I like to break things down to their simplest form, and here is why the Dodgers were swept in the NLDS: They could not score more than two runs a game. In 162 games, the Dodgers averaged 5.6 runs a game, but in this three-game series, they scored just two runs a game. They were blown out in the first game, but the next two games were very winnable and failed to hit. PERIOD! It was just like last year… and the year before. I detect a trend…
The Dodgers team ERA was 6.58 in the playoffs. Another 100-win team was Baltimore and they were worse with a 7.27 ERA. The Arizona Diamondbacks ERA was 2.20. Do you see the problem here? The Dodgers had a team OPS of .498, while the Diamondbacks were nearly 400 points higher at .877. The Diamondbacks have hit 13 Home Runs in five games, while the Dodgers have but one in three games. The team batting average was an anemic .177!
So, we have to blame someone… anyone… Right? Where do we start?
Andrew Friedman – Start at the top, Blame the guy in charge, “He knows how to build a team that wins 100 games but can’t win in the playoffs.” So, you expect me to believe that winning three games is harder than winning a 100? 5 out of 4 people struggle with math. “Well, he did not trade for any good starters after May, Gonsolin, Kershaw, and Company were injured!” There are two things here: (1) Teams have repeatedly demonstrated that method is not the path to winning (many of you wanted Jack Flaherty. His ERA after he was traded to the Orioles was 6.75), and (2) THE PITCHING WAS NOT WHY THE DODGERS LOST THE SERIES TO THE D-BACKS! Andrew traded for Mookie Betts and signed Freddie Freeman, and both were Top Five players in the NL this year. They were good enough to win 100 games, but not three!
Dave Roberts – Of course, there is the “Fire Doc” faction, even though he has the best all-time winning percentage of any manager ever in the history of modern baseball! Of course, some of you say, “Well, anyone can win with the teams he has.” That contradicts anyone who has a beef with Freidman and there are a few that do. I think that the Dodgers will have Dave Roberts back, but this is something that has to be considered. Ultimately, I think that this is not the problem. People love to second guess what a manager does because it somehow empowers them. People second-guess because they think there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers or ways of doing things. Since they believe there is the perfect answer to a problem, they get caught in a conundrum of questioning decisions and believing that they know better. Of course, with second-guessing, they are always right, and that makes them feel smarter too. Can Roberts improve on anything? Of course, but he will be back in 2023, I believe.
Robert Van Socyoc – Now, we are getting somewhere! “It’s the all-or-nothing approach. Teams that rely on the home run can be easily beaten!” Yeah, that’s the ticket. RVS can resurrect JD Martinez’s career along with Jason Heyward. He can help James Outman improve his “caveman swing” and help Mookie and Freddie be candidates for MVP, but you can’t be too reliant on the home run in the playoffs. Whoops, the D-Backs have 13 HR in the playoffs. The three teams in the playoffs still alive, are all reliant on the home run this postseason. I am sure that the Dodgers will look at RVS with a microscope up his butt, but ultimately, who is better?
Mark Prior – He seems to be able to help pitchers resurrect their careers (yes, it didn’t work with Thor because he thought the Dodgers could get him back to throwing in triple digits again, as he also believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny). Mark Prior’s arms problems de-railed a Hall-of-Fame career. Maybe he knows too much about contorting the arms and spinning the ball, which causes arms to blow out with more regularity? I am being serious. That has to be looked at. The Dodgers have had an unusually high number of arm issues. Dodger pitchers led MLB with over 2,200 man games lost to the IL. Could it be that Prior is “too good” at his job? Ultimately, I think Prior will also be back, but he will also have a colonoscopy!
The Players – How about the guys who failed to hit? Let me list them: Mookie (.000 BA), Freddie (.100 BA), JDM (.200 BA), Muncy (.182 BA), Peralta (.167 BA) Outman (.000 BA). Kudos to Will Smith, who hit .417, Kike Hernandez, who hit .375, and Miguel Rojas, who hit .333. Other than Smith, Hernandez, and Rojas, the entire offensive team sucked so much that they choked! When all of your leaders hit like sissies, the team goes home. The Dodgers are where they belong and where they deserve: at home!
I think the real culprit is Bill Plaschke, who cursed the Dodgers by saying they were going to in the World Series. Instead, the Diamondbacks sent them home with their tails between their legs. Disgraced and ridiculed on the biggest stage. The fans are clamoring for someone’s head, and there is a saying that “It better to hang some feller than no feller!” This feels like a lynch mob. No rational thinking – just hang someone! The video below says it all.
Mookie barely hit .200 in 2018 when the Red Sox won the World Series. In 2020, he hit .296 in the playoffs and World Series. In 2021, it was .319, but then in 2022 and 2023, he hit .143 and .000, respectively. Freddie Freeman has a career BA of .291 with a .402 OB% and a .933 OPS in all of the combined playoffs, while Mookie has a pedestrian .256 BA/.338 OB% and a weak .722 OPS in all the combined playoffs. He is an amazing athlete who can bowl 300 but can’t lead HIS TEAM to a win in the playoffs.
You may never see another team like this. It’s a team full of good character, guys… Guys who help little old ladies across the street and visit sick children in hospitals. They do a lot for the community and each other. Their character is impeccable, and they can win 100 games, but they can’t win three when it counts! There will be lots of changes next season. Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Jimmy Nelson, Clayton Kershaw, David Peralta, Kolten Wong, JD Martinez, Chris Taylor and even Jason Heyward could all be gone. Maybe the team needs a Juan Soto in LF and will cough up the prospects. Maybe Blake Snell will become a Dodger. Maybe Shohei Ohtani comes to Chavez Ravine. Maybe they sign the Japanese dude.
Get ready for the winds of change. It’s in the air!
Discussion (52)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Here’s some free agents the dodgers should look at to get how about Adam Duval, outfielder playoff experience Adam Frazier second baseman can hit field pretty good a second baseman Luis Saverino starting pitcher Matt Chapman third base Blake Snell starting pitcher Michael Brantley Leftfielder looking at free agents catchers there’s got to be a better hitting catcher then Barnes, that’s just some players that will be free agents and true don’t know if there Scott Brosis boys buy there were some guys to add to the mix of dodgers they have which could be better then Peralta or Hayward or Wong and Lynn. If they keep JD Martinez as DH and let Muncy go I wouldn’t mind that Martinez had a good year for the Dodgers.
I have enjoyed interacting with all of you this year. I will enjoy talking about the off-season, and the rest of the playoffs and WS.
This season was fun. Crazy, unexpected and fun. Despite all the ups and downs.
I am not bitter.
My son knows Brandon Marsh on the Phillies. Got to know him when he played in the CA League when he was with the Angels. He gave my boy crap (this was 2018) because my son would be out there during BP wearing a Dodgers shirt and a 66ers hat (Angels). They bantered before every game.
I’m all Phillies. For Brandon.
I love this group. Have a good night.
This is the first time in MLB postseason history (excluding shortened seasons) that all 4 teams in the LCS have 90 or fewer regular season wins.
Here’s the rub:
If you are one of the best teams, you have to sit out a week before you play while the inferior teams get to play on… and STAY SHARP!
If only the playoffs were in August!
Vaunted Braves offense, averaged two runs the game just like the Dodgers
So does that make it a crapshoot? Or do the Braves have that negative self fulfilling prophecy like the Dodgers? Asking for a friend
If it were me, I would trade Mookie, Freddie, and Max for as much pitching as I could get (young prospects). I would also trade Barnes and Taylor with the above players.
Then this would be my team next year:
C – Smith, Feduccia
1B – Busch
2B – Lux
SS – Rojas
3B – Vargas
LF – Outman
CF – DeLuca
RF – Pages
Screw the rest!
Dismantle this bunch of losers!
Nick Castellanos — a player I really wanted!
He summed it all up: “The regular season and the playoffs are totally different!”
Yes, and when your two team leaders go 1 for 21, you really understand that.
You can put the best players on the team, but if they do well in the regular season and bad in the playoffs, you fire the Manager and Team President?
What kind of disjointed thinking is that?
If anything, you fire the damn player!
So, the two best teams in the NL all year are not the best teams because they lost. I guess the Braves would trade their team for the Phillies and the Dodgers would trade their team for the D-Backs team?
Maybe I should say: that the team with the best talent does not always win.
But it’s not a crapshoot… no way, no how?
Not a good week for 100 win teams or MVP candidates!
I’m angry too, but it will pass. I’m also tired of the crapshoot BS. It very well may be for 88-90 win teams, but there are teams like the Astros and now the Phillies that understand about pacing and getting ready to play your best baseball in October, they are hard to beat and play hard for every out. Can you say that about this Dodger team?? It hasn’t looked that way to me. Yes we somehow won 100 games and yet that doesn’t mean shit because we are sitting home just like teams who won 60 games. C’mon there is only one outcome that the Dodgers aim for every year and they have failed miserably the last 2 seasons. Losing in the NLCS is one thing and that I can accept is more of a crapshoot, but the NLDS should be almost a given with a team who wins 100 games and is playing a team that finished 16 games behind them in there own division. Losing a game is one thing, but being swept and pretty much destroyed is not okay with me and it shouldn’t be for ownership either.
Gotta love Alanna, she said it the best in the playoffs aren’t a crapshoot just look at the asstros but if you want to blame the crapshoot for beating the dodgers that’s your privilege. And I say look at the Phillies to there not crapshooting there way into being Damm good when it counts. Truth is this year as opposed to last is for me more than a gut punch. I’m downright angry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojp-YZpmhwA
Interesting take.
Without massive changes it will be same ole thing playoff after playoff and it’s ok if anyone doesn’t agree with that. Your opinion or my opinion doesn’t make it a fact. Sometimes wish I could be like some on here who are ok with just having a good season but I can’t. It’s not good enough
I feel very different with the ending of this season compared to last year. Last year I did have some monster expectations. 111 wins. Solid rotation depth. Good bullpen. And losing to the arrogant Padres was just gut retching.
I had very low expectations going into the playoffs this year. Despite the 100 wins. The fact that we got to 100 was extraordinary. This was a transition year to begin with. With the injuries and criminality destroying our starting rotation and taking away Lux, it went from a transition year to a crisis year. Yet, Doc and AF managed to still win the division. Somehow.
AF, correctly, has every intention of seeing who among the myriad of young talent in the system will be MLB contributors. The train wreck of what became our rotation forced his hand with the young arms. That will be a good thing come spring training. Some of our best young talent aren’t coming in totally green in 24. They have the experience of trial by fire.
I’ve said it 100 times. The playoffs are a crap shoot. Just get in and anybody has a shot. The Braves might be knocked out tonight. The Phillies might take their 90 wins to the WS, again. Acuna got his only 2 hits in the series yesterday. The 3 top MVP candidates have played like dog s**t. That’s the playoffs. Some players get hot and some get cold. Arizona got red hot at the right time. So did the Phillies. They smacked the Braves around yesterday like mule.
My expectations this season were tempered. I believe the Dodgers simply making the playoffs with a 90 or so win season would be a “win”. We did better than that. And then fell completely flat against a red hot team. Getting swept hurt. But the end result isn’t surprising. The Dodgers massively overachieved this season.
Dodgers will make some moves in the off-season. No question they will go after some top arms. And I’m sure there will be some other moves. Likely ones we won’t see coming. But the kids will get their shot in ST. This team is set to be successful for years to come.
With the current playoff format, it will be a crap shoot again next year. I’m not pissed like I was last year. We were lucky that the kids got to eat at the adult table to begin with.
This was not a failed season. I don’t want to hear anymore about needing massive changes. 99-100 win teams have been dropping like flies. That’s the game today.
Man can’t even wait one day to start up all the bull crap fantasy trades, player moves and predicted lineups that won’t even be close to actuality when next season starts. Oh well some live for that discussion I reckon
In my opinion, I think the “blame” goes to the organizational philosophy of their adherence to the analytics. Generally speaking, they’ve built a team that looks at a lot of pitches and swings hard in case they make contact. Over a large sample size, this leads to a lot of wins. But this also makes them susceptible to losing when they aren’t hitting home runs. The middle of the order is stacked with players who have more strikeouts than hits. Most of the team’s stats are against non-playoff teams. I don’t think approaches that are good over 162 games, against all types of opponents, necessarily translate well when you need to win a specific 3, 5, or 7 game series against the playoff caliber teams.
I don’t know if it is arrogance or stubbornness, but the Dodgers seem too one-dimensional when it comes to the playoffs. It probably didn’t help that they were down 6-0 before taking an AB to start their post-season, but they became very pull happy trying to hit 5-run bombs every at bat. I get that it takes a bit of luck to win in the playoffs. I also believe you make your own luck. The 2 runs scored last night were from 4 consecutive singles, mostly from going up the middle or the other way. I’m guessing analytics looks down on that. It seems to me that a run is a run and finding various ways to produce said run mitigates against the bad luck of not hitting home runs.
As for firing/not firing managers and coaches, does it really matter? Dave Roberts wasn’t brought in for his game management skills. He had never managed before. He was brought in to manage the clubhouse and follow the game plan script. The Dodgers have a game planning committee that decides line-ups and player/pitching changes. Players seem to love playing for him and you don’t hear about any clubhouse concerns. Clubhouse unity is important to the Dodgers. The FO has a system. If they send the manager, coaches, or players packing, they’ll just replace them with more people who will also fit their system. I think it’ll be more of the same unless they change their organizational philosophy.
Just my 2 cents…..
Buehler Snell Miller Shehan Pepiot would be a way better rotations then what we had this year in the playoffs Old Bear and Blake Snell wants to be a Dodger and also Juan Soto does to and Chapman is a California kid. So why wouldn’t he not want to play for the Dodgers. Would be a better fielder then Muncy okay Old Bear name a third baseman better then Chapman. And way better then Busch or Vargas please were trying to get better not just move up rookies.
I’m sitting here stomach in knots. In shock mode unable to fathom what I just seen. How is it possible for two of top three mvp candidates to go 1 for 22 with the one hit only because pitcher hesitated to cover first when it counted most. I’m not a doc hater. He does a fine job in regular season but he is the only consistent part of all the postseason meltdowns. They say insanity is trying same thing over and over again and expecting a different result which leads me to believe going at it again with the same formula would be insane. Change’s are needed. New leadership, a new voice, a different kind of spark. In my humble opinion that means squat I think it’s time
If there was his much tension in the clubhouse maybe we’re still playing! Still say it’s easier to change the manager and the intensity and fire than the stars
Dodgers need this to happen for next year sign Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery a one two punch at the top of the rotation with Buehler and and Miller and Shehan okay. They sign Matt Chapman as the thirdbaseman. They try to trade with Padres for Juan Soto who then plays every day in LF Betts every day in RF Freeman every day at first base. Now you have Lux at second base and Rojas at shortstop or you go sign a veteran second baseman say a Adam Frazier playoff experience you got smith at catcher and you being a guy up from the minors that can hit more then 200 and be a decent backup catcher or you go sign Grandal who we know as a dodger and hwy he be better backup catcher then Barnes . So thats what they should do and then you got some gritty players on the team like a Kirk Gibson then they pretty boys. So a lineup of Lux, Betts Freeman Chapman Smith Muncy Soto Outman Rojas that is a playoff and world series team an a rotation of
Buehler
Snell
Montgomery
Miller
Shehan
Pepiot
There you go if they want to win a world series.
Hell let’s just blow the whole damn thing up and start all over. Let the kids play. C, Feduccia, 1B, Freeman, 2B, Busch, 3B, Vargas, SS, Lux, RF Mookie, CF, Deluca, LF, Outman, DH, Smith, Feduccia and Smith can alternate at catcher. Taylor would be one bench piece; they would sign some other free agents to fill the gaps. Let Muncy and his K’s walk. Rotation, Miller, Sheehan, Pepiot, Buehler, and Grove. Sign a lefty starter if you want or bring back Kersh for 1/2 a season. Have Phillipa, Graterol, Brasier, and Vesia as the front of the pen, and fill in the rest with Yarbrough as the long man. Trade or non-tender Ferguson, Gonzalez, and a few others. Now let’s see you win 100 with this bunch.
I’m a big fan of both Mookie and Freddie, and their colossal failure in this year’s playoff disaster doesn’t change that.
I also have no problem with their greeting the opposition on the base paths. After all it’s a game and we already have too many people pissing on each other throughout the world.
That said, this roster is missing something very important. I’ve mentioned this before and I’m going to repeat it. When AF makes his roster changes this winter, he desperately needs to add a guy with attitude, someone who would rather punch the guy on the other team instead of patting him on the butt. I don’t expect that to be Mookie or Freddie because that’s not who they are, but I firmly believe that we need a different type of personality to lead this team into the playoffs. Look at the effect that Harper has on the Phillies. That’s the type of guy I’m talking about. Unfortunately, those guys don’t grow on trees but if AF can identify someone in free agency or in a possible trade, he should spare no effort to bring him on board.
Freddie and Mookie will open the door and always say “you first”. We need a guy who pushes his way past everyone and barges through that door, bringing everyone else behind him, not wanting to be left behind.
I would like to thank the Dodgers for another enjoyable season of baseball. It would have been nice to do better in the post season but, que sera, sera. I’m looking forward to next season and hoping that some of the young players can shine. It’s going to be a long wait until March. Thankyou Mark and Old Bear for all your work on LADT. I hope you can keep it going thru the off season.
Go Dodgers!!
I will make the call, Betts said no comment because the format didn’t play like crap, he did and the rest of the team. He knows better than to point the finger when everyone could see the Dodgers messed their pants.
Just step up. They sucked! Plain and simple.
Listen to the video that had Freeman and Betts talking in it that Mark provided up top. Start it at the 2 minute 45 second mark. The reporter asked Betts “is there a flaw in the playoff format” and Betts gave a quick answer of “no comment”.
1) Could it be that Betts doesn’t like 6 teams allowed in the playoffs in each league because it makes for a crapshoot?
2) Could it be other players feel the same way?
3) Could it be that Betts is suppose to shut up when asked this question because it’s all about more money?
You make the call.
In regular season games a couple batters in a row get singles and Doc pulls the starter, last night Lynn gives up 3hr in a row and and he gets the opportunity to make it a foursome. Is there anyway that makes sense. And then in 5 more innings the DBacks don’t score another run. Roberts should have started the bullpen right from the beginning, game one.
And obviously let them bat also, every bullpen pitcher should have pinch hit. Come on !
Has this become a negative self fulfilling prophecy for this core group?
Big fish – small pond. One WS win in 30+ years – a trend not an aberration. How is it that the Dodgers and Kershaw repeatedly look vastly overrated when the playoffs begin? It is hard not to attribute the post season failures of the Dodgers and Kershaw to the same source. For the last 2+ decades, the NLWest has typically been the weakest division in all of baseball. During this stretch the Dodgers and Kershaw have played half of their games each season against primarily sub-.500 teams. Example – The Padres recently went 10 straight years below .500. This year, the Padres prevented the league from having 3 sub .500 teams (a rarity) by ending up at .506. but still lost 9 of 13 to the Dodgers.
I find the post-mortem analysis a little reactionary.
Consider this:
1 – The Dodgers had no healthy starting pitchers from the anticipated rotation and still won 100 games.
2 – The rotation that was left was not ever going to be competitive in the post-season. Untested rookies, injured Hall of Famers, and bomb-throwing veterans – a bad combination.
3 – It was always going to be up to the offense to win games. The offense cooled off the last 3 weeks of the season and never heated up.
4 – What exactly was Roberts supposed to do in this situation? Maybe lift Lynn before he could give up 4 bombs, but otherwise? Winning 100 games with this squad was the best managing job that Roberts has done yet. No way he’s leaving.
5 – Friedman tried to bring in SP at the deadline but there wasn’t much to be had. As has been pointed out, only a couple of guys that were moved at the deadline have pitched well and one of them (Verlander) was never available.
In short, the Dodgers did better than I expected. While another post-season loss to a lesser team is VERY PAINFUL, the season was fun.
What do they do going forward?
A – This was always going to be a transitional year. They left expensive veteran talent leave and didn’t sign any big names last off-season. As Mark noted, there’s going to be a lot of turnover again this off-season. Will the roster spots be filled with more untested or thus far unsuccessful rookies, or with expensive free agents or trade acquisitions?
B – Rookies who have impressed thus far – Miller, Pepiot, Outman. Those who have not: Grove, Sheehan, Stone, Busch, Vargas. Will any of the latter play better next year? Who knows?
C – Things that have to change next year:
*No Muncy at 3B
*Starting pitching from outside the organization – Buehler and May are big questionmarks going forward and Gonsolin won’t be back next year. Urias is gone and Kershaw is a questionmark. Miller and Pepiot look like rotation candidates going forward but they need more than 2 SP.
*They will potentially have vacancies at 3B, 2B (or SS), LF. Who plays there?
*Do they bring any of the free agents back? If Muncy moves to DH, then no to JD Martinez. (And no to Ohtani – he can only DH for now). Maybe they trade Max? No to Peralta. Maybe to Heyward? No to Kike Hernandez. No to Lynn, Kelly, all of the injured pitchers who are on the IL, etc.
Change of pace…… What are the Astros doing???? 7th straight ALCS. They’ve lost some of their main cheaters and continue year after year to win in the playoffs. I’m jealous!!
The week lay off didn’t help
I see now that I’m looking at this game and series all wrong. It was not an epic and ignominious collapse and defeat by the Dodgers, it was an epic triumph and win by the DBacks.
Look it could be worse.
We could be Mets, Yankees, Royals Twins, Rockies, Pirates etc etc etc fans.
Truth of the matter is winning a WS is hard, damn hard.
You do have to get hot at the right time. Mostly likely 3, 100 win teams and the best 3 teams in Baseball wont make the LCS.
Not excusing anyone’s play because we were bad, but its fricking hard to win a WS.
Ill always cherish 2020 because that may have been one of the toughest to ever have been won. We peaked at the right time, but one more loss to ATL and we wouldn’t have.
Lets enjoy the journey back to the mountaintop because it is coming, will it be 24, 25, 26. Heck I dont know but it IS coming….
Go Rams!
I snapped awake this morning, still in my recliner, from the worst nightmare. In my nightmare, it was smoky, like an old black and white noir movie, and through the hazy I could hear a voice that sounded like Rod Serling, but his partner kept calling him Bob. And he was broadcasting the Dodger – D-Backs game that I was watching before nodding off.
The faces and the names in my nightmare looked familiar but they weren’t playing right. They didn’t look the same. Every Dodger face looked pale, hollow eyed and in shock. Every player looked dazed and confused. There was no life in their faces and joy in their play. They looked like someone stole their hearts. Gone was the happy, joyful play and the great team chemistry. Nobody doing the Freddie.
The D-Backs had hit 4 homers in one inning, in this stupid dream. Yeah, like that would ever happen? And get this – they were all hit off the same pitcher, like he’d still be in the game after the 3rd one?
So, am getting up out of my chair, turn off the episode of “Friends” on TBS this morning, grab some coffee to shake out the cobwebs and turn on my DVR. I can’t wait to watch last night’s game that I recorded it in case I fell asleep early in my chair.
Good regular season, and the usual terrible ending. Hope AF with money to spend this offseason signs players that can perform in October. I wish all the bloggers on this site a healthy safe Fall and Winter. Approximately 120 days till pitchers and catchers.Enjoy!!
Not like we weren’t sweating the top of the rotation . We came up short on starters – no surprises here.
Easily fixed next season. We shall rise once again.
How about dem Lakers !
Always liked Mike Batts Winds of change much better than the Scorpions.
It is a true classic. The lyrics with that amazing melody always give me goosebumps.
As for the Dodger; Wait til next year.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember this was the year that the Padres were the team to beat not LA. I give full credit to Doc for taking this team to 100 wins especially with a deceminated starting rotation. Most other teams would have fallen apart. As for the lack of success in the playoffs, the hitting disappeared again. I am not sure how one fixes this… These players had very successful results during the regular season only to go cold in the playoffs. AGAIN!
We are very fortunate fans to have a team year after year kick butt. We are spoiled. That being said, it would be nice to win one once in awhile.
Driman
So the end to a thoroughly enjoyable “Transitional” season, was a little earlier than many had anticipated.
For me, it was far more than I had expected, and gives great hope going forward into 24 and beyond.
The emergence of so many young players who have now gained invaluable experience
A raft of affordable, controllable young arms and the improvement in James Outman, added to the remodelled Vargas plus the return of Gavin Lux and Walker Beuhler give great optimism.
So much money coming off the books gives great opportunity for AF to do his thing.
When the dust settles, this has been a great season. People are hurting and eager to put blame at certain doors but the reality is this was not going to be our year. Too many Starting Pitchers going down and Kershaw unfortunately coming to the end of the road, meant that we couldn’t compete in the higher quality Post Season.
Yes Mookie and Freddie were disappointing in October, but they were the best one/ two in Baseball and both were in the MVP conversation. They went cold. It happens.
I sincerely hope that Clayton rides off into the sunset and enjoys his family life.
Time to face reality. Him being around only clouds things in the Front Office and makes things complicated for Roberts, who had his best season managing the team.
He really did a great job of patching a Pitching Staff together, and his use of the Bullpen was his best effort yet. This one’s not on him.
It was disappointing to see so many people here dismissing a very good, young hungry Arizona team after the first series of the season back in April.
Labelled a .500 team at best, and that they’d fade in the second half due to their perceived lack of depth, they came back to bite us with a vengeance. Anyone who’d taken notice in the second half of 22 could see they would be a force.
Sham Diego and NYM are great examples of why trying to buy success doesn’t work. It’s about growth from within engendering a spirit and togetherness plus good player development which we know the Dodgers excel at. The D’Backs are a great example of this, but the difference is that we have far more financial clout to secure any top level Free Agents.
If this was a “Transitional” year(100 wins is an amazing achievement), then I’m
looking forward to the next already.
Remember this was the year that the Padres were the team to beat not LA. I give full credit to Doc for taking this team to 100 wins especially with a deceminated starting rotation. Most other teams would have fallen apart. As for the lack of success in the playoffs, the hitting disappeared again. I am not sure how one fixes this… These players had very successful results during the regular season only to go cold in the playoffs. AGAIN!
We are very fortunate fans to have a team year after year kick butt. We are spoiled. That being said, it would be nice to one once in awhile.
Driman
I actually believed the Dodgers could win two straight in Phoenix and bring it back home for the win. Hats off to those here who were not so naive and were realistically pessimistic. There is no way to sugarcoat this embarrassment. The 100 win accolades for this team stand in vivid contrast to the humiliation of being crushed like an empty aluminum soda can in the playoffs , by a team you owned in the regular season.
What a disappointment. I heard on the Dan Patrick radio show this morning that the Dodgers have won 100+ games in franchise history 10 time and have not won the World Series in any of those ten seasons. Unbelievable. The only thing that was not a disappointment was the bullpen. Credit to Mark, who told us all year that they would turn it around… but 6 runs in three games from the offense against an 84 win team… PATHETIC.
I will make my comments in my next post, which I am working on now. But this I know for certain. Roberts will not be fired, nor will he leave on his own. Not with this bad taste in his mouth. He has two years left on the extension he signed last winter, and I doubt the Dodgers want to pay two managers at once. Freidman is going nowhere either. There will probably be some coaching changes. Showalter is probably getting the Angels job and Francona is done. Especially because of his health. I would not be surprised to see a couple of Dodger execs poached again by other teams nor a couple of coaches replaced because they have moved to other teams. I can see Barbary being elevated to the major league club. The only player with his future totally in his own hands is Kershaw. The Dodgers will let him make the decision on whether or not he keeps playing in LA, retires, or becomes a free agent and signs elsewhere. Only three Dodgers have contracts of two years or more. Betts, Freeman and Taylor.
Time to change up the buddy buddy country club atmosphere in the clubhouse. Less puppy dog and more pit bull. Too difficult to bring in fiery leadership as players, and that’s not who Mookie and Freddie are. So as much as I like Doc and don’t blame him, I think a new manager is needed. And not some rookie manager. Strong leadership. Showalter would work for me. Someone to get in some faces and put some fire into this team! Have to go in a different direction even if it means less regular season success. These Octobers demand a change!
anyone else wish Corey Seager was still here? i know the california tax was a roadblock, but that bat would’ve helped a lot, maybe not enough to save them this year, but he’s a stud! if mookie is full time second baseman year, maybe we need 2 outfielders not named peralta or kiki! heyward on the bench is ok. sure they averaged over 6 runs a game, but they could also go ice cold for lengthy stretches. agree , chemistry and character matter, but .230 hitters aren’t hard to find, and we seem to have more than enough of those. i’ve seen the rumors floating about Doc. not gonna blame him for this , but the dodgers are heading for the tutu of regular season champs! but no postseason glory. i hope Lance Lynn signs with the Friars!
So one guy I certainly do not blame is Roberts. He puts the guys out there and they have to do the job. We handled Arizona during the season and should have done it in October. We beat those starting pitchers. So we knew we were weak in starters going in. So plan was to have them go 4-5 innings and turn it over to our great relievers, hopefully to hold a LEAD. So that didn’t work as all three starter failed to do the assignment.. Game 1.-ok that game was over in 2nd inning. But other 2 games were winnable. So I say that’s all on Mookie and Freddie. JDM and Max had 100+ RBIs because they came up with those guys on base. The guy that we thought was used up and tired-Smith- came thru. And Kike being Kike.
You make a strong case why Doc and some coaches won’t be fired, but only one number matters when a team has been to the post season 11 straight seasons and that is how many championships have you won. AF has most likely explained OPS, ERA, SLG and all the other sabermetric stuff to the ownership group and while they’ve probably been educated on some “inside baseball” stuff at the end of the day they want championships. I’m not saying it makes empirical sense to fire some coaches, but millions of fans need to see a change, feel a change, hold out hope that better days are ahead with better results. To that end, changes are indeed coming.
When players are traded and suddenly put up better numbers with the new team we often hear it’s because a change of scenery was all the player needed. I believe that to be true here and that is why this team, the coaching staff, and even perhaps the manager will look much different next year. Some of my prognostications will occur, some will
not, but here goes. Yes, these are wild ass guesses…..
1. Doc will not be fired, but he will leave on his own and will be hired by the Giants, Guardians or some other MLB team.
2. Brandon Gomes will get the Red Sox Chief of Baseball Operations job and Chaim Bloom will reunite with AF and become the Dodgers GM.
3. Gabe Kapler will reunite with the Dodgers in some front office job. He will not replace Doc.
4. Travis Barbary who led the OKC Dodgers to a PCL pennant will be strongly considered to replace Doc. We’ll also hear Showalter and Francona as possibilities, but Barbary gets the job.
5. CK will retire.
6. Muncy’s option will get picked up and he will be slated as the full time DH. They have to get his stone hands out of the IF. When he slumps horribly or gets injured Will Smith will DH.
7. JDM is not coming back.
8. Peralta is gone.
9. I put a new Heyward contract at 50/50 right now.
10. Hernandez does not return.
11. Rojas becomes the Swiss Army Knife.
12. Lux will be given the SS job.
13. Busch is next year’s 3B.
14. Vargas is used in an off season trade for more pitching.
15. The transition with more youth will continue as a combination of Pepiot, Miller, Sheehan, Stone, Grove and others will be in the opening day rotation.
16. AF might cash in his ownership stake with the Dodgers and try his hand at another storied MLB franchise the Red Sox. If the Red Sox ownership group indeed wants AF and he leaves, look for Gomes to stay with the Dodgers and be elevated to the Chief of Baseball Operations gig or Josh Byrnes might inherit that role.
17. RVS is gone.
18. If AF stays ownership will instruct AF to quit wasting money on player contracts who do not contribute (Freyersian, Reyes, Nelson, Kahnle, Treinen, Hudson, Duffy) or minimally get some better surgical/health analytics about the expected recovery of the players coming off injury.
19. Ohtani will be signed.
20. Snell will be signed.
One, two, ten or none of the 20 things will happen this off season. I have no “inside source” and these musings are emotional over a morning cup of coffee. I’m not certain what will happen, but even Ray Charles can see changes are coming.
Extremely disappointing.
But we will be all be right back when winter turns to spring.
It sucks but you have to enjoy the journey, and I enjoyed this season, up to the last 3 games.
See you in ’24
Austin Barnes
Pinch hitting swings at the first pitch , come on work the count . I could go on but that sums up the Dodgers game plan .
Where do you go from here? The Dodger regular season is meaningless. Somehow in baseball math a 90 win team has the advantage over the 100 win team. We lost to a team who picked up an abandoned player and batted him third, while all our two MVP candidates gave us was the crap in crapshoot! Gonna be hard to get excited about 24 with this group of gaggers!
We didnt choke because we never showed up.