It has been three long years since the Boston Red Sox last won the World Series. The Red Sox have not won a single postseason game since then. The preschools of New England are overflowing with kids that have not been alive long enough to see a championship parade. This kind of civic angst cannot...
At a quarter past 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dodgers General Manager Farhan Zaidi made a prediction that did not exactly classify as bold, given the languid pace of discussions this week at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. “I don’t necessarily see us doing anything in the next 12 hours,”...
Kenta Maeda made 32 starts in his rookie season. In 19 of them, he received more than four days of rest, operating on a schedule similar to the one he followed for years in Japan. As Maeda prepares for his second year as a Dodger, Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that Maeda would need to conform...
As the second day of baseball’s winter meetings wound to a close, the Dodgers churned through a variety of scenarios, searching for solutions to their vacancies at third base, second base and closer. Team officials arrived here Sunday aware of these holes. Andrew Friedman, the team’s president...
Corey Seager? Julio Urias? Joc Pederson? The Dodgers have held onto all three, despite plenty of chances to trade them. The Dodgers believe — and they are not alone — that the best chance for long-term success is to retain their very best prospects and blend them onto the major league roster. ...
Hi, my name is Houston Mitchell, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. I wonder if Vin Scully is having second thoughts and wants to return next season. Next season’s team I started off last week’s Dodgers Dugout with this, and will run this after every trade or signing so we can see...
This does not have to be complicated. The Dodgers want their third baseman of 2017 to be the same man who filled the role in 2016. And Justin Turner, the sole quality third baseman on the free-agent market, wants to return to Los Angeles. But rare is the contract negotiation that unfolds in simple...
A Dodgers jersey hung unbuttoned across Rich Hill’s shoulders. A matching cap adorned his head. He had been handed the garments moments before by Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, and Hill allowed himself a moment to consider their significance. Hill opened his mouth...
Hours before he flew to the East Coast, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw played catch to start his off-season throwing program. After sitting out six weeks in 2016 because of a herniated disk, Kershaw maintained his optimism about completing a winter in good health. “It didn’t hurt today,” Kershaw...
On Monday morning, as the industry gathered for its annual ritual of bartering and bluffing known as the winter meetings, reports surfaced about Miami’s willingness to offer a five-year, $80-million contract to Kenley Jansen. In the afternoon, Aroldis Chapman expressed his desire for a six-year...
For the second winter in a row, the Dodgers have asked outfielder Yasiel Puig to reduce the bulk from his frame, which some evaluators believe has hampered his ability to be effective at the plate in recent years. Manager Dave Roberts indicated he spoke with Puig last week, as the player continues...
On the eve of the winter meetings, the Dodgers appeared on the verge of re-signing the pitcher they viewed as the best of this free-agent class. The team was believed to be making progress toward a multi-year reunion with Rich Hill, according to people familiar with the situation. The people requested...
The Dodgers declined to tender a contract to right-handed reliever Louis Coleman, who was the lone casualty at Friday’s deadline to offer contracts to players eligible for arbitration. The Dodgers tendered contracts to the six other players who were arbitration-eligible: catcher Yasmani Grandal,...
One of the silliest experiments in baseball history died painlessly late Wednesday night. No one mourned. The “This Time It Counts” fiasco — trying to legislate meaning to the All-Star Game by giving the winning league the home-field edge in the World Series — passed away after 14 years. The stunt...
The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with reliever Chris Hatcher and outfielder Scott Van Slyke. Each player signed a non-guaranteed, one-year contract for 2017. Hatcher signed for $1.25 million and Van Slyke signed for $1.325 million. Friday is the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible...
In the end, baseball’s labor talks yielded to the moral of a fable: Don’t get too greedy, lest you kill the golden goose. With three hours before the collective bargaining agreement expired, and with the threat of a lockout in the absence of a new one, Major League Baseball players and owners agreed...
Baseball has enjoyed labor peace for 21 years, largely because the owners abandoned their pursuit of a salary cap. If a sport awash in money shuts down Wednesday night, it might well be because the players believe the owners want to get dangerously close to the equivalent of a salary cap. Baseball’s...
Hi, my name is Houston Mitchell, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. If it takes the Dodgers as many years to win the World Series as it did the Cubs, then their next title will be in 2096. Next season’s team The Dodgers have some holes to fill before next season. Let’s take a look...
The Dodgers, who have spent more than a billion dollars on player payroll in the first four seasons of Guggenheim Baseball Management, face a mandate to reduce debt in order to conform to Major League Baseball rules. The club is expected to reduce payroll for a second consecutive season, with the...
In an event space packed with venture capitalists looking to invest in the next big thing, he did not stand out. He slipped a black jacket over a blue shirt, mingling with the hundreds of people enjoying hors d’oeuvres, an open bar and painfully loud music. He could deliver a sales pitch for his...
Before the season, UCLA was said to have the better team, better quarterback, better coach, better schedule and better chance to win the Pac-12, but after their latest epic fail, in the form of a thorough beat-down administered by the far superior and more talented Trojans, it’s clear the Bruins...
Hi, my name is Houston Mitchell, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there, even you Giants fans. Rising season ticket prices The Dodgers raised the price of season tickets and for season-ticket parking for the 2017 season, a move that has angered...
It was a very pleasant afternoon at the White House on Tuesday, when President Obama presented Vin Scully with the nation’s highest civilian honor. Scully, who retired last month after 67 years as the voice of the Dodgers, sat between Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen during the ceremony. In all,...
“Besides Alabama, are there many team in the country that would be more feared right now?” So says Bill Plaschke of USC. It is my opinion that anyone making those statements about a team that opened the season with a 52-6 loss and beat a highly overrated Washington team 26-13 has a problem. Could...
The Dodgers raised the price on every season ticket Thursday, stunning some fans hit with double-digit increases for a second consecutive year. The Dodgers also increased parking prices for season-ticket holders by as much as 27%. In each of the four full seasons under the ownership of Guggenheim...
The interview was over but the camera still focused on Dave Roberts. As he took off his headset, his wife Tricia walked into the picture and planted a big, triumphant, nationally televised kiss on her husband, the newly crowned National League manager of the year. “I’m sure I’m going to get some...
Hi, my name is Houston Mitchell, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout, which will always remain a politics-free zone. Rookie of the year Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was named the winner of the National League rookie of the year award on Monday, becoming the 17th Dodger to win the...
Third baseman Justin Turner and closer Kenley Jansen declined one-year, $17.2-million qualifying offers from the Dodgers on Monday, as expected. They are expected to land multi-year deals in Los Angeles or elsewhere for at least three times as much money. Jansen had a 1.89 ERA with a career-high...
The Dodgers have become baseball’s ultimate modern franchise. They have an oversized front office that is heavily dependent on analytics. Many of their starters can’t pitch into the sixth inning. They have replaced everyday players with platoons. Monday offered longtime fans a welcome return of...
For their latest rookie of the year, the Dodgers can thank one of their owners. The basketball-playing one. Cal Ripken Jr. stood tall. Shortstops did not, at least not in a baseball world populated by the likes of Ozzie Smith, Mark Belanger and Luis Aparicio. Ripken wanted to play shortstop, so...
Corey Seager on Monday became the 17th Dodger to win the rookie-of-the-year award. A look at the franchises with the most rookies of the year (note: the award was first given out in 1947): 17 Dodgers Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Joe Black, Jim Gilliam, Frank Howard, Jim Lefebvre, Ted Sizemore,...
The Dodgers traded Howie Kendrick to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, cutting ties with their second veteran this week. By trading Kendrick and catcher Carlos Ruiz rather than keeping them on the 2017 roster, the Dodgers could save about $13 million. It is unclear whether the Dodgers would...
I thought the Rams were supposed to be on TV Sunday. Imagine my surprise when I tuned in, only to find what appeared to be a replay of Thursday’s UCLA game. Bernard Sandalow Alhambra :: I think Jeff Fisher is right. The Rams will not end up 7-9 again this year. Jerry Shain Calabasas :: Isn't it...
Joe Resnick has died at the age of 62. He passed away Nov. 20, 2016 after a six-month struggle with cancer. This column about his life and career first appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 10. He spent his life perched in the corner of the Dodgers’ press box, behind a Staples Center press...
During the coming winter, Kenley Jansen will compete with Aroldis Chapman in a contest to sign the most expensive contract in baseball history for a relief pitcher. The Dodgers are expected to act as an accelerant in the bidding, plunging into negotiations with both pitchers while competing with...
Standing near a conference room doorway, Dodgers General Manager Farhan Zaidi had a small group of reporters surrounding him. “What do you guys have questions about?” Zaidi said with a grin on the second day of Major League Baseball’s general managers meetings here. “Besides our three big free...
On the morning of the first game of the National League Championship Series, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts sent a text message to veteran Howie Kendrick. Roberts wanted to know where Kendrick preferred to play that night, either second base, the position he had played for the previous decade, or...
On Monday afternoon, 16 days after the Dodgers season ended, the team completed two procedural maneuvers that underscored the top priority for this off-season, extending $17.2-million qualifying offers to closer Kenley Jansen and third baseman Justin Turner. Both Jansen and Turner are expected...
Rather than enter the off-season carrying three catchers on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers were close Sunday evening to finishing a trade sending veteran backup Carlos Ruiz to Seattle in exchange for pitcher Vidal Nuno, according to people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because...
This could be a save the size of Kenley Jansen. This could be a walk-off homer that sounds like Charlie Culberson. After enduring three years of suffering at the hands of battling billionaires, Dodgers fans might have found someone even more powerful to finally put their favorite baseball team...