In breaking news out of the Dodgers’ Spring Training camp, hard-luck, fan favorite, Andrew Toles, has not reported to camp, and there is no timetable on when he will.
The unfortunate part of this story is Toles has a long history of these kinds of situations. More in my video below…
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
Follow Me:
Sad to hear about Toles’ situation. I thought he might have been able to turn his life around. I’m sure Dodger Management philosophy took it’s “Tole” on his frustrations, especially after his injury.
Another example of Friedman’s dumpster diving tactics. Always digging the bottom of the barrel to find a bargain.
Really sad that they kept a spot on SP Roster for Toles and penciled him in as a strong possiblility to make opening day roster, and then simply dumped Puig in the process.
This story does not suprise me at all.
Agree, Toles is another good story of the front office’s pro scouting.
Not sure if I agree that he was such a key component of the OF picture. Without delving too deep into it Toles would have been competing for, at best, an extra outfield spot. Major League outfielders on the roster are A.J. Pollock, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo, plus multi-role players Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez.
Bellinger is not an outfielder. He is carried on the roster as an infielder. He is a first baseman first. That they chose to weaken the defense and play some brick glove like Muncy does not change the fact that Bellinger is gold glove caliber over there at first. Playing him the outfield is a waste.
Michael, I agree with ya here 1,000% And fans should not be too concerned here because for 1 thing Toles is just another of a plethora of LH hitters on this team and several players I believe were ahead of him on the charts anyway.
As I’ve always said, the Dodgers are not committed to Toles and he knows it. They won’t release him so he could join another team. This is one of the examples of locking up players, a kind of indenturement to the club. If I were him, I would try to get out of the Dodger organization ASAP.
I agree with Michael that the strongest position for Bellinger is 1B. It is only because of the non-committment of the Dodgers to positional players that there is this musical positions taking place. Using inexpensive contracts to platoon is a great idea if you don’t have the talent to play every day. If Kike or Joc were batting .280, this moving about would cease immediately. Same thing for Verdugo. ST should iron out who starts and who farts. I hope the platooning ends. It has been a source of weakness for some years now and the FO must resolve it.
Exactly, as far as Bellinger goes. He belongs at 1st base and Muncy belongs in the AL. And the musical chairs of positions and platoons is because most of the Dodger’s roster is made up of only marginal players who lack the ability to hit both RHP and or LHP.
Dodgers Andrew Toles will not be reporting to camp at this time. Dealing with “a personal matter,” per a Dodgers source. “We aren’t sure when Andrew will arrive but he has been in contact with the organization and has our full support.”
With all the prospect lists starting to pop up, it’s a nice look into recent IFA signing. The Dodgers have been limited in what they can spend, but seem to be spending it really, really well.
Uceta was signed in 2016 for just (relative just there) 10K.
Carillo in ’16 for 75K.
Robinson Ortiz in ’17 for 60K.
Alex De Jesus and Jerming Rosario in ’18 for 500K and 600K.
Carlos Rincon for 325K.
‘Spending it really, really well’ ………..says who?
What measurement or tool did you use to determine that?
Were any of those sums that I cited indicative of poorly spent money?
If none make it to the show, every $ spent was wasted. And the track record with International players has been piss poor.
Ah, why spend money unless you can guarantee the ROI.
Didn’t think you were that conservative Chili.
Let’s see if I have this correct.
IF Andrew Friedman signs a player, it’s a good signing, hell it’s a great signing. Why, because Andrew Friedman knows when to sign them and when not to.
He got the player at the cheapest price. No one bids up an Andrew Friedman signee. He held out until the player finally caves as no one beats Andrew Friedman.
IF Andrew Friedman doesn’t sign a given player, well that’s either because he did not want that player or the player thought way too highly of himself.
But on every player that Andrew Friedman does not sign he bids up that particular player driving the price up. No one beats Andrew Friedman.
IF Andrew Friedman trades for prospects, those prospects are top quality players. Future MLBers. Andrew just cleaning up on those other GM’s.
IF Andrew Friedman trades a prospect, well it is because that prospect is over rated and Andrew Friedman knows it and moves him before everyone else learns it.
Andrew Friedman is the standard bearer for all things GM related.
EXCEPT he has never won!
You nailed it.
If only Friedman were that good!
But we can settle for what we’ve got and hope the team wins it all.
You are easily pleased Bluto…..typical Friedman apologist and follow him off the cliff into the sea lemming. Enjoy being the Buffalo Bills of the baseball world. They are not going to win the Series anytime soon, and probably never with Fried Brains at the controls.
You nailed it!
Stay optimistic Michael!
Friedman is damned good, but no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and misjudges certain situations. It’s the nature of the way our brains work. Solutions are just a set of probabilities and you must choose only one.
Damned good?
What does that make every other GM or President of Baseball Operations that has won a championship?
They must be really damn good.
Epstein, Sabean, Cashman and Dombrowski must all be really, really damn good.
Starting to think ‘damned good’ isn’t all that.
Yes, those four have accomplished more than Friedman, doesn’t make Friedman poor in any sense of the word.
But Friedman is really and damned good.
Chili, you have no idea what AF must deal with on the ownership side. How much do the owners tie his hands when it comes to spending money? The last 5 years have seen a remarkable shift in expenditures for a team. Is it Friedman who is cheap or is it the owners? In light of his hands being tied, do you really think he has done a piss poor job? This doesn’t mean I think he is the top GM in the league but I do think he has done a remarkable job maintaining a winning club and division/NL leader. You can’t point to this club and say ‘I pity them’.
Jeff,
I nor anyone else knows what the parameters are set at regarding payroll. But Kasten has spoke out of both sides of his mouth on this subject.
Believe or not I’m not a Friedman hater but I definitely do not worship everything AF like some do.
My piss poor comment was aimed directly at their track record of International players. It has been horrendous (or piss poor.)
Just last year they could not get their 1st round draft pick (30th overall) signed but yet go out and spend money on a bunch of International players.
And we continue to hear how AF values draft picks. Really? So much so that the top guy you draft you can’t get signed.
The Dodgers payroll has been in the top 3 every year Friedman has been here. That’s not being cheap. Keep in mind they were that prior to him coming on the scene and many of those contracts were already in place so he did inherit that payroll. They were in the high $200M. Now they reside around $200M.
My jest is at those that think AF is the alpha and omega and that everyone is following his lead. Why would anyone follow his lead? He has never won a championship. I think it’s been 17 years and counting for him.
Feel bad for Toles. He was a spark plug until his knee buckled. Then it’s another long road back, and maybe he can make a come back again.
For some good is good enough, for others only excellence is good enough. So you will always have two camps, well there is a third camp and that is the one that doesn’t even give a $hit. At least we don’t have those in the third camp on this blog.
The “third camp” is the one filling the pockets of the ownership. They continue to fill the seats of Dodger Stadium, and could not care less about winning. It is like how Laker games were…. they knew nothing about basketball, but it was the place to be “seen”. A place where if you are seen there, you are wealthy enough to afford it. The Dodgers are the Rolls Royce of MLB…. making tons of money, and putting it in their swiss bank accounts, instead of investing in a winning team.
Friedman is not that good, and couple that with the “tight” ownership, they will not reach the pinnacle of baseball.
Bluefan4Life, maybe just maybe those first round picks can’t be signed is because they already know how the Dodgers run thins as far as managing players and turning them into marginal ones, and perhaps they may see a better chance with another team in their future.
Manny Machado joining the Padres. Reported 10 year/$300M deal.
Way too much money… hope he “Flops” and Pads have to struggle to unload his salary. The “Smirk” ends up laughing to the bank. Will this lead to Harper going to SD, as well?
Dodgers need to step up their game against the Padres.
Machado has an opt out after 5 years. But I don’t believe his salary per year has been announced. Is it front or back loaded or is it $30M per year for 10 years. With an opt out after 5 years one would assume that it is either front loaded or even pay throughout. Guess we’ll see.
Does Harper hold out for more? Or does that set the mark for Harper at 10 years and over $300M?
This does not bode well for Andrew Toles unless this is a strategic ploy by him to get the Dodgers to release him. Either way, Toles days with the Dodgers are numbered. In fact I will go out on a limb and say that he never wears a LA Dodgers uni again. This does bode well for Joc Pederson as he now becomes more difficult to replace. Toles was that guy. Not any longer.
Chili, no real loss with Toles being out of the picture. He knew he wasn’t going to get past others on the OF depth charts AND no great loss of simply another LHB. Dodgers won’t miss him one bit.
Agree Paul,
Imagine working hard all your baseball life, to finally get drafted, then while in the minors you get told that you can’t do this, and you can’t do that. Platooning, pitch counts, lefty/righty matchups limit your playing time. Then, they set you on a snail’s pace to the big show…. year after year they tell you you are not ready, as they go dumpster diving to salvage washed up, or problematic players, or spend big bucks signing international hopefuls to big bonuses, to fill their 25-man roster.
I would not want to be drafted by the Dodgers. All they do is destroy your game, and career.
Pretty much sums it up as ya say here, Bluefan. And as I mentioned before, players on the team last year, whether one wants to believe it or not, were NOT ‘all in’ on those things ya said here as far as how the team managed the roster. Pitch counts, match ups, L-R-L-R and the platooning. Going into 2019, I am sure ya have read here how they plan on less platooning this year. But aside from the catchers, of which 2 would share duties, we may still see platooning in LF, CF, RF, 1st base and 2nd base. I hope I am wrong but if players continue to show they cannot hit both LH and RH pitching, well we will see the results of that.
Yeah Paul, read about Dodgers saying they will be cutting back on platooning…. LMAO. I’ll believe it when I see it. Another example of Dodger Management talking through thier butt-hole.
LOL
Rumors abound again as the Joc to the White Sox talk has resurfaced. Abreu seems to be the target, which I am ok with if it sends Muncy to another position or the American League.
Michael,
Where have you seen these rumors concerning Abreu? I know there was some talk last December in the winter meetings but I can’t find any current references to a deal that may be imminent. I think Abreu would be a good rental, but being a 1Bman, that would block Cody from returning to his natural position. But Abreu’s RH bat is exactly what is needed for this team. Joc and Mitchell White have been mentioned as the players talked about in a trade scenario. I would do that.
As far as Muncy goes, do you not want to see what he will produce after the season he just had? I don’t see the Dodgers giving him up so soon. Too much potential and if Joc goes, another utility man like Muncy becomes important. I like the fact that Muncy can play 1B & 2B plus he can always be plugged into LF in emergencies. Depth is an important factor for this team. Using the Warriors’ motto, “Strength in numbers”, sums it up.
I for one do not want to experiment with a Muncy regression. Taylor is a good multi position defender. If there’s a chance to unload Muncy for some value I’d do it. To my eyes, he projects to be a good hitter but not great hitter.
They were posted on a twitter account of a beat writer for the White Sox. The first mention of it came up last week on MLB trade rumors .com. It did not say that a deal was imminent, only that according to sources, it is not dead and is still being discussed. Since the Sox share their Az training facility with the Dodgers, it makes some sense. Of course we will see if it actually comes to fruition, especially with the Toles news. In my opinion, Toles day’s as a Dodger are numbered. If he is gone anytime at all, he will not be ready for the season, it would be wasting a roster spot to keep him there, and since there are like 6 non roster outfielders in camp. he is easily replaced. The last 3 non roster guys they signed, were all lefty’s and all with MLB experience.
That’s a lot of negative feelings for the Dodger, Bluefan. Why so much vitriol? Having a bad day? life? Do you have anything positive to say about the team?
Jeff, I like to play the devil’s advocate, just for the sake of conversation. Too many fans wear rose colored glasses and refuse to face reality.
Isn’t a 30 year drought is way too long for one of the richest, premier baseball organizations in the major leagues?
30 years is a long time, no doubt, but this is the best Dodger run we’ve had, I believe. Have we ever won the division 6 years in a row? Have we been to 2 WS back to back? That’s nothing to sneeze at. I think everyone here wants to see a WS win. This is something we can all be optimistic about instead of running our mouths about how everything and everyone is falling short. Negativity is not something to brag about. Being a devil is being the devil. It is a waste of energy the way you comment. Try arguing and add your solutions to any given situation. No need to get crass. It cheapens the board and most of us are grown men who’ve been through all kinds of difficult situations in life. Being negative is weak and childish. I’m sure you have lots to add to the conversations other than “management is talking out of their ass”.
Toles may not be the smartest guy in the world. The writing has been on the wall for some years now. I know that I would not want to feel trapped in a minor league situation as he seems to be. He is the one who needs to take control of his life, maybe hire an agent to get him out of this situation.
Jeff
BlueFan has every right to comment the way he sees fit. Since when are you judge and jury as to how someone is supposed to comment? He has it correct that 30 year drought is a long time between championships and that it should not be that way for one of the premier organizations in the major leagues. Maybe you can give a shout out about getting to the playoffs and never winning is good but some of us can not. He also has it right that Dodger Management is talking out their buttholes. I think he is being kind to Dummy2 who could have delivered a win a long time ago but has failed over and over.
Jeff,
I have to just try to keep it real. You have the right to comment and paint the rosey picture, just as I have the right to point out the negatives. I know it is hard to hear the truth sometimes, and I fully understand your feelings.
For the amount of money this team makes, I expect perfection. Second place is unacceptable, in my world. The Dodgers have always had the talent, but Management could do a better job utilizing that talent. That is all I am saying…. Dodger management can do a better job. I do not blame DR (some may have other opinions, and they have every right) as his hands are tied by FO. He is just a puppet, IMO. That being said, he has done a commendable job, concidering his limitations.
Thanks Package!
Spot on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!