TEMP CLOSED NEWS/RUMORS Thread

its been a really weird day for me and then i open the site and see arraez to the Dodgers misinfo and...Dean never had a hit before today? and yeah that was a horrible misplay.

 

Easy to forget how good Phillips has been. 2.22 ERA and 42 saves his only two full seasons.

 

The Mis "roughed up" for two runs in six innings tonight.

 

Blake Treinen to the 60-day IL – my assumption

https://x.com/FabianArdaya/status/2068564239623844180

Fabian Ardaya: Dave Roberts said Blake Treinen reported a lack of range of motion this morning following last night’s outing. Already went through imaging. He will be down for “a minute,” Roberts said.

 

Amputation on tap soon.

 

I need to stop taking penjamin rips during the day. I believed a bad tweet.

 

in other news stadium workers were seen w a backhoe digging what appeared to be a 6ft deep rectangular hole behind the right field bleachers

 

After yesterday's game we've got to find some joy in the grand old game.

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/sf-giants-devers-runner-22314246.php

 

Lots of joy in Mudville ....

https://x.com/NBCSGiants/status/206...-pinch-run-decision-amid-one-run-loss-marlins

 

who's going to want that contract now? i'm sure they'd like to dump him and/or Adames but they've really fucked the team for a good while...LOL

 

Nothing eases the mind of the savage beast like the Giants blowing (very homo) 6-2 lead in the final three innings. Gift from the baseball gods on a day off for our boys.

 

How soon until his arm flies off into the first base dugout?

 

How is it possible?

 

Some good stuff here from MLB Trade Rumors..............

MLBTR kicked off its team-by-team look at the trade deadline in the Bronx and now goes to Hollywood. The Dodgers are the clearest win-now club there is. They are coming off two straight World Series victories and are looking to be just the fifth threepeat in MLB history and the first since the Yankees from 1998 to 2000. That being said, they don’t always go for the jugular at the deadline.

Record: 52-29 (100% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Starting pitching, relief pitching, utility

Despite all their recent success, the Dodgers usually don’t win the deadline. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said that he doesn’t like paying the inflated prices that come with the frenzied bidding, particularly for relievers. Though the Dodgers have nabbed the last two titles, their most recent championship followed a very quiet deadline. They actually traded Dustin May to the Red Sox for prospects, which is more of a seller move. Their big additions were complementary pieces like reliever Brock Stewart, outfielder Alex Call and catcher Ben Rortvedt.

They were more aggressive in 2024, however, adding Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman, Michael Kopech, Amed Rosario and Kevin Kiermaier, though they also traded James Paxton to the Red Sox in exchange for a prospect, a similar move to the May trade.

At the moment, the pitching staff looks like it could use some upgrading, though that’s not really abnormal for the Dodgers. The club is generally willing to sign injury-prone players and then be very patient with their recoveries in the summer. Broadly speaking, they are fine with a guy missing huge chunks of the regular season if he is healthy by October, since that’s what really matters for the Dodgers. They’re not really worried about missing the playoffs, so the regular season games don’t matter nearly as much.

At the moment, 11 arms are currently on the club’s injured list, including big names like Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Edwin Díaz, Blake Treinen and Evan Phillips. However, each of those guys is expected back in the second half.

At the moment, the Dodgers have Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the front of the rotation but things get flimsy after that. Eric Lauer has a 2.54 ERA for the club but a 5.22 FIP and 4.98 SIERA. Justin Wrobleski has a 2.71 ERA but a 3.62 FIP and 4.63 SIERA. Both Lauer and Wrobleski have benefited from very fortunate luck in terms of batting average on balls in play and strand rate. Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki each have ERAs near 5.00.

Upgrading that group could be a target, in theory, but the eventual returns of Snell and Glasnow might address the rotation internally. If the Dodgers expect to have a playoff rotation of Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow, they won’t feel compelled to make big additions there. Similarly, the bullpen looks like it could use some work right now but the Dodgers probably feel that the returns of Diaz, Treinen and Phillips will negate the need to give up prospects for external additions. Once the rotation is healthier, they could indirectly help the bullpen if someone like Sasaki gets moved into a relief role.

There are dozens of arms they could target but it’s possible they surprise with modest adds. Would anyone have predicted Stewart to be their only pitching acquisition last year? It’s also probably best not to take anything off the table. This is the Dodgers, after all. They could do something big if they really wanted to. For instance, though their playoff rotation already looks good on paper, why not make a run at Tarik Skubal? If they really want the three-peat, they could put their foot on the gas. They could add to their already-strong bullpen by getting Aroldis Chapman.

There are arguments against them making such a bold strike. As mentioned, they generally don’t like to win the deadline by surrendering big prospects. That might be extra true right now. The front office has spoken about wanting to avoid a cliff where the team gets too old. Their roster already had the oldest average age when they won the World Series last year. Their core players are all now one year older. If they want to pivot to the next generation, they will have to hold onto some prospects so that the veteran guys can be replaced internally with younger ones.

On the position player side of things, the lineup is loaded with future Hall-of-Famers, but a complementary addition could be in order. Enrique Hernández is out of action with a significant oblique tear and has an uncertain timeline. Santiago Espinal and Hyeseong Kim struggled in utility roles. Espinal is now a free agent and Kim is in the minors.

Ryan Ward and Alex Freeland are producing subpar offense in part-time roles, though they may get squeezed out of playing time soon. When Teoscar Hernández returns from the injured list, he could retake the full-time left field job. Edman, currently splitting his time between left and second, could become more of an everyday second baseman.

Ward and Freeland both have options. The Dodgers might prefer they get regular playing time in Triple-A as opposed to sitting on the bench. Perhaps adding another multi-positional guy for the bench would be in order. Someone like Willi Castro could be a good fit, if the Rockies don’t mind trading him within the division. The Red Sox should have Isiah Kiner-Falefa available. Ezequiel Durán would make sense if the Rangers fall back in the standings.

Potential Trade Chips

As a win-now club looking to add big league talent, the obvious trade currency to use is prospects. For the Dodgers specifically, outfield prospects would be the area to focus on. The Dodgers currently have six prospects on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. Five of them are outfielders. Josue De Paula is fifth overall, Mike Sirota 17th, Eduardo Quintero 20th, Zyhir Hope 56th and Charles Davalan 99th.

There will eventually be a crunch of some kind. Quintero and Davalan are only at the High-A level but De Paula, Sirota and Hope are all at Double-A. Getting promoted to Triple-A this year is possible for all three. Guys like James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard are lesser prospects but are at the Triple-A level and also in the mix. Once Teoscar comes off the IL, Ward might end up back at Triple-A.

The Dodgers have Teoscar signed through 2027, with a club option for 2028. Tucker is signed through 2029, though with opt-out chances after 2027 and 2028. Andy Pages is under club control through 2030.

As mentioned, the Dodgers are wary of getting too old. Most of their star players are in their mid-30s. If they want to get younger, they will need these kinds of prospects. But they won’t have room for all of them, so perhaps they feel they can subtract here.

Payroll Outlook

The Dodgers have been printing money lately. They’ve had a sweetheart TV deal since the team was sold in 2012. Their recent titles, combined with having Japanese stars like Ohtani and Yamamoto, has led to massive revenues from ratings, attendance, merchandise, ad sales, etc.

To the team’s credit, they have pumped a lot of that money back into the roster. Per the MLBTR Payroll Tracker, their competitive balance tax number is a massive $417MM, miles beyond the $244MM base threshold and over $100MM beyond the $304MM top tier of the tax. They’re already looking at a tax bill of about $166MM, on top of their LRD payroll of $328MM. Despite having all that money already on the books, they haven’t shown signs of stopping.

Organizational Overview

The Dodgers haven’t missed the playoffs since 2012 and have won the two most recent World Series. Their roster is still loaded with stars. But they have played things cool at the deadline before, including just last year. Perhaps they will do so again. But if they want to make a bold strike, they have endless funds and a strong farm system, so they could do anything they want.

 

Heard a commentator on MLB radio suggest the Dodgers might land Skubal for Hope and Sheehan. I could live with that.

 

It'd be a steal but I doubt that's enough....

 

Agree. But Skubal is a rental.