Watch out for the Giants!
The Giants are breathing down the Dodgers ‘ necks. I think the D-Bags will fade (somewhat), but I fully expect the Giants to “sell out” for Shohei Ohtani. The Giants will be eager to “gut the farm” to stick it to the Dodgers. Prepare for it because I think it will happen. Hate…
The Giants are breathing down the Dodgers ‘ necks. I think the D-Bags will fade (somewhat), but I fully expect the Giants to “sell out” for Shohei Ohtani. The Giants will be eager to “gut the farm” to stick it to the Dodgers. Prepare for it because I think it will happen. Hate them all you want – they just play baseball, and a 1-2-3 punch of Webb, Cobb, and Ohtani is formidable. Of course, San Diego and about a dozen other teams will have a say-so in where Shohei goes as well. I am not going to dwell on it or worry about it. What will be will do. The Dodgers are playing some pretty fine baseball themselves. Tanpa Bay and Atlanta are clearly the leaders in MLB, but the Dodgers are well-positioned.
The Dodgers relievers are marching to the Top 10 for this season. They moved up one notch to #20 after last night, but they have been TOP TWO since June 15th. It’s not where you start – it’s where you end up! This has been “The Tale of Two Seasons:” The bad bullpen and the good bullpen. I know we all rag on the umpires when they miss calls of balls and strikes, but the strike zone we see superimposed upon the TV by the batter is just a “rough outline” of it. It is by no means representative of the actual strike zone, so we can curse the umpires all we want, but that is not the real strike zone, and the ABS systems will also have their limitations – although I believe MLB is going to that – and should!
The Dodgers led MLB in team ERA in 2022 with a 2.80 ERA. The Astros were second with a 2.90 ERA, and the Yankees were third with a 3.30 team ERA. Things have changed dramatically in baseball this season. The Dodgers are 18th in team ERA with a 4.35 mark, while the Rays are #1 with a 3.71 ERA – that’s almost a run more than the leader last year. So, the scoring is up! The good news is that the Dodgers are just a half-run a game behind the leaders, but in the last 30 days, the Dodgers are second in all of baseball with a team ERA of 3.43!
I strongly disagree that the Dodgers have to sell the farm to get some starters and relievers. I call BS! This team is coming together! IF Andrew Friedman can add some pieces that will help, then he will… but quit trying to trade away Michael Busch and Diego Cartaya! Yes, he will be faced with some roster management issues after this season. Peralta, Heyward, Barnes, Muncy, Hernandez, Marisnick, Brasier, Bickford, and others may be roster casualties in order to protect the youngsters who become Rule 5 eligible.
Speaking of Jake Marisnick, he no sooner got his second hit as a Dodger than he pulled a hammy that is likely going to land him on the IL. His defense is elite in CF. James Outman will not be confused with a Gold Glover there. He is fast and athletic, but he has a ways to go. I have no doubt that he will get better! The Dodgers average more runs a game (5.4379) than any other teams except Texas and Atlanta, and they are close to them. The winning formula is to score more runs a game than you give up, and the Dodgers have a +1.2 run differential per game (on average).
So, with all the moaning and groaning and gnashing of teeth, this is turning out to be a pretty damn good team! There is still work to do, but I don’t get all the moaning about Muncy hitting 4th. This is not all on Doc. The brain trust has shown they believe in showing confidence and respect to veteran players, and they believe Max will break out of his funk soon and call this team for a month. Barrels are overrated, and where a player hits is overrated. An out is an out! Are runners only on base when the cleanup hitter comes up to bat? Hell no!
Michael Grove is evidently a slow learner, but learn he does. I admire his grit! The dude just never quits! Last night was the best he has pitched. He is a horse! Syndergaard will be back, but his leash is short – this is why they play the games. Miguel Vargas walked four times on Sunday. Last night, he was 4-5, and after three games and 13 ABs, he is playing like a man possessed to get back to a Ravine near you. I think he will likely be back by August 1st! It’s a small sampling, but he is hitting .462 with a .650 OB% and 1.188 OPS. His spirit is not broken!
Michael Busch continues to rake as he hit his 13th HR last night and is hitting .305 with a .998 OPS. He is playing 3B! I did not think he had the arm for it, but it turns out that he did… and does! Imagine this lineup with Gavin Lux back next season… but we’ve got a championship to win here first!
Minor League Notes of Significance
- Gavin Stone went six innings, allowed seven hits and 4 ER, but most importantly, he walked just 1.
- Jimmy Nelson pitched one inning, allowed one hit, and walked 1.
- Ken Giles pitched in his second AAA game and looked rusty. He needs a couple of weeks, but this could be like a trade at the deadline!
- What does Devin Mann have to do to get a “look-see?” He’s hitting .315 with a .978 OPS playing everywhere.
- Diego Cartaya still is not hitting his weight!
- At the age of 20, Luis Rodriguez is finally showing signs of life. He is hitting .302 with a .359 OB% and little power (.776 OPS). He was 3-5 with 6 RBI last night
The Draft
The Dodgers are allegedly closing in on signing several players. They have until next Tuesday and they have to figure out how to spread their bonus pool among as many players as possible. How they have built such a great farm system with such a small bonus pool is nothing short of amazing! Look at this year’s Bonus Pool which MLB allots them:
Bonus pools by club
Pirates: $16,185,700
Tigers: $15,747,200
Nationals: $14,502,400
Twins: $14,345,600
Athletics: $14,255,600
Reds: $13,785,200
Mariners: $13,170,900
Marlins: $12,829,600
Royals: $12,313,500
Rockies: $11,909,800
D-backs: $11,084,300
Brewers: $10,950,600
Rays: $10,872,100
Orioles: $10,534,800
Red Sox: $10,295,100
Rangers: $9,925,300
Giants: $9,916,900
White Sox: $9,072,800
Cubs: $8,962,000
Guardians: $8,736,700
Mets: $8,440,400
Braves: $8,341,700
Angels: $8,328,900
Dodgers: $7,274,600
Astros: $6,747,900
Blue Jays: $6,529,700
Cardinals: $6,375,100
Padres: $5,416,000
Yankees: $5,299,400
Phillies: $5,185,500
River Ryan
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Discussion (96)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Julio is making the Dodger decision much easier this off season. If we don’t resign him and Kersh retires, that leaves a lot of $ on the table to sign Ohtani. Really disappointing outing today and if Julio doesn’t regain his ace status, that’s puts a big dent into our October dreams!
Keuchel evidently has an opt out this Friday. He’s having a decent year in AAA so if he opts out I can see AF taking him on.
Tyler O’Neill anyone??
Like I said before, no way will Ohtani be a Dodger. If I’m the Angels, I’m telling Ohtani to step up and let them know he is history. Then, I’m asking any team interested to give me at least their top 5 prospects, and at least three players on the current big league roster. Ohtani, like someone said, is actually two players. Urias is pitching himself off the Dodger roster. Looks a little fat and out of shape. Glad Dave left him in. Saves arms. On to Texas. Go Dodgers. As far as Muncy goes, I don’t think he will be a Dodger next year.
Shintaro Fujinami saying his goodbyes to fellow team mates in the A’s clubhouse. Reported by MLB Trade Rumors that he has been traded. I can see AF doing that “under the radar” type of trade. Wonder where he’s going?
I’ve been saying for a while. Ohtani will be a Giant. Padres will make a run, Machado or Soto offered to a third team. Prospects to the Angels.
But the Giants make most sense. Moreno is an egotistical asshat. He will never send Ohtani down the road. Or to a division rival (Seattle). We will be dealing with a pretty formidable Giants team as the season goes on. The Giants are like that stray dog who won’t go away. No clue how they won 107 a couple years ago. But they did. I think Ohtani will be a POS by the traid deadline. As I’ve taught my son, the Giants win because they hate their grandmas and kick puppies. So will Ohtani.
That’s my prediction. I could be wrong. Call me out if I am.
Jayne
Will all those posters who insisted the Dodgers sign one of the big 4 shortstops last off season please raise their hands. Maybe some of the best moves AF makes are the ones he doesn’t! So far he’s 2 for 2 on big long term FA deals. And he should be arrested for stealing Freddie!.
Huge Corey Seager fan here!
Trea Turner has started to turn things around. He has been his normal self the last couple of weeks. He is one hot streak away from getting his averages closer to the mean. By the end of the season, I expect his numbers to normalize.
I honestly believed the Dodgers let Seager walk because they intended to sign Turner longterm. I would have been ok with either. Letting both walk was a mistake in my opinion. It has been and will continue to be.
By the way, TT is hitting .249 with an OPS of .688! He’s got a long ways to go to “normalize”! And Seagrrhas had a great year so far this year but he was very pedestrian his first year in Texas. A.245 BA and an OPS of .772. So we’ll see long term how that works out.
If you go and look at the top long term mega contracts in baseball, it makes you shudder, especially if you’re a GM. Even Trout’s contract looks a bit dicey considering the last 2 years snd the injuries. I wouldn’t want him now. Stanton is sinking the Yankees. Good on AF that Mookie and Freddie look like winners.
Putting in my penny thoughts here. If Ohtani gets dealt, and that is still if, SF makes a lot of sense. They have the prospect capital to get the job done. But there are also some who think SF’s biggest need is a full time CF, and Bellinger is high on that list. The Dodgers need starting pitchers who can pitch at least 6 innings or more. Maybe one more power arm in the back of the pen. A power RH bat off of the bench would be nice to. Face it, Barnes is not going to be moved from backup catcher to Smith, so the bench because of that is very thin. They are better when Mookie is playing either SS or 2nd base because he is very good at both spots. They have good outfielders who hit from the left side. Between the three of them they have 28 homers. Mookie has almost that by himself. But the other outfielders have shown little pop. Taylor plays all over so you cannot just call him an outfielder. But he seems to have rediscovered his home run trot.
As for Seager and Turner, they actually are pretty close fielding wise. Corey is having a great year with the bat, but he always could hit. Turner is experiencing what many free agents do when they sign large contracts. He is under a lot more pressure to perform in Philly. Defensively neither is as good as Rojas. Seager and Turner’s Fielding Percentage career wise, they are both about .970. Turner is .972. Turner has 8 errors so far this season and Corey 6. Rojas is a career .982 pct fielder. He has made 4 errors this season. As for sign ability, I think the Dodgers blew it when they offered Seager 250 million. In order to match what he got from Texas; they would have to pay him over 400 mil since Texas has no state income tax. Turner obviously wanted to be on the east coast. Made his wife happy and he has a lot of cash now.
The deadline will bring some surprises no doubt. It usually does. But I think there is going to be a lot more activity than the pundits originally thought. With teams faltering since the All-Star break, more and more fringe pieces are going to be available.
Landon Knack pitched 4 shutout innings for OKC last night.
Miguel Vargas was 1-4 and it was a 3-run HR in the 9th.
Diego Cartaya – .187! Yikes!
Dalton Rushing hit his 9th HR
Right now today, Dodgers up 1.5 on both AZ and the Giants. Many are now predicting that Moreno will not trade Ohtani, his attendance would take a huge hit, no matter who he gets back. Most pundits believe the Dodgers will target starting pitching, duh! There is also a huge belief that they will seek a power RH bat for the outfield.