DODGERS DODGERS trade AJ for CARLOS RUIZ

Fuck you were wrong

 

Fuck the sentimental shit. We're trying to win here and Ruiz gives us a better chance at winning now. AJ Ellis was a great teammate and CKs butt buddy but so what, this is a business. If CK is upset he can look at his pay checks weekly and turn that frown upside down. AJ ellis was and always will be a mediocre catcher from a defensive and offensive standpoint. The timing of the deal I dont agree with but everything else.....carry on people nothing to see here.

 

There seems to be a misconception that if we say something nice about AJ that we weren't in favor of the deal. It was a shock more than anything else and now the trade makes sense. Having said that it could have waited based on the information that Friedman and Company were mulling this over for several days. Not to mention that Chooch's no trade clause included us and I hear he only wanted to come here. Impossible to say the game yesterday was effected by the trade but it sure did validate the FO's need to get a guy who can hit fucking lefties!!!

 

So you're buying the PR side of it all is what you're saying.
Really, I don't know where to start.
Guess I'll start with the theory that Chooch isn't a major upgrade over AJ...which he most certainly is, but mostly because AJ is just fuckin god awful.
Chooch has a 99 wRC+ and AJ is sporting a downright despicable 49.
And even though Chooch is 2yrs older than AJ he remains a much better defensive play than AJ.
Chooch is still really solid behind the plate, it's almost as astonishing as Utley's defense at 2B.
Now, Chooch is not an everyday catcher anymore, but he's absolutely a major upgrade over an AJ who's bad even for a backup.
We're still talking about the same AJ that everyone at one time or another was hoping they'd DFA and just bring Barnes up, right?

 

How many wins does the upgrade provide? It's less than one, for sure. With how Chooch hit last year and the ridiculously small sample size, I'd say it's a 60/40 bet he out hits what Ellis would have in this next 5 weeks. Neither would play in the playoffs. I see no logic to a move that has upset so many of our key players for a marginal probably insignificant upgrade. Maybe if the front office wanted to do something they could get an OF who can hit LHP so Segedin and Culberson don't play every other day in a pennant race.

 

Well, Idk about this one and that one being able to hit LH...based on last night, and the overall putrid LH record, they should get way more people who "hit lefties". Kike is rumored to be able to do so, and Segedin...doesn't look like it. Maybe they will?
Then, the most ass licked LH after Clayton, the second coming of Yaweh, Madison, we rock. No rhyme or reason, it seems.
I think you play the law of averages, roll 'em, and see how they come up. Sometimes you make your point, sometimes it comes up craps.
We've been lucky with this abomnible pitching corps, let's face it.
So, they make a move that is supposed to help the club...ill timed, I would say that.
But when a guy is not liked, Kemp and Puig leap to mind, the "clubhouse cancer" thing comes up big..." great clubhouse guy" is always part of the criteria when getting a new player...so, it seems to matter, expidentially, to whether the player is liked or not.
I always wonder, when a guy is not good in the clubhouse, does he make guys go into slumps? Make pitchers wild or groove pitches? Cause errors? Cause poor on field play?
It may or may not be important that CK sulks over this...time will tell.
It may or may not be important when the hardass " stfu and take it like a man" attitude prevails.
All I know what we post from our home is a far cry from the reality of being on the field. Whether we think it should/ shouldn't effect players, like Kershaw or not, is not the point, imo...it's whether it does that only matters in the end.
And all the cold hard logic, and genius adulation or bitching doesn' t mean jack shit if it translates to poor play on the field, for whatever reason...it's all about W and L, and justified or not, the effect it eventually has, is what counts.
Nothing else really.

 

Chooch was returning from injury last year (not all that unlike Utley) which more than likely played a part in his performance in 2015.
A year removed he's back to his solid self, just no longer a season long everyday option behind the dish at 37yrs old.
Can't predict health, so don't know how many wins the upgrade will provide, but Chooch is a much better baseball player than AJ is and I feel better about him potentially taking over in a short term/permanent role.
48 games, 1.2 WAR
53 games, -0.3 WAR
Pick one. Lol
With that said, I could also see them looking for that right handed OF bat that you mentioned too since SVS is done.
They've definitely had some bad luck there with SVS and Trayce.
However, I could also see them sticking with Segedin because, well, he's done nothing except impress all season and he does represent an upgrade in depth from last season.

 

Rube, just because I don't like the trade doesn't mean I'm sentimental over AJ. The marginal upgrade (at best) isn't worth upsetting the team. I'm usually against chemistry and human element, but this one of the times I'm buying into it. It was a shock and unnecessary. Not worth it. I don't like it. I'm allowed to have a differing opinion.

 

Also, if an AJ Ellis trade winds up being pointed to as one of the reasons they fail, I'm gonna have to question this team's testicular fortitude at that point.
This 2016 team is being lauded for newfound toughness, their grinding and grit in winning w/o Kershaw has people all around baseball calling LAD a tough(er) outfit.
So yeah, I'll be pretty embarrassed and disappointed in them if AJ finally biting the bullet is some alleged reason for a collapse.
I wanna believe they're tougher than that and if they aren't, the FO has to find some players that are because that's just weak AF.
Perhaps some of the players who are unhappy see their own mortality after watching the beloved AJ get shipped off?
Play well or be gone..that mandate doesn't need a poster boy TBH.
That's part of what depth is for.
Hell, that's part of being a pro, just the business.
Guys come and go, get over it or be the next.

 

All of that is true. Yet it doesn't change the fact that it was unnecessary. From my vantage point, watching this team every day I never once said "What would really help is being able to spell Yaz more often with a catcher who hits LHP better", on the other hand watching Culberson start twice in three games is something that is a noticeable liability. In short, they fixed the wrong thing.

 

TBH The trade being " unnecessary " isn't really a fact, though, it's opinion.
From my vantage point, every time I saw Ellis in the lineup I wished for a better backup and he's gotten more than enough action this year.
It's not all about " upgrading the hitting VS. LHP " for me..Ellis just sucks.
Chooch is an all-around upgrade, much better defensively as well and a better option in case of emergency, in case guys need rest, etc., starting Chooch is not a complete fall into oblivion as with Ellis.
To say that the upgrade is marginal because " Chooch won't play much anyway " is sort of a reach.
Really can't say that because I mean Yaz could get hurt today and Chooch could be called on to start for a while.
Nah, it's a straight up personnel upgrade and a major one in terms of talent.
It's also got nothing to do with Reddick ( have no idea why people are trying to draw that parallel).

 

I would much rather have Ruiz starting than Ellis. That's not a bad point.

 

1) True, valid point

2) But it's not really upgrading the lineup against LHP because in any game that matters Yaz will be starting regardless of the opposing pitcher. It upgrades one spot in the lineup maybe 5-10 games the rest of the way, then is insignificant again in the playoffs.

3) That's no way a reach. "Don't mess up chemistry" is often a dumb argument, I mean Madison Bumgarner's an asshole but if San Fran offered him to us for clubhouse darling JP Howell I'd do it and worry about the clubhouse later. But making a move that damages the clubhouse for a move that probably does nothing substantial on the field is strange.