DODGERS 2017 NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread

We've had worse clean up hitters. But yeah, can't be fun riding a sinking ship.

 

Agreed. I get it.
But looking at some deals in recent years, especially using minor league " phenoms", LA has had, with it's PR skills and media acumen, bitch smacked other teams now and then.
I'm not complaining, but just find it a little head scratching they can get it done again...And again.
I mean, cool...Go Andy Neutron, boy genius.
But damn, what about "fool me once, shame on blah , blah, blah...?
Of JDL is a real bust, can we expect to go to the Rays again for players? I mean, in this decade anyway?

 

The Rays have certainly been our whipping boy when it comes to the deals we have made since the new FO took over, but their GM and Friedman are actually best friends so them not working with us in the future is not likely. The phenom trades you speak of are not really something this FO has done. The AGon deal was the last one where we sent out our own top spects, but we were reeling with a shitty farm system and were trading our "top prospects" that would not have even been in this years Top 15. It was the Boston media that turned RDLR into the next Pedro and Webster into an ace. One was viewed as a good reliever, the other as a back end rotation piece which made a lot of people that follow the Dodgers farm laugh after seeing some of the other BS.
Where the FO has excelled is getting other teams "meh" or falling prospects and turning them into valuable pieces. Such as Peraza, De Jong, Montas, Thompson, Barnes, Toles, Dayton and Liberatore to name a few. I feel that's going to be where teams will take a step back from the table and reassess when we ask about those types of prospects. Especially so if Drew Jackson suddenly returns to top prospect status.
Teams won't be afraid to deal with us if one guy fails, because as of right now, the league looks at the Dodgers as an organization that has the developing prospects thing down.

 

Agreed..they have things clicking on the farm in terms of operations and development. Pretty outstanding. To the point where they don't really even have to make trades or go out and fool anyone, they can just call up guys they've groomed and been able to mold. Yankees lookin @ Segedin's numbers in OKC like.." WTF? "

A while back somebody, who wanted to deal Urias, compared Billingsley's #1 LAD spec status to Urias' #1 spec status in an effort to argue that Urias should be dealt...that's what the Boston hype surrounding Rubby and Webster reminds me of. Ridiculousness.

 

People also don't realize how much the scouting world has changed in the last couple years alone. As little as a few seasons ago, teams would go on what maybe one or two area scouts had to say about a guy and the hype train played a part as well. These days almost every MiLB team has a TV contract and there is countless video for scouts and even FO guys to watch and breakdown before a deal is stuck. There are also way more scouting services out there now, which is helping fans get informed better on players so that they will or won't overreact on certain prospects.

 

Man, with last nights performance, paired with today's news that the Brewers will be without their "Ace" for 6+ weeks may get the fanbase trade winds brewing a bit earlier this season. I'm sure the Braun talk will get loud pretty quick, but the chances of anything like that happening before June at the earliest are very very slim. The Dodgers are going to give Puig a shot and though he went Ofer last night, he still hit the shit out of the ball so they aren't giving up after game two. It doesn't help that the Dodgers are basically locked in at 6 of the 8 positions and they have a large assortment of guys to tryout at those other two corner spots before nabbing a new LF'er with injury concerns.

 

Absolutely, so they knew what they were getting in JDL. I mean before you really even start digging and taking advantage of new age scouting..he's about to be 25 and yet to make the jump..that'd clue Stevie Wonder in that JDL's not perfect. But they have the patience to work with him and to a degree, an org like Tampa has to take a chance on a guy even if he just has a smidgen of front line potential because of their payroll limitations. I'm with you in that I don't think that division is gonna do him any favors, but they can ease him in and figure out what plays and what doesn't. But yeah, that's one of the best things about Friedman and where he was coming from..Tampa being an org that has to take chances and w/LAD's ability to develop..shiiid, the teams are really a match made in heaven in terms of helping one another.

 

Exactly, Braun will be there..it's a last resort for them.
But I tell you what..since we're on the topic of Tampa/LAD relations..if Longo starts logging some corner OF innings, look out. Lol
Braun may be the new Dozier..and Longo the new Forsythe.

 

The Rays are not going to start moving Longoria around the field. Now that the Dodgers have resigned Turner, you can bet that the Longoria to LA rumors are dead unless something really bad happens. I could see the Dodgers circle back around on Dozier though as he could take 2B and the team can move Forsythe to LF if need be. In all likelihood though, this team is probably not going to acquire a starter for the OF, but likely just an upgrade off the bench that may be a lefty killer.

 

Peeps also don't seem to understand that if we add a Braun, can pretty much say goodbye to Manny Machado dreams at that point because Braun has to move out of the corner OF and soon and that means 1B for him, locking JT into the left side.
Keep running 35/36/37 yr old Braun out there in the OF if you want to..gonna see " DL " next to his name even more than the last few years and making the kind of $$$ he's making, we don't need that Carl Crawford/big money/DL business anymore.
Circling back for Dozier would be cool if the price is right this time around, but if Trayce reaches that .850-.870 OPS form again they'll have their LF and Forsythe can keep doing his thing @ 2B

 

Could potentially re-sign both Dozier and Forsythe post-2018.
Forsythe or JT to 1B, the other mans 3B.
Stud Machado is blocked, but it's cost-effective/still highly productive at the least.
Bellinger's versatility makes all these dreams possible tho, so he's the real MVP

 

I really don't think MGT is realistically looking at Braun now or at the deadline this year.......there are too many internal options.

Trayce and Ethier are still viable options. But lets say both struggle with injuries, then there is Bellinger and Verdugo behind those two. IMO it does not make sense for MGT spend the prospects to bring in Braun......unless we shed unwanted contracts to get him. I could see Dodger MGT getting tricky with the trades and maybe offers up Puig and Ethier for Braun and maybe a prospect.

2017 Braun = 19M 2017 Ethier/Puig = 25m
2018 Braun = 19M 2018 Ethier/Puig = 9.5M (assuming Ethier buyout)
2019 Braun = 18M
2020 Braun = 16M
2021 Braun = 4M(assuming buyout)

We would save money this year but have to eat money the next 3. So I guess the question becomes, is Braun's production higher than that of a Puig/Ether platoon to warrant the extra cash in 2018-2021??? Don't know. Also this is predicated on the Brew Crew wanting to get rid of Braun's contract.

IMO, MGT holds and does not add any payroll because of the possibility of Machado/Harper/Otani and Kershaw's extension.

 

Are we really trying to acquire players 2 games into the season? Lol slow it down and let chips fall before speculation.

In my best nacho libre voice" Take it easy"...

 

Someone needs to sit Clay Buchholz down for a tough conversation about three years ago. I'm watching his start just to see what damage Votto can do off him and it's painful.

 

Watching the Brewers and Rockies. The Rox may have some issues this year if their pitchers can't go deeper into games. First of two rookies going for them today. Seems to have a pretty straight fastball and is obviously amped for his first big league start. Brewers should be up 1-0, but their 3rd base coach made a bad hold up call. No Braun and pitcher got out of bases loaded 1 out jam. I want to see them get beat around today and have to go to the pen early.

Bah, wrong thread

 

Joe Maddon bless his heart . Moves Jon Lester around so he can pitch against us in Chicago. 7 games into the season and he's playing matchup yikes, he MUST be afraid of us. Looking at it another way of course is that he respects us.

 

Sure...The LAD are a good team. With a glaring, unrepaired problem that looks as if it has continued right into this season. Even by the AAA teams like SD. We become nothing.
I think Maddon is not as wonderful as most do, and if he " respects" us, fine...imo, probably more a case of absolutely exploiting a well-known, continuing, gaping weakness. Not genius shit going on here.
Everybody knows it, so why shouldn't they?