Say Goodbye to Hollywood (Round Two)

Last year, the Dodgers made a huge move that...was more than just a huge move.

The team sent Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Adrian Gonzalez and Charlie Culberson to the Braves in exchange for Matt Kemp. At the time, it was seen as not only a good move for both teams, but, most importantly, a salary dump. The Dodgers didn't have much left that Kazmir, McCarthy or A-Gon could give them, and the Kemp contract was turning into a game of hot potato between teams that wanted to rebuild. As it happened, the Dodgers won out, as Kemp had his best numbers since 2012, and started an All Star Game. While Culberson became a fantastic bench bat for Atlanta, McCarthy gave modest starts before getting injured, and Gonzalez and Kazmir never got to be Braves.

Since it worked so well for the Dodgers in 2018...they went for round two. Once again, the Dodgers let go of Matt Kemp, along with Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer, sending them to the slowly rebuilding Cincinnati Reds in exchange for two prospects and Homer Bailey.

Once again, this was a contract and salary dump, as both teams had people they were tired of waiting for numbers on (Kemp and Puig for LA, Bailey for Cincy). This was also a case of the Dodgers giving contracts to a team ready to compete, in exchange for essentially nothing.

The most important factor that I'm getting from this is that the Dodgers felt they could win games in 2019 without Kemp, Puig or Wood. And let's examine that. A Dodgers outfield without Puig or Kemp still has Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez or Andrew Toles in play, all of whom could make a great three-man outfield (though it'll likely be Bellinger-Joc-Hernandez). This also means the Dodgers could be freeing up outfield and salary space to go after Bryce Harper, which could definitely happen. Plus, a Dodgers rotation without Alex Wood still has Kershaw, Hill, Buehler, Maeda, Stripling, and...now the possibility of a healthy Homer Bailey. Wood has been fantastic, but the rotation isn't dead without him.

Now, is the Reds' rotation better without Bailey and with Wood? Of course it is! Wood, Tanner Roark, Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo is a relatively decent four-man rotation team, with occasional input from Anthony Desclafani in between DL stints. And is the Reds' outfield better with Kemp and Puig alongside Scott Schebler?? Of course! Jesse Winker and Phil Ervin are fine, but they'll be better coming off the bench, supplanting these two.

The surest sign that the Reds won this trade is that they got these three players (four if you count Farmer, who'll essentially be Curt Casali's backup I think), and they didn't give up Nick Senzel, the big prospect they've been trying to protect all winter. So it proves the Reds are making a run at 2019, which, judging by how fun they were in 2018, is a good sign.

And for the Dodgers...it just means they're clearing room to be even better in 2019. And to potentially land one of the biggest free agents on the board.

So...all around, this is a pretty successful, and important, trade. Keep 'em coming, MLB.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Rangers

 The increasingly steep downhill slide of the once mighty Texas Rangers continues.

You can guess why: everyone's aging. Even the once-indestructible Elvis Andrus, in the year of his 30th birthday, played less than 100 games for the first time ever, despite still pulling a 1.7 WAR in his 97 games. He should be back to himself this year, but his days as the team's anchor may be coming to an end soon.

 Then there's Joey Gallo. Look, hitting 40 home runs is all well and good, but...you have to at least TRY to hit for average. Gallo had 207 strikeouts, and batted .206, despite having said amount of home runs. We're in an age where people are striking out more than ever, and people need to keep that in consideration alongside the home run stats. Because Joey Gallo is far from a great player, and yet he's being treated like a crucial piece of this team.

 Further baffling me? The transformation of Jurickson Profar, from multi-talented young utility infielder to home run hitting outfield bench player. The guy is 25 and his career has already died and come back, which...I mean, that IS the time to fail, but it's a bit of a jarring change. Even more baffling? Thanks to a trade to Oakland, he'll probably be back to being an infielder next year.

 After Keone Kela's departure, the Rangers' next option at closer was Jose Leclerc, and judging from his 85 strikeouts and 1.85 ERA, they made the right choice. Heck, Leclerc was even being shopped around by teams looking for relief pitching, so hopefully he'll get to stick around to pitch a full (ish) season in Arlington.

Of course...a major turning point for the Rangers involved saying goodbye to Adrian Beltre, their trusted third baseman and offensive standout since 2011, who retired after this year, and made sure he left on a fantastic note. Beltre still knocked 15 home runs and 65 RBIs this year, which isn't bad for a 40-year-old. Beltre will definitely be missed not only by Rangers fans, but by baseball fans in general. Fantastic player, and probably a Hall of Famer.

Coming Tomorrow- The insane, improbable rise of the oddest Rays team ever to be.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Pirates

Success was fleeting for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018. In an instant, the team went from fourth to chasing second...then first...then back to fourth. With the number of competitive teams in the NL Central, it's upsetting, if predictable, to see a solid, inoffensive team like the Bucs get rocked by surging teams like St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee. It's not to say the team's done competing, but as all four competitors in that division are suiting up this offseason, I think it'll be very difficult for them to stand out next year.

At least they have Gregory Polanco, who had another sharp season in the outfield, with a team high 81 RBIs, and 117 hits. Also, I absolutely love that custom.

 Josh Harrison was stopped by injury this year, which led to some good playing time from Adam Frazier, but when he was healthy he wasn't bad. 86 hits in 97 games isn't bad. It does look like he'll be looking for a new team this year, which is sad, but hopefully he'll keep his numbers steady.

 It does mean Adam Frazier is looking at a starting position, though, which...as the superior hitter and defensive player of the two 2nd basemen the Bucs had this year, isn't a bad deal. He's also versatile as hell, which definitely helps, and hit .280 this year.

 Colin Moran was one of two surprisingly powerful acquisitions from Houston in the Gerrit Cole deal. Moran was the starting third baseman this year, hitting .277 in 144 games, with 115 hits. He's also brought some outstanding facial hair to the team.

 Ivan Nova's numbers dipped from his impressive first few years in Pittsburgh, but he still kept his record to 0-0, with 115 strikeouts. In a year where Trevor Williams and Jameson Taillon held the fort, it's not alarming. It proved the team will be alright with him heading to Chicago next year.

 Luckily Joe Musgrove and his hard-throwing nineteen games were there to hold up the back end of the rotation, with a 4.06 ERA. He's not completely controlled, but he is a wicked little fireballer who could bloom next year for them.

And Keone Kela, a stowaway from Texas who came to town in August, did...alright in Pittsburgh. Not Rangers good, but alright. He had 15 innings of setup ball, and pitched a 2.53 ERA. Not bad, but...you had Kyle Crick onhand as setup man. You didn't really...need Keone Kela, sadly.

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of the Rangers...uh, Kela got out at the right time. As did, like, everyone else.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Phillies

This was my first year living consistently in the Philly area since high school, so I got to witness the Phillies' rise and fall first hand. They rose in May, thanks to Herrera, Nola, Arrieta, and some amazing bullpen work. They fell in September, thanks to the Braves, the Nats, and the failure of the lineup to do anything. But in between, it was definitely a fun season, as the Phils added a ton of bullpen talent from the get, and a ton of trade deadline pickups as well.

But...seeing Pat Neshek back as a Phillie after the sad departure last year felt...right. Neshek's 2018 wasn't as good as his 2017, but he was great whenever he was on the mound. Still had a 2.60 ERA in 30 appearances. Not bad at all.

Zach Eflin was the fifth man of the rotation, and while he came nowhere near the awesomeness of the Nola-Arrieta-Velazquez-Pivetta combo, he still posted solid numbers, with an 11-8 record and 123 strikeouts.

 Scott Kingery, seen here in a very cool custom with a very cool sabermetrics-inspired graphic tank top, didn't especially live up to expectations as 'shortstop of the future', but still got 102 hits, and played over 140 games, so...got your playing time in, rook. Good luck backing up Jean Segura.

 Another fun rookie from this year who'll likely be covering the bench is Roman Quinn, who finally hit well in the majors, with a .260 average in 50 games. I still expect him to get some starting time next year, even if it'd be shared with Nick Williams.

And then there's Seranthony Dominguez, who FINALLY took the reigns from Hector Neris in the ninth, after posting great middle relief numbers, and came up with 16 saves in 20 opportunities, a .93 WHIP, and some closing dominance that hasn't been seen since Papelbon. Hope he keeps it up.

...Then there's the deadline additions...

 Asdrubal was the first to make an impact, giving modest but not Mets-level numbers, and being a definite upgrade at shortstop. He hit .230, with only 17 RBIs. Not great, but for a rental, not terrible.

 Wilson Ramos' acquisition took a bit to kick in, as his injury left him out for a lot of August, but when he got here? Even if we didn't really NEED an upgrade from Jorge Alfaro, he was pretty fantastic, hitting .337 in 33 games, with only one catching error compared to Alfaro's...11. We will miss Ramos, no matter where he lands.

 Then, after the deadline, we snuck Justin Bour out of Miami, which must have been nice for him, but...he could have done better than his .224 average. He was basically a classy bench addition, and notched 5 RBIs when he could. He mostly deferred to Santana though, which...may not have ULTIMATELY been the goal, but...kinda was.

And then...there's Joey Bats.

Bautista's not one of my favorites, so to see him suit up for one of my teams was...odd. Very odd. And even if it was for a month, I still couldn't really wrap my head around Jose Bautista in Phillies colors. He only hit 2 of his trademark homers over 27 games, though he hit a fine .244 average. I'm not sure if he's done after this year, but...I'm glad his Philly tenure wasn't a complete disaster (as his Atlanta tenure was).

Coming Tomorrow- They were listless, then for a while THEY WERE FANTASTIC...and then suddenly they were in fourth again. Fun team, though.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Padres

 Fun fact: the Miami Marlins have a longer playoff drought than the San Diego Padres. The Marlins, since 2003, have had Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich, Martin Prado, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis and J.T. Realmuto all have fantastic seasons...and yet they haven't gotten to October.

The Padres, since 2006, have had landmark seasons from...Chase Headley...Jake Peavy...Adrian Gonzalez...Heath Bell.........yeah, that's pretty much it.

Look, I don't know what the problem with this team is, but I don't think even management knows either. They have tried everything- giving the team to the farm system, scrapping the farm system and getting a bunch of contracts, mixing both. They hired Dave Roberts for a day, decided they didn't want a guy who'd get them to the postseason, and went with Andy Green.

2018 was just another example of nothing working. Eric Hosmer didn't bring the team out of the hole, the pitching continued to suffer. Austin Hedges is a fine catcher, but only improved slightly from his disappointing first few seasons.

 Joey Lucchesi was one of the few bright spots of a dark rotation, with a low-for-San-Diego 4.08 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and a passable 8-9 record. He's not much, but to the Padres, he's Nolan Ryan.

And this year's lineup rookie guy was Franmil Reyes, an outfield prospect who outdid even the Manniest of Margots, hitting 16 homers in 80 games, with a .280 average. He's kinda similar to Margot, but if both of them could play to expectations, the Pads could have a heck of a team on their hands.

Coming Tomorrow- My hometown team, who got so close to October...and just missed.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Orioles

[exhausted sigh]

The 2018 Baltimore Orioles...even WITH Manny Machado, were truly awful. The rookies did not work. The veterans sagged like hell. The pitching was atrocious, both starting and relief. And the trade deadline only made it more evident.

Andrew Cashner, like he did in Texas, had an alright year, with less than 100 strikeouts...and subsequently less than 5 wins. He gave up 25 home runs this year, which would be frightening if he didn't already share a rotation with Dylan Bundy.

 Tim Beckham shed any probability that his first full season in Baltimore would be anything like his first month with the team, by going back to his old self immediately, with a .230 average, only 12 home runs, and a ton of strikeouts. The O's have subsequently non tendered him.

 Towards the end of the year, Alex Cobb's numbers did begin to dip back down, and he got his ERA under 5 thanks to some solid starts in September, but...having seen Cobb's stuff in person this year, know that it wasn't much to write home about overall.

Renato Nunez, a stowaway from Oakland, does seem like one of the few players that may lead the O's out of last in 2019, as he had a .275 average in 60 games as Machado's replacement at third, with 55 hits to boot. He's not much, but he's one of the few things Baltimore has to hope for.

Coming Tomorrow- Slightly less pathetic than the O's, a Southern Californian team in desperate need of life.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Nationals

First of all...how did I not make a Strasburg during the year??

Yeah, it may have been due to injuries, but Stephen Strasburg had another fantastic year for the Nationals, FINALLY blossoming into the consistent, big-game strikeout artist that the team had in mind when they drafted him, ever-so-subtly, in the late 2000s. This was a fairly standard, if slightly truncated, year for Strasburg, with a 10-7 record, a 3.75 ERA, and 156 strikeouts, his lowest since his last injury-depleted season in 2015. Even with strong pitchers onhand, as well as Patrick Corbin's rise to DC, he's still a formidable threat to any NL East batter, and I imagine he'll stay that way.

 Jeremy Hellickson's 2018 success shouldn't have been a surprise, but after depressingly dim numbers with Baltimore in 2017, it was a pleasant one. Signed late in the offseason, Hellickson joined the rotation after Erick Fedde proved to be ineffective, and he got back to his old tricks, with a 3.45 ERA in 19 starts. Yes, his velocity is down, judging by his 65 strikeouts (which is exactly what he had in 20 starts with Philly last year), but he still kept batters down, even as a fifth man.

 Thanks to Juan Soto, Victor Robles' role in the Nats' outfield was slighter than he'd wanted, but he still popped in down the stretch to hit a few home runs, and notched 17 hits in 21 games, which isn't bad. I'm not sure if he'll be a part of the conversation for 2019, as it's already looking like a Soto-Eaton-Taylor outfield (with a possible campaign by Howie Kendrick).

 The rest of these are dupe customs I prepared for an award season that was admittedly not kind to Washington. Juan Soto was, in my opinion, a serious threat for the ROY award, but Acuna's numbers proved too juicy for voters to ignore. Soto is still a great young outfielder, and will likely blossom upon Harper's exit next year.

 Meanwhile, Max Scherzer was inches away from his THIRD consecutive Cy Young award, but had to be separated from Jacob deGrom by literal inches (and ERA, I think). Still, a 300-strikeout year, an 18-7 record, and a 2.50 ERA is nothing to be mad at. The fact that Scherzer can do all of those things...at 33...and for it to be called a normal season for him? That says all you need to know about Scherzer as an all-time talent. The man has led the league in strikeouts AND WHIP...for the past THREE SEASONS. 33 is typically when people STOP leading the league in things like that.

Keep up the good work, Max.

And then...there is Bryce Harper. Who played his final season in Washington this year, after seven landmark seasons as an outfielder, arguably only three of them great. Say what you will about Harper's exploits, and his 2018 season (which...would have been his weakest had it not been for his 2016), but Harper left his mark on Washington, gave him nearly everything they asked for when they drafted him, and made the Nationals a playoff-caliber team. One wonders where they'll go without him. Perhaps further than the NLDS.

Coming Tomorrow- The worst team in baseball, 2018.