If You Ain't the Lead Dog…

Well, the Dodgers’ view certainly changed last night as they swept the Braves and took sole possession of first place (How sweet it is). However, predictably, just like a group of old women in the beauty shop gossiping about something they have no knowledge of, many of you were castigating Dave Roberts for taking out Max Scherzer, bringing in the Bazooka, drawing air, and being the winningest manager in baseball.

As if on cue, many of you started salivating like Pavlov’s Dog with your old biddy gossiping. Badger said it so well: “Again all the questioning and judging without first knowing the facts. What I saw was a smiling, jovial Scherzer on the bench. I too wondered why he left an inning early but I figured there was a reason. Doc had faith in his club. I’d suggest we follow his lead.” Some of you need to seek help immediately… seriously!

Max Scherzer was laughing and talking in the dugout after Doc took him out. Maybe he could have stayed in, but it is vitally important a manager balance the will to win with the desire to keep everyone healthy. “Well, Koufax would have never come out!” Yeah, and his damn arm fell off! Baseball has changed and athletes are more highly conditioned than ever. They can accomplish some amazing things, but they are also closer to injury than ever before for one big reason: They have human bodies! Bodies break and a modern manager has to manage that way.

I suppose some of the IL stints could be avoided but the Dodgers are going to err on the side of caution due to their depth. Even if nothing was bothering Scherzer, if Doc wanted to take him out, I would have no issue with it. I really don’t get your irrational hatred (or maybe it is jealousy) of Dave Roberts. It’s a puzzle to me.

Now the Dodgers get a well-deserved day off before they go to San Francisco to play their final games of the season with the Midgets. I am certain many of you are eagerly waiting for any move Dave Roberts makes in that series so that you can finally take total leave of your senses and die of the big one!

There is not much to say except that “Here we are.” Let’s stay here. The view is much better than from second place. Let me remind you that this will not be easy. This is going to be a Wild Ride! Buckle up your seat belt but smell;l the rare air!

Brusdar Graterol

I am beginning to think The Bazooka may never be what we want. His pitches are flat and straight. I can identify with that. I have never been able to throw a curveball or a slider. I have tried. I have taught my sons how to do it, but back in the day when I could still throw, my pitches were flat and straight. I went to a Cincinnati Reds Tryout Camp when I was 19 (in 1973) and they were there with their Jugs Radar Gun which was a new thing at the time. I had warmed up on the sideline and they asked me to throw 3 fastballs. The first one was 97. The second read 00 and the third was 97. Then they asked to see my curveball and I said “I don’t have one.” They said, “Come back when you do son.” They had no interest. It was several years later that I found out the “00” meant I probably hit 100 MPH… but I digress.

… and no, Joe Kelly is not off my playoff roster, but the Bazooka might be.

Bluto’s Blogosphere

Bluto was kind enough to give us this from around the web (lot’s of good stuff here):

FanGraphs calls Will Smith the best catcher in baseball. They say why (and more) here:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/will-smiths-unconventional-success/

Future Dodgers sez:
RHP Carlos Duran has been promoted from Low-A Rancho to High-A Great Lakes. The big 6’7” righty had 109/24 K/BB and a 5.25 ERA in 73.2 innings for Rancho this year. Duran just turned 20––he was Rancho’s youngest pitcher, and he’ll be the youngest pitcher on Great Lakes’ roster.
The ERA seems bad, yes, but Duran’s been the victim of a higher than average BABIP and HR/FB rate, which is reflected in his lower FIP (4.23) and xFIP (3.67).

Kevin Goldstein Chat:
Question: What are teams doing to try to advance the state of the art in hitting development?
Kevin Goldstein: Dodgers, Yankees, Astros come to mind….

Question: What do you think the top 3 requisite skills for a successful manager are? And who do you think will be the next best manager? Either first-time manager or overlooked
Kevin Goldstein: Ability to maintain the clubhouse in the sense on generating consistent effort and getting the best performance out of their players. Will Venable comes to mind as a future mgr.

Question: Your reaction to the Dodgers deciding to not send out Julio Urias, Walker Buehler and Max Scherzer on four days of rest after their previous starts were on four days of rest?
Kevin Goldstein: I’m fine with it. Marathon not a sprint.

Baseball America on 2B Busch:
Michael Busch, 2B, Double-A Tulsa (Dodgers)—Busch drove in a season-high five runs, doubled three times and homered once in a win over Springfield. The 23-year-old second baseman finished August with 21 RBIs, the most of any month this season, five homers and a .252/.328/.458 slash line.

Jay Jaffe Chat
Question: What’s your best guess as to what the Dodgers do with the Turner-Seager-Lux (mostly the former two) logjam at short? Is Seager going to be available, and if so, what does his injury record do to his value?

Jay Jaffe: I think it’s really tough to know how this is going to unfold especially because the Dodgers have to deal with their pitching free agents (Kershaw, Scherzer, and whatever is going on with Bauer) as well. Seager’s injuries do put a dent in his market value but the hand fracture was a fluke (broken bones happen but they’re not predictive of future broken bones). I’d wager the damage to his value is less than what Trevor Story’s mediocre season is doing to his value.

Question: Fun facts: Yordan Alvarez has a higher career wRC+ than Juan Soto, and is averaging exactly the same WAR/600 as Soto at 5.0. (Alvarez is a bit more than one year older, for whatever that’s worth.) Is Yordan Alvarez the one significant mistake the Dodgers have made since A.F. arrived?

Jay Jaffe: He’s a mistake (Josh Fields??), though I’m not sure how much playing time he would have gotten as a Dodger without the DH in 2019 and this year.
Friedman’s mistake in trading him pales in comparison to his signing of Trevor Bauer, which stands to cost the Dodgers a lot more than money. An all-time clinker that seriously damages my view of him as an executive.

Quesiton: Joey Votto said the other day that the current MIL starting rotation is the best group of starters he has ever faced in his career (comparing favorably to, for example, the Phillies’ staff of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels). But are the Brewers’ pitchers even the best staff currently in the majors? I’d take Scherzer, Kershaw, Buehler, and Urias, personally.

Jay Jaffe: Well, I’m not sure you can include Kershaw in that group right now given that he hasn’t started since July 3 and is at least a few weeks away from doing so again. If everybody’s healthy, they might have the upper hand. As for Votto’s response, it’s worth considering that he’s seen the Milwaukee rotation a lot more as an NL Central rival, so I can see why he’d feel that way.

Question: Genuine question regarding your view of AF being damaged by the Bauer signing: What was the extent of the dodgers FO’s knowledge of all the despicable stuff he was up to?

Avatar Jay Jaffe: I don’t have an answer to that but that doesn’t mean the Dodgers shouldn’t have done better due diligence. His misogyny was well-documented via his online behavior but beyond that, if a reporter can find out about the sealed court records in Ohio, so can a sleuth working on behalf of a team.

Question: how sustainable long term are the giants’ gains/high performance this year? getting career years from guys aged ~32-36 just doesn’t scream long-term success, though their farm is on the rise… dodgers hegemony more at risk via giants or padres?

Jay Jaffe: I agree that the success of the Giants’ geezers doesn’t seem sustainable in the long term, and it may lead to a mistake here or there if they overinvest in those guys (two years at a time, like they did for Crawford, seems fine). Their system is suddenly very good (6th on THE BOARD, 5th via Baseball America’s midseason rankings) and they seem to have money to spend. Can they find or produce foundational players to build around like Tatis and Machado? I don’t know what the answer is here but I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how it plays out.

Baseball America sez it’s time to pay for minor leaguers housing:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/cooper-its-time-for-mlb-to-handle-minor-league-player-housing/

Prospects1500 has an, er, um interesting Top 50 prospect list:

TOP 50 PROSPECTS

BaseballAmerica on Eddys Leonard:
Eddys Leonard, 3B, High-A Great Lakes (Dodgers): Gonzales wasn’t the only player to have a three-home run day. Leonard went 4-for-5 with three home runs. Much like Yorke, Leonard has actually hit even better since he was promoted to High-A. Playing for Great Lakes, the 21-year-old is now hitting .348/.442/.674 with seven home runs in just 23 games since he was promoted.