Facts and rumors, Part 1

The Dodgers declined Jedd Gyorko’s $13M option. They have to pay him $1M for the privilege. I’d say “small price to pay,” but it isn’t. Nonetheless, he’s now a free agent.

They may be in the hunt for the Indians’ shortstop Francisco Lindor, although Corey Seager hasn’t even reached typical prime players’ age yet.

The Cubs hired old friend David Ross (LA: 2002-2004) as their next manager. The Mets hired Carlos Beltran to manage; he played for seven teams in his 20-year career but somehow missed the Dodgers in those two decades.

If you hear of other news, post it here. Meanwhile, admire my birthday shirt.

79 thoughts on “Facts and rumors, Part 1

  1. I am glad Cody won, but I have mixed feelings about it as well. He sure was not an MVP in the post season.

    • Hmmph! Shades of ‘51. Joshua Prager’s “The Echoing Green” details the giant’s sign stealing.

  2. The perception most people have of the Dodgers is that they have great chemistry and a great clubhouse. We really don’t know to what extent that is true but I like it and don’t want to mess with it.

    Lindor is supposed to be a fun player to have in the clubhouse and does well with the press. He would probably be a great addition and fit right in.

    Chris Archer is also supposed to be a great player to have in the clubhouse and he would also fit right in although maybe he is now better suited to be a reliever/closer.

    Gleyber Torres is another player with a great clubhouse reputation.

    I would like to see the Dodgers with Lindor, Archer, and Torres added. Anybody hear anything on Betts clubhouse persona?

    Hill was popular with the Dodgers. I would like him to be a reliever in the mold of Miller.

    I want AJ Ellis back in the Dugout as well even if it is as bullpen coach.

  3. With Boras representing a good number of the top FAs, we are likely to need a lot of wood for the hot stove as the off-season drags on. He seems to like to have the market “develop” slowly.

  4. The LA Times Jorge Castillo has another “what are the Dodgers’ needs” column.

    An overhaul isn’t necessary after seven consecutive trips to the postseason.

    That does not mean change isn’t coming this offseason, which shifts into a higher gear this week when the general managers meetings take place in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Dodgers could use, above all, another front-line starting pitcher to place alongside emerging ace Walker Buehler and another right-handed power hitter. The free-agent market presents options.

  5. On the occasion of longtime Dodger statistician Allan Roth’s death in 1992 he was remembered by none other than Vin Scully in the pages of the NY Times.

    If Red, Connie Desmond or I desired a number, we looked at his yellow pad or asked him. Red and I were never statistical nuts and Allan knew we were not interested in absurd minutiae.

    What he did for us paled in comparison to what he did for the front office. He created a wide assortment of diagrams, such as the one that tracked where a batter hit a ball on every at-bat to see whether his ability to pull was fading from year to year. Those pictures started out looking like half of a Japanese fan. If they filled out to a fuller fan, the fellow’s swing was graphically slowing down and he became trade bait.

  6. Currently watching Korea vs Australia live I believe in the premier 12 competition

  7. Currently watching Korea vs Australia live I believe in the premier 12 competition

  8. Love to have either Cole or Strasburg , but as Molly herself points out the front runners are Angles for Cole and Nats or Padres for Strasburg. Either likely to cost a pretty penny. I personally would rather spend the resources on Rendon, Lindor and/or Betts. For pitching, would try to re-land Ryu and Hill and transition to Urias and May as starters. As for relievers….let me think about it.

    • I agree. I like Maeda in the bullpen and would like Hill as a Miller type relief pitcher on a incentive based contract using innings as the incentive base. If Ryu would accept Maeda’s contract, I would take him back as well.

      • Can’t see Ryu going for a Maeda type contract, but could imagine him giving the Dodgers somewhat of a discount for a couple of years, despite being a Boras client.

  9. Here’s what Molly had to say about relievers vs starters:

    The two teams that made the World Series this year were the two that made the biggest moves to acquire as many aces as possible. The fact that Houston, who already had the two AL Cy Young frontrunners in Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, went and pulled off a deadline-day deal for Zack Greinke anyway should tell you that you can never, ever, have too much star power at the position.

  10. Molly Knight in the Athletic chastises teams for trying to replicate the reliever-heavy approach by the Royals in 2015 to win the WS, but then tries to extract lessons from the Nationals in 2019 and concludes that the Dodgers owe it to their fans to get Cole or Strasburg. She highlights their acquisition of Corbin and lauds his 3 innings of shutout ball in the final. Of course Corbin lost two games to the Dodgers and had to be pulled against the Cards. Unsurprisingly, she ignores that the team that lost the WS had acquired Zach. No guarantees. Heck, for all the noise about how the Dodgers should have acquired Verlander, he has yet to win a WS game in 7 tries. I am just wary of thinking that there is a silver bullet that puts us over the top based upon the experiences of a 7 game series. It’s a crap shoot. Saw a study that showed the best team in the NBA, based upon wins during the regular season, won the final 80% of the time, but that for the MLB to replicate such a percentage would require a 70 game playoff.

  11. Modern Baseball Era Committee gets to vote on these finalists this year. These are people who fell off the writers’ list.

    If they don’t put Marvin Miller in their votes aren’t worth a bucket of warm spit, to quote John Nance Garner about the US Vice-Presidency. Not one of the other people on this ballot or on any ballot of the last thirty years had the impact on the game that Miller did.

    • I wonder what the market is for a bucket of warm spit? I wouldn’t want to pay more than $5.

      • Thanks Link. I’ve got a few Spooners, including a previous Dodger version. Apparently the one you are wearing is popular in my side – sold out. Might look at the others though. Good to know they are making MLB shirts again.

  12. From a defensive point of view, I would like to see an infield of Bellinger, Lux, Lindor, and Seager. That leaves out Turner and Muncy and that won’t happen. I would offer Seager an extension and assume if he and Boras won’t sign it, that Seager will be gone after 2021. That makes him a potential trade piece and since Bellinger will surely be in the outfield, Muncy and Turner would have infield spots.

    I would like to see both Lindor and Betts on the Dodgers next year. I have always liked Torres as well.

    • Torres is great but pretty much untouchable compared to Betts and Lindor, as their teams seem to be shopping them.

      • The Yankees might want to use him at SS if they don’t re-sign Didi Gregorous but without Didi, they are even more righty bat predominant. Lux or Seager might b e of interest to them.

        Dodgers need more righty bats and Yankees need more lefty bats. I want to keep all of the Dodger core but disregarding that, I would like to have a lineup some variation of Lindor, Lux, Torres, Betts, Bellinger, Pederson, Smith, Turner.
        Missing is Verdugo, Muncy, Seager who along with some prospects, might have to be included to get those righty bats. Pederson would probably be traded as well but I never include him in a trade as after all, it’s my trade.

        • Yep, it’s your team! Bum’s Bums. Big Yanks-Dodger trade followed by WS clash between the teams would be nice.

    • Loney was more deserving that year than Kemp and Ethier. Shows how much bat plays into a gold glove award.

      • Certainly a factor, but would note that Heyward won it 4 years in a row. The last two years with OPS+ 68 and 84. First two times with OPS+ 109 and 117.

  13. Aloha! Not sure we will get either, but which would people here prefer a big arm (say Cole) or a big bat (say Rendon)?