"Third Time's the Charm!" -- The 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers Season Thread

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BLUEFAN

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Something to consider: The Indians might prefer a package centered around Will Smith than Ruiz if they are dealing Hand. They are still right in the wild card race and definitely will want to compete next year with the pitchers they are still going to have under contract. They are not really a sell it off and rebuild team they are retool and try to win team. I think they realize that they can move Hand because Wittgren is ready to take over as closer and he doesn't have the large price tag that Hand does moving forward, so they have a drop off in the bullpen but they should still be fine there as it has been a real strength for them. They need offense and WIll Smith can play the rest of this year for them and start next year whereas Ruiz might not be up until the end of next year. On top of that Will Smith is born and raised and went to college in Kentucky, which isn't too far from Ohio, so they might believe they'd have a better chance at keeping him long term than someone from Venezuela (though I think one of their pitchers is from Venezuela, so maybe not that big a deal).
The Indians #1 catcher right now is Roberto Perez, a solid defensive catcher, who is
currently hitting .245 .345 .490 .835.


Perez is signed through 2020, with club options for 2021 and 2022.

I think they'd be fine with waiting for Ruiz for a year or two.

Perez incidentally was a 29th Round Draft Pick of the Dodgers in 2006.
 

bob007hh

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The Indians #1 catcher right now is Roberto Perez, a solid defensive catcher, who is
currently hitting .245 .345 .490 .835.


Perez is signed through 2020, with club options for 2021 and 2022.

I think they'd be fine with waiting for Ruiz for a year or two.

Perez incidentally was a 29th Round Draft Pick of the Dodgers in 2006.
Could be, but Perez is also a career backup who's never had 250 plate appearances in a season and is already at 180 this season. His career line (even adding in this season's hot start) is .212 .303 .363 .668. His numbers the 1st month plus in this year are in line with those career numbers but he has been hot the past few weeks to get those numbers up. Maybe they believe he's found it and they could run with him. or maybe they don't trust that. Even with that their backups at that position have been horrible and it would be nice to have someone to at least split time with him if not take the starting job from him. Cleveland could prefer Ruiz, I just don't know if they will be patient and go with a rebuild while they have the pitching they have, so they may very well prefer guys that help them compete this year and next rather than hoping Ruiz is ready before they've lost Kluber, Bauer, and Carrasco.
 

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Interesting point. At this stage, Smith could be further along than Ruiz but not have the ceiling. Then again, Smith mashes, is solid behind the plate and has a plus arm so how far is the gap in terms of ceilings? I think we all have just automatically assumed that Ruiz is better but Smith is only 24 and could be a guy that is catching fire now. Do we let that go?

I’m all in on Hand but I don’t feel that AF will be. Hand has a longterm deal and AF tends to only chase medium and high level rentals at the deadline. Will Kelly here taking up space and getting paid heavily to do so, will they take on another big RP contract?

I could see them move towards Zaidi for Will Smith since it’s a short term deal. Probably will cost a fraction of what Hand will.
Hand will only make an average of $8.5 million per year for the next two years, Given what AF paid Joe Kelly, he has to see that as an incredible club bargain.
 

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In his debut in Arizona, Kody Hoese went 3 for 3 with 3 doubles. He was pinch hit for after that, hopefully not because of an injury.

And of course, Will Smith homered in his 5th straight game today. He also had a double.

I'm starting to change my mind about waiting until September before calling Smith up. We wouldn't need to carry three catchers. Barnes still has an option left.
 
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NewportDodger

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In his debut in Arizona, Kody Hoese went 3 for 3 with 3 doubles. He was pinch hit for after that, hopefully not because of an injury.

And of course, Will Smith homered in his 5th straight game today. He also had a double.

I'm starting to change my mind about waiting until September before calling Smith up. We wouldn't need to carry three catchers. Barnes still has an option left.
Smith is going Grandal right now. I remember when Yasmani would be unconscious at times.
 

DodgerSSR

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I respect everyone's opinion, but I'm still solidly in favor of bringing up Will Smith. If it means carrying three catchers, then I'm fine with that. All three have some infield versatility in bench roles. Either Garlick or Beaty could be sent to OKC, with the other going back when Pollock returns.

Our catchers were a collective 0 for 4 last night. Couple that with the ongoing struggles of KIke', Joc, and Taylor, and this offense needs a spark. The Dodgers have scored 3 runs or less in 9 of 15 games this month. Losing Seager is going to exacerbate this.
 

NewportDodger

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I respect everyone's opinion, but I'm still solidly in favor of bringing up Will Smith. If it means carrying three catchers, then I'm fine with that. All three have some infield versatility in bench roles. Either Garlick or Beaty could be sent to OKC, with the other going back when Pollock returns.

Our catchers were a collective 0 for 4 last night. Couple that with the ongoing struggles of KIke', Joc, and Taylor, and this offense needs a spark. The Dodgers have scored 3 runs or less in 9 of 15 games this month. Losing Seager is going to exacerbate this.
It would take a significant downturn for the Dodgers to make major changes to their lineup. They just operate at a snail's pace when it comes to shaking things up.

If they went on a big losing streak and weren't scoring at all then maybe they would do something. Nobody wants it to get to that point though just to force change.
 

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If I never hear Alex Rodriquez announce another game I can die a happy man. Good hitter I will give him. He has earned respect for nothing else.
 

Norm

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If I never hear Alex Rodriquez announce another game I can die a happy man. Good hitter I will give him. He has earned respect for nothing else.
So all you need to do in order to die a happy man is turn the sound off when he's announcing. Sounds like a great plan.
 

Norm

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If I never hear Alex Rodriquez announce another game I can die a happy man. Good hitter I will give him. He has earned respect for nothing else.
If the rules had been the same then, as they are now, Arod would have been a Dodger. Back then, the Dodgers had the worst record in baseball the year before the draft, but at the time they alternated between the NL and the AL who would get the first pick in the draft. It was the AL that year, and so the Dodgers missed out on Arod and drafted Darren Dreifort.
 

DodgerSSR

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Cody Allen released by Anaheim. He was a very solid, if not elite, closer from 2014-17. He's still K'ing 11+ per 9 innings, but his control has deserted him. Wonder if our scouts have eyes on him (you'd hope so pitching just down the freeway) and there is any hope for a reclamation project. The Halos are on the hook for his pro-rated $8.5M contract. Wouldn't mind seeing him signed to a minor league contract and having him spend some time in Glendale, AZ. The most it could cost is league minimum and maybe there is something there. One caveat is that his fastball has lost about 3 mph since 2014, including over 1 mph this season. Still, he may need a mechanical tweak and a confidence boost, not that the PCL is much help for a pitcher's confidence.
 

DodgerSSR

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If the rules had been the same then, as they are now, Arod would have been a Dodger. Back then, the Dodgers had the worst record in baseball the year before the draft, but at the time they alternated between the NL and the AL who would get the first pick in the draft. It was the AL that year, and so the Dodgers missed out on Arod and drafted Darren Dreifort.
I had forgotten about that! Imagine A-Rod at SS instead of the likes of Jose Offerman, Greg Gagne, and Jose Vizcaino.
 

Norm

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Cody Allen released by Anaheim. He was a very solid, if not elite, closer from 2014-17. He's still K'ing 11+ per 9 innings, but his control has deserted him. Wonder if our scouts have eyes on him (you'd hope so pitching just down the freeway) and there is any hope for a reclamation project. The Halos are on the hook for his pro-rated $8.5M contract. Wouldn't mind seeing him signed to a minor league contract and having him spend some time in Glendale, AZ. The most it could cost is league minimum and maybe there is something there. One caveat is that his fastball has lost about 3 mph since 2014, including over 1 mph this season. Still, he may need a mechanical tweak and a confidence boost, not that the PCL is much help for a pitcher's confidence.
The idea is similar to what the Dodgers are doing with Zac Rosscup in AAA, whose problem has always been his control. It's only been three outings but so far it looks promising. In three innings, he's struck out 6, with only 1 walk. Of course, I've probably just jinxed him.
 

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