A couple of weeks back I made a comment that the Dodgers will sign at least one Free Agent OF next year, and bypass their homegrown. I am not saying they will be 9 figure multi-year deals, but they will be veterans. That was met with pushback, and I expected it. But I have watched AF, and there is not another POBO or GM that covets veterans more than he. Steve Cohen tried to emulate AF and it did not go so well for NYM.
Last year (2023), the Dodgers signed David Peralta and Jason Heyward, and prior to ST, Trayce Thompson was going into the season as the everyday CF. James Outman had a ST that pushed him into the picture, but still the only reason he made the 26 man was because he was LH hitting and the team needed another LH bat once Gavin Lux went down.
This year (2024), AF/BG decided that Miguel Vargas is no longer a 2B or 3B, but is now a LF. However, with their concern about Vargas’ ability to consistently hit MLB pitching, the Dodgers signed Teoscar Hernández, Jason Heyward, and Kiké Hernández, with James Outman and CT3 on the roster, Vargas was dispatched to OKC.
Many have projected that the LAD OF will be Vargas, Outman, and Pages for 2025. I give that a 0% chance. For me, it is more likely that one of the three will make it, one will be traded for a couple of Rookie League lottery tickets, and one will end up back in OKC as one of the many AAAA OF the Dodgers love to stash away.
The problem now is that with less max number of MiLB players, the ability to stash AAAA OF is getting more difficult, making it all the more likely that one (any maybe two) of the three will be in AAA. Vargas has 1 option, and Outman and Pages have 2 options remaining.
Crazy thought? I don’t know. Let’s look at Friday night’s OKC OF – Kevin Padlo (LF), Chris Owings (CF), and Austin Gauthier (RF). All three are infielders trying to learn OF. Dodgers do love their utility players. OKC only has three OF on their roster – Outman, Drew Avans, and Ryan Ward. Ward is on the DL, and knowing that Blake Snell was pitching for Sacramento, apparently AF called ahead and advised that Outman should not hit LH pitchers. Although he did not play Saturday either. OF for Saturday? They did have a true OF with Avans in CF. Gauthier was in LF and Owings in RF.
If the Dodgers thought enough of Ward or Avans, they would have been given the opportunity before Heyward or Kiké. Why didn’t they ever get a legit chance? Because they are considered AAAA outfielders by the Dodgers, and obviously every other team since they have been passed over in the Rule 5 draft.
After 124 PA, apparently the Dodgers have seen enough of Outman. If any out there are expecting him to be recalled this year, I do not share that belief. He was passed over in 2022 after his start and AAA season. So what he does at OKC will again be unmoving. Pages or Vargas will be sent down once Muncy comes off the IL. Pages is not safe. After all AF/BG/Doc still have Kiké to play CF.
Just a rhetorical question? How much of a runway would Corbin Carroll have gotten with the Dodgers? At 23, he is probably at AA.
So why not move AA prospects to AAA? Because there aren’t any. Tulsa has 2 homegrown, 25 year old Chris Alleyne, and 23 year old José Ramos. Alleyne was a 19th round draft choice in 2022 out of Maryland. At Great Lakes in 2023, Chris hit .199/.277/0322/.599. He is a LF who hit 7 HR in 402 PA. Tulsa was so bereft of playable OF that Alleyne was assigned to Tulsa. For Tulsa with 61 PA, Chris is hitting a respectable .273/.328/.436/.764, but only 2 HR and 3 doubles. Not enough slug to go with 27.9% strikeout rate for a corner OF.
The two non-homegrown OF are Austin Beck (25) and Lolo Sanchez (25), both have been previously released by other clubs. They were not considered good enough for the juggernauts AKA Oakland and Pittsburgh respectively. That being said, I am hopeful that the former 1st round pick (#6 overall), Beck, is finally healthy and is slashing .298/.355/.560/.914 with 5 HRs. Should he be considered for AAA? I guess not with all those infielders playing OF at OKC.
So I can absolutely see the Dodgers re-signing Teoscar Hernández (who absolutely loves being a Dodger) and maybe Tyler O’Neill. Trade? The Dodgers have 3 current consensus top 100 prospects on the revised Top 100 for Baseball America and MLB Pipeline and 4 overall.
Baseball America:
- Josue De Paula – OF – 40
- Dalton Rushing C – 41
- Andy Pages – OF – 82
- Thayron Liranzo – C – 89
MLB Pipeline:
- Andy Pages – OF – 52
- Dalton Rushing C – 53
- Josue De Paula – OF – 83
There is not enough elite healthy MLB Ready prospect talent to garner a top OF, unless pitching is involved. And even then they are not top 100. Take a look at what gets traded at the deadline for elite players, and it is top 100 prospects. It takes top 100 talent to get elite difference makers. AF is not AJ Preller.
In summary, IMO, the Dodgers will continue trying to piece the OF together with what they already have. Expect a lot of Jason Heyward, Teoscar Hernández, Kiké Hernández, and Chris Taylor, and one of Pages, Outman, or Vargas. They will worry about next year…well, next year.
One of the Sacramento River Cats TV Announcers is Steve Sax. He threw out the 1st pitch Saturday night in honor of his son and the John Sax Foundation. At some point today/tonight, Saxy was able to interview Doc and asked specifically about optioning James Outman.
“It was a tough one,” manager Dave Roberts said of the decision. “I don’t think any of us expected to be in this position given last year and our expectation for him this season. We felt that James needed an opportunity to go down and play every day. There’s something for getting out of this environment.”
That is such hogwash. Remember when we were told James was not going to be platooned? He got 12 PA against LHP. That’s not being platooned? I think James will agree with the last sentence about something for getting out of this environment. I am going with, yes take him out of the environment and trade him so he can play everyday for a team like Michael Busch. AF has made his decision. Andy Pages is the CF. Free James Outman!! Don’t keep him as one of the pet AAAA OF.
The OKC Baseball Club and the Sacramento River Cats was a non-eventful game. A couple of observations.
On the 1st base side sections, there were more LAD fans than SFG fans. I saw a lot of Dodger jerseys. Kershaw, Betts, Freeman were the most worn. Then there was a Blake Treinen jersey from my friend Doug. Doug is more responsible than anyone for me getting this blog started. I will let him tell you why he wears a Blake Treinen jersey. He told me he is willing to write something in my absence. Now you are on the spot Doug. I only saw 1 Ohtani jersey. There was a Will Smith jersey. And I saw my first Muncy jersey. I was wearing my Betts jersey, and my wife was wearing her Outman shirt. Right in front of us was a family with a Koufax (Dad), Puig (Mom), and Bellinger (son) jersey
Saw an Oakland fan with a T-shirt that said…What Happens in Vegas, Started in Oakland.
Eric Stephen wrote that Landon Knack was going to start for OKC on Saturday. He did not. It was a bullpen game, opened with Drew Pomeranz. DO NOT BE SURPRISED if Pomeranz ends up in LA this summer. In 2.0 IP, the LHP allowed one hit and struck out 5. The one hit was a ground ball just out of the reach of Trey Sweeney.
Michael Petersen (1.0 IP) and Gus Varland (2.0 IP), usually late inning relievers, followed Pomeranz on Saturday.
One of the relievers I was most interested in following this year was LHRP Alec Gamboa. He came if the IL today and pitched a good solid inning. He had not pitched in a month. We met his mother at the game. She was so proud. She saw my Dodgers jersey, and I had an aisle seat, she had to stop and say…”Go Dodgers”, and “that was my son out there. Alec Gamboa? I am his Mom.”. I told her I was a legit fan of his, and she was smiling ear to e
For 6 innings, the River Cats had one base runner in the 1st. Matt Gage relieved in the 7th and gave up a HR to Casey Schmitt. Score was 4-1.
Kevin Gowdy was not all that impressive in this one. Walked the first batter. Next batter hit a ground ball down the 3B line that Andre Lipcius fielded the ball while in foul territory and thinking it was foul did nothing. It was ruled the ball was in fair territory. Ground ball to 1B and runners move up. 2 WP and 2 runs score.
Andre Lipcius had 3 hits including his 12th HR, a double, and single. The HR and double were off for Phillies 2nd round pick out of Cal Poly SLO, Spencer Howard. He was considered a top prospect with the Phillies. Howard allowed the two Lipcius hits and a Hunter Feduccia run scoring single. He struck out nine OKC batters.
Lipcius looks to be yet another infielder who might belong in LF. He has excellent offensive skills, but his defense is questionable. At least it was on this night.
Kody Hoese looked lost at the plate in his first 2 AB, both bad swinging Ks. But in his 3rd AB, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, he got a 2 run single on a line drive to RF.
Drew Avans is fast, and is a good defensive CF. Avans got to 3rd base on a BB, SB, ground out to 1B. The infield was playing in, and I told my wife, if Sweeney hits the ball on the ground, Avans will score. Sweeney did, and Avans scored.
Box Score
David Peralta was signed to a minor league contract by the Padres. SD is desperate to get some sort of offense going. Kim and Bogaerts are not playing as well as last year. SD did not play last night, so LA picked up 1/2 game on them. Nice to see Buehler look like Buehler, and he did it by being a pitcher and not trying to throw his heater by everyone. Since the first game, the Dodgers have totally shut down De La Cruz. I have no doubt that AF will sign at least one, if not two older MLB outfielders. If O’Neill is healthy, I would love to see that guy in a Dodger uni. He is hitting .254 in Boston and has 10 long balls already. Did any of you know that O’Neill holds the MLB record by having hit home runs on opening day for five consecutive seasons?
At this point in time, who would you rather see at the plate, Hernandez, or Pages in a crucial spot? Pages came through last night. But so did Hernandez. He leads the team with 37 RBIs. I trust the vets, I hope for the kids.
The outfield looks ok for now and with the possibility of Ohtani playing some out there it could look even better. Frankly I still would like to see a different shortstop and if Mookie insists on playing infield put him at second and move Lux.
Bummer about Outman. If he’s not coming back then a trade makes sense to me.
*Eric Karros never played outfield. And he perseverated for 2 innings on the miscommunication by the 2 rookies in the outfield, Pages and Vargas, on the gapper in the 5th. I think Eric’s analysis was off. Both Pages and Vargas were running hard, watching the ball. Karros accused Pages of not having his arm up long enough, signaling he had it.
I don’t care if Pages didn’t have his arm up long enough, or at all. Or if he had his hand up his ass or picking his nose, that call is verbal. He can’t be sure that Vegas sees his signal, but he should hear him.
Maybe Pages didn’t call it. I don’t know but do know it’s not about arm signals. Pages, call the ball and take charge as the centerfielder. Cudos to both busting to make the catch but talk.
In the dugout you could see Teo and Heyward coaching up the kids about the play. I love that. But they were clearly talking about verbal communication.
*Karros is a hard listen for me. He’s kinda like fish, it’s enjoyable the first day but by day 4, he stinks. He broadcasts the game with the idea, why say anything with a sentence when you can say it with a paragraph.
*Kike plays a great, entertaining, 3rd Base. He an Rojas can fill in nicely for Max.
*I watched this a couple of times and I swear I saw this; when Buehler was being congratulated on his great outing in the dugout, he got into a conversation with Prior and someone else I couldn’t see. Walker was rocking back demonstrating some pitching mechanic. On the rail in front of him was Yamamoto, watching the game and paying no attention to the conversation behind him. Suddenly a hand appeared on the screen tapping Yamamoto’s head to encouraging him in listening to that conversation. Kinda like – “Hey, young pitcher, pay attention to these guys”.
On replay, I could see the hand moving Yamamoto’s head to pay attention, was Ohtani’s. I swear that’s what I saw and it’s pretty awesome leadership.
*Grover continues to impress as a one inning bullpen piece.
*Did you notice Will Smith continuing to try to hit to right to move Freeman to 3rd with no outs bottom 8th. It would be so easy for a guy up with a 4 run lead to just go to hacking. But Will was still being a team guy and playing the game the right way. Small things impress me and Will is such a pro.
*So nice to see Buehler have his A stuff.
How great is this to watch:
Some of the best news I heard about Justin Wrobleski’s outing… “He ran into some trouble in the sixth after hitting a batter and issuing a two-out walk. After a mound visit Wrobleski was allowed to stay in, and he got out of his own jam with a flyout, giving him a season-best six innings.” That is how you develop. Good for Manager Scott Hennessey. I would have liked to hear Scott (a very good manager), say…Hey, you got yourself in this fix, now get out of it.
Justin’s walk in the 6th was his only BB on the night. He now has 44 strikeouts against only five walks in his 38.1 innings. That is very reminiscent of 2016 Caleb Ferguson (Great Lakes) – 41 K, 3 BB, 50.1 IP. That was the year that Caleb broke through. That season is when Harold Uhlman and I were writing back and forth on the Great Lakes Loons (his favorite Dodger affiliate), and specifically Ferguson. Harold was writing for Ron Cervenka and True Blue LA at the time. Fergie was a favorite of mine ever since.
One of the pitchers I have been talking about since he was 16 is Jerming Rosario. Diego Cartaya and Alex De Jesus were the two most heralded IFA’s signed in 2018, but the 22 year old RHP from Peravia, DR just keeps working. I may be the only one who really follows him, and the odds are greatly stacked against him, but I certainly would not rule him out of making MLB. Last night Rosario had a solid start with six strikeouts and no walks in five innings. He gave up 2 hits, but unfortunately, one was a solo HR in the 5th, his final inning.
I mentioned it above, but I will repeat it. DO NOT BE surprised if LHRP Drew Pomeranz gets summoned to LA this summer. He is looking very much like the reliever he was when the Brewers converted him to relief. He opted out of his MiLB deal earlier this year, but right away he signed another deal. You don’t think some thing was said? Ah yes, still another veteran. Although after Milwaukee converted Pomeranz to relief after getting in a trade with SFG, I became a Pomeranz advocate. I was hoping the Dodgers would have signed him after 2019, but the Padres overpaid with a 4 year deal, and while he was brilliant for the Pads WHEN he pitched, that was not often. A total of 47 games (44.1 innings) in 2020/2021 and none in 2022/2023. That is about $767K per inning pitched.
Wow, did anyone know that Conner Wong is hitting .349 for the Red Sox so far this year?
Probably should have signed Tommy Pham. Signed for $3M.
Why weren’t the Dodgers interested?
As was presumed since Knack did not get the start for OKC on Saturday, he has been recalled and will start the series finale matching up against Reds RHP Hunter Greene, one who Bums has already traded for on behalf of the Dodgers.
In addition, the Dodgers have purchased the contract of Anthony Banda and he will be in the bullpen today for the Reds series finale. J.P. Feyereisen and Ricky Vanasco have been optioned to OKC. To make room on the 40 man, Connor Brogdon was placed on the 60 day IL with Plantar Fascitis.
I know the brain trust has this figured out, but all of MiLB pitchers on the 40 man all have less than 5 days since being optioned.
· Gus Varland – 05-15 option date
· Eduardo Salazar – 05-16 option date
· Nick Ramirez – 05-17 option date
· Ricky Vanasco – 05-19 option date
· J.P. Feyereisen – 05-19 option date
That is it. None of them can be recalled unless there is an injury. However, Evan Phillips is eligible to come off IL today. Ryan Brasier is eligible to come off the IL, but he is expected to be more long term. Joe Kelly can come off IL on May 21.
Ryan Pepiot was my favorite 2019 draft pick from the start, but my overwhelming 2nd favorite was Stanford closer, Jack Little. He relatively disappeared since being drafted, but he is finally healthy and showing why Billy Gasparino (with AF approval) picked up a closer in the 5th round.
I am curious about the idea of resigning Teo. While I definitely see the upside, I can’t figure how it would work. Another short term deal at an above market rate? Would that be amenable to Hernandez? If he wants longish term, I don’t see the Dodgers working at the top of the market.
But what I see in the future, often isn’t.
Does anyone know where I could find stats about how the Dodgers run up pitch counts in comparison to other team? Rate of pitch counts, average # per batter.
Friedman’s and Roberts’ preference for veterans was painfully obvious when they didn’t start Pepiot in last year’s playoffs.
Maybe Joc is old enough to get another chance with the Dodgers.
Outman was getting hard to watch mostly because I wanted him to do well. I sure hope he returns within 15 days although an earlier return would require someone going on the IL.
Ohtani recently was reported to say he loves hitting more than pitching and would be fine playing everyday in the outfield and not pitching.
I’ll take an outfield of Ohtani, Outman, and Opages with Royce Lewis at third.
The Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads they gave away the other day are selling for ridiculous prices on EBAY. The one in gray is being offered for 1500 or more.
Gritty win today. It’s good to see the team win a close one.
Just finished watching The SAINT of Second Chances on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it you might want to check it out. It’s the story of Mike Veeck.
Good series after losing the first game.
anyone got any thoughts on whether AF will be on Soto this off season?
Generational. Talent doesn’t become available as a FA thst often. Because of Ohtani’s deferred money it should be doable…