DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread

Los Angeles can’t dodge major problem
by Tim Brown | Yahoo Sports — 7 hours ago



When global domination is your aim, a few unsteady days in Pittsburgh and L.A. probably aren’t enough to convince you a nice nap would be preferable to all that effort, any more than a few imprecise pitches within those few days would be cause for broad organizational reflection.

But, man, the Los Angeles Dodgers. What was that?

On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Dodgers were ahead by a couple runs when they handed the baseball to Jim Johnson. Something like seven hours later he handed the ball back – still in the seventh inning – and the team charter’s flight crew was drumming its fingers on the drink cart.

Over 33 pitches, Johnson became a professional base backer-upper, while Don Mattingly became a professional base backer-upper watcher, as a month-long pox on Dodgers relievers had taken up in Johnson’s new blue duffel bag.

Perhaps this wouldn’t be quite so disturbing had management not seen this before from the Dodgers’ bullpen, along with Mattingly’s inability to cope with it, but the new guys in charge surely watched last year’s playoffs, when, at one point, even Clayton Kershaw was made to play the role of Jim Johnson because Mattingly lacked a better alternative.

Plenty of the names have changed since then. Yet, for 3½ weeks the Dodgers’ bullpen ERA is a tick below 7 and its batting average against is .311, and Johnson wasn’t around for most of that. You know who won’t be around for whatever comes next? Aroldis Chapman. Neither will Craig Kimbrel. Even Francisco Rodriguez. Or Jonathan Papelbon.

Johnson was capable in Atlanta, where his ERA was 2.25 over 49 appearances. Lefty Luis Avilan, who came to L.A. in the same trade, wasn’t quite as efficient, but he was (reverse split alert) killing right-handed hitters. Andrew Friedman had filled the bullpen with veterans who seemed reliable enough or with big arms that might become reliable. The result has been, let’s say, spotty, as for reasons of health or other circumstance 19 different pitchers have made at least one relief appearance (to go with the 13 who have made at least one start, with minimal overlap).

For a team whose payroll is pushing $300 million, any consequential flaw seems counterintuitive. And while a three-and-a-half week dip perhaps lends a snuck-up-on-us quality to whatever decisions were made at the trading deadline, the fact is the Dodgers’ bullpen has posted a 5.49 ERA since the beginning of June. So, it seems, this was coming, as Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell and Pedro Baez probably can’t pitch every night and, to the goal of minimizing the innings of others, neither can Kershaw nor Zack Greinke.

Johnson, who in four appearances as a Dodger has blown two saves and lost two games, presumably will be better. If not, the club has gotten very good at paying players to go away. The problem is, who do they replace them with, and will they be any better than what was already there, and what could this mean for October?

They’d hate to be backing up so many bases then.

 

The Blue Jays are half a game behind the Yankees....that was fast. Seems like the Yankees were 7 up just a week or two ago

 

rest assured, if this happens... utley will hit .450 down the stretch (.750 against us) and win lds, lcs, and world series mvp

Giants, Phillies are having ongoing talks about Chase Utley
by Craig Calcaterra | NBC Sports Hardball Talk — 30 minutes ago

As we mentioned yesterday, Chase Utley has cleared waivers, meaning he can be traded anyplace as long as he consents. Jon Morosi updates on the latest involving the team most commonly linked to Utley:

Jon Morosi‏@jonmorosi
Sources: #SFGiants and #Phillies in ongoing talks about Chase Utley trade.
Stage is advanced enough that prospect names have been discussed.
12:31 PM - 12 Aug 2015​

It wouldn’t take a ton of prospects, of course, given where Utley is in terms of both his contract and his production. He has been productive in the handful of games since coming off the disabled list, however, going 7-for-17 with three doubles and three driven in.​

 

probably more about philly rebuilding
rollins and hamels... utley... probably followed by howard and ruiz
plus they'll probably trade him to sf for peanuts since they gave pence for

 

The Yankees not doing shit at the deadline should have their fans storming the gates