Not Beaten – Humiliated!
I will start this diatribe by saying that this epic fail will possibly cost Dave Roberts his job, but that is not the biggest part of the problem. The bigger problem lies in the office of Andrew Friedman. He is the President of Baseball Operations, and the buck stops with him. I…
I will start this diatribe by saying that this epic fail will possibly cost Dave Roberts his job, but that is not the biggest part of the problem. The bigger problem lies in the office of Andrew Friedman. He is the President of Baseball Operations, and the buck stops with him. I have been a champion of Andrew since he was hired. I have defended him against many assaults on his methods by numerous fans. Andrew Friedman has built a juggernaut and what may be the best farm system in baseball. I am not calling for his firing, but I am calling for change. It’s time… actually, past time.
My son texted me at the end of the game:
“I’m just glad Vin Scully didn’t have to see this crap.”
This is the worst loss in Dodger Baseball History! There is no way to sugar-coat this. This is a train wreck! It appears that this team thought they were so great because all season long, they were told just that, that all they had to do was show up and sleepwalk through the playoffs. I am not going to dwell on this epic disaster. Bill Plaschke said it well. This is the worst loss in Dodger history, but it doesn’t surprise us. We have all seen the Dodgers go into Pittsburgh and get swept by the terrible Pirates. It seems like they all hit, or nobody hits. It seems like they have a series of games where nothing works, and hitting with RISP is the most difficult thing.
I am not about rehashing blame or pointing the finger at every epic failure in the process. I am about finding solutions. A great man once said, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” So, I am going to address what the problems are and focus on the solutions. It will be up to Andrew Friedman to execute.
The Hitting Coaches
Robert Van Scoyoc has been the head hitting coach for the past four years, and Brandt Brown and Aaron Bates have been his assistants. During that time, the Dodgers have been at or near the top of the league in hitting. The Dodgers led all of baseball in 2022 with RISP with a batting average of .272. This postseason it was .147! Same Players – Different Result. It’s not easy to figure out why that is, but it is! Andrew Friedman is going to have to take a long hard look at the hitting coaches and decide if they bear a degree of responsibility in this humiliation.
Struggling Hitters
Max Muncy struggled most of the regular season but was one of the better hitters in the playoffs. However, he frequently failed to drive in runners. Chris Taylor had seven at-bats in the playoffs and struck out in five of them. Cody Bellinger had seven at-bats and struck out in four of them. Trayce Thompson had thirteen at-bats and struck out seven times. Justin Turner looked helpless, and Joey Gallo was not even called upon to hit. The biggest failure, however, was Mookie Betts, who hit .143. It has been said that as Mookie goes, so go the Dodgers. It’s no surprise that the Dodgers were humiliated when Mookie is shut-down. It was exacerbated by the fact that Justin Turner did not show up.
I think it is time to re-evaluate the situation. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and thinking you will get a different result. I think the hitting coaches should go and be replaced with some other coach. Maybe there are too many voices. Maybe the Dodgers should not offer arbitration to Cody Bellinger. Joey Gallo is as good as gone. Chris Taylor and his nearly 50% strikeout rate pales in comparison to his versatility! The Dodgers need more players who strike out less than they walk, which brings me to Miguel Vargas. He is that player, but Andrew Friedman seems to hold players back rather than promote them.
Player Development
I see James Outman as a 4th outfielder, not an everyday player, but when he came up and was hot, why not let him play twenty or thirty games? Maybe he will be more than what I think. However, he struck out 32% of the time in the minors last year. One would expect that to tick up in the Show. He may be a useful reserve, but he is not the solution. Mike Busch is another player who will hit some home runs but strike out at an alarming rate. The Dodgers need hitters like Vargas with the big club.
Stress on the Bullpen
Let’s get this straight: the Dodgers had enough pitching, but poor defense and deployment were the problems. Nothing illustrates that more than taking Tyler Anderson out after five innings. He needed to go six, but Andrew Friedman’s teams have the idea that five is enough. This is on Andrew, not Doc.
The Solution
- Let Justin Turner retire as a Dodger;
- Do not tender Cody Bellinger;
- Let Gallo go
- Unless Trea Turner accepts a dealer smaller than Seager, forget it;
- Include CT3 in a trade (pay half his salary) for Bryan Reynolds (Mike Busch, Andy Pages, and Ryan Pepiot are the headliners);
- Promote Vargas and Stone; and
- Sign some role-players who fit the profile.
Tell me this lineup would have been worse than the current one:
- Lux 2B (another year of experience under his belt – he’s ready)
- Betts RF
- Freeman 1B
- Smith C
- Muncy 3B (he’s here for 2023)
- Vargas LF (it’s time)
- Reynolds CF
- DH – Not sure who
- Amaya SS (If he can hit .210, his defense will be worth it.
Starting Pitching
- Julio Urias – Try and lock him up long-term
- Clayton Kershaw – No idea if he will come back
- Dustin May – A year later
- Tony Gonsolin – More winter strengthening
- Tyler Anderson – Offer him the QO and sign him to a lesser deal
- Gavin Stone – He is past ready
- Walker Buehler – Maye late in the season
- Bobby Miller – Maybe later
- Emmet Sheehan – After the All-Star Break
Get to Work – I don’t want to hear excuses
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Discussion (101)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Renovate the Dodgers! No, a complete rebuild isn’t needed, but a renovation sure is. Start at the top. DUMP THE PROPELLER HEADS! The Dodgers seem to be the victims of “over analysis” too much analytics and a manager with his hands tied behind his back. The strings are all pulled by the propeller heads (starting with Friedman). Guggenheim is happy as long as there are butts in the seats and long lines at the team store. WE WANT A WINNER. Start with Chase Utley as the new manager. Some new players who are hard nosed and will change the culture around the Ravine. The current Dodgers remind me of office workers in 3 piece suits who professionally go in to work every day and do their duty, but don’t get too up or too down, just steady. Kiki, Joe, Puig had some emotion and flair. I miss that.
The idea that the team could be “blown up” – are you all 11 years old? The Dodgers are unquestionably one of the best teams, if not the best. They’re much better than the Padres. They’re better than almost anyone. They lost three of four games in the playoffs and got eliminated. Do you know what sample size is? To look at a four game slump and think that it reveals a 111-win regular season to be an illusion — that is the reasoning of a child, not a rational adult.
I just wanted to hop over here and give my takes on this season and engage in some healthy discussions. These are my opinions so feel free to agree or disagree, but no disrespect is intended towards anyone here at this site. Just be nice to me please. Here are my takes on the Dodgers.
I agree with a lot of what Mark is saying about the general direction of the organization. I have actually always liked Dave Roberts, I think he’s a nice guy and runs a good clubhouse. But he follows orders. He gives canned responses to the media. I’ve never liked Andrew Friedman and his organizational philosophies/strategies on baseball. Honestly he’s always been a loser. He was a loser in Tampa with limited resources and no money. Now with the Dodgers and given a ton of money and resources he’s only won one championship in a covid year out of what 9 years now? He can build great regular season clubs, but does not understand anything about how to build winning teams in October. It’s not just that the players didn’t perform, or there were injuries, his strategies, roster construction, philosophy and game management have a direct correlation on why they lose every year in the playoffs or World Series. Here are just a few.
1. Building and managing a pitching staff around middle relievers instead of starting pitchingl.
The Dodgers had good pitching this year, but revolved the staff around heavy bullpen use. The secret recipe for success in October is making sure your starters go deep into games and the bullpen is used sparingly. Starting pitching is the name of the game and the Dodgers just don’t get this. I understand that a lot of other teams are using this strategy, but just because other teams do it, doesnt mean it’s a good idea. If everyone jumped off a bridge would you do it too? The starters don’t have to toss complete games, but let them go 6-7 innings and then go to the pen. Tyler Anderson was dominating the Padres. If he had been allowed to pitch into the 7th inning the Dodgers might have won. But they pulled him after 5, because that was their plan before the game. It’s not the 1980’s anymore surely, but how many starters pitched over 150 innings this year? 1 maybe 2?
2. wasting roster spots on injured and innefective pitchers/players
There were several pitchers and position players that were injured and not able to play and roster spots were wasted on them. Treinen, Graterol, May, Gonslin, Taylor, etc all were hurt and either never got into games, or were shells of their former selves. They really only had 3 fully healthy and effective relievers and 3 starters to use.
3. going with struggling hitters all season long.
This is something Mark touched on here. Going with guys like Bellinger, Taylor all season long when they were either hurt, or struggling. not making a change until the last game and the last minute is another problem they have. It seems they are unwilling to deviate from their plans. They just assume every one of their plans will always work out. October is never like this.
4. Horrendous benches
Friedman has built some of the worst benches I have seen in my Dodger life over the last few seasons. Im sorry while Hanser Alberto is a nice guy and good teammate, he is a terrible hitter. Yet he was allowed to waste a roster spot all season. Im guessing maybe they figured that they don’t need a bench anymore because of the DH, which is wrong for many reasons.
5. Poor game management
Remember them blowing leads in 2015, 2016, 2017 World Series, 2018 World Series, 2019, 2021, and on and on and on. They a 3-0 lead. All they had to do was let Tyler pitch as deep into the game as he could. Get one or two relievers up just in case, but letting Tyler pitch into the 7th and then going to Phillips who was their best reliever all season long would have probably won them the game. And then letting Khanle give up 3 runs and stand there and not at least try to pause the game and get someone up sooner was such a huge blunder.
No hit and runs, sending runners, station to station base-running. Poor plate approaches in general. Not moving runners over didn’t help either.
6. They are predictable
Another problem is that they are far too predictable. They are not flexible when things go awry, and often in the playoffs they do. Opposing teams easily are able to predict their strategies.
I believe it’s time for Guggenheim to move the franchise in a different direction. There are many ways to build a winning team in October. Look at what the Cleveland Guardians are doing. They have one star and the rest of the club is young cheap dynamic players with a veteran manager on a low payroll. The Padres went out and got several key players to help them win in October and their bullpen has clear defined roles. They knew exactly who to go to in the 7th 8th and 9th innings. Even their lesser players like Profar, Kim, Myers etc were all playing at high levels. no hocus pocus, no “piggybacking”. Their relievers were all lock down and dominant.
Friedman and Roberts inspire little in their players. There was a big void in leadership throughout the season and playoffs. They never rallied around each other or came together even to some extend. They got punched in the mouth once by the Padres and folded up like a beach chair. Winning in the postseason takes toughness, and the ability to fight. This year’s Dodgers had none of that.
I know you may disagree with me, but it’s time to move on from Andrew Friedman. Since Dave Roberts is his extension, him as well. He’s had 8 plus years to win championships, and he was only able to do it once during a shortened covid season. They’ve had some of the most brutal crushing heartbreaking losses under him. Why not bring in someone fresh and let somebody else have a shot at winning a World Series? They will continue to lose every year in the playoffs with him in charge.
Just my take on this. Wish everyone well here.
I’m going to do what Mark did, call out what went wrong and talk about what to do going forward at least what I think. Speaking of Mark, he said one glaring thing up top that I absolutely disagree about and that is Amaya. We do not need another Cesar Izturis or Alex Cora. All defense and very little hitting.
What went wrong:
Obviously the hitting sucked.
The bench sucked, so no alternatives.
Doc or whoever calls the shots sucked AGAIN.
That sums it up.
The first 2 lines above tells everything about the offense, so no need to talk about that, except for Betts who is making a billion dollars didn’t show up and earn that billion dollars. But the third line above I’ll explain.
The first loss of this series, Doc or whoever calls the shots did nothing wrong.
The second loss of this series, Doc or whoever calls the shots made 1 mistake, BUT IT ENDED UP NOT MATTERING because once again the hitting sucked. That mistake was not using the better option May instead of Heaney.
Now here is the kicker, the third and final loss of this series. First of all when you are in a do or die situation you turn to your BEST. After pitching a shut out for 5 innings and allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks, Doc or whoever calls the shots took Anderson out of the game. WTF? The second WTF was Phillips (The BEST in the bullpen) pitching the 9th inning when the game was already over, considering once again the hitting sucked and Josh Hader was a lock to pitch the 9th inning. What should have happened since Anderson was on a roll, he should have been kept in the game preferably to get the ball to Phillips (The BEST in the bullpen) to pitch up to 2 innings to end the game. If another reliever was needed to pitch 1 inning in that situation because Anderson was shaky in the 6th inning then so be it. Preferably it should have been Martin, who was statistically better than Phillips during the regular season, but Phillips pitched a lot more high leverage innings than Martin.
Now going forward:
Friedman needs to somewhat clean house when it comes to the offense.
Alberto needs to go.
Bellinger needs to go.
Gallo needs to go.
Taylor needs to go.
Thompson needs to go.
Muncy needs to go.
Anyone with a contract expiring that I didn’t say needs to go should be signed if possible, and the only ones as far as I know are both Turners.
Since 4 outfielders need to go, Outman needs to make the team and should make the team right out of spring training. That leaves 5 spots open for new faces and I am not sold on Vargas, but Justin Turner will need a backup at 3B and I guess Vargas will do. The 4 remaining spots should be filled as much as possible with guys who can hit for average and power against both righties and lefties. No more platoons and 3 true outcome hitters as much as possible.
As for the pitching, it’s complicated. But any free agents that are acquired, and we will need some, need to be able to pitch to both sides of the plate effectively, because we are living in the 3 batter minimum era. Off the top of my head these guys need to go, and I might be missing some names.
Heaney needs to go.
Price needs to go.
Kimbrel needs to go.
Graterol needs to be in the minors for depth only.
Ferguson needs to be in the minors for depth only.
Bickford needs to be in the minors for depth only.
The last 3, as far as I know have options, and if any of them don’t, then they need to go too. Anyone that I didn’t mention here that have contracts expiring, they should be signed to a new contract if possible. Also stay away as much as possible from using the minor league pitchers on the 40 man roster currently, except Pepiot. They are Bruihl, Burrows, Grove, Jackson. This is where getting good free agents comes into play and having Graterol, Ferguson, Bickford in the minors for depth.
Gavin Stone needs to make the team and should make the team right out of spring training. Bobby Miller watch, if he turns things around, promote him to the big league team.
One other thing I would like to touch on here is about the farm system that Mark likes to champion as the best in baseball. I know he may get a bit upset at me for posting this, but I have to challenge him here. The farm system has not been that good over the last few years and has produced almost no impact players since 2019. Name me one prospect that has come up and made a difference since 2019? I can’t think of one player. The last home grown prospect that made a difference was Will Smith, and maybe to a lesser extent Dustin May. That was a few years ago.
If these prospects are so good as some like to suggest than why weren’t they promoted and in the lineup and producing? Either they are still developing or not very good yet, or both. If Miguel Vargas was so good, he would have been in the lineup hitting in the postseason and driving in runs. Other than a couple of semi-effective relievers, not one minor leaguer or prospect has been productive.
Another issue is that Friedman is not good at drafting players. Other than Smith, Buehler and May, I can’t think of anyone else drafted that has made an impact at the major league level. Maybe Lux? I’m still not high on him as he is a light hitter and has no power. Although he did improve greatly this season. So that’s 3 players in over 8 years. That’s not a good track record.
The last of the great prospects from the old regime Urias, Kershaw, Bellinger, are all getting older or are already old, or struggling in Bellinger’s case. The one guy who ended up becoming a star Alavarez in Houston, he traded for Josh Fields. He needs to draft better players. The farm system has to be more productive than it’s been.
Don’t know that I would cut as much off the bone as Eric wants to do. This team did win 111 games though did disappoint again in playoffs. Honestly, last year was not as disappointing given the injuries and the exhausting battle with SF for most of the season. Also this Padres team didn’t overachieve in the playoffs. They underachieved all year and were focused for the playoffs. Darvish and Snell have pitched tough against LA and Musgrove gives them a more formidable top three in playoff series than Dodgers. Their hitters with Machado, Soto, Drury, Bell, Cronenworth and the rest are every bit as deep as the Dodgers top heavy group. If this group with Hader was together all year the Padres would not have finished 22 games back. It is disingenuous to pretend they are the little engine that could. Of course they gutted their farm system to accrue this talent and I like the Dodgers approach of sustained excellence better. When recalling their “failures” in the past nine years we can’t forget that they lost in 2017 to a cheating scandal and their opponent in 2018 was also found to have used Apple Watches to gain advantage. I was disappointed as well and I agree that they have to make some decisions on guys they have been more than loyal to these past two years – Bellinger, JT, Muncy and Taylor. Not sure they don’t bring back 3 of them but there are some tough decisions.
I am more interested in an organizational reevaluation of what they value. The banning of the shift should lead to a return to valuing contact and limiting strike outs. Also an increase in the value of the stolen base with limited throw overs and bigger bases. Is there more emphasis on range defensively and better defenders that the shift can’t hide.? AF is no dummy and I would be shocked if they have not identified qualities and attributes that are more valuable now. This should inform their off season decision making. Finally, please stop with the signing of injured pitchers at a discount. As was mentioned we have had way too many pitchers these past few years either rehabbing, coming off rehab, or dealing with recurring injuries. We should try to grow some of own power arms as relievers instead of developing every single pitcher of note as a starter. Could we not have given Stone, Pepiot, Miller or Knack a chance in September out of the pen?
I did say productive, not star. I don’t expect for them to produce MVPs or cy youngs every year. But they’ve produced no productive players from their farm system since 2019.
Not counting Smith, buehler and May or Lux, can you name me one player WHO GRADUATED TO THE MAJORS AND BECAME A PRODUCTIVE REGULAR? Since 2019? Name one.
The players you are naming are still developing in the minors. Guys like Vargas, cartaya. im not counting until they are actively producing in thr majors, playing everyday and making an impact with the big club.
That’s the point of the farm system is to produce productive mlb regulars. The point is to have those players on the big league club and playing productive baseball regularly.
Vargas and cartaya may well become productive players but there are not there yet.
So my point again is to ask if you can name one player produced since 2019 not named Smith, May or Lux that is producing at the major league level at a high level? I can’t name one.
Since 2015 can you name anyone other than Buehler, May, Smith and Lux? Ok that’s 4 players (not 3 as I stated earlier) in 8 years. Not a good track record.
Thanks for letting me rant. Last night hurt. A lot.
Last thing I’ll say. We need to add heart to this team. I’m a huge Bear fan. And I’d rather have the heartbreak the Dodgers have produced the last decade than what the Bears of done to me. I’m a Bear fan for only one reason. Having just 4 or 5 channels to watch growing up, I was starved for sports. Watched the Dodgers and Lakers. When I couldn’t watch I went to bed with a radio next to my pillow. I really started paying attention in 1983/84. And I watched all the local highlight shows. George Michael’s sports machine. Joe Roggin (a local LA highlight show). And at that time there was one guy who owned the highlight reels on Sunday night. It was Walter Payton. That’s why I’m a Bear fan. My first football memories were watching Payton (and the Bears) at their prime. It wasn’t just that he was great on the field. He was the greatest competitor I’ve ever seen. And one of the most charismatic team leaders I’ve ever seen.
Give me the heart of Walter Payton. The Dodgers need heart. They need to learn to fight for every inch. Payton saw many more losing seasons than he did winning seasons. But he never let up, win or lose. If he was a Dodger in 2022. He would have been disgusted.
Last thing I’ll share.
Texted a friend who’s a Dodger fan. Asked how he was doing. He just sent me this.
Words of a fool
We need some player the have some fire. Humberto was the closest thing we had. When we had Puig it was fun to watch the games. We had some great players who never get fired up. We don’t have a team leader. Seems like everybody wants to look too professional. How bout bring in some fire. Andrew we need players who hate to lose . Throwing water on each after hitting a home run is not fun. We are Los Angeles home of entertainment. Please put out a team the is exciting
Dave Robert’s does not coach how he played. Remember the stolen base the help win the World Series.
Time to make a change we need a young coach with exciting ideas. Don’t fire Dave he is great for the Dodgers but not as manager. Maybe hire to be front office person
For those of you calling for Dave Roberts head on a pike, the chances of that happening are ZERO. 2022 was the last year of Dave’s previous contract. 2023 is the first year of his three-year extension. They could obviously eat the contract, but that is not happening. Also, who would you hire to replace him? You need a great ego manager, since there are a lot of ego’s in this dugout. Most are team players and only want to win. I will also say I respect Mookie Betts a lot after he stepped up and took responsibility for his bad performance. So did Freeman.