SOME POST TRADE DEADLINE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE RECLINER

With Mark on the 10-day inactive list to attend to family business in Las Vegas (ever notice how these trips are never to Des Moines, Iowa or Wichita, Kansas?), Jeff (AC) was desperate for some assistance on the LADT writers roster. With his options limited, he had to resort to adding someone from the alternate training site, and had no choice but to call on me, the Zack Reks/Edwin Uceta of bloggers, to make a pinch-hit/relief appearance. Here’s hoping that I don’t look at three strikes across the plate and whiff mightily or walk three in a row on 12 pitches. The good news is, I’ll be optioned out as soon as this article has been written.

● Well, that was one of the more interesting trade deadlines I’ve experienced. 21 trades in all. No less than 9 players that played in this year’s All-Star game switched teams. Two teams that won the world series within the past 5 years completely dismantled their teams. It was a wild ride!

● This trade deadline, I also confirmed that there are much better things for me to do than to check MLB Trade Rumors every few minutes to see who the Dodgers have acquired. I’ve never much been a huge fan of roller-coaster rides, whether physical or emotional. This deadline was quite the roller coaster ride for me. Not feeling certain that the Billy McKinney acquisition, thrilling as it was, would get the Dodgers to the finish line, I spent some time that I couldn’t really afford to waste checking in on MLB Trade Rumors every so often. This is how the roller-coaster ride went: on July 29 at 4:19 p.m., Ken Rosenthal’s report (rumor) was “BREAKING: Padres Close To Acquiring Max Scherzer.” This led to my “Crap, you have got to be kidding me!” 400-foot drop. On July 29 at 7:23 p.m. “Dodgers Acquire Danny Duffy From Royals.” Seriously? He won’t be able to pitch until the end of August. Come on AF, we got to do better than that, the Padres are getting Scherzer for crying out loud! As I went through some jerky turns, and then at 12:02 a.m. on July 30, “Dodgers Acquire Max Scherzer and Trea Turner From Nationals For Four Prospects.” Sweet, I have reached the end of my exhilarating ride!!! At 70, that’s becoming more difficult for me to take.

● I didn’t mean to malign Danny Duffy in any way by my earlier comment. I think he will be a very fine pitcher for the Dodgers. He’s a local boy from Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, California. Once he returns to the mound, it will make it a lot easier for the Dodgers to send Gonsolin or Price, or both, to the bullpen, and that alone should help strengthen the team.

● Getting Max Scherzer was nice. If he pitches anywhere close to how he has consistently performed, what a major add he is to the starting staff. If Max wasn’t good enough, I still can’t get my mind around the fact that we got Trea Turner too! Acquiring Trea is not quite as exciting as getting Mookie, but it is pretty doggone close. I have long pined for a Brett Butler-type lead-off hitter, and Turner is every bit of that. He is good! I’m not sure how Doc will order his lineup, but if it’s me it would be TT, Betts, Cory, Mad Max, Fresh Prince, Belli, and AJ, with CT3 rotating regularly with Pollock and Belli, depending on the handedness of the opposing pitcher. I might also consider relegating Bellinger to the bench (More on that below). Just think of the quality pitches that Betts will see with Turner on base. Pitchers have to pay attention to him on first and they have to be mindful of his running ability. Infielders will also have to cheat on the shift.

● Despite getting two of the better players in the game, many still believe that AF did not do enough. He should have added a front-line reliever, or two, or three. Perhaps another big bat. Actually, he should have acquired all the star players. I read one comment where the person wondered why AF “does not even try” to make the team better. Say what??? For certain there are questions about the bullpen. But what exactly should AF have done? Do you not believe that the front office analyzes all available players, compares them to their own, and works hard at making their team better. It amazes me that many still believe that no effort is made by the front office to make the team better. One of the easiest things to do in sports and life is to sit on the sidelines and complain. Complaining and nit-picking require virtually no effort and involve no risk. Moreover, it is so easy to say that we should have obtained such and such player because we could have offered more than the other team. But, is it as simple as that? I agree that the bullpen presently gives me some pause for concern. That said, if the pen performs as they are capable, I think it is good enough to win another world series. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. t wasn’t that long ago that fans were clamoring for Felipe Vázquez of the Pirates. I’m glad we dodged that bullet.

● Some have argued that we gave up a lot for Scherzer and Turner, and that may be true. Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray are nice players who may have helped the Dodgers down the line. Casey and Carrillo also have the possibility of helping the Nationals down the line. But, we know for certain that Scherzer and Turner will help. They are proven, quality players. Let’s revisit some of the past deadline deals(not as extensively as Bear did in his recent marvelous article) and look at the prospects the Dodgers traded to get much-needed help. In 2016 Grant Holmes (a first-round pick), Jharel Cotton, and Frankie Montas went to the Oakland Athletics for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, who at the time was the top pitcher on the market and one of the better outfielders(I know, he didn’t pan out); in 2017 the Dodgers traded Hendrik Clementina (minor leaguer) and Scott Van Slyke to the Reds for Tony Cingrani. They also traded A.J. Alexy (minors), Brendon Davis (minors), and Willie Calhoun to the Texas Rangers for Yu Darvish. They also traded Oneil Cruz (minors) and Angel German (minors) to the Pirates for Tony Watson; in 2019 they traded Rylan Bannon (minors), Yusniel Diaz (minors), Dean Kremer (minors), Zach Pop (minors), and Breyvic Valera to the Orioles for Manny Machado. Without debating whether the players acquired performed as expected(hoped), are there any prospects on this list that you truly miss? While they are all fine players, as far as it goes, in my opinion, there is not a single one of those prospects that would make a difference on the Dodgers’ current roster. Admittedly, I feel different about Kaybear and JoJo. I expected and believed they would be an important part of the Dodgers’ future. However, it’s just as likely that 4 years down the line we may view them similarly to the players traded for Hill, Darvish and Machado. It was a price to pay, but the Dodgers received great quality in return. Heck, truth be told, if the Nationals had asked, I would have readily thrown in Lux, Gonsolin, and Bellinger as long as they added Juan Soto to the deal.

● I also find it interesting that, indirectly, Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp helped us acquire Betts, Scherzer, and Trea Turner. Let that thought sink in. Two players the Dodgers no longer needed or wanted on the roster helped them acquire 3 of the game’s better players. The Reds kindly gave us Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray for them (and Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer). With Puig and Kemp off the roster, Alex Verdugo was provided the opportunity to show how good he could be. He along with Downs were then traded for Betts. Now Gray has been flipped for Scherzer. Thank you Yasiel and Matt!!! Six degrees of separation!

● Some may argue that the prospect cupboard is now bare for the Dodgers. I say not so fast. Here’s a shortlist of current prospects that I believe have a very good chance of making it to the big leagues: Catchers: Diego Cartaya and keep your eye on Carson Taylor; First Base: Brandon Lewis; Second base: Michael Busch and Devin Mann; Shortstop; Jacob Amaya, Wilmen Diaz and Leonel Valera; Third Base: Miguel Vargas and Kody Hoese; Outfield: Andy Pages (pronounced “paw hey”), Luis Rodriguez, Jose Ramos, James Outman, Jake Vogel, and Ryan Ward; Pitchers: Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Landon Knack (an underdog favorite of mine), Andre Jackson, Clayton Beeter, Maddux Bruns, and Carlos Duran. There are several more, but I’m just not as familiar with all of them. Also, other than Bruns, I have not included any other players drafted this year.

● This past week I came across Thomas Paine’s famous quote from his book “The Crisis”: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.” I read these words as I was watching Kenley Jansen blow the second of two straight games to the Giants. Please understand, I don’t, for a millisecond, equate the battle for liberty and freedom to a few losses in baseball. That said, I couldn’t help but think, in a strict sports context, that in this quote, there was some correlation to the Dodgers’ season in 2021. I haven’t quite fully figured out all of that correlation, but I do think that some of the Dodger players are like the “soldier and the sunshine patriot” that Paine spoke of. This team, more than those in the past seems to lack any fire and spark. They seem to lack any sense of urgency. Because I don’t have access to the clubhouse, I’m not prepared to make judgments on the team merely by the limited things I can view on the TV from my recliner. That said, it would be nice to have a Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant go into the clubhouse and verbally kick some butt and take some names.

● This article was finalized after Friday night’s loss to the D-backs. That game, particularly the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, was a microcosm of the Dodgers’ season. The Dodgers open the 6th with 4 straight hits and score their first run. Bases loaded no outs. Then Smith strikes out on a check swing. Arguably it was a bad call, but he watched the first two pitches go right down the center of the plate without lifting the bat off his shoulder. Pollock follows with a sac fly to deep right-center that’s caught on the warning track. Down by one, and Bellinger, as has been his trademark this year, can’t catch up with 94 mph fastballs and meekly pops out to left. Opportunity wasted. What we need now is a shut-down inning. What we get instead, is the bullpen giving both runs back to the Serpientos. Frustrating. 7th inning, McKinney starts us off with a single, Beatty follows by doing what we all have been clamoring for, hitting away from the shift for a single to left. Taylor then follows with a two-run triple. Man on third, with no outs, the heart of the lineup coming up. D-backs bring in a 29-year-old lefty making his major league debut. Things are looking good. Easy, peasy, right? Nope! What follows are two of the worst at-bats that I’ve seen from Max Muncy and JT. Muncy strikes out flailing away at a pitch that was a foot off the plate. JT follows that with a weak pop

foul to the first baseman for the second out. Seager then ends the inning by grounding out to second. One fair ball out of three at-bats. Talk about frustrating! Top 8th, first two get on only to have Belli, yet again, hit a lazy pop foul to left field. After a McKinney ground out advances the runners, Albert Pujols, mercifully, singles in a run to tie the game. Tie game. Bottom of the 8th we get to yell at the TV as we watch Jansen navigate his way through yet another stressful inning. Thankfully, Carson Kelly, apparently feeling sorry for Jansen, swings at a pitch out of the strike zone (although who knows what this ump would have called it), to strikeout. This pretty much summarizes the Dodgers season. Moments of frustration, followed by some moments of excitement, only to be brought down by more frustration. It’s time for this team to go on a nice 20-2 run and put my baseball world back in its proper orbit.

● I don’t know what to make of Bellinger. Perhaps the thoughts of becoming a father have caused him to lose focus. My theory is that his decline started at the same time that the Dodger fans began screaming “MVP, MVP” every time he came to bat. If you go back and check, his stats, they started to plummet when those chants began in earnest. Whatever the reason, he needs to stop this nonsense now and begin to hit. Otherwise, Roberts needs to put his butt on the bench. I think even Steve Lyons would agree that he is a worse rally killer than a home run.

● It was reported that Kenley Jansen was really ticked off because he wasn’t named to the All-Star team. Since then, he has pitched like he absolutely didn’t deserve to be on the All-Star team. On the other hand, maybe he’s exacting some twisted revenge on Doc for not naming him to the team. Who knows, but I sure hope that 1st half Kenley reappears soon because I do not enjoy watching this version.

● As the Dodgers’ struggles continue, Orel Hershiser’s announcing seems to get worse. Mind you, Hershiser seems like a really nice guy who would be fun to have at a backyard barbeque and chat with. But the constant “Bellinger just got under that pop foul Joe.” “If he hits a 3 run home-run here, it might help him get back on track.” “The Dodgers are only down 5-1, and if they score 3 here, it will get them right back in the game.” No kidding. Once or twice in a game is okay, but when it goes on and on, it becomes virtually unlistenable. Not only that seems to drag Joe Davis down with him.

● I have no opinion on what should happen to Trevor Bauer, as I have not heard the evidence. As with most things presented by the media, I trust and believe very little. What I do know is that the standard of proof for obtaining a temporary restraining order(TRO) is very low. They are routinely issued without any evidence presented from the party against who the order is sought. That’s why they are temporary. Typically, a hearing for the permanent injunction is scheduled within 21 days after a TRO is issued. Moreover, restraining orders require proof of some sort of immediate threatening behavior which has affected the protected party or by which there’s reasonable cause to believe the protected party may be affected. If the party said or did something threatening a year prior, and has done nothing else since you will probably not obtain a permanent restraining order. Also, the difference between a domestic violence restraining order(DVRO) and a civil harassment restraining order is that the DVRO involves some sort of intimate relationship. DVRO’s also tend to include showings of emotional, psychological, and/or physical abuse. In most cases where the parties were dating, and no longer see each other, or where they haven’t seen each other for quite some time, they will stipulate to some form of stay-away order and there will be no hearing for a permanent injunction(restraining order).

● In an effort to see the heads on some of the commentators on this blog explode, Jon Weisman wrote a nice article on Dave Roberts’ Hall of Fame potential as a manager. You can find it at:

(https://www.dodgerthoughts.com/2021/07/27/dave-roberts-dodgers-manager-hall-of-fame-record-be-kind-on-twitter/

It’s certainly true, that Doc makes some maddening decisions (but honestly, which manager doesn’t?). I remember one of the first articles I wrote on this blog, I shared my thoughts on how Roberts compared to other hall of fame managers and concluded that all in all, he was doing a good job. I was called a few names for that article. Oh well, I haven’t changed my opinion.

● I’ll end with this if you think the Dodgers are infuriating, folks you could be a Cubs fan. My son Joel, is a die-hard Cubbie fan. After this trade deadline passed he, along with thousands of other Cub fans checked into therapy. Can you envision what would happen if AF did what Hoyer just did with the Cubs? There would be mutiny all across Dodger blogdom.