The Dodgers lost in the 2016 National Championship Series 3-2 to end one of the most magical and accomplished seasons since the world series team in 1988. The season was a roller coaster ride, they were a tough out in the playoffs, and succumbed to a better team with a better roster that had magic, fundamentals, and momentum on their side.
All in all you think you’d be understanding of the outcome, especially after the NLDS that saw us pull off one of the best postseason games this decade right?
AHAHAHA
Andrew Toles wetting the bed in the field, Corey Seager struggling at the worst possible moment, Yasmani Grandal be inept at the plate for all but one postseason game, Kenta Maeda run out of gas after his hardest workload ever, Joe Blanton finally regress at just the right time. Clayton Kershaw looking human in an NLCS game 6 again with the culprit being a balky back. Pedro Baez reverted back to his ‘slow the game down, literally’ form.
Taking all this into consideration, while Kyle Hendricks and the unapologetic domestic abuser closer began closing the door on this Dodger team I began to think “just how deep does the Dodger torture run, and is it the worst in the league?”
Well, lets consider a few things:
Torture can come in many ways, none of which are necessarily preferable to the other. It can mean low leverage failure in which a team blows for years and years and never breaks through.
Maybe they make the playoffs here or there but lose without much resistance. They had a few great things going for them, all time greats on and off the field, but just never break through. Teams like these are huge bummers, the Orioles, the Pirates, the Brewers are the names at the top of this list. They’d give almost anything to break through, but really they’ve gotta get to consistent contender first.
There are the historically challenged teams who have gone a long ass time without winning squat. This list is shorter cause the Cubs and Cleveland have broken through this year, winning pennants to meet up in the world series. The Nationals fit the bill, while the Rangers won a pennant recently they have dealt with playoff brutality frequently and haven’t broken ThCruz. *covers mouth* sorry about that. These teams have been in the playoffs a decent number of times to have felt pain recently, and have the historical futility to back it up.
The Dodgers have the 6th worst pennant drought in all of baseball. They have been futile for nearly 30 years only behind the Nationals who have never won a pennant, same with the Mariners. The Pirates last won in 1979, the Brewers last appearance in the fall classic came in 1982, the Orioles made it the year after them in 1983 but haven’t been back since. And then you have your Los Angeles Dodgers. 1988, the year my father learned to believe in magic. That team was something else, it has been the measuring stick for so many Dodger playoff teams and that’s something that no team since then has been able to measure up to since.
But even that category sells the Dodgers short. Boy. The Dodgers have taken this category to a whole new level!
ELIAS: If the Dodgers lose the NLCS, they will set an MLB record for the most consecutive postseason trips without reaching a World Series.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 22, 2016
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 10 times in a row! Ten times in a row they could not get 7 wins in the postseason to propel them to the world series.
The MLB Record nature of that stat was jarring, there is no other team in the history of baseball who have made the postseason 10 times in a row and didn’t win a pennant.
Not the Nationals. Not the Brewers. Not the Pirates. Not the Red Sox. Not the White Sox. Nobody!
See the reason that the stat is so rare is that a postseason berth is relatively rare and when they do happen, they have a chance to be really, really special. The aforementioned teams are of the nature where they are just happy to be playing postseason baseball.
The Dodgers have perfected making it to the postseason and blowing a series they are supposed to win, blowing a lead in a series they are supposed to lose, blowing individual games they are supposed to lose but have a lead late anyways.
I can’t say much more about this franchise other that they have packed an MLB record amount of sadness into a 27 year span. 10 times in 27 years is a 37% chance to be in the postseason in any given season and they have not been able to win the pennant.
The Padres have won a pennant more recently than the Dodgers.
The Rockies have won a pennant less than a decade ago.
The Marlins have won two pennants since their inception in 1993, which was 5 years after 1988.
I mean the frickin Padres.
Maybe you don’t subscribe to the notion that a pennant is particularly important, maybe you think that there are worse teams to root for, but from a personal perspective high leverage suck is the worst out there. It harms for a long time and if there is too much of it, the memories of Matt Carpenter, Matt Stairs, Matt Adams, Daniel Murphy, Jonathan Broxton start to blend together. They are sharp, but they are part of one big narrative: that your team sucks in the playoffs.
So this is the finality of realizing that the Dodgers are one of the cursed team. They are cursed because since 1988 they have packed in a record amount of heartbreak without the payoff of a pennant to fall back on, something the Padres and Rockies, and Mets can all fall back on.
Sigh.
So we ALL become the GM — and offer our fixes or changes to the 40 man roster to create a new Dodger approach to winning.
I do understand and appreciate the disappointment. But you do realize the Dodgers were never considered favorites to win the pennant this year, right? The Cubs were always the favorite, SF was second, the Mets third and the Dodgers fourth. That is how the favorites stacked up in April. This Dodger team actually overachieved getting to the NLCS.
Curse? Is it that Piazza curse? Never shoulda traded him. Giving the Unthinkable Kevin “the Surly” Brown Mike’s money was bad phlactory. Don’t want to mess with phlactory. You’re phlucked if you do.
That was great — thanks, Adrian!
I know you read the post (below) that I put up another site — but I’ll share it here, too, as I know there is a greater age here and perhaps a deeper understanding of the frustration. It’s my rant :
I have become somewhat inured — having watched all 10 of these losing playoffs.
In the two in the 90’s we got swept (by the Braves and the Reds) – not even sure we were ever leading in any of the games — my hope never went up. We had a lineup with 4 or 5 of the same hitter in a row (Karros, Piazza, Mondesi, Zeile) — so we were very easy to pitch to — and we got owned.
2004: Lima time! We sucked (diminished Shawn Green, crazed Milton Bradley, and possibly roided up Beltre were unable to get going) — we got stomped by the Cards — and it was somewhat humiliating to feel the need to celebrate a single win (our first playoff game win since 1988).
2006: Swept by the Mets. We were in every game (maybe even leading). When jerk (Kent) and idiot (JD Drew) were thrown out at home (ironically by two Dodgers: Green / LoDuca) on the same play, I started to feel in my gut we are cursed. How is that even possible. Little league bullshit in the biggest game of the year. I began to associate “The Dodger Way” with bad baseball, mental errors, and choking in the clutch.
2008/2009: Two really good Dodgers teams duking it out with the best Phillies team of my lifetime (I think Better than the Schmidt / Bowa / Luzinski teams of the 70’s). Billingsley stinks as a starter in the clutch — Broxton shits the bed two years in a row. Feelings of “my team chokes in the clutch” very much amplified.
2013/14/15/16: Starting to become comedic. Every year we have deficiencies — but we have Kershaw and Greinke for the first three years. Each year there are key moments where someone on the other team fouls off 30 pitches (off of either Kershaw or Greinke) and then delivers a deathblow. We have to suffer through questionable DM in-game decisions, we get to watch Daniel Murphy steal third base on a freaking walk, and I am more than ever feeling like the Dodger-way does not include being mentally tough.
Silver-lining: I think Dave Roberts is mentally tough — and I think he can teach that toughness to the young’uns coming up. I think Seager has the ability to learn from his mistakes (he looked terrible on so many AB’s where the pitchers never threw him a strike — just let him get himself out — slow it down dude and take a walk). I’m excited about Urias. I think there is a chance (2018?) we could develop a staff in which Kershaw (if he stays) does not have to be THE MAN all the time — he must be exhausted from carrying such weight (and exhausted from failing so many times in big games — with huge assists from bad defense, shitty pitch-calling, shitty managing from DM, and horrible BP performances with his inherited runners).
I am less confident about our becoming an offensive-powerhouse in the near-term. I love Turner (hope he stays) — he is really good (but my god man — take care of those L/R splits if you want to become elite). Seager is a stud. Who knows about Toles, but the ceiling looks really high. Don’t really think any other position player we have is a complete player — all have glaring weaknesses that are easily exposed in the big games.
I can wait. FAZ — please build it up with complete players — I would much rather have the type of players who need one-day a week off (because they are consistently good) than the mix-and-match platooning we are forced to do with the type of position players we have now.
I watched the Dodgers lose in ’74 (as a seven-year-old). I felt gut-punched in ’77 and ’78 (as a 10/11 year old) — and then I watched the unbelievable heroics of both ’81 and ’88. I have seen our team win — it is possible 🙂
Bisonjones, you sound like you have been deeply hurt by the Dodgers. I guess it’s true, horrific events at a young age (10/11 year old) can leave permanent scars. Happily, a lot of us enjoyed 1963 as 10/11 year olds, I guess that made some of us into eternal optimists. Even after suffering through 74, 77 & 78.
I am very impressed with your 1990’s – 2016 summary. Hope you couldn’t do that solely from memory!
Good luck in your continuing recovery! I hope to see you post here more often!
Boxout, thanks for the kind words.
I am not deeply hurt by the Dodgers — I love being a fan — but it is , at times, a kind of exquisite anguish — and this was my hyperbolic, therapeutic rant 🙂
I love the game of baseball – – and my dad (who is still alive and who is the reason I am a Dodgers fan ) talk baseball all the time.
I am sad to say I was able to reel off those facts from memory.
Cheers!
Your welcome!
I knew you weren’t “deeply hurt by the Dodgers”. Except in the same way all of us fans have been (many times), which is always worthy of a “therapeutic rant”. I enjoyed yours!
Your obvious appreciation of your DAD tells us all that you have your priorities in order.
Good season, rookies did well, they’ll do better next year. Will not be surprised by whatever FAZ does or doesn’t do this off season. Was a fun season. Can’t wait for the next…and the next and the next.
One day we will win a pennant and reach the WS. I know it’s not the point of this post, but I don’t care about SD or Florida. Winning the division 4 straight years had to mean something. But yes another WS will begin on Tuesday where our boys are not participating. Baseball is designed to break the heart!
Winning the division basically means we’re better than the Giants. Before expansion, there was always a challenge in the NL West: the Reds, the Astros, the Braves. It’s better to make the playoffs than not, I suppose, but coming up short again and again has gotten old.
Would you rather be the Padres or Rockies? The Dodgers did well. They could have done better but….
I’d rather be the Padres because they are in San Diego. Denver sucks.
I wouldn’t mind living in San Diego. I miss the rain. It never rains here. Almost never.
Denver has about 16″ of rain every year, close to 60″ of snowfall. And it’s got windchill that freezes the chrome off bumpers. Well, it used to. Don’t see a lot of chrome anymore. Certainly not in Denver. It all froze off. Miserable place Denver. Summers are ok I guess – if you leave town and head into the mountains.
Other than 2013 NLCS (up until Hanley got hurt in the first game, which was devasating), I feel we’ve been an inferior team in every series they’ve lost in those 10 trips. This year being the biggest mismatch, even more than 2004 or 1996. Dodgers have been good enough to win the NL West (which hasn’t been exactly the toughest of divisions) recently, but they’ve never been the best team in the league or the favorite. Obviously, the favorite doesn’t always advance, but that has been the case in series that LA is involved with. They’ve always had some glaring weakness that has been exposed, last year was starting pitching depth, in 2014 was a completely awful bullpen. This year, lack of innings from starters, taxed bullpen and historically putrid hitting versus left handed pitchers.
Frustrating, but not much more to say….when you lose three straight games and get outscored 23-6, you weren’t close.
Yeah — I felt like this year’s team overachieved. I have a lot of respect for this group of 25 + the manager.
I think this team had a lot more than 25 participate. Must have been at least fortyleven different players step out there. I think we had 25 pitchers.
I like Dave Roberts. I hope he isn’t forced to manage like this again.
Well a few things for sure:
1. 2017 season begins in 162 days.
2. There will be another large turnover form this years roster and opening day 2017.
2014 roster had a 63.3% turnover rate.
2015 roster had a 34.6% turnover rate.
2016 roster with eleven free agents(?) higher than 2105 but lower than 2014.
Oops. Naturally I meant 2015 not 2105. By then I would be too old to care(163yo).
I’ll only be 157. I won’t care either.
I think Kershaw needs to take some responsibility for his performance too, if he isn’t hurt.
Kershaw still hasn’t learned from his past history, in the post season.
He can’t throw fastball after fastball, right down the middle of the plate.
Orel went over Kershaw’s pitches, and he was missing
and his pitches were leaking all over the middle of the plate.
I wonder if Kershaw is ever going to be dominate in the post season, in big games.
His last game against the Nationals, Kershaw lost the lead, and allowed the Nationals to tie the game.
He really only pitched one game, that was some what dominate.
I don’t want to hear the Koufax comparision anymore.
Really? Kershaw lost the lead against the Nationals. Wasn’t possibly left out there too long? Baez didn’t hit a batter with the bases loaded? The next batter didn’t drive in two off the next reliever? Kershaw pitched an excellent game against the Nationals. MJ, your too fixated on one or two things. We lost 4 games to the Cubs. We won 2. Offense was poor, defense was unusually poor, bullpen was poor, -and with the exception of games 2 and 3 by CK and Hill the starting pitching was poor. Won as a team lost as a team.
Hawkeyes
I agree Kershaw should have been pulled, once the first runner got on base.
And if I was just basing my opinion on this year, I wouldn’t feel this way.
Kershaw is making big money.
And it was hard to watch Bumgarner dominated in the post season, in two of the Giants World Series.
Kershaw had a big lead at Dodger stadium one year, and he once again couldn’t make it through seven innings.
Yesterday a did exactly what he has done before, just heaving fastball after fastball, with no location.
If he is hurting I will change my judgement.
But Kershaw did not pitch well yesteday, and he did the exact same thing, he has done in the past in the post season.
He just throw fastball after fastball, and with bad location.
I think our players were emotionally and just physically worn out, from the long year.
I think Corey was really tired too.
I think we better make sure we have a number one pitcher for the team, before anything is done with Kershaw.
Which young pitchers does everyone think will be in the rotation next year?
And how would you rank them?
Disappointed – yes, but as already stated these Dodgers overachieved.
What about next year? As far as SP is concerned (a crimson red flag), most of the young arms (all except Urias) will not be ready come next year, and not even sure Urias is fully ML ready but he is far better than the imposters the Dodgers trotted out there to pitch the first 3-4 innings.
To see progress I am most concerned about a few things.
1. This lineup is way too heavy with LH hitters. They need a RH hitter in the lineup, and have since they shipped Kemp out.
Address the issue.
2. This lineup cannot hit WRISP and has not done so for almost 4 years.
Address the issue.
3. Given that the young arms will likely not be ready, will the FO continue to dumpster dive for SP’s –
if so, expect the same results.
4. Turner & Jansen must be retained.
5. Peterson is painful to watch at times albeit improved –
get him to the next level.
6. Puig is not a bench sitter, either play him or trade him.
I certainly disagree that Urias is the only rookie ready to go next year. De Leon, Stripling, Urias and Dayton are all ready. Trading Montas and Cotton has hurt. Decisions will have to be made on McCarthy and Kasmir. Are they part of our future or not. Also, will they sign Hill? He is 36 years old. What about Kuo? I do not believe Puig will be part of our plans for next year. I would really like to see a set line up with a day off once a week for the starters to keep them fresh.
What’s up with Kuo? How did he pitch and is he looking to come back to US?
http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/mlb/7271/hyun-jin-ryu
Toles
Seager
Turner
Cespedes
Gonzo
Dozier
Joc
Grandal
Sign Cespedes. Trade Puig, Barnes, Calhoun, Oaks for Dozier and a bullpen arm. If they don’t want Puig give them Verdugo. Trade McCarthy for bullpen help. Someone will take him for 2yrs/$20m. The Dodgers have already ate $28m of his contract.
The moves may not be exact but if they Dodgers are willing to take on a potential head case in Cespedes they have enough resources to go after a Dozier without giving up Bellinger, Buehler, Deleon, Alvarez, or Stewart. I can live with Agone for one more year if he isn’t hitting cleanup and there is more RH help in the lineup. 2018 I’m hoping Bellinger is ready and Agone can be moved.
Hawkeyes
Didn’t you say yesterday that Cespedes is a bad ideal?
I know we need a good hitter, that has power, but I agree with what I believe what you originally said.
Cespedes is a good hitter with power, but what comes with him, he has to be pretty bad, for not one team to go after him, until the Mets could sign him at a team discount .
I don’t know who is out there though.
Isn’t Dozier a big swing and miss guy, that doesn’t hit for a decent average?
I think we have enough of those in this line up, if Dozier is like that.
I am wondering who is going to be our number two and three pitcher next year.
Oh well we can watch the Indians take care of the Cubs next week, hopefully.
But I do agree we need to get more out of second base, then we have.
And rightfield is another whole.
Don’t you think that Friedman and company should fix the Dodgers faster then Epstein built the Cubs?
I do value your opinion, but I just expect more from Kershaw, when it comes to the post season.
He is a better pitcher then Bumgarner in the regular season, as well as Lester, but Kershaw really hasn’t been dominate in the post season I feel.
Just throwing it out there. There is definitely good and bad with Cespedes. Just seeing what people think of the idea. It’s okay if people like it or don’t like it. We’ve got a lot of time to kill until the winter meetings. I wouldn’t have a problem with Puig back in RF, but playing Reddick down the stretch does say something. Braun will cost prospects. Maybe Puig and McCarthy for Braun is re-visited. Dozier is a .250 hitter with a lot of power and the Dodgers have a hole at 2B. The Dodgers need RH bats and don’t want to blow up the minors either.
The Dodgers aren’t ever going to tank the way the Cubs did, but let’s not act like the Cubs did it all through their minors. They made good trades for Hendricks, Rizzo, and Arrietta. So far, I think our new regime has lost out on the deals that they made. Despite Dee’s positive test, so far it is a loss considering Kike’s step backwards. Reds-White Sox three way. Looked good early not so much at the end of the year. Too early to tell. Braves deal hasn’t turned out the greatest yet. I’m okay with Grandal for Kemp, but it’s debatable. Lord knows it has been debated to death on this site.
As for pitching I think there isn’t much out there so let the kids develop and strengthen the pen.
Hawkeye
I knew they didn’t get all from there farm system.
And how they got there shortstop, is how Friedman has gotten prospects in the past.
The only thing I would worry about Dozier, is that he is hard coming to the National league, from American League, and learn new pitchers.
But there are a few second baseman, that hit, and hit for pretty good power, as compared in the past.
I saw the Dozier mention over at DD and had to look up his status. He is signed to a very team fiendly contract through ’18. They have no reason to trade him.
Puig and Ethier are in right field.
I think if we are serious about improving we need to get serious about improving our starting pitching. Hopefully Kershaw is ok and will get back to 30 starts and 200+ innings. After him? Urias might go 7 but not 30 times. I don’t know who FAZ values in the rest of that group. I know I’m not that impressed with the group. Too early to know anything.
You’re correct. It would take a lot to pry him away, but they were really bad this year. They may need to acquire multiple assets to move up in a tough division.
Badger
I think we need a number two and three pitcher.
I think they will trade Puig.
And they better find a good right hand bat, that hits well, and with some power.
I don’t want to see that seem platoon team play against lefties this year.
I still can’t believe they didn’t try anything different, after a while.
Ok here’s what I’ve got on the situation. It’s been a couple of days and a long year.
I don’t like the FAZ strategy so far. We could have stayed put with the current crop of aging bloated contracts, signed a couple of bad ERA innings eaters and wound up at the same place (people forget that vets like AJ Ellis, Crawford and Ethier all played very well at various in the recent postseasons). Yes, the FAZ did not trade away our young talent but other than 2013, I don’t think we had a complete team, and I think any number of GMs would have held onto Urias and Seager. Ryu going down was a huge blow after 2013. I must also say that I don’t like Colleti and FAZ equally, for different reasons. You can justify their moves based on the situations they found themselves in, but all in all I think both regimes have a way of doing things and even given the situations they were in, they could have done better. Examples have been given before. There will be plenty of FAZ back-and-forth later, but my main point is below.
But hey, we still got into the NLCS. I think this year’s edition was probably the worse team in the last four years. They were tough for a while, overachieved, and on a few plays the youth showed in Game 4. Toles missing wide on an easy play, Seager going into a slump. And Urias missing on multiple batters with 0-2 counts. That was the game, after two great outings from Kershaw and Hill, and to be honest our kids choked.
But I think we are close, very close. I watched the kids choke but it was like watching Kobe missing those air balls against the Jazz. In 2013 we were looking forward to 2014 because we thought we had good situation, but given the state of that team, we were all counting on Puig making the leap. By the end of last year, everyone knew that we were not the 1997/8 Lakers. We were the Pippen Trailblazers (we weren’t even the 2001 Kings).
For me, this year’s playoff failure seems like and feels like the 1997/8 Kobe Lakers. Yes there may be some regression next year, but I like the staff, the culture of the team, and where the kids are going. Toles made some mistakes and Seager was pressing from game 3 forward, but Joc made a big adjustment this year. I like the staff a lot (but I think we may lose our farm director soon unless we convince him, and he is willing to wait, to move up to a prime front office position – which is entirely possible as both A and Z may get top offer every time a GM positions opens up).
But it still may take another year or two. And I hope the front office can make less moves and be patient. For me, 2017 is still a bridge year and I’d like them to sign Turner and Kenley, and hopefully FAZ can man up and cut bait with their arbitrage starters, who are blocking our young starters (includng Wood and Kazmir who may be tradeable but may not fetch up). Our starting pitching can improve without making any additions – just let the kids move up. I also like them to re-sign Utley and give him the second base until he has a big fall off. I feel like Utley’s our Ron Harper/Brian Shaw. I also hope FAZ lets AGone play out his contract – he’s earned his contract and even with a big fall off, I think he’s our player-coach when it comes to batting. I also woud like to keep Chavez and players like him (we had one in Volquez) – borderline starters with rubber arms who can pitch in a variety of roles. All of this adds to stability.
What can ruin this thing is too much player movement, having too many platoons, and not respecting the vets who have played a role in our MLB player development, and torpedoing this grinder culture that Roberts has built. We were too hands off with Mattingly and let him mismanage our bullpen and the locker room for 2 years (whether Mattingly will realize it or not, the main reason Dodger did not go in another direction was due to the two headcases, Hanley and Puig). Now is the time for us to get stabilized as a franchise and let this team grow.
Volquez was a pitcher we could have signed instead of McCarthy and Anderson.
In your Lakers analogy, who’s the Dell Harris on the Dodgers? Phil was a big part of that transition.
…Poor Dell
Yueh said it.
Good take. One thing though – I think we have traded away some assets. I didn’t want to trade anybody as I figured we could not go to the World Series just fine with who we had. Cotton and Montas would look good at Spring Training next year and Holmes in ’18. We traded for Kiké, and Peraza, then traded Peraza and Schebler and made Kiké obsolete through other moves. Frankly I’d like to have them all back.
But moving on again. I hope Trayce Thompson can play and I wish Hill and Reddick bon voyage.
Badger
Do you think they will really bring a good right hand bat, to the team?
Theo did sign Lester and Lackey for there pitching rotation, and signed that utility player.
And that Rockies former centerfielder, and Heyward, which I think is a bad signing.
That is the big difference between Theo and Friedman.
I can’t see Friedman signing a big free agent.
It seems like he will always try to save more money, then pay for a rare commodity.
And he hasn’t shown anything different, and the ones he has signed, seem like a over pay.
I think there are some compelling statements made by several posters here. I probably don’t have much to add to what has already been said. But, as much as I dislike the FAZ way of putting a team together, I do think this team over-acheived and made a valiant run for the pennant. The only people that thought the Dodgers would win were the homies, the die-hard fan that runs strictly on emotion and belief. Personally, I’m shocked that they went as far as they did. Of course, this could be seen as validation of the FAZ way. It could also be seen as the failure of the FAZ way.
This team is not built to win a pennant, much less a WS. The pitching is in shambles, and the hitters are not consistent. Just look at Chicago. They win on runs and pitching, not one or the other. A major factor that the Dodgers have is the HR. It has won us more games than it should have. What we don’t have is consistent hitting, the ability to get on base and keep it going. Too many unproductive players at key postions. People talk about Peterson. Yeah, he can hit dem HR’s, but as I mentioned in the beginning of the year, he’s been nothing more than a .250 hitter. Grandal even worse. Both were struggling to get 100 hits at the end of the year. The pre All Star half was a minor disaster. The team, including Turner, nose dived into one of the worst slumps I can remember. We also watched our starting rotation disintegrate before our eyes. No one but Kershaw could be counted on to go more than 4 or 5 innings. They were desperate and the brought a pre-mature Urias up to see him get his ass kicked. Of course, he leveled out somewhat, and I do think he will be a good starting pitcher, but desperation due to very questionable choices for the starting rotation was not going to be fixed by Urias. Luckily, the acquisition of Hill helped keep them above water. If the Giants didn’t fold up like a crushed Fanta can in the 2nd half of the season, we might not have even gotten a wild card spot.
What I’m saying is the FAZ line is hanging by a very thin thread. Maybe they’ll go in a different direction for next season and surprise us. Since they are the incumbents, and I’m assuming they want to win, lessons need to be learned to move forward. If we get the same kind of approach towards acquisition next season, I don’t think there is any hope for this group. Ned was even worse and he’s gone. If FAZ thinks that getting this far is their mandate to continue with mediocrity, I will not give a shit about this team.
Enjoy yourselves and thanks to the great job Scott and the other mods did this year with terrific analysis and some good humor.
Good post Jeff. Well thought out and clearly delivered.
No way of knowing yet whether it will be more of the same, or will they be bold. If getting payroll further under control is a priority then I think it safe to say nothing new will be attempted. This way of constructing a roster is what F&Z know, so I think they do it again for one more year. And that’s just a guess.
MJ – I just noticed on the other thread you asked me to post the article about Hill and Reddick. It was posted by Brooklyn a bit earlier on that thread. It looked familiar because I thought I had already posted it, but maybe not. I read a lot during the day, so I probably had already read it. The part that I didn’t buy was this:
“So, the Dodgers protected Game 4 starter Urias and their now best player Seager, and used the next level of prospects to get Game 3 winner Rich Hill plus Josh Reddick. The combination had them in as good a position to win that first title since 1988, without jeopardizing chances to keep on going for it.”
Hill hadn’t pitched for quite a while and was in fact on the DL when he got here. From August to October he pitched 34 innings. 6 measly starts. He pitched twice in the playoffs, one good one not so good. Reddick was another LH bat, and a bit overrated in my book. He’s ok, but did we really need another LH outfield bat? What we needed was some RH thunder and another decent starter – like Moore, who started 12 games, pitched 68 innings, exactly twice what Hill gave us.
This year’s Dodgers scrapped their way to the NLCS with some of the weakest starting pitching I’ve ever seen in Los Angeles. Not sure how it will be addressed, but it’s my opinion it must be.
I think QOs will be given both Jansen and Turner. I hope we get at least one of them to stay. I also hope Kershaw comes back 100% but I have my doubts if we again will see what he did before his back went out. I think we will see a lot of changes next year.
Badger
The only article I saw was the one with head Dodger honcho said what there goals have been since the new owners bought the Dodgers.
And that was old old news.
But I agree with you about that trade.
I am not up on all of the prospects like you guys, and I didn’t know that the
prospects we traded, were our top prospects, after Corey and Urias.
But I wondered if the prospects we gave for Hill, and Reddick, were close to the prospects, that the Giants gave up, along with Duffy.
Hill did pitch that one game well, but he started that game, like he did the previous game, where he let a runner on base, get him out of his game.
But after that, he did well.
The real question I have, did the A’s really make us take Reddick?
The worse part about Reddick is that he was played way to much.
A few people here, blame that on Roberts, but I think Roberts felt he had to play Reddick.
But I bet after seeing Reddick play, he really didn’t want to play him.
Everytime our GM makes a deal, he talks any player they get, up.
During that trade deadline, they had Friedman talking mostly to his former team, and that is where the Giants got Moore.
And I was mad at the time, because it is obvious that the Rays wanted to get back for Friedman leaving, by doing that deal with the Giants.
The Rays were really upset with the Cubs for taking Maddon, and they were not that happy with Friedman leaving, but they didn’t voice that as much, as they did about the Cubs talking to Maddon.
Badger
Remember last year we thought having only Greinke and Kershaw, wasn’t enough, but this year, this was done with who ever survived the season, and Hill.
I remember Kershaw losing Game 1 and Greinke losing Game 5 last year. And who could forget Game 3.
According to the official Dodgers Twitter account, Jonathan Denver was the son of a Dodger Stadium security guard.