The Second Coming of ChrisT

When the Dodgers traded Zach Lee to the Mariners for Chris Taylor, my first reaction was:

He’s a backup SS – OK, but not great.

He’s a utility guy who is a junkyard dog.

Chris Taylor is a baseball rat! He’s an over-achieving utilityman.

That means I like him.

A couple of days later, I wrote:

The more I read about him the more I think Chris Taylor is EXACTLY what the Dodgers need; a True Backup Shortstop. Kike appears to be the odd-man out! Taylor also has a nice compact line-drive swing. He’s a utilityman, but those guys are valuable too.

I was on a year sabbatical from this site and posting on another site where certain people who have bad luck when it comes to thinking, were saying stuff like this about the trade:

 I agree that the trade of Lee for Taylor is insignificant – it is trading nothing for nothing.

Dodgerpatch put it this way:

I hope this move isn’t bitterly criticized, ….but it will be.

… and it was!  Over-and-over… ad nauseum!  What was the harm of the trade and why the vitriol?  Zach Lee had no future as a pitcher (I recognized it long before that) and it was a trade of two players who were rather insignificant, but knowing that Chris Taylor was a baseball rat and a junkyard dog, I felt good about the deal.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA CHRIS TAYLOR WOULD HAVE THIS STAT LINE ON JULY 22, 2017, AFTER 80 GAMES:

• .310 BA/.920 OPS%
• 12 HR
• 43 RBI
• 22 DOUBLES
• 4 TRIPLES

Not quite a superstar, but pretty dang good.  Actually, very damn good!  The fact of the matter is that trading Zach Lee for Chris Taylor may be the best trade made by the Dodgers in a long, long time.  Of course, there are lots of good deals done by FAZ: Andrew Toles, Brandon Morrow, Austin Barnes, Kike Hernandez, Yasmani Grandal, Rich Hill. Alex Wood, et al.  Let’s not forget that it would have been easy to trade prospects inherited from the prior front office, but FAZ resisted and the pipeline is delivering Ned & Logan’s guys and Friedman’s guys are nearing ready too.

Chris Taylor looks to be a very solid player who has learned to adjust…. month-by-month, week-by-week, day-by-day, at-bat- by-at-bat. Another bat would be nice, but FAZ will make no dope-fiend moves.

Services Today Will be held at The Church of ChrisTaylor with the Rev. Truth Hurts officiating (he’s the guy with the harmonica).  He just loves to dance.

P.S. For the record, I am not irreverent – I’m just having fun with a play on words, so don’t do what happened at Charlie Hebdo.  It’s just in fun.

Dodger News

• Andrew Friedman must have blackmailed the Rays into taking Sergio Romo.  I mean, how can you even get anything for him? Hatcher is next!
• Where are the Rich Hill Critics now?
• The Dodgers are 7th out of 30 teams in HR. First in BB. 3rd in OPS. 3rd in OB%. 5th in Runs and will likely finish higher.
• It’s a long shot, but the Dodgers have a chance at having 8 players with 20 or more HR.  Bellinger, Puig, Seager and Grandal are within striking distance of 25-30 HR, while Taylor, Turner, Hernandez and Pederson all have 10+ HR right now.
• Yasmani Grandal is hitting .273 in case you weren’t paying attention.
• Trayce Thompson needs to go back to AAA and let’s see if Willie can hit or maybe Alex.
• Something to think about:

Trade Logan Forsythe and Ryu to Boston (who needs a third-baseman and a starter) for C.J. Chatham and Rafael Devers.  Taylor goes to 2B and Calhoun or Verdugo goes to LF.  You can flip the prospects for a LHRP.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a conversation between Andrew Friedman and Al Avilia who is VP of baseball operations for the Detroit Tigers:

Friedman: We would be interested trading for Justin Wilson.

Avilia:  We are open to that.  What were you thinking of offering?

Friedman:  How about Trevor Oaks, Jordan Sheffield and Edwin Rios?

Avilia:  Well, if you want Wilson you have to take Verlander.

Friedman:  How much of his salary will you pay?

Avilia:  We will pay the rest of this year’ salary and we want Buehler, Alvarez and Verdugo for the pair.

Friedman:  Coughing and choking sounds….

That pretty much sums up what is happening right now. It could change by the end of the month….

Minor League Notes

• Alex Verdugo looks tired right about now.  I think he needs a 7-day DL.  He’s dragging!  He’s young and playing a lot.
• Willie Calhoun jacked 21st HR last night as a pinch hitter.  It was the only run OKC scored.
• Yasiel Sierra went 3 innings last night and did not allow a run, but did walk 3.  So far this year, he has pitched 59 innings, allowed 54 hits and struck out 71 while walking 22.  His ERA is 2.29, but his WHIP is a little high at 1.29.  He is 26 and I think he has to be part of the Dodgers plans NEXT year. He can be a workhorse out of the pen.
• Shea Spitzbarth has to be considered next year too.  He has pitched 50 innings, allowed 40 hits and struck out 54 with 19 BB.  His ERA is 1.98 and his WHIP is 1.18.
• ThinkBlueLA speculates that Wilmer Font might be a good candidate for the Dodgers Rotation.  I wonder how he would do in the pen? High 90’s with excellent control and he has 101 Inning this year which is 40 more than last year.  I’d consider him in the pen.