The Dodgers, for all of the hand-wringing and complaints about their offseason inaction, are actually sitting quite pretty when it comes to leverage. They can use it now. They can use it in July. They can be opportunistic. They do not have to feed the hot stove beast simply because it has hunger pangs.
So says ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and he’s a lot smarter than Bill Plaschke, who wrote a somewhat whiny column last week taking the Dodgers and their owners to task for not doing something, anything that would give the fans (and columnists) Dodger news to talk about.
One solution to sign stealing is to make them so complicated that only the pitcher and catcher can understand them. That may increase the time between pitches however.
Speaking of buzzers…
Its patterns that are the tell. Wood and Barnes said they switched up after 8-9 pitches during his WS start against Asteriks in 2017, when he pitched 5 2/3 giving up only one hit and one run.
In the body of a story about Ross Stripling The Athletic mentions he”s co-host of a podcast whose tagline is “Sports, Pop Culture, Business, and everything in between!”
The story notes that, living in Houston as he does, Stripling works out with the Astros’ George Springer and does PT with their Josh Reddick.
Stripling comes off as a guy who really likes to stay busy; he worked out at 9:00am, was done and in an office at his brokerage firm/employer at noon. When the market closed three hours later he went home. After dinner he went to the local ESPN studio to co-host MLB Network’s hour-long Sirius XM radio show. He got back home after 9:00pm.
Of course, back in the day even big leaguers had off-season job. oops wrong place.
This time I agree with Plaschke’s righteous anger:
God knows the NCAA is not my favorite organization, but it vacates titles when it feels that’s necessary.
I saw a guy wearing a Houston t-shirt today in my BA barrio but didn’t get a chance to ask him about the Asterisks’ cheating.
In the offseason Dodgers’ minor leaguers are working as barbacks, as retail clerks, as Uber and Lyft drivers. This all sounds romantic (Richie Hebner digs graves!) until you remember they don’t get rich playing in the low minors either:
That’s in The Athletic, which may still be having a subscription sale.
Back in the day even big leaguers had off-season jobs. IIRC Don Demeter used to chop wood. At a minimum, have to agree with this fellow in terms of clubs being silly not to provide training facilities for their minor leaguers. As well, one would think that they should provide for better accommodations and meals during the season, given that these are “investments”. Gather that the better prospects can rely on signing bonuses to tide them over for at least a couple of years. Players chosen in the first 20 rounds, i.e. half of them, mostly sign for at least 6 figures.
Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger lit into MLB and the Astros’ players the other day, pointing out that if he got hammered by a team which knew the signs he could lose his job, get demoted, lose future pay, etc.
Little more than 3 weeks till P&C. Looking more and more like the FO goes with it’s usual Plan B: hold on to your MLB-ready prospects and wait until mid-season to reevaluate needs and use second tier prospects to purchase a few months of future FAs.
I’m fine with that
Colorado wants a top prospect catcher and MLB players that will make the team better than they are with Arenado. Obviously the Dodgers seem acceptable to include Ruiz in a trade but where would they find space in their infield for Arenado? If Seager and Ruiz were traded for Arenado the Dodgers would have that righty bat and one less lefty bat but a good defensive infield gets rearranged.
1B Turner instead of Muncy
2B Muncy instead of Lux
3B Arenado instead of Turner
SS Lux instead of Seager
Who would do that trade?
Who would play 3B for CO? Seager or Story?
Seager only has two years of control but with Arenado’s opt out clause, so does he.
Hmm. I think that he can opt out of 2021, so a high price, but not unthinkable.
Aronado wants to play in LA so I would think the Dodgers could buy out his opt out clause at a reasonable price and hopefully they agree before a trade was made. If he stays in CO he will probably opt out so he and Seager would be free agents at the same time.
you are right, Arenado has two years, same as Seager. I’d do it.
Casey Sadler was DFA’d (to make room for Alex Wood) then traded to the Cubs for a minor league
pitchersecond baseman named Clayton Daniel.Good one from Jeff Passan today on ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28501298/undefined
Carlos Beltran out as Mets manager, more fallout from the Astros scandal.
The only Mets manager ever to go undefeated
But then he never won a single game, either.
It’s a shame, really. He had his best years playing for the Mets. Would’ve been a nice homecoming.
It’s his own fault.
Likely to be the only “player” to suffer from this.
Hall-of-Famish numbers, ranking 9th out of 19 CF in the Hall now. Guessing that voters will punish him as well.
I’m not sure what prompted it, but James Loney did an interview on WFAN in New York today about the Astros scandal, and also his brief time with the Mets (which I’d totally forgotten about).
One factoid near the end – he is currently employed by the Dbacks, which just seems wrong.
Heh. I do love me some Emmylou Harris, and here’s another reason why:
https://youtu.be/dYnpPEC58Mc
So cool.
The reaction to Manfred’s penalties around baseball is not all huzzahs and applause, says ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In particular, Manfred’s statement exonerated the Astros’ owner Jim Crane. That’s not going over well.
Even before MLB chimes in, Sawx fire Alex Cora.
The dominos begin to fall. No help for The a Dodgers and their WS hopes.
No surprise. Now they have to scramble to find someone to replace him on short notice. The current bench coach in Boston is Ron Roenicke, who managed the Brewers for a few years.
You mispelled can. Even before MLB chimes in, Sawx CAN Alex Cora.
https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/151df81/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2400×1764+0+0/resize/840×617!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F78%2F68%2Fb58609984a85a8e1215a63791bf3%2Fjim-thompson-cartoon.jpg
Jeff Luhnow says, “I am not a crook.”
Heh. Darvish is a funny guy.
https://twitter.com/faridyu/status/1216877422823559169
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3383c96fe67527f46f052e0eaa952dd7f63ba50c2a5dffc99856c3cb0e8a1303.jpg
The Dodgers
Molly says it best:
MLB’s punishment of the Astros brings no joy to the Dodgers or their fans
https://theathletic.com/1531811/2020/01/13/mlbs-punishment-of-the-astros-brings-no-joy-to-the-dodgers-or-their-fans/
So what’s the Dodgers’ official response going to be? “We lost two World Series to teams who have either been proven or are under investigation for cheating.”
THere are also some rumors that the Dodgers have done some similar things, so probably best to keep a low profile.
Can you be more specific?
Apparently (in a since deleted instagram post), Logan Morrison claimed that the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox have also been using electronic tech to steal signs. He seems to have quieted down since, so there may be nothing to it. For one thing, how would he even know, being as he’s been mostly in the AL. For another, if the Dodgers have been doing it, they’ve been doing a much worse job at it than the Astros or Sawx.
I am not sure what they can say, but it is very unfair, and makes MLB look bad.
It certainly explains Yu’s meltdown, Kershaw’s flawed performance, etc. a little better.
Read an article in December about Wood’s 1 hit 1 run performance into the sixth in game 4. He said that they were already wary of ‘Stros stealing signs such that he and Barnes were changing signs every 8-10 pitches.
Well, they have been told not to say anymore on the issue by MLB.
Wow. From SI:
The article tries to cover the sign-stealing from the beginning in 2014 when replay (hence real-time video) became available to teams as well as umpires.
It got worse for Hinch and Luhnow, because the Astros’ owner then fired them. Old friend Alex Cora is reputedly the next one the stompy foot is going to land on. He was deeply involved with the Asros scheme, and then apparently brought it with him to Boston.
Manfred also put that tool of an assistant GM, Brandon Taubman, on the ineligible list, both for his part in the scheme, and for his misogynistic comments in the locker room back in October. Manfred really lays into him in the report.
If Cora is suspended, perhaps Bosox more inclined to reload for upcoming year and move Mookie now.
Slap on the wrist.
What would be more appropriate to your mind?
Vacate title, confiscate rings, demote to Texas League, require franchise to change name from “Astros” to “Minute Maids.”
Trying to see a positive light here, but how about MLB removes the availability for real time video? Why should managers have the ability to watch replay prior to challenging a call? If they think the umpire missed it, challenge it immediately; if not, move on.
Trying to see a positive light here, but how about MLB removes the availability for real time video? Why should managers have the ability to watch replay prior to challenging a call? If they think the umpire missed it, challenge it immediately; if not, move on.
Alex Wood is back.
So he is.
He only pitched 35 poor innings last season. I presume he was injured.
From CBS Sports:
Dodger hot stove stoked with wood and not cole.
Messrs. Bellinger, Seager, Hernandez, Stripling, and Urias all avoided arbitration by reaching deals with the Dodgers. Bellinger’s $11M sets a new record for most money awarded in a player’s first year of arbitration eligibility, surpassing Kris Bryant’s $10.85M in 2018. Seager nearly doubled his salary to $7.6M, Kiké got a $2M raise to $5.9M, Stripling a $1.5M raise to $2.1M, and Urias nearly doubled his wages from $565K to $1M.
Hearings are the worst. Believe the last one for the Dodgers was Joe Beimel (he lost). Guessing that FO will do it’s darndest to resolve these beforehand.
Possible target just got way more expensive. Mookie Betts and the Sox reach a one-year arbitration deal of $27M. New. League. Record.
Guessing that a couple of million either way was already factored in by FO on whether to go after him or not and that sticking points are which prospects and whether Price is included.