MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

He was moved to the 60 day DL to make room for the claim on J.T. Chargois, so I doubt we see him before the allstar break.

https://www.mlb.com/news/dodger-julio-urias-not-rushing-shoulder-rehab/c-265682020

 

First round of cuts coming this weekend. Will be interesting to see who gets the heave-ho. There are a handful of kids who are up that don't have a shot to make the club this year or at least out of camp, but they are mostly doing really fucking well so it will be interesting if the club wants to see them get some more time or not.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-angels-ohtani-20180307-story.html
Don't have time to read the whole thing right now, but what I did get to... Ohtani had made up his mind before ever meeting the Dodgers. Dude was always going to AL

 

Still remember a comment he made months before last season ended, that it was his dream to pitch against Kershaw. And maybe he will..a lot after next season if Kershaw goes to the Rangers. Ohtani the visionary.

 

I never saw that, but I remember the report that said people close to him knew he wanted to play with Trout, but everyone shrugged it off since the Angels have mostly been shit.

 

Wonder if he knows that Trout is a free agent after the 2020 season
Kershaw comments on the matchup with Ohtani, " Meh, I don't care. Just another guy. "

 

Ohtani seems underwhelming so far, but I guess its just Spring.

 

Bold prediction, I think he’s a good full time rotational pitcher when all is said and done and he won’t last as a regular DH beyond next ASB(2019).
Reason being is he’s not nearly as advanced as the great Japanese players that came before him in either aspects and he’ll have to make a decision whether he wants to be merely decent at pitching and meh at DH or good at pitching and considered a great hitting pitcher. I feel there is too much going on in the game now for a guy to be a two way player and that if he keeps this up, he won’t progress to his true potential at any one ability and he will struggle to keep up.

 

Agreed. There is not enough time in the day for a MLB SP to also hone his hitting skills at the MLB level. I don't blame him for trying, but facing someone like Verlander, Khechle, Kershaw, Strasburg, Sale, Price, etc...while trying to strike out Judge, Stanton, Machado, Harper, etc....it is just another level.

He also has to think about the future. He is on a discount contract. Will he make more money as a star pitcher or star hitter? Well he has to be elite in one, and pitching might be the easier path than being a DH in the AL.

Just my two cents.

 

I don’t think it’s bold to say he’s not going to be a good enough hitter to DH. That’s what I didn’t understand about his decision, pretty much a handful of DH’s have any sort of value, and he’s going to need to OPS over .800 to do so. For a guy that struck out so much in Japan, that seems unlikely. If he does, he’ll have to do it all through power.

It always made more sense to me to go to the NL and pitch every 5th day, play the corner OF sparingly and pinch hit a bunch. Also gives you the potential to LOOGY guys like, let’s say Ohtani is pitching in the 6th against the D’Backs, he can face Goldschmidt, you can put him in left for a batter and let Liberatore pitch to Lamb, and then put Ohtani back in to face Souza, or similar situations like that.

 

Some teams tossing around the idea of a 6 man rotation
Tampa going in the opposite direction..will reportedly use a 4 man rotation the entire season
Will use 3-4 relievers to go 6-8 innings every 5th day
Pretty pathetic, so much for Archer's belief that they're loaded starting pitching wise

 

Departing from what seems to be a Dodger-less, ( or minimnalist) actual LAD reportage, I predict the Flock will break, at least, a team record for Ks this season.
Oh yeah.

 

Yup. There's a certain threshold of production you have to meet to be considered even an average DH. And he won't.

Would've been far more valuable as a pitcher who hits, PH, and part time corner OFer.

He's going to cancel his tools out in the AL.

I definitely would've loved to have him since he signed for so little and has high upside. But I'm not that bummed about it.

 

This Seager shit is a joke

 

What I meant by the "bold" part is that they throw the DH thing out the window by the next ASB. Maybe it's not that crazy to think, I just figured most people thought this experiment would last at least into a third season. I agree with you, I think he made a huge mistake going to an AL team and there was a lot of roster tweaking a club could have done had he gone to an NL team such as the Dodgers. Like you said there were some creative things they could have done, just a shame that he went this route.

 

Could see the season starting with Kemp in LF 4 times a week and Trayce Thompson the only true OF'er on the bench. Utley, Enrique and Barnes joining him on said bench. If Kemp continues to hit the way he has, they are going to do what they can to get a team to want to take him on and benching/platooning him won't be it. Toles probably starts the year in AAA more so they can ease him into playing in a more controlled environment(also so he doesn't wear down after a long season). I think Joc is a victim of options, but could be up with the team if they decide that a carousel works(which it could). Problem for Joc is that the two full time LF'ers at this point and a mostly one position Utley makes it harder for the team to likely want to carry him on the 25 man roster into the season before figuring out what the long term plan is for Kemp.