Like it or not, I’m back (at least for a day)! For the record, I may or may not re-start LA Dodger Talk.com. Also, for the record, I have absolutely no problem with anyone disagreeing with me. Just back it up. I was going to explain this to you, but Dodgerpatch already said it best:
Mark gets impatient with repetitive foolishness, as do I. You don’t hesitate to repeat endlessly the canard that the FO are incompetent “fried brains,” or your everlasting reminders that you don’t like Grandal in spite of the objective data that shows him to be the 6th best catcher in baseball. You and others complain and whine and criticize and use salty pejoratives to leaven your criticism, and what Mark does is just take exactly what you dish out and shove it right back in your faces. You don’t like it. You don’t agree with it. Your ego can’t and won’t brook conflicting arguments and evidence, so you label Mark as the problem.
Well said, Patch. I couldn’t have said it better myself. People who work for me disagree with me every day – all I ask is that when they do, that they support it with a cogent argument. I am persuaded to change my mind many times because of that. I value dissonance! I was wrong about Urias being able to cut it this year (although my opinion of him has not changed). I’m wrong just like everyone else is. As usual, Badger is 180 degrees off on my ego and people disagreeing with me. Yes, I am frequently wrong, but he has his ego mixed up with mine. Silly, unsupported, fiction doesn’t cut it. Back it up! I may still disagree, but I will respect your opinion. You can even be negative… if you can back it up, but when you are always negative… that’s a problem.
This is probably the best site for Dodger fans. I have no problem with Scott’s takes, even when they are negative. He doesn’t beat it like a drum… over and over! I think that it has just been so long since the Dodgers last Championship, some of us take leave of our senses when minor issues are looked at in a microcosm.
It is lost on the critics of Friedman, Zaidi and Roberts that despite losing more players to the disabled list than any other team, and losing the best pitcher in baseball for 60 days, the Dodgers are right in the thick of the playoff push. The fact of the matter is that the Dodgers are one DL trip away from having the most players lost to the DL in the history of the game. Ponder that for a minute.
Rookie manager + Most Trips to the DL + Losing your Ace = Recipe for Disaster.
However, this season has been anything BUT a disaster! Despite losing more players to the DL and losing their Ace for a considerable period of time, the Dodgers would still be in the playoffs… if the season ended today and they are one game out of first place. Many have mocked the team’s alleged depth, but how in the hell do you stay in the hunt with this much adversity without depth? The depth is there whether you choose to see it or not!
This team has warts – all teams do. Lefties baffle them a lot, but sometimes righties do too. The starters don’t pitch deep into games. The pen is overworked. But, just when you think they have been beat – they come back! The thing is: They battle. They work. They believe. They come back a lot. This team is resilient. That’s what Doc said too!
They felt Puig was divisive and showed him the door to AAA – he passed through waivers even though he has a team friendly contract. No one wanted him. He was the fourth player from Colletti’s administration to wear that scarlet letter this year. Now, it’s possible that he can turn it around. Everyone knows that he can’t hit the inside fastball and the low and away pitch. If he can gain the discipline needed, and fix that, he could be back in September… or sooner. By the way, it was Zack Greinke who said he was the worst teammate – ever! I have seen improvement in some areas, but he’s a problem.
They dumped Kemp upon the Padres who now rue the day they traded for Kemp. Have you been following all the crap from Kemp and the Padres owner? I have said it before and I’ll say it again: Matt Kemp was a cancer on the Dodgers and then the Padres. Maybe he’s learned his lesson and will be a team player with THE ATL, but he was just a bad teammate… worse than Puig in lots of ways because he was supposed to be a leader. By the way, the “garbage” they got for Kemp is in the TOP 5 Catchers in Baseball in:
- Home Runs
- RBI
- OPS
- Slugging %
- OB%
- Pitch Framing (yeah, some of you don’t believe in that)
Calling for Friedman to be fired is absolutely silly. It’s like calling for Theo Epstien’s resignation two years into the Cubs re-building. Of course, the Cubs did it differently than the Dodgers, but it’s still a rebuild. First and foremost, IF YOU THINK THAT FRIEDMAN HAS AN EVEN SLIGHT CHANCE OF GETTING FIRED, YOU ARE TOTALLY OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY! It’s not going to happen. PERIOD! At least not this year or next! Rebuilding (or re-loading) or whatever you call it takes time.
Some of you say there is NO PLAN, so I am going to explain THE PLAN to you. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence because, as you all know I am lacking in that department, but it does take some common sense. God gave me a lot of that to make up for my lack of intelligence. If I can condense THE PLAN down to its’ simplest essence, here it is:
- In the new baseball paradigm (post-steroids), teams are younger and homegrown;
- Build the farm, don’t sign players who cost draft picks, but hoard draft picks and prospects;
- No long-term deals to aging players; and
- Try and win now, but observe Rules 1, 2 and 3.
When you try and win now while rebuilding you have to make some questionable moves… and before we talk about “moves” lets’ establish some ground rules on how you evaluate these moves. Do you look at the first 15 or 20 at bats for a player or their first start or their second or their first two appearances? David Price has not had a good year – the Dodgers hammered him last night. Neither has Zack Greinke. Jordon Zimmerman started out 7-0 and looked like Cy Young – now he’s 9-5 with a 4.44 ERA. Johnny Cueto looked like Cy young until recently, but do you evaluate any of these trades in a week? A month? 100 games? A year, or over the life of the contract? You should know the answer.
The Dodgers picked up three players at the trade deadline. Josh Reddick who is 1 for whatever. Rich Hill who has yet to pitch, and Jesse Chavez who had a 19.29 ERA coming into the Sunday Night game (it’s now 5.20). They picked up Mat Latos and Jim Johnson last year who were duds, so that is what has happened this year too? Right? Many of you are thinking that. Baseball is a game of streaks. We all know that. Hot one day – cold the next! Two bad weeks – two great weeks!
Trades and Free Agents signings are evaluated over the duration of the deals. Johnny Cueto may be great this year – how about next year or the fifth year? Yet some want to point to Cueto as a guy we should have signed SIMPLY BASED UPON THIS YEAR! Hindsight is 20/20. That’s not how trades are evaluated. You have to look at the totality of the circumstances, not just a few days or part of a season. Reddick is Andre Ethier on steroids – better outfielder but can’t hit lefties, but 4 years younger. The Dodgers can sign him or not next year. Jessie Chavez gave us a glimpse of what he can do Sunday night – 95 MPH as a long man. Who knows what Rich Hill can do, but he has been very good this year… until THE BLISTER. We wait!
Some of you start with the premise that “Freidman and Zaidi are Horrible.” Then anything they do or don’t do is somehow twisted to prove your point. In case you haven’t noticed, the Dodgers are doing a lot better than most here expected before the season started. Go back and look up your predictions. One even left the board because he was convinced the team was so horrid! I have not lost faith. The Dodgers called up Segedin Sunday and boy, did he deliver, but I’m sure some will say “they should have called him up sooner.” If your mind is already made up, even when FAZ makes a good move, you will say it’s the wrong one! Geeeeezzz!
Sometimes I wonder if FAZ is so hated because of their race, religion or heritage… but I don’t know. I can only say it makes me wonder because of the often irrational hatred of anything they do. The Dodger Farm System has NEVER been this stacked for as long as I can remember. Some of you may have been around longer than me, but this is the best I’ve EVER seen it.
Who have they gotten by trade or signing?
Taylor, Segedin, Toles, Grandal, Reddick, Hill, Norris, Fields, Barnes, Chavez, Avalin, McCarthy (ouch after Sunday), Anderson, Kendrick, Utley, Hernandez, Blanton, Dayton, Maeda and Kazmir. Oh, yeah – Kazmir! He has a 4.51 ERA and is 9-5. Most importantly, the team has a winning record when he starts. On the other hand, a guy many of you pined for (David Price) has a 4.34 ERA and his team has a losing record when he starts. It’s pretty apparent to me that giving Scott Kazmir 3 years at $48 million, instead of the 7 year $217 million deal David Price got makes a ton of sense! If you can’t get that one, there’s no hope! Hello!
I wasn’t totally on board with the trade for Hill and Reddick, and maybe it will be just like last year, but they did it because they are trying to win now while not gutting the farm. They dealt three pitchers, all three of them are likely relief pitchers, which is the Dodgers huge area of surplus, for two players they hope can make a difference. They are trying, but they were not going to compromise and give up their top prospects. They could have gotten Matt Moore and Will Smith and Eduardo Nunez like the Giants did for the following players:
- LHP Adalberto Mejia – 2016 #10 Prospect
- SS Lucius Fox – 2106 #4 Prospect
- RHP Michael Santos – 2016 #19 Prospect
- 3B/SS Matt Duffy – 2016 #9 Prospect
- C Andrew Susac – 2015 #1 Prospect
- RHP Phil Bickford – 2016 #3 Prospect
WOW! The Giants were able to do that due to their home-grown talent (Belt, Posey, Crawford, Panik, MadBum, et al), but they gave up a whole lot! I mean a WHOLE LOT! I’m not saying they made the wrong decision, but they had better win it all to justify it. That paid to get another lefty to beat the Dodgers but the Dodgers proved they CAN beat lefties last night!
In January, in Indianapolis some people say: “It’s always cold here!” No it’s not. Sometimes it’s 65 or 70 in January. It may have been cold the last 2 weeks, but it’s not ALWAYS cold! That’s a dumb statement – full of emotion but devoid or reason! It’s like saying “Yeah FAZ ALWAYS____________________ (fill in the blank).” That’s not a smart thing to say either.
Here’s What the Future Holds:
This season is going to boil down to the THREE SERIES (9 GAMES) WITH THE GIANTS : August 23, 24 and 25th (without Kershaw), September 19, 20 and 21st (maybe with Kershaw) and September 30, October 1 and 2nd. That’s 9 games with the team we all love to hate. That’s where it will all be decided. Sit back and enjoy it! It’s going to be a blast. We are ONE GAME BACK – without our ACE. Whatever happens from here on will be more than some of you ever expected. We are all Dodgers! Can we just get along?
This is the first that I have heard that Puig has passed through waivers already. I have been reading stories that Atlanta is ready to snatch him up if he goes on waivers.
Regarding Puig and waiver:
http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/optional-waivers
S.O. P.
If I may endeavor to expand on Badger’s reference…
There are two kinds of waivers:
1: Optional Waivers. Basically the club is sort of putting a “For Sale” sign on a player, well, maybe a “Make Offer” sign. Any team that claims him has to work out a deal with the owning club or the owning club can pull him back out of waivers. If no team claims him, he can be optioned down to the minors and removed from the 40 man roster, IF the owning club so chooses.
2. Non-Revocable Waivers. This is typically done only with players the team is getting ready to DFA or is willing to gamble on losing without compensation. If another team claims him, they get him and are responsible for all his salary. For players that have no value to you, like Crawford and Guerrero. It is part of the DFA process, like putting an old sofa on your driveway with a sign, “Free Merchandise”… The hope is that some other team will claim him so you don’t have to pay his salary.
Thanks Badger and Wondering. I don’t want to appear dense, but am I understanding properly that the fact that Puig went to the minors verifies that he went through optional waivers?
Yes…..he did
No one believed you when you said you were leaving. Couldn’t stay away a week. Too quiet at TBLA?
And you couldn’t go a paragraph without insulting me. I didn’t go any further than that.
Scott must be desperate.
The butt kisser is back! On a part time basis
I told you all it was a sham.. Cockroach was always control freak in charge of everything.
I think you’re hallucinating Bob. There is no “sham” over here. Mark wants to continue to write on a part time basis but doesn’t have the time to manage a blog. He’s still semi-retired. We discussed and decided that it would be best for him to write over here on a part-time basis. There’s no “conspiracy theory”.
Seriously you need to get a grip.
Plus, Mark often puts down some very interesting words. Personally I’m the sort who values counterpoints directed at my views. Most everybody here has heard me in disagreement and I think my skin is thick enough that I can a few shots. I have friends here. I don’t have access to view the games much lately and thus feel there’s not much for me to say other than “hello friends”! For now I’m still at battle to get back under a roof where I rule my existence. I guess there’s some places where I don’t want disagreement. Geez, what an oxy-moron tis I!
Nice to see/read you again Mark. I tend to agree with your premises……
And, please, bring back your blog……
Talk is, Pittsburgh would be willing to trade McCutcheon. No way he’d clear waivers now but in the off-season I think he’d be a good pick-up. He’s having an off year but his history is excellent. His 2017 Salary is only $14MM, with a 2018 Option for $14.5MM, his defense is excellent, arguably as good as any outfielder we have. Our outfielders on the farm are a couple of years away. At the big league level, and not mentioning infielders we are using there, I expect SVS to be non-tendered, so we have only Pederson and some maybes: Toles, Ethier, Puig, and Thompson. If all of those guys are doing well, then we don’t need any editions. But if any of those leave the club, then I’d make “McClutch” the first place I’d look for help.
I doubt Pittsburgh would move their franchise player. He’s the main reason anyone in that town shows up at the park. But if they do, it will take Seager and Urias to get him. Yes, I’m being facetious.
On our nation’s birthday we were playing .565 ball. Today we are at .559. That’s who we are. The only reason we are close is because the SF June swoon is a month late. Maybe both teams continue .500 ball the rest of the way. Oh goodie last men standing going into the playoffs. As it is every year, it will again be who is hot going into October.
BOB is not hallucinating Scott. Perhaps you’ve received mail in support of today’s poster. I don’t need to email you. You know how I feel regarding his incessant insults.
Here is the article…http://triblive.com/sports/pirates/10754163-74/pirates-million-floor… and you’re right it is just speculation, but I’ve always liked McCutcheon. The article also discusses salary caps or more relevant, Salary Floors. He thinks forcing clubs to spend a certain minimum on player salaries makes sense. Some clubs are really bad about spending money.
Did you see that chart I posted regarding new info on when pitchers peak? It was posted with pitchers as the referenced position, but I would surmise it’s similar for all positions . 25-28 are peak years. McCutcheon will be 30 in October. Look at his stats, you will see the downward trend has already started. The FAZ model for effeciency has been presented by the FAZ supporters, and this should sound familiar to you, no dope fiend moves, build from within, etc. That is the noise coming from the -ophants, and after choking on the various wtf moves, I accepted the idea. But now we traded 3 good prospects, 2 of whom were in the Top 80, for one guy we haven’t seen yet and another guy who is hitting .050. I’m pretty sure Puig could do better than that by the way.
I don’t know what these guys are doing and I’m not sure they do either. Thank the baseball gods SF is 6-15 since the break.
This is a blog. Lighten up already. (Not only directed at Mark, by the way).
I for one am glad to see Mark back. He always has a take. Multiple opinions are what make the site fun. We just don’t need the name calling, etc.
Mark’s so-called “new paradigm” is not new – it is the way that all teams try to build. Where we have a difference of opinion is:
1- All of the teams that built from the farm added key veteran parts via trade or free agency;
2 – For a large market team like the Dodgers, this may mean adding a big time player and spending some money;
3 – The Braintrust won’t spend money (except on unproven Cubans) but is trying to do things on the cheap;
4 – This has meant signing every injury-prone pitcher on the planet;
5 – A significant part of the record number of pitchers on the DL is the logical consequence of this approach.
Yeah, the Dodgers are doing well under the circumstances, but what if most of their starting pitchers didn’t spend time on the DL?
As for the posters here who don’t like the Braintrust, it largely has to do with SABRphiles vs SABRphobes. The real new paradigm is how talent is evaluated and who evaluates it. Our front office is run by a stock broker and a PhD in economics, not by baseball people. Fans are being asked to believe their computers and not what their eyes tell them. It is a tough shift to make.
As I have repeatedly said, all data is useful. I am all for the new analytics but not to the exclusion of what scouts, players and coaches and managers and their experience. All of those platoons and defensive shifts, etc. that drive some fans so crazy are the result of this type of thinking. There isn’t a member of the Braintrust who has a baseball background as a player, manager, coach or scout. For the fans who post here (almost all of whom are very seasoned fans), this lack of experience doesn’t inspire confidence.
One more thought – on the deadline deals, I suspect that the prospects who were traded were not as good as advertised. Cotton doesn’t have a breaking ball; Montas may never be healthy. I am most concerned about losing Holmes. But they got 2 mediocre players for a 2 month rental for 3 top 13 prospects. I agree that we have a small sample size with Reddick who is a good but not great player. Hill may or may not ever pitch for the Blue but has a very checkered past but a good last few months, and he is of course injury prone so there is that. Chavez was very mediocre for the Jays but he, like Reddick and Hill are former Oakland A’s so of course Zaidi was going to be interested. (Shades of Ned Colletti and Jason Schmidt?)
In my view, if Kershaw isn’t going to be back then it didn’t make sense to trade the prospects because they won’t go too far in the post season without Kid K; if he is coming back then they didn’t do enough because neither Hill nor Reddick are real difference makers. Half measures won’t get it done.
D-Rick,
Very well and respectfully stated!
Dodger rick
Have you ever thought about adding up all the money that this front office has had to pay for all of these different starting pitchers, that they have had to use this year?
And adding up the money lost on starting pitchers, that haven been able to make there starts?
Excellent post. And Mark’s too. Actually most takes here are good – sometimes the name calling and extracurricular accusations clouds otherwise good takes. By the way I think both sides have been pounding the same themes.
Back to a point in Rick’s excellent post. I think it’s more than SABRphile vs SABRphobe.
Most here accepts a mix.
The problem, as in all business, is consistency in approach, coupled with lack of transparency, which does not inspire confidence. I also think more credit should be to the manager for putting up with so many DL stints. I tend to agree with Badger that we haven’t done anything yet – us being 1 game out is due to SF sucking. The thing is, teams without any depth have done as good or not much worst than those teams with depth. I’m not criticizing the depth approach, just pointing out that a lot of different approaches works from April to August.
Let’s see what happens in September and October.
Ultimately I believe in such a thing as a “championship window”. Even in baseball. This window is opened by stars who complement each other. Honestly I think most teams luck into such stars, and team insiders are no more able to identify them early vs fans (maybe insiders have too much data and miss the forest for the trees).
I believe we have such a star in Seager. Kemp was not it.
It’s questionable whether Kershaw is that star. That’s really what’s driving the wedge here. If you believe the Dodgers had a championship window open in Puig’s rookie season (with both Grienke and Kershaw), you go for it. But maybe Kershaw wasn’t that star, or maybe we have wasted his best years because of a barren pipeline of cheap talent.
Personally I don’t think our championship window had opened yet. Puig would have opened it sooner but Kershaw and Greinke were not enough. But ultimately I think the team was not there yet. Now we may have another set back if Kershaw leaves, but I think Seager is a better foundation. I like the prospects but as most teams are under a plan that is very similar to The Plan, the difference comes down to the 2-3 stars you put together (and as I said above, history suggests you need luck to get those).
Since I’m one of the ‘negative’ ones as a couple of folks have attempted to point out, allow me to say that Mark is more than welcome (of course it isn’t my site) to post here as well as anywhere else he might choose.
There have been times when I have agreed with Mark. Mark and I disagreements pertain primarily to Friedman & Zaidi. And comparing Friedman to Epstein (keep in mind I’m not an ardent Epstein supporter, just respect his body of work) is just not a good comparison. Theo inherited a good team in Boston and made them better. Theo inherited a bad team in Chicago and has made them better. Friedman has inherited a good team in LA and the verdict is still out, but to some of us it appears that they are in descending mode.
The issue that I have with Mark is that he leads the charge of personal insults and attacks and the rest follow suit. I love to talk baseball but people need to check their narcissism at the door. Just as an example, AL, had to tell us how great he was or is, everything he’s accomplished (from his perspective) while telling everyone good bye. As if he was above everyone that posts on the board (or at least the ones still left.) I can care less how old a person is or what they have done or are doing. I’m quite confident that there are a lot of folks on here that have been successful in their lives and careers.
I have great respect for Scott and Mark for starting and keeping a sports blog going. It is not a simple task and I assume can be very time consuming. Kudos goes out to the folks that do this without compensation.
I’ve laughed a couple of times after Mark made shied comments towards me from me posting something but he has done that 100’s of times to others. The other day when I was attacked in a tag team effort and was called a name and basically told to shut up, well that’s another story.
The golden rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated. Maybe keeping that in mind would help all who post. We all have our moments in our lives where we might have undo stress but this is just baseball. There are a lot more important issues in our daily lives and in the world than baseball. It’s a ‘fun’ game that many of us have either played or have appreciated watching it. Let’s appreciate the fact that we can talk, discuss and learn things on this blog.
Way to hit it out of the park, Mark!! Words of wisdom, but, I am a betting man and I bet your words of wisdom fall on many deaf ears.
Yes, the FAZ plan has worked brilliantly this year. Cut payroll, build the farm and compete. YES!!!! My only regret is, not having FAZ in charge the last 28 years, instead of the last 18 months.
Just think where the FAZ plan would have already taken the Dodgers this year, except, for a historic amount of injuries. But no worries, one game back of the hated ones. Midgets spend over $250M last off season and for what, Jeff Samardzija, and his 4.40 ERA? Many of the message board GM’s here wanted this guy bad. Well his $90M looks bad and will only get worse. And like you said, Got to love the Midget trade-deadline deals. I especially like Duffy gone.
Thank goodness, FAZ wisely acquired “Depth”, last offseason. Crawford ($20M), Either ($20M), ZERO help but we are one game back. Kershaw ($30M) gone for at least a third of the season, but, we are one game back. Way to go FAZ!!! Brilliant!!!
Many here sang the Praises of “Dumb and Dumber” in AZ prior to the season. Some even foolishly thought they would compete with the Dodgers. Can you believe it? One injury, Pollock, and the season down the drain. Lucille, makes more sense now, in center, for AZ than he ever did in a Hollywood alley. At least with Lucille in center, many AZ fans would have a reason to put their butts into the seats in AZ land.
Yes, it truly is a good day to be a Dodger fan, one game back, Kershaw throwing for the first time in weeks, Hill’s blisters healing, young exciting studs, what about that Segedin acquisition? Good job FAZ and keep the young guys coming.
I really don’t care who leaves and returns, who posts every day, or who goes away because his skin is too thin. I don’t take any of that personally. I’m glad when more people are on this site, because it only adds to the fun and craziness of this site. The more the merrier. Of course, the personal attacks are childish and stupid, and the political comments are annoying and useless.
I”m glad Mark is back. However, he quoted that Patch quote above. That was a pretty weak quote. I’m sure you can do better than that! Above, Patch was quoted as “Mark gets impatient with repetitive foolishness, as do I. ”
You know what else is repetitive crap? Mark bringing up “the trade” over and over again. We get it. It was 4 years ago. It’s over. Keep bringing up the same issue over and over, then you better let everyone else do the same. Patch, perhaps you should bring that issue up in your next “quoted” speech.
As far as this team goes, as bad as we’ve played at times, and as injured as we’ve been all year, we’re only 1 game out!! Today, sf faces Jose Fernandez. We face Philly. There is a pretty good chance we’ll be tied fir first in about 13 hours. So hopefully the egos on this board can discuss baseball without boring everyone with politics or personal insults, or keep bringing up the “repetitive foolishness”
Bobby
I hope our team can keep up this momentum, and don’t under estimate the Phillies.
Because we all know that any major league team, can beat another team, even if the team is rebuilding.
Bobby
I guess Fernadez’s last three starts haven’t been that good.
Let’s hope that he pitches well tonight, against the Giants.
Mark
I knew you were going to be back, and I said it.
Nothing against the other site, but it is more vanilla, and the people at this site, like vanilla, but they don’t want vanilla everyday.
I myself, like thought provoking conversation, and it is hard to have that type of conversation, when everyone is a yes person.
I think part of the problem, is that some people are worshiping the front office, more then the actual players.
And I give most of the credit to how this team has played up to now, to Roberts, his coaches, and to the players.
Once Roberts got the manager’s job, he went out and made contact, with most of the players, even before spring training even began.
I think Roberts and his coaches, got the players to believe in a team concept, from the beginng of Spring training, and that is paying off now.
Sometimes I might question Roberts moves, but I don’t question, his management of his players, and the job he has done this year, to bring stability to the team, despite all of the injuries.
I don’t understand how people can say the front office did a good job, when it comes to depth, when they used pitchers with long injury histories, and just piled them up, on each other, and then called that depth,
There depth didn’t even make it through spring training.
There said depth, has almost given the Dodgers, the all time record, of the most players, on the DL in a season, and the season isn’t over yet.
And that isn’t a record, that team’s inspire to have.
That is a badly built starting rotation, and that is not a key for success.
That is why Roberts and his coaches, as well as the players, are more responsible for where the Dodgers are today.
They have played there hearts out, in spite of the starting pitchers, that the front office, has given them to work with.
And pitching is at least 80 percent of the game.
Yikes you guys! A bunch of 6th graders arguing about whether the FO or Mark are good/bad/insulting/incompetent, etc.
Results are results. The Dodgers have won three consecutive NL West titles and are 1 game back of winning an unprecedented fourth one in a row. This with a record number of players disabled. HOW can you argue with this FACT?
We’re not saddled with (numerous, if many had their way) humongous long term pitching contracts but do have a large number of highly ranked prospect arms in the pipeline. Who famously said, “pitchers break”? Yeah, our owner. Where I work the owner’s opinion has weight. Pretty sure it works that way in the Dodgers’ front office too. Fortunately, their FO believes that without their owner having to tell them.
If EVERYTHNG sucks unless we win the World Series every year, baseball ain’t your sport.
PS: Nice to be able to read your opinions again, Mark. So far I agree with your take completely.
I think if you’d ask most Dodger fans how good this team is they would say ‘not very ‘ even though they’ve gotten to the playoffs often, but have not been very competitive in them. Dodger fans expect a certain level of play and we haven’t seen that level really take shape for a long time. We saw the Giants rise. We saw the Cubs rise. You knew those teams reached a level of play that was exciting and dominating. You see it in basketball and you see it in football.
Personally, I want the Dodgers to win the championship every year. I know realistically, it’s not going to happen. Does this make baseball a sport that’s not for me?
All I’m looking for is a team put together with balance, power, speed, and defense. I haven’t seen a team like that in Dodger uniform in years. It’s been mostly chaos the last few years.
I agree totally
It’s been “chaos” because this is a different model for building a baseball team. Throw out a stable lineup. Throw out a five man rotation. The last two spots are divided between 4-5 pitchers rotated between AAA and the big club. Scour the waiver wire, buy other teams bottom of the list pitchers.
That’s about it. Get on base, nobody steal, wait for something to happen. Outs are KING! Strikeouts are the worst. You consistently strike out on pitches low and away you are no longer needed. Bye bye Kemp, bye bye Puig. I guess it’s effective but not much fun to watch. Wonder who will be next to go?
Andre would be on my short list….his contract expires next year, so they could pull a CC like move and release him if he is not productive out of the gate. SVS is a candidate, so is Kike. They are full of middle infielders. I doubt they re sign Utley after this year. Anderson is a no brainer to be gone. Turner will be a free agent, AJ will either retire or sign somewhere else. They have guys who will most likely be trade chips, but what they get for them is up in the air.
Someone asked the question about how I got my user name wrong. The 1st game I ever remember listening to on the transistor radio in the kitchen with my Dad was the Campanella game between the Yanks and Dodgers when the coliseum was full. Assumed it was 1958 but was in May of 59.
I was there.
Since 1958
Thanks for your back story.
Of course he quoted patch! And yes, it was weak.
You don’t need a degree to see what’s happening here. TBLA was too boring. These guys need to stir it up.
“Bring on the young guys”. You mean like Hill and Reddick? Kazmir and Kendrick? Anderson? McCarthy? Do you even have a clue where the Dodgers rank in avg age of players? Of course you don’t. Why do I bother asking.
Mark is a talented writer and smart guy. What’s not to like? The Segedin move was unexpected, but a boost for the system. Those minor leaguers should know that they are call up from the majors, not just players getting dealt around the minors. I see it as the start (maybe not the start, exactly) of a free flow minor league system, where talent is given a chance to perform. You don’t have to be a Puig or #1 draft pick to get an honest shot. I saw Segedin in Arizona. Impressive looking guy, who had a great spring. He was almost going to quit while with the Yankees, but the Dodgers made him a non roster invitee. Now can he make adjustments as the pitchers adjust? Or will he be a 66? Fun to watch. This infusion of youth is the life blood for teams and for the world. You can’t stop it. In sports, the hard thing is to sort out the best from the non best. Playing does that. It’s no mystery. When pitchers miss bats or when hitters don’t miss pitches, they keep going up the system. I hope Segedin, Stripling, Urias and the rest become good enough soon enough that they play for our major league team and not for someone else.
Bobbie 17
That gives the guys in AAA more motivation to play well, because they will get a chance.
The Cardinals give all of there players a chance, if they are performing well, not just the high draft picks.
When a team gives a player like Segedin a chance, a player on his last leg, in professional baseball, they are going to get there best efforts, from players like that.
They might not be successful, but they will give there best.
And it doesn’t take much, to try to give players this last chance.
And then you won’t have to many good players, falling through the cracks, that just needed that second chance .
Look, I admit that I am no big fan of the new front office. And despite Mark saying there is a plan, it is very hard for the average fan, and not some stat geek to figure out what the hell they are doing. When you watch the Dodgers play, and I do almost every day, I do not see a juggernaut. I also see a team that has a lot of holes, a lot of injuries, and at this point in time the extreme good luck to be in a division where the leader has been free falling for the last few weeks. When Turner found his swing, and started hitting, the team began to win. They had a hot streak just before the All-Star break, but have been right at a little over .500 since. They kept saying they were going after elite players at the deadline. None of the 4 they picked up is elite. Hill is having a good year, but he is 36 and a rental. Reddick has 1 hit since joining the team, Chavez had a bad outing then was decent yesterday. Fields has been effective. But are those guys elite>? No. But the team has crept up on the Giants and are 1 game out. The next 6 have 3 against a bad team, the Phillies, and 3 against a good team, the Pirates. Going 3-3 is not what they need to do. If this team is going to win this thing, they need to start dominating the teams that they are better than. So far this year, that has not been the case all the time….By the way Boxout, Segedin is 27, he is not a young guy. But this is his first real shot at the majors so lets wish the guy luck. As far as Mark goes, we have had a go at it a few times. I respect his takes. He makes good arguments, and he backs them up with all these stats. Great, good for him. But that does not mean every single fan who comes on and disagrees with the guy is some sore of idiot. It also does not mean that every body has to like FAZ. They may have a plan, fine and dandy, the owners might have a plan too, great. But the fans of LA will not settle for close, but no cigar. And that is exactly what they are getting. And it is what they have gotten every year since 88. Fans want the Series. Dodger history shows them winning one in every decade through the 80’s and nothing since. To the common fan, the signings of Kazmir, Anderson, McCarthy and any other pitcher with an injury history was a waste of money. Kazmir is 9-5. But every time you watch him pitch you get ulcers. Anderson was a .500 pitcher his healthy season. McCarthy is a injury waiting to happen and has won 5 games for his over 18 million paid already, and we have him 2 more years. Hard for the average fan to understand that kind of waste of money. Tim pointed out that Price has an ERA over 4, is barely above .500 and that the Sox lose most of his games. But does anyone think for a minute that Kazmir is a better pitcher than David Price> ? Price faces 9 hitters in the lineup every game. He plays in the 2nd oldest park in MLB, and it is a house of horrors for LHP. He might be 8 games over .500 with an ERA around 2 in a good pitchers park. So you do not know how he would play in Dodger Stadium or the national league which has no DH. The Dodgers are what they are. And what they are is a patchwork quilt of players who play multiple positions, and are not marquee type players with a couple of exceptions. Their pitching staff is being held together with spit, glue and bailing wire, and a lot of prayer. They do not have, in my humble opinion, a pitching staff or offense that is built for success in a 5 or 7 game playoff series. Their rotation without Kershaw is very suspect. There rotation with Kersh is still over matched by most of the other serious contenders staffs. They have been fortunate that the team they are chasing is really struggling. We all hope they keep it up and make the playoffs. How far they go is another thing.
Mark
What is your take on McCarthy?
And have you heard anything, about what is happening with McCarthy?
Mark was the reason I started reading Dodger Talk and his take on things is always “interesting”. The rest is pretty much ad infinitum stuff, complaining and standard reporting. You can get that anywhere.
I don’t have a problem with our former CEO. I don’t always agree but I enjoy reading the comments of those who have experienced 50 years of baseball. I value those opinions. That is the reason I gravitated to Mark’s blog. So the more the better. Even IdahoAl who apparently left, but hopefully will be back.
As far as the current Dodgers I think FAZ have built a boring team. This weekend was fun because it was Boston coming to town. Vinny had stories on Ted Williams, bean town, and farewell to David Ortiz. If it had been Strippling and McCarthy pitching against the last place Reds how thrilling would that have been? I don’t ever recall a Dodger team that far over 500 begin such a snooze fest.
For those of you who remember the 1959 Dodgers were they a fun team to watch?
I can answer that. The first few weeks of the season, they were pretty pedestrian. No much more than a .500 team and not in the race at that point. Zimmer was the starting SS because Pee Wee had retired. In June, they brought up a guy who had spent almost 9 years in the minors to play SS…….Maury Wills. They had a patchwork team of aging veterans, Snider, Hodges, Furillo, and some young kids coming up. The big star was Wally Moon who started hitting balls over the screen in LF even though he was LH. Larry Sherry became their closer, although at the time they were just called relievers. They mixed and matched, stayed close to the Braves, who were coming off back to back world series appearances. The made a run in August and September caught the Braves and forced a 3 game playoff. Wills was a catalyst although he only played 83 games and stole only 7 bases while getting caught 3 times, but the team got energy from him. Don Demeter contributed 18 homers. Duke Snider hit 23 homers and hit 300. Koufax and Drysdale were just starting to come into their own, and Roger Craig won 7 games down the stretch. They beat the Braves in a very exciting playoffs winning the clincher on a ground ball up the middle by hobbled Carl Furillo that scored Hodges with the game winner. Furillo would be released in 1960 and sued the team because he was on the DL when released. He won the case but never had anything to do with the game after that. The Sox were favored to win the series, and they crushed the Dodgers 11-0 in the opener. But the team fought back and lost only 1 more game a 1-0 shutout at the coliseum. The losing pitcher>>? Koufax. Sherry saved 2 games and won 2 and was the MVP. Snider hit the last of his 11 world series homers. It was a fun team to watch…..shades of things to come.
Did everyone hear that Agone used Joc’s bat, to hit that HR yesterday?
I think that is odd, if Joc is still using the big heavy bat.
I would think that would make it even harder for Agone, to hit the ball out.
Anyways Agone had a pretty good series, as well as the Dodgers, if we just forget about that knuckle ball pitcher.
Mr. Norris
What a great overview of ’59’!! Thanks for bringing back all of those memories. That was a wonderful time in my baseball fan life. Wow, Demeter, Snider, Moon, Sherry, Furillo, Craig, ect. and don’t forget Hodges. Thank you for making today great!!
My pleasure. Gil was a huge part of that team. One of the games I went to the Dodgers had a melee with the Cardinals after Drysdale plunked Joe Cunningham. Solly Hemus the Cardinal manager was walking back to the Cardinal dugout and said something to Big D who came off the mound at him like a shot, and it was on. I remember seeing Hodges with his arms wrapped around a pretty big Cardinal player and carrying him towards the baseline……..Gil was the peace maker that was for sure. Saw him hit one over the screen later that year against the Braves Bob Buhl. I almost forgot a very important part of that team and that was Jr Gilliam. A constant steadying influence, and Johnny Roseboro, who was as solid a defensive catcher as any who ever played the game.
An aside to that 1959 story. I was living at the time in Highland Park. In 1960 I think it was, they bulldozed and flattened this huge arroyo that was behind the home for kids I was living at. They built a housing tract there. When the houses sold, we found that Larry and Norm Sherry were our neighbors. Larry lived 2 houses down the street and Norm about 5. They had us kids come to Arroyo Seco park that spring when they were getting ready to go to Vero Beach. We shagged balls for them, Ron Fairly was there as was a bat boy named Jim Lefebvre. It was so much fun to just be asked. Larry let me hit against him. He took it easy on me, and I hit a fly ball that made it to the outfield…..I was ecstatic. Later when I was in the Army, I met Norm again in El Paso where he was managing the Angels Texas league team. He remembered us kids shagging for him and gave me a autographed ball. In high school at Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach, when we had spring practice the coach would bring in a former student and Alum to pitch batting practice to us. His name was Joe Moeller, and he was a Dodger at the time……PS….I never even hit a loud foul off his stuff…….
Wow!! Those are great stories! I wish I had been that close to some of the players. I was in Pomona during that time. Bill Singer was a couple years younger than me but really a nice guy. I had a friend whose sister dated him and I met him a couple of times. I once traded a small wore out bicycle for a Larry Sherry baseball card. I guess I had it bad, huh?
But Badger would have taken him deep…
Well I was 14 and a freshman. I could always hit, but I never saw anything that fast before, and Moeller probably had a heater that was 93 plus. Had a lot of movement too….I heard it rather than saw it. Later when I was in the army, I played a lot of service ball, and by then I could hit those things…….
Package I think we all did. The home was where my love for the game really grew. We played every day because it was California and the weather was always great. I hated winter in school because they wanted us to play football rather than baseball…..Hathaway Home had maybe 30 kids there. We got into games free under the old knot hole system. So we went every time they had a home stand. Met John Russell the star of Lawman out there in RF. When I got out of the Army and was back home in California, I met one of my favorite players, Wes Parker, at a baseball card show. I was singing professionally as well as driving a truck at the time, and I invited him to a show I was doing in Long Beach. Wes liked country music so he showed up, and it was great. He was the one who helped me get the chance to sing the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium in 1981. I will never forget that. One of the best experiences of my life.
Great write up 🙂
Badger,
How have I insulted you? I just published your own words and denied them and shoved it right back in your face like Patch said I would. The name calling always starts with you.
To anyone else who wants to listen: The Dodgers had to first get rid of bad contracts and players: Kemp, Ethier, Crawford and Gonzalez were consuming nearly $90 million a year in salary. The fact is, this was a solid team, but really had no superstars other than 2 pitchers when FAZ took over. They were not championship caliber because they did bot have any elite hitters. Gonzo was a nice hitter but was on the decline. Turner was the closest thing to a star before Seager.
Signing pitchers like Anderson, McCarthy and Kazmir were huge risks, but your other options, like Zimmerman, Greinke, Price and Cueto have a whole another set of risks – namely guraranteed contracts to aging players. If we sign those kinds of pitchers, we will effectively block some of the kids, who really should start impacting the team in 2017, so they settled on 3 or 4 year deals at 1/4 the amount the big boys get.
2018 has always been the target year, but they are still trying to win THIS year. I am not down with everything FAZ has done, but if you are successful in 60-65% of your deals you are successful. They have done that. That have also cut-bait on players they picked who were duds (Olivera). I think they may have too many Cubans, but time will tell that. By 2018, the entire rotation could be home grown.
The lineup could look like this:
C – Grandal
1B – Bellinger
2B – Calhoun
SS – Seager
3B – Rios
LF – Thompson
CF – Pederson
RF- Verdugo
Then, when you have a young and inexpensive team, you can sign a Bryce Harper and/or a Stud Starter. Now is not the time, but the time is coming!
Good points Mark. I may not always agree with you, but you make valid arguments. I do not think Rios has a good enough glove to be a full time 3rd baseman, and the same can be said for Calhoun. I think they will have better options to catch, but you know me and Grandal. I think Puig will be in that mix if they do not trade him. He is still one of the more talented players in the organization and just maybe Bill Hasselman at OKC can get the guy on the straight and narrow. Pederson and Thompson still have to prove they can be productive for an entire season and maybe 2017 is that year. A lot depends on Thompson’s back, and Pederson’s continuing search for the right approach at the plate.
Oh Ethier and his bad contract are still here, but should not be a problem after next year….slight over sight on your part, but no big deal..so is Gonzo for at least 2 more years after this….
Mark
When the Dodgers signed Anderson and McCarthy, non of those other pitchers you named, were up for free agency.
Mark
Which young pitching prospects are going to fill our entire starting pitching rotation in 2018?
Mark can you let it go already?
Unlike most bloggers, you post passionately with hyperbole. If anyone of us wanted to shove your own words back at you, we could, and we can do that for hours, days and weeks.
And very few of us are Badger when it comes to posting.
So just let it go already. This is a blog. It’s baseball. The Giants are in a free fall. Seager is doing great and improving rapidly (especially defensively). Our championship window is about to open.
dodgerrick: “Our front office is run by a stock broker and a PhD in economics, not by baseball people. There isn’t a member of the Braintrust who has a baseball background as a player, manager, coach or scout.” WRONG, Friedman went to Tulane on a baseball scholarship. Further, he has been in MLB management since 2003, GM since 2006. How long does someone need to be in MLB baseball management to become “baseball people”?
Bobby: “You know what else is repetitive crap? Mark bringing up “the trade” over and over again. We get it. It was 4 years ago. It’s over.” It is NOT over!! $60M (including luxury tax) for Crawford and Gonzalez this year. The same $60M next year. Who here pays $60M for Gonzalez? Not me.
Michael Norris: “By the way Boxout, Segedin is 27, he is not a young guy. But this is his first real shot at the majors so lets wish the guy luck.” Yes, Good Luck, Segedin!!!! Loved that SHOT off the center field fence yesterday. Could Segedin be the 2016 version of Dodger immortal, Dick Nen? To this day, the name “Dick Nen” puts a smile on my face. Anybody remember how the “Dick Nen” year ended?
That’s too easy…sweep of the Yankees in the series, Koufax wins the clincher and Howard hits a homer off Whitey Ford with one hand into the loge level straight down the LF line. By the way, Nen was traded with Howard to the Senators after the 1964 season for a guy named Osteen. The Nen homer ended a long game vs the Cardinals who had closed to within 1 game of the Dodgers…..after that they were never that close again
I figured you would remember, Dick Nen. I can still hear Vinny calling the “shot” heard around LA over the old transistor radio. While Segedin hasn’t risen to Nen’s level yet, he might before this season is over. Go Segedin!!
I remember that Howard/Osteen deal. Hated it at first, couldn’t believe Dodgers would trade my favorite player, Frank Howard (and Nen) for some “Claude”. Frank had signed autographs at the local Dairy Queen sometime before being traded. As a 10-12 year old, Big Frank was a very impressive guy, to me.
Big Frank was all that. A very impressive and really nice guy. I got to meet Tommy Davis when I was living at the home. They built a sports facility on the grounds and Tommy, Norm and Larry Sherry all came. I met Tommy again at Dodger stadium after I got out of the army, ,and he signed my first baseman’s mitt……I remember Nen’s son too…Rob Nen, the reliever.
How much did we give Olivera for his bonus, and how much are we paying for his contract now?
We paid him something like a 20 million dollar bonus, and they owe nothing on his contract..that is the Padres baby now since the Kemp deal…..we are however paying 3 million a year on Kemps deal
Per the New York Times 11/5/14:
“Friedman also has an interesting background. He was working in finance, with no real professional baseball experience, when he first met the Rays’ principal owner, Stuart Sternberg, in the early 2000s.”
Per Dodgers’ Digest 11/4/14:
“Zaidi, who was born in Canada, played Little League baseball growing up in the Philippines and watched the big-leaguers on summer vacations with relatives on both U.S. coasts.”
Per The Star 5/24/14:
“And like Blue Jays’ GM Alex Anthopoulos, Zaidi is part of a growing post-Moneyball class of analytics-honed baseball executives who never played the game — at least not at a high level, anyway. ”
The point is that most teams have some former players, managers, coaches or scouts in high positions in the front office. The Dodgers employ stock brokers, economists and statisticians to make baseball decisions.
The question is whether they make baseball decisions primarily based on statistical analysis or not; the extent to which baseball professionals (players, managers, coaches or scouts) are involved in baseball decisions.
All data are useful; but …do we want Moneyball 2.0 in Los Angeles?
No
There are definitely 2 camps here. The FAZophants and the anti-Money Ballers.
Everyone could see that the Dodgers needed a 3rd quality starter for the playoff run last year. In some aspects that was the only missing piece and there were options available at the trade deadline…..Cueto, Price & Hamels. Any of the 3 would have sufficed. When a team is 1 player away they usually go for it.
The FO decided to take the cheaper alternative. It didn’t work. Who won the WS last year? And tell me who they picked up for just that one purpose. Did they attempt to resign him to some large contract? No. They made a reasonable trade for a rental. They won their first WS title since 1985.
Then the off season came and it was not part of the plan to let Grienke walk. If that was the case they should have traded him prior to the deadline. It was their intention to resign him but only under their conditions. Loyalty goes both ways. When they are not willing to work a deal for a FA that said he wanted to stay and had played for them the past 3 years, how in the hell are they going to sign any other star FA’s. Do you all think the Dodgers have 4, 5 or 6 all-star players in the minors that are a year or two away?
And now here at the next ‘milestone’, they decided to trade 3 of their top 13 prospects for 2 rentals. If they liked Reddick (and his career .255 average) they could have signed him in the off season. Even with a healthy Kershaw the only deal that made since would have been Chris Sale. Sale is team controlled for a couple of years. Sale along with a healthy Kershaw would give the Dodgers a fighting chance in the playoffs BUT they still would need that 3rd pitcher (Maeda, maybe?) and 4th pitcher in a 7 game series.
Last year it was ‘no trading any prospects’ when just one player was needed. This year it’s ok to trade prospects but now multiple players are needed. Hill and Reddick will not be the solution. Obviously time will tell on that.
Without Kershaw, am I surprised where the Dodgers are at this point in the season, you betcha. It is very surprising. Pleasantly surprising. Winning the division and/or getting into the playoffs would be quite an accomplishment. Personally if that would happen, I would give Roberts a lot of credit as the team has played hard for him.
But does anyone really think this team is built for a long post-season run? After all I believe the goal is to get into the WS and then have that fighting chance of winning it. I just don’t see it but hey I’ve been surprised before.
I read that Roberts said that they were always expecting Kershaw to pitch in September.
Expect and actually happen are 2 entirely different things. He is just now beginning to throw and the other thing is by the time he is ready, the minor league seasons will be over, so hence forth, no rehab starts..he will be coming back cold turkey
Actually there is a third camp. The “compete EVERY year” camp.
Chili: “Everyone could see that the Dodgers needed a 3rd quality starter for the playoff run last year.” Yes, and some of us could see we could have also used a 4th quality starter, 2 lights out relief pitchers and Daniel Murphy.
Chili: “Who won the WS last year?” Let’s see, oh yeah, KC, yes the 3 quality starters they had did it for them. NOT! What all of you anti-Money ballers forget is, the playoffs are a crap shoot!!! What you really need to win the WS is not, gutting the farm system, for a 3rd quality starter, but, a timely hit or a dominant start 3 out of 4 times from your “top two” starters.
I for one, am very glad Seager is playing for the Dodgers instead of Philadelphia. I predict, Seager will come in very handy for the Dodgers the next three days. Would have hated to see him playing against us, especially, after watching Hamels choke in game 3 against the Mets last year. Yes, my hindsight is 20/20 also.
There was no way they would have traded Seager. Philly could ask all day long and that was not happening, but they could have gotten Queto, and maybe the Mets series goes the other way. Kershaw, Greinke and Queto would have been hard to beat, and Queto would not have cost them Seager.
Hamels was in Texas, so he could not have pitched against the Mets in game 3.
No one here wanted to trade Seager.
Exactly. In fact Seager should have been called up wayyyy before he was. Another bad decision by the FO cow-towing to Jimmie Rollins.
The Royals were only able to do that, because they had one of the most dominant bullpens in baseball.
A team needs either two top of the line pitchers, or a bullpen like the Royals had.
It is very easy to now say, “Nobody would have traded Seager”. But, the trade-deadline last year was before Seager had made it to MLB. I am sure Philadelphia was asking.
My point about Hamels choking, game 3 against the Mets, is nobody knows what would have happened even if we got the 3rd quality starter. The Mets had three quality starters last year and Daniel Murphy, but, still didn’t get it done.
Like I said, Hamels did not choke in game 3 against the Mets because he was in the playoffs with the Rangers. Personally if Hamels had been our #3 I think our chances would have been much better…..the pitcher who choked against the Mets in game 3 was Brett Anderson….he absolutely got hammered.
No argument that Hamels would have improved our chances in Game 3 against Mets. The argument is, would that “improved chance” have been worth the HIGH price for Hamels.
We do know Anderson got hammered, but, so did high priced Cueto against Marlins tonight, 5 IP, 5 earned runs. Love it!!! I just wanted Kershaw/Greinke to win 3 out of 4, 75%, a C grade. Didn’t happen. Playoffs are a crap shoot.
Great story about National Anthem. How many in attendance that day?
Boxout 7….There were 50,000 there…..they were playing the Giants. Garvey tied the game with a 3 run shot in the 8th, but they lost 6-3 in 10 innings. An aside note. That was the game where the Giant pitcher hit Cey and broke his arm. Putting him out for the season until the playoffs…..
I could make a good case, if the Mets manager wouldn’t have left Harvey stay in the game, who knows what would have happened.
And what about the Royals bullpen.
A week after the trade deadline: Rich Hill has more blisters than Reddick does hits
(for those of you who have thin skin, it’s a joke. relax. i hope we win and the giants lose)
Great joke!
And Puig had more hits, in his first game.
And that is getting some people all up in arms.
But Bobby yours is much better!
I got a big chuckle reading this post and seeing Mark is now a contributor. Even the new profile pick he posted I enjoyed, not because he’s the most handsome guy in the world, but because I’m sure it will send some of the usual suspects here into paroxysms of mental anguish. I like it when people are able to successfully poke sticks at people I feel need a little poking. I’m the same way. I enjoy arguing and letting myself get animated rhetorically, ..and I sometimes go a little overboard. We all have our hobbies.
What gets me, and what I would encourage some people to truly reflect on, is just the sheer level of dislike some of you have for Mark. For some it’s an ego driven competitive preoccupation. For others an angry obsession; for one, although entertaining as a spectator, it’s caused him to become perilously close to be becoming diagnosably unhinged. I don’t get it. And that’s not because I agree with him in all instances. I think my very first post here about a year ago was in response to one of his hare brained trade schemes or a call to trade Kershaw where I accused him of having less than “half a gnat’s brain,” and characterized his obsession with The Trade as “the white hot hatred of a thousand suns.”
But I enjoy reading his posts. They’re generally infused with a lot of common sense, often convincing, plainly worded and direct, and I respect the generally low BS tolerance. I can almost see why his plain spoken, flyover, middle America red state style offends Badger’s intellectual sensibilities, but I can only speculate. What I don’t see is why some really don’t want him here. Why? Do you really, honestly think this site would be better off without him? I think a site based on discussion and debate is enhanced with varying opinions that are well crafted and well thought out. I read and respect Dodgerrick’s posts. They challenge me and make me think even when I disagree, and Mark’s arguments about the trade has had an effect on my generally favorable view of acquiring Agon. I can tell he took his time to write that post. It was well done. I read it all the way through eagerly, and I don’t always when it comes the stories here. I think those who have this unhealthy dislike of the guy would do well to reflect on why that is. What is it that REALLY bothers you about him. You might find it has more to do with you than really him.
Well, I am a young Brad Pitt! That’s a fact! 😉
I remember the “half a gnat’s brain and “the white hot hatred of a thousand suns.”
It was well said! I can handle the names, just not the BS!
Let me say this and you can believe it or not:
I have about 35 people who work with me (notice I don’t say “for me”). Almost to a man, they would run through a brick wall for me. I would never ask that, but if I did, they would. Why is that? Am I smarter or better than anyone? No – It’s because I treat them the way they like to be treated and value them.
I attended the funeral of the sister of our office cleaning lady Saturday. I didn’t know her, but I knew the cleaning lady and I did it for her. I value loyalty and am loyal to a fault, but while I was never a Marine, I am like them in many ways. Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Roman General and Dictator) said it best:
No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full.
Here is a good question would the Dodgers have three National League West titles if Agone was not on the team?
Jeremy Evans over on Dodger Nation has posted showing some interesting historical parallels between Puig and the early Mickey Mantle who was also demoted to the minors. And apparently he remained always a disappointment to Casey Stengal.
http://www.dodgersnation.com/a-lesson-in-history-mickey-mantle-and-yasiel-puig/2016/08/08/
Here’s the camp I am in:
At the end of the O’Malley Era they mismanaging the farm and while there were a few nice players, the depth was never there. O’Malley was outclassed at the end.
Then FOX took over and we know what happened there.
Next was McCourt and he could have really did some good, but… well you know the story and then Guggs and company bought the team. I cringed because corporate ownership is generally horrible. However, when they bought Friedman in, I saw a ray of light. They are determined to spend big to build the farm. That takes time, but in a year or two, it will start paying huge dividends. AA and below is absolutely loaded right now. They almost have too many players.
As the procession starts (and I know all prospects don’t pan out) they will add key free agents. The Days of the Anderson, Kazmirs and McCarthys will be over. FAZ is a whole lot more than “Moneyball.” They ain’t perfect, Last years acquisitions at the trade deadline were horrid, but they would not compromise! The jury is out on this year.
Rob Segedin is younger than Justin Turner, when he suddenly “got it.” Some players just take longer.
Maybe McCarthy has the “yips?” Hope not!
Mark
That sounds good to me, if they will stay away from pitchers like McCarthy.
And I think this front office could work out a team friendly contract with Turner.
If Turner will take three years, close or about the same, as he would get for a four year contract, I think they would do that.
Because it seems like it is the addional years, that bother them, more then the price it self.
Mark
When you admit the bad choices by the Faz, that instantly gives you more credibility.
Joe Blanton put on the bereavement list; Josh Ravin called up
Blanton due back Friday
Good good stuff Mark.
Thanks to all my supporters. It was fun. I’ll be back in a few days, weeks, months… whenever!
But I’m a control freak behind the scenes on this site. Scott is hypnotized and does exactly what I say.
LOL
GOOD JOB MARK. I STARTED POSTING ON DODGER TALK AND I HAVE TOTAL RESPECT FOR YOU. I THINK THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THE DODGERS. WE HAVE ALOT OF GOOD PLAYERS NOT ONLY AT DOUBLE AA, BUT EVEN THE LOWER LOVELS. I CANT WAIT TO SEE YADIER ALVAREZ. I HEARD REPORTS HE HAS BEEN PUSHING BETWEEN 95-190 ON HIS FASTBALL BUT WITH GOOD MOVEMENT. BUT THERE ARE OTHERS DOING WELL. I DONT REMEMBER A TIME WHERE THE DODGERS HAD SO MANY YOUNG AND PROMISING PLAYERS. I CANT WAIT TO SEE THEM. THE GIANTS ON THE OTHER HAND HAVE GIVEN UP SOME OF THERE BEST PROSPECTS THIS TRADE DEADLINE. I, AM NOT AN EXPERT ON BASEBALL. I LOVE MY DODGERS, GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS……