NLDS Thread

[Ranma]

I couldn't tell before, but I read on another online board that Ethier should have dropped that fly ball in foul ground because he had no shot of getting the runner tagging from 3B. In hindsight, that run is obviously the difference. Of course, the flip side is we could have given up more runs.

[Kilroy]

Damn

[Neddy]

I couldn't tell before, but I read on another online board that Ethier should have dropped that fly ball in foul ground because he had no shot of getting the runner tagging from 3B. In hindsight, that run is obviously the difference. Of course, the flip side is we could have given up more runs.

i had the exact idea too but also was thinking that you just never know what could happen when you don't take an out when its given...

[Kilroy]

WTH Howie?

[Kilroy]

Just haven't been able to get any offense going down the stretch... Mets pitching's been solid.

our at bats in the 2nd and 3rd were unprofessional and down right arrogant….like we had the game won and momentum was gonna move the runners for us.

then around the 4th, I thought deGrom had found his stuff and was good.

Yeah, out approach to all the games has been a little loose for me. I think we got a little lucky in gm4 with a Cy Young game from Kershaw.

[Kilroy]

Well that sucks....

[Quake Griffin]

you're right on that. I wanted to mention that.

down to our last out.
smfh.

[Neddy]

f it.

baseball is dead to me until next season.

bye ya'll

[Quake Griffin]

Nah. I'm gonna enjoy this NLCS.

I have no beef with the Mets. They did their job.
time to re-tool and find people who will give us professional at bats with RISP.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/654860079099957248[/tweet]

I want to get rid of the garbage in the clubhouse. It’s one thing to lose, but it’s another to blow opportunity after opportunity and then to go down flailing in pathetic fashion. I don’t care if we have to eat a big part of their contracts, but Crawford and Ethier have to go. Shop Puig to see if we can still get a big return, but don’t just dump him given his reasonable contract. It’s also time for Don Mattingly to move onto Miami or elsewhere. If we’re going to go with a manager-in-training go with Wallach or Roenicke. McGwire can leave with him.

We can't hit with RISP and continue with waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen with the feast-or-famine approach with a HR-heavy offense. I want players who play winning baseball, not divas too good to move runners over nor know how to bunt. Also, if we're going to emphasize defense, play good defenders. Add some speed while we're at it.

Looking forward to see what we do in the offseason, but I need a break from this.

[Neddy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/654860079099957248[/tweet]

I want to get rid of the garbage in the clubhouse. It’s one thing to lose, but it’s another to blow opportunity after opportunity and then to go down flailing in pathetic fashion. I don’t care if we have to eat a big part of their contracts, but Crawford and Ethier have to go. Shop Puig to see if we can still get a big return, but don’t just dump him given his reasonable contract. It’s also time for Don Mattingly to move onto Miami or elsewhere. If we’re going to go with a manager-in-training go with Wallach or Roenicke. McGwire can leave with him.

We can't hit with RISP and continue with waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen with the feast-or-famine approach with a HR-heavy offense. I want players who play winning baseball, not divas too good to move runners over nor know how to bunt. Also, if we're going to emphasize defense, play good defenders. Add some speed while we're at it.

Looking forward to see what we do in the offseason, but I need a break from this.

no Ethier should stay. Carl must go. puig should stay until he is either proven to be a capable super star or at least raise his value for a better trade. Joc is the CF. SVS deserves a regular spot.

first, for the rotation, It is obvious Kershaw is the #1. Greinke should be brought back only if his demand for the years is less than 5. hell I prefer to over pay his ass for the next 3 years at Kershaw's pay. it is hard to go past 4 unless his 5th year and beyond takes severe pay cut. Ryu should be back, then he is instantly an upgrade at 3rd. McCarthy and Wood should round out the bottom of the order and any idea of bringing Anderson should only be at another 1 year deal, which I would assume he would get something better elsewhere. between Ryu and McCarthy, we may not be ready to have them at the beginning of the season and for that reason alone, we must bring back Mike Bolsinger. I believed he would be more valuable off the pen this series more than some others who made it and never got to throw a single pitch but it is what it is now. If Greinke is not brought back, I do wish to go after David Price more than anything, followed by Jordan Zimmerman, Doug Fister, and if the contract is reasonable and short, Iwakuma. if all is lost I would take a flier on Johnny Cueto too. Urias coming up is of course inevitable. with Kershaw locked up and if Ryu is healthy, we have two guys who should be locked up by contractual obligation, then possibility of Greinke, which would make top 3 of the rotation. McCarthy is and could be a great end of the rotation guy, but his contract for at least our ownership, makes it palatable if we have to sit him down. Wood is another young cat who can help us and either become a steady presence or be a trade bait along with Puig. there will be room for Urias to come up late next season and become our Marcus Stroman.

secondly, our pen, really can use at least one addition to become the rock among the set up men. we need a guaranteed 8th inning guy to bridge starters to Hatcher to this mysterious guy to Jensen to become absolute.

now that brings me to the lineup.

I love Joc. he can get on base, although he needs a lot of work to become a viable leadoff in terms of hitting, but as a 7th guy, I think he is ideal. he can get on base and stretch the inning, and he surely has the power to send one out when we don't expect the bottom of the order to produce.

Puig should be given a chance to prove himself at RF but he must have a personal trainer for his workouts as well as off season discipline.

Ethier is the LF in my eyes as of now, but fully understand we have two guys who need to start everyday in SVS and ****, we should not shy away from looking at the trade market with Andre if we have a chance.

Carl must go. eat his contract for all I care. he needs to go.

Gonzo on first. Turner on third. Seager on SS. I like both Kendrick and Utley to come back to be honest. at this point I love Utley's grit. Jimmy must go. I am disappointed with Howie's at bats for tonight's game, but he has been a consistent producer. but I would not mind one bit if we end up letting Howie go and **** is our everyday 2nd base while Utley plays some 2nd when **** is either resting or playing utility role.

grandal needs his shoulder surgery. Ellis is someone I want gone but surely as long as Clayton is our ace, AJ will be here. I like Austin Barnes to be the primary backup to be honest.

Mattingly must go.

there are some names we already discussed, such as Tim Wallach or Brad Ausmus(by me) but how about Ken Macha? he would be the perfect guy who doesn't get in anyone's ways while letting the front office's philosophy take the field without causing neither friction nor a gossip from players. I am also for hiring someone for their significance and instant respect from all players, such as Sandy Koufax. yeah he has no managerial experience, but if Mattingly can pretend to do it, Sandy surely can and with Kershaw being his #1 soldier, nobody on this team would protest anything he would have to say, as long as he does not go against the FO just to show off.

okay, I am a bit drunk and pissed off as hell, but that is as of right now, my 2 cents.

[Quake Griffin]

There's a few things I think will happen given this FO's character.

1) I expect Mattingly to be fired. I expect Friedman to hire someone he respects who will give him pushback on some of his ideas. Why? He's on the record saying his approach isn't just numbers based. He's a former player from Tulane. He knows the importance of having a quality manager in the clubhouse and not just one having its strings pulled by the FO.

2) I expect them to trade for an SS. The rumors have it that we were looking at Andrelton Simmons first when dealing with the Braves but the Braves value him too much for us to poach him away that easily. I expect us to take a run at Simmons or Adeiny Hechevarria from the Marlins. It's absolutely irresponsible to be an NL team trying to win a pennant, with a $300 million payroll and have below average SSing on your team.

3) So number two makes you go…well, wth…that means Seager to 3rd and Turner to….
Yea, you guessed it. He's going bye bye guys….a lot of other guys I expect to be going bye bye.
Players going bye bye:
Justin Turner
Carl Crawford
Howie Kendrick (I expect a compensation pick in return).
SVS
Utley
Potentially Puig

4) I expect us to sign a LF…Alex Gordon or Cespedes…solid defense out there…quality bats….Zobrist??? Back up at 2B and in RF as well.
5) I expect us to sign a pitcher….Jordan Zimmermann here.
6) I expect us to deal for a pitcher….in this case, refer to 3) and think Sonny Gray or Chris Archer or Zack Wheeler


If you want me to explain my reasoning for any one of these moves and why I think they will happen, I will gladly do so. But I just wanted to go through what I think will happen.

[Neddy]

There's a few things I think will happen given this FO's character.

1) I expect Mattingly to be fired. I expect Friedman to hire someone he respects who will give him pushback on some of his ideas. Why? He's on the record saying his approach isn't just numbers based. He's a former player from Tulane. He knows the importance of having a quality manager in the clubhouse and not just one having its strings pulled by the FO.

2) I expect them to trade for an SS. The rumors have it that we were looking at Andrelton Simmons first when dealing with the Braves but the Braves value him too much for us to poach him away that easily. I expect us to take a run at Simmons or Adeiny Hechevarria from the Marlins. It's absolutely irresponsible to be an NL team trying to win a pennant, with a $300 million payroll and have below average SSing on your team.

3) So number two makes you go…well, wth…that means Seager to 3rd and Turner to….
Yea, you guessed it. He's going bye bye guys….a lot of other guys I expect to be going bye bye.
Players going bye bye:
Justin Turner
Carl Crawford
Howie Kendrick (I expect a compensation pick in return).
SVS
Utley
Potentially Puig

4) I expect us to sign a LF…Alex Gordon or Cespedes…solid defense out there…quality bats….Zobrist??? Back up at 2B and in RF as well.
5) I expect us to sign a pitcher….Jordan Zimmermann here.
6) I expect us to deal for a pitcher….in this case, refer to 3) and think Sonny Gray or Chris Archer or Zack Wheeler


If you want me to explain my reasoning for any one of these moves and why I think they will happen, I will gladly do so. But I just wanted to go through what I think will happen.

I strongly disagree that we are dumping Turner. he was the hottest hitter come October and when healthy, the best hitter on the team. he only costed us 2.5 million and even with arbitration, he is projected well below his actual market value. even as a utility man off the bench, he brings so much value and i peg him to be a starting 3B next season with Seager playing SS.

bringing Cespedes, if possible, is a great idea. he could also be a mentor for Puig but that may still be a lost cause. I don't care fore Ben Zorbrist at his age now. he was great once, but just like Carl, old has beens from the old rays need to go elsewhere.

SVS is also still under 6 years of service time and comes cheap, I don't see why we need to sell him off. he will barely break a million next season. he is worth hell of a lot more.

[Quake Griffin]

Here's my line of reasoning on Turner.

1) If this FO took a run at Andrelton Simmons this year, then they never had long term plans for Seager at SS.
2) So that means….they'll have to choose between developing Seager at 3rd or keeping Turner at 3rd and they'll obviously develop Seager there.
3) Turner has an elite bat, a cheap deal and is one of the best assets in baseball.
4) I don't think he's healthy enough or nimble enough to cover the MI over 162 games anymore.

My line of thinking? Friedman and Farhan will begin to pursue an elite SS glove this winter and Turner will be the odd man out essentially because of Corey's youth. They'll use Turner as bait to make a huge blockbuster trade that will yield the right return.


I, for one, don't trust Seager over 162 games at SS and am not interested in that experiment.

[Neddy]

Here's my line of reasoning on Turner.

1) If this FO took a run at Andrelton Simmons this year, then they never had long term plans for Seager at SS.
2) So that means….they'll have to choose between developing Seager at 3rd or keeping Turner at 3rd and they'll obviously develop Seager there.
3) Turner has an elite bat, a cheap deal and is one of the best assets in baseball.
4) I don't think he's healthy enough or nimble enough to cover the MI over 162 games anymore.

My line of thinking? Friedman and Farhan will begin to pursue an elite SS glove this winter and Turner will be the odd man out essentially because of Corey's youth. They'll use Turner as bait to make a huge blockbuster trade that will yield the right return.


I, for one, don't trust Seager over 162 games at SS and am not interested in that experiment.

1) or, Simmons' proven old glove against his proven soft bat was going to compete with Seager and Turner for two positions, and loser becomes a part of a package. grabbing assets doesn't always mean an automatic demise of another. I do think the front office was not expecting Turner's bat to be sustainable and yet he has proven to be one of the top overall hitters in all baseball. with all the left handed batsmen killing us as of late, 2nd base defense is as crucial as SS but in playoffs, it appears we are going with extreme shifts most of the time which also negates some of the factors on middle infielders' individual defensive abilities.
having said all that, there is no mistake about Simmon's glove being the best in business at his position. if we move Seager to 3rd to make room for Simmons this off season, I wouldn't be crying over it. but,

2)/3)/4) even if we go after Simmons and move Seager to 3rd, it still is not wise simply to dump cheap talented player such as Turner. his knees being a problem potentially as an everyday player, he may be best suited as a utility infielder while being the primary pinch hitter off the bench. we can use a professional pinch hitting at least. he can still give us 300 at bats every season until he becomes a free agent which I believe he still needs 2 more service years to become. he has never been a locker room malcontent for our ball club, didn't cry or bitch regardless of his everyday playing, platooning, bench player role or whatever and whichever the capacity he was asked to be. if you make an argument against keeping him, would only make sense despite his knee issues if his market value right now is high and we can use his contract to either bring in a major piece back, say a proven top notch setup man for Kenley or to dump Carl's contract elsewhere without having to eat all of his money.
otherwise, just to get rid of him so Seager doesn't have to look over his shoulder is... not my choice of handling young players. just as Joc has competition in ****, Seager needs a competition too. kids in their barely 20 something ages do not deserve to be handed over the reign. it should be earned. and don't forget injury replacements. depth is a good thing especially when they come cheap.

[Quake Griffin]

Here's my line of reasoning on Turner.

1) If this FO took a run at Andrelton Simmons this year, then they never had long term plans for Seager at SS.
2) So that means….they'll have to choose between developing Seager at 3rd or keeping Turner at 3rd and they'll obviously develop Seager there.
3) Turner has an elite bat, a cheap deal and is one of the best assets in baseball.
4) I don't think he's healthy enough or nimble enough to cover the MI over 162 games anymore.

My line of thinking? Friedman and Farhan will begin to pursue an elite SS glove this winter and Turner will be the odd man out essentially because of Corey's youth. They'll use Turner as bait to make a huge blockbuster trade that will yield the right return.


I, for one, don't trust Seager over 162 games at SS and am not interested in that experiment.

1) or, Simmons' proven old glove against his proven soft bat was going to compete with Seager and Turner for two positions, and loser becomes a part of a package. grabbing assets doesn't always mean an automatic demise of another. I do think the front office was not expecting Turner's bat to be sustainable and yet he has proven to be one of the top overall hitters in all baseball. with all the left handed batsmen killing us as of late, 2nd base defense is as crucial as SS but in playoffs, it appears we are going with extreme shifts most of the time which also negates some of the factors on middle infielders' individual defensive abilities.
having said all that, there is no mistake about Simmon's glove being the best in business at his position. if we move Seager to 3rd to make room for Simmons this off season, I wouldn't be crying over it. but,

2)/3)/4) even if we go after Simmons and move Seager to 3rd, it still is not wise simply to dump cheap talented player such as Turner. his knees being a problem potentially as an everyday player, he may be best suited as a utility infielder while being the primary pinch hitter off the bench. we can use a professional pinch hitting at least. he can still give us 300 at bats every season until he becomes a free agent which I believe he still needs 2 more service years to become. he has never been a locker room malcontent for our ball club, didn't cry or bitch regardless of his everyday playing, platooning, bench player role or whatever and whichever the capacity he was asked to be. if you make an argument against keeping him, would only make sense despite his knee issues if his market value right now is high and we can use his contract to either bring in a major piece back, say a proven top notch setup man for Kenley or to dump Carl's contract elsewhere without having to eat all of his money.
otherwise, just to get rid of him so Seager doesn't have to look over his shoulder is... not my choice of handling young players. just as Joc has competition in ****, Seager needs a competition too. kids in their barely 20 something ages do not deserve to be handed over the reign. it should be earned. and don't forget injury replacements. depth is a good thing especially when they come cheap.

The bolded is my line of thinking.
I view Turner as one of the best assets in baseball….not a player to dump…I just don't think his value will ever be any higher than it is this offseason.
I'm thinking he can yield us something major in return.

so we're not in complete disagreement…if we're in disagreement at all.

Peep the forum….I made a thread for grading the front office.
Would like to see you give them a grade on what they've done this year.

[Ranma]

With regards to both Ethier and Crawford, I want them both gone, but that may be unrealistic. Ethier would be the easier to move between the two given their respective production this past season. However, even if we were able to dump both, the team would still need a reliable left-handed bat as we would be left with only Pederson, who still needs to work on his swing during Winter Ball and right-handers Van Slyke, ****, Puig, and even Peraza as an option.

I don't think I can give Ethier, in particular, the benefit of the doubt any more. He was a good soldier the past two seasons dealing with sporadic playing time with the outfield jam and made some good plays during Game 5, but his outburst during that very same game changed the tone of the series at that critical juncture. Mattingly protected him by saying he was upset with an umpire, but nobody really buys it. His tantrum put himself above the team and also illustrated to me that he was unwilling to do what the team needed when it went beyond his comfort level. The team desperately needed to put runs on the board and his reluctance and ineptitude to move runners over when the team has been struggling to score with runners on base was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. The team needs a culture change and having this type of attitude on a ballclub is no longer acceptable.

I'd love to sign either Alex Gordon or Yoenis Cespedes but I'm not sure that is realistic given that the front office wants to get younger and develop from within as well as spend money more wisely. However, it remains clear that the Dodgers still need to spend money during this transition period albeit more selectively. Gordon would provide the reliable left-handed bat as well as great glove in LF, but he is 31 years old so length of contract will be a concern. Cespedes is younger and full of energy, but despite scouting reports, I was not impressed with his defense. Still, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to signing him, but I am wary of the price to be paid. If we do get Cespedes, I'm inclined to deal Puig.

Speaking of Yasiel Puig and like I said before, I'd shop him but not outright dump him given his reasonable contract. There is concern that his thickening body will keep him from fully realizing his potential and remaining healthy. If we can deal him for Evan Longoria's contract, I'd be happy to pull the trigger.

There is talk that the Braves will listen on every one of their players including Andrelton Simmons. I'd be concerned about the price to be paid for his glove. Plus, I'm sure Elvis Andrus may also be available. Personally, I'd rather just give Seager or Peraza the shot at SS for now even as I prefer them at 3B and 2B, respectively.

Justin Turner has been our best player in the playoffs, but his best position is 3B and there are concerns about his knees not only for longevity at the position but reliability for playing everyday. I'd like the team to reward him with a raise but I obviously wouldn't go overboard with a multi-year contract.