Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Scouting

Teenagers are no wasteland for Dodger international scouts

By

On July 2, 2015

In International, Minor leagues, Scouting, Transactions

Alvarez

Yadier Alvarez

By Jon Weisman

Spending big dollars on teenagers from the international market — as in today’s nine international signings — involves no small amount of risk, but the Dodgers are clearly bullish on their new prospects, as Dodger senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes indicated in a conference call with reporters this afternoon.

Byrnes began by talking about 19-year-old Yadier Alvarez, the top-rated pitching prospect in the international market and a rare talent.

“He’s one of the more talented teenage right-handed pitchers who a lot of us who have been doing this a long time have seen,” said Byrnes, who added that Alvarez throws 97 mph, “occasionally touching 99-100, with very little effort and some pretty good feel for secondary pitches.”

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Dodgers sign nine international prospects, led by Yadier Alvarez, Starling Heredia

By

On July 2, 2015

In International, Minor leagues, Scouting, Transactions

[mlbvideo id=”135173383″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

Today, the opening day of the new signing period for international players not subject to the MLB draft, the Dodgers announced the following signings, led by the most highly regarded pitcher in the market …

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Vin Scully and Co. celebrate baseball

By

On January 18, 2015

In Scouting

[mlbvideo id=”37144525″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

The video above captures the flavor of celebration at Saturday’s Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation dinner in Century City, with Vin Scully, Chan Ho Park, Peter O’Malley, Dusty Baker and Tommy Lasorda among the interviewees.

Next is a less Dodger-centric snapshot, with more focus on the transition between retiring MLB commisioner Bud Selig and his successor, Rob Manfred:

[mlbvideo id=”37143969″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Below, filmed at the same event, Stan Kasten and Charley Steiner talk about the Dodgers’ offseason changes …

[mlbvideo id=”37144523″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

 

Look who’s talking

By

On March 28, 2010

In Health/injuries, Pitching, Scouting, Spring Training, Uncategorized

Last gasp for Ellis?
Dodgers at Reds, 1:05 p.m.

  • Rafael Furcal, SS
  • Matt Kemp, CF
  • Andre Ethier, RF
  • Manny Ramirez, LF
  • James Loney, 1B
  • Casey Blake, 3B
  • Blake DeWitt, 2B
  • A.J. Ellis, C
  • Clayton Kershaw, P

  • Ronald Belisario said he did nothing wrong to cause his visa delays, reports Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Dubious – and even if it’s true, his communication with the Dodgers still should have been better. I still wonder if something more was going on. Anyway, expect the Dodgers to activate him by April 25 at the latest.
  • Russell Martin is scheduled to catch seven innings and bat seven times against the Indians’ AAA team today, according to the Dodger press notes.
  • Vincent Bonsignore of the Daily News has a nice piece today describing the dog days of Spring Training.
  • The first of a two-part interview with Logan White has been posted by David Laurila of Baseball Prospectus. Some really good stuff in there. Sample:

    “Another thing I do is keep a private log of certain types of arm actions – the success rates of them. Certain types of deliveries – their success and failure rates. The same with hitters. There are certain things that we will either like or stay away from based on our own statistics of how those have been working over the past 10 or 15 years. I’ve kept these since I was an area scout. Let’s say for example that a guy is a slinger or he has a bad wrist wrap. How many guys have that who have been drafted and signed, that I’ve seen, and have actually made it? And how far? Things like that. I’ve kept pretty good records and I haven’t publicized them, not even to my own staff, but I do utilize that kind of stuff.”

  • How much playing time do you think each Dodger will get this year? Submit your predictions with Tangotiger.

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Attendance

1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended

2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)

Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret. 

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