The Arizona Fall League wrapped up this week with the Mesa Solar Sox — the team with eight Dodger prospects — finishing in last place with a 10-20 record. Now, it wasn’t all the Dodger prospects fault, but there were some, shall we say, not-so-great performances from some of the fellas. I’m going to keep my eye on the Puerto ... Read More »
Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Mike Petriello has a list of the players up for the Rule 5 Draft along with who he thinks will be protected on the 40-man roster. True Blue LA: Brandon Lennox has basically the same thing but from his perspective. Both are interesting reads, and I was considering doing one myself, but this off-season has been/will ... Read More »
Left field has been, is, and will in all likelihood continue to be, a vast wasteland for the Dodgers. That is, unless Carl Crawford returns to his Tampa Bay form in 2013 or the Yasiel Puig era — whenever that actually begins — proves to be worth the wait. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s review 2012, which was ... Read More »
The Dodgers are the favorite to win the Zack Greinke sweepstakes, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. According to an industry insider, the Dodgers are the favorites to wind up with top free agent starter Zack Greinke, with the Angels and Rangers on the outside looking in. And no starting pitcher on the market is going to be ... Read More »
Hanley Ramirez Hanley Ramirez was once a stud shortstop (based solely on his bat, of course), a young player a franchise could build around. Fast forward to 2012 and Han-Ram was just a struggling player acquired by the Dodgers in an effort to upgrade at a position of need and make a run at 2012. Acquired for Nate Eovaldi and ... Read More »
I had the opportunity to speak with Chris Reed before his Nov. 8 Arizona Fall League game. Edited for sanity, because nobody wants to read “uh” and “um” and laughs and transitions and crap. —– Pitching in the AFL is always difficult, so are you making any conscious adjustments to that or is it just specifically working on things beyond ... Read More »
The Dodgers are facing an interesting situation heading into the 2013 season — at least, the Albuquerque Isotopes and Chattanooga Lookouts are. Following a Twitter exchange with Chris Jackson (@TopesWriter) and Evan Chavez (@newmexicofan), it occurred to me: The Isotopes and Lookouts are going to have some awfully crowded outfields — especially the ‘Topes. The following outfielders are, at this ... Read More »
I had the opportunity to speak with Joc Pederson before his Nov. 8 Arizona Fall League game. Edited for sanity, because nobody wants to read “uh” and “um” and laughs and transitions and crap. —– You admitted that you scuffled to start 2011, but that you made adjustments that helped shape your breakout in 2012, specifically what mechanical changes were ... Read More »
So a popular question lately has been: “What the hell happened to Shohei Otani?” In short? Nothing, because despite whatever speculation there had been about MLB teams technically having no need to respect NPB exclusivity rights, like I said in a previous post about the situation, I see no upside for an MLB team to just barge in and violate ... Read More »
Luis Cruz I can safely say that I’m not the only one who had no idea who Luis Cruz was at the outset of the 2012 season. By the end of it, the once unknown 28-year-old journeyman had become a cult hero in Los Angeles. Heading into 2013, it appears he’ll not only hold down a roster spot, but be the ... Read More »
I had the opportunity to speak with Onelki Garcia before his Nov. 8 Arizona Fall League game, a conversation that was translated by Rodney Linares, manager of the Mesa Solar Sox and a manager in the Houston Astros system. Edited for sanity, because nobody wants to read “uh” and “um” and laughs and transitions and crap. —– After all the ... Read More »
I joined the IBWAA and participated in the IBWAA Awards vote in 2012, the results of which you can see in the picture above. So did they match what I voted for? Sort of. I think everything I voted on is self-explanatory, though there’s room for quibbling here and there. Thoughts? Read More »
Mark Ellis Signed to a back-loaded two-year deal in the off-season, Mark Ellis only played in 110 games after nearly losing a leg on the play you see above, posting a ~2.7 WAR in the process. 35 now and turning 36 years of age next summer, Ellis can’t afford to lose anything physically beyond what Father Time was already taking ... Read More »
The MLB has confirmed that the Dodgers won the bidding on the rights for Korean left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu, just as Mike Petriello said yesterday, despite ESPN refusing to credit him. —– Since Scott Boras is his agent, Boras won’t care about the posting fee and will look to gouge the Dodgers for as much as possible, and his PR ... Read More »
The Dodgers officially announced the hiring of Mark McGwire as hitting coach, replacing Dave Hansen. McGwire spent the past three years with the Cardinals as their hitting coach. Under his tutelage, the Cards offense was top-five in OBP in each of his seasons at the offensive helm, leading all of baseball last year. McGwire has stated that his philosophy includes ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting