DodgerHeads Live: Dodgers in trouble for Roki Sasaki? Clayton McCullough new Marlins manager

[@Paul_92833]

No need to disrespect Soto. He is a great player. However, the extra WAR he offers over someone else we can put in RF does not justify the extra $$$. It's not only the salary difference, but the luxury tax too. He is also not a "missing piece" we need to win the title again.

[@MrTheeduck2000]

I agree 100% with @Paul. Dodgers just won the World Series, so they aren't missing a piece. Any decent players who can resemble Tommy Edman or Teoscar Hernandez will greatly improve the team. I wouldn't even be against not adding a high profile pitcher like Burnes or Snell. I think if our own pitchers could stay healthy, we would still be dominant. But if history tells us anything, having all our pitchers healthy is nearly impossible. I could be happy if we brought back Flaherty. Starting pitchers, Flaherty, Glasnow, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Stone,. Then we got May, Gonsolin, Sheehan and I also have high hope for River Ryan, Plus I hope we bring back Walker, I think as a reliever or closer, he has plenty gas left in tank. But I don't think we need Soto, I rather get that extra pitchers because of history of injuries.

[@irisk934]

I enjoyed the spirited discussion on Soto. Jeff still hasn't convinced me though. 😊 I think Ohtani's indentured servitude with the Angels provides a good road map for sasaki. Why sacrifice hundreds of millions to come to MLB early but then go to a small Market team and languish for 6 years when you can just come right away to the best team in baseball? Where winning and big money marketing opportunities are guaranteed? There is only one clear choice and that's the Dodgers

[@camelliasan2293]

600mil is too much for a bat only player. Harper is a superstar. He is a face of Phillies. Judge is a face of Yankees. Machado is a great leader of Padres. Besides just stats numbers, 600 mil requires to bring intangible value to the organization and considering the amount of money, it should be a great one. Unfortunately, we don’t see it in Soto.

[@Publiclighthouse]

The “it’s not my money” narrative when it comes to sports fans is tired. IT IS YOUR MONEY. that’s why ticket prices increase as well as food and merchandise at the stadium. Those expensive contracts trickle down.

[@TheTongaboy]

Instead of paying Soto 600 Million! I sould rather resign Teo than add another similar bat like Bregman! You’d get two great hitters for the price of Soto.

[@wokeupmens]

No way Soto is 26. He's too slow. Dude is closer to 31. If I'm any team signing him, I'm doin' a bone density test and checking blood markers.

[@irisk934]

Just look at his face. He looks at least 32.

[@normlee6566]

Ohtani chose the Angels over the Dodgers primarily because he wouldn't be able to hit and pitch as the NL had not yet instituted the DH. As for Sasaki, Darvish may have some influence, but he is also at the back end of his career, so he wouldn't be playing with sasaki for very long, which can be a negative. Darvish is quite a bit older, which culturally may be a positive thing but the age gap can also present issues as far as socially connecting. For the dodgers, Sasaki was teammates of both ohtani and yamamoto in the World Classic, and he arguably would have more lucrative marketing deals in LA to supplement his income and offset his low rookie salary years before he hits arbitration. Sasaki is also closer in age with yamamoto and ohtani, who arguably is an even more revered figure in Japan than darvish. Like it was with yamamoto, there is no use speculating because Japanese prospects are very tight-lipped about what factors will impact their decision and which teams are sentimental favorites. We do know money is not a deciding factor since he has elected to be posted now. If sasaki has already decided on the team he wants to join (and to avoid a media circus), he will be posted by the end of November. However, I suspect he does want to leave his Japanese club on good terms and will be posted after December 2nd. This way, he has the option to negotiate (and immediately sign) with teams under the 2024 pool total (until December 15th). After December 15th, all negotiations would be held under the 2025 pool allotments (which means he couldn't officially sign until January 15th) which would result in a higher posting fee for his japanese club. Once december 15th passes, the Dodgers would drop from first to last in the amount of international pool money they can spend as the pool resets for the 2025 period. Also, teams can increase their pool money by up to 50% of their allotment via trade. But again, I am only assuming sasaki will be posted after December 2nd to help sooth things over with his Japanese club and not because he wants to maximize his salary in his first year. But if he DOESN'T care about his Japanese club (and he has had conflicts with them this past year going back to 2023 when he turned down his club's contract offer and "held out," which I suspect is when he demanded to have a clause inserted in his contract to give him the leverage to decide whether to be posted in 2024 as a condition of signing his current deal, which I suspect his club believed he would not use until after the 2026 season because he would lose millions), he will be posted this month and sign with his new MLB team. Whether that's the Dodgers remains to be seen.

[@allelujah1210]

I agree 💯 about the age gap between him and Darvish, how much more outside of baseball can they even talk about lol? Also the Padres have not shown they can develop pitchers

[@ryanc9876]

I do find it amusing that we just saw the World Series where the fundamentals made the difference over the talent, and yet here are so many talking heads saying get the talent with basically no fundamentals. IF we didn't have DH a lock, I'd 100% be on board, but we do have a long term DH. I don't care what the metrics say, Teo did WAY better in the WS defensively than Soto did. Other things I don't like about Soto is that if we have him, the lineup becomes very heavy from the left side. Yes, this year the Dodgers were really good against lefties, but Teoscar was part of the reasons why. I also was impressed with how fast Teoscar was on the bases when he's supposedly really bad at defense. And if he's somehow significantly worse than Soto according to the metrics, then why wasn't it so blatantly apparent in the WS? I just don't see Soto doing the little things outside of the batter's box. I don't see him being in the DH role over Ohtani in the near future. Of all those generational players, I definitely see more upsides tfrom the other guys outside of hitting. I don't know if he's bad in the clubhouse, I don't know how selfish he truly is--but he doesn't strike me as a selfless guy.

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

Think you hit the nail on the head there. Not Tatís or Machado-level punk, but not humble. He’s an amazing player, and I’m excited to observe his career… I’m just fine doing it from a distance.

[@Objectivity-w5j]

@@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr Agreed. Team chemistry is worth its weight i gold. Arod's physical "talent" is far superior to Jeter's but who would you rather have on any team you're starting?

[@irisk934]

Agreed. There is no question he's arrogant when he's doing the shuffle and staring down the pitcher. This is what rubs fans the wrong way, it reminds us of Machado. He may not be selfish per se, but he is definitely playing for individual stats and not putting the team above himself.

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

@@irisk934 See, that last part I’m not positive about… The “shuffle” is definitely obnoxious to fans of the opposing team, but what do we have to indicate he’s more focused on his own stats?

[@casualsrunboxing5059]

No soto

[@noahortega1994]

At the time of watching that segment I was eating 2 breakfast burritos that I cooked for myself 😂. I made sure that they were more rectangular than square.

[@jpramirez2492]

Horrible Soto take. Pay that much for a guy that loves to walk and hit some extra hr this year because he played in a little league park for lefties. He will not move the needle on this lineup as much as his poor Padres attitude can create problems on a humble superstar cast and culture the Dodgers have

[@Dodger_dogged72]

Jeff you are stats nerding out on Soto’s offense and missing the point. The Dodgers already have a mix of stars and a super star that work well together. Soto is all about himself, the Padres found this out the hard way. He is not dodger material, offense doesn’t make up for the ego clash and horrible defense. Teoscar is a fraction of the price and we can re-sign him add Adomis, another starting pitcher and shore up our bullpen. In the aggregate the team gets exponentially better than just adding Soto. He may be one of the greatest hitters in history but he doesn’t fit in potentially the greatest team.

[@allelujah1210]

Cope harder

[@LucasHiggins-pp3nt]

You’re not in the clubhouse so you don’t know “what fits” and “doesn’t fit” and explain to me how Soto is “all about himself” I’ve never read that he’s a bad teammate, or about himself. I just don’t understand your comment at all.

[@jeffspiegel]

@@LucasHiggins-pp3nt💯

[@edomarpez1840]

@@LucasHiggins-pp3nt You don't necesarilly need to be in the clubhouse to have an idea if someone fits with ease or not, you can have a pretty good idea by the personality/demeanor seen in each of them. At the same time, to say Soto doesn't fit doesn't mean he's a bad teammate, it's not a "white or black", there's no need to go to the extremes. I don't know if Soto is "all about himself" but his ego is definitely huge (and well deserved, it's not a bad thing but it's one that doesn't blend with ease in the team). How, you ask? I'll mention the 2 that I have on top of my head: a) watch his HR celebration against the Guardians in the ALCS (the chest bump seemingly saying "I'm the man") compare that to many HR celebrations from Tatis and the HR celebration from Correa (the "it's my time" one) and now compare that to Freddie's walkoff grand slam celebration to win game 1 in the WS. b) the owners (at least for now, Cohen and Steinbrenner) have to fly to meet with him

[@ayydubs987]

jeff, every baseball player ever talks about how physically demanding SS is. and how hard it is. so many baseball players are drafted as SS but don’t stick bc it continues to get harder and harder at each level. what are we talking about here man? this is common knowledge. your “data” here will not be quantitative in nature, represented by a bunch of numbers, but rather qualitative. it's clear based on the decades worth of player testimonies describing in their own words how different it is to any other position on the field. it's harder, it's more demanding, it's more mentally taxing according to some too.

[@edomarpez1840]

About Roki: he asked to posted since last year, he obviously knows the money he's leaving out by coming sooner to the MLB so yhe money the teams have to offer makes absolute no difference. If he was about money he would've waited till next year. It's going to be where HE WANTS to go not where they offer more money.

[@DrewDerr]

17:06 - with the games to start the 2025 season in Japan, it sure would be cool if Sasaki was a Dodger (or gasp, the other alternative)

[@Bigtime1972]

The Dodgers would have too many long term contracts. Ohtani, Betts, Yamamoto. Add another one and in 5 years when all guys in mid 30’s you could have an issue.

[@user-kc6df6mn1y]

【Mr.Andrew Friedman.】 【Mr. Brandon Gomes.】 【Dodgers front office.】 Dodgers should not get Roki Sasaki. ❌️ 　⇩⇩⇩ The current Dodgers pitchers in 3A and 2A should be given the chance. 🇺🇸🇺🇸 They have dreamed of becoming major leaguers since childhood. 🇺🇸🇺🇸 They should get a chance to become major leaguers. ⚾👍 November/19/2024

[@kr6955]

One thing that is worrisome with Sasaki is Yu Darvish. Darvish reportedly said that Sasaki should come to MLB asap and asked Marines fans to petition for Sasaki release. Firstly, thats a horrible advice. You don’t give advice for someone to give up generational wealth. But Darvish would also not give that advice if he feels that Sasaki would be joining the Dodgers and the Padres have no shot. And that’s worries me But ultimately, his decision will be about the Dodgers I feel. Either he wants to play with or against Ohtani and Yamamoto

[@edomarpez1840]

ABout Ohtani not counting as a pitcher.... he WILL count as a pitcher. The Dodgers can't list him as a two way player until he has at leat 20 games with 3 AB's minimum in each game AND has at least 20 innings pitched. That's because he didn't pitched in 2024

[@gypzcat]

Sorry but Jeff is overrating Soto. Soto isn't even better than Judge.

[@LucasHiggins-pp3nt]

You’re high if you think that. Soto rises in the playoffs/World Series and Judge disappears. Plus Soto is younger.

[@FlameEMT]

​@@LucasHiggins-pp3nteven if he wasn't better than judge bro said this like judge was trash or something. oh he's not better than the best hitter in all of baseball rn like come on man 😂 soto is a top 5 player in baseball and when you have a chance to sign a top 5 player you do it every single time

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

Thanks for giving us the schedule there at the end, will not miss the streams now lol. 😂 Can’t wait until Spring Training. 😔

[@NickB-Dodgers]

Juan Pierre for Dodgers 1b coach

[@windycity5388]

Interesting chats, eye opening. Jeff was right about Beuhler, he might right again about Lux.

[@Objectivity-w5j]

Why did SD trade Soto???

[@oza8578]

They couldn't afford him. SD is a small market team that overachieved in the last couple of years; but there was no way that he was going to stay there.

[@Objectivity-w5j]

@@oza8578 ok...thanks

[@tripicus]

Ohtani didn't sign with Dodgers because he wanted to hit as well!

[@Objectivity-w5j]

Dodgers can win without Soto. That money can be spent elsewhere because we already have a "Hulk" and I'm not sure Soto is as good as Thanos 🤣

[@markhernandez2659]

Has Sasaki been injury ridden? I heard he is already having issues at his age.

[@allelujah1210]

The reason i want Soto is so Yoshi can have a generational hitter still in their prime 5 years from now. He could opt out if he feels the Dodgers are heading downhill with everyone aging

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

This is a good point.

[@tonymaggio7988]

C’mon the Dodgers are in on every top free agent available every off season. You think they’re going to change?

[@Bigtime1972]

Roki may not want to come to Dodgers because of all pitchers arm issues. He is guaranteed Tommy John in 2 years.

[@johnnyboyjohns2930]

What?!? 😂

[@jorgevillagomez5908]

I don't want Soto at 600 million.

[@Aever310]

Jeff, your takes on Soto and Lux are horrendous. Lux SUX and I been saying that, even if he did some stuff in the postseason. I will never understand why people like that dude so much. Dodgers have given him more than enough chances. Dude blows and he can be a star in a different team.

[@Bigtime1972]

Jeff Shortstop is more demanding🤦‍♂️

[@lanemaya6658]

Soto is no Ted Williams - I'd rather have Chipper Jones, Big Papi - Definitely Manny Ramirez and for sure Mookie Betts!

[@edomarpez1840]

No to Soto. It doesn't matte his age. This is not a video game to go name chasing and try to have the most posible all-stars in the roster. There's no need for him, he's not an easy fit with the rest, the defense is horrendous, the contract years will lessen the roste flexibility they normally need AND the money can (should) be better spent in filling real needs either for this season or in the near future. Hard pass on Soto

[@ralphmarquez7160]

A Rod on steroids

[@ralphmarquez7160]

Juan Soto will not be a dodger period his name attached to dodgers is clearly to drive up the price … I believe dodgers will trade young arms like Tony Cat man , Dustin May Bobby miller to clear up 40 man roster for prospects

[@Zagirus]

If the Dodgers backstab Teo and decide to blow their budget on an insufferable egomaniac who can't field or even run to second base, why should we bother tuning in next season?

[@yadthink]

I agree with Jeff about Soto; i.e., where's the evidence that Soto's a bad guy? Signing him would be another Dodger coup, but my concern is his agent (Boras) will drag out negotiations so that other outfielder options will have already been signed/traded if the Dodgers wait for Soto's decision.

[@FoxCowDog]

Totally agree with this. While I still think the dodgers know what they’re doing. Let’s not make this another kawhi leonard/lakers situation where we lose out on guys we needed cause we focused all our time on big fish

[@allelujah1210]

Why are people assuming that Soto can't get better defensively and even in speed? I believe being around biggers dawgs than him with more hardware to their name will have a positive effect on him

[@yadthink]

@@allelujah1210 Great point. It's wrong to think Soto will always be a below-average defender. Maybe he just needs to be in the right environment.

[@samuelsandate9804]

​@@yadthinkExactly. People are trying to compare Soto to Machado and that's ridiculous. Soto has never been a guy who yells at teammates like Machado, and I don't ever remember seeing him trolling fans and or trying to provoke them like Tatis or Machado do. And remember Machado tried to throw at Dave Roberts. The issue with Soto is his asking price and knowing that the Mets and Yankees will be involved, the price is already gonna get high.

[@onpch2979]

Juan Soto? Two Darth Vaders on Death Star? I'm all for it! His quirks aren't douchy like those Madre girls.

[@allelujah1210]

Those madres couldn't teach him anything 😂 he was the best. In the Dodgers on the other hand have plenty to teach him

[@esetcybersecurity2137]

Your defense of Soto relies solely on his age of 26 to justify his projected metrics, but this is a false equivalence. A more accurate measure isn’t his age but the physical 'wear and tear' from six years in the MLB. Essentially, his 'physical age' is closer to a 30-year-old player in or nearing the end of his prime.

[@riversaucedo9979]

if you think juan soto is nearing the end of his prime i want what you're smoking bro

[@boomshakalaka8567]

You have a misunderstanding of the human body if you think "wear and tear" for a player that's never hurt is more significant than his age. Age matters a lot more than "wear and tear". A LOT more.

[@neerajnongmaithem392]

You never know, anyone's prime can end anytime. ​@@riversaucedo9979

[@normlee6566]

Based on that logic, ohtani is 50 years old. Hitting AND pitching and including two surgeries. He should be retired. What is amazing is that some people actually liked your ridiculous post.

[@allelujah1210]

So much copium

[@msargeant29]

In the postmortem regarding the disappointing 2023 San Diego Padres season, there were articles from both the San Diego Union Tribune and The Athletic that discussed the dysfunction in the clubhouse. Much of it focused on Manny Machado’s large presence and since he didn’t take preparation seriously other players did not as well. Soto was known to keep his AirPods in his ears and ignore the hitting meetings. Now maybe these stories aren’t true. Or Soto doesn’t need to pay attention to hitting meetings because he doesn’t need to? But these stories have been discussed.

[@ReanuKeaves1]

Whoa Big Maple helped us early on. His stats weren’t all that great but his ERA was good for a 5th starter.

[@davidcole1475]

If you are going to post slides then for heaven’s sake, make them readable.

[@user-kc6df6mn1y]

[Dodgers Front Office.] It must be not to get Japanese Rouki Sasaki.❌️ Dodgers really should stop. ❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️ ---------------------- Take care of the current 3A pitchers. For the Japanese, Ohtani and Yamamoto are enough. Acquiring Sasaki will disrupt their rhythm.❌️ ----------------------------- [Dodgers Front Office.] Take care of the current 3A and 2A pitchers. ⭕️ It would be better to acquire young pitchers from other teams. ⭕️ November／11／2024

[@xMuRDoCx]

They can do both. Get Roki and develop minor league pitchers.

[@user-kc6df6mn1y]

[Dodgers Front Office.] It must be not to get Japan's Rouki Sasaki.❌️ Take care of other young pitchers.⭕️

[@AvilaBeach805Chicana]

Jeff: "Playfulness" is the perfect description I've been searching for.

[@ReanuKeaves1]

Whoa Big Maple helped us early on. His stats weren’t all that great but his ERA was good for a 5th starter.