“It’s comical,” the Dodgers’ new president of baseball operations (Andrew Friedman) said of the daily assortment of “hot stove” rumors that always seem to include mysteriously sourced reports that his team is ready to make some big move – something that wasn’t true during his days running the small-market Tampa Bay Rays.
“I think coming in I understood and appreciated that it comes with the territory,” he said. “But to see it actually play out? … It’s comical.”
“Right now, believe me, you guys have seen how I worked,” Stewart said. “If I was motivated to move him, he’d probably be gone by now. Right now, I’m not motivated to do anything. Like I said, our ownership hasn’t told us that we have to move him. So for today, as far as I can tell you, he’s going to be a part of this team.”
Misinformation or real?
Lavarnway, who went to El Camino Real HS in Woodland Hills and then Yale, had a .389 on-base percentage and .370 slugging percentage in 62 games with Pawtucket in 2014, while battling a strained left wrist. His best minor league season was 2011, when he hit 32 homers, and he has a career .283/.375/.479 line in the minors.
Mike Petriello at Dodgers Digest writes a great analysis on Lavarnway, and it ain't pretty.
Here's one final prediction for you: The Dodgers will trade an outfielder this winter. Maybe more than one. But while they're talking about Kemp with the Orioles, Mariners, Padres and others, dealing Kemp is the option they're least interested in -- basically, their "Uh-Oh, We Can't Move Anybody Else So We'd Better Move Him" plan.
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| (graphic via Topps on Facebook) |
"I'm using the winter to take a step and get myself back to where I need to be," Ethier said. "You can't expect people to give it to you. You've got to earn it. I'm going for it in the offseason, so I will be prepared to compete and win a job.
"[Management] is busy hustling to get the team and the organization to the way they want it to be -- not just setting us up for next year, but for years to come. That's what happens with a shakeup. We really don't need that much on the Major League level. We need a good system top to bottom."
But on the mound and in the clubhouse, it was a no-brainer, and the fact that new baseball bosses Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi recognized that so quickly speaks volumes about the balance between numbers and intangibles that they could be willing to strike.
"It was based on the totality of his contributions to the team," Zaidi, the Dodgers' new general manager, said of Ellis. "It's not an intangible, it's a tangible that he creates."
Van Slyke on if the Dodgers signed Jon Lester: "It would give Kershaw another lefty weirdo to talk to. He's a very good pitcher"
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) December 4, 2014
