Hello everybody,
Here comes the first Youtube video of 2018.
Inside we take a look at the rumors of a players strike that are flying around. Nobody likes a strike, and although I’m almost always on the side of a union in a strike, it’s hard for me to get too passionate about a fight between millionaires and billionaires.
Here’s my take, and a beer review of El Camino (Un) Real, a collaboration brew from Stone, Firestone Walker, and 21st Amendment Brewing.
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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First video of 2018! Baseball is almost back!
Looking at the top 100 prospects list for Fangraphs:
Houston and Toronto have 2 in the top 10. The Yankees and Rays have 2 in the top 15.
Good read YF. I think I know why you didn’t post it here. There were also a few links within the text worth reading. Thanks.
27. Walker Buehler, RHP, LA Video
Drafted: 1st Round, 2015 from Vanderbilt
Age 22 Height 6’2 Weight 175 Bat/Throw R/R
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Curveball Changeup Command
70/70 55/55 55/60 45/50 45/50
Scouting Summary
Buehler roared back from Tommy John in 2016 and sat 96-99 with a plus curveball and slider/cutter in his first outing back from surgery. He only threw five affiliated innings, but the Dodgers immediately began internal conversations about how to get him to the big leagues in 2017. They did, and after a late-summer move to the bullpen, Buehler got a nine-inning September espresso. There are some who think Buehler’s ultimate role will be that of the prophesied, dominant multi-inning reliever because his command is fringey, he’s already had a surgery, and he’s an undersized guy with a longer arm action. His three-pitch mix is unique for a starter but enough to justify continued development in a rotation, and the fallback option isn’t all that bad.
Badger
Are they talking about Buehler’s command since he had TJ surgery?
Because as you know, it takes guys that had TJ surgery usually at least two years beyond their TJ surgery, before they get their command down.
With Buehler, I am not worried about his size, and if this scouting report is only from the time he has been recovering from his TJ surgery, that scouting report might not mean much, when it comes to his command.
He had the TJ surgery right after the Dodgers drafted him, so I think that report is only based on his professional career.
With Yimi, I think he will have a little trouble with his command this year, for this same reason.
Kiley intimated that he would have a non-Ruiz catcher highest for the Dodgers. Interesting.
27 Walker Buehler
48 Alex Verdugo
54 Yadier Alvarez
64 Will Smith
Other Prospects in Consideration Include:
Keibert Ruiz, C
Old Friend Will Calhoun is listed as a DH at 46.
The White Sox might be interested in Kemp in a half off sale, for the simple reason he may help sell tickets while they reload. The Red Sox might be interested in the same deal as Martinez is apparently balking at 5 and $125mm (if that’s true I find him to be an idiot) and Kemp could OPS .900 in the AL East, or, we may be planning on Kemp winning the bulk of the left field at bats.
I got little else this morning, just trying to stimulate the conversation here.
Oh wait, Bluto (autocorrected to Bluetooth) has a post.
So, which one do you include in a trade for Archer?
I’m in the minority, but I still think the team cuts Kemp if they can’t move him. Just too many LFs who need at-bats and MLB time.
Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me. I’d wait and give him some ST exposure to see if anything develops.
I ask again, which of the 2 catchers do you include in a trade for a RH #2?
Huh?
Which of the two catching prospect? I’d trade either, whichever the other team wants, in a millisecond. A prospect is only that. A #2 RHP is gold. I’d consider trading both!
This is for Archer? For DeGrom? A RHSP can the team afford? Or is this strictly a hypothetical?
The 2 you referenced – Smith and Ruiz. And I said Archer. You missed all that?
If it’s me I pick the one I believe is our franchise leader and trade the other for starting pitching.
Yes, sorry. Didn’t read much in preparation for my response.
For Archer? DeGrom? Cost-controlled proven pitchers? I’d trade either. I’d trade both. I can live with Barnes and Wong.
Yeah, me too. We also have Farmer. He looked pretty not too bad, though those other two are rated considerably higher. We are catcher rich. Let’s use one or two to get more better pitching – or an A prospect at 3B, 2B, SS (for when Seager moves to 3rd)
Here’s some more stuff on Dodgers’ prospects from the FanGraphs chat:
Kiley McDaniel: We’ve both liked Will Smith for awhile and he’s the rare catcher where he’s above average at everything. He’s steadily improved and his weakness was lifting the ball which he’s really doing now. Like Keibert too and some think he’s an elite framer which could be important or maybe we get robo umps and it doesn’t matter, but the other tools don’t really match up with the fresh prince
We had Keibert on the Honorable Mentions section. We think he’s a 50 and that you can slide him anywhere in the 50 FV tier if you argue for him the right way (again, please read the intro to the list, folks) which in Keibert’s case means heavily weighing his minor league framing metrics. Diaz I think is a flat 50. White’s velo was down in the fall, Kendall and Peters are 45s with swing and miss issues. Kendall’s are mechanical (and more fixable) while I think Peters’ are more approach-based.
I don’t think Will Smith has an above average bat, but I think Keibert does. I may be wrong. I may be right.
Clearly not yet. .238/.357/.393 in two seasons, 458 at bats, only one of them above A ball. He struck out in that one. Broken hand didn’t help. Don’t know what the plan is for ‘18, but he will likely start in A again. It’s said his bat will improve. I trust it will as he looked good in his at bats in the AFL.
First off…if the players were to strike or boycott they would be in violation of the basic agreement. Second, I think the fans would be totally turned off by another work stoppage, and this one might really damage the game. Fans are paying premium prices to see these guys. They get paid more than they are worth in most cases. Like Martinez, if they have a great walk season and they are not tooooooooooooooo old, they want to get the most they can out of their free agency. I read a story this morning that said Darvish wants a 7 year deal. He can forget LA. Martinez balking at 5 125? Idiotic. I am a little surprised that guys like Cobb and Arietta have not been signed yet, but Hosmer wants an 8 year deal. I believe that the players are not looking at the reality in the game today. Owners are less inclined to hand out deals for more than 5 years. Harper might be one of the few who could command something like that. But deals like Stanton got in Miami are going to go the way of the Dodo. You cannot force the owners to cough up tons of cash anymore. Collusion? I doubt that all the owners got together and said we are not going to pay these prices. But most seem to be making a concerted effort to keep payroll down and there is nothing in the basic agreement that says they cannot. I am not spilling tears for either side. They all have more money than I have ever made and it is pretty much impossible for me to go see more than 1 or 2 games a year in person. So I will just live with my MLB TV and watch them that way. 4 years later and most Dodger fans can still not watch their team if they live in LA. That is just wrong.
I agree with your take on the owners Michael. It’s a different model now. 5+ year contracts for aging players has proven to be bad business. If owners collectively decide not to do something stupid, it isn’t collusion, it’s smart business practice. The players need to realize they make several times more in a few years than those who pay their salaries, the fans, make in a lifetime. The message is, be grateful. Don’t ef this up by being greedy. That said, my prediction? They’ll ef it up.
We need that Jerry MaGuire memo just about now. It seems like the players are being played by the agents.
Remember when Michael Jordan kept signing huge contracts, but only for 1 year, to keep the pressure on Jerry Reinsdorf? Most NBA all stars have 5 year deals with opt outs after the 3rd. 7 year – 8 year deals? I don’t know what to say. The MLB needs to catch up to the reality of a lux tax system and learn from the NBA.
I think most of this talk is coming from the player’s agents, not necessarily every player, on the market.
And Kenley just answered a question, without really thinking, so I don’t put much thought about what Kenley said.
Agents speak for players. They also write their apologetic tweets when they are caught DUI, PED, or whatever BS that got them in trouble.
Artieboy
That is right!
I have seen rhetoric from both sides MJ. Agents and players. I think in Kenley’s case he was responding to questions. But common sense says that the players have to know that a boycott or a strike violates the basic agreement. I really do not think they want to slay the golden goose, but then their greed has been well documented over the last few years.
Michael
Your right, there is a lot of greed on all sides.
The agents, owners, and the players.
Anyone see this?
http://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-news-yasiel-puig-no-longer-represented-wasserman-sports/2018/02/07/
Yes it has been in the news all day. But there has been no explanation for the split. I have heard rumors that it was related to off the field actions, but there has been no comment from Puig….
Just a note of optimism.
Even after a summer of relative inaction, it’s still going to be a Dodger team favored by most (who actually know stuff, unlike myself) to win the West and to have a realistic chance of returning to the WS (wouldn’t that be something.)
A very strong farm system, and (in theory) the ability to play in the Free Agent market.
Compare this with being a Oriole or Mets fan, with mediocrity defining the team’s existence.
Since we last won a championship we’ve been to the playoffs 11 times, including 9 of the last 14 and 5 in a row. Yeah, it’s fun knowing you will be a good team year after year.
That said, do you see this current team as a World Series winner?
Yes Mr. Bluto. You know stuff, you believe in sabermetrics and the Dodgers have a good team. But a lot of things can happen and as I have said time and time again, predictions, graphs and stats mean nothing. Every year is different. Things happen, players get hurt, performance drops can be expected. Some will step up, some will fall down. For this team, depth is their bail out plan. They have adequate back ups at most positions, a glut of outfielders and good starters behind the Ace. Buehler and Font are untested over the long haul, Urias out until at least mid season and the non roster guys are not all that impressive. Baker, Koehler, Owens, Stewart and Stripling, the other guys on the staff with starting experience all have decent stuff, but none have excelled in the role. So there is depth. The relievers are decent. We have no clue how Yimi Garcia will do coming from close to 2 years of inactivity. Alexander basically replaces Avilan, Liberatore will be back, but not sure who will step into Morrow’s 8th inning role. There are questions and 2 starting positions up for grabs in spring, actually 3 if you count the fight that will be going on at catcher. But there is always that what if question. One of the main guys goes down with an injury for 8 weeks and who do you replace him with. The depth in the minors is mostly at the lower levels. The top position prospects are at AA or lower save a couple of guys who have no real defensive position where they excel. The guys on the 40 man who are the backups are serviceable, but not everyday material. I think if they make it back to the series, everything has to pretty much go off without a major injury or fall off from the starting lineup. Corey and Cody need to be a little better than last year, Turner, Puig, and Taylor need to be as good if not better than last year. Forsythe, if he is the starter at 2nd needs a lot of improvement with the bat. Either Barnes, or Grandal needs to make the catchers job their own. And whoever lands in LF needs to be consistent. I really do not care who wins that job as long as it makes a platoon out there less nessesary. A major fall off in any category and this team will not be back in the series. They will be in for a fight all the way because I do not see anyone in the west just rolling over. And Colorado added a lot of pitching, and the Giants offense should be better than it was.
Not sure what you are saying Michael, but interesting paragraph.
I doubt the Dodgers get back to the Series. That’s (returning for winners or losers) very, very rare these days. I just think they are well positioned for an extended run of strong teams.
That’s good enough for me, others really value winning the World Series as the defining metric.
The catchers you mention have already made the team. Left field will probably be a platoon. Aren’t all the positions set? Taylor, Seager, Turner, Bellinger, Puig, LF, Forsythe, Barnes. Very familiar lineup, barring a trade. The starting rotation is again Kershaw and the 5 Inning Band. Depth? Yeah, we hear a lot about that, but all teams have backups. Our strength is our starting 8, the first few innings of our rotation, and our closer. The pen will likely be pretty good, but, who knows for sure. I like this team. Don’t love it yet. I might by August 1st. We’ll see.
Well I believe there is still a huge question mark at 2nd. I know Grandal and Barnes are the catchers, but I would like to see one of them step up and really make it his job. As for Left, I know they will probably platoon, but I would rather see someone out there every day ala the late 70’s Dodgers. I also believe the bench has no power, just a bunch of banjo hitters.
You may believe it’s a question mark at 2nd, but it’s not.
You may want to see an everyday player in LF, but the Dodgers MAY not.
Agree on Catcher. Would love to see Grandal get back to the form that earned him an MVP vote two seasons ago.
Well I do not think Forsythe is all that. I think there are better options, namely Taylor, who I do not think is a every day CF.,…Just my two cents, I think he is much better as an infielder. Just like I think Toles is a better CF than he is. But we are stuck with Forsythe……would not be my choice at all.
I would like to see 150 game starters at every position. But when you see your GM trade a top pitching prospect for a guy who has a career .660 OPS against RH pitching you are preparing for a platoon at that position. Joc, who is listed as our starting left fielder, has a career BA of .184 against LH pitching. Toles, in a small sample is better, but if it’s Joc out there you might as well write Joc Platoonerson in the media guide. I think everyone else can go everyday. Maybe. Not sure how the backups at each position fare against same side pitching. Except Hernandez of course. He sucks.
That is what makes me long for the good old days when you could write a players name in the lineup everyday and get optimal performance most of the time. I remember how bad Dusty Baker was his first year in a Dodger uni after the Wynn trade. Baker over the next few years made all that disappear by being out there every day and doing a great job. Nobody worried about lefty-righty splits, it was Baker in left, Monday in center and Smith in right. Garvey, Lopes Cey and Russell and Yeager behind the dish. Most of the bench guys were seasoned vets. But those days seem to be long gone for Dodger fans while we ride the FAZ train.
Puig played 152 games last year. Seager 145. There’s your Dodger Ironmen. I think the idea of seeing the same lineup night after night is a thing of the past. Want to see the first team? Good luck. You pays your money and you takes your chances.