Who do you believe?

No on Arenado if the Cards insist on Bobby Miller as is rumored. Bobby has ace stuff and already has proven he can get major league hitters out consistently.

You just do not trade a potential ace pitcher with a 102 mph heater plus 4 other quality secondary pitches for a 32 year old 3b . Especially when your offense already is top 5.

Yes on Verlander. If you trade for another starter it should be someone who has the potential and resumee to make a big differnence. Montgomery, Flaherty do not fit that criteria.

Scherzer only cost the Rangers their Nr. 5 prospect in addition to the salary (and the Mets will absorb some of it) so Verlander should cost in t hat range too. Stone or Pepiot would fall in that prospect list looking at our top 30.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please God, give Will the strength to catch today! 2 nice swings by Max last night. Still campaigning for Arenado though, defensively no comparison! Good luck to Phil Bickford, nice guy. He probably does a better job last night than Ferguson! Great to have Senor Joe back! Too bad we don’t play aaassstros. Again. Punky Brewster, err Bregman could use a shot in the ribs! Hope it’s just me , but Heyward looks lost at the plate last few at bats. Maybe if not Arenado then The Thomas kid for the outfield. All this platooning drives me crazy! Need to win today!

I posted this earlier today but comments closed immediately after. I think it is a must read…lol.

I will make sure my voice is heard here loud and clearly.

I DO NOT WANT TO UNLOAD PITCHING PROSPECTS FOR NOLEN ARANADO.

I’m content with Marvelous Max. 27 HRs and 70 RBIs compares pretty nicely with 22 HRs and 77 RBIs. I know Arenado has a higher BA and OPS, but I’m telling you again…PITCHING WINS PLAYOFF GAMES. We have enough bats, including Max’s.

Don’t give up promising pitchers when most of your regular starters are damaged goods- Clayton, Walker, Dustin, Tony.

SAY NO TO AREN-ADO!

With the Mets in full sell-mode, Verlander will be moved by this Tuesday. The only question is who gets him.

If you’re a betting man, with Barnes in the lineup and his Little League bat and Little League throwing,arm, what’s the outcome in today’s game? Good guy or not, it’s time for AF to make a move for a backup catcher internally or outside the organization.

How about this trade idea? Austin Barnes for HunterF!

I’m over Nolan Arenado.

The difference maker for the Dodgers would be Justin Verlander, if he’s actually available. I think he would be, the Mets seem to be moving in a different direction. Just trying to buy a championship is a difficult pursuit.

Interesting analysis yesterday on MLB TV and MLB radio on Shohei Ohtani and free agency. Everybody will want him, most can’t afford him. It’s not just money, it’s the access to young players and only teams with a good farm system need to try.

If a team doesn’t have young affordable talent most wouldn’t be able to put together a championship team around Ohtani. That, of course, eliminates a lot of teams. Want and desire are one thing, reality another. Everybody seems to agree, Ohtani wants to win. That’s why the Dodgers make the most sense.

They really didn’t do much this past winter, but lo and behold, they are again leading the NL West. They are very active trying to acquire additional pitching and role players. In order to make a run this fall. They also have a nice blend of vets and young players (James Outman, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove) making key contributions.

Not to mention the Dodgers have quite a bit of money coming off the books.

There is a debate about why the Angels didn’t move Ohtani this summer, but as Artie Moreno and Angels pointed out, he means another $20 million in revenue to the club between now and the end of the season. Not just a great two-way player, but one who generates a big return to the organization.

Honestly, I’m not sure how a Verlander deal would play out, maybe the Mets would cover a portion of the salary as they did for the Rangers in the Scherzer deal, probably would depend on the prospect return. But the Dodgers did pursue him last winter, thought they had a deal until the Mets jumped in with a boatload of bucks and another year.

One more thing, everyone needs to take a deep breath regarding LA prospects, it takes time to develop into a major league player. Remember, even Mike Trout was a .220 hitter his first time up.

Yes, Sheehan had a misstep of two, but he was lights out last night against a very formidable Cincy line-up. He’s got talent. I’m not moving him in a trade.

The Dodgers, ranked second, some say first in farm system rankings, have a considerable talent pool to pull from. Look no further than the AA pitchers. Other scouts are raving about those guys.

I think both Miguel Vargas and Michael Busch will make big contributions next year, that is if they give Busch a chance.

Yes it probably makes some sense for the Cards to make some deals, certainly Montgomery and Flaherty. Maybe even their first baseman, they need young pitchers. He’s older than Arenado.

But you still have to face your fan base and the Cardinal fans may not be so understanding if you unload Arenado.

Nail biter last night but they came through. Joe Kelly 1, Dodger ram 0. Hope the new guys keep it up. Of course, it was a typical Kelly outing. Wild pitch, walk, and then the strikeout to end the inning. Fans went bonkers when Joe came in the game. No matter how unpredictable he can be, he is at least entertaining. Dodgers win and they contained the Reds running game. Acuna stole #50 for the Braves last night. JT drove in 2 for the Red Sox in the top of the 9th to tie the game, then Jansen gave up the game winning homer to JD Davis. How many times did we see that show? Betts might be held out of today’s game also to give the ankle two more days of rest. Freddie’s ofer ended his streak of consecutive games on base. Which is weird because he scored ahead of Muncy’s first homer. He was on base because of his FC grounder. Phillips is the Dodger closer, end of discussion. Orel Hershiser inducted into the Legends of Dodger baseball and that got more chatter in the booth than the players on the field did. And it had Orel chattering like a magpie. Enough already. Congrats before the game, and then concentrate on the action.

David Bednar is a top closer, but the juice is not worth the squeeze!

I’m one who thought Emmit needed to go back down. Shoot me! I’m also one who thought Doc should have let him pitch another inning! Shoot me again! I still laugh when Doc comes out of the dugout, like his tail feathers are on fire! Loves to make pitching changes! He’s done a good job this season! I see Lane Thomas is listed as a “Player to watch “ at the deadline. If not Nolan, why not ? We’ve done deals with nationals before! Who’s on the bump today? It matters , especially with Barnes behind the plate. Reds could run wild today. Bring on Verlander! There I said it!

OKC’s winning streak ended in Reno last night. Stone went 4 innings, struck out 3 walked 3 gave up 2 hits and 2 earned runs. Rooney got the loss giving up 2 in his lone inning of work. They got 3 unearned off of Varland in his inning. Vargas, Busch, Mann and Ward all had 2 hits. Ward hit his 4th homer.

How does Busch make a difference this year for the Dodgers? What position does he play? Trade the poor kid and give him a chance somewhere else. He and Mann and one of our young arms would make a nice package. Still say you have to roll the dice on Verlander if you want to win this year. And Mike Trout hit .220 in a hundred AB’s in 2011 and then he became a superstar next year. The true test for Vargas will be in 2024.

What would happen if Barnes hit 4-4 today? It would be the worst time to start producing with the bat because I think management would be forced to give it another chance!

Angels Taylor Ward to 10-day IL with facial fractures. He was hit in the face last night.

Grove pitching today. He needs to give them some innings.

Someone mentioned their playoff hope of 5 innings from starters then using 4 relievers, one inning each. I think that plan has failed in the past, as one or more of those guys gets used up and blows some close games in late innings. It would be great if we could get 6 or 7 from the starter. But that not happening much this year

Joe Kelly Fight Club is back. Hell yea.

Someone brought this up earlier this past week, and now that the Verlander rumors are hot, it should be mentioned again.

Verlander will earn $43mil next year, and then some type of option for $35mil in 2025. Even if NYM paid a chunk of that, will that preclude us from giving a few bucks to Ohtani?

Also, does that for sure prohibit us from resigning Urias as well? Would the Verlander money be better spent on another, younger, free agent pitcher next year?

I’m no GM. Four top prospects for a closer is an overpay. Our bullpen has been lights out for an extended period of time. I still believe if the Dodgers get knocked out of the playoffs (I hope it doesn’t happen), will because someone will throw three left handed pitchers at us. It seems like LH pitchers can be AAAA minor leaguers and we make them look like Cy Young. I hope I’m proven wrong. The four prospects for the Pittsburgh reliever is a gross overplay in my opinion. Be gentle on my thoughts, I reintegrate I’m not a GM.

Orel was on a roll last night. First, he was obviously moved and excited about all the festivities in his honor, as well he should be. So was Joe Davis and it was obvious how close they are as Joe was brought to happy tears. Very cool.

He also gave the best pitching clinic I’ve heard in awhile about Emmet Sheehan’s inability to command his breaking ball.

It was interesting last night to watch Emmet Sheehan pitch. He has such a nice fastball with tons of life that is a swing and miss pitch when he can keep it out of the middle of the plate, especially the arm side runner that jams up a RHB. It’s easy to see how that pitch rocketed him to the Big Leagues. But he couldn’t land any secondary pitch in the zone. Nearly all of his breaking balls were non-competitive, as was his change, which is his best secondary pitch. He actually threw one behind a LHB. He finally got a chase with one just off the plate in the 5th. He had to live with the fastball and he did a great job with it. But there are things that don’t last; dogs that chase cars, 10 footers for pars and pitching in the big leagues as a starter with no secondary pitch. He got away with it yesterday because the fastball was so good.

Joe had a great story about a coach at Nevada watching Emmet throw long-toss from a different are slot than when he pitched off the mound. He was 20 and shitty so necessity was the mother of invention. They changed his arm slot and he became a Dude.

Arm slots are interesting. My theory was to change an arm slot only as a last resort, as it was for Emmet. I think that when a caveman left his den and chucked a rock at some prey, that’s his natural arm slot. Same with pitchers.

Orel provided a great pitching analysis of what Sheehan’s problem is with his breaking ball inconsistency. The same slot that produces such movement on the fastball causes timing issues and tugging with the breaking balls. His loose wrist and fingers means he doesn’t set his wrist early and keep it that way. It means about 2 great breakers out of 10 and 8 anywhere. It was so insightful of what Emmet needs to improve on going forward. Sometime Orel can provide fantastic information and last night was one of them.

Both teams forgot how to hit last night. Thank goodness for Max.

Orel also explained how difficult it can be for a reliever to sit in the dugout and then come back out for a 2nd inning as Evan Phillips had to do. I have a quick solution; let Graterol finish the 8th. Another example of a computer predicting a needed pitching change, for no visible reason.

You may noticed I didn’t make one comment about players and the trade deadline. I have “transaction fatigue” and will be happy when all the speculation is over and we can get back to baseball on the field.

Saturday scores

Reno 8, Oklahoma City 3

Tulsa 4, Springfield 3

Dayton 5, Great Lakes 2

Rancho Cucamonga 5, San Jose 3

Sunday scores

10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD) vs. Dayton (Carson Rudd)

11:05 a.m.: Tulsa (Kyle Hurt) vs. Springfield (Logan Gragg)

1:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) at Reno (Peter Solomon)

5 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jared Karros) vs. San Jose (Manuel Mercedes)

Cubs tell teams Belli not available in trade talks.

Driving up the price ?!

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

Give me Orell any day over smiling Jess! She never stops! admittedly Orel talks a lot too, but she just blabbers on and on about anything and everything! Nice enough , but too much . Heard Washington GM on the front office earlier saying Lane Thomas is not untouchable. If not Nolan? I haven’t seen starting lineup but I assume short bat Barnes is catching. Oh well , I hope he gets a couple of knocks. He ain’t going nowhere

Orel talks too much. Jessica is the worst. But Orel overkills a lot. I would rather have Nomar as the analyst any day. Thomas would be a nice addition. He is at this point in time a lefty killer.

I like nomar too. I also like Karros I’ll take any of the three over Mendoza! I don’t even like listening to Joe when they’re together! Want to hear something awful? Listen to the asaassstros broadcast crew! God i miss Vin!