1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Wednesday “DODGERS-VS-DAVE ROBERTS”
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‘DODGERS-VS-EXPECTATIONS
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They have called it for decades, the Dodgers Way.
The way to develop players, how to run an organization.
The qualities you want in whom you acquire.
The Dodgers Way is also about the success of managers.
The Dodgers have always drafted well.
They were out front in signing players from Latin America, then Mexico, then the Pacific Rim.
From Jackie Robinson to Fernando Valenzuala…Hideo Nomo to Kenta Maeda, it brought great players and great success.
Now we have this new way of the Dodger Way, the massive (290M) budget, the luxury tax payments, the deferred money deals.
Dodgers baseball is also about legendary managers. Walter Alston and his 1-year contracts in the Walter O’Malley era. All things Tommy LaSorda, wins-records, philosophy and personality.
We are now in the Dave Roberts era, and for all the successes, the 100-win seasons, the 1st place NL West titles and World Series appearances, there sure seem to be alot of critics out there.
The 2024 season could be epic. The 2024 season could also be a referendum on Dave Roberts’ managing style. The LA failures seem to loom large on the minds of a ton of fans, and the media.
They won over 100-last year, after letting 11-veterans led by Justin Turner leave. This opening day, down 4-starting pitchers, they will open the season with 2-rookies in the rotation (B Miller-G Stone), Japanese rookie phenom Yosh Yamamoto, plus Tyler Glasnow and free agent rental James Paxton. Can they go the distance again?
1-World Series ring in a decade has brought 2nd guessers and critics into the Dodgers dugout.
Post season failures, from first round to the NLCS series have mounted up. 2-World Series defeats have also left a bad taste in the mouth of alot of people.
It’s not how they lost, but how Roberts’ decisions caused them to fail. Pick any memory recently, and you get flashbacks. Overuse of Joe Kelly. The Max Scherzer dead arm issue. Clayton Kershaw out of the bullpen in between starts. And it goes on and on and on.
Of course no one mentions the betrayal by pitchers Julio Urias and Trevor Bauer for off field problems that hurt the team. Or a siege of wipeout arm injuries to virtually all the bullpen brigade and the young starters, they had to work thru.
The critics put it on Dave Roberts, though I think it has alot to do with Andrew Friedman and his analytical staff. Who to use, who to get ready in the bullpen, how long to go with starters. There’s a pile of that data available to review too when remembering the playoff losses.
Over the last 3-years, the Dodgers have won (317) games, but have only 1-playoff series win. Not what you would expect.
There’s no one in the LA media that has questioned what I have questioned. I don’t understand that. Too many cheerleaders, not enough critics. The supposed voice of the fans haven’t raised the right questions when things go wrong.
A good season ahead. I believe so. Roberts manages a good clubhouse, and lots of personalities (egos) too. There has been roster turnover and roster rebuilds three years in a row. And yet if you look up his record compared to Alston-LaSorda, it is amazing.
But right now the perception is out there, 2024 is a referendum about Dave Roberts, and I’m not sure that is very fair.
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Great and accurate analysis. The real problem lies is having all the “parts’ to succeed and not doing so, ie: 23 Padres. You don’t need an ‘all-star’ team to win, rather the right chemistry and player depth.
To the degree Andrew Freidman influences dugout decisions brings that aspect into play. However, the losses to the Astros, revealed a miniscule batting averages of key players, notwithstanding the alleged cheating. Same is true for last years playoffs, Dave Roberts didn’t strike out once, only his players failed at the plate. Kershaw was a mistake as a starter, in spite of ‘he deserved the start’ Overconfidence? Looking ahead to the next opponent? Who knows but perhaps too much time off between series or lack of preparedness probably factors in.
In my opinion the season is way too long. I liked it better when the teams with the best records in the NL and AL went to the world series. Winning a hundred games a season should mean more that a mere “by-week”