Dude, we're winning so many games now, it's awesome!! Even with Clayton Kershaw hurt (hopefully he'll be out just a month or two), everyone else is picking up the slack! New guy Bud Norris, Kazmir, and even old friend Brandon McCarthy all throwing up zeroes. Wow. And the best part is now the offense is clicking. Of course I say that and we'll get shutout by the Orioles today, lol.
The Dodgers are doing so phenomenal. Can you believe we're only 3 games back of the best record in all of baseball? Cubs and Giants have fallen pretty hard lately. If this continues, we'll win an unprecedented 4th straight Division Title. All this without Kerhsaw the past month!! Trade deadline is in a week. Rumors are we might be dangling Urias and another top minor league hitter for Chris Sale. Chris Archer (whom we just beat) is having a down year but still shows flashes of brilliance, so he'd definitely be had for much cheaper (buying low, perhaps?) It could even be a crazy huge deal, adding Evan Longoria to stabilize 3rd base for the next 6 years since Justin Turner is a FA this offseason. Decisions, decisions, decisions!
I still wish the ownership group wasn't being rewarded for their greed, but it is fun seeing one of my favorite teams doing well for a change.
Trade with the A's just went down. We get Hill and Reddick. Don't know who we traded. Hopefully Puig.
We traded Montas, Holmes, and Cotton from our farm. We didn't land any big name. We also traded Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields. We also also traded Bolsinger for Jesse Chavez. Woohoo. All in...
Would be nice if we could move Puig/Urias/prospect for Chris Sale and go all in. But still, we got Josh Reddick who is batting almost .300 and even hits .340 against righties. Combined with Van Slyke who hits well against lefties (.855 OPS) and you got yourself one heck of a platoon that even Puig can't touch. Speaking of Puig, I wonder why they don't just drop him in left field. He's still great against righties this year and can also platoon with Van Slyke against lefties. Kendrick is also hitting very well against lefties. Perhaps that is their plan after they give Puig some playing time in LF in the minors. Who knows. At least we are 18-10 since the break with an easier schedule than the Giants. Rich Hill has had an amazing resurgence with a 2.25 ERA, so let's see if he can keep that up. As for the other guys, Holmes may have a great fastball, but he's still struggling with command and his other off-speed offerings. Could still potentially be a solid mid-rotation starting pitcher, but that won't be for a while, AND that's if he gets better quickly. Montas has been chronically injured for some time, so who knows if and when he'll recover. Jharel Cotton has nice strikeout stuff, but he tends to get shelled and give up too many home runs. I'd rather give all that playing time to Urias, Jose De Leon, and Brock Stewart--guys who have little to no weaknesses in their game. Our new Cuban sensation Yadier Alvarez can quickly move up in the system, too. Overall, I think Reddick and Hill are great Major-league proven additions for this second half of the season, while only giving up prospects with question marks. The other trades are meh, except Josh Fields might have some promise. Let's go Dodgers!
Montas and Holmes were highly regarded prospects and we gave them up for what could end up being rentals. Could be a big mistake. I don't care much about Cotton. The big issue is that the FO made it clear they were going to "make a splash" (direct quote) and Hill and Reddick don't fit that bill. They've also done nothing to help their fans all year besides raise prices. I'm glad I'm streaming their games so they don't get any of my money and I can still root for the players that I like, but this ownership group is full of **** and I'm pretty sick of them.
Don't get me wrong .... I still don't care about these NO TV chumps .... but haven't seen Thompson's name lately? When I read about these guys I don't care about. Is he still with the big club? Hurt? Only plays once in awhile? Not that I care of course.
Thompson had a serious back injury actually. He might play again this year, but I wouldn't consider it likely. Now that I'm illegally streaming all the games, I feel better about rooting for the players at least. I don't know how they're doing this, but it's been cool to see. I'm happy for the guys on the team. Reddick has been an epic bust so far in a Dodger uni, but Seager, Adrian, Turner, Utley, and Howie have been great. Joc and Grandal are hit or miss. I still have absolutely zero faith in this pitching staff. They've strung this together on toothpicks and bubblegum, but I don't trust them to win games in the playoffs.
Thanks. I'll search on what happened to his back. Hey "if" you'd be OK with PMing me I would be interested in that link if it's consistent. So many are so hit and miss most of the time.
I think this is a mistake. Ruiz is a slightly better hitter, but messing with chemistry while the team is at a high point? Why? Is Ruiz THAT much better? I don't think so.
