Dodgers News: Mixing Youth, Data, and Depth
There’s a growing divide within the Los Angeles Dodgers fanbase between some fans who approve of the way that the front office is going about things, some who definitely don’t like what they’re doing, and then those in the middle who are just watching it all play out.
Still, the front office has caused a little bit of a gulf between the fans. A healthy amount of the Dodgers fanbase wanted to keep Zack Greinke, but the front office didn’t want to overpay. That left a sour taste in the mouth of some people but the front office has a plan, and it involves the youngsters.
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From Jonah Keri, a senior writer at CBS Sports:
The Dodgers might not go all out to break their 28-year drought this year. But their long-term goal becomes obvious: Plow their resources into young players, and hope that core gives them at least a fighting chance to win every year.
Andrew Friedman and company are trying to leverage their resources, as Keri put it, into youthful players with high upside that can help the team in many ways. That’s the main reason their farm system has steadily rose the ranks of baseball to become, arguably, the premier farm system in the game.
They’re trying to build a core group of players without wasting Clayton Kershaw’s prime. Kershaw is about o turn 28 years old and has plenty of years left on that marvelous left arm of his. The front office is just trying to maximize the return on future years.
So while fans are clamoring for a championship right now, it’s best to remember that keeping a long-term goal is also the smart play. The Dodgers have the depth and talent to compete now, but are also keeping a keen eye on what sits ahead. It’s a tough marriage, but they’re trying to make it work.
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By now we understand the plan. It is the Brave model with hopefully more championships… They have gone away from that model as everyone could watch the Braves on their Super Staion and few of us can watch the Dodgers.
The fact they are not bothering to broadcast Spring games and we had to watch the Angel Broadcast to see the Dodgers just rubs salt into the wound.
They may be very smart people but with their past moves and arrogance do not expect many of us to like them..
The disconnect here is that the Dodgers are rich enough to build up their minor league system while still signing the occasional free agent. If they’d kept Greinke or signed Price instead of Kasmir, that would not have affected their international signings.
This team is worse than last year’s and last year’s was worse than the year before. The prospects may or may not work out sometime late in this decade, but by then Kershaw, who can opt out in 2018, might be pitching in Texas and Gonzalez may be retired. Getting younger does not always equate to getting better and the best predictor of major league success is past major league success, not minor league success.
There are risks involved in this approach that the front office does not want to acknowledge. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
Blue58 Well said sir….
I believe Dodger Nation is cautiously hopeful. Which is all we can be…. I do like what I see from very small samplings of Stripling, DeLeon, Barnes, Bellinger and others.
This to me is the year of IF”S —-If Turner’s knee, Ryu’s shoulder, Grnadal’s shoulder, Anderson’s back are better. IF Puig get’s his head straight IF PEderson gets his head and batting approach straight..
Lots of IF’s….