=======

Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast..1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics-Stay for Fans Forum
=======
“DODGER BLUE = GREEN
=======

They earned the World Series diamond encrusted ring.
They held the Victory Parade in the streets and the Dodger Stadium celebration.
They are now ready for next season.

And it may be the same old..same old.

The Dodgers accounting sheet showed a payroll of (383M), an all time record.
The Dodgers owe MLB a payment of in excess of (151M) as a luxury tax on players.
The Dodgers look ready to strike in free agency again.

They are looking for an ideal power hitting left fielder.
They are pursuing a veteran closer to add to the bullpen.

Get ready for them to move players off the roster, days after they earned a World Series ring.

Goodbye slump ridden OF-Michael Conforto (17M).  They could part ways with battered relief pitcher Blake Treinen (13.5M).  Kirby Yates and his (13M) should exit too.

Clayton Kershaw (7.5M) and Miguel Rojas (5M) come off the books in retirement.

Might they walk away from oft injured Tony Gonsolin, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Brock Stewart?

If all that happens, it means the Dodgers would clear some (74M) off the payroll, plenty enough for them to play ‘checkbook baseball’ again in the coming weeks.

How would Alex Bregman look at 3B?  Bo Bichette at SS? Kyle Tucker in LF?  Robert Suarez in the bullpen?

And of course, using the Dodgers form of ‘new math’, any or all deals could be accompanied by ‘deferred payments’, the kind we saw for 8-players on last year’s roster, led by the Ohtani contract stretched out till 2036.

Can you imagine the angst in the 619-858-760 area code, if Robert Suarez and Roki Sasaki become teammates in the Dodgers bullpen?

Can you imagine putting Bregman or Tucker into a Dodgers lineup with Showtime, Mookie, Freddie and more?

It’s a new world.

Just get ready as the free agent signing window opens on Friday.

Dodgers Blue = Dodger Green Dollars.
=================

 

========

“PADRES OFF SEASON-VERY IMPORTANT”

=========

 

Dear Padres Fans:

Hope you have enjoyed the last five years of fun at Petco Park.
I am not so sure the coming years will be equal to the great summers of baseball you had.

Teams change every year.
Rosters evolve.
Injuries take a toll.
Players leave as free agents.
New players arrive in trades and deals.

And that’s where we are at this hour with the Friars.

GM-AJ Preller has alot of work to do, not just on finding some power bats for his depleted lineup, but now to likely construct a whole new starting rotation.

Nick Pivetta, coming off a fantastic season, is your number 1-starter.

After that, there are question marks lots of places, on the roster and in the rotation.

Yu Darvish’s illustrious career may be in the rearview mirror, after his 3rd elbow surgery since 2015.  This brace surgery to repair the UCL and the tendon will sideline him 12-to-15 months.  No 2026 season.  Only hopes for a 40-something pitcher by the time 2027 rolls around.  And Preller owes him (3Y-46M) on the rest of the contract.

Dylan Cease has headed to free agency, with reports the Cubs are willing to look at a 4-or-5 year contract for the high velocity-strikeout-but streaky pitchers.  Too expensive for me.

Michael King-beloved for what he has become a starter, has walked away from his (15M) deal to become a free agent in search of a new 3-to-5 year contract at a bigger price tag.  I’d give him the (22M) qualifying offer-but doubt he would take it.

Joe Musgrove has done everything possible in rehab from his own Tommy John surgery, but understand more often than not, it takes two years to come back to be the pitcher you used to be, if you can come back.  This is a waiting game.

That’s the front four of what used to be a pretty good rotation.

Now your rotation might involve Randy Vasquez, JP Sears, Matt Waldren.  There will be no Jhonny Brito (elbow surgery), Kyle Hart  (option not picked up), Ryan Berget-Steven Kolek (traded away).

I for one don’t buy the rumor of moving Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon into the rotation.  That’s where they came from, and they were often injured pitching as starters in the minors.  I don’t see flipping Jeremiah Estrada either into a starter now that he found a niche in a strong bullpen.

And by the way, Robert Suarez is gone to free agency too, so everybody in that bullpen moves up a slot.

The farm system is barren of arms right now (Preller at his wheel-deal best).  Aside of Omar Cruz-Jackson Wolf (El Paso) and Henry Baez-Brayden Nutt (San Antonio), those are the only arms who put up good numbers.  And again that is AAA-AA baseball-yet to prove yourself in the bigs.

Luckily the free agent window just opened.

Luckily, there are arms becoming available, Brandon Woodruff (Milw), Shoto Imanaga (Cubs), Shane Bieber (Toronto).

But the price tag on pitching keeps going up, even for guys coming off injury problems.

Luckily though Preller has a history of finding reclamation projects in the minors and by heading back to the Pacific Rim, Japan-Korea-Taiwan.

All that being said, it looks like he has limited payroll available, because of the pay hikes Manny Machado-Fernando Tatis will get.  He does have the Cease-Luis Arraez-King-Robert Suarez money to be freed up (combined 50M) plus the Eric Hosmer (13M) coming off the books.

But how are you going find a truckload of pitchers and get some type of power hitting bat?  And he has very little to trade in the system (Preller factor again).

And I remind you, look at that Padres pitching rotation at this hour, and then look up the road at the ‘Gold Standard-Dodgers Blue’ starting rotation.  The ones with the World Series rings I might add.

Hope you enjoyed the last 5-summers of Padres baseball.  It just might not be the same next year, even if the baseball calendar reads ‘November’ and opening day is a ways away.

Off season is a most important season to not let this franchise success slip away.  And it might.
================

========

Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus {Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

==========
“AZTECS…IT IS TIME”
==========

It’s right there infront of them.
The Aztecs are (7-1) with a nationally ranked defense.

Just ahead key games at Hawaii-vs-Boise State.
Just ahead too, if they run the table, they could host the Mountain West title game

A realistic chance to go (11-1) on a football season.

An amazing turnaround by SDSU, considering the disaster of last year’s (3-9) season.  But a combo of a power run game, a legendary defense, a fairly healthy season, and player continuity along the offensive line.

Add in an easy first half schedule, and we have arrived at this.

The only thing missing, fan support, alumni support.  How you could win all these games and be so dominant and draw just 17,000-in the stadium for a Homecoming game.

But right infront of them, win at Hawaii, get Boise here, and the MWC world could be theirs.

Coach Sean Lewis comments:
———-
Excited at direction of where we are heading
Defense is operating at elite level
Good offensive moments but some bad moments too
We are in a good spot

Hawaii has not been home in a long time
Tim Chang done a great job with passing game
Very aggressive team when they play at home

Tim Chang-origin of offense is run and shoot
They have built out of it
Alejado makes them go, strong in pocket, but can move
He has a unique skill set..he extends plays
Gets ball out of hands quickly
Pressure does not faze him-he always looks downfield
Drops dimes all over the yard

They stress you all over the field..spread field
Sims is a downhill runner-I really like
Preset motion..movement

Keys to this game…limit their throw game
They will get explosive plays
We need red zone points..not leave them on the field.

Ranked 29th in country..keep proving ourselves
Recognition comes if we keep winning
Block out external noise about AP poll
Where we are 2nd week of November does not matter
Must keep on winning

Talk about us in the playoffs..that’s good
Nice to be talked about..end of the day..keep improving
Wait for first CFB playoff poll to come out

Hawaii trip is a business trip-not a vacation trip
We will be in the heart of it in Honolulu
Kids protect their hard work and stay focused

Going West-later start time-has a different feel
Gone East..practiced early..practiced late..we will be ready
Return trip home eats into prep time
Worry about how we handle shorter prep time for next week game

Us winning-we always believed-don’t worry about what you think outside
All things that don’t show up on stat sheet-these kids are continuing to do
Handle each week’s opportunity-kids created this-tunnel vision this week
Yes, win big games, win league, host championship game
Internal standards are part of this program
This is really hard…hard is meaningful

Went to Hawaii one time when I was a player at Wisconsin
Reached out to Coach Long about how to prepare for this
Want their information and wisdom

Upsets in Mountain West..not surprised
Everyone has great talent..Talent spread across the MWC
Every team in league has a chance to beat the other team.
Just because you won yesterday not mean you win next time

Aztecs recruiting…we had 110-recruits on sideline for Wyoming game
We think they will have 200-recruits visiting for Boise game
San Diego is such a hot bed for talent..we want hometown heroes to stay here
We will knock on every door-players will have to tell us ‘no’ to our face.
We are cultivating, elevating this program.
===============

 

 

 

========Hacksaw’s World Series Podcast…Monday 1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
========
“DODGERS = DYNASTY”
========
What a week of baseball.
1-for the record books and remember the World Series started in 1903
Pick any moment and it is something to remember forever

..The 18-inning Monday Night Dodger victory
..Showtime..Ohtani reaching base 9-times in one game
..Yosh Yamamoto 2-wins as a starter..then on 17-hours rest-3 innings relief
..Kike Hernandez game ending-winning double play flyball catch
..Andy Pages crash into the wall to end a rally with a flycall catch
..Will Smith’s game winning HRs
..Miguel Rojas-utilityman-game tying HR..bases loaded throw-double play
..Freddie Freeman’s clutch game winning home run
..Dodgers defense double plays every game
..Roki Sasaki’s emergence as a closer

..Tres Yesavage 12-strikeout game
..Kevin Gausman ace of staff starts
..Vlad Guerreero’s (.419) post season average
..Ernie Clements hero status
..George Springer’s heroics
..Jeff Hoffman-Gus Varland workmanship out of the bullpen
..Base hits-Men on Base-Never Say die batting order
..Devastating (3-17) (1-9) runners in scoring position-last two games
..Hitting (.284) in the playoffs but losing
..Everything but the final inning wins.

..Bench clearing incident
..Ball stuck in the fence killing a rally
..Cross border travel delays both teams

..A Dodgers postseason stretch where they were hitting (.201)
..A collapse of nearly everyone in the bullpen
..Blake Snell giving up 10-runs in 11-innings as a starter
..Ohtani getting battered while pitching on fumes.

The Dodgers have won 11-National League West Division titles in 12-years.
They now have 3-World Series titles in a 6-year window.

The stats are staggering and the success needs to be honored.

The biggest intangible..Dave Roberts ability to merge analytics from upstairs, especially in the pitching categories, in post season play.

The other intangible..Roberts ability to take a clubhouse of millionaires, from diverse cultures, and meld the personalities and egos and agenda, into an amazing roster.

End result..another World Series ring.  End result..a dynasty.
===============
 

 

=======

Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

=========
“QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING”
=========

DODGERS..Pretty shocking week of baseball.  Money can buy you lots of things, but obviously not base hits nor trustworthy outing from a bunch of relief pitches.  Hard to believe LA has a (201) batting average in their World Series.

Should Dave Roberts move Shohei Ohtani out of the leadoff spot-drop him to 4-or-5 where he would have the chance to hit with guys on base?

How concerned should the Dodgers be about a roster that really looks old…six players age (31) to (37) in the lineup?

Which is the biggest shocker..Mookie Betts (3-23) in the Fall Classic…Max Muncy (3-20)..Tommy Edman (3-21)?

Which pitcher do you go to if Yosh Yamamoto gets in trouble in game six, or if there is a  Game seven, and Tyler Glasnow is in hot water, do you trust Shohei Ohtani or Blake Snell or Clayton Kershaw in long relief?

Do the Dodgers change their mindset and start first pitching swinging rather than being in 0-1 or 0-2 holes most every at bat?

TORONTO…A no fear batting order, that does not strike out, does not chase, always gets bat on ball and is hitting (.261) with 8-home runs in the Fall Classic.  That the surprise story of the week?

Or is it the maturity of the young minor league starter Trey Yssavage and his strikeout stuff.  An American League version of Paul Skenes?

It’s taken awhile and he is a different player, but Vlad Guerrero-Junior is reaching slugging heights we saw from his dad, the ex Monreal-Angels star Vlad-Senior isn’t he?

How many innings and batters do Gus Varland-Jeff Hoffman have left in them considering they are on the mound most every night?

What a series of highs-and-lows.  And we have another game of fireworks on Friday night.

No more questions.  Just waiting for answers.

============