Hello everyone, and a very pleasant Wednesday to you, wherever you may be.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the baseball community lost an icon Tuesday evening with the passing of Vin Scully. Dennis covered this news here, and we will do our best to carry on without him.
Dwarfed by the passing of Vin is that Tuesday also was the trade deadline for the 2022 season. While some fans may have wanted the Dodgers to go all in for Juan Soto, the Dodgers did not do much to change the dynamics of the team, and for a good reason.
After the San Diego Padres acquired Soto, President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman had this to say “They made their team way better the last couple days. We look forward to that competition.” He went on to say, “It is the most expensive time of the year to acquire players. We feel really good about the team that we have in place.”
And indeed, the Dodgers are in a very good place. Even with Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger not anywhere close to their former selves, Chris Taylor spending half the season on the injured list, and Walker Buehler, Andrew Heaney and Blake Treinen spending big chunks of the season on the IL, they still have a commanding 11.5 game lead in the NL West, and are percentage points ahead of the New York Yankees for the best record in the majors.
In the coming weeks, the Dodgers are set to welcome a bunch of players back to the bigs. Chris Taylor is currently out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City that should last through the week. Treinen is scheduled to throw a simulated game Wednesday in San Francisco. On Monday, Blake remarked that his shoulder was fully healed and it was all about building stamina now.
Dustin May had his first rehab assignment in OKC last Thursday where he went 3.0 innings with no earned runs, allowing two hits and striking out six. He also hit 100mph on the radar gun. He is also scheduled to start Wednesday again for the OKC Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts remarked on Monday that May would get two more starts before he returns to the team.
The Dodgers did make some moves at the deadline, however. They traded prospect LHP Clayton Beeter to the New York Yankees for Joey Gallo. Gallo has not been doing well at the bat so far this season, hitting only .159 with 12 home runs. But, he plays multiple positions and a new start in a city closer to his home of Las Vegas might do a body good. He would be another power left handed bat off the bench, or a lefty DH option, while the other left handed bats of Muncy and Bellinger are slumping.
Gallo was the only major league acquisition, but the Dodgers made two more trades, seemingly to open up roster spots. Jake Lamb was traded to his home town Seattle Mariners for cash considerations or a player to be named later. RHP Mitch White and minor league infielder Alex De Jesus were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league pitchers Nick Frasso and Moises Brito.
The movement of Lamb and White allows both to get more consistent playing time, as there are or will be many players ahead of them at their respective positions. And it opens up spots on the 40-man for those aforementioned players that will be returning to the team, and some changes that will need to be made in the off-season.
The Dodgers didn’t need to make a big splash like the Padres did, because they are already have an incredibly good team. Friedman and company have built this franchise to where they are good at both the major league level and have many prospects to look forward to in the near future. Now the team just needs to go out and win this year for Vin.
I don’t know that any of us can quite understand the Gallo move, but I’ve learned to trust AF when he does things like this. Either it works out or it doesn’t. Not any big risk involved in basically exchanging Lamb for Gallo and now Lamb gets to play at home.
Mitch White served us well while he was here, doing whatever was asked of him. But basically he’ll be replaced by Dustin May next week and I think all of us would make that trade. We may have moments between now and the end of the year where we wish we still had Mitch, but again, he’ll have a better chance to further his career in Toronto and I’m very much intrigued by one of the prospects we got back, pitcher Nick Frasso. He happens to be a local kid (from Torrance) and he’s hit 100 mph on the gun while also having a couple of other good pitches. They’re starting him at Great Lakes and I plan to keep an eye on his progress. Yes prospects are just prospects until they do something, but I’m thinking, come 2024-2025, we may be very happy with that trade.
Good summary Andy of a uneventful day. Now we just wait.
Hey tmax, your boy Vargas is doing great, why didn’t Doc listen to you earlier.😀
It’s fun to watch the enthusiasm Outman, and Vargas play with.
It was very impressive watching Phillips getting out of that bases loaded no out jam, the other day, he has become a solid, reliable part of this bullpen. One thing you can’t take away from AF, he knows how to build a bullpen, he is always tinkering with it, trying to make it better.