years if he was not that good, and let him leave in three if he was. So Greinke was good, and he opted out, and then the Dodgers tried to sign him, but failed. Now you tell me of one other respectable franchise which manages to sign a top free agent and gives him the opportunity to opt out in three years? Without that clause, the Dodgers have Greinke for seven years. Or maybe he would have taken six for more money, but Kasten and the Dodgers have to always have their way, always looking to avoid any long-term commitment. Greinke is not great, but he was good. And since then, the ownership has not given out one long-term contract of over five years, whereas all sorts of others teams have done that. I guess they finally offered Cole eight years, but it was one too few, , so darn, they fell short again.

This ownership refuses to compete for major free agents. “We made a good offer” is not really competing, since the idea is to make the best offer, at least sometimes. I could go into art auctions all day and make “good offers” and never get one piece. I could sent out a “good resume” and never get hired for anything, because I have never gotten the skills to make myself the best, or presented myself in that way. The Dodgers have lots of money, but they are ultimately obsessed with their little wishes, which involve setting internal prices, not going high enough, trying to avoid long-term contracts at all costs. In other words, they are playing their own game, while enough other franchise are playing the new game, and thus they are the ones getting the top free agents. At this point, the Dodgers should stop trying to delude the fans ,and never even offer a major FA, because they are never going to get him. It would be like me playing poker, and waving my chips around, but never putting them in the pot.

Another bad thing, in my view, is that in contrast to franchises like the Yankees and Angels, which are owned by one family or person, the Dodgers have multiple owners. So instead of a Steinbrenner or Moreno, who might choose to go all-out, spend his money, maybe overspend at times, to win a title, the Dodgers cannot do that. The idea of them selling shares in the Dodggrs, which they have been doing, is to dilute their risk. I have no idea what premium they are charging for new owners, but it is something; and so they make even more profits this way.

I suppose that the decisions come from the majority owner Walter, or possibly Walter and Kasten, not the other ones. But while someone like Moreno, or Kronke with the Rams, or Ballmer with the Clippers, only has to answer to himself, the Dodgers owners have to convince their new investors that they will give them a profit each year. They put out prospectives, like the one that Shaikin of the LAT uncovered, where they promised not to go over the luxury tax for the next five years. They are selling shares of the team, and to do that, they promise them guaranteed profits. The concept of winning a title is really not part of it. I suppose they would like to, but not all that much.

That is in essence why the Dodgers always lose out on the free agent bidding, and always will, unless someone can show them, as in the Time_Warner situation, that they can make an immense profit out of it. When you draw almost 4 million people, there is no further gain to be made from winning a title, in terms of attendance. And they raise ticket prices every year. The wishes of the fans seem irrelevant to them. That is why when last year Kasten was questioned about losing out on Harper and others, he answered by pointing to the season ticket sales being good. We the fans are looking at one thing, and they are looking at another.

And worse,, there is no way to put pressure on, or get rid of these owners, because they have spread their risk around so much, that they are under no pressure at all. Maybe if attendance went down to 2 million, but that’s never going to happen, and even if it did, they would just cut payroll 100 million. The Dodgers are a cash cow for the owners, and the fans are being milked, and there is not a thing we can do about it, except hope that somehow the profits-above-all, minimization of risk strategy will pay off maybe once in 15 years with a title.

What I want above all as a Dodgers fan is to have what the Yankees fans have now, which is a virtual certainty that they will be a dominant force in competing for World Series Championships for the next decade. and all the anticipation and excitement which goes with that. But the Dodgers play it year by year, the goal is always to protect the profits, and limit long-term risk, not to develop any kind of dynasty–unless one somehow calls winning a lot of division titles a dynasty. The Yankees are now where they want to be going forward, and so are the Dodgers, and those are quite different, sadly enough for Dodgers fans. That does no mean that I will not hope for some more additions, or that I will not root for us to win the title this year, but I will do so with the knowledge that there are other franchises in baseball which want it more, will spend more, do more toward that. We are a very large market franchise with a whole lot of money, and we think we are smarter than everyone else, and can play it like a mid-market franchise, and get more profits that way, and still be competitive. And that’s what we are: “they” make more profits, and we are competitive, but never the best. We’ve always got highlights of the 1988 season to show on the Dodgers network, though.

Good points AC and Mark. Yes, I too am disappointed that the Dodgers did not sign Cole, Stras or Rendon. But it is not the end of the world. I am very happy that AF cherishes our young stars, Lux, May, Gonsolin and others and keeps them with our team. Would like to see Ryu back and more help to the bullpen which I think is extremely important. I look forward to next season and hope my Dodgers do well.

It’s not time to be stupid. It’s time to target the right player who will be a difference maker in the playoffs and push us over the top. Cole was that guy and AF made the move. Cole wanted to be a Yankee more than a Dodger. I guess AF could have gone 10/360 but even for Cole that’s seems stupid. Every move we make has to be about winning those last eleven games and not to just be stupid. We’re still the best team in the NL but we need to get better to win it all. It’s not about how good we are now or even at the beginning of the year. It’s how good we are on August 1st. Let AF do his thing and see where we are by then. Then you can make your judgements about AF.

Yankees, Dodgers, Mets Reportedly In Market For Josh Hader.

If you think Dodger fans are upset about not signing Rendon, I found this reaction from Trea Turner very funny.

Alright so look I understand that you dont spend stupid and u need to be wise, but right now the dodgers cant be picky it’s time to be stupid!!

OK, let’s think outside the box.

Could Gavin Lux play CF? I don’t know, but maybe. He certainly has the speed. Lux in CF, Bellinger in RF and Pollock and Verdugo in LF.

Trade Joc, Maeda and Kasowski for Aaron Bummer, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Jake Burger.

Keep that pipeline full!

Rendon has inside information that the Dodgers will not win the WS next season.

Doc said that Lux is going to see some time on the grass next year, or something to that effect. We’ll see if they’re targeting another infielder. It really sucks that we missed out on the big three. But, the teams that signed them needed them more.

I agree that the Yankees are pretty maxed out on payroll right now. But, they’re the team to beat in the AL with the addition of Cole. The Angels will score runs, but they won’t prevent many. They still don’t have any pitching. The Nats have two aces, but their lineup is going to suffer without Rendon unless they sign Donaldson. But they also lost half their 25 man roster to free agency, so I doubt they’ll be as good as they were last year even if they do sign Donaldson. Kendrick is not going to do what he did last year and his glove has holes in it. The Astros look to be in real trouble as they lost an Ace, another good SP, and most of their bullpen.

Times are a changing, but the one constant is the Dodgers are still the team to beat in the NL. The Braves may be a little better with a very solid pen, but losing Donaldson will hurt. The Phillies and Padres are trying to get better, but probably won’t be enough to be serious contenders.

Let’s make a deal! We’re gonna need a bold trade in order to go bold.

Someone actually wrote that Clayton Kershaw is no better than a #4? Wow!! I will leave your diagnosis to Mark. Kersh was 16-5 with a 3.03 ERA (10th in MLB), 1.043 WHIP (10th in MLB), 4.61 K/BB (14th in MLB), and was 8th in CY voting. If that is my #4 pitcher, I am feeling very confident going into the season.

But he may have been #3 for the Dodgers who had the best starting pitching in MLB.

ERA – Ryu (2.32, #1 MLB), Kershaw (3.03, #10 MLB), Buehler (3.26, #14 MLB)

WHIP – Ryu (1.01, #6 MLB), Buehler (1.04 #9 MLB), Kershaw (1.04 #10 MLB)

K/BB – Ryu (6.79, #3 MLB), Buehler (5.81 #7 MLB), Kershaw (4.61 #14 MLB)

Kershaw’s 16 wins were good for #8 in MLB (tied).

It’s one thing to be upset about not signing Gerrit Cole, but to say that Clayton Kershaw is a #4 is a little off of reality. I wanted Gerrit Cole, but not at 9 years, $324MM. Every team has a limit. The Dodgers’ limit for Cole was $300MM. Someone suggested that if the Dodgers were willing to go $300MM they should have been willing to go to $325MM. How far do you go? Every organization determines at what point diminishing returns begin to show. Apparently. the Dodger FO determined that after $300MM, the short term return did not justify the potential long term damage such a contract would pose for the team. Apparently, the FO believes in their kids. It is also apparent that NYY does not believe in theirs.

I am not naïve, and I recognize and acknowledge that Clayton has not consistently done it on the big stage. But did the Astros cheating steal #22’s playoff legacy in 2017? Kershaw was brilliant in Game 1 and Game 7 in LA. Game 5? Kersh had never pitched that badly before or since. The Astros stole that game. In addition, Doc did not do him any favors by pitching him in the 8th inning of Game 5. Maybe 2020 will be Clayton’s David Price year.

I may be wrong (probably am), but I still believe the Dodgers will find another top of the rotation pitcher. Maybe they will sign Ryu. Maybe they will trade for one. I have no idea who that may be.

I know it is hard for some to believe, but not everybody wants to play for the Dodgers. Apparently Rendon indicated enough that it was an issue. Why? I doubt that he will disrespect LAD by going on record and making any negative comments. There was early support for Rendon by Dodger officials. Doc was saying all the right things, so it wasn’t that the Dodgers did not have interest. Rendon just did not like the Dodgers. It happens.

Wow, 7/245 doesn’t seem too bad for Rendon. I’m really bummed we missed out on him. But, if a player doesn’t want to play for you, he doesn’t want to play for you. I would definitely give a go at Donaldson, but I would limit the contract to 3 years. He may only be a year younger than JT, but he sure looks younger than that. If they were willing to go 8 years on Cole, they can certainly do 3 for Donaldson. Either way there’s a good chance you would have had to eat a year of the contract anyways.

I would still also pursue an Arrenado trade, but would rather just sign Donaldson first. If you sign Ryu or MadBum, we can certainly afford to start with Downs and Gray in a deal for Arrenado.

When you’re already a great team, with few if any holes, it’s hard to improve it. But, I must say that it is a problem when guys don’t want to sign with your team. Maybe Rendon doesn’t like all the platoons, or the different lineups every day, or Doc’s bumbling moves in the postseason. If you keep doing whacky stuff, free agents will be turned off by it.

I’ve said this before, this team is still a great team. We lost Ryu, Freese and Martin. That’s pretty much it. We improved the pen with Treinen, but we still need more help. Urias, May and Gonsolin will make up for Hill and Ryu. We just need to offset the loss of Freese to be as good as we were last year. But, they can still go bold and make a trade for an impact player like Arrendado, or Betts. I don’t think Lindor is a good fit because you have to move around Seager, Turner and Muncy.

Yes, Gerrit Cole is a difference maker, but a nine year contract at $324 million is beyond crazy, especially with the CBT threshold. Some serious penalties for exceeding certain numbers, which would prevent teams sustaining success over several years.

The Dodgers are built to sustain and that’s a good thing. How many times will the Yankees win the World Series during the next nine years? Once, twice? The reason they didn’t get there this year is the best bullpen in baseball crashed.

The Astros had an exceptional team. They had Cole, Justin Verlander and this year Zack Greinke. They didn’t win in 2018 or 2019. They apparently had to cheat to win in 2017.

No guarantees. The Yankees had CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez. How many World Series did that group win? One.

For whatever reason, the Dodgers didn’t make an offer to Anthony Rendon. Maybe they just didn’t connect during their meeting, didn’t feel he was right, was interested in a longer term contract. Didn’t feel he was the difference maker. It happens.

Look, they offered eight years and $300 million for Cole. Apparently he just wanted to be a Yankee.

The Dodgers won 108 games this past season and that team is essentially returning with a few changes. They lost because of a flawed bullpen.

They signed Blake Treinen and are involved in numerous potential trade discussions to acquire additional relief and starting pitching. If Treinen bounces back and his track record indicates he will, Joe Kelly returns to his second half form and Kenley Jansen, a full year away from his heart procedure, gets better, the Dodgers should have a far better pen.

Looking around baseball, the Dodgers are an incredibly talented team with pitching and hitting, a deep farm system with a front office working hard to make the team even better.

Missing out on Cole is not the end of the world. How many teams have young pitchers (Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin) who have already had success at the Major League level. We have an ace in Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw is still a really good pitcher. Kenta Maeda is still with the team along with Ross Stripling. No doubt they will add another starter. Cory Kluber, Hyun-Jin Ryu or Madison Bumgarner?

Deep breath everybody. The Dodgers are still really good, may be the best team in baseball heading into spring training.

Finally, I will say this: If you don’t get the steak, don’t just buy a hamburger because the money is wearing a hole in your pocket!

Donaldson: At 34, Josh Donaldson is 1 year younger than Justin Turner. How wise is it to offer him a 4-year deal? Even 3? I don’t think so. I do like TO Dave’s suggestion about Chapman.

By the way: I wrote that the Dodgers won 108 games in 2019. Someone corrected me and said it was 106. NO! It was 108! Look it up!

Here are the facts:

1. The Dodgers paid more money to baseball players than any other team in baseball over the past 5 years, so when you say “The Dodgers are cheap and won’t spend” I immediately dismiss your takes because you are completely disconnected from reality. I am sorry but I do not suffer fools very well. If that is your thought process, I can understand why you are so upset: You have no ability to reason.

2. The Dodgers have won more games than any team in baseball for the past 5 years. Winning IS important and if you are good enough to get to the playoffs, you are good enough to win. You can’t change that win total.

3. The Dodgers have not won the World Series for 5 years under Andrew Friedman. Forget the other 26 – he wasn’t responsible.

4. The Yankees have not won the World Series for 10 years, so quit holding them up as a model organization. Yes, they know how to spend, but they don’t know how to win any better (actually worse) than LA. When you spout that lunacy, you might as well tattoo “I am a dumbass” on your forehead.

5. The Dodgers did offer Cole $300 Million. That has been confirmed. That was their final offer. Frankly, I would not have gone that high, so I am fine with that.

6. Over 70% of big free-agent contracts become very bad deals. At the All-Star Break, Dodger fans were up in arms that Friedman would not trade his prospects for Felipe Vasquez. How did that work out? For every FA pitcher like Verlander, there are ones like David Price. Chris Sale was good when Boston got him, but signing him to an extension was felony stupid. Albert Pujols has been a boat anchor for the Angels. The Yankees would pay half of Stanton’s contract if they could find a taker, two years after trading for him. They over him an average of $28 Million a year until 2028. Idiots!

7. Before that, the Yankees were hamstrung by Jacoby Elsbury’s deal. They may get out of it this year if their grievance is won.

8, The team with the most aces didn’t win last year and the team with Gerrit Cole didn’t win. These things happen in baseball.

9. For 5 years many of you have continually bashed Andrew Friedman with an irrational fervor because he is arguably the best in baseball. It took me a while, but it is so irrational, and not rooted in fact that it can only be one other deep-seated thing. I’ll let you decide what it is.

10. I have been through this so many times. Many of you act like it’s your first rodeo. Watch and learn. I will continue to throw this up in your face and you will continue to throw up your vitriol about Friedman on the floor. That’s where your perspective starts. Frankly, I pity your small-mindedness. It must suck to be you.

11. For whatever reason (ask him) Rendon did not want to play for the Dodgers. I am sure Boras told AF that. You can’t sign someone who doesn’t want to play for you, so why extend an offer?

12. No smart people were offended in the writing of this post!

I agree with AC. I wanted Strasberg or Cole. AF will not spend stupid money. The way to remain strong is by developing the farm system. AF has done a good job with our young players. AF will not trade the young studs. Look at the farm kids AF has traded. Almost all have not made it big in the majors. His evaluation of talent is very good. AF job right now is to fix the bull pen. Two or three good pieces for the bull pen Is needed. However, you just never know about a relief pitcher.

I am disappointed, but certainly will support the Dodgers next year.

In theory it is said that we do not have a real co-ace, but there is still a long way for the season to start, what I think this team needs is a true warrior, someone with experience and success, I would go for Donaldson and Bumgarner (whom I I prefer instead of Ryu) for 3 years.

And it wouldn’t even bother me to have Pablo Sandoval (Kung fu panda) He is another experienced batter, who knows how to win, would be perfect for the bench.

Sign some other veteran pitcher to consume innings and give May, Gonsolin, Urias enough time to continue learning and developing, this team is not Miami to take the field with so many rookies, this team has the obligation to win every year!

This team needs to do something, it doesn’t matter if it is to improve the team, it would be to give something to the fans, to show them that something is being done!

And I don’t care if Bumgarner was from SF, if Sandoval can’t play anymore, if Donaldson is already old …

This team does not need to invest so much money in a player, but some help is needed

Can’t believe Andrew FRAUDMAN didn’t even pursue Rendon. I know we have JT at third and he has offered to move to first base. This is the kind of thing that drives Dodger’s fans bonkers.

Like Brooklyn, I will withhold judgement until everything plays out.

But for now, much like in October, we’re 0-fer getting the job done. Let’s see what happens tomorrow!

In case anyone hasn’t looked at the calendar, it’s still only Dec. 2019. Still a long ways away from October 2020, and a bit early to be declaring success or failure in the 2020 WS.

I was disappointed to hear that the Dodgers didn’t sign Rendon. But based on everything I read, there are myriad options left for the Dodgers, be they FA signings and/or trades. I will continue to withhold judgment until everything plays out. I still have faith in AF, and suspect that the Dodgers are far from done.

I had zero confidence the dodgers would get the job done on getting marque talent via free agency.