Junkballer

We really don't know if this was just a go-for-broke year in a luxury tax cycle strategy. We will know more when we find out if the new CBA wipes the slate clean or not, and the Dodgers become a year 0 tax offender or if they are subject to 2nd year penalties. If the tax threshold doesn't go down and this year's tax counts against consecutive year penalties, they could stay under the cap in 2022..

Pujols comes in trollin'

The owners have been pretty vigilant in protecting one of the main benefits of having a legal monopoly, not having to open their books. Anything's possible but that seems like a line in the sand for them even if it is clearly defined as pertaining to gate and media. They likely view at as a slippery slope.

If they did actually get a guy like Stroman, that would be an amazing outlier for this org and not something that should be legitimately expected. If it does happen, expectations for that second FA arm should be pretty low, as in, probably wont happen. There's no way around depending on the health of Ohtani and having Sandoval & Suarez provide a ton of good innings. The bulk of their improvements will be in the continued development of young SPs, OFs Marsh & Adell, improved defense at SS and will largely hinge on how they cobble together an effective bullpen.

It's a shame their budget didn't allow them to build a deeper roster.

Only Sweet Connie knows.

Except perpetually shitfaced in public.

Sorry Patty D but.. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/moot-point/

Please add the following misspelled phrases to the list. -for all intensive purposes (intents and) -shoe in (shoo)

I’m on board with giving him a QO as well as offering him the higher end of the hypothetical contract range. I’d posit that with their projected offense their need for a formidable bullpen is at least as important as their rotation, which does not need a lot to be upper 1/3rd. The rotation needs two #2’s, or #3’s with upside and now you’re looking at Sandoval/Suarez as 4/5. If they don’t spend big on SS there is money for the bullpen and rotation. One of my concerns is that it is KJansens FA year and the Dodgers will spend whatever it it takes to get that elite closer. The draft pick they’ll lose in a QO situation is a de facto 3rd and with their farm the way it is it won’t be that big of an issue for them. The Angels will have to consider going way above their comfort level to retain him if he rejects the QO.

While that is true philosophically, when it comes to doing something about it, we as Americans have to factor in how much we value liberty and the consequences of allowing government to curtail liberty for all when it is the few that is irresponsible. I'm talking about giving government more intrusive authority, not sensible proactive educational promotion. I have a child and grandchildren and I pray for their safety daily, but they are ultimately in God's hands. Maybe in the throes of grief I would seek to alleviate my pain by seeking to curtail the liberty of all, including the responsible, but hopefully I would hold on to my faith that God restores all things and continue to value liberty.

Except Mickey's. An old school suburban favorite.

Lost in those numbers is the perspective of how little of any of that occurs as compared to total alcohol consumption. With 331m adults in this country, if they consumed alcohol twice a week on average, thats almost 35 billion drinking days. Compare that to the total number of these types of incidents and I think it will be miniscule. Whenever someone brings up national or local problems of some sort or the other I tend to ask, "what would be more effective, making new laws or more vigorously enforcing the laws already in place?". Most times the clear answer is the latter.

Rank and file dodger fans are behind the curve in understanding how much autonomy the manager has. The Alston/Lasorda days are forever gone. I doubt if Roberts has any say on starters/openers and likely has a matrix on relief situations. Atlanta bats are so hot right now so hard to tell, but I do think that Friedman and co. have opened themselves up to some legitimate criticism.

Not bad for spending 120m less on payroll

So Swanson is being repurposed, not fired. Unless he is given duties that he considers a promotion or desirable lateral move, he may decide to move on, but that hasn't happened yet.

Finally got around to looking up Rodriguez's stats and I did notice that compared to Desclafani, he is younger, had lower FIP/xERA than his ERA would suggest and his BABIP is much higher than career norms which seems to point to being unlucky and the quality of the BSox defense. Desclafani on the other hand has higher FIP/xERA, and lower BABIP which leads me to believe he is benefiting a lot from being on the Giants not to mention being in the NL. Of the two it seems that Rodriguez may be a better bet to replicate success migrating to the Angels.

Wow, a lot of food for thought here. It's helpful to be reminded that there are other ways of building a competitive club than focusing on names and making them saviors. What came to mind for me was @Angelsjunky's thread (link below) which makes a good companion piece to your post. With value and asset allocation in mind, and remembering that they have a solid #2 in Ohtani (#1 except for innings pitched) I'd rather the Angels obtain a #3 with #2 upside and create a deep formidable bullpen than crazyspend on a #1 at the expense of the bulllpen. I don't know who those bullpen names should be outside of Iglesias, but memories of having a Shields caliber setup man for K-Rod causes me to hope Minasian is up to the task of building that bullpen back end.

Except about 300' further.

Exactly, that is my prediction, that they get someone in that range AND Cobb. I don't see them going high AAV or term. They just drafted/signed 20 pitchers. With Sandoval/Suarez looking promising, they just want to get over the hump and ride Ohtani and another solid starter until then. And you don't think that a more attractive team (to Scherzer) wont beat that? The Dodgers are just one team of several that will surely top that. Between Stroman and Gray, I go Gray and the shorter term but would be happy if they got Stroman. Who wouldn't? Pass on Ray & Gausman.

I feel strongly that Scherzer is a non-starter for the front office considering his age, price (the article predicts "eclipsing JVs 33m AAV), budget, other needs and because they may want to resign Iglesias. He will have competitive offers from more plausible contenders so I'm just moving on from him, not that the Angels won't make the appropriate noise to placate fans that "they tried". I would like to see Stroman or Gray, with Cobb (under reasonable terms. While I still think Stroman is still too rich (AAV & term) for the Angels blood, he would give the Angels a legit 1a/1b punch. WIth Stroman or Gray, Cobb is not necessary but it would be fantastic if Sandoval and Suarez were fighting it out for 4/5. My guess is that the Angels go with someone who can be had in the 4/75 range and re-sign Cobb.

asylum

You're actually bolstering the point I was trying to make in response to TG's reply to you in that they were using data from the season, (as you pointed to the splits) to make the decision on who to start instead of a "here's where we are at now" type of decision.