Mixed Emotions

Disappointed to wake up this morning to find that we haven’t signed anyone to a record breaking contract.

AF needs to step it up

Another homer for the Duke. Very well put on your last paragraph. Some of those prospects most definitely are hoping for a trade.

I’m also a fan of Luzardo and Clase, depending upon the prospects we would need to give up to get them, but hey, a lot of those prospects would probably be happy to be dealt.

Mark writes: “Rather than make a big trade that costs prospects (player collateral), I would sign Shōta Imanaga and be done. Of course, the teams who lost out to Yamamoto will likely bid up Imanaga’s market, so that may not be easy! ”

Dodgers have been bullying the market with the checkbook. How about some finesse in employing the prospect capital for a win-win deal?

The Dodgers may pursue Imanaga, but I’d prefer a trade for a lefty. Luzardo is a better target than Imanaga, with 3 years of team control. He’s younger and would draw a lower salary. He’s a power lefty with ace potential, not the proverbial crafty southpaw providing a different look in the middle of the rotation.

I also like the report of the Dodgers targeting Clase for the bullpen.

Does anyone think Dodger prospects want to be hoarded? Saying it out loud would be poor form, but I suspect several would welcome trades to teams that provide a faster path to the majors. Busch might be a bit envious of Johnny DeLuca.

With lots of prospect-capital still available, and also too many “unknowns” remaining for this team,.. I’ll call it now.

For those advocating the Dodgers should now stand pat and see what the season brings…

Y’all will be sorely disappointed because I’d bet the house the front office will make at least one more move this off season–whether a signing or trade–that will significantly change the make-up of this team.

Most of the stuff you write is intelligent.

Did someone hijack your password?

It’s like blaming a bad meal on the waiter.

A billion dollar lineup and a two bit manager.

But seriously is it a win it all or go home year for Doc?

With our super team now established, Is it too early to call for Robert’s firing when we lose our first game?

Blind Joe, you da man! Nice to see someone put a size 10 boot up Bluto’s azz! 🙂

VIVA AZUL!!!

If you need anything to make you feel even better about the Dodgers, I encourage you to listen to the Baseball America podcast where they just wax rhapsodic about the farm system:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baseball-america/id201539011?i=1000639482391

If Vargas doesn’t produce then go for LF bat at the deadline. And I still say Lux’s bat will be mid 800’s OPS. He’s a star

I got off of X permanently today. There were dozens of posts on the Dodger stream from people blaming Israel for the problems in Gaza. I get enough of that crap from the TV news. I do not need it on a baseball stream too.

Exciting times…

But do the Dodgers clearly now have the best lineup in baseball?

One of the best, certainly. But the Braves are still beastly and the Rangers haven’t taken a step backward.

No need for a big deal now, but I don’t think we should be surprised either.

Perhaps the Marlins could be enticed to deal Luzardo as the rotation’s southpaw. (I’d rather deal for Luzardo than sign Imanaga. )

My lineup card:

Mookie 2B

Freddie 1B

Shohei DH

Smith C

Max 3B

Heyward/Margot RF

Outman CF

Vargas LF

Lux SS

Will a trade happen before Yamamota officially signs or who gets DFA’d to clear a spot on the 40 man roster? My guess is Bryan Hudson DFA’d as a possibility if a trade doesn’t happen first.

I am very interested in seeing what Vargas can do when healthy.

My head is still spinning from the last week or two. I guess ownership had a plan all along. If they were going to go “dope fiend” they’d do it their own way.

I don’t see the Dodgers making any big trades, at this point.

Taking a step back for a 40,000 foot view:

The Dodgers have the most dangerous lineup in baseball. And it’s not even close.

Betts

Ohtani

Freddie

Smith

Muncy

Lux

Outman and the platoon gang

3 MVPs and 6 players in the lineup that have 30-40+ HR power.

Whatever wholes people see are more like a pin prick in Hoover damn.

Our rotation is pretty solid with lots of depth. If Glasnow is 100%, as many are saying, it’s a killer rotation. Even if Walker doesn’t return to his old form.

Our farm system is still loaded. The Dodgers managed to vastly improve the team for 24 and beyond and only lost one good prospect in the process. The Dodgers system is still ranked in the top 10 on many lists. Largely because Miller, Vargas and Outman graduated in 23. The system is still in a position to produce MLB players for years to come.

I think the Dodgers are pretty much done making any substantial moves this off-season. I think they’ve done enough!

If we do trade any prospects I think it will be at the deadline to fill any holes that injuries might create.

The Dodgers are all in. 100% win now mode. While still being in win long term mode. That is not something you see very often. Let just hope all these new assets stay healthy.

Still need a closer. I like Phillips, but he is not a lock down type pitcher. Hader is out of the equation, Clase makes a lot of sense.

like Benetendi, but another left handed outfielder? need a right handed hitter. too lefty lineup. but if not for that , Benetendi is a good ball player! Robett? heck yeah!

Details of the contract are beginning to surface. There are opt outs after 29 and 31. Much of the money is backloaded. I too saw the chatter about Clase. Marisnick signs a minor league deal with the Angels. Angels targeting Blake Snell.

I’m personally not a massive fan of all the platoons we use, particularly in the Outfield, but can see the advantages of it.

However I think it’s safe to say that our Outfield mix is potentially the weakest part of our roster currently.

A small trade that might improve things could be with the CWS for Left Fielder Andrew Benintendi. A Gold Glover, with good on base skills, good base running stats and a reasonable contract for 4 more seasons at a good age of 29.

The Sox are definitely in a tear down and couldn’t be keen to get out from under his salary. A former 1st round draft pick in 16 (we like them), I think he’d act as a nice Table Setter, either hitting 9th, or possibly between Shohei and Freddie.

Mookie 2B

Sho DH

Benintendi LF

Freddie 1B

Max 3B

Will C

Outman CF

Heyward RF

Lux SS

The only negative for me is he’s a lefty

Maybe could be included in a Cease deal?

wow! i guess im happy. overall i think it’s great for dodgers, but i dont know how good it is for the game as a whole. now lots of small market teams are screaming its not fair. a lot of these teams aren’t competitive because of owners who won’t spend. the baltimore orioles have a hell of a team, and an owner who doesn’t want to spend. and make it a top tier team . the game is healthy ! and just because the dodgers spent a billion dollars, don’t guarantee them squat! i still believe the braves top to bottom have the best lineup in baseball as i write this. and if they add a cease or burnes, they are right there with any rotation in baseball! and then there’s the giants! nobody will take their money, enough said. san diego? all their superstars didn’t add up to jack sh-t ! if george steinbrenner were alive, he would not have been outbid by anyone! big money didn’t work for the mets did it? cubs fired their manager and haven’t improved on a team that didn’t make the playoffs! as i said the other day, the guy hasn’t thrown a single pitch in mlb, so we’ll see. now of course i want the dodgers to win! if they don’t win it all, they will be labeled as choke artists. if they do win it , money ball screams all across baseball! that outfield is lacking, no matter what the experts say! i would like a good every day left fielder. if not, dump rojas and dign Whitt Merrifield. Taylor can play all over, so can Merrifield. i’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers that they aren’t done improving that roster.

I know that won’t happen, but could one more season with Julio Irías (to reestablish his name and image) be possible? I understand that for now, Dodgers or any of you don’t even want to hear his name, but he will be back some day, and it is better to have him for you than against you.

6-man rotation? That’s assuming there will be 6 pitchers available.

6-man rotation? That’s assuming there will be 6 healthy pitchers.

6-man rotation? That’s assuming they’ll be good enough to at least pitch 5 innings.

And when there is a day off, it will be practically a week since the last call to the mound, it will be difficult to get into the rhythm.

But hopefully this is the case and the Dodgers have a good enough lineup to score enough runs and win, it’s good that they have a good closer…

By the way, who will be the closer?

I completely forgot his name

First of all, the Alaska acquisition was done before oil was discovered.

Second, the only reason the Louisiana Purchase was cheap was because of a little domestic issue called The French Revolution extending to Haiti.

Thirdly, Animal Farm is an allegory about political utopias and Socialism. Not Social Darwinism. Perhaps you meant Huxley or Sinclair?

You must be a joy at parties….

Seeing some chatter that Dodgers are talking with Guardians about Emmanual Clase.

Is a new dress code mandatory at the ravine? Looks like any seat will be out my range going forward. I’m beyond shocked.

What does a Busch/Vargas platoon OPS look like in LF next year? Much rather see them than Taylor.

I do not see Clayton helping much in 2024 and I do no see him in 2025 at all.

couple of those prospects should be used to bring in Luzardo or a big RH bat for LF.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do the Dodgers need Yamamoto? They probably don’t, but man, it does make things a lot easier. There are very few sure bets when it comes to signing players, especially pitchers, but Yamamoto is about as close as you can get. He’s young and just really beginning his career, which makes him a better long-term value than Cole or Verlander or deGrom. He might not have that ceiling, but he’ll be a reliable fixture in the rotation for the next several years, and and mitigates some uncertainty anxiety around Buehler’s and Ohtani’s effectiveness after arm surgery, Glasnow’s fragility and age, Miller’s unrealized potential, Kershaw’s pending retirement, and the question marks around May, Gonsolin, Sheehan, etc.

The only thing that gives me pause is his size. He’s like 175 and reaches the high 90s with his fastball. I heard someone make a comparison to Tim Lincecum and cringed a little.

Still, I read comments here about going after Burnes. LOL! Give it a rest, already.

The dilemma next year is what to do with all of these pitchers?

Ohtani

Yamamoto

Glasnow

Buehler

Kershaw

Miller

May

Gonsolin

Sheehan

Stone

Knack

Frasso

etc.

I think they let Buehler walk.

Everyone hates us now. Perhaps this spending was all a smokescreen so now we can bring Bauer back!

As someone who has been vocal in expressing my disappointment in what I saw as the Dodgers’ general unwillingness to step up and go all-in to win titles, I am very excited about the signings of Ohtanii and Yamamoto, particularly the latter, which was the extra step the Dodgers usually didn’t, or couldn’t (in the case of Cole)) take.

Maj;pr League Baseball is simply not the game I grew up with, but if you want to win big, you have to adapt to the times. The Dodgers were pretty much inept in Brooklyn, until Larry Macphail took over, and then hired Branch Rickey. Rickey built the farm system, and hired and taught some of the best baseball minds around. Bavasi, Thompson. Campanis, Wade. The Yankees had more money, but the Dodgers had the baseball brains.

This kept the Dodgers on top of the National League for much of two decades. But over time, people left, other franchises got smarter and more dedicated. The Dodgers had many winning seasons, but the Braves dominated the regular seasons in the ’90’s, and the Red Sox built a powerhouse, as did the Astros, cheating as well.

The Dodgers had a very bad and greedy owner. He was replaced by very smart business people who earned record profits, but won only one title, in a 60-game regular season. It looked to me as if this would continue; the Dodgers having very good regular seasons, failing in the playoffs;; cleanest stadium, promotions, etc. but mostly pomp and show.

Somehow, that changed in a few weeks. Ohtani one could have expected, he will make the ownership a fortune. But to then obtain Yamamoto, going against financial powerhouse teams, is remarkable. Everything I read about Yamamoto is that he can be a great pitcher, which was desperately needed if the Dodgers were going to try to win multiple titles.

Of course there is no guarantee; there are many other franchises which use the same metrics, and will spend big. But the Dodgers are major players now, maybe top of the line. We still have some holes, but now we see a determination to fill them, and that we are going to really try to win titles. Of course the ownership will make a lot of money, that was always the goal. But now, at least for now, the Dodgers are determined to win titles, which is all one has wanted out of this storied franchise.

This probably goes without saying, but I’m taking after some of the new posters here.

There is a real Sliding Doors moment here with Urias’ domestic abuse situation and the May/Gonsolin injuries.

I doubt we would see the Dodgers as aggressive if 2/3 of the above didn’t happen.

But, still Ohtani.

If you had written that a few months ago, Mark, everyone would have thought you were definitely crazy. Poor Mark went off the rails and the crash wasn’t pretty. Now you’re simply sitting here trying to wrap your mind around what just happened and how quickly it took place.

I’m not surprised about signing Ohtani, the Dodgers were preparing to land him, then focused on the opportunities offered on the international market to gain new revenue streams through sponsorships and advertising. It’s an incredibly rich market, the Angels had only scratched the surface.

Only Shohei makes that possible because he is a true international star and attraction. But he’s also very astute and when he proposed how his deal would be structured, it opened the door to endless possibilities for the Dodgers. No other team could take full advantage of all this. First the team is iconic and SoCal is the gateway to Asia and Japan.

They are now the biggest financial power in baseball and worth far more than the Yankees or anyone else.

Not only can they pay Ohtani’s contract and the money they need to set aside through sponsorships and advertising annually, but they can invest that money into the investment market and end up making as much as a $1.5 billion beyond the $680 million investment over the next 10 years.

Oh, and it’s not just international companies wanting to join the the sponsorship and advertising train, but American companies doing business in Japan. Who knows knows more about all this than Mark Walter and Guggenheim.

This places the Dodgers on another level. As several baseball writers, sports finance experts and insiders have pointed out the Dodgers are now the financial kings of the game, reaching an unprecedented level that no one thought possible a few weeks ago.

True to their word, the Dodgers immediately made a trade and signed a really good pitcher in Glasnow. If he’s healthy and I think he’s passed the stage where he was having repeated issues due to an unidentified or untreated physical problem.

Now they’ve invested in the best Japanese pitcher from Japan, who is both young and dominant.

The making of a super team. Will the Dodgers continue to add. Maybe here and there, but why waste prospects on Burnes, a one and done, pitcher. He has openly said he’s wants to be a free agent.

Maybe they explore a Cease deal or maybe not. Perhaps they could use a right handed hitter. But this is a pretty good team as it now stands. Likely Kershaw returns at some point this summer.

Of course, the howls of anguish will come. Baseball needs a salary cap. Funny, no one seemed overly concerned when the Braves, the DBacks and and the Rays made it to the big stage. Other than cheating no one is concerned about the Astros becoming the next version of the old Yankees.

In fact the biggest concern has been the division winners not making it the World Series, many thinking it had to do about layoffs and the current playoff format.

But the Dodgers have reached a whole new level of scary for the rest of baseball. Not only can they match the Steve Cohen’s dollars, but they are proving to be a much more desirable location than New York. The Yankees status not enough to sway Yamamoto.

The biggest stage in baseball is in LA. Think of what it feels like to be a Giants fan today. Farhan Zaidi might have to lead the Giants in another direction since not many high profile players seem interested in San Francisco.

Is this good for baseball? Absolutely. Baseball fans need some team to root against. That was the Yankees of yesteryear. They even got their own Broadway play and movie, Damn Yankees.

Shohei Ohtani is the new face of the game and the already highly successful Dodgers are on the verge of becoming a super team. Merry Christmas, Dodgers fans.

Anxious to see how he pitches with MLB baseballs compared to the “stickier” ball used in Japan. I would think that he’s used them before, maybe in the WBC?

I would like to see a 6 man rotation to save some arms. Buehler, Yamamoto and Kershaw, I hope, need extra rest. We are forgetting Grove. Let Grove, Sheehan, Stone or whoever fight it out for the 5-6 spots.

The Dodgers better go far in the playoffs or Roberts can kiss his rear good bye.

Let Busch and Vargas fight it out for LF or platoon. I am ready for ST.

Yamamoto was the #1 PRIZE all along, not Ohtani. Good pitching beats good hitting in the playoffs and we don’t know if Ohtani will pitch at the level he did before. With that said, the Dodgers needed both of them and I’m glad the Dodgers got both of them.

Now, it’s time to let the homegrown pitching have their chance. If the Dodgers are planning on going with a 6 man rotation, then go get Imanaga. Do not trade the homegrown pitching for another starting pitcher.

I think it would benefit the Dodgers to go with a 6 man starting rotation for 3 reasons.

1) Less wear and tear on Glasnow and Buehler.

2) Imanaga will be an insurance policy for the playoffs if something happens to 1 of the 2 pitchers above.

3) It will still allow Miller and Sheehan to be in the starting rotation.

Give Gavin Stone the #5 job.

Shelby Miller is signing with the Tigers.

Who will be the opening day pitcher ?

Miller or Yamamoto ?

IMHO Miller deserves it because he stepped up big time last season when the Dodgers needed him most after all those other starters went down with the injury bug.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still feel a big trade is coming. We have too much young depth of talent for everyone to play. Package 3-4 good young prospects for one star player. Wouldn’t Robert jr look good in CF and batting 4th!

Given Ohtani’s contract deferrals, it seemed the Dodgers needed to sign Yamamoto as a sign of good faith. Glad to see the Dodgers didn’t miss out.

WOW!!!!!! Now those are some pretty nice Christmas presents under our Dodger tree!!!!

100%. There is ZERO need to go idiotic and trade a bunch of young, cheap, talented assets for 1 year of Burnes and/or Adames.

My pick to click and grab that #5 job and stay in the rotation for the next 10 years is Emmet Sheehan.

We have until July to figure out if we need another arm, another SS, or an outfield bat who is actually allowed to play every day.

For now, let’s celebrate the fact that our team is trying super hard to get us a championship (or 4)