Timing is Everything

Dave Roberts’ record as a manager in postseason road games.

2023 0-1

2022 0-2

2021 2-5

2019 1-1

That is 3-9. There were no home or road playoff games in 2020.

One of these three things: It’s just luck in the playoffs, managing does not matter. The Dodgers have had inferior talent, and were lucky to win three road playoff games n four seasons. Dave Roberts is a mediocre-to-bad game manager, and was significantly responsible for these embarrassments in the playoffs. I’ll go with choice three. Roberts’ teams have now lost six straight playoff games, and seven straight road playoff games. Bochy’s team has won ten playoff games this year. Roberts’ teams have won seven in the last three seasons. Crapshoot, say the players who walk away losers from the poker table. Some of them finally gain enough self-awareness to stop playing, but not if someone keeps fronting them money.

The simple solution to get rid of the shitty format and keep the teams around .500 out of the playoffs is to put all teams in 1 division in each league and the teams with the 4 best records in each league go to the playoffs. But I would assume revenue would drop.

Damn the greed.

Shoulda signed Trea Turner!!! Oh, well… Ok. Well ,then we shoulda signed Corey Seager…

Though I’ve only commented once or twice, I’ve been a Dodgertalk reader for years and a Dodger fan since Koufax and Drysdale. Done crying again this year and ready to strategize for next, but lack the knowledge of others on this site so I have questions about the feasibility and fiscal ability of my thoughts:

Obviously the Dodgers want to utilize their youth but need to pick up additional help through trade or free agency and yet still spend wisely. As the Dodger have more pressing needs, this rules out Matt Chapman at third; but I don’t particularly like Muncy there unless necessary. How about Muncy to second with Vargas and Busch platooning at third until one proves himself MLB ready? If both fail, move Muncy back to third and bring Betts to 2nd. If the third base trial works but Lux fails, bring Betts to short. If they both fail, send Muncy back too third, Lux to second, Betts at short, and use the better of Vargas/Busch in left. Sign Rojas either as full time or utility depending on the above scenarios, and the infield is set. Heyward/Delucca platoon in right with Outman in center will provide an adequate outfield once one of Vargas or Busch gets it together in left.

The bullpen is fairly well off, but SP needs some help. Can they pick up 2 of 4 of Montgomery, Yamamoto, Snell, or

Nola (preferably Montgomery and Snell or at least one of the left handers) and still have enough for Otani? That would supplement the other starting kids and the DH. To paraphrase The Godfather movie, “tell Kershaw I’m sorry, I always liked him. It’s just business.”

Lastly, I very much appreciate how much work Mark puts into this site to make it happen and sympathize when despite this he gets abused by some. I can’t believe how petty some people get when their precious ego gets bruised.

I feel the work Mark puts in gives him leeway to occasionally call someone a moron, consider it compensation for the work. It’s only words, and it’s usually true. Feel free to answer my questions or trash my ideas. I am retired and can be neither fired or offended.

Not that MLB will do this. But how about adding a team to both leagues and create another division in both leagues and put 4 teams in each division?

Wouldn’t that make for more interest all the way to the end of the regular season, therefore more revenue? Wouldn’t 2 more teams create more revenue?

It would solve the stupid playoff format currently. Each division winner goes to the playoffs and the rest after that is easy to figure out.

Keep the name of the west and east divisions in both leagues. Call the other 2 divisions in both leagues the west central division and the east central division.

I didn’t get much sleep last night, so that might be a stupid idea. lol.

Unfortunately, the new playoff format is here to stay. I hate it. I hate 3 game series. I hate the bye week. Too many wild card teams.

But it has done precisely what it was designed to do. To keep as many teams possible in playoff contention as long as possible in the regular season. It has increased the odds of any wild card team making the World Series. It’s kept butts in the stands and eyeballs on TV screens up to the last games of the season. I knew Seattle fans that were motivated and engaged right up to the last two games of the season. Under the previous format, Seattle would have been eliminated weeks earlier. That means more to the sport in overall revenue than the Dodgers or Yankees in the series. It has done exactly what it was intended to do.

The problem is it disadvantages the teams that outperformed in the regular season. The more you roll the dice, the more likely you come up snake eyes.

I do not like this format. I’d love to see it changed. Acuna, Mookie and Freddie dominated the regular season. All had epic/historic years. And they didn’t do a damn thing in the playoffs. While a team like the Dbacks gets hot and is carried by players few have ever heard of. Arizona didn’t roll sneak eyes. LA and Atlanta did. This is just how it is now.

Some really good Posts today, especially SBuff who really got into what I’ve been thinking about our season and how difficult it is to win a WS. Ultimately only one team walks away every year satisfied with themselves and there are 29 disappointments.

Bobby’s Post too was interesting. For me Bochy is a great Manager because he seems to squeeze everything out of what he has. He seems to have a great feel for the game, pushing the right buttons at the right time. Is there luck involved? Sure. But he seems to be luckier than others. How can that be?

It annoyed me after one game of the season back in April, and it annoyed me at the All Star Break, that people were disrespecting the DiamondBacks, that they were no more than a .500 team and would fade in the second half due to a perceived lack of depth.

If you’d taken care to watch their second half of 22, you would’ve seen a very good, young, hungry and well managed team developing. They gave us problems at the back end and that season so why wouldn’t they continue that momentum into 23, with a year’s more experience and maturity?

It is only now that they are beginning to get any kind of credit, it’s as if they’ve managed to blag their selves a place in the World Series! They are the real deal, and probably more than any other team

have embraced the new rule changes.

Personally I think the NL West is a very tough division, and they finished above SF and SD and their payrolls.

The other thing that bugs me is the constant obsession with Kershaw.

I seriously couldn’t believe we were handing him the ball for game one?

Forget this year’s ailments and lack of velocity, look at his performance in the past in the Post Season – he simply does not produce when it really matters, and he’s now he’s suddenly our Ace again.

Buff is correct – like I said immediately after our exit – the Series was lost in that terrible first inning, or at least it set the tone. I said they should have ruled him out when he was injured because having him around makes the Braintrust lose their collective minds. He is a diversion, a distraction if you will.

He’s my favourite player, but I sincerely hope he retires to take the decision out of Friedman’s hands. Use the money towards signing Snell.

Looking forward to the Series and if be happy for either team to win having backed both before a pitch was thrown this season.

David Peralta underwent flexor tendon repair surgery. He is expected to be ready to play by spring training. That could have had a lot to do with his subpar play in the second half.

Richard Roundtree, the original “Shaft” passed away yesterday at 81. I met him at Country Fest in 1992. Had a pic taken with him. He also appeared in the second Lonesome Dove series. RIP>

Bob Melvin was officially announced as the manager of the Giants today. His contract runs through 2026. Zaidi was also extended. Craig Councell is interviewing for the Mets job. Milwaukee granted permission to the Mets to interview him. Weird because it would have not been needed after the 31st of October when his contract expires. Eric Lauer elected free agency, so another name added to the free agent starter list.

I respect Bochy. He is a very good manager. His teams have now been to five World Series, and he has won three. We say players are superstars when they are successful say 30% of the time. That gives you a .300 hitter. But nowadays, greatness is measured more by OPS than BA. WAR is also a tool used. So, what is Bochy’s WAR. How many games above a replacement manager is he worth? Well, if you take what the Rangers did last season and factor how much better they were this year than last, for this season, Bochy has a 22 WAR.

We know Bochy is at .499 during the regular season as a manager, now only 8 wins shy of being at .500. With this team he will probably get to that mark next season. We also know that when his teams do get to the post season, he has won the whole thing three times out of four. Very good. Bruce Bochy has been blessed with very good results in the post season. He has had some players do great things in post season play for his teams to win series and get to the World Series. In 2010, Cody Ross was the MVP of the NLCS against Atlanta. He had a clutch home run in game 4 and drove in two of the three runs.

In the World Series, it was Edgar Renteria. He hit .412 against the Rangers. They also had very good pitching from Lincecum, Bum, and Matt Cain. Two of their four wins were shutouts. After a 7 run outburst in game one, they held Texas to five total runs oner the next four games.

In 2012, Marco Scutaro, who hit .150 for the series, was the MVP. Shades of Bellinger against Milwaukee in 18 when he hit .200. In the big show it was the Panda, Pablo Sandoval who hit .500 and pretty much singlehandedly beat the Tigers. And in 14, it was Bumgarner winning the MVP in both series.

So, Bruce’s players stepped up and won for him. But what is a manager worth during those series? How many in game decisions actually affected the outcome of the game?? I doubt Bochy made more than a handful of decisions over the course of those three runs to championships that affected the games at all. His most important decisions were who was starting, and when to bring in the pen or subs. A manager’s actual worth during those types of situations can be debated all day long.

Over the course of his 26-year managerial career, Bochy’s teams made it to the playoffs 7 times. Lasorda did it 8 times in 22 years, Alston 7 in 23. Bochy will most likely be enshrined in Cooperstown. All are considered excellent managers. Great? Best of all time? Those are titles the fans use.

Mark I feel bad and wanted to apologize for some of the unthoughtful and ugly comments I made towards you yesterday. I’m am sorry. I could use frustration in being ousted like we were last couple years but that would be a lame excuse on my part. Also wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this site as I really enjoy reading what fellow fans are thinking. Some of the comments are super insightful and dare I say close to brilliant. So thank you once again

Good stuff guys, I love it. As for the structure of the playoffs, there are some changes that could be considered, and probably will be if and when they finally decide to expand to 32 teams thus having an even amount in both leagues, which makes sense and scheduling easier.

Manfred see’s nothing wrong with the system as it stands. But the complaining by many has already started after just two seasons with the system. There are those out there who believe the system is unfair to the best teams. And no, the layoff should not be an excuse. In 22, two bye teams lost in their first round, and the Yankees lost in the ALCS. This year three bye teams lost in their first round.

One solution that has been floated is shortening the season a little, and then having the wild card round start on the Tuesday after the season ends. But then have the Division series start on Friday and make the division series 7 games. What does that change do? It keeps the Wild Card winner from setting up his pitching so his best can pitch the first two games. Which is exactly what happened to the Dodgers. They faced Gallen and Kelly.

But a 7-game series is more of a test. The D-Backs passed that test against the Phillies. Now they face another offensive juggernaut in Texas, but also a team that has had to play games that meant something for more than a month. We will see who the last team is standing, but right now, I think Texas has an upper hand.

Problem: Playoffs are a crapshoot and often the best team doesn’t win.

Question: In the Olympics, does the winner of the 100m get a gold medal and the winner of a long distance race get only a handshake or fist bump?

Question 2: Why is the post season given so much more importance than the actual season?

Statement: The best team in baseball this year may actually be the one with the most wins during the regular season (Atl) rather than the one who got hot for a few games after the season (Az or Tex).

Proposed Solution: Why not give an award (trophy) to the team with the best record in the distance race (162 game schedule) as well as the award given to the team who wins a short post season sprint (tournament).

Why must I be told I should have tremendous admiration for the team who got into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and then played very well for a short period of time, while having total disdain for a team who battled for a very long schedule and proved themselves to be the best before having a short term slump?

Good read. Excellent discussion. The LAD problems this postseason were and still remain a lack of starting pitching. We could have certainly used an additional bat or two, but success in the playoffs starts and ends with pitching. Pardon the cliche, but “good pitching beats good hitting.”

Dodger brass has some tough decisions this offseason. Which of the young starters are they going to retain? Obviously, Bobby Miller is a lock. With Walker Buehler destined to be ready to contribute, that locks in 2 of the 5 starters. In my estimation, the Dodgers need to acquire/sign at least 1 starter, possibly 2 if Clayton Kershaw retires. Key questions that will need to addressed by the LAD: will Dustin May remain a starter? Where does Tony Gonsolin fit longterm? In particular, do they acquire/sign a stopgap starter until Gonsolin returns? Is that guy Lance Lynn? Where do guys like Pepiot, Sheehan, Frasso and Stone fit longterm? Are they used as capital to address an area of need?

If the Dodgers intend to contend in the playoffs, we will need at least another dominant pitcher to go along Walker Buehler. Can we expect Bobby Miller to be that guy? Personally, I do not believe that pitcher exists in this free agency.

It’s an interesting question. Is Bochy a good/great manager? Or is he mediocre and once in a while has a great year.

Does he have great teams? Or average teams but someobody gets crazy hot when it matters? Does he push the right buttons, or let his players just play, and someone stands out? Does he know how to motivate guys in October better than most other managers? Or did MadBum really need any motivation to do what he did, and could he have done it without Bochy? Did Bochy press the right buttons with Travis Ishakawa, or Cody Ross, or this year, Aroldis Garcia or some 21 year old rookie who literally just showed up 3-4 weeks ago? Or did guys just stay calm under pressure and perform like they can because that’s just who they are?

And, most importantly, if Bochy were our manager, does that mean Mookie and Freddie don’t chase crappy pitches in October, when they laid off those same pitches during a 162 game regular season? If Bochy is manager, do Kersh/Miller/Lynn not set the record for most pathetic starting pitching in October of all time??

I think it’s yes to all of the above. Maybe Bochy is more like Phil Jackson; he knows how to get guys ready to be their best versions of themselves when it matters most. Maybe Doc hasn’t figured that out yet. Granted Bochy is like 20 years older than Doc, and has managed a long time. Maybe he picked those things up during his early years before getting SF the title in 2010.

Either way, it’s a fun 10 months being a Dodger fan (starting with the first free agent or trade in December, all the way thru end of Sept), and it’s a crappy 2 months after we flame out early in Oct and watch some random team get hot and go all the way.

Oh well, the Lakers started, the Kings have started, and I’ll be at Sofi Stadium Sunday night to watch my crappy Bears at the Chargers.

The ‘Organizational Failure’ was that Freddie and Mookie did not hit. And I don’t buy that another type of manager would have changed that. These guys are veterans who have been there before. They don’t need someone in their face to motivate them. As for Kershaw, Just like Peralta, you don’t know how bad injuries are, or even if they exist, until the surgeries are announced at end of season. Whatever Kershaw’s ‘real’ condition was, obviously they thought that he could have at least given them 3-4 innings or else they wouldn’t have sent him out there. He managed 4-5 innings the last few weeks, so no reason to think he couldn’t do it again. So I guess that’s on him. So if that is case then I add him to Mookie and Freddie for MAIN reason for failure.

The DBacks were an 80 win team, 84 to be exact.

They got hot at the right time, had a little luck (can thank Kimbrel) and stayed healthy.

Are they better than the Dodgers, no way. For 3 games they were….Ill take the Dodgers in 24 and beyond….

the Phillies will regret that Turner contract. Once again he disappeared and the defense is only going to get worse than it is….

Well, Mark, with the DBacks and Rangers making it into the World Series there is a lot more to put in your pipe and smoke.

I honestly really dislike the playoff system, but I’m guessing it’s here to stay, they believe it brings parity and the more teams involved the merrier. But it does put a hit on the long summer. Winning the most games no longer matters.

Or at least the results seem to indicate that.

But wait, winning the most games and the division actually does matter. I’d rather win the division than finish 16 games behind and runner-up. I wrote this last year, winning 111 games is far more impressive than winning a. World Series. Every year a team wins the World Series, but how many teams win 111 games?

Hey, it’s a long summer and winning lots of games matters. It really does. It’s more fun to go to Dodger Stadium and win than lose. You leave the stadium in a much better mood. You call it a good game. The Dodgers have lots of good games these days.

Can we, for a moment, honestly analyze what happen to the Dodgers? It wasn’t organizational failure. What does that even mean? No idea. It’s a saying that, whether intentional or not, diverts attention from the real issue.

The Dodgers lost Dustin May, which was huge, Tony Gonsolin, Ryan Pepiot (for a lengthy time), Julio Urias and is the case every season, Clayton Kershaw had physical issues. Quite a feat winning the division and ending up with a hundred wins. After Kershaw and Bobby Miller melted down, they sent homer plagued Lance Lynn out to save the day.

Again, moment of truth, the Dodgers starting pitching failed. They failed, they failed, they failed. Organizational failure? Nonsense. It began and ended with the starting pitching. They put the Dodgers in a hole early on. Maybe the hitters were pressing to right the ship. Or we could back to the tired phrase to explain what happened to the high powered offense — “that’s baseball.” Well, the bullpen did well, right?

I suppose that all the type that went with winning this season came into play. This is the year. Don’t worry that you might have to rely on Lynn. Or that Kershaw didn’t look exactly right. Or Bobby Miller, the future ace, might struggle under the big spotlight. All the hype was just hype. Without starting pitchers, who shutdown the other team, the Dodgers were doomed to failure in the playoffs.

It’s not the format. Toss out that as an excuse. Don’t bring it up again. It’s not going to change and if they tweaked it here or there, who says that would make a difference? It is what it is so go with it and win. This winter is an opportunity to create another championship team, but one that takes the Dodgers to a series championship.

Blow up the box thinking, give an extra year if that’s what takes to get the player. The Dodgers have some good young arms, but they need veteran pitching too. Add a hitter or two, Ohtani and another bat that makes contact more and strikes out less.

And remember, even though Harper and Turner helped the Phillies reach the NL championship game, both failed with game on the line. Sometimes you need the David Eckstein’s to get you across the finish line.

Oh and the manager of the Dodgers is Dave Roberts. Don’t spend a lot of time focusing on him. Roberts is not the problem. He’s not a starting pitcher and he won’t deliver with the bat.

I guess our stars aren’t the only ones who disappeared in the big October moments. Rootin for the DBacks! Great story the past two years

2022 MLB standings

Team A: 68-94

Team B: 74-84

Team C: 111-51

Two of these teams make the 2023 World Series!

Life isn’t fair and baseball even more so!

Quite a rambling, angry column tonight, Mark.

You chose to criticize Bruce Bochy, Dave Dombrowski, Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn.

I am not a big fan of Bochy, Dombrowski, or Lynn, although I respect all of them. They have had very successful careers, with Bochy and Dombrowski possible Hall of famers. And Lance Lynn has won 59% of his starts with a career ERA of 3.74.

But your desire to rid the Dodgers of Kershaw’s “losing attitude” is your worst take in my opinion.

Of course, you are entitled to your own views, but I think you underestimate the leadership and sacrifice Kershaw provided for the team this year. He was by far the team’s best starting pitcher this year with a 2.46 ERA while pitching with an injured shoulder. He returned the last month of the season when most players would have pocketed their money and went on vacation. He was terrible in his one start in the playoffs, but he really should not have been pitching at all, and certainly not in Game 1. But he was historically bad, and deserves criticism for that horrendous start. Still, I think Kershaw was instrumental in helping the Dodgers to a division title this year, and if healthy, I would welcome him back for another year.

The players determine the outcome of games and coaches have only a marginal impact on the games. However, the front office and management are also responsible for building the roster. This Dodger team entered the playoffs with an injured Kershaw, an inconsistent rookie, and the MLB HR leader as their starting rotation. The front office chose to sign Noah Syndergard for $13 million this year instead of Nate Eovaldi, Senga, Eflin, Wacha, and Lugo among others who signed for similar amounts and performed well this year.

And given the opportunity to correct their mistake at the trade deadline, the Dodgers only added Lance Lynn, while failing to add Montgomery, Verlander, Scherzer, Cease, or another impact arm.

Texas managed to sign both Eovaldi and Montgomery and those two starters have carried the pitching load to the World Series. Sure, Eovaldi, Montgomery, Seager and García deserve the credit for winning the pennant. But the Ranger front office made the right moves to bolster their pitching needs, and give them a good chance to succeed in the playoffs.

I don’t understand why anybody downplays Bochy’s accomplishments.

The Rangers are the third franchise he’s taken to the WS. If the Rangers win–and they should be favorites against the Cinderella Snakes–he’ll join a fairly small group of managers with four rings. For managers. that’s Hall of Fame stuff.

Critics say, well, Bochy’s career winning percentage is below .500. To me that means he usually has had mediocre talent to work with and the titles reveal his excellence as a manager. Unlike Stengel, he’s never managed a powerhouse dynasty. Unlike Alston, he never had the stability of working within a first-rate organization. Could Stengel or Altson have done what Bochy has done? Comes out of retirement and gets the Rangers to the World Series. Impressive….

In other news, I owe the D’backs an apology. I wrote that the D’backs had already “won” their season by getting into the playoffs. I figured that the Dodgers, despite the weakened rotation, would roll through them.

Then the Snakes swallowed our Dodgers whole. Gruesome.

I usually pay more attention to what the front offices are doing than what a manager does. One reason is just easier to see. The Rangers’ front office obviously spent big to build a winner–but also smartly in luring Bochy out of retirement. Adolis Garcia knocked around baseball–he was DFA’d by the Cards–but the Rangers gave him a shot. And the Rangers were pretty bold in snagging Aroldis Chapman early, and later landed Montgomery, who has proven be the best SP on the market. (It would be interesting to know if AF was in on Montgomery and what the offer was.)

The Snakes’ front office also made some smart moves, especially before spring when they dealt Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays for both Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno. What were the Jays thinking? Or drinking? (My friend’s son is a talent analyst for the Jays. I really hope he didn’t encourage this deal.) And in midseason, the Snakes got better by getting the closer Sewald from the Mariners and a good bat in Pham from the Mets. All of these moves paid off.

What were the odds of a Rangers-D’backs WS?