Nope, I surely didn’t. But many people had their hopes high. I hate to see anyone’s dreams dashed but we should all be realistic here. The Giancarlo Stanton saga has finally ended with the voltron like slugger heading to the New York Yankees in exchange for Starlin Castro and a couple of prospects. The Yankees will send the Marlins some cash as well to offset expenses. This now gives the Yankees a lineup with Aaron Judge, Stanton, and Gary Sanchez. I’m surprised I didn’t see this coming. Of course he went to the Damned Yankees. The Marlins are owned by a group led by Derek Jeter.
I’ll get to how this relates to the Dodgers in a minute here but we should probably take some time to look at a couple of things. First of all Stanton had the Marlins by the balls and everyone knew it. He was holding all the cards. With a full no-trade clause and a list of teams he would approve about as big as Clayton Kershaw’s Earned run average (that’s not very big), the Fish were in no position to be arguing with him. This means that Marlin’s fans will have to endure several years of unwatchable baseball as their club rebuilds.
I feel sorry for them to be honest. However this is how the Astros and Cubs rebuilt. They tanked for years and that’s what the Marlins are going to have to do in order to build a contending club again. The truth is that baseball really doesn’t give a crap about small market clubs. The rich get richer and the poor remain poor. Oh sure I say that while snickering since the Dodgers are the richest team in baseball, but nobody cares about poor teams in small markets. It’s a stark reality for teams like the Marlins and they simply are unable to compete in this modern era baseball landscape.
Source: #Dodgers were Stanton's 1st choice, but never made offer that intrigued #Marlins because it involved eating more bad contracts or Stanton $ than Mia comfortable with. #Yankees were Stanton's 2d choice and that Castro is a real player was important to Mia to keep or move.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 9, 2017
As for the Dodgers well let’s look on the bright side of this. Stanton didn’t go to the Cubs, Nationals, or divisional foes like the Giants or Dbacks. The Dodgers only play the Yankees once every three years so they won’t see Stanton unless they play the Yanks in the World Series. I’m fine with that. I’m always more concerned with National League opponents then American League opponents. You should be too. Be thankful he went to the Yankees as disgusting as that sounds.
The Dodgers weren’t going to take on Stanton’s massive salary obligations anyways. Not that they couldn’t afford him. They just didn’t want to add an additional 295 million dollars over the next several years. According to Joel Sherman the Dodgers tried to get the Fish to take some of their larger contracts off their hands to offset some of the expense of Stanton’s massive contract. The Fish didn’t want to take on Adrian Gonzalez’s contract, or Scott Kazmir’s remaining money. So the two teams couldn’t make a deal work.
I’m ok with that. It’s hard to figure out what the Dodgers should do. A team that won the National League pennant, 104 games and lost in the final game of the World Series probably doesn’t need any kind of roster shakeup. Needed improvements are incremental. I’m assuming the Dodgers will bring back everyone (or mostly everyone) and try it again next year with much of the same roster intact.
Look Stanton would have been a great upgrade to the starting lineup. I would love to add another 50 home runs to the Dodger’s lineup. The Dodgers are already a team that hit 221 homers and scored 770 runs during the regular season. I think the Dodgers will be ok.
Remember that Clayton Kershaw can opt out of his contract after the 2018 season. The Dodgers might have to rework his contract. As rich as the Dodgers are they probably didn’t want to add all of that extra payroll. You know how this front office works by now. They’re not into giving out huge contracts via free agency, nor are they privy to adding large amounts of cash to the payroll. They love cheap, young cost controlled players. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t try to make it work. They tried, and it just didn’t fit into their plans financially.
The Dodgers did not get Giancarlo Stanton, and you know what? That’s probably ok.
Scott
That is not OK. The Dodgers could have made it work or Stanton would not have signed anywhere else. I f he knew that the Dodgers entered a bonafide offer he would have held out I think. That same mentality of we all know how the Dodgers are is not a good argument. I give them no credit for trying to sign Stanton. THEY DID NOT WANT HIM!! I agree with anyone who says this is the way the team operates but by no means is it OK. I think the FO needs to know that we don’t like it and we feel that it is unacceptable. Not getting Stanton hurt the Dodgers!!! Just my opinion.
Dodger Blue just posted a story about this. They said the Dodgers offered the Marlins better prospects than the Yankees or anyone else. Here is why the deal folded like a wet taco. The Dodgers, and blame this on FAZMANIA, wanted the Marlins to take some combination of McCarthy, Kazmir or Gonzalez. Now, the Marlins are trying to shed the contract. If they took both McCarthy and Kazmir, they would be on the hook for what those two are owed, which together is pretty close to what they are paying Stanton, no relief there. Same if the took Gonzo, no real relief in that deal. The Yankees are taking over all but 3 million a year of Stanton’s deal. Which means if he does not opt out, they are on the hook for 265 somolions. The Marlins would never have taken that kind of a deal from the Dodgers because it was counter productive to their purpose of shedding salary. It might end up working better for the Dodgers in the long run if they can actually land Marcel Ozuna. Who would slip into the left field slot very easily.
Mr. Norris
My point was only that if the Dodgers made offers to try and get Stanton, I think Stanton would have continued to refuse trades to different clubs. Sooner or later the Marlins would have to relent or they would be stuck with the whole contract and they would have traded Stanton to the Dodgers. I read something about this during the negotiations. What people keep forgetting is in the end it was Stanton in the drivers seat not the clubs bidding for his services. He did not owe the Marlins anything. They are the ones who wanted to shed his contract. That is their problem. It would have been good for the Dodgers and Stanton and bad for everyone else.
My problem is that we have the Yankees two huge boosts in their rebuild. First Chapman and then by not seriously bidding for Stanton.
And I don’t agree with the no tinkering approach. People have such short memories. The Cleveland Indians were closer than we were to winning it, a lot closer in fact. With a young core and steadier starting pitching. Now they are not even in the top 3 in WS odds.
YF
That is what I was thinking about!
I am not that familiar with the prospects the Yankees got from Chapman, but they sure turned over an aging line, and made it into a youthful line up, pretty quickly!
And from what I have read, the Marlins didn’t get enough for Stanton.
And that money the Yankees paid for Stanton, will not look like much, after we hear what both Harper and Machado get.
And once again, the Yankees knew they wouldn’t be able to get a player like Stanton often, so they made this thing happen, over night!
I’m on record and continue to be that I have no interest in rooting for an amoral team.
Bravo for passing on Chapman from me, and me alone.
Bluto
I am actually glad we didn’t get Chapman, but the Yankees sure got some good prospects from him.
I didn’t like what I saw from Chapman, in the post season the year before..
And it really seems like the Yankees went from a old line up, to a young line up, quickly.
But you didn’t hear much about Chapman’s actions, once the Yankees got him.
Other teams will work to make serious improvements. A lot went right for the Dodgers last year so the idea of 100 wins again should not be expected.
So, what do we expect?
We already have a set starting lineup, with Toles and Kiké in left, Taylor in center and Puig in right. Turner is getting older and slower (aren’t we all) Seager may or may not be strong enough to play all year plus post season at short. They’ve committed to Forsythe and I figure he may have a better year. Bellinger, or AGon, at first and Barnes Grandal behind the plate . We need another solid starter but currently have about a dozen that will be vying for a spot. Bullpen? Is Yimi ready? Will Buehler be down there? Before any moves we have, by my count about about 15 arms, including Urias in the second half, that are legit pen candidates.
I have no real idea what to expect this winter. If we aren’t going to use him Verdugo is a very nice trade piece for something. As you know, I already traded Pederson and Grandal, but my trades didn’t go through so they are still here. For the record, I see nothing impactful happening any time soon.
Badger
Heard on MLB radio that McCutchen from the Pirates maybe a target for the Dodgers . He is too good for FBZ.
Giants targeting him too. They need him more than we do.
I want more better pitching.
I want more better pitching as well, I worry about spots though:
1. Let’s presume McCarthy is traded (even though it’ll be hard to do.)
2. Wood, Hill, Kershaw, Ryu, Maeda, Buehler, Oaks.
2a. At some point the latter two will need a shot in the big leagues.
3. Even if Maeda goes to the pen (which may be a hard sale given his incentive laden deal) there’s still one too many pitchers before one is signed.
4. Trade Ryu? Then there’s still no spot.
Obviously Oaks can start in the Minors. So can Buehler, but both? Again? That doesn’t mention Stewart or Stripling, nor Urias who will be back at some point.
At one point in the future, the youth will need their shot. Maybe it’s 2018?
Fine by me. How many spots do you open up in Spring Training? If those guys can pitch, then let them pitch. Maybe one or two will step up.
Do you know the incentive breakdown of Maeda’s deal. I like how he looked as a reliever. Maybe Ryu too, both with occasional starts during the DL dance in summer.
Personally I think more McKazanderhill’s will be signed. The first one will be signed this week. I don’t look for a big FA signing. I’m also doubtful of a trade for a RH stud starter. I think they will go with what they have and maybe pick up another low risk project.
There are still a lot of arms in our organization. Many remain unproven but all deserve a shot.
I’m hoping for Zach Britton and Cole/Hamels out of the winter meetings.
Don’t hold your breath, but hope is wonderful and eternal.
Cole/Hamels. I see what you did there. Very clever.
I do see my 4am post got released sometime last night. Anybody see it?
Basically what I said was – we are still pretty good, as are the Yankees, Astros, Nationals, Cubs, Indians and Red Sox. The phones in Miami are ringing for Yelich and Ozuna and FAZ is probably on hold. Yelich is from SoCal and frankly I’d trade Toles and Verdugo for him, but FAZ won’t because Yelich has a contract that pays him until age 30 and we know FAZ don’t like trading for contracts. Probably doesn’t matter Yelich is a 4-5 WAR player and will more than earn every nickel of that deal.
That said, Verdugo is a legit centerfielder and on any other team would probably be starting next year. I don’t mind Taylor out there but Taylor is a middle infielder and frankly I’d like to see what the team looked like with both Verdugo and Taylor in the lineup. But that’s me. I like speed.
Badger
If you love speed, Toles is not only a lot faster then Verdugo, he has more power, and he has already demonstrated, that he can hit major league pitching.
Small sample MJ. 200 at bats. We’ve seen fast starts before. Not all continue.
Verdugo can play center as he possesses great instincts to go with a superior throwing arm. That said, he projects as a right fielder. I look forward to seeing him in Spring. Apparently he has taken to the life style changes Kapler introduced. I have a feeling about him.
Badger
That if true, but Toles also hit well, in the minors.
And he does have a lot more speed.
I do think they should have given Verdugo more chances this year, then Granderson and everyone else.
Speaking of gut feelings, I have a gut feeling about Locastro. And I think we should trade Alvarez – I just have a gut feeling the other way. I also think Gavin Lux is a bust.
And finally I think is when we see Turner back to playing an utility role with Seager moving to third and Taylor at SS. I’d love Verdugo as full time CF. Turner is simply not durable and playing less will do him some good.
That’s the spirit YF. Trust those here. Remember all that depth people were taking about? Let’s put it out there. And I like Locastro too. He reminds me of Punto. Not really. I just like typing Punto. He actually reminds me of Alex Cora.
Man, Cervenka is all over the FBZ for missing out on Morrow. I don’t blame him. It’s a good deal and we should’ve matched. Too slow on the trigger.
http://www.thinkbluela.com/2017/12/cubs-pull-brandon-morrow-out-from-under-dodgers/
http://www.thinkbluela.com/2017/12/not-re-signing-morrow-could-be-huge-mistake-for-dodgers/
Schwarber is lean and fit, according to Cubs blogs and pictures. I hope Joc is taking note.
Hi I’m reposting this without the link.
Man, Cervenka at ThinkBlue is all over the FBZ for missing out on Morrow. I don’t blame him. It’s a good deal and we should’ve matched. Too slow on the trigger.
Schwarber is lean and fit, according to Cubs blogs and pictures. I hope Joc is taking note.
The frustrating thing is that one of our owners (Magic) knows about star power and how it attracts fans, even those willing to spend more $.
Guess LA isn’t the glamour town of yesteryear. Oh well let’s carry on with our platoon and interchangeable parts.
Friedman said the Dodgers luxury tax number will not exceed $237 million in 2018.
No surprise.
Moving that pick 10 spots must be motivation for them.
We may have enough star power for them. We have Kershaw and Jansen, Seager and Bellinger, Turner and Hooch. The stands are full, the tv money is there every year. The Yankees are more about star power, and boy do they have it.
FABAZ will do it their way. Might work.
I wonder if they go for the full reset next year.
It’ll be easy if Kershaw opts out and leaves.
Let’s hope after we get under the luxury tax, after the 2018 season, they do add some free agents here there, to improve the team, like the Cubs and the Cards do.
Became the Dodgers are the second richest organization in baseball, and sometimes, you have to use the money, to improve the team.
McCarthy’s and Kazmir’s contracts are coming back to haute us, this next year, so I hope the front office learned from those two!
Those two pitchers are not grinders
I did read that Friedman said, they were not going to block our young pitchers anymore, so we should have some young pitchers, getting pretty close.
Where did you read that MJ?
Bluto
At the Dodger.com, and I believe it is in one of the top two articles.
And I believe it was at the end.
For the record, and Badger’s Stanton-push aside, I think it was at the end of the 2016 season that Badger (and I and I recall some others) gave up and said that the Dodgers should just let the kids play it out, as in stop blocking them with the Brett Anderson’s and McKazmirs.
I’m all for going with the kids, but just go with it, not half ass it!
How we know that Darvish was indeed tipping pitches in the WS:
https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/12/11/dodgers-yu-darvish-tipped-pitches-world-series-astros
`
Thanks Bluto!
I like Verducci!
He is one of the smartest writers I have seen, when it comes to baseball.
Bluto
I know we can’t trust all these rumors, right now, but I just read the Astros are interested, in signing Darvish!
That to me, is the final proof for the tipping.
Well that would explain a few things. Darvish’s stuff is too good to be that ineffective.
But really, if it was something that obvious, wouldn’t Honeycutt and the Dodgers have seen it too? And if not, why not?
Made it to California in 18 hours driving time and did it in one day. My sis has MLB TV so I have caught up on all the non action and typically FBZ says he likes the Dodger roster the way it is…..
Caught up on all the “nonaction”. That’s a good one Michael. Got a chuckle out of me.
Yeah me too. Does seem pretty quiet on the Dodger front.
18 hours. Damn. I can’t do that anymore.
I wish I were more confident in Alvarez. His stuff is ML ready but I don’t know he is. His K/BB of 36/25 is a bit unsettling. At 22 I look for that to be fixed this year. ETA I believe is 2019.
Mitchell White, 23 this month, college pitcher, may be closer. He did well at AA, but his innings count is very low. 22 his first year, 73.2 last year. His ETA is 2019. Same with Santana. Urias is out til summer, so, who does that leave to step in? Stripling, Oaks, Stewart and Buehler. It looks to me like, barring a trade, the rotation is the same as last year – Kershaw and the revolving door. Fangraphs projections. – Kershaw 32 starts (don’t see it) Hill, 24 starts, Wood, 24 starts, Maeda, 24 starts, Ryu, 23 starts, McCarthy, 24 starts (doubt it), Kazmir, 4 starts, Stripling, Urias and Buehler 0, Stewart 2, Oaks, 2, Yueh Fei, Bluto and Packman also 0. If all that does happen the season is pretty much covered. Will all that happen? Not likely. Bluto might get a start.
So, we may be back to the wounded warrior lists. I haven’t updated them, but there are some FABAZ projects available no doubt. That’s an updated acronym. Friedman and Byrnes and Zaidi, our three headed Poindexter. I don’t anticipate a trade, but you never know.
All I am asking for is (1) Grandal traded (2) Britton and (3) Cole/Hamels. I would get excited about that.
In order of preference?
How about this:
Grandal for Hamels and you get 1. Grandal traded, and 3. both Cole and Hamels. Then, fly over to see Watford and you get 2. Britain.
Where is W these days? Find another home did he?