I'm actually surprised that Friedman hasn't already made a deal (kinda like Gonzo/Kazmir/McCarthy to ATL or Puig/Kemp/Wood to Cincy) to solve this problem. And it is a problem. And it's not going away. And it needs to.
Kenley is a huge part of this era of Dodgers baseball. He's there with Kersh and JT as one of the faces of this incredible run of success. But everyone sees the pitcher he's become, and he's a fringe arm on this staff at this point. For a young prospect or a veteran non-roster spring training feel good story, that's fine. For the leader of bullpen of the best roster in baseball, it's a problem. As fans we can feel the awkwardness. What happens if Kenley spends spring training throwing 88-90 with lessened control, getting knocked around, and clearly doesn't look deserving of a spot in this bullpen. If that happens to Brandon Morrow then everyone moves on without hesitation. If it happens to Kenley, it will be a cloud over this upcoming season.
Kenley survived the 2020 postseason (you could say the Dodgers survived his postseason) and in the end everyone finally got what they wanted and deserved. A ring. And that ring is the very "get out of jail free card" that the front office has been waiting for. It's time for them to do what they haven't had the stomach to do yet, and probably should have done a year or two ago. They need to deal Kenley. And if they need to eat a painful amount of salary or kick in a prospect that they'd rather keep, that's the price they need to pay. It'll allow Kenley to leave without the indignity of being cut, and enable the Dodgers to do one last solid to a guy they clearly like and value as a person.
Mind boggling that small market Padres have the financial's to support the Tatis Jr./Machado/Snell/Darvish type blockbusters. Are the Mexican cartels getting involved? No huge attendance data, no lucrative tv package, Where's their $$$ coming from?
BTW: concur w/ the Jansen frustrations. Good guy, great career, but his ship has sailed out of LA.
Deficit spending. The only rationale for it is that they want to win. It’s a pure baseball first strategy, which to be honest with you, I admire. They’ll make up for it when they sell the team.
It would make more sense if it was just a Doc decision, but you know Friedman has to be signing off on this as well, and that just boggles my mind. To their collective credit, they don't have many (any?) other head-scratching roster or lineup decisions IMO, but for this to continue is beyond me. How many blown games will it take? Our margin over SD isn't that big, and might not exist at all if we're neck and neck past July. Too many electric arms and too much brains in the front office and dugout to allow this to continue.
Friedman can make this problem go away for his manager. A good boss helps make their employees' jobs easier, and that's what he needs to do. He needs to be the "bad guy" and make a likely lopsided trade that takes this off Doc's plate.
I think Doc has an incredibly difficult situation with Kenley. Kenley is a huge (literally and figuratively) presence on this team, and while he's still on this roster he basically "has" to be the closer. Kenley pitching the 7th in a 10-2 game just isn't realistic. They can't wait for him to force their hand by pitching so poorly he has to be released or put on the 60-day with a phantom injury.
I agree that it should come from AF, because Doc doesn't seem to want to be the guy to deliver the blow himself.
I think trading is an option depending on what the need and landscape is like at the deadline, but I also think Kenley would be open to a revised role. He knows he's past his prime. I'm sure he feels the worst about all of the blown saves in big games the last few years. I think if AF and Doc talked to him about a revised role, he would have to consider it to remain a contributing member of the team.
Too much emphasis is placed on the 9th, anyway. The highest leverage situations are sometimes in earlier innings (such as when Arozerena came up in 7th or 8th innings). Kenley should be in the secknd tier of leverage situations: important but game not on the line. Trienen, Graterol, and Gonzalez should be in tier one: game on the line.
I'm actually surprised that Friedman hasn't already made a deal (kinda like Gonzo/Kazmir/McCarthy to ATL or Puig/Kemp/Wood to Cincy) to solve this problem. And it is a problem. And it's not going away. And it needs to.
Kenley is a huge part of this era of Dodgers baseball. He's there with Kersh and JT as one of the faces of this incredible run of success. But everyone sees the pitcher he's become, and he's a fringe arm on this staff at this point. For a young prospect or a veteran non-roster spring training feel good story, that's fine. For the leader of bullpen of the best roster in baseball, it's a problem. As fans we can feel the awkwardness. What happens if Kenley spends spring training throwing 88-90 with lessened control, getting knocked around, and clearly doesn't look deserving of a spot in this bullpen. If that happens to Brandon Morrow then everyone moves on without hesitation. If it happens to Kenley, it will be a cloud over this upcoming season.
Kenley survived the 2020 postseason (you could say the Dodgers survived his postseason) and in the end everyone finally got what they wanted and deserved. A ring. And that ring is the very "get out of jail free card" that the front office has been waiting for. It's time for them to do what they haven't had the stomach to do yet, and probably should have done a year or two ago. They need to deal Kenley. And if they need to eat a painful amount of salary or kick in a prospect that they'd rather keep, that's the price they need to pay. It'll allow Kenley to leave without the indignity of being cut, and enable the Dodgers to do one last solid to a guy they clearly like and value as a person.
Well said, Jeff!
Mind boggling that small market Padres have the financial's to support the Tatis Jr./Machado/Snell/Darvish type blockbusters. Are the Mexican cartels getting involved? No huge attendance data, no lucrative tv package, Where's their $$$ coming from?
BTW: concur w/ the Jansen frustrations. Good guy, great career, but his ship has sailed out of LA.
Deficit spending. The only rationale for it is that they want to win. It’s a pure baseball first strategy, which to be honest with you, I admire. They’ll make up for it when they sell the team.
Great article, Howard. Compassionate, sad, but mainly true. The Gentle Giant.
Thank you, Richard. When a write as good as you says good job, it means a lot.
It would make more sense if it was just a Doc decision, but you know Friedman has to be signing off on this as well, and that just boggles my mind. To their collective credit, they don't have many (any?) other head-scratching roster or lineup decisions IMO, but for this to continue is beyond me. How many blown games will it take? Our margin over SD isn't that big, and might not exist at all if we're neck and neck past July. Too many electric arms and too much brains in the front office and dugout to allow this to continue.
I’m with you 100%. They don’t the distraction. It’s time to cut the cord.
Friedman can make this problem go away for his manager. A good boss helps make their employees' jobs easier, and that's what he needs to do. He needs to be the "bad guy" and make a likely lopsided trade that takes this off Doc's plate.
I think Doc has an incredibly difficult situation with Kenley. Kenley is a huge (literally and figuratively) presence on this team, and while he's still on this roster he basically "has" to be the closer. Kenley pitching the 7th in a 10-2 game just isn't realistic. They can't wait for him to force their hand by pitching so poorly he has to be released or put on the 60-day with a phantom injury.
I agree that it should come from AF, because Doc doesn't seem to want to be the guy to deliver the blow himself.
I think trading is an option depending on what the need and landscape is like at the deadline, but I also think Kenley would be open to a revised role. He knows he's past his prime. I'm sure he feels the worst about all of the blown saves in big games the last few years. I think if AF and Doc talked to him about a revised role, he would have to consider it to remain a contributing member of the team.
Too much emphasis is placed on the 9th, anyway. The highest leverage situations are sometimes in earlier innings (such as when Arozerena came up in 7th or 8th innings). Kenley should be in the secknd tier of leverage situations: important but game not on the line. Trienen, Graterol, and Gonzalez should be in tier one: game on the line.
Kenley’s a great guy and an all-time Dodger, whose time has come and gone. I can’t wait to see him pitch.....in Dodger Old Timers’ games.
Where he can strike out SVS!