I Refuse To Yield To No Team

Disappointing so far. Can’t deny that.

One other thing. I do not remember who wrote it, but someone indicated that the Dodgers are owned by a trillion dollar corporation. NO THEY ARE NOT!!!

Guggenheim Baseball Management is the ownership group that was formed to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team in March 2012 for $2.15 billion. The consortium consisted of Guggenheim controlling partner Mark Walter, and also includes as investors former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and movie producer Peter Guber, baseball team executive Stan Kasten, investor Bobby Patton, and former Guggenheim executive Todd Boehly. Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss joined the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group in 2018. Entrepreneurs Alan Smolinisky and Robert L. Plummer joined the ownership group in September 2019.

Guggenheim Partners LLC, the financial services firm, has NO OWNERSHIP stake in Guggenheim Baseball Management, but is often inaccurately mistaken with Guggenheim Baseball Management.

Sorry AC. Almost that entire Yankee team was injured last year and they still won 103 games in a tough division. Adding Cole and if they stay relatively healthy they’re huge favorites to win the WS..Cole is a huge difference maker

I hope Blake Treinen works out for the Dodgers. It’s a gamble, but at least the Dodgers took a step forward to address their biggest need in my opinion.

Now go get Giles for cheap.

I still say sign Will Harris.

I’ve seen reports that the Dodgers didn’t make an offer to Rendon. They got the feeling that he wasn’t interested in playing for the Dodgers.

AC I’m not saying Dodgers have no chance but past playoff history has been ugly for Seager, Belly and Kersh. Urias and May have a lot to prove before we can count on them in the playoffs. Kersh is no number 2 in the playoffs and a matchup with Severino would not be a good one for the Dodgers. Based on what we saw last couple years in the playoffs Kersh at best is a number 4. He should only pitch once in a series.. We have to get a number 2 behind Buehler and we need a lot of bullpen help to compete with that Yankee bullpen. But in the end our young stars have to play like stars in the playoffs if we have any chance

I just read that the A’s are interested in trading for and bringing back Jed Lowrie. Hmmm… sounds like they need a 2b. We got that and they got a 3b that has to be the best bargain in baseball at that position. Matt Chapman. I know, I know, why would the A’s trade away such a promising stud who is still at the major league minimum next year, followed by 3 arb years before finally getting to UFA in 2024? Well, the A’s aren’t exactly known for holding onto talent. Maybe AF can pull a surprise on us like Chapman. The A’s #8 prospect, Sheldon Neuse, is arguably at the point where he could take over 3b if Chappy were traded. So instead of them trading for Lowrie, what about sending them Kike to man 2b, or if they prefer, Taylor? We could fill another need of theirs, starting pitching. Send Stripling or if they prefer. Maeda. Of course we’d have to give up young prospect talent as well for such a cost controllable, excellent 3b. But by filling 2b and starting pitcher needs of theirs, we could protect Lux perhaps and offer someone like Gray or if necessary, May. Not enough? What about Diego Cartaya added with Gray, Kike or Taylor, and Stripling or Maeda?

I have a chance of meeting Chappy this offseason. We have a mutual friend who remains close with him. They played together at Fullerton. I’m sure Chappy would remain tight lipped and maybe somewhat annoyed if I hounded him too much, but if I get the chance, I’ll mention how great he’d look in Dodger blue, remind him that the A’s don’t pay, and that his childhood local team, the Angels, just locked up a new 3b long term.

Dodgers game plan. Lets not spend money or trade prospects. Lets sign scott kazmir. Lets see who wants aj pollock. What lame excuses will ownership have now. Always getting outbid for everyone. I guess we are the tampa bay rays. Money hoarding jerks.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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!!

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

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