Hi, everybody,
It’s Friday night and I’m home, so I put together a short and sweet Youtube video to give you all my takes on what’s positive – and not so much – up to this point in Scottsdale, for our beloved Boys in Blue.
I’m also reviewing a very nice surprise – an IPA from Belgium! Enjoy…
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.
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Couple of articles up that’s worth think about, regarding how the bullpen is shaping up based on spring training.
One is on Stewart (Dodgers Digest), and another suggesting we trade either Alvarez or Will Smith for Colombe (100 mph fireballer from the Rays).
The one on Stewart shows some alarming numbers. His second time through the lineup stats are not good, and as a 87% fastball – change up pitcher, only one right hander has has any success with a similar profile (Marco Estrada who’s not setting the world on fire either). In fact none of the fastball change up starters are doing much. But the small group of fastball change up relievers are a competent lot, mainly because they can get righties and lefties out one time through the lineup. So while I think we give Stewart some rope to prove he has a breaking pitch, we need to make him a part of one of our 2 inning staple after June.
As for trading for a fire baller – I’m not sold. I’d see if Fields could take a step forward.
YF
I still think part of Stewart’s problems last year, was his slow start because of his elbow or arm sorenes, so I would see what he did in the AAA rotation in the first part of the season, as a starter.
And if those numbers continue, I would do what you said.
Because Steward has a really good year the prior year, and he has not been pitching that long, because he was a position player, in college.
Where are these articles?
One on Dodgers Digest , the other is on Dodgers Way. Both are listed on the blogroll entitled “Mandatory Daily Reading” on this site and are free blogs just like this one.
On my computer it is on the right side of the screen. On my iPhone you have to scroll all the way down and it is near the bottom.
I’ve watched a few innings of ST on the tube. It seems like most players are starting out just where they left off last season.
Grandal is still a slug but at least consistent (previous suck, continued suck).
Stripling looks great until he gives up the gopher ball, which he does basically in every appearance.
Starting pitching looks to be in pretty good shape. Kershaw is good but has lost a bit and will probably give up quite a few HRs again this season.
Kemp is looking surprisingly effective and probably is our regular LF, until he gets hurt in April or May.
Forshyte has seemed to have gained his Forsythe back.
Should we be concerned about Seager’s health, he ain’t been playing in the field so far this spring, we may have a problem here. DHing yes, throwing no.
Kemp also looks to be in GREAT shape. Nothing but raves on his attitude and play. I do not think the new svelte Kemp gets injured in April or May..in fact I think he will play close to 130 games.
Forshyte. I like it. I’ll believe he’s back when he actually shows up. His stats show 1 good year out of 7. Maybe he’s tired. Get it? 1 good year. Tired.
Moving on…..
Stripling sounds like our 2 inning guy Yueh. 1 trip through the lineup. Get ‘em all out and he goes 3.
All our starters are a year older True, but none have been overused since FAZ got here. They may be able to throw 135 innings until they’re 40. I guess that’s a good thing. Might work even better when we go to a 9 man rotatation. We can extend Kershaw to 37 then too.
We need at least 2 inning guys, Badger. They need to pitch once every 2-3 days.
TrueBlue looked at Rios as a prospect.
Bullish on the bat and pitch recognition.
Bearish on the glove anywhere but 1st
Another Calhoun to be traded?
Also, Jeff Sullivan had this interesting tidbit on Font:
Jeff Sullivan: Lots of teams have been trying to trade for Font. The Dodgers like him and will keep him as a long man so that he can be available for when their starters visit the DL
Makes me wonder who the Dodgers are trying to package with Kemp if not a player like Font.
If teams like Font, we should trade him with Grandal and Joc. Pronto.
Grandal and Joc’s value are dropping by the day.
Kemp’s value is increasing. But with his big contract and Joc sucking big time in ST, I’d want to wait a bit.
One more thing, we all know what we get from Grandal both behind the plate and at the plate, both are severely lacking. We have Farmer who appears to be a real professional hitter, and he has to be at least as good behind the plate as Grandal. It seems pretty simple as to what needs to happen between those two guys. Grandal needs to be packaged up with a bag of peanuts and donated to the Marlins.
Agree with your take on Grandal True but as MJ reminded me he is FA in’19. It would be beneficial for the team that he comes out of the gate hot so the team could move him in July. We just don’t need him and he makes $7.9mm.
I have a friend who suggests now might be the time for MLB to offer the players association a roster expansion and the DH in the NL. We have, and have already lost one, players coming up who would benefit from these moves.
Bluto still trying to trade Kemp. With Font? I doubt it.
I’m not trying to trade Font, nor Kemp.
Badger
I am thinking the Dodgers are not trying to “Package” Kemp with anybody. Why would you “Package” your everyday left fielder?
Commitment to an antecedent?
Arrieta is still out there. Would you trade Kemp for 179 innings of 3.64?
I think he was making a joke because of his username.
Package
Your right about that!
And no team is going to take Kemp’s big contract, for possible AAAA pitcher.
Bluto….there have not been any articles on the Dodgers moving Kemp for weeks. Not even rumors. At the beginning of spring a White Sox blog guy suggested that the Sox should trade for Kemp. But since that, nothing. As for Font, He has had one bad inning and the rest have looked good. I have not seen Fields pitch at all.
Not sure that is correct Michael.
Well I am and I read a lot. Nothing solid anyway. And absolutely zilch out of the Dodger camp. Nothing from Zaidi or Freidman except praise for Matt. I do not think there is a team out there that wants that 43 mil that is left. Oh someone would take him if the Dodgers ate most of that money, but that is not happening and the guy is playing better than all those posers except Toles, who has looked like he is healthy.
Interesting use of “Nothing solid.”
First of all, I wouldn’t qualify a “White Sox blog guy” as anything solid. We could rightly call Scott Andes a “Dodgers blog guy” and he has Zero insight into what’s going on with the team.
Second, a quick Google News search of only the last week has reports from:
San Diego Union Tribune, the LA Daily News (that’s still around?!??!?), and the USA Today reporting the team still would like to trade him.
I agree that nobody will trade anything of value for Kemp, that’s why the reports are they are trying to package (!) him with prospects.
Thanks Bluto for the kind words.
Said with love!
–
In all seriousness, you have as much information as I do about what the team is up to. We have opinions, but they are valueless.
That’s my point. None of us know anything about what a front office is actually going to do. We can only guess based on watching the games and how the teams needs change from day to day based on performances/injuries etc. I remember the front office telling the entire media corp a couple of years ago that they would not be trading Dee Gordon, and then several days later trading him to the Marlins. But someone who has actually worked in the front office would have far more knowledge of their inner workings than people who have not. I do think that bloggers/writers who watch games have a little more insight than anyone who doesn’t actually watch the games every day. And as I write this Matt Kemp gets another hit.
I don’t think you are the authoritative expert on anything until you at least actually watch games and write about it. Nobody has insider knowledge anymore unless you work in the front office. Even national writers have little insight into what actually goes on behind closed doors of an mlb front office. The media is often spoon fed information from these executives because they’re not going to reveal their inside secrets and how they operate to anyone outside of the organization especially bloggers writers or journalists. Anybody can get information off of social media these days. When a beat writer or national writer says something like “sources are telling me” it’s because he or she doesn’t know. They’re relaying information because they don’t work inside the front office. Otherwise they make educated guesses based on information they’ve gathered, from people they have talked to or from actually watching the games.
I can guarantee you that I watch far more games than you do and have been around more people with information than you have. If I have zero insight than you have negative insight.
Yup, don’t agree.
I find those who cover the sports locally (beat reporters) or nationally (Rosenthal, Gammons, Olney, etc.) have a LOT more information and insight than you or I. To say that all those aforementioned reporters to is act as a conduit of misinformation or make educated guesses is at best naive, at worst jaded and sophomoric.
Your last paragraph is quite interesting:
“I can guarantee you that I watch far more games than you do and have been around more people with information than you have. If I have zero insight than you have negative insight.”
Really? How would you guarantee that? Have you googled my fake name?
That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that even they don’t know for sure what goes on behind closed doors. Those guys are the select few that have insight from being around executives/scouts/front office people, but even those guys who are at the top of the ladder don’t know for sure. The internet and social media has equalized how information is obtained.
I can guarantee it unless you watch 162 games per year and have been around all of those people mentioned above.
“The internet and social media has equalized how information is obtained.”
That’s a moronic take, they have equalized how information is disseminated. Information is obtained, in this context, the way it always has been. Through research, dogged reporting and relationships.
There’s no journalistic scoops anymore. Everyone has access to twitter. What is moronic however is someone who doesn’t write, or watch many games calling other people who do moronic. I challenge you to start your own blog and give your takes on the Dodgers and baseball. You’re pretty quick to call names around here.
More love and less name calling please. I’m sensitive
No journalistic scoops anymore. Interesting and depressing. Also one contradicted by reality (See The Athletic’s latest funding round.)
I wasn’t calling you moronic, only your silly take.
No interest in starting my own blog for the very reason we are conversing. I have no value to add, not sources to mine.
I think what I’m trying to say is that there are some bloggers out there who have just as much insight as beat reporters do. Maybe they don’t have the relationships, but they have some pretty good insights.
Why is it depressing?
Like to trade him? Who do they use as the source? And who is saying they want to trade him???? That’s what I am talking about. No one of consequence who is in on the personnel decisions has spoken a word, at least none that have been quoted. There are always the rumor guys. The ones who go around stirring the pot with no real intelligence on what is going on. Until I see Zaidi or Friedman or even Dave Roberts say we are still trying to move Kemp, they are nothing but unfounded un verified RUMORS. Oh By the way, he is leading the team in spring homers and has been a model citizen…..
Really…I have not seen that anywhere that is worth its salt. And nothing of any kind from the front office. They could easily package him with a couple of players, pay half his salary and just dump him. But that does not look like it is going to happen, especially the way he is playing. Even if they package him with a prospect or two, at this point in time this far into spring training they are not going to get crap for him. It would be better to wait until the trading deadline….I think your just upset because your big prediction that he was not going to be a Dodger come opening day is sinking into the sunset…..
https://www.fangraphs.com/library/offense/quality-of-contact-stats/
I think it was in a clinic I learned that 7 out of ten line drives were base hits. Tommy Davis said it.
When reading this write up I can’t help but wonder why exit velocity isn’t all that is needed to determine if the ball was hit hard, or not. “A weak line drive may be hit harder than a medium ground ball”. No sh*t. Attack the strike zone and make solid contact and good things will happen. That’s been true since Willie Keeler was a rookie.
Badger
I am sure that no one could have said it better!!!!
When I was a kid living in a home for kids, Tommy came with Norm and Larry Sherry when we opened our gym. Really nice guy, and easy for a kid to talk to. He was one hell of a hitter and still the only Los Angeles Dodger to win a batting title and he won 2 in a row.
Moderation again
Sigh….
I guess some things just can’t be fixed.
Got fixed. Thanks Scott.
For 3 years running I have purchased mlbtv and watched nearly every game. I’ve followed what FAZ has done, almost on a daily basis. I hear what they often say, but I know better than to believe it. I read the blogs, and read most of the beat writers. That said, it’s my opinion that writers guess as much as the rest of us. They write better, but that’s what they are paid to do. They interview the players, quote them for us to read, then spew out their opinion based on what they think they know. Some have actually played the game a bit. Some – not so much. I’m betting none have coached.
I read the blogs to hear what real fans are thinking. Obviously everyone has an opinion.
Agree with this Badger
Badger
I don’t know if all of the writers, right better then you, because you have pretty good way, with words.
I think that’s right, blogs are very much representative of a fans or fan opinion.
That’s my point.
As Michael Norris often reminds us we are entitled to our opinions. Opinions are not sourced, nor should they be taken as such.
I don’t read the beat reporters or national reporters for their opinion.
Opinions can be based on source. We all read, we listen and we witness, then we form an opinion. I think it’s true to say some sources we read, listen to and watch are better than others. But then, that’s an opinion too. There are some to whom we listen, they are wise and well informed. Then there are those whom we should ignore. Sometimes ignoring the less informed is difficult to do.
When a player is traded or signed on twitter, MLB and ESPN, they always say, sources have reported that so and so has been signed or traded. Sources know about what is going on more than any beat writer…..unfortunately, we have no clue who the hell sources is and I have never seen him report a thing. Oh sources say that Jake Arietta signed a 3 year 75 million dollar contract with the Phillies……Only name pitcher not signed yet is Cobb.