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“RIVALRY WEEKEND”
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Big weekend of baseball downtown.

Dodgers-vs-Padres..Friday-Saturday-Sunday.

Yes it’s early in the season, but the standings tell you a different story.  The Dodgers have this huge lead over the Padres and the rest of the teams in the NL-West.

Yes the Padres beat them in South Korea on opening weekend.  And yes they did beat them again back here in California.

But fortunes have changed since then.  The Dodgers are blazing, with 14-wins in their last 16 games.

With apologies in advance, the Padres are nothing more than a .500 team right now, at (20-20).

What becomes critical is you don’t want this to be a Dodgets sweep because by Monday the deficit could be huge, and even if it is May, that’s alot of baseball to be made up in the standings.

Oh the hate that exists over all those years of LA dominance.
Ah the memories of the Padres taking out the Dodgers in 1-post season series.

But here we are this weekend, with all the ill-will returning.

You know, the Dodgers ‘the best team money can buy’.  Yes the 700MK-signing of Shohei Ohtani.  Yes the deals that took on big contracts like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

But remember too the couple of years spending sprees the Padres went on, the massive contract extensions, and the whopping trades to put the team back in the playoff hunt, that have not really worked out.

But let your eyes clear for a moment and realize a couple of things.

This Dodgers team is in first place, with a phenomenal top 6-in the batting order.
But you tell me how any other club could survive what has happened to their pitching staff.

The Dodgers are (26-13) coming to Petco Park, and they have done this with 11-pitchers on the disabled list, yes, 11-arms.

Up until this week there was no Walker Buehler for 23-months.  He returned from elbow surgery this week, throwing 13 pitchers 95-96-97 mph.  There is no Clayton Kershaw, coming off shoulder surgery.

Phenom Dustin May is out till late summer coming off his own elbow procedure.  Last year’s rookie Bobbie Miller is still on the DL with shoulder woes, and fellow rookie Em Sheehan never got out of the Cactus League healthy and is still shutdown.

Add in a mix of relievers, from Blake Trienen to Joe Kelly who have all been on-off the DL list.  That’s a ton of adversity, but look where they are at this hour.

Agree with me, for the Blue to be 13-games above .500-with all those injured arms is pretty impressive.

And now the weekend ahead, becomes a ‘prove it weekend’ for the Padres.  They have to get this done against Tyler Glasnow, Yosh Yomamoto and then Buehler.

Rivalry weekend, sure it.  But almost a must win weekend.  You don’t want the Padres to be 9-and-a half games out of first place by breakfast on Monday.

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‘CLIPPERS IN CHAOS’
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The Clippers seemed cursed.

If it is not the history of the owner Donald Sterling and all the uncouth things he did running the San Diego Clippers who became the dysfunctional LA Clippers, then it’s this most recent stretch of failure, disappointments and injuries.

You remember the hopeless Sterling leadership days.  The lifetime of injuries to Bill Walton.  The constant changing of coaches.  The low budget rosters.  The bad teams.  The empty arenas.  The hopeless leadership of GM-Elgin Baylor.  All that right up to the final days of the racist-sexist comments that led to the NBA removal of the disgraced Sterling.

There is new leadership atop the organizational chart, in Steve Ballmer, who has blazed a trail of great business success.  He wants to win, knows how to build good organizations, and has lavished great contracts on the star players he has brought in.

He is building his own arena which the Clippers will move into next fall.

But like so many other years in the past, it has not worked out.

The Clippers were built to win and get to the finals, in the era of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.  They got hurt, they broke down, they never got there and the team was broken up.

Fast forward to this hour, the decision to bring home the ex-Spur-Toronto superstar Kahwhi Leonard.  The deal to acquire legendary scorer Paul George.  And then the deal for James Harden and the acquisition of Russell Westbrook..  All for naught.

And now the Clippers are like the Lakers, at a crossroads, what to do with an injured and aging roster.

The Clippers want to keep their coach Tyronn Lue.  They would like to retain their big three, but George can opt out and Harden can leave for another club to test his free agent status at age 35.

And there is the deteriorating status of the chronic right knee of a suddenly old and hurt Leonard.

The Clippers could lose two of the three.  They’d have to rebuild from outside with free agent money they’d have.  There seems to be no load management strategy for Kawhi.

There are 4-years of frustration now at Ballmer’s front door, for all the right moves they have made, nothing worked out.

What a tough summer ahead.  The players could make this work if they re-sign.  They could destroy all of Ballmer’s efforts if they exit.

At a crossroads, hoping they don’t head into chaos.  Nothing has worked out for the LA Clippers, and things look worse now than they have in years, and that says alot for a team that came thru the error-filled era of Donald Sterling.

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“LAKERS–CROSSROADS”
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The 2nd round of the NBA playoffs have started and they will be shootouts.

Indiana-vs-Knicks..How about Pascal Siakam and Jalen Brunson.
Cleveland-vs-Boston..That’s Donovan Mittchell vs Jaylen Brown
Oklahoma City-vs-Dallas..Shai Gilegous Alexander vs Kyrie Irving
Minnesota-vs-Denver..Nikola Jokic against Anthony Edwards

But for the teams out here, the Lakers and Clippers, the season is over and the off season of critical decisions has begun.  And the outcomes will be controversial and have great impact on what these teams look like in the future

LAKERS..Going to hire their 4th coach in the era of GM-Rob Pelinka.  Do they go get a hard driver like ex Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer?  Do they get a younger coach like Scott Brooks?  Is there some first time candidate like JJ Riddick they would trust because of past relatiohships.  Not everyone agrees with the ax job on Darvin Ham and his 4-assistants.

KING JAMES..So many layers to discuss here.  LeBron can opt out of his (51M)( final year and become a free agent, or at least get a 3Y-extension.  The bigger question, have we seen enough of LeBron and his off court influence.in player personnel decisions?  And are the Lakers being pressured to draft Bronny James, he of 4-points a game productivity from USC?

ROB PELINKA….He has brought in 33-veteran players from other teams over four years, the Carmelo Anthony-Russell Westbrtooks of the world without success.  He has traded 4-first round picks and 6-second round choices, all so they could be a play in team in the NBA postseason?  When does he get held accountable?

D’ANGELO RUSSELL…An explosive season, a fade job in the post season and then him talking about his impending opt-out free agency in the off season.  Thinking of himself when his team is blowing leads and not beating the Denver Nuggets in games they led in.  Nice priorities.

BENCH…Get beyond the 7th player on the roster, the rest should be cleared out but how do you get difference makers when you have failed over the last four years?  They need Bobby Portis-Draymond Green personalities.  Would that make a difference, I think so?

JEANNIE BUSS…Since Phil Jackson left 14-years ago, the Lakers have gone thru 7-coaches, now they are search for the 8th head coach.  Bigger question, why the continued failed decisions of Buss’s hiring committees?  It is a big issue.

Stay tuned, alot of work to be done for the Lakers.

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“PADRES–KEEP ON DEALING”
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AJ Preller did it again, because he never stops doing it.

I wonder if he ever sleeps.  He makes deals at 2:30 in the morning.  He sends emails out at midnite.  He makes trades right before opening day and in the opening week of the season.  He deals at the deadline.

He’s so bold.

And he did it again, and maybe this turns out to be the best deal of his 9-year career, the Miami Marlins (4-for-1) trade that brought spray hitter Luis Arraez to the Friars.

There are so many discussion points to this Friday night deal.

Think Arraez, and think big time spray hitter with a little bit of power.  What he has done in his five years with the Twins and Miami as a pure hitter has brought comparisons to the great hitters we have seen.

Maybe Tony Gwynn.  Possibly Rod Carew.  How about Tony Oliva.  Maybe Wade Boggs.

The stat sheet, the back of the baseball card does not lie.  A career (.334) hitter.  The guy who has won 2-batting crowns in his career,including last summer’s  (.354) season in Miami. The first half of the season, he was over (.400)

A (.347) home batting average in Miami but a (.313) career road ledger.  He’s hit (.339) vs righthanders and (.278) vs lefthanders.

This is a complete guy in the batter’s box.  He had a 4-hit game his first game with the Friars.  He had 5-hit games with the Marlins and Twins.

So Preller, seeing a ho-hum (.500) team to start the season with no help from the farm system coming, starts dialing and reopens trade talks he had held with the Marlins in the winter.

End result, four top farm system players, led by Dylan Head and Jakob Marsee, become part of the 4-for-1 transaction.

What the Padres also got was financial relief, as Miami picked up (5.9M) of the money owed Arraez this year on his (10.1M) contract.  The Padres will pay only (593,000) of this year’s deal.  Quite a bargain if he hits (.334) this season.  Now next year the Friars will be on the hook for the (10.6M) final season before free agency.

The deal also keeps the Padres below the (237M) luxury tax threshold, for if they had gone over it a 4th year in a row, they would be paying 100% tax on every deal in the future.  And next year, they will be clear of the 13M-final year they are paying the retired Eric Hosmer.

So Preller, though clearing away more minor league talent, got a bat and still has some 12M-breathing room budget space still to make another deal, for his payroll is (166M) right now.

Granted in the two deals Preller has made since opening day, he has moved 7-top prospects plus P-Steve Wilson to get Dylan Cease and now Arraez.  And he still maintained the group of young pitchers he has starting at AA and lower in the farm system.

From the Marlins perspective, a disgraceful start, a (9-25) record and then hours after Miami moved their big bat, they got pounded (20-4) by the homeless Oakland A’s.  And their GM-Peter Bendix indicated more trades are likely of what is becoming a barren roster.  The Marlins are a mess.

The Friars made a statement with this trade.  “Dodgers-we are coming”.

Lots of baseball to be played.  Better team now than a week ago.  And still budget space and phone calls to be made by the relentless GM.

Preller, never ever content, just doing what he does, when he doesn’t sleep, which he doesn’t do much.

He’s done everything at all hours of the day, except making a trade on Christmas Day.  Knowing him, that could still happen too.

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“News-Notes-Opinions”
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PADRES…Wow-Jurickson Profar as a lead off guy, (10-16) this week.  Now that won’t hold up forever.  Mike Schildt has to solve the mystery of what’s happened to Xander Bogaerts bat, and why the slow star for Ha Seong-Kim.  Start-by-start is probably the way to judge Yu Darvish-Joe Musgrove and their physical woes.  Some starts good, some not so much.  And if the Padres have time, deal with the home-run issue with 3rd starter Michael King.

DODGERS…Think about this, in first place, pulling away in the NL West and doing that with their bats and the fact that they have 11-pitchers on the disabled list.  Walker Buehler rejoins the Blue on Monday, coming off his 2nd elbow surgery.  Dustin May may be two months behind.  They think Clayton Kershaw by August.  And a load of relievers are ailing, but the big bats continue to boom.  And reliever Blake Treinen has gone back to back bullpens on rehab-looks close too.  The calvary may be on the way.

ANGLES…As bad a storyline as possible.  Fans hate the owner.  They don’t believe in the GM.  The roster is so rag-tag, they are under budgeted.  And now this, Mike Trout-upcoming knee surgery and Anthony Rendon’s torn hamstring. In four years, they have never played more than 42-games together in any one season.  Bottoming out, likely about what is to happen.

ATTENDANCE…Baseball attendance the first month of the season is up 9%, bad weather and bad teams (alot of them), so that’s impressive.  Oddly 18-of the teams have decreased attendance, but the teams that won last year, Baltimore, Texas and others, have led the way.  The Padres are 2nd in attendance even with this struggling (.500) team.  The big storyline, can the Dodgers bust thru the 4M-mark.  Of course the Athletics are drawing minor league crowds (7,500) in the lame duck season before they go to Sacramento to play in a minor league stadium.

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