My Beef With the Dodgers

If the Dodgers do not trade any of their top prospects, they will not meaningfully improve this year’s club, and they likely will fall short of the title again, because the bullpen is average at best, and the starting staff is showing holes. So then we can look forward to next year, and try again. And again.

I know that I’ve said this before. I think that Friedman is to a large extent constrained by the ownership’s agenda, which was to have gotten payroll substantially down, keep it there; do not pick up any high-end long-term contracts. They want a team full of mostly cost-controlled players, and that means keeping virtually all of the young players, and picking up odds and ends who perhaps have some upside potential. I think that this is not conducive to winning more than perhaps one very occasional title, but I also think that the ownership doesn’t care that much, as long as the teams have good years, and attendance is strong. I would like to be wrong about this, but I think the evidence supports it. So when it comes to trade deadlines, we are always passing on anyone who requires giving up top prospects, and/or is in the middle of a longer-term contract. I think that is largely why we passed on Stroman, and will pass on Vazquez.

We all like upcoming prospects. But they are just prospects. Other clubs more readily trade them. Other clubs go after big free agents in the offseason. We do not, so that means that the only way we can have big-time stars is to hope that the prospects turn into them. In our case, we’ve got Bellinger and Buehler, but then a team mostly full of lesser but versatile players. The limits of this show up. To me, the key aspect is that Friedman behaves as if his hands are tied to some extent. I don’t think Cashman’s or Dombrowski’s, or Epstein’s are, beyond the obvious, that there are some monetary limits. So I am never exactly sure what Friedman’s philosophy is, but I think that the Dodgers are more apt to hold on to players, so as to avoid having to pay for different ones. Yesterday, we saw a very comprehensive list of all the players we have picked up at the trade deadline during the Friedman years, and there wasn’t one high-end reliever in the group. Mostly, you get what you pay for, even if you are astute at occasionally finding diamonds in the rough. Keep all the prospects, and we’ll likely lose another year of our championship window. One would think that the fan base would eventually get tired of prospects rather than stars.

No use in making any plans for the remainder of the season until Thursday. We won’t know what or who we have to work with until the dust settles………..if there is any dust to settle. I think there will be but we just have to wait and see.

That said, I am done with Joc at first base and if he isn’t traded he needs to go back to the outfield. The team cannot play it’s best defense without Cody at first. There is not a more talented defensive first baseman in the league, never mind the team.

Isn’t it a lot easier to convert a pitcher from starting to relieving than the other way around?

I suspect that the Dodgers have a lot of pitchers begin their careers as starters simply to get them enough innings to develop secondary pitches. Maybe they wait too long to make the conversion, but that’s another question.

Mom,

You don’t need anywhere near the help that I do. 🙂

The end of my first paragraph above should read “Best at this stage, I think, IS for the Dodgers…. Left out the word “is”.

Also, I’m impressed with Lux’s family baseball background, and his dedication to the game.

I believe every game is important so stop with the experiment at 1B with Joc. Something that has not been brought up is Home Field Advanhttage throughout the playo AND World Series.

Right now we are nip and tuck with NYY and Astros for best record in the majors. So where would you have our team play the majority of WS games. Houston, Yankee Stadium or LA?

That’s why every game we play is important to WIN.

I also feel sorry for Joc. However, he brings some of this on himself by not being able to hit left handers. I am against platooning. Always have and always will be. Find eight players who can hit both left and right hand pitching. Put them out there and let them play every day.

I have been advocating developing relief pitchers in the minors like you develop position players and starting pitchers. Stewart should of been told after 2-3 years in the minors that his best chance to the majors is as a relief pitcher. If he balks, trade him. I can guarantee that if I was told I could maybe make it to the majors as a relief pitcher, I would be a relief pitcher the next day. They are only trying to help him. Look at Jansen and Baez. Both position players and now relief pitchers.

I think you and I have been in lock-step for a long time on the conversion of some of the #4 and #5 ceiling rotation starters into relievers. We would have had Brock Stewart into the pen had not Bums convinced AF that Brock was a good starter. Caleb Ferguson seems to be getting more comfortable in the reliever role. While even his biggest fan outside of his family loved what he saw last night, I am not ready to say Caleb has turned the corner. He is on his way to being a good Andrew Miller type reliever (any high leverage any time – multiple innings if need be). From the year after he was drafted, I was for Sheffield being converted, and he was finally convinced late last year that his path to a career in MLB was as a reliever. I know we both have believed for some time that Dennis Santana should be converted. I am not yet willing to say that Tony Gonsolin cannot be a quality starter, I would not object if he was converted to a reliever, or if he is packaged in a trade for a difference maker. It is way too early to make any assessment of Michael Grove, but I would not object him moving into the bullpen.

Dustin May and Josiah Gray are the top two starters in the organization, and are both #2 or #3 level starters. Maybe John Rooney and Edwin Uceta. Andre Jackson is 23 and in High A pitching well. He has two plus pitches (fastball/change) which screams reliever. I would give him another year to fully develop the curve or slider before I would convert him, but he is getting close to that age that he could become another Brock Stewart.

Two of this year’s draft picks are getting to start, but I believe that they will end up as relievers…Ryan Pepiot and Jack Little. Logan Boyer, Mitchell Tyranski, Braydyn Fink and Jeff Belge are all relievers that I believe have a shot at ML. I am looking forward to seeing Jimmy Lewis pitch. And I am hopeful that Braydon Fisher can come back.

I have supported the Joc experiment at 1B. And honestly, I don’t think it has done irreparable harm to Joc or the Dodgers. However, given that it’s apparently taking Joc longer to adjust to 1B than was probably expected, and that the experiment is not likely to help the Dodgers going forward this season, I am actually in favor of putting an end to it for the remainder of the season, since it’s one of the elements in the Dodgers’ breakdown in defense recently. Best at this stage, I think, for the Dodgers to return to what was working before the experiment, and start preparing this team for the post-season, especially since I think it will take some time for the Dodgers to re-acclimate themselves defensively.

I tend to think that in spite of what AF said about the Lux, that it is possible that he might get the call before September. I don’t watch Lux play everyday like some people here, but I have seen enough highlights to convince me that he would be successful if called up. And I say that even though I don’t generally trust highlights to inform me about a player, since highlights only show a player at his best. But it seemed from what I’ve seen, that Lux has superior bat control. I can’t speak to his defense at 2B, but I trust that the Dodgers’ braintrust has a handle on that. And I simply trust Muncy at lot more at 1B than at 2B, although for the most part I don’t believe he has been atrocious at the latter position this season.

And this is not criticism, but Mom, I imagine that you didn’t look up the Dodgers record at Coors this year. Prior to this series they were 5-2 at Coors. That included a sweep of a 3-game series in April, and a split of a 4-game series in June.

I would definitely like for the Dodgers to latch on to a dominant arm for the bullpen, but honestly, I would be speaking from ignorance about who the Dodgers should give up in a deal. Even without seeing much of them, I tend to think that Lux and Dustin May are off limits, and maybe the same can be said of Ruiz. In the case of Ruiz, we do have Will Smith. However, as good as he has looked, Smith is no sure thing, and it wouldn’t hurt to keep both catchers, to give the Dodgers a superior duo going forward.

Maybe I’m not paying enough attention to the Mets farm system, but I agree with Mark, I think the Dodgers could have offered a much better package for Stroman. Maybe they didn’t believe he’d make a difference and the focus is strictly on the bullpen. I expect the Dodgers to pick up multiple relievers. I don’t see Friedman tossing Lux or May into any deal. Maybe the Pirates are motivated to trade Vasquez because they not only like Ruiz, but need him since the system has a catching issue. We’ll all find out tomorrow. Then there is Joc and first base. That isn’t working.

What’s up with all the circus music playing last night? I can’t get it out of my head.

I’m with you Rudy, they’re really messing with Joc and everyone else on the team by keeping Joc at 1B. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Turner’s throw hit him in the glove and cam out. Then the grounder he deflected to Muncy. This isn’t working and there’s no reason to continue this experiment.

Is today the day? I can’t believe how slow this deadline is.

Me too Rudy.

Not a fan of Joc, but the FO is really screwing around with his career by playing him at 1st. Put him back in LF where he is comfortable or trade him to a team that will utilize his defense better. I feel sorry for the guy.

We have to learn to win at Coors, and I think we will today, I hope.

Lux isn’t being called up until September. Hernandez will be back sooner than later and we haveNegron to spell Seager in the interim. This FO does move players up until they’ve established themselves both physically and psychologically.

Pederson playing 1st allows 4 outfielders play when only3 positions are available. Are several players out of position, without a doubt. But as long as Bellinger is in right we have to live with it. In the meantime All for get to stay current If there lead dropped below 10 games I see the experiment ending. Otherwise for better or worse we have what we have until post season

We have to learn how to win at Coors and I think we can, starting today I hope.

Agree. Call up Lux now. Joc experiment a failure unless we trade him elsewhere. Also defense better with Muncy at first instead of 2nd