Blog Kiosk: 11/16/2015 - Dodger Links - Cutting Payroll, Kiké's Plea and RIP George Genovese

Following up on Joc Pederson's plea to Zack Grineke on instagram, Kiké Hernandez went onto twitter with his own attempt at swaying the ace pitcher to stay Blue.  He wrote the following while including the above two photographs:

Dear Zack, I have no money to offer you but this is my pitch! PLEASEEEEE stay! 🙏🏼 #21 pic.twitter.com/BwEm0MAghC

— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) November 14, 2015

You'd have to be a monster to say no to Kike.  After all, how can you resist a guy who not only sports your uniform number but also dons that magical hairdo that had fans swooning. 

Below are more links to check out:

• Legendary Scout George Genovese (who worked for Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals and Marlins) passed away last night.  RIP, George Genovese.  Via a tweet by Bob Nightengale:

George Genovese, perhaps the greatest baseball scout who ever lived, passed away last night, his family says. #SFGiants

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 16, 2015

• The managerial field narrows even further.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Dodgers' manager search looks to be three-man race after Erstad exits."

Humbled to be asked to interview for Dodgers job but Lincoln is where my heart is. Looked my kids in the eyes & knew we needed to stay.

— Darin Erstad (@Dstad17) November 15, 2015

• I never believed the Dodgers could maintain the payroll they had, so it had to come down to earth eventually.  Via Bill Shaikin at the LA Times, "Money is still an object for Dodgers, who are trying to cut payroll from $300 million."

That happened in 2015, primarily as a strategy to amass organizational depth by subsidizing close to $100 million in salaries of players who played elsewhere. The payroll will drop substantially in 2016, to what Boehly said he believed would be much closer to $200 million than $300 million.

"We're looking toward building something long-term, and sustainable," he said.

Leading the league in payroll every year, he said, is not sustainable.

"I think sustainable is more like the league average," Boehly said, "plus some, or plus a lot."

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Jacob Scavuzzo keeps hitting, Dodgers showing versatility in Arizona Fall League."
• Via Erin Edwards at Dodger Insider, "LADF online Dodgers memorabilia auction begins." 

Now through December 7 , LADF will be hosting an online auction with autographed memorabilia, including items from your favorite current and former Dodger players. Go to dodgers.com/auction to place your bid on autographed baseball and jerseys.

• Via John Thorn at Our Game, "Diamond Visions: Baseball’s Greatest Illustration Art."  Thorn writes about some of the most fantastic 19th century Baseball art available.

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Blog Kiosk: 11/14/2015 - Dodger Links - Cricket, Scully and the Manager Search Narrowing

Here's a look at where the wicket is placed on the pitch at Dodger Stadium.  Pic above tweeted by Nick @njmiller4.  The Cricket All-Stars match is tonight at 6:30 PM and you can go here for ticket information.

Young Ryan hitting @ShaneWarne for 6 during his @MasterCard #pricelesssurprises experience pic.twitter.com/8ASmup9S66

— Cricket All Stars (@T20AllStars) November 13, 2015

Below are more links to check out:

• You should watch this.  Via CBS, "Exclusive Interview: Jim Hill Sits Down With Vin And Sandy Scully."

“What we did Jim, really, in trying to be fair, believe it or not, one of the guidelines for us was ‘The Brady Bunch’ on television,” Scully said. “Not so much for Sandy and me, but for our children, because they would watch ‘The Brady Bunch’, they would relate to that situation of families melding together.”

• The search for a new Dodger manager is narrowing.  Via Jim Bowden at ESPN Insider, "Dodgers narrow managerial search to four candidates."

The Los Angeles Dodgers have interviewed nine candidates for their managerial opening and are going to bring back four of them as finalists next week. The four will come from the following five candidates: Bud Black, Darrin Erstad, Gabe Kapler, Kirk Gibson and Dave Roberts. The rest of the field is no longer in contention, according to sources familiar with the search.

JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers has a different take:

One source told me that three candidates, not four, will get second interviews, and that one of the three might not be from the group of five ESPN reported. So we’ll see. The Dodgers aren’t confirming a specific number of second-interview candidates yet. 

• Wow. Via Owen Watson at FanGraphs, "The 2015 Rookie Class Was the Best in 100 Years."
• LOL!  I guess no one loves Chris Denorfia.  Via Steven Luke at NBC San Diego, "600 Padres Bobbleheads Mysteriously Left Near Local Residents' Doorstep." 

“We thought it was from a drug cartel or something,” echoed roommate Jalena Lau. “But when we went through them, they were just regular bobbleheads."

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Blog Kiosk: 10/31/2015 - Dodger Links - Honeycutt, Farmer and Darin Erstad?

Check out this fantastic photo of the Ebbets Field press box in 1953 with Vin Scully at the mic.  Photo above via Old Time Baseball Photos on twitter.

Below are more links to check out:

• Remember this!  Per Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, the 2016 Dodger FanFest will be on Saturday, January 30th.
• Via David Montero at the Daily News, "This Dodgers organist will be in the Bobblehead Hall of Fame."
  

  “I was pretty surprised by it,” (Nancy) Bea said. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Bobblehead Hall of Fame. But that’s great.”

• With word leaking that Mattingly will want pitching coach Rick Honeycutt by his side in Miami, we find out that the Dodgers and Honeycutt are in contract negotiations, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.
• Via Jim Callis at MLB.com, "Dodgers in the AFL: Versatile Farmer continuing transition to catcher."
  

  "We have a great pitching staff here, and I'm looking forward to working with them," Farmer said. "Also, honing in on my own skills and working on blocking the ball better, receiving better and stuff like that. It's fun, and it's an honor to be out here."

• Huh... Erstad is an intriguing choice.  He was one of those gritty type of players.  Via a tweet from Ken Rosenthal:

Sources: #Dodgers plan to interview Darin Erstad, University of Nebraska head coach (and former #Angels OFer) for their managerial opening.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 30, 2015

• Panini America will once again roll out a Black Friday promotion for local card shops this year.  Go here to check out a bunch of pics of the cards that will be available in packs; including the Joc Pederson and Clayton Kershaw cards below.  The Kershaw card is especially awesome.

• This is too bad.  Grantland had some fantastic writing.  Via a ESPN press release:

Effective immediately we are suspending the publication of Grantland.  After careful consideration, we have decided to direct our time and energy going forward to projects that we believe will have a broader and more significant impact across our enterprise.

• BTW, Dave Cameron at InstaGraphs shares some of his favorite Grantland pieces here.

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