Several Dodgers are mending from various injuries. The Dodger’s spring has been marred by these nagging injuries. Fortunately for the Dodgers none of the injuries appear to be serious, with the exception of Brett Anderson‘s rusty back. Several Dodgers have taken a huge step forward on their road to recovery. A few of them have even begun playing in games.
Dodger third baseman and king of beards Justin Turner has begun to progress in his recovery from offseason knee surgery. Turner finally played in his first spring game on Monday afternoon. Turner reported feeling no pain at all during the Dodger’s 6-2 win over the Brewers. Turner had two plate appearances doubling in the first and drawing a walk in the second. He scored twice and made a diving defensive stop at the hot corner. Turner stated feeling great after the game.
“I felt great. Ran, slid into home, dove for a ball. Everything felt fine.”
Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero reported feeling fine after taking three at-bats as the Dodger’s designated hitter on Monday afternoon. Guerrero was also battling a knee injury (twisted knee) this week. He went 0 for 3 reaching on an error and scoring a run.
Starter Alex Wood is about ready to make his return. Wood has been nursing a sore forearm since last week. He is expected to make a start on either Thursday or Friday. The Dodgers will be at Camelback Ranch on Thursday afternoon to take on the world champion Kansas City Royals. The Dodgers will then travel back to Talking Stick at Salt River Fields to take on the Arizona Dbacks. Wood figures to start in one of those games, although the Dodgers haven’t decided yet. It would probably make sense to have him start at home on Thursday.
Dodger’s second baseman Howie Kendrick, who has been out since March 5 with a strained groin, is also expected to return soon. The Dodgers are saying that he should return sometime next week. Apparently Kendrick did some agility tests and told the club he feels almost 100% ready. The Dodgers want to be cautious with him so I wouldnât expect him to play in the field right away. The club will probably play him at DH for the first couple of days. It’s good news all around.
Things are even looking up for left hander Hyun-jin Ryu, who is not expected to return until May at the earliest. Ryu has been on the mend from major arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Ryu hasn’t thrown since feeling discomfort after throwing a bullpen session back on February 26. On Monday Ryu threw 20 pitches and did not feel any pain. The Dodgers are not sure when he will throw again, however it appears this is a very good sign that Ryu is progressing towards a May return.
I know the injuries are very frustrating to watch. They all appear to be pretty minor. This is a normal part of spring training for every club. The Dodgers do seem to have more injuries than other teams do during this part of the year. It is normal for players to feel sore and have some bumps and bruises while preparing for the regular season. It’s a shock on the body going from four months of not playing to playing every day again. What I am trying to say is there is no reason to panic about all of these injuries. The Dodgers will be ok. The boys in blue have a new medical staff this season, so hopefully we’ll see some healthier times ahead.
In my mind the new medical staff hasn’t had a chance to put their stamp yet on any preemptive conditioning that would reduce injuries. They did shut down Seager quickly though which might not have been done last year.
Fix Kendrick — then trade him over the next two months to a team needing a 2nd baseman — for some farm help. Get rid of his $10 million — and clear the way for the Dodgers to use Utley, Herrera, Micah Johnson, and Hernandez and second base.
Until Utley and Hernandez show they can be a good platoon I think it is best to keep Kendrick at least through May. That said, the Dodgers seem to have a problem with their 25 having 8 (Guerrero, Utley, Hernandez, Crawford, SVS, Thompson, Ellis, Barnes) vying for maybe 5 bench positions.
That crowd is compounded with Crawford and Ethier both having star salaries and only one of them in the lineup. Shouldn’t have a healthy player making about $20M a year sitting on the bench watching. Add the fact they are both platoon players and it becomes a textbook case study on how not to use payroll.
Good Morning Mr. FAZ, before he left last year NED saddled the Dodgers with a poorly constructed roster with bloated contracts. This was a plot hatched with his prior employer, the Midgets. Your mission, Mr. FAZ, if you decide to accept it will be to jettison these contracts, all the while, competing for that elusive Championship all Dodger fans crave. This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds.
Ned and his poorly constructed rosters got us further in the playoffs than FAZ, so far. Kasten signed of on THE TRADE, but Ned is a convenient scapegoat. I’ll give the new front office a gentleman’s C for last year, but I’m still waiting for them to show me they are serious about winning a championship this year.
Part of the reason the trade is still being talked about at all is the fact Crawford has been hurt so often. If he could stay on the field for 135 games he would put up the numbers that would shut up the negativity about him. I’m not hearing the same nonsense about Grandal. Some even put up positive comments on the Stay Puft Marshmallow pitcher that went down again. The only difference about all these players is how dug in some remain on their position regarding FAZ. I’m ready to support them. I know some don’t believe that but it’s true. I just need to see some of these genius moves actually produce something. I was in and ready to cheer all things FAZ until they choked last July. The results were predictable and IN FACT predicted.
Maybe it will be different this year. I sure hope so. It would help if Bumgarner, Posey and Pence all miss substantial playing time.
Badger, I know you can’t possibly be arguing the Grandal (2M salary) and Crawford (over 100M) are similar situations. Can you? Even Anderson and his $15M isn’t comparable to Crawford.
Talk about inconsistent arguments, why is trading for an injured Crawford and Beckett, OK, but not the FAZ signings?
Actually I was comparing athletes obtained that arent able to stay on the field. Grandal might be pretty good if he wasn’t made of glass. As a 26 year old with 4 years in the bigs he’s never had more than 377 at bats in the bigs. I think that is a telling stat. I would think trading for damaged goods is a bad idea. You only think it’s bad if Colletti did it. FAZ gets a pass.
And you FAZ guys are still hung up on the money. I guess that won’t ever change. Since you are anal about dollars, the Dodgers haven’t paid $100 million for Crawford. To date they’ve paid $81 million. They also received $11 million from Boston so you could subtract that from the 81.
I still say the money has little to do with this. You guys say the Dodgers have to cut payroll because of relationship with investors, or some such horesh*t and yet they upped payroll last year and continue to overspend on the international market. This organization is loaded. This is a hobby for billionaires. Besides, the Dodgers are not losing money. The value of the franchise continues to go up. This is about winning, not spending. And after the trade, the Dodgers won. And here we go again. You guys act like the team is going bankrupt. This circular argument is really becoming annoying.
The Dodgers are well capitalized. Why does it somehow follow with you that money is absolutely no object, and this team can spend without limit and without consequence? There are always limits. The Dodgers pay a hefty luxury tax right now. They pay extra into a collective pot so other teams have extra money to make themselves more competitive vis a vis the Dodgers. It’s a smart idea to spend less for that reason alone. I’m really trying not to make a snarky comment about the progressive willingness to spend other people’s money, but it is tempting.
I’m agnostic on The Trade. It was done partially for emotional reasons – to inject some life post McCourt. They really coveted Gonzales, and taking on CC was part of the deal. It was a bad contract back in 2012, which is why the BoSox wanted to unload it, and it’s an even worse contract now. For you to equate that contract at all with Grandal or Anderson is preposterous. #1, those are positions the team needed to filled badly. Not only is CC exorbitantly expensive, he’s a back up at this point…injured or not. #2, Both of those guys are cheap.
I’m not going to bash on CC. It’s not really his fault he’s injured, and good for his agent for getting teams to pay him that kind of money, but his presence and his contract on this current team really does hamstring them in terms of roster decisions.
Other people’s money? That’s laughable. You do know who the Gugg’s are, don’t you? And ALL money in baseball is others people money. It’s OURS! No need to politicize this patch.
I am not suggesting that they can throw money away. I am suggesting that what is more important than money is PRODUCTION! With $ per WAR over 7 this year, Crawford needs to put up just short 3 WAR to be considered cost effective. He could do that IF he stays on the field. Who else do we have to step into left field and put up more? Just Ethier maybe – I guess. Nobody in the minors. That’s all I’m saying. If the Dodgers felt they had somebody better, or could get somebody better, they’d have done it!
There’s more. Looking at the extra year for Greinke, I do it. Why? It makes sense to me. Two main reasons. The first, he’s a star. He puts butts in seats. Secondly, again, with $ per WAR cost what they will eventually get to, he would need to put up approximately 26 WAR to earn his money. Will he do that over 6 years? Who knows, but personally I think it’s worth the risk.
The Dodgers probably won’t approach $300 million again. But make no mistake, they will spend the money to try to bring productive players on board. This team is loaded. And everybody knows it.
Several comments…
1 – I agree with those who have previously opined that one of the goals for the next few years to get below the luxury tax. The Yankees have been working on this for the past few years – they haven’t been too good. This means that the payroll will keep going down for the next few years. Ethier and Crawford come off of the books after 2017. They have already traded Kemp, didn’t resign Hanley or Greinke. By the time you get to 2018, the Dodgers have $109,000,000 committed in salaries.
2 – I agree with those who say that this is a main goal – to drop the payroll. There will be some signings, but most will be of the small market mindset. (The Dodgers’ front office is almost completely made up of small market guys – Rays, A’s Pads.) The Dodgers’ pitching staff has been described as high risk, high reward. So we have guys on the DL like Anderson, McCarthy et al or guys who haven’t pitched in 2 years like Beachy, or guys who have horrible arm MRIs like Maeda. This is in the interest of not paying high salaries to guys like Greinke, and to hold the fort until the young guys are ready – hopefully, they will be good.
3 – The Dodgers have a better farm system than the Yankees do so the pain of getting below the luxury tax won’t be a severe, at least not in the long term. Say what you want about Ned Colletti (most of the bad stuff is true), he didn’t leave the cupboard totally bare on the farm. (Thank Logan White too.) I think that they have drafted too many pitchers, but at least there is talent there.
4 – I agree that “The Trade” was to give long-suffering Dodger’s fans hope that the team would turn around now that Satan (Frank McCort) was gone. It was also made because they didn’t have a 1B and coveted Adrian Gonzalez. They assumed some bad contracts to get Adrian. It was as sunk cost. I for one am glad to have him on the Dodgers.
5 – The roster is poorly constructed. As I wrote yesterday, they don’t need a 37 year old 2B who hit .212 last year but do need a backup shortstop. Maybe Kike can handle it for a few games at a time but certainly not for weeks. They need more than they have. Herrera isn’t a SS either – they need a backup.
6 – Signing Howie Kendrick was a good move $10 mil/year for 2 years (with 1/2 of it deferred) was a good signing – he is a better player than that. (By contrast they signed Utley for $7 mil, and he can’t play any more.) This assumes of course that Howie can stay healthy – and right now that is in question. (Same with Turner, Grandal, Maeda, Kazmir, etc.)
I wouldn’t say that the primary goal set by management is or even should be to simply get under the salary cap or to reduce payroll. I think Friedman even said it in a recent interview: that the goal in a post PED era where players peak in their early to mid 20s is to get younger as a team. By doing that, however, you also happen to reduce payroll. I still think the Dodgers lead the league or are near the top in payroll for the foreseeable future, but they also get it under control and a build a sustainable model that is based on younger, team controlled players with a constant stream of younger, talented players who come up and cycle through the system and replace injured or older players without a noticeable drop in team performance.
The Trade and the signings of Kemp and Ethier and Greinke gave us a division winning team for a couple of years. Buying wins that way isn’t sustainable, and that was an even better example of poorly constructed roster. Kemp, Hanley and Greinke are gone, and although a good argument can be made that Greinke should have been signed no matter the cost, the declining performance and bad defense of Kemp and Hanley are now somebody else’s problem. Parenthetically, in spite of Kemp’s alleged But/Seat Putter abilities, the Dodger attendance didn’t seem to be effected.
The problem with applying a dollar value to WAR as Badger does, is that he takes a star player at his peak market value after he just signs an expensive contract and simply divides that annual salary by his PAST production. For every star, a team also has a handful of guys who are younger and put up peak production during their peak years on team friendly contracts. The FO is most certainly interested in production, and WAR is certainly a metric they look at – among many I’m sure. They’re more interested in VALUE for that production. The days of CC providing value production are long gone. That ship has sailed. He’s 34 and his skills have diminished to where he won’t be on the field, healthy or not, in spite of whether Badger’s heart wants him to. Fangraphs is none too charitable on that proposition, either.
Good thread here.
I was with you patch until you gave me credit for the wins above replacement. I’m not that smart. Just google “cost of wins above replacement” and start reading. It’s not my formula. Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Hardball Times, Beyond the Boxscore, many are writing about it. It’s important to understand what the formula is talking about. If you want to keep your free agent stars those are the numbers you pay. The actual price per win for each club is of course different, with the highest payroll in the game we obviously had the highest salary per win costs. It was about 2.6. And yes, that’s partially because Crawford et al didn’t give us the WAR they should. But Greinke gave us 9, Kershaw 7.5. (Hamels had 4.4) Where we didn’t get cost effective production we need was actually from team controlled players (Puig, Pederson, Grandal) and from our 3-16 pitching staff. Isnt it interesting the team was willing to raise payroll to $300 million and did it without purchasing wins? And now they have spent over $230 million on Cubans who to date haven’t been all that helpful. I sure hope there are some stars in that pool.
Yes, my heart is with Crawford. Why shouldn’t it be? He’s our starting left fielder. He’s not that old. And while it’s true fangraphs isn’t all that high on him, they weren’t that high on Ethier last year either. They must have listened to Mark on that issue.
We need to find the right balance of star veterans and young studs. If as you say the goal is to “get younger” bringing in guys like Kendrick, Utley, Wright, etc sure doesn’t accomplish that. But they will be all be gone by 2018.
Solid analysis dodgerrick and dodgerpatch.
dodgerrick, I don’t think FAZ signs Utley if they knew Kendrick would become available. Based on their salaries it does seem Utley got top dollar. FAZ seems willing to pay top dollar for the one-year rentals. I do think Utley might surprise and have a pretty good year.
dodgerpatch, Agree on your WAR analysis, no team can just pay top dollar, across the board, for the necessary WAR to field a winner. VALUE as you say, is key.
CC is an anchor for the next two years. Additionally, as someone here correctly points out, him taking a 25 man roster spot is a huge problem. Disagree with Badger when he says ‘they would have already got rid of him if they had someone better”. I just think they find it incredibly hard to swallow $60M ($40M salary + $20M luxury tax).
Badger, Crawford is our starting left fielder? I thought Ethier was. That’s the problem, we have got two $20M players who are the same guy. $20M x 2 = $40M for one left handed left fielder both of which should probably be platooned.
You’re right box. The depth chart has been updated. Ethier is the starting left fielder. In all honesty I admit CC is not going to have ample opportunity to earn his money. Again, by formula, an algorithm that is not mine, he needs to put up a 3 WAR to do that and the plate appearances for that level of production will just not be available. What to do? Play him or trade him. Which is exactly what needs to happen with Ethier. Like rick and I have both said more than once, this roster has an odd structure to it. And when they add a guy like Kendrick AFTER they signed a guy like Utley it just adds to the disorganized fly by the seat of one’s pants look that has resulted in questions everywhere you look except 1b and Kershaw. It might work. Hope so. But I do look forward to seeing the youngsters that are backing up in the minors. 2018.
As most good Dodger fans know, it wasn’t just Colletti making these deals. He was instructed by the ownership of the Dodgers, to sign Ethier to that contract.
Boxout7, I have been meaning to ask you about the roots of Boxout7. I am curious.
Bumsrap, nothing too exciting about the “Boxout7” name. While baseball/softball was always first love, I also played a lot of basketball. Wasn’t all that good at basketball (unlike my boys), but, played until second knee operation in 2001. In my 40’s I played awhile with a bunch of 20 something year olds. I was the “old dude” until a “big game” where we were getting killed by #7 on the other team. They put me on him. I bodied #7 up pretty good and we came back and won the game. After that, no more “old dude”, I was Boxout or Boxout7. Thanks for asking, it brought back good memories.
Just saw the documentary, The Battered Bastards of Baseball, I highly recommend it. The story of the 70’s Portland Mavericks, you will love it. Kurt Russell, yah that Kurt Russell, played on the team, which was owned by his dad, Bing Russell. An absolute feel-good, root for the Underdog movie. You can thank me later.
Interesting. I’ve never heard of it. I’ll have to download that and give it a watch. Sounds fascinating
It’s on netflix.
Oh is it? I’ll have to check it out then
4 errors, 3 unearned and De Leon gets clobbered?
Put this one in the rear view.
Actually, the money from the CBT (Luxury Tax) does not go toward revenue sharing, according to Forbes, but to benefits for the players. I hate it a little less knowing it’s not keeping teams in Florida afloat, but it’s still annoying.
Dodgerpatch is correct in that the Trade was made with an eye toward winning back fans who stopped showing up toward the end of the McCourt era by convincing them the new owners were committed to winning. They gambled that Crawford could stay healthy–not the first or last time the Dodgers have done that. So far it hasn’t paid off.
“Although Barnes said he gained 10 pounds in muscle over the winter, Barnes credits his current power surge to better timing after working with Ward and assistant Tim Hyers.
“They’ve got me slowing the pace down and not rushing,” he said.
I hereby propose Grandal and Wood to Seattle for Paxton.
Okay, not Paxton. What happened to his star anyway?
Three years ago I said Yasiel Puig should make the team out of spring training. He didn’t. Last year I said Kike should make it. He didn’t. This year I say Austin Barnes and Micah Johnson should make it. They won’t! I also say that anyone who supports The Trade is an idiot. You are!
Back at you
Always a charmer, mover
The Gordon trade or the Schebler/Peraza trade?
Amazing, everyone is civil and disagreeing nicely, and boom!!!! in comes our resident name caller. I’m still waiting to see how things work out over the next week or so before I throw my two cents in. Although I will do a bit about my week at ST tomorrow. Think, beer, golf, great food and our favorite rodent.
Baddest rodent on the continent Tim.
Mover can’t help himself. Socrates, or Kermit, said something about public temperamental dispositions, emotion regulation and perceived adult behaviors – bottom line was “most bad behavior comes from insecurity” -, Puppet Ji speaks to it too I believe.
Rick, I read your above post with interest. There is a lot in there, and I agree with most of it.
I saw that same $109 million figure at True Blue. That’s what it is right now for 12 players, right? What do you think it will be by the time everybody else is added? I also believe our system is better than the Yankees, but our system is being graded with both Seager and Maeda in it, neither of whom are prospects. I’m not sure of any of the rest except Urias. You never know with prospects.
The plan that management is putting forth is a good one. I have problems with its execution. So far anyway. Though I too believe management doesn’t want to see a $300 million payroll I contend that they don’t mind paying a luxury tax for the right fit. They’ve already spent double what payroll is on Cuban players. They want players, lots of them, and they are willing to pay for them.
Badger has never been wrong in the history of the universe, Tim. He said so himself. This is Mamby Pamby Land, you Jackwagon. Everyone get a trophy. Everyone gets an A.
Tim, I get that you love Badger, thus the gifts. That’s OK, just don’t drag us into your love affair!
Stupid is as stupid does. Why be politically correct? Stupid is as stupid does. Name caller? Not in the least! Just calling an idiot what it is. You may be of the same ilk and think a skunk doesn’t stink. OK…
Mark – why are you using 2 Monikers?
Webster says stupid:
“Full Definition of stupid
1
a : slow of mind : obtuse
b : given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner
c : lacking intelligence or reason : brutish
2
: dulled in feeling or sensation : torpid
3
: marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting : senseless
4
a : lacking interest or point
b : vexatious, exasperating ”
idiot
“Full Definition of idiot
1
usually offensive : a person affected with extreme mental retardation
2
: a foolish or stupid person”
I don’t personally know anyone here but seriously doubt that any regular poster is stupid, let alone an idiot.
Name calling is not a real response to a different point of view.
Are you sure you’re not a Trump supporter?
Charming is me!
Badger uses lots of words to say what I do in a sentence!
I believe in economy – he evidently gets paid by the word!
19 errors = need new focus and coaching
Nice to see several SPs go 4 or more innings by 3/15
Obsession is 9-10 of snob one is. I think the math works out. I was flattered you focus so much on me at first. Now it’s just creepy. Let the name calling go. It makes one look childish and stupid.
It’s time to clean it up and stretch
’em out BOB.
De Leon’s hiccup concerns me. He looked great right up until he didn’t. I had the same problem. Hit me at about 60.