The Mookie Betts trade is in the books, but now that Joc Pederson is no longer headed to the Angels, the Dodgers will have to sort out their 40-man roster, tweets Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The Dodgers have 42 players on their 40-man roster at present. Finding a new trade partner for Pederson and/or Ross Stripling might be the most obvious answer, but the Dodgers may prefer not to rush a transaction of that magnitude. Speculatively speaking, Tyler White could find himself on the chopping block, with Kyle Garlick, Zach McKinstry and Edwin Rios other non-established big leaguers whom the Dodgers may need to consider moving or exposing to waivers. While we wait for the final confirmation of this deal to go through, let’s check in elsewhere around the National League…
- Theo Epstein saw the writing was on the wall long before the Cubs’ current financial strictures so severely limited their transactional flexibility, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times. Epstein references a pattern – the Cubs, Astros, Red Sox – of teams reckoning with their young stars graduating into the arbitration process. After years of supporting homegrown cores with free agent additions in efforts to win a World Series, the Red Sox, Astros and Cubs, for differing reasons, have entered new phases. Sure enough, the Astros had to let Gerrit Cole walk in free agency, the Red Sox just shipped Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, and the Cubs are said to have been shopping Kris Bryant for most of the winter. Of course, the Cubs haven’t yet moved their young stars, but their value has declined. Epstein and company are stuck choosing between trading the stars from the cursebreaking Cubs at lower than peak value and watching them depreciate into a mediocre ballclub. Of course, there’s always the possibility of a bounceback for this Cubs core, but even a return to prominence in the NL Central would not provide the answers Epstein needs when it comes to the futures of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber and company.
- The Giants have extended a non-roster spring training invitation to catcher Ricardo Genoves, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group. Given the timing, it’s safe to assume Genoves inclusion in the spring cohort comes as a result of the injury that will keep Aramis Garcia out for most of next season. That said, his inclusion is more about gaining a learning experience, and he’s not actually in the running for the Giants’ backup catching spot, per The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly. Still, it seems a good opportunity for the 20-year-old Venezuelan backstop, and perhaps one that will put him on the radar of league officials league-wide. He was signed by the Giants at the open of the international signing period in 2015, but he tapped into real power at the dish for the first time this past season. Genoves managed a .265/.335/.469 line with 9 home runs in 51 games with Salem-Keizer of the Northwest League and Augusta in Low-A.
With the win-then-tank mentality that has taken over many contenders, it speaks that much more volume to a FO like LAD who can remain WS contenders for the better part of a decade
I mean, how is that relevant? They neither win nor tank.
It means these FO’s should take note.
Yes – take note of having a huge payroll and just burning money on bad contracts.
They don’t have many bad contracts and whatever money goes down that hole will easily be recovered in revenue. There’s a business in this too believe it or not.
Aww another Astro or Boston fan excited for their title they had to cheat to win? How cute
No other team in either league has remained competitive for the last 7+ years like LA. How is it relevant?
Well we haven’t sold a Mookie Betts for salary relief
A Kris Bryant for salary relief
No. LA keeps winning, putting themselves in the conversation for a title yearly, and acquires stars instead of trades them
You’re the Yankees of the National league. Pipe down it’s not that impressive when you’re in the second biggest city in the country and can consistently support payrolls north of 200 mil.
Aside from divisions what else do you have?
They haven’t had a payroll above 200M since 2017 lmfao
Bitter much? La actually had an ownership group that spends to build a franchise? Sorry not sorry
NL Championships? And at least one WS Championship in 2017. Oh wait, that was one of the three years the Astros cheated.
Chicago is actually the 3rd largest city in the US… Los Angeles is 2nd.
They finished over 200M last year? Their ability to be competitive has been impressive, but there isn’t really a need to fudge the numbers to prove that…
Well, they got cheated out of a World Series title.
If LA has everything figured out so well then where were they from 1988-2014??
LA isn’t even a city.
Pretty sure it is.
“LA keeps winning”
Dude, winning is great, but normally the end result is a World Series title. You should reword it to “LA keeps being good but not great.”
Frankly, I get exhausted reminding Dodger fans this every dang year. What are we on now? Eight? Nine? Twenty? When was Reagan last in office?
Dodgers fan here. Give me 90+ wins every year and stay competitive. I don’t care there hasn’t been a WS championship yet. People who say the WS is everything obviously don’t know how fun it is to go so deep every year. Keep the mlb roster mighty; keep developing a steady stream of young talent; don’t panic and hand out 300 million dollars to bryce or machado – and the championship will come.
You’re ok with no WS? Ok, that’s exactly what this FO is banking on.♂️
Their payroll for 2020 after the betts trade is 218 mil idiot
horrorluvr
What’s with the male gender symbol in your posts? Insecurity?
hey Jerkkins – thank you once again for reminding me. I did not hear from you thought you and your doggie got run over. Way to stay on top.
So much exhausting time spent on Dodger fans!? Who you root for or do you have any time? Wow. You are like a real live cowboy. Rodeo that pudner.
Sorry, but it’s impressive to be consistently competitive year after year in any sport. Throwing money at payrolls doesn’t always produce quality products.
@Netflix&RichHil It’s convenient to say that when it’s been a decade of consistent failure in the playoffs.
However, if you’re happy with sloppy seconds then more power to you.
In Los Angeles?
I think vtdave is right. Los Angeles is a city.
If you don’t see LA winning I don’t know what to tell you.
Dave Roberts has a career .605 w/l record. They win. A lot. That’s why they have all that money to spend on “bad contracts”: because people like watching a winning team play.
Tanking makes sense in the artificial system the league concocted, because that system rewards losers at EVERY turn. But it makes no business sense, because fans don’t reward losers. And baseball is a business. And baseball fans are the customers.
Pissing off your customers by selling off their favorite players, and then complaining that you have less money than the organizations that don’t do that, is the height of stupidity.
Teams like the Cubs and Red Sox could easily afford to go over the luxury tax, and make their fans happy EVERY season, instead of half the time or less. If they did that, they’d be just as rich as the Dodgers and Yankees.
The luxury tax is a joke. Mlb needs a hard cap, …with a hard spending floor. That’s what fans deserve… enough of this big market spending without limits crap.
And that’s completely MLB’s fault (/s). MLBPA will never agree to a cap. The NBA only has one because they let it get more irrelevant with each passing year. And as for the NFL, it’s the most one-sided “working agreement” between the league and it’s players on the planet.
The floor is the main need. It should fluctuate proportionately with the cap. If clubs don’t spend the minimum it should go to the league as a penalty charge as the cap fee does. If there is a situation in which a team feels it has financial justification to not spend the minimum it should have a case with an arbitrator.
Either that, or make a rule where if a team doesn’t meet the minimum, they don’t receive their revenue sharing payments.
It doesn’t need any cap at all. A hard cap would be set at 250 mil per team per year. Most teams dont even spend that the Yankees spent an 1/8 of that just on Cole. Probably more. Plus they have about 5 bad contracts on the books. They wont be able to keep judge or Torres. They have Cole for 9 years but he’ll break down in less than 5 years.
If you win divisions, you’re “winning.” Getting through 3 rounds of playoffs is not easy, and it should not be considered a complete failure if a great team is knocked out. A failure, yes, but not a total waste of a season. Getting to the tournament is the goal, then hopefully your team peaks at the right time.
Buzzed, I agree with you. Ever since the Astros scandal broke I have really begun to divest myself of the “don’t mean a thing without the ring” mentality. Yes, the Dodgers need to win a title. But the facts remain that they in the last 7 years have 650 wins, 2 pennants, 2 MVPs, 2 ROYs, a slew of records… and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. Someone wins a title every year — sustaining a title-competitive team for almost a decade is pretty damn rare. In spite of all the heartbreak it is still a damn good time to be a Dodger fan.
if the cheaters didnt cheat maybe they would have won (the w.s.). Good joke thou.
So refreshing to see this take! Obviously the end goal is a WS but what that FO has done and continues to do is like no other! Any fan would kill to have a FO who continues to put a team on the field every year that has a shot at the WS. It’s on the players to come through in the postseason…that FO has done a phenomenal job in all aspects!
Agreed. You just want the opportunity to compete for a WS. Playoffs can be a bit random. Keep putting together teams that win the division. Combine star players with good cheap talent. Minimize big contracts. Don’t deplete the farm system every trade deadline. There have been some contract misses but they’re not big misses that are going to blow you up. Very creative FO.
Agreed. You just want the opportunity to compete for a WS. Playoffs can be a bit random.
————————————————–
I’ve always said that about the the RS. I think the FO has done a good job, but you also have to get lucky. Even if you finish 1st in your division, the chances of winning the WS are still about 8 to 1.
Here is one fan thankful for what we have. Everyone else will come around once a title is won.
Diehard dodgers fan here, I obviously agree with this take as to them. It’s real nice having an FO + the means to operate like this. I’d say the yanks are in this camp too. For better or worse it helps having deep coffers to both develop and keep young talent (although our newish crop homegrown guys aren’t in the max arb range yet, so we’ll see what happens when that time comes), but it’s also nice having a smart and prudent FO to continually refresh the roster with deep and versatile talent.
The Yankees were pretty mediocre as recently as 2016 and won less than 90 from 2013-2016…
Yes they’re very well run, but even NYY doesn’t hold in Consistency
True, but they have had long consistent runs in the past. A lot of it is cyclical, so we’ll see if the dodgers can maintain consistency for another good chunk of years.
I’d agree, it’s cyclical, but usually teams run their course by 5-7 years. La has a 106 win team, Mookie Betts, and a top 3 farm.
It’s quite plausible to see LA being very good for the next few years at a minimum. Not like Houston who can’t draft, Boston hitting the reset, NYY just resetting,Cubs resetting before their window closes
I mean, those are the elites to compare to, no?
Gotta agree! The yanks FO has done a great job adding youth and a lot homegrown to support their wallet spending. But the dodgers are just on another level. Every year they seem to somehow have yet ANOTHER top prospect.
The Yankees don’t hold in consistency because you’re likely 18-19 years old. The team hasn’t had a losing record in 25 years. The yanks made the playoffs from 1995-2012. Then again in 2015,17-19.
Do you have anymore garbage to spew? Because it’s really piling up
1. You’re wrong
2. You’re also wrong
If we are looking at playoff teams… they’re behind LA the last decade.
And for a fan base which claims a non title season is a failure, Judging them if they were able to get a wild card isn’t out of the box
Get over yourself
Difference is the yanks actually won championships
Those teams all won championships
The Dodger FO deserves credit, but don’t brag about a fanbase that shows up in the 3rd inning and leaves in the 7th.
Houston can’t draft? You sure about that?
Totally agree and I am a Giants fan. Hats off to LA – I’m personally glad they haven’t won a ring – but come on they are well run and have had an amazing run.
They should and do spend money and they draft and develop – I think they are premier organization in the sport and one that every other club should aspire to.
They do all that but can’t hire a competent manager
I think that the win then tank mentality is really only going to be done in the middle-small markets going forward. Now that GM’s like Dave Dombrowski are largely out of the game—I wouldn’t expect to see teams with near luxury tax payrolls tanking shortly after a championship.
I’d bet Bloom builds build a sustainable pipeline out in Boston. Like the Yankees, Dodgers,Houston, Cardinals and really the Indians have done. Zaidi is laying that groundwork in SF as well. The big boys don’t want to be out of the playoffs very long. The best way to do that is to develop that sustainable pipeline of talent.
Ya a front office that can have as much money as they need, whenever they need it. They do such a good job and should be followed by all haha
Money doesn’t win you games
Look at philly, Detroit, Boston, SF late 2010s, NYY in the mid 2010s.. the list goes on
Your inability to give credit to a fantastic front office shows how little you understand building a baseball team and how much you just repeat narrative BS
The Yankees haven’t had a losing record since 1995. That’s the literal definition of sustained success.
The Yankees? Really? Their “rebuild” consisted of 3 years of still finishing over .500. And when you are talking money, the last two WS champs were both luxury tax payers. But disregard that for a minute.
Money might not guarantee you championships, but for the top 3-4 teams it practically guarantees postseason opportunities. The top 3 teams (Yanks, Red Sox, Dodgers) in average payroll over the last 15 years have made the postseason far more time than they have missed it. And that is even with Boston and NY being in the same division. Money won’t buy a championship because the postseason is really all about who is hot for a month. But over the long haul of the regular season, the rich tend to rise to the top more often than not.
if you think the dodgers could have won without money you would be sadly mistaken. The bulk of the staff that they have used to get all of those post season berths have been the result of taking on money/bad contracts, the opening of the wallet for kershaw, etc toi create the staff and depth – it wasn’t until last year that anyone other than kershaw who was brought up by the system was even in the rotation. I am not saying that money buys you a spot but money + the FO does – that is the idea that the giants are using now in allowing farhan to restructure and take on money and such because not everyone can just happen into a good team nowadays, it takes both the smarts AND investment or you are looking at a 1 year success plan and not a future years plan
Dodgers spent $500MM to avoid the tank process. It’s pretty insane how much grief they get for turning a meh team to as annual contender without tanking.
As a RS fan, with 4 WSC’s this century, I have nothing but admiration for your FO.
They haven’t won anything though. Who cares about contending if you never win?
As a Royals fan I have a few things to say. We can’t compete with the big spenders. Baseball didn’t used to be like this. Now teams with big payrolls make the playoffs every year. How unfair to the rest of the league. Salary cap works great in the NFL and it’s a competitive sport. Just sayin. Another thing we maybe a small market but have more world series titles in recent years than the Dodgers or the Yankees. Shows our front office makes the most of what we have. A salry cap would force you big spenders to spend more wisely and you might win one of those WS then.
Dodgers fans care.
1.Take a look at the list of every baseball team
2. Now, start crossing off all “non-contenders”
3. All of those teams you just crossed off, I’d be willing to bet that their fans care that their team is a “non-contender”
Making it to the post season is hard. A team that dedicates itself to consistently do that is appreciated by their fans whether you want to believe that or not.
Dodgers are best team in college basketball. They make the final 4 every year !
I remember when LA’s FO said they wanted to operate like the cardinals…they have done a good job and they have more money so…
LAD can afford to gamble on high-priced players. If they bust they can absorb the mistake and still sign additional large contracts to remain competitive. Limited payroll clubs can’t afford to make a mistake on a long and large contract. If they do make mistakes they can’t but their way out of it. They have to ‘tank’ to try and recoup some of the bad money. To avoid this, they generally just won’t gamble.
I think White should get designated as he had multiple chances to reform himself. Also, the Dodgers should keep Garlick and Rios for a possible trade because they’re not gonna find any playing time with all the good players on that roster.
I see Rios as a DH. Surprised he is still here. Fantastic hitter.
Keep Joc. Dodgers lineup vs RHP. Platoon Joc with CT3 at LF. Trade Pollock.
1 Betts RF; 2 Muncy 1B; 3 Turner 3B; 4 Bellinger CF; 5 Joc LF; 6 Seager SS; 7 Smith C; 8 Lux 2B.
If Lux struggles you bring in CT3 to 2B, and move Kike to platoon in LF.
No ones taking that Pollock contract and even if someone did we’d be eating most of it. I say you start him and see how he does. Hes still a solid player if he could ever stay healthy and i dont think platooning is a great idea as it doesnt really work in the playoffs.
No one would trade for David Price
No one would trade for Matt Kemp, 3 times
No one would trade for Vernon Wells
All of those players made 20-30M a year and were dealt. 14M a year is hardly untradeable. You’re just ignoring history if you claim it
No one’s taking the Pollack contract.
Not because he isn’t good. It’s because he can’t stay healthy.
You mentioned Price, Kemp, Wells (healthy and somewhat productive) examples.
You seem to have forgotten nobody taking the Jacoby elsbury contract off the Yankees hands (injury prone), nobody took the Pablo Sandoval contract off the red Sox hands (injury and didn’t perform). Nobody took the Tulo contract off the blue Jays hands (injured). Nobody took the Wei Yen Chen contract off the Marlins hands (injury). Nobody’s taking Yoenis Cespedes (injury).
History says teams aren’t gonna trade for guys who can’t stay healthy, no matter how much money you put down. They’ll just wait to sign them after they clear waivers so your teams still paying for them.
Joc performed well last post season. Speaking of bad postseasons Pollock was as awful as you can be. I’m not just talking about 1 for 14 with 11 strikeouts but he didn’t come close to hitting the ball in most at bats.
Oh yeah 14 at bats against some of the best right handed pitching in baseball means he’s screwed for the future. I see
Just stop
He was equally as bad against lefties. I know I know he faced the best lefties ever. There is always an excuse. Yeah small sample size but I haven’t seen a player look that overmatched in a long time. Beaty had much better at bats and should have played over Pollock.
Pollock will be fine.
Pollock has a top 10 worst contact of all time.
Not even close.
No ones taking that Pollock contract and even if someone did we’d be eating most of it. I say you start him and see how he does. Hes still a solid player if he could ever stay healthy and i dont think platooning is a great idea as it doesnt really work in the playoffs.
Of course you’d have to eat a decent chunk of that contract and offer a lower tier prospect. Pollock can be a serviceable platoon guy but he’s on the wrong side of the platoon. Kike and CT3 can easily replicate him in a platoon at a cheaper rate while giving you more flexibility.
Finding a team to take on Pollock isn’t easy. Would have to eat a ton of cash
Except no one wants Pollock at this point
Pollock is gonna have a huge year!
Pollock has only had an OPS above 0.850 in one and a half seasons, and that was 2014 and 2015. He’s going to give you very average production for more than average dollars. Love our FO but this was a miss. Sooner they correct it the better. Joc has OPS against RHP of 0.920 and 0.893 last 2 seasons.
Pollock was 850-920 in The 3 months following his 2019 return. The haters on pollock are pretty irrational
Imagine him being bad with a staph infection! What a shock!
Right. It’s too bad that the season is not 3 months. Irrational? Because we evaluate players over the season and not three months? I’m not talking about just last year. And you also know that he played in a home friendly ballpark in Arizona right? He hasn’t produced what he gets paid over a full season in 4 years plus.
Do believe he said 2014-2015…. but ignore what you may-
Pollock was indeed a miss and I dont think they ship out prospects to get him away-
He will be our black eye on the ledger the next 2 seasons
I would say the rope given too Pollock (mostly from skills that are all but gone today speed/defence/baserunning/ is far greater than the hate he gets –
15 mill a year corner Of’ers dont get platooned , they dont sit the bench game 5 of the NLDS
Because the 2015 version of a player is more relevant than the 2019 player. Gtfo with that bs
I can read thanks, it’s just a Stupid point to point to and ignore his 2019. Because you know, all players are the same as they were in 2015!
You make a lot of sense. Pollock’s defense did decline. He was a negative dWAR for first time in his career. He won’t sniff CF anymore which means his oWAR will now decline because he will now be compared to other corner OFs.
You’re probably right that they will just hold on to him and hope that his value somehow increases.
He will answer the question himself (AJ) in 2 years when essentially he can opt in for 2 yrs/23 mill or take a free 5 mill and see if he can out-earn the 2/18 difference… My monies on him trying to stick around painfully
Perhaps a more lucrative buyout than the 5 mill can be arranged…. I just cant imagine going past 2 more years of Aj Pollock in the corner OF for us-
“Pollock is gonna have a huge year!”
I got five bucks he hits the DL three or more times.
DFA Tyler white and Zac Mckinistry. If we’re gonna make another trade I hope it’s for another TOR starter like Thor or Clevinger. That’s really the last piece we need.
White as a DFA is a no brainer. Second DFA is more complicated. Several ways to get there. I’d rather keep McKinstry.
They aren’t DFA McKinistry. No chance.
Upon further review Sborz should be DFA’d. The dodgers are a better team with Chicken strip and Joc on the team but if they decide staying under luxury tax is a must then I wouldn’t be too upset to see them get traded.
use Pederson to get some pen help
I wonder if both Pederson and Stripling go together in a deal soon
Just call the Cardinals but they won’t help a bitter rival. That’s why Pederson worked to the AL.
Bitter rival= haven’t played relevant game against each other in 5 years?
Gotta love how dumb fans are
619bird what really do the Cardinals have yo offer the Dodgers for Pederson and Stripling? Don’t need any outfielders! Some pitchers would be nice but Cards would want more then just Joc and Ross!
Cards can offer more than they were gonna get from the Angels.
Cardinals could use Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling- for more of a return dodgers could ship out Jacob Amaya or Omar Estevez, or both.
Dodgers could use Junior Fernandez and Genesis Cabrera for the pen, hard throwing pen pieces.
Cards could offer a package of say jake wofford, edmundo sosa (a utility guy similar but not as good as the Angel’s prospect), seth elledge, and ehlerius Montero(a third baseman). They have the prospects to make it work. And with the Dodgers needing to drop a couple from the 40 too they could get very creative.
Joc Pederson, Ross Stripling and Tyler White, to CWS for Alex Colome , player tba
I wish the Rockies would step up and sub in Garrett Hampson for Rengifo and take all 3. But that would involve having a front office that likes to do something other than stick their feet in their mouths.
So they can finish fourth in the west with cool players like Stripling and Pederson instead?
It’s much better than doing nothing and not trying.
Where’s that BlueSkyLA guy? Quick to pipe up with criticisms, but awfully quiet when there’s nothing to complain about.
He’ll be back to complain once the Dodgers DFA 2 of their players for Graterol and Betts. He’ll tell you how good the two players who were just DFA’d are and then give you a lesson on Economics!
I eagerly wait in anticipation!
People need to stop saying that this or that rebuilding team should trade for Joc Pederson in order to “flip him at the deadline.”
1. At the deadline he will have 2 months of control as opposed to a full season, meaning he’ll have lost 2/3 of his trade value.
2. The acquiring team won’t be able to QO him and their trade offers will reflect that.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Yeah not like teams overpay mid season!
Oh wait
We see teams sign free agents to flip them at the deadline every year. If the price for Joc is low, and especially if a team wants to try for a WC and decide in July, he’s a great buy
1. The difference is that Joc is mostly a known commodity at this point. The only way his trade value will be higher at the deadline is if he magically learns how to hit lefties.
2. If you want to try for a Wild Card then sure, acquiring him makes some sense because he will help you in that endeavor. But I’ve seen people suggest rebuilding teams like the Red Sox and Pirates trade for him. That does not make sense at all.
Signing a FA to a short contract doesn’t cost prospects. That’s why teams sign them to flip. Keep looking for trade and flip examples.
@stymeedone they exist, but they are usually players coming off down seasons. In order for that to work, the player must improve enough to offset losing 2/3 of his remaining club control and the ability to QO him. Like I said, the only way Joc Pederson will do that is if he magically learns how to hit lefties. So probably not a good player to try that strategy on.
Dodgers are practically giving Joc away, along with Stripling and a prospect.
Rebuilding teams should
a. Take Stripling who’s got 3 years of control (Orioles Marlins Tigers etc could all use a veteran presence in the rotation, Orioles NEED pitching)
b. If they’re offering Pederson too why not. Take him and hope to flip him.
c. Get a prospect from the dodgers as well. They were offering what an OF to the angels?
Who knows what the market will be like come july. Who knows what OF injuries will take place between now and then. Is it a gamble? Sure but it’s a gamble you’re taking thats secondary to acquiring Stripling and a lower prospect for next to nothing.
The cubs should jump in. Bryant to LA for Stripling, Gray, and 2 other prospects from LA’s 10-20 range. LA keeps pushing their chips in and getting studs, the cubs grab great value for 2 years of their homegrown star
The cubs should jump in. Bryant to LA for Stripling, Gray, and 2 other prospects from LA’s 10-20 range. LA keeps pushing their chips in and getting studs, the cubs grab great value for 2 years of their homegrown star
Which LA team spiked the deal?
Seems like both teams need to make that trade more than ever.
That Genoves guy should put at least 20 pounds of muscle if he wants to make it to the bigs.
LA with Friedman is churning the roster but keeping the farm from being barren.
Cubs & Red Sox so far the FOs have not done that quite so well.
Yup, which is why Betts is now a Dodger. But so much of that relates to having lower draft picks, and losing picks by signing a QO.
The LAD are doing exactly what the SDP are doing, but without the benefit of being a bad team.
Friedman is on a monster roll right now.
Well, don’t forget Kapler would have been the Dodgers manager if Kasten had not stepped in and forced him to hire Roberts instead. He has also shown total incompetence in being able evaluate talent in the bullpen or even recognize the importance of relief pitching in general. The one thing he has done well is simply not throw away the farm which was built up before he got there anyway.
I probably should have mentioned that I was referring to Friedman.
Dodgers are regular season champs!! That’s it
Says the guy whose team has won one title in over a hundred years. Meanwhile the Dodgers have won six. The fact that the Cubs have won one more recently is just happenstance. My money is on the Cubs never catching the Dodgers in # of titles won.
The Dodgers had Bud Seligs heavy foot on their neck his whole tenure. He ran on holding the large market teams down. Of course Yankee fans went after Bud so the Yankees still won. But Bud went after the Dodgers. He didn’t even try to hide it. Putting in a parking lot owner for the Dodgers and making him agree to not go over 90 million in payroll. The Giants owe Bud a lot. But now that Bud lost control and retired the Dodgers are back
Pederson & Lux to the brewers for Hadar 😛
that will not happen.
Every cub fan who read that tidbit or the article in full immediately disregarded every word of it to continue living in their Bryant is happy fantasy land and that he’s still worth the Braves 3 best prospects.
You know for once in my life I agree with Andrew Filiponi (or however you spell it) where he said, “if the Pirates aren’t rebuilding just building around what we have why not go out and get Stripling and Joc we need a CF and his bat would be nice in PNC Park
It would be wise for the Dodgers to now trade some of the likes of Joc or Stripling or maybe Pollock. They need to get under the luxury tax this year, especially if they are going to try and resign Betts. Which would definitely put them above the tax.
Pollock. He is injury prone
TWin 106 games and choke in first round ?
Cubs are still the team to beat in NL Central……..even though they lost a few guys who really did not help this team…….
Brewers in decline…..
Cardinals added no one…..
Reds did improve, but not at playoff level…..
and the Pirates ship is at the bottom of the sea.
Still? Cardinals didn’t add anyone, but did the Cubs? So why would the Cubs be the team to beat over the Cards, who won the division last season?
The Reds built up a pretty darn good team, and I think 9 out of 10 people would say they have more potential than the Cubs. Frankly, I think they see a window with the Brewers and Cubs in decline and decided to act.
The Cubs are looking at a 3rd place finish again…
Nobody sees the cvbs as the team to beat in the NL Central. cvbs fans still living in 2016, which is bad news for Theo and the Ricketts.
Awwwww….boo f’n hoo to the top 5 market size teams. If Theo really wanted to find out what kind of GM he is, he would spend 8-10 years in one of the bottom 5 markets.
Ended the two biggest droughts in MLB history. That is impressive regardless of the “market.” I’m not even a fan of either franchise.
Keep them. They are good players. We love the depth. Both players are good contributors. Stripling filled in nicely last year and Joc had 36 homers.
Big Questions for the 2020 Cubs…..
1 – Can David Ross manage ?……..or will players take advantage of him !….goof all and create new dance moves in the dugout……
2 – Will Darvish, Hendricks & Quintana combine to have a great season together ?…….we are looking at somewhere between 35 to 55 wins out of these guys !
3 – Does Lester have anything left to give ?…..or will he enjoy his last season ……
4 – Will we finally see Schwarber become the “Babe Ruth” people said he was ?
5 – Bullpen…….will they come through or blow two dozen games ?…Wick, Ryan, Wieck all showed promise…….Kimbrel is the key !……..if they are on their game, they Cubs are going far…..
6 – Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, Contreras, Schwarber ……can these guys become fear hitters of the NL ?
7 – Leadoff man…….Cubs still lack one……..is Hoerner the guy ?……..we tried everyone else so far………Rizzo was the best to get on base……..but the slowest.
8 – Mid-season changes……..will Theo add or subtract ?……if we subtract, we are adding Prospects for 2022 and beyond…….
9 – how good is the rest of the NL Central ?………Pirates are out until 2028……Reds think they have it……Cardinals like to say they have it……..Brewers are trying to pretend they still have it…………….no matter what, the NL Central will not have a Wild Card team……..it is Winner takes all in NL Central.
10 – Jason Heyward………….four seasons of sub par hitting………boo birds will come out early and Ross will bench this guy by May if Jason is not hitting………..if Heyward gets red hot this year, I suggest Theo offer him up in a trade with Bryant if we get to that point !
1. David Ross won’t be as active a game manager as Maddon is (which most cvbs fans will love). He’ll be a non-factor until his confidence grows by late season.
2. Biggest issues with Darvish are his confidence and health. If he maintains both, he’ll be their ace. Hendricks is a rock-consistently unhittable for most of the season, as long as Ross doesn’t overwork him. Hendricks usually struggles the 3rd time thru opposing lineups (6th inning). Q is an innings eater at this point, with an occasional solid performance.
3. Nope. Lester’s done.
4. Schwarber is no Ruth, but he’ll hit 30HRs, so at least he’s consistent.
5. The cvbs bullpen will be a dumpster fire. No one in there can reliably get three outs to close out a game. Chattwalk was useful in a long relief roll, but it looks like they’re counting on him to start (yuck).
6. As long as none of those guys are leading off, they’ll continue to be productive. There’s the rub…
7. See 6.
8. Uh, what is this “change” you speak of? Theo is committed to this current roster (to his detriment). The cvbs needed bold moves the last two years to stay on top. He failed to make the necessary adjustments, so it’s too late for that.
9. 1. Reds
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers
10. That front office is way too conservative to eat most of Heyward’s contract in order to trade him. Ain’t happening.