DODGERS 2017 NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread

May be this time we should steal bases blind on his ass instead of being pussies......

 

Watching kike hernandez hem and haw 15 feet from the base and never actually do anything was the worst

 

Lefty bats that hit LH pitching ?

 

So overrated..especially Matt Moore..all he's great at is stopping LAD and any lefty can do that shit.
And let the record show that Cueto got smacked across his lips by the DBags too, giving up 4 earned over 5 innings...just lucky his team put 8 runs on the board ( 5 of those runs right before he was KO'd).
They really only have 1 starter they can count in a post season series as well, so I laugh @ at all the BS about them " lining up 4 guys ".
SFG's lineup is overrated as well..quartet Pollack/Goldschmidt/Lamb/Tomas is better, as a group, than any 4 you can string together from SFG's side

 

The kind of move you make when you know your team was 1 Joe Blanton pitch away from possibly being swept by LAD.
Joe's heard all the hype about LAD being favorites to win the WS this year and have the most wins in the NL..he'll take a W and boost his team wherever he can

 

Tebowmania, Diamond Edition Lol

 

Blister time for Hill 10 day dl

 

Wonder how Rickles would rip into Mr. Blister

 

Latest On Shohei Otani
By Jeff Todd | April 7, 2017 at 11:29pm CDT

Japanese superstar Shohei Otani is already familiar to readers of MLBTR; he is generally regarded as the best pitcher in the world who isn’t working in the majors. He’s also a highly productive slugger in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. And he’s just 22 years old. (For comparison’s sake, both Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanakacame to the majors in advance of their age-25 seasons.)

It has long been wondered just when he’ll make it over to the majors, but rule changes have conspired to gum up that possible transition. First came the application of a $20MM cap on posting fees, which reduces the incentive for NPB clubs to make players available before their control rights are set to expire. Then, the latest iteration of the CBA put hard caps on teams’ capacity to spend on international players who are under 25 years of age, thus precluding the possibility of Otani commanding a bonus befitting his ability until the 2019 season.

Despite those barriers, there are indications now that Otani could nevertheless attempt a move to the majors as soon as next season. As Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated writes, executives with Otani’s current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, are preparing to lose their all-everything performer after this season. Importantly, per the report, Otani also intends to request potential MLB suitors commit to allowing him both to pitch and to hit.

Notably, also, “multiple sources” suggest to Wertheim that Otani’s still-undetermined representatives may be able to find ways to sweeten any arrangement. Though he’d nominally be forced to slog through MLB’s typical control process, perhaps he would be able to negotiate some sort of provision that enables him to reach the open market before he reaches six years of service. Other international players have been able to negotiate such provisions; Nori Aoki and Yoenis Cespedes come to mind as examples, though neither of those players was subject to the same rules regime as Otani will be.

While the up-front guarantee would be a pittance of what he’d earn on the open market, or even as a typical posted player, that may not prove as much of a barrier as had been thought. In an interview with 60 Minutes that is set to air on Sunday, Otani reputedly states that he hopes to move to the big leagues after the current season, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.

Wertheim’s piece, which is well worth a full read, details Otani’s background. As he notes, the phenom considered bypassing the NPB altogether to join a big league team. The Fighters landed him, in part, by promising to make him a two-way player. Part of that bargain, the piece suggests, was that the club would not protest when Otani decided it was time to cross the Pacific.

To say the deal worked well for Otani’s current team would be an understatement. Last year, he slashed a ridiculous .322/.416/.588 and swatted 22 home runs in 382 plate appearances while also posting a 1.86 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 140 frames. And by the picture painted by Wertheim, Otani is a model teammate with a modest personality and full dedication to his craft(s).

Just how Otani’s otherworldly Japanese statistics will translate to the majors is open to some debate. He would surely be viewed as a notable potential big leaguer for his bat, but is most prized for his arm. As Wertheim notes, an American League organization would seem to offer the most ready route to fulfilling Otani’s intentions, since he could stride to the plate without being forced to play the field on days he’s not pitching. Whether he’s intent on spending time in the outfield, too, isn’t clear.

Plenty of time will pass before anything is formalized, and much could change in the meantime. Should Otani become available, however, it would likely make for an unprecedented effort by major league organizations to woo him. That’s due not only to his unusual dual capabilities (and wishes), but also his young age and the unique circumstances of the rules limiting what he can be paid. Literally every team in the game would have cause to pursue him vigorously, particularly if the financial commitment is as meager as it seemingly must be.


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Not your normal amateur up for grabs..kid's a pro and already has money..making 2M this year and more in endorsements.
So the decision to come over early would seem to be about challenging himself and just beginning a new chapter with a new home/club..pretty much has to be when you're leaving 200M+ on the table in order to come over 2yrs ahead of time.
TBT, he'd only kill it even more in endorsements on the west coast w/LAD's asian population and the popularity/groundwork that Nomo/Kuroda/Maeda have laid.
Of course, people have been speculating about an Otani exception or loophole since December, and SI offers a little more mystery there: “All may not be lost, though. Multiple sources tell SI that there could be loopholes that allow Ohtani to avoid this cap.”
A loophole to avoid the cap?
@ColoradoKidWitGame ..you know of a loophole?
Or are they just talking about allowing him to reach FA sooner than the 6yr period?

 

Wouldn't fair. Too easy of a target.

Pretty sad when they're already tip toeing around their paper mache #2 starter.

 

He'll be the #4 or possibly even #5 by next season.
But yeah, all the hype about Hill re-signing..I wasn't buying it, still don't and won't.
Folks were all in an uproar about giving up minuscule farm pieces to acquire Hill and the potential of seeing him walk afterwards in FA.." meh " is what I would've said if he were pitching elsewhere right now.
Wood is probably gonna take his next start and if Wood starts pitching to his potential he could take Hill's #2 rotation spot for good

 

That's the only loophole that I could ever think of and what I was thinking was going to happen. Maybe giving him a deal with a two year opt out or something.
I don't like the talk that he wants to bat everyday as that has the recipe for a shitty AL team to snag him away by just trying to land a guy to get fans in the gate. His numbers aside, I've read multiple scouts who think he'd be a well below average everyday player/DH. He's also shown to be somewhat brittle as he gets nagging injuries often that seem to stem from when he's not on the mound.
He'd be an elite hitting pitcher, but would likely get exposed as a everyday player. It's the same thing as Bumgarner, everyone talks about how great he is with the bat, when overall he's a below average hitter that just swings for the fences and gets lucky from time to time. Yeah that works on occasion, but seeing him everyday, he'd K like 200+times. Otani is projected better than MadBum, but he's not going to be Mike Trout.

 

Yeah, I don't like that report about him wanting to play everyday and pitch as well..not a fan of gimmicks, so if that's one of his stipulations forget it.
I could embrace him pinch hitting tho for sure.
Will be interesting to see who his reps are when the time comes, if he goes LA/Wasserman ala his buddy Maeda