It was already a great day to be a baseball fan in general with the start of the 2020 MLB season just 24 hours away…but now it’s an incredible day for Dodgers fans in particular. Of course, I’m referring to the 12-year, $365 million extension Mookie Betts just signed with the Dodgers this afternoon. I’ll be the first to admit that the rich just got richer, being that the Dodgers already have a stacked lineup that features reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger, alongside All-Stars Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Joc Pederson, and Max Muncy. However, as great as those guys are, nothing is promised in this league. That’s why when you have the opportunity to sign one of the top three players in baseball, you do so.
Since this news broke I’ve seen a lot of people say that the Dodgers are just buying a championship team, that they have an embarrassment of riches, that they don’t really need Mookie. Do these people have a point? Maybe. Do I think they’re just jealous? Absolutely.
Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane. The Dodgers traded for Yu Darvish in 2017, bolstering their starting rotation that already included Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. They won the N.L. Pennant, and you know the rest. Fast forward to 2018…the Dodgers trade for Manny Machado, adding another solid bat to a lineup that features most of the stars currently on their roster. Once again, they won the N.L. Pennant, but you know how that October ended. My point here is that it is really fucking hard to win the World Series, even if you have the best team on paper. This isn’t basketball, where one player can win you a championship. Baseball (usually) has a grueling 162-game schedule in which every single player down to the last guy in the bullpen needs to contribute in order to win a championship.
Now, will the Dodgers win more games with Mookie Betts in their lineup vs. without him? Yeah, probably! All I’m trying to say is that his addition doesn’t guarantee a championship. And until the Dodgers do win a championship, I don’t want to hear it.
Now that I’ve dealt with the haters, I just want to say that this was undoubtedly the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in at least five months, and arguably the best Dodgers moment since Puig’s homer in the 2018 World Series. I’m still so caught up in Betts’ signing that I’m not even considering what this means for other expensive Dodgers like Bellinger, Seager, Kershaw, and Turner, (who are all due to get paid soon), or whether or not I think we’ll even finish this baseball season once it starts. I’m just enjoying the moment and hoping there isn’t an opt-out clause after three years or some shit.
Regardless of who you root for, just be excited that baseball is back in our lives as of 7 P.M. EST tomorrow and that hopefully, you’re not a Red Sox fan.
Despite very little (basically zero) anticipation, the 2020 MLB Draft kicked off yesterday, giving us the first real baseball-related content in months. The MLB draft has never received the same recognition or hype as the NBA and NFL drafts, understandably so, but I’m still one of the proud die-hard baseball fans that does get excited for it. However, the enthusiasm for this year’s draft did not match previous years’ for a couple of reasons:
Society has been concerned with racial injustice the past couple of weeks, as it should’ve been. Social media has been absolutely dominated by posts about racial and class inequality lately, so everything not related to that was pretty much filtered out of everyone’s timeline.
I’m sure MLB Network and ESPN have been reminding viewers about the draft for weeks now, but I, along with many people, have not been watching sports networks – what’s the point? ESPN talk shows are hardly bearable when there are actual sports on, so I can’t imagine how many topics they’ve recycled over the last few months. Probably just more debates about why MJ is the goat and how Tom Brady keeps his body in such great shape at his age – we’ve heard it all before.
MLB’s social media team did a terrible job promoting it. Leading up to the draft, the @MLB Instagram account only posted three times, all of which were within the same 24-hour period. They should’ve been hyping this thing up for WEEKS! There is literally nothing else to talk about in the baseball world, so why wouldn’t they have been reminding us about the draft and promoting the top prospects as much as possible? Just another example of MLB fumbling the bag in regards to growing the game.
Even though MLB could have done a much better job of promotion leading up to the draft, now that it’s started, I think it’s what was needed to advance negotiations between the owners and players for the 2020 season. I’ve been pessimistic about there being a 2020 MLB season at all since it seems like the two sides are so far apart on the salary issue, but since the draft started, I have confidence that a deal will be met. Going online and seeing that there is actual baseball news along with player highlights and the reaction videos from guys getting drafted, things just feel right.
How could the video above not get you excited for baseball?? Even though most of these guys won’t reach the majors for a couple of years, it still gets me fired up for the future of the sport and makes me want the MLB back right now. I know that MLB players and owners share my passion for this game, but I hope they do the right thing and reach an agreement. As fucked up as this year has been so far, if the players and owners could just give a little bit and bring baseball back this year, it would help in establishing at least some sense of normalcy to the world.
With the status of Major League Baseball everchanging due to the coronavirus pandemic, this article will provide you with the most up-to-date news as it happens. I will update this article when necessary, i.e. when any major news about the 2020 season is released. As of June 22nd, 2020, here is what you need to know:
June 22nd, 2020:
We will have baseball in 2020!!!
Play Ball! MLB will play 60-game schedule in 2020, with spring training on July 1 and the season starting July 24-27. https://t.co/MskY8fG0ca
I hope Manfred is just trying to knock some sense into these players and reach a deal because if not, this season is fucked.
BREAKING: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred tells @Espngreeny that heâs ânot confidentâ there will be a 2020 baseball season. âUnfortunately," Manfred said, "I canât tell you that Iâm a 100% certain thatâs gonna happen.â
Source confirms: MLB proposal to union: 72-game season with players receiving 70 percent of prorated salaries for regular season and 80 percent if posteason is completed. First @BNightengale.
A 50-game season is looking more likely, as MLB has rejected MLBPA’s 114-game season proposal.
MLB rejected the unionâs proposal for a 114-game season and said it would not send a counter, sources tell The Athletic. The league said it has started talks with owners about playing a shorter season without fans, and that it is ready to discuss additional ideas with the union.
MLB is highly considering 50-game schedule with full prorated salaries:
The potential season Major League Baseball envisions would run somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 regular-season games, sources told ESPN. The exact number is being considered, but the aim would be to return in July. It would be less than half of playersâ proposed season length.
The inclusion of potential deferrals by players is an olive branch, even if it does apply just to a canceled postseason.
It would defer $100M total, applied to players making $10M+ before proration, and would do so with interest to make players whole. It opens the door to more.
As you can see, MLB owners really don’t want to pay their players, and they are offering them pennies on the dollar in exchange for playing this year. In response, Nationals star pitcher Max Scherzer posted the following on Twitter on behalf of the MLBPA:
It’s pretty clear that the overwhelming majority of MLB players considered MLB’s proposal a slap in the face and are not willing to even entertain that offer. Of course, it’s worth noting that the guys who are more than likely calling the shots on behalf of the players are the ones with multi-million dollar contracts. The up-and-coming players (not as rich) would probably be more willing to work with MLB here because they want that big-league exposure (assuming rosters sizes are increased) and their salaries won’t be diminished, relatively speaking, compared to guys like Scherzer.
Following up with Scherzer’s tweet, the MLBPA is looking to counter MLB’s proposal and ask for a 100+ games and full prorated salaries (refer to above tweet for salary reference):
News at ESPN: Players want a season of 100+ games, full prorated salaries and a look at specific documents to better understand MLB's finances. The MLBPA's forthcoming proposal may simply ignore MLB's economic proposal. Here is where it leaves baseball: https://t.co/9C7vPR1YmN
Unwilling to pay players, who might’ve been cut at the end of spring training regardless, their stipend of $400/week, Minor League Baseball cut hundreds of players on May 28. That number is expected to surpass 1,000 in the coming days and just shows how much of a toll the coronavirus pandemic has had on baseball as a whole. From a business perspective, it makes sense to “trim the fat”, but it’s still unfortunate to see that guys who were still chasing their dream and rely on their MiLB salary for their main source of income are now apart of the millions of unemployed Americans. Although, they might make more on unemployment than they did playing for MiLB.
Winning the World Series is a big fucking deal. It’s an achievement that declares you the best baseball team on the planet for that particular year and etches your name in the history books forever. However, if it’s such a big deal, why are some teams more forgotten about than others? Shouldn’t they all be held in the same high regard for their incredible achievement? The sad truth is that they’re not. One possible answer is that they just weren’t all that memorable/captivating of a team. Maybe they barely snuck into the playoffs and got hot at the right time and “stole” the title from a superior team. Banners might fly forever, but our recollection of the team’s title might not last that long. Similarly, I feel like the period from 1990-2019 has had some of the most forgettable World Series champs of all time.
1990 Cincinnati Reds
Even if you weren’t alive at the time, most baseball fans have heard of the Big Red Machine’s reign in the 1970s with Pete Rose and Joe Morgan. I’ve watched enough MLB Network documentaries to know that they were the preeminent National League team of the decade – four W.S. appearances with two championships. However, since 1979 (40 years) they’ve only managed to make the postseason five times, one of which was only a Wild Card game. But somehow, after not making the playoffs a single time in the 1980s, they managed to sweep the defending champion Oakland Athletics in 1990. Those Reds were a classic example of a team that just put it all together for one magical season. Aside from Barry Larkin and Paul O’Neill, the only other notable player on their roster was a relief pitcher (Randy Myers). I’d even argue that the most captivating person apart of the Reds that season wasn’t even a player, but their manager Lou Piniella.
However, I believe the real reason this championship is so forgettable is that it’s outshined by other World Series’ around the same time.
1992 – Even though this World Series didn’t have a defining “moment” like the others, it still featured the Atlanta Braves, who were undoubtedly the National League team of the 90s + when you think of Carter’s ’93 walk off, you can’t help but remember the Blue Jays went back-to-back.
With such historical World Series moments before and after the 1990 season, it makes sense why that year gets lost in the shuffle. Coupled with how bad the Reds have been since (20 losing seasons/30), I’m sure it shocks you as much as me to know that they were able to sneak in a championship.
2005 Chicago White Sox
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Maybe it’s because I was really into playing The Show around this time, but I am very familiar with this White Sox team and the players on it. Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Bobby Jenks, Mark Buehrle, Frank Thomas, Juan Uribe, and even manager Ozzie Guillen should all be relatively familiar names if you consider yourself a baseball fan. All of those guys were all-stars (except Uribe, but I can’t forget his days with the Dodgers) at one time or another, and Guillen is up there with Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella in terms of his in-game exploits, plus he had a pretty solid managerial career. But for some reason, I always forget that they won the World Series in 2005.
I believe there are two things working against the White Sox here. The first (1) thing is that much like the 1990 Reds, they haven’t been a great team since winning their title. The White Sox have only made one playoff appearance (2008) since 2005 and have had ten losing seasons in that span of time. The second (2) thing is that they are the little brother in Chicago, like the Mets in New York and Angels in the greater Los Angeles area (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels). The list of second rate teams isn’t baseball-specific either. The Clippers, Jets, and Nets also know how to feels to be #2 in their own city. But that’s just the way it is…No matter what they do, they’ll never outshine the city’s #1 team, which in Chicago’s case is the Cubs. The White Sox embrace being the “South Siders”, and I’d definitely consider them the grittier team in the windy city. However, since their title basically came out of nowhere and hasn’t really resonated with the sport since then, it’s easy to forget that magical season.
2003 Florida Marlins
(Photo by James Keivom/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
By far the most forgettable World Series champions of the last 30 years are the 2003 Florida Marlins. This was a team that included Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, future HOF-er Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Derrek Lee – stacked from head to toe, yet they’re easy to forget. Everyone remembers Edgar Renteria’s walk-off in the 1997 World Series, giving the Marlins their first championship in just their fifth season as a franchise, but no one remembers 2003. First of all, I’d just like to say that I don’t think they get enough credit for that ’97 title. With relatively no fanbase, limited draft picks, and the powerhouse Braves in their own division, it’s insane to think they were able to win a championship just a few years after their inception. But I digress. The Marlins winning the championship in 2003 was actually the third most memorable thing to come out of that postseason.
Steve Bartman. Chances are if you’re a sports fan you’ve heard of this man. Even if you’re not a sports fan (I’m not sure why you’re reading this blog) there’s a good chance you’ve heard of him. That’s because he was public enemy no. 1Â in Chicago from 2003 – 2016, when the Cubs finally bailed him out by winning the World Series after a 108-year drought. The Marlins were the opposing team during the Steve Bartman incident, which ultimately resulted in the Marlins winning the N.L. pennant and sent the Cubs packing.
Aaron Boone’s walk-off. Now one of the most famous hits in baseball history, it’s easy to forget that the Yankees didn’t even win the World Series in 2003. Boone’s hit was the highlight of the entire season and has been cemented in baseball lore, but it was just the ALCS. I can’t imagine the kind of momentum that Yankees team had going into the World Series, but somehow the Marlins managed to beat them in six games – considering the circumstances, they deserve a lot more credit.
It’s not the Marlins’ fault that two of the most iconic postseason moments in baseball history happened during their championship season, but since they did, people often forget that they won their second title in just their eleventh season as a franchise. It doesn’t help that they’ve been a shit team every since and arguably have the worst fan base in all of American sports, but they deserve credit where credit is due.
An honorable mention in the San Francisco Giants…not any one year in particular, but just the fact that they won three titles in five years (2010, 2012, 2014) and it seems like everyone’s forgotten about it. Do you realize how impressive it is to win that many titles in such a short period of time? That’s dynasty territory. But because they’re a shit team now and traded away Bumgarner (who single-handedly won the 2014 World Series), it feels like all that happened way longer than six years ago.
My loyalty to the Dodgers in no way influenced my opinion about the Giants. Having said that, I’d give my left nut to see the Dodgers win an unmemorable World Series title.Â
Love him or hate him, Bryce Harper is one of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball. He’s not necessarily the best player, but there’s no arguing that he is probably the sport’s most marketed player in terms of endorsements. In being so, the MLB should listen to what he has to say about growing the game not only in the U.S., but globally. Harper appeared on the Starting 9 podcast on Tuesday and brought up a couple of great points that you’d have to be a fool to disagree with.
Fix the blackout issue
MLB’s blackout issue is by far and away the league’s biggest issue in terms of growing the game. Living in the greater Los Angeles area, the only way I’d be able to watch Dodger games consistently is if I had Spectrum cable. Every once in a while, their games get broadcasted on national networks like ESPN and TBS, but outside of those few games, I’m shit out of luck. Sure I could switch my cable provider to Spectrum, but then I lose NFL Sunday Ticket…do you see my dilemma?
Another option is purchasing the MLB TV package, which is free for T-Mobile customers like I happen to be. Unfortunately, however, because of cable restrictions and such, local games are blacked out on MLB TV for me too! Riddle me this, MLB, what the fuck is the point of having MLB TV if you can’t even watch your local team’s games?? It might benefit the Dodger fan who just relocated to Chicago, but for 99% of fans who live in the same city as the team they root for, it’s useless. Luckily for me, I went to college out of state and was able to watch every Dodger game during the time I was at school, but now that I’m back in LA, I’ll no longer enjoy that luxury.
Baseball is a regional sport as it is, so the blackouts are killing the growth of the game. Fans just want to be able to come home and kick back after a long day at work and watch their team play…I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.
Let MLB players compete in the Olympics
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea – Samurai Japan/SAMURAI JAPAN via Getty Images)
Harper’s other piece of advice to the league is to let MLB players compete in the Olympics. Baseball was slated to return to the Games this summer for the first time since 2008, but since they’ve been pushed back to 2021, MLB has some time to get this right. As great as the World Baseball Classic is, I’d make the argument that the Olympics is a way bigger deal. For starters, the modern Olympics have been around 110 years longer than the WBC. Since they have been around so much longer, as a society, we view the Olympics as the epitome of athletic excellence. For example…if the world archery championships (not even sure that’s a real thing) were on TV, I wouldn’t be able to change the channel fast enough…but if Olympic archery is on, you bet your ass I’d watch every single shot. The sad truth is that the Olympics are a HUGE deal, whereas no one outside of the baseball community really gives a shit about the WBC.
I also realize that the MLB season schedule would need to be reorganized to accommodate for the two weeks during the summer that the Olympics would take place. That’s two weeks out of every four years. I’ll say that again…Two weeks out of every four years. If baseball owners can’t collectively agree that a once in a lifetime experience every four years is worth the cancellation of 14 games in the dog days of summer, then they have no business owning a club. Here’s a great idea I just came up with – push the All-Star break to coincide with the Olympics so the league won’t have to cancel as many games! That way, players that don’t make an Olympic squad get a nice little break from the season grind, owners won’t lose as much money, and there will be a whole bunch of players who can call themselves Olympians for the rest of their lives. It’s a Win-Win-Win.
If you’re watching The Last Dance, then you’d know how much the 1992 Olympic dream team meant to the sport of basketball and the impact it had on expanding the game globally. Believe it or not, baseball has fans all over the world too, but by making these types of decisions (not allowing guys to play in the Olympics) they’re limiting its reach. Hopefully, the League takes Harper’s criticisms into consideration because I’m sure many players and fans feel the exact same way.
It’s official: the Dodgers lost back to back World Series against CHEATERS. While there wasn’t sufficient evidence to conclude that the Red Sox cheated in the playoffs, but only during the regular season, they’re cheaters nonetheless. As good as the Sox were in 2018, maybe things go differently in the regular season had they not cheated…dare I say the Yankees could’ve won the AL East??
The fact that some video room guy got blamed for this whole thing is laughable. It’s not a coincidence that Alex Cora was cheating in Houston and the Red Sox just so happened to get caught for cheating the very next season. Don’t forget that the Sox were also busted for using Apple Watches to cheat in 2017 as well. They clearly have no respect for the game of baseball and spit in the face of order. I think the only thing keeping the Sox from being the Astros is that a whistleblower hasn’t come forward to expose them for the scumbags they are.
Ultimately, there’s really nothing more the League could’ve done here punishment-wise, but just like with the Astros, the league comes out losers here. The big winner is Alex Cora, who will probably end up not serving a single day of his suspension and will more than likely have a job in 2021.
The sad part is…I’m so desperate for baseball to come back that I’d be willing to absolve the Red Sox of any penalties if it meant we got the 2020 MLB season in return. It’s “fuck the Astros” till the day I die, but the Red Sox penalties are so weak anyway that I think it’s a fair trade. And just like 2017 and 2018, coronavirus is cheating the Dodgers out of another World Series win in 2020.
MLB Network played a rerun of Clayton Kershaw’s MLB debut tonight, and I’m both thankful and depressed because of it. I’m thankful because since it was a Thursday day game back in 2008, I was probably busy dominating a game of kickball or handball during lunch break at the time and wasn’t able to watch the game. After watching it, I’ve realized how much baseball has changed in twelve years. I think the biggest difference is how much more athletic the average baseball player is now compared to then. The main culprit for this change is that players need to be a lot more versatile now because rosters are extremely pitcher-heavy. But as much as I enjoy spotting the differences in today’s game compared to then, the reason I watched this game was because of Clayton Kershaw.
Twenty years old and only two years removed from playing against slapdick high schoolers, he was facing Albert Pujols. His final line of the night was: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 7 K’s…not bad for a seasoned vet, let alone a guy making his debut. We should’ve known he was destined for greatness after striking out the side in his first inning of work as a big leaguer. He’s still one of the best pitchers in the game, but it was clear after watching his debut, how much sharper he was back then. While his fastball hovers around 90 mph nowadays, he threw an easy 95 when he was younger. Similarly, his curveball used to absolutely FALL off the table, while now it’s not as sharp – understandably so (it would be ridiculous if his curve was as sharp at 32 as it was at 20 years old). Seeing Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Russell Martin as young bucks also brought back a ton of nostalgia.
As great as it was seeing Kershaw and the other guys in their early MLB careers, as I said earlier, I am now depressed. I’ve been avoiding these throwback games for this very reason…it makes me very sad that there is no baseball or sports of any kind. The Dodgers (and Lakers) should be on their way to championships this season, but it’s not looking like either team will be able to compete for a title in 2020. While watching the game, I also got pissed me off because I realized how good the Dodgers have been for so long, and that players so deserving of a World Series title like Kershaw and Ethier were cheated out of a one by the Astros. That’s just something I will never get over, regardless of how many years have gone by or however many apologies I hear. Regardless, Kershaw is still my hero, and it’s debatable if I will ever be able to love something as much as I love the Dodgers (besides my parents and possibly my children). It’s safe to say I will be avoiding any sentimental games for the rest of the quarantine.
Baseball is considering playing in empty spring training parks, with no fans and quarantined players. But the logistics of such a plan would be extremely complex, and perhaps insurmountable. Story: https://t.co/TphgvYsCrt
At this point, I think this is the only way we get a 2019 MLB season. I was like most of you…I thought this would all blow over by the summer, but as things seem to only be getting worse, I’m growing less and less optimistic. President Trump held a call with most of the major American sports commissioners over the weekend in hopes of getting sports back on track, but things still look grim. In response to news of the call, California Governor Gavin Newsom basically said he doesn’t even expect the NFL starting on time.
The NFL season starts in September. Sep-fucking-tember. If Newsom doesn’t even think things will be safe by September, then how would we be able to play baseball in places like Minnesota, where it starts snowing in like October?? Unless…the league quarantined players at Spring Training facilities. I really think this is the only chance we have at a 2020 baseball season.
In theory, you quarantine all players in Arizona and/or Florida, only allow them minimal access to the outside world, and don’t allow fans to attend games. Yes, this sounds like a dystopian novel written by George Orwell, but it’s the only shot we have. Plus, there would be less risk of exposure if all 30 teams were headquartered in just one state (Arizona or Florida). There are ten Cactus League stadiums in Arizona (the preferred location in terms of weather), and if they were to double up on games in each stadium, it’s totally possible to get in a sufficient amount of games to be considered a legitimate season.
However, all it takes is for some idiot to break quarantine and expose himself to COVID-19 to put an end to this fantasy. I mean, how likely is it that you keep almost 900 players and staff from exposing themselves to the outside world? And then there’s the whole minor league situation, which would be even harder to contain. In a perfect world (under these circumstances) MLB executives would find a way to make the Cactus League home to the 2020 MLB season…but if we were living in a perfect world, COVID-19 wouldn’t exist either.
When Tom Brady announced on Tuesday that he would not be returning to the New England Patriots for the 2020 season, it got me thinking about the fate of my own sports heroes. Tom Brady has meant as much to the city of Boston these last 20 years as John Adams did back in the Revolutionary Period. So when I started relating Brady’s situation to current long-term Los Angeles athletes, there’s really only one name that comes to mind: Clayton Kershaw. Of course I can’t bring up LA sports icons without mentioning Kobe Bryant, but he DID spend his whole career here. We got to witness all 20 years of his career right here in Los Angeles. On the other hand, Kershaw, like Brady, is still playing. So if we’re talking about the most impactful LA professional athletes of the last 15 years, Kershaw is second to only Kobe.
Eight All-Star selections, three Cy Young Awards, and an MVP are just a few of the accolades that Clayton Kershaw has managed to capture over his twelve year MLB career. The only thing that has eluded the long-time Dodgers ace is a World Series championship. However, knowing what we know now, it’s safe to assume the Dodgers were cheated out of a championship in 2017 at the hands of the Houston Asterisks. Regardless, despite the lack of a World Series trophy and postseason hardships, he is still my favorite player on the Dodgers, and has been for the better part of his career. So, if he decided to pull a Tom Brady and leave Chavez Ravine for another franchise, how would I feel about it?
Kershaw still has two years left on his current contract with the Dodgers, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2022. Despite some back issues over the past couple years that have sidelined him at times, he is still very effective. Just last season he was named an N.L. All-Star and finished eighth in Cy Young voting with a 16-5 record and 3.03 ERA in 178.1 innings. It’s tough to say whether or not he’ll be able to reach the 200 innings mark again in his career, but being that manager Dave Roberts named him the 2020 Opening Day starter (before Coronavirus delayed the start of the season) for the NINTH time in his career, it proves he’s still got it. In a rotation that includes young stud Walker Buehler, Kershaw really must’ve shown Roberts that even at 32 years old (happy birthday) he’s got the stuff to lead the staff.
The biggest difference between Kershaw and Brady at this point in their careers is their ages. Kershaw is ten years younger than Brady, which probably made it easier for the Patriots to part ways with the six-time Super Bowl Champion, being that coach Bill Belichick is known for parting ways with players sooner rather than later. In 2022, when Kershaw will be 34, assuming his performance hasn’t declined too much by then, he will be a highly sought-after free agent. He’s one of the most decorated pitchers in the league, and if he can manage to pitch 150-175 innings over the next two seasons and stay relatively healthy, why wouldn’t teams go after him? The Dodgers are one of the wealthiest sports teams in the world, but who knows if they think he’ll be worth his hefty price tag by then. Brady knew he could get more money going elsewhere, so what happens if Kershaw does the same thing.
At 34, assuming he hasn’t suffered any major injuries, Kershaw will no doubt have a lot left in the tank (5+ more years) and will be looking for the best deal. Sure, he’s been with the Dodgers since he was drafted by them in the first round back in 2006, but plenty of guys have left the only organization they’ve ever know in search of greener pastures. I’m at the point in my fandom that even if the Dodgers are foolish enough to let him go, I will root for him no matter where he ends up. He has given me so many fond memories throughout the years and is such a charitable person off the field that he’d be impossible to root against.
However, this is the type of player no team should ever let go of. He has become such a leader in the locker room and his name is so engrained in Dodgers lore that it is nearly impossible to think of him in another uniform. I’m not Andrew Friedman, but if he’s happy with the organization (all signs say he is) then the Dodgers need to do everything in their power to resign him and have him end his career in Dodger Blue.
New Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way “sensation” recently landed the cover of Sports Illustrated. I think it’s great that they got two of the area’s best players to grace the cover in what should be an exciting season for both franchises. However, I do have an issue with the cover. The first thing that struck me when I saw the cover was how considerably taller Ohtani is than Betts. The second thing (which I have a problem with) is that Betts is looking up at Ohtani. Imagery is a powerful thing, and when I look at this cover, it seems to me like Sports Illustrated is saying that Mookie is the one with something to prove. Ohtani looks like a seasoned vet while Mookie looks like some young prospect that just got called up and is staring at his idol. Any time a guy has to angle his head more than 45 degrees up he’s better off not looking up at all or just praying there isn’t a camera around to capture the size differential. In Mookie’s case, both things happened, and he’s stuck resembling Ralphie in A Christmas Story looking up at Santa Claus.
Mookie Betts is a former MVP, World Series Champion, 4x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger, and 4x Gold Glove winner, yet he’s looking up to Ohtani?? His only accolades include winning Rookie of the year back in 2018 and being the most over-hyped player in baseball. I’ll acknowledge that he has great potential, but I’m the type of person that needs to see it to believe it…and Ohtani hasn’t been overly impressive yet; its probably because he’s only played just over 100 games in each of his first two seasons. Once he can stay healthy for an entire year and puts up some Betts-esque numbers, I’ll put some respect on his name.
The only pose that wouldn’t come off as disrespectful to Betts is if they were both facing the camera – I don’t care if they’re smiling or not, just facing the camera. Even if they were facing each other, Betts would look inferior due to his height, being that he’d still be forced to look up at Ohtani. I demand a re-shoot.
