That’s right everyone, baseball has come to an end. Apologies for the late post, that seems to be a reoccurring thing that takes place on this page. I’ve been just about as absent as the Dodgers offense in the World Series.
While I’m not pleased with the outcome of the World Series for the second year in a row, I do have a few things that I would like to discuss in terms of what went wrong in against Boston, how the Dodgers made it to the World Series and where this blog will go from here.
For starters, congratulations to the 2018 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. If you can’t say that, this isn’t the page for you. Boston was the best team in baseball all season long and they carried that momentum into the playoffs and steamrolled just about every team, including the Dodgers.
In the World Series, the Dodgers’ main problem was scoring runs when they needed to score runs. This was a problem that plagued the Dodgers all season long and sadly, they took it to the playoffs and the World Series. Watching the very short World Series, I went in thinking that maybe the Dodgers would give the Red Sox a good fight and maybe win two games. They only won one…and that game took eighteen innings to complete. Cue the “Baseball is boring and the games should be shorter” comments.
The Dodgers had opportunities in each game to take the lead, hold the lead and extend the lead. They failed most of the time on all three of those objectives. I’m not one to point fingers or put the blame on anyone but, Ryan Madson, c’mon man. Madson was brought in for three straight relief appearances and blew the lead or gave up a run each and every time. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind those decisions. After Game 1 in Boston, you could say that maybe it was just that one instance and he can redeem himself if he’s brought in again at some point in the series. NOPE. Game 2 comes around and he blows it again. By that point you could hear the roar of Southern California screaming “WHY????”. And if that wasn’t torturous enough for us Dodger fans, he’s brought in for Game 4 in LA and gives up a 3-Run Home Run when the Dodgers were leading 4-0.
Look, I’m sure Madson is a great guy and all but, let’s just say it’s a good thing he’s a free agent now.
Speaking of free agents, there’s a lot and the Dodgers have quite a few of their own as well. First, the man, the myth and the regular season legend, Clayton Kershaw is returning to the Dodgers for another three years! Many believed that he would opt-out of his contract and leave the Dodgers but I personally didn’t see that happening. Everyone said that just because someone on TV said it. People thought he would sign with the Texas Rangers since he is from Dallas, Texas but, Kershaw wants to play for a winning team and well, he’s had a lot of success with winning in Los Angeles.
Now that Kershaw has resigned and is off the table, the Dodgers have shifted their focus towards the free agent market. The Dodgers have resigned David Freese to a one year, $5 million deal and I couldn’t be happier with the decision. Freese has been a hero of mine ever since Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. In addition to signing Freese, the front office has extended qualifying offers to pitcher, Hyun-Jin Ryu and catcher, Yasmani Grandal. I think the Dodgers would be fine without both of them but if they end up with one or the other, I’d prefer Ryu. Grandal is an amazing catcher but he just can’t perform in the playoffs. We saw that multiple times in the NLCS when he committed error after error and in the World Series when he couldn’t hit a ball to save his life. Then again, none of the Dodgers could do that so oh well.
The 2018 free agent class is loaded with mega talented players and it’s no secret that this is one of the most talented free agent classes of all time. Who are some of these players? Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, Gio Gonzalez, DJ Lemahieu, Patrick Corbin and Andrew Miller. Those are just some names that I’ve chosen but obviously not all of the players that are free agents. Annnnnddddd, Yankee fans think that they’re going to be getting all of these players.
The biggest question that everyone is asking is: Where will Harper and Machado sign? It’s a good question to ask since both players will be getting a handsome payday, one will most likely get more than the other but nonetheless, they’re both going to get PAID. I believe that Machado will not be returning to Los Angeles next season and I’d say he is going to play in Philadelphia with the Phillies. He’s played his entire career on the east coast and the Phillies have the money to spend. Philadelphia could actually sign both Harper and Machado if they wanted but landing both of them would be near impossible. Wherever Machado signs, I’m putting my money on it being an east coast team. As for Harper?
I strongly believe that Bryce Harper will be wearing blue and white next year and playing right field for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thats right, I think the front office will go all in and finally sign that superstar player that the team has been missing for years now. In a very crowded outfield, it’s logical to think that Harper would be the everyday right fielder regardless of anything. No one would take his spot, not even Puig. At that point, Puig and the rest of the insane outfield battalion, excluding Cody Bellinger, would be expendable. Keep Pederson, Taylor and Hernandez but the rest could go.
Why do I think Harper will sign with the Dodgers? Harper is from Las vegas and grew up a Dodger fan, that isn’t the swinging factor in deciding where to play but being three hours from home does have some sort of weight. People say that he wants to play with his best friend, Kris Bryant, but the Cubs would have to get rid of some players in order to swing that deal. As I said before, Philly could land him but he’s already played in the National League East for six years, why stay there when you’ll be leaving a team that has missed their championship window and sign with a team in the same division that hasn’t gotten to that window yet? Doesn’t make sense to me at all.
San Francisco could possibly sign Harper but who knows if Harper has any underlying hate for the organization after what happened this past season with Hunter Strickland. Then today, there were rumors that the White Sox could be involved in signing Harper and Machado but in all honesty, neither of those players is going to play there for at least the next five years, if at all. As I originally said, I think Harper will sign an enormous contract with the Dodgers. What will that contract look like? Probably 8-10 years, at about $35-40 million per year. Making Harper the highest paid baseball player ever. It is a ridiculous amount of money and I’ll never see that much in my life but, Harper is definitely one of the few players and athletes in the world that can command that kind of money.
Neither of the two mentioned players have said anything so far about where they’d like to play or preference and we will probably won’t hear any “real” news until the winter meetings next month. Talk about a good Christmas gift for a fan of *insert team here* to sign either or both of those players. I’d have my Harper jersey preordered as soon as possible if he chose the Dodgers.
During the off season I will be posting on here but not as frequently since there won’t be too much happening. Unless the Dodgers go crazy and start signing every free agent in sight. Anyways, stay tuned for new content throughout the off season and I’ll see you all when Spring Training starts in February!
Leadoff Dodgers 