I apologize for the continuing problems I am having with the site. I saw the problem last night and could have done what Bear did, but I wanted to learn why the problem occurred. I reached out to the developers last night and asked them find the source of the problem and remedy it.
Hopefully they can track down the source and fix it so this will not happen again. This confusion was on me as I never let Bear know what I was doing in the background. I have promised him I would make sure to copy him on all future correspondence with the developer.
I have loaded this up as a published article to see if this will replicate the problem.
There is nothing new to report. The most interesting rumor I saw was the Giants seem to be focusing on a Nico Hoerner trade. Suffice to say the Giants want to do something to upgrade 2B as they have been rumored to be in on Brendan Donovan, Ketel Marte, and Brandon Lowe, as well as Hoerner.
There are a lot of MiLB signings.
Feel free to load your own rumors here while we wait for something meaningful to drop on the free agent or trade market.
No worries man. Thank you for what you do!
Ditto.
No complaints for your website as the Dodgers have taught us to be patient.
I was just reading where the Cubs lost enthusiasm for Tucker. He played/slumped through the second half with a hand injury and at the end of the year sought medical care outside the Cubs organization in Florida.
He might follow Bregman’s lead last year and sign a shorter term contract with an opt out after 1 year.
Dodgers need him until top prospects can be Dodgers.
I want Hoerner but he would block Betts from eventually moving to second.
My generated rumor is Sheehan, Teo, and Kim for PCA or for Corbin Caroll.
I’m looking over your shoulder, Fred, and I see your graduation diploma from the Bradley School of Trades. Was that a 2 or 4 year course?
I thought your Dodger offer looked light so I went to our favorite Trade Simulator which told me the following (not that anyone has anointed them as perfect either):
PCA – take the 3 guys you offered and add Hope, or
Ferris
Freeland
Graterol
Hurt
Wrobleski
Caroll – either of the 2 choices above plus
De Paula, or
Rushing plus Henriquez plus Vesia
I know how you like your guys so you might actually be willing to do either of the above trades.
The Bradley School of Trades
That was an image created with Chatgpt. Why did you choose to say something about that framed certificate and not say anything about the framed letter from Friedman thanking me for helping him find untouchables he hadn’t considered?
Hope was obvious so I didn’t mention it as a whole lot of it is needed.
Badger would be a trade negotiation member to talk up Kim.
Yes, in a heartbeat.
I guess if I am patient enough one of your trade ideas just might fall out of the blimp and stick a landing in LA.
Tell you what Jeff, I’d be willing to owe you $25 to help fix this tech problem here. If enough people are willing to do the same, it will be entirely up to you to get it done.
I’m in.
Hey, some how Bum got us Mookie for Alex Verdugo, and then Luka for Anthony Davis, so I trust he can make these deals happen.
Yeah, Bums strikes a hard deal. His first offer for Luka was Muncy but they wouldn’t go for that one.
Word was he had too many Air Balls, and he could only go to his right.
Let me know where to send the money
Not a problem Jeff. Best Dodger blog in the blogosphere hands down. Still holding out hope on a Tucker signing or Duran trade by the start of the weekend.
Both those would be cool
Btw, why the hell would the Cubs trade Hoerner?
Free agent next year
Steamer has them projected at 82 wins and a potential Wild Card. They would need Hoerner to do that. If they add a bat they can contend. I don’t think they will trade him
Rams cough up a hairball.
Strange game. A blown call cost 4 points, a missed 48 yard field goal, a punt return for a touchdown, and a 2 point conversion granted on replay after an “incomplete pass” had everyone walking off the field. Everyone but one guy who picked up the ball in the end zone. The football gods were working against them in this one.
Any baseball news?
King to SD
Cubs/Mets/Red Sox still need to make moves
Japanese deadlines loom
Dodgers are short an outfielder
Every love story is a ghost story
Odd 3-team trade between Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Houston.
· Tampa Bay trades – 2B/OF Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum, and LHRP Mason Montgomery to Pirates for Highly touted OF Jacob Melton and 21 year old RHSP Anderson Brito from Houston (Houston #7 prospect).
· Pittsburgh trades – RHSP Mike Burrows to Houston for 2B/OF Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum, and LHRP Mason Montgomery from Tampa Bay.
· Houston Trades – OF Jacob Melton and RHSP Anderson Brito to Tampa Bay for RHSP Mike Burrows (Pittsburgh).
Lowe is the biggest name moved, but the player with the highest ceiling could be OF Jacob Melton. Melton was Houston’s #1 prospect in 2024 and #2 in 2025. Although in his first venture into MLB he put up Michael Confortoesque numbers, however with a very small sample size. He has talent, but will he ever realize it?
Lowe, in his walk year, becomes a trade deadline option for Pittsburgh..
Houston got a decent mid to back end rotation SP, but the cost was their #2 and #7 prospect, albeit from the #27 ranked farm system.
As Dionysus mentioned, Michael King has re-signed with San Diego. It is a back loaded contract for 3 years and $75MM with opt outs after the first two years. First year is a guaranteed $17MM. If he opts in for the 2nd year, he will receive $28MM, and if he accepts the third year player option he will receive $30MM. King will be playing as a 31 year old in 2026.
The Padres are assuming a huge risk. If King gets hurt, or has a bad year, there is no way he will opt out of the final two years, and then $30MM for a 33 year old pitcher with a history of lengthy IL stints is very much in the Dodgers realm. But the Dodgers are deeper, and can assume that level of risk successfully, and have.
The Padres also signed Korean 3B Sung-Mun Song for 3 years, $13MM. Song can also play 2B and 1B. Song is closer to Ha-Seong Kim offensively, and is more offensively potent than Hyeseong Kim. Defensively, Song is not nearly at the same level as either Kim.
Some minor league signings that are returning
Nice
Chuckie Robinson becomes 1st catcher up in case of an injury. I like that signing. Duran should be premanently moved to bullpen where he can concentrate on 1 inning appearances, like Edgardo Henriquez has seemingly successfully done.
Now we can send out Rushing and Henriquez in the Duran/Donovan/Kwan deal. 😎
If we sign Bo, Freeland becomes available in Duran trade
Baltimore pulled off a Trade Deadline deal with Tampa Bay for RHSP Shane Baz. They traded four prospects and a Competitive Balance Round A pick. The prospects included a first round pick and a competitive balance A pick from 2025 draft
· OF Slater de Brun (18 years old) – CBA round 2025 (37th overall) – Tampa Bay’s #6 prospect.
· C Caden Bodine (22 years old) – 1st round 2025 (30th overall) – Tampa Bay’s #11 prospect.
· RHP Michael Forret (21 years old) – Tampa Bay’s #5 prospect
· OF Austin Overn (22 years old) – Tampa Bay’s #20 prospect
Nice haul for Tampa Bay for a mid to back end rotation pitcher. Seems like an overpay by Baltimore. But they are desperate for pitching.
More bad news for one time Baltimore All Star starting pitcher, John Means. He is out again in 2026 with a ruptured Achilles. Means was 2nd in ROY in 2019 and started 26 games in 2021. Since then, he has been a constant on the IL
Between the Baz deal and the three way trade with the Prates and Astros, it looks like the Rays are trying to stock up on young talent.
Yeah, it does look like a full rebuild. Ir has been rumored that Yandy Diaz is available. Is Junior Caminero available? If Shane Baz got that haul, back up the prospect truck for Junior Caminero. No Bums, Muncy, Teo, and Pages will not get it done.
Man Junior Caminero, I love Max, and don’t think he gets the respect he deserves (Bum😀) but thinking of Caminero being available would be something else. The bidding would be something to see.
Caminero is 22 Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 70 | Run: 45 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 65
The Rays are not both rebuilding and trading such a young player.
For the record, I have always offered Glasnow and money or Sheehan along with Pages/Teo for some of the untouchables I like. Whereas it was you that said you would not trade Pages straight up for PCA.
Moving on. Here are my predictions:
Most likely:
DH Ohtani
SS Betts
1B Freeman
C Smith
3B Muncy/Freeland platoon
RF Teo
LF Ward/Rushing platoon
CF Edman
2B Kim/Rojas platoon
One of Call or Kim or Freeland or Ward get traded
And I still would. I think Pages’ ceiling is higher than PCA’s. I could be wrong. I have been wrong before…many times/ Shall I bring up your affinity for James Outman and Mitch Haniger? The Dodgers focus more on ceiling than floors, and I am lean that way.
AF and BG say that Glasnow will not be traded. I understand that troubles you, but since he was arguably the 2nd best LAD pitcher in the playoffs, I am glad.
I recognixe that you like players who are fun to watch. My only criterion is whether they can win championships. There is one player who we both would like to see don Dodger Blue…Royce Lewis. He has a high ceiling, as well as a low floor. I doubt that he fits the Dodgers criteria.
I still think Outman’s defense in CF would have won more games than they won with Conforto all year in LF.
Hanigar? You forget context. I wanted Hanigar when the Dodgers desperately needed another righty bat and before he was injured.
Glasnow IMHO is too often on the IL and too likely to max out after 5 innings to be earning as much as he does. I preferred to keep Pepiot.
I also want to mix in youth while the vets are still producing. And. As long as the Dodgers are spending as much as they are, then support it with strong up the middle defense. Therefore my preference for PCA over Pages.
Andrew will be adding another bat. It may not be anyone you like but there will definitely be an addition to the names you listed.
The current flavor of the week seems to be Lars Nootbaar. Last year was the outlier. He has a 20.2% career K rate and a 12.8% career BB rate. Not a lot of SLG, with a projected 10-15 HRs per year, which may be lacking for the slug heavy Dodgers hitting strategy. He can play all three OF spots, best suited for RF. While not elite, he is a plus defensive OF.
Nootbaar was teammates with Shohei, Yamamoto, and Sasaki on Japan’s 2023 WBC championship team. He was the first player on the Japanese WBC team who was not born in Japan. His mother is Japanese. He would also fit in nicely with Dave Roberts. Nootbaar quickly became a super star in Japan.
He is a local kid, playing his high school baseball at El Segundo High School, same HS alma mater as the Brett Brothers. And I am partial to Nootbaar because he is a fellow Trojan.
A little more info on Nootbaar.
The cost would be a lot less than Brendan Donovan, and there is not a team they could not beat out in a trade scenario. St. Louis needs near MLB ready making LAD prospects more applicable in a trade. Nootbaar has 2 years of control, which is ideal for when the next wave of Dodgers OF arrive.
I was very close to putting him in my prediction. I wish I had done so.
That would shift Teo to LF, Pages to CF, with Nootbaar in RF. Edman to 2B.
I’m still good with Lewis at 3rd and Max to bench.
I like it
I got Bichette & Nootbaar
Nootbaar is a SoCal boy
I do not think Bichette is out of the LAD picture. I think Boston has the inside track (if not Toronto), but he would fit in nicely with LAD as a 2B. I think the Dodgers would prefer Bichette to the 3rd and 6th round picks in the next draft. They seem to use their draft picks to develop depth and then trade them.
Edman could move to LF while his ankle recovers enough for a move to CF.
Nootbaar seems like a nice guy but I see him as a pretty average ballplayer.
I would definitely put him after Duran/Abreu/Donovan/Kwan on my list of wanna gets.
As a matter of fact I think I’d rather have Ward get those at bats instead of Nootbaar just to see what we might have there.
We disagree on this one. Nootbaar is a proven MLB player and is only 5 months older than Ward. They will both be playing as 28 year olds this year. The cost for Duran or Abreu is probablt above what AF/BG are willing to pay. The Dodgers are not even luke warm on Donovan’s wish list. The Dodgers do like versatility, but with Miggy, Edman, Kim, Freeland, do they need another? Donovan is not nearly the defensive OF that Nootbaar is. Cleveland is not trading Kwan until the deadline at the earliest. But yes, of all the OF mentioned I prefer Duran, and with 3 years of control, the DOdgers could afford to loosen up the prospect capital.
I’ll believe Ward gets a MLB at-bat with us when I see it
Yeah, that still seems more likely to happen in a different uni.
With Korean lettering?
I have no clue who they might target. I would love to have Bellinger back, simply because he was one of my favorite players when he was a Dodger, and he has been more of a contact hitter the last 3 seasons.
It makes most sense to this novice that Belli belongs with NYY. But the pundits are linking him much more to NYM, with the Dodgers a distant6 3rd.
I figured that. He was just on my own personal wish list. I know the chances of that happening are probably zip.
I’m thinking if the Dodgers had any real interest in Bellinger, we would have heard at least something. I think they are waiting to see what falls to them, with the Yankees, and the Mets fighting over him, I don’t see him falling in our laps.
saying that, I think he would fit here well.
We agree.
Bellinger would fit. So would a lot of guys being mentioned here the last month.
Nootbaar? .240 hitter with little slug and a negative dWAR the last two years. No thanks. I still want Duran or Abreu and I think a package involving Sheehan and Rushing would do it.
And I want Jackson Chourio, Julio Rodriguez, Aaron Judge, and Junior Caminero. Bums wants PCA and Roman Anthony. None of those guys will be wearing Dodger Blue anytime soon.
Since Mookie in 2019, name the last everyday regular OF the Dodgers traded for. And Mookie was a salary dump (or soon to be salary dump). Plus they took on David Price’s contract.
They have signed Teoscar Hernández, Michael Conforto, Jason Heyward, AJ Pollock, David Peralta, Steven Souza Jr., Trayce Thompson, Eddy Alvarez, and Kevin Pillar.
They have traded for Billy McKinney, Joey Gallo, Kevin Kiermaier, and Alex Call. There is not a Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu in that group.
“According to executives from multiple clubs that have been in the market for outfielders and have talked trade possibilities with the Red Sox, Breslow’s message has been consistent. He has Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Jarren Duran on the roster. He is comfortable keeping it that way into next season unless a team convinces him not to.”
When was the last time that AF convinced a team to trade a player to LAD with an overwhelming offer? And I would prefer Ceddanne Rafaela, and would expect disappointment.
Before Mookie, the big OF trade was for Josh Reddick.
Kyle Tucker is the star that AF more often goes hunting for, but I am guessing that even the Dodgers have a limit for a very good but not Mookie-like RF, but at a Mookie-like price. If his price drops, the Dodgers could still be in on him. Boras lists the Dodgers still in on Belli, because…well that will drive up the price for either NYY or NYM.
Brendan Donovan has been linked to multiple teams, none of which are the Dodgers. At least two of the teams are willing to include MLB pitching. That is not Ben Casparius, Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Kyle Hurt, or Bobby Miller. That leaves Emmet Sheehan, and I would not trade Sheehan for any Cardinal not named Masyn Winn.
Harrison Bader is still a logical bridge to the Fab Four OF.
The only OF currently connected to LAD is Lars Nootbaar. I would be pushing for him more if I wasn’t concerned with his double heel surgery due to Haglund’s deformities. Chaim Bloom (Cardinals POBO) says he may not be ready for Opening Day, but could be. The only history with this surgery was Yoenis Cespedes, and that did not go well for him. That could give pause to any team.
IMO, the Dodgers could very well be content with waiting for one, two, or three of the Fab Four OF to step up, and do not want to do anything to block that. They traded for Call for a reason, they purchased the contract of Ryan Ward for a reason, and they traded Ben Rortvedt instead of Dalton Rushing for a reason. Why not! They won with Michael Conforto in LF in 2025. Really, would Alex Call, Ryan Ward, and/or Dalton Rushing be worse?
What in AF’s history with LAD gives anyone optimism that AF will acquire an All Star OF via trade?
Your paragraph listing the OFers that AF has brought in made me laugh. I hadn’t thought about who he’s brought in until that, but that definitely brings things into perspective about who we can really expect if AF brings in a new OF.
I use AF’s past history to consider the likelihood that he’ll do one thing or another and based on past history, the likelihood that he’ll acquire an All Star outfielder is not great.
But it’s more than a zero chance and I’m beginning to think that this may be the year he surprises you, Jeff.
Could be. And to be clear, I would not be disappointed.
I’d rather give Ryan Ward a shot than trade anything for the underwhelming Lars Nootbar.
I think we can, and will, do better than this guy.
I can’t wait to see Ryan and Stone pitch in 26. I think Ryan may have more upside than Sasaki. Unless something falls into their lap, I think AF will wait for Buxton at deadline. If he’s healthy and productive. We only need him for October
I can see Friedman platooning Rushing and Call in LF, Pages in CF, and Teo in RF.
Maybe Nootbaar in RF if Teo gets traded.
Twins fans hate the owner and love Buxton. Interesting dynamics.
I don’t think Teo is getting traded
Good take Cassidy, though I hope they land a proven MLB starter for the outfield. Ryan Ward, 28 in February, may make it in the Majors, but I’d prefer to see a veteran out there. Buxton in August would be something to look forward to but I’d rather start the year with a veteran outfield, and one that doesn’t have Edman starting in center. When he returns I see him in a Kiké like role. And I believe River Ryan could be a stud
Chances of getting Cody may be slim but I am not giving up at this point. I don’t think Andrew is going small. We have a chance at 3 in a row. He has the money and the blessing of the ownership. And this is after all The Golden Age of Dodger Baseball. He is waiting for the market to settle and I am betting he gets Tucker or Belli and Cody fits better than Tucker.
Bellinger’s dad played with the Yankees and he always seemed to want to be a Yankee too.
I don’t think Bellinger is leaving New York and I do think Tucker, Duran or Abreu is coming to LA, but what do I know. I had Lindor coming here a few years ago, Andrelton Simmons a few years before that and I did not see either Manny coming so my crystal balls are worthless.(go ahead Fred, I know you’re thinking it)
I’ll wait for Blue to take first crack at it and if he doesn’t shatter the crystal, I’ll jump in.
Former LAD co-owner, Terry Seidler, has passed away at 92. She co-owned the Dodgers with her brother Peter O’Malley from 1979-1998. She would later become the matriarch of the San Diego Padres when her son Peter purchased the Padres in 2012, along with Peter O’Malley and Ron Fowler. Terry Seidler owned a small share of the Padres on her passing.
While she was a Padres from 2012, she was an advent Dodgers fan dating way back to her Brooklyn days. She recalled attending a Game 4 of the 1941 Dodgers/NYY WS game, when Mickey Owen famously dropped a third strike in the ninth inning, allowing the Yankees to come back to win the game — and the series. Suffice to say, she was a loyal Dodger fan and owner longer than as a Padre.
RIP, Terry Seidler.
Jeff, just a random note of appreciation for this outstanding blog. You are a man of integrity and depth.
Thank you. The kind words are very much appreciated.