There have been or will be not one, not two, but six Dodger weddings this offseason. There might even be seven, but Kiké Hernandez and his fiancée may not have set a date yet.
Messrs. Ryu, Stripling, Wood, Turner, Barnes and Pederson have all either gotten hitched already or gotten engaged. Isn’t that sweet? See the pictures at True Blue LA’s link above.
All these gentlemen are obviously taking Satchel Paige’s advice, particularly his 4th rule: “Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.” Marriage will settle a man right down, I’ve heard.
All the arbitration eligible players are now in the fold. Unfinished business includes what to do with Matty, so looking forward to at least one more move, but nothing major now that avoiding the luxtax this year is doable.
Dodgers pitchers and catchers report tomorrow (February 13), position players on February 19, first spring training game on February 23. Hope you all in good health. Looking forward to another season on this website. A big thank-you to Link.
What have I done? Just kept the lights on here, that’s all.
Without the lights being on, there is no site here.
I think you’re a month ahead of schedule. The Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers do indeed report on February 13, but tomorrow is January 13.
I’m with Scoop. Can it please be tomorrow?
Wow! I certainly did get a month ahead of things. Never did like January very much. I guess I was trying to eliminate it.
Scoop wants to make the shortest off-season in eons even shorter. Like RBI, I am all in on this.
That’s a lot!
Grant is no more sanguine, but even more readable… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/48bb67736c54b957ebcff2183b492edf21ca6789b83ea0a599ecb7ae6cbe99ba.png
Manipulative rhetoric from the front office… https://twitter.com/DavidYoungTBLA/status/951269010523406336
Grant is not sanguine about gnext season’s Gnats… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7fec9181a762662c41f421c66fb74cb07713a2b18d235e7f509212ccffb1cbee.png
But… But… “The Giants know how to win.” Every other hack baseball writer/commentator keeps telling me this. How can I not believe them?
You misspelled “Gnats” and “lose.”
Jon puts things in context: https://twitter.com/jonweisman/status/950543290419630080
A short off-season, but chopping at the bit to get back under the saddle. Alabama won at football despite failing when foot was actually used to kick the ball.
Isn’t that why they call it handegg?
David Hood over at Trueblue profiles Kyle Farmer. Flexibility (catcher, 3rd and 1st) and at least an average bat give him a chance to make the 25 going into ST, as the roster now stands. Segedin and Locastro likely vying for that slot as well.
https://www.truebluela.com/2018/1/8/16863624/kyle-farmer-2018-dodgers-prospects
He had that one great game-winning hit against the Gnats.
Why the Dodgers (and other teams) aren’t leaping into this year’s free-agent market: http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/85013/real-or-not-special-edition-reasons-for-the-sloooow-hot-stove-season
Posted here only because it’s Dodger (Thoughts) connected… https://twitter.com/jonweisman/status/949682072905371648
Chad Billingsley named HS baseball coach in Pennsylvania.
The time is approaching… https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/949001353489129472
He is a good resource for Dodgers: https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers
It is indeed.
I would not project Matt Kemp to be a reserve outfielder for the Dodgers this coming season. Trayce Thompson, too, is questionable.
To parapharse Herve Villechaize, “A trade, boss, a trade!”
Place this trade in the “God is in the details” category. Might not seem like much now and may not prove to be that earth shaking down the road. But has a chance to really strengthen the bullpen. I would gladly take 65-70 innings of a ground ball inducing machine from this lefty reliever.
Some sites characterize Alexander as Britton-lite. At the very least, switching him for Avilan would be a wash saving a couple million $ on the margin to help stay below the luxury tax this year, they remain about $13 million below. Oaks unlikely to crack the rotation in LA, but did have the potential to give you 4-5 MLB starts in a pinch, so there is that.
Meanwhile, Jake Peter is a lefty-hitting utility guy, who may get a shot during ST to make the club. Hit OK in AAA last year.
With the money they’re sending to the Chisox, very little savings re luxtax.
*Dog is in the details.
Los Angles picked up Fernandez, the 29-year old Cuban left handed hitting 2nd baseman, who had a strong year in AA before recently being released by the Dodgers. Haven’t see any speculation on why he was released. Not one of the big Cuban signees only costing the club $200k in bonus money.
My guess would be that they have other prospects with better skill sets, and at 29 Fernandez’s isn’t likely to improve.
Certainly my first thought. But not like he was languishing in the minors. He was signed in Jan 2017, put in a solid performance hitting-wise in Tulsa and was even called up to OKC at the end of the season.
So they re-signed him for 2018? The team’s handling of him has been a bit puzzling.
No, it was little brother down the road that signed him. I am puzzled as well on how he has been handled. Such that I imagine I am missing more information on the situation.
Mark Prior named bullpen coach.
With speculation that, eventually, he might replace Honeycutt as pitching coach.
News.
Morrow light?
Talented but fragile, it would seem.
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou, y’all!
Was bedeutet das auf Deutsch?
Happy New Year Dodger friends. It was quite the ride in 2017. I wish you all much peace and joy in 2018. And hopefully a Dodger win in the World Series.
Over Xmas, we stayed in my wife’s sister’s house on the Argentine Pampas. Her son (our nephew), currently in Australia, is an accomplished fast pitch star here. He briefly attracted attention from a Pirates’ scout and, had he had the advantage of growing up playing baseball with tough competition, he might have been a prospect. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df87ef0228a22d204935347db7314306fb78c1e767747a9bcd4b95c6e40200cd.jpg
Playing baseball in Argentine must be a lonely pursuit. Recall borrowing baseball equipment from Lincoln HS and getting my office in BA to play during field days in the campo.
There is a league in the city (where I have played and the Cubans, predictably, have the best team). In the provinces it’s less common, but the city of Paraná is a softball hotbed, with eight different fields, three of them lighted.
Any idea what the story is behind softball being played there? Dissemination of the sport most often tied to US military, Texas oilmen, miners or returning college students. Don’t readily see a fit in this case from among these.
I met one of the guys who introduced it. He said they were looking for an activity for kids there and got some city government support, so they tried it and just took off. On weekends and in the evening, you even see them walking around town in uniform.
Here’s a post-game photo from Paraná. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40b10fd44cf19d79838e7abb9b49f1f20302854b6276d2388ef0562d71d66c0e.jpg
After a nuclear meltdown, baseball survives… https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/sports/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-tokyo-olympics.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-4&action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article
ESPN tries to find the most memorable moment of each baseball season from 1903 until 2016. Then it tries to discern how 2017 will be remembered.
I guessed 1988 correctly.
Considering the frequency with which it appears on TV, not a big surprise.
Well, it lets me claim that I’m not suffering from early onset senility.
Based on a couple of the Dodger moments, I’m not so sure about the list as a whole. He gets the details wrong, as though he’s only heard about what happened third or fourth hand. The “Dodgers inspired Roger Kahn’s “The Boys of Summer”” in 1952 and ’53, not ’55. Anyone who’s actually read the book would know that. 1955 does belong to the Dodgers, but the big heros were Podres, Amoros, and Alston, none of whom were in the book (because they weren’t with the team).
Koufax didn’t break out in 1963. He broke out in ’61. A better moment for ’63 might be Sandy Koufax strikes out 15 Yankees.
1950 feels a bit like revisionist history. Yes, Vin did start broadcasting that year, but up until Vin retired, the most memorable thing about 1950 was the Whiz Kids.