Take me to the magic of the moment, On the glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the winds of change
When President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman took over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, he set about building an team capable of being very very good, for a very very long time.
Through trial and error, that team finally arrived in 2017. That team felt special right from the beginning of the season. Personally, I’m always hopeful about my team, but I just knew that team was destined for greatness. And they were. Until.
We won’t rehash what happened in the 2017 World Series, because what’s done is done. But it’s just one of the injustices that befell this team in it’s quest to be a Dynasty. And if the Dodgers had won that year as they should have, then the slow dismantling of that team would not hurt as much.
The Dodgers returned to the World Series in 2018, only to fall short to the Boston Red Sox. 2019 was a stupid early exit, and then, finally, in 2020 they got that elusive championship ring.
But of course that ring came with a caveat, as a little thing called a pandemic happened that year and that championship happened in a bubble. While the players all consider that ring to be legit and it in many ways was harder to attain than other years, there are many that will always view that win as less than.
2021 and 2022 brought record breaking wins and early exits, again. And it also began in earnest the departure of many of that super team. Corey Seager went to Texas. Kenley Jansen went to Atlanta, and now to Boston. Kiké Hernandez to Boston. Cody Bellinger to Chicago. And now, Justin Turner, also to Boston.
Change comes for every team, and fans understand that. And along the way, the Dodgers have added some pretty cool players along the way, like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. And one decidedly not cool signing in that pitcher who will not be named.
The signing of that pitcher also adds to the disappointment of this end of an era. The Dodgers apparently were waiting the outcome of that decision of MLB of a suspension before moving forward with their payroll decisions, supposedly making it too late of a decision for Jansen and his departure. Since the outcome of that pitcher’s appeal is still outstanding, it could have come in to play with this offseason’s moves.
Sports are more heartache that joy, we all know that. The baseball playoffs are something of a crap shoot where rarely the best team wins.
Still.
That 2017 team deserved better. Clayton Kershaw’s one WS ring shouldn’t have a side note to it. And so many players that didn’t end up getting a ring will most likely never get one.
Overall, yes. We are so lucky to be fans of one of the best franchises in all of professional sports, and to have witnessed all the incredible plays and wins that we have over the last decade with this team and these players. It hurts to watch players move on because of various reasons, especially when some of those reasons include a huge mistake the front office made in signing someone with questionable morals, and are replacing a pillar of the Los Angeles community with another of questionable thoughts.
Now, it seems the Dodgers are embarking on a new era, seemingly looking to turn to their young players and up and comers from the farm system. And for all we know, we may be on the precipice of a new dynasty. One that brings more rings in this decade and beyond. Even though it seems in flux right now, I have no doubt the future is still bright for the Dodgers.
But there will always be that heartache for what might have been, and what should have been. That team will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Thanks for the memories, boys. Each and every one.
Nicely put, Andy.
I handled the departure of Corey, Kenley and Belli without too much trouble, but letting go of JT seems harder, somehow.
Every fan interacts with his team and its players differently, but to me, JT was the spirit of the Dodgers. It will take me longer to get over his leaving.
I wish him well, hope he enjoys his stay in Boston, and hope he returns to us in some capacity when his career finally winds down.
I’m absolutely shocked they let Turner go for J.D. Martinez. Turner deserved to retire a Dodger. This just feels all wrong.
I’m old enough to remember Snider and Hodges leaving. And later Garvey and Piazza and many others. Whether Fred agency, trades or whatever it’s always hard seeing our favorite Dodgers change teams.
Wishing both J Turner and Martinez good years. I am guessing the Dodgers did not want to give JT more than a year deal. Plus they have to carve out at bats for the other guys on the roster. Its always better to let a guy go a year too early than too late. But I am sure everyone wishes he was in Dodger Blue. Boston is a great town. With Kike, Kenley and Verdugo I am sure he will have a good time. Isn’t Alanna in Boston somewhere?
But he basically signed a 1 year deal with Boston for just $1 million more than we paid Martinez who is a far inferior player to Martinez. Boston can opt out of his 2nd year if they want to if he tanks but if he plays like he did the 2nd half of the season where he hit .349 from June 15th until the end of the year then they got a steal and we got a DH only whose bat has clearly slowed down. He may have a little more power than JT but that doesn’t matter in Dodger Stadium. Give me the guy that will get the clutch single or double in the gap when you really need it who can also still play 3B very well for his age. This made no sense. I hope someone asks Friedman of his logic on this move. Terrible terrible choice. We should have kept both JT and never let Kike go either. He’s Boston’s starting CF now and doing well. That is a position right now that we would kill to have him manning with Bellinger gone.
Great article Andy. Good recap.
I think they are going to do whatever is needed to keep under the cap. They are also telling us that Vargas will get a full shot at third and there is nobody else on the farm worth a roster spot. Thus they have to sign a dh and will allow outman and busch to work their way off the roster. At least we now have Hayward and zimmer to fill the outfield spots until we can pick up a no cost dfa early in the season.
That would be great if Hayward wants 5 years since he was remotely a replace my level player. They are really putting all their eggs in the basket hoping Muncy bounces back and that Trayce Thompson can somehow be a starting CF on championship caliber team. I’ve never been one to question Friedman as he always seems to have a master plan but I can’t see what the plan is here besides he was just told by ownership that he has to stay under the tax this year no matter what. A lot has to perfectly hit for us to be anywhere close to the team we were last year.
Alex, JT got 15 mil, for 2023, plus there is 1mil worth of incentives he can earn, and he also got a 7 million player option for 2024. The way AF is maneuvering I doubt if the team wanted to give JT that kind of money, or the player option for next year. JDM got a flat 10 mil, right or wrong it looks like it was all about the money.
Hate to see JT go, but, it is time to move on. Better to let a player go a year to soon rather than a year too late. Good luck JT.
Crazy deal up in Nocal, Correa ends up with the Mets. I’ll bet the Giants we’re trying to use something they found in the physical to get a little discount on the contract. Didn’t take Boras long to start up negotiation with the Mets, and get a new contract.
It looks like Farhan is having a tough time this off season, he can’t get anyone to take his money.
If you’re a Dodger fan and aren’t thrilled with what AF has done so far this off season, think of what it would be like to be a Giants fan.
First they come in a close second for Judge. Then they have Correa but can’t close the deal.
If they don’t watch out, the D’backs will pass them in the standings next season. Tough times in SF.
My son in law is a Giants fan, and after the horrible off season they’ve had I don’t think have the heart to even tease him about it.
Just read that Bauer is reinstated, but the Dodgers were likely to cut him, according to one of the pundits. I wish this whole thing would just go away, but it keeps rearing it’s ugly head.
They have until Jan 6th to put him back on the 40-man or cut him.
All of the so-called media experts seem to expect it will be the latter. I would have hoped they could get something for him in trade rather than just cut him loose, but whatever.
I wonder what desperate team will sign him or will Bauer end up pitching in Mexico or Korea!
It would be nice to trade him to someone, even if we took on half of his salary, to at least get some of it of our books.
I don’t get the LA Times, but apparently Jack Harris has a story there this morning that says the Dodgers were totally blindsided that the decision came down yesterday. They weren’t expecting anything until later.
That’s interesting, because I would have thought they would have given a heads up to both Bauer and the team a day or two before releasing their decision.
Bauer is a public relations disaster with his insensitive tweets and unrepentant behavior. As I have stated in the past hopefully the Dodger Org has learned from this mess. They deserve the pain as they did not research him well or they would have found all the smoke from his other abuse.
From reading they are just barely under the Luxury $233. In practical terms if they are going after Ohtani they have to reset the penalty or a contract of that magnitude would not be very practical as far as penalty money.
I am fine playing the young guys and see what happens in 23. They set records in 22 but did not win the WS. The current 23 roster with the young guys should make the playoffs. After that its always a crap shoot. The team should be fun to watch. I am excited to see Vargas, Outman and probably Stone play. Maybe Busch too.
In defense of the dodgers, I doubt if they check out the sex life of every single free agent they sign, or player they trade for, so I don’t hold that one against them.
If they don’t they are incredibly incompetent. Bauer was a $100 million plus investment! Why would you not research him down to bedrock? It’s a business they should have had all sorts of people researching everyone they signed!! If u don’t do that you are bound to get in this type of lose lose scenario! The ownership has probably made their feelings known. Horrible decision and very costly. They blew 10’s of millions of dollars because they didn’t do their due diligence… and put them in a bind for 24!
I don’t think the mlbpa would allow all of the teams to investigate the sex lives of all the players, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m sure it would break all kinds of privacy laws. I’m an employer, and I am not allowed to ask those kind of questions, I’m sure neither are the dodgers. They did as much due diligence as the law would allow. The only thing the Dodgers are guilty of is, signing a guy with a chip on his shoulder, that seemed to have a strong desire to win, who also had no qualms about questioning mlb, and at times his former team. Roberts is a great manager, he has been very good at handling players ego’s, there was no reason not to think he couldn’t keep Bauer from causing any major problems with the team. The only way to look at this is, it was something that was out of their control, sometimes things happen, and there really isn’t anyone to blame.
Well said, Keith. I’m guessing that if AF hadn’t signed Bauer, a lot of Dodger fans would have accused him of being too careful and not taking any chances, thereby missing out on a very good player.
As they say, “hindsight is 20-20”.
Wishing all who visit here a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa or whatever else you might choose to celebrate at this time of year.
May the coming year, bring more joy to the world and less anger.
Merry Christmas to all my TBPC friends, I would also like to give special thanks to Andy, and Dennis for keeping a great place for us to read, and chat about our Dodgers.