Yamamoto to the Dodgers

[ScottT]

9 hours ago, johndw52 said:

I hate this move but its brilliant. They pretty much own the Asian market now even if they fail to get to the series.  Thats pretty much a checkmate to Arte.

Brilliant? I'd be brilliant if I had a ton of money, too.

$50 million signing bonus

$50 million posting fee.

Then, whatever the tax is.

For someone that's never pitched in MLB.

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by ScottT

[Lhalo]

6 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Brilliant? I'd be brilliant if I had a ton of money, too.

$50 million signing bonus

$50 million posting fee.

Then, whatever the tax is.

For someone that's never pitched in MLB.

 

The reason they have that much money is because they’re a successful organization. 

[fan_since79]

12 hours ago, warped said:

Maybe the Angels can get David Fletcher back.

Well, he did have that 26-game hitting streak.

Or somebody impersonating him.

[fan_since79]

Worst off-season ever.

Arte, please sell the team so the healing and rebuild can begin!

[Blarg]

Nearly every Japanese league starter has had elbow/arm problems after a year or two in MLB. Ohtani didn't last one season. Darvish was out by his third. Maeda had years of breakdowns. Kikuchi one season. 

It's not a great history of adapting quickly. I expect Yamamoto to follow suit and the Dodgers may be looking at him swapping positions with Ohtani in a year or so. 

[Jay]

1 hour ago, Erstad Grit said:

They're not playing chess with angels, they're playing with the Yankees.

Angels play UNO

[Angels in 2030]

Imagine what Roki Sasaki would get on the free market -- he's only 21 but he's bigger, better, throws harder, etc.

 

Then again, if Yamamoto tanks/fails, then this will put a huge dent into Roki's future MLB market.

[Chuck]

 

[Erstad Grit]

11 minutes ago, Chuck said:

 

Some say his mechanics will blow his arm up. 

[Dtwncbad]

19 minutes ago, Chuck said:

 

Blarg’s advice to Giants in 2007:  “Stay away from this guy, he will at some point have arm problems.”

[Angelsjunky]

I've always found it interesting how baseball is a microcosm for American culture and history as a whole. In this case, we have a clear example of income disparity which ramped up during the lockdowns when thousands of businesses were closed, the middle class continued to shrink and be pushed down, and the rich kept getting richer. Just an extension of "trickle-down" that really ended up as "trickling up."

So now we have the Dodgers, whose third best player signed this off season is Tyler Glasnow, who is probably better than any player that 20-25 teams will sign.

We have a small group of half a dozen or so teams that have immense resources and another half dozen with enough resources that, if used wisely, can lead to contention. Of those, the ones that are run well can contend, the ones that aren't (like the Angels) get caught in vicious cycles of mediocrity. So that makes about a dozen (give or take) teams with enough resources to contend. A few more will get lucky, but about half of MLB teams really have no chance of contending, at least except for the occasional fluke season. Their best hope is to emulate Billy Beane's philosophy, but that takes unusual intelligence that most baseball front offices don't have.

Unfortunately the Angels find themselves in a place where they have enough resources to contend, but haven't had the baseball people to make it happen. This is compounded by the fact they have a second tier oligarch owner who aspires to be a big dog, but isn't smart or humble enough to make it happen. In a way, the Angels are in the worst position possible: they have some resources--in the second tier group, so enough to contend--but don't know how to use it wisely. So they keep spending money on the wrong investments, and won't make the necessary overhaul changes to transform the organization. I mean, imagine what they could do if they employed a Billy Beane approach, but with a few more bucks to spend on keeping their better players but not wasting cash on bad investments. If only...

 

[Chuck]

 

[cals]

1 minute ago, Chuck said:

 

He's the Japanese Kershaw!

[m0nkey]

Looks like he's susceptible to bombs in the clutch

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

Nearly every Japanese league starter has had elbow/arm problems after a year or two in MLB. Ohtani didn't last one season. Darvish was out by his third. Maeda had years of breakdowns. Kikuchi one season. 

It's not a great history of adapting quickly. I expect Yamamoto to follow suit and the Dodgers may be looking at him swapping positions with Ohtani in a year or so. 

Good point

Innings pitched are generally limited in Japan.  Iirc, generally making around 23-25 starts on average.

Yamamoto made on average 24 starts the past 3 seasons.   But, he also averaged 7 1/3 innings per start in 2021-22 and 7 innings in 2023.   Big pitch counts for too long possibly?

Edited December 22, 2023 by Angel Oracle

[fan_since79]

55 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I've always found it interesting how baseball is a microcosm for American culture and history as a whole. In this case, we have a clear example of income disparity which ramped up during the lockdowns when thousands of businesses were closed, the middle class continued to shrink and be pushed down, and the rich kept getting richer. Just an extension of "trickle-down" that really ended up as "trickling up."

So now we have the Dodgers, whose third best player signed this off season is Tyler Glasnow, who is probably better than any player that 20-25 teams will sign.

We have a small group of half a dozen or so teams that have immense resources and another half dozen with enough resources that, if used wisely, can lead to contention. Of those, the ones that are run well can contend, the ones that aren't (like the Angels) get caught in vicious cycles of mediocrity. So that makes about a dozen (give or take) teams with enough resources to contend. A few more will get lucky, but about half of MLB teams really have no chance of contending, at least except for the occasional fluke season. Their best hope is to emulate Billy Beane's philosophy, but that takes unusual intelligence that most baseball front offices don't have.

Unfortunately the Angels find themselves in a place where they have enough resources to contend, but haven't had the baseball people to make it happen. This is compounded by the fact they have a second tier oligarch owner who aspires to be a big dog, but isn't smart or humble enough to make it happen. In a way, the Angels are in the worst position possible: they have some resources--in the second tier group, so enough to contend--but don't know how to use it wisely. So they keep spending money on the wrong investments, and won't make the necessary overhaul changes to transform the organization. I mean, imagine what they could do if they employed a Billy Beane approach, but with a few more bucks to spend on keeping their better players but not wasting cash on bad investments. If only...

 

Arte likes his trinkets and shiny (over the hill) objects. We will probably continue to be a fourth place team as long as he owns it.

 

[Duren, Duren]

I guess basking with the bastardized Covid 'World Series' title hasn't diminished the aggression of the Dodgers front office. Since then they've been even more obsessed with putting together the best team money can buy. 

As astute as their baseball people allegedly are they seem to miss that clutch intangible in the playoffs. Seems it can't be bought. Maybe the hunger isn't there after coasting through regular seasons. 

2024 will be really interesting. The Steinbrenner Yankees were hated by non Yankee fans for how they exploited the system. But at least it paid off for them. Dodgers will still be facing post season pressure no matter what they do in the regular season. 

[tomsred]

3 hours ago, Lhalo said:

The reason they have that much money is because they’re a successful organization. 

No, the reason they have a successful organization is because they have wealthy investors, many of which made their fortune in other fields.

[Swordsman78]

Hope the Angels get someone good so we have some swagger going into Spring training.

Since the end of the season and Up to now, virtually every personnel decision has been either disappointing or "wait and see".

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

15 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

With current medications, that isn't much of a curse anymore. Try again.

Shingles and herpes

[Vegas Halo Fan]

15 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Well I'm not going harder than that. Hep C? 

Although there is no vaccine, it's curable with current medications. I will find something incurable for you.

[T.G.]

4 hours ago, Blarg said:

Nearly every Japanese league starter has had elbow/arm problems after a year or two in MLB. Ohtani didn't last one season. Darvish was out by his third. Maeda had years of breakdowns. Kikuchi one season. 

It's not a great history of adapting quickly. I expect Yamamoto to follow suit and the Dodgers may be looking at him swapping positions with Ohtani in a year or so. 

Yamamoto is only 25. Even if he has TJ surgery, he's going to be around a while.

And.. if he doesn't work out, the Dodgers have the resources to get someone else

[bruin5]

4 hours ago, Blarg said:

Nearly every Japanese league starter has had elbow/arm problems after a year or two in MLB. Ohtani didn't last one season. Darvish was out by his third. Maeda had years of breakdowns. Kikuchi one season. 

It's not a great history of adapting quickly. I expect Yamamoto to follow suit and the Dodgers may be looking at him swapping positions with Ohtani in a year or so. 

I don’t have the data to back this up, but I’ve read that the splitter is hard on the elbow and leads to more arm injuries. Ohtani throws the splitter, as does Yamamoto. Not sure if it’s used extensively by all pitchers in Japan.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

18 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

I hope Arte gets AIDS.

To be fair, it's not like it's just Magic spending money over there. They have a whole ownership group.

Wait, what?

[TheLordofOuts]

I am happy for Ippei as he can double his income.