What the hell is even happening right now?
David Price + Mookie Betts + several Brinks trucks to LAD for what sweet-swingin’ 23yo outfielder Alex Verdugo.
Kenta Maeda (2.5 fWAR per season in lower IP counts last two years, turns 32 in April) to Twins for top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol (triple digits and legit offspeed pitches, but injured last year).
Joc Pedersen to Angels for young 2B/SS Luis Rengifo, who I know nothing about.
I’m so very confused. But excited? But confused.
Nice deal for the Twins to get involved in the trade and get a solid starting pitcher in Maeda.
And you gotta wonder what JD Martinez and Chris Sale are thinking right about now.
The Dodgers finally did something! And it was for Betts!
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but did the Twins just trade away their top pitching prospect for Maeda? That’s, uh, ambitious. Boston got some great young talent and dumped a lot of salary. It seems like a pretty good move for them.
Goddamn it, I’m gonna miss Mookie.
Dodgers looking pretty scary again. At we all know the Giants will be hopeless this year.
They look scary every year…until the playoffs.
We can always count on Kershaw!
The Twins are looking pretty damn good this year.
So its been what, 6 or 7 years since the start of the Dodgers’ super-sized TV deal? They have so much money to throw around, and it shows in their (at last count) zero World Series titles.
Money doesn’t win you World Series titles. It gets you chances at the post-season, and the Dodgers have gotten their money’s worth by that metric. In every one of the last 7 seasons. I’m sure the lack of finish upsets their fans, but it’s not something more money will solve.
I mean, they have won more than 90 games the last 7 years and won their division every year, made the playoffs every year, made two World Series, and lost one of those 4-3 by a team that just got hammered for cheating that year and lost the other to a team that was apparently also cheating and is also likely to get hammered for it.
Obviously ultimately you want rings, but it isn’t like they haven’t been generally successful.
You are arguing with logic. I am arguing as a life-long Giants fan rubbing salt on Dodgers fans post-season wounds.
But logically - you don’t spend that much money for ‘chances at the post-season’, you spend it to win championships.
The Dodgers should have allocated their money better - how much did they spend on trash cans and Apple Watches? Clearly not enough!
Dodgers 2019 payroll was approx 200M including dead and burried money. Giants was 178. So I feel like 22M for 29 more wins and winning the division is a bargain :)
Oh, let the salt-rubbing continue, I have no love for the Dodgers!
I disagree, but opinions may differ!
Spending money certainly helps and over a 162-game regular season, the better teams tend to finish with better records. But five and seven game series in the postseason are much more random. What’s important is getting chances to win it all by making it to the playoffs, since once you get that far anything can happen (see all the wildcards teams that have gone on to win the World Series). Yeah, it would be great if the Dodgers won a World Series, but being the best team and spending the most money is far from a guarantee given the fluky nature of the playoffs. I don’t live and die for the Dodgers, but I am generally satisfied with the past decade or so. Though, yes, it stings a bit losing those two World Series, especially, as noted, the one to the Astros, doubly so with what we know now.
When - ever - have you heard an owner proclaim “we’re going to bring this great city fairly regular appearances in the playoffs!”?
I mean never (and these days most owners are more concerned with profit anyway), but speaking personally, I understand that baseball playoffs are highly random and know that just because a team spends more than their opponents, has a better regular season record, and a more talented roster I should not expect them to win the World Series. If it were, say, the NBA, where the best team usually does win, expectations would be different.
As a sports fan I enjoy when my team is good. I love the playoff race. I love watching them win.
Obviously I want a championship every year, but a successful season isn’t 0% or 100%.
The idea that you win a championship or it doesn’t matter leads to all these dumpster fire garbage tank teams that no one in their right mind would ever want to watch.
No athlete goes to the Olympics to win a silver medal, but silver medalists are impressive and should be proud.
Also, I think losing the World Series is an integral part of the Dodgers’ identity, going back generations and all the way to Brooklyn. They’re the team that’s often pretty good but usually falls short of the championship, as if the universe conspires against them. There’s a certain romance in that kind of failure.