The Dodgers spring training starts next week and I have been so busy with other things that I haven’t been giving too much attention. Camps open (pitchers and catchers report) on Tuesday and the first workouts begin on Wednesday. The rest of the players report on the eighteenth. The first exhibition game will be on Saturday February 23 at Glendale. I apologize for the lack of posts over here over the last couple of weeks. I promise to ramp things up once we get closer to spring games. Unfortunately I won’t have the time to make it down to Glendale this year. Sometimes Life gets in the way of baseball. Maybe Oscar or James will make a trip down there this year.
But, in the meantime check out the list of Spring training non-roster invites for the Dodgers. These are the players that did not sign major league contracts. Some of them signed minor league deals and some of them were just invited to camp. Some of them are prospects that will start the year in Oklahoma City, or in Tulsa. A few of them just show up and workout and you never know. Look at what happened with Max Muncy last year. He was a spring non-roster invite and the rest is history. Check out the list below.
Pitchers:
RHP Stetson Allie
RHP Joe Broussard
RHP Daniel Corcino
RHP Tony Gonsolin
RHP Dustin May
LHP Josh Smoker
RHP Jesen Therrien
RHP Mitchell White
Catchers:
Infielders:
Outfielders:
That’s cool Scott. There has not been much happening in baseball except the Realmuto trade and some fringe free agents getting deals. I would venture to say that there is not a guy on that list who has a snowballs chance in hell of breaking camp with the Dodgers.
Damn, this Dodgers’ FO off-season has been one exciting event! However, I have to admit I am glad Brace Hyper and other FAs looking for enormous payoffs have gotten the bone thus far
I really want to see Allie’s fastball in spring. He has touched 100 on the gun. He is interesting because he used to be an outfielder. Dodgers converted him last year. Broussard has some serious heat also. If he can fix his control problems, he could be an emergency call up. I believe the only position player on that list with any shot of playing on the Dodgers this year is Will Smith. Peter, not Peters, who is a prospect, had a great spring last year after he came over from the Sox and almost made the team. But he is pretty much not mentioned at all this spring.
Only a couple of days left until spring training starts. 14th and 15th of March the Dodgers meet the Reds. Only spring games against them this year. It will be strange seeing Puig in that red uni!
Harper visited with the Giants FO, they traveled to Vegas to meet with him. The meeting lasted over 4 hours. Machado has a couple of 200 mil plus offers on the table, from the Yanks and the White Sox. He still wants that 300 plus contract. I doubt he gets it. There was a poll for the top ten closers, and Jansen did not make the list, but Brandon Morrow did…..go figure that one out.
I don’t think Jansen is in the top ten closers. He has been very inconsistent and is coming off another heart procedure, he might not even be our closer by the end of this season.
Well he might have regressed last year some. But he has lost a bunch of weight, and he says he feels great. If the weight loss helps his fastball and cutter, he could be lethal. No way anyone else takes that job from him this season. He has an opt out in his contract after this year, so he could be pitching for a huge raise.
I really see the outfield this year as being a little weak. Joc never has blossomed as they had hoped and I do see this getting any better for him. Cody did not hit as well as expected last year and playing outfield this year I really don’t see him having a great year. Pollock is an accident waiting to happen and who ever said Verdugo is any good? If he is so good why didn’t he come up the last 2 or 3years? Nevermind, I know the answer.
I really think you are underestimating Pederson and Bellinger. Pollock is a career .270 20 HR a year kind of guy, and if you check, his injuries have been pretty flukey. Pederson cut his K’s and raised his average close to 40 points last year. Is he the .300 30 HR guy he was in the minors? No, but he is better than he was in 17 and he hit 8 HR’s out of the 1 hole last year. Bellinger has been working with the new hitting coach trying to get the hole in his swing corrected. You pretty much are going to get more of the same from those 3 guys. I think Joc will be around 25-30 HR’s and Cody will get back over 30. Pollock is going to surprise you. He is also a great fielder. Toles and Verdugo are the wild cards in all of that. I think if there is a weakness to this team, it is the defense when Muncy is on the field.
Michael
Some of what you say may come to pass but Pollack and Verdugo will hardly overcome the lost of 44 Hrs and 148 RBIs contributed by Kemp and Puig. These Friedmanites think the team is stronger due to depth. Huh? You cannot sugarcoat inaction and cheapness by the FO. The fans get screwed again. If it turns out that I am wrong I will be the first to say so.
I did not say they would Pack. But Pollock will pick up some of that. He is good for 20/70 at least if he is healthy the entire year. Verdugo I would predict maybe 10 dingers if he plays everyday. No more than say 50 ribbies. It is up to the entire team to pick up the slack. The one thing that is evident is that they are a more balanced attack this year. Pollock, Freese, Martin, Barnes, Hernandez, Taylor, Turner, all hit from the right side, Pederson, Muncy, Bellinger, Seager, Toles, Verdugo are all lefty’s. The outfield will be more left than right especially if they play Belli out there. But it is what it is. You and I both know this is the way Friedman does business. Like it or not, we are stuck with what we have. I did read a story this morning that said Boras is meeting with Friedman today. This on the heels of Harper and the Giants meeting face to face over the weekend. I am not reading anything into that except it means that Harper probably prefers to play in LA. I just know that they are not going to give him that 10 year deal everyone is talking about. But they might try a shorter deal. One way or the other I do not really care anymore. I will root for whatever comes out of spring training. But I no longer am going to get too emotionally involved it the roster or who is on it. Favorites for me are now a thing of the past. The way they do things today to me makes the game not as good as it once was. Those 13 guys I listed will most likely be the 13 that break camp. I do not think a single player from the non roster list makes the team. I believe that Rios and Beaty will both be deadline trade fodder if there is a real need somewhere. All those other guys will be in AAA. Or released. The bullpen is where all the competition is going to take place. The position players will be just getting in shape and getting ready for the season.
Nobody on this team will play everyday.
Nobody will give Harper a 10 year contract. Harper prefers LA because of course he does. The giants are projected to battle to stay out of last place.
Houston Mitchell is spot on about what fans expected after the “Farmer trade”. And it isn’t because of fans being stupid as one idiot blogger suggests, it’s because trading two good outfielders and a starting pitcher while shredding payroll suggests something is about to happen. It’s not naiveté, it’s logic.
A few teams in the NL have improved. I don’t see where we have, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t good. We are good. Some sites have us at 95 wins. I’ll take the under. Fangraphs has us at 93. I see a lot of question marks with this team, but I also see a lot of talent playing in an iffy Division. I’ll take 93 wins.
One last thing – Harper and Friedman can both read. They have seen the same projections we have about what it would mean to his career path and the Dodgers post season potential with him on this team. He wants to play in LA. He belongs in LA. Make it happen Andrew.
So, why don’t you move on, Package, if you are so unhappy with the Dodgers? They are not going to satisfy you as long as the current FO is in place and Doc is the manager. That means at least another 4-5 years. Most baseball people predict that they will be at the top of their game this season and in years to come. Your opinions have flown in the face of reality of what success means. It has already turned out that you are wrong for the last few years, will you admit that? I doubt it.
Success to me means winning the World Series. So far that has not happened. Last year I projected between 85 and 90 wins. They won 91, I did not miss it far. Just because I dislike Friedman and Doc does not mean the Dodgers are not my team. You on the other hand only care about payroll and getting into the playoffs. Well guess what? You will not get a penny of what the Los Angeles Dodgers make in profit so why do you care about payroll? I guess getting to the playoffs is good enough for you.
Actually Pack, they won 92 because that game 163 counts. But lets not get picky. I understand your frustration. I feel it a lot too. But we are stuck with what we have and with the way they do business. They are not going to spend a lot of money on any one player and Kasten has stated as much. Friedman has done everything the owners want him to do. How the owners spend their money is their business. They do not want to go over the CBT, well that’s just the way it has to be. I do not think they really care about whether the fans are pleased or not. I think they are looking at the bottom line. And last year the bottom line was 500 million in profits. They are business men. They know that if this team wins a world series it is a cash cow. Roberts is what he is. He pretty much puts the guys on the field that the FO says to put out there. He and the powers that be have bought into the analytics and saber metric way of evaluation. So we will not see the same 8 guys running out there every night like they did in 81. The 88 team won because of the grit of Gibson and Hershiser’s dominant pitching. Tommy had to mix and match that year a lot with all the injuries and set backs they had. The Stunt Men were a huge part of that success. The Dodgers now are basically a team with stuntmen type players. Only a few will play one position exclusively. Turner, Seager, and a couple of the outfielders. Everyone else plays multiple positions. That is the type of player Friedman and Guggenheim want. They could, very easily have signed anyone who was a free agent that they wanted. They have the resources and the lure of a great place to play. I have resigned myself to this being the way it is going to be. But I have also resigned myself to not paying for anything that lines their pockets either. I have all the caps, jersey’s and Dodger related memorabilia I need. I am not going to any of the games when I go out to California. They have gotten way to expensive for my pocketbook anyway. I am not going to any spring games. I have shut off my MLB.TV subscription because it too is getting way to expensive. I will follow them on my computer and when they are on ESPN or FOX. I do not need to watch every game. I went years without doing that and followed either on the radio or in the newspapers because I was not in LA all the time. Yes my friend, some people measure success as just getting there. It is a lot harder now because of all the levels of playoffs. But you are also right that winning it all is the true measure of success. The Dodgers have won it all 6 times in my lifetime. They were great years to be sure and I remember all of them. But this is the longest streak without that downtown parade. The previous one was 14 years. Just think how bad Cubs fans and Red Sox fans were for all those years without one. Some teams have still never won. Hell, even the Angels went 50 years before they won their first. So in a way, we are lucky. The last 6 years we have had a shot to get there and twice have been to the dance. We Dodger fans will have to settle for that. No one, not even the most astute baseball minds can predict how this year will turn out. Oh they try every year, and most miss the mark. Thats why I think all that stuff is worthless. You can say this guy or that guy is going to hit this much or that many homers, but you never know until it all plays out day to day. There are going to be days that you want to throw something at your TV, and other days when a late comeback win will bring you out of your seat. I actually threw my remote at the TV when Broxton gave up that homer against Philly. So my friend, we just have to accept that this is the way it is for now. Nothing is changing unless they decide to not re-new Friedman, which I think they will re-new him. Or they sell the team, and someone comes in with a much different philosophy.
Bear
Guess you are right as I have trouble disagreeing with any part of your comment but I really find it frustrating listening to someone who suggests that I “move on” because I dislike Dummy 1 and Dummy2. I really think it bothers them because they know I am right. To me, if you don’t want to win it all you should move on. Winning is everything.
Have to agree with that last line whole heartedly my friend. We the fans are the ones who in the long run, besides the players of course, fell the loss the most. Most players, owners and others involved with the team do it for a short period of time. Fans invest their whole lives in a team. For me, and I know for Badger, we are talking 60 years plus. Baseball the way it was is dead. Nobody except older fans feels the loss of the way the game was played. They are all into the analytics and saber metrics of the game. Just look at the way it is followed on TV. Everything has changed. Me, I do not think that it is a better game today, and from your posts I think you believe pretty much the same way.
The business of baseball has never been better. According to Forbes the Dodgers value went up 9% last year. Whatever they are doing the fans continue to respond. To a degree, that response has included us old guys. I’ve gone to Spring Training and I’ve purchased the MLB $100 package every year. I haven’t been to a game since ‘17, but I’m still posting on a couple blogs, operations filled with advertising, so though I miss the way the game used to be played, I’m obviously still here as a fan and therefore supporting the process.
Like so many things every generation experience, life goes on and it sure as hell doesn’t need my approval to change. Another example of that just happened – the Grammy’s. I don’t bother with them anymore because I don’t know most of the performers getting the awards. I can remember my dad yelling at me because I was playing Led Zeppelin on his stereo console. In so many ways I’ve become him. Never a Nixon fan of course, but you get the idea.
I’m not going to support MLB with direct dollars, but they won’t miss me. I do understand the move to analytics, and the movement doesn’t need me. The new power rankings out today have the Dodgers behind only Boston and New York. We passed Houston. I don’t see it, but the analysts do.
The Dodgers are enormously wealthy and could afford anyone they want. Staying under the CBT number is a choice being made by ownership. They don’t much care what the lemmings think. They know we will follow the masses over the cliff no matter what they do. Being pretty good is immensely profitable. Why mess with that when you don’t have to?
There is a LOT of good stuff in Badger’s post.
I disagree with some:
1. I do think people should withold their dollars more frequently. And I do think companies (like Guggenheim Sports) will notice.
2. I don’t think there is anyone at the Dodgers who is scared to “mess” with being pretty good and thus isn’t interested in continuing to strive for winning the final game.
But Badger’s right. The game changes, the Dodgers are very good and throw off ludicrous amounts of money. The luxury tax excuse is just that, an excuse from ownership.
Package,
Let me give it to you straight. If you want to disparage players, managers, or FO personnel in almost every post you make, it is not only repetitive, it is offensive to have to read this shyte continuously. Some people call it being negative. It seems you like to complain most of the time. Surely, there must be other aspects of the game and team that appeal to you that you could possibly focus on sometimes. But, no, it is the same rant every day, every week, every response. How many times would you like to hear someone call you Dummy on this board? It is slander, no matter how you say it. As a fan and poster here, I find it tiring and unreadable and I’m sure there are others who feel the same but are not as frank as I am. For me, you bring down the quality of this board with your negativity. You might feel certain things towards someone, but you don’t necessarily need to say it over and over again. it’s called maturity, and it shows respect for others. If you are a fan of the Dodgers, show some respect for the team and its management group and also for the posters here by not repeating the same negative feelings you have publicly. It would make this board a lot more readable and attract more contributors. It’s not like the Dodgers have become cellar dwellers. There’s a lot of talent in the FO that contributes to the winning club that the Dodgers have become! I’m sure you can understand this.
Jeff
Let give give it to straight and I don’t care if you like it! I have found that you don’t care what others think. If you think running me down will make me stop criticizing the FO and the manager, you are mistaken. In case you don’t know it, some people here do not agree with you. I am sorry you don’t like it but I don’t like what you say either. Since I am not calling anyone Dummy on this blog I don’t care what you think. This is America, I will say what I want. You can kiss the FO butt if you want but I will not. Get used to it. We are all entitled to give our opinion and that is what I am doing. This FO and manager are terrible and I will continue to say it, this is my opinion.
Well said Jeff, and I can emphasize where you are coming from.
Despite my well-worn intentions to show package what is obvious and evident to me (that the Dodgers are well and intelligently run), Package sticks to his guns.
I actually kind of enjoy his dogma.
And there is the bottom line Badger. It is a business and these guys are in it to make money not lose it. I like you have quit spending my dollars directly, but what little we do is not going to affect their bottom line. I believe the only way they would really care what the fans think is if the attendance dropped off greatly, but that is not going to happen. The game is booming. But there is also trouble brewing on the horizon again. That nasty word, collusion and a new CBA coming up real soon. CK yesterday was quoted as saying the way free agency has played out the last couple of years is not good for the game. I think what he was really trying to say is that the players are not happy that the Superstars are not getting that long term mega bucks deal they thought they were going to get.
Management teams are finding value in more efficient ways and that is hardly collusion. I think it’s common sense. 10 year guaranteed contracts are insanely risky. FO’s individually saying no to that concept is nothing more than free market speech.
And Kershaw can go ef himself. The MLB game and everyone in it is doing just fine. He makes more in one night of pitching than the average American teacher makes in 25 years. I’m not listening to a word that guy says about what’s good and what’s bad. What could he possibly know about what’s bad?
The Dodgers will once again compete for a pennant. They are a confident group. I choose to be grateful for that.
I get that Badger. My point is that is not how the MLBPA is going to look at it. You have guys like Kimbrel, Jones, Kuechel, and the superstars who are not on rosters yet. And Machado and Harper were projected to get massive contracts. The game itself is in a great place as you said and it is thriving. But it is thriving because there has been harmony in the ranks. Most teams are being fiscally responsible, and I get that also. But every year now it seems that some very talented players who become free agents get no offers. And we are talking about some really good players. When does the next CBA come up? If one player starts grumbling, then more will follow. Kershaw did and so did Lester today. A couple others have made mention of it too. Things could get very contentious at the next bargaining table, and if the players feel that all the teams are conspiring to keep costs low, the fight might be on. Of course things could change too. But from what I have seen the last 2 off seasons, no one wants to go all Stanton on a contract.
Greed comes in all forms, Michael. And, all kinds of justifications for it. I love the line about ‘taking care of my family’. That usually includes the posse that some of these athletes hang with. Greed is the American dream.
Yeah Jeff, maybe for athletes it is. I have never experienced that kind of money and never will. But when I went on the Dodger web site and saw the ticket prices, and how much parking has gone up, I knew right then and there that I would never see another game at Dodger Stadium. And I am heading out to LA next month. I usually go to at least one game when I visit. Not this time. I will however, head out to Rancho to see the Quakes. 13 bucks for a box seat and 5 for parking, works for me…..shades of 1981.
Until fans say “enough” these histrionics will continue. Kershaw opens his mouth like that and nobody asks him to expound? Really Clayton? Yee of $250+ million guaranteed. Exactly how is a couple free agents lasting this long in this market “bad for the game”? All of said free agents are already millionaires. Owners of franchises are in many cases billionaires. The price of everything involved in the game from parking to peanuts to players has continued on a graph that looks like a Harper launch angle and all the while fans show no sign of backing off of the escalating FCI. All of those free agents will eventually sign multi year multi million dollar guaranteed contracts, contracts of guaranteed millions that the people who actually pay for them, the fans, will never see in their lifetime. Tell us o chosen one, how this is bad for the game. Tell us wtf you are talking about…. or stfu and just cash your 3 more years guaranteed monthly $2,583, 333 checks.
Michael, I share your sentiments. And, it’s not only tickets for baseball games! Most other pro sports venues charge a lot. It’s entertainment, but the average fan is much more likely to stay home and watch a game on TV.
But, the real issues that Badger touches upon, are “stupid human tricks”, like greed and the entitlement mentalities that players and owners subscribe to. I also don’t see how not getting a long term, gazillion dollar contract is bad for baseball. Players are paid damned well for their services. If we talk to the average office worker, trade workers, sales people, and service providers, no one makes anything close to what these players make. How did the disparity come about? That’s a long story and an even longer conversation, not that I have all the answers. The mentality that goes into getting the most bucks for your service has no guideline other than history. You give a guy a million bucks and you have created a ‘standard’ which will be used in future negotiations. It becomes unrealistic when you begin to measure what each player can or will bring to a team based on money. Both the owners and player unions are to blame for the current state of affairs. Entitlement mentality is epidemic in sports. It’s a syndrome that is fed and nurtured each year. More and better are ideas that drive it. I have no solution to all this.
I used to think like Badger and I still sympathize with the notion that until the fans begin to revolt, nothing will change. But, I’ve seen this before. A lousy product still gets bought because of the addiction to entertainment and escape from the humdrum existence of the average person. People love to lose themselves in something and from there, the distortion of living our daily lives happens.
Well said Jeff.
I’m about done with all things MLB. I still care about the Dodgers I suppose, I just don’t care enough to spend money on them. I will continue to read about the team, but I canceled my mlb ticket so I won’t be watching daily any longer. Not going to Spring Training again either. I have other, much more important things upon which to spend my money.
And you are right about fans. The money is there for owners and players because the fans just keep pouring it in. Years ago I tried in vain to organize an Opening Day boycott. Fell on deaf ears. Fans don’t care the cost, and baseball knows it. The mystics tell us that what keeps us from enlightenment are the 5 passions – lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. All 5 are operating without a governor in MLB. As beautiful as this game once was, it’s wearing out on me. Top to bottom, there are few in the game today worthy of any hero worship. Of course, I’m not 8 years old anymore. Maybe 63 years of my attention is long enough.
Jeff wrote:
Players are paid damned well for their services. If we talk to the average office worker, trade workers, sales people, and service providers, no one makes anything close to what these players make. How did the disparity come about? That’s a long story and an even longer conversation, not that I have all the answers.
I reply:
Supply and demand?
Bluto, it’s definitely part of the equation but not the whole one. Too off topic for this board to continue the whys, I think.
The money is there because the fans keep pouring it in.
Fans demand their fix. MLB supplies it.
It’s not that complicated.
The business of baseball will remain healthy as long as the fans demand their fix. We’re junkies. And we are addicted to some weird sh*t. We are addicted to watching. We watch 7 footers run around a court putting a ball through a hole. We watch behemoth human beings beat the hell out of each other in an effort to push a ball over a line. We’re addicted to watching men skating around on ice with sticks attempting to put a piece of rubber into a net. And we are addicted to watching people pretending to be someone else. Acting. Robert Mitchum said it best, I get paid for being myself and repeating someone else’s lines. All this makes being addicted to drugs seem more practical. At least with drugs when you pay $268 you get something you are actually participating in.
Bluto is right. Baseball is a business and business is supply and demand. It’s a multi billion dollar industry. MLB is about $10 billion, kids sports is about $15 billion, college sports is well over a billion. And all of it is filled with the 5 passions, especially at the top levels. Lust. We lust after victory. Anger. We get pissed, players get pissed, umpires get pissed, owners get pissed. Greed. Unfettered. Attachment. We are addicted. Ego. Enormous, recalcitrant, voracious egos.
It won’t stop. Changes will be made in an attempt to make it safer and more digestible, but as long as we fans continue to feed the beast, it will survive.
Go Dodgers.
I’ll continue to pay attention, but I’m not going to pay any money. I’ll support the local sports programs because as an educator and coach I still believe in the value of kids participating in sports. But professional sports? I’ll let others pay for that. And they will.