You read almost any Dodger blog and it seems the fans are far more worried than the front office. Fans want the powers that be to be a lot more expedient addressing what they believe are the team’s biggest weaknesses. Considering that they have been treading water for the last 40 games, and only own a winning record over San Francisco and Colorado in their own division, 11-5. And are under .500 against the Padres, who all of a sudden are hot, and Arizona, who spanked them soundly in the last two games of their series this week, and who easily could have won three if not for some very late heroics with two outs.
I totally understand where they are coming from. I believe there is more fight in this team than they are given credit for. Someone mentioned on another site that the team was on cruise control. What I have heard players saying in interviews paints a different picture in my mind. I think they realize that they cannot take their foot off of the gas.
This series they started with a win tonight, and the next one beginning next week in Philadelphia, are going to show what kind of grit this team might have. They are going to have to play mistake free baseball as much as possible. They are also going to have to get more length out of their starting pitchers than they did in the Giant and Arizona series. They have 8 games before the All-Star break, and then 10 before the trade deadline on the 30th of July. 7 of those 18 games are against teams under .500. But the Giants, who play the Dodgers for the last time this season between July 22-25, are now only one game under .500, and have been playing a lot better of late. They play these two division leaders in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, then go to Detroit. The Tigers are 8 games under .500 right now. They are 3 games under .500 at home, but 5 under on the road. Skubal is their best pitcher with 9wins. One can clearly understand why fans want immediate action. They want the Dodgers to not always win, but to own their rivals and beat the really good teams. Fans are not known for their patience. I can look back on when I was young, and I followed the trade deadline hoping the Dodgers would trade for Willie Mays. I had no real understanding of the feud between the teams. I knew Drysdale was likely to hit one of the Giants at some point in the game, although I did not understand why. 
I did some research yesterday when replying to a poster on another site who felt that the Padres, D-Backs and Giants, would all be amenable to a trade with LA if it benefitted their team and made them better. Last trade between the Dodgers and the D-Backs at the deadline brought Steve Finley to LA in 2004. They have not made one since. Maybe waiver pickups and such, but no trade of major players.
The last trade between the Dodgers and Padres was when Matt Beaty was sent to SD for River Ryan a couple of years ago. The last time they traded players that were stars was the Kemp-Grandal trade after the 2014 season, it was the second major trade by Freidman
The last trade of any kind between the Giants and Dodgers occurred in 2007 when they traded for Mark Sweeney. Other than waiver deals, or signing a free agent from that team, they have not made a single trade. Farhan might have an affinity for Dodger players, the same way AF does for former Rays, but he will not trade with the Dodgers to get them.
Colorado has made only one deadline deal with LA of any consequence, they got Todd Hollandsworth and a couple of minor leaguers for Tom Goodwin. Nicasio was a pre-season trade. So, you can basically take four partners off of your trade possibilities. They have made a lot of trades with the White Sox, Rays, Reds, Yankees and the Braves. At one point, they made several with the Phillies. Angels have not made a major trade with LA since they sent Howie Kendricks to LA.
From what I have read on many sites and blogs lately, is that the fans want something done now. And they have their list of people to get rid of, Kike, Barnes, Lux, Heyward, Biggio and Taylor. Other than that, they like the roster. It is funny because all of those guys are position players. I see no fan uprising to get rid of any of the pitchers.
Well in about 24 days, we will find out what the plan is. Hopefully the fans will be happy, the team will be improved and have some new vitality, and they get the full season championship they have been pursuing since the change of the guard. Typically, AF and the Dodgers keep their plans close to the vest and do not let fans know anything. Case in point, I cannot remember one single story in print or on the internet last season when the trade for Eduardo Rodriguez fell through. I had no clue they were even talking. There wasn’t even any chatter on Twitter, now X. That is unusual. Because all of the other trades were in discussion there hour before they came to fruition.
As a fan, I am going to have to be patient. Sometimes it is fun to speculate, and sometimes fans speculations and expectations are pure fantasy with no chance of happening. But like many say, it is fun to dream.
And so, it begins. Giants traded outfielder Austin Slater to the Reds tonight. They received LHP Alex Young in return and assigned him to their AAA team.
Other than some journalists is there anyone else who would like to see Kenley back in Dodger Blue? Not me!
For me, so far this season has been frustrating. After spending over $1.2B in free agency the Dodgers still have concerns not only on offense, but pitching as well. The following players have not played up to expectations:
Heyward – again, injuries have plagued this 34 year old
Kiki – solid wherever asked to play, but his offense has been absent all season.
CT3 – his offense continues to deteriorate as if that was al all possible.
Barnes – fans accept his empty at bats and weak arm. But, darn, as long as the pitchers love throwing to him he’ll have a job. This is even though Glasnow, Paxton, Stone have never had Barnes catch them until this year.
Lux – I was a big Lux supporter when he first came up. At worst he could be a solid, everyday 2B with some good offense. He thrived as a nine hitter and was like having an additional lead off hitter at the bottom of the order. I can imagine it’s hard to come back and play everyday after being out for a whole year and not being able to rehab with actual baseball activities. I understand that possibility. But, it’s his lack of hustle and enthusiasm for playing that bothers me.
Biggio – AF has some explain’ to do on this transaction. And, the FO is afraid to put Vargas at 3B? Criticisms of the above players is a daily topic. So, I’m not to say much more. But, with the Dodgers highly touted development capabilities why do they continue to struggle?
RVS and his staff have been credited with helping Dodger hitters improve their home run potential. Really? I was thinking who has benefited from their coaching? Looking at the Dodger roster the only one that I can see is Will Smith. They tried to change Miguel Vargas last year and that resulted with him going back to OKC. Apparently, having broken fingers doesn’t help in trying to improve your launch angle. James Outman is another example.
Mookie, Freddie, Teoscar, and Ohtani were already established stars and didn’t need any help with their hitting approach. We watch Lux. Kiki, CT3 regress even further from less than average past production. One approach doesn’t fit all hitters. Muncy had retooled his swing after he was traded to the Dodgers. Sure, he hits 30+ HR’s a year, but he leaves a lot of run production on the bases. Also, when he is not hitting well he takes too many center cut, first pitch FBs. He, along with Teoscar, are poster boys for the three outcome club.
I’m not calling for RVS to be fired. But, how about another hitting coach that can help with the bottom of the order and bench guys. Learn to make contact with runners on base and have a “must” approach to the AB and not a suggestion. I think this could make the top of the order more productive as a result of the bottom of the lineup moving runners into scoring position. Except for the rare player who might succeed with increased HR production, these guys have no business with an all or nothing approach. To me it’s one wasted AB after another.
But, it’s all about analytics and bizarre stats. I used to be a batting average and OB% watcher to compare players. The past couple of years Badger has guided me (as only Badger can) to consider OPS as a better stat for comparing hitters. Not that it makes any difference to the Dodger FO, but strikeout rate is another stat I like to consider. So, now OPS is the stat for me!
And then there is the pitching… but enough for today. I have some opinions and questions with Dodger and baseball’s throwing approach. There seems to be a lack of concern for the pitchers’ arm health by baseball. The attitude appears to be “with a chance to make millions there will always be a good supply of arms available” attitude.
Carry on.
Guys, Jeff is going on vacation tomorrow, and I will be doing most of the posting, so if there is a topic or player you would like to see on here, let me know. He is also having surgery later in the month and will not be too active then. Right now, there is a glitch on the dashboard for the site where we compose the posts. Jeff has his IT guy on it, so hopefully we will be running smoothly. At present, I cannot log on to compose a post.
Unquestionably the most enjoyable ass-whuppin I’ve ever sat through. Listening to Mookie and Orel talking baseball for 9 innings was a clinic. Joe Davis was smart enough to sit back and let it happen. Mookie can do anything it seems. He leaves his ego at the door unlike some guys who have to dominate the conversations. I absolutely loved how he picked Orel’s brain about pitching. He is a sponge trying to understand pitchers more and Orel provided great answers to his questions. Then Mookie talked from a hitters perspective. That was terrific. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t.
I thought the new kid, Wrobleski, pitched great, all things considered. He gave up the 2 dingers which hurt but our offense did nothing to help him. A base hit with the bases loaded by Pages in the 3rd could have changed the whole complexion of the game. Same with Ohtani in the 4th.
I like his stuff, his poise and his strike throwing. He didn’t show fear of MLB hitters and I like that. It would be nice if he could work off that opportunity and settle in and be fill a void. And obviously not break down. This should earn the kid another turn.
We could certainly use a LHSP, and it would be refreshing to have a homegrown prospect come up and fill a need and help the club for a change. Except for Pages, we haven’t seen much from our prospects. Vargas could be an exception, as well. I hope we are on to something here, with Justin and he can build on that start.
Yarborough, like Paxton, likes to pitch at the top of the zone which makes both susceptible to the home run. That’s why coaches used to preach keeping the ball down. It’s sort of paradox now. Hitters want to lift the ball and get it into the air and organizations now want to pitch up in the zone. Disciples of spin rate. It always been a tool for the gas-men. Guys with a high hard one. But softer throwers, like Paxton, try to live at the top of the zone. Home runs are a reality with this approach. You better be prepared to out slug the opposition.
CT3 has great feet around second and turns a great double play. Makes good tags as well.
Bear, I was probably the poster you were referring to who said that the other teams in the division would trade with us if they felt the players they got back would make them a better team.
You gave us a rundown here of the last time we made a trade of consequence with those 4 teams and also mentioned 5 or 6 teams we have traded with a few times. That still leaves more than half of the MLB teams unaccounted for.
Maybe we haven’t been able to trade with the teams in our division because the trades simply never came together for both sides.
When did we last make a trade of consequence with the teams you haven’t mentioned?
Just as an aside, I have heard both Andrew and Farhan (while with the Giants) mention that they would have no problem trading with a team in their division if the trade was of benefit to their team.
I think it is curious for those who are so convinced that the Dodgers have what they need in MiLB, especially pitching. And yet many are disappointed when the best LAD MiLB pitcher does not pitch 5.0 shutout innings. Justin Wrobleski is a AAA pitcher who came in to give Bobby Miller another day’s rest. He is going to go back to OKC, but he will have one or two MLB games under his belt. It wasn’t great, but it was better than Gavin Stone’s first three starts.
There is a HUGE difference between MiLB and MLB. So for those of you who do not believe that Wrobleski can help (and there are a lot out there – not necessarily commenters at LADC), there is no other MLB ready SP in the system. Now if you are convinced that Yamamoto, Kershaw, Miller, and Buehler will all be recovered fully from their injuries, because the Dodgers have such a great track record of advising us that their pitchers will be ready, and that being true, then there is no reason for the Dodgers to get a top of the rotation pitcher in a trade.
Then again a pitcher is not going to change the Dodgers approach WRISP. The Dodgers were an Octoberesque 3-21, while Milwaukee was 7-18.
Arizona, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and San Diego all have better numbers WRISP than do the Dodgers. With Milwaukee and Arizona rather significantly better. So unless the Dodgers slug as they did this past weekend, it could be another short NLDS (or Wild Card series). LAD and Atlanta are pretty much on par with each other, but St. Louis is VERY bad WRISP.
If Miguel Vargas is the best bat to ball player out there, then there should be ZERO reason for him to be out of the lineup. Randy Arozarena is a clutch playoff hitter, and must be considered, IMO.
The Dodgers are balking at the price for Crochet, and CWS seems more likely to keep Luis Robert Jr. at least through the season. I think Eric Fedde, Tommy Pham, and Paul De Jong are all possible acquisition targets.
I agree with Bear and others that I do not think the Dodgers will re-acquire Kenley Jansen. It is July, and the bullpen arms seem to be dragging. I think River Ryan could be a September callup and see if he can help the back end of the bullpen for the playoffs. Outside of Ryan, I am not sure who in the organization can help THIS year. Get Tanner Scott and Trevor Richards. Those are the two I would most like to see.
One other player that I would not mind seeing come October would be a RH bat coming off the bench…Justin Turner. Turner could be the 2024 version of David Freese.
Why do fans seem more concerned than Front Office? Because we have no information? The Front Office is not going to tell us who was offered for Crochet. How do we know if it was a reasonable offer (reasonable in our eyes). But it does seem outrageous when we read trade proposals such as this from Bleacher Report:
Josue De Paula, Nick Frasso, Ronan Kopp to LAA for Tyler Anderson and Luis Rengifo.
As long as we are in an information vacuum, we fans are always going to be more concerned. Plus I have no knowledge as to what levels of concern the Front Office has. Do they have the same concern about hitting WRISP as we fans do? Why do they not see an advantage to a proven 2-stike approach. RVS may not be able to give the lecture, but Freddie sure can. Why does Freddie have that approach and most others do not? Just how injured are Max, Yamamoto, Kershaw, Buehler Brasier, Graterol, and others? Not knowing the 2024 status of Brasier and Graterol, how do we fans know how many relief arms might be needed.
I do not expect anyone from the Front Office to go on record and advise us what offers are out there. But I would like to see a baseball journalist ask Andrew or Brandon if they are concerned with the lack of hitting WRISP, especially in light of the last two NLDS. And if so, how do they fix it? Not specific players, but approach.
Brewers manager, Pat Murphy, on Justin Wrobleski.
I’m tired of being concerned. Nothing has changed this past month…we are playing bout .500 ball and I’ve noticed teams are scoring more runs against us of late. Bullpen must be wearing down in this heat.
Again, once we get past #4- Teoscar, we go I into the Twilight Zone for the next 5 batters. And yes, I include Pages in that group of “the can’t count on me guys.” Hopefully Outman will spell him for some games when we face tough RHPs. Pages is our 2024 Outman, only much less.
I do want to correct myself- I would not put Rojas in that “can’t count on me” list because he doesn’t belong there….so remove his name please.
I won’t discuss pitching due to all our injuries. There could be hope when we get some guys back at 100%. But yes, I still think we need at least one more proven SP just in case. -TM
I think Orel mentioned Wrobleski was getting hit later in the game because hitters were sitting on a pitch speed indicating Wrobleski needs to change speeds more.
Dylan Hernandez, who I waffle on liking, has a piece where he wonders about Roberts’ lame duck status ($$$$)
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2024-07-08/dylan-hernandez-column-on-dave-roberts
What I found interesting was this text that AF sent Dylan:
“Doc is a big part of what we have accomplished in the past and we look forward to him being a big part of what we will accomplish in the future. Right now, all of our focus and attention are on doing everything we can to win a Championship this season.”
What are the chances of getting Luis Rengifo to play 3B? Probably wouldn’t cost a lot. He would be a big upgrade over Biggio, Kike, and Taylor.
The Dodgers should sign Kirby Yates if signing Tanner does not work out.