NEWS/RUMORS Thread

you know Amaro and Boras won't be happy about that if it's true..good. Lol

i'm constantly forgetting about Enrique Iglesias-Hernandez.

interesting. Tsao the last? relievers in return for Arruba or Ethier?

 

They link and share much misdirection information which hopefully shuts the press up with their unidentified sources crap. In the case of Scherzer it helps as you note minimize the abilty of Boras to use us to bid the price up. Even if we are interested. Again how low is the 2016 payroll target when so much can come off the books. I am starting to suspect at least under the luxury tax. I am still stuck on how the new owners financed the purchase and how much of it is leveraged or Guggenheim investment money.

 

I am not sure all of our discussion and much of the media sports coverage is all in the right context. The Dodgers are a business and owned by new company with strong investment ties. Not sure if everyone saw the following when it first appeared a few months ago. What the current status I am not sure of. However remember at one point the owners of the Dodgers were interested in buying AEG Entertainment which includes the Staples Center.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/planned-aeg-sale-attracts-group-owns-dodgers
An AEG sale is expected to reap billions of dollars, and a bid by Guggenheim marks another ambitious foray into the risky world of sports and entertainment. In the Dodger deal, the Guggenheim-led group outbid its nearest competitor by half a billion dollars and has since spent millions more to sign star players. Yet the Dodgers may not even make the playoffs this year.

According to its website, privately-owned Guggenheim manages assets of more than $160 billion. That includes pension money, which normally seeks more conventional investments, such as stocks and bonds. Executives at Guggenheim couldn’t be reached for comment late Tuesday.

That deal fell through because the owners of AEG were trying to pull off a McCourt over pay. The LLC that owns the Dodgers did buy Dick Clark Productions.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/dick-clark-productions-sold-to-guggenheim-partners/?_r=0
Guggenheim, a private Wall Street firm, teamed up with a pair of multimedia investors to buy the production company for an undisclosed sum. A person briefed on the matter said the deal was worth about $370 million, more than double it sale price in 2007.

It is the following and most recent rumor mill discussion about Guggenheim interest that might give us pause at how we look at the recent off season activity by Guggenheim sports entertainment. That is the reported discussion of a merger between the Dodgers and NY Nets with joint ownership. YUP BZ joint ownership with the Russians. However those initial reports of possible merger discussions were followed by the following up date:

http://nypost.com/2014/10/09/dodgers-nets-parent-companies-uniting-unlikely/
The parent companies of the LA Dodgers and the Brooklyn Nets will not be getting hitched after all, The Post has learned.

Although the two sides held talks recently, they have broken down and are unlikely to begin again, sources tell The Post.

“Guggenheim doesn’t have money,” a source close to the situation said. “Will a deal ever happen? Probably no.”

Just a week ago, news of a possible combination of the Nets and Dodgers — reuniting the Dodgers’ name, albeit only on a corporate level, with its original home town — created quite a stir.
Meanwhile, Guggenheim borrowed $1.2 billion from its parent, a large owner of annuity funds, to buy the Dodgers.

Those loans are secured by the money Time Warner Cable is paying to broadcast Dodgers games on a new Dodgers channel.

The above is from the link and the following my food for thought.
This is pension fund money and other investment money by people who never wanted to be involved in the purchase of the Dodgers. That money as indicated by the above link info is secured by the Time Warner Contract which has failed to get rooted in making the money they thought. Stay tuned and don't be sure you aren't seeing the early stages of a larger scale salary reduction as we get to 2016. This isn't a fantasy league people it is real Dollars and Sense finances and corporate tight rope walking.

Illinois Insurance regulators had some questions when the purchase of the Dodgers were originally announced but that passed. Yeah right. However assumptions the Dodgers have deep pockets may not be valid as their pockets are lined with other peoples money. As in pensions, retired folks, investors with no sports interest. However not to worry Guggenheim is going overboard to up the Dodgers image to the world. Now if we can just get Time Warner squared away. Wow what happens if that contract blows up via bankruptcy? Remember they have investors also and oh yeah if you know what activist investors can do.

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/30125872/
The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers became official on Tuesday as Guggenheim Baseball Management closed its $2 billion purchase of the club and Dodger Stadium from Frank McCourt.

 

Dodgers Infield Setting Up For Yoan Moncada?
by Adrian Garcia | Lasorda's Lair

Stating the obvious, it’s pretty clear that the infield next season is going to look significantly different than last years. The team is undergoing significant change at both up the middle positions with a whole new double play combination in Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick. While the infield should a pretty solid unit next season, part of the reason the team dealt Matt Kemp was to be less hamstrung with contracts in the future, whether you like it or not.

The payroll this upcoming season is still going to be the highest in baseball, the infield this next year is somehow going to be significantly older than last year’s infield, and despite these happenings there is a ton of flexibility for 2016.

Look at the future commitments the team has. Gonzalez is signed until 2018, making 21 million dollars a season and is a 1b, so there wont be any turnover there anytime soon, but look at the rest of the infield. Juan Uribe is a free agent after next year, Jimmy Rollins is a free agent after next year (and will be 37 on opening day of 2016), Howie Kendrick is going to be a free agent after next year, and while Friedman has said they will pursue an extension...

Friedman went so far as to say that “I’m sure those conversations will happen at some point … assuming that things play out well.”​

Keep in mind that Kendrick is going to be 32 years old in July, is a hitter that historically does not walk at all, saw his power dip this past season all the way down to a .104 ISO (Billy Hamilton had a .105 ISO, Gerardo Parra had a .108 ISO, Jose Altuve had a .112 ISO), and who’s offensive production relies mainly on batting average. Not to mention that second baseman sorta age terribly. I’m not saying that he wont be locked up, but don’t be surprised if they collect the draft pick and move on. My point isn’t how screwed the Dodgers are for 2016 in the infield, my point is, due to how little long term commitments they have, they can afford to take a risk on a certain young international player who happens to play the 3 infield positions they have vacancies for next season.

That young international player is Cuban SS Yoan Moncada.

Maybe you’ve heard of the young phenom, who’s been compared -offensively- toJorge Soler. Here’s an MLB article on him...

Different sources had Moncada timed differently in the 60-yard dash, though he ran somewhere in the 6.56- to 6.6-second range. That gives him a 70 for his speed on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, or close to the top of the scale. Moncada reportedly looked better at third and second than he did at shortstop, with enough arm from any infield position. He swung the bat well from both sides of the plate, showing plus raw power both ways. The only negative was that Moncada didn’t face live pitching, hitting only off of a BP pitcher.​

A scout at his workout slapped him with the following grades on the 20-80 tool scale: Hit 60/Power 60/Speed 70/Arm 60/Field 50, which is salivating for any major league squad. Kiley McDaniel cooled down any hype that Moncada plays SS long term saying he’s more comfortable at 3b:

scouts said he looked uncomfortable taking grounders at shortstop, though most thought before the showcase that he wouldn’t figure to play there in pro ball. The popular opinion is to stick Moncada at third base, but some scouts said not to rule out second base just yet​

Even if Moncada isn’t immediately ready for the start of 2016, this Ben Badler tweetseems to indicate that he would be a fast mover through the system, and wouldn’t take too long to get ready for big league action.

For what it’s worth, Dustin Nosler, who profiled him here, says he’d put him at third, mostly because his plus arm would be wasted at second base, but it’s not an impossibility to see him play the keystone at the big league level if they think he can’t handle 3b, and would be more valuable in the infield.

I gotta be honest, I agree wholeheartedly with Nosler, look at the realistic 2016 third base options that are starting caliber regulars: Casey McGehee (kinda), Aramis Ramirez (if he’s not hurt or retired), David Freese (meh), and uh, Juan Uribe? Those are the options, a 32 year old McGehee who was out of the league 2 years ago, 38 year old Aramis, already awful defensive 3b David Freese, and 37 year old Uribe. To be fair, the 2nd base options are only marginally better, with the aforementioned Howie Kendrick topping the list, and a 35 year old Ben Zobrist not far behind, everything after that is a steep downgrade from those two names, so barring a trade -which is always a strong possibility with this team- it seems like the long term answer isn’t on the market or in house, so maybe the international market is the way to go.

But it all sounds too good to be true. From what’s been reported, literally every team is in the running for this special international talent, so why should we expect Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi to take a huge risk on a player that might end up costing upwards of 80 million dollars (after including the overages Moncada would cost)? Well Farhan Zaidi hails from the Billy Beane school of thought which obviously emphasizes an unconventional way of taking risks.

That organization gave Michael Ynoa a record breaking (at the time) 4.25 million dollar bonus as a 16 year old amateur athlete. That organization also took a humongous risk in signing Yoenis Cespedes back in 2012 which ultimately paid off in a big way. Guess who was credited with that signing the same way Logan White is credited with signing Yasiel Puig? Farhan Zaidi. The Rays are no stranger to the international market either, this past July, under then-GM Andrew Friedman, they signed the number 1 prospect on the amateur international market to a record breaking deal for that franchise also.

So to sum it up, there is a generational type talent out on the market, that will cost a 100% tax on whichever team signs him, plus limitations on the next international signing period. This talent is a shortstop that has the ability to play Third Base and Second Base. Depending on which position Corey Seager ends up sticking at, that flexibility will be an added plus to his skillset. Mix this in with one of the richest teams in baseball ran by a front office that historically takes risks domestically and internationally, and a free agent market for third baseman and second baseman that is mostly barren.

All of these signs point to the Dodgers being significant players in the Yoan Moncada market, will they get him? I don’t know, are they going to be difficult to beat out for the services of another Cuban phenom? I think so.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -​

Make it happen!

 

This got posted recently. Potential makes meray:

 

Any word on Mocanda's baseball demeanor? Looks like we made alot of off-season moves to deal with "attitude" reasons and gave up some proven talent for potential. If we restock with more headcases, that replaces one set of problems for another set.

Just saying.

 

We have Puig. Who cares?

 

Pretty interesting to me anyway, a la this aticle above anyway, is the fact that Kendrick doesn't walk (which was used by the FO defenders against Dee because he didn't...odd), has a dipping power .104 ISO, and is mainly propped up by his BA, which I have been told many times doesn't matter at all in the new world of sabrematics, or sabremetrics, which ever it is...very odd also. I leave all the pro-new player stats to the mega posters, assuming they have those stats and are accurate with them, especially if they are points of contention for player comparison...but some of them are a pile of shit, apparently
I guess if it was all done so we could sign some Cuban phenom, then it's fine and dandy. But to go at Dee for this and that, when Kendrick is waning , not waxing, and has very similar faults as the younger (not 32) Gordon does,( like traditionally not walking),seems less genius than it did not so long ago.
I'm still working on blindly following whatever they do as NewAge BB Genius, as so many others do.
I'll get there, and when April rolls around, I know I'll feel better that Howie is there at 2b rather than Dee to start the new campaign.
Yup.

 

Good points Blue

 

I hope Arruebarrena sticks around... who's going to be our backup SS? Barney is not fit as a SS... shit

Moncada please

 

Barney can play SS, Turner can play SS, albeit not good, but Rollins is usually good for minimum 140 games and we won't need a defensive replacement late in games.

 

Barney isn't a very good SS, ugh I'd prefer to have Arruebarrena on the roster. Let's hope Rollins stays healthy.

 

he can't hit, we can't put an 0-4 in our lineup... at all.

 

Barney can't hit either is the problem.