Thank You, Adrian Gonzalez!

I still remember that day in 2012 when the entire Baseball world heard the shocking news that the Dodgers now had Adrian Gonzalez in their lineup. As you may recall, the franchise was in turmoil then. Team owner Frank McCourt had effectively been ousted just three months prior, and few people knew exactly what the new bosses had in mind.

2017 Topps Transcendent Collection - The Monty Sheldon Painted Dodgers Baseballs

On Friday I briefly introduced Topps 2017 Transcendent Collection brand by showing off the Corey Seager hand-drawn baseball created by sports artist Mayumi Seto (link here). As you know, this super premium set -- of which there are only 87 boxes/cases in existence -- includes one original artist drawn card or baseball. Of the artistic Baseballs four feature a Dodger, and three of those four were created by friend of Blue Heaven blog, Monty Sheldon.

Over the weekend, Monty was kind enough to send along pics of the three Dodgers' painted baseballs for everyone to enjoy. Check them out below -- Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger and Yu Darvish. He was also kind enough to share a group pic of a bunch of the baseballs he painted for this set. You can see that at the very bottom of this post.

Authentic MLB Baseball Sketch (#/1)

#Clayton Kershaw                         #Cody Bellinger

Blog Kiosk: 12/18/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Weekend Odds and Ends

(Via tweet from AGon)

Do you know what happens when you spend all weekend shopping and don't bother lifting a finger to check out any news?

Something big happens, like a blockbuster trade, that you don't discover until a couple days later.

That's what I experienced this morning. I dutifully got up and prepared for work, headed to the office and finally decided to check out my news feed -- something I chosen to ignore all weekend long. To my utter surprise, I discovered that old-friend Matt Kemp is back in LA. (For how long? I dunno.) And just as shockingly, the Dodgers shipped high-priced talent Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, along with utilityman Charlie Culberson and some cash to the Braves in return.

Wow! Stay tuned as I think about some "thank you" and "welcome" post with fantasy Baseball cards.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 2009 the Dodgers traded outfielder Juan Pierre to the White Sox for pitchers John Ely and Jon Link. In 2014 the Dodgers traded Tim Federowicz and Matt Kemp to San Diego for Zach Eflin, Yasmani Grandal and Joe Wieland. 
• Happy Birthday, Dave Oldfield, Hub Knolls, Jimmy Pattison, Bill Skowron, Gino Cimoli, Zoilo Versalles, Lance Carter & Micah Johnson!

2017 Topps Transcendent Collection - The Corey Seager Sketch Ball

The highest of the high-end Baseball card brands was officially released today, and I decided to take a little bit of time to see if any of the Dodger cards had made it onto eBay yet. Considering a factory price tag of about $25,000 a box (of which only 87 exist) I figured this would be the only way I'd ever see them. As I was cruising around the online marketplace I saw something that I immediately knew I had to highlight.

Blog Kiosk: 12/15/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Yesterday the Dodgers held their annual Children's Holiday Party at Dodger Stadium, and both Joc Pederson and Austin Barnes were on-hand to take in the festivities... And to play dodgeball. Per Rowan Kanver at Dodger Insider:

A day full of games and gifts also included pictures with Santa Clause, dodgeball and sledding. 

“It kind of brings you back to your childhood for sure, playing dodgeball, sled races, playing in the snow,” Barnes said. “It’s a good time.”

Please tell me that the ball headed for Joc was a direct hit.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2017. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1968 Dodgers GM Al Campanis traded his own son, Jim Campanis, to the KC Royals.  In 1987 the Dodgers signed free agent outfielder Mike Davis to a contract.  He would eventually become a hero for taking a walk and stealing a base ahead of Kirk Gibson's walk-off Game 1 World Series homer.  In 2004 the Dodgers signed free agent second baseman Jeff Kent to a three year $21 million contract.  In 2009 the Dodgers trade Juan Pierre to the White Sox for two players to be named later - John Ely and Jon Link. 
• Happy Birthday, George Hemming, Robert Ellis, Nick Buss, Aaron Miles & Doug Rau! 

Welcome to the Blue, Angelo Mora!

With the Winter Meetings officially over there is only one development related to a new addition to the Dodgers to tell you about. This morning, as a part of the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the Dodgers picked up Dominican infielder Angelo Mora from the Baltimore Orioles. Per Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider:

The versatile 24-year-old infielder hit .291/.334/.435 between Double-A and Triple-A in Philadelphia’s organization last year, spending the majority of the season with Double-A Reading, where he hit .295/.348/.470 with 19 doubles, three triples and nine home runs in 322 plate appearances. 

Mora played all over the place in Double-A last year, logging innings at second base, shortstop, third base, left field and right field. At Triple-A, he only played the infield. The majority of his time was spent as a middle infielder in 2017. 

The switch-hitter batted .287/.330/.409 in 298 plate appearances as a lefty against right-handed pitching and batted .303/.344/.496 in 128 plate appearances as a righty against left-handed pitching.