Who are the Buyers or Sellers?

I have pulled an about face on this. Mark is right. Relief pitchers are so fickle and you cannot trust what any of them do. AF needs to just release all of the Dodger relievers making more than ML minimum and select from Stetson Allie, Daniel Corcino, Chris Nunn, Kevin Quackenbush, Zac Rosscup, Josh Sborz, Jaime Schultz, Brock Stewart, Shea Spitzbarth, Jordan Sheffield, Nolan Long, Parker Curry, Yordy Cabrera, Victor Gonzalez, Ryan Moseley, Logan Salow, Andre Scrubb, and Rob Zastryzny. I included AA relievers because after all, what minor leaguers do in AA tell us all what they can do at the ML level. Now it is easy to understand why some were not upset that AF traded for Axford, Rosscup,and Madson.

Would I trust Kirby Yates…YES. If AF could conceivably trade for Yates, I would do so in a minute. As far as Ken Giles or Shane Greene (in that order), are you saying that AF should not try to bring in a reliever who is having a tremendous 2019 because of what they did in 2015 and 2016? Are you saying that you would not trade Cristian Santana and Edwin Uceta for either pitcher? Then you are right, you would never have traded for Ryan Pressly last year because you would never have wanted to trade Gilberto Celestino or Jorge Alcala. Most Dodger fans have no idea who they are, because what Dodger fan follows Astros (now Twins) farm hands. But that is the equivalent of Santana and Uceta. Better yet, let’s just hold on to those 20-30 pitchers and 10 -15 middle infielders and catchers until we can release them or lose them to minor league free agency.

I do agree that acquiring a relief pitcher will not guarantee a WS companionship. I am not that certain that Ken Giles will not implode again on the big stage. But you have to try to improve, right???? Ignoring a true weakness in the roster makeup is also not the answer. AF does not have to hemorrhage the future to improve 2019. Will it hurt? Yes. You cannot get quality without giving up quality. The bullpen can improve with the 2019 versions of Ken Giles, Shane Greene, or Amir Garrett. While there is no guarantee, who would you rather have facing Aaron Judge in Game 7 of the WS, one of Amir Garrett, Ken Giles, or Shane Greene, or or one of JT Chargois, Casey Sadler, or Yimi Garcia.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

Nice lineup but there’s no room for Freese on the bench.

Remember Burt Hooten. He imploded during playoffs one year and the next time he was fine. Maybe Giles showed who he was in 2017. Then again maybe he’ s like Hooten.

With the injury to Kike’ I think it’s possible that we may be seeing Lux soon. I also believe that Smith can’t be far off, and think so that much more everytime I see Barnes step to the plate. Was Russell Martin the only player left on the bench last night when Barnes was allowed to hit with 2 out in the 9th?

I also think it’s possible, depending on what, if any, moves are contemplated for the trade deadline, that any promotions from OKC will be delayed until after that deadline passes.

Is Austen Barnes the new Drew Butera?

The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!!

I agree with MT and AC… Now do I have a clue??? Not really, but I’ll just wait and be surprised..

I just hope AF senses Dodger fan’s need for a shot at the ring.?!!?

I hate playing the Angels or the Rockies at Coors…

I don’t know about the “clock starting” on Lux stuff, but I’d love to give him a shot at 2B…

I would love to see Lux up also. But, is it fair to give him a try at 2nd base when I understand he has only played a few games there this year? Would it not be better to wait until September and let him adapt to the position?

If you think that Lux can be a significant contributor in the post-season, then he has to be call up before September, unless there was a rule change I’m unaware of.

Comical. 4 days ago Will Smith wasn’t ready because Barnes is the catcher for the best team in MLB. Now since we’ve lost 2 in a row, now Smith is ready. Most of us already knew that.

Another comical: someone yesterday proclaiming Bellinger has “regressed to 2018 Bellinger” because his average has gone from .336 to .331 in a week. Stupid Bellinger, how dare you have a bad week!

3rd comical. That home plate ump last night!

Lefty Robinson Ortiz had the best game of his career on Wednesday. He will pitch the entire season as a 19-year-old. The Loons won 2-0 behind his 7.2 innings on 2 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He was 8/3 in ground outs to fly out and threw 60 of his 94 pitches for strikes.

“Pretty much all of his stuff was working for him,” Meza said. “He was able to locate that fastball to both sides of the plate very well. Also his secondary offerings were very good. His slider was one of the best sliders he’s thrown so far. He throws it consistently in the zone, and the changeup was another pitch working for him.”

“One of the things [we talked about] was be more in the zone, especially with the secondary offerings,” Meza said. “He has good stuff, but one thing that was limiting his control was that he wasn’t throwing the changeup and the slider in the zone. That was one of the things we focused on in these last side [sessions].”

“This is a guy who wants the ball and is very competitive,” Meza said. “And to see him want to get the ball and get the last out, that was fun to watch. He showed you who this guy is, he really wants the ball in big spots.”

“Being so young and wanting to show people he’s ready for the level, it’s been a thing where we’re focused on getting him into work habits and routines,” Meza said. “Despite going through some bad stretches, which is something that happens in baseball, he’s had a good work ethic and work habit, so it’s fun to watch and awesome to be part of it.”

Definitely would like to see Lux and Smith brought up. Both figure to be starters next year. Totally agree Mark. The Dodgers are not going to get crazy and do something stupid like trading a bunch of top 10 prospects. Kinda see the Dodgers flying under the radar to pick up a couple of relief pitchers. Yates or Smith would be great, but will they be on the trade market? Tough to predict this year.

I’d like to point out that we aren’t supposed to pay attention to reliever ERA because it’s so volatile. Then, we’re supposed to “Prove” that relievers are inconsistent and base it on a volatile stat.

Exactly 7 more days of the worst trade deadline in the history of baseball.

We’re “in” on every reliever that may or may not be available.

Every reliever basically sucks. Even Ardolis Chapman can be replaced by guys like Chargois and Floro.

We can’t possibly send the crappiest hitting catcher to the minors to work on hitting because he doesn’t beat his wife.

The key to the post-season isn’t a strong bullpen, it’s bats. But, don’t you dare promote a hot hitting catcher to take the place of a guy that hits less than his weight because a guy hitting below the Mendoza line ins’t a black hole.

Forget about protecting Urias, use him like any reliever because somehow relievers are more valuable than starters even though they pitch less and make less money.

We should trade for a starter who’s most likely not as good as Urias, so that Urias, who can’t pitch as much as any of the other relievers, can stay in the pen.

Seager, Belli, Verdugo, Pollock and Muncy are all controllable everyday players. So are Kershaw, Urias, Bueller, Meada. But don’t trade any top 10 prospects. After all, we only have 5 spots to fill in the foreseeable future.

We should carry three catchers, two that can’t hit on a short bench so we can have extra relievers that can’t get outs and not trade for relievers that can.

I can’t wait for the trade deadline to pass. It’s driving everyone crazy!!!

Just to play Devil’s advocate. Are we really considering going with 3 rookie position players in the post-season? Smith, Lux, Verdugo.

I bet AC knows this. When is the earliest Lux can be activated and the team not lose an arb year?

I guess if Lux comes up it would be interesting to see how he hits at major league level.

Per Pedro Moura in The The Athletic:

“Their only offensive deficiency is at catcher, where the Austin Barnes-Russell Martin tandem has struggled with a combined .446 OPS over the last month. ”

.446 OPS over the course of a month?

It’s not that Bellinger had a bad week. Inn his last 50+ games he’s hitting like .265. That’s more like 2018. Now how will he finish the last 2 months? Is he really a superstar or a good player who had an insane 2 month run? We’ll see.

I am not worried about how 3 rookies would perform in the post-season. I’ve seen veterans not perform. No way to know who is going to do what. I’m willing to go with talent over experience, especially if some of the experienced players do not inspire confidence in me.

Given DJ Peters’ history with strikeouts, is he someone who should be considered for a pre-September call-up? Is he someone who will initially have problems against experienced big league pitchers, or has a light gone on that has taken him well past his historical struggles with strikeouts?

If Peters is real right now, he could provide the big right-handed bat that this team so desperately needs. Since I only see the results, and not the player himself, I’m simply not sure what he could provide at this time. But no doubt, he is intriguing.

Yes, we are in some sense coasting, and when we play a team like the Angels, which are fighting hard to somehow make the playoffs, we are at an emotional disadvantage. Now we play Washington, in a similar situation. Oh, we’ll win the division, but we likely will not have a better record than the Yankees, maybe the Astros as well. Injuries have hurt, we miss Hill; that lights-out starting staff of early in the year is not as good, as Maeda in a starting role is regressing somewhat. And that bullpen is certainly never a strength for us.

This new rule about no August trades, is indeed ridiculous, but we have to deal with it. The market is very sparse, with all those teams thinking they can make the wild card. I still think that we have to make a big offer, maybe to Pittsburgh, because they have a bullpen ace whose numbers are consistent. I also do like Yates, but it’s hard to see SD wanting to trade with us unless they get a lot in return. The rest of the names are risks. I’d rather make the bigger trade for the surer thing. I don’t imagine we will get Will Smith, and that’s okay, because he would be a rental. If we could actually get an ace as a closer, suddenly the rest of the bullpen is a lot more workable. If we don’t, and just get someone who has some ability, but is no sure thing, then Roberts will just have another piece or two to dabble with, more games where he can use seven relief pitchers. Since I cannot believe that we want Jansen to come back next year in the closer role, this is the time to get the closer, since it might help us win a title this year, rather than lose again, and spend another offseason wondering why we cannot win any.

Finally, maybe many here will disagree, but I think that the Braves might actually be the better team now, or at least will give us major problems in the playoffs. For us to have such a strong team, such a wonderful season start, and then lose in the NL playoffs, would be more disappointing than usual. I wish that we would spend only $50 million on refurbishing Dodger Stadium, and use the other $50 million to upgrade the team roster and pay whatever luxury tax there might be. But I know that it doesn’t work that way, particularly not for our ownership. Well, maybe they will surprise, and pick up that ace closer to help us to the title, or at least get a couple of meaningful relievers for the playoffs. It will be a tense couple of days, but this is always one of the most interesting parts of a baseball season.

MT seems to be as “fickle” as relief pitchers and some of us on this blog (including me) who want a change at catcher and perhaps now at 2B. It seems a week ago it was too premature to swap Barnes for Smith as it might upset the chemistry but now is a good time to make it happen? I think we can all agree we’ve seen enough of Barnes and the time for a change is now.

I like the boldness in MTs prediction that Lux will be called up within a week. Hunch or some inside information? It seems the team needs an injection of life and energy and that very well might come by way of Lux, Smith and some new RP. We shall see soon enough.

It’s great to say you want Vasquez or Yates but are you willing to give up 2ofbour top 4 prospects to do it? I’m not and either is Friedman. MT is right, relievers are not long term dependent and you could be giving up a couple of good 10 year players. We’re gonna have to settle for some secondary pieces that won’t cost us our top prospects. We’ll win if we hit in the post season

The Dodgers have acquired Tyler White from Houston for Andre Scrubb.

First blockbuster of the trade deadline!

The Dodgers are acquiring corner infielder Tyler White from the Astros, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). White, who is out of minor league options, was designated for assignment by Houston last week. The Dodgers are sending righty Andre Scrubb to the Astros in the trade, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (Twitter link).

What do we know about White? If he’s out of options does that mean he’ll be on the 25 man roster? Kike to the IL?

Scrubb showed a bit of promise, but I’m hearing pretty good things about White although details are lacking.