T-minus seven days until spring training camp breaks in Glendale, Arizona. We’ve already got some great spring weather going over here in Southern California. Feels like baseball weather. Spring and love is in the air.
Dodgers News and notes are also in the air. Not literally floating in the air. You won’t see a notebook and pencil flying by your parked car. You’ll merely see them floating across the interwebs. With Valentine’s day looming on Sunday I think we should all show our devoted love for our beloved Dodgers. So here are a couple of newsworthy Dodgers tidbits to tide you over until tomorrow’s lovefest.
Remember when the Dodgers signed Cuban pitcher Yaisel Sierra? The deal has yet to be announced and finalized yet. According to Jon Heyman the deal is still set to be announced soon. Only paperwork is holding up the club from putting the finishing touches on the contract.
Yaisel Sierra dodgers deal (for 30-31M) is on track, with only paperwork issues, nothing major, to go, i'm hearing
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 11, 2016
It was originally reported to be a 30-35 million dollar six-year contract. Heyman is also reporting that the actual financials will be somewhere between 30-31 million dollars instead.
Former Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo has decided to take a front office position front office position with the San Diego Padres. Nomo will serve as an advisor to the baseball operations staff. Nomo will assist in the Padre’s player development process and help expend the Padre’s presence in the Far East. San Diego GM A.J. Preller had this to say about the hiring….
“His career as a Major League pitcher speaks for itself. His expertise and passion for baseball will be a significant asset to the Padres and I look forward to having his input going forward.”
The 1995 NL rookie of the year pitched for 12 MLB seasons. Nomo pitched two stints for the Dodgers from 1995-1998 and 2002-2004. Nomo also pitched for the Mets, Brewers, Tigers, Red Sox, Rays and Royals. The Japanese right hander finished with a 123-109 record with a 4.24 ERA and 1,918 strikeouts in 323 major league games. Nomo also pitched two no-hitters, one with the Dodgers in 1996.
Eric Stephen takes a look at the recently released Tulsa Driller exhibition schedule Tulsa is of course the Dodger’s double-A affiliate. Those minor league exhibition games don’t start until later into March and normally take place on the backfields of Camelback Ranch.
Jon Weisman takes a look at the Dodger’s rotation depth coming into the 2016 season. He analyzes last year’s rotation problems and theorizes that this year’s rotation while sorely missing Zack Greinke will also benefit from a better back end with Scott Kazmir and Japanese import Kenta Maeda slotting in behind Clayton Kershaw. The number 4-5 spots should be a lot stronger this season.
Eric Stephen is reporting that Dodger’s pitcher Frankie Montas the youngster acquired from the White Sox in the Jose Peraza trade is going to miss 2-4 months after undergoing surgery to remove a rib. The surgery is due to a stress reaction and the surgery was performed Friday morning by the same surgeon who removed Josh Beckett‘s rib in 2013.
Happy Friday!
Dodgers were recognized by Baseball America as having the best overall talent in the minor leagues. Angels were ranked last. Maybe that Trout trade Mark sent into the ether could improve the Angels minor league depth.
On MLB show, they were talking about trading Trout at trade deadline like Mark suggested. And on MLB today, they said that the Padres were trying to trade Kemp, right now.
This question could keep Dodger fans up all night:
What does Joc Pederson swing and miss the ball so much, and Bryce Harper hit the ball so much?
What does Harper have that Pederson does not?
Montas is going to miss two to three months, for a surgery on his ribs.
Updated post
Thorasic outlet surgery is no sure thing. It is very difficult to recover from – they essentially remove the rib from under your collar bone. You would have thought that the brilliant “brain trust” would have kicked the tires on Montas before buying, but if there has been one constant over the past 1 1/2 seasons it is that these guys buy injured pitchers!
The report I saw said that it was a cracked rib with no mention of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I guess we will see.
It sounds to me like the Montas surgery was the same procedure as what is done for TOS. And it goes something like this:
Treatment for neurogenic TOS, although less clear in the past, is more certain today. Clinicians agree that the initial management is nonoperative. Approximately 60–70% of patients with nTOS can be successfully treated with avoidance of activities that precipitate symptoms, ergonomic modifications to the workplace, and selective use of pharmacologic agents such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, and muscle relaxants. Physical therapy is also a very important component for these patients. Conservative management should be attempted for 8–12 weeks before considering surgery. Those that fail should undergo a lidocaine scalene muscle injection. If they respond to this block, they may be evaluated to see if they are physically fit for FRRS.
6. First Rib Resection and Scalenectomy (FRRS)
FRRS has been performed via a supraclavicular incision; however, we favor the exposure of a transaxillary approach and use this technique for all our patients regardless of size. FRRS is performed under general anesthesia with avoidance of any long-acting paralytics for intraoperative nerve identification and monitoring. Positioning and retraction are the most important aspects of obtaining an adequate surgical field of view [13]. The patient is placed on a bean bag in the lateral position with the operative side up. Ample padding with foam or pillows should be used in order to protect pressure points as the bean bag is inflated. The axilla and arm are prepped circumferentially to the wrist and a Machleder retractor is utilized. This retractor allows excellent exposure of the thoracic outlet without the laborious need for an assistant to extend the arm throughout the surgery. The borders of the latissimus dorsi muscle and pectoralis major muscle are marked, and the incision is made between the two just below the axillary hair line (Figure 3). Dissection is taken down directly to the chest wall in order to avoid disturbing the axillary lymphatic bed. Gentle blunt dissection is then performed towards the apex of the axilla and first rib. Lighted hand-held retractors are used to provide illumination deep into the operative field. The anatomy is identified; the vein will be fluttering with respiration; the artery will be pulsatile (in vTOS, the vein can be fibrotic and more difficult to detect). The first rib is identified as the scalene muscle will insert on its most cephalad edge. Sharp periosteal elevators are used to clear intercostals and mobilize the first rib (Figure 4). Inferiorly, the pleura is gently peeled off the rib, but pneumothorax can be encountered in patients with significant scarring. Next, the subclavius muscle is divided sharply, which is followed by high division of the anterior scalene muscle (Figure 5). Great care must be taken to avoid injury to the artery during this step. Once the rib is completely mobilized, a rib cutter is used anteriorly first, next to the subclavian vein. Finally, the rib is then transected posteriorly at the level of or just anterior to the brachial plexus. Frequently a second transection is performed just behind the brachial plexus to assure that no scarring will occur between the nerves and the rib in the postoperative period causing recurrent symptoms 20% of the time. The rib is removed (Figure 6) and the space is inspected for hemostasis. If a pneumothorax has occurred, a small 12-French chest tube is placed prior to closing the incision in two or three layers.
20/10 vision in both eyes.
Talent? No, he is just a better hitter than Joc. Joc chases way too many pitches he cannot get to. Harper has better strike recognition skills.
Just saw some kids playing at the park with their baseball practice uniforms on. Another baseball season is truly near.
Sierra’s ERA sure sucked big time in Cuba. Who taught him how to pitch since he left that God forsaken place?
Nomo is a traitor.
2-4 months wow!
Hopefully he’ll be ready to help by June.
Kershaw
Maeda
Kazmir
Anderson
????
Yikes!
So Montas is down for the count . . .
That only figures, because F&Z hooked him in. llll
New logo updated guys. Tell me what you think.
hey dodgerrick, did FAZ kick your dog or mess with your family? why do you hate them so much?
I don’t. Actually, I was really impressed that Kasten had pried Friedman loose from the Rays. It’s just that I haven’t seen the results yet. I also have some distrust of a front office made up of guys that never played the game, worked as coaches or scouts. Friedman was a stock broker and Zaidi is a PhD in econ and never played above little league in Egypt. The game can become a little bloodless in the hands of numbers crunchers – it is played by flesh and blood people who have personalities, quirks, and tendencies that can’t always be measured by computers.
I am not impressed with the guys that they have traded for or acquired and the guys they have lost on the whole. They need a leadoff hitter and lost Dee Gordon – yeah, I know that they got they got one year of Howie Kendrick, plus Kike, Barnes and Hatcher. But when they lost Howie, they ended up signing a washed-up Chase Utley (a bad decision) and then signed Howie anyway (a good one) but now they have Utley for a year at $7mil and no leadoff hitter.
The deadline deals were horrible – Latos and Johnson were horrible and I don’t like Wood.
They have seemingly signed every injured pitcher or pitcher with an injury history available. Maeda’s MRI was reportedly so bad that he signed a contract for 8/$25mil and no one else would sign him. They signed McCarthy for 4/$48mil with his injury history – big surprise that his arm fell off after 4 starts. They made good on their chance with Brett Anderson last year, but now they owe him $15.8mil and the chances aren’t good that he throws 180ip this year – last year was the first time in a 7 year career that he has ever done it. Brandon Beachy – twice. Dustin McGowan (I’m not counting anyone signed to a minor league deal, but they signed McGowan to a major league deal – same with Beachy). Joel Peralta. (they traded for him at 39 and gave up a minor leaguer who can throw 100 MPH) Scott Baker.
As far as position players, they paid a fortune for Olivera and traded him to the Braves for Peraza and then dumped him. Chris Heisley. Uribe for Callaspo.
I could go on but the unforgivable sin was to loose Grinke to a team in the same division! Can you imagine the Dodgers letting Drysdale go when he a Koufax were what made the team contenders every year!
I know that we are supposed to have this great farm system now, but really, we have 2 or 3 great position player prospects and a bunch of pitching prospects. Once you get past Seager (whom they didn’t draft) Bellinger (ditto) and Verdugo (ditto) the cupboard is pretty bare on the field. We have lots of pitching prospects but the Braintrust didn’t draft most of them either.
The Giants and D-Backs will be better this year, but I’m not sure that the Dodgers will be.
Lucid summation.
It could all change quickly.
McCarthy could rebound and Maeda could be an All Star. Kendrick could hit .290, and do it for 150 games. Hatcher could be an 8 the inning stalwart. Montas could defy the odds and come back throwing even harder. Ryu could. Puig could. Pederson could. Anderson could. Beachy could. Grandal could. Barnes could. Utley could. Kike could. If all those could’s do, the Dodgers will win the West.
One thing appears certain – we will lead the league in if’s and could’s.