NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread

No gracias.
Just make Andrew Toles the starter going forward.
Heck even against lefties Toles is 3 for 3 with a HR.

 

Ethier in control of own destiny during rehab assignment
by Matthew Moreno | Dodger Nation — 6 hours ago

When the Los Angeles Dodgers discovered Andre Ethier sustained a fractured right tibia, the worst-case scenario had him out until July. But the 10-to-14 week timetable became obsolete as Ethier made a slow recovery.

The Dodgers eventually resigned themselves to the hope of seeing Ethier back on the field in September. That became a viable possibility when he recently turned a corner with the intensity of workouts at Camelback Ranch.

In a mild surprise, the 34-year-old began a rehab assignment with High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday. Ethier went 2-for-4 with one double and two strikeouts as the designated hitter.

“He said he felt good to get back into a game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. “He said he saw the ball pretty well and his leg feels good. I think he was encouraged.”

Ethier was back in the lineup Saturday, starting in right field and logging four innings. He finished the night 0-for-3 with one strikeout.

What’s next for the veteran outfielder remains fluid. The club does not have a set number of at-bats or innings spent in the field Ethier must reach before consideration is given to activating him from the 60-day disabled list.

“I’m going to give him cart blanche to communicate with me on how he feels,” Roberts said. “I’m going to trust that when he’s ready he’s going to let me know, and we’ll act accordingly.” The rookie manager previously stated he wasn’t certain to what capacity Ethier could fill upon returning. That still holds true.

“With Dre, it could be a pinch-hit thing or play the field. It’s all contingent on how the leg heals,” Roberts explained. “I don’t want to put him in one specific role right now. I want to let it play out and when he gets to us, we’ll evaluate.”

Ethier was transferred to the 60-day DL in April and is already eligible to be activated.

 

lolz

Ever wonder what umpires and players say to each other during arguments?
By Bill Baer | NBC Sports Hardball Talk — 45 minutes ago

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Everitt after he struck out looking in the bottom of the sixth inning of Saturday’s game against the Angels. He had a brief conversation with Everitt, which resulted in Martinez getting ejected.

MLive.com’s Evan Boodbery spoke to Martinez about what happened and got a word-for-word recollection of what happened. If you’ve ever wondered what umpires and players say to each other during their arguments, here’s a look:

Evan Woodbery✔@evanwoodbery
Dialogue between J.D. Martinez and umpire Mike Everitt,
as told by J.D. Martinez (using his exact words):
8:03 PM - 27 Aug 2016

J.D.: “You’re having a bad day today, huh Mike?”
Everitt: “What’d you say?”
J.D.: “You’re having a bad day today.”
Everitt: “You’re gone.”
J.D.: “Why am I gone?”
Everitt: “You said it twice.”
J.D.: “Cuz you asked me what I said.”​

No one has ever accused umpires of having thick skin.

Martinez finished the game 1-for-3. After an 0-for-4 performance on Sunday, he’s hitting .315/.377/.561 with 18 home runs and 52 RBI in 385 plate appearances.​

 

Acquiring Ryan Braun would answer immediate questions for Dodgers
by Matt Borelli | Dodger Blue — 29 minutes ago

With the Aug. 31 waiver trade deadline approaching on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers may very still be striving to upgrade their roster in the coming days.

This past Thursday, the club swung a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies that sent veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz and cash to Los Angeles in exchange for A.J. Ellis, pitching prospect Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The reasoning to acquire Ruiz, and ultimately parting ways with longtime Dodgers catcher Ellis, was for Ruiz’s ability to hit left-handed pitching — an area in which Los Angeles has vastly struggled this season.

Prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, the team had a bigger target in mind. They reportedly discussed a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to acquire local product and 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun.

Unable to agree to a trade at the time, the Dodgers alternatively acquired Rich Hill and Josh Reddick from the Oakland Athletics, despite the latter’s ineffectiveness against southpaws.

Reddick has struggled mightily so far in nearly a month of action with Los Angeles, and with Yasiel Puig’s uncertainty in the organization, the Brewers and Dodgers hypothetically could re-visit a deal surrounding Braun over the next few days.

Braun has reportedly cleared waivers, which allows the Brewers to freely discuss potential trades with any clubs. The only obvious obstacle that can prevent a deal from happening is the amount of money tied into Braun’s contract.

He’s still owed $76 million over the next four years. A high-revenue team like the Dodgers, however, can presumably take on the large salary if it means giving up lesser prospects — a strategy in which the current front office has deployed in the past.

So, would acquiring a polarizing but talented player like Braun be worth the Dodgers’ time? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Pros

Premium offense

Braun, a six-time All-Star, is in the midst of his best season since 2012. He has battled minor injuries throughout the year, but is still producing in a big way.

In 455 plate appearances, he’s hitting .314/.376/.550 with 24 home runs — good for a 139 wRC+. He has lowered his strikeout percentage to 16.7 — down from 20.2 in 2015, and is boasting his highest ISO (.237) since the 2012 season.

Perhaps most appealing to the Dodgers is Braun’s ability to crush left-handed pitching. Against southpaws, he’s slashing .360/.421/.620 in 116 plate appearances this season — outperforming his career slash line of .337/.405/.626 when facing a lefty.

Los Angeles clearly needs an answer to their offensive woes against left-handers, and Braun could certainly be a game-changer at that. A lineup come October with Braun batting cleanup behind Justin Turner against the likes of a Madison Bumgarner or Jon Lester just sounds more appealing.

Weak free agent market

With the exceptions of two New York Mets outfielders, Jay Bruce and Yoenis Cespedes, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista and current Dodgers outfielder Reddick, the upcoming free agent market for corner outfielders is seemingly weak.

The Mets control the destiny of Bruce’s free agency — they can pick up his club option for next season, but that only appears likely if Cespedes opts out of his current deal. If Cespedes does in fact test the market for a second consecutive offseason, he should be in line for a contract nearing the $200 million mark.

That’s the type of contract the Dodgers front office, under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi, have shied away from thus far.

What’s more, both Bruce and Cespedes are liabilities on the defensive side. Additionally, Cespedes is entering the wrong side of 30 (he’ll turn 31 in October) and while Bruce hasn’t approached that number yet, he’s another left-handed bat that the Dodgers passed on acquiring at the non-waiver trade deadline.

Bautista will be 36 in 2017 and isn’t great defensively either, but he won’t command a contract even close to what Cespedes is seeking because of his age. During his prime, Bautista was one of the best offensive players in the Majors and has continued to put up elite numbers as recently as the 2015 season.

As for Reddick, he obviously hasn’t lived up to expectations so far. He can always turn things around in September, but if he continues to struggle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him sign elsewhere next season.

And unless Puig is given a second chance on the Major League roster, the Dodgers would have no clear long-term answer in right field. Thus, acquiring Braun now, or later this offseason, makes sense to a degree.

Cons

Subpar defense

Braun isn’t an atrocity defensively, but he would be a clear downgrade from the recent likes of Puig and Reddick. Though he is the Brewers’ everyday left fielder for the first time since 2013, Braun was the team’s primary right fielder over the last two seasons and would have no issues moving back to the position in Los Angeles.

This season in left field, he has posted an UZR/150 of -4.0 with five defensive runs saved in 880.2 defensive innings. That’s a small improvement from the -7.9 and -7.6 marks he respectively posted over the last two years with a combined -9 DRS.

Theoretically, Braun could remain in left field with Reddick in right field, but that would require Howie Kendrick or Chase Utley shifting to a bench role.

With the possible return of Andre Ethier as well, it just seems more likely that Braun would have to transition back to right field in order to ensure playing time for everyone else.

Age 33 in 2017

Despite being historically good since coming into the league in 2007, Braun will be entering his age-33 season in 2017, making an inevitable decline likely in the near future. With four years remaining on his current contract, the Dodgers could realistically expect two, maybe three more productive offensive campaigns from Braun.

If he becomes a liability in the final year or two of his deal, the front office can just pay him to go away, a la Carl Crawford and Alex Guerrero. This wouldn’t be ideal of course, but with many resources to the Dodgers’ advantage, a potential transaction like this seems more plausible.

Whether Braun becomes a Dodger within the next week remains to be seen, but it’s apparent that the club is still looking to improve against left-handed pitching.

 

SS: Seager
RF: Reddick/Braun
3B: Turner
LF: Braun/Kendrick
1B: Gonzales
CF: Joc/Toles
C : Grandal/Ruiz
2B: Utley

 

Dodgers would be a playoff nightmare for Cubs
By Patrick Mooney | NBC Hardball Talk — 51 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES – Imagine a Los Angeles Dodgers team doing more with less getting Clayton Kershaw back to start Game 1 of a playoff series. That could become a nightmare matchup for the Cubs, if Rich Hill stays healthy and continues his late-career renaissance, and if rookie phenom Julio Urias saves enough bullets for October.

“They would be a tough team,” said Ben Zobrist, a World Series hero last year with the Kansas City Royals, the switch-hitter the Cubs signed with October specifically in mind. “We would have our hands full because of all the lefties they have.

“We have to do a better job against lefties overall – and figuring out how to just get more runners on base. We tend to rely on the homer a little bit too much. And in those situations, (we) have to find a way to just take our hits and hit line drives around the park.”

On Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, the Cubs didn’t have any answers for Brock Stewart, a 24-year-old right-hander out of Illinois State University who matched $155 million lefty Jon Lester for five scoreless innings. The Dodgers manufactured a 1-0 victory, and might have swept the best team in baseball out of Chavez Ravine if not for Kris Bryant’s MVP game on Friday night.

“They have a veteran group on the field,” manager Joe Maddon said. “They’re always able to come up with another pitcher somehow. They got a really good bullpen. For right now, they’ve been utilized a lot, so I don’t know how that’s going to hold up, but they are good.”

Maddon couldn’t resist taking a few passive-aggressive shots, but he did compare this Los Angeles bullpen to the 2002 Anaheim Angels team that won the World Series and gave him a championship ring as Mike Scioscia’s bench coach.

Kershaw (11-2, 1.79 ERA) appeared to be rolling toward his fourth National League Cy Young Award when he went on the disabled list with lower back pain in late June.

“Kershaw coming off a back injury, you just don’t know,” Maddon said. “Hill’s good. He’s reinvented. He’s a curveball pitcher and all that kind of good stuff. So, of course, they can be good.”

Maddon wondered how Urias – who settled down after a rocky start to win a 3-2 game on Saturday – would hold up at the age of 20 after throwing only 80-plus innings combined last year at four different minor-league affiliates.

“The biggest concern would probably be that he would run out of gas,” Maddon said, “not being used to pitching that late into a year. And I know they’re mindful. I know they’re going to do things to restrict him, whatever. But that would be the biggest concern there.”

The Dodgers (73-57) built a lineup around professional hitters like Justin Turner, Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick. They have a two-way catcher (Yasmani Grandal), their own 22-year-old All-Star shortstop (Corey Seager) and a lights-out closer (Kenley Jansen).

“They’re in first place,” Lester said. “I don’t see why they should be overlooked. I don’t feel like they’re overlooked. Being a part of West Coast baseball for a couple months (with the Oakland A’s), I think really everything on the West Coast gets overlooked. I think it’s the time difference and a lot of other factors that are going on. But they’re a good team. They’ve been a good team.”

Maybe the Dodgers will expend too much energy trying to fend off the San Francisco Giants, and there are conditionals to Kershaw, Hill and Urias. But that left-handed-heavy rotation could mean the Cubs will be slamming their bats and helmets in frustration in October.

“I’m not there yet,” Maddon said. “I’m not worried about the Dodgers. I’m worried about getting our guys healthy and us playing the game properly. If it comes to that, I would be more than happy. I would be ecstatic about facing them in the latter part of the season. They can throw as many lefties as they want. They’re good, but I can’t worry about the Dodgers.”

 

same
but before the series if someone would have offered 2/3...

is he?
every time i hear him talk about us its nothing but praise

 

Reading for the win!

 

won't happen though
we''l get swept by washington
giants will win the play in game, beat the cubs, and then spank the nats on their way to another even year title


* invoking full-tb curse mode