While most of the National League is still on the border of the playoff picture, the Dodgers have no such ambiguity. They’re in their typical position of preparing to buy.
On paper, the team’s biggest question appears to be the roster depth. The Dodgers haven’t gotten much production out of the bottom third of the lineup. They have seven starting pitchers on the injured list at the moment, leading them to go into the All-Star Break with a four-man rotation that includes three rookies. They felt the effects in the weeks leading up to the Break. They’ve taken just four of 12 games this month and have a 20-18 record since the beginning of June.
Despite their recent slump, the Dodgers have one of the more comfortable divisional cushions in the majors. They’re seven games clear of the Diamondbacks and Padres in the NL West. They remain very likely to win the division. Whether they’ll finish in the National League’s top two and secure a first-round bye is more of a question. L.A. is well back of the Phillies for the #1 seed and only holds a one-game edge on the Central-leading Brewers.
The division lead allows the front office to be flexible in which players they target before July 30. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman indicated this week that the Dodgers will focus most of their attention at the top of the trade market. “For us, I don’t think our mentality is different than it’s been in previous years in that we feel we have a really good team and to the extent that we can add really good players we’re going to be aggressive to do so,” Friedman said (link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). “What appears to be a marginal upgrade is not something we’re going to spend a lot of time on. That doesn’t mean something is not going to happen along those lines but that’s not where our energy and focus will be.”
With very little danger of missing the playoffs, the Dodgers can primarily concern themselves with how the roster will look in October. They anticipate having a lot of impact players back by then. Los Angeles isn’t expecting a long-term absence for Tyler Glasnow. Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Yoshinobu Yamamoto could be back in August. Clayton Kershaw is building up in the minors as he completes his rehab from last year’s shoulder surgery.
Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller once looked like obvious pieces of the October staff. That’s questionable now. Buehler was rocked over eight starts in his return from a second Tommy John procedure. He has been on the injured list for a month with a hip issue. Miller lost a couple months to a shoulder problem and didn’t look like himself upon returning. The Dodgers optioned him to Triple-A late last week. Dustin May won’t be able to contribute down the stretch after unexpectedly requiring throat surgery in a scary situation.
Glasnow, Yamamoto, Kershaw and Gavin Stone could still comprise a solid playoff rotation. There’s downside with that entire group, though. Yamamoto is rehabbing a rotator cuff strain. Glasnow should easily eclipse his previous career high in innings. Kershaw is a 36-year-old coming off shoulder surgery. This is the first time Stone is getting extended run out of the rotation.
There’s not a ton of value for the Dodgers in acquiring a back-end arm to take a handful of starts in August and September. Like every team, Los Angeles would benefit from adding another high-end starter whom the team would feel comfortable taking the ball in October.
The Dodgers reportedly already made an offer to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet that was turned down. They’ll presumably have continued interest in the AL strikeout leader, who’d certainly qualify as the kind of impact talent to which Friedman alluded. Teams will have questions about how well Crochet will hold up given his innings count, but he’s pitching like an ace at the moment. Jack Flaherty and Yusei Kikuchi look like the top rental starters who’ll be on the market.
Plunkett writes that Friedman downplayed the urgency to add at specific positions on the other side of the ball. The Dodgers haven’t gotten much out of Gavin Lux at second base. They’ve had limited production in both left and center field. Third base has been an issue since Muncy went down. Andy Pages has stabilized the corner outfield spot opposite Teoscar Hernández, but the Dodgers are relying on James Outman in center field after he struggled early in the season.
Getting Betts back in the fold would go a long way toward addressing those problems. He could slide to second base with Miguel Rojas handling shortstop, pushing Lux to the bench. Betts could obviously handle the outfield if need be. As with the rotation, it’s easy enough to argue for an upgrade, but it’s also not clear how many significant players are on the market. The middle infield group looks very thin. Luis Robert Jr. is the crown of the center field class. The White Sox would need a massive haul to deal him thanks to his three years of remaining club control.
Kikuchi makes sense and probably won’t command a huge return. The OF/IF picture is a little tougher to gauge
Why won’t he command a high return? Every starting pitcher worth anything will command a high return.
Mets might be right. I know you’re probably looking at his ERA but there’s more going on under the hood than you think
FIP: 3.69
xFIP: 3.35
SIERRA: 3.45
Not only are his peripherals pretty good, he’s also proving to be durable. He’s started 20 games and has averaged better than 5 IP a game. He’s also been pretty steady in his recent seasons as well. As rentals go, he might be more expensive than you think.
Friedman is no longer the Wonder Boy he was with the Rays! 330M payroll and he needs more! This guy now spends more recklessly than the Yankees! Gives a Japanese kid a 10 year $350M deal who has yet to throw a pitch in the MLB! He spend over a billion dollars this past offseason on long term contracts and the Dodger record today is worse than last season at this same point. The guy should be fired! Other than the Mets who have now learned to control their spending the Dodgers will be paying the second largest over the cap penalty in baseball history!
Every dollar spent now is taxed at 100%. If the Dodgers take on another 20M of payroll the luxury tax will be an additional $20M! The Cohen tax level penalty should be renamed the Friedman! This guy is in competent!
I.think we’d all be interested to hear how Yamamoto hasn’t thrown a pitch in the 14 games he started this season.
They signed him before spring training!
I think he meant “had” as in “has yet to throw a pitch”.
I could be wrong though. You can’t fault Friedman for spending with reckless abandon if ownership is going to sign off on it. Besides watching them spend and then exit the playoffs early brings a similar joy as to when the Yankees used to out spend everyone and lose
What if the dodgers acquired crochet and flaherty?
Would they have enough prospects to deal for both?
The suggestions I’ve seen on a Flaherty return range from similar to the Lorenzen return last year (#5 prospect in a weak Philly system) to a top 5 and two top 30 in an average system. The Dodgers have a good system so maybe someone in the 7-15 range and another in the 15-30 range?
I expect Chicago would be shopping more at the top of the farm system for Crochet.
Flaherty is having a much better year than Lorenzen and has a previous history of being very good.
Flaherty will definitely cost more than Lorenzen.
Crochet they are going to want multiple top prospects and additional mid to flyer prospects.
With the lack of good players currently in the market their prices are going to be high.
I agree on the Lorenzen-Flaherty comp and was surprised to read that after most of the other stuff I read indicated they’d get a higher return. If I’m the Tigers I’m selling some BP arms too.
If it was up to me I’d steer clear of Flaherty as a top of the rotation arm. He’s having such an outlier season so far it could very well be unsustainable.
BlueSkies, would you take Flaherty over Paxton at the end of the rotation? I would. Paxton, while moderately serviceable, isn’t a playoff pitcher anymore. And they need him for the remainder of the season. Risky going longer than that with him given his track record the past two years.
Probably, but the bottom of the rotation isn’t really the issue. They could be in need of starters for both the 2 and 3 slots in the rotation, and I’m not sure Flaherty is really the guy for either of them. He’s a definite sell-high proposition for the Tigers.
Crochet is going to fetch at least 4 prospects and maybe an MLB ready pitcher (Stone? Miller?) Offering Gavin Lux and whatever crap the media mentions probably doesn’t get it done.
Flaherty, i feel is a little bit “buyer beware”. He was pretty bad in Baltimore last season after pitching decent in St.Louis and i wonder if being thrown into a playoff race will bring regression
I think Stone is a bridge to far. Despite Crochet having spent more time in the in the majors, he only has 180 IP to to Stone’s 127. Stone is under control until 2030 and Crochet, 2027. Unless Friedman knows something we don’t that trade doesn’t happen even 1 for 1.
Dump Miller while he can still walk.
Crochet is going to wilt in the late season with his innings going way past his max
What if crochet goes to the brewers so they can put him on the max like he’s CC Sabathia in 2008 and put him on the fast track to TJ
I don’t want to lose another talented pitcher in the big leagues they better not let crochet reach 180 innings
I hope Crochet ends up in LA….. give up a lot, they’ll have him this year and next!
And 2026! That, and his innings limit makes me think he won’t get dealt until the off-season. 2 years of Crochet is still worth a heck of alot, and cheaper rental starters have an innings advantage over him for this second half.
I suppose stacked teams like LAD could be an exception.
Why so he can end up on the IL like all their other pitchers?
More concerned with the bottom of the order come playoff time and the pen being overused than starting depth.
Don’t forget you have no shortstop. Your liabilities are growing by the day.
We have a pretty good shortstop Miguel Rojas
Javy Baez to the rescue 😉
Rojas is a much better SS than Betts. Betts shouldn’t play SS when he comes back.
Rojas staying at SS (if they don’t trade for one) and Betts going to CF would probably be the best move here.
Pages is fine in CF. Betts goes to 2B. Lux goes out in a trade
I agree. I feel like the Dodgers would be a better defensive team if Betts went back to the outfield……particularly right field.
By the time the playoffs come Ryan Yarbrough should have 200 innings thrown (all out of the bullpen) at the current pace of things.
With a healthy Mookie 1 thru 5 in the Dodgers lineup is solid (I’ll even go to 6 when Pages in the lineup) but yeah, 6/7 thru 9 is brutal (hopefully that holds true this weekend)
Dodgers don’t need anymore players, do they? I thought spending over a billion dollars in the off-season had them winning 125-130 games! How is that working out? How is the Yamamoto winning the Cy Young Award working out? Mookie for President? Ohtani for head of IRS? Banana in the tailpipe?
You for the looney bin?
“Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt” Dodgers are throwing off the delicate balance and Al is the powder keg.
How is eating sour grapes and wishing your team would open its pocketbook for quality players like the Dodgers do each and every year?
With Muncy unlikely to come back before September, if then, the real hole that needs to be plugged continues to be 3B.
Arenado is an option even if that contract is painful. The Cardinals should do the deal, no matter where they are in the standings. Arenado doesn’t add anything for them.
Been saying this for a long time, but so long as the Cards are in contention I don’t think they will trade him. A lot of dough would be required to neutralize the contract.
Trading Arenado made sense at times but not now. If the Cardinals were gonna eat some of his contract they might as well keep him around at this point.
I disagree on both points. The Cards don’t need Arenado to compete this year. Gorman slides back to his natural position and Tommy takes over at 2B. I don’t think the Cardinals are any worse off.
The Dodgers take on some money, but they lose Taylor’s contract. The Cardinals could offer to take on the rest of Arenado’s salary this season, that’s probably as good a deal as the Dodgers could hope for.
The Cardinals could shield Taylor to only face LH pitchers.
My bad. I failed to mention my plan for the Cardinals to take Taylor back in a trade to help even out the money.
I was thinking the same thing, actually. They are both underwater contracts.
The Cardinals could make the same offer to the Mets and offer to take on Jeff McNeil. So, there is some competition.
I don’t know if Gorman can play a quality 3b. And Edman is needed for center without him there Siani is playing and while he can play defense he can’t hit. If the Cardinals weren’t looking like a playoff team I would say fine trade him but they are and I want Arenado on the team in October.
If the Cardinals weren’t in the playoffs hunt I would be cool with Arenado and Edman for Muncy and Taylor something like that. But today I wouldn’t do that deal. Edman would actually be a really good fit for the Dodgers.
Except the Mets have Vientos at third tearing the cover off the ball.
I agree with your assessment, but I don’t think the Cards will move Arenado and Gloldschmidt, and unless they’re overwhelmed will keep them in ‘25 and beyond. Kinda the faces of the franchise.
Arenado doesn’t add anything? Trade him for Chris Taylor (OPS+ 51) or McNeil (OPS+71)? Y’all are crazy lol.
Arenado is hitting around league average (OPS+99). He’s one hot streak from having solid/above average numbers.
Arenado is not the guy he was 2 years ago that’s for sure. But he’s also not a bad player either. Swapping him for Taylor would make the Cardinals worse. Again if the team wasn’t in the playoff hunt I would be cool trading him but they are.
Did Josh Donaldson formally hang up his spikes?? Maybe the Dodgers could lure him out of semi-retirement or wherever he is.
Is the need specifically defensive positions, or is the need more to strengthen the bottom of the order? If it’s the latter, are you comfortable with Rojas’ projections? He’s had good results but they look a little lucky. Rest of season projections seem to suggest between an 87 and 94 wRC+ from here on. His defense at SS probably still justifies regular time. But then you are pretty committed to needing more offensive output from an incoming 3B. Who even are the 3B trade candidates? I know you’ve mentioned IKF and he’d shore up your infield defense but he’s currently injured. Not sure how long he’ll be out. But like Rojas, he’s had very nice surface production that doesn’t look very sustainable. Similar sub .300 xwOBAs and rest of season projections in the 88 to 93 wRC+ range.
Because of how much slug exists at the top of the lineup, I’d look for high on base guys at the bottom. How about a guy like Tauchman? That’s a high on base bottom of the order bat who can cover CF if Outman’s season is just lost. If you are comfortable with Pages in CF, there are plenty of corner OF on base guys around. Higher end, but if you really want it to be on the infield, Brandon Lowe has club options that are plenty affordable yet maybe still pricey for the Rays. Isaac Paredes would cost a lot because he has 3 years of control after this one but is a super two guy, so maybe that’s a calculation for the Rays and their willingness to trade.
Of COURSE these greedy pigs are going to keep buying. It’s what they do. $1 Billion freaking dollars wasn’t enough. Winning the pathetic NL West every year isn’t enough. Getting a bunch of injured purchased superstars back in the next month or two isn’t enough. It fits so perfectly with the personality of that disgusting, fake city of broken dreams with people masquerading as baseball fans. There is absolutely nothing greater in life than seeing these miserable dirtbags fail in every single legitimate full-season postseason tournament every year and I pray that the pressure cooker once again explodes on these fools and we can celebrate another parade-less year in the City of Demons (36 years and counting since their last World Series parade, unless you count that joke of a drive-through parade that they ripped fans off to purchase a ticket to).
Wow you must be fun at parties. Are you really this deranged and bitter or are you just putting on a show for the clicks??
Mickey
Respectfully, kind sir, the greedy pigs are the owners who spend nothing on their team and pocket the profits into their pocket.
Mickey, for the longest time I thought you were just a sad, little puppy. Now, however, your rage and anger makes you a scary puppy. Relax!
Wow you’re so mad. Tell your therapist about your outburst, Mickey.
I like Crochet for the Dodgers because they have experience dealing with guys on innings limits. But I don’t know if the Dodgers have enough to give up to get him. The Dodgers have catchers but that’s not what the White Sox need.
The Dodgers have more than enough to overpay for Crochet. The question is whether they’re willing to be held up and shaken down. Friedman has resisted that in the past, however he’s backed against the wall a bit.
I don’t think they do. The White Sox aren’t going to want Rushing. De Paula, Ferris and Frasso. Maybe that’s enough I don’t know.
In 3 years perhaps 4, Rushing and DePaula are potentially everyday players and Ferris and Frasso are in the rotation. Are the Sox going to be in a position to contend before then? Don’t think so. I don’t think Friedman would do that deal, however.
did i miss Paxton getting traded?
No, but the gist of the article is the shape of the playoff roster. If Paxton is on it the Dodgers are in trouble. The mistake is saying the Dodgers aren’t expecting a long absence for Muncy. The most recent news on him is not good. It would be shocking to see him back before the roster expansion.
Since the Dodgers aren’t the main team I root for, I couldn’t possibly know how much Muncy means to them. But as an outsider looking in, Muncy is about one of the most unlikeable players I could name in baseball. For me, he would be an ideal fit on the Astros who have a plethora of players you love to hate. He is the only Dodger player whose very existence repels me, so I don’t miss him one iota. Anyone else get a weird vibe from that guy?
@ Ignorant
Dodgers miss Muncy’s bat and he seems to be well-liked by his teammates. Far from a perfect player but I don’t know what Max has done to merit your scorn.
I think he is one of those players that if he is on your side, you love him to death. But from the other side, he just rubs you the wrong way. Last season Jose Caballero was that guy for my squad when he was a Mariner, we loved his antics, but if you were the opposing team he is highly irritating. (And yes, it may be just my own personal impression.)
IOW, you have no idea why you have these feelings, but you still do, and don’t care to figure it out. Can anything good come from this way of thinking?
Either way, the Dodgers still need someone to play 3B.
Odd.
No. Paxton just not a factor. Most likely would not make playoff roster. If he does that would really tell you how bad the Dodgers postseason rotation is.
Skubal or bust why pay over a billion in the off season if you’re not going to go all in during the season
Maybe because the Tigers don’t want to deal Skubal. The Tigers think they are close, and they think Skubal is a big part of their next winning team. Central teams are not glorified farm teams for the coastal teams, no matter what the internet tells you.
Well said.
Some articles even question if the Dodgers have enough of what Detroit wants to even get Skubal. They need catching depth so Rushing and Cartaya are obvious fits, and offense close to MLB ready (preferably an infield corner or SS). It would drain the top of the Dodgers farm system and maybe even players like Pages off their roster. Articles are even starting to suggest Baltimore would have to give up Holliday or Mayo/Basallo and multiple other pieces and I don’t see Baltimore paying the price. LA is one of the few who might take the plunge but they are not the best fit prospect wise. I doubt Detroit trades him.
Tigers would be right to ask for a massive haul and they’ll get it if they can convince LA or Baltimore that they’re willing to trade him. The O’s won’t move Holliday, so that should take them out of the discussion. LA would need to
move 3 or 4 of their top 7 or 8 prospects. That’s likely too much for Friedman, but he might be tempted if the Tigers include Flaherty if they he includes 1 more from the top 15 and major league pitcher or two (Grove or others).
It won’t take that much. Rushing or Cartaya, maybe De Paula or Miller and some guys in the teens and I think it gets the deal done.
Harris will just keep him in Detroit if they don’t blow him away with an offer. That offer would not blow him away. They don’t have to trade Skubal. They are a few key pieces away from being a playoff team next year.
Because Friedman thinks he’s still running the Rays half the time. Wanting his cake and eating it too has been the biggest problem with the team since he ‘arrived.
I expect the Dodgers to get who they need to win the World Series, a high end starter, another top bat at a needed position, relief pitcher?, whoever they feel they need. What happens after that depends upon the play of the 26 men on the field and to a lesser degree to the leadership team.
Why wouldn’t they do this? They have NO financial restraints, they have no trade offer restraints, they let nothing stop them during the off-season. If the Dodgers want to win the World Series this year they can and will do what it takes to make it so. It’s what I do in my imaginary baseball world. It’s what I’ve always done. That imaginary world is the Dodgers reality. I hate the dodgers or maybe I hate my team for not being the Dodgers.
With five teams spending more than the Dodgers on player salaries this year, some of them close to $100M more, it seems you are fingering the wrong team for having “no financial restraints.”
Yes but that’s only because the Dodgers pushed a lot of the money down the road. It will all catch up to you down the road and you will definitely see what it means having no financial restraints when your paying truckloads of money for players long gone.
That’s the only half-true headline. The fact is, beyond 2027 they have contracts committed to only three players: Betts, Yamamoto and Ohtani, for a total of around $100M per year. Not such an unmanageable sum for a team that rakes in more than three times that much in media alone.
Not to mention that the money will be out into escrow and even a mutual fund at that amount would make money on top off the money they owe Ohtani. Oh and they’re owned by a hedge fund, so they know how to make money. It won’t hurt them down the road. If anything they’ll make even more money off the money they owe those 3 players.
The deferred money has to be accounted for separately but I don’t believe it has to be held in an escrow account. Either way Guggenheim can invest it and likely return a higher rate than the modest one used to calculate present value, and pocket the difference. That said only one of these contracts is significantly deferred. The others pay mostly if not entirely in the year the player plays.
Betts, Freeman, and Will Smith all have significant deferments as well. They have over 900 million in deferments. Don’t kid yourself, in a decade the financial reality will set in.
Major League Baseball’s CBA requires teams to fully fund the present-day value of deferred payments within two years of when it is earned.
That means the Dodgers will have to place $44 million in cash into an escrow account every year.
x.com/JoePompliano/status/1734665319438766104
They can worry about that in a decade, but even that, the money is put in escrow and collects interest, so present day money pays for future contract. They will be making money on the money they saved. HAHAHA x.com/JoePompliano/status/1734665319438766104
You all don’t have a clue if you are bragging about intrest on escrow account as making money. I hope your big invest in life isn’t your interest from your savings account.
You’re so desperate to be right, that you can’t even acknowledge that you have no clue about what you’re saying.
“This may be close to an $800 million to $1 billion gain for the Dodgers over a decade,” the agent said, noting that if the team were to simply take the $680 million in deferrals and invest it — say, with an asset management firm like Guggenheim Partners, which is run by Dodgers owner Mark Walter — then the money could more than double in a decade’s time.
“They may be able to make $1 billion extra,” the agent reiterated. latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2023-12-19/dodger…
You are taking escrow account too literally. This implies the set aside must be held by a third party. This is certainly not the case. Guggenheim will invest it and their rate of return will be in excess of the very modest rate assumed by MLB.
Mr. Warren Buffet joins the chat.
Fair, I basically meant that they have to have that money in an account. Any account, including one that can accrue interest and/or dividends.
Whenever sportswriters try to explain finance you’re bound to have some issues. Just not their thing. Escrow is the wrong concept, and the deferral amount is also incorrect. If we’re just talking about the Ohtani deferral, it isn’t $680M, it’s over $200M less because the actual deferral is the present value ten years before the payout. Also, Mark Walter isn’t the “owner” of the Dodgers, he is a majority partner and chairman of the board of Guggenheim Baseball Management along with a number of other partners.
As far as investing the deferrals are concerned we should remember the instance of Fred Wilpon investing deferred salary with Bernie Madoff. Which since he was Bernie Madoff, made off with the money. So an owner can get too greedy with these set-asides and we hope Walter & Co. are more prudent that Wilpon was.
You know a lot, but not everything. So, Guggenheim isn’t Madoff, and Walter isn’t Wilpon. Second, Walter is, in baseball’s eyes, the owner oof the Dodgers. From the MLB website:
Mark Walter is the chairman and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and an investor, conservationist, and social justice advocate. mlb.com/dodgers/team/front-office/mark-walter
Also, if you happened to read the article, you’d know that they have to invest the current market value of the contract (yes $200 million less), but what the article states is that if Walter wanted to invest the entirety of the contract with Guggenheim, a renowned hedge fund that he runs he could double is money in the time it takes to pay off the contract.
So you more or less repeat what I said at least three times, then tell me I am wrong. Uh, okay.
You all are only talking Ohtanis deferrals. There are 300 million in deferrals in other player contracts that aren’t set up the same way. You can act like the Dodgers owner is a genius but pushing debt down the road is never smart that’s how you get a country that is 35 trillion in debt and growing. Only bad things come of it. Blue skies gave a great example with Bernie Madoff. A lot can go wrong in the next ten years.
There is no debt. You clearly don’t understand the basic concepts.
LAD are the favorite to get Crochet. Only big threat is if Orioles are willing to trade Mayo. Both playoff locks and will have a smart preservation plan to maximize his role in October besides being extendable beyond next 2yrs of low arb on his deal.
By all means deal a lot for gifted Robert. Immense talent, but WSox can’t overcome his frequent absences like LAD can.
I’d pass on both. If Crochet has innings limitations why bother unless you can effectively preserve him for October. That’s risky.
Robert is too much feast or famine. High chase and whiff. Dodgers have enough of those hitters sprinkled in line up. And he’s going to be expensive. Get a guy that will give you quality at bats consistently and place him at bottom of lineup. Much cheaper.
The Dodgers have already made an offer on Crochet, I’m sure they will make another on Skubal. Will they go all in on one of them..maybe. But I feel like they should focus some of the attention on 3rd Base and go after Isaac Paredes and a pitcher like Kikuchi and still walk away the favorites for World Series.
You are going to have a very disappointing October.
Are you sure about that? I don’t think the Dodges want anything to do with the Mets in the postseason.
4-2 so far this season against the Mets. Think the Mets need to worry about getting a Wild Card.
3B is the least of their concerns with Muncy coming back. Top end SP is highest concern given injuries and inexperience (Stone and Miller if he comes back).
They will likely add a bat but with Betts and Muncy returning it’s not as high of a priority as SP.
With Muncy coming back? And when will that be? He is still very limited as far as swinging and throwing, The oblique just isnt getting better. I wont be surprised if he’s done for the year and if he cant ramp up baseball activity pretty soon the Dodgers need a viable option. Ten days until the deadline. I’d guess Muncy has a week before a course of action has to be decided on.
His recovery is not going well. He is unlikely to return before the September roster expansion, if then. Biggio is not the answer to 3B, obviously.
Probably by end of August. As long as he’s back with some time to catch up for postseason.
Priority is still SP. But yeah, if they think Muncy is out for the season they’ll need to address that. Seems a bit far off for that assumption though.
Not really. Muncy isn’t exactly in the best of shape.
End of August is VERY hopeful. They cant figure out why its not improving,. He’s been out over 2 months with nothing but setbacks and I dont see a reason to hope that suddenly changes. My hope is that they work a deal because even if he does return all he’s been is a lot of K’s and shoddy D with a few bombs thrown in.
We’ll see. I think he comes back this year.
I’m seeing the bias in these posts and why you want a new 3B. Most Dodger fans who don’t know as much about baseball wanted him gone from the team.
Muncy is still a guy that consistently gives you quality ABs. Grinds pitchers and forces them to throw strikes. Not elite like he was in the past but watch some of our Dodger hitters like Pages these days and sigh. Swings at everything and anything. Muncy’s low chase rate, high walk rates, high barrels is welcomed by me. Yeah he strikes out a lot but I’ll take quality ABs any day of the week. And he’s an above average defender this year if you actually watched him and look at the numbers.
Muncy is getting better defensively at 3B as he did a few years ago after struggling at 2B — but he is still far from a plus defender. Not that it matters if he can’t come back in time to be in good shape for the postseason, and that clock is already close to running down. Meanwhile the Dodgers are getting below the Mendoza line performance from 3B and this is a big part of the problem with the bottom half of the order. Fix required, and “maybe Muncy” isn’t it.
Andrew, the team needs some marginal upgrades. Have you seen the bottom of our lineup and current rotation?
Careful, or you will be excommunicated from the Church of Andrew!
Blue: still with the Friedman thing? Why?
Fox, still with the ignoring everyone else who questions him thing? Why?
Blue: no I am not. I understand some of your points and they are valid. I was not attacking, I was just wondering what I must have missed because you never seem to change your Friedman opinion , no matter what transactions he does or does not make.
Au contraire. When he does good things, I say so. I was happier than the proverbial pig in you-know-what with the offseason signings and said so. You seem to be remembering only the criticisms, which I offer when I think they are warranted knowing some will automatically accuse me of being ungrateful. It isn’t a binary situation.. And you did seem to pick up on my response instead of the original comment. Don’t you think this kind of proves my point?
Well, not exactly sure which point you are referring to but that’s fine. It is all good.
Okay, well for the record, the point being, he’s often criticized here by others, but those criticisms rarely get much pushback.
Flaherty-Miller should get the deal done. Flaherty is far outpacing Lorenzen from last year.
Tigers catching depth is good with Dingler and Briceno coming.
Dodgers probably don’t have the top end near MLB ready to compare to Baltimore.
Briceno looks like a 1B. I’ll believe in Dingler when he comes up to MLB and shows something. Cerkownyk is a catcher they drafted last year and paid overslot who I liked the looks of, but he’s been hurt all season.
Mets could ship Quintana (rental) and McNeil (friendly contract) to LA. Maybe McNeil going home is what he needs.,
While the Dodgers definitely need another playoff-caliber starter, the supposed bottom-of-the-order problems are overstated. While they started bad, they’ve been doing their jobs the last 4-6 weeks. The bigger problem is the two missing top-of-the-order guys. Improving the bottom of the order is unnecessary as long as Betts and Muncy return and perform to usual levels.