My Beef With the Dodgers
Some people think that I believe everything Andrew Friedman does is wonderful and that I worship at the Church of St. Andrew. Of course, that s not true because he is Jewish and I am not. I do happen to think he is very astute and has a plan which he executes. However, I do have one major issue with him and the Dodgers Organization. That issue is I believe they
Some people think that I believe everything Andrew Friedman does is wonderful and that I worship at the Church of St. Andrew. Of course, that’s not true because he is Jewish and I am not. I do happen to think he is very astute and has a plan which he executes. However, I do have one major issue with him and the Dodgers Organization.
That issue is I believe they stick with pitchers as starters too long… and I am not talking about “game level” but rather “career level.” Case-in-point: Brock Stewart should have been converted to a reliever three years ago. Since then he has lost 3 or 4 MPH on his fastball and has no future as a starter and now also has no future as a reliever.
Yadier Alvarez is another name that comes to mind, although he just may be a headcase, as he has been rarely seen this season. I also thought that Tony Gonsolin would make a great reliever with his gas and curve. He started out as one, and this is a guy who just might be able to be a two-way player as he can hit. I mean he can REALLY hit.
Dennis Santana is another pitcher whose stuff should play well in relief. We live in a world of video games, short attention spans, instant gratification, and ADHD. It may be that the mental skills to be a starting pitcher are more important than the physical skills. Some pitchers are more capable of long attention spans than others. Clayton Kershaw is a classic case of someone who has the mental makeup to start. The same is true with Hyun-jin Ryu. Kenta Maeda sometimes loses focus and focus is something that Walker Striker Buehler needs to find consistently.
To their credit, the Dodgers did convert Jordon Sheffield to a relief role this year, and they have Marshall Kasowski in that role as well at AA. It would seen that both are possibilities next year. The thing is, the Dodgers are looking for relief NOW.
Some pitchers can ride an adrenaline rush 9 innings while others may lose it after 1 inning. Anyone who has played any sport at a high level can testify to the existence of that rush. I’m sure the adrenaline rush played a strong role in the success a hobbled Kirk Gibson had is his only at bat in the 1988 World Series.
I bring this up right now, because the trade deadline, which is just over one day away, the Dodgers have to decide who (if any) Top Prospects they have to give up to get relief help, when the answer could be in their own system.
Everyone wants Felipe Vasquez and Dodger fans are foolishly offering up Kiebert Ruiz (because they have no idea how good he will be), when the Pirates want Lux and May. Personally, I would not give up any of those players and I have seen enough of Will D. Smith, Jeter Downs, DJ Peters and Josiah Gray (” Josiah Gray, RHP (No. 5) — 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (Double-A Tulsa) – That’s back-to-back starts without an earned run for Gray, who threw 54 of his 82 pitches for strikes and has a 1.56 ERA through 17 1/3 innings (three starts for Tulsa). The 21-year-old, whom the Dodgers acquired in the offseason Yasiel Puig trade, began the year with Class A Great Lake, where he went 1-0 over five starts, before moving up to Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, where he went 7-0 over 12 starts. Gray has a solid fastball-slider combo and has used it to amass 119 strikeouts through 108 innings this season that I would not give them up either.) I could go either way on Tony Gonsolin, and I would be down with trading Estevez, Grove, Amaya, White, both Santanas, Rios, Carrillo, Uceta, Wong and others.
It would seem to me that the Dodgers could have offered more than the Mets for Marcus Stroman, but we have no idea who the Mets targeted or how they valued the Dodgers’ prospects. Getting Stroman would have sent Maeda to the pen and I think he would excel there. I still think the Dodgers pen can be fine in the playoffs and there is no guarantee that any reliver you acquire will live up to his press clippings.
I have no idea what Friedman will do, but I do not believe he will trade any of the Top 8 or 10 Prospects. We shall wait with baited breath.
Last Night’s Game
Move on, there’s nothing to see here folks! Is the Joc Pederson experiment nearing it’s end? Maybe, I think they were “showcasing” Joc for a team who wanted to see him at 1B. I doubt they have been convinced. On August 1, Max Muncy should go to 1B and Gavin Lux should go to 2B. What do they have to lose? Tonight may mark the end of Julio Urias in the bullpen
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (146)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Negron and White in the same lineup tonight against a lefty…
Pollock
Seager
JT
Belli
White
Verdugo
Negron
Martin
Urias
Do you think this would be a good lineup?
CF Pollock
SS Seager
3B Turner
RF Bellinger
1B Abreu
2B Muncy
C Smith
LF Verdugo
P Ryu, Buehler, Kershaw, Thor
Go get Abreu, Thor and McGee from Colorado.
It doesn’t matter if Dodgers gets Vazquez or Yates or Giles or whatever, as long as Jensen is still closer …. Why not try Urias or hill as a closer? I don’t think it will make it worse!
Just FYI:
ESPN will be on 2-4:30PM EST to give the latest updates on the trade front tomorrow.
Then Morosi is more willing than most here to give up some valuable prospects for the bullpen and a WS!
I interrupted my usual boycott of sports talk radio to listen to 570, and David Vasseigh, whom I do not like very much, but who is close enough to the Dodgers to likely be right about things like trades. He said that there is no way that the Dodgers are going to give up Lux, May, or Smith. He says they might be willing to give up Ruiz. He further said that he doubts that we get Vazquez, we might get Shane Green or Iglesias. We might get a starting pitcher, with the idea being to move a starter or two to the bullpen. Maybe Syndergaard or Bauer. He is pretty sure that AF will do something tomorrow.
I don’t think that Stripling to the bullpen gets us much, he is not reliable there. Urias more so., but he is not a closer, at this stage. Vasseigh said something about Urias maybe being a good setup man for Jansen. My thought is that we need a new ace closer, if we want to win the title. Alternatively, two people who have decent closer ability, to combine with Jansen in late-inning situations, and maybe that would not upset him too much.
DODGERS RECALL RHP TONY GONSOLIN
RHP JOSH SBORZ OPTIONED TO TRIPLE-A OKLAHOMA CITY
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they have recalled right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin and optioned right-handed pitcher Josh Sborz to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Gonsolin, 25, rejoins the team for the second time this season. In his only previous action, the right-hander made his Major League debut in a start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 26. He pitched 4.0 innings, allowing six hits, six runs (four earned) with three strikeouts in a losing effort. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he has made 12 starts, posting a 1-4 record with a 4.95 ERA (20 ER/36.1 IP) and 41 strikeouts.
Sborz, 25, has appeared in two games in two stints with the Dodgers, allowing six runs on six hits in 3.0 innings of work. On the season, he is 3-3 with a 4.54 ERA (19 ER/37.2 IP) and 51 strikeouts in 34 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, including a 2-0 mark with a 2.61 ERA (3 ER/10.1 IP) and 14 strikeouts in his last 10 games
Morosi says:
Felipe Vazquez and Shane Greene are two names that the Dodgers have been linked to frequently over the past few weeks and it remains possible that the club acquires not just one, but both.
Vazquez remains one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball and is not a free agent until 2024 with team-friendly options for 2022 and 2023. Greene is having a career year and is not a free agent until 2021, so he would be in the back-end of the Dodgers’ pen next year as well.
Eric Karros on trading prospects…
“If I’m in that clubhouse, I’m saying ‘I don’t care, go get whoever’. I don’t care about minor league guys, or prospects. I played in an era in the mid-90s where we made a Pedro Martinez trade in 1993. For the next five years, we kept every prospect we had. We didn’t want to make the same mistake. Reality is, not everybody is going to pan out, and most of the guys didn’t pan out. We could’ve gotten a boatload for some of them at the time. Do I feel like it guarantees me a World Series? There are no guarantees, but it sure strengthens things. As a player, I’m ready to make the trade because I want to win now.”
For those of you who wonder, Cody got platooned last year because he hit .225 against LHP.
Joc took it to another level – he hit .170!
I can do better than that!
Mistakes are inevitable when I post from my iPhone. That “Uriah’s” guy that I talked about remaining in the pen, was, in fact, Julio Urias.
Even though I live in NY, I don’t have time to watch both the Dodgers and the Mets. Consequently I don’t watch the Mets, except when they play the Dodgers. When I kept hearing Seth Lugo I conjured up some 30 something wily veteran without much in the way of stuff. Then I checked out Lugo’s stats and it brought back to me when he first came up with the Mets a few years ago, when I remember hearing very nice stuff about him from Met fans.
I now have a completely different perspective on him, and it occurs to me that he might be more than a useful piece in the pen. I’m not endorsing him as the guy I prefer to acquire, but if the Dodgers make an offer, who am I to object. And if Uriah’s remains in the pen, maybe our pen gets significantly deeper with the addition of Lugo or his like.
And Mark isn’t wrong. Players like Ruiz don’t grow on trees. If we can keep him, and hold onto our farm system depth, it could bode well for the Dodgers going forward, including this upcoming post-season.
That said , what the Dodgers do in the next 24 hours could change my thinking completely.
Don’t tell me the reliever market isn’t heating up. Blake Parker to the Phillies, Adalberto Mejia to the Cardinals, and David Phelps to the Cubs. That is some significant bullpen movement.
I think we should trade Ruiz. After all, what value is there in a (barely) 21 year-old switch-hitting catcher already in AAA who has more walks than strikeouts? Those guys grow on trees!
I like Vazquez, but not at the cost of Lux or May. If I am AF those two are off the table. If the Pirates cannot accept that then move on. Two years ago, The Dodgers were in on Darvish, and then an hour before the deadline, talks stopped. I do not know what the hang-up was, but it was clear that Texas was asking for a player AF was not willing to trade. Then a minute before the deadline Daniels blinked and Darvish was a Dodger. This is different to a degree in that Pittsburgh does not have to trade Vazquez. But the Dodgers do not have to overpay either. There are other ways to improve the bullpen.
In addition, say AF gets Vazquez at a reasonable overpay. Then what. It is easy for us fans to say that Jansen (or Vazquez) now have to accept a lesser role. Jansen has already made it clear that he is the closer. How would he accept being a setup guy? Or how would Vazquez accept it? The Dodgers have been very careful to building a cohesive clubhouse absent of a lot of turmoil. Would there be a potential rift and sides taken if a Jansen or Vazquez choice. Secondarily, I am not as enamored with KJ since the 2017 WS, but it isn’t that he is a bad closer. He has only blown 4 saves all year. Jansen has 5th most saves with 4 blown. Chapman has 1 more save and 1 more blown save. Doolittle, Diaz, and Osuna all have 4 blown saves.
Post All Star: This is important to me as I care about how they are pitching this year, not next year or the year after. By that time, hopefully the LAD bullpen will be chock full of home-grown relievers. Hopefully how they are pitching now will carry forward into the post season.
Ian Kennedy 9 for 9 in saves
Carlos Martinez 7 for 7
Edwin Diaz 4 for 4
Mychal Givens 3 for 3
Kenley Jansen 2 for 3
Will Smith 3 for 5
Aroldis Chapman 2 for 4
Kimbrel 5 for 6
Carlos Martinez is doing it with smoke and mirrors has his post all star ERA is 6.48 with a WHIP of 2.04 and BAA .333.
Ian Kennedy has taken to relief very well, but his salary is out of line, and thus far KC says they are not willing to pay down his salary. Shane Greene has pitched well but has blown the only save opportunity he has had (not his fault he can’t get save opportunities with the worst team in baseball). But the most impressive pitcher post All Star, is Seth Lugo – 9.0 IP, no rune, 1 hit, no walks, 13K. That is where I start looking. Another former starter who is taking to relief very well and who has been particularly good post All Star is Michael Lorenzen (Reds). As has Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome’. Besides Givens, LH Paul Fry is quietly having a good year.
Seth Lugo/Michael Lorenzen/Aaron Bummer/ Alex Colome’/ Mychal Givens/Shane Greene/Edwin Diaz…Every one of those guys would improve the LAD bullpen and none would cost any of the top 5 prospects. I would even include Kennedy in the process. Start with Seth Lugo and work down. I am quite certain that AF knows every one of these guys and has either inquired or passed depending on his scouts’ observation. And knows a lot of others. AF knows the big weakness on this team is the bullpen, and he will address it without any dope-fiend moves.
I’m doing my best to not express my real feelings about Joe at first base in hope that I won’t need to and he gets traded and this experiment will come to an end. He is being a good soldier and trying to play 1st but I can’t imagine he is having any fun there. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to see, from the start, that Joc isn’t cut out for the infield. Amount other skills, he doesn’t have the feet for it. Just like Muncy last night on the ball he booted. His feet never got him in the right position to make the play. Young infielders, early on, learn footwork to get in position to field balls (and throw). It’s obvious Joc never got that. And he NEVER WILL. A-Gon was a perfect example. No foot speed or drop-dead athleticism but he knew how to use his feet and play great defense. Joc doesn’t have the skill set for the position.
For the life of me, I can’t understand all the to-do and bother caused by trying to keep this bat in the lineup while trashing the defense and all the many problems caused by that. The guy can only play against right hand pitching (only 33 AB’s versus lefties with 12 K’s) and while he’s hit 23 homers he’s hitting .236. I guess the 23 homers cancel out all the other problems this experiment has caused. Big lead or not, this is painful to watch and not the direction this team should be taking. Does anybody actually think that “showcasing” Joc at 1st, with his righty only .236 is going to entice anybody to trade for him as an infielder? Please, trade his a** or sent him back to the OF and platoon him. This experiment didn’t work.
Everyone seems to think Maeda would make a great reliever. I know he’s had some great games out of the pen but do the stats really back that up? It seems to me that he is inconsistent out of the bullpen just as he is inconsistent as a starter. Given a binary choice, maybe putting him in the bullpen is the right way to go, but maybe the better answer is to include him in a trade for a Syndergaard, Diaz or Vazquez. His contract is very affordable to whomever would get him.
Please, one of you stat geeks, let me know if I’m just imagining that Maeda isn’t as great out of the pen as everyone seems to think he is. I very much hope to be proven wrong.
AC, DC, 2D2 who are the rule 5 eligible players after this season? I ask because these are the type of players that are included in deals to add quantity and some quality. We’ve already seen Scrubb who fits the description get moved.
The current players are the ones that put the Dodgers in command of their Division. They need to add a co-closer. Madea could be that person and Hill might pitch 4 innings of relief several times in the post season several times.
A post season rotation of Kershaw, Ryu, Buehler, and Urias is very strong.
I totally would put Bellinger at first and think the injury thing there is total BS.
If one of the current players that are getting the bulk of the playing time is traded or benched, it will take wisdom and great analysis to decide which one goes. July has been unkind to a number of hitters. Verdugo had a great first half and has yet to have a strong second half and is trending down. Muncy is still a strong trade asset. Joc has stopped hitting home runs. Bellinger showed us how great, HOF great, he can be and he has showed how bad he can be.
I think we would be surprised and amazed at all the discussions Friedman has had with his FO. They have no doubt considered trades that would totally shock us.
Just a thought but, how do you get a Home Run off a left hand pitcher if you seldom if ever, bat against them?
I write here rarely basically because I don’t have the knowledge most of you have. However, the issue for me is, is it possible that if we hand some more prospects to get the right pieces, we will win now? That is, regardless of waiting another 30 or 31 years more without being champions, will you hand the prospects to get the players you need right now? Because until now, it seems to me, taking care of our prospects has not made us win the world series. What does it matter to become a team like the current Giants if we can win the WS now? Does it really matter? I don’t think so. Bring the right guys now. The beef is there.
Let me introduce a novel idea to you all about Joc Pederson. He lives and dies with the long ball but only against RHP. Joc does not have a single HR against a SLHP this season. He is batting .219 on the road. To sum this up, he is a player that cannot play everyday against most of the competition. This in itself, is causing the complications of platooning and trying to find a position for him just to hit a HR. Joc hardly hits anything else but HR’s but he’s good at drawing BB’s. Power is his game and I believe that this is one of the weaknesses that hurts our team because he is not a complete player and gums up the works to try to get a complete player who can play an OF position or1B or 2B, and hit both RHP and LHP. He is a perennial slumper who can barely get 100 hits a season! This is god-awful for a starter. What is the attraction to a player like this in the big picture? He causes us to use replacements for him and we rely on other slumpers like Kike to fill the gap. It ain’t working.
I hearby call for his head by the deadline. It’s official. Until Joc and Kike are sent packing, we will not win a WS. We need solid positional players who can hit and defend their positions. Joc and Kike are not them. Pollock needs to prove he belongs. So far, the odds are against him. The Dodgers are not where they are because of Pollock. Even Puig is a better contributor but I’m happy they traded him. The FO is a super-conservative group and i don’t believe that super-conservative FO’s who can’t field a complete team can win a WS. If they don’t win it this year, what will be the excuses that the fans will come up with? Look at the excuses of 2017-18. Have they changed?
Trade Joc for Bauer !! Trade for Jose Iglesias and Amir Garrett for Strippling and prospect ! Get Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo for prospects not named Lux, May, Peters. Get Castellanos , Abreu , or Puig for RHB. (Team does not really need but would be nice ), I know Puig wont happen but would be nice to have the wild horse back hitting a bomb in playoffs , Wont happen.. Maybe get Rojas from Miami for Infield if Iglesias cannot be had. But that is my wishlist.
I think I’ve been on the record for many years now in favor of trading top prospects for ELITE players who can help us win a title that year. Since 2016, I’ve wanted a Sale, a Hamels, a Hand, etc.
I’d never trade Seager, Buehler, Urias (and now Lux/Ruiz/May) type of prospect for a #4 starter, or a middle reliever. But for an impact guy? I’d consider it.
HOWEVER, even though I might overpay a bit, I’d never overpay a lot. Overpaying now may get us a title, but it may not. But what it does do is put every other team in MLB on notice that the Dodgers are a desperate group, and that you can make a trade with them and they will always overpay. No team will strike a fair deal with us again, because our reputation will be that of a poor, desperate negotiator.
I want Vazquez as much as anyone, and I’d include Ruiz in a deal to get him. But I won’t give up Lux. And if we give up Lux, plus others, it will haunt us going forward in any future deal we try to make (not because we don’t have Lux anymore, but because other teams will always demand the moon from us in any future deal).
Be strong Andrew. If you can’t get the Rolls Royce, go get a few Audi and Mercedes for much cheaper. Just don’t settle for the 1999 Toyota Corolla again.
If Cody goes to 1B, then Muncy either moves to 2B permanently, or plays only when there is a DH. That weakens 2nd base defensively, and also leaves no room for Lux this season.
I like Cody at 1B a lot, but that move has consequences elsewhere. And while Verdugo can easily replace Cody in RF, do we really want Muncy to be our full-time second baseman?
If everyone is done with JOC at first then we have four outfielders for 3 spots. Who sits? No way ZPollock only plays against lefties and platoons with JOC. Best for the team is to move Belli back to first and have Verdugo play rf. And if no one wants to trade any of our top prospect talent for a reliever then stop complaining about our bullpen!