The Price is Wrong

Price is what he is. He had to be included in the Betts deal or it would not have happened. Is he worth the 48 mil total the Dodgers will have paid him? No, not a chance in hell. But, he has done everything they have asked of him the last two seasons. He is obviously a team player. With all the money he is making, he could have made a huge fuss about being a starter. But he never has done that. I respect the man for sticking to his guns during the pandemic season. Look, Buster Posey opted out of playing that year and no one rags on him. Also, Price paid EVERY MINOR LEAGUER IN THE DODGER SYSTEM 1000 DOLLARS. out of his own pocket that year because they were not getting paid. That alone merits some consideration of his good character. He is not the same pitcher he was five years ago that is true, but I have seen guys on this site calling for LA to bring back Zack Greinke, and his stats are much worse than Price’s . Jays just fired their manager, Charlie Montoyo.

I never liked Price since that incident on the Boston team plane when he verbally attacked Dennis Eckersley ( who you would think MAY have earned the right to criticize Boston Pitching) . Price came across to me as a loudmouth , arrogant a-hole.

Miquel Vargas, come on down. You are the next contestant on The Price Is Wrong. Max, thanks for playing.

A lot of good comments today that I agree with including:

Roberts again being “constantly played like a banjo a Hillbilly convention” by other MLB managers!

Dodgers can’t continue to carry both Muncy and Bellinger in the lineup; both look befuddled at bat. Keep Bellinger because of his defense and baserunning skills.

Put Alberto in a “cheerleading uniform” and make Lux your everyday second baseman. Time to move on from Price too.

Bring up Vargas to see what he can do.

I think David Price rubs most people the wrong way. He’s always danced to a different drum. Since Price was included in the deal for Mookie Betts, I was hopeful he would contribute something. That was dashed in 2020 when he opted out. The situation hasn’t improved.

Honestly I had issues with the trade for Betts. Just like Gonzo, the Red Sox managed to unload bad contracts on the Dodgers. I get it, the Dodgers wanted to make a statement in the Original trade. This time they wanted Mookie and the price was Price. If I’m in charge I don’t do the deal, probably rather just sign Bryce Harper.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Mookie. But I don’t like the Dodgers taking on bad contracts like Price. It seems like a waste. Why keep bailing Boston out? Would the Dodgers have won in 2020 without Mookie? Harper in his place. No idea.

I agree Mark, Price isn’t worth anywhere close to the money he’s getting. In fact, his contributions are negligible.

I also agree on Cody Bellinger. His defense is elite. But you can’t carry Max Muncy and Bellinger —- and somehow expect the offense to improve. Muncy has to hit and he’s simply not producing. Maybe it’s the shoulder. But it’s creating a drag. Justin Turner’s bat is helping to bolster the offense, but the Dodgers need more production elsewhere.

I keep wondering if Mookie will ever repeat his best years from his Boston days. Had a very good first season and he showed up to play. But injuries seem to hurting his play. Yes, he’s hit 20 homeruns, but he should be a .300 hitter, more consistent.

The Dodgers miss AJ Pollock, had a lot of big hits over the past couple of years. I agree with David regarding the black hole, too many rallies die with those hitters. Dodgers are definitely not meeting the pre-season build-up, best line-up ever and all the rest of the hype.

But at this point with several pitchers due back soon, maybe Friedman doesn’t do much at the trade deadline. Yes, the Cincy pitcher could help, but the price may be too high, maybe the Dodgers need to stop trading away some of their prospects, which Friedman recently noted.

The trade for Josh Fields will haunt them for years. Not sure how that slipped past. They gave Yordan Alvarez a sizable bonus, the scouting reports and video certainly made him a player to hang on to and try to develop. Seems like a massive failure in communication. Oh, well. A Roberto Clemente moment. Signed in the middle of June and traded away August 1. That’s on Farhan Zaidi.

Still, we’re now eight games ahead of a floundering Padres team with the Giants a distant third.

Life is good. But it could be better.

another comment in jail

Back in the 80s when I cared about professional basketball, there was a pretty good center who played for the Golden State Warriors – Joe Barry Carrol. He was talented. He was fairly productive in his career, but his team never won and the general nonchalance of his overall style of play and body language and demeanor on the court earned him the sobriquet “Joe Barely Cares.”

I’ve made this argument about Price before. I honestly can’t read his mind so can’t say with certainty whether there is any truth to it or it’s merely a “hot take,” but it’s also likely he’s checked out. That happens. We listen to players give interviews and they say all the right cliches about helping their team win, etc., but players are human. Price has been around for a long time. He’s spent his entire life playing baseball. He has all the money he’ll ever want. There is no pressure for him to succeed other than his own intrinsic drive, but he’s on the tail end of his career and he knows he’s not going to sign another contract after this year. He’s mentally done.

If you think about it, it’s understandable. He was a throw in with the Mookie trade. He was included for accounting purposes. The Dodgers didn’t want him. They accepted him to make the finances work. He was ballast. That he took a year off, without pay, tells you his level of motivation to play in LA, or play at all. The Dodgers have never relied on him in high leverage situations or important games. They know.

On the other hand, maybe we’re wrong and Price still has the motivation to play because he’s a professional and shows up ready to play, and although diminished, he still has flashes of talent that will be useful under the right circumstances.

In either case, the price is wrong, b***h! https://youtu.be/87R0MZsO2BU

Thinking a little more about the Ohtani hypothetical from yesterday, although the Angels have imploded this year and their farm system stinks, I’m not sure that Arte is a seller. I’m not sure he’s ever a seller. To be fair, if I’m the Angels, I’m still hopeful that they can field a good team next year. If they can sign Ohtani and find a starting pitcher or two, they have a reasonable chance of being good.

More Dodger hypotheticals out there about going after Castillo. At this point is he needed?

addendum – thinking about Price just walking away from 32 million to take a year off does say something about the financial state of the game and makes me annoyed with the decisions of Seager. They don’t need the money, and it’s not about the money. It’s a game in an of itself. How much can I get? Had Seager accepted the Dodgers offer he still would have been fantastically wealthy. He opted to get as much as he could. That part of winning was more important to him than winning on the field.

Hard to argue with any of that Mark. I really want Price to be good. At times, he flashes his talent. He really killed us in the ’18 World Series and he was really bringing it the last time he pitched. But I get the same feeling as you do. He just doesn’t seem to give a ____.

I also agree with your assessment of Mitch. He just seems a bit soft. He’s got really good stuff, but doesn’t finish as he should.

Muncy is another story for me. I’ve always felt his offensive production is a bit overrated. I’m not a fan of three true outcome type players. He just simply doesn’t get enough hits for me to be a middle of the order bat and his defense is suspect at times. I cringed a little last night when he was used to pinch hit for Trayce Thompson. Righty, Junior Fernandez was still on the hill at the time having loaded the bases and walking in a run with no outs. Doc did the predictable and put in Muncy, then the lefty Naughton was called in to face him, Alberto and Bellinger. A perfect spot for the opposing manager to bring in a lefty and we got nothing more. Nothing worse than not capitalizing on bases loaded no outs.

Why not just send Trayce up there against a struggling right hander? Why not make it difficult for Marmol to make the corresponding change? If he brings in the lefty, then Trayce has the platoon advantage and is a better hitter than Muncy this year regardless against either side. If he brings in another righty, then you can make the sub and then at least Muncy has a platoon advantage as does Bellinger. If he sticks with his struggling pitcher, we have a better chance with Trayce, who’s been in the game already than Muncy. Doc walks into ambushes like this all the time. That’s why I can’t stand him. He can’t see one step ahead and constantly gets played like a banjo at a Hillbilly convention.

It’s a sad situation for Muncy. Even though he’s a three true outcome guy, he was at least very good at it until that fateful injury. Like Belli, an unusually high percentage of very hard hit balls have gone for outs this year. But, like Belli, he also looks lost at the plate more often than not. I believe both of them can be fixed. I’m not sure if it makes sense to just cut Max in favor of a Vargas. That’s a huge risk for this season and going into next season. But, fortune favors the bold. And as you said, you can’t carry both in the same lineup.

Looking at the BA and performances by the bottom of last nights lineup (Barnes, Alberto, TT,Bellinger) it is a testimony how good the rest of the hitters are that we even scored 6 runs.

And Roberts once again is really piss.ing me off. RHP starting and he leaves Lux out of the lineup. Even vs LHP Lux is batting at about .290. Kid is a top 10 hitter in the NL and Roberts does everything trying to cool him off again and again.

Muncy is at the end of the leash if it was up to me. Rally killer par excellence once again. Bring up Vargas already and sent Muncy down or to the IL. For some time now he has once good game every once in a week only to do nothing the rest of the games.

On the pitching side both Price and Bickford would be my first picks as soon as some of the walking wounded pitchers return. White would be next in line. Those 3 are the weak links on an otherwise exceptional pitching staff.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mentioned the other day that Max needed some time off to reboot mentally. Maybe, physically as well. If he is hurt at all then why the need to have him play almost everyday. I agree with Mark and others that it’s Vargas time. The team has a nice lead in the division, the trade deadline is fast approaching, and Max Muncy stinks. If not now, when? How does it hurt the team to have him come up for 2-3 weeks and see what’s what with him? When we are subjected to awful under performances from Bellinger, Muncy, Alberto, and Price why can’t we see what Vargas can do? I mean all we are asking from him is to hit over .200 and play an average LF. That would move Lux to 2B permanently where he belongs.

Carry On.

You bet Lamb was swinging 3-0 because Bellinger was on deck. Even my wife was yelling for him to get the green light! Feel bad for Muncy but it’s time for him to sit. The Dodger sense of player loyalty has become a real weakness, especially with Max and Price. Why is Alberto still getting ab’s? If you bring up Vargas I guess he’s the dh. Is that difficult on a young player? It’s time to see if he’s for real!

You bet Lamb was swinging 3-

With two out top of the ninth, 3-0 count, Lamb gets the green light. Did Roberts think it was better for Lamb to take a shot, rather than walk and leave it up to Bellinger?

Also, why did Muncy pinch hit for Thompson but then Lamb comes in to replace him in LF?

Ok. so you can’t win every game. We scored six, but this time pitching wasn’t there. Yes JT hot lately, but yesterday back in the Black Hole Gang(BHG). And when Barnes in lineup I call that (BHG+). They were 0-10 with about 5Ks And 0-5 with RISP. Including Max Popping out on 3-1 pitch with based load and 0 outs. Then Codi strikes out to end inning. No runs scored. So they take the blame along with Price. Today is another game.