The Seattle Mariners, who some pick to be in the World Series, are at Dodger Stadium for a three game series.
The Dodgers will miss seeing the Seattle ace, Felix Hernandez, who was taken out of Sunday’s game against the A’s after five innings due to tightness in the quadriceps muscle in his right leg. He is scheduled to pitch next Saturday against the Rangers.
Brandon McCarthy, who gets his second start for the Dodgers, is 2-6 with a 3.88 career ERA against Seattle.
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Outside the Dodgers 
Normally I don’t comment much about the manager’s decisions on who plays, who relieves, etc. However, in reading the recap of yesterday’s game in the Times this morning, Dylan Hernandez said Donnie wanted to give the bullpen some work. I did not hear Donnie’s comments following the game (or before the game) but I find it difficult to believe a manager has such a game plan already in place, especially with someone like Greinke on the mound. I can understand having some contingency plans based on certain scenarios and perhaps that was the case. Donnie certainly did not know Hatcher would not be able to do the job and we have seen this before with when Donnie continued to bring in a struggling League, hoping each time things would improve. I actually understand why he did not let Baez pitch another inning but I don’t understand why he did not allow Paco to stay in the game. As a fan, I have no idea what is going on in the bullpen; all I see is a game waiting to be won. I do not see the need to extend a game which could lead to fatigue, potential injury to any player on the field or possibly a loss. But I can no more predict the future than anyone else. I cannot believe Donnie wanted Hatcher to get a bunch of work in at the expense of possibly allowing a big comeback. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you expect.
If he wanted the bullpen to get some work though Birk, wouldn’t that imply using pitchers that don’t get to throw as often, like say Nicasio? Paco and Hatcher (along with Peralta) are really the front line. Plus an inning saved (and the warming up) now leads to a fresher bullpen later in the dog days. Does Donnie mean to tell us that when Kersh has only been going 6, McCarthy going 5 and Anderson somewhere in between that the bullpen isn’t already getting enough work? That’s ludicrous. As far as I’m concerned Mattingly spouted a bunch of BS to try and cover his incompetency.
In addition with a team that has a lot of quality bats coming in for the next series (Seattle) I would think he’d want his pen rested. On Dodger Talk yesterday they said that Owings was 0-14 in his career vs Paco. Not sure if that’s true but that’s coming from Dave Vassey. He also had Donnie recorded saying that Hatcher coming in was the plan going into the game – so he’d get some work.
The Dodger pitchers (other than Greinke) are giving up lots of hits and runs, while the Mariners lineup is not getting many hits. Will this three game series resolve one of these two issues? Will the Dodgers pitchers get the Mariners out? Or will the Mariners lineup wake up?
Mariners as a team are hitting .201 in the first six games.
Will Jimmy Rollins settle down in the field?
WTF is going on? First, the Dodgers spend $2.75 million to trade for Ryan Webb. Then they outright him to OKC, assuming he agreed to it. Now, he has been released. Please enlighten us, Mr. Friedman.
Bizarre.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/04/dodgers-os-take-new-approach-in-ryan-webb-trade.html
Dodgers buy a draft pick for $2.75 million. The only question is whether the new commissioner will be okay with this.
I thought I read that, in addition, they also get
an increase in their international signing allocation. The No. 74 pick carries an $827,000 slot value, the recommended bonus for that pick, but the Dodgers also could use that money to pay above slot value for other picks.Lineup – earliest posting of a lineup at DS that I can remember.
Barney SS
Puig RF
Gonzalez 1B
Kendrick 2B
Van Slyke LF
Guerrero 3B
Pederson CF
Ellis C
McCarthy P
Rollins gets to rest his glove.
Well as long as we get Ellis’ bat in the game…
Wow, that lineup has Cono, Cruz and Seager, it looks tough to me.
Crap…in the hole already!
As Vin says,”and just like that’ it’s 2-0 Mariners.
Why am I starting to get the feeling this is going to be a very long season?
I think so too.
Exactly how is McCarthy better than Haren?
Nice throw by SVS.
It’s a good thing he is in the game….CC would never have thrown him out!
I guess they didn’t release Huff…he’s starting tomorrow 🙂
We’re saved.
So I guess the plan for this year is to fall 9 1/2 games back again…
Cruz again.
Okay. Somebody have Cruz pee in the cup. 😉
I’d rather pee on McCarthy.
Yep! He’s throwing too many cookies down the middle. It’s like HR derby.
Now Seager.
Correction….Webb was released…I guess that’s the current story. I really don’t care.
Another RBI for Alex.
Nice going Joc.
Hey, Beav….looks like Donnie’s bullpen will get plenty of work tonight 🙂
These guys must think this is the HR derby.
BOOM!!
Hopefully Puig is finding a groove.
Puig’s 2nd HR. This year.
Nice 2 out rally!
We’re tied thanks to Kendrick.
So much for the heavy air at Dodger Stadium.
Other than the long balls McCarthy actually hasn’t been bad.
Other than that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln? 😉
Ha!!!!
He did have 10 K’s though.
I’d trade 5 or 6 Ks though for 3 less HRs. How many has he given up already – 6?
Good job men.
Yup – Beav… 6 in 2 starts. He didn’t let it get out of hand so I will give him time. If he was walking people and nibbling all the time I would be more critical. He isn’t horrible for a #5. I think as the year goes on he’ll have some success. He does have good control and throws in the 90’s – just was throwing with little movement.
The bullpen is looking good.
Yes they do.
Let’s walk this off!!!!
Beginning to wonder if Ellis makes it through the entire season.
I feel sorry for him. However, if he can’t hit…he must sit!
I won’t be surprised if he’s hitting a buck something come the AS game that he’s either DFA’d or comes up with some mystery ailment.
Terrible funk!
Why is it other managers let their relievers go more than one inning? I guess the bigger question is why won’t Donnie?
So far, so good with the bullpen.
Well I gotta get up in 5 hours to go catch a plane, so bring it on home guys.
Everyday Dre!!!!
That’s my boy!
Yup!
Guerero delivers!
WE WIN.
YAY!
Woo-Hoo, win streak!! Way to go Andre. I said it before, he deserves to start over Crapford….
Tell that to Donnie Boy 🙂
LOL I don’t think Dildon is bright enough to grasp it. Unless Joe Torroverrated tells hm…. But, Joe didn’t get it either…
I heard this morning that even though, Guerrero is doing great, Donnie is planning on starting Uribe tonight. We shall see but, if that’s the case….DONNIE IS AN IDIOT!!!
Very nice comeback win!! Woo Hoo!
By the way Nelly… who started the rally?
I was wondering myself, but Beav said it last night, how is this an improvement over Haren? Still, we’re only a week in and much remains to be seen. What if we wind up thanking Ned for the odd contract to Guerrero.
I thank Ned already.
Im thinking Uribe wont be playing much 3rd after the AS game, I give it that much time because Donnie will take that long to figure out Alex Guerrero is ready to play!
Sort of down on Uribe, not being ready to play on Saturday, did not get himself prepared to go in for Turner, instead of stretching he comes in and tweaks the leg.
Darwin Barney is the odd man out. He’s going to OK City.
Mariners Lineup complete with their 2015 batting averages
Weeks lf .133
Jackson cf .231
Cano 2b .138
Cruz rf .250
Seager 3b .185
Zunino c .143
Miller ss .227
Bloomquist 1b .000
Iwakuma p .000
Dodgers
Rollins ss .250
Crawford lf .222
Gonzalez 1b .556
Kendrick 2b .321
Grandal c .214
Ethier rf .273
Uribe 3b .231
Pederson cf .280
Huff p .000
Why would they risk Uribe getting more injured by playing him tonight? That’s just stupid… Oh yea Stan Conte is in charge of the training staff.
Yep….and Mattingly is the brilliant manager 🙂
True Tru. In defense of Donnie he had gotten better the beginning of last season – then reverted to his old self come September. I haven’t liked what I’ve seen this season. But I will give him time.
Crap….here we go again!
Back to square one.
Nelson again.
It’s like they are shooting clay pigeons… PULL! PULL! PULL!
Way to go Agon!
Butter & eggs man comes through again.
Well they got that run back.
YAY, ALEX!
Do you believe it?
Your boy hit one.
Everyday Dre!!!
Yay, DRE!
Grandal is killing us.
Both catchers!
True Tru!
Garcia’s resume continues to improve. . .
Yup – he might be the set up guy.
Can we do it??
Alright, alright, alright!!
Let’s do this!!!
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AWESOME!!!!
Another walk off!!
WTG Howie!!!
WOW! WAY TO GO BOYS!
Way to come back boys
WHAT A GAME. GREAT FINISH.
Woo 2 the hoo!!!!!!
Woo-Hoo, win streak!! At least this team doesn’t roll over after the 7th inning like last year.. They keep fighting… Last year we would have lost this game… Good to see Hatcher have a good night… He needed it.. Guerrero should be starting at 3rd indefinately…. Thank you Uribe, but, this guy is getting it done… You weren’t….
And, I loved Ethier in RF and Puig sitting… He needs a nice taste of reality… And Andre got it done… A hit, a run, and and RBI…
Dildon will figure out a way to muck it up however….
He always does muck things up.
Heck, I would dangle Puig in a trade… You can have Puig for a great bunch of prospects and you have to take Crawford. The only way it goes down is if they eat Crawfords contract… I’m good with Ethier in RF against righties…
Think about it…
I think they are more solid and play with “chemistry” when Dre is in there. However, Donnie will play Puig, even if he drops below the Mendoza line. He’s a bit too erratic for me….so, I wouldn’t mind trading him (we’d get a ton in return) and, I’d also play Guerrero and make Uribe the bench man.
I’m with you. I think Puig is way overrated and a head case… I would unload him while the price is high… Dildon will ride Puig way below the Mendoza line because the powers that be think he is great.. They need to wake up. He ain’t that great.
I’d also strongly consider trading Puig and going with Ethier. If Puig will settle down a little bit and start using his head for something besides a hat rack, keep him, if not,adios. Either way Ethier needs to be in the mix.
I am totally with you Griz!!!
Sorry to disagree, but I like Puig, I feel he’s fine…and a keeper. There’s a guy hitting .368 down in San Diego but I won’t beat a dead horse. Now as for Donnie……..!?!?!?! He said “Uribe would not lose his third-base job to Guerrero based on a small early sample. You don’t just toss him aside. A couple games are not going to change what we’re trying to do.” Sorry, again, but what you’re trying do is win games…even in April. Play Guerrero and Ethier until they inevitably cool…but play them. Right now they bring much more to the table than Uribe and Crawford. As for the “toss him aside” remark, what about Ethier the last year and half? I would hate to play for Mattingly. But then, unfortunately, I guess that’ll never be a problem for me!! 🙂
If I understood Vin last night, CC is the best hitter (I think he was referring to his BA) in baseball since August 2014. That was a surprise to me. I’m sure others heard this.
I think if Uribe doesn’t start hitting I agree, Donnie should start thinking about switching him with Guerrero.
I think Ethier would hit if he played a lot more often.
Debate Ethier vs. Puig all you like. I don’t think Puig is going away.
Here’s what I want more of:
Guerrero .417/.385/1.000/1.385
The guy knows how to hit major league pitching. Let Uribe be the defensive replacement, bring him in during the seventh inning, after Guerrero has already put us in a 7-0 lead.
Great game last night. Huff did not last long. Mariners don’t seem to string a lot of hits together. It is boom with the bat and runs via the HR. So we get lucky that not many runners on base when they launch. A Donnie pat: Alex put in and PH HR for Huff., So Huff gets the short leash and Dodgers get some runs on that move. and Donnie stuck with Nicasio, after a 3 walk inning, he came back the next inning to strike out 2. and some redemption for hatcher, who Donnie put in to finish the howell inning and then left him in for the 8th with a 1,2,3 inning. Last year Donnie left starters in too long, and switched up bullpen too quickly, last night he hit the right buttons.
Third Base: Its obvious to me AG should be there not Uribe, but yes some respect for Uribe, so a bit of time to get it together, but I think those that play regularly will develop, I would play AG more, as he is “Cuba Experienced” and just seems to be seeing the ball well. Which brings me to the OF, yes the DRE lovers ( and I am one) can enjoy last night the 1 Hit, 1 RBI, 1 HR, but Dre cannot run or throw like Puig. Crawford batted 300 last year, he is currently batting 280, yea and he cannot run or throw like Puig. The Crawford /Dre debate should be settled with RVS, give him more playing time. There is not really an outfield problem if the chosen 3 of that day play well. Puig will heat up, he does seem rather statuesque at the plate, stiff, not loose, not ready to pull the trigger. Puig Potential is not something I would trade, Dre and Crawford have the experience but their best is known to me, and they are both past prime, unless they want to show me different. Yea my ideal OF would be SVS, Joc and Puig. I don’t cringe seeing Dre or Crawford play.
Can We Sweep!!! Go Dodgers I like what I see lately.
I totally agree with you! Give Donnie credit – he made the correct moves and didn’t over manage. I hope he continues to do this.
For all the TV addicts, Dodgers are on ESPN2 tonight…no blackout in LA.
Lineup vs. Taijuan Walker (RHP)
Rollins SS
Grandal C
Gonzalez 1B
Kendrick 2B
Ethier RF
Van Skyle LF (Dodgers misspelled his name!)
Uribe 3B
Pederson CF
Anderson P
Dodgers’ Twitter person was so shocked that Crawford is sitting that they misspelled SVS’ name!
Dodgers claimed Ryan Dennick from the Reds and, DFAd Huff.
They also brought up Frias.
Got the game on the tube, while listening to Vin on the radio broadcast.
Life is good!
WTG DRE!!!
….AND SVS TOO!
He just missed that one!
Not every day ‘Dre and SVS draw first blood.
Nice catch!!
Joc is turning into a stud in center!
So cool listening to Newcombe in the booth chatting. What a treat! I love baseball!
I remember him speaking at my high school, talking about the dangers of drinking & driving. As a recovering alcoholic, he brought a lot of his own insight. A great man. When I got home, I mentioned his visit to my dad. He was crushed he didn’t get to see him. This was back in 74 long before cell phones.
Cool memory!
AGon makes it 4-0
Nice to come home to see we don’t have to come back……yet. It’s still early, but good so far.
What’s happening NJ?!
Dodgers Baseball….that’s what’s up!
Damn Cruz!!
5 Straight games for Cruz.
Nice throw by Pederson.
Dre wants to play.
I hope they can hold on.
Ruh Roh!!!
Whoa! What a break!!
I’ll say!
Wow! That could have been much worse.
Cano must have been napping. . .
PHEW!!!
You git that right!
Oh don’t ya know Robbie Cano!!! I guess that was referring to how many outs there are.
Here goes Donnie with the bullpen again!
Paco was doing fine!!
For once it worked out…Hatcher did fine.
Hatcher looked great tonight.
Uribe looks lost at the plate!
Yup.
He still looks good on the field however! Nice pick!!
I think they need to move Joc up in the lineup…..wherever the catcher is batting (either one) I’d switch them!
I was scratching my head when I saw Donnie put Grandall in the 2 spot for tonight’s line up.
I agree. Joc should be moved up.
That’s funny… I was trying to figure the thinking out with that as well. I guess he is banking on him getting good pitches to hit being in front of A-Gone.
Are you really surprise? Tonight lineup should had Kendrick batting 2nd, SVS 4th and Grandal 6th so since Donny is so in love with the left/right thing.
I still don’t like Gonzalez in that 3rd hole and with Kemp and Hanley gone should bat 4th. Kendrick needs to bat 2nd/3rd or maybe 5th/6th but since I hate that he should bat 2nd and with Puig playing Puig moved down to 3rd. SVS should had been batting in the cleanup spot on Monday not Grandal since we all know SVS kill LHP. The last time Rodney pitched at DS was 2 years ago when the Rays and Price had a 6-0 lead and this was a year before he had one of the best season as a closer.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN201308090.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=kendrho01&year=Career&t=b
I find this strange that Kendrick hit better batting cleanup.
I would agree with most of this ^^^.
Juan’s bat has been a dud, but not his glove!
YES.
SWEEP!!!!
That does it.
Nice series…now, let’s do the same to the Rockies starting Friday!
Woo-Hoo, win streak!!! And, a sweep. Andre is looking good Tru… Of course Dildon will screw it all up by Friday.
Of course he will!
LOL I wish I was joking… Geez!!
How come Howell didn’t get a save?
There was already an out when he came in…and with a three-run lead and nobody on, he never had the potential to face the tying run. Had there been no outs, he would have earned the save. At least I think that’s the answer?!?!?!??!!?!?!
Yes he came in with 1 out in the 9th and never faced the tying run since the scored was 5-2 instead of 5-3. That why you see closers started the 9th with a 3 runs lead and no out instead of 1 out. If he given up b2b hits with 1 out and got the DP he still wouldn’t get credit with the save since you can’t create a save opp.
Thanks guys, I don’t recall ever seeing that situation before.
Glad too see Nelson Cruz and Cano leave town.
In the continuing TV disaster, Magic Johnson, ala Kasten and Walter, seems to be insensitive and clueless, adding more fuel to the fire by saying the problem has not damaged the Dodger brand. He obviously hasn’t talked to me or my friends.
“No, it’s not hurting us,” Johnson said. “There are things going on,” Johnson said, offering no specifics. “There are meetings. There are people talking. There’s nothing we can tell you right now. But we are trying. We are working hard.”
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Magic continues to disappoint me with statements such as this. I agree, even if there really was nothing the Dodgers could do about this situation (and until something convinces me otherwise, I still maintain the Dodgers have some influence), to shove the problem aside like he seems to be doing is poor PR. Can anyone tell me what Magic actually does for the Dodgers?
I am not anti Kemp but I understand some of the reasons for trading him, although I am not happy he is in a Padre uniform and I agree it does not seem the Dodgers got much in return while still paying his salary. We will never know if he was a clubhouse problem or not but clearly he was popular with the fans. I do think he and Donnie had a problem when Donnie moved Kemp out of center field. Funny how Andre also had a problem but somehow managed to handle it different.
But let’s look at the obvious problem. The Dodgers had too many outfielders and management does not consider Van Slyke an everyday player. Joc Pederson is a younger, cheaper, and clearly much better defensive player who has so much upside compared to Kemp at the present time. Ethier has proved he can come off the bench as well. I know I was a bit skeptical about Pederson’s offense at the start of the season but he has had some great at bats and taken some key walks.
Puig still baffles me. The Dodgers know he is a big draw and has so much raw talent but one has to wonder how long management can tolerate things if Puig’s offense continues to be a problem. We will see.
They say winning solves a lot of problems. We will see about that too but I agree with others that the team on the field does seem better than last year’s version if the pitching holds up.
I don’t know about the clubhouse presence, but, they traded Kemp at the right time… Sell high… Maybe we should have gotten more, but Kemps’ health is a serious issue… Kemp is a huge risk going forward for the Puds… And we are only on the hook for a few million this year.. After that, it’s on them… I say, Good Luck. I don’t think he will hold up..
As for Puig, I would sell high. Someone will take him and give up some great prospects. As well as taking Crawford off our hands…. I think Puig is overrated and I would be looking to cash in while he still has a lot of value… Another year or so of being exposed by major league pitching and we won’t be able to get squat for him… JMO..
Start Ethier in left or right. Just do it.. He will do as well as anyone else you can start. I guarantee you, he is motivated….
When I first heard of the Kemp trade I was shocked. Like most of you I knew nothing about the clubhouse distraction. All I knew was that he was getting better health wise in the second half of last season. I was expecting them to trade Ethier who was showing no improvement hitting against left handed pitching and also lost most of his power home run wise. I also couldn’t get over the fact that he was traded within the division. Right now I’d say I’m getting over the initial shocks but maybe because the team is winning.
Let’s face it, they saddled themselves with some horrendous contracts with Kemp, Crawford and Dre, plus they had to get rid of an OFer somehow. That situation wasn’t viable again this year. No one was/is going to take Crawford or Dre unless we give them away and pay all but 2-3 million of their salaries per year. Kemp was the only one who had any trade value, and my guess with his legs is, they got what they could get. Look at the Puds OF – they’re awful. I can’t imagine Kemp in the OF in another 2 years. Kemp had too much money left on the contract to justify that big a defensive liability so they had to eat enough to deflate it back to what he should be making. My guess is, that’s the best package they could’ve gotten or they wouldn’t have done it. Friedman’s no fool.
Its going to take them another year or two to transition out of Ned’s mistakes and into the kind of organization they want from Rookie ball to the ML club. I miss Kemp. He was one of the few on the team you stopped what you were doing to watch his ABs. But ridding themselves of one of the big contracts and getting something useful in return was one of the small steps that had to be taken.
And I bet the payroll drops at least $100M next year.
“It is better to trade a player a year too early, rather than a year too late.”
– Branch Rickey
I think this philosophy applies to Matt Kemp but am not sure it applies to Puig. Yasiel has taken his coaches advice and is having better at bats, shortening his swing in pitcher’s counts and laying off more down and away sliders. He is still young and has upside.
While I admired Kemp’s power and speed in his early days, I was never a fan of his playing style and off the field presence. A few years ago, I had an email conversation with Steve Lyons wondering why baseball talked of five tool players, but not of the sixth tool, intelligence, which Steve called baseball instincts.
I’ve commented over the years about my intolerance of mental mistakes, especially on the base paths and in the field. From my point of view, Matt was never the sharpest knife in the drawer. In fighter pilot parlance, I thought Kemp lacked situational awareness, as evidenced by him running full speed into a fence and wrecking his shoulder. Of course, he is not the only outfielder to do that. Maybe I am naive and don’t understand the pressure to perform at the major league level, but it seems to me that a big part of the job is to assess the situation, where you are now, the trajectory of the ball, and where you need to be to make a catch.
I remember Jason Repko crashing full speed against the wall going after a ball that landed six rows up in the bleachers. Was he trying to impress the coaches with his hustle? I don’t know, but he impressed me with his stupidity and recklessness. Is it better for a player to make a full out dive going after a ball with a questionable chance of getting there in time, missing it and having it roll to the wall for a triple, or to realize that there is only a 10% chance of catching it and letting it drop for a hit? The answer to that depends on the situation, and recognizing that is also part of the sixth tool.
When Kemp didn’t calculate where the wall was and crashed against it, he not only ruined his shoulder, sapping his power for over a year, but also reduced his team’s chance to make it to the World Series.
Matt’s boneheaded baserunning has caused me stress over the years, but the play where he was doing a colonoscopy with his head, failed to run on time, then finally going and making a desperate lunge on the last stride, injuring his ankle, takes the cake. Just by not paying attention to the game, he wrecked his ability to get a good jump on the ball and his running speed, most likely forever.
So, while I will miss Kemp’s bat at times, I won’t miss it at other times when flails away at a low and outside slider instead of shortening up his swing to get a fraction of a second more to recognize that the pitch will be outside or to just put the ball in play. I’ll take Rollins and Kendricks over Kemp in a clutch situation. Yes, there will be much less chance of a three run homer, but much greater chance of a base clearing double.
Matt has been great at recognizing and helping fans in need, literally giving the shirt off his back, along with his cap and shoes to a wheelchair bound boy. Two big thumbs up for that. At other times, he shows a little too much swagger for my tastes. I really didn’t care for his answers to interview questions with the inane cliche “It is what it is.”, but I guess it is better than telling the interviewer to go fuck off.
By trading Kemp, the Dodgers cleared the way to promote Joc Pederson, got a big offensive upgrade at catcher, enabled the trade for Jimmy Rollins by flipping Zach Eflin, improved the defense, and got rid of a substantial amount of long term salary. I can live with that.
good discussion-Its not easy to be GM, and we hope our GM is looking to get the best players on the current field and positioning the team for the future- hence the dodgers will go younger and cheaper, without compromising talent or competitiveness.
So we need no history lesson here, from McBankrupt and the minors depletion of talent, handing out desperation contracts to maintain a core and revolving display of marginal talent. Then the Dodgers are thrust with $$$$, thus the need for immediate impact, hence a HANRAM deal, and the Boston plunge with A-gon the prize, and must keep Kershaw, and lets add Grienke, and open our wallets to the Cuban talent. Crawford, Kemp, Dre and Puig were all a result of this, mostly on Colletti. Joc turns out to be the model of what they want, and what I like to see also, young talent that is MLB ready. Joc got what Puig should of had, good foundational minor league experience in the USA. Yes culture and language may be a factor with Puig, that he is only just experiencing that now. Rollins and Kendrick are reactions by brain trust to remain competitive, soon their positions will be filled with seger-like youngsters. I was surprised to see DRE on the 25 man and not DFA. I repeat, I don’t see an OF problem if the chosen 3 starters produce, and with an abundance, if one of the starters isn’t producing, well that may be solved with a replacement (yes within game or next game).
Regarding Kemp, one of my favorites, and between banging in Coors wall and the injured ankle on poor base running, he wasn’t a 5 tool anymore, but if he is a “distraction” (assessment: Cannot cover the CF position as well) then he needs to accept and not be prideful about it. And understand I do not know these speculative comments I make, but like a Milton Bradley, the whiners must go.
Clubhouse positive and supportive helps win a WS. yes Talent is needed, but right now I can see both Puig and Pederson putting up better numbers than any other OFs we have.