DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS thread

the "jack of all trades/master of none" saying comes to mind

 

Which would be incorrect.
We have experts at key positions.
Realmuto, Barnes, and Martin are considered experts behind the plate. Realmuto is considered an expert in front of it too while Martin has been when he was young and Barnes has shown when healthy that he too can hit.
Same at SS. Seager is an expert. Kike and Taylor while not at that high a level are certain experts at SS. They are more than proficient and know the position well. While they are not as experienced or talented at SS they are still experts compared to the rest of the league.
Kike is an expert at 2B, Taylor is proficient and Muncy... well you got me there. But its 2B and if those guys can mash HR like they do... thats expert right there.
in RF we got an expert in Bellinger. He looks great up there and his arm is actually really good.
Even our LF's would be good starting RF/CF on other teams.

 

I tell Joc and Kike that they are one player and we will call him Harper from now one and play him in LF.
If you platoon those guys their splits might outproduce Harper next year.

 

my gf, of all people, posed an alternative to the kasten rant
she thought maybe he was diverting attention, as a prelude to acquire harper
i laughed of course, but maybe…
the deal you propose makes a lot of sense and would satisfy all parties
and, as you alluded, puts them in a position of strength to deal verdugo (and others)

as someone who went through open heart, this is no surprise
don’t be surprised if the weight comes back
i lost nearly 40 and the dr’s freaked
said it was more important to be healthy than thin
looking back at the pics, and i looked pretty emaciated tbh
but he’s right, hydration is huge and becomes painfully obvious if you are not

preller is a fucken clown
and shame on him for attempting to suck pathetic padres fans in on fake news

not sure what make of keuchel tbh
fip trending down the last couple years
but whip, h9 and k9 all heading the wrong direction
too lazy to look up other stats, but there’s a reason there’s been little interest on him
31 now, pretty sure teams are apprehensive to [want to] pay him at age 35+

lolz the final chapter
with multiple teams still interested, there’s no reason for the marlins to budge
and again, the padres… smh

 

seems we disagree on the definition of expert

 

that's what i'm screaming
we line their pockets with money every year
how about a little love back?
and, yeah sorry, pollock isn't what i had in mind

 

• Third base prospect Jonathan India, whom the Reds selected with the No. 5 overall pick in this past summer’s draft, is of interest to the Marlins, Heyman tweets. The former Florida Gators star hit a combined .240/.380/.433 in 184 plate appearances this past season in his pro debut — though he struggled in the Class-A Midwest League a bit after tearing through the Rookie-level Appalachian League with a .995 OPS in 14 games (the type of production one would expect from a fairly polished college bat in Rookie ball).

 

lol, potential...
way to go out on a limb guys
hate to be a downer, but there's a chance the team could also be worse
i'd potentially be a little more confident had you cunts acquired harper
which, btw, you still have the potential to do
just open your fucken wallets and reward us fans for once
otherwise the team will potentiallylikely fall short again

Friedman, Roberts confident Dodgers have potential to be more consistent than 2018 roster
by Daniel Starkand | Dodger Blue — 28 January 2019



Coming off back-to-back losses in the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers will take the field in 2019 looking to get over that final hump and win the last game of the season in October.

The team returns several key players from a year ago, although there were some notable changes. Specifically with Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Yasmani Grandal, Manny Machado and Alex Wood no longer being part of the team.

Brought in to help replace them thus far are A.J. Pollock, Russell Martin, Joe Kelly, and of course, the return of Corey Seager who underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in 2018.

While Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes the 2018 team was the best he has ever been around, he is confident they can be an improved group in 2019.

“We felt like we were much better than a 92-win team and that matters,” Friedman said at Dodgers FanFest. “It factors in as far as when we were putting together the roster for the following year. And we do think we’re going to be a really, really good team this year that’s going to be extremely well balanced.

“That’s something for us that, again, consistency is something that I think we’re gonna harp on a lot. And being able to have our talent level come out on a nightly basis way more often I think is something that is important.

“Balancing out a little bit more than vs. right, vs. left was important for that, or like we saw a couple years ago, where teams start rearranging their rotation for their left-handed starter to get us is something we didn’t want to confront again.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed Friedman’s thoughts, first pointing to the bullpen upgrades that Kelly and others will bring. “I think Joe Kelly really tiding up our bullpen, and also with the strides of Baez, Ferguson. I think our bullpen is in a really good spot. Getting Cingrani back as well.”

Despite losing Wood, who ranked second on the team in innings pitched last season, Roberts feels re-signing Hyun-Jin Ryu back and having a healthy Julio Urias gives the Dodgers a capable starting rotation.

“Starting staff, you lose Wood, but then you’re counting on Ryu to come back healthy and then Urias to come back,” Roberts said. “So with the depth that we have, Walker obviously taking strides, so on the starting staff I still like the depth and talent.”

Finally, Roberts broke down what he sees in the rest of his personnel both at the plate and defensively. “Position-player-wise, I think adding A.J. doesn’t make us as vulnerable against left-handed pitching; there’s a lot more balance,” he explained.

“Defensively, I think with the guys we have, and Verdugo as a young player who should be getting a nice runway, he can give you things on both sides of the baseball. To be honest with you, I think there’s no reason we shouldn’t be better (in 2019).

“Lose a catcher in Grandal, but the tandem in Barnes and Martin, I think the individual at-bat quality should be better. I can’t say the production, but I still think those guys are going to line up at handling a pitching staff. There’s not a whole lot of drop off for me.”

Throughout the course of the 2018 season, the Dodgers had several games where they would score 10 runs, but then also a lot where they would score zero or one, particularly against left-handed pitching.

Roberts believes that the moves the team made this winter will help address those issues.

“Yeah, but you also are getting Corey Seager back. You lose guys like Kemp and Puig, but Pollock has been a very consistent player,” he said. “So I think having him and Corey Seager back, I think offensively we’ll be a lot more consistent.”


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Goal is to be the best MLB team, not the best NL team. The roster as currently constructed cannot hang with the Astros/Red Sox in a 7 game series.

 

But you noticed how that guy on the floor never got hit once!

 

Harper .250 .396 .508 .904 25HR 191 Total Bases in 477 Plate Appearances
Pederson .260 .338 .556 .893 24HR 190 Total Bases in 386 Plate Appearances

That is vs right handed pitchers.
Pederson and Harper are pretty even in this regard.
And Dodgers fans are seriously disregarding the power potential of Joc.
When utilized correctly.

 

The Dodgers have less talent on the roster than last year.
The Dodgers are a better team than last year.
They lost a lot of talented players in surplus areas.
And added a few key pieces in areas we have been lacking.

1. Joe Kelly, we needed an asshole in the bullpen last year, we severely lacked this type of pitcher.
2. Russ Martin, old yes but an actual leader behind the plate, unlike Yaz who does not inspire anything but apathy. Oh and he can catch the ball.
3. AJ Pollock, for the first time in years an actual real bonafide MLB professional leadoff hitter who can set the table or work a pitcher over.

Just those 3 additions will transform this team in ways that an extra Harper or Machado could never do.
If we got Harper and did not get these 3 role players fans would be ecstatic and so would I of course.
But this is actually better for the 'team'.
Now if they want to sign Harper as well as getting the role players we need then thats a bonus.
But its not a need.
We don't need Harper to have a better shot at winning the WS.
We need the role players we lacked during the last two WS to win a WS.

At what point last year with Manny Machado and Brian Dozier on board during the last game of the WS did you think... 'if only we had Bryce Harper we could have won'.

But if we had anything other than Grandal at catcher...
If we had a leadoff hitter who could help manufacture runs...
If we had a relief pitcher that would come in and drill a motherfucker here and there to protect our guys getting punked...

Maybe we could have won.