To begin with, I totally understand how much the Dodgers wanted to draft Mike Sirota. He was projected to be a first-round draft pick ahead of the 2024 Draft… some services even had him in the Top 10. However, he took a huge backward step in 2024 for various reasons. Frankly, he scared many organizations off… including the Dodgers, as he looked totally out of sync. I have watched Mike Sirota close to a dozen times this year, and he employs a crouched and wide stance at the plate without many moving parts and fires quick hands through the hit zone. Frankly, I am convinced that the Dodgers stole him from the Reds, as the Reds most likely sold him based on his poor showing in 2024.
He is a different player this year, and he was just promoted from Rancho Cucamonga to Great Lakes. Understand this: He has great defense, speed, and a great arm to go with his bat. Sirota led off and played LF in his first game with the Loons. He was only 3-3 with a walk to cap it off. He chewed up Low-A, and he was smoking hot in his first game at High-A. In a couple of months (if he keeps this up), he will be in Tulsa. Quick: Who was the last player who started at Low A, moved through every minor league stop (A, AA, and AAA), and finished the season in LA? I’ll tell you later!
The last two guys about whom I was this excited were Seager and Bellinger! Yeah, I liked Miguel Vargas, but not like Sirota! I will say this: Mike Sirota will be the Dodgers Centerfielder for ten years starting in 2026 or 2027!
LAST NIGHT’S GAME
Well, that was a close one. Three straight Grand Slams and we would have won! I turned it off and speed-watched this morning. After vomiting, I feel better. It was a good night as the Indiana Pacers again made it to the NBA finals. This coming Saturday will mark Clayton Kershaw’s return to the rotation. The rotation will look something like this:
- Yamamoto
- Gonsolin
- May
- Kershaw
- Knack
With Sasaki, Snell, Glasnow, and Sheehan on the IL, but expected to return sometime. Nick Frasso is also a possibility. I pray that J.P. Feyereisen goes away… soon! I am not going to talk about why (at least right now) the Dodgers have so many injuries, but it is very concerning. Maybe Mark Prior is teaching his style of pitching to the team? You know – Pitch great for a year or two, and then your arm falls off! That’s what it appears.
PETE ROSE
So, Rob Manfred made the right decision (with some prodding from Donald Trump) to allow Pete Rose and others who had been banned from baseball to have a path to the Hall of Fame. I think it’s only right if they are part of the fabric of baseball, and especially in Pete Rose’s case, who was banned for what he did as a manager, not as a player. His plaque can say that. It will also say “Charley Hustle” who played the game right between the lines. I just am not convinced that the bigoted sportswriters will do the right thing. Some are so self-righteous! Baseball writers are some of the most judgmental and dumb people I have ever met. Mental Midgets and Morons!
DODGER NEWS AND NOTES
- Bob Nightengale has reported that the Dodgers will be all in if Kyle Tucker hits the open market. Well, Duhhhh, even Ray Charles can see that.
- Clayton Kershaw will allegedly start Saturday against the Angels.
- Will Smith is hitting .330 – he always fades in the second half. What if he platooned with Dalton Rushing?
Discussion (26)
Disagree, not disagreeable
good to see Max run into one! He needs to produce! …. I’m getting anxious! what happens when Teo and Edman return?? Will they actually send Kim back down? i’m of the opinion that Taylor could be in jeopardy of being released. This could get very interesting! Does Kim make them better than Taylor does? … i feel bad for James. He wants to be a dodger so bad! Maybe a place like tampa bay? somewhere else, less pressure. I’m pulling for him, though it probably won’t be in LA. … Dalton time tonight!! Can’t wait to see him in Dodger blue! …. Conforto continues to hit the ball hard! it’s coming! … Pages? WOW! i’m sorry i ever doubted him! …. Yamamoto? hung a curve, move on. …. Kim? i say he stays! ( not my call))…… Last thing. i have often wanted Austin Barnes gone in the past. But yesterday i felt an empty feeling when i saw the news he had been released. He was frustrating at the plate most of the time. He never had a strong throwing arm. He didn’t show much emotion even when he did something good. But he was and always will be a Dodger. i hope he retires and stays in the dodger organization. good luck Barnsie!!
How bout Mookie last night after that 2B when they walked Shohei!!
He took that personally!
Snell (shoulder) played catch from 60 feet out Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports
“Some shoulder discomfort prevented Snell from beginning his throwing program over the weekend as originally planned, but he now has the green light from a doctor to begin playing catch. A better idea of when the 32-year-old will return to the mound for Los Angeles might emerge as he progresses further in his rehab, but he seems to be at least several weeks away”.
maybe max will be next? looks awful at the plate. almost as bad ss outman!
Wow.
Did not see this coming… even though Rushing is definitely ready and Barnes is officially over the hill. (I guess the abiding affection for “the captain” just made it seem unlikely.)
All considered, a great, exciting “win now” move. Suddenly, the Dodgers roster is about 10 years younger–and maybe 10 HRs more potent.
Rushing, it seems, could pick up about a 1/3rd of the starts at catcher and also be a weapon off the bench. He could also see action at 1B if Freddie can’t play.
Interesting thought that the Padres might be interested in Barnes. Let’s add the D’backs and Giants to that speculation. The NL West is a four-sided war.
Another possibility, perhaps, is that Barnes does not get an offer that entices him–and he joins the Dodgers coaching staff, perhaps as a roving instructor.
Or maybe that’s the job he takes next season.
What happens if the SD whores take Barnes? Just to piss off the Dodgers, or just because they think Barnes will give them information about Dodger pitchers? I don’t know.
Very unlikely, but possible?
10:10 PM ET
Athletics (22-20)
Dodgers (27-15)
SP Gunnar Hoglund R
1-0 2.38 ERA
SP Y. Yamamoto R
4-3 1.80 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
RF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
CF James Outman L
2B Hyeseong Kim L
66° Wind 13 mph Out
The DFAing of Barnes sends a clear message to players NOT producing,that you cold be next.
They say that they start to get the measure of a team around the 25% mark. They have played 42 game and so they are starting to see where they can improve. Rushing up because he’s an upgrade over Barnes. So Rojas, Taylor, Muncy – they aren’t going anywhere unless the Dodgers have an upgrade on the roster. At this point, it’s not clear that they do. Maybe they trade for an upgrade at the deadline.
i believe taylor is next. just my opinion. I said the other day day barnsie’s throws to second base were awful. maybe that was the final straw. hopefully he accepts a job with the dodgers staff. i believe he has a lot to offer as a coach.
I am sure that this was not a shock to Barnes. The Dodgers have likely talked to him about this for a while and maybe even offered him a job if he would retire. The fact that he was DFA’ed indicates that maybe he is not done yet. That’s OK, he will still always be a Dodger.
If this can happen… and it just did, what’s to stop the Dodgers from DFA ing Taylor or Rojas? Muncy is a different story… but when does the Alex Freeland era start? I think Freeland has to get his BA up over .300 – he’s at .276 with a .378 OB%, but his OPS is .799. Rushings was .938, but Freeland has 29 RBI’s to Rushings’ 17.
If Freeland can keep improving, I look for him by July!
The Dodger youth movement has begun.
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
Will Smith/Dalton Rushing catching combo era has begun.
Rushing has crushed pitching in minors and has thrown out 28% base stealers this season in Triple-A.
If they are in fact DFA Barnes,which one of the three is next ,Taylor,Rojas or Muncy?Remember their payroll is almost 400 million and they are all in it to win the World Series.Any one of the three salaries mentioned is meaningless in the skeme of things.
A great move with a left handed bat with Rushing off the bench with power when Smith catches.
I wonder if Kershaw’s major endorsement of Rushing when he pitched to him in his rehab game the other day had any effect on Andrew’s ultimate decision?
i expect barnes to go nowhere. probably becomes a coach
Wowsers!
It is a business. Platoon or Semi-Patoon Smith and Rushing!
Wow they DFA’d Barnes. Didn’t think they had it in them to do that…..but I LOVE THIS.
rushing coming up!
Turned the game off when they went down 6-1. Reruns of NCIS more entertaining than that. Miller is a lost cause and should be dealt, soon. AF might not be able to stick to his desire to not make a major trade at the deadline. His pitching staff is in disarray. Glad to see Kersh coming back. Just 32 Ks short of 3000 for his career. Would be the first career Dodger pitcher ever to reach that plateau. They should also trade Ryan Ward and give him a shot with another organization. Wilson was impressive at the plate; his dad is former MLB player Jack Wilson.
not getting carried away, but the build, speed , arm, power? hey , doesn’t hurt to dream! Sirota in center, Pages in right, Depaula in left? Fleeman at shortstop. Dalton catching. Will at 3rd. Mookie at second. who’s on first? just looking ahead!
Pete deserved his lifetime ban ….. and he served it. He belongs in the Hall now for his on-field accomplishments but he got the “death sentence” from MLB because he knew gambling was absolutely verboten. He had known it from his earliest days in the minors and it is posted in every MLB clubhouse he was ever in.
– He lied he didn’t gamble
– Then admitted he did but never on baseball
– Later admitted he did on baseball but never on his own team
– Then admitted he did bet on his own team but never to lose.
I truly feel that if he’d lived longer he’d have admitted he did bet on them to lose but would have said he never did anything to cause them to lose.
Pete destroyed his own legacy and had no one to blame but himself. Truly tragic.
As for Shoeless Joe, he was never convicted of anything! In fact he was acquitted and Commissioner Landis gave him the baseball “death sentence” anyway. He hit .375 in the 1919 World Series, hit the only homerun and made no errors. Gross injustice that he wasn’t removed from the ineligible list decades ago.
The 3-point arc has changed the culture of the game so much. Perhaps too much.
Frankly, I think it took too long for players and coaches to realize that the 50% extra payoff beyond the arc was such a good deal.
Now it seems like everybody just launches from long-range now–and the quality of the shooting has improved because everybody logs the 10,000 hours practicing from long-range. There are 7-footers who shoot like Reggie Miller.
Imagine what Jerry West could have done with a 3-point line. A 6-11 gym rat like Bill Walton would have developed the weapon.
Maybe a lot of fans like the bombs-away game, but I know some people have been turned off. The game evolves. Remember how physical the game used to be with guys like Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman and Maurice Lucas? I credit, or blame, the Europeans for bringing both soccer-style flops into the game. Vlade Divac was a master.
Would the league consider shrinking the size of the rim to make shooting harder?
Or how about a fractional scoring?
Instead of a 3-point shot, maybe 2.5 points?
Tuesday scores
Oklahoma City 8, Round Rock 5
Northwest Arkansas 10, Tulsa 8
Great Lakes 3, Lake County 1
Rancho Cucamonga 25, Inland Empire 8
ACL Brewers 15, ACL Dodgers 2
Wednesday schedule
Northwest Arkansas (Ben Kudrna) at Tulsa (Jared Karros), 9:00 AM PST
Lake County (Josh Hartle) at Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell), 3:05 PM PST
Oklahoma City (Justin Jarvis) at Round Rock (Adrian Houser), 5:05 PM PST
Inland Empire (Yeferson Vargas) at Rancho Cucamonga (Sterling Patick), 6:30 PM PST
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
could the dodgers have found the next best thing to a young mike trout? not saying he will be trout, but he sure could be special. …. Knack got knocked by jacob wilson! i like Knack, but don’t see him as a part of the big picture. .. where’s Honeywell? he’s better than garcia and jp put together! .. another ex tampa bay pitcher resurrected ! … I said a few days ago that conforto would get his stroke back. 3 more hits last night. hitting the ball hard! .. now’s the time for Max to start producing. i believe the clock is about to start ticking! … Excited for Clayton to pitch saturday!! no matter the result, it’ll be so good to see him back on the mound! …. Rojas will be a big league manager someday! …. Teo maybe back Saturday. That’s great news! Tommy Edman feeling much better too! Both are vital to the dodgers success! …. Hopefully the boys in blue get back on track tonight! The A’S are a young, hungry bunch!
NBA finals? Getting ahead of yourself?