Ruf be gone
That sigh you heard might have been Scott Van Slyke who just saw his biggest competition for backup 1st baseman leave the Dodgers to sign a deal in Korea. Darin Ruf can earn twice as much in Korea and doesn’t have to worry about playing AAA instead of Los Angeles.
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) — South Korean baseball club Samsung Lions on Friday announced their signing of former major league Darin Ruf.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said they’ve inked Ruf to a one-year deal worth US$1.1 million.
Maybe he can change his career path much as Eric Thames did. Thames left a few years as a back up major league outfielder and came back to sign a mega-million dollar deal with the Brewers after acting like Babe Ruth in Korea.
The over/under on Ruf Korean home runs is 39.5.
This opens up a spot on the LAD 40 man roster for Franklyn Gutierrez who the LAD signed several days ago but hasn’t been made official as they tried to figure out how to get him on the 40 man roster.
Mike Petriello / MLB.com follow up on Dodger depth
A few days ago I looked at how a possible 2017 Dodger rotation might look trying to assign games started to the plethora of options available. The one thing I noted was the depth the Dodger front office has assembled in the rotation. They kind of had too, since that depth included multiple injury question marks.
/ MLB.com takes his own look at this depth and how it might play out in 2017. Mike used starter innings based on 920 while I simply looked at games started.
200 — Kershaw
160 — Maeda
140 — Hill
110 — Kazmir
100 — Urias
90 — Wood
80 — McCarthy
10 — Ryu
40 — Others
Given the decline of Kenta and Kazmir as the season wore on do you give them more rest early, or simply ride them early and move onto Urias/Stewart/McCarthy/Wood later?
Anyway, this 2017 season is going to be interesting, I don’t recall a LAD rotation having so much depth and so many question marks at the same time. If even 50% of the rotation is healthy and productive at every point of the season, it could their best rotation in years.
TC – 9 – Neil Young – Sleeps with Angels / Freedom
Yup, Neil Young again. I’m going to guess that I got most of my Neil Young out of me in the first ten tapes but hey, his catalog is massive so who knows. I know Weld has to be waiting for me, can’t wait.
I won’t’ be able to review this tape because while I have the Tape holder, I don’t have the tape. Probably in another tape holder, misplaced by foolish hands.
Luckily Amazon Prime has both of them so I can stream them to hear what my tape would have had to offer me.
Side A: Sleeps with Angels
The album leads off My Heart, followed by Prime of Life. My Heart is a soft sweet song that would have felt in place on Harvest.
Sleeps with Angels is the fourth track, and as I heard it for the first time in years I remembered how grunge it sounded. A quick look at the Rolling Stone review reminded me that it was written for Kurt Cobain. This LP was released in 1994, Cobain committed suicide in April of 94, so Neil must have written and produced this fairly quickly after his death. If I knew that Cobain referenced Neil Young in his suicide note I had forgotten. This is what Rolling Stone had to say:
APPARENTLY THEY missed each other by a matter of days. Early last April, Neil Young tried, through the usual managerial channels, to get in touch with Kurt Cobain. It was a gesture of concern and support following the Nirvana guitarist’s near-fatal drug overdose in Rome the previous month. But Cobain never got the message. Instead, he left behind one of his own, a suicide note of graphic pain and rambling logic that pointedly quoted one of Young’s most famous lyrics: It’s better to burn out/Than to fade away.
Young – who’s had plenty of experi- ence writing hymns for the dead and dying (Ohio, The Needle and the Damage Done, Tonight’s the Night) – surely never meant those words to be taken so literally. But “Sleeps With Angels,” written by Young in quick reply to Cobain’s ghastly misinterpretation and the centerpiece of this extraordinary new
album, is not a song of either grief-driven anger or stinging self-rebuke. On its surface, it’s startlingly matter-of-fact, a short, simple totem marking the loss with an almost paternal delicacy: She was a teen queen/She saw the dark side of life/She made things happen/But when he did it that night/She ran up phone bills/She moved around from town to town (too late/He sleeps with angels (too soon).”
Western Hero followed, and as the soft notes flowed around me, I remembered this song and how much I always liked it.
I don’t have the patience anymore for the fourteen minute Change Your Mind and skipped it after three. It is a good song, but I’ve never been much of a fan of long song treatments.
Enjoyed Train of Love
This is a good Neil Young LP, not a great one. Piece of Crap is a hoot because my wife went through her QVC stage and it drove me crazy, all the crap we acquired. Still not a song I’d listen to again.
————————————————————————
Side B: Freedom
Freedom is the sound of Neil Young, another decade on, looking back again in anger and dread. The songs are populated by the walking wounded and littered with dashed hopes and drug paraphernalia. The ties that bind — faith, love, charity — are coming undone, and betrayal is the norm. Then Young throws all this hurt at you, and it hits like a bucket of ice water in the face. You register shock at first, then indignation and finally a kind of vengeful exhilaration. As with Rust and Everybody Knows — and with other contentious classics like On the Beach, Tonight’s the Night and Re*ac*tor — Neil Young’s tour of Freedom‘s wasteland leaves you feeling both exhausted and invigorated, dismayed at what we’ve wrought yet determined to set it right.
The LP opens with an acoustic version of “Rocking in the Free World” and ends with an electric version of the same song. They are both dynamite and offer the best of Neil Young from both spectrums.
I love this LP from beginning to end. Unlike “Sleeps with Angels” I must have listened to this LP over and over because as each song came up on the playlist, it washed memories over me that could only happen with repeated listening. Might be one of my favorite Neil Young albums.
Blake Griffin wins POTW
Blake Griffin came back from his surgery in the nick of time. It took him a few games to get back in gear but once he did he has shown once again that when completely healthy he’s one of the ten best players in the NBA.
Griffin won his sixth career Player of the Week award by helping the Clippers to a 2-1 week behind averages of 26.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.3 assists in 35.7 minutes. He posted his fifth career triple-double on Feb. 6 at Toronto and scored a team season-high 32 points in New York on Feb. 8. Griffin shot 49.2 percent from the field for the week, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and totaled 24 assists and only three turnovers.
The problem for Clipper fans is that he’s rarely completely healthy and never seems to be completely healthy at the same that Chris Paul is completely healthy. As we wait for Chris Paul to heal we can only hope that this year is different and that the Clippers can enter the playoffs with Blake/Paul/Jordan playing together so we can really get a feel for how this team can do with the big three. Might be the last time we get to find out.
Will Trump’s State Dept handle Baseball Visa’s in time?
Given how inept the Trump admin has been so far, one has to wonder if the new state department is up to the task of getting all the foreign baseball players their visa’s on time for the players to report to spring training.
Just a quick peruse of baseball fantasy sites one can see a plethora of these type of notes:
Jose Miguel Fernandez 2B Los Angeles DodgersThe Dodgers are hopeful that Fernandez will have his visa issues resolved in time to report to major league spring training with the rest of the position players, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports.Fantasy Analysis
It sounds like Fernandez could be delayed a bit as he works through some visa issues, but he will eventually be in camp with the big-league squad. Fernandez, once considered a top player in Cuba, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in January. He has not played competitively since 2014 outside of 18 games in the Dominican Winter League last year, and with the return of Justin Turner and the acquisition of Logan Forsythe, Fernandez appears likely to begin the season at Double- or Triple-A.
In a few weeks we will know if the normal Visa problems that happen every spring has been magnified, or if it simply business as usual.
Should also be fun to see how the WBC is handled.
Final fWAR iteration
We have done the best fWAR for pitchers for this decade and the last ten years.
We have done the best fWAR for hitters for this decade, so now it is time to do best in the last ten years.
This will be my post on the work that Bobby Down did with fWAR. Time for him to get cracking on something else that will pique my interest.
You have to be sick of how great Trout is, but here is in 3rd place having only played five of the last ten years. He’s almost caught two HOF who played the entire ten years.
Hey look at that. Chase Utley is fifth.
Ex-Dodgers and current Dodgers on this list:
Adrian Beltre – future HOF, remains many a Dodger fans favorite even though he’s been gone over a decade now. Biggest mistake Depodesta ever made was not being more aggressive in signing him the in the fall of 2004.
Chase Utley – his HOF case will be curious, hard to get in as a second baseman but if Pedrioa gets in and he doesn’t shit should happen. Anyone who didn’t enjoy watching Chase play 2nd base last year for the Dodgers is a tool.
Adrian Gonzalez – here he is, one of the most consistent hitters of the past ten years.
Hanley Ramirez – for a few months as a Dodger, Hanley simply terrorized pitchers. Ned might get into the Dodgers top five trades of all time with his heist of Hanley for Eovaldi.
Russell Martin – For several years Martin was my favorite Dodger and I thought destined for greatness and then he wasn’t. Yet he recovered from his down seasons to become one of the most consistent catchers of the past ten years not named Yadier Molina.
Jayson Werth – Yeah Ned, Jayson Werth. Wrists take time to heal.
d
TC – 7 – Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees / Heroes are hard to find
Here we go, this is why I’m doing this. Tape seven is Fleetwood Mac but these albums were before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined them. Most people have never heard any Fleetwood Mac prior to that duo but let me tell you, those prior iterations were great and possibly better than the popular Fleetwood Mac that most are familiar with. I don’t have any Peter Green Fleetwood Mac albums and Bare Trees is the only Danny Kirwan LP that I ever heard but I’ve heard enough Peter Green influenced Fleetwood Mac music to know he put out some good stuff.
I can remember hearing my brother play these albums in the early 70’s, and asking Chris who they were. Prior to 1974, Chris owned all the albums in the house. I didn’t have any money to start buying my own until 1975 so many of these recordings were from his record collection, not mine. Anyway, I’ve heard many albums for the first time with little memory of it, but for some reason, I can still remember the first time I heard “Heroes are hard to find”. He lent me the album and then gave me Bare Trees to listen too. After that, he gave me the Buckingham Nicks LP. This would start a lifetime of sharing music as we had much the same taste until I X came into my world. I hope he still has his 1,000 plus LP’s, some day I’d like to peruse them again.
Bare Trees starts off side A. This was released in 1972 and featured Danny Kirwan who split the writing duties with Bob Welch. This would be the last album with Danny who was fired during the supporting tour of Bare Trees. Kirwan was evidently a gifted guitarist but not easy to get along with. The combo of Kirwan and Welch produced a good album. I had not heard this LP since I taped it 30 years ago. This is some funky good blues rock. Christie McVie did “Spare me a little of your Love” and that sounds just like anything the popular Mack did when they were at their zenith commercially. “Sentimental Lady” is Bob Welch at his best.
Track listing[edit]
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | “Child of Mine” | Danny Kirwan | 5:09 |
| 2. | “The Ghost” | Bob Welch | 3:58 |
| 3. | “Homeward Bound” | Christine McVie | 3:20 |
| 4. | “Sunny Side of Heaven” | Kirwan | 3:10 |
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | “Bare Trees” | Kirwan | 5:02 |
| 2. | “Sentimental Lady“ | Welch | 4:35 |
| 3. | “Danny’s Chant” | Kirwan | 3:16 |
| 4. | “Spare Me a Little of Your Love” | McVie | 3:44 |
| 5. | “Dust” | Kirwan | 2:41 |
| 6. | “Thoughts on a Grey Day” | Mrs. Scarrott | 1:46 |
Okay, I love “Heroes are hard to find”. This was Bob Welch’s finest work and his last. He left the band after this LP to concentrate on his solo career. This was probably best for Fleetwood Mac as they added Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to replace him and become the mega group of the 70’s and 80’s. I’ve always enjoyed this LP and it was great to hear it again. I liked it enough that I’ll be putting this into my digital library. It was strange that Bob Welch was neglected by the HOF when honoring Fleetwood Mac but lawsuits against your band members tend to make things ugly.
“Bermuda Triangle” may not be a good song but it is too me.
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | “Heroes Are Hard to Find” | Christine McVie | 3:35 |
| 2. | “Coming Home” | Bob Welch | 3:55 |
| 3. | “Angel“ | Welch | 3:55 |
| 4. | “Bermuda Triangle” | Welch | 4:08 |
| 5. | “Come a Little Bit Closer” | C. McVie | 4:48 |
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | “She’s Changing Me” | Welch | 2:58 |
| 2. | “Bad Loser” | C. McVie | 3:25 |
| 3. | “Silver Heels” | Welch | 3:26 |
| 4. | “Prove Your Love” | C. McVie | 3:57 |
| 5. | “Born Enchanter” | Welch | 2:54 |
| 6. | “Safe Harbour” | Welch | 2:32 |
Kind of funny I must have had some extra time and added some other Fleetwood Mac Songs.
- Monday Morning
- Warm Ways
- Blue Letter
- Rhiannon
- Over my Head
- Crystal
- I’m so afraid – love this track
Baseball America Dodger Prospect Centric chat
Baseball America did a top 100 prospect chat several days ago. Since the Dodgers have numerous prospects in the top 100 let’s see what they had to say specifically about the Dodger prospects.
Could they be any more giddy about Bellinger?
Tony (Lakeland, FL): Who is the most likely of the top 100 to hit 50 homers in a season?
John Manuel: We went 70 grade power on Cody Bellinger, Eloy Jimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Hunter Renfroe and Aaron Judge. If I were picking one from that group, it would be Vlad Jr. first, Bellinger a close second. If Renfroe played elsewhere than Petco, I could see him having a crazy year where it all clicks and he approaches that.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
—
Dan (Bakersfield): Is a .265/.350/.500 line realistic for Bellinger at peak? Do you expect him to be a better hitter than Joc Pederson?
John Manuel: Yes, I do think he’ll be better, I actually think that line sells his peak short. He’s a better pure hitter than Pederson with similar power, and he’s a whiz at first base defensively. We’re all in on Bellinger. I could see him peaking north of a .550 slugging with 35-40 homers, again, at his peak. It has a chance to be a very special bat.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
Grant (NYC): Let's stir things up a bit - which player's name caused the most amount of argument between you BA staffers when putting this list together?
John Manuel: We definitely have worked hard to come up with a No. 4 pitching prospect. We had a clear consensus on Reyes, then Martes, then Anderson Espinoza . . . then after that it was a difficult time to line up those pitchers. Keller vs. Glasnow vs. Giolito, then Y. Alvarez vs. De Leon vs. Honeywell vs. Lopez vs. Kopech vs. Josh Hader. There is not a lot of separation between those nine pitchers. It’s very hard to come up with a consensus for those pitchers, and that debate took up a lot of our Top 100 meeting.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
Ryan (USA): If Alvarez continues to dominate except at a higher level, could he move into the top 5 next year?
Kyle Glaser: Hey there, I’ve officially taken the baton. I do think that if Yadier Alvarez dominates the Cal League and rises up to AA with more excellent performance this year, he very well could be a top 5 prospect in the 2018 BA Top 100. Stuff is that good, now it’s just a matter of sharpening it and showing he can hold up under a full workload of innings against more advanced hitters
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
Hal (Fontana): Does Y. Alvarez have the mechanics to improve his control by a grade, and if so, would he have a shot at headlining this list a year from now? What's his upside?
Kyle Glaser: His upside is a true No. 1 starter. In regards to your mechanics question, that’s what the minors and player development is for. He’ll work to improve them, and we’ll see if it clicks. Only one way to find out
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
Mo (Miami, FL): Who would you consider to be better at playing second base - Isan Diaz or Willie Calhoun?
John Manuel: Diaz, no question. Calhoun ranks ahead because of the power, and for me, I see Willie winding up in left field as a Khris Davis type, only with more of a feel for hitting.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
Tiny Lister (Compton, CA): Who was the guy that didn't make the top 100 consensus, but that you fought the hardest for inclusion?
Matt Eddy: Some of my picks to click who didn’t make the Top 100 were Brock Stewart (Dodgers) and Scott Kingery and Roman Quinn (Phillies). Some others with carrying tools who deserve mention: Padres 2B Luis Urias (hit), Reds OF Aristides Aquino (power), Cardinals OF Magneuris Sierra (speed, defense), Twins RHP Fernando Rodney (power stuff, plus control) and potential power-speed outfielders Desmond Lindsay (Mets) and Jesus Sanchez (Rays).
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects-chat/#FjdehSxKBehtu1uG.99
TC – 5/6 – Neil Young – Decades
Yeah, another Neil Young tape which now makes three of the first five having something to do with Neil Young.
Decades was released in 1977 as a triple album. Thus I have used two ninety minute tapes to record the complete package. This package includes all the work that Neil had done up to 1977, so it has his work with Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, Neil and Crazy Horse, and Solo Neil.
It also includes “Like a Hurrican” and “Long may you run” which were both previously unreleased.
This is a great compilation and the tape quality still holds up. “Down by the River” is given nine minutes. Hard to pick favorites from this massive compilation but here goes:
- Burned
- Mr. Soul
- Expecting to Fly
- Sugar Mountain
- Cinnamon Girl
- Cowgirl in the Sand
- Southern Man
- Ohio
- Old Man
- Harvest
- The Needle and the Damage Done
- Tonight’s the Night
- Like A Hurricane
- Love is a Rose
- Long may you run
Seeing Sugar Mountain reminds of a show I saw at the Fabulous Forum. It was a different opening for Neil as he put some theatrics into the show, opening the act by coming out of a coffin or box singing Sugar Mountain. At least that is how I remember it.
I’ll leave with the live version of Like a Hurricane. Don’t you love it when you hear the first chord and you know that song?
Like a Hurricane
Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar,
Dancing on the light from star to star.
Far across the moonbeam I know that’s who you are,
I saw your brown eyes turning once to fire.You are like a hurricane
There’s calm in your eye.
And I’m gettin’ blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I’m getting blown away.I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream,
You could have been anyone to me.
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trip.You are like a hurricane
There’s calm in your eye.
And I’m gettin’ blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I’m getting blown away.
The Mike Trout decade
Once again going to the well and using data provided by Bobby Down to show the best fWAR for position players this decade.
Clayton Kershaw owns the decade for pitchers and Mike Trout for hitters. How lucky have Los Angeles fans been to have the two best players in baseball playing for them?
Trout skipped the first two years of the decade and still holds an almost 20% lead over future HOF Miggy Cabrera. I’m guessing Harper was first in 2015 but he did not make the list. Otherwise, Trout has generated the most fWAR every year he’s played as a regular in the major leagues.
They all there one way or another. Trout does it with bat/glove, Miggy with bat alone, Beltre with glove first bat second. Anyone surprised to see Heyward on this list? Cub fans might be. Braun is extremely low.
And Bobby, where the hell is Matt Kemp:) I may have to show a decade of RBI to get Matt into the top ten. At least top 12 anyway. 23. 2 fWAR for Mr Kemp so at least he’s within a stone’s throw.
No Dodgers to be found, I’d have thought Adrian Gonzalez would have made it. Now I have to question if Bobby did this right.
Josh Donaldson has done some amazing work in a short amount of time.
Future HOF on this list might be Trout, Miggy, Beltre, Cano, Posey. Maybe McCutchen if he doesn’t crater out as so many CF do. Anyone else? Votto might have to get in via the Rock Raines way.
Holy cow is that Alex Gordon with 25.5 fWAR. That glove sure earned some fWAR because it sure wasn’t his bat.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 