What Now?

Just for the record, I am above all, a Dodger fan. Have always been and always will be. I do not have any inside info on the team. I do my evaluating through the eye test. I have trusted my eyes my entire time as a fan. I have been wrong about players, and I have occasionally been right. One thing that never changes is that I want all the members of the team to do well. I do not wish any of them anything except success. That being said, to me a player is still a prospect until he proves himself, more than just once by the way, on the field of play. Over my time as a fan, I have seen some very hyped players flame out, or just merely never reach the potential that scouts, manager, coaches, fans, front offices, and the pundits predict. For every Bryce Harper, there are 10 or more Billy Ashley’s. For some it is the bright lights of a big city like New York. I remember Jeff Weaver, who was a decent pitcher, simply falling apart in Yankee pinstripes. Sometimes an injury will cause a player to not live up to the hype. I was one of the few who was all in when LA signed AJ Pollock, and since that first year, he did a fine job for LA. He will be missed by me. Rookies and young players are a whole different animal. I hear all the hype about Bobby Miller, and on Tuesday, I can see for myself what it is all about. I sincerely hope Gavin Lux lives up to the expectations so many of you have put on him. I hope he is that type of player. But even though I am not from Missouri, I am a show me type of fan. Do it, repeat it most days, and I will believe it. Until then, I am very skeptical.

Good point re catchers, Bear.

I like having an emergency catcher. (Can Alberto do it? Taylor?)

Some of us will remember when Kyle Farmer was brought up to the Dodgers. As I recall it, he was a SS in college and the Dodgers converted him to catcher. He was billed as a “backup catcher” in that big salary-dump deal with the Reds that also included Kemp, Puig and Alex Wood. Amid the big names he just looked like just a throw-in….

But Farmer has been the Reds starting SS for the last couple of years. A real mainstay on that team.

Still, the Reds would probably like a REAL shortstop, not a converted backup catcher.

So Lux + Jackson + ?? for Castillo and Farmer?

On the bright side, Kimbrel was pretty bad last year in the Spring and we all know what he did with the Cubs. Not worried about a guy with 2 Spring appearances. I’m a little more worried if anyone is ever going to hit. Are we ready to call up Pages to play left field after today?

I guess they’re planning on having Kershaw start every game this year since he has 4 Spring starts and no one else has had more than 2.

It seems like Vesia has given up runs in every appearance so far.

This has got to be the worst Spring Training ever. I can’t wait for the regular season to start.

Well, Kimbrell is off to a spectacular start in Dodger blue…. just not in a good way.

The best news from today, methinks, is the plan for Bobby Miller to start in the Freeway Series. Still spring, but it’s got to be the first time Miller has pitched in a crowded ML park. Based on the early reports, Miller has kicked his game up a notch and could make a significant contribution this year…. at some point.

Second best news: Bickford struck out two! (Who needs Kimbrel??)Weren’t we told Bickford that wouldn’t be ready to start the season?

Mark’s OD roster and lineup looks pretty good to me. But I’d tweak it:

–Alberto hits the ball, but not with power, and he doesn’t walk much. I don’t see him as DH when there are other options. He appears to be a more reliable glove than Lux, so I could see him in a platoon at 2B and perhaps a late defense sub at 3B. If it’s Lux/Taylor in LF, then Alberto’s versatility helps enable JT and Muncy rotate thru the DH spot, which can also feature Smith when Barnes is catching.

–If there’s a plan to platoon Lux in LF, then yes, it’s another runway…. but only against righthanded pitching. There’s nothing wrong with being a versatile platoon guy, but way short of the hype…oh well ….. To me Lux has already had two nice runways: First when he was annointed the starting 2B job, and later when Seager got injured and he moved to his natural position of SS. So far, not so good.

–Pollock had a productive 2021 but Dodger brass must figure his production will be replaced by a few factors: the arrival of Freeman (much more durable than Seager), the potency of the rotating DH, the anticipated improvement from Belli and Lux (we hope!), and finally the presence of Rios and Lamb. Taylor might be a better fielder than Pollock, and while Lux is still learning, he is much faster.

I find myself wondering whether the Giants or Padres might grab Upton, since the Angels are paying the bill.

Can we get Pollock back? Don’t we have 24 hours to return Kimbrel if we kept the receipt?

Spring training may not be too important.

But Kershaw with a very good outing today which is two solid starts in a row. He looks ready for the rotation and hopefully can stay healthy this year.

And Kimbrel could not have had a worse outing. First four batters hit double, HR, HR, and single. Mostly against minor league players. I do not see how anyone can be confident after that outing. In two appearances this spring, he has faced 12 batters and given up 9 runs while only getting 3 outs.

In the second half of last year, his era was 5.09 with the White Sox.

Friedman and Dodgers usually make the right moves, but this trade starting out poorly.

Ouch, Kimbrel’s Spring ERA is now 94.50.

Wow!

Welcome, Crag Kimbrel!

Bellinger has not always had a swing like that. Look at the differences here:

A few years ago, they were comparing his swing to Ted Williams and adored his swing:

Consider this:

I read that Bellinger’s shoulder is tighter after surgery. Apparently it was loose when it more easily popped out of place. That could be true but if he adjusts to his new shoulder tightness, I would think his big swing and head movement will not play well with age.

I wanted to trade Bellinger for Buxton. I also wanted to trade some good prospects for Olsen but I am now happy with Freeman. I just wanted the younger Olsen.

The Dodgers were trying to reduce payroll before offering Jansen a contract. Also, it now appears the Dodgers had been trying to trade Pollock for two weeks. I am assuming trading Pollock for Kimbrel was Plan B. I wonder what their Plan A was regarding a Pollock trade.

I like depth and a strong bench but I don’t like putting someone like Taylor or Pollock on the bench. Both should start or one should be traded. I think the Dodgers agreed, especially with them sitting at about $2M over the highest CBT penalty level. Now they need to figure out a way to shed about $3M from their AAV. Could that be Price or will it wind up being Bauer?

Which brings up the question, can Bauer be traded before any decision is made by the Commissioner’s office? With deGrom and Scherzer more questionable health wise, are the Mets hungry enough to trade for Bauer? And, no, I don’t want Cano. Did the Mets buy insurance for Scherzer? Would the Angels want Price? Do the Dodgers have enough rotation depth to trade one or both?

I still predict Lux will be the starting second baseman. I would still trade Bellinger for Buxton in a heartbeat. Maybe a three team trade where Bellinger goes to the Yankees, Hicks to the Twins, and Buxton to the Dodgers plus whatever money or other players would be involved to make it happen.

Angels just DFAed Justin Upton. Eating $28m for the last year of his contract. Somebody will pick him up this weekend at the MLB minimum.

Angels are a prime example why dope fiend free agent contracts can cripple a franchise for a decade. Despite having the best player in baseball for that last decade. Angels ate $80m releasing Josh Hamilton. $30m on Pujols (even though they paid $100m+ for years where he had replacement level production) and now $28m for Upton. Angels spent $138m to pay players to play against them in the past 7 years.

I’m glad AF has mostly avoided these kinds of long term deals. And built from within. Glad I’m a Dodger fan.

Bobby Miller gets the start Tuesday against the Angels. They hope he can pitch 3 or 4 innings. They mentioned that he might start the season at OKC. That’s quick!

I will keep talking about Lux until he does something that makes me change my mind. Small sample, yes. But if you want me to shut up about Lux, you need to shut up about Bellinger. I have heard it all. I sincerely hope Gavin plays up to the potential you all seem to see in him. I watched every game last season once I got back from California. We all see the game through different eyes. And this site is for fan opinions, you don’t like mine, fine. I am still going to voice it. In my opinion, the guy is not as good as Pollock was in the outfield as of this time today. Might he be better in a month? Who knows? Certainly none of us here, including myself have any clue at all. If he turns into a great outfielder, all that much better for the Dodgers. But no one here, not a single one of you is going to tell me what I can say, and when I can say it. I respect your opinion. respect mine or shut the hell up.

Bradford Doolittle

ESPN Staff Writer

“The Dodgers will now most likely give the bulk of that time at the position to super-utility player Chris Taylor. When he’s on the field with Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts, L.A. will feature a dynamic outfield defense, at the very least. That will still be the case if veteran pickup Kevin Pillar makes the roster and ends up spelling Bellinger against lefties from time to time.

Taylor has less power than Pollock while providing similar or better on-base ability. He’s a slight offensive downgrade but can make up the difference in the field and on the base paths. The overall difference in bottom-line production is negligible.”

Jeren Kendall. I thought that ship had sailed! Well I guess he can’t hit any worse than the other guy in CF

Mark, you mentioned a while back that Jeff Dominique was planning to start a blog of his own around this time. Any news on that?

Opening Day In Question For Max Scherzer

By TC Zencka | April 2, 2022 at 11:34am CDT

Max Scherzer was scratched from his spring training start today because of a tweaked hamstring, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. After the news of Jacob deGrom’s injury yesterday, there would be no more devastating update for the Mets than a Scherzer injury, but all accounts say that the injury is not serious.

Scherzer himself would not set a timetable on his return, with a video clip of Scherzer speaking to reporters provided here by Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. Scherzer would not rule out being ready by opening day, but he would neither commit to it.

And the Mets owner continues to show stupidity… Don’t make that possible trade, don’t help that other team of idiots and clowns (Mets are the other) Or maybe that’s why they are considering such a horrible trade!

And so Lux leads off at 2B today

Okay, I believed Clayton Kershaw would return to the Dodgers and LA wouldn’t re-sign Kenley Jansen. Honestly, I’m not sure the Dodgers trusted Jansen moving forward. If they did they could have just made the deal. But they hesitated. They didn’t hesitate with Freddy Freeman.

But I thought Freeman would re-sign with the Braves and the Dodgers were a long shot. I was shocked the Dodgers traded AJ Pollock. They will definitely miss his bat.

Obviously, the Dodgers felt they needed the closer more than the bat. Especially with the short spring training, they needed to improve their pitching and rely on their depth to take care of left field. That probably means Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux. It also opens up a roster spot for a couple of other players who had a good spring.

The Dodgers are apparently very high on Lux. We’ll see if he takes advantages and produces like some believe he can. I like Lux, think he has a boatload of talent, but at some point you need to produce. Maybe this clears a path to do just that.

All things considered, even though I will miss Pollock (he had a lot of big hits last year) the Dodgers are probably a better team today than a couple of days ago and figure to be a 100 win plus team. That is, if Kimbrel pitches up to expectations, and the team stays healthy.

Good write-up today, Mark.

How come the Braves don’t have a public relations nightmare with Ozuna coming back? And Bauer’s situation was consensual.

Bear, enough! We know you don’t have any faith in Lux. Don’t need to keep being reminded.

Be safe in Florida Mark. Bugs down there are bigger than dogs. Mets and Padres discussing a trade centered around Eric Hosmer, Paddack and the Mets, Dominic Smith. Mets need a starting pitcher bad. But they have absolutely no need for Hosmer with Alonso there. I have no clue how Lux will do. As a fan of the team, I hope for the best. But from what I saw of him in the outfield last season, I am not all that confident he is an upgrade over a career outfielder. Hope he proves me wrong.

I will make a prediction and will be probably wrong as Mark has been lately, that Trevor Bauer will get suspended and help put the Dodgers under the current $290 million threshold in payroll which is another layer of penalties. The commissioner has full discretion in this matter, legally right or wrong. I won’t predict how long a suspension. After the suspension , the Dodgers will try to trade him and if unsuccessful the Dodgers have a Public Relations nightmare on their hands. I won’t predict what happens then.

New GM Brandon Gomes is doing one hell of a job in his new position with the blessings of AF on all these trades and signings.

Mark, have a safe enjoyable fun filled trip to Florida.