Dodger Talk

Love me some Greinke. Dude is a stone cold stud. But I wouldn't pay $206 big ones for a 32 year old pitcher.

Now is when we see what Friedman can do.

 

A f***ing nightmare and I saw this coming. The Dodgers want to pinch pennies and cut their salary down now and rely on the farm while raking in huge profits from tickets and merchandise sales. They don't care about winning as much as they care about profit margins.

I've got a buddy that covers the Dodgers and he said ,"Well I'm glad he's gone at that price. I wouldn't want to pay him that much." I completely disagree. I'm going to be pretty upset watching our #2 not look anywhere near as good as Greinke as the Diamondbacks boost themselves up IN OUR OWN DIVISION. Just awful and I hope the Dodgers lose a ton of money.

I like Fernandez and I know his name has been floated, but Greinke/Kershaw was the closest thing we've had to a pennant in 30 years and now it's gone before they could do something about it. Even worse, if they don't get another ace somehow Kershaw's prime is going to be wasted on a team that wanted to rebuild. F***ing unbelievable. They've got ONE option left:

Trade Puig/assets for Fernandez
Sign Hayward
Sign bullpen pieces I can't think of
Probably go out and sign Kazmir as well

F*** I hate the Dodgers so much right now.

 

Looks like the Chapman trade went through. Pen just got much faster.

 

Iwakuma/Chapman to replace Greinke. I mean that's interesting, but it opens up new problems:

1. Who closes?
2. Iwakuma is an older, not as good version of Greinke. Still a step down.

I can't help but feel like the Dodgers have more things cooking. It was recently said that they're still pursuing Hernandez, but I'm not sure what it would take to get him at this point. I know the Dodgers have said they plan on keeping both Chapman and Jansen, but one of them is going to be unhappy with not being the closer.

I'd say this is a positive step, but I'm far from sold.

Another name they're connected to now is Ben Zobrist.

 

Chapman has to close. Jansen will have to adjust. He won't like it because it's his contract year, but oh well. I still want Maeda for the Japanese connection with Iwakuma.

 

One solution someone came up with is give Jansen a big extension right now. He's young enough and great enough to deserve one. Sure he'll be 8th inning, but if he's getting paid then who cares?

Cueto would finish it for me. I'd officially be happy if they went out and got Cueto at this point.

I'd love Hayward, but I'm not hopeful at this point.

 

Cueto would be awesome, but I'm thinking after the Price / Greinke contracts he is going to ask for too much. Maeda may be more reasonable and just as effective.

 

Well hopefully as effective. Either way I want more starting pitching still. I like Ryu a lot, but injuries are now a very serious concern. McCarthy was given a crap contract the first time around and he won't be healthy for a while anyway. I like Anderson and Wood, but they're back end guys at this point. Give me one more high quality starter and I'll feel confident.

I guess worth noting is we brought back Utley for one year seven million dollars. Seems like a lot for a bench utility option.

 

Chapman throws HEAT. Had the 16 fastest pitches last year in all MLB, ranging from 102 to 103 mph.

 

I had heard we didn't give up any big name prospects for Chapman because he's a rental. If we gave up Peraza, I'm going to be livid. It's okay to give up Peraza (our only speed left in the system) for a rental bullpen pitcher, but not for a starter during our title run? Hm. Seems legit.

I'm fine with Utley and Zobrist, but that's not my main concern. My main concern is clearing the logjam of average talent in the outfield. Get rid of Crawford, get rid of Puig if you can get something good, get rid of Ethier while he's got solid value. Use those guys to get more bullpen/farm help.

Go get another #2 pitcher, another bullpen arm, and Heyward. Then I'll be satisfied that this organization cares about winning still after letting one of the best pitchers in baseball go.

 

The Dodgers are still treating it like we've got Chapman while the Reds are denying it. strange.

I'm warming up to the Chapman/Jansen dynamic IF you can get both of them to work together, but I'm still faaaaaaar from satisfied.