Letters: Dodgers can count on their trades being second-guessed

So the Dodgers’ brass is getting creamed on your Letters page for not signing Zack Greinke. I find it interesting that you’re not getting any letters from CEOs, CFOs or smart business people, just passionate but short-sighted fans.

I want the Dodgers to win as much as anyone, but guaranteeing a pitcher $31 million at age 37? There comes a point where the money just turns stupid. One thing’s for sure: If the Dodgers had signed Greinke, and he was washed up in 2021, those same people would be writing letters blasting the Dodgers for wasting $31 million.

Pete Howard

San Luis Obispo

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I know many fans are disappointed in the Dodgers this off-season. But I would not have matched the Diamondbacks’ offer for Greinke or done any of the other deals that have been published and I especially would not trade away our prospects. They will be ready soon and when they are, we will look like the Chicago Cubs do now. And it is not that far off. We’ll be fine this year — maybe not World Series contenders — but we’ll be fine. I don’t want to see Julio Urias, Grant Holmes, Corey Seager, etc., turn into superstars playing for someone else. Remember in 2009 we could have gotten Roy Halladay for a group of several of our top prospects. As I recall, they wanted some guy by the name of Kershaw included.

Colin Baenziger

Daytona Beach Shores, Fla.

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Sometimes easy solutions are right in front of you. The Angels need a left fielder, the Dodgers need a starter. Send Andre Ethier to the Angels in exchange for C.J. Wilson. A legitimate left fielder for the Angels to slot between Trout and Pujols, with the Dodgers getting a No. 3 for their rotation.

This allows the farm system to produce the future stars for both these teams while these very capable players wind down their careers and stay home. What’s not to like?

Craig Heaps

Yuicaipa

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If Major League Baseball can figure out a way to reconcile our relationship with Cuba by allowing baseball players to come to the United States, why can’t the owners of the Dodgers figure out a way for us to watch these players (and listen to Vin Scully) on TV?

Cheryl Heyman

Mission Viejo

Bottoming out

It’s hard to believe how far the bar has been lowered this year to celebrate the Lakers’ high points. “Kobe dunks for first time this season.” “Fans get a chance to boo Dwight Howard.” And “Lakers a hot ticket on the road.” Wow.

Once the NBA’s greatest franchise with Showtime, Kobe’s farewell tour has reduced this team to a sideshow. Meanwhile, as Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. struggle to establish their identities, the Lakers’ greatest attraction has become their biggest distraction.

Ron Ovadia

Irvine

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Kobe Bryant, displaying a total lack of clarity and perspective, along with a faulty and tainted memory, insists that his broken-body, workmanlike dunk against Houston last week was one of the “special moments of my career.” He was “gratified” to reach the rim, which was a result of so many hours of work? The conquerer of the San Antonio Spurs, the vanquisher of the Boston Celtics, was thrilled to just dunk the ball? Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Allan Kandel

Los Angeles

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I put together my Christmas wish list and at the top was an early end to this debacle of a Lakers season, but I realized Santa already took care of that. So next was a new Buss owner to run the once-proud franchise, preferably female. And world peace.

Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

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If a police officer pulls you over for a violation such as speeding or cellphone use, instead of a citation he gives you two tickets to a Lakers game. For a second offense you get two tickets to another game. And for the third offense, instead of revoking your license, you get season tickets. Talk about a way to deter someone from breaking the law.

Craig London

Encino

New spin on DJ

OK, DeAndre Jordan is likable, has a good sense of humor and is going to make a lot of money as a pitchman. Good for him. I am a Clippers fan and I’d like to see him work on something — just one post move, maybe a little jump hook. Then the team wouldn’t be always going four on five on offense unless Jordan gets a dunk.

Bert Bergen

La Canada

Percentage game

Re: Kevin Baxter’s “A Game Changer” [Dec. 21], the article confirms that, as with sports compensation generally, it’s all about economics and not discrimination. As Ronda Rousey exemplifies, women athletes who generate the big bucks make the big bucks.

Indeed, based on the FIFA statistics Baxter cites, the champion U.S. Women’s World Cup team actually was better compensated, percentage-wise, than the World Cup-winning German men, who received $35 million out of a total $358 purse or just under 9.8%, vs. the U.S. women’s team, which received $2 million from a total purse of $15 million or 13.3%.

Peter Rich

Los Angeles

Character counts

This is in response to the letter last week by Ron Yukelson, who said, “The BBWAA and the Baseball HOF need to cease and desist in their role as the moral compass for MLB. Pete Rose, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should be judged for what they did on the field, not their character.”

As a Hall of Fame voter, I refer Mr. Yukelson to the official rules given to each voter: “Voting shall be based on the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” The instructions are very concise and clear-cut. I understand the reluctance some writers have to judge these players. As flawed human beings ourselves, what gives us the right to judge the players? The answer is I’m not judging the players as human beings. I’m not going to judge a player based on if he cheated on his wife, was caught drinking and driving or never donated to charity despite making millions of dollars. My judgment would be based simply on their character and how it relates to baseball.

You can argue whether the “character” aspect should be a part of the voting process, but it has always been part of the Hall of Fame’s voting rules. So as a voter, I’m simply following the rules, something that some of the players in question failed to do.

Joe Haakenson

Huntington Beach

NFL on the move

A few years ago when talking to a UC San Diego audience, Jesse Ventura, the then-Minnesota governor, was asked about public financing of professional stadiums. He said that academic reports show it to be bad economics; otherwise the team owners would be financing them. Ventura also said that San Diego would be money ahead to pay the Chargers to leave.

Yet another San Diego mayor has focused a large amount of city time on getting a new Chargers stadium, with a construction cost in the range of $527 million to $1.6 billion, based on the last 10 NFL stadiums built. Meanwhile San Diego budgets only $478 million to repair the fourth-worst streets in the nation.

Roger Newell

San Diego

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Chargers owner Dean Spanos appears dead set on moving the team to Carson, contrary to the wishes of the San Diego fan base. So Spanos probably didn’t want the 1960 hit, “Stay,” played over stadium speakers as this season’s last home game ended.

No doubt Spanos would’ve preferred the 1957 hit, “Come Go With Me.” But with lingering uncertainty about whether the Chargers are staying or going, he may find himself singing the 1972 hit, “Stuck in the Middle With You.”

Gary Dolgin

Santa Monica

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