I have read over the last several days many proposals for who the Dodgers should target at the deadline. And the season is 11 days old. Sorry, it is ridiculous to think that the Dodgers’ players on the roster right now will be the same 26 players in September and October. There will be injuries and players moved up and down because of a lack of production, but the core group, Betts, Freeman, Muncy, Taylor, Smith, and Barnes, are going nowhere. The supporting cast might change. Outman and Vargas are going to have a longer leash than, say, Heyward. But even Peralta and Thompson have some leeway.
In their two losses to Arizona the opening week, the offense scored two runs, and the pitching allowed four. Ok, that is on the offense. In their three losses last week to the D-Backs, the offense scored seventeen runs, and the pitchers allowed twenty-nine. Obviously, the offense was not the problem. Two players in the first 11 games have won games with their individual performances. Trayce Thompson with his 3 homers and 8 RBI night, and Max Muncy with his 2 homers and 7 RBI night last night.
Betts has been solid, with two homers and an average just below .300. Freeman has been spectacular, hitting well over .400, but he only has 2 RBIs. Smith leads the team with 11. Four players have 9, Muncy, Outman, Thompson, and Martinez. Five players have three homers. So the offense, except for Taylor, Peralta, Barnes, and Vargas, is getting contributions up and down the lineup. Rojas, because of a hand injury, has only played in 5 games. Barnes has yet to get a hit, and Vargas has also been slowed by being hit in the hand.
In the Arizona series, it is more than obvious that the pitching failed the team. Chase Field is a house of horrors for Kershaw. He has lost 12 games to the Diamondbacks in his career. 11 of them have come at Chase Field. Even though he has a winning record at Coors, his ERA there is almost 5. Syndergaard was leaving most of his pitches right over the middle of the plate. He gave up six. But the pen gave up six more in a game where the offense put up eight runs. They led that game 4-0 at one point. Grove gave up 9 of the 11 scored on Sunday. They were never in that game.
But in the minds of many fans, the Dodgers need to get (A.) a regular left fielder instead of using a platoon of Peralta and Taylor, which at this point, they are not doing since Rojas is down and Taylor is playing SS. They want Outman in CF every day. Betts has been playing second a lot because Vargas is not 100%. (B.) They want a full-time SS with a better bat than Rojas or Taylor. (C.) They want a better third baseman than Muncy since he has made some very routine plays look very difficult. And Max has had trouble making contact.
So, when do they swing a deal, and who do they trade for? Big question. Herein lies the rub. Players who might not be available now might be available when the deadline comes on August first, which by the way, is a day earlier than it was last year. One thing I am pretty sure of, no, I do not have inside information, but it just makes sense to me that they are not going to add significant salary at the deadline. This means, Christian, “I am over the Hill,” Yelich, is not going to be a Dodger. Yelich is owed close to 180 million over the next six years. If he was the player he was in 2019 instead of the shell he is now, he might have been worth the investment. Do you think Bellinger was a bust for 18 mil? Yelich is making 26 million per year through 2028. Not even close to being worth that kind of money, and AF is not going to waste that kind of cash on him.
Many would like to see them get Bryan Reynolds. Now, if he does not sign a contract extension, he could be had, but the price will be very high. And do not expect them to trade Oneal Cruz. A. He is injured and out for at least nine weeks, and B, he is their other star material player. Reynolds, by the way, is off to a very hot start.
Willy Adames has been suggested as a SS they might target. News flash, Rojas is signed through next season and has an option for 2025. Now, he might be there to back up Lux when he returns next season, but I question whether they would seriously consider trading for a SS who is making 8 million and is arbitration-eligible next season. Fans may question whether Lux is a SS or not, but I believe management has enough faith in him to let him win or lose the job next year.
We also have to consider what their plans are for next offseason when they have a significant amount of salary coming off of the books. Will they make a run at Ohtani? Will they go all in to re-sign Urias? Do they trust Buehler to be back and be Walker Buehler? Will they give Kersh another one-year deal if he wants it. All of those questions and some more will dictate what they do at the deadline.
Trades are rarely made this time of the year with front-line players involved. Most teams want to see where they are by the end of July. By then, we should have a much better idea of who is going to be selling and who is going to be buying. Last year, the Dodgers were 13-7 in April. After losing 2 of 3 to the Rockies, they ripped off seven straight wins. They won 9 of their next 11 and 12 of their next 14. They then had a six-game winning streak to start May. I think it would be wise to see where they are, come the end of May before making any assessments of what the team might need.
Right now, I think they need a surefire 5th starter. I do not trust Grove all that much. I think Syndergaard just had a very bad game. He is a pro, and he is where he wants to be with the kind of coaching he feels he needs.
Trades will happen. But I would not seriously think they will involve a true impact player like when they got Trea and Max. It will be for pitching or a bench piece that can contribute on a higher level. Do not expect someone like Taylor to be moved. If someone wanted Thompson or Peralta, or even Heyward, maybe that deal would be made. But I seriously doubt any of them will be traded. They just would not bring much except maybe a low-level prospect in return.
Now the next question is which teams are going to be sellers. Well, the usual bottom feeders are the first options. A’s, Royals, Marlins, Pirates, Reds, Tigers, Rockies, Nats, and teams who feel they are out of the race. Then you need to figure out which player on those teams is available. So let us take a peek at those teams and see who might be an upgrade.
Pirates: The most obvious answer is Bryan Reynolds. At last glance, the Pirates were working to secure a contract extension with Reynolds. The Pirates are also off to a great start. They are 7-4 after beating Houston today. If they are hanging around at the deadline, I doubt they will trade anyone. Two other players intrigue me, KeBryan Hayes and Oneal Cruz. But the chances they trade either are pretty slim. Bednar for the bullpen would be a nice addition.
Royals: KC is a mess. Basically, there is no player on this team who would be an upgrade over any of the Dodger position players save maybe Matt Duffy. Duffy is a vet with a lot of experience, a decent bat and a ton of versatility. He could easily replace Chris Taylor, who it seems forgot how to hit. Aroldis Chapman has pitched well so far and would probably not cost much. Scott Barlow is another interesting bullpen arm.
Detroit: Another team that is at this point, a total disaster. Matt Vierling, their right fielder is off to a decent start. He is about the only player on the team who could possibly help the Dodgers. Jason Foley is the only Tigers pitcher with an ERA under 3.
A’s: the A’s are 2-9. They are in last place for a reason. They can’t hit, pitch, or field. Well, they can, but not very well. The only position player I would even consider is outfielder Ramon Laureano. Zack Jackson and Jeurys Familia are the two best bullpen arms.
Marlins: Luis Arraez is a hitter, pure and simple. He is playing second base for the Fish. He is also hitting over .500. Yuli Gurriel and Garret Cooper, both first basemen are the only other players on the team hitting over .250. Jesus Luzardo has been their best starter so far, with Alcantara right behind. It would take a huge package to get any of those guys.
Nats: The player on the Nationals that I would like to see in Dodger blue, is McKenzie Gore. He seems to be finding himself with the Nationals. Carl Edwards, another veteran reliever who is figuring it out and is now their closer. Hunter Harvey, a young reliever who has been nails so far. Victor Robles and Lane Thomas have been their best offensive players so far. Both are outfielders with little pop.
Rockies: The Rockies as usual, are getting some offense up and down the lineup. Kris Bryant has seemingly returned to form. Blackmon as well has seemed to regain his mojo. A couple of younger players, Montero 3B, Trejo 3B, are both well above .300. The Dodgers rarely trade with interdivision rivals. But it has been done. Bryant could help in left field, but his contract is not something the team would take on. Blackmon is in his walk year, but the team has three left-handed hitting outfielders now. I doubt the Rockies would part with either of their young third basemen. A trade with them does not seem to be in the cards.
Contenders who turn into pretenders will probably add some squads to the list. But that big block buster deal bringing a franchise changing player seems to me to not be part of the plan. Of course injuries, or a total lack of production at any one vital position could totally alter the plans of the front office. Sit back and enjoy the ride and the anticipation.
Discussion (20)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Hmmm the Dodgers need to get an outfielder like when they went a got Freddie from the Braves. So give me an outfielder that will be a free agent next season and go get him like they did getting Freddie. So look at teams like the Twins like the As like the Tigers. Who is a star for those teams and if they could help the Dodgers then go get him. For all those that said not to get Correa last off season but you all wish the Dodgers would have gotten him. For his bat and for his glove. It be better than Taylor Rojas and Lux. Here is a name I was thinking could the Dodgers get Javy Baez from the Tigers. He is not happy in Detroit. And do the Tigers have any good outfielders. They must have starting outfielders right! If you could trade Muncy Taylor Thompson to another team. Would that help the Dodgers or hurt them? Muncy needs to go to a team that needs a first baseman right? Let’s look at teams that could use Muncy at first base and maybe they will have some outfielders or shortstops. Phillies would love to have Muncy at first base. The Pirates could use him at first base. Maybe he goes back to the As. And we get Ramon. The As do have a pretty good shortstop remember him he played in WBC think his name was Diaz. But if you get rid of Muncy you better have a bat that compares to his in a trade. That’s the big question mark so bad defense but a good bat. Maybe the Bluejays if there out if it they have outfielders and third baseman Chapman. So there are possible teams to trade with you just have to wait and see which teams are out of it.
We need Bradley to be our GM. He can make trades for players that are not available whenever he wants.
13-0 Rays tie MLB modern era record to start season
Tampa Bay’s historic season-opening winning streak reached 13 games thanks to the Rays’ relentless lineup, which sent 11 batters to the plate during a seven-run rally in the fifth inning. They cruised the rest of the way to a 9-3 victory over Boston before a crowd of 21,175 at Tropicana Field.
Wednesday scores
Sugar Land 7, Oklahoma City 3
Tulsa 8, Midland 5
Dayton 7, Great Lakes 3
Visalia 5, Rancho Cucamonga 4
Thursday schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Ronan Kopp) at Dayton (Javi Rivera)
5 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Frasso) at Midland (Joey Estes)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Robbie Erlin) vs. Sugar Land (Austin Hansen)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Maddux Bruns) at Visalia (Wyatt Wendell)
Yup Bear, Alex Tosi had a tough night behind the dish. He’s usually better than that. He called 12 strikes on actual balls, mostly north and south. I hate to harp on the umpiring but it has not been good.
I was going to mention Kyle Farmer yesterday as he was playing SS regularly for the Twins. He wasn’t hitting much at .226 but was playing okay D. Getting hit in the face is awful. No broken jaw apparently. Surgery, stitches in his mouth. I was also going to mention I had seen Hanser Alberto playing some nice 3rd base for the White Sox. He went 0 for 4 to drop to .222 but was playing.
Umpire last night was more inconsistent with his strike zone. Makes games very frustrating to watch. Prayers out to Kyle farmer who was hit in the face by a Giolito pitch yesterday and will need surgery.
*The Freddie’s 15 pitch at bat was awesome. What a battle. Just a quiet superstar day in and day out.
Sure nice to see Max finding himself.
* Nice comeback win sparked by Freddie’s AB. Team kept battling after a poor start.
* I watch a lot of baseball. Not just the Dodgers. I have never seen so many pitches in the dirt end up at the backstop. Will Smith included. When are they going to get the catchers off that knee so they can shift out and block pitches? The technique makes catchers lazy and forces backhand picks instead of blocking the ball. I hate it.
* I watched the Brewers – D-Backs game in the afternoon, before the Dodger game. I saw the worst HPU umpire I’ve seen in MLB in Gabe Morales. He’s been around for 9 years and he just doesn’t get better. He had a shotgun spray pattern on balls and strikes, just missing pitches. He’s horrible in addition to being a cocky prick. Manny Gonzales had a game yesterday with 19 misses on balls and strikes. Everyday I see more reason for ABS. It can’t come soon enough for me.
* Nice to see each of the Giants 5 pitchers give up an earned run.
* I wonder if Rogers’ glove was retrieved from the garbage can that should have contained those dreadful City Connect Unis?
* Always nice to win the night before a day off.
Rojas looks fragile.
It’s not the amount of money you spend, it’s how wisely you spend the money you have.
Really the only time in recent memory that the top spender in MLB won the WS was the Dodgers in 2020.
A successful organization is more than the sum of it’s high payroll players. There are things such as organizational culture, a good farm system for renewing talent that is inexpensive, a good coaching and developmental system for maximizing talent – building a sustainable system.
Tampa Bay has not had a losing season since 2017. They may not always have the firepower to win the division against the likes of the Yankees or Sox, but they are perhaps the best at developing talent – letting that talent go when the cost is prohibitive – and developing more talent. They are near the bottom in terms of payroll.
They have three very good starting pitchers, and the new guy they just rolled out, Taj Bradley, looks to be another stud.
They locked up Wander Franco for the bulk of his career at an AAV of 16 million, which, right now, looks to be an absolute steal. (CT3 almost gets paid that much).
Anthopoulos has locked up a good portion of the core of the Braves team for the foreseeable future at team friendly deals.
Meanwhile, we’ll watch and wait to see how the all-in experiments in San Diego and New York (and maybe Texas) play out.
Peralta isn’t doing much. He’s 35 and has been declining for the past few years. The Dodgers gambled that having him just focus on the righty masher role he might have a little left in the tank. The Dodgers will give him plenty of time because he’s a vet (more than they did Outman last year), but ultimately Trayce, with his weird reverse spits, I think should get the majority of the reps in left with CT3 focusing on SS.
What does Trayce Thompson need to do to get a little respect around here. Second half OPS of .947 in 22 and this year .1405! I keep hearing it’s unsustainable snd yet these ate the numbers. And he plays a very good outfield.
Daily Rant:
Where’s the 15 sec clock on MLB replays?!
Belli’s return on Friday. Hope he gets a nice ovation. And he’s trending up. .238 after yesterday’s 2-3. Maybe CT3 should ask for a trade to Chicago
When I say I have question marks I don’t mean go out and get a replacement right now. That’s stupid we need to find out what’s going on and it will take another couple months or whatever.
V-Gon with another good outing at OKC. He is ready when needed.
Bryan Hudson (4.26 ERA) got torched.
Busch at .333.
Jahmai Jones is reverting back to his Angels days.
Nick Frasso goes today for the Drillers.
Last night, DeLuca was 2-4 (.353), Pages was 1-2 (.375).
Landon Knack went 4 IP, allowing 4 H and 1 R.
It appears that John Rooney ios being converted into a reliever.
“Money doesn’t buy championships.”
You keep saying that. Looking at the World Series champions this century I think it’s clear most of them have healthy payrolls. Money doesn’t guarantee championships may be true, but trying to win one without money looks quite difficult.
Were the Dodgers trying to stay under the cap? Will they get under the cap by season’s end? If not, why didn’t they just get Bogaerts and leave Lux at second? In my view the reset question remains unanswered.
SF doesn’t look like a contender to me. Their fans apparently don’t think so either.
I believe trades will be made. Trying to figure out what those trades will look like has never been possible with Friedman. I expect to stay close until July, but I won’t be surprised if the Dodgers aren’t leading the Division at that time. I won’t be surprised if they are either. By then I expect the Padres and Dodgers will separate themselves from the others.
From a pure position standpoint LF and SS are the obvious positions for an upgrade at the moment.
Since we did not stay under the luxury tax anyway the decision not to go after one of the 4 top ss in free agency is a little puzzle though no one knew that Lux would go down for the season in ST.
But we will find out soon enough if the Dodgers are willing to trade for a big bat come the deadline.
Maybe they become sellers and get a haul for Julio if they think they can not resign him.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hell, put Pages in LF.
How soon can we trade for a third baseman?
The thing is: THE DODGERS HAVE OPTIONS!
Tampa Bay is proving what I have always said: “Money doesn’t buy championships.”
Tampa Bays Paytroll is under $75 Million. That is near the bottom of all MLB teams.
The Dodgers have close to 30 players who should be ready in 2023-2025. Not all will make it (this we know), but the contracts to Peralta, Heyward, Thompson, Rojas, et al are short and necessary to act as a bridge to the youngest. When you criticize them you brand yourself as a novice!
Fans want to win now, but are too big of Dumbasses to understand how to build a sustainable team through the farm system. Tampa Bay has stayed true to Andrew Friedman’s Plan. The Dodgers have not, and they do not want a down year, so he will be forced to trade some minor-league collateral for a player like Reynolds or Adames (if he becomes available).
We can only hope that CT3 and/or Rojas make that unnecessary!
The offense is not the problem. The Dodgers are #2 in Runs, OB%, OPS, and HR behind the Rays. By the way, the Rays are OPS’ing .945 – that’s sustainable, Right? 😉
The problem has been the pitching, and I am not the least bit worried about the pitching!