Jan 11

Hot Stove League #4, 2022-2023

The LA Times’s Jack Harris offers a recap and analysis of the Dodgers’ relative inactivity this offseason.

For most of Andrew Friedman’s tenure as the club’s president of baseball operations, this is how the Dodgers have operated.

They’ll flex their financial muscle on deals they believe to be worth the value, but rarely expand their financial strike zone beyond what they deem a deal to be worth.

In recent offseasons, that has meant hanging around “the backboard,” as Friedman likes to say, in hopes of scooping up a loose superstar on the rebound.

Sometimes it works, such as their blockbuster trade and extension for Mookie Betts in 2020, or the shock signing of Freddie Freeman after the league’s lockout last spring. Sometimes it doesn’t, such as when the Dodgers missed out on Bryce Harper in 2018 and Gerrit Cole in 2019.

But for a club that prioritizes “sustained success” — another Friedman principle — and considers multi-year outlooks when constructing its roster and payroll, it has become the default course of action.

This winter proved no different.

While Rodón and Jacob deGrom got nine-figure guarantees, the Dodgers filled out their pitching staff with Noah Syndergaard and Shelby Miller (they were also heavily linked with Seth Lugo).

While Trea Turner, Bogaerts and Correa secured long-term deals, the Dodgers added J.D. Martinez on a one-year deal, and Jason Heyward and Steven Duggar on minor league contracts (they also made a strong push for Kevin Kiermaier).

The team never completely abandoned the thought of another marquee signing. With Dansby Swanson, for example, they positioned themselves as a shorter-term alternative for the All-Star shortstop in case he didn’t get the mega-deal he was seeking. Swanson eventually agreed to a seven-year contract with the Chicago Cubs before the holidays.

But in the end, the Dodgers effectively decided to double-down on themselves, bypassing the very top of the free-agent market with the belief they could contend in 2023 in other, less expensive ways.

I don’t have major complaints about the team’s unwillingness to spend a fortune on long multi-year contracts for guys in their thirties, although I’d like to have seen them keep Trea Turner and re-sign Justin Turner (for a lot less than Trea). We’ll just have to wait and see how this younger team does and trust that Friedman and Company will be able to find competent help at the trade deadline.

Nov 25

Hot Stove League, Black Friday Edition

Rumor has it that there are at least four teams interested in the non-tendered Cody Bellinger.

MLB insider Jon Heyman joined Chicago’s 670 The Score radio station to talk MLB rumors. He said there’s at least four teams that he’s heard connected with the Dodgers’ centerfielder.

“I have heard Bellinger connected with the Cubs. Bellinger certainly would fit the White Sox,” Heyman said. “I’ve heard him with Astros, Jays, Cubs, I’m sure the Yankees, as well, would be interested in Bellinger.”

Heyman said that on a sports radio show. In a column at the New York Post he upgraded the number of interested teams to eleven!

From the same source, the Dodgers are expressing interest in Carlos Rodón, who spent last year with the Giants and posted a 14-8 record with an ERA 2.88 and a WHIP of 1.03.

Jul 21

Game 91, 2022

Giants at Dodgers, 7:09 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

LHP Carlos Rodón (8-5, 2.66 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Giants and RHP Mitch White (1-2, 4.20 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Rodón was picked to replace Josh Hader of the Brewers in the All Star Game but then decided the split nail and blood blister on the middle finger of his left hand needed rest, so he declined the opportunity to play (and was replaced by the Dodgers’ Tyler Anderson). This will be White’s ninth start this season; he’s gotten past the fifth inning just once.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1930 Harvey Henrick’s ninth-inning three-run round-tripper off the bench gives the Dodgers a dramatic 9-8 come-from-behind victory over the Redbirds at Ebbets Field in the first game of a twin bill. Redbirds George Puccinelli and Jim Bottomley and Brooklyn’s Hal Lee also homer appearing as pinch-hitters in the game.
  • 1956 In a 13-6 defeat to the Cubs, Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese becomes one of five active players to collect 2000 hits, and teammate Junior Gilliam sets a major league record by handling 12 assists at second base.
  • 1963 The usually mild-mannered Dodger manager Walter Alston is thrown out of both games of a doubleheader when the Braves sweep a twin bill from Los Angeles for the first and only time in Milwaukee, 7-2 and 13-7. To make matters worse, the manager has beer thrown in his face by a hometown fan as he leaves the second game. (My thanks to Lee for sharing this entry. He attended the game at County Stadium as a ten year-old. -LP)
  • 2003 At Dodger Stadium, Vladimir Guerrero hit his 226th career home run, breaking Andre Dawson’s club record. The Expos’ right fielder hits his milestone round-tripper off Odalis Perez, a 454-foot blast over the left field wall.

Lineups when available.

Jul 16

Game 90, 2022

Dodgers at Angels, 7:07 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports West, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (7-6, 3.01 ERA) takes the mound at the Big A (is it still called that?); he’ll face LHP José Suarez (1-3, 4.79 ERA). This will be Urías’s third start in July. His first was a six-inning five-hitter which he won. His second was a two-inning outing in which he hit two guys in the first inning and then gave up a grand slam home run. After all that, he was taken off the hook as the Dodgers wound up winning the game after a six-run third inning. Suarez has also had two starts this month but rather than winning one he lost one. In neither game did he go more than 4 2/3 innings.

Anderson replaces the Giants’ Carlos Rodón. The Giants may want to let him rest as their bullpen is overworked and if he can pitch deeper into games that will help.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 In a game against the Cubs, Superbas’ second baseman George Cutshaw handles 14 chances without an error. The infielder’s defensive prowess helps Brooklyn beat Chicago at Ebbets Field, 4-2.
  • 1948 Brooklyn’s Branch Rickey agrees on a deal with Giants owner Horace Stoneham that releases his manager Leo Durocher to become the Giants’ skipper, replacing the popular Mel Ott. Burt Shotton will take the ‘Lip’s’ place in the Dodger dugout.

On this date in 1990 Steve Lyons embarrassed himself dreadfully by dropping his uniform pants while standing at first base after sliding into the bag to beat out a bunt.


Lineups when available.

Jun 12

Game 60, 2022

Dodgers at Giants, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCS BA, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (3-5, 2.78 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers in an attempt to avert a sweep of the three-game series by the Giants. He’ll face LHP Carlos Rodón (4-4, 3.51 ERA), who didn’t make it into the fifth inning in his last start, mostly because the Rockies he faced fouled off “33 of the 98 pitches they saw. It was particularly noteworthy with Rodón’s go-to fastball; he threw 56 of them and got 20 foul balls to just two swinging strikes.”

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1940 In a trade which stuns the baseball world, the Dodgers obtain Ducky Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from the Cardinals for outfielder Ernie Koy, pitcher Carl Doyle, two minor leaguers, and $125,000. The deal to acquire the 1937 Triple Crown winner, which is engineered by GM Larry MacPhail, signals the emergence of Brooklyn as a serious contender.
  • 1941 The Braves break up the Waners’ brother act, sending Lloyd, known as ‘Little Poison’, to the Reds for pitcher Johnny Hutchings. ‘Big Poison’ Paul, the older sibling, was signed as a free agent with the team after being released by the Dodgers last month.
  • 2005 Hee-Seop Choi homers in his first three at-bats in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over Minnesota. The southpaw-swinging first baseman’s solo shot in the sixth off Brad Radke, who also gave up the infielder’s first two home runs, proves to be the difference in the Chavez Ravine contest.

Lineups when available.

May 03

Game 22, 2022

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCBS Bay Area, SPNLA

LHP Carlos Rodón (3-0, 1.17 ERA) pitches for the visiting Giants while LHP Julio Urías (1-1, 2.50 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Rodón has had a very good start to his year; he’s given up just three runs on eleven hits in his four starts, and he’s made it through at least five innings in all of them. Urías’ last three starts have been excellent despite getting just one decision (a win) in them; he’s given up two runs on four hits in those games.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 In a controversial move, Branch Rickey trades five Dodgers, including southerner Kirby Higbe, to the Pirates for five-foot, six-inch left-hand-hitting outfielder Al Gionfriddo and $100,000. Some believe ‘the Mahatma’ made the deal to send a message to the team about his commitment to breaking the color barrier and his support of Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the major leagues this century. It’s a darned good move, considering that Gionfriddo made a game-saving catch of a DiMaggio fly ball in Game 6 of that fall’s World Series.

  • 2004 Similar to last season, the aging outfielder Rickey Henderson re-signs with the Atlantic League’s Bears, hoping for a shot of returning to the big leagues. The 45 year-old future Hall of Famer batted .339, hit eight home runs, drove in 33 runs, scored 52 runs, and stole nine bases for the Newark team last season before joining the Dodgers in July.
  • 2009 Defeating San Diego 2-1 in 10 innings, the Dodgers tie a franchise record, winning their ninth consecutive decision at home from the start of the season. The 1946 club also reeled off nine straight victories at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field at the beginning of the post-war campaign.

Lineups when available.

Dec 03

Open Thread #3, 2021

As it stands, Max Scherzer and Corey Seager have left the Dodgers for greener pastures. Kenley Jansen may have found several teams willing to give him a longer term contract than the Dodgers are. They did re-sign Chris Taylor. Trea Turner can slide from second base to shortstop, where he’s played most of his MLB career. They’re hoping Max Muncy returns to full health, but he admitted earlier in the week that he’d torn his UCL in that last game and he wasn’t healing as quickly as he’d like.

They need starting pitching; right now they have Walker Buehler and Julio Urías. They need to re-sign Clayton Kershaw not just for sentimental reasons but because he’s still a very good starter. Their other starters include David Price and Tony Gonsolin and possibly newly-signed Andrew Heaney, whom they believe they can help improve and reduce his tendency to give up home runs.

Heaney has allowed home runs at a higher-than-average clip in three of the past four years, and he was among the game’s most homer-prone arms this past season. The former first-round pick allowed 2.01 HR per nine innings in 2021, a rate eclipsed by just five other hurlers (minimum 100 IP).

On the free agent market, the best starting pitching remaining includes Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Carlos Rodón. Trading for starters is another option, of course. And they’re waiting for Dustin May to rehabilitate from Tommy John surgery.

The lockout precludes any activities by teams or players until a new collective bargaining agreement is completed, so we may be in limbo for a while.

Aug 16

Game 119, 2017

White Sox at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-C

The White Sox try to get a split of this series tonight, sending out YALHP Carlos Rodon (1-4, 4.24 ERA) to face the Dodgers’ big (6′ 5″, 220 lbs) trade deadline acquisition, RHP Yu Darvish (8-9, 3.81).

This will be Darvish’s home debut, and if he continues the way he did in his first two starts for the Dodgers he’ll please the crowd, his teammates and management. Since his acquisition he’s 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and has 20 strikeouts to only three walks in 12 innings. He also has finished off a strikeout with 30.3 percent of his two-strike pitches. Rodon’s last start against the Astros was his best of the season. He went 8 innings and gave up just two runs but got no decision for all his work.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1950 At the Polo Grounds, Hank Thompson’s two inside-the-park home runs off Don Bankhead and Carl Erskine contribute to the Giants’ 16-7 drubbing of the Dodgers. The 24 year-old third baseman will hit 129 round-trippers in his 9-year career, three of which will be of the IPHR variety.
  • 1964 St. Louis outfielder Curt Flood collects eight consecutive hits during a doubleheader against Dodgers pitching. The Cardinals split the twin bill in Los Angeles, losing the opener to Sandy Koufax, 3-0, but take the nightcap when Curt Simmons tosses a six hitter to give the Redbirds a 4-0 victory.

Babe Ruth died in New York City on this day in 1948.

Lineup:

I suspect Kiké is in the lineup because he homered twice off Rodon in his only other start against the Dodgers back in July.

Jul 19

Game 95, 2017

Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, WGN

RHP Kenta Maeda (7-4, 4.38 ERA) makes his 14th start of the year. He’s only gone past five innings in three of those fourteen, but he’s won three of his last four decisions. He’ll be opposed by YALHP Carlos Rodon (1-2, 4.32 ERA), who made only one start in Spring Training before going on the DL with left biceps bursitis and has made three starts since coming off it on June 28.

Vin Scully performed with the LA Philharmonic last week and again last night.

Many an uncommon man and woman have read it in performances with proper forceful meaning during the history of Copland’s stirring patriotic justification of the American ideal, a 15-minute oration for narrator and orchestra written in early 1942 in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Not a word has gone out of date. But ours is such a fragmented whom-do-you-trust age, even Lincoln can be readily and shamelessly misinterpreted. So it proved an inspiration for Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to invite the most trusted voice in all of L.A. to recite “Lincoln Portrait” at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday night. The one person we can all agree about. Vin Scully.

Here are some video highlights.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 Pitcher Don Sutton wins All-Star MVP honors after helping the National League to a 7-5 victory over the American League. Sutton is the N.L.’s starting pitcher at Yankee Stadium and delivers three scoreless innings of work. He becomes only the third player in franchise history to be named All-Star MVP. Garvey also contributes to the N.L.’s victory with a home run in the third inning.
  • 1993 Outfielder Raul Mondesi makes his major league debut and singles in his first at-bat. He goes on to bat .291 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 42 games. The following season, he is named National League Rookie of the Year after batting .306 with 16 homers and 56 RBI.

Lineup: