Letters: No moves isn’t good news for Dodgers fans

Andrew Friedman looked each and every Dodgers fan in the eye Wednesday and decided that holding on to prospects was more important than winning this year and perhaps the next. Anyone and everyone knew the Dodgers needed pitching help. Apparently, everyone but Friedman.

He failed us two years ago when he went on the cheap trading for Yu Darvish instead of Justin Verlander. Last year he brought us a has-been and this year a never-was. Thank you, Andrew.

Geno Apicella

Placentia

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I guess Andrew Friedman discounted the old baseball axiom that good pitching beats good hitting 70% of the time in passing on Felipe Vazquez and keeping top prospect Gavin Lux. Hope you are right, Andrew — my grainy 1988 tapes are getting worn out!

Ken Blake

Brea

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Wow! Jedd Gyorko from the Cardinals. I guess we’ll have to wait until he gets off the 60-day disabled list to see this “veteran slugger” in action. On the other hand, it won’t matter. At some point in October we’ll be watching the World Series while the Dodgers are playing golf.

Steve Horvitz

Los Angeles

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Gavin Lux moonlights as a relief pitcher, right?

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

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Nothing could make me more optimistic about the Dodgers’ postseason chances than reading Bill Plaschke bemoan the team’s decision not to acquire the next Darvish or Machado.

Don Gould

Claremont

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Thank God the Dodgers didn’t listen to Plaschke. Even with Mariano Rivera at his peak in their bullpen, the Dodgers (or anyone else) are not beating Verlander, Cole and Greinke.

Steven Epstein

Los Angeles

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Dodger players and fans would love a World Series win in 2019. That said, if Bill Plaschke would step outside and take a walk, or at least open his office window, he’d learn that we are not going to throw ourselves off tall buildings if that doesn’t happen. If we play in this year’s Fall Classic, win or lose there will be 28 teams watching TV in their living rooms and wishing they were us. Our bullpen such as it is has helped us get where we are today: a 15-game division lead and the best record in baseball.

Get with the program, Bill. I know it’s your job to never be satisfied, but the Dodgers’ starting lineup is proof enough that we don’t want or need to trade away prospects like Gavin Lux.

Bob Warnock

Eagle Rock

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Ned Colleti rose from the ranks of journalist to Dodgers general manager, as did Fred Claire before him. With all due respect, Bill Plaschke, you’re no Colleti nor Claire. I am a Los Angeles native and the truest of bluest Dodger fans. I too yearn for another World Championship and wish the Dodgers could simply use some of their riches to buy another reliever or two. But even you must admit that not trading Bellinger, Seager, Urias and Verdugo were smart and correct moves. Not signing Harper and not signing Machado have proven to be the right moves.

Real Dodgers fans love the fact that most of our team is home grown. Real Dodgers fans appreciate appearing in two consecutive World Series, and with the best record in baseball, may very well get there again this season. We all want to be World Series champions. But look around Bill and smell the roses. In oh so many ways, we already are.

Richard Agata

Culver City

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On Aug. 25, 2017, the Dodgers beat Milwaukee to extend their record to 91-36. Over the next month the Dodgers went 13-22. Although their 104-58 record was the best in baseball, the die had been cast: the Dodgers had lost their air of invincibility and manager Dave Roberts mismanaged his pitchers en route to an embarrassing World Series defeat to Houston.

Two years later and Roberts hasn’t learned a thing. He left Walker Buehler in too long Sunday and did the same thing with Kenta Maeda on Monday, as the Dodgers got blown out in successive games. Sure, L.A. has a big lead in the NL West, but Roberts’ mismanagement of his pitchers is eerily similar to the late summer swoon from 2017. Teams destined for a championship don’t go through droughts, and they don’t give away game to lesser teams in the dog days.

It may sound like a broken record, but Roberts’ inability to manage his pitching staff has already cost the Dodgers the past two World Series. It may be late July, but the writing is on the wall: Roberts is going to cost the Dodgers again.

Brian Gura

Redondo Beach

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Over and over, we hear “this” is the year the Dodgers finally win the World Series. It’s laughable. Despite an strong offense, the defense is inconsistent and sometimes abysmal, the relief pitching palpably erratic and the closer no longer game over.

A World Series championship requires winning three short series against good and very good teams. Inconsistency and erratic defense and pitching doesn’t get you there.

Kip Dellinger

Santa Monica

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Maybe the Dodgers wouldn’t make so many errors if Roberts stopped moving his players around like chess pieces. Max Muncy has played first second and third all year. Joc Peterson was “learning” how to play first. Players perform better when they stick to one position. Move players only when it’s absolutely necessary.

Mike Schaller

Temple City

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When they install the protective mesh at Dodger stadium they should save a little for the area around first base. Someone has to protect Joc Pederson.

Paul Perlove

Santa Monica

Jack Oakes

Santa Ana

What a deal

Player: I’ll sign the contract.

Owner: What if you don’t live up to the contract?

Player: You have to continue to pay me. We signed a contract.

Owner: That’s fair. We did both sign a contract.

Player: But I won’t play if I’m good and you don’t pay me more.

Owner: But we both signed a contract.

Player: So?

Dave Eng

Thousand Oaks

It’s early

“USC fans would be fine with a few more losses (if it meant getting rid of Helton)?” Seriously? Not every year will be a John McKay or Pete Carroll-type year. We have survived the Tollner and Hackett years, and even if Helton doesn’t turn things around, we will survive this (she says, wishing we had Coach O).

Judy Thomsen

Glendora

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UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson wants fans now. But there is a problem. His coach, Chip Kelly, considers fans a distraction. He closes practices, condescends with the press and refuses to attend alumni functions.

In social media speak, there is no engagement. Fans don’t want to be reduced to a de-facto, three-hour Saturday booty call.

Wes Wellman

Santa Monica

We goofed

In quoting Jim Healy’s often-used “Who goofed?” recording, it seems as if letter-writer Allan Kandel himself goofed: The quote is actually from Howard Cosell, not Al Michaels. In Allan’s defense, however, Jim Healy had so many of these great recorded bursts that’s it’s understandable to lose track of who said what.

I remember looking forward every day to driving home from work to listen to Jim Healy. To this day, it remains my favorite radio program of all time.

Sandy Cohen

Northridge

Name game

Let’s hope Steve Ballmer doesn’t do what Arte Moreno did and name his team the Los Angeles Clippers of Inglewood.

Mark Sherwin

Los Angeles

Space invaders

I guess some kids playing video games in Mom’s basement would want to read a story about other kids playing something called Fortnite. But place it in the comics section, not in sports. We want reporting there about real athletes competing in real sporting battles. Oh, and stories about the Angels too.

Jim Regan
Carlsbad

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