Max was a given I think. I really didn't want Seager gone though. That one hurt cause I loved that dude
I wanted to keep Seager more than anyone—bonafide superstar in his prime and just an all-time class act. Although Scherzer was probably just as important considering our starting pitching has been decimated, and his contract is just 3 years. That said, holy crap the salaries are insane. It’s too bad we can’t truly outspend the way the Yankees did in the early 2000s, but thankfully our scouting department is still among the best (though lately a lot of our personnel have been going to other teams). Our priority right now should be to re-sign Chris Taylor and Kershaw, and also find another couple of starting pitchers. Try to keep Kenley Jansen too but I know he’ll be very expensive. And then ideally get a couple of bench guys like Matt Beaty as solid backups—last year’s bench was atrocious.
Just traded AJ Pollock to the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel. Bullpen is now set. Treinen in the 8th and Kimbrel in the 9th.
I see moving AJ Pollock...opens up time for Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor and Kevin Pillar But doesn't Kimbrel have the same issues as Jansen? I would rather have Kimbrel than not but its a huge gamble on an aging reliever who has a lot of demons of his own. Dodgers bank of change of scenery Having Freddie Freeman as a teammate will certainly help.
Lux has been huge. Especially for hitting in the 8th / 9th slot. If he can hit like this consistently we are going to be a steamroller.
Cody is making dat contact again! This lineup can erupt for a lot of runs. I can see them going on some great winning streak runs.
Love putting the preachers back in the monastery. Those was some nice homers too. Man this team can be explosive. Was disappointed with Betts striking out twice (one with bases loaded and the other with 2 men on). He got to get the Sac fly at least.
Nice piece in The Athletic on Kershaw. https://theathletic.com/3286693/202...moment/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983 Clayton Kershaw chases down Dodgers’ franchise history with a new perspective: ‘A special moment’ By Fabian Ardaya May 1, 2022 14 LOS ANGELES — The Dodger Stadium video board acknowledged the longtime face of the franchise after his latest brush with history as the crowd of 52,613 roared. The man doffed his cap. His song blared throughout the park. He stepped off the rubber for one more pregnant moment as the cheers continued and tipped his cap again. “I tried to keep pitching,” Clayton Kershaw said, “and they wouldn’t let me. It was definitely a special moment for sure.” Then Kershaw took the mound again and pitched, as he’s done as well as just about any Dodgers hurler ever. No player to don the Dodgers uniform has recorded more strikeouts. Not Sandy Koufax, the iconic left-hander to whom Kershaw has been so inextricably linked. Not Don Drysdale. Not Don Newcombe. Not Fernando Valenzuela. Not Orel Hershiser. And after Saturday, not Don Sutton — the only person in Dodgers history to pitch more seasons for the club than Kershaw’s 15. “It’s a crazy milestone,” Austin Barnes, his longtime catcher, said recently, “and he’s got a lot of those.” Kershaw entered Saturday’s game against the Tigers needing just four strikeouts to climb atop the franchise leaderboard. He struck out Robbie Grossman, who was drafted just weeks after Kershaw (then donning No. 54) debuted with the Dodgers, on a slider. Spencer Torkelson, who was the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, was a few months shy of his ninth birthday when Kershaw was one of the most electric pitching prospects in the sport. Kershaw got him looking at a fastball. Dustin Garneau fell victim to “Public Enemy No. 1,” Kershaw’s iconic curveball, to match Sutton’s mark. History then spun underneath Torkelson’s barrel for strikeout No. 2,697, a generational moment for a generational ace. Barnes quickly swapped out the baseball and gave it to director of clubhouse operations Alex Torres for safekeeping, just like he did for strikeouts No. 2,695 and 2,696. As Kershaw soaked in the moment, he glanced up on the big screen as his wife, Ellen, and their children were shown — “I saw Ellen trying to wrangle three kids in the stands up there,” Kershaw said, “and I don’t even know where the fourth one was.” And when Kershaw came off the mound after two more strikeouts, the crowd rose again. “We Are Young” played over the speakers. And Kershaw tipped his cap again, the highlight of an otherwise quiet 5-1 Dodgers loss. There has been a different air around Kershaw for much of this spring. He didn’t pitch in October because of an elbow issue and didn’t pick up a baseball again until January. He explored free agency for the first time in his career, only to have the lockout leave him in solitude for a lot of this winter. Kershaw still wants to, and believes he can, win. “I don’t want to just pitch to pitch,” Kershaw said Saturday. “It’s not a goal of mine to stick around. I don’t have any interest in just sticking around to be around. … So if I’m not helpful, I won’t be here.” He wouldn’t have re-signed with Los Angeles if he didn’t feel he had a shot at another World Series ring. And the Dodgers weren’t going to sign him just to have him sit in the dugout. “He’s one of the greatest Dodgers ever to put on a Dodger uniform,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So you’ve got that and you’ve also got a performer in the here and now so it was sort of a no-brainer.” The burdens of a titleless legacy were shed for Kershaw two years ago when the Dodgers finally snapped their decades-long World Series drought. He was a constant presence around Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior during the Dodgers’ playoff run last season despite being unable to pitch. “You could sense more of, ‘I wish I could be there.’ That was the difference in October,” Prior said this week. That hung with him in October. The lockout provided a respite for his arm and his mind. When he picked up a baseball for the first time in January, he knew where he wanted to be. Kershaw is here now. He’s present and even lighter. Roberts once described managing Kershaw’s starts as “nerve-wracking,” as he tries to optimize everything to do right by his future Hall of Famer. That tension has morphed into admiration, and Kershaw has changed along with it. “It’s just growth,” Roberts said. “I think he’s understanding that you can get out of focus, to then refocus. He’s done that more times than not more recently, and I think that’s a good thing. … These fans have been on this journey with him too, and I liked the way that he’s really understood that.” He’s enjoying this. But the Dodgers brought back Kershaw not just as a remnant of a sought-after golden era of the franchise, or as a figure for fans to cling to as he checks off different organizational and professional milestones. They need his left arm in their rotation, and Kershaw has shown himself to still be one of the game’s best when available. He did so again Saturday night, allowing one run in six innings on his historic night. So when he throws seven perfect innings, he’ll crack a smile. And when, like in a recent start, he gives a few up, he will look back at the Dodger Stadium scoreboard and scowl as he exits to an ovation. In the midst of history Saturday, he wished his team would’ve won. “The drive is still there,” Prior said. “He’s said it, he wouldn’t have wanted to be back if he wasn’t going to make an impact and be a big part of this team. “At some point, we all have to answer the bell, whether you’ve played for two weeks or you’ve played for years. I think he kind of understands where he’s at, and I think he knows that he’s probably on the shorter end of it — at least that’s the sense I get. … He’s trying not to let the little things bug him the way they have in the past. He’s more focused on the big things and being ready to go out and pitch.” At 34, Kershaw now has flecks of gray in his beard, unlike his clean-shaven face when he debuted. His fastball no longer hums at 95 mph, as it did when he blew one past St. Louis’ Skip Schumaker for the first strikeout of his career. “The first pitch was like 97 (mph) and so far behind me that I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’” Schumaker, now the Cardinals’ bench coach, recalled recently. “Next time, it was a foul ball, I think, and then this curveball that I had never seen before. And I knew right away. “It’s not surprising that seeing him after one time, that he’s done this.” Kershaw has risen to become one of the best pitchers of his generation. He’s evolved. And he’s persisted. As Saturday’s game progressed, he became the 26th pitcher in big-league history to strike out at least 2,700 batters in his career. He has become one with the franchise that raised him, climbing the leaderboards and passing titans. Kershaw has been honest about this stage of his career, its year-to-year nature and what is pushing him. It goes beyond moments like Saturday. But these nights make it special. “I know what it means to me, that I’ve been fortunate enough to be here for this long,” Kershaw said. “It means a lot. I grew up here, started a family here. I’ve been through a lot of ups and a lot of downs here. Tonight adds to that for sure. I didn’t expect what happened tonight, but it definitely hit me. It meant a lot, for sure.” The Athletic’s Katie Woo contributed to the reporting of this story. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today)
As long as Dave Roberts is the manager of the Dodgers, the Dodgers will continue to under achieve in pathetic fashion. He does not have a winner mentality. He has no feel for the game.
