The Dodgers punched their ticket to the NLCS last night. Solo home runs from Enrique Hernández and Teoscar Hernández were enough to push L.A. to a 2-0 victory over the Padres in the rubber match of their Division Series. The Dodgers blanked San Diego in consecutive games to take the series in five.
They’ll welcome the Mets to Dodger Stadium tomorrow. New York has waited for its destination since finishing off the Phillies in four games on Wednesday. Almost no one would’ve seen this coming when the Mets bottomed out at 11 games under .500. The nadir of their season coincidentally came at the hands of the Dodgers, who swept New York at Citi Field to drop them to 22-33 in late May. The Mets caught fire after that, playing above .500 ball in each of the final four months of the season.
L.A. and New York closed the regular season as the hottest teams in the National League. Their 20-10 record over their final 30 games tied them with the Tigers for best in MLB. The Dodgers secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs by finishing with an MLB-leading 98 wins. New York clawed back to 89 wins and clinched a Wild Card spot on the last day of the regular season. They’ve had a flair for the dramatic in October, coming from behind in four of their five playoff wins.
Both teams have already come back from the edge of elimination. The Mets needed Pete Alonso’s ninth-inning heroics against Devin Williams to escape the Wild Card series in Milwaukee. The Dodger pitching staff silenced San Diego’s bats in consecutive elimination games in the Division Series.
New York has the slight benefit of two extra days of rest. They’ve had three off days since their last game, while the Dodgers get one rest day before starting the series. Each team’s entire bullpen should be in play for Game 1. The Mets will have their rotation outside of Jose Quintana on regular or extended rest at the beginning of the series. The Dodgers turned to Yoshinobu Yamamoto for five scoreless innings last night. They used a bullpen game on Wednesday.
Neither team has revealed a probable starter for Game 1, but the Dodgers are almost certain to turn the ball to Jack Flaherty before going with Walker Buehler in Monday’s Game 2. The Mets could turn in a few different directions. They have Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Kodai Senga all ready to go. Andy Martino of SNY tweeted yesterday that Senga was likely to get the ball in Game 1, though the Mets won’t finalize that decision until today. The righty is on tight workloads after losing the second half of the season to a calf injury. He’ll probably be limited to two or three innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Senga threw two innings and 31 pitches in Game 1 of the NLDS, his first appearance since late July.
The teams have until tomorrow morning to finalize their rosters for the series. The Mets could have an important change. Jeff McNeil has been on the injured list for over a month with a right wrist fracture. Manager Carlos Mendoza said a couple days ago that McNeil had a good chance to be activated. The left-handed hitter started what’ll hopefully be a two-game stint in the Arizona Fall League last night to readjust to game speed.
McNeil made it through the first game with no issues, he told reporters last night (link via Jesse Borek and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). While the Mets probably won’t make the decision until tomorrow, it seems McNeil will be active. That’d probably push Luisangel Acuña off the roster unless the Mets decide to drop to 12 pitchers despite the longer series.
On the Dodgers’ side, the main injury to monitor concerns reliever Alex Vesia. (There’s also the ongoing question about Freddie Freeman’s ankle but no doubt that Freeman will be on the roster.) Vesia entered with two outs in the seventh inning last night. The left-hander fanned Jackson Merrill to end the inning. He came back out for the eighth but reported soreness in his right side while warming up. The Dodgers lifted him for Michael Kopech, who combined with Blake Treinen to close out the game.
Manager Dave Roberts said postgame that Vesia would go for an MRI today (X link via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). The team is hopeful that the discomfort was just a cramp but wants to rule out an oblique injury. If Vesia did tweak his oblique, that’d probably shut him down for the season. Anthony Banda was the only other left-hander in Roberts’ bullpen for the Division Series. Justin Wrobleski and Zach Logue are the other healthy southpaws on the 40-man roster. Nick Ramirez remains in the organization but was outrighted last month and seems unlikely to be considered for a playoff spot.
How will the NLCS play out? Which team is headed to the World Series, and how competitive will this series be?
Going to be an exciting series to watch. Go Dodgers!
“Go Dodgers”…It’s interesting to note that both the Padres and Mets didn’t make the playoffs until they both shed some high end salaries and more evenly spread their payroll around.
The Dodgers are the Dodgers and they’ll always have a sustainably high payroll, as long as Chavez Ravine seats 40,000+ every night.
48,657 per game average in 2024 but who’s counting?
San Diego to their credit averaged just over 41,000
LA metro pop. size: 18.4M
Dodgers stadium capacity: 56,000
SD metro pop. size: 3.3M
Padres stadium capacity: 42,425
San Diego fans packed it in for their team.
to be fair, it’s either the zoo or the Padres.
San Diego has a smaller population but there are a lot of affluent people
Padres have great fans. Even when they were down they kept cheering. They could stand to lose the “Beat LA” BS and stop measuring themselves in those terms, but damn they support their team as well as any fans.
They blocked ticket sales from outside counties. The Dodgers didn’t do that, and yet Chavez Ravine was very blue last night.
Dodgers never block outside purchases. For the record, the Yankees geo-block too,
I don’t know that it’s possible to geo-block in the resale market so we’re really just talking about tickets sold by the team.
probably correct Blue
Or just hang outside in some of the country’s best weather.
Mojo Sea World is pretty cool
please forgive my rhetorical zeal
Don’t forget the food and beer….
TO BEE FAAAYUHHH….
Petco and zoo were great experiences ! Beach was nice too !
jealous
Dodger stadium now seats about 52,500, & they sell SRO seats. They hot rid of close to 1000 in the last renovation & 3 rows in the 1st & 2nd level when they widened the concourse’s a few years before that
And comic con
So all the 18.4 million LA metro residents are Dodgers fans? You do realize about 20 to 30% are from outside state and city right? I thought New Yorkers are suppose to be smarter. Also residents near Chavez Ravine HATES Dodgers cause of land agreement disputes but hey history lessons are for boring people.
differentbears: With the prevalence of secondary market sales on sites like SeatGeek StubHub, blocking ticket sales has a negligible effect on the market.
mlb fan: And Cohen’s plan was to just get through this season without any thoughts of the PO and go for it in 2025. I guess he learned you don’t have to spend an incomprehensible amount of money to build a winner.
@mlb fan, To say that about the Mets is to ignore that they didn’t shed high end salaries, they repurposed the money they already spent. They paid a large chunk of both Scherzer’s, and Verlander’s salaries to get higher end prospects, while shedding pitchers who were not very effective for us. The Mets still have the highest payroll in MLB, and while they could sustain this level of competition at this rate, they’d rather get under the”Cohen Tax” threshold, that is aptly named for our owner, because it was put there to keep him in check.
mlb – Both teams also changed managers. It’s quite common for teams to perform better with a new manager.
Dodgers in 6
I have LAD in 6. I think the Pads were their main obstacle, and I picked SD to win the series.
To the Mets’ credit they have been impressive, playing like a team. MLB fan says it best in pointing out that they began true team play only after they shed some big salaries. I think the Mets will make it a great series, but LA is a juggernaut, and I think it’s only a matter of time before Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Smith, and crew fire on all cylinders.
Clipper: It looks like it’s going to be Cleveland vs the nyy in the ALCS. Don’t like the Yankees and not crazy about the tribe, so I’ll probably watch professional miniature golf or professional corn hole instead. I kind of like the Mets and I hope they win the NL, but even without all of their SP , Ohtani scuffling, Freeman hobbling and Rojas out, they somehow find a way to win. If the WS is the LAD vs the nyy, well, there’s always World Team Tag. Gotta love ESPN.
Yankee Clipper:
Ohtani hasn’t looked like much in the postseason, and the Mets showed a mountain of character by punching back in Game 2.
They now have the home field advantage and arguably better starting pitching.
The Dodgers aren’t going to have an easy path to the World Series.
Who has an easy path the World Series? Is that actually a thing?
The Mets did indeed punch back today (had the not great fortune of being at the game), but I also know they did that punching mostly against a rookie.
But I had the great fortune of watching on TV.
The real question is why a team with their payroll is relying on such a crappy pitcher in the NLCS.
I guess you missed seeing the IL.
Besides, Knack isn’t crappy. He had a very good rookie season. But he is still a rookie. He was also one strike away from getting out of the jam. In which case, entirely different game.
But he didn’t. Vientos has been a beast this postseason, and the Dodgers underestimated him by putting Lindor on ahead of him.m
We have to deal with the reality of what happened, not what almost happened but didn’t.
Injuries are injuries, but the Dodgers for whatever reason have done a poor job keeping pitchers healthy.
My response has nothing to do with not dealing with the reality of what happened. Just the opposite in fact. One of the realities of baseball is that injuries are mostly random events.
“He was one strike away from getting out of the jam.”
That’s dwelling on what almost happened but didn’t.
But go ahead, rationalize away.
Try thinking about what is being said before responding.
Try thinking about what you’re saying before you say it.
Nice try at deflecting though.
Noting that you didn’t seen to understand what I said is not deflecting, it’s pointing out that you responded without seeming to understand it. I was actually trying to be generous with you in assuming that maybe you hadn’t read it, but since you’re bent on changing my mind about that, consider your efforts a success.
I’m not bent on changing your mind about anything.
I don’t know you and what you think is of no consequence to me.
First off, you simply ignored most of what I said — and then accused me of deflecting. Really?
Second, the important part of my point that you seem bent on not understanding is based on baseball being a game of probabilities. When a batter has two strikes against him, what is the most probable outcome of that at bat, an out or a home run? I think we know that the highest probability event is an out, and one of the lowest is a home run. Treating a least likely outcome as somehow predicable seems to me to be a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of how probabilities work. It’s like the old joke in statistics — the odds of anything happening is 50-50, because either it happens or it doesn’t. But it’s really just a joke because these are almost never the real odds.
We hear lots of statistical chatter on this site but very little informed with a rudimentary understanding of probabilities. So you try to make a simple point based on basic probabilities, and this is what you get a lot of the time, unfortunately.
OK then. But I already told you that what you think is of no consequence to me, and yet you continue arguing.
Is there a point in beating a dead horse?
Blue Baron: Yeah, the Mets were downright impressive in game 2. Vientos has been incredible and I look forward to the rest of the series. Looks like it’s going to be a good one!
Just to be clear, this is your problem, not mine.
And you continue to argue. The horse is dead and I have no problem.
You had me up until “go Dodgers”
Mets cause they beat the Brewers and every team that beats the Brewers goes to the World Series Bob Nightingale said so
Can’t argue with that logic lol
I’m not sure but I know who wins the ALCS, Theeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win! Ahahahaha
Brew Crew
LA expended a lot of energy and emotion to dispatch the Padres. Will they be able to muster up the energy again, or will they have a let down? We shall see.
lol. are you serious? LAD may be playing in champagne soaked underwear, but otherwise I think they’ll manage.
The Mets hit a pretty high high by dispatching the best team in their division. Can they go up from there?
I think we could say things like this about both teams. Both should be fully recovered and ready to play.
And so did the Mets to beat the Braves, Brewers, and Phillies. It should be a very good NLCS.
I just hope the time off doesn’t cool off the Mets.
a very SERIOUS CONCERN RIGHT THERE. Every team that usually sits a bit has managed to get their teeth in, majority of the time. I’m loving the Mets level of play right now so I hope they continue proving many doubters wrong. personally though I wish it were the Mets and Guardians (Indians.. such a better name) in the end… so I continue to hope.
Guessing it goes the other way, that the Mets, the oldest team in baseball, benefits a great deal from the time off.
I don’t think the time off will be much of a factor here. As for the age of b teams, LADs position players much older than the Mets. When Pages plays they have him and Lux who are in their 20s. LAD just lost one of youngest SPs so that brings rotations a bit closer as far as age.
33 hours and 31 minutes until first pitch
Gotta Believe!
History tends to repeat itself and the San Diego Padres will always be the (adopted) little brothers of the LA Dodgers.
I think the better analogy is the Dodgers are still the Padres’ Daddy. However, the Padres are just a more annoying teenager kid now that has to act out.
Zerbs63: Even though padres is Spanish for daddies.
Dave Roberts history of choking in the playoffs will be again.
Mets, Yankees and Dodgers yuck. I will be rooting for the winner of today’s Tigers Guardians game.
Of course you will.
If you’re not from any of those large market cities, its hard to root for them. Plus, if any small market team makes it thru, it gives hope that your local team can, too.
stymeedone: I live in Chicago, a big city that operates it’s teams like a little one, and is largely ignored. I advise anyone who needs a laugh to tune into White Sox games.
NL brought 5 luxury tax, or close enough, teams and the Brewers. AL brought big spenders with Houston and NYY. Hopefully the Guards or Tigers can beat the the yanks
Mets in 6. More rest, pitching has been better than the dodgers
Dodgers pitching hasn’t given up a run in 24 consecutive innings
And they still managed to give up 9 more runs than the Mets in their series
Dodgers have a 24 straight scoreless inning streak against a high power Padres offense. And, the 6 runs the Padres scored in the 2nd inning of game 3 were due to some terrible decision making on defense. “Better” pitching is a stretch. Should be a great series.
A Mets/Guardians World Series would be glorious.
I know who’s not going to win is the padres because they they got whooped
The Padres didn’t score in their last 24 innings played. Yikes!
I know who doesn’t have a good paying job is butter biscuits because that grammar.
Have a long off season
Game 5 2-0 is not getting whooped . There was only 6 hits in the game . 2mistake pitches was the difference
Maybe next year we can skip the playoffs and just give the trophy to the biggest spender. That should help bring the fans back……
Seems like the fans are already back.
Lol sure. If you live in LA or New York. The rest of the country not so much.
I like watching Yankee games to see how many of the ridiculously priced seats around the infield remain unsold. (Or are owned by companies or people that just don’t show up. You know, the real fans.)
I’m a Yankees fan and while I can understand a family trip to watch the Yankees at the Stadium, I can’t think of a dumber thing to do than pay for a regular season game. Throw in transportation and all that it simply ain’t worth it, especially with the addition of more playoff teams making regular season games less meaningful. Use to go to the old Stadium plenty, but cannot see a reason to pay that for a regular season game.
I live nearly two hours away from Dodger Stadium but we’re in our seats every few weeks during the regular season same as we have been for decades. I guess by your definition my love of baseball makes me world-class dope.
When is the next K-Pop show in town? That’s more of your thing it seems, Joel.
DMiles: Once again, I have to refer to the White Sox. There were so few fans showing up that they were forced to lower tickets to fifteen bucks. Don’t know if they did the same with parking and concessions.
@Dmiles, I had 4 bleacher Sunday package from 2010 thru 2012. Cost me only like $1100 ($20/tk) which was amazing, however, minus the tickets, it would still cost another 150 with train, beer, food. We would even pregame on the train and up at Yankee Tavern. Those $20 beers are a killer. Its probably even more now. They have priced out the normal folk for sure. Even if you catch a weekday game, its still $100. And that’s being conservative with the beers and food.
Playoff teams & Payroll
#1 Mets
#2 Yankees
#3 Houston
#4 Phillies
#5 Dodgers
#6 Braves
#15 Padres
#20 Royals
#21 Brewers
#22 Baltimore
#23 Cleveland
#26 Tigers
looks pretty even, only argument I see is how bad the NL is at building teams.
Dodgers are tied with the Yankees if you factor in Ohtani’s full $70M, which is what he is actually costing them. When they pay it is irrelevant to considering the truly astronomical money they are giving him to play about 6 minutes and 33 seconds per game this year. An amount that at least 26 teams could never imagine spending on one player, especially not a DH. I realize he may pitch again in the future, and that the quality of that pitching, combined with his hitting, may actually warrant that outlandish salary, but the emphasis remains on the word MAY. We just don’t KNOW…
In reality, this isn’t what he is actually costing them because when they pay it is hugely relevant. And if you don’t believe it, do I have a deal for you…
Utah
You have lots of smart posts but to clarify:
Loan and savings interest rates are not zero percent.
The correct figure to use to measure Ohtani’s salary on real cost is neither what they pay this year or what they pay at the end. It is like buying a savings bond for $17 that is worth $25 after 7 years.
I do agree that it is a problem that some of the monopoly team owners are not spending enough. I also think it is fun for most of the country to root against the big city big money teams. It makes for good theater.
Darn, you may have spoiled my proposed deal. I was going to offer to buy his house for its current value so long as I don’t have to pay him for ten years. Based on his financial knowledge I thought I had a chance of him going for it.
all the talk about Dodger salaries fails to mention the revenue Ohtani and company have generated and will generate in the future. in 2023 Dodgers had revenue of 541 million. Reports are that through July of this year the revenue figure is $750 million. Yes on field performance is a key indicator of value, but ticket sales, increased advertising, merch sales, etc. all factor in. Number one team in both home and road attendance.
Don’t know where you get revenue figures for privately held teams but we know from public information the media contract is worth around $325M/year alone. Dodger Stadium is now a sea of Ohtani jerseys. At around $300 a pop (last I priced them) the revenue from those alone has to be staggering. Fans lined up to get an Ohtani bobblehead when those were given away. All I know for sure is the Dodgers raised our season ticket prices by around a third for next year. And why did they do that? Because they could, that’s why.
@BlueSkies: By Bill Shaikan from the LA Times: “The revenue from licensed merchandise—jerseys, t-shirts, caps and so on—-is split equally between the 30 major league teams, so the Angels get the same cut as the Dodgers from the sale of Ohtani jerseys.
(The exception: The Dodgers get a greater share of revenue for sales at Dodger Stadium and at Dodger Clubhouse stores in Southern California and Las Vegas.”
Oops. Close the last sentence in quote ).
Happy to share the link later. Can’t at the moment.
Pretending the Dodgers have not spent as much as the Mets and Yankees to get here takes some incredible intellectual dishonesty. They’ve bought their seat just the same, for just as much. Pretending Ohtani is only costing them $2M is con man’s game of three-card Monte.
My point is that this season is not just costing them $2M. Proof is that if he gets injured in the next game and never plays again they will still owe him the balance, not just the $2M. Because all of those deferred payments are tied to this season and the contract before.
Pretending that buying a player for $700M doesn’t put them in the same league as the Mets and Yankees is ludicrous, no matter how you spin it.
That’s not the conversation. The conversation is that the only reason that got the deal for $2M is the deal for $698M more. This season was bought by all that other money.
pivotal180.com/what-ohtanis-contract-can-teach-us-….
Certainly agree not $2 million per year. Reasonable people calculate it at between $37.4 and $46.1 million per year. The latter figure is the CBA hit. If you win the lottery, you can get X as an annuity over 10 to 30 years and maybe half of X in a lump sum. It’s the same concept. Simplistic or not, I think of it as if the Dodgers signed Ohtani for $460 million. Like buying a car, some of the money is made as a down payment and the rest is financed.
Finally found those figures Blue.
$750 million revenue thru Sept 2024:
leadiq.com/c/los-angeles-dodgers/5a1d965e2300005c0…
Multi year revenue:
statista.com/statistics/196665/revenue-of-the-los-…
Necessarily this is an estimate but I don’t doubt it’s in the right neighborhood.
While the Tigers’ highest two players, Javier Baez and Kenta Maeda, are not on the playoff roster.
Some of the Mets’ money is being paid to two highly over paid pitchers (Scherzer, JV). The LAD have set the bar very high for someone like Soto whose future contract will probably start at $500M.
The only way Soto gets $500 million is if some money is deferred or other unusual aspects that reduce the actual cah value. If Ohtani is getting $460 million when you consider the real value of deferred money, I think Soto is going to get $400 million or less for ten years or more once his contract is converted to the actual value and/or CBA value. Ohtani is not only better than Soto, he opens up an additional marketplace. I think Soto will also age worse, although Ohtani is a greater injury risk if he remains a two-way player.
Nah, it’s pretty heavily tilted towards high payroll.
I’ m a sabermetrics guy, I don’t think spending equals winning, but this is what it is
Well if Yamamoto ends up winning the clinching game it might make Cohen go on a spending spree like never seen before.
You sound like a spoiled kid talking about what he’s getting for Christmas. Good gosh man.
Huh? Just talking reality. He wanted Yamamoto bad.
This isn’t what sports are supposed to be about kid.
lol
Story lines and matchups from those storylines is exactly what sports are about. Pretty arrogant to call someone kid. It’s actually really childish.
Sports are about fair competition not what teams are in the largest market and what teams spend the most. You would know this if you were older.
How old do you think I am gramps?
it has ever been thus. you would know this if you were smarter.
How old are you junior?
Mets: You made a reasonable prediction about what the owner of (presumably) the team you root for would do in response to a particular outcome, and then Blackpink went on this weird shouting-at-clouds rant. I’m not really sure why they thought your comment was so objectionable.
As a Dodger fan, I hope your user name isn’t an accurate prediction, lol, but what you said about Cohen makes perfect sense.
This dude has such a short attention span he can’t even enjoy his team being in the NLCS he’s talking about all the spending his team is gonna do next year. That’s lame. That’s really really lame.
Dodgers fans and Mets fans coming out of the woodwork. Yuck.
your way or the highway, eh?
Black pink – yeah we all believe that and then we turn 11.
Who is we? You don’t speak for anyone else except yourself.
Sports aren’t fair. Just like life….
We could have games where before every game, the managers get to make picks from the two combined rosters.
Sports are supposed to be about competing and sportsmanship and not winning. Professional sports are about entertainment and profits.
MLB top 100: Sports ARE about winning, especially at the highest level. I do think the money the players get us outrageous, but I don’t really care because I’m not paying it. What I don’t like is when not just the winners but every kid in grade and middle school gets awards just for participating. That isn’t what life is about.
Participating is what matters as a kid. Again FAIR COMPETITION is what sports are supposed to be about. How can anyone watch baseball and think that this is fair competition. It’s the big cities spending more money than everyone else to buy a better chance at winning. That’s not what sports are about. If you don’t get it then fine.
yeah lock up those losers. can’t stand a smug 4th grader.
And, my friend, you sound like the kid who missed out on that bike he wanted so much.
I had to do chores and earn that bike. Spoiled little people. Can’t stand them.
such a happy guy you are. must be fun being you.
MLB will get what they have wanted for years, Dodgers vs Yankees. I’m tired of the ohtani hype already. Go Tigers/Guardians winner
They at least get LA vs NY in this series.
Tired of the “Ohtanii type”?… tired of the most exciting player to come around in 3 generations?
As much as I’d like to see the Mets win, simply because I can’t stand Ohtani, I think the Dodgers make it to the World Series.
With what pitching? When you use your bullpen this much, out of necessity, it eventually catches up with you. Any one who has watched the Mets at all will tell you they don’t usually get cheated in AB’s. They take pitches, work the count, and will be in the Dodger bullpen early every game. They will make the Dodger bullpen run out of gas, or they’ll force them to throw the ball in the zone, and beat them that way. As good as the Dodger bullpen has been, it has been overused as well.
Why is it so difficult to understand that the Mets are getting under the LT in 2025?
They signed NO two year deals in the entire 2023-24 offseason. They added no one of note at the deadline. They said so, to Scherzer, then followed through last offseason exactly how they said they would.
@Jdt8312 Most Mets DON’T work the count. Bader, Taylor, Alvarez, Alonso all struggle badly in this regard… and can JDM even SEE the ball at this point?
Vientos, Winker, Marte all have OBPs around .320. This is not a patient team.
Vientos OBP in this post season is .427. Marte is .333. Winker is a DH who is in the lineups when a righty is pitching. His OBP is .427. Alonso OBP this post season is .433. Bader and Taylor are both defensive guys, an are not hitting well this post seonson, so far, and are only in the lineup together in late innings. JD Martinez has an OBP of .375 this post season. I don’t know where you’re getting your numbers from. But you can check these on MLB.com.
mlb.com/gameday/mets-vs-dodgers/2024/10/13/775307/…
The Mets were 8th in the Majors in walks and OBP. What are you talking about?
You can’t stand possibly the most talented ballplayer of this or any other generation, and who plays the game with enthusiasm and joy and not a trace of ego? Some purist you are.
He lied about gambling. So, yes, I’m a purist.
And you lied about that. So yes you are a liar
He absolutely knew what was going on with all that money. We know he’s a smart man. No way he doesn’t know what’s going on and isn’t involved. The investigation and deliberation were not credible.
You are such a sad case.
“We all know he is a smart man”
And it is patently clear you are not.
Don’t be naive, Blue.
I am comfortable thinking we don’t know for sure what happened. I lean slightly in believing Ohtani but I get people who think otherwise. But no one on either side should pretend they know for sure unless they have viewed documents that have not been made public. As for Blue Skies, based upon his history with Anaheim, I am not yet ready to crown him the most talented player ever, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Randy Johnson, another half dozen seasons like 2024 and I will agree, but too early.
I am comfortable having read the indictment and also being aware of the full confession that we know more than enough to be sure of what happened. Believing otherwise requires not just wearing a tinfoil hat but living in a completely tinfoil house.
Blue Skies – Very reasonable for you to reach the conclusion that you have. Reasonable for others to be skeptical that there is not more to the story. Unreasonable for them to be “certain”. None of us have seen the non-public documents.
Rather than name-calling, let’s see if we learn more when Mizuhara is sentenced on October 25.
Honestly, if you’ve read the indictment and know of the full confession, any other conclusion demands belief in a vast conspiracy, one completely unsupported by facts. To me, only one conclusion is reasonable, the one supported by facts. I very much doubt we will learn anything further of significance at the sentencing and if you are waiting for “the real story” to emerge at that time you will be waiting for an eternity. Because we already know the real story.
Blue, if you think everything in an indictment is truthful, I urge you to see the goings on with our current political system. And if you think for a moment that major league baseball isn’t willing to help cover for their international cash cow, i’ve got some oceanfront property to sell you in Arizona.
What size tinfoil hat do you wear? Will send you one.
He doesn’t need the hat. He’s already moved into the tinfoil condo.
Go ahead with the ad hominem, blue. You can’t tell me that the man didn’t know where millions of his dollars were going. But you’re a Dodgers fan so it’s easy to understand why you refuse to believe anything other than what will keep him in your favorite team’s lineup..
So sad. Truly. I will forever be puzzled by how anyone can expect their opinions to be taken seriously when they spin vague conspiracy theories unsupported by even the tiniest shred of evidence, and reject out of hand all evidence to the contrary. Not all arguments are created equal, and it can never be insulting to point this out. And keep in mind, the cynical point of view you are expressing is yours entirely. It is not mine in the least. It can never be an insult to point that out, either.
And I will forever be puzzled by anyone that can just accept things that are told to them by agencies and organizations who have their own interest first. It simply comes down to common sense. These guys will often choose contracts based on the difference of $1 million, yet this guy had no idea where several million dollars went. You believe what you want. But my advice to you is don’t be gullible and believe everything you’re told.
And my advice to you is not to believe in fantasies over facts just because they confirm your most cynical biases. Doing so is about as far from common sense as is humanly possible.
“can’t stand ohtani”
a true baseball fan.
I cannot stand him either because he should have been a criminal.
Sad. 🙁
Yes. The resolution of that gambling scandal was a complete cover-up. MLB just decided they would make more money with Ohtani playing than they could without him, and that the black eye on the sport would cost them some money, too. So they buried it like one of those bodies in the desert outside Vegas.
Like PEDs, which they are still burying.
If we’re honest, the game does have a WWF element to it.
Bizarre. Completely bizarre.
Yeah, the way they made his massive gambling go away was bizarre. “Um, he didn’t know he was being ripped off for hundreds of millions of dollars.” MLB and Dodgers fans: “Um, sounds good to me! Play ball!
you are a moron. read the FBI report and the DA’s indictment. can’t believe this nonsense still exists. but then…UTAH. THAT makes some sense.
It was a massive conspiracy involving MLB, federal investigators, prosecutors, financial institutions, and the courts, and also required the complete cooperation of a fall guy who was willing to go to prison for a long time for a crime he didn’t commit — just to protect a ballplayer. Everything you know is wrong!
in a world where some people believe hurricane weather is controlled by some nefarious group for political purposes…
But you are overlooking the obvious possibility that Ohtani really is the meanest player in all of baseball. When he checks on a catcher or an opposing dugout when he fouls a pitch into them, it isn’t because he’s a respectful person who cares about someone other than himself, it’s just a coverup for his criminality. I mean, anyone can see that, right?
Wait… hurricanes AREN’T controlled by supervillains? Now I don’t know what to think.
Don’t worry about thinking. Hardly anyone else does.
But unfortunately for you, he was not and he is not a criminal.
Clearly, the narrative that works for you is that he “should have been” a criminal. The IRS and FBI investigations were conclusive and their findings were emphatic. There was no evidence found to support your narrative. Get over it.
Go Mets, of course. The planet needs a break from all the mind-numbing Ohtani hype.
Something definitely seemed fishy about SD not scoring for *24* straight innings…
well the conspiracy idiots are well represented
SD changed their entire approach at the plate after taking a 2-1 series lead, with a chance to close out at home. Makes sense.
what size is your tin foil hat?
Yeah, the Padres with tears welling up in their eyes while staring at the Dodgers celebrating on the mound last night was some great acting….
Yup. Something definitely fishy about the way that ended. Inconceivable, really.
Agree ! It smells fishy !
If it gets to “42” innings, then maybe Jackie Robinson is looking down on them.
Yes, true baseball fans have most favorites and least favorites. Just because they are different from yours doesn’t make them less of a true baseball fan.
I’m not a Yankee fan but I recognize greatness when I see Aaron Judge. I see a great hitter when I look at Soto. As a Dodger fan I am not about to like the Padres, but I know a great third baseman and power hitter when I see Machado play. Tatis Jr, Lindor, Skubal, the list of baseball enemies to admire is lengthy. Hating extraordinary players DOES make one less of a true fan IMO. Their talents are a thing of beauty.
People should learn not to trust polls
Senga gets game 1 nod. In 1 career start against LA (2023) : 6IP, 1ER,2BBs,9k’s in a 5-1 loss. Mookie went 4-4 that game w/HR. Muncy, Freeman, Smith didn’t do much.
In a separate Senga game: Shohei 1-2 w/3bb
Who cares
I’ve always hated the mets and I hate the tampering gambling dodgers. The question should be who is Shohei taking
yawn
That yawn sounds like the cacaphony of yawns emitted by Astros fans a few years ago.
ever met a fact you couldn’t run away from?
A couple of items that deserved to be mentioned in this analysis. First, a rhetorical question: where did all the Dave Roberts haters go? Seems to me he navigated through this series with a pitching shortage masterfully. He sure got a monkey off his back. Second, it’s worth noting that having used Yamamoto in Game 5, he will be available to pitch only once in the series, probably Game 4. It will come down to how well Flaherty performs in two starts and the mixing and matching Roberts will have to do in the rest of the games.
Doc played the pitching like a virtuoso violinist. The simple pitching solution going forward is to sweep. 🙂
Yeah, he sure lucked out that Yamamoto went from a stinker to a God in four short days…
what’s your point genius?
LAD finished that series with 24 consecutive scoreless innings. Yamamoto was on the hill for 5 of them.
Dave’s a puppet that follows a script
This is only true when they win. If they lose, it’s entirely his fault.
BlueSkies/Bill & Mojo gotta be the dumbest people on here, by a mile.
Neon deciding others are dumb. Hilarious.
Have you read any of your own cretinous posts?
You are a delusional, nihilistic troll. All you do is piss and moan.
Blue Skies
Respectfully, I believe that the FO regularly tells Roberts when to use pitchers both when they fail and when they win. I do think Roberts might have lost his job had game five gone the other way. I view Roberts as a “B” grade manager on a team filled with “A” talent. “B” is still above average just not the top. I am fine with them keeping him, but if he was replaced with say Skip Schumaker, I think the Dodgers would be no better and no worse (and still micromanaged by upstairs when it comes to pitching usage). I just know that Friedman was not going to take the fall had the Padres prevailed, so it might have been Roberts.
I realize, I am only saying that to many fans, failures are always the fault of managers. In reality, game planning, especially on a data driven team like the Dodgers, is ultimately the product of the front office. This is where the micromanagement comes from — managers are implementers of the plan in the analytics era. And of course front offices make rosters, managers can only play them. A manager’s job is like an iceberg. The vast majority of it we don’t see. But for a glimpse of it, try the interview with Mookie Betts after the NLDS win. He couldn’t say enough about Dave Roberts. The man is highly respected by his squad, and that’s the real measure of his success as a manager. True, Roberts might have lost his job if the Dodgers lost this series, but not because it was anywhere close to being his entire responsibility.
Go anybody and beat Ohtani Rose!
Hard choice between the Mutts and Karens. I don’t even think I can pick.
Oh no! And we were all waiting for your decision.
The choice is right there on the front of your face. Pick it.
So says the guy with “York” in his user name.
Quite the punt year for NYM.
The Met’s have a 0% chance. There’s no way the Met’s will win. Although I said that going into the Phillies series, and look what happened. The Mets are a horrible team, one of the worst in baseball. I can’t think of a single Mets player I’d even want playing on the Mariners. Yet the Mets beat, for God knows whatever reason, the best team in baseball. So, can they beat the 2nd best team in baseball? Can they be the miracle Mets, the OMG Mets, in back to back series? No way. Them being the lol Mets is way more likely.
Sad: I take exception to the Mets being the worst team in baseball. The White Sox worked very hard to become the worst team in modern baseball. That title belongs to them.
So that whole thing about having the best record in MLB since June doesn’t do much for you? ok…
BTW, they won back to back series in the playoffs already….Brewers, and Phils.
@SadMsFan. So you’d rather have Crawford than Lindor? Vientos’ bat? Alonso? All better options than the hitless M’s have. No wonder you’re sad. I’m a Braves fan btw, not a Met fan. Hard for me to give credit to the Mets, but they’ve been one of the best teams in MLB since June. They’ve won their way to the NLCS—and not by being “a horrible team, one of the worst in baseball.”
@SadMsFan Remember that three game sweep in Seattle when the Mets just looked horrible? That was the Mariners high point of the season, then we nosedived. And the Mets did just the opposite. Baseball is weird.
If the Yanks make the WS, MLB is gonna be rock hard either way.
Love to see the Tigers in the WS, but I strongly doubt it will happen.
difficult to use the AJ Hinch trash can scheme on the road.
While I will be rooting for the Mets, I believe the Dodgers will win. I kinda think they’re destined to win this full season WS. And, to be honest, they have overcome significant injury adversity to get here, and will, I think, do so going forward. If they don’t, I do think the inordinate number of lengthy injuries should be remembered. Same goes for the Orioles.
Injuries? The Braves…………..
The most significant injuries the Dodger had was to their starting rotation, which they haven’t recovered from. It’s the reason why game 4 of the NLDS was a bullpen game. I’m glad you’re rooting for the Mets, but I don’t think you’ve seen the way the Mets work counts, and I think you’re not considering the drain on the Dodger bullpen, as good as they have been to this point.
I think the Mets can take the Dodgers because the Mets have an actual starting rotation. And these guys have been dealing. The Dodgers have the killer bullpen but you can only run those guys out so many times before they have a bad outing. Roberts can’t have 3 or 4 bullpen games.
I concur.
Who cares
Mets and Tigers in World Series. 2 teams that were 10 games under at one point in the season.
Tdat: I would be fine with that, but the tribe got to Skubal, unfortunately.
PSA but anyone can stream Arizona Fall League games for free on MLB.com:
mlb.com/arizona-fall-league/live-streams#stream
They also archive every game on that site and it lets you move around even in the live broadcast. No announcers or sound and limited camera angles but it’s still fun.
I mention this because of the little blurb about McNeil. I watched a little of his game last night (Scottsdale v. Glendale). Looked healthy to me.
They probably end up playing at the old Rangers stadium.
Mets in 6. I don’t see the Dodgers being able to win this series while having to rely so heavily on their bullpen. They’ve done a great job so far. But when you exhaust your bullpen every game, you’re asking for trouble.
This could be a very prescient comment. We’ll see. Robert’s has once again over managed ( out of fear, panic). No way Treinen should have been used last night. To win by blow out (8-0 and 10-2) and still use Treinen in both games is malpractice. Dodgers are in a precarious position today. If they win, no one notices. Neither Phillips or Blake are available today. In the scenario you describe they go to 7 games and it may all fall apart. I’m a Dodger fan and of course hope he avoids a train wreck. But with Doc, it can all turn in an instant.
Hopefully the Mets “upset” the Dodgers. I voted for the Mets in 6.
Who will win NLCS sponsored by Fanduel?
1.Owners of Mets and Dodgers.
2.Online bookies.
3.Advertisers.
4.Players leveraging performance into merch sales.
WNBA, MLS, NHL: All are better entertainment and more professional sports than MLB and their greedy owners and players who are only concerned with separating money from fans as much as possible.
If you’re not entertained by the last 4 weeks of Mets baseball, you just don’t like baseball.
Lots of people who post here don’t seem to like baseball very much. Makes me wonder, often.
Blue Skies
I am assume that they like baseball, they just like trolling more.
Jdt
Mets have been amazing since July. Looking forward to a battle.
Looking forward to it too. May it be the best baseball we’ve seen to date.
Cleon
So go away. The sooner the better.
@Cleon Jones Sad to see, too, how ads are proliferating on uniforms. We’re now up to five in some cases. My kid also counted 14 advertisements visible onscreen at one time during an in-season broadcast. I think he’s going to have to live off-grid eventually.
Yep, sad whats become of mlb, just another means to peddle beer, trucks, merch….radio is better, at least dont have to put up with the visuals. Dont understand why anyone wants to pay $$ for the privilege of watching tgem sell more crap.
Crawl back under your rock
Most boring matches ever! Screw the Dodgers and Yankees hopefully they both get swept
Please predict that Misty because you are ALWAYS wrong.
Misty
Game five between the Dodgers and Padres made every pitch exciting.
I think a WS with any of the remaining four teams will be exciting. There are good storylines for each team, there is interesting talent on each team.
I prefer the Met in the WS. I do not see it happening. I think the Padres were the Dodgers toughest matchup.
Coming from a Giants fan, I also do not understand the hate for Ohtani. He is incredibly likable and a wonderfully talented baseball player. Am I jealous Ohtani wanted to sign with the Dodgers? Heck yeah I am.
Thanks for being reasonable gravel
Threads like these make muting, obviously easy, and profitable. Thanks!
Mets winning???
I voted dodgers in 6 (when in reality I’m thinking dodgers in 4)
I’m sorry but u cannot have Jose Iglesis as ur starting 2B and make it to the WS