whatever puig's plan was it went out the window once molina got in his head from there he swung at everything, hard, trying to hit the ball a mile instead of just trying to get on base true selfishness, which is something that doesn't exist on the cards or giants
I agree. BUT in our defense, they haven't had the ownership turnover we've had over that time. Continuity is huge in all team sports. Which as much as some people don't like to hear it all leads back to The Dodger Way of doing things. All the guys on this team have grown up under different management groups thus they all have different approaches to the game. We need to bring in more old time Dodgers to instill OUR way of playing this game. Pitching, Defense, Speed and Fundamentals. Little things like teaching players the proper way to slide or how to round a baseball or how to hit behind runners will do wonders for this team. Just look at Dees development once he bought into Lopes instruction. Although Big Mac might be a good hitting coach he was brought up under an American League system and an American League way if playing the game. That is why the players swing for the fences at will. Because that's how they play the game in that shit league. It all starts at the top and trickles down to management, coaches, instructors, scouts and so on. Until we get that system in place we are fucked. Look at the teams that win year in and year out and you will see that they have the continuity in place so that everyone is on the same page. Whatever page that might be
and if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle point is, they didn't lose and then they beat the team with the best record in the nl good "teams" find a way to win bad teams do not giants and cards found a way to win we found ways to lose
Giants aren't better than the Dodgers, not at all playoffs are a crap shoot, 5 game series is bullshit
we're more talented they're a better team agreed that playoffs are a crap shoot and 5 game series are bullshit but doing it over five seasons isn't a fluke
we're seeing eye to eye for the most part. Hanley's obviously a big talent, but he's also an enigma/headcase..been that way his whole career. i don't believe that putting him in another " contract year situation " will do the Dodgers much good. imo, you either go big with this guy, or cut bait completely. we absolutely saw Hanley's ABs this year take on a high level of selfishness and that shit is infectious, especially when it's a coming from one of the better players on the team. Puig, for one, as a young player he looks up to Hanley. i don't believe we need to rush Seager and possibly ruin the kid. my move would be to sign Hardy because he's good and because we can..an elite defensive glove/9 inning player with potential to hit 10-20HRs. he's worth the money over a short span. Hardy's 32yrs old and of course his value is @ SS, so he won't get an extra long offer from anyone else. give him a 3yr deal and if he slows up, Seager gets his SS spot in a year or two and he moves to 3B. or they can just turn things over to Arruba in a couple years and go with their plan to transition Seager to his projected spot @ 3B. i agree..we can be just as good, if not better, without Hanley if Kemp continues his comeback, AGon is steady, we upgrade offensively @ catcher, Puig/Dee/Joc progress, we get another front end starter and grab an Andrew Miller and David Robertson. still need to focus on having a top flight bench as well. we should own the major league depth category. there was an idea of selling high on Dee..that's maybe a good idea, but they could also sell high on Puig and really impact the culture of the team. there's only 1 guy in contract limbo that's worth trading Puig for though..gonna see how that guy's contract extension talks go with Miami pretty soon. but even if that doesn't happen, we'll be fine without Hanley if they shape up elsewhere and guys continue to get better. nobody predicted that Dee would make the impact that he made this year. guys step up..get a new manager/new leadership and " we're fine ".
i'm with you on everything except the McGwire part. Mac was here in 2013, when Hanley was willing to keep his head down and punish teams with line drive after line drive. we only saw glimpses of that from Hanley this year and that's pretty much because he was pressing from the start and tryin to have a 50HR season in his contract year. he came out of the gates slow, having shit ABs..got hit on the hand and missed some time, and then came back tryin to hit 10-run HRs and 3HRs a game. even Mattingly acknowledged that the contract stuff was affecting him. and not only that, but Hanley then shunned the media this year after a while because he knew he wasn't having his kind of year and we all know that wouldn't have happened if he were playing great. and he was still able to make an impact while being selfish..that's just how good he is. still..that's not leadership. that's selfishness. i fully believe that Hanley would've been a ton better this year had they given him a contract before the season..in those terms..Colletti and Kasten dropped the ball. and i really hope Kasten or the new GM doesn't bring us back into " contract year Hanley world " next year by having him sign a qualifying offer. if they want him..give him 4yrs/70M and call it a day, but i hope they move on without him. there's no way that anybody can say that Big Mac is instructing these dudes to swing for the fences when they have a guy on 3rd base with 1 out. how many times did we FAIL in that situation this year? about a 100,000 times? and it wasn't just Hanley..he's just the one we're discussing most of the time because he's the easiest to get rid of being that he's a free agent. but when you put together a bunch of superstars ( both former and present) the way they did, you have expect some selfishness and that trickles down as well. the other night, Puig's at 3B and Kemp comes up with a chance to get Puig home with 1 out..1st pitch..Kemp hacks and damn near comes out of his shoes. just bullshit. guys out there tryin to be THE star. that's a culture problem and it's fucked up because Kemp is home-grown. and i actually think Kemp has leadership traits..he's just not 100% with those, but he does care. but if the right deal came along and they wanted to deal him too..so be it. he went up there for his last AB and he may as well have been blindfolded. 1-2-3, sit down. but also he saved us from being swept. because of his willingness to go to bat for his teammates, i think there's enough good in Kemp to keep him around. still, imo, we need 1 everyday player..1 guy that separates himself from the rest..1 guy who EVERYBODY KNOWS is the star player/captain of the team, so that they have no choice but to fall in line and know their roles. everybody wants to call us " Yankees-west ", well, we don't have a Jeter..an everyday presence. maybe that'll end up being Seager, but we can't know that for sure right now. but that's the biggest reason why i hope they send Puig to Miami for Stanton. because Stanton's a character kid..he won't be a home-grown Dodger, but he's a hometown kid and there will be no questions as to who's who around the LAD if that happens. he's a humble kid that just wants to win..somebody that guys wanna do right by. all the reports are saying that he's less about the money that teams are gonna offer him pretty soon and more about playing for a perennial winner. we may not be winning championships, but we're winning more games than the Marlins and Cubs (more than the Red Sox this year as well). the team with the largest payroll in sports history should have a Stanton. that's our Jeter in waiting and it's gonna take Kim Ng or Logan White to get him home. God bless Puig..he'll love it in Miami with his family and friends and actually beg to stay there long term.
oh and i see no reason to just throw Ethier away..valuable lefty off the bench. outside of him giving us good ABs from the pinch role, with his willingness to take a lesser role, he should have a positive influence on the kids coming up. they can see 1st hand - what to do and how to respond if they're faced with the same and they can also see that just because you're making big money, if you're a bum - you sit. best of both worlds. actually, i take that back..if we get a new manager and it turns out that Ethier will only come off the bench for Dum Dum..deal his ass. Lol i mean try to get him to adhere to the new manager 1st, but if he doesn't wanna hear it and/or is just tired of sitting..gotta go i guess.
No. Most people aren't gonna like this, but I like Asdrubal Cabrera as a short-term SS fit, probably 2 years. Seager can play 3B in 2016 after Uribe is gone.
AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, this sucks. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Brian Wilson is exercising his player option and will be back next year at a salary of 9.5 million. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/10/brian-wilson-to-exercise-player-option.html
VERY disappointed at our offense especially at the top!!! Yasiel was horrible, Dee should have been replaced by Justin. Hanley just tanked his new contract which could be good news for his price tag. Where in the fuck was AGon and Uribe????? You know it's bad when AJ was our leading hitter and the only guy along with Kemp who put up good at-bats. DBB is going to get a pass from what I heard and that is a crime. Pitching Elbert instead of Howell, leaving Kershaw in when in the 1st game they hit 4 or 5 screaming liners, I know our bully sucks but YOU CANNOT lose that game. He also pinch hit SVS against a right handed pitcher who he is bad against. Love the season but this just can't happen to us every year against the Cardinals. Sign Lester, Uyehara and GET Andrew Miller. Even though Haren gave us some good times please don't take that option brother! As for our offense do I dare say it???? Sign the Panda, I know Juan has another year but Juan can play 2nd right?? Put Dee back at SS. lol. As for Russ I want to sign him because our catchers are WEAK but 4 years? Now Hanley what to do with you! If we sign the Panda then obviously you are gone but there is so much talent there and you are fun to watch but stay healthy man!! That's it I can't type anymore the pain is just too fresh. I am out!!!
I have actually thought about Cabrera, maybe even a 1 year deal to raise his stock, it'd be something to think about IF we find out Hanley is leaving 100%
It's disgusting how a week ago I couldn't be anymore excited about playoff baseball and now when someone brings it up, I just tune them out. We should be playing a game 5 tonight....:sigh:
yeah a lot of you guys are more in tune with our farm guys only thing i saw was his (albeit small sample size) success in aa wouldn't hurt to give him a look in spring training though...
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/...ager-don-mattingly-expects-return-next-season He's proud. Fans are disgusted. What a tool. "didn't beat ourselves." A loss is a loss you tool. And you should NOT have lost! "World Series or bust". Grow a pair and stand behind the comment of your best player.
