How Would you grade our Front Office's 1st Year?

[Quake Griffin]

I'd give them a B.

Negatives:
- Had a shot at Joe Maddon and didn't take it.
- Mat Latos and Jim Johnson failure
- A cost controlled Andrew Heaney should have yielded more than a year of Howie Kendrick. Something else should have been thrown in.
- Jimmy Rollins. Great clubhouse presence…..But the productivity and defense was not there this year.

Positives:
- Snagged **** Hernandez and Austin Barnes in that Miami deal.
- I actually like Howie Kendrick and always wanted him…
- Alex Wood
- Jose Peraza
- Yasmani Grandal
- Brett Anderson
- Justin Ruggiano down the stretch

Synopsis:
Overall I like where the organization is headed and I appreciate that we've kept with the model of building the pipeline instead of sacrificing assets. I think there were better players out there for us if we were to depart with some talent. It sucks but that is the reality. I also believe this front office was dealt a **** hand losing Ryu and McCarthy. Losing 2 starting pitchers is nearly impossible to bounce back from and they still somehow, with spit and glue, put together a division champ.

Please give a grade and explain your reasoning.

[Neddy]

I'd give them a B.

Negatives:
- Had a shot at Joe Maddon and didn't take it.
- Mat Latos and Jim Johnson failure
- A cost controlled Andrew Heaney should have yielded more than a year of Howie Kendrick. Something else should have been thrown in.
- Jimmy Rollins. Great clubhouse presence…..But the productivity and defense was not there this year.

Positives:
- Snagged **** Hernandez and Austin Barnes in that Miami deal.
- I actually like Howie Kendrick and always wanted him…
- Alex Wood
- Jose Peraza
- Yasmani Grandal
- Brett Anderson
- Justin Ruggiano down the stretch

Synopsis:
Overall I like where the organization is headed and I appreciate that we've kept with the model of building the pipeline instead of sacrificing assets. I think there were better players out there for us if we were to depart with some talent. It sucks but that is the reality. I also believe this front office was dealt a **** hand losing Ryu and McCarthy. Losing 2 starting pitchers is nearly impossible to bounce back from and they still somehow, with spit and glue, put together a division champ.

Please give a grade and explain your reasoning.

I will give separate grades in deferent subject matters.

1) farm system : A+ we did not give up anything of value but added a ton of talents at all levels of the minor. not giving up our most prized farm hands of Seager and Urias when Ned Colletti would have done just that for either older Cole Hamels and his 3 years or a rental of Price, when we can simply go out this off season and sign him outright while keeping our young studs.

2) the major league roster : B of course with the obvious limitation of keeping all our valuable future assets, this was going to be hinder this season, and frankly I expected it from the day 1. Mat Latos was a good low buy at the time, but with even lower ceiling of course terrible outcome, but all we lost was money. Jim Johnson was a total surprise to everyone and I am just not sure what went wrong for him. he just posted his worst 1/2 season stats ever in dodger blue. but as mentioned already, overcoming injuries to many key players for lengthy amount of time, guys whom we didn't expect outperformed their expectations. Brett Anderson comes to mind, Mike Bolsinger whom I have advocated relentlessly to be on the playoff roster, Turner stayed strong offensively all season when he was healthy, pre-injury Yaz is clearly the prize of the Kemp trade and pretty clear who won that deal. hope for his speedy and complete recovery.

3) personnel decisions : C+ hiring Zaini and Byrnes was a great and good move, respectively. letting the international scouting department recommend and sign certain players which did not work out, and having hired many of those scouts, is questionable, but cut his losses early so at least that is a salvageable result, hopefully. keeping Donny Potato, is an utter failure. I said this at the end of last season that we cannot win with this guy making decisions, especially on pitching change, frivolous double switches, and baffling pinch hitter choices, as already mentioned in other threads, letting Greinke swing the bat when every out is so crucial at that time and still give him a hook the very next half a inning, letting Grandal go swing his bat but pull an actual healthy productive bat for Utley, running Carl out there for the first 3 games when his splits this year had him batting worse against right arms and much worse compared to other choices, etc etc.

4) setting your self up for 'Flexibility' this offseason AKA outlook of next season : A+++

overall grade for Andrew and Co. A-/B+ range. I would say that is not bad for the first year guy who needed to clean the house and still needs to clean a few more junks left behind by the last regime. we have gone from one of the worst farms to arguably the best, our roster is full of depth and capable of mix and mesh players when healthy, we now have youth coming up with lots of promise while older vets are still productive. we need to remove Carl, perhaps Ethier, but we are not very far off. a few bullpen arms and we are probably a club house leader away from being a complete team. that club house leader can come from simply retaining Utley, get a strong minded both in baseball and socially, in our next manager, or simply go out and sign a player who can be that guy. we have some contacts coming off the payroll and undoubtedly can spend on this year's FA batch again.

[Ranma]

This grade does not take into account their upcoming managerial decision nor the off-season moves, obviously, but I have faith and am confident that we'll do well in both respects. It's funny that my opinion seems to match both of yours since I initially started out thinking A-/B+ but eventually settled on B upon further contemplation.

It would have been easy--not factoring the resulting controversy--to fire Mattingly and hire Maddon upon his arrival, so I give Friedman credit for giving Donnie Baseball the opportunity to prove himself instead of going the comfortable route with the guy he was more familiar with. Plus, this will allow Friedman to prove himself and his approach without tying it to Maddon's success.

I agree that the front office has done a good job of restocking and maintaining the developmental pipeline of prospect talent. It has also thought outside the box in leveraging its financial advantage to secure draft picks and take chances with waiver claims, which I am very appreciative of.

Picking up Hatcher, ****, Barnes, Wood, Peraza, Grandal, and Avilan showed a keen eye for identifying talent and getting them at good value. While I don't mind and even appreciate Howie Kendrick, I share the disdain of giving up Andrew Heaney for him in the overpayment of assets, especially as noted, it was for only one season of guaranteed service compensatory draft pick notwithstanding. Also, while I agreed with going after Jim Johnson and Matt Latos conceptually, I was dubious of them individually and the price paid. We gave up a compensatory draft pick acquired from Atlanta from the Hector Olivera trade and took on more salary in Michael Morse et al.

Now I don't mind overpaying in assets a little to get premium talent or even to address the urgency of a situation, but I was not sold on either Johnson or particularly Latos, especially since they were 1-year rentals. While the fact that both Johnson and Latos can be cut loose in washing our hands of them is definitely a plus, I generally prefer paying a premium for talent that is locked into a few cost-controlled years. Latos has been a self-centered clubhouse distraction at his previous stops and held true to form during his time with the Dodgers. The fact that Josh Byrnes was already familiar with him made it inexcusable to deal for him.

Despite some media nonsense going around, I also applaud the organization for holding firm in not dealing away our prospects for rentals since we can sign Price, Cueto, and/or Zimmerman outright this winter. Pitching wasn't necessarily our problem this postseason and neither was the bullpen, for that matter; game management, impotent bats, and questionable fielding proved to be our undoing this postseason.

I like both Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy, but the McCarthy deal has already hurt us a bit as he was quickly injured in the 1st year of his 4-year deal. He won't be available for most of next season so we can't ignore the fact that the front office committed to an injury-prone player only to basically lose almost half the contract years to injury and rehab.

Another good point I've read elsewhere, is the early dismissal of a big portion of its scouting staff, which supposedly not only included international scouts but advanced scouts as well. While other teams were sending scouts to report on their respective opponents during the playoffs, the Dodgers found themselves short-handed in that aspect. Who knows if that would have made a difference, but given that we lost by 1 run in the final game of the NLDS, I'd say it couldn't have hurt to delay the overhaul in the scouting staff until the actual off-season. There's nothing wrong with changing the scouting staff, but the timing of the move was unusual, to say the least. It is also a bit troubling that it seems to indicate an emphasis on sabermetrics in reports for game preparation with little regard for traditional scouting reports.

Speaking of dismissals, the Dodgers finally got rid of Stan Conte, who "resigned" as the team's head trainer. Conte, I believe, was brought over from the Giants by Ned Colletti during his tenure as Dodgers GM and has done nothing to impress during his time here. In fact, the loss of Ryu and McCarthy along with the string of man-games lost due to hamstring issues this season was suspiciously prevalent. The Dodgers under the new front office have invested in and are seeking innovative ways to improve player health and nutrition not only by hiring the likes of Gabe Kapler, a noted health fanatic, but also implementing new programs and partnering with outside companies. Friedman also instituted a training program for young pitchers during his time with Tampa Bay, which I'm sure he will incorporate into the Dodgers' program. It's too early to see results, but this is a clear area of promise for the organization under the stewardship of the front office.

Another point of contention from me has to do with the draft. While I liked most of the prospects the Dodgers drafted in the 2015 class, I was disappointed with our inclination to draft more college talent for signability rather than going for the higher upside of prep talent, especially in the later rounds. I'd prefer quality over quantity in regards to drafting talent. Likewise, I like what we've done with our signings during the the current international signing period with hopefully more to come, but as of right now, the class seems a little lackluster given that we'll have to sit out the next two signing periods after this one. While I don't fault the handling of both Yoan Moncada and Lucius Fox, it's still disappointing to miss out on both.

I also agree that the front office has us poised to do some great things this off-season, but I do feel we did squander some of the advantages and resources we had this past season.

[Ranma]

Phil Wallace, LAObserved.com (10/25/15)

A few points that should be noted here. First, while Plaschke may consider the shift a "new-age baseball" strategy, I can assure you that there's no computer in the world that says "don't cover third base with a man on second." Sometimes people screw up. Whether it was Seager who messed up by not covering third, or Zack Greinke who should have covered it, or Don Mattingly's coaching staff that failed to communicate this assignment to his players, it wasn't the shift's fault. Someone screwed up, and I guarantee you it wasn't Friedman.

But this quote from Plaschke is yet another example of his hypocrisy. Back in 2005, no one was more critical of former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta's "new-age baseball" methods than Plaschke. The straw that broke the camel's back came when DePodesta tried to hire Terry Collins to manage the Dodgers. Plaschke bashed the decision, and Frank McCourt cow-towed to public pressure, firing DePodesta and then hiring Ned Colletti and Grady Little.

Yet today, a Mets team led by Alderson, DePodesta, and Collins is suddenly the group that displays "old-fashioned hustle." Oh, and in case Plaschke didn't watch the series closely enough, he might have noticed that the Mets also employ the shift. Collins was actually one of the first managers to ever use the shift, when innovative bench coach Joe Maddon served under him in Anaheim. Today, almost every team uses defensive shifts. Why? Because it works. It's worked so well that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has openly discussed banning it in an attempt bring more offense to the game. But it only works when Corey Seager remembers to cover third.
...

In today's Los Angeles Times, Bill Shaikin points out that the Mets have five excellent starting pitchers in their 20s. In the meantime, the Dodgers have only had two homegrown pitchers start as many as 20 games in the last decade - Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley. Since taking Kershaw, Shaikin notes that the Dodgers have taken ten pitchers in the first round of the MLB Draft, and none of them have done much in the majors. Only Chris Withrow and Zach Lee have even made the big leagues.

This is exactly what Andrew Friedman was brought in to correct. Under his watch, David Price, James Shields, Chris Archer, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Wade Davis, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Hellickson all developed into pretty good major leaguers. The Rays also had fantastic bullpens during his tenure.

In the meantime, the Dodgers farm system was so mismanaged under Ned Colletti, that the team has literally no one from triple-A that they can count on to start in next year's rotation. That's why I think the Dodgers should re-sign Greinke. Because there's literally no one else out there. That is, unless they want to overpay for Price, Jordan Zimmerman, or Johnny Cueto. They may as well overpay for Greinke, who is a player that they know well, and he has the Greg Maddux-like cerebral abilities to adjust his approach as he ages.

Andrew Friedman is the Solution to Dodgers' Problems, Not the Cause

[Quake Griffin]

So Friedman brought in David Finley to work with Engle and company and then let Finley slide into Engle's spot when he got rid of Engle?

The international scouting stuff is mind boggling imo.
Have we done anything else to revamp the int'l scouting team?

[Quake Griffin]

So Friedman brought in David Finley to work with Engle and company and then let Finley slide into Engle's spot when he got rid of Engle?

The international scouting stuff is mind boggling imo.
Have we done anything else to revamp the int'l scouting team?

[Neddy]

Bill Plaschke is an idiot. TJ Simers is cynical ass but at least he is intelligent. Bill is just a glorified fanboy without any actual understanding of complexity of the games he covers. do you remember his public plea to Elton Brand after he already signed a deal with the sixers? bill is a likable guy, much more so than TJ. but I can read Simer's articles without feeling dumbed down afterwards, but Bill's writing is just painful to read.

[TKainZero]

Not a hardcore baseball fan.. but...

Gave away Kemp/Dee Gordon...
signed pitchers that everyone knew would get hurt (and counted on them)
Didnt trade for a arm at the dead line.
Let Grienke Walk
Whimped out at every oppertunity...


Just kicking Dee Gordon to the curb was terrible
Letting Grienke walk for nothing... I said 6 months ago, that if they let grienke walk, that would be the last straw...
And not trading for Cole Hamels. (who was locked up for a couple more years)

[Neddy]

Not a hardcore baseball fan.. but...

Gave away Kemp/Dee Gordon...
signed pitchers that everyone knew would get hurt (and counted on them)
Didnt trade for a arm at the dead line.
Let Grienke Walk
Whimped out at every oppertunity...


Just kicking Dee Gordon to the curb was terrible
Letting Grienke walk for nothing... I said 6 months ago, that if they let grienke walk, that would be the last straw...
And not trading for Cole Hamels. (who was locked up for a couple more years)

yeah I agree. you are not a hardcore baseball fan. Seager and Urias were the price of Cole Hamels. by 2017, each of them would equal or exceed Cole on WAR. not even close to being a decent trade. that is totally a Ned Colletti style of dealing. no thanks.

and mark my words. Dee Gordon will never lead the league in BA. and when he is hitting 270, his OBP will be 300. that would pretty much make him the worst leadoff in all baseball.

mostly, what the hell are you talking about Matt Kemp for? he scored 0.4 Wins above replacement value last season as a Padre. Yasmani Grandal alone racked up 2.5 WAR. everybody in baseball circles who's who have hands down called this deal a highway robbery for Andrew and Co.

and Greinke by 2018 will become the dead weight that gets Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa fired. I said it here first, book it.

finally, as of right now, even without any moves, we are a top two team along with the Cubs in the entire baseball. stop with your knee jerk reaction.

www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Team

[TKainZero]

Not a hardcore baseball fan.. but...

Gave away Kemp/Dee Gordon...
signed pitchers that everyone knew would get hurt (and counted on them)
Didnt trade for a arm at the dead line.
Let Grienke Walk
Whimped out at every oppertunity...


Just kicking Dee Gordon to the curb was terrible
Letting Grienke walk for nothing... I said 6 months ago, that if they let grienke walk, that would be the last straw...
And not trading for Cole Hamels. (who was locked up for a couple more years)

yeah I agree. you are not a hardcore baseball fan. Seager and Urias were the price of Cole Hamels. by 2017, each of them would equal or exceed Cole on WAR. not even close to being a decent trade. that is totally a Ned Colletti style of dealing. no thanks.

and mark my words. Dee Gordon will never lead the league in BA. and when he is hitting 270, his OBP will be 300. that would pretty much make him the worst leadoff in all baseball.

mostly, what the hell are you talking about Matt Kemp for? he scored 0.4 Wins above replacement value last season as a Padre. Yasmani Grandal alone racked up 2.5 WAR. everybody in baseball circles who's who have hands down called this deal a highway robbery for Andrew and Co.

and Greinke by 2018 will become the dead weight that gets Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa fired. I said it here first, book it.

finally, as of right now, even without any moves, we are a top two team along with the Cubs in the entire baseball. stop with your knee jerk reaction.

www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Team

I agree with your points

But I really want to see a Dodgers championship.
I like the long term strategy, but it hurts seeing the Giants win every other year

[TKainZero]

Dee gordon is one of the best at stealing bases in the known universe.
Kemp was a runner up MVP (to steriods)

I just hate losing grienke. He was basically in 3 way tie for Cy young. One of the best pitchers in baseball last year.

Yea it would suck having dead weight money on the roster in 2018, but who cares! Not my money, and if we won a championship, WHO CARES!!!
Same with trading away nice prospects. They could be great one day, or they could just be another player that turns into dead money (either)

I just want to see a championship!
We have been close for several years! But we never seem to just make that final move to get it.

Losing Grienke is gonna hurt, and to a division RIVAL!!!
And The dodgers havent replaced him in the rotation yet.

[Neddy]

Not a hardcore baseball fan.. but...

Gave away Kemp/Dee Gordon...
signed pitchers that everyone knew would get hurt (and counted on them)
Didnt trade for a arm at the dead line.
Let Grienke Walk
Whimped out at every oppertunity...


Just kicking Dee Gordon to the curb was terrible
Letting Grienke walk for nothing... I said 6 months ago, that if they let grienke walk, that would be the last straw...
And not trading for Cole Hamels. (who was locked up for a couple more years)

yeah I agree. you are not a hardcore baseball fan. Seager and Urias were the price of Cole Hamels. by 2017, each of them would equal or exceed Cole on WAR. not even close to being a decent trade. that is totally a Ned Colletti style of dealing. no thanks.

and mark my words. Dee Gordon will never lead the league in BA. and when he is hitting 270, his OBP will be 300. that would pretty much make him the worst leadoff in all baseball.

mostly, what the hell are you talking about Matt Kemp for? he scored 0.4 Wins above replacement value last season as a Padre. Yasmani Grandal alone racked up 2.5 WAR. everybody in baseball circles who's who have hands down called this deal a highway robbery for Andrew and Co.

and Greinke by 2018 will become the dead weight that gets Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa fired. I said it here first, book it.

finally, as of right now, even without any moves, we are a top two team along with the Cubs in the entire baseball. stop with your knee jerk reaction.

www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Team

I agree with your points

But I really want to see a Dodgers championship.
I like the long term strategy, but it hurts seeing the Giants win every other year

yeah we all want the same thing, but rather than cashing in our future for a chance at one or two, I would much rather prefer to build a dynasty that would last more than a decade. the kids we have, we are close to it. Joc's 2016 projection is already past 3.0 WAR on every projection site I see, and Cole's deal was two out of our three studs, Seager, Urias, and Joc. Urias have the make up of being something great. Seager has the potential to be an MVP type player. Joc has potential to be a multiple gold glove CF in his career.

I believe we are measuring up the trade market, and Jose Fernandez, although has the highest ceiling, is a major red flag in terms of injury conern and attitude problems. we already are babying Puig, and Im okay with it, but another diva is a no no, considering the cost the Marlins are asking. Archer, which i posted about in another thread, is a great choice but again, not sure the asking price is right. we will eventually get something done, but if 2016 is a season of patience, I am also okay with it. I would much rather keep our bright future in tact while gambling on a single season where we may have to lean on rehabbing Ryu to become a legit #2 guy and wait for McCarty to join the rotation after the all star games rather than waste our future trying to maximize on one year of 2016. our roster will be cleaned off of all junk contracts Ned Colletti has accumilated by 2018, which will be a historic FA market with names like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Lorenzo Cain, then the second tier FA's like Eric Hosmer, Pirates's SS Kang, Chris Tillman, Tyson Ross, and packed with more impact players. the Giants and DBacks have cash strapped themselves with their current big splash signing, but while we sport the baseball's second best WAR team in 2016, we will shed just about all of our salary by 2018 and free to sign any of the names mentioned above. if we are gonna overpay for anyone, that is the year.

[Neddy]

Dee gordon is one of the best at stealing bases in the known universe.
Kemp was a runner up MVP (to steriods)

I just hate losing grienke. He was basically in 3 way tie for Cy young. One of the best pitchers in baseball last year.

Yea it would suck having dead weight money on the roster in 2018, but who cares! Not my money, and if we won a championship, WHO CARES!!!
Same with trading away nice prospects. They could be great one day, or they could just be another player that turns into dead money (either)

I just want to see a championship!
We have been close for several years! But we never seem to just make that final move to get it.

Losing Grienke is gonna hurt, and to a division RIVAL!!!
And The dodgers havent replaced him in the rotation yet.

on Kemp, the operating word is "WAS"

Dee will never repeat his performance. he is an impatient hitter who does not walk much and his game in entirely based on his speed. we already have one of those in their late part of career in Carl Crawford. did he age well?

Greinke led the entire baseball in BABIP against. he was the luckiest pitcher in all baseball. no reason to pay up for luck. in Greinke's entire career, he has never sported .220-ish BABIP ever. his best season was his cy young season when he dominated in so many categories and this season, he was far from that season other than just one category of BABIP against. I would bet a small fottune that he will never repeat that either.

I am fine with the moves we have made so far. and remember, the season is not for another 4+ months. there can be a plenty more moves to improve our team. no reason to get caught up in histeria and pay a ransom like the DBacks did for Shelby Miller. that trade, trust me, will go down in the history of baseball as one of the worst trades of all time, just next to when the Mariners traded for Erik Bedard and gave away Chris Tillman, Adam Jones, George Sherrill, and more.

[TKainZero]

yeah we all want the same thing, but rather than cashing in our future for a chance at one or two, I would much rather prefer to build a dynasty that would last more than a decade. the kids we have, we are close to it. Joc's 2016 projection is already past 3.0 WAR on every projection site I see, and Cole's deal was two out of our three studs, Seager, Urias, and Joc. Urias have the make up of being something great. Seager has the potential to be an MVP type player. Joc has potential to be a multiple gold glove CF in his career.

I believe we are measuring up the trade market, and Jose Fernandez, although has the highest ceiling, is a major red flag in terms of injury conern and attitude problems. we already are babying Puig, and Im okay with it, but another diva is a no no, considering the cost the Marlins are asking. Archer, which i posted about in another thread, is a great choice but again, not sure the asking price is right. we will eventually get something done, but if 2016 is a season of patience, I am also okay with it. I would much rather keep our bright future in tact while gambling on a single season where we may have to lean on rehabbing Ryu to become a legit #2 guy and wait for McCarty to join the rotation after the all star games rather than waste our future trying to maximize on one year of 2016. our roster will be cleaned off of all junk contracts Ned Colletti has accumilated by 2018, which will be a historic FA market with names like Mike Trout, Jose Fernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Lorenzo Cain, then the second tier FA's like Eric Hosmer, Pirates's SS Kang, Chris Tillman, Tyson Ross, and packed with more impact players. the Giants and DBacks have cash strapped themselves with their current big splash signing, but while we sport the baseball's second best WAR team in 2016, we will shed just about all of our salary by 2018 and free to sign any of the names mentioned above. if we are gonna overpay for anyone, that is the year.

Yea... But since like 1994.. i been a dodger fan, listening on the radio, just wanting it to happen...
The dodgers get close a lot.. but never punch through...

[Neddy]

yeah we all want the same thing, but rather than cashing in our future for a chance at one or two, I would much rather prefer to build a dynasty that would last more than a decade. the kids we have, we are close to it. Joc's 2016 projection is already past 3.0 WAR on every projection site I see, and Cole's deal was two out of our three studs, Seager, Urias, and Joc. Urias have the make up of being something great. Seager has the potential to be an MVP type player. Joc has potential to be a multiple gold glove CF in his career.

I believe we are measuring up the trade market, and Jose Fernandez, although has the highest ceiling, is a major red flag in terms of injury conern and attitude problems. we already are babying Puig, and Im okay with it, but another diva is a no no, considering the cost the Marlins are asking. Archer, which i posted about in another thread, is a great choice but again, not sure the asking price is right. we will eventually get something done, but if 2016 is a season of patience, I am also okay with it. I would much rather keep our bright future in tact while gambling on a single season where we may have to lean on rehabbing Ryu to become a legit #2 guy and wait for McCarty to join the rotation after the all star games rather than waste our future trying to maximize on one year of 2016. our roster will be cleaned off of all junk contracts Ned Colletti has accumilated by 2018, which will be a historic FA market with names like Mike Trout, Jose Fernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Lorenzo Cain, then the second tier FA's like Eric Hosmer, Pirates's SS Kang, Chris Tillman, Tyson Ross, and packed with more impact players. the Giants and DBacks have cash strapped themselves with their current big splash signing, but while we sport the baseball's second best WAR team in 2016, we will shed just about all of our salary by 2018 and free to sign any of the names mentioned above. if we are gonna overpay for anyone, that is the year.

Yea... But since like 1994.. i been a dodger fan, listening on the radio, just wanting it to happen...
The dodgers get close a lot.. but never punch through...

if you have been a fan since 1994, good for you. you came around at a good time. that's the year Raul Mondesi won the ROY. man, Eric Karros in 92, Piazza in 93, Raul in 94, then Nomo in 95 and Hollinsworth in 96. what a great time to become a dodger fan. you should consider yourself lucky, my man. yeah we were sold to Fox in 98 which was the beginning of the end, and through the darkiest years that is of Frank McCourt, we all persevered and survived. yes I do miss bulldog in dodger blue, or the FernandoMania, but we have it going on right now. instead of Fernando, we have Kershaw. instead of Padro Guerrero or Gibson, we have Puig and Gonzo. we are right there. in fact the team we have as is right now is better than the team that won it all in 88. trust me on this one. we were basically the Mets this year that just happened to beat the royals.

it is easy to be a monday morning quarterback, and hindsight is always 20/20. but the truth is, populist politics gets us nowhere, and so does populist GMing. we are in good hands. just enjoy the next 3 years.

[TKainZero]

yeah we all want the same thing, but rather than cashing in our future for a chance at one or two, I would much rather prefer to build a dynasty that would last more than a decade. the kids we have, we are close to it. Joc's 2016 projection is already past 3.0 WAR on every projection site I see, and Cole's deal was two out of our three studs, Seager, Urias, and Joc. Urias have the make up of being something great. Seager has the potential to be an MVP type player. Joc has potential to be a multiple gold glove CF in his career.

I believe we are measuring up the trade market, and Jose Fernandez, although has the highest ceiling, is a major red flag in terms of injury conern and attitude problems. we already are babying Puig, and Im okay with it, but another diva is a no no, considering the cost the Marlins are asking. Archer, which i posted about in another thread, is a great choice but again, not sure the asking price is right. we will eventually get something done, but if 2016 is a season of patience, I am also okay with it. I would much rather keep our bright future in tact while gambling on a single season where we may have to lean on rehabbing Ryu to become a legit #2 guy and wait for McCarty to join the rotation after the all star games rather than waste our future trying to maximize on one year of 2016. our roster will be cleaned off of all junk contracts Ned Colletti has accumilated by 2018, which will be a historic FA market with names like Mike Trout, Jose Fernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Lorenzo Cain, then the second tier FA's like Eric Hosmer, Pirates's SS Kang, Chris Tillman, Tyson Ross, and packed with more impact players. the Giants and DBacks have cash strapped themselves with their current big splash signing, but while we sport the baseball's second best WAR team in 2016, we will shed just about all of our salary by 2018 and free to sign any of the names mentioned above. if we are gonna overpay for anyone, that is the year.

Yea... But since like 1994.. i been a dodger fan, listening on the radio, just wanting it to happen...
The dodgers get close a lot.. but never punch through...

if you have been a fan since 1994, good for you. you came around at a good time. that's the year Raul Mondesi won the ROY. man, Eric Karros in 92, Piazza in 93, Raul in 94, then Nomo in 95 and Hollinsworth in 96. what a great time to become a dodger fan. you should consider yourself lucky, my man. yeah we were sold to Fox in 98 which was the beginning of the end, and through the darkiest years that is of Frank McCourt, we all persevered and survived. yes I do miss bulldog in dodger blue, or the FernandoMania, but we have it going on right now. instead of Fernando, we have Kershaw. instead of Padro Guerrero or Gibson, we have Puig and Gonzo. we are right there. in fact the team we have as is right now is better than the team that won it all in 88. trust me on this one. we were basically the Mets this year that just happened to beat the royals.

it is easy to be a monday morning quarterback, and hindsight is always 20/20. but the truth is, populist politics gets us nowhere, and so does populist GMing. we are in good hands. just enjoy the next 3 years.

I was just a little 7 or 8 year old kid

Piazza is my favorite baseball player ever.
I thought piazza, karros, mondisi was the greatest trio ever

Just want to see one... I was like 1 year old last time they won

[Kilroy]

I give the off season a conditional B... There are a lot of gambles in the moves, but I like the FO moves and what appears to be a nice combo of talent and assets. I think essentially in a single off season, the FO solidified our future. Which is impressive.

Now we wait and see how the acquisitions and those who we let go do... I think both Dee Gordon and Greinke are vastly over paid right now... My gut tells me both of them were playing for contracts. I expect Greinke to be an average starter at best this season, and Gordon to have the Marlins hoping they can find a suitor to dump him on. I never had any confidence in either of them.

To level-set... This isn't a championship year for us... But we threw the window open a little wider and if a guy like Puig gets his head on straight like it seems he has, Kershaw doesn't throw out his arm, Maeda the same, and the young guys like Seager and Pederson continue to develop, maybe we find ourselves in the position that a couple moves puts us firmly into contention. If that happens, I think we have the means to make further deals to get there.

All in all, I like where we're going, even if I don't think we're there quite yet.

[Neddy]

I give the off season a conditional B... There are a lot of gambles in the moves, but I like the FO moves and what appears to be a nice combo of talent and assets. I think essentially in a single off season, the FO solidified our future. Which is impressive.

Now we wait and see how the acquisitions and those who we let go do... I think both Dee Gordon and Greinke are vastly over paid right now... My gut tells me both of them were playing for contracts. I expect Greinke to be an average starter at best this season, and Gordon to have the Marlins hoping they can find a suitor to dump him on. I never had any confidence in either of them.

To level-set... This isn't a championship year for us... But we threw the window open a little wider and if a guy like Puig gets his head on straight like it seems he has, Kershaw doesn't throw out his arm, Maeda the same, and the young guys like Seager and Pederson continue to develop, maybe we find ourselves in the position that a couple moves puts us firmly into contention. If that happens, I think we have the means to make further deals to get there.

All in all, I like where we're going, even if I don't think we're there quite yet.

good call, Kiroy. I agree 100% that neither Dee Gordon nor Zack will duplicate their performances in their respective careers again. not only they were playing for the contracts they received, but that little thing called a luck factor was at all time high. we all know about Zack and his .229 BABIP as a pitcher. he posted .250 BABIP as a hitter for godsake. but few mentions of Dee's .383 BABIP. that is an impossible task to repeat.

as for the championship window, we have as much as if not more probability than the last Redsox WS team. the total aggregate WAR tells us we are one of the top two teams easily along with the Cubs, but a short playoff series is anyone's game unlike the long haul that is the regular season. but we are right there with who's who. looking at the long term however, our FO sets us apart from the rest by a mile.

I can't wait for the season to start... I alraedy bought some tickets to the spring training games as soon as the individual tickets went on to sale on the 11th of this month. my wife and I will have a great time (ditching the kids with grandparents this time unlike the last year) but will have to remember to bring some goddamn sunscreen... I am no longer that tanned kid from LA anymore. I got burned so badly last year that I was in pain for a month after I came back home......

[Quake Griffin]

Agree on Greinke and Dee. Waiting on Ranma to agree that Dee's .383 BABIP wont be duplicated next year but it's all good.

I don't think this ISNT a championship year though.
I think the Friedman and Farhan are content with some of the work they've done and they know it just has to play out more than them needing to make another big move to quiet disgruntled fans. **** at 2B comes to mind. Deeper rotation that wont have us throwing 16 SPs out there this year comes to mind as well.

I like this team.
I just feel a little naked without Greinke (even though I agree). I want another ace. Thats what I'm used to.

[Ranma]

I've actually already recognized that Gordon and Greinke are unlikely to repeat their respective numbers. While Greinke is clearly the better player, I think he is more unlikely to maintain or even approach his career numbers again given that he'll be pitching primarily in Arizona, which has a hitter's ballpark. I know Dee is not an on-base wonder or anything, but like I've said, he's absolutely better than anyone we have at 2B and for the leadoff spot. His disruptive speed would further help our offense in distracting opposing pitchers while facing our batters. He's also a solid-to-good glove at 2B now. He'd be less of a question mark than either Yasiel Puig or Joc Pederson right now.

Yes, most of his value is in his athleticism which will fade with age, but I personally like the contract that he got with Miami. A 5-year deal that ends when he's 32 with a vesting option for a 6th season is not that scary to me. Some may argue that it's expensive but I'm fine with the numbers he got in having him on the team for that long. It seems like a better deal than the Adrian Beltre contract and I wanted him to return back then as well, but was more hesitant with AB's numbers.