Behind Dodgers’ plan to escape their own misery
nypost.com/2016/10/19/behind-dodgers-plan-to-...
nypost.comPosted Oct 24, 2016, 3:26 PM UTC
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nypost.comDodgers had a tough task after the dumpster fire McCourt left. Had to spend money to make a big splash, which rejuvenated the fanbase and got the huge TV deal. Then they had to cut costs b/c you can't pay the luxury tax forever and expect to be successful. People are all on the Cubs nuts, but they had the luxury of being able to be awful for a few years.
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Yea I don't fault the dodgers for their plan, they've done really well , especially in transitioning between ownership groups. The front office clearly recognizes talent, and Roberts has shown his coaching chops. Things just take time
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Oooooh the Cubs're gonna be super sneaky. Gonna snek on up by sucking for a few years. Year after year, tanking and tanking until they say that s enough tanks
we'll take dat ring tho
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It's not about being sneaky. It's about having the luxury of being shitty since you're a historically awful franchise. It's just normal rebuilding that the Dodgers couldn't do b/c of the new ownership/TV deal.
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I am wrong and you are right.
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Lol. I like the handle. Death kitteh!
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You have to make it to the postseason on a regular basis in order to maximize your chances to win the postseason. I'm glad our front office gets this.
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Plus I think it helps with getting free agents. Guys who want to win will go to a winner. Certain teams in sports (I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan) can't ever get elite FA for several reasons. Even though they go to the playoffs all the time, no one expects them to actually contend. I think the Dodgers are legitimate contenders and FAs will notice.
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This is pretty much true, The Indians are one of the worst teams in the AL who made it, and now they are in the world series, anything can happen in a given series
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So much rebuilding needs to happen in the offseason.
Gonzo is showing his age. He maybe has one more season but with probably even lower numbers than this year. He's rock solid with the leather, but his bat was MIA most of the season.
Utley is gone. He took an Oh-fer for the playoffs. As much as I love his grit and baseball sense we need someone who can hit at the keystone spot.
JT needs to come back and Seager is a potential Hall of Famer.
Outfield is a mess. Puig is great on defense, and showed some improvement at the plate, but we need way more production out of him, same goes for Pederson. Both these guys are either going to hit one out or come back to the dugout with the lumber. God only knows what we do with left field.
Our starting rotation is Kersh and... Maeda got worse with every game, Hill is agewise on the downhill side of his career and I don't even know who is left to fill out the rest of the spots. Starting pitching needs to be priority number one this off season.
We need to resign Jansen and find a few more veteran BP arms.
The offseason should be interesting with potential for quite a few moves.
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What about just a 2-3 year deal, maybe 2 with a club option for a third. Incentive-based, like Maeda's contract, so if he gets hurt, he doesn't get paid as much. He may not accept it but we should at least offer it to him I think.
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absolutely no chance the player's union allows a contract like Maeda's for a domestic player.
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Yeah, you're probably right. Depending on how much Hill wants I'd be willing to gamble on him.
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Agreed.
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Hmmm lot to process here.
AGon had a good year, but he's clearly in the 2nd half of his career. When his contract with the dodgers is over, it will be good for the team so hope next year he plays a little better next year.
Utley is gone. That's ok. I read somewhere that he had one of the slowest arms for a 2B so if we can find an average bat at 2nd, we'll turn even more double plays and have more offense. Sounds like a win win to me.
I really hope they sign Turner, but he's going to get great offers this year. I hope the Dodgers figure this one out.
I'll ignore the outfield, because next year will likely just be Toles, Pederson, and Puig + 1 more outfield like Ethier, Thompson or Reddick if we re-sign him but I doubt it.
The pitching was way better than you're thinking. Maeda was a solid #3 for us (3.48 ERA and started 32 games, the most on the team). Maybe the FO will have to be creative so he's more rested / ready for the post season next year - maybe he just needs to bulk up. And we'll have Urias for a full year next year which is really exciting! He had better rookie numbers than Kershaw, I have high expectations. Add into that Stripling, De Leon, maybe Ryu coming back plus Steward, Wood.
Resigning Jansen would be great, but he's going to be extra pricey. Hopefully they build the same quality BP we had last year, but we have another starter who can give our relief some rest.
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Our starting pitching barely made it out of the fifth inning most of the season. That put a ton of strain on the BP and also helped Doc set a MLB record with number of mound visits this season. Maeda was good during much of the season but wore down quickly near the end. If he can improve his stamina and stop forgetting he throws a fastball then he should improve.
I read an article years ago written by Reggie Smith about his time playing in Japan. He went into the the differences between how they play in Japan and how we play here. Something he said about Japanese pitchers has stuck in my mind all season when I watch Maeda. What Reggie said was that in the U.S. pitchers go after and challenge hitters. In Japan it is one does not want to make another lose "face" or dishonor another so they pitch more technically, with fewer fastballs. I'm not sure if it's still this way, but whenever I see Maeda get into trouble it's usually because he's not throwing the fastball. Makes me wonder.
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Urias, De Leon, Stewart, should all get a chance to start. Dodgers should sign or trade for a proven starter
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We need another #2 ala Greinke c. 2015.
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I think the Dodgers dodged a bullet by letting Greinke walk, but then they went ahead and tried to replace him with a bunch of injury proned 3-4 type starters.....kaz, Maeda were not going to cut it
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We need to build our farm from the international pool, really, either that or get that rare draft gem, but the former is the most likely
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I agree with this.
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Solid scouting+not trading away your top players is the key in the future. They've shown they're willing to give up the mid level prospects but not the top end ones. The problem is its going to be harder to get those top end prospects while winning especially internationally with a draft coming up soon. They'll have to keep getting undervalued players in trade i.e. Trayce Thompson and being able to keep your stars through FA years. That's where this front office will be able to exploit their advantages the most.
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I'm just worried Kershaw is last his prime
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He's 28 and coming off his most dominant season yet (though only playing in 2/3 of a season). He is still in his prime. Should still have another year or two as one of the best pitchers in baseball. And he might be able to hang on for 5 more years past that as an all-star caliber player.
For reference, he's 4 years younger than Lester, who just kicked our ass.
Pitchers can lose it fast, or have injury problems. But Kershaw is as good a bet as anybody to keep things going.
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You're completely ignoring his herniated disc. You can try to manage the symptoms, but at some point that's going to need surgery. After that, it's anyone's guess what Kershaw will be like.
No idea why collegemathchef got downvoted. Players normally get worse as they age. Yeah you have the odd player here and there who continues to excel, but you can't count on that. Past success isn't an indicator of future longevity.
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Going to be tough to land any big talent free agents until all the dead weight is gone from the last go round. Maybe we limp along and keep some powder dry for the 2018 free agent smorgasbord.
I'm afraid we just keep on going with the saber metrics, small time bullshit that we relied on this year. Platoon all the same guys, get some service out of Kendrick and Ethier. Sign Utley as base coach/ 2nd base. I'm sure keeping BOTH Jansen and Turner is out of the question. Maybe we can salvage some value out of Puig, better just play him and hope he turns around. AGon good till end of contract, he's good with Puig.
Pitching is a clusterfuck, we need a SP really bad. Maeda just ran out of gas in postseason. Hill is a timebomb and we have plenty of those. Someone has to heal up and perform next year, I don't see making any big moves unless Greinke is a real option.
Prepare for a wildcard berth at best, 5yrs in a row isn't realistic at this point.
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I've said it before - the Dodgers didn't have the luxury of sucking for a few years to get better draft picks:
We've had to try to build a strong future team while still competing in the present. That's very difficult to do.
Fans want a World Series championship, but they're impatient, most of them anyways.
It's either trade your top prospects for great players and sign big free agents, or keep your prospects while trying to compete. If the front office cracked and Seager, Urias and JDL were all in Philly and showing off their talent right now, fans would be complaining that the front office fucked us over even though most of those same fans wanted Cole Hamels to begin with.
It seems like the front office can't win either way.
They can win..... By winning.
Fanbases tend to get impatient when they hear the same "building for the future" talking points since 2005. DePodesta said it. Colletti said it. Kasten and Friedman said it. Whether or not you believe in it, it does begin to ring hollow after a certain point.
This is something I have read and heard time and time again in business and is something I wholeheartedly believe in.