Yesterday someone wrote this:
I would want to see us put together rosters which are the best in baseball, at least in some of the seasons. Why should a franchise with this large and fervent fan base, and the second largest media network in the country, not have that?
Well, they don’t have that because as we have repeatedly seen, over 70% of these big, fat contracts become boat anchors. The Yankees no longer do that… and if you do that, you are a dumbass, like Dave Dumbrowski! Well, he’s really not dumb, but everywhere he has been, he has had successful teams that then sucked for a long time after winning or being close to winning. He might get you there once, but you are going to spend years climbing out of the hole.
But wait, the Dodgers do have one of the TOP 2 or 3 highest paid rosters in baseball. I (and may other baseball people) would argue that they have the most depth of any MLB team. Signing players to huge, long-term deals is simply not the way to do things as has been demonstrated over and over.
The Yankees highest-paid player, Giancarlo Stanton, has had 31 AB’s this year and at 30, he is signed for 8 more years. How do you think that is going to turn out? Brain Cashman will really rue the day he traded for Stanton when he has to let a young star walk because Stanton got the money.
I realize some Dodger fans would happily trade a Word Championship for 10 more years of losing, but I wouldn’t and neither will Andrew Friedman. He is trying to build a sustainable winner. By getting there year-after-year, you have a lot better opportunity to win it… and make no mistake about it, winning a World Series involves a degree of “luck.”
Here are a few examples: JD Martinez falls into your lap at about half of what he was asking. A David Price, who has in the past been worse than Clayton Kershaw in the playoffs, suddenly has to step up. A journeyman (Steve Pearce) becomes the MVP. When your closer falters, two journeymen (Kelly and Eovaldi) become Batman and Robin and when your catchers all average below .200, the rest of the team compensates. However, they couldn’t sustain it and that cost Dombrowski his job.
Will he get another job like that? Maybe… maybe not! He is somewhat old school, but he does utilize analytics and the Red Sox Analytics Department is nearly as good as the Yankees, Dodgers, and Astros. You can bet the Red Sox will make a run at Andrew Friedman if he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers soon.
Signing big contracts with Free Agents or Trading Prospects for Aging Stars could also keep the Dodgers from signing their own homegrown stars, like Bellinger, Seager, Buehler, Verdugo… even Pederson. So, Friedman doubles down on the farm and the Dodgers farm system ranks with any team in baseball. As 2Demeter2 so eloquently wrote yesterday, not only do that draft well, but they develop extremely well. The Dodgers arguably spend more money on player development than any other MLB team… and that Ladies and Gentlemen is the Path to Success.
In a few days… maybe today, the Dodgers WILL FLIP THE SWITCH to Beast Mode and this train will be bound for glory!
Discussion (77)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Too bad about Yelich. Really tough to come this far in the season, and then have it suddenly ended. My guess is that he will make a full recovery, and will be back and just as dangerous in 2020.
Love this by Plaschke:
“Before Tuesday, my favorite Dodgers moment this season was the June weekend featuring consecutive walk-off home runs by rookies Beaty, Verdugo and Smith.
But then Roberts topped that Tuesday night in the Baltimore visiting clubhouse when he asked his champagne-bottle-clutching team to delay the postgame celebration until somebody could face-time injured Verdugo and Max Muncy. Only when they appeared on raised smartphones was the champagne popped, at which point it was sprayed all over their video faces.
“No man left behind,” Roberts screamed, and that is how you win seven titles in a row.”
Great story, BD.
Re:Yellich, no chance for the Triple Crown this season. In fact, no one including Cody has a chance for it. Maybe MVP? Probably not as there are some other players who are still hot. I’m not sure how they go about deciding this.
Evidently Yellich out for the season with a broken knee cap.
Ouch!
Hate to see anyone get hurt. Feel bad for Yellich, such a good player and seems like a nice guy. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
Good night for us. Yankees lost. Braves lost. Houston getting their butts handed to them. We can pick up a game on everyone!
Yes, great to gain a game on each. Yankees up 6-0 in first two innings, too. Now we are only a game behind each, but it’s actually two behind NYY because they won the tiebreaker by winning our series. As to Houston, the tiebreaker would be records against teams in the division. Assuming that Houston’s loss to Oakland has not been calculated in the grid I looked up, they are 47-16 intradivision, while we are 43-24, if I added this correctly. So they are going to win that tiebreaker, making them also two games ahead of us. I think that the teams in our division hate us more than most teams in other divisions hate the best team in it. We seem to have bitter rivalries with SF, SD, AZ, at the least, and that seems to reflect in our relatively poor records against AZ (11-8), SD (10-6), SF (9-7). To win either of those tiebreakers with 16 games to go, will require us to get very hot. But it is within range.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DODGERS!! LET’S CONTINUE THE WINNING WAYS AND GET THAT WS WIN!!
DODGERS CLINCH 7TH CONSECUTIVE NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST TITLE
Dodgers to give away first-ever Postseason bobblehead at first NLDS home game
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers tonight clinched the 2019 National League West Division Championship, the club’s seventh straight and 18th overall NL West title.
Fans are encouraged to visit Dodgers.com/Postseason for the latest Postseason schedule and ticket information. Additionally, those that purchase a full season ticket Membership for the 2020 season will be granted full Postseason rights for this year, including the World Series.
In honor of his MVP-caliber season, the Dodgers will give away a Cody Bellinger bobblehead at their first NLDS home game, marking the club’s first-ever Postseason bobblehead. The special edition bobblehead depicts Bellinger in his home run trot and will be available in both his home white uniform and road grays. The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive either the white or gray version of the bobblehead depending on what is available at their point of entry. The team will also distribute rally towels at each Postseason home game.
The Dodgers will play “October Baseball” for the 33rd time in franchise history (24th time in Los Angeles) and for the ninth time in the last 12 years. Los Angeles previously won division titles in 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013-18 and twice reached the postseason as the Wild Card, in 1996 and 2006. In franchise history, the club has won six World Series championships and 23 National League pennants.
Los Angeles is just the third-ever team to win seven or more consecutive division titles, joining the New York Yankees (9, 1998-2006) and Atlanta Braves (14, 1991-2005). Dave Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager since 2016, becomes the first manager in MLB history to lead his team to division titles in his first four full seasons as a big league manager.
Fans can purchase official NL West championship and 2019 postseason merchandise online at Dodgers.com and at the Top of the Park store, which is open daily from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
In a way that’s a little sobering. The Braves won the division title 14 consecutive years and won the WS…once? I don’t want the Dodgers to be the Braves 2.0
Magic Number 0
Book ’em, Dano!
I agree with Mark that Boston is going to go hard after AF this winter. They have already demonstrated that they are more than willing to spend. As Ken Rosenthal noted in his Athletic article regarding the possible firing of Dave Dombrowski, “rebuilding doesn’t appear to be an option in Boston, so a new front office boss will have to creatively replenish the minor league system while still keeping the Sox in contention for another championship.” Who does that sound like Boston is going to go after? If you believe $7MM per year was a lot nearly 5 years ago, let’s wait and see where it ends up this time. Either way, AF is going to be paid very handsomely.
As far as turning on the switch and looking at history…let’s do that. In 2017, on August 24, AZ was 21 games back and went on a 13-game winning streak to September 6, including beating the Dodgers 6 games. Contrarily on August 26, the Dodgers lost 16 out of 17 and saw their lead dissipate to 9.0 games. After that streak the Dodgers were 12-6 in their last 18 games, before they knocked the stuffing out of AZ in the NLDS, beating Taijuan Walker, Robbie Ray, and Zack Greinke. Then went on to beat the Cubs 4 games to 1 in the NLCS. They were 1 hanging 0-2 cutter to Marwin Gonzalez from probably taking a 2 games to 0 lead in the WS, and maybe win it in 5. And while the Dodgers were given up for dead during their streak (go back and read the doomsayers that year), they sure seemed to turn a switch in 2017, just in time for the playoffs. Also that 0-2 pitch shows that a season can turn on one pitch. The No-They-Cannot-Just-Turn-the-Switch fans may turn out to be right. Or maybe Mark and I and others who think differently will be right. That is why they play the games. But I am not giving up on them before Game 1 of the NLDS. Bring on the Nats, Braves, NYY or Houston. I like the Dodgers chances.
One more thing for Bobby. Yes, I was not real high on Gavin Lux, but I was more upset that the Dodgers chose Lux over Bo Bichette. I still think they chose the wrong player, but I now believe that the changes Gavin has made in his swing will turn him into a solid 2B. I just do not believe at the same caliber is Bichette.
I agree on Lux versus Bichette…. but… Bo is a bit of a hot dog! Sooo…
I’m just sayin’….
Thanks AC!
I just don’t see AF leaving what he’s built here to deal with the A-holes in Boston. Nor would he have the same clout that he has in the Dodgers organization. He turned down a lot of organizations before he left for LA. I can see why Boston would try, but I have a hard time believing AF would leave.
I just heard from DC:
We lost power to Dorian early on Saturday and just got our power back a while ago. It was quite a doozie but remarkably caused much less damage than expected. We had 6 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 100 mph, sustained about 60 mph. Personally we had no damage, just a big clean up as we have so many hardwood trees on our property.
He will have a post on Thursday!
Is he in Alabama? Just kidding. I’m glad to hear DC’s okay.
Glad DC, you weathered the storm (no pun intended). Sorry you lost or had damage to so many trees but at least you and family are safe and that is what counts.
Mark,
I hope you’re right. The one thing that Seager has going for him is that I’m wrong much of the time. Whatever the case, I have full confidence that we will see the Corey Seager of 2016, only better.
I have been thinking that Seager’s power would return next year when he finally had a full off-season to concentrate on strength training. And while to some degree I think that’s correct, I also think that Orel Hershiser may be correct that Seager may just need another year away from his injuries to find his way fully back. And despite bad numbers against lefthanders this year, Seager has always hit them, and that’s something that will likely come back next year.
… or now!
Corey Seager is a rare talent. When he is struggling… maybe you rest him a day or two, but he has to play. If he’s not the best SS in baseball, he’s in the discussion. I pronounce him back and you will see great things from him.
Poor old Orioles. Poor teams have poor luck.
Especially when you have a lawyer owner. 😉
Sue me!
😉
So… does anyone still want to “platoon” Corey Seager?
I didn’t think so!
While he was slumping I wanted him to sit against lefties and give Taylor playing time, Taylor was tearing up lefties. Nothing wrong with sitting someone when you see a weakness in their stats. Eventually Seager would go on a roll and I’d ditch Taylor in his spot at that point.
Is this called a platoon? Is a platoon permanent? What is a platoon?
If a platoon is permanent then forget I ever used the word platoon.
I’m a huge Seager fan. But I wonder, would that ball he hit have been a HR in Dodger Stadium? I wonder how many HRs the Dodgers would hit if they played 18-19 games in the Camden Yards bandbox.
it would’ve at least been a 2 run double off the wall, which would have been just fine by me!
ok but that one would not have gone out!
Cassidy, you’ve been hypothesizing about who can help carry us in October?
Can I add Seager to that list?
Keep em coming!!!!!!
Recommend the book The Best Team Money Can Buy by Molly Knight. Offers insight into Guggenheim, the purchase of the Dodgers and the thinking moving forward. Dodgers tried to keep Zack Greinke, offering a contract in the $155 million range. Thought they had the deal done and at the last minute Arizona jumped in with a crazy $200 million plus offer. When Arizona realized they had made a major mistake, the Dodgers attempted to reacquire Greinke, but balked at taking the entire contract.
At some point the Dodgers are going to take on large, multi-year contracts for players like Bellinger and Seager.
That is a great book, but everything Molly writes is great. BTW, she now writes for The Athletic.
I have only posted here a couple times (and can’t even remember what “handle” I used) but wanted to comment on the strategy of being competitive most years versus going all out for one year. I have been an AVID Dodger fan for over 60 years (I lived in LA as a kid and was shocked to see my Brooklyn Dodgers would move to LA just to be near me!) and have been lucky enough to have something to look forward to with the Dodgers most years. I have the same feeling with AF now that I had with the O’Malley’s during the time they owned the team. You knew they were trying and usually had something to look forward to. During the Fox ownership era I learned how the other half lives (like the Pirates, Padres, Orioles). Each year was dismal and it really made me appreciate the new ownership and having a chance to win each year. I would love a World Series Championship but would not trade that for the track record we have had since AF took over and for the future we have to look forward to. I guess I am different but it is fun to look forward to seeing the box score each day as we compete for the pennant. I truly believe that winning the WS is a lot of luck most years (if your hot your hot!).
When I get upset about missed signing opportunities or trades not made I just look at the MAJORITY of the other teams and realize they would give anything to have the past and future Dodger fans have.
I do hope we win it all but if not I will be excited for next Spring Training to see how the new group of prospects impact the team (you see we have prospects that can impact the team because we didn’t trade them all away like Houston- and I know many are going to say who cares if they won the World Series). Every one has to right to enjoy the Dodgers in their own way (just was long as you enjoy them!).
The comments and arguments on this site are almost always entertaining and usually insightful. But they wouldn’t be as entertaining if we were 30 games out of first place with multiple long term contracts (I sure hate we missed out on the Bobby Bonilla deal).
You can’t post here. You make too much sense. You will be an outcast! 😉
Just kidding. You posted as “Ken” before. Welcome back and post ll you want…. as long as you always agree with me… 😉
Welcome KP. You said some very good things. Are you a lawyer too?
I don’t think Ryu or Hill will be back next year and that gives the Dodgers $33M to spend on a free agent such as Cole or Rendon. Friedman could jump into the free agency market next year.
He could, but I don’t think he will (for a costly FA like Cole or Rendon). I will not be surprised if Ryu returns for a moderate (in today’s dollars) contract. Off season will be very interesting with so many Dodgers eligible for free agency after the World Series, and more after 2020.
Both Hill and Ryu could come back next year, but Hill would have to accept an incentive-laden deal and Ryu would have to accept a short (2-3 years) deal. I am not sure about either one..
Cole and Rendon both will be 30 next year and I guarantee they are seeking 6-8 year deals. I also guarantee Friedman will not go past 4 years.
Wow JOC against a lefty. I guess we’ll see just how good he’s going right now. Would be nice to see him get one jack against a lefty this year!
Today’s division clinching lineup vs Dodger killer Ty Blach:
Pollock
Freeze
JT
Belly
CT3 (RF)
Seager
Kike (2b)
Smith
Joc (DH)
Buehler
Interesting lineup. Taylor in RF for the first time in his ML career while Joc, who has been playing stellar RF defense is the DH even though he is 2 for 9 lifetime vs Blach. Kiké who has also been playing RF plays 2b instead of Taylor. Turner still dinged up, plays 3b instead of DH, and Jedd Gyorko (2 for 2 lifetime against Blach) sits on the bench. Oh well, the O’s are so bad it probably doesn’t matter.
Weird, the Dodgers site has the lineup looking like this:
Pollock – LF
Freeze – 1B
Taylor – 3B
Bellinger – CF
Hernandez – RF
Seager – SS
Smith – C
Pederson – DH
Lux – 2B
you’re right. They updated the lineup (for whatever reason)
CT3 replaced by Lux in the lineup. Wonder why
CT3 at third base
Turner out.
What if you go all in and trade most of your young talent and then don’t win it? Best teams don’t always win! Can’t assume if Dodgers went “all in” that we’d win it.
Posters here are asking interesting questions. The Dodgers won in ’63 and ’65, but were in the doldrums from 67-68 after Koufax retired and didn’t make it back to the Series until ’74. Ask Dodger fans from then – was it worth it to win even though they were crappy for a couple of years?
They were in the Series 4 times in 7 years between ’47-53. But they never won until ’55. You think Brooklyn fans were satisfied just getting the Series but losing every time (to the Yankees no less), even though the team was great and always competitive? My Dad was born in Brooklyn and went to Ebbets in ’49 to see a Series game. He wouldn’t agree.
What is it worth to win it all?
Not your baseball soul!
Does this create a logjam at first base with Cody, Beaty, Gjorko, Freese and now Rios? I prefer Beaty, he plays a good, (but not as good as Cody) first base and hits clutch. Just my opinion and question. No offense directed at Rios.
DBM – – Rios will be no more than an additional pinch-hitting option to allow them to use more pitchers as necessary to get ready for the post season.
Thanks 2D2. Makes sense. And I forgot Muncy.
It was strange that Rios wasn’t added in the first place, or Garlick for that matter, just for pinch hitting. I would much rather see Garlick come to bat than Kristopher Negrón.
DODGERS RECALL IF EDWIN RÍOS
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they have recalled infielder Edwin Ríos from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Ríos, 25, returns for his third stint with the club after hitting .286 (10-for-35) with two homers and four RBI in 17 games for the Dodgers. In 104 games with Oklahoma City, he slashed .270/.340/.575 with 31 homers and 91 RBI. In five minor league seasons, he has hit .295 (492-for-1670) with 95 homers and 326 RBI. He became the first Oklahoma City Dodger to club 30 homers in a season and first Triple-A Dodger farmhand since Joc Pederson clubbed 33 homers for the Albuquerque Isotopes in 2014. The Puerto Rican native was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of Florida International University.
Interesting. Thought I read he wasn’t going to be called up as there was already a bit of a log jam of players competeing for playing time.
Even if he doesn’t play, he’s getting experience… but he will play. OKC is out of the playoffs so what’s the harm.
Shoot, I would call up Santana and Garlick too. They are on the 40-man!
I don’t think Roberts and Friedman are on the same page. Several times this season Roberts has said something and the opposite ends up happening. I’m not complaining just observing.
If not on the same page, why would Roberts stay? He’d be in high demand and could name his place and price.
Being the manager of the L.A. Dodgers is about as predigious an opportunity as any manager would ever get. Give it up? No way. I’m sure that many managers and FO’s don’t fully agree on everything. Knowing what the balance is, is essential for good team chemistry, even at the executive and managerial levels.
Say what you want about AF and the Dodgers but every year we’re right there at the top fighting for a ring. It sure would duck being an Orioles fan!
I wrote that sentence, and I appreciate the discussion of this “meta issue” in baseball. How do you best build to win a title? I would say, have a corps of young talent from your own system, and then supplement with key veteran pieces from the outside, via free agency or trade. But of course this is all abstract, and the actual concrete details can always be debated.
I appreciate that the Dodgers have built a strong minor league system. I agree with you that trying to win a title through mostly outside acquisitions either fails, or briefly succeeds, but depletes the roster. But we do see how a timely and even somewhat risky or pricey acquisition such as Verlander in 2017 and Greinke this year, can get you over the top. As I’ve noted, the Yankees have also added a number of outside pieces . With regard to Stanton, this could have been a mistake, but the price was actually pretty low, and he did hit 50 HRs last year, and might well bounce back to hit hundreds more. And somehow even with him being out for the whole season, and with all the other early injuries they’ve had, the Yankees still have a very powerful team, probably second only to the Astros. The Dodgers are probably third, with the Braves, which have a very aggressive GM, and who have added a number of players, perhaps fourth. I don’t follow the Twins at all, and they are the below the radar team which obviously is pretty strong, though I doubt that they will win the AL. The Cardinals have rebuilt, and look to be very good going forward.
Obviously, to win the title, you need to either be the best team, or somehow catch fire in the playoffs to beat those which have more overall talent. If the Dodgers can do this their way, it would be gratifying. But my opinion is that each year there are one or two teams which take the risks that the Dodgers refuse to take, and who win the tittle, while the Dodgers are always looking to next year, counting their profits, and and piling up cost-controlled prospects.
Interestingly, I think that the Guggenheim Group pulled a bait and switch on Dodgers fans. When they took over, they wanted to immediately restore the declining fan base, and also to get that multibillion dollar TV deal. So they spent big from the outset. They gave Kemp and Ethier contracts which were too big and too long. Kasten told the other teams that we were willing to buy up long-term contracts from them. They let Colletti make the deal which saddled the Dodgers will the bloated contracts of Gonzalez and Crawford. They traded for Ramirez. They picked up Greinke. Kasten said that people didn’t understand what the long term plan was, and that they would see. And sure enough, once they got the TV deal, they stopped doing that. They never again signed a major free agent to a long-term expensive deal. They let Greinke go via the opt-out clause which Kasten, who says he will never give anyone a no-trade clause, somehow allows. They passed on Scherzer, Sale, Stanton, Cole, Harper. They did not go after Goldschmidt, whom I wanted to try for. Passed on Britton, LeMahieu, did not even give Keuchel a look. I’m not saying that all of these would have been feasible additions, but maybe a few of them? Actually, the extension they gave Kershaw might have been better used, but of course there was fan loyalty and sentimentality involved.
No organization does whatever a given fan or the entire fanbase wants. It is just my opinion that the Dodgers, which make a lot of money, are not as committed to building the strongest team to win it all, the way that the Astros and Yankees are. And then you always have to contend with an organization like the Red Sox or maybe now the Braves, which will take a big plunge to try to win it all in a given year. Now, they may fall back after that, but that doesn’t necessarily help the Dodgers, because it just makes it harder for us to win that year, and next year it might be someone else stepping up. Finally, I do think that the Astros and Yankees are the best teams this season, they have built the best rosters. We would only have to play one of them, but if the goal is actually to win the title, one better team is all that it takes to prevent you.
I hear your fears, but the facts are : the Dodgers have been in 2 consecutive World Series doing it Friedman’s way and if they get there again… even if they don’t win, you have no argument. If they don’t get there again, your argument improves but is still not overwhelming.
Wow! William, there’s a lot of stuff there that you can’t lay at the feet of the current ownership. Kemp’s and Either’s contracts were under Colletti’s regime. As was Hanley, and Grienke. The Gonzalez deal was Kasten’s doing. That deal has been debated and discussed ad nauseum for years. It was a sacrifice that needed to be made, to bring the Latino fan base back to Dodger Stadium. They succeeded in doing that and Gonzalez gave them some productive years. Moreover, I’m not aware that he’s ever told other teams that the Dodgers would buy all of their junk long term contracts. Do you have a quote you can share? Inside information? Kasten is on record saying that giving pitchers over the age of 30 long term contracts is a “fool’s errand.” But that is hardly putting out th welcome mat for bad long term contracts. Nor is there any history that would suggest that’s what Kasten does. In fact the opposite is true.
Also, how do you even know that they “passed on Scherzer, Sale, Stanton, Cole, Harper. They did not go after Goldschmidt, whom I wanted to try for. Passed on Britton, LeMahieu, did not even give Keuchel a look.” Do you have some inside information the rest of us don’t have. Maybe, just maybe they were in on all of these players, but were out bid, or the player wanted to sign with another team. Those things happen. This is not the old days, where the Yankees simply out-bid all other teams for the players they wanted.
I’m curious, where did you obtain this information?
You sound like a lawyer!
2d2, I tried to do a brief search for this, but haven’t found a quote. I heard Kasten interviewed a few times, and read a lot of LAT pieces back then. Just about everything I wrote came from them. Not the “not going after this or that player,” that was my conclusion. I figure that while certainly there are players who just wanted to go somewhere else, the Dodgers have enough status and money to be alluring to many. Now, Harper may not have been an ideal choice, particularly for the money, but we know that while SF offered ten years, and Philly ultimately 13, we offered four years. W/re Stanton, he wanted to come here, but the Dodgers did not consummate a deal. I heard nothing whatsoever about the Dodgers going after Goldschmidt. I figure that if we go after someone, we hear about it; I even think that the organization likes the fans to know that we are “in on” a player, so it looks like we are trying.
I am virtually positive that Kasten stated at the outset that the Dodgers would be interested in taking large long-term contracts from players on other teams. I remember the SD station sports host talking about that as well. If I can find something to that effect, I will mention it, but this is not from supposition on my part. The Dodgers took on large payroll because this is how they would get the TV deal, by selling the idea that the roster was rebuilt with strength. They have shed about $100 million in payroll since then. I am pretty sure that the Kemp and Ethier signings were done by Guggenheim. Not Friedman, and I am criticizing the ownership more than him. I imagine that all of the major contract offers and decisions come from ownership.
I’m a lawyer, too, which of course doesn’t make my opinions on sports better or worse, but does mean that I would not just invent stories which couldn’t be backed up by quotes, if one wanted to conduct a thorough search.
No doubt the Dodgers can be alluring to some, but not all players. There are also a tone of negatives for playing in California. The State income tax, for one, is higher than most states. Los Angeles is not necessarily the most liveable community. That would be particularly true for players born and raised in the mid-west or east coast. The sense of community they’ve grown up with cannot always be duplicated in the LA area. Some players might just grow up hating the Dodgers and wouldn’t want to play for them. I’m reminded of how jackie Robinson retired after he learned he had been traded to the hated Giants. There was no way on God’s green earth that he would ever don a Giants’ uniform.
On another note, you cannot just look at a particular player in a vacuum. Maybe we sign LeMahieu. But then, what happens to Muncy? What happens to Lux? Is it wrong for the front to make the decision that they view Muncy and Lux as a better long-term solutions than LeMahieu? I like LeMahieu as a player, but I can also see the business wisdom in passing on him.
2 lawyers posting on the same blog! How will LADT ever survive? 🙂 🙂
There’s a third one: DodgerRick!
They re-signed Either almost immediately because who else was here at that time and he was still on the right side of 30 and his injuries hadn’t begun. Kemp’s deal was done under the McCourt era. As was Ramirez. I always saw the Red Sox deal and the willingness to take on bad contracts as an extension of the purchase. There was a lot of dead money on the books when the Dodgers supposedly had a $300 million team. They bought a team that was bankrupt, the stadium needed repairs, and butts in the seat. Kasten was clear that in the future they had no plans to wind up like the Phillies and have a bunch of old guys who can produce taking up all of the payroll. I wouldn’t call it a bait and switch. They bought themselves time to rebuild while putting an entertaining product on the field. Should the Dodgers be near the top of payroll every year. I would say yes, but not without reason. I believe in what Kasten and Co. have done. The payroll will go down next year substantially, but they will want to retain some of their young stars just like they retained JT.
I’m in your camp Mark with regard to wanting a team that’s very competitive every year and taking my chances with a WS victory. That said, we may be in the minority as I think a most fans would give up any future success to finally win the Grand Prize. That feeling is wonderful for the year you win, but if you descend into the depths after you win, those years with crummy teams to root for are absolute hell.
The Dodgers are built for regular season competitiveness. And Friedman built them that way on purpose. The Dodgers have some pretty exceptional young players that need to learn, or be taught, to take the team on their shoulders and do the heavy lifting in the PS. To win in the PS everything needs to come together. Pitching, defense and scoring runs. Only the players can do this. They need to step up to the next level of elite MLB performers. Will they? Only time will tell. It’s the old crappy saying again. We Shall See. WSS for short.
@Dick Calderwood
Are you aware or unaware of the team’s recent post-season success?
I’m pretty aware that there has been no WS championship. Which kinda puts the Dodgers in the same level as Atlanta when they won all those pennants and divisions and only managed one WS champ, which actually puts them ahead of the current Dodgers in actual success. The WS is the most important part of the PS. So yeah, I’m kinda still aware of stuff even in my advanced old age.
Just checking.
It wasn’t clear from the original post.
LOL. It’s a snark duel. Bluto may have met his match. I have to admit I laughed at your last sentence.
I like your thoughts here…with caveats. I don’t think AF has designed solely a regular season team on purpose. That borders on the conspiratorial, as in, they don’t want to spend the money or prospects to win in the PS because it’s more profitable to have merely a winning team that leverages on the hopes of fans.
I’ve heard that here and elsewhere before. It’s incredibly cynical, and I don’t think accurate.
I don’t think you’re quite saying that, but it’s close. AF has gone out and gotten the likes of Darvish and Manny to put the Dodgers over the hump, but AF is playing a balancing act. Overpaying to marginally increase one’s WS chances is a bad investment. The goal here is to put the team in the best position to win in the PS, while creating the system for sustainable success year over year. They’re a little mutually exclusive. Hence the delicate balancing act.
You’re right that everything has to come together for the PS, and it is up to the players to rise to the occasion. Maybe the success of the Dodgers this season has been an impediment? …what you call “victory disease.”
Flip the switch? Pardon me while I LOL. Not that I’m not hoping (praying even?) that they can do that. History says nyet.
I’m ready for beast mode and I am ready for Larry Sherry and Chuck Essegian. Maeda and Beaty could be the 2019 versions of Larry and Chuck.
To do or not do free agent Rendon this off season could tell us more about Friedman and his philosophy on free agents. It’s not that he won’t go after Rendon but whether he can get him for the right number of years. The Dodgers still need a strong righty bat and not one that switch hits.
I’m liking Ferguson and Maeda in the bullpen for the playoffs. Kelly too if he has legs. They could be the stars of the playoff bullpen.