Just Wait Until Next Year…

It’s a day later, and I have moved on. I am resigned to waiting until next year. Many of the fans on LADT are of the “older variety.” They remember when the winner of the National League and the winner of the American League played for the World Series Championship. If you had a good team and got there, you had a decent chance of winning. Today, you have to win a minimum of eight games in your league before you can go to the World Series. That simply means it is a lot harder to do so. You cannot measure success like you used to.

In 2019, the Nationals got hot and won using fewer pitchers and players than I can remember. In 2017, the World Series title was stolen by the Cheating Asstericks. In 2021, the Braves, who won just 88 games, got hot and won the World Series, but this year they were a much better team, won more games, and lost in the first round. In the National League, three teams won over 100 games: Dodgers (111), Mets (101) , and Braves (101). They have all been knocked out! The two teams left, the Padres and the Phillies, won 89 games and 87 games, respectively. This is the new brand of playoff baseball… like it or not. The teams with the best records in the regular season no longer waltz to the World Series.

The Dodgers were clearly the better team all season. They won 111 games and were 14-5 against the Padres. They actually dominated the Friars. Did they just think they had to show up to beat them? Did the Padres have an increased impetus to beat the Dodgers due to how heavily favored they were? Did the Dodgers not take them seriously? Were the Dodgers not prepared? All of that comes into play. While I believe Andrew Friedman does need to make a few changes (evolution, if you will), he has built a juggernaut of a team. Someone was trying t make the point that the Dodgers have not had that many new major-league stars under Friedman, but Keith Law called their minor-league system “sick” with so many prospects.

The Dodgers have not had that many players promoted because they have so many good-to-great players at the MLB level. Miguel Vargas, Mike Busch, Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot, Bobby Miller, James Outman, and some others would be on major league rosters, playing if not for the Dodger’s depth. I think Andrew Friedman could pick any team in MLB and be their President of Baseball Operations. They all would have him. Theo Epstein was once regarded that highly, but no one else is close. To call Friedman a loser is to be ignorant of the facts, simply put.

Baseball has changed. To say that Andrew does not know how to build a team for the playoffs may satisfy your small-minded view of baseball but ignores how baseball has changed. Inferior teams can get hot and win it all. The Braves won 88 in 2021 and then got hot and won it all. They improved the team over the winter and won 101 games, only to get knocked out in the first round. How do you build a team for the playoffs? You build it the same way you build a team for the regular season. Maybe you get hot and win it all, or maybe someone else does. It truly is a crapshoot. Maybe AF should build a team to win 88 games and then get hot… yeah right!

Many moves you blame Doc for are actually S.O.P. Some of these things need to be re-evaluated. I think the Dodgers need to get rid of so many “swing-and-miss” players. I also think you grow your starting pitching – you don’t buy it. Remember this column because it is going to be a while until baseball teams win back-to-back titles. It has become too damn hard. As I write this, Cleaveland is tied with the Yankees 2-2. This has been the year of “the best teams do not usually win.”

I have a few parting shots, and then I am going to take some time off. I have a lot of irons in the fire and need to focus on some other things… but I will be back. Maybe not until 2023, but I will be back. Hopefully, the rest of the group will entertain you. They won’t post every day, but we will be open for business. Before I go, I have a few things to discuss. I would like to do that, position-by-position.

Catcher

The Dodgers are in great shape here, with Will Smith and Austin Barnes for 2023 and Diego Cartaya and Dalton Rushing on the horizon. Will Smith gets a free pass for the Padre Series because of the birth of his first child. I can see why his head might have been elsewhere. Will and Barnsie are one of the best duos in baseball.

First Base

The Dodgers should be set with Freddie Freeman for the next three or four years (yes, I know he has five more years, but the last year or so, maybe as a DH). Freddie held up his end of the deal in the postseason. Maybe next year, he will be more comfortable as a vocal leader.

Second Base

I would leave Gavin Lux here to play every day. I would trade Chris Taylor and second base belongs to Gavin. With another year under his belt, Gavin could have a “breakout” season. Jorbit Vivas is a player to watch, also. – he could be the super utility guy.

Shortstop

I think it is very likely that Trea Turner will go back East. Of the free agents out there, only Dansby Swanson has much appeal, and he is a downgrade over Trea Turner. Some think Gavin Lux can play SS, and maybe he can, but I see him as a Gold Glove Second Baseman. He has the range to play SS, but the “yips” are a worry there (you can’t wish them away). If Jacob Amaya could hit just a little, I would not be afraid of his defense. He is a baseball “gym rat” and knows the game, Bat him 9th and upgrade other places. This is not the team with Griffin and Izturis in the past.

Third Base

The Dodgers can make it known through “back channels” that they would pay Nolan Arenado more than his current contract, and it is no secret he’d like to play in LA. Buy out Justin Turner’s contract for $2 Million and sign Nolan. I have to admit that I was wrong about his hitting outside of Coors – he has been very good. Add another year to his deal, and he can play to age 37, which is how old Justin Turner is right now.

Left Field

Miguel Vargas is a good athlete with above-average speed, a good arm, and a great baseball pedigree. If he starts this winter, he can learn to become a solid left fielder by the end of Spring Training. This guy is a .300 hitter. His glove has gotten a bad rap.

Center Field

As much as I have rooted for Cody Bellinger, it is time for a change, and I am dead serious about trading for Bryan Reynolds. He is 27 years old and a switch-hitter with identical career batting averages of .281 from both sides of the plate. He is not the equal of Cody defensively, but few are. He is solid, if not spectacular. He is not on the market, and there is no reason he should be, so it will take an overpay to pry him loose. Pepiot, Busch, and Pages are a lot to pay but should get the deal done for the rebuilding Pirates.

Right Field

The Dodgers are “stuck” with Mookie Betts. I think he should spend some time with Michael Jordon and Tom Brady in the offseason. He needs to be more of a vocal leader.

Designated Hitter

Who else, Max Muncy! He is signed for 2023, and he was not the problem in the playoffs. He will hit 35 HR in 2023 and OPS .950. Write it down.

Lineup

  1. Betts RF (R)
  2. Reynolds CF (B)
  3. Freeman 1B (L)
  4. Arenado 3B (R)
  5. Muncy DH (L)
  6. Smith C (R)
  7. Lux 2B (L)
  8. Vargas (LF) R
  9. Amaya (SS (R)

That is a balanced, solid, good defensive lineup. I could live with that!

Pitching

As I mentioned before, I want Anderson back. I’d also like Heaney back – as a reliever. Whether he will do that remains to be seen. I think he could be an outstanding reliever. Gavin Stone should be in the rotation next year. Dustin May should be back. What’s up with Clayton? He might be back… or not. Bobby Miller, Mike Grove, and Emmet Sheehan are all possibilities in 2023.

Rotation:

  1. Urias
  2. May
  3. Gonsolin
  4. Anderson
  5. Stone
  6. Kershaw?

There are a plethora of relievers – enough for two teams. The starting pitching and the bullpen are not the issues.

See you next year!

This article has 75 Comments

  1. Thanks Mark, appreciate you, hope the next few months go great for you, your family and business.
    It’s been another fun and interesting LADT season.

  2. Yep, a solid assessment.
    I love the idea of Arenado coming home to SoCal, especially if Trea leaves and Jacob Amaya lives up to his defensive billing. Could Lux be a great 2nd baseman? I doubt it. At any rate, it would be great to have superb fielding at SS and 3B to complement Freddie’s fine glove at 1B.
    Might as well cut Belli loose. Maybe Dodgers brass has given up on him too, given his diminished role against SD. I wonder who besides Reynolds might be available. Outman may strike out too much, but if he’s like Joc Pedersen with a glove, that would be fine. Trayce should still be in the mix too.

  3. Another sad ending to a great regular season. I believe there’s enough blame to go around for everyone. Obviously the gallo move was just that, a move. He really didn’t improve the team at all, nor did the Alberto signing. I agree with you mark, go get Reynolds’s, and if. At all possible Arenado! I love belli but it’s time to move on. Taylor I keep at least one more year, trace Thompson I let walk and give outman the 4th outfield spot. No need. To fire doc, they will just bring in more of the same, hope Clayton comes back for 1 more! Dodger fan for 60 years, no need to change now! Go Cleveland!

  4. I really enjoy your commitment to this site and hope everything goes well for you, your family and the business. I normally agree with most of what you say but line-up with just about everything you said in this column. We are blessed to have AF and no one should forget the position we are in moving forward with a 111-win team and a productive minor league system. You are right, every other team in baseball would gladly trade places with us.
    My reaction to your position analysis: Catching- right on, First- Right on, Second- Go into Spring Training with Busch knowing he has a shot, Short- Move Lux over and tell him now he is the shortstop (Go into the season with Busch/Lux and see what Amaya does and what other options open up), Third- You have Max so put him there (Turner is gone), Outfield- Belli is gone, so is Gallo/Thompson (Taylor is on the bubble-I don’t care either way)- add an impact outfielder as we don’t have one coming up- this is where we should spend money/prospects, Pitching- Sign CK and hope for health from Tony and Dustin- Add Stone- Also hope Trienan is back and healthy.
    It will be a long winter, but it is always fun to get online each day and hope something exciting happens. Thanks Mark.

  5. I hopefully people here are done losing their minds. At least Mark isn’t advocating dropping a nuke on the entire organization. I couldn’t even read the comments yesterday. They just made my head hurt. “AF is terrible! The Dodgers farm system is terrible!” Just stop, please!

    Before everyone advocates burning everything down, do remember that the Dodgers were clearly the best team in baseball all year. They did win 111 games. We went over this before the playoffs even started, and I got thoroughly flamed. Winning the WS is very hard. The Dodgers were 60%/40% favorites over the Padres. That means there was a 40% chance according to the prognosticators that the Dodgers would lose. If you think about it, that’s actually quite a lot. Not quite a 50/50 coin flip, but definitely too close for the hubris that was on display here. It sucks. It’s bitterly disappointing. Shit happens. The Dodgers are still good.

    “AF didn’t construct a team for the playoffs!” I don’t know what that even means. I don’t know if the pundits and commenters that write this stuff know what it means (and if the genesis of this nonsense are the likes of Plaschke and Hernandez, I’m POSITIVE they don’t know what it means). Ok, maybe the emphasis on a lot of “depth” …. “depth, depth, depth!” is more beneficial in a long marathon of a season, where injuries and slumps take their toll on any team. In the playoffs the guys you got just have to perform. We had guys (maybe a little less emphasis on the bowling, Mookie) who didn’t perform. That’s it. Sometimes it’s just that simple. There are no big answers to existential questions; no divining meaning in the chaos of short sample size playoff series.

    Most of what I’ve glossed over is criticisms like this – just stuff people say. It’s reactive … and it’s not thought through. The entire Dodgers’ brain trust’s job is to think things through. That’s what they do … and they’re good at it. Putting in Heaney after Gonzo gave you just one inning was absolutely the right move, and criticisms of moves like this drive me nuts.

    I mentioned yesterday Arenado would be a great fit. I think the Dodgers would pay. I think St Louis would pay, too, and Nolan may have discovered that St Louis is a pretty good organization with great fans. As much as I’d like to see it, it will be hard to pry him loose. It would also be tough to just unceremoniously dump JT like that, but no sentimentality in baseball, I guess. It would solve the defensive hole at 3rd. Muncy just needs to be the DH.

    I think everyone’s sick of watching Bellinger flail away at the plate, but dumping him means you have an outfielder shortage.

    And thank you, Mark, for your commitment to this site and the time and effort you’ve put into it over the years.

  6. Playoffs are a crapshoot, it is indeed who gets hot at the right time….and we picked the worst time to play our worst 3 games of the season.

    I enjoyed the season, 111 wins is unreal.

    Yeah it didn’t end the way we wanted it, but you know what, we will be right back there next season….

    Thanks Mark.

  7. Mark –

    I really enjoy LADT and genuinely appreciate your commitment to it! I join KP in wishing you continued success in all your endeavors.

    As a veteran human being I have come to realize that “moving on” is one of the most important qualities to have in this crazy life! Your example is good for all of us to heed.

    I agree with your moves for next year too. One is particularly difficult for me – the departure of Cody Bellinger. Since he came on the scene, I followed him as my favorite Dodger even checking the box score every day like I did as a 10 year old baseball fan! He was so talented and successful and the ceiling was so high! But, baseball is an extremely difficult sport to be successful long-term. While my heart tells me – give him one more year; my head tells me it is probably best for Cody and the Dodgers to “move on.” I wish him future success!

  8. There are holes to fill this offseason, but the core is pretty damn good. I keep going back and forth about Belli. Other options aren’t that appealing. Sure Bryan Reynolds was solid last year, but he’s got three years of team control and the Pirates will probably want to compete for that Wild Card at some point. Are you gonna trade the farm for a 3 WAR player?

    What we have.
    Smith C (R)
    Freeman 1B (L)
    Lux 2B (L)
    A big fat hole 3B
    A big fat hole SS
    Belli CF (L)
    Betts RF (R)
    A big fat hole LF
    Muncy DH (R)

    We have some options.
    Amaya SS – Great glove, but can he hit?
    Vargas 3B, 2B, LF – He didn’t hit, but probably can.
    Outman, LF, CF – He hits, but K’s a lot
    Busch 2B, LF – Progresses well at every level so far, but seems a little further behind than others.
    Martin OF – Older version of Outman, not quite as good defensively

    Left field was a black hole the entire season. JT ran out of gas at 3B in the postseason two years in a row. It’s time to move on. Trea’s a free agent. I don’t think his defense justifies the kind of contract he’ll most likely seek. If you’re gonna spend 30M+, I would rather give that money to Nolan. He’s a better fit than Trea.

    Lux’s OBP of 346 is fine for the top of the order and he has the speed to go with it. With Mookie taking one of the spots up top, we’re in need for RH power to balance the lineup. Nolan’s D at 3B makes Machado look like just another dude. Nolan is that good.

    Nolan is coming off a 7.9 WAR season and this is his last opt out. The Angels have Rendon and the Padres have Machado. This is his only shot at coming home. Get it done!

    If we get Nolan, I really don’t care what else we do. I would be more than happy with this lineup…

    Mookie RF R
    Lux SS or 2B L
    Freeman 1B L
    Nolan 3B R
    Muncy DH L
    Smith C R
    Belli CF L
    Vargas LF R
    Busch or Amaya 2B or SS L or R
    We still have CT3 for Insurance and Trayce and Outman as 4th outfielders.

    Get Belli a hitting coach for the offseason. Get Vargas a guy with a fungo bat for the offseason.
    Any way you look at it, the offense improves over last season. Nolan is a better hitter than Trea and a better fit in the lineup. Vargas takes over one of those black hole spots in the lineup.

  9. Does anyone really want to see Amaya at shortstop in 2023 instead of Trea Turner?

    Maybe some are concerned with the Dodgers payroll? Quick question. Why? It’s unsustainable, right? But the Dodgers didn’t seem too concerned when they signed Freeman this past spring. Or when they signed the crazy deal with Bauer. I get that some teams can’t hang with the Dodgers when it comes to high finances and all. But that is not LA’s problem.

    The Dodgers should re-sign Turner. Oh yah, it will cost a whole lot of money, ridiculous amounts. But such is baseball. He actually produced with the bat. In fact, look at all the games he impacted during the season. The big hits.

    But the Dodgers have the money. They are approaching $600 million in revenue. They are, again, raising ticket prices. They’ll raise them again in 2024. It’s probably already plugged into budget. Good glove or not, people want excitement. They want hits. Turner was second in hits. They want to see the slides.

    Sorry, but this isn’t the game of yesteryear.

    It’s high priced entertainment.

    Took my daughter and two of the grandkids to a game last year and it cost a grand. That didn’t include food.

    I’m paying for excitement in a game that struggles to deliver it. Ending the shift and speeding up the game will certainly help.

    I always enjoy reading Mark’s thoughts, but what if the Pirates aren’t inclined to trade Reynolds? Then there is Nolan. Thought that might happen years ago, then it didn’t. Don’t expect it to happen now.

    Hey, all the speculation is fun.

    Keep it coming.

    1. Just about everyone sucks in the postseason until they don’t. Or they excel in the postseason until they don’t.

  10. Trae Turner has played a good CF in his career. If the Dodgers resign him why not put him in CF for Belli and let Amaya play ss ?
    Financially the money saved on Belli would go to Turner and Amaya is a big improvement defensively at ss. Plus the kid was coming on at the plate late in the season raising his average to a respectable .260 at AAA.
    A lot of money will be coming off the books (Kimbrel, Heaney, Anderson, Kahnle) too especially if they buy out JT and the Bauer contract off the hook. Should be enough for Arenado if he wants to play for his home team.
    Betts, Turner, Freeman, Arenado, Muncy, Smith, Lux,, Vargas, Amaya. Not a bad lineup and strong defensively.
    Fill out the bench with CT3, Barnes, Outman and Busch and Rios.

    While Judge is probably a pipe dream and will stay with NY, how about deGrom ? I know he is injury prone with some mileage on his arm but when healty he still is the best in the game. Do not overuse him in the regular season so he is fit to go for the postseason.
    A rotation consisting of deGrom, Julio, Gonsolin,May,Kershaw would be lethal. To rest deGrom we still would have Miller, Stone and Pepiot .
    Bullpen arms: Treinen, Almonte, Vesia, Ferguson, Duffy, Grove, Martin and Phillipps as closer.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!

    1. Because a lot of his value stems from being a short stop. His value goes WAY down if you move him to the OF. If the Dodgers are willing to give him a SS contract to pay CF maybe but I doubt Trea would be open to that.

    2. Trea Turner played exactly 45 games in center field in his career. His fielding pct as a center fielder is .980. He also does not want to play CF, so no way he is resigned and put into a position he has barely played and dislikes.

  11. I’m over it. Padres get their day . Ho hum….

    Sister team Chelsea FC next for me. Our only hope in Qatar WC is Pulisic. I would have hoped with Dodgers buying club and new manager that Pulisic would get more minutes. Not yet.

    USA in dire need of goal scorers outside of Christian P. We’ll need some luck to get out of group.

    1. Maybe Pepi. After his loan transfer from Augsburg to Groningen he has scored 3 goals lately.
      In Augsburg (where we live) he was a huge disappointment but German Bundesliga may was to tough a start for him as 18 year old teen. In Groningen he has found some of his qualities again.

      Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. Pepi impressed early but somethings off. Too much reliance on CP is a continuing issue.

        All that said I’d not be surprised if we steal points agst England.

  12. Thanks Mark! I really really enjoy reading this blog and all the writers who contributed this year. Looking forward to reading you next season.

  13. Good assessment but you didn’t mention that empty suit of a manager – when oh when will he be replaced? What a failure.

  14. Best of luck with the new phase of your company and thanks so much for keeping LADT vibrant, entertaining and enjoyable. Don’t be gone too long!
    I have no idea how the Dodgers fix their “October” problem, but please folks, stop saying the playoffs are a “crap shoot”! A crap shot is throwing two inanimate objects on a table. The playoffs are games played by live human beings. Sure, it’s a “small sample size” and luck may play a role but it’s real games played by real people and the team that plays the best will win. San Diego played better than we did and they won–no dice involved!
    As for regular season vs. playoffs, I tallied up the Dodger’s regular season record and playoff record for the last ten years (2013-2022).
    Regular season–931 wins 588 losses .613 winning percentage
    Playoffs–53 wins 44 losses .546 winning percentage.
    Like I said before, that and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee!
    Go Blue!

    1. I’d be interested in knowing how many teams have a better playoff winning percentage than .546 during that time frame. Probably very few.

  15. Good assessment Mark. We’ve all had a day to stew.

    We certainly don’t need to blow up the team. I would like to see some major changes in coaching (I know Doc ain’t going anywhere) and the moves on the player side you mentioned would be best case scenario. I also agree on Amaya. People seem to think he’d be a disaster as a defensive first player batting 9th. Well, we won 111 games with a 1 War, glove first CFer batting at the bottom of the lineup with a .389 OPS. And Amaya won’t cost us $17m. And Amaya is an intense competitor. Bellinger seemed lost in his own head for the last 2 years. Amaya would, at the very least, bring some fire to the team. I watched Amaya play with his best friend Vargas in Rancho. Those guys were all energy.

    Bear, maybe I was too hard on Mookie. My issues with him are less his ups and downs during the season. He had a pretty good year. Or even his lack of hitting in the playoffs. This is a former MVP with 2 WS rings. I don’t see the same fire in his spirit as I saw in 2020. He needs to find that again.

    And Mark, I agree 100% on the playoff format. 3 game series with a bye week for the division winners might be great for TV revenue, but its terrible for baseball. If the 2022 World Series has ends up having none of the Dodgers, Braves and Yankees playing for the title, maybe the TV ratings for the WS will make them reconsider (unlikely, I know). Imagine a Padres/Guardians WS! Ugh. A rerun of the Real Housewives of Hoboken might get more viewers.

    Lastly, good luck on your plans to go public. My company did that in 2020. Somehow got it done during all the lockdowns. It’s a massively time consuming process. But it’s a game changer for any company that’s growing. Best of luck.

  16. One last thing.

    I was thinking g last night why this loss got to me more than 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021?

    First, we won 1 playoff game. That’s just humiliating. 2017 sucked but I accepted it (before I knew they cheated). We fought like hell in that series. Epic games. By game 7 our bats had nothing left. We fought for every inch. Not knowing the deck was stacked against us the whole time.

    2018 we were clearly out matched. We took a game into epic extra innings and Muncy walked it off. Boston was just better (and possibly cheating, we will never really know). 2019 we fought, and lost. 2020 we came back to beat the Braves and played our hearts out to win the title. 2021 Braves were simply on a mission. I didn’t like how we played but it wasn’t an embarrassment.

    2022? Wasn’t even a fight. We got TKOed in the 1st round hardly landing a single punch. I can easily live with a loss that went 10 rounds and went to the score cards. But that was humiliating. Tough to swallow.

  17. We lost when May then Buehler then Gonsolin went down. Few teams recover when you lose 1-2-3 top starters. Amazing how we still won 111. Next year will be better.

    Shout out to Mark and all creators here. This is a deep pool to swim in.

  18. Thanks Mark, I appreciate more than you could possibly know the opportunity to write and contribute to this site. I will do my best to keep some articles coming that I hope our readership will enjoy. Now, as to the Dodgers, I like some of the changes you have considered. Arenado only comes into play if he decides to opt out of his deal. Bellinger’s fate is entirely in the hands of the boys in the office with the big windows. He was extremely upset that he was not in the lineup in game 4 against Musgrove. Good for him, nice to see a little fire lit under his skin since he always seems and looks like he could care less. My advice to Belli, forget every bit of advice you have gotten from Von strikeout and go spend the winter practicing hitting with Freddie Freeman. You are about the same height, so his style would fit pretty well. I am not sold that Amaya is the answer at SS with his bat, but if he brings really solid defense, they can plug him into the 9 hole and cover his deficiency’s pretty well. What they could not overcome were so many weak sister bats in the lineup at the same time. 451 Ks in the regular season between Muncy, Taylor and Bellinger. Not acceptable. Taylor has led the team two years in a row. Not the kind of contact you want a player like him making. But he just signed a 4-year deal, which most fans were hoping for anyway. Roberts, according to all reports so far, is not getting canned. This will be the first year of his new deal. Someone made a comment yesterday that just ticked me off. They said, Vinny would be ashamed of what happened or some such garbage like that. First off, you never not once heard Scully berate or get mad for the Dodgers losing. For many, the memory of collapses in years past is still there. Scully saw them lose huge leads in 51 and 62. In 62 all they needed the last week was one win to secure their spot in the World Series with the Yankees. Koufax’s injury pretty much put the kibosh on that. Vin saw them lose heartbreakers time after time. He also saw the triumphs. People can poo poo the 2020 win all they like, but it is just as legitimate as any 162 season. All the teams played under the same rules and circumstances . 81 was the same, except the team with the best record, the Reds, did not even make the playoffs. They still had to run the gauntlet to get there. Just like 2020. Getting knocked out the last week of the season, or even in some cases, the last game, hurts just as much and the man with the most class never said a disparaging word.

  19. To make the argument that the playoffs are a crap shoot or that it’s “hard” is kind of a weak argument. Saying that could means that you might not understand what it takes to win in October. I would even say that it might have been harder to win 30 years ago then now when teams didn’t have all of this data and technology able to predict every last out of a game.

    Just because the media tells you the Dodgers have this superior farm system doesn’t mena its the truth. I look at results More than anything and the amount of proven MLB regulars this front office has produced is very low compared to the previous administration.

    To give you an example, Ned Colletti and Logan White regularly produced not only productive MLB regulars but all-stars. I can name off many. I think I should to illustrate my point. Here we go.

    Clayton Kershaw (obviously) matt Kemp (all-star) Andre Ether (All-star) Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton (who was a good reliever in his first couple of seasons) James Loney batted .300 his first couple of seasons, Dee Gordon (All-star) , Cody Bellinger drafted and signed in 2013 under Colletti. Corey Seager, drafted and signed in 2012 under Colletti
    Alex Verdugo drafted in 2014 under Colletti and white. AJ Ellis, Kenley Jansen, I could go on here but you get my point.

    Keep in mind Colletti and Logan White still built competitive clubs that regularly reached the playoffs with not even half the money Friedman has had.

    Name me one regular position player drafted and developed under friedman since 2019 that has become a MLB regular other than Will Smith and Gavin Lux? One poster said Tony Gonsolin, sure. So in 3+ years rhe front office has produced 2 position players and 2 pitchers? (Lux, Smith, May, Gonsolin). Is that a good track record? I just rattled off a a laundry list of players drafted in the previous administration that went on to make lasting impressions in the majors or at least became semi-productive MLB regulars.

    The point ill make here is that Friedman has done so little with what’s been given to him. I would almost argue he’s done thr bare minimum given the most resources in baseball. He’s consistently failed almost every October since arriving and even his biggest supporters are getting tired of seeing the Dodgers lose on the biggest stage every fall in the most incompetent ways.

    Maybe he’s had his chances and perhaps its time to look at someone else to build the rosters? I don’t know who that would be, but I would like to see what someone else can do.

    For example, if the Padres win the World Seried this year which is a big possibility, then AJ Preller will be just as successful as Friedman. Maybe he didn’t build 100 win teams that lose every year in October but if SD wins a ring this year he’ll have as many as Friedman does in 8 years, and not in a covid year.

    1. You’re argument that it was harder to win 30 years ago makes zero sense.

      The postseason has expanded letting teams that win 87-88 games in. They can get hot, we have seen that. 30 years ago teams like SF, SD, dont even MAKE the playoffs.

      Yes it is MUCH harder to win a title now than 30 years ago and it aint even close….

      1. 30 years ago they didn’t have data and technology to predict every out like they do now. Don’t you think that makes it a little easier?

        30 years ago, no data, no technology to predict where guys hit. No shifting. Etc.

        “get hot” is not a quantifiable thing. Sorry but it takes a lot of skill and dedication to win in October.

        If you think the Padres “got lucky” or won in accident then you should go back and rewatch those games.

        1. What?!

          30 years ago there was a two round playoff structure. The division winners from the West and the East in their respective leagues would play a League Championship Series for the chance to go to the World Series. 4 total teams had a chance to win the World Series – a 25% chance of winning.

          Now there are 12 total teams in the playoffs vying for a WS win. It’s a 1/12 chance of winning, or 8.3%

          Matt’s right. Your argument makes zero sense. It’s about three times harder for any team to win the WS, and this isn’t even debatable. It’s a mathematical absolute.

          Your other point about the data analytics … I don’t understand that, either. All baseball teams have access to data. Nearly all of them have departments that analyze and use it. It shouldn’t make it easier if you have to compete against a team that looks at the same data. The Dodgers are probably one of the best at it, yet they still lost.

          1. Some comments are not worthy of a response.

            Every team dealt with the same data and 5 out of 4 people struggle with math.

        2. So the Dodgers have no skill or dedication?? Give me a frigging break.

          Yes I think the Padres got hot and played well at the right time. The Dodgers did not. If the Dodgers played the Padres in 9 series, yeah I think we win 6 or 7 of those 9 series.

          Happened that this wasn’t one of them…

          30 years ago SD would not have even made the playoffs….

          1. “Yes I think the Padres got hot and played well at the right time. The Dodgers did not”

            That’s really all there is to it.

            We’re complaining about AF now?

    2. I get your argument here Scott and I agree on some points. Different game back then. Alex Verdugo was signed in 2014 so I missed informed everyone that he was a AF signee. But Andre Ethier was not developed by LA. He was property of the A’s and drafted by them, so he cannot be on your list. Some of the huge differences that made it tough back then, and tough today. A. Starters usually finished what they started. The travel back then was brutal, and most teams traveled by train until the Giants and Dodgers moving to the west coast made that impossible. B. The accommodations on the road back then were not nearly as nice as they are today. Players also had to wear those heavy wool unis which would sweat 10 pounds off of you in nothing flat. C. The game today is much more specialized. You have the DH and guys in the pen who are specialists. I doubt Babe Ruth, or even Aaron or Musial ever faced a guy coming out of the pen in the 9th inning to throw 100 MPH gas just to get the last 3 outs. Things were so different back then. I do think the gauntlet you have to navigate in this day and age is much harder to do than just winning your league. Division baseball changed everything. I do think that all the data they use helps immensely with things like positioning and tendencies, but you still have to hit the ball, catch the ball and throw it. The Padres did all that. Next year though, some of those balls that were outs are going to be hits. One other thing. For the most part, the umpiring was abysmal. Especially that last game. Three of the most flagrant bad calls on strikes were made against LA, and if anyone thinks that does not make a difference, they are cuckoo. One other thing I just thought of, Betts said that the Dodgers went into that series with no real plan of approach at the plate. It showed.

      1. Mookie said they went into the series with no real plan at the plate?
        With all the analytics they have they had no plan?
        If that’s true, heads should roll.
        Bear, is there an exact quote from Mookie somewhere? Or a video link?
        I just find that statement hard to believe.
        It’s one thing to have a plan and not be able to carry it out, or fail to carry it out.
        But not to even have a plan as to how you’re going to go at their pitching?

        1. That’s exactly what he said. I should find the link.

          They had months to prepare for the postseason and find replacements for the injured players given they were 20 games up in the division by July and they did nothing.

          Granted they didn’t know who they would be playing until the final days of the regular season but still could have put some kind of plan into action.

          This loss was the worst of the 7 or 8 in my opinion. They had the most time to prepare, extra rest not having to play in the wild card round. Home field, etc.

          At least last year they had some fight in them and reached the LCS. This loss should not be just accepted or blamed on thr expanded postseason format.
          8 years, 1 ring and many brutal crushing often embarrassing (Mark himself used the term humiliating) playoff defeats.

          Andrew Friedman. Great regular season clubs, poor playoff teams.

        2. Yep he said that and I think I saw the quote on baseball nation. It showed up on my google link when my computer boots up. Also a story about the Dodgers possibly cutting Bellinger loose.

    3. Scott LADR
      Some of the guys you named from Colletti were not worth mentioning.

      Martin as a Dodger .268 average .753 OPS overall career .248 average .746 OPS. OPS? Will Smith much better.

      Loney as a Dodger .284 average .764 OPS overall career .284 average .746 OPS consistent good average but nothing to write home about. OPS?

      Verdugo almost the same numbers as Loney. Good average but nothing to write home about. OPS?

      Gordan? WTF? as a Dodger .272 average .658 OPS overall career .286 average .679 OPS. His OPS absolutely sucks.

      Ellis? WTF? as a Dodger .237 average .688 OPS overall career .239 average .693 OPS. Everything absolutely sucks.

      Bellinger? We’ve all seen what happened.

      Oh and being an All Star means nothing unless you deserve to be there. I’ve seen plenty that didn’t deserve to be there. It’s a joke how some players get there.

      But welcome to this website.

      1. The point wasn’t to compare players from one regime to the next.

        Martin, Loney, even Gordon were all decent players at least at the peak of their careers. Some were all-stars. We can discuss the merits of being selected as an all-star later. The point is they were at least productive MLB every day players, or starters.

        Other than Will Smith (who I agree is a very good hitter and catcher) and Lux, can you name one other position player. drafted and signed by Friedman that became a regular starter or productive player within the last 3 or 4 years?

        The previous regime produced a lot of decent to very good players that had at least a few productive to even great seasons. And did it with almost no money during a time when McCourt was bankrupting the team.

        Thank you for the welcome

        1. Martin was also a great in game manager and very good defensively. There are more way of gauging a players worth than the items named by Eric. AJ Ellis was not a great hitter, but he was on of the better game callers the Dodgers have ever had.

  20. Think how much different this whole narrative might have been had May, Buehler and Bauer been in the picture. Bauer is still Dodger property. Had he not been suspended; he no doubt would have either been traded or they cut him and eat his salary. A healthy Buehler changes the entire makeup of the starting pitching simply because then there would be no need to start Heaney at all. Same thing with a healthy May. Pepiot, and Grove most likely never get called up. Kershaw, Buehler, Urias, May, Gonsolin, Anderson. That is a gauntlet of solid pitching that most teams would fear in a short series. What I do give a ton of credit to the Padres for is even making the playoffs without Tatis. Hate if you like, the kid has a ton of skills. Just wood between the ears though.

  21. The differences between similar teams increase statistically the more games they play. Based on those numbers it seems that the Dodgers are far superior to the Padres, and therefore, have to beat them everytime. However, that statistical difference is almost non-existent when it comes to winning three of five games. Three out of five is a lottery. Next year will do better. Thanks to Mark for this wonderful blog. Go Dodgers.

  22. I watched to the very end of the game the other night hoping the Dodgers would make a comeback. It was hard to do with all the crazy crowd noise and the rooting by the TV announcers. But, the ninth inning with the non-competitive ABs by our “big three” was typical of their effort in the series. This was a complete organizational failure from top to bottom. Again.

    Some here state that it was still a successful season because they won 111 games. The way I look at it a team needs to be successful in the regular season in order to go the postseason. A successful season means to win a championship. The Dodgers didn’t do that. They had a historic season because of the regular season win total. But not, in my eyes, a successful season. I’ve watched for about the last ten years the Dodgers have very good to excellent regular seasons and then fail in the playoffs. I’m sick of it. In recent years it’s been “if they can’t win with this team then what is going to take to win a World Series?”. I don’t have an answer. It seems that the players don’t have what it takes (whatever that is) to win the WS. The 100’s of millions of dollars that has been spent by Guggenheim on players and the front office hasn’t been the answer. Luck only goes so far.

    Hopefully, with the prohibition of the shift, larger bases, and limited throws to first base (don’t agree with) there will less reliance on analytics in the future. The damn total reliance on analytics has ruined the game and to me makes the game unwatchable a lot of the times. Like many things in today’s world, baseball has been dumbed down to the ridiculous. Who ever thought a strikeout would be more acceptable to making contact and putting the pitch in play? Or putting five of the seven defenders on one side of the field and encourage a hitter to hit the ball in the air to avoid those defenders? As opposed to learning how to hit the ball to a wide open space where there were no defenders. Bunting? “I can’t make the big bucks butting the ball”. Yeah, but it could help your team win, start or continue a rally against an ace pitcher, or get you out of a slump. “Uh, you must not have heard me. You know, big bucks…” Or steal a base. ” Well, I might hurt my hand or get hit in the head”. Then stop sliding head first! With the new rules the stolen base numbers should go through the roof.

    For next year it’s too early to project what might happen. I would like to see Bellinger and Taylor gone. Muncy strickly at DH. Let’s bring up Vargas and Amaya and give them a real opportunity. Amaya not hitting? If he is the GG potential SS that is being projected then his offensive can’t be much worse 1/2 season of JT, 2/3 season of Max, the whole season of Cody and CT3. If he just makes contact the it will be an improvement. It’s time to bring up these young pitchers and see what they have. I done with all these broken down pitchers that AF collects hoping they will get back on track. Though some do they all seem to be broken by the end of the regular season and we go onto the playoffs with a stressed and limited staff. Year after frickin’ year.

    Scott LADR, very much enjoy your thoughts and realistic and especially your view on AF and the front office. It’s time to bring these guys up and produce or trade them for established, high salaried players. Prospects are prospects until they are not. Either major leaguers or gone. It’s time. I want the the Dodgers to be in the bottom third of the prospect rankings and the major league roster full of young, talented players. Stop signing reclamation projects. Bring up and play all these prospects that make up the this #1 minor league system.

    Thanks to Mark for all you do to keep this site the best. And, to Bear, P&G, Evan, and others that contribute to this site. I’ve always said the thoughts and opinions written on LADT are far better than we can get from the local and national media. Sad, but true. I’ll be back after the new year. Wait til next year!!
    Carry on

    1. Great thoughts as usual tedraymond. I too am sick of the overuse of data and analysts. Pencil necks who never played shit but can crunch numbers have taken over. How much information is actually useful. I guarantee you that the players pick and choose what they look at and trust that fits their needs. They can’t and won’t digest most of this data. More is not better. Most of it isn’t valuable besides what the guy throws and looking at the little cards in their hats and move 4 steps in and 2 steps over. We’re trying to turn the best baseball players in the world into robots.

      1. Great points Phil!
        Dodgers seem unable and unwilling to adjust to game situations. Not putting ball in play in key situations cost them the series. So many bad at bats and bad approaches with runners on base. Padres adjusted approach in 7th inning and put balls in play while Dodgers didnt.

  23. I was thinking overnight. If a team that won 111 games, which is nearly an all time record and IS a franchise record, can’t win the World Series then:

    1 What Dodger team can win the World Series going forward?
    2 Is baseball a fluke?

    Let me make myself perfectly clear, I have followed the Dodgers since the 1978 World Series, so I’m going nowhere. I will always follow the Dodgers.

  24. Mark, I really enjoyed your article today. Your title, “Just wait until next year”, sure rings a bell to us fans of the “older variety” (late 40″s, Early 50″s). Good luck with your business ventures. Thanks for starting this site and keeping it alive for 20 yrs. I don’t post much but I sure enjoy reading the posts from the many knowledgeable fans. Hopefully you’ll make an appearance on the site now and then.

    I Really enjoyed following the Dodgers this year even with the disappointment of losing in the playoffs. I’ll end by saying “just wait until next year”.

    1. I don’t know about Jose, but Scott evidently got beat up and has severe head trauma.

      1. No Mark, I just call it like I see it. If you disagree with me that’s fine. No disrespect intended towards anyone here.

        I will say though I’m fascinated that a couple of the hard-core stat driven data guys over here believe in luck. “Get hot” is basically stating you believe in luck. Luck had almost nothing to do with the Dodgers losing this series.

        1. This is a very sweeping statement: ” Luck had almost nothing to do with the Dodgers losing this series.”

          Fine, you said it, but that doesn’t make it true. That is totally an opinion for which no support exists for or against.

          1. Maybe I’m wrong , there are some people saying that this team got hot, or its a crapshoot, which basically means that team was lucky. I just disagree because it takes so much more than luck to win a World Series.

        2. Baseball is a game of constantly variability. Some days a guy goes 2-4. Another day the guy goes 0-fer. Players go on hot streaks. Players go on cold streaks. When you average everything out over the course of a 162 game season, the overall best teams will rise to the top – in spite of that constant variability.

          The Dodgers were beginning to offensively slump the last week of the regular season. The did not play their best baseball in this series, and the Padres did. Not to say that maybe the Dodgers not having sense of urgency contributed to their lackluster play, but if the Yankees get bounced, that means all of the top regular season teams are out. The playoffs are, statistically speaking, absolutely a “crapshoot.”

          1. You don’t think that other factors effected this series?
            Maybe the Dodgers poor pitching strategies of scripting half the game with matchups? Or pulling a starting pitcher throwing a 2-hit shutout after 5 just because they pre-determined that before the game? Or the Padres excellent game management? The Dodgers poor game management? The Dodgers wasting several roster spots on injured and ineffective players? Isnt it feasible that all of those things played a role in the series for both clubs?

  25. Mark, what an excellent analysis of who’s in and who should be out. Very well thought out with excellent points. I agree with practically every thing you said.
    I have had a busy morning and want to comment on some of your thoughts, but little time. Tomorrow I will.
    * But I will briefly share my concerns for areas that have concerned me the most. Like the outfield since we traded Pollock. The outfield needs a housecleaning. The rest of the team just some landscaping. I don’t like a group with poor batting, huge splits, that strike out 50% of the time. Trayce Thompson got a nice chance, started well and faded. And he’s hopeless against LHP. I don’t need a big splits guy that requires 2 players to play left field. I love CT3 but it’s time for him to be elsewhere. I’m not convinced that we need a swiss army knife type player, anymore, with the DH. I would sacrifice versatility for a solid everyday player. Gallo, really? Bellinger needs a major change of scenery. We have rationalized his value long enough. There are other outfielders, perhaps in-house, that are good, if not great, defenders, who hit better than .200. And cost less then 17 million. IOt’s time to see what our valued prospects can do. I like a switch hitter and Reynolds is an interesting idea. But Bellinger can’t hit, won’t hit and costs too much for premier defense.
    I want Trea Turner back but not at Seager money. No to Bogarts, Correa, and Swanson. I do not see Lux at SS. He stays at 2nd for me with Amaya getting a shot. And call me dead crazy but I would consider if Turner leaves, moving Mookie to 2nd if Lux goes to short. Betts looks bored and lifeless sometimes now. He’s lost his MOJO. A change might invigorate him. His numbers would make him a premium 2nd baseman much more than a corner outfielder. When Cartaya is ready, I look at Smith at 3rd. In the meantime, Rios is Bigfoot? JT / Muncy? Same old song there. Arenado is a great thought.
    Anyway Mark, thanks for the good summary today and what you do throughout the year with this site. I enjoy sharing ideas with the fans. Enjoy you’re time away and I look forward to when you return.

    1. Are you saying that Pollock would have been a better answer in left field, Phil? He had a pretty crappy year in Chicago so if we had kept him we would still be trying to solve the same problem. Trayce had 3 times the bWAR in less than half the at bats.

      If Arenado opted out to sign here, I can guarantee you that the Cards would be having MLB investigate AF for tampering. He seems very happy with the Cards and if he opts out it would just be to get a little better deal from them, IMO.

      Mookie at second is a fascinating thought to me and I agree that it might get him more engaged. But then we have to trust Lux at short and look for even more outfielders. It certainly is an interesting thought, though.

      Add me to the list of folks who wish Belli nothing but the best but it’s time to re-locate him. I bet Farhan would love to have him and see if he could fix him.

      I’m definitely a Reynolds fan but, as I recall, he gets much better marks as a left fielder than as a center fielder. I’d like to see the Dodgers have Miggy Vargas spend all winter honing his outfield skills and make him our left fielder from day one next year. Get me Steven Kwan from the Guardians. He’s our answer out in center. Problem is I don’t think we match up very well with them in trade and they would have absolutely no reason to trade him anyway.

      1. STB, I wasn’t trying to say Pollock was the answer, if he was kept. What I tried to say is I don’t think we had a great plan in left field when he departed. We tried Lux there. CT3 hit poorly, was a K machine and often injured, Gallo for what that was worth, striking out 73% of the time down the stretch. Thompson became the next best answer and he hit .169 vs LHP. and Bellinger was Bellinger. This certainly wasn’t an outfield that I expected for the “best team in baseball”. And it showed.
        It’s going to be Lux at SS unless Amaya turns some heads. So 2nd is Muncy, Busch or Mookie Betts?

        1. Hard to believe we won 111 games looking back in retrospect, isn’t it?
          Not so hard to see how the Pads eliminated us.

          I could be very wrong, but I don’t think Andrew is going to make Lux the shortstop and then go with Max or Busch at second. I think if Mookie came to them and said I’d prefer to play second, they’d probably do it, but they wouldn’t try that if he wasn’t up for it.

          I expect the front office to come up with one major acquisition (and that could be Trea). I just don’t see them counting on Busch to begin the season with no MLB experience, nor do I think they’ll be anxious to make Max the every day second baseman with the end of the shift.

          AF has a lot of maneuvering to do with the Rule 5 in mind. He might still bundle a bunch of prospects and get someone in a trade that none of us has thought about. That could be an outfielder or a shortstop or a second baseman. Should be an interesting winter.

  26. My first post was right away when I first got on this website today and I didn’t read Mark’s comments up top.

    Mark, good luck with everything you’re doing. I wish you the best. See you when you get back. I will still be here, because I will always follow the Dodgers. Again good luck, wish you the best.

  27. Good assessment but a tinkerer’s approach.
    I am not a Dodger fan but I live here, follow the team and think I can be unemotional about them.

    This team needs an overhaul, maybe not of players but attitude. The team is built for 162 games, not for the playoffs.

    They are a button-down unemotional bunch, business like and without passion. They look like an All Star team without a superstar leader.
    Justin Turner is done as a threat. Trea Turner in my humble op. looks like a deer in the headlights in the playoffs. He looks nervous at bat and the usually near flawless SS, boots balls and makes throwing mistakes in big games. Let him play on a last place team and achieve HoF stats, and he’ll look great, but I don’t want him in my fox hole.
    Lux looks like an OF to me. Bellinger is done and Smith is first rate behind the plate. Freeman could be the team leader but he seems a little uncomfortable doing that.
    I think the Dodgers need a streaky powerhitter who can carry you thru the playoffs (Soto, or Schwarber type). Mookie is great but keep him healthy and tell him to have fun and lighten the mood.
    Pitching ?, where is Bueler next year. Urias needs to be treated like an Ace and start throwing like one in big games and get to the 7th inning. Roberts loves to play games with his staff but sometimes he over manages the relievers.
    And then what’s up with Doc. Like Bobby Cox he can win his Division every year but his record and decisions-making in playoffs is frankly bad. Hard to fire a HoF manager but he needs to learn the right lessons and not just overreact to last year’s wrong ones.
    Last year he ruined his pitching staff esp Urias in playoffs. This year he seemed shell shocked.
    The team went into the playoffs without any challenge or worry, but they also got real cold their last series against Denver and with a bye on top of that their bats never recovered. The Padres relief staff completely dominated them.
    The fix?? Don’t be afraid to add some pop and enthusiasm at the trade deadline; add some players who play with emotion even if they don’t seem “Dodger Blue” types. Machado, Soto, Alvarez in Houston, Harper and Rodriguez in Seattle plus others are leaders because they seem fearless to their teammates. Mookie and Freddie are quiet leaders. Perhaps Kershaw was this type but his best days are past.
    Dave needs to inject more emotion into the clubhouse; after 162 games the team is flat and lackluster.
    I want to see more fire at playoff time. Maybe Dave could get mad once in awhile and let his players see his passion not just his analytical precision.

  28. I’m hoping for a Guardians/Phillies World Series because: I hate the Yankees because they are the Dodgers World Series rivals. I hate the Astros because they cheated against the Dodgers in 2017. I hate the Padres because they knocked out the Dodgers.

    If it’s a Guardians/Phillies World Series I wonder how many people in this country will even watch.

    1. Yes, DMac doesn’t pull any punches talking about Roberts. He sez if there’s a wrong button to push, Roberts will push it. You can’t criticize Roberts here because it upsets Mark, and he will call you LOCO . Some people can’t grasp that abysmal RISP hitting AND poor decision making led to this monumental fiasco.

  29. As I posted earlier, over the last ten years the Dodgers have a regular season winning percentage of .613 and a playuff winning percentage of .546. Considering that the teams they played in the post season were the best regular season teams, I’m inclined to think that the Dodgers have done pretty well in the playoffs.
    Like everyone, I’d like to find something to blame this fiasco and come up with a solution. I don’t think the solution is different players, coaches or front office. The solution is to have the players perform at their peak performance levels whrn the playoffs come around. Easy to say but hard to implement.

  30. We could stay on this site for days, and most of us would have our own opinions of Roberts and the Dodgers and what went wrong. Roberts has been explaining some of his reasoning online. I saw a story a little while ago about why he brought in Almonte and then the move to Vesia. This stuff is on fannation.com if you want to look it up. Go to MLB on their index and then click on the Dodgers. Also, an article with Friedman explaining why the 111-win season is important. You have to win to get there. And the Dodgers keep giving themselves that chance. As for Roberts, I have mixed feelings about Dave. I do not think he is a bad manager; he communicates with his players really well. I just think he is a mediocre in game strategist. I think he likes playing match-up way too much and does not go with the hot hand often enough. I think he should trust his starters more than he does, and he is sometimes too slow in reacting to situations that need immediate attention. I feel his catchers should be more proactive as to giving pitchers a blow when they make several bad pitches in a row.

  31. The facts are simple. The Dodgers lost to a team they dominated in the regular season and it was ugly. The offense was colder than a mob hit stiff on ice. They could not get the big hit when they needed it, and they left enough runners on to fill a bus. The only starter who was clean and unscored on was Anderson. Kersh, 3, Urias, 3 and Gonsolin, 1, all gave up runs. Kersh put them behind, but the offense tied it. The bullpen lost all three games. Unusual because the pen was nails most of the season. The Padre pen on the other hand was unhittable. The Dodgers normal strategy of running up the starters pitch count and then pounce on the bullpen backfired totally in this series. Now it is back to the drawing board. The team as it is constructed right now is going to need an infusion of new blood. Guys we know for certain are out of here, Price, Kimbrel, Gallo and most likely Turner. On the bubble, Alberto, Bellinger, Thompson, Taylor, JT and Muncy. Pitchers most likely not returning, Heaney, Martin, Anderson, Duffy. Hudson, Buehler, Nelson, all on the mend from major surgeries. Both of the catchers, Freeman, Lux, Betts, Vargas, all locks to be back next year. There will be movement. Bank on it. The four free agent SS give the Dodgers some choices. I think Turner goes east. The Braves retain Swanson. Bogaerts and Correa are the two most likely signable by LA> But LA fans would revolt if they signed Correa. There are several older SS available who could mentor Amaya since I do not think he will hit enough to play right away. I like Iglesias who was with the Rockies this year. Solid defender with some pop and bat to ball skills. Also a good baserunner. Would be a lot cheaper than one of the high priced spreads.

    1. With all the players mentioned about to leave or let go: How much money would the Dodgers be able to free up ?
      INcluding Bauer there should be over 125 million dollars -maybe even more-coming off the books.

      Liked the video by dmac about Roberts. I said something similar about him in that it appears he way too often makes critical mistakes when he pushes the button. Call it bad luck or bad strategy but the end result is not positive for the Dodgers.

      Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. It’s important to add that what DMac said in regards to Roberts pushing the wrong buttons, he specifically was talking about playoffs.

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