DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS thread

I wanna see LeMahieu happen just on the fact that he and Seager would combine to be the biggest middle IF tandem ever, that alone would be fun and weird to see. Have to borrow the Bears' old " Monsters of the midway " monicker, at least until Lux is ready

 

Morning notes from around the league

• MLB Radio is reporting that the Dodgers and Dave Roberts have agreed to a 4 year deal, but not seeing it anywhere else. It was interesting as one co-host ranted about now that we have paid him, it is time to let him just be a coach and not have the FO overshadow him. Jim Duquette was the co-host and stopped him in his tracks and said that this has been so blown out of proportion. He said that this is something the LA media has taken and run with when they have no proof of it going on beyond pure speculation. JD with his many connections within the industry and team have told him that the FO isn't nearly as in his face as the media and fans speculate. They give him the info before every game(something every FO does) and say, "this is what the numbers say for these situations", but it is fully up to him on how to handle those moments. To me, this reinforces the idea that he is fantastic at managing a clubhouse, but is a moderate trainwreck when it comes to on the fly emergencies.

• The loss of Zaidi was a quadruple-gut punch to the organization. Not only did they lose a highly respected GM, they lost it to their arch-rivals. You then need to account that this is fairly late in the process to happen AND his most likely/capable successor left a year ago to take over the Braves organization. The one positive about this is that many within the industry have begun to look at the Dodgers organization as an incubator for talent. The organization is now in the 2nd straight year of seeing massive turnover of highly sought after FO people and coaching throughout the ranks. These people have for the most part(Ward was the only side step) taken on promotions with other organizations. The belief around the league now is that the Dodgers will be an attractive landing spot for young execs to further cut their teeth and coaches to learn new tactics in an MiLB system that is seen as light years ahead in the development process compared to other orgs.

• Some feel that Zaidi was sought out due to him already rebuilding a high money organization on the fly. Indicating that the Giants may continue to try to win now, while developing a farm that has nabbed a couple of star level prospects in recent years.

• The Phillies and Braves are seen as the most likely teams to pursue Craig Kimbrel the hardest. The Red Sox are said to not be willing to pursue retaining their all star closer.

• Joe Kelly has informed the Red Sox that he plans to pursue a FA deal with a West Coast team. Most preferably one close to his hometown. Kelly is from Corona, CA.

• Astros SP Lance McCullers Jr underwent TJ surgery yesterday. This is seen as a massive blow to the team that has now lost 60% of their 2018 rotation. Forrest Whitley has been incredibly impressive in the AFL and is likely to find himself in their rotation before too long, but he is also in need of some more seasoning. This turn of events could force the Astros into looking at some other potential moves that they may not have wanted to make as their young core starts to get expensive.

• Expectations are that a lot of teams are going to prioritize short term reliever deals early for former high end relievers coming off of down years. There was a lot of speculation of guys like Britton, Miller and others getting 1 year prove it deals, but the demand for these guys and volatility of their positions could mean that the winner of such biddings will have to get out of a comfort zone.

• All the talk yesterday was that the Mariners are planning a full tear down, but now that may not be the case. That could have been a ploy by GM Jerry Dipoto to see what kind of prospects he could extract from other teams, but now it sounds like they may move some guys closer to free agency, but still attempt to compete in a division that is viewed to potentially be taking a step back in 2019.

 

I know he is Joe Kelly, but yeah, this should be of interest to us.

 

It has more to do with big stars in the past saying "I am Y-fielder and that is what I am going to play!" This does open up more doors and announcing this publicly makes fanbases push orgs to put more of an effort towards signing a guy. I think everyone assumed this was Bryce's future, but this is Boras making a scene to get more attention.

 

Dickerson only played 1 full season in COL. It was greater than anything he's done since

 

He is one of those guys that I can't see myself rooting for. I don't know if I will ever get over him throwing at Hanley as I still actively root for a comebacker to end his career.

 

Attended the same golf tournament as Joe Kelly at El Dorado in Long Beach a few years back. He donated some of his memorabilia for the fundraiser auction. Nobody wanted any of it.

 

But was he throwing at Hanley? Lol The great Don Mattingly

 

Kelly is 5 to 10 times better than Madson.
Or Alexander.
Or Floro.

 

Fuck Joe Kelly.

 

Certainly made us look bad, but was pretty mediocre all season, wasn't really anything special in the Astros series and really doesn't have too great of a track record. He is more of a middle reliever when you look at the larger scope of his career thus far, but maybe he found something at the right time.

 

Yeah...true. You can't really form an accurate opinion when a pitcher does well against the Dodgers because we can suck like no other team can suck.
Against mediocrity and unproven rooks especially.
We do roll over and curl up in the fetal position better than anyone, I believe.
Oh, yes.

 

Laced meatloaf....



Timothy Leary likes this

 

Pretty interesting, in a lot of ways the whole off-season hinges on what Grandal and Ryu do with the QOs. In the incredibly unlikely event that Grandal accepts his, that would kick the can down the road to 2020 as far as the catching situation goes and maybe they can just hand it off to Ruiz or Smith. If/when he turns it down, they need to address the position in some other way, be it free agent (Ramos?) or trade (Realmuto?). If Ryu takes his, it gives them such starting depth that they may be able to trade (looking at you Alex Wood) from it to acquire a high-leverage reliever or upgrade at 2B. If he turns it down, one could argue that they may pursue another starter, not of the Corbin or Keuchel caliber, but maybe Charlie Morton, could see his stuff playing well in a big NL park.

 

Good stuff. Morton is actually coming off an injury so not sure about him myself. I've liked Ramos for awhile. I still think we need another right handed SP. No matter how you about why we lost the WS the last 2 years having an practically all lefty has had mixed results. Any case should be intriguing off season going forward. So many decisions regarding the 40 roster have to be made as well.

 

Will be interesting to see if Farhan has be given a mandate to try to compete, or if they will let him start over. If they do it right, they'll let him trade MadBum, Belt and Crawford. Cueto is already gonna miss 80% of next season, so they are already starting in a worse position than April 2018.

 

Dodgers ended up only exercising the option for 1 year on Roberts. Could still make a deal, but I would not be shocked if a new GM will want their own guy.

 

Friedman calls the shots and Dave is his guy

 

Farhan should be tried for high treason, and meet a fate as befits his quisling nerd ass.
Thank you.
And fuck wishing him good luck...because if he does have it up there, then it won't be too good for us, will it?