The Lost Angeles Doggers
Yesterday was one of the most embarrassing losses that the Lost Angeles Doggers have ever experienced. A 13-0 One-Hitter which really should have been a perfect game. To say it was an ugly game would have meant being extremely kind to ugly. To add insult to injury, former Dodger…
Yesterday was one of the most embarrassing losses that the Lost Angeles Doggers have ever experienced. A 13-0 One-Hitter which really should have been a perfect game. To say it was an ugly game would have meant being extremely kind to ugly. To add insult to injury, former Dodger Cody Bellinger was 2-4 with hits 5th HR and is now hitting .301with a .381 OB% and a .943 OPS. Some will blame Andrew Friedman for not signing him. I think the blame for not signing Cody was elsewhere. I blame Mark Walter and Guggenheim Partners for not allowing Andrew to do so!
In any business, including the business of baseball, the President is involved heavily in the Day-to-Day Operations while the CEO gives him the budget and direction. Of course, I cannot prove this (at least right now), but I believe that Mark Walter instructed Andrew Friedman to get under the Lux Tax Threshold in 2023. Now, some of you may dispute that (“Nowhere did they say that.”) but if Walter didn’t, why did AF not really get involved with any free agents, and after it was all over and it was apparent that the Dodgers could not get under the Lux Tax, why sign a David Peralta?
I mean, at the very least, Andrew Friedman could have tried to sign Dansby Swanson… and likely would have been successful, considering his close friendship with Freddie Freeman. Tell me how the lineup would have looked with Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson in the lineup, hitting 6th and 7th! Why didn’t Andrew Friedman sign any significant free agents? Even Ray Charles can see that he was under orders to cut spending. When it became apparent that they could not get under the cap without gutting the farm system, they did sign David Peralta, who may ultimately become a good signing.
For the record, I do not blame Mark Walter for wanting to get under the Lux Tax Threshold… but they weren’t able to do it, so they “half-assed it.” I would have been OK with getting under by getting rid of players like CT3 and Bellinger and not signing Syndergaard and Peralta. Make it a full-blown youth movement! Instead, they were more interested in building an office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion than building a baseball team. That’s all I am going to say about that right about now because it will rear its ugly head later!
How would the Dodgers have looked with this lineup:
- Betts RF
- Freeman 1B
- Smith C
- Muncy 3B
- Martinez DH
- Bellinger CF
- Swanson SS
- Outman LF
- Vargas 2B
This is not to say that there is no hope. There is! But I was bummed when the Dodgers let Cody walk, and now that it looks like it wasn’t his swing as much as it was the healing that his shoulder needed, I am even more bummed, and I put the blame directly on Mark Walter. Notice I did not mention Justin Turner (God rest his soul). JD Martinez is a better player right about now, and the Dodgers are done with him after this year, allowing Max Muncy to go to DH. The Red Sox will experience a steep decline with JT next year.
Speaking of the Red Sox, old friend Alex Verdugo is hitting .341 with a .931 OPS and Kike is up to .233 with his usual antics. Kenley Jansen has not been scored upon in 7 games and is 5-5 in save opportunities. I’m just saying!
Andrew Friedman has proven that he can build a team on the cheap… but it means that every three to five years, he is going to get rid of the players you have grown to love. That model works, but fans don’t like it, and this is part of why Tampa Bay doesn’t draw fans as they should. This is not a lost season, but it is more complicated by the fact that Mark Walter wanted to get the team under the Lux Tax Threshold. Don’t shoot the messenger – Andrew Friedman!
P.S. Watford should get a kick out of the title.
Dogger Minor League Notes
- Hunter Feduccia did nothing last night… because it was a day of rest for him. He is still knocking… LOUDLY!
- Jonny DeLuca was 3-5 last night with his 3rd HR (.273 BA/.939 OPS)
- River Ryan gave up six hits in 2.1 IP, allowing 3 BB and only 1 ER as he struck out 5.
- In an effort to get Dalton Rushing more at-bats, he is leading off at GL.
Today’s Game
11:20 AM PDT and 2:20 EDT. Dustin May needs to right the ship.
The Dodgers are the only team in the NL West with a positive run differential. The D-Bags are at -0, the Friars are at – 17, and the Doggers are +10. The D-Bags are still (in my opinion) a .500 team. The Padres are classic underachievers… so far.
Seth Godin – One of my Favorite Blogs
“But what if it doesn’t work?”
“The best way to win a short-term game is to bet it all on one strategy. Someone is going to get lucky and it might be you.
But we rarely thrive in the long run if we persist in playing a series of short-term games.
Instead, organizations, individuals and teams do better when they understand the value of resilience.
In the last year, we’ve seen well-funded and heavily hyped crypto companies hit the wall and fail. That’s because it was easy for them to get funded and grow fast by making a simple bet, and in a bull market, everyone looks like a genius.
But their less flashy competitors are still around. They understood that resilience is expensive and resilience is worth it.“
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Discussion (110)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Please tell me today isn’t muncy and outmans scheduled day off! I would love Tim Anderson at shortstop! When lux comes back next year he stays at second, with Vargas shifting to 3rd, and max to Dh. Maybe Busch and 2 other prospects get it done. Why wait? White Sox ain’t going nowhere!
No way I give up 4-6 top prospects for Ohtani. If we can sign him on the free agent market, fine.
He will be on the wrong side of 30 next season and giving up 4-6 top prospects would hurt our depth badly.
I would rather go after that kid Sasaki as soon as he is available and keep our prospects.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Second-half fantasy lineup.
Mookie SS (Because he can)
Freddie 1B (Because he’s Freddiie)
Smith C (Fingers crossed–he’ll be fine)
Ohtani DH (yeah, baby!)
Max 38 (to the max, en route to HR title)
Outman CF (en route to ROY)
Vargas 2B
Heyward/ Trayce RF (platoon)
Peralta/Taylor LF (platoon)
Bench: Barnes, Rojas, JDM (DH platoon?)
The fantasy lineup thinks the R-L-R-L rhythm is overrated, but it would be juggled a bit depending on platoons, and it assumes that Vargas will start delivering on his promise. I’d still rather have an extra UT guy than Peralta or Trayce or JDM, but we’ll just assume for now Ohtani is the only addition.
It will take 4-6 quality prospects to land Ohtani if he is on the market, but the Dodgers can afford it. The commitment will help perssade him to sign a fat but not unfair long-term contract because (a) he wants to play for a winner always in the WS hunt, (b) he likes living in Southern California and (c) he has always admired the Dodgers, with its history and mystique. Plus, he’ll like how Mookie, Freddie, Kersh and the gang welcome him with open arms. Yeah, I’m speculating a bit here…. but it all makes sense to me.
Outman should be in the lineup until he proves he should not be in the lineup. Smith’s concussion was because he was hit several times in the mask because of foul balls in San Francisco. Maybe it is time for a position change for Will. But in reality the only open spot is left field. Muncy is getting better every game over there. Freddie is holding down first. Vargas is putting his stamp on second base. You move Will to left, move Mookie to SS, where I think he would be fine, and have a platoon in right.
For the record when Austin Barnes catches I would like to see our pitcher hit and Barnes sit. Don’t even know if that is even allowed under today’s rules.
At the very least I would have him bunting runners over.
I really, really hope Will Smith gets healthy and Dodger management does what is best for him long term.
Lastly I hope warmer weather helps our team get healthy and stay healthy. Seems like we have had more than our share of injuries this first month.
I don’t think with the talent on this team that they are a .500 ball club. They are also not a 111 win team either.
Looking up and down the lineup, Betts is performing below his normal standards, maybe it was concern about his wife being pregnant who knows.
Freddy has had 2 streaks of being hitless in 3 straight games. He only did that once last year in October. Is he worried about his buddy Heyward struggling and letting it affect his own performance.
Smith was carrying the team until his concussion. Is it going to be severe enough to end his catching career.
Muncy was struggling but seems to have figured it out and crushing the ball.
Martinez started slowly and continues to baffle me one game he looks like he’s got figured out the next he looks lost at the plate.
Outman has been a revelation I was worried about his strike rates but I’m a believer. I don’t think even Eric thought he was going to be this good.
Vargas has been struggling due to injuries. I also saw he was working on his pull power numbers. He talked to his dad and was told he would mature into his power and to just hit the way he always has. We’ll see if makes a difference. I’m concerned about he strike outs he’s supposed to be a contact hitter.
The rest of the team Peralta, Thompson, Heyward, Taylor, Williams, Barnes, Rojas and Wynn at this point can be put in a hat and pick names to finish out the lineup.
I would like to see Feduccia get a shot instead of Wynn but I don’t think he will.
I think the rotation will work itself out once it’s healthy but I’m concerned about Urias and his drop in velocity. There are enough arms on the injury list the bullpen should shake itself out and be pretty solid.
If they can find away to start firing on all cylinders they should be fine maybe Max and Outman. Can lead the way.
If was making out the lineup I think I would go with
Outman CF should see plenty of fastballs
Betts RF
Freeman 1B
Smith LF DH
Muncy 3B
Martinez DH LF
Vargas 2B
Feduccia Barnes C
Williams SS
Bench Peralta Barnes Rojas Taylor
The first 7 should be able to carry the last 2. Heyward and Thompson would get walking papers. Taylor Rojas and Peralta can pinch hit and give guys day off like they should be doing and not counted on to be every day players. Feduccia catches 4 to 5 games a week Barnes 1 or 2.
Let the flame fest begin.
My son Erik is a huge Cubs fan. So I decided I needed to create a gift for him. So I invented The Max Muncy app . Any time we need a home run we just grab the app, do a little magic and it’s a Max Home run. It was amazing how well the app worked today that I decided to create the James Outman app as well.
Not to be out done I also suggested that instead of flying the W like the Cubs did yesterday they should now be flying the L today.
If I remember right the Dodger’s scored 17 runs against the Twins on a Friday night in the Twin Cities about 5-6 years ago. The Twins then won the next two games. So whether the score is 0-13 or 17-2 it is just one game. Forget about it and move along to the game.
Go Dodger’s!
It’s a fiesta of over-reactions and self-import on this board.
I know a lot of people who post are retired and have time on their hands, but it’s very tiring at times.
My opinion only
So many people want Busch in the lineup when if he was that good he wouldn’t be down in OKC he be up in the majors. Williams was doing better at OKC then Busch and he is here now and yet everyone keep saying Busch and Vargas in the infield I like Williams a lot better the Rojas and Taylor.
I agree…..what a great game after yesterday’s stinker.
I also agree…..Outman should now be an everyday player. At least we should give him a long look against LHP much like we have done with Cody and Gavin. Oh, and for the record, I am okay with the Outman for Cody switch.
Marvelous Max has righted the ship so I guess we can all breathe easier about his bat and his play at 3B.
What was concerning was that Cubs lefty who came in a struck out two good lefties in Freddie and Max. If you put Outman and Hayward in there, that could be 4 lefties in a row. Teams may go out of their way to play their LH starters against us if teams are seeing success with this.
Anyhow, I’m going to enjoy the win and now focus of the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the dreaded Tampa Bay whatever they are called.
TM
Don’t know what the total wins will be at season’s end, but Dodgers will outscore the NL west.
Great bounce back win after Friday’s dreadful performance!
Outman is on fire and has earned his starting/starring role. Muncy has been great also. Hopefully, the Dodgers can put together back to back wins tomorrow with Kershaw pitching.
Need to hang in there until Will Smith comes back.
Do not forget that in April, of last year, Bellinger was Player of the Week, what he is doing today he also did in April 2022 !!!
On a cold day in Chicago, after a dismal game yesterday, who would step up? A rookie and Max.
The Dodgers have trouble against lefties and Thompson and Martinez are supposed to be the answer and they are failing.
SS Betts
1B Freeman
3B Smith or DH for now
CF Outman
DH Muncy or 3B for now
RF Pages
C Feduccia
2B Vargas
LF Busch
There is NO WAY that Muncy and Outman should be separated in the lineup. Outman beplaced in the 4th position even if it does mean three LHB in a row. Yes I known there will be slumps but UNTIL THAT TIME……………….
What a huge psychological come back this was for the team
Seagulls said this game was over.Kudos to Shelby Miller.
Wifey,just said I don’t know who is happier me or you L0L
Not bad for the fourth or fifth OF, lol !!!
Outman makes one wonder, could pages be doing the same!
hey guys what do you are sad about Billinger’s gone if we have Outman? Younger and Cheaper
Barnes? Where’s hunter? Outman! Muncy!
Wow!
I think it’s time to permanently let Outman lead off and just leave him there
Forget about ROY. How about MVP? Mark you were right about this kid. He is maybe the fourth or fifth best OFer in baseball
Do we still need a third baseman? The guy we have can’t hit singles!
Betts coming out of his Nikes , Terrible at bat