Recalling 5 of the Worst Trades in Recent Dodgers History

Published on by Dennis Schlossman

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(Editor’s Note: Some previous content was used when compiling this post.)

Since officially moving to Los Angeles in 1958, many player trades occurred that were instrumental in winning 11 National League pennants and five World Series championships. However, along with the deals that were beneficial came the deals that were dreadful. Consequently, people often wonder what may have transpired if a number of these trades could have been undone.

A little over eight years ago, I put together a list of over 50 trades that were seemingly detrimental to the club since relocating to the West Coast. Amidst that group were several deals orchestrated by former general manager Ned Colletti. At the time, a handful appeared to be somewhat haphazard, most notably the Carlos Santana for Casey Blake swap in 2008; but for the most part, flanked by his scouting gurus Logan White and De Jon Watson, many of the trades proved to be mostly unharmful in the end. In the same breath, Andrew Friedman and his troops have yet to be criticized much, although initially, the deal which sent Dee Gordon to the Marlins was embraced with a huge amount of scrutiny.

This year we thought it would be interesting to narrow down the timeline even further, looking at five of the more disastrous deals in recent history. For the sake of having a relatively concrete timeline, we’ve marked the date of the 1988 World Series title as the starting point and began our contemplating from there.

Although some of the transactions listed may seem more prominent than others, the logic used in the rankings is based on the players’ ability at that time and into the future, weighted against what the Dodgers actually received in return.

If any other deals come to mind that you think may have been overlooked, feel free to drop us a line on Twitter or in the comment section below. We hope you enjoy the ride.

 

No. 5—Gary Sheffield Traded to Atlanta Braves (January 25, 2002)

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In a four-player deal that saw pitcher Odalis Perez, outfielder Brian Jordan and reliever Andrew Brown sent to the Dodgers from the Braves, Los Angeles sacrificed their most formidable power threat at the time, Gary Sheffield.

After leaving the Dodgers, Sheffield continued to produce. He hammered 25+ home runs five more times after the trade, scored 100+ four times, and drove in 120+ runs three times. He was also selected to three All-Star teams after his tenure with the Dodgers.

Perez started strongly with Los Angeles before fading and eventually being traded to the Kansas City Royals before the trade deadline in 2006. Brown roamed the Dodgers’ farm system before finally making his MLB debut with the Cleveland Indians four years later.

Jordan never lived up to his expectations in Los Angeles, and was granted free agency after the 2003 season.

 

No. 4—Dave Roberts Dealt to Red Sox for Henri Stanley (July 31, 2004)

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In the waning moments of the 2004 trade deadline, the Dodgers traded speedy outfielder Dave Roberts to the Boston Red Sox for an aging 26-year-old outfield prospect in Henri Stanley.

Roberts had been a staple atop of the Dodgers batting order for three seasons, and upon settling in Boston, contributed mightily during the Red Sox playoff run that same season, most notably the infamous stolen base in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.

In 2006, Roberts went on to produce his signature campaign with the San Diego Padres. During that season, he hit .293/.360/.393 with 13 triples, 49 stolen bases, and 44 RBI in 129 games. And we all know how much of an outstanding manager he turned out to be.

Stanley never made it out of the minor leagues.

 

No. 3—Mike Piazza sent to the Florida Marlins (May 15, 1998)

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In the summer of 1998, the Dodgers were very instrumental in helping the Marlins virtually disseminate their entire organization.

On May 15, Los Angeles sent their franchise player, Mike Piazza, along with third baseman Todd Zeile to the (then) Florida Marlins in exchange for Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, and Manuel Barrios.

Within a week, Piazza was traded by the Marlins to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz.

In six seasons with the Dodgers, Piazza was selected to six All-Star squads, was named as the MVP of the 1996 All-Star Game, earned six Silver Slugger Awards, and won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1993.

Piazza’s signature season with the Dodgers came in 1997 when he hit an insane .362/.431/.638 with 40 home runs, 32 doubles, 104 runs scored and 124 RBI.

He was enshrined in Cooperstown in July of 2016 wearing the hat of the Mets.

Besides the glove of Johnson behind the dish, the only other positive for the Dodgers was acquiring Sheffield. Sheffield’s benchmark year in Los Angeles arrived in 2000 when he hit .325 with 105 runs scored, 24 doubles, 43 home runs, and 109 RBI, while posting an impressive slugging percentage of .643.

 

No. 2—Paul Konerko traded for Jeff Shaw (July 4, 1998)

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In order to fill an urgent vacancy in the Dodgers’ bullpen, Tommy Lasorda, during his short stint as Dodgers’ GM, dealt first baseman Paul Konerko and pitcher Dennys Reyes to the Cincinnati Reds in July of 1998 in exchange for closer Jeff Shaw.

Konerko was only halfway through his rookie season when he was traded. The Dodgers had absolutely no idea of the first baseman’s potential at that point in time.

Konerko was later named as an All-Star on four occasions, and his benchmark season came in 2006 with the Chicago White Sox when he hit .313 with 97 runs scored, 30 doubles, 35 home runs and 113 RBI. Konerko would go on to play 18 big league seasons, recording 2340 career hits, 439 home runs, 1162 runs scored and 1412 RBI.

Reyes was an effective middle-man for nine different clubs over the course of his 14-year MLB career.

Shaw became the primary closer for Los Angeles over four seasons and retired after his 2004 campaign.

 

No. 1—Pedro Martinez Dealt to the Montreal Expos (November 17, 1993)

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Finally, former Dodgers GM Fred Claire gets credited with making the worst trade in the history of the franchise.

In November of 1993, Claire dealt pitcher Pedro Martinez to the Expos in exchange for second baseman Delino DeShields.

Martinez was only 21 years of age when he left Los Angeles. He eventually developed into one of the most successful power-pitchers that the game has ever seen.

Among his most notable achievements are his three AL Cy Young Awards and his eight All-Star appearances, as well as his Triple Crown Award in 1999. He led the American League in ERA four times, led the AL in strikeouts three times, and led the AL in wins with 23 in 1999. He is a member of the Hall of Fame class of 2015.

DeShields’ career as a Dodger lasted four seasons and was mediocre at best. During that span, his numbers per season averaged out to a .255 batting average with 115 hits, four home runs, and 35 RBI.

DeShields left Los Angeles after being granted free agency in 1996 and eventually retired in 2001.

 

90 thoughts on “Recalling 5 of the Worst Trades in Recent Dodgers History”

  1. Good choices. But I still rate losing Piazza as the worst. Sheffield was a good hitter but admitted he did not play hard all the time. That was not in Piazza’s DNA. Johnson although a good defensive catcher, could not hit my granny and she is dead. Eisenreich was still dealing with his playing in front of crowds issues. Bonilla was worthless. People talk about how bad a clubhouse guy Kemp was. Sheffield was down right unlike-able. Never warmed to him in a Dodger uni and was glad when he left the team. He is another suspected PED user who still has not punched his hall ticket.

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  2. Konerko to the Sox was not great, but Lasorda was no GM. He actually did not like Pedro too much as a starter and thought he was too small to last. So much for talent spotting acumen. As for Collletti. with the owner he was serving, he had to be pretty creative since the money was very tight. I think his free agent choices, especially Jones and Schmidt were far more damaging than any trades he made.

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  3. Dodgers announced the signing of OF Ezequiel Carerra to a minor league deal. Formerly with the Blue Jays. Hit .282 with 8 homers and 20 RBI’s for the Jays last year in 131 games. Career .262 hitter. Bats left.

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  4. I HATE the infamous Jody Reed, he asked for way to much from the dodgers( I think he wanted 11 mil for three years, but settled for one year for less than one mil) so the team traded for Delino to fill the hole left by a freakin greedy, no good, lousy, Jerky Reed. I feel better now. You should have mentioned Jody in your article Dennis. Bear, Dennis got it right Pedro was a way more important/impactful player than piazza was, and I say that as a big piazza fan.

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    1. It is all perception there Keith. I think an everyday player, especially one of Piazza’s caliber is more valuable than a pitcher, even one as good as Pedro. As a catcher he impacts every game, Pedro as a starter once every 5th day. All those heroics he did for the Mets, he would have been doing in a Dodger uni. He averaged .296 and hit 220 homers. He drove in over 650 runs. Just think how much happier he would have been staying in the organization that believed in him in the first place. That trade was on FOX. They made some really bad decisions when they took over. Trading Piazza was the worst.

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  5. Sorry, hate may be a little to strong a word to use, but jody definitely gives me heart burn whenever I see Pedro on television, and think we traded him away.

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      2. He did not do real well in the HOF voting. I think most of it has to do with his attitude. He really disliked Matt Kemp.

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  7. I am sorry, but I cannot personally rate the Doc Roberts trade as a bad trade. Without Roberts going to Boston late 2004, my son would not have a WS ring. So while it may not have helped LAD, the family loved it.

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  8. The Piazza trade bothered me the most. We KNEW what he was worth to this organization and this city and traded him anyway. Nobody knew what Pedro was going to become. None of those other deals chafed me near what Piazza did.

    Where you been jef?

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      5. If retirement is what you want Jef, I hope you can do it in the near future. Then you can join the Grumpy Ol’ Fart Gang. Charter Members: Scoop, Bear, Jeff D.

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  9. In my mind, Piazza is by far the worst trade. Pedro had one nice season before his trade but Deshields had gotten both ROY votes and MVP votes in his time with the Expos so that trade was excusable on some level. Konerko did not perform well in his short time here and didn’t perform well for the Reds after the trade. He only got good after they traded him to the White Sox. The Piazza trade was made to save Fox some money. And they pissed off Piazza so much that he went into the HOF as a Met even though his total performance was better for the Dodgers.

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  11. I remember goingtp the Astrodome every year to watch Piazza, Nomo and Mondesi play Biggio, Bagwell and Shane Reynolds pitch for Houston. Good memories it seems like ages ago now.

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  12. For any Keith Law fans out there, someone asked him on his chat today if he thought it would be a good idea to trade Ruiz for 2 years of JTR. He did not. And he thought that AF wouldn’t do it. I’m a big Keith Law fan when he agrees with me and this is one of those times.

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      1. I subscribed to it but for some reason haven’t gotten it lately. Can you post a link?
        As you know he writes a Dodger column for a couple of the local papers here in L.A. He wrote a great article today on the retirements of Rob Segedin and Lars Anderson. Mr. Hoornstra has some real writing talent. I expect him to find his way to the Athletic at some point.
        https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/30/hoornstra-for-two-former-major-leaguers-retiring-at-age-30-beckoned-in-different-ways/

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      2. I’ll forward you a copy through email. I don’t think he links it up to anything, but there may be a hyperlink to subscribe. Lars is my buddy. I talk to him through messenger and email several times per year.

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    2. No way. Ruiz will be the better player in two years at 22 years old that Realmuto is at 27 and for a fraction of the cost with many years of team control left.

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  13. Thanks Jeff D. That was a great article on Segedin and Anderson. We forget the great majority of professional baseball players don’t all retire with 50 mil in the bank Wishing the best to both of them in their new lives

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    1. I always liked Segedin. At least he got his 15 minutes of fame with the Dodgers, but it was literally just about 15 minutes. Also had the thrill of having Vinnie announce the birth of his child. Given the choice, he probably would have rather had the 50 mil you were speaking about, but ya gotta take what life gives you!

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      1. Injuries derailed Segedin the last couple of years. He has not played a full season in a while. Meanwhile in other news, former Dodger pitcher, Chase DeJong DFA’d by the Twins today and Matt Reynolds signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. My buddy Gary who lives out in Lancaster, was born in Brooklyn, and raised on Dodger baseball is having surgery in the morning to remove his big toe. He has a bad foot infection caused by his diabetes.

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  14. I wish Realmuto would just get traded somewhere now so I don’t have to think about that anymore. I don’t understand why Friedman is even considering this when he has a starter in Barnes that 80% of teams in MLB would love to have as their starting catcher this year versus what they currently have and then you have a switch hitting possible star in the making no more than a year away who, by the way, you won’t have to pay for 5-6 years.

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  15. Somewhere yesterday I saw an all unsigned team. Looks like a team that would be competitive.

    Feels like this year is different as far as how long this is taking. We are only a couple weeks out from the start of Spring Training. But it might be like this every year.

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    1. It’s clear there is a standoff of sorts between free agents and ownership. Owners are unwilling to hand out the ever increasing huge contracts so the big free agents stay on the market longer. 5-6 years ago Harper and Machado would have long been signed. I applaud it. These contracts were getting out of hand with every player wanting to outdo the guy before him in being the highest paid. It will be interesting to see if this lingers into the season. I think some team will end up getting a deal on a few guys left on the market, namely Dallas Kuechel. It’s clear however that Machado isn’t getting $300 million and neither is Bryce and Craig Kimbrel isn’t getting 6 years like he wants.

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  16. Alex, I understand a lot of people think players are over paid, but the amount of total player salary has gone down over the past 10 years from in the mid fifty percentage to forty percent recently, of gross revenues, I’m not going to feel sorry for a bunch of billionaires, that say they are not making enough money, or they are losing money, if that was true why are so many people trying to buy teams whenever they come up for sale. The Dodgers are supposedly worth three billion dollars now, the Guggenheim group bought them for two billion, that’s a pretty tidy profit for such a short time. Some people think if the players didn’t get payed so much, ticket prices would be cheaper, that’s crap, owners haven’t lowered any ticket prices during this time that player salaries have been trending down, have they? Sorry to tell you this, but all of these billionaire owners are greedy, that’s how they became billionaires in the first place, The players should get all they can while they can, they have a very narrow earning window. if you haven’t noticed the trend the, a large percentage of players don’t get to free agency unti they are in their late twenty’s or early thirties, none of the teams want to give a contract to a player over thirty, so a lot of the journey men, veteran players, are not getting paid what they are worth, or having to take one year contracts.

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    1. What I haven’t seen mentioned regarding average salaries, is there seems to be a greater percentage of younger players coming into MLB earlier. There lower salaries offset hire veteran salaries of players teams are no longer willing to pay for their average to mediocre performance. It would be interesting to see that analysis. I would suspect that players in MLB for say 8 years and longer still have higher average salaries than ever just fewer of them.

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  17. Read a story yesterday. Rosenthal implied that the players may be planning a work stoppage. They are not too happy with the way their top boys have been treated this winter. Obviously they think the owners should have opened the bank for Machado and Harper, and that they both should be rolling in dough by now. As far as ballplayers making money, well we all know that your average MLB draftee does not have a great shot at making it big. I do not remember the exact percentages of players who actually make it to the majors, but it is pretty low. The average career of a big leaguer is right at about 5 years. The major league minimum is 550,000. So, they could make 2.5 in 5 years. A lot of us would like that kind of scratch. The more sought after players who are drafted in the first round usually get some pretty decent signing bonus’s. Segedin to my knowledge, never played a full season in the majors, so he never got that full MLB contract. Some international players fare a lot better since many of them get some big money just for signing. But your average Joe usually never gets close to being a millionaire. But I disagree with Keith that they are not getting paid what they are worth. They are in the same boat as actors, musicians and such. They are entertainers paid for the entertainment they bring. The more talented ones get more money. How many ballplayers out there are actually worth more than 1,000,000 a year? We would love to be making that kind of money. They get tons of freebies when they get to the big’s and when they go on the road, they get per diem. With all the money they make, they get their meals paid for. They stay in the nicest hotels on the road and fly on charter aircraft. Should they get as much as they can while they can? Yep. if the owners want to pony up and pay, I have no problem with it. But the owners are not footing all the bill. It is the fans who do that. How long do you think the guys who own the Rays and the Marlins, the two worst attended teams in the majors are going to just sit there and lose money year after year? Tampa actually reduced the amount of available seats in the stadium to just over 25,000. The Dodgers draw close to twice that in a night. And the ticket prices keep going up. Back in the day, when O’Malley owned the Dodgers, field level seats were 12.50, that included the ones directly behind home plate. Now we all know nothing is cheap anymore. But those seats now go for 63.00 and up. Parking is about 20 depending on where you park. Seats behind the dish? Forget about it. They are for season ticket holders only and then only the very very rich.

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  18. Bear, if all of the Tampa Bays of the league are doing as bad as you think, why did the marlins, who are in a similar market, just sell for a billion dollars last year? They are making money, a smart business man doesn’t invest a billion dollars to lose money, THEY ARE MAKING MONEY. Bear you are always talking about drinking Andrews Koop-aid, I contend anyone who thinks the players are getting paid too much is drinking the owners kool-aid.
    Alex please don’t take my rant personal, I respect your opinions, it’s just getting upsetting that fans are always enamored with how much players make, but fans never seem to get upset with ownership, on how much they make, maybe Harper isn’t worth 300 mil, but do you think it was fair that the McCourts made 1.6 Billion for an eight year investment. Nobody is worth 200 mil per year especially the McCourts.

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    1. I know the owners are making money. I also know McCourt almost put the Dodgers in bankruptcy before the team was sold. They were this close to MLB taking the team over the same as they did the Expos. The Marlins sold for a billion and then got rid of all their major assets so they are in essence rebuilding the entire franchise from the bottom up. And what the hell is Koop aid? No, I do not like the way Friedman does things. But that’s just me. I do not try to tell other people what to think. I am expressing what I feel. But thinking players are paid too much? Well, I understand they get what they can while they can, but I do not think anyone in any sport should be making the amounts of money these guys get. There are a lot of athletes who share the wealth with endowments and stuff, so that’s cool. Owners are billionaires for the most part. Players are millionaires. Fans are barely able to afford going to games anymore. How long before that trickle down effect hits a wall? Upset with ownership? If you read most blogs there are people who are not only pissed off with Friedman, but they are really pissed off that Guggenheim gave Andrew the word to keep under the CBT. If the fans had their way, Machado, Harper, and Realmuto would already be in Dodger blue along with Kluber. The owners made 500 mil in profits this year alone, so that is a lot more than McCourt made. Baseball is a business. And the owners treat it as such. They start losing money they are going to bail, or cut bait with the millionaires who play the game. Fans get attached to players, and that’s where all the money from souvenirs comes from. But as far as Ol Andy goes, I do not think he is the genius everyone says he is. He has made mistakes, they all do. He has had some success out of those not on the radar, but his so called big name pick ups have not panned out as expected. He has a propensity for hospital ward cases. And he inherited a pretty good team. He should get credit for the good moves, and he should be taken to task for his blunders. He is doing what ownership asked. I totally get that, and I know the owners are in it for profit. but do not sit there and pass judgement on what I think. I will not do that to you. I have been watching this game a long long time. This team has been a part of my life for well over 60 years. I know its history as good or better than most. i also think the game as played today is not nearly as good as it was years ago. This brand of Dodger baseball is not all that exciting and they traded the most exciting and controversial player they had. I continue to be a fan, but i am not nearly as deeply invested as I once was simply because they priced themselves right out of my ability to pay.

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  19. Bear, I agree with everything you say about everything being to expensive at the ball parks, but it’s not the players fault. If the players all played for the league minimum the prices would be the same, owners are going to charge the maximum amount they can no matter what the players make.

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  20. The fault lies with the consumer. We are an entertainment obsessed society and that’s why the entertainers and entertainment industry makes the money they do!

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  21. More rant,
    Percentage of total revenue players receive
    NBA 49%- 51%
    NHL 50%
    NFL 47%
    MLB 40%*
    MLBs percentage is harder to pin down, according to MLB, the players are making around 50%, but according to Scott Boras, MLB does not include the money it earns through MLB advanced media, or Mlbs 67% ownership, in the MLB channel, in their calculations. I know a lot of people hate Boras, but he is a smart lawyer, he wouldn’t make a statement like that if he couldn’t back it up. I got the 40% number from an article that was referring to an article fangraphs put out a couple of years ago, and was up dated by deadspin last year.
    So it’s my humble opinion, that MLB players are under paid compared to their contemporaries, and if anybody is making it too expensive to go to a ball park, or aren’t worth the money they’re getting, or are ruining our beloved game, it is greedy ownership. Hey they have the right to make money, but they need to admit they are making money, and quit acting like they are all going broke.
    Don’t you guys think it’s a little funny that everyone knows how much players make, but nobody knows how much the owners make? Or what about how owners have their teams broken up into dozens of entities, so they can control which entity is making money and which entity is losing money?

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  23. Thx Keith. Not only how much the owners make but how much their franchises value appreciates over time! I wish my investments got that return for me!!!!!

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    1. Hey Keith, you’ve really built up a head of steam today and you’ve raised some good points. Just one question: what kind of work do you do that you can’t do it when it rains? Are you in construction?

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  25. Nobody really gives a rats ass what percentage of the revenue the players get. Baseball is different because they have more streams of revenue than most of the other sports. They also play more than twice the amount of games as the NBA or NHL, and 10 times more than the NFL.

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    1. Really Rich>? What I really think? I think the game of today is not the game I learned to play. While some players are very skilled and for sure athletic. Most lack basic baseball fundamental skills. Puig had that problem and they never could get him to see the reasoning behind hitting the cutoff man so to keep the runner from getting in scoring position. He always wanted to show off that gun. Funny thing, he was the 3rd Dodger outfielder I can remember who had a cannon for an arm out there in RF. Furillo was the first. His nickname was the Reading Rifle. I used to watch him make throws from the RF fence at the coliseum during fielding practice. Those throws were on a rope, and Furillo rarely missed the cut off man. The other was Raul Mondesi. Another fundamentally sound player. I wish I could still play. I love the game, always have. It came pretty easy to me even though I could play other sports, I would rather have a bat in my hands any day. The way they play the game, the way they evaluate players and the use of analytics has just turned me completely off to that type of game. Launch angle? All I wanted to do was hit the ball hard and where the defense was not. I actually accomplished something playing softball I never thought I would do. I had a game where I hit 3 homers. Not long after, we were playing a game on what was basically a baseball, not a softball field. I had 3 triples. I was as shocked as anyone because I was not that fast. But I hit the ball where the fielder really had to chase it But to me, my best day at the plate came in a tournament game. I went 4-4, all of them singles, but all 4 hits went to left field. The days of family owned teams, low prices and affordable games is long gone. It is all a business today. I get it, these owners want a return on their investment. But bigger profits, high attendance, does not change the fact that the game is not what it once was.

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  27. Well bear I tried to make a good case to convince you, but I’m not giving up,sooner or later I’m going to make a really good argument, and get you to change your mind about something. Rome wasn’t built in a day
    Jeff, I’m a small concrete contractor in the South Bay, you can’t pour concrete in the rain. We draw a three foot circle on the ground, and when we get three drops in the circle, we start rolling up the tools.

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    1. From the looks of what we got out here in the valley today I’m thinking you got a lot more than three drops. So what’s worse, having a customer scream at you or suffering the Wrath of the Bear? 🙂

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    2. Dream on there Keith….not a snowballs chance in hell. You guys in the south bay must be woos puppies. When i was working for Cemex in Phoenix, it had to rain a lot worse than that to stop us. My sister lives in the south bay in Carson. I am coming out there this spring…we can face off then! LOL.

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    3. Keith I will say that you are persistent. That’s cool. But as far as ever liking anything Ol Andy does, not likely. I have disliked his methods from day one, and as Scoop can tell you, I do not like analytics. I think all this WAR crap has pretty much ruined the game. That being said, I do understand it is how things are done in this day and age. Does not mean I like it. The Dodgers new hitting coach has never played a single game in the majors. Not saying that those guys are the best coaches, but they have experience which just cannot be replaced. And sometimes the guys who were not really successful in the majors as players, are the best hitting coaches because they had to work harder to succeed. I am old school where stats are concerned, I think BA, RBI’s and wins mean something as to the value of a player. The one newer stat I do agree with is BA with RISP> Best one on the Dodgers last season………Matt Kemp. Machado’s was pretty good, but most of that was because of what he did in Baltimore. I thought that was a needless trade. But again, that’s just me. I have never liked one sided deals. 5 for 1, even if they were just prospects for a 3 month rental seemed too much. And I knew they would not try to retain him after he became a free agent. Not with Seager coming back. His BA dropped 40 points from what he did in Baltimore to what he did as a Dodger. His strikeout rate went up too. The fans were happy that Friedman actually went out and got a “IMPACT” player. In my view, Freese was a better pick up because he did not cost a lot, and the guy was nails whenever he played. Nope my friend. You will never change my mind about Sir Andrew. I am too old and grouchy to ever think he is anything more than another stat geek.

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  28. Jeff I haven’t always felt this way, but the last few years have me reevaluating my view on ownership, and player salaries.with team values going thru the roof, and free agents taking smaller shorter contracts, I feel like the owners are manipulating us, and pulling the wool over our eyes. I’m not buying their “ oh poor us we’re not making any money” bull crap any more.

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    1. As a former business owner, I can see both sides. The owners have a huge dollar investment to protect while the players have a relatively short window to make their money. Because of the way the new GM’s are valuing players, their window for earnings is even shorter. I fully expect a work stoppage when the new CBA comes up in 2021. Players will demand a shorter period before they reach free agency and I think that’s fair because they aren’t making nearly as much at the end of their careers as they used to. On the other hand, the teams have an investment in the player to protect so won’t be anxious to cut them loose any sooner than they do now. Therein lies the rub, as they say. Also, and this has nothing to do with the MLB players’ union, something absolutely needs to be done to pay minor leaguers better.

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    1. Beware the Bear! I suggest you guys fight it out. Dueling cement mixers at dawn (except if you see 3 drops of rain). Geez, I remember when every comment was baseball related. I’m probably the most guilty of all at straying, but I’m so damn bored. That should change for the better in a couple of weeks.

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      1. Although it won’t involve the Dodgers at all, I reckon a little tension will be relieved when either Harper or Manny sign. We could see the final days preceding spring camp as being quite busy.

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      2. Totally agree. Assuming that either one of them signs before spring training, the rest of the dominoes will fall in pretty rapid succession. I don’t think it even matters who signs first between Manny and Harper. As soon as one of them signs everything will get moving.

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    2. Wow, now I know you are on some serious meds! Ya got the old part right, but there is nothing Teddy Bearish about me…..although my grandkids think so.

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    1. Hah! Maybe once the dominos start falling I’ll learn how to spell dominos. Are you working on that edit function Dennis?

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  32. The way this off season is going maybe we need a dominos function on this site, so we can play dominos against each other while we are waiting for something to happen. Jeff as a small business myself I get investment/ profit, but the pendulum is leaning to far to the owners side. I think it’s going to get even worse between now and when the CBA expires.

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    1. I think that by the time the contract is up they might as well have Congress negotiate it because it’s going to be similar to the Republicans and Democrats trying to solve their problems. Apparently the word compromise has been stricken from the English language.

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  33. The MLBPA used to be the strongest union in the country, I guess we’re going to see if they have any bite to them anymore or if this generation of players is soft. If management isn’t going to sign 30 year old free agents to decent contracts, players need to try to get to free agency a year earlier. One thing players could do, is quit resigning with their teams when they’re held back to gain that extra year in their first year, like the cubs did to Bryant. Bryant should tell the cubs he won’t sign back with them after they jerked him around, and stole a year from him. That would start to get some teams attention. Take a guy like Barnes for example he’s already 29 I think, he’s never going to get a decent contract, even if he’s as good as bear thinks he’s going to be, by the time he hits free agency, he’ll be too old to get more than a one year contract.

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    1. I said Barnes would be better than most people give him credit for. I think he is a legitimate plus .250 hitter. He has always been a contact guy and he was injured in spring and got so out of rhythm that he never got untracked. He goes back to being a line drive type hitter like he was, and he will be fine. Believe it or not, Barnes has only been in the majors for 1 year and 124 days. He is not eligible for arbitration until 2020. So yeah, he is making the MLB minimum which is 555,000.He did not get to the majors until he was 26. Late bloomers are screwed in a way. Although he is a good ballplayer, Barnes is not a star. He will probably never get a really good deal. At least not in a Dodger uni.

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  34. MLB insider is reporting that Harper is going to visit the Padres this week and that they are seriously considering offering him a contract. It is also reporting that due to this event the Dodgers are now mulling giving him a multiyear deal. I will believe it when I see it, especially after what Kasten said last week at Fan Fest. Brother, if the Pads pulled that off there will be one hell of a stink in Dodger fandom. A lot of really pissed off people.

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    1. When AF was interviewed during Fan Fest he mentioned there were a couple of things he was still working on so as long as Harper hasn’t signed yet there will always be someone who thinks/hopes one of those things could be Harper. It’s far more likely that those two things are two more guys named Quackenbush, but (and don’t tell Bear I said this) they could sign Harper and then put Verdugo into a trade for Kluber. Odds of either of those, let alone both of them happening, 1.03689%, but not zero.

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    2. Actually the Padres brass went to Vegas and visited Harper. For them to sign Harper would be a stab at what they believe to be the Dodgers dominance of the market from SD all the way to Santa Barbara.

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      1. I have no clue what the Padres can spend this year, but can you imagine them signing Harper (or Machado) and then in order to celebrate that, trading some of their excess outfielders plus prospects for Kluber and then using a few more prospects to get Realmuto? Boy would that put fans in the seats at Petco.

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      2. They and the Reds are the 2 most engaged teams on the Realmuto front. Seems the Pads are not afraid to trade their #1 prospect who is a SS I believe. Just think Harper would look pretty bad when they bring back the Brown and Yellow next year…

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      3. I don’t think the Padres would trade Tatis Jr for anyone, certainly not for a couple years of Realmuto. With regard to the Brown and Yellow, that might be enough for Harper to say “no thank you” to signing with them.

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    1. Nothing wrong with being a Puig fan. If nothing else, the guy was the most entertaining and exciting player on the team. Reds fans are going to love the guy, and I believe it is a lock that he will hit more than 30 dingers playing in that band box of a ball park.

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      1. Puig would have exceeded 30 homers the last two years with the Dodgers if he’d been given 600 at bats. 23 in about 400 last year and 28 in I think 499 in 2017. I expect he will hit 35-40 with the Reds if he is healthy.

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  39. I agree whole heartedly with you bear, but I do think it was time for a change of scenery for the wild horse. This is going to be a good move for him, he was probably going to be in a platoon here in LA.

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  40. The absolute worst trade especially if you look back on in it in a few years is the Yordan Alvarez/Astros trade. That is the worst and it wasn’t even mentioned

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    1. Totally disagree. Alvarez had never played a single game for the Dodgers. He was signed a little more than a month before the trade. He did not even make ii to the majors until 2019. Fields on the other hand, was a big piece of the Dodger bullpen for three years. There is no guarantee when you sign someone that they are going to become the player Alvarez has become. He was not even one of the Dodgers top 30 prospects at the time.

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