Includes soccer-ball R2!
Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
Yay, another big bold move from the Dodgers' new brass: Juan Nicasio. Pardon me while I temper my excitement.
Nicasio, 28, went 6-6 with a 5.38 ERA for the Rockies last season pitching in both relief and as a starter, but in his first three seasons in the big leagues he was exclusively a starter. Nicasio is 21-22 with a 5.03 ERA in 88 major league games.
Many people wondered what the Dodgers' new front office would do in its first offseason, and it certainly appears new team president Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi won't spend money the way outgoing GM Ned Colletti did in his last few seasons on the job.
Nicasio, who made $2.025 million last season, is eligible for arbitration. The Rockies had designated him for assignment.
Last week, the Dodgers acquired Mike Bolsinger from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash. It appears Friedman and Zaidi are hoping that moving Nicasio and Bolsinger from Coors and Chase fields, two of the extreme hitters' parks in baseball, to spacious Dodger Stadium will change their fortunes.LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers acquired pitcher Juan Nicasio from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named or cash, the team announced Monday, continuing a trend of stockpiling young, inexpensive pitchers who could compete this spring to be the team's fifth starter or an extra bullpen arm.
Dodgers shortstop (and I use that loosely) Hanley Ramirez is off to the Red Sox, for four years / $88M:
Ramirez, who will turn 31 on Dec. 23, has primarily played shortstop throughout his 10-year career but has also told teams he would be willing to change positions.
Ramirez was originally projected as a fall-back plan for the Red Sox in the event they were unable to sign the switch-hitting Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval reached agreement with the Red Sox on Monday, sources told ESPN, after choosing among offers from Boston, the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. All three offers were believed to be for five years and at least $90 million.
Ramirez rejected the Los Angeles Dodgers' $15.3 million qualifying offer earlier this month to become a free agent. Ramirez won the 2009 batting title and led the NL with a 1.040 OPS in 2013 (among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances).The Boston Red Sox agreed with Hanley Ramirez on Monday on a four-year, $88 million deal with a vesting fifth year for an additional $22 million, according to a major league source.
According to Keith Law, the Dodgers get a draft pick but not the Sox' first-round draft pick (insider only):
The Dodgers get a compensation pick for losing Ramirez; Boston's first-round pick, at No. 7 overall, is protected, so they lose their second-rounder for the signing. Los Angeles is still short a shortstop at this point (although keeping Ramirez wouldn't have necessarily solved that problem). There also isn't much out there for them in free agency or the trade market. Their internal options are glove-only guys in Erisbel Arruebarrena or Miguel Rojas, so they could try a one-year deal with Stephen Drew to see if he has anything left after his self-immolating 2014, with the glovemen as backup options. But that's probably more downside risk than they'd like to take on.
Oh, and the Red Sox also picked up Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval: allegedly for five years / $90M, and possibly not far off from the offer from the team in Birdshit Park; Sandoval must have been tired of the poop. Understandable.
MVP! MVP! @ClaytonKersh22 is the 11th Dodger to win the NL #MVP award and first NL pitcher since 1968. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/6thi871qhj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 13, 2014
Your 2014 National League #MVP: @ClaytonKersh22. pic.twitter.com/UrMRcbO6Rr
— MLB (@MLB) November 13, 2014
MVP of the National League is @Dodgers pitcher @ClaytonKersh22! #NotABad24Hours http://t.co/aD8ps5YO48
— ESPNLosAngeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) November 13, 2014
Best on the mound; best in the game. Congratulations @ClaytonKersh22 on winning NL MVP! pic.twitter.com/iNteWALbm8
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) November 13, 2014
#KershGawd = MVP
http://t.co/RONHc2HVHs pic.twitter.com/ZK1a4js873
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) November 13, 2014
photos/captions: Historic Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Fla.
The Dodgers will host approximately 300 pre-selected active duty service members of our nation’s Armed Forces representing the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard along with veterans and their families for batting practice at Dodger Stadium [today], Veterans Day from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
“It’s an honor for the Dodgers to open our doors yearly to active duty members and veterans representing the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and host them for a day of baseball activities on the field,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers are dedicated to paying tribute to those who selflessly serve our country year-round and we are grateful to each and every one of them for their service.”
Dodger Alumni Wes Parker, Al Downing and Billy Ashley and Dodger Special Advisor Don Newcombe will be present to welcome the group of active duty military members and veterans. Dodger in-game host Dave Styles will serve as emcee. The Dodgers’ Veterans Day batting practice event is also supported by AMR, Anheuser Busch, Avita, Coca-Cola, and Levy Restaurants. Emily Benford, known as Emily B, a singer songwriter and vocal director who recently competed on Season 6 of “The Voice” will perform the national anthem. [...]
The Dodgers honor military personnel and veterans year-round with initiatives including the Veteran of the Game presented by Bank of American on-field recognition that takes place during each Dodger home game. The Dodgers will launch an online form to nominate active duty, reserve or retired service members to be recognized as Veteran of the Game. Details can be found by visiting www.dodgers.com/VOTG.
The Dodgers also pay tribute to service members on military holidays by including them in pre-game ceremonies. In addition, the Dodgers schedule visits to the VA Home in Westwood and on a case-by-case basis, send care packages to troops deployed overseas and retirement acknowledgement letters. The Dodgers also offer discounted tickets to military personnel with proper ID for regular season games. For details on military programs please visit www.dodgers.com/military.
Dodgers will name Oakland's Farhan Zaidi the new general manager later this week, according to baseball source.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) November 5, 2014
Source: #Dodgers will name Farhan Zaidi their new GM this week. Josh Byrnes will be a senior executive.
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) November 5, 2014
New #Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi went to MIT, has doctorate from UC Berkeley. Read this by @susanslusser. http://t.co/UjpabkQ8Ru
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 5, 2014
Farhan Zaidi is incredibly smart, someone who listens and works well in collaborative environments, and is Canadian. Dodgers did well.
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) November 5, 2014
With Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and Josh Byrnes, the Dodgers have a front office with brains and audacity. A force to be reckoned with.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 5, 2014
1. That's right, I said dynasty. 10 of the last 15 World Series have been won by the 21st-century baseball powerhouses: the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals and Giants. Three World Series titles in five years isn't quite Yankees territory, but it's getting there, and the Giants may not even be done yet. What's worse, the Giants are pulling away from the Dodgers in terms of franchise championships: The Giants have eight and the Dodgers have been stuck at six for, oh, 26 years and counting....
2. The Giants are no longer a small- or mid-market team. Their $149-million payroll is the major league's sixth-highest, and it only figures to go up — as it should. It's good to see their management reinvest all that postseason money into their team. It's bad to see that they have fewer Jason Schmidt- or Andruw Jones-sized blunders in their free agent history, but that's an entirely different frustration.
3. Every team has bad fans. Remember Jonathan Denver, the Dodger fan (and the son of a Dodger security guard) killed by a Giants fan near AT&T Park in 2013? It turns out that Denver and his brother teamed up against the Giants fan, whom the SF District Attorney could not prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" did not act in self-defense. So if you detected some subtle anti-L.A. sentiment in the Giants' quotes about Bryan Stow participating in their pre-game World Series ceremonies, just remember that every team has bad fans — even the Giants.
4. 2014 was as unenjoyable as winning years get. The Dodgers' 42-8 streak in 2013 may have been an anomaly, but the 2014 Dodgers didn't even come close to making any kind of winning statement. Unlike, say, hockey, baseball rewards the team that gets hot at the right time, and the 2014 Dodgers never truly got hot, posting a winning streak of more than three games against above-.500 teams only once (in July, against Atlanta). Add to that the bullshit Time-Warner Cable situation (still unresolved, by the way!), and 2014 would be a year to forget — if you saw it in the first place.
5. Some fuck you's are in order. Fuck you, Chase Carey, for trading Mike Piazza. Fuck you, Frank McCourt, for costing us Vlad Guerrero. And speaking of Vlads: Fuck you, Vladimir Shpunt, for not doing your job.
OK, I feel a little better now.
4/3 vs. SF (W, 5-4): Sax
4/15 vs. WSH (L, 4-6): Dusty, Orel, Sax
5/6 vs. MIA (W, 6-3): AC, Sax
5/16 vs. CIN (L, 2-7): AC, Sax
6/12 vs. TEX (L, 2-3): Sax
7/5 vs. MIL (W, 8-5): Sax
7/21 vs. BOS (W, 9-6): Sax
7/24 vs. SF (L, 3-8): Sax
8/24 vs. TB (L, 8-9 (10)): Sax
8/29 vs. BAL (W, 6-3): Orel, Sax
9/9 vs. CHC (L, 4-10): Sax
10/5 NLDS G1 vs. SD (W, 7-5): Sax
10/6 NLDS G2 vs. SD (L, 2-10): Orel, Sax
10/25 WS G1 vs. NYY (W, 6-3 (10)): Sax