Just Wait Until Next Year…

The facts are simple. The Dodgers lost to a team they dominated in the regular season and it was ugly. The offense was colder than a mob hit stiff on ice. They could not get the big hit when they needed it, and they left enough runners on to fill a bus. The only starter who was clean and unscored on was Anderson. Kersh, 3, Urias, 3 and Gonsolin, 1, all gave up runs. Kersh put them behind, but the offense tied it. The bullpen lost all three games. Unusual because the pen was nails most of the season. The Padre pen on the other hand was unhittable. The Dodgers normal strategy of running up the starters pitch count and then pounce on the bullpen backfired totally in this series. Now it is back to the drawing board. The team as it is constructed right now is going to need an infusion of new blood. Guys we know for certain are out of here, Price, Kimbrel, Gallo and most likely Turner. On the bubble, Alberto, Bellinger, Thompson, Taylor, JT and Muncy. Pitchers most likely not returning, Heaney, Martin, Anderson, Duffy. Hudson, Buehler, Nelson, all on the mend from major surgeries. Both of the catchers, Freeman, Lux, Betts, Vargas, all locks to be back next year. There will be movement. Bank on it. The four free agent SS give the Dodgers some choices. I think Turner goes east. The Braves retain Swanson. Bogaerts and Correa are the two most likely signable by LA> But LA fans would revolt if they signed Correa. There are several older SS available who could mentor Amaya since I do not think he will hit enough to play right away. I like Iglesias who was with the Rockies this year. Solid defender with some pop and bat to ball skills. Also a good baserunner. Would be a lot cheaper than one of the high priced spreads.

We could stay on this site for days, and most of us would have our own opinions of Roberts and the Dodgers and what went wrong. Roberts has been explaining some of his reasoning online. I saw a story a little while ago about why he brought in Almonte and then the move to Vesia. This stuff is on fannation.com if you want to look it up. Go to MLB on their index and then click on the Dodgers. Also, an article with Friedman explaining why the 111-win season is important. You have to win to get there. And the Dodgers keep giving themselves that chance. As for Roberts, I have mixed feelings about Dave. I do not think he is a bad manager; he communicates with his players really well. I just think he is a mediocre in game strategist. I think he likes playing match-up way too much and does not go with the hot hand often enough. I think he should trust his starters more than he does, and he is sometimes too slow in reacting to situations that need immediate attention. I feel his catchers should be more proactive as to giving pitchers a blow when they make several bad pitches in a row.

As I posted earlier, over the last ten years the Dodgers have a regular season winning percentage of .613 and a playuff winning percentage of .546. Considering that the teams they played in the post season were the best regular season teams, I’m inclined to think that the Dodgers have done pretty well in the playoffs.

Like everyone, I’d like to find something to blame this fiasco and come up with a solution. I don’t think the solution is different players, coaches or front office. The solution is to have the players perform at their peak performance levels whrn the playoffs come around. Easy to say but hard to implement.

Actually, I think he makes a great argument.

https://youtu.be/fPwqlFwEtu4

I’m hoping for a Guardians/Phillies World Series because: I hate the Yankees because they are the Dodgers World Series rivals. I hate the Astros because they cheated against the Dodgers in 2017. I hate the Padres because they knocked out the Dodgers.

If it’s a Guardians/Phillies World Series I wonder how many people in this country will even watch.

Good assessment but a tinkerer’s approach.

I am not a Dodger fan but I live here, follow the team and think I can be unemotional about them.

This team needs an overhaul, maybe not of players but attitude. The team is built for 162 games, not for the playoffs.

They are a button-down unemotional bunch, business like and without passion. They look like an All Star team without a superstar leader.

Justin Turner is done as a threat. Trea Turner in my humble op. looks like a deer in the headlights in the playoffs. He looks nervous at bat and the usually near flawless SS, boots balls and makes throwing mistakes in big games. Let him play on a last place team and achieve HoF stats, and he’ll look great, but I don’t want him in my fox hole.

Lux looks like an OF to me. Bellinger is done and Smith is first rate behind the plate. Freeman could be the team leader but he seems a little uncomfortable doing that.

I think the Dodgers need a streaky powerhitter who can carry you thru the playoffs (Soto, or Schwarber type). Mookie is great but keep him healthy and tell him to have fun and lighten the mood.

Pitching ?, where is Bueler next year. Urias needs to be treated like an Ace and start throwing like one in big games and get to the 7th inning. Roberts loves to play games with his staff but sometimes he over manages the relievers.

And then what’s up with Doc. Like Bobby Cox he can win his Division every year but his record and decisions-making in playoffs is frankly bad. Hard to fire a HoF manager but he needs to learn the right lessons and not just overreact to last year’s wrong ones.

Last year he ruined his pitching staff esp Urias in playoffs. This year he seemed shell shocked.

The team went into the playoffs without any challenge or worry, but they also got real cold their last series against Denver and with a bye on top of that their bats never recovered. The Padres relief staff completely dominated them.

The fix?? Don’t be afraid to add some pop and enthusiasm at the trade deadline; add some players who play with emotion even if they don’t seem “Dodger Blue” types. Machado, Soto, Alvarez in Houston, Harper and Rodriguez in Seattle plus others are leaders because they seem fearless to their teammates. Mookie and Freddie are quiet leaders. Perhaps Kershaw was this type but his best days are past.

Dave needs to inject more emotion into the clubhouse; after 162 games the team is flat and lackluster.

I want to see more fire at playoff time. Maybe Dave could get mad once in awhile and let his players see his passion not just his analytical precision.

My first post was right away when I first got on this website today and I didn’t read Mark’s comments up top.

Mark, good luck with everything you’re doing. I wish you the best. See you when you get back. I will still be here, because I will always follow the Dodgers. Again good luck, wish you the best.

Mark, what an excellent analysis of who’s in and who should be out. Very well thought out with excellent points. I agree with practically every thing you said.

I have had a busy morning and want to comment on some of your thoughts, but little time. Tomorrow I will.

* But I will briefly share my concerns for areas that have concerned me the most. Like the outfield since we traded Pollock. The outfield needs a housecleaning. The rest of the team just some landscaping. I don’t like a group with poor batting, huge splits, that strike out 50% of the time. Trayce Thompson got a nice chance, started well and faded. And he’s hopeless against LHP. I don’t need a big splits guy that requires 2 players to play left field. I love CT3 but it’s time for him to be elsewhere. I’m not convinced that we need a swiss army knife type player, anymore, with the DH. I would sacrifice versatility for a solid everyday player. Gallo, really? Bellinger needs a major change of scenery. We have rationalized his value long enough. There are other outfielders, perhaps in-house, that are good, if not great, defenders, who hit better than .200. And cost less then 17 million. IOt’s time to see what our valued prospects can do. I like a switch hitter and Reynolds is an interesting idea. But Bellinger can’t hit, won’t hit and costs too much for premier defense.

I want Trea Turner back but not at Seager money. No to Bogarts, Correa, and Swanson. I do not see Lux at SS. He stays at 2nd for me with Amaya getting a shot. And call me dead crazy but I would consider if Turner leaves, moving Mookie to 2nd if Lux goes to short. Betts looks bored and lifeless sometimes now. He’s lost his MOJO. A change might invigorate him. His numbers would make him a premium 2nd baseman much more than a corner outfielder. When Cartaya is ready, I look at Smith at 3rd. In the meantime, Rios is Bigfoot? JT / Muncy? Same old song there. Arenado is a great thought.

Anyway Mark, thanks for the good summary today and what you do throughout the year with this site. I enjoy sharing ideas with the fans. Enjoy you’re time away and I look forward to when you return.

Anyone know if Jose is ok?

Or did his Padre friends all beat him up Sat night?

Mark, I really enjoyed your article today. Your title, “Just wait until next year”, sure rings a bell to us fans of the “older variety” (late 40″s, Early 50″s). Good luck with your business ventures. Thanks for starting this site and keeping it alive for 20 yrs. I don’t post much but I sure enjoy reading the posts from the many knowledgeable fans. Hopefully you’ll make an appearance on the site now and then.

I Really enjoyed following the Dodgers this year even with the disappointment of losing in the playoffs. I’ll end by saying “just wait until next year”.

I was thinking overnight. If a team that won 111 games, which is nearly an all time record and IS a franchise record, can’t win the World Series then:

1 What Dodger team can win the World Series going forward?

2 Is baseball a fluke?

Let me make myself perfectly clear, I have followed the Dodgers since the 1978 World Series, so I’m going nowhere. I will always follow the Dodgers.

I watched to the very end of the game the other night hoping the Dodgers would make a comeback. It was hard to do with all the crazy crowd noise and the rooting by the TV announcers. But, the ninth inning with the non-competitive ABs by our “big three” was typical of their effort in the series. This was a complete organizational failure from top to bottom. Again.

Some here state that it was still a successful season because they won 111 games. The way I look at it a team needs to be successful in the regular season in order to go the postseason. A successful season means to win a championship. The Dodgers didn’t do that. They had a historic season because of the regular season win total. But not, in my eyes, a successful season. I’ve watched for about the last ten years the Dodgers have very good to excellent regular seasons and then fail in the playoffs. I’m sick of it. In recent years it’s been “if they can’t win with this team then what is going to take to win a World Series?”. I don’t have an answer. It seems that the players don’t have what it takes (whatever that is) to win the WS. The 100’s of millions of dollars that has been spent by Guggenheim on players and the front office hasn’t been the answer. Luck only goes so far.

Hopefully, with the prohibition of the shift, larger bases, and limited throws to first base (don’t agree with) there will less reliance on analytics in the future. The damn total reliance on analytics has ruined the game and to me makes the game unwatchable a lot of the times. Like many things in today’s world, baseball has been dumbed down to the ridiculous. Who ever thought a strikeout would be more acceptable to making contact and putting the pitch in play? Or putting five of the seven defenders on one side of the field and encourage a hitter to hit the ball in the air to avoid those defenders? As opposed to learning how to hit the ball to a wide open space where there were no defenders. Bunting? “I can’t make the big bucks butting the ball”. Yeah, but it could help your team win, start or continue a rally against an ace pitcher, or get you out of a slump. “Uh, you must not have heard me. You know, big bucks…” Or steal a base. ” Well, I might hurt my hand or get hit in the head”. Then stop sliding head first! With the new rules the stolen base numbers should go through the roof.

For next year it’s too early to project what might happen. I would like to see Bellinger and Taylor gone. Muncy strickly at DH. Let’s bring up Vargas and Amaya and give them a real opportunity. Amaya not hitting? If he is the GG potential SS that is being projected then his offensive can’t be much worse 1/2 season of JT, 2/3 season of Max, the whole season of Cody and CT3. If he just makes contact the it will be an improvement. It’s time to bring up these young pitchers and see what they have. I done with all these broken down pitchers that AF collects hoping they will get back on track. Though some do they all seem to be broken by the end of the regular season and we go onto the playoffs with a stressed and limited staff. Year after frickin’ year.

Scott LADR, very much enjoy your thoughts and realistic and especially your view on AF and the front office. It’s time to bring these guys up and produce or trade them for established, high salaried players. Prospects are prospects until they are not. Either major leaguers or gone. It’s time. I want the the Dodgers to be in the bottom third of the prospect rankings and the major league roster full of young, talented players. Stop signing reclamation projects. Bring up and play all these prospects that make up the this #1 minor league system.

Thanks to Mark for all you do to keep this site the best. And, to Bear, P&G, Evan, and others that contribute to this site. I’ve always said the thoughts and opinions written on LADT are far better than we can get from the local and national media. Sad, but true. I’ll be back after the new year. Wait til next year!!

Carry on

The differences between similar teams increase statistically the more games they play. Based on those numbers it seems that the Dodgers are far superior to the Padres, and therefore, have to beat them everytime. However, that statistical difference is almost non-existent when it comes to winning three of five games. Three out of five is a lottery. Next year will do better. Thanks to Mark for this wonderful blog. Go Dodgers.

Think how much different this whole narrative might have been had May, Buehler and Bauer been in the picture. Bauer is still Dodger property. Had he not been suspended; he no doubt would have either been traded or they cut him and eat his salary. A healthy Buehler changes the entire makeup of the starting pitching simply because then there would be no need to start Heaney at all. Same thing with a healthy May. Pepiot, and Grove most likely never get called up. Kershaw, Buehler, Urias, May, Gonsolin, Anderson. That is a gauntlet of solid pitching that most teams would fear in a short series. What I do give a ton of credit to the Padres for is even making the playoffs without Tatis. Hate if you like, the kid has a ton of skills. Just wood between the ears though.

To make the argument that the playoffs are a crap shoot or that it’s “hard” is kind of a weak argument. Saying that could means that you might not understand what it takes to win in October. I would even say that it might have been harder to win 30 years ago then now when teams didn’t have all of this data and technology able to predict every last out of a game.

Just because the media tells you the Dodgers have this superior farm system doesn’t mena its the truth. I look at results More than anything and the amount of proven MLB regulars this front office has produced is very low compared to the previous administration.

To give you an example, Ned Colletti and Logan White regularly produced not only productive MLB regulars but all-stars. I can name off many. I think I should to illustrate my point. Here we go.

Clayton Kershaw (obviously) matt Kemp (all-star) Andre Ether (All-star) Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton (who was a good reliever in his first couple of seasons) James Loney batted .300 his first couple of seasons, Dee Gordon (All-star) , Cody Bellinger drafted and signed in 2013 under Colletti. Corey Seager, drafted and signed in 2012 under Colletti

Alex Verdugo drafted in 2014 under Colletti and white. AJ Ellis, Kenley Jansen, I could go on here but you get my point.

Keep in mind Colletti and Logan White still built competitive clubs that regularly reached the playoffs with not even half the money Friedman has had.

Name me one regular position player drafted and developed under friedman since 2019 that has become a MLB regular other than Will Smith and Gavin Lux? One poster said Tony Gonsolin, sure. So in 3+ years rhe front office has produced 2 position players and 2 pitchers? (Lux, Smith, May, Gonsolin). Is that a good track record? I just rattled off a a laundry list of players drafted in the previous administration that went on to make lasting impressions in the majors or at least became semi-productive MLB regulars.

The point ill make here is that Friedman has done so little with what’s been given to him. I would almost argue he’s done thr bare minimum given the most resources in baseball. He’s consistently failed almost every October since arriving and even his biggest supporters are getting tired of seeing the Dodgers lose on the biggest stage every fall in the most incompetent ways.

Maybe he’s had his chances and perhaps its time to look at someone else to build the rosters? I don’t know who that would be, but I would like to see what someone else can do.

For example, if the Padres win the World Seried this year which is a big possibility, then AJ Preller will be just as successful as Friedman. Maybe he didn’t build 100 win teams that lose every year in October but if SD wins a ring this year he’ll have as many as Friedman does in 8 years, and not in a covid year.

Thanks Mark, I appreciate more than you could possibly know the opportunity to write and contribute to this site. I will do my best to keep some articles coming that I hope our readership will enjoy. Now, as to the Dodgers, I like some of the changes you have considered. Arenado only comes into play if he decides to opt out of his deal. Bellinger’s fate is entirely in the hands of the boys in the office with the big windows. He was extremely upset that he was not in the lineup in game 4 against Musgrove. Good for him, nice to see a little fire lit under his skin since he always seems and looks like he could care less. My advice to Belli, forget every bit of advice you have gotten from Von strikeout and go spend the winter practicing hitting with Freddie Freeman. You are about the same height, so his style would fit pretty well. I am not sold that Amaya is the answer at SS with his bat, but if he brings really solid defense, they can plug him into the 9 hole and cover his deficiency’s pretty well. What they could not overcome were so many weak sister bats in the lineup at the same time. 451 Ks in the regular season between Muncy, Taylor and Bellinger. Not acceptable. Taylor has led the team two years in a row. Not the kind of contact you want a player like him making. But he just signed a 4-year deal, which most fans were hoping for anyway. Roberts, according to all reports so far, is not getting canned. This will be the first year of his new deal. Someone made a comment yesterday that just ticked me off. They said, Vinny would be ashamed of what happened or some such garbage like that. First off, you never not once heard Scully berate or get mad for the Dodgers losing. For many, the memory of collapses in years past is still there. Scully saw them lose huge leads in 51 and 62. In 62 all they needed the last week was one win to secure their spot in the World Series with the Yankees. Koufax’s injury pretty much put the kibosh on that. Vin saw them lose heartbreakers time after time. He also saw the triumphs. People can poo poo the 2020 win all they like, but it is just as legitimate as any 162 season. All the teams played under the same rules and circumstances . 81 was the same, except the team with the best record, the Reds, did not even make the playoffs. They still had to run the gauntlet to get there. Just like 2020. Getting knocked out the last week of the season, or even in some cases, the last game, hurts just as much and the man with the most class never said a disparaging word.

We lost when May then Buehler then Gonsolin went down. Few teams recover when you lose 1-2-3 top starters. Amazing how we still won 111. Next year will be better.

Shout out to Mark and all creators here. This is a deep pool to swim in.

One last thing.

I was thinking g last night why this loss got to me more than 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021?

First, we won 1 playoff game. That’s just humiliating. 2017 sucked but I accepted it (before I knew they cheated). We fought like hell in that series. Epic games. By game 7 our bats had nothing left. We fought for every inch. Not knowing the deck was stacked against us the whole time.

2018 we were clearly out matched. We took a game into epic extra innings and Muncy walked it off. Boston was just better (and possibly cheating, we will never really know). 2019 we fought, and lost. 2020 we came back to beat the Braves and played our hearts out to win the title. 2021 Braves were simply on a mission. I didn’t like how we played but it wasn’t an embarrassment.

2022? Wasn’t even a fight. We got TKOed in the 1st round hardly landing a single punch. I can easily live with a loss that went 10 rounds and went to the score cards. But that was humiliating. Tough to swallow.

Good assessment Mark. We’ve all had a day to stew.

We certainly don’t need to blow up the team. I would like to see some major changes in coaching (I know Doc ain’t going anywhere) and the moves on the player side you mentioned would be best case scenario. I also agree on Amaya. People seem to think he’d be a disaster as a defensive first player batting 9th. Well, we won 111 games with a 1 War, glove first CFer batting at the bottom of the lineup with a .389 OPS. And Amaya won’t cost us $17m. And Amaya is an intense competitor. Bellinger seemed lost in his own head for the last 2 years. Amaya would, at the very least, bring some fire to the team. I watched Amaya play with his best friend Vargas in Rancho. Those guys were all energy.

Bear, maybe I was too hard on Mookie. My issues with him are less his ups and downs during the season. He had a pretty good year. Or even his lack of hitting in the playoffs. This is a former MVP with 2 WS rings. I don’t see the same fire in his spirit as I saw in 2020. He needs to find that again.

And Mark, I agree 100% on the playoff format. 3 game series with a bye week for the division winners might be great for TV revenue, but its terrible for baseball. If the 2022 World Series has ends up having none of the Dodgers, Braves and Yankees playing for the title, maybe the TV ratings for the WS will make them reconsider (unlikely, I know). Imagine a Padres/Guardians WS! Ugh. A rerun of the Real Housewives of Hoboken might get more viewers.

Lastly, good luck on your plans to go public. My company did that in 2020. Somehow got it done during all the lockdowns. It’s a massively time consuming process. But it’s a game changer for any company that’s growing. Best of luck.

Best of luck with the new phase of your company and thanks so much for keeping LADT vibrant, entertaining and enjoyable. Don’t be gone too long!

I have no idea how the Dodgers fix their “October” problem, but please folks, stop saying the playoffs are a “crap shoot”! A crap shot is throwing two inanimate objects on a table. The playoffs are games played by live human beings. Sure, it’s a “small sample size” and luck may play a role but it’s real games played by real people and the team that plays the best will win. San Diego played better than we did and they won–no dice involved!

As for regular season vs. playoffs, I tallied up the Dodger’s regular season record and playoff record for the last ten years (2013-2022).

Regular season–931 wins 588 losses .613 winning percentage

Playoffs–53 wins 44 losses .546 winning percentage.

Like I said before, that and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee!

Go Blue!

Good assessment but you didn’t mention that empty suit of a manager – when oh when will he be replaced? What a failure.

Thanks Mark! I really really enjoy reading this blog and all the writers who contributed this year. Looking forward to reading you next season.

I’m over it. Padres get their day . Ho hum….

Sister team Chelsea FC next for me. Our only hope in Qatar WC is Pulisic. I would have hoped with Dodgers buying club and new manager that Pulisic would get more minutes. Not yet.

USA in dire need of goal scorers outside of Christian P. We’ll need some luck to get out of group.

Trae Turner has played a good CF in his career. If the Dodgers resign him why not put him in CF for Belli and let Amaya play ss ?

Financially the money saved on Belli would go to Turner and Amaya is a big improvement defensively at ss. Plus the kid was coming on at the plate late in the season raising his average to a respectable .260 at AAA.

A lot of money will be coming off the books (Kimbrel, Heaney, Anderson, Kahnle) too especially if they buy out JT and the Bauer contract off the hook. Should be enough for Arenado if he wants to play for his home team.

Betts, Turner, Freeman, Arenado, Muncy, Smith, Lux,, Vargas, Amaya. Not a bad lineup and strong defensively.

Fill out the bench with CT3, Barnes, Outman and Busch and Rios.

While Judge is probably a pipe dream and will stay with NY, how about deGrom ? I know he is injury prone with some mileage on his arm but when healty he still is the best in the game. Do not overuse him in the regular season so he is fit to go for the postseason.

A rotation consisting of deGrom, Julio, Gonsolin,May,Kershaw would be lethal. To rest deGrom we still would have Miller, Stone and Pepiot .

Bullpen arms: Treinen, Almonte, Vesia, Ferguson, Duffy, Grove, Martin and Phillipps as closer.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!

Nolan Arenado and his .152 playoff BA would fit in perfectly with this team.

Does anyone really want to see Amaya at shortstop in 2023 instead of Trea Turner?

Maybe some are concerned with the Dodgers payroll? Quick question. Why? It’s unsustainable, right? But the Dodgers didn’t seem too concerned when they signed Freeman this past spring. Or when they signed the crazy deal with Bauer. I get that some teams can’t hang with the Dodgers when it comes to high finances and all. But that is not LA’s problem.

The Dodgers should re-sign Turner. Oh yah, it will cost a whole lot of money, ridiculous amounts. But such is baseball. He actually produced with the bat. In fact, look at all the games he impacted during the season. The big hits.

But the Dodgers have the money. They are approaching $600 million in revenue. They are, again, raising ticket prices. They’ll raise them again in 2024. It’s probably already plugged into budget. Good glove or not, people want excitement. They want hits. Turner was second in hits. They want to see the slides.

Sorry, but this isn’t the game of yesteryear.

It’s high priced entertainment.

Took my daughter and two of the grandkids to a game last year and it cost a grand. That didn’t include food.

I’m paying for excitement in a game that struggles to deliver it. Ending the shift and speeding up the game will certainly help.

I always enjoy reading Mark’s thoughts, but what if the Pirates aren’t inclined to trade Reynolds? Then there is Nolan. Thought that might happen years ago, then it didn’t. Don’t expect it to happen now.

Hey, all the speculation is fun.

Keep it coming.

There are holes to fill this offseason, but the core is pretty damn good. I keep going back and forth about Belli. Other options aren’t that appealing. Sure Bryan Reynolds was solid last year, but he’s got three years of team control and the Pirates will probably want to compete for that Wild Card at some point. Are you gonna trade the farm for a 3 WAR player?

What we have.

Smith C (R)

Freeman 1B (L)

Lux 2B (L)

A big fat hole 3B

A big fat hole SS

Belli CF (L)

Betts RF (R)

A big fat hole LF

Muncy DH (R)

We have some options.

Amaya SS – Great glove, but can he hit?

Vargas 3B, 2B, LF – He didn’t hit, but probably can.

Outman, LF, CF – He hits, but K’s a lot

Busch 2B, LF – Progresses well at every level so far, but seems a little further behind than others.

Martin OF – Older version of Outman, not quite as good defensively

Left field was a black hole the entire season. JT ran out of gas at 3B in the postseason two years in a row. It’s time to move on. Trea’s a free agent. I don’t think his defense justifies the kind of contract he’ll most likely seek. If you’re gonna spend 30M+, I would rather give that money to Nolan. He’s a better fit than Trea.

Lux’s OBP of 346 is fine for the top of the order and he has the speed to go with it. With Mookie taking one of the spots up top, we’re in need for RH power to balance the lineup. Nolan’s D at 3B makes Machado look like just another dude. Nolan is that good.

Nolan is coming off a 7.9 WAR season and this is his last opt out. The Angels have Rendon and the Padres have Machado. This is his only shot at coming home. Get it done!

If we get Nolan, I really don’t care what else we do. I would be more than happy with this lineup…

Mookie RF R

Lux SS or 2B L

Freeman 1B L

Nolan 3B R

Muncy DH L

Smith C R

Belli CF L

Vargas LF R

Busch or Amaya 2B or SS L or R

We still have CT3 for Insurance and Trayce and Outman as 4th outfielders.

Get Belli a hitting coach for the offseason. Get Vargas a guy with a fungo bat for the offseason.

Any way you look at it, the offense improves over last season. Nolan is a better hitter than Trea and a better fit in the lineup. Vargas takes over one of those black hole spots in the lineup.

Thank you Mark

I approve your plan

Have a wonderful winter.

Mark –

I really enjoy LADT and genuinely appreciate your commitment to it! I join KP in wishing you continued success in all your endeavors.

As a veteran human being I have come to realize that “moving on” is one of the most important qualities to have in this crazy life! Your example is good for all of us to heed.

I agree with your moves for next year too. One is particularly difficult for me – the departure of Cody Bellinger. Since he came on the scene, I followed him as my favorite Dodger even checking the box score every day like I did as a 10 year old baseball fan! He was so talented and successful and the ceiling was so high! But, baseball is an extremely difficult sport to be successful long-term. While my heart tells me – give him one more year; my head tells me it is probably best for Cody and the Dodgers to “move on.” I wish him future success!

Playoffs are a crapshoot, it is indeed who gets hot at the right time….and we picked the worst time to play our worst 3 games of the season.

I enjoyed the season, 111 wins is unreal.

Yeah it didn’t end the way we wanted it, but you know what, we will be right back there next season….

Thanks Mark.

I hopefully people here are done losing their minds. At least Mark isn’t advocating dropping a nuke on the entire organization. I couldn’t even read the comments yesterday. They just made my head hurt. “AF is terrible! The Dodgers farm system is terrible!” Just stop, please!

Before everyone advocates burning everything down, do remember that the Dodgers were clearly the best team in baseball all year. They did win 111 games. We went over this before the playoffs even started, and I got thoroughly flamed. Winning the WS is very hard. The Dodgers were 60%/40% favorites over the Padres. That means there was a 40% chance according to the prognosticators that the Dodgers would lose. If you think about it, that’s actually quite a lot. Not quite a 50/50 coin flip, but definitely too close for the hubris that was on display here. It sucks. It’s bitterly disappointing. Shit happens. The Dodgers are still good.

“AF didn’t construct a team for the playoffs!” I don’t know what that even means. I don’t know if the pundits and commenters that write this stuff know what it means (and if the genesis of this nonsense are the likes of Plaschke and Hernandez, I’m POSITIVE they don’t know what it means). Ok, maybe the emphasis on a lot of “depth” …. “depth, depth, depth!” is more beneficial in a long marathon of a season, where injuries and slumps take their toll on any team. In the playoffs the guys you got just have to perform. We had guys (maybe a little less emphasis on the bowling, Mookie) who didn’t perform. That’s it. Sometimes it’s just that simple. There are no big answers to existential questions; no divining meaning in the chaos of short sample size playoff series.

Most of what I’ve glossed over is criticisms like this – just stuff people say. It’s reactive … and it’s not thought through. The entire Dodgers’ brain trust’s job is to think things through. That’s what they do … and they’re good at it. Putting in Heaney after Gonzo gave you just one inning was absolutely the right move, and criticisms of moves like this drive me nuts.

I mentioned yesterday Arenado would be a great fit. I think the Dodgers would pay. I think St Louis would pay, too, and Nolan may have discovered that St Louis is a pretty good organization with great fans. As much as I’d like to see it, it will be hard to pry him loose. It would also be tough to just unceremoniously dump JT like that, but no sentimentality in baseball, I guess. It would solve the defensive hole at 3rd. Muncy just needs to be the DH.

I think everyone’s sick of watching Bellinger flail away at the plate, but dumping him means you have an outfielder shortage.

And thank you, Mark, for your commitment to this site and the time and effort you’ve put into it over the years.

I really enjoy your commitment to this site and hope everything goes well for you, your family and the business. I normally agree with most of what you say but line-up with just about everything you said in this column. We are blessed to have AF and no one should forget the position we are in moving forward with a 111-win team and a productive minor league system. You are right, every other team in baseball would gladly trade places with us.

My reaction to your position analysis: Catching- right on, First- Right on, Second- Go into Spring Training with Busch knowing he has a shot, Short- Move Lux over and tell him now he is the shortstop (Go into the season with Busch/Lux and see what Amaya does and what other options open up), Third- You have Max so put him there (Turner is gone), Outfield- Belli is gone, so is Gallo/Thompson (Taylor is on the bubble-I don’t care either way)- add an impact outfielder as we don’t have one coming up- this is where we should spend money/prospects, Pitching- Sign CK and hope for health from Tony and Dustin- Add Stone- Also hope Trienan is back and healthy.

It will be a long winter, but it is always fun to get online each day and hope something exciting happens. Thanks Mark.

Another sad ending to a great regular season. I believe there’s enough blame to go around for everyone. Obviously the gallo move was just that, a move. He really didn’t improve the team at all, nor did the Alberto signing. I agree with you mark, go get Reynolds’s, and if. At all possible Arenado! I love belli but it’s time to move on. Taylor I keep at least one more year, trace Thompson I let walk and give outman the 4th outfield spot. No need. To fire doc, they will just bring in more of the same, hope Clayton comes back for 1 more! Dodger fan for 60 years, no need to change now! Go Cleveland!

Yep, a solid assessment.

I love the idea of Arenado coming home to SoCal, especially if Trea leaves and Jacob Amaya lives up to his defensive billing. Could Lux be a great 2nd baseman? I doubt it. At any rate, it would be great to have superb fielding at SS and 3B to complement Freddie’s fine glove at 1B.

Might as well cut Belli loose. Maybe Dodgers brass has given up on him too, given his diminished role against SD. I wonder who besides Reynolds might be available. Outman may strike out too much, but if he’s like Joc Pedersen with a glove, that would be fine. Trayce should still be in the mix too.

Thanks Mark, appreciate you, hope the next few months go great for you, your family and business.

It’s been another fun and interesting LADT season.

Solid assessment. Players gotta play!!