(Has Been)
(Has Been)
(Has Been)You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?
You calling me has been?
What’d you say your name is?(Jack)
(Never Done Jack)Glad to meet ya. Who’s your friend?
(Dick)
(Don’t Say Dick)What do ya know. And you friend,
what’s your handle?(Don)
(Two-Thumbs Don)Riding on their armchairs,
they dream of wealth and fame.
Fear is their companion,
Nintendo is their game.
Never Done Jack and Two-Thumbs Don
and side-kick Don’t Say Dick
will laugh at others failures
though they have not done shit.I heard of you, the ready made
connecting with the ever ready.
Yeah, never was talking about
Still trying. I got it.
Forever better gossiping about
never say die.May I inquire about what
you’ve been doing, mister..(Jack)
(Never done jack)And you, partner, what’s the
news of the world, Dick?(I don’t say dick)
Don, of all the people,
you must be the tattler.(Two-thumbs up)
What are you afraid of, failure?
So am I.(Has been)
(Has been)Has been implies failure. Not so.
(Has been)
Has been’s history. Has been, was.
(Has been)
Has been, might again.
Captain Kirk blew my mind with Has Been
William Shatner turned 86 today and it seemed like the perfect time to write about his mind blowing album called Has Been. It was 2004 and I was perusing The Toaster and they started talking about music. Someone I respected suggested that they listen to the new album by Shatner called Has Been. I remember snorting to myself when I read that but more and more comments kept suggesting it was great.
I said what the hell and bought the CD and plunked it in. I’d never heard Common People before, it was a cover, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It is on my playlist called good stuff.
The rest of the LP never hits the high notes of Common People but the song Has Been struck a core with me and resonates even more today as Never Done Jack tries to bring down those who try.
Dodgers send down five
Dodgers sent two of their top prospects along with three other players from major league camp to minor league camp and each of them could be back at some point.
Alex Verdugo – Verdugo played for Mexico in the WBC and while playing RF could have made the catch that kept Mexico in the tournament but the ball glanced off his glove when he dove for it. It did hit his glove so he had a legitimate chance to end the Mexican nightmarish 9th inning. Verdugo should be ticketed for AAA after spending all of 2016 in AA. He just turned 21 and you have to search a while to find a top prospect spend more than one year in AAA. With Andre down, Toles now has the job in LF on the left side of the batters box, but if Toles stumbles, and Bellinger is not deemed ready, Alex Verdugo may get his shot this year. I doubt he’s ready for that but his gun in LF would be fun to watch. He’s the Dodgers top outfield prospect if you count Bellinger as a 1st baseman. We can expect Verdugo to join the team in Sept. If he is still a Dodger. How well Toles handles LF might determine if Verdugo is a Dodger or a trade chip.
Willie Calhoun – Willie spent most of the camp relearning how to play 2nd base. Why this wasn’t done during the same time that the AFL is happening or in Sept is a question I’d like to ask the front office. Everyone and I mean everyone says he can’t play 2nd base. So I just assume that means he’s going to be a second baseman because I’ve never trusted that everyone person. Willie should also show back up this Sept if he is still a Dodger. With Forsythe signed he’s got two years to learn to play 2nd base well enough to be a major leaguer. With all the work they did this spring they should know by June if that is going to be a possibility. If not, have to imagine he’s destined for the AL.
Brett Eibner – The Dodges acquired Eibner in January from Oakland to provide RH outfield depth. He looked very good this spring, he can run well, play defense, and has some pop. Brett was caught in a numbers game with Gutierrez, Thompson, SVS, Hernandez, and even Segedin ahead of him. Despite all those names, I think we see him sometime this summer.
Jose Fernandez – It was nice to get a look at the Cuban infielder even with all the rust on him. I didn’t know what to make of him when they signed him and I still don’t. I don’t know how he looked defensively at 2nd or 3rd and I’m not sure it would have mattered given how rusty he has to have been having not played in several years. Is he going to play 2nd or 3rd in AAA is what I’m curious about?
Darnell Sweeney – I don’t think we will see Darnell Sweeney on the Dodgers. As a utility infielder/outfielder, he’s hampered by the fact he plays multiple positions but none of them very well. He does have good speed, and he’s a switch hitter but I think he’s stuck behind Taylor/Culberson/Hernandez/Fernandez. I’m not even sure where he’s going to play at AAA. He’s good to have for depth, but his career would be better off with another organization.
When all the cuts are made it would seem that Segedin or SVS, Dickson, Calhoun, Fernandez, Sweeney, Culberson would be the bulk of the AAA infield along with either Taylor or Hernandez. Where the Dodgers deploy these infielders will be interesting.
The only real prospect here is Willie Calhoun so I have to imagine they will give him the most burn at 2nd base to get as many repetitions there as possible. Everyone else is just hoping to become a major league bench player or a starting SS for the Padres.
Possible AAA Infield depending on who gets sent to AAA:
1st – Dickson or SVS or Segedin
2nd – Calhoun or Fernandez or Sweeney or Culberson or Taylor or Hernandez
SS – Culberson or Taylor or Hernandez
3rd – Segedin or Fernandez or Sweeney or Culberson or Hernandez
Tommy Davis turns 78 today
The first great LAD hitter to grace Dodger Stadium turned 78 today. Dodger Stadium opened in 1962 the same year that Tommy Davis went off and put these stats:
- Led the league in hits with 230, Frank Robinson and MVP Maury Wills were tied for 2nd with 208
- Hit nine triples, good for a tie for 2nd place
- Drove in 153 runs while hitting only 27 home runs
- Led the NL in batting average at .346 thus depriving Frank Robinson of leading the NL in BA/OBA/SLUG.
- Came in 3rd in MVP behind Maury Wills and Willie Mays. He placed in front of Frank Robinson who had a slug% of .624 that year.
For context on that RBI season. Tommy Davis is the only player since 1900 to drive in more than 150 runs and hit less than 30 home runs. 1962 was the year of the RBI with 18 players driving in more than 100 runs. In 1963 only eight players did the trick.
Tommy Davis would follow up his breakout 1962 season and win a second batting title in 1963.
At just 24 years old Tommy Davis appeared to Dodger nation as though he’d be one of the all time greats but those two years were as good as it would get for Tommy Davis. He would break his leg in 1965, never recover any of the speed that had been part of his game, and would eventually get traded for Ron Hunt after 1966.
Tommy would bounce around baseball until 1976 playing for 11 more teams before retiring.
Here is the excellent Sabrproject Bio on Tommy.
What Tommy Davis accomplished as a major leaguer on one good leg, most players would be proud to do on two. Not that this sums up his athletic career, but it is an important backdrop to his improbable baseball odyssey. Davis seemed ready to have his ticket punched for Cooperstown as he entered his ball-playing prime. An instant on the basepaths in 1965 took him down a very different road.
Put a sock in it
Went to the Clipper game via metro last night to watch them throttle the Knicks. On the ride in a Laker fan laughed at my Clipper hat.
Me – “why you laughing at my hat”
Laker Fan – “because you guys think you’re so hot now because you won a few games, but how many titles have you won?”
Me – “being a Dodger fan I remember when I used to taunt the Giants fans with something close to that comment. Something like we got 5 rings, you got nada.
Me – “I’m just a fan, but I can understand the frustration of being a Laker fan right now. Your team is about to do something that the Clippers have never done”
Laker Fan – “what is that”
Me – “win less than 30 games four years in a row”
Laker Fan – “bullshit, your sorry ass franchise was built on losing”
Me – “yeah, we were, but we were never as bad as the Lakers have been over this four-year stretch”
Laker Fan – “whatever, you’ll never win a championship, and the only reason your any good now is because the commish screwed the Lakers out of Chris Paul”
Me – “always comes back to that “.
Laker Fan – “anyway, we are only losing because we are tanking to get the best draft picks. You guys just sucked”
Me – “whatever”
Laker Fan – “besides Magic is going to get us back on track”
Me – “I hope so, it would certainly help me sell my Laker tickets”
Having fun with LAD spring stats
Hitting:
- Grandal leads the team in hits with 14
- Grandal leads the team in extra base hits with 7
- Brett Eibner leads the team in doubles with 4
- Erick Mejia has two triples in only six at-bats. He did not score either time. This should not be a surprise as he has 23 minor league triples compared to 34 doubles.
- Joc Pederson leads the team with four home runs.
- The projected starting outfielders Puig/Joc/Ethier have slugging percentages of .594 / .583 / .833 respectively.
- Chris Taylor leads the team in walks with eight in only thirty-six plate appearances. You could write a whole column on Chris Taylor spring stats. He’s gotten on base 21 times in those thirty-six plate appearances.
- Scott Van Slyke has zero extra base hits. hmmm
Pitching:
- Lefty Patrick Schuster has been in ten games and given up only one run.
- Lefty Adam Liberatore has been in five games and has not allowed a run
- Three pitchers vying for a bullpen spot (Josh Ravin, Chris Hatcher, Josh Fields) have all been horrible.
- Which allows Ross Stripling to keep making his case for inclusion in the bullpen as he has pitched effectively with 11 k’s to only 2 walks in 9 innings.
- Trevor Oaks doesn’t have the pedigrees of all the prospects ranked higher than him, but he has pitched 7 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run.
- Rich Hill has ten walks and seven K’s in 8 2/3 innings. I only put this out just to remind myself that most of the time, spring stats mean nothing.
- Favorite stat of the spring has to be that Ryu has been able to pitch five effective innings.
Segedin and Dickson fighting for relevance
Two players generally acknowledged as long shots to make the 2017 Dodger roster, are doing their best to make it harder for the Dodger brass to ignore them when it comes to making the hard decisions. Making it even harder for the duo is that they both are fighting for the same spot.
That current spot would seem to be headed to Scott Van Slyke who can play 1st/OF and swings a right-hand bat. SVS however, has a history of health issues, and it is no given that his bat is any better than the duo gunning for his job.
Rob Segedin was acquired last year in a minor deal with the Yankees and gave the Dodgers a much-needed lift in August when he had quite a week at Chavez Ravine. September was not kind to Segedin and his hold on a 40 man roster spot seemed tenuous. He came into this spring with a newly tooled swing and has not stopped hitting. He hit at the beginning of spring, he hit for Italy in the WBC, and he continued to swing a torrid bat this weekend. Segedin is now 8 for 16 with 5 XBH. Segedin has the versatility the Dodgers seem to covet as he can play 1st / 3rd / OF though it is hard to imagine that he would be plus defensively at any of them. I’d normally think of Segedin as simply an AAAA player who is having a great spring, much as he did in 2016. Yet, we have seen too many players in the past few years who have taken to a new swing and changed the direction of their careers, so I’m not writing off Segedin as simply a spring wonder. He might be but he also might be much more.
If you look at the Dodger spring training stats you see a few things. One is O’Koyea Dickson having a great spring. Dickson is an interesting story, just a year ago at this time his career as a future Dodger seemed in danger of never happening. He had been left off the 40 man roster and got zero at bats during the 2016 Cactus league play. He was such a non-factor in the organization that he only garnered 44 plate appearances the first two months in AAA and didn’t exactly impress with a .750 OPS. Everything turned around for Dickson in June when he started getting full-time burn and his offense exploded putting up a 1.028 OPS with sixteen home runs in his final 333 plate appearances. That didn’t get him added back on the 40 man roster but it did get him an invite to spring training and with Adrian Gonzalez dicking around for Mexico in the WBC he has made the most of his opportunity. Dickson hit a home run on Saturday that was as hard a bit ball as you’ll ever see.
If I squint hard I can see a spot for Segedin this year because he’s a tad more versatile than SVS or Dickson in that he can play 3rd base. He might be the equal of SVS against LHP, and he is already on the 40 man roster.
The case for Dickson is very hard as he’s behind SVS/Segedin in the pecking order for 1st base backup. He’s behind a boatload of right hand hitting outfielders, and he’s not on the 40 man roster. Yet, everything he can do this spring to not only impress the Dodger brass but impress scouts from other teams could eventually help him snag a major league job. Dickson probably still doesn’t have a Dodger future but given what his future looked like a year ago, he is making great strides. He may even be able to make some money playing for Japan or Korea.
Alternative Cuban WBC team
Was just wondering what a Cuban team would look like for Cuban players who have left the island.
Here is what I got. A very potent offensive team, but without Jose Fernandez to lead the rotation, it is very thin in starting pitching. You would basically have to convert Raisel Iglesias back to a starting pitcher. Simply not enough pitching to make a good run without Fernandez. May he RIP.
| Position | Player |
| 1st | Jose Abreu |
| 2nd | Yunel Escobar |
| Shortstop | Jose Iglesias |
| 3rd Base | Adonis Garcia |
| Catcher | Yazmani Grandal |
| RF | Yasiel Puig |
| CF | Leonys Martin |
| LF | Yoenis Cespedes |
| DH | Kendrys Morales |
| Bench | Jorge Soler |
| Bench | Alexei Ramirez |
| Bench | Yonder Alonso |
| Bench | Brayan Pena |
| Bench | Adeiny Hechavarria |
| SP | Raisel Iglesias |
| SP | Ariel Miranda |
| SP | Roenis Elias |
| RP | Aroldis Chapman |
| RP | Dalier Hinjosa |
| RP | Odrisamer Despaiqne |
Ryu throwing a monkey wrench into rotation plans?
Of all the options that were being considered for the rotation after the big three (Kershaw, Maeda, Hill) Ryu was the longest shot among Kazmir, McCarthy, Wood, Urias, Stewart, and Stripling.
That long shot may end up paying as Ryu pitched three solid innings against the Cubs yesterday and declared that he is planning on winning a rotation spot to start the year. With each outing, his velocity moves closer to his norm and his command has looked Ryu like.
With Scott Kazmir likely headed for the DL to start the season, Stewart unable to throw, and Urias with very limited innings so far the competition is starting to thin out, and it is between Wood and Ryu for that last spot. McCarthy looks to have the four spot sewn up unless health or Steve Blass intervene over the next few weeks.
Even if Ryu does win the spot that is no guarantee he can hold it as he will need to pitch effectively to hold off Kazmir, Wood, and Urias. The odds though are lower now than they were entering spring. Just off the top of my head, I would have put Ryu at 50 / 1 to crack the opening day rotation. I think we are down to 5/1 that Ryu will be pitching in the rotation on May 1st.
Is Enrique Hernandez the next Dodger traded?
The current LAD front office has made a habit of trading players they traded for in the first place. With Chris Taylor hitting like a healthy Cory Seager, Charlie Culberson showing that he’ll never embarrass you no matter where you play him, and Darnell Sweeney displaying his versatility, this may leave Enrique Hernandez on the outside looking in.
A year ago Hernandez was looking more like a backup outfielder than an infielder. This year he’s being looked at more as an infielder because the Dodgers have Puig/Joc/Ethier/Toles/Thompson/SVS/Gutierrez battling for outfield spots.
With Chase Utley already on the roster and offering backup for 2nd / 3rd the Dodgers only have room for another utility infielder. One who can play SS and bats right handed.
This is what Hernandez offers.
- He can play 2nd/SS/Of
- At one time he could pound LHP
- He has speed
This is what his competition offers:
- Taylor – can play 2nd/SS and has now taken reps inhttp://www.truebluela.com/ CF. Bats right handed and is impressing everyone this spring with his new batting approach, and a healthy arm.
- Culberson – can play 2nd/SS/3rd has never taken reps in the outfield but does anyone doubt that Culberson would be just fine in the outfield? Bats right handed
- Sweeney – can play 2nd/S/Of and is a switch hitter. Eric Stephen reports that Sweeney is impressing this spring.
Hernandez is not exactly a hot trading chip, but it would free a spot on the 40 man roster assuming they traded for a player they don’t have to put on the 40 man roster. He has value, it just seems that Chris Taylor has made him redundant.
Dodgers traded by this front office that they traded for in the first place:
Howie Kendrick
Zach Eflin
Joe Wieland
Jose Peraza
MIke Morse
Micah Johnson
Frankie Montas
Carlos Ruiz
Vidal Nuno
Kershaw 33/1 to win MVP
Bovada odds came out today and this one jumped out at me. The 2014 MVP Clayton Kershaw is at 33/1. I know pitchers don’t win MVP awards, but this guy already did, and it is the NL, and he could easily be the best player in the NL again in 2017.
Corey Seager is 12/1 after his 3rd place MVP finish in 2016.
Justin Turner/Puig/Grandal are off the board while Matt Kemp is 100/1.
Odds to Win the 2017 NL MVP
- Kris Bryant 11/4
- Bryce Harper 3/1
- Nolan Arenado 7/1
- Anthony Rizzo 9/1
- Cory Seager 12/1
- Freddie Freeman 14/1
- Daniel Murphy 22/1
- Paul Goldschmidt 25/1
- Yoenis Cespedes 33/1
- Clayton Kershaw 33/1
- Andrew McCutchen 33/1
- Buster Posey 33/1
- Max Scherzer 33/1
- Kyle Schwarber 33/1
- Giancarlo Stanton 33/1
- Joey Votto 33/1
- Matt Carpenter 50/1
- Adrian Gonzalez 50/1
- Trea Turner 50/1
- Starling Marte 55/1
- Carlos Gonzalez 66/1
- Charlie Blackmon 100/1
- Ryan Braun 100/1
- Adam Eaton 100/1
- Maikel Franco 100/1
- Matt Kemp 100/1
- DJ LeMahieu 100/1
- AJ Pollock 100/1
- Addison Russell 100/1
- Jonathan Villar 100/1
- Christian Yelich 100/1
Odds to win the 2017 National League Cy Young Award
Kershaw is the odds on favorite as he should be. Little surprised to Kenta here at 33/1. So the odds makers feel that Kenta Maeda has as much a chance to win the CYA as Kershaw has of winning the MVP. Go figure. Jansen is 66/1. Evidently, Rich Hill is a longer odd than Bartolo Colon at 100/1.
- Clayton Kershaw 8/5
- Max Scherzer 7/2
- Madison Bumgarner 10/1
- Noah Syndergaard 10/1
- Jake Arrieta 16/1
- Jon Lester 16/1
- Stephen Strasburg 16/1
- Johnny Cueto 16/1
- Jacob deGrom 25/1
- Zack Greinke 25/1
- Matt Harvey 25/1
- Gerrit Cole 33/1
- Kyle Hendricks 33/1
- Kenta Maeda 33/1
- Carlos Martinez 33/1
- Tanner Roark 33/1
- Adam Wainwright 33/1
- Julio Teheran 40/1
- Dan Straily 50/1
- Kenley Jansen 66/1
- Marc Melancon 66/1
- Bartolo Colon 100/1
Odds to Win the 2017 AL MVP
- Mike Trout 5/4
- Mookie Betts 5/1
- Jose Altuve 10/1
- Miguel Cabrera 12/1
- Josh Donaldson 14/1
- Manny Machado 14/1
- Carlos Correa 16/1
- Gary Sanchez 18/1
- Robinson Cano 20/1
- Nelson Cruz 33/1
- Jose Abreu 50/1
- Jose Bautista 50/1
- Xander Bogaerts 50/1
- Jackie Bradley Jr. 50/1
- Chris Davis 50/1
- Edwin Encarnacion 50/1
- Todd Frazier 50/1
- Adam Jones 50/1
- Francisco Lindor 50/1
- Carlos Santana 50/1
- Justin Upton 50/1
- Adrian Beltre 66/1
- Brian Dozier 100/1
- Eric Hosmer 100/1
- Ian Kinsler 100/1
- Evan Longoria 100/1
- Rougned Odor 100/1
- Dustin Pedroia 100/1
- Albert Pujols 100/1
- Miguel Sano 100/1
- Kyle Seager 100/1
- George Springer 100/1
- Troy Tulowitzki 100/1
Odds to win the 2017 American League Cy Young Award
- Chris Sale 7/2
- Corey Kluber 9/2
- Yu Darvish 12/1
- Aaron Sanchez 12/1
- Justin Verlander 12/1
- Chris Archer 14/1
- Masahiro Tanaka 14/1
- Carlos Carrasco 16/1
- David Price 16/1
- Cole Hamels 20/1
- Felix Hernandez 20/1
- Dallas Keuchel 20/1
- Danny Duffy 33/1
- Michael Fulmer 33/1
- Kevin Gausman 33/1
- Lance McCullers 33/1
- Rick Porcello 33/1
- Sonny Gray 40/1
- J.A. Happ 40/1
- Jose Quintana 40/1
- Danny Salazar 40/1
- Marcus Stroman 40/1
- Chris Tillman 50/1
- Zach Britton 66/1
- Aroldis Chapman 66/1
- A.J. Griffin 66/1
- Ian Kennedy 66/1
- Craig Kimbrel 66/1
- Jake Odorizzi 66/1
- Michael Pineda 66/1
2017 Regular Season MLB Home Run Leader
- Giancarlo Stanton 8/1
- Nolan Arenado 9/1
- Kris Bryant 10/1
- Chris Davis 10/1
- Nelson Cruz 14/1
- Edwin Encarnacion 14/1
- Bryce Harper 14/1
- Manny Machado 14/1
- Mark Trumbo 14/1
- Josh Donaldson 16/1
- Kyle Schwarber 18/1
- Paul Goldschmidt 20/1
- Mike Trout 20/1
- Khris Davis 28/1
- Anthony Rizzo 28/1
- Gary Sanchez 28/1
- Miguel Sano 28/1
- George Springer 28/1
- Brian Dozier 33/1
- Jose Abreu 40/1
- Jose Bautista 40/1
- Miguel Cabrera 40/1
- Yoenis Cespedes 40/1
- Adam Duvall 40/1
- Todd Frazier 40/1
- Mike Napoli 40/1
- Chris Carter 50/1
- Carlos Gonzalez 50/1
- JD Martinez 50/1
- Rougned Odor 50/1
- Trevor Story 50/1
- Robinson Cano 66/1
- Mookie Betts 66/1
- Carlos Correa 66/1
- Corey Seager 66/1
- Justin Upton 66/1
- Ian Desmond 75/1
- Maikel Franco 75/1
- Freddie Freeman 75/1
- Joey Gallo 75/1
- Aaron Judge 75/1
- Matt Kemp 75/1
- Evan Longoria 75/1
- Carlos Santana 75/1
- Adrian Beltre 100/1
- Jay Bruce 100/1
- Evan Gattis 100/1
- Adrian Gonzalez 100/1
- Adam Jones 100/1
- Kendrys Morales 100/1
- Albert Pujols 100/1
- Hanley Ramirez 100/1
- Addison Russell 100/1
- Kyle Seager 100/1
- Yasmany Tomas 100/1
- Troy Tulowitzki 100/1
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 