Veteran bat and postseason hero David Freese recently announced his retirement from baseball. The Dodgers acquired the former World Series MVP in August of 2018 in a trade with the Pirates and he immediately made an impact. Freese slashed .385/.489/.641 (15 for 39) in 47 plate appearances for the Dodgers before going on to hit .417 (5 for 12) (including a lead-off home run in game 5) in the Fall Classic that season.
Freese continued his hot hitting early in the 2019 season. The Dodgers utilized him a lot early at first base against left handed pitchers. Freese batted .308 in the first half of the season and was 12 for 30 (.400) when coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter. He posted a .988 OPS with runners in scoring position and hit .346 at Dodger Stadium. Overall Freese slashed .315/.403/.599 with 11 home runs across 186 plate appearances. Unfortunately Freese was only able to play in 79 games as hamstring and leg injuries cut his season short.
The Dodgers acquired him for his penchant for getting big hits in the postseason and that continued in the NLDS against Washington. Freese notched a huge hit to extend a rally in game 3. He was 4 for 8 in the five game playoff series. He’s got a career .299/.370/.549 slash line in the postseason with 10 home runs and 36 runs driven in. Freese has collected 29 extra-base hits in the postseason and has a .919 OPS.
Very few hitters who come over in July or August trades have been as successful as Freese. Only a few come to mind such as Manny Ramirez, Steve Finley or Marlon Anderson. Freese was one of the best. The 36-year old will go into retirement as one of the most clutch hitters in postseason history. The Dodgers will surely miss his clutch bat.
I thought he was a great pick up when it happened and nothing he did changed my mind. He had some clutch hits and in the last playoff series, they do not win that game if he does not get that clutch single. I wish him nothing but the best in retirement. Dodgers will have a really hard time replacing that bat.
Wheeler is getting a QO from the Mets, so forget AF pursuing that guy.
Michael, the Dodgers will not be getting any of the big name FA’s this off season because they did not or do not reside in the dumpster bin.
Garvey and John on the list of 10 players being considered for the Hall under the modern players ballot. Belli and Ryu, finalists for the MVP and Cy Young awards. I do not think John or Garvey will get in. Dale Murphy might, as might Dave Parker. Mattingly, Munson, Marvin Miller, Lou Whitaker, Dwight Evans and Ted Simmons are the others on the list.
HOF, that list you mentioned Michael is a real head scratcher, of those guys who would I vote for, I mean not by looking up statistics but by my general impression of watching them play. Maybe Dale Murphy or Dave Parker, both had huge impacts on the teams they played for. Munson possibly gets in on the sympathy ballot for a career cut short by pilot error. The other guys just didn’t make that huge an impression on me. Donnie T-ball was pretty good but I’m not too sure he was HOF good. Overall not an outstanding, no-doubter class of candidates (kind of like the Dem candidates this election, actually a pretty weak group).
Well the modern baseball ballot is a supplemental ballot kind of like the old timers voting that takes place every two years. Hodges has not gotten in and to me, that is a gross injustice, since Gil was probably the best first baseman of his era. Yeah, Musial played some there, but he was primarily an outfielder. Murphy missed 400 homers by 1. He was the star player on his team and he contributed to a lot of wins, plus if memory serves, he has 2 MVP awards. Parker was a great hitter, his candidacy was tainted by drug allegations. Munson was a very good, but to me at least, not a HOF worthy player. Same with DM. Mattingly was outstanding for 6 of his 12 years in the majors. Unfortunately for him, they were the first 6 years, not the last 6 like Koufax. Miller has kind of been black balled because he was the MLBPA’s representative when all the free agency took place. Not liked by ownership at all, but loved by the players. If anyone is a lock, I think it is Miller. John also fell short of the magic number to pretty much guarantee election, 300 wins. TJ had 288. Blyleven had 287. The difference is John pitched in parts of 26 seasons, Blyleven did it in 22. So TJ had longevity going for him. Neither won a Cy Young. Garvey is the classic close but no cigar player. Way short in the power numbers for a HOF 1st baseman unless it was the deadball era. He did have a long consecutive game streak, but again, his stats just do not jump off of the page. Same with Fernando. Very good, not good enough. The nine players listed are very good players. Not great. Some thought Whitaker should have gone in when Trammel did.
Yup, yup, yup. Probably not a damn one of those guys, except Murphy, should be in the HOF. Better to put no one in, than to cheapen the HOF with some “we need to have a ceremony in order to keep the MLB in the headlines during the off-season” award. Ugh on Miller, btw.