NEWS/RUMORS/DISCUSSION Thread

• After being set down in order by Zach Putnam in the seventh, the Dodgers had their last eight batters retired up to that point. Kenley Jansen gave up a one-out single, then a two-run home run with two outs that put the White Sox ahead, 4-2, in the seventh inning.

 

yeah, no
not doubting the talent/upside
but imo this guy has mark prior 2.0 written all over him
nerds looking for cost effective players
and with boras as his agent...
:friedman:

Could Dodgers pursue Strasburg?
by Justin Russo | Dodgers Nation — 90 minutes ago

Don’t look too far ahead, but this offseason Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg will be a free agent. With the team in need of a potential true number two starter, or even a 1B to Clayton Kershaw’s 1A, could the Los Angeles Dodgers be in on the talented pitcher?

Well, it’s hard to say, but you wouldn’t want to count out the team considering their seemingly unlimited resources. Before people automatically brush this aside and say that the team didn’t want to pay up in order to re-sign Zack Greinke so why would they pay up for Strasburg, consider the difference.

From the Associated Press, via ESPN:
According to a recent report, Strasburg won’t cash in right away. [Agent Scott] Boras told Fox Sports last week that he and the Nationals aren’t talking about an extension and that those discussions will wait until the end of the season.

The above snippet shines a light on the fact that it appears that Strasburg, under direction from agent Scott Boras, will wait until the end of the season to discuss an extension with the Nationals. The thing is, if he’s unable to reach an extension with the team in a timely manner, all the teams could pursue him.

And why wouldn’t the other teams in baseball pursue Strasburg? The soon-to-be 28-year old right-hander has compiled a career 3.09 ERA in 776.2 innings while striking out a ridiculous 901 batters and walking just 192. The talent is there, as evidenced by his 2.83 career FIP. He’d be worth the money.

That’s where the differences between he and Greinke starts to manifest itself. Greinke hit free agency a full four years older than Strasburg would be, and that’s a major deal. That’s four prime pitching seasons out of Strasburg that you wouldn’t get out of Greinke. It’d make sense for the Dodgers to spend on him.

Now, none of this suggests that the Dodgers would actually sign him, but going after Stephen Strasburg in free agency, if he gets there, seems like a thing that this front office would be interested in. He’s young enough, good enough, and marketable enough to be worth the astronomical contract he’ll receive. Not to mention that he is from Southern California.​

 

cool shirt...

 

you hit it on the head
everything the nerds have done is geared toward building a farm system that can stock the big club when necessary
and with guys like cotton/deleon/urias waiting in the wings, what sense would it make to block their progress?
especially when they passed on zack/price/cueto et al this offseason

like the shirt (you hate) implies, i'll be a fan regardless
i might not be happy and/or understand some of the things they're doing -- and may whine and scream about it -- but at the end of the day i'll still be here for the long haul
for better or worse

 

Chone Figgins Retires
by Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors — 6 hours ago

Chone Figgins has officially announced his retirement, as per an Angels press release. He will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Halos tomorrow in order to leave baseball in the same uniform in which he spent eight of his 12 MLB seasons.

Figgins was originally drafted by the Rockies in the fourth round of the 1997 draft, and wasn’t a particularly heralded prospect. Faint praise became a positive for Figgins, as he related in his retirement statement:

“There was a quote written about me during my second year in the minors that I’ll never forget. It was a story about all minor leaguers and how scouts projected the progress of their careers. Mine said at best I would be a fringe big leaguer, if I ever made it. To me, that was the greatest quote I ever read about myself. Fringe is usually not a compliment in pro ball, but in my eyes, it meant I could be in the big leagues one day.”​

A trade to the Angels in July 2001 led to a big league debut in late 2002 at the high point in Anaheim baseball history. Figgins went from a late season callup to earning a World Series ring, appearing in six postseason games as a pinch-runner during the Angels’ run to their only championship.

After that auspicious debut, Figgins became a key part of the Angels’ lineup over the next seven seasons with a game built around versatility, speed, and high average and on-base skills. Figgins spent most of his time as a third baseman but also saw significant action in center field as well as right, left, short and second. He hit .291/.363/.388 over 4075 PA as an Angel, and is the team’s all-time leader in stolen bases (280) and second on its all-time triples list (53).

Figgins’ all-around value peaked with a 7.7 rWAR/6.5 fWAR season in 2009, which was good timing as he headed into free agency that winter and resulted in a four-year, $36MM contract with the Mariners. Unfortunately for both Figgins and the club, 2009 was his last productive season. Figgins badly struggled in Seattle and was released prior to his final year of that deal.

He briefly signed a minor league deal with the Marlins after that release but was cut in Spring Training and sat out the 2013 season before catching on with the 2014 Dodgers for what ended up being his final 38 games in the Show. Former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had this to say about Figgins:

​

All told, Figgins ended his career with a .276/.349/.363 slash line over 5360 PA, 1298 hits, 341 stolen bases and just under $52MM in career earnings. We at MLBTR congratulate Figgins on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing days.

 

Bellinger, Brown, Hicks and Zarraga sent to Minor League camp
by Matthew Moreno Dodger Blue — 36 minutes ago

The Los Angeles Dodgers reassigned first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger, outfielder Corey Brown, infielder Brandon Hicks and catcher Shawn Zarraga to Minor League camp on Monday afternoon. This marks the third round of bulk roster cuts this spring.

Jharel Cotton was one of eight sent to the Minor League side at Camelback Ranch on March 14. Three days later, Jose De Leon and Julio Urias were among a group of seven who were reassigned.

Zach Lee was optioned to Minor League camp on Sunday, however that was prior to Mike Bolsinger getting scratched from his start with an oblique strain. It’s plausible the Dodgers will cancel Lee’s option.

Brooks Brown was the Dodgers’ first roster cut of Spring Training, though unlike the aforementioned players, Brown was released from the organization in late February.

Participating as a non-roster invitee big league camp for the first time, the 20-year-old Bellinger impressed. Including starts, pinch-hit appearances and being utilized off the bench, he appeared in 16 games.

Bellinger hit .435/.581/1.233 with one home run, two doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored. Brown batted .250/.387/.292 while appearing in 18 games. He received about equal time in all three outfield positions — seven in left field, six in right and five in center.

Hicks was primarily used as a replacement off the bench, playing second base, third base and shortstop. He hit .200/.320/.200 with three RBIs, four walks and six strikeouts in 24 plate appearances over 19 games.

Zarraga batted .526/.550/.579 with one double and one RBI in 20 plate appearances. He appeared in 10 games, surpassing his total of eight last spring.

The Dodgers now have 42 players in big league camp, excluding Brandon McCarthy and Frankie Montas, both of whom are on the 60-day disabled list. They presumably will be joined on the 60-day DL by Brett Anderson in the near future.

 

Maeda settles down, settles in for Dodgers
by Eric Stephen | Dodgers Nation — 2 hours ago

PHOENIX -- The first three Mariners hitters of the game got hits against Kenta Maeda, and two of them scored, but then the Dodgers starter went to work and was very effective over five innings in his longest start to date this spring.

Maeda fell behind 2-0 after just three batters, but then proceeded to induce a double play grounder and retired 14 of his final 15 batters faced, including five by strikeout.

"Physically I'm where I wanted to be, and I was able to execute pretty well," Maeda said after his outing, through a translator. "I focused on locating my pitches low in the strike zone."

That helped Maeda induce seven ground ball outs compared to just one fly out, and didn't walk a batter. He has 13 strikeouts against four walks in 13⅔ innings this spring, allowing four runs (two earned) on 11 hits for a 1.32 ERA.

"He settled in well. He was pitching down, up, changing speeds, working in and out. He's a competitor," manager Dave Roberts said. "His pitchability is off the charts. What was actually encouraging is that he shook a couple times to get to a certain pitch. Getting into the at-bat, seeing hitters swing, and making that adjustment. When we get into the season, he's going to be that much better."

Maeda has been one of the bright spots of spring so far for the Dodgers, thanks in part to some advice he got from fellow countryman Hisashi Iwakuma, who started for the Mariners on Monday. Maeda downplayed the matchup of Japanese pitchers, though said it might have led to overthrowing early, when he allowed the three hits to open the game.

"I felt good physically, so I think I exerted more than usual," Maeda said. "Today was a bit more exciting than a usual start."

With so many injuries in the Dodgers starting rotation, including the scramble for the fifth slot, Maeda said he didn't feel any extra pressure to perform, but rather was even more focused on his own work. "What's more important is to execute my plan and to be able to adjust," Maeda said. "Commanding my pitches is going to be important and having a feel for them and to locate where I want to locate."

On Monday he was able to do just that.

 

Ethier fractured his tibia, he's out 10-14 weeks

What the fuck?!

The first months are gonna be so important, but this sucks cause it really hurts against righties. You also wonder if Ethier can return from injury and still be good, an injury like that at his age might have huge effects

 

And Bolsinger won't be ready for opening day, woo!

All these injuries also suck cause the deadline will be so hard. How do you value what your team needs when you have Ethier, McCarthy, Ryu, Anderson, Montas getting healthy around that time? Do you judge them based off the one month or so each will have played? Do you risk not doing much and using them as reinforcement, or still get reinforcement and create an unnecessary logjam?


Anyways, I think these injuries should make it so although I hate to panic in April/May it is pretty justifiable to want to not dig a huge hole the first months

 

Andy McCullough‏@McCulloughTimes
Yasmani Grandal is going to get tests on his forearm. Dave Roberts said his continued discomfort is "disconcerting."


This is cool.