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Thread: *** OFFICIAL *** MLB 2019 Thread

  1. #661

  2. #662
    Diamond Hockey Guy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Why was Kershaw pitching the 8th instead of Maeda?



    Amazingly, Joe Kelly was somehow unhittable in the 9th.
    What the fuck are you whining about?

    Maeda pitched the 8th. He struck out the side ffs.

     
    (•_•) ..
    ∫\ \___( •_•)
    _∫∫ _∫∫ɯ \ \

    Quote Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
    I'd say good luck in the freeroll but I'm pretty sure you'll go on a bender to self-sabotage yourself & miss it completely or use it as the excuse of why you didn't cash.

  3. #663

  4. #664
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    There was a Kippur massacre, but it was the game before the Dodgers.
    As it turned out, I was right again.

    A team gave up 10 runs in the 1st inning of a playoff game but the Dodgers debacle dwarfed that.

    I had the most glorious day listening to radio and reading obituaries. LA AM570 included.

    Someone must be sacrificed. Friedman’s contract is up and he has been revealed as a fraud. He was the puppet master. Roberts was hired cause he was without credentials and would follow direction without question. This arrangement was top down.

    I previously joked about Joe Maddon waiting for the end of this series. Turns out I have company.

    I sense the reality and despair setting in after a decade of false hope. This feels like Boston or Chicago years ago. Cursed organizations under poor ownership and management.

    I have been railing on for years and finally I have company. You have no idea how this feels

  5. #665
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    The question is what's going to happen now:

    Will Friedman AND Roberts be fired?

    Will Roberts be the sacrificial lamb, even if Friedman was the one pulling the strings?

    Will nobody be fired, with the Dodgers' 4 consecutive division titles (during his tenure), two 104+ game win seasons, two World Series appearances, and 3 NLCS appearances be the justification?

    Keep in mind that Friedman is/was under orders from ownership to keep under the luxury tax threshold. And Roberts was probably under orders from Friedman to manage the way the front office wants.

    Since ownership can't fire itself, who should be canned?

    Personally I'm sick of Friedman, and wouldn't mind seeing him go. He still runs this team like it's a small market operation. He's afraid to fire big money at any one player, but instead wastes equivalent money by signing a bunch of flawed players to mid-size contracts. He's too obsessed with mid-money free agents who have a small chance at a high upside, which is what you do when you have a small market team, but not with the Dodgers.

    Not only that, but he has a poor feel for which mid-money free agents to sign.

    I'll excuse the Kershaw thing. Even though it was clear Kershaw's velocity was down and never coming back when he gave Kershaw the extension, the truth was that Kershaw wasn't going to opt out anyway, so it was really just an extra year. Given his monster numbers with LA and career-long tenure with the team, I understand that.

    I'll excuse the Jansen extension. At the time, Jansen was dominant, and nobody saw his decline coming so early.

    But all of the outside free agents for $10+ million have been a fail under Friedman.

    Brett Anderson? Fail.

    Brandon McCarthy? Fail to the point where he's out of baseball now.

    Logan Forsythe? Fail.

    Joe Kelly? Fail.

    AJ Pollock? Fail.

    Rich Hill? Not quite a fail, but they could have used the money better. He was too old and too injury-prone. Prior to the signing, he had pitched 111+ innings in a year just twice in his life -- back in 2007. He gave the Dodgers about 135 in both 2017 and 2018, and was useless in 2019. His numbers were good when he pitched, but he didn't provide $48m of production.

    The team has succeeded on the backs of its young players and surprising players. The farm system produced Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, and Joc Pederson. They lucked out in acquiring Chris Taylor and Max Muncy when they were nobodies on the verge of being out of baseball. I guess you can give them credit there, but you can't say that they expected any real production out of either of these guys when they picked them up. And then there was Justin Turner, acquired from the scrap heap during the previous front office regime, who they got to sign as a free agent at a cut rate because his story of ascension was so unexpected and still unproven.

    Anyway, Friedman's only real accomplishment has been NOT making franchise-killing moves, such as trading minor leaguers Bellinger or Buehler (he had tons of suitors), and NOT signing declining "stars" to huge albatross contracts.

    At the same time, he has made no major moves which have worked out, and his inaction at the trade deadline has often been baffling. The most baffling of them was 2017, when Justin Verlander was practically begging for the Dodgers to trade for him, and they grabbed Fuck Yu instead. Verlander hadn't had his career renaissance yet, and could have been had for cheap. That probably cost them the 2017 World Series, especially since Fuck Yu blew 2 of those games.

    In short, I'm ready for somebody new.

    It could be worse, though. Look at what a disaster the Phillies have become again. At least they finally let go of weirdo coconut oil masturbator Gabe Kapler.

     
    Comments
      
      Texter: Fuck Yu rep...couldn’t agree more.

  6. #666
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Druff but fair

    Those in the know recognize that much of the title town fluff was wind assisted. Dreadful division.

    Dodgers playoffs are like a domesticated animal being set loose in the wild. They generally become food.

    Zero moves at the trade deadline. Thinking that whipping up on the Giants meant the team was prepared for war is a fireable offense.

     
    Comments
      
      BCR: Domesticated animal set loose in the wild brought genuine belly laugh

  7. #667
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Don't look now, but the Astros might be the next juggernaut to choke in the DS.
    Not.

  8. #668
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post

    Keep in mind that Friedman is/was under orders from ownership to keep under the luxury tax threshold. And Roberts was probably under orders from Friedman to manage the way the front office wants.

    Since ownership can't fire itself, who should be canned?
    It’s been a while since I’ve given proper attention to the Guggenheim Partners.

    The Dodgers purchase was an asset play. Ownership isn’t a multi-billionaire indulging his ego. This is insurance money.

    John Henry tells Dombrowski he wants a title this season. It shall be done. Guggenheim can’t do that.

    I have to mull this over but there was something that had me thinking the Guggenheim Partners needed to consider divesting the Dodgers. I guess as long as asset value keeps,growing the heat is off.

    Friedman runs it like a small market team because in a fiduciary sense it is.

    Dodgers are fucked.

  9. #669
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Texter View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Don't look now, but the Astros might be the next juggernaut to choke in the DS.
    Not.
    Yankees v Astros is going to be war

  10. #670
    Platinum GrenadaRoger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    The question is what's going to happen now:

    Will Friedman AND Roberts be fired?

    Will Roberts be the sacrificial lamb, even if Friedman was the one pulling the strings?

    Will nobody be fired, with the Dodgers' 4 consecutive division titles (during his tenure), two 104+ game win seasons, two World Series appearances, and 3 NLCS appearances be the justification?

    Keep in mind that Friedman is/was under orders from ownership to keep under the luxury tax threshold. And Roberts was probably under orders from Friedman to manage the way the front office wants.

    Since ownership can't fire itself, who should be canned?
    for now, I think the Dodger owners are content just to look good losing in the playoffs

    because I would think ownership should be pleased...they set a home attendance record again this year, and Forbes estimated the franchise value as second only to the Yankees; without actually seeing the financials, I expect the club did well moneywise and achieved its financial goals. Remember, the Dodgers are owned by moneymen, not sportsmen.

    Maybe Roberts is not renewed, his contract was for 2015 - 2018 with 2019 as an option year which the Dodgers exercised, but Roberts is cheap as managers go, only a million or so annual...

    the Dodger future seems to be a deja vue of the Atlanta Braves of the 1990's: always in the playoffs but almost never winning the World Series...until the public stops buying because of repeated finishes as 1st loser, I can't foresee any big moves to win it all
    Last edited by GrenadaRoger; 10-10-2019 at 06:21 PM.
    (long before there was a PFA i had my Grenade & Crossbones avatar at DD)

  11. #671
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    The onky good thing to come out of the LA collapse in GM 5 is that yrs truly had a in game degen 20 bux at +786...i was shocked this morn to see my balance and had to go look.. Small consolation for Dodger fans ut at least someone benefited.. I also had the Braves and a dead ticket after 1st inn.. wow..lotta action.

  12. #672
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Texter View Post

    Not.
    Yankees v Astros is going to be war
    Life in Houston is more interesting when the Astros are winning....so let’s gooooo Astros!

  13. #673
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Texter View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post

    Yankees v Astros is going to be war
    Life in Houston is more interesting when the Astros are winning....so let’s gooooo Astros!
    Let’s go to the mattresses

  14. #674
    How Could You? WillieMcFML's Avatar
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    suicide king how could you?

    i thought you were a giants fan?
    Hi Lew!!!

  15. #675
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    Druff but fair

    Those in the know recognize that much of the title town fluff was wind assisted. Dreadful division.

    Dodgers playoffs are like a domesticated animal being set loose in the wild. They generally become food.

    Zero moves at the trade deadline. Thinking that whipping up on the Giants meant the team was prepared for war is a fireable offense.
    While I saw their flaws coming back to bite them in the ass in the postseason, I didn't expect a first-round exit. Washington was the only NL team that scared me because they had three strong starters and a decent offense. But the Dodgers have handled them well over the years, so I still didn't expect the bedshit to happen in the NLDS.

    I actually expected Jansen and Kershaw to combine to be the Dodgers' undoing in the postseason this year, but I expected it more against the Yankees or Astros, and figured the team was good enough to beat the NL competition. I was half right, but probably only because Jansen was never put in a tight spot (even though he should have been in one during Game 5).

    You and other Dodgers haters like to say they won 106 games because they had a weak division, but that's not really the case.

    The Dodgers were 23-10 against the NL East, 22-11 against the NL Central, and 51-25 against the NL West. So they were very consistent that way -- winning about two thirds of the games against all three divisions. Their 10-10 interleague record was what concerned me, and honestly they just looked awful when facing the Yankees, and were lucky to win one. (They didn't face Houston this year.)

    It appeared that the Dodgers' strong offense and their decent starting pitching would be enough to carry them over the NL teams they'd face, especially because every NL opponent had big time bullpen issues. This is why Washington isn't going to go all the way. Their bullpen is dreadful, and they can't just keep trotting out Corbin and Scherzer to pitch relief every game.

    I will agree that the Dodgers really are the epitome of a great regular season team which isn't really built for the postseason. I don't see Ryu repeating his sudden dominance for much longer (he's no youngster), Kershaw is already done as a top pitcher, and that pretty much leaves Buehler and some youngsters who may or may not develop into greatness. The bullpen has no reliable arms which can be counted on to get outs, unless you count Kenta Maeda, but he can't do it alone.

    I didn't understand the Kelly move in the offseason. I think Friedman was mesmerized by Kelly's inexplicable 2018 postseason, including against the Dodgers. For basically the same money, they could've had Adam Ottavino, who has been excellent for years, aside from a weird outlier in 2017. This was despite pitching half of his games in Colorado. He wasn't a lock to pitch well, but was sure as hell a better option than Kelly. Ottavino went with the Yankees, and his ERA was under 2.00 this year.

    Roberts is coming back for another year. This was reported already. I expected that. He's a front office puppet, and the puppetmaster doesn't throw the puppet away just because the puppetmaster tangles the wires while performing.

    The bothersome thing here is that the current ownership has decided they're staying under the luxury tax point, and in fact were touting that to investors as the reason the Dodgers were such a good investment right now. I can't argue with that. They've got that monster LOL TV contract for 20 more years (which laughably you can't watch on TV unless you do shenanigans), they've got over 3 million a year visiting the stadium, and they have a large market dedicated fanbase which pretty much will never go away because it's been ingrained in a lot of Hispanic families since the Fernando years. And yet they're keeping under the luxury tax, while the existing team is young enough to keep winning the NL West for years to come.

    The only good thing that may come of this meltdown is the feeling of urgency to make moves in order to placate the angry fans. People in LA are far more pissed about this year than the last two World Series losses. In 2017, people were pissed, but they were also excited for the future, since the Dodgers came within 1 game of winning it all, and seemingly had a great future. In 2018, the loss was excused by running into a super-hot Red Sox team which bulldozed everyone. This year, after 106 regular season wins and the postseason managerial gaffes, losing the NLDS was a shock to the system.

    They might finally have to do something.

  16. #676
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    “You and other Dodger haters..” - Druff
    I just hate things that are almost universally over-rated. Drives me nuts. Fruity craft beers are another battle front..

    I’m an advocate for the truth is all.

    My thirst for this story is unquenchable.

    Bill Simmons Podcast

    Dodgers Agony With Mallory Rubin, Tickets to Sports Movie Events With Shea Serrano, and ‘Big Mouth’ With Nick Kroll
    https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-s...uth-nick-kroll

    I don’t know who Mallory Rubin is but a great 20 min literate postmortem.

    16:05 mark

    Mallory Rubin:
    “From 2011 to 2015 Kershaw might have been the best pitcher of all time.”

    Bill Simmons:
    “Settle down. Settle down. I‘ll spray you with my water bottle”

    Elsewhere Mallory describes Kershaw sitting in the dugout alone. It was the inverse of a pitcher with a no-hitter. It was as if his team mates couldn’t bear to look at him. The shame everyone felt.

    Simmons is always top shelf with sports

  17. #677
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    The sitting in the dugout alone thing was a sign of respect, where they keep their distance after he had a bad outing.

    Kershaw is known to be a good guy and probably is one of the few longtime married athletes who doesn't fuck around on his wife while on the road. However, he is known to have a temper and is very hard on himself, so people know to keep their distance from him when he just experienced something like this.

    The same has happened during previous bad postseason moments for him.

    He also had certain rules established for catchers, such as that they weren't allowed to go talk to him while pitching if things weren't going well.

  18. #678
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    My 2 cents on Gm1 Yanks/Hou.. Yanks +140 is the bet. W or L . Gd Luck.. I did have Wash Gm 1 vs St Loo... Over 9 is also looking good w/ Tanaka/Greinke.
    Last edited by shoeshine box; 10-12-2019 at 12:48 AM.

  19. #679
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shoeshine box View Post
    My 2 cents on Gm1 Yanks/Hou.. Yanks +140 is the bet. W or L . Gd Luck.. I did have Wash Gm 1 vs St Loo... Over 9 is also looking good w/ Tanaka/Greinke.
    I have Astros futures but I completely agree you have to bet Yanks win or lose.

    Playoffs are traditionally an under prop but it’s 2019. Can’t touch that.

    I also have my suspicions about the ball used in the playoffs. Tinfoil Yankees hat

    Good luck to us.

  20. #680
    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Cardinals left all of their offense in the first inning at Atlanta.

    Two perfect games through 6 in a row on the Cards home field.

    Ouch.

    If Washington wins the World Series, they need to name Dave Roberts their postseason MVP.

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