Of course I am a Dodgers fan. But I am also a baseball fan. When I moved into the Sacramento area, I purchased season tickets for the Sacramento River Cats who were the AAA affiliate of the A’s at the time. That was the same time my son was playing MiLB, but that was in the East.
The River Cats were a must see team for many in Sacramento. They led MiLB attendance for several years as the A’s affiliate. I cannot remember all the names that moved through Sacramento. Maybe one of these days I will write about my time at River Cat Stadium and the players I met and interacted with.
But I became a bit A’s fan because of the 14 years I had season tickets in Sacramento. Once they became the Giants AAA affiliate, I quit the season tickets.
Another reason I like the A’s is because of their manager, Mark Kotsay. I first met Mark as a 16 year old when he played with my son on the 1992 World Series Mickey Mantle team (15-16 year olds). They remained close.
Now the A’s have some exciting young players. MLB is filled with young SS, and the A’s have one of the best in Jacob Wilson. Another is their young 1B who was playing for Wake Forest this time last year. Tyler Soderstrom, Shea Langeliers, Lawrence Butler, Brent Rooker. The oldest regular is 30 (Rooker and Miguel Andujar). They have some good pitching, and an elite closer. They are fun to watch. I have not yet been to Sutter Health Ballpark to see the A’s but I sure plan to. The problem is, it is still a MiLB ballpark. It is a nice stadium and is picturesque next to the Sacramento River and Old Town Sacramento.
Not much good to talk about the Dodgers, except maybe Michael Conforto’s 3 doubles and Will Smith’s 3 hit night. After 9 innings, the A’s embarrassed the Dodgers 11-1 with 18 hits, including 5 HRs and 3 doubles. So onto…
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 8 – Round Rock Express (Texas) 5
After falling behind by three runs early, the Oklahoma City Comets scored six runs in the third inning and went on to defeat the Round Rock Express, 8-5, Tuesday night.
The Express rallied for three runs with two outs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Comets quickly tied the game in the third inning, as the first two batters reached base before Dalton Rushing hit a three-run homer. Ryan Ward followed with a solo blast to give the Comets the lead, and Esteury Ruiz later doubled home two more to make it 6-3.
Leading, 6-4, in the fourth inning, Nick Senzel and Kody Hoese each drove in a run to give the Comets a four-run advantage.
The score stayed 8-4 until the ninth inning when Round Rock’s Blaine Crim hit a solo homer.
After being held to a total of eight runs and five extra-base hits over the previous three games combined, the Comets matched those totals Tuesday night. OKC piled up 15 hits, marking the third game of the season with at least 15 hits. However, the Comets also set a season high with 16 runners left on base.
All nine batters collected at least one hit, and five Comets finished with multi-hit games, paced by Ryan Ward’s three hits. The top five batters in the order combined to go 11-for-26 with two homers and four extra-base hits.
Dalton Rushing and Ryan Ward hit OKC’s third set of back-to-back home runs this season in the third inning. Rushing and Ward also hit the team’s last back-to-back home runs May 7 against Albuquerque.
Dalton Rushing went 2-for-5 with a home run, walk and three RBI to tie his season high…Esteury Ruiz had OKC’s other multi-RBI effort, going 2-for-6 with a double. He also notched his league-leading 20th stolen base.
Bobby Miller started and lasted 2.0 IP, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, 2 BB, and 2K. He threw 58 pitches/38 strikes. Was he pulled in anticipation of getting recalled to take Sasaki’s spot? The Comets bullpen had to cover the final seven innings and limited the Express to two runs and five hits, with both runs scoring on solo homers. Five relievers combined to strike out eight batters and protect the lead from the third inning onward.
- Esteury Ruiz – 2-5, 1 BB, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (10)
- Alex Freeland – 2-4, 2 BB, 1 run, double (13)
- Dalton Rushing – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR (5)
- Ryan Ward – 3-6, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (9)
- Michael Chavis – 2-6, 1 run
- Hunter Feduccia – double (7)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KC) 10 – Tulsa Drillers 8
Chris Campos pitched well for 5.0 IP for the Drillers. He left with the Drillers up 5-1, but left a runner on 1B. Unfortunately, Ronan Kopp is still not the answer in the Drillers bullpen. By the time Kopp was done, the Drillers lead was down to 5-4.
The Drillers took that lead into the 9th, and Kelvin Ramirez taking the mound trying to save the game for Campos. A BB, SB, and single ties the game.
NWA scored three in the 10th off Jorge Benitez for an 8-5 lead. Tulsa scored 3 in their half of the 10th to tie the game again. With GLP the runner at 2nd and one out, John Rhodes doubled GLP home. After the 2nd out of the inning, Ezequiel Pagan singled home Rhodes. Sean McLain walked and moved Pagan to 2nd. Pagan scored on a Taylor Young double with McLain moving to 3rd as the winning run. However, both runners were stranded, and the teams went into the 11th.
In the 11th with Brandon Neeck on the bump, he allowed a pair of runs to take a 10-8 lead. The Drillers went quietly in the 11th without moving the placed runner 90 feet.
- Taylor Young – 2-4, 2 BB, 1 run, 4 RBI, double (6), HR (1)
- Damon Keith – 2-4, 2 BB, 1 RBI
- John Rhodes – 3-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Ezequiel Pagan – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Sean McLain – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (3)
Greal Lake Loons 3 – Lake County Captains (Cleveland) 1
A good game with some excellent pitching and timely hitting. Patrick Copen was able to pitch 7.0 complete innings with 88 pitches (57 strikes), allowing one run on a solo HR, 3 hits (single, double, HR), NO BB, and 7K. Copen has increased his Midwest League lead in strikeouts to 52 in 32.2 IP. With his no BB outing, his BB/9 has decreased from 8.42 to 6.61. His K rate is an impressive 14.33/9.
Top #Dodgers RHP prospect Patrick Copen today:
7.0 IP
3 H
1 ER
0 BB
7 K
19 whiffs
88 P / 57 SCopen has been a star for High-A Great Lakes this year, posting a 2.48 ERA, 14.33 K/9 and .136 opponent average pic.twitter.com/ZHNXd04Mwu
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) May 13, 2025
Reynaldo Yean followed Copen to the bump in the 8th, and all four of the batters he faced reached 1B. The first batter was HBP, but was thrown out trying to steal 2B. He walked the next three batters to load the bases. Carson Hobbs was summoned to get out of the inning with a lead. He got a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning.
Hobbs a 2nd DP to end the game when 3B Nick Biddison caught a line drive diving to his right and threw to 1B Joe Vetrano to get the DP to end the game.
Mike Sirota was promoted to A+, and in his GL debut he went 3-3 including a double and a BB. He reached base all four of his PA.
Top #Dodgers OF prospect Mike Sirota has been promoted to High-A
So far in his first game at the level: 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored pic.twitter.com/QdGRNEuDtG
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) May 13, 2025
But Sirota was not alone with his offensive output. 1B Joe Vetrano went 3-4, including a 2-run HR in the 4th, giving the Loons the lead that they held throughout the remainder of the game. Josue De Paula went 2-4 with a pair of SB, and Zyhir Hope did not get a hit, but reached base three times via BB.
One might think that with the Sirota promotion that De Paula would get his own promotion to AA Tulsa. Instead it was 24 year old OF Kole Myers. Myers was a 9th round draft pick in the 2024 draft from Troy University. Methinks Myers was promoted because he is 24, and while his A+ numbers were not very good, the Dodgers want to see what kind of player he is at AA. Prospect or suspect?
- Mike Sirota – 3-3, 1 BB, 1 run, double (1)
- Joe Vetrano – 3-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR 93)
- Josue De Paula – 2-4
- Zyhir Hope – 0-1, 3 BB, 1 run
- Patrick Copen – 7.0 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 BB, 7 K
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 25 – Inland Empire 66ers (LAA) 8
The Quakes set a couple of franchise records on Tuesday night, as they annihilated the Inland Empire 66ers by a final score of 25-8.
25 runs on the night and 13 runs in a single-inning both set new franchise-bests as the Quakes won their third straight game overall, holding firm to an eight-game lead in the South Division.
Mairo Martinus starred in his home debut, crushing his first Quakes’ homer, while finishing with three hits, three runs scored and a game-high five RBIs.
Samuel Munoz had a team-high four of Rancho’s 23 hits, a season-best.
The Quakes took an early 3-0 lead in the first against Andre Sanchez (0-3), as Quakes’ starter Christian Zazueta was spotted a big 10-run advantage early and never looked back.
Zazueta (3-1) actually retired the first 12 hitters he faced before running into three consecutive home runs to open the fifth inning. Inland Empire’s Caleb Bartolero (4), Dario Laverde (2) and John Wimmer (1) all went deep, making it a 10-3 game in the fifth.
The 66ers actually pulled to within four at 11-7, before Rancho scored one in the seventh and then a mind-blowing 13 in the eighth, as 18 batters came to the plate.
Gio Cueto (1) slugged his first pro home run, while Eduardo Quintero smashed his league-leading seventh.
The Quakes (24-10) will send Sterling Patick (0-1) to the mound on Wednesday, while Inland Empire will counter with Yeferson Vargas (4-2) at 6:30pm.
- Kellon Lindsey – 3-6, 1 BB, 4 runs, 1 RBI, double (7)
- Samuel Munoz – 4-6, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 2 doubles (9)
- Eduardo Quintero – 3-5, 2 BB, 4 runs, 3 RBI, double (5), HR (7)
- Mairo Martinus – 3-4, 2 BB, 3 runs, 5 RBI, HR (1)
- Jose Meza – 2-6, 1 BB, 3 runs, 1 RBI, double (4)
- Roger Lasso – 2-3, 3 BB, 2 runs
- Elijah Hainline – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, triple (1)
- Gio Cueto – 2-5, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (1)
- Eduardo Guerrero – double (5)
ACL Brewers 15 – ACL Dodgers 2
ACL Dodgers got 4 hits including a HR (2) by Emil Morales. Brad Tunink had a double.
With Snell, Glasnow and now Sasaki we are missing already 3 -5 of our starting rotation from opening day. And it is only mid May.
Ouch!
Who is going to take his spot ? Miller? Got hit hard again yesterday at OKC. They pulled him after only 2 innings.
Wrobleski? Had an okay outing his last time out at OKC.
Bullpen games ? Sure recipe to run the pen into the ground . Already way too many innings pitched for that group.
JP Feyereisen is not even good enough to throw batting practice. Sorry, but bring somebody else up, just somebody. Or let Kike pitch , at least he is entertaining.
Should promote dePaula. Put the kid on the fast track already.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think AF is not going to be able to live up to his desire to not make a major trade at the deadline. They need another front-line starter. If Conforto can keep up this resurgence, Teo comes back, along with Edman, the offense should be ok. But they still need a thumper on the bench.
I skipped ahead to the minor leagues.
Now we know why AF signed so many starting pitchers to long term deals and “blocked” so many of our young starting prospects. They’re just not that good.
Haha
About Sasaki:
I think it is safe to say that the talk about the Dodgers ordering Sasaki to throw his fastball slower was BS. Probably wanted to prevent questions about the diminished velo and an injury as the root of the problem.
They talked about that on Dodger heads in yesterdays edition too.
The velo was down last season already and he lost some more mph this year. Touched barely 95 mph in his last outing.
Decreased velo in the past often was a precursor for TJ surgery.
Would not surprise me if the Dodgers in a few days announce that Roki will have to undergo TJ surgery .
If Snell and /or Glasnow should go down too it might increase the necessity to ramp up Shohei sooner than they would have liked to.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When Walker Buehler started to lose his velo, I believed he had an arm injury. I was roundly criticized by someone who advised that Walker was merely following the directive the team gave to Tony Gonsolin. I thought it was an arm injury for Buehler, and there were others who said the drop in velo was planned.
As it turns out, Gonsolin’s drop in velo could also have been due to his arm injury. His drop in velo started in 2022 in his last start before the All Star Game, He tried to pitch through it, and after a horrible July had a decent August before being shut down.
In 2023, his velo still not back to peak 2022, and it was evident he was hurt (at least to me). He warriored through the pain, and we later learned that the Doctors said he was not going to make the injury worse so he went as long as he could before getting the surgery.
There is a reason why velo drops. Sasaki was throwing 100+ in high school. He now sits 93-95 and tops out at 97. This started while in Japan. Remember the homework assignment he and his agent gave to all the interested teams? Why did his 4-seam velo drop? Most teams did not answer but the Dodgers did. We will never know the answer they gave, but apparently that answer did not indicate that he had a sore arm.
They’re saying it’s a shoulder problem which wouldn’t lead to TJ but might lead to shoulder surgery, and that’s considered more serious and harder to come back from successfully.
THey said the same thing about Sheehan before it was general soreness, and then we find out he had TJ surgery. BTW it will be a year tomorrow since he had TJ surgery.
Eh. Watching people on this blog guess at potential surgeries is a low-key fun activity of mine. Let’s not dissuade such activity? If only for my own amusement.
If Roki needs surgery, I’ve narrowed it down to shoulder, TJ or bunion and I’ve eliminated prostate and lap band.
Well, Bluto, if such talk amuses you, you will have a whale of a time currently on most every Dodger blog, forum, message board on the net.😀
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
An argument could be made that an opponent scoring 9 runs in 8 innings against the staff doesn’t matter when the offense scores only 1.
I’m not going to make that argument.
This team needs starting pitching and there’s nobody in the minors that is going to help.
Well, maybe that’s not true. Kershaw is in the minors and apparently he’s ready. Sure hope he can spot that 89 mph fastball.
It needs it’s goddamn expensive dudes to show up in uniform. Snell was supposed to be the ace. Whiff!
Every one of these guys has a history of injury. The Dodgers knew that when they signed them. It was a risk they felt was worth taking.
Maybe all of them will be back for the second half. Hope so.
Can’t disagree with any of that
Wow, quite the beat down last night. The A’s seem to surface every few years with a young and talented team. It’s a sad deal they have to play in a minor league park for the next couple of years.
I know it does me no good to comment on the continual Dodger pitching injuries, but what the hell. It’s so discouraging that even with hundreds of millions of dollars spent and a strong development of pitching prospects this team can’t even put together 3-4-5 man rotation for longer than a couple of weeks. The illusion hailed by the media of all the Dodger depth is a joke. Pitching wise and more so with position players. All this “depth” is down in A and AA which no depth at all.
I know that the Dodgers are a top three team in MLB right now and I have no reason to complain. But, as a fan it would be nice to be able to watch a favorite pitcher get through a month without an injury.
A couple of years ago it was Bobby Miller. Not so much with injuries, but cannot get his mind right two seasons later. Then the eventual surgeries to Hurt, Ryan, Sheehan, Stone, All had some success with the Dodgers and I was looking forward to future success and the enjoyment of watching them help the team win.
No one seems to know what the answer is. Many thoughts and ideas have been discussed on this site on how to decrease all the injuries. If it was easy, the front office would have already done something.
I watch Gonsolin pitch a couple of days ago. He proved it’s not necessary to throw 98-100 MPH to be successful. He was around 93 with an occasional 95-96 when an untick in velocity was called for. A nice, easy delivery. Pitch placement and change of speeds. Will Smith called a great game. And, I know, Gonsolin had TJ surgery, but it came after throwing in the high 90’s. Now it looks like he is learning to becoming a “pitcher”. Let’s hope it’s a healthy one.
Carry on.
Sheehan is pitching to Teo and Edman today and is getting close to going on a rehab assignment. Miller, IMHO is a lost cause. Kid has no confidence, his stuff is very hittable, and he should be moved. A change of scenery would be the best thing for him, along with Outman, and Ward, who is never going to get a shot in LA. There is a rumor floating around that LA is going to go hard after Tucker when he becomes a free agent this winter.
Well said Ted.
Add May to that list.
Yamamoto tonight. TBD until Saturday when Kershaw is scheduled. Gulp. Sure hope he can 5.
Geez what a Debbie-Downer evening. Sat down with a nice glass of red only to see Eric Karros in the booth again for what I calculate to be the 11th consecutive broadcast. I switched over to the Oakland channel and they have goofy Dallas Somebody and some lady who I’ve never heard of. Back to Karros to watch an 11 to 1 game. Then the news of more arm trouble.
I need to take up knitting.
The lady in the booth is Jenny Cavnar, used to be on the Rockies pre- and post-game shows just like Alana Rizzo.
Can you knit titanium ligaments?
not with that attitude!
At least you got a glass of wine.
While we’re all bemoaning the state of the pitching staff, I’d like to point out that Michael Conforto is batting .600 over his last 10 at bats.
4 doubles and 2 singles in 10 at bats. It may be that Doc’s patience with a struggling veteran is paying off once again.
Now we just need to get Max going.
Shut the game off when they went down 6-1 to pursue more intellectual pursuits. Knack was good until he wasn’t. Wilson is the son of Jack Wilson, former Pirate player. He sure fidgets a lot in the batter’s box, but he was impressive with the bat. He might be leading the league in BA if not for Aaron Judge and Goldschmidt. Springs, a guy who had an ERA over 5 last year shuts down the high-powered LA offense. Nice to see Conforto getting some confidence back and scalding the ball.
Really hard to notice, but the A’s are wearing a patch on the sleeve exposed to the pitcher that says Las Vegas.
It’s gonna get interesting (though not as interesting as Jeff’s observation about the relationship between walks and Dodger pitching development!)
What do we know?
Roberts said Tuesday night would probably be a Casparius centered bullpen game.
The next Sasaki start, as far as I can tell, was going to be May 20 or 21. This is in the context of this homestand which ends a stretch of 19 games in 20 days. That was going to be tough WITHOUT a 6-man rotation.
Given where they are, we can’t expect Glasnow, Snell, or, obviously, Sasaki. I rank the spot-starter options to be:
ONE: Wrobo-cop
TWO: Casparius-led bullpen game
THREE: Frasso
ELEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX: Miller.
The recent trend line seems to be continuing:
2021: 39 Pitchers
2022: 31 Pitchers
2023: 39 Pitchers
2024: 40 Pitchers
So far? 24 Pitchers
It’s happening!
Dalton Rushing is on the way to L.A.!!!
He’ll need to be added to the 40-man. No word on a corresponding move yet.
Apparently Austin Barnes is getting dfa’d
You’re kidding, right?
I guess you weren’t kidding.
Somehow there should have been a better way to do this, although logically it’s probably the best move.
After what Barnes has meant to the organization it just seems cruel to dump him like this. Would have much preferred he decided to retire and immediately become a coach. Maybe they offered him that choice but he declined. Probably figures he has a few years left somewhere.
Thanks for everything Barnesy.
There is zero (0️⃣) reason to believe that Barnes has any interest in being a coach or manager!
Who comes up with this stuff?
Why is that so hard to believe? He is not planning on retiring today, but at some point he will have to end his playing career. I know many teams wanted my son to beocme a coach and then perhaps to manage. His biggest advocates were Tito Francona, Theo Epstein, and Ben Cherrington. Not a bad group who wanted him. His agent had several other teams that wanted him as a coach in their system. He chose not to. Maybe Barnes will as well. But if teams wanted my son, why would they not have any interest in Austin Barnes?
“He understands the fabric of and culture of our club,”: according to Dave Roberts, according to a report from the Orange County Register.
“Guys respect him, and he does whatever we need from him. He’s one of the guys I count on for consistency and messaging and also performance,”: according to Dave Roberts.
“I think he (Kershaw) and I understand each other a little bit… he’s a fiery competitor and sometimes directs his anger at me, but I can take it. He just wants to win,”: according to Austin Barnes.
“It’s huge for the team that the pitchers trust him and know he understands what needs to be done,”: according to bench coach Danny Lehmann.
Sure sounds like Doc and LAD coaches believe Barnes is a great candidate to be a coach and maybe manager. I have not spoken to Barnes about his post playing plans, but I see no reason for you to unequivocally say there is zero reason to believe that Barnes has any interest in coaching. Since you have not spoken to Barnes, there is zero reason to believe that Barnes is not interested in coaching. Why can’t fans speculate without you snidely dismissing it?
Because he’s never indicated any interest in it! Why not speculate about him becoming an astronaut! A catching coach at Harvard Westlake!
He made a lot of money, a venture capitalist could be argued as more likely if we are considering things he has never ever ever ever ever ever shown even a passing interest in.
You have no idea what he has told his employers or his agent or his family. You are speculating just like the others. The difference is that you just do not agree with the other speculation. I agree with those who believe he will be a coach and maybe a manager and disagree with you.
No. The difference is that one is a likely speculation (most players do not become coaches), the other is a very unlikely speculation (random catcher wants to be a coach.)
It could happen. This is true. And it’s your blog! Feel free to believe what you want! I’m just pointing out it’s silly, which it is.
How do you know he’s never shown any interest in coaching? Are you expecting him to drop you an email if that should happen?
Barnes isn’t a big talker so it’s unlikely that he would grab the mic from the PA announcer before a game and announce “for those of you who care, I’d really like to coach some day.”
And, for the record, how many ex-major leaguers have become astronauts vs. how many have become MLB coaches?
Your final point is the best one. The first would ask me to prove a negative, which I’d rather not do. The second is a joke, I believe. Although many players are quite public about their desire to become a coach. See Rojas.
The last point however. You are so right! It’s much, much, much more likely that a multi-millionaire, ex-MLB catcher become a coach than become an astronaut. That sure was silly of me, right? I sure wish I had been joking.
You know what else is much more likely? That a multi-millionaire, ex-MLB catcher become a private citizen than become a coach or manager. To presume otherwise without evidence sure is silly, no?
Nope!!! Not silly at all. I actually have knowledge as to how these conversations go. That does not mean that Barnes had them, it also does not mean he did not.
I don’t think this makes the point you think it does.
I thank you for making it for me.
Sam or Cap or however else he is affectionately known as might need TJ based on his recent throws to second. He too has lost velocity.
wow Now that should be big news. We will see how he is going to hit and adjust to the big guys.
Can Max Muncy or Chris Taylor be far behind?
I like the way you are thinking
Taylor maybe but I think Muncy is fairly safe with a long runway. Barnes’s fate probably should have happened before the season by not picking up his option. I would never bad mouth Barnes he got the best he could from his talent. He was always the good guy and served his role well as a solid backup catcher. He was never going to hit .300 or hit 30 home runs. He did what he could and was good with the pitching staff that’s all you can ask of a backup catcher
I think his horrible throwing to second of late had to be taken into consideration. Teams could steal at will. His hitting was decent for a back up catcher.
Maybe Conforto’s last few days of success will give Max a little extra time.
Far as I can tell, the only guy that would have influence on CT3’s roster spot might be Freeland. Not sure he’s quite ready yet and he only plays infield where Taylor plays all over.
Kim is the biggest threat to Taylor when Edman comes back
Good point. Kim can play all over, same as CT.
I doubt any knowledgeable Dodgers fan didn’t anticipate Sasaki getting injured and probably out for the year. Welcome to LA kid. Too bad we were not able to hang on to Buehler. I preferred him over Sasaki. Oh well.
I’m very excited about Conforto’s re-emergence. That helps.
id rather lose 11- 1 than 4-3. New day today.
And yet Buehler is on the IL with a shoulder ailment of his own. Sasaki is 7 years younger and is not arbitration eligible until 2028. Buehler has had 2 TJ surgeries and outside of Nathan Eovaldi, how many successful pitchers with two TJ surgeries? IMO, LAD made the right choice.
Good rebuttal, Jeff. Thanks….i feel better now…as you can tell, it’s taking me a while to get that wonderful World Series last inning out of my happy head….with Buehler lifting his arms to the sky.
Agree 100%, not to mention the salary difference between the two and the years of control remaining.
I wonder if AF factored a potential surgery into this whole deal. After all, Sasaki is no stranger to arm/shoulder problems in the past.
I do not believe anyone in the LAD blogosphere has been a bigger advocate for Austin Barnes than I have been. I agree with STB that this was not the best exit for Austin. This is his 11th year with the Dodgers, and deserved better, but MLB is not a popularity or loyalty industry. The Dodgers are loaded with too many aging veterans, needed some youth infusion with offense, and Barnsey was the least needed. It is time for Dalton Rushing.
For those of you that read Clayton Kershaw’s biography you might see a little déjà vu in this. Kersh was very tight with AJ Ellis and AF traded him away. Kershaw was so ticked it took him around a year to for him to speak with AF. Now that Kersh is due back this weekend, and we know how tight Kersh is with Barnes, could this be a replication? I am not big on conspiracy theories (okay maybe some), but this sure has a strange tinge to it. Kersh did have praise for Rushing behind the dish, so I am sure this will work out.
Regardless, Barnsey will always be a favorite of mine. He will be picked up, and the Dodgers will somehow come up with a lottery ticket from a trade out of it.
Best of luck to Austin Barnes, even when he plays LAD.
Good catcher, great teammate, terrible hitter. Always appreciate him for that base-hit off Snell in game 6 of the 2020 World Series. He also has been behind the plate for the final out.
I liked him more than I let on. He will be missed.
He caught more playoff games than Grandal did in 2017. Grandal was basically benched because of lousy play.
I remember that well, and he traded him for another catcher, Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz played 14 games for the Dodgers with 0 homers and 3 driven in. Ellis played 11 games for the Phillies with 1 homer and 9 driven in. He hit .313 in his 11 games. Ruiz played 7 games in the postseason for LA and was 3-11 with a homer and 3 driven in.
If my calculations are correct, Barnes is still owed about 2.6 mil for the balance of the year. I think that makes it unlikely that he’s claimed on waivers.
Once he clears waivers, AF can look for a trade possibility but will probably have to cover most of his salary in order for someone to take him.
If that doesn’t happen, I guess they’ll just release him and he’ll be free to sign wherever he finds the best fit, and for league minimum.
2,625,000. There are a lot of teams that would take Barnes for league minimum in a minute.
Wow, that came out of nowhere. Barnes DFAd? Who woulda thunk. I will always have a soft spot for Austin. Second longest tenured Dodger after CK.
It’s one of those moves that is a big surprise when it happens….
But when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.
Rushing had earned a promotion. And Barnes was clearly approaching the end of his career.
Wasn’t he part of the Dee Gordon trade? That was recently in my head when Gomes said “Lux is our 2B”
Yes, he, Kike, Chris Hatcher and Andrew Heaney came over for Gordon, Rojas, Dan Haren and cash.
And Heaney was flipped to the Angels for Howie Kendrick..
I miaa those razzle-dazzle deals. .
Well Rushing accomplished something Cartaya never did, a call up to the majors.
Angels lost Ben Joyce for the season, shoulder surgery.
Wow! Shocked about Barnes. Especially with Kershaw coming back on Sat. You have to be a little nervous if you’re Chris Taylor. He’s toast when Edman comes back. Kim will be taking his place.
Seems right to me.
Glad the Dodgers are getting younger. Hoping Barnes has a long and productive career on the Dodgers coaching staff.
Kersh is a pro. And this is most likely his last season anyway. You remember who took over for Ellis? Ruiz and Grandal. Barnes was only in 21 games in 16.
I was a bit surprised they DFA’ed Barnsy. Best of luck to Barnes in his future endeavors. End of an era, but, it was time to move on. Taylor should be next.
We do need to merge our well deserved youth into our “aging” team.
Yeah, I’m hopeful this is the first of at least two more bittersweet DFAs.
Being a big Junior Gilliam fan back in the day (didn’t Bear just write about him), I was hoping that Barnes would stay with the Dodgers as a coach. I believe Gilliam retired two years in a row but came back later in the season when the Dodgers needed another player. If Smith would go down I’d be nervous with two rookie catchers in the playoff roster. Barnes wouldn’t need to start but having him around and being able to catch late in the game might pay dividends. Again this has been on my mind for two years now.
Gilliam came out of retirement twice, 65 and 66, both times he helped LA win the pennant. Barnes is not ready to retire obviously, but I do think he will return to the Dodger organization in some capacity.
Barnes-as-Gilliam was my thought too.
He’d be a good man to have available in case Smith or Rushing get hurt.
I got an answer on Jeff D’s walk question/observation from Kyle Glaser or Baseball America:
I asked him the following:
Kyle, have a weird question.
The Dodgers pitching development seems to be very lenient with BB allowed in prospects. Do you know why this is, or have a theory? Here are some we have:
1. Walks are the last part of LAD development
2. Weak contact and swing and miss are so preferenced, that BBs are an acceptable downside
3. Dodgers do a lot of teaching new pitches (sweeper, change) and thus control may be wanting…
Here is Kyle’s response:
The Dodgers generally hunt for prospects with really good fastball velocity and characteristics. That’s their priority in pitching prospects, and a lot of those guys are more wild when younger. Dodgers approach is to take the good fastball and teach them control.
Then I asked:
Appreciate the response! Kinda figured that. Have you heard them discuss walks allowed in specific? One look at the BB% could make someone blush, but in context (like you provided) it makes some sense.
And his final response is/was:
My conversations with PD over the years were more centered around the fastball prioritization and how they weren’t afraid of guys with good stuff but control issues in the draft (i.e. Miller, Nastrini, etc.). It was more that than focusing solely on the walks.
Muncy has crash landed. Get him off the runway! So tired watching him flail away.
I guess you wrote this before his 3-run blast to seal the win today….
Vaya con dios to Barnes.
My guess is that Taylor could be next, perhaps when Edman is ready to come back.
Kim will probably stay in LA. He’s making a positive impression, including his first HR today.
With Barnes out and Rushing in, the Dodgers are about 10 years younger and probably 10-15 HRs more potent.
The Brewers signed Eddie Rosario to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Nashville, relays Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The Rimas Sports client had elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Braves last week.
His third team this season alone.