Dodgers Looking Good for 2018

It seems to me like your panicking, this happens every year by some of you guys.  Even just before and during the 42-8 run.  

It's april 6th.  Anyone who is posting how worried they are already  is certainly a doom and gloomer.  

Their rotation still has quite a bit to prove in my mind.  Each one has a question mark and if too many questions are not answered well, their rotation looks anywhere from very average to poor.

Greinke - has had both injury concerns and performance dips the past few years.
Ray - great stuff.  Did he turn a corner last season?  Is he truly a #2?
Walker - ditto the Ray comments.  Is he truly a #3?
Corbin - was terrible the past two seasons, plus has had injury concerns.
Godley - came out literally nowhere last season.  Was he a flash in the pan?

There is enough talent there to justify a concern on our part that it could be a good rotation.  There is also plenty of questions that have to be answered to prove any of that concern warranted though.  And if there are any long term injuries (and there always are), they have only unproven minor league replacements.

What did the team do after the first of these five NL West titles in 2013?  Their big signing was REsigning Juan Uribe.
What did the team do after winning again in 2014? Their big signing was Brandon McCarthy.
What did the team do after winning again in 2015? Their big signing were REsigning Howie Kendrick and signing Scott Kazmir.
What did the team do after winning again in 2016?  They "treaded water" by bringing back Hill, Turner, and Jansen.

Things certainly fell into place just fine each of these other seasons.  Even though LA didn't make any huge impact free agent signings or trades.  To question how things will fall into place this season after a very similar winter is quite gloom and doom.

Couple points:
- It could be argued that their major free agent signings prove they SHOULDN'T sign free agents.  McCarthy, Kazmir and Kendrick were all unceremoniously dumped after poor performance/injury issues with LA.
- These signings all took place as the team built their now top level minor league system.  The team has ready replacements in the minors for many positions they haven't had in the past.  Outfielder goes down - bring up Toles or Verdugo.  Starter goes down - bring up Buehler.  Catcher - Farmer's up and Ruiz and White are close.  There's also Oaks, Stewart, Paredes, Liberatore on the pitching side, Beaty and Peter in the middle infield, Edwin Rios also available as a possibility.  Point is, there is plenty of young, improving talent ready or close to ready to contribute.  That hasn't been the case until recently.

***Everybody needs to take a chill pill and stop piling on. When I said some players had a career year I was talking about Chris Taylor, Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner, Alex Wood, and Brandon Morrow. I doubt that these guys will be able to repeat what they did last season.***

But you're wrong on all but Taylor.  And even with Taylor it's a questionable stance.

Yes, Taylor had his best season, but to say a 26 year old's first full season is a career year is very short sighted to me.  Taylor had a long distinguished minor league career.  It just took him a few years to figure it out and/or get that full time shot to prove himself.  While I agree it was certainly his best season, I wouldn't classify even his 2017 as a "career year".  To me it slights him.
Puig has never reached the level he showed his first two seasons in LA.  He was nowhere near a career year last season.
Turner has been the same player since sometime in early 2015.  Last season was not a career year.  It was a continuation of his norm since joining LA.
Wood had a very strong season, but it wasn't unprecedented for him either.  He had very similar numbers in 2014 with the Braves and was almost as good in 2015 as well.  The only thing that really derailed him between then and now was the major injury he suffered in 2016.
Morrow is a non-sequitur since he's not even here.

***And how many games did the Dodgers win last year in comeback fashion? I'm not convinced that they'll be able to do the same this season.***

That's nothing more than an unsubstantiated or untenable feeling.

***But, don't take Arizona or Colorado lightly, because they're not chopped liver. They will put some pressure on the Dodgers to win that sixth straight division title. Things change quickly if you rest on your laurels.***

But what did either Colorado or Arizona do to markedly improve this winter?  It's already been discussed that Arizona probably regressed losing Martinez and Drury and not bringing in anyone of any consequence.  I don't see that Colorado did much but tread water either.  They signed some high ticket bullpen pieces, but really all they did was rearrange the deck chairs in the bullpen.  And that's really all they did.  I don't see how anyone can be so concerned over what the Dodgers did this winter and not have the same thoughts concerning their two closest competitors in the West.

Arizona and Colorado were 11.0 and 17.0 games behind LA in 2017 and did very little to nothing to improve their ball clubs this winter.  Looks to me like Arizona and Colorado "rested on their laurels" even more so than LA.  How about considering that too.

Since we're going to continue to do this:

"Couple points:

- It could be argued that their major free agent signings prove they SHOULDN'T sign free agents. McCarthy, Kazmir and Kendrick were all unceremoniously dumped after poor performance/injury issues with LA.

- These signings all took place as the team built their now top level minor league system. The team has ready replacements in the minors for many positions they haven't had in the past. Outfielder goes down - bring up Toles or Verdugo. Starter goes down - bring up Buehler. Catcher - Farmer's up and Ruiz and White are close. There's also Oaks, Stewart, Paredes, Liberatore on the pitching side, Beaty and Peter in the middle infield, Edwin Rios also available as a possibility. Point is, there is plenty of young, improving talent ready or close to ready to contribute. That hasn't been the case until recently."

You are relying on a bunch of unproven talent.  Sure, they're great prospects, but they might not be ready to contribute at the major league level.  And by the way, IMO Liberatore should have made the roster out of spring training.

"But you're wrong on all but Taylor. And even with Taylor it's a questionable stance.



Yes, Taylor had his best season, but to say a 26 year old's first full season is a career year is very short sighted to me. Taylor had a long distinguished minor league career. It just took him a few years to figure it out and/or get that full time shot to prove himself. While I agree it was certainly his best season, I wouldn't classify even his 2017 as a "career year". To me it slights him.

Puig has never reached the level he showed his first two seasons in LA. He was nowhere near a career year last season.

Turner has been the same player since sometime in early 2015. Last season was not a career year. It was a continuation of his norm since joining LA.

Wood had a very strong season, but it wasn't unprecedented for him either. He had very similar numbers in 2014 with the Braves and was almost as good in 2015 as well. The only thing that really derailed him between then and now was the major injury he suffered in 2016.

Morrow is a non-sequitur since he's not even here."

I disagree.  Taylor had a ridiculous season and although it is possible for him to do it again, it is more probable that he doesn't, IMO.  Yasiel Puig hit the most homers in his career, also had the highest OPS, On-Base %, most walks, etc.  (career year).  Turner had his highest batting average and on-base % in his career (I think) and was hitting around .370 for a large part of the season.  Alex Wood, at the all-star break, had the most wins (was undefeated!) and the lowest ERA in the league.  His second half of the season is more indicative of what I expect from him this season as a whole.  And yes, Morrow was let go, which goes to my point that they don't have him to rely on anymore.

"That's nothing more than an unsubstantiated or untenable feeling."

Of course it is.  Everything on this board is opinion and feeling.  I am just going with my gut.

"But what did either Colorado or Arizona do to markedly improve this winter? It's already been discussed that Arizona probably regressed losing Martinez and Drury and not bringing in anyone of any consequence. I don't see that Colorado did much but tread water either. They signed some high ticket bullpen pieces, but really all they did was rearrange the deck chairs in the bullpen. And that's really all they did. I don't see how anyone can be so concerned over what the Dodgers did this winter and not have the same thoughts concerning their two closest competitors in the West.



Arizona and Colorado were 11.0 and 17.0 games behind LA in 2017 and did very little to nothing to improve their ball clubs this winter. Looks to me like Arizona and Colorado "rested on their laurels" even more so than LA. How about considering that too."

Colorado loaded up their bullpen, which was a major issue for them.  Arizona didn't make any splashy moves, so I'm not arguing that.  I'm arguing that I think the Dodgers will regress a little this season and come back to the pack.  As I have said over and over, I still think the Dodgers win the division, but last year was magical.  Everything worked out for them until the World Series.  IMO, it's just not going to fall into place like it did last year.

Good luck to everyone, I need a break from this thread.

Puig had his third best OPS, not his highest. OBP, also third highest. BBs, second best. When you just get something completely and utterly wrong like that it really undermines the points you’re trying to make.

______


Yup. They don't do their homework. They just make it up as they go.

According to Stan Kasten winning was still the most important goal for this past offseason.  Resetting the luxury tax was a secondary goal.  I am thrilled by the last sentence in this article.  Heading to the game today in Frisco.  Hoping to see the team win a today.  Read an article that reminded me that in many of the past 5 seasons the team started off slowly in April including last year so there is a positive as this is nothing new.


dodgerblue.com/stan-kasten-dodgers-luxury-tax-penalty-secondary-winning-world-series/2018/04/07/

dodgersway.com/2018/04/05/dodgers-slow-april-starts-nothing-new-la/

I love the board, but the print is hard to read and I have to scroll side to side to read it because of the width of the posts. Any suggestions.