Dodgers: Chris Taylor’s Comments About His Future in LA Don’t Sound Encouraging
There are a lot of reasons to hate the season ending for the Dodgers on Saturday night in Atlanta. Besides the obvious of not reaching the World Series and going back-to-back, fans also have to face the uncertainty of some of their favorite players.
This year’s free-agent class is particularly painful for the Dodgers. There a re a number of guys that will be hitting the open market and searching for lucrative contracts. Chris Taylor is one of those guys.
After the loss in Atlanta, the Dodgers free agents were asked about their future. Taylor’s comments had fans worried that they might have seen the last of him in Los Angeles. Rather than inspire hope or say that he would like to return, CT3 was realistic.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve loved every minute of being a Dodger. I have no idea what’s going to happen this offseason… I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to play for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers signed Taylor to a 2-year deal worth $13.4 million back in February of 2020. That annual average of just over $6 million is expected to at least double when he signs his next deal. A guy that can play all over the field and hit for power is going to be sought after on the open market.
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But Taylor does come with a few downsides, and one in particular might give the Dodgers hesitancy in offering him a ton of money. He struck out 167 times in 2021, which means almost 29 percent of his plate appearances ended in a K. That doesn’t fit the style of play that Andrew Friedman and his front office are looking for.
But what he lacks in K percentage CT3 makes up for in literally everything else’s. He’s an asset to any team, and we would be lucky to have him back.
Dodgers: Dave Roberts Reflects on Using Max Scherzer in Relief in NLDS Game 5
Never mind the K’s. He MORE than makes up for that with stellar defense and someone that has 20 HR potential. They let Kike and Joc walk and honestly that was a big reason why Dodgers are going home instead of to the WS. Idealized there were other factors but the bench on this year’s team WAS WAY BELOW average.
Meant realize other factors for falling short.
Paul, now you might understand my initial comment about CT3 not coming back. I suppose it’s all in the hands of the FO. Personally I would fire the FO if I was ownership.
Why whine about those 2 when they really missed out on Rosario who was available halfway into the season. We already had Taylor. I mean what you gonna do play Pederson and Kiki over Belli and Betts. Losing those 2 was hardly a big reason. Buehler looks weak in Post season. That was a much bigger reason.
Again I will continue my rant on this subject until I’m blue in the face. Dodger pitchers would all have fared better with Barnes catching. Anyone recall how many of Scherzer’s starts that Barnes caught? Oh you folks with short memories. Max would always give Barnes props every post game interview…apparently nobody else was paying attention! Least of the “brain trust” figuring out the lineups!
Very obsessive. Barnes caught so great for Kenley too!
Are you HIGH? Smith is arguably the best catcher in the game right now. Literally the only metric where Barnes comes close is throws to 2nd. Put the pipe down.
Klance, all you have done is prove your lack of understanding of the game. Answer me this then, why did Barnes catch the majority of the games in the postseason last year? Hmmm? He started 4 of the 6 WS games. Why? Because he calls a better game, blocks more pitches in the dirt, accepts throw from outfielders better, applies tags better. Should I go on? But no doubt Smith is a better hitter. But thank you for your worthless opinion.
Everyone on this team should escape this sh*t show of an organization and go somewhere where they can experience a real championship and not one that was only won because the team had the benefit of resting all year before only having to play 3 months in 2020. That is why we won, no injuries and no fatigued pitchers from 6 months of mismanagement. This year and all the years prior to 2020 is what u see when a team is run like this.
I think you should glob onto the Angels and never say another word about the Dodgers….
Yeah Kirk! Don cato makes life so simple. Like a 6th grader not really liked.
Don, that is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard. Guess what every other team played the same number of games, had the same amount of rest, etc. why didn’t they win? Hmmm?
Maybe Chris will set a example and turn down Huge money to play where the team plays real Baseball…….
Kirk, I love our back and fourth, and you crack me up almost as much as Doug does (gotta give him the nod there but you’re a close 2nd!)
21st century baseball is just different. Nobody plays small ball anymore. The quants dictate the game now. I fine it abhorrent. But IIWII
Well df4, I may add you crack me up as well with your 24/7 moderation of single post made on this site. Do you ever sleep?
Nope lol
Kirk, honestly the result of game 6 was sort of what I expected. All year long after a 10+ run scoring game, Dodger offense would lay an egg offensively the very next game. With all the injuries, Dodgers would have been NO match for any AL team in the WS.
The Braves will be no match either. It took them 6 games to eliminate a team who had all 3 starters fatigued, injuries to Kershaw, Turner, and Muncy, the worst bench in playoff history, and Trea Turner essentially doing as much as Barnes probably would’ve had he played every game and of course Roberts and Friedman sabotaging the team
Kirk, still I believe we all want CT3 to return. But you may have a point here on why some players don’t want to be ao a team with the way Freidman and DRRRRRRRR run things. Tons of mis management from both even though somehow Dodgers won 106 games. But a couple years ago Dodgers won 106 games and mis management of the pitching by both and Dodgers got bounced by the Nats in that NLDS.
Paul, there always is a reason why. Joc didn’t like the way it ended for him in L.A. Keke’ bailed as well. CT3 is right in line so if he does bail the dodgers HAVE to sign someone like Chris Bryant. He’s the answer for many holes they need filled.
Kirk, true but Joc mentioned that he would have liked to return but FO never made him an offer. But as I said below he appears to now accept being a platoon player on a team that will contend.
Giants have money to play with.. No way are they not resigning Bryant. They can’t count on another big year from Posey-Belt-Crawford.
Paul, Scherzer pitched in relief in the 2019 NLDS vs the Dodgers and he wasn’t too tired to continue. Hmmm
These people criticize DR for pitching burnout don’t have a clue. Today’s starters would have been considered relievers 30 years ago. Lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.
What I’d like to know is how in world did Bruihl get hurt? He barely saw any action! He would have been perfect in the 4th of game 6! Just sayin
Pretty sure he fanned Rosario and Freeman in game 1 or 2.
Ya game 1 Dodgers up 2-1. Bruihl brought in to face Fried (LHB) and strikeout. Rosario groundout. Faces Freeman and strikes him out to start 4th. Gonsolin brought in to face Riley…gopher ball game tied. Geez
Stupid analytics garbage! Absolutely worthless over a small sample like the playoffs! Ok over 162, but what good does that do ya?
Maybe I should say this again,
But that’s Roberts for ya.
Rosario hit every high velocity guy. Only a slow spin guy like Bruihl had success against him.
Astros will use that information to shut him down because they know what they’re doing
Anyone with half a brain would!
I said this on another page bit I would like for them to bring Joc back. He wanted to stay and recently said that if he’s going to be a platoon player, he wants to be on a team that will contend. He’s a FA after the WS.
I’d be ok with it. Joctober earned the moniker.
I think that we all are disappointed and upset by many of the decisions made by the “brain trust”. I choose to remember how many games the dodgers won this year. I don’t really believe that right now, but maybe in a few months I will get to appreciate what an outstanding season it was. As you all know, we had many more injuries and situations (Bauer) than most contending clubs. I think this off season probably will be almost as interesting as this past season. Hurry up April !!!!!!!!!!
I will say this, if the FO is so stupid to not re-sign CT3, I will have no other choice but to change my handle to
DodgerfanNOMORE!
4life, if indeed they are going to be that stupid and inept, then it may serve them right if 2022 becomes the first year since 2012 that Dodgers miss the PS altogether. But what a inept job in managing the pitching staff and other in game decisions, lineups this year. But I will say this, that if the 1927 Yankees had the constant plethora of IL stints this Dodger team had, they would not have won either. Take out Ruth, Gehrig, and a few other key players and pitchers from that team and they certainly would not have survived in todays post season alignment.
Agreed. Only problem is despite all the injuries, Dodgers still had enough talent to win! Atrocious game management by DR/FO. Sacrifice defense for offense when defense wins championships…in every sport! Offense goes into slumps at in opportune times, defense doesn’t.
I understand your analogy Paul, but it’s not exactly Ruth and Gerhrig or anything even half as good as they were on this team that were out. Muncy was a big blow, but Drrrrrrrrr did all the rest to bring on the injuries especially to Scherzer….What still has me shaking my head is how in the world Drrrrrrrrr wouldn’t play Beaty and Lux in Sep and late Aug when he kept throwing Mckinney and Bellinger out there over and over to fail…That stretch alone was the stretch needed to over take the Vagiants. By that time in the season, both Beaty and lux were MUCH better options to play in front of Mckinney-Raley-Bellinger-Mckinstry-Souza, and they were both healthy and well rested. At the time it was head scratching, and right now it’s painful to recap. What got me the most was both players have been with the org, both were apart of the championship team, and all those others weren’t. Talk about Loyalty? Joc seems to know more about how these guys are than we may know….
CT3 is a must resign especially after the Dodgers saw that none of the youngsters stepped up to replace either of the ‘glue guys”, Pederson or Hernandez. And now the diamond in the rough spotter (Zaidi) is up the coast, so we may not get any more all stars from the bargain bin. It’s going to be a tough offseason and some good folks will be end up elsewhere.. But one of them better not be Taylor.
Agreed
Taylor, like Kike Hernandez, might want to be guaranteed a starting job, one defensive position, and 550+ plate appearances. The Dodgers can’t promise him that. But they should do what they can to re-sign him because he is so productive offensively, defensively, and due to his ability to play 6 (or 7) defensive positions, all very well.
106 wins, most runs scored in the NL, fewest runs allowed in the NL, and best run differential again (year after year) suggest that the team has had really great talent; an unprecedentedly high level of talent we might not see again for a long time in the major leagues, a level of talent equal to the payroll. The Dodgers hould have won at least 10 more games during the regular season. Injuries were worse than normal — hard to say whether anyone is to blame for that.. The Bauer situation — hard to blame the FO for taking a risk on him in terms of wins and losses — although for other reasons blame can be assessed. Really bad managerial in-game and line-up decisions (5-8 loses). Benching AJ Pollock so that he would fall a few at-bats short of triggering his player option on his contract (1-2 losses). Playing Bellinger during his stubborn phase [the entire regular season] (2-5 games). [He could have been a productive player during the regular season had he adopted the approach to hitting he took in the post-season [.353 batting average, .905 OPS]. Had the pitching staff not been mismanaged, they might have beaten the Braves. From the beginning of the postseason they should have realized that they would need 4 starters, should have treated Gonsolin as the 4th starter, accepted the risk that he would not even go 4 innings and would not be good, but reduce the risks inherent in using starters as relievers and on short rest and messing them up.
Spot on Roger. You watched every game….Your well informed on exactly what happened. Truth….
CT3 had no problem getting his 550 AB’s with the Dodgers and wouldn’t be an issue going forward either. It’s up to him whether or not he wants to be back more than likely. Couldn’t fathom the FO not offering him a fair price.
They will resign CT3, no doubt. The strikeouts are just the downside of his power. He says he swings for contact and the HR’s come by accident. The FO knows they can’t let him walk; Dodger fans would skewer them.
Andrew will build a better bench, try to maintain a strong BP and patch up the starting pitching. Yes, he and Roberts made many miscalculations. DR’s in-game management is unacceptable but they won’t dump him because many of his choices were based on cyber metrics the FO fed him.
Our players played their hearts out but were mislead. Who’s decision was it to chase the Giants to the last day? They could have backed into the wildcard slot and rested the team and set it up to win. Injuries, fatigue and poor choices cost us dearly in season and post. Fatique and poor execution are linked. More often than not our roster made we want to cringe this season.
Points above about Barnes are well taken. It was Smith’s throw that cost Muncy his elbow. Looking like we need to get him out from behind the plate. Come on DH in the NL!
Alas, any Dodger fan could go on commenting forever on this team. 67 years of rooting for this team has surfaced a lot of leadership stupidity. i.e.: Clemente was a dodger till we coughed him up.
Well said 65. The failure to play situational baseball cost Drrrrrr this season. The computer can’t, and doesn’t make on the fly decisions which apparently neither does Drrrrrrr. Benching hot hitters for Matchups? Lefty righty B.S. You watch the team that wins the World series will have a set line up and also pitching rotation. Not, 12 guys floating around the field all night playing out of position and experimenting.
65yr, where did you come from? Your accuracy is phenomenal! Nice point about chasing the Giants. What was the point in retrospect? We should have coasted and rested up for October. Align the pitching staff just the right way. Really stupid when you think about it.
You available to take Friedman’s job?
3fl – give andy a pass. he did a great job providing 67 players this year! that’s no small feat. and I still say picking up Max and Trea for 4 minor leaguers was pure genius! Both played well thru the end of the season and mixed success in the postseason. They’re too good to be flash in the pans – bring Max back and let Corey walk if he won’t move to 3rd. Trea gets SS.
Joe, sorry no can do on Andy. Way too many disasters…Dodgers saddled with several bloated contracts (Mookie, Price, human dumpster fire) and that’s just the start. Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields, not re-signing Kike, the laundry list goes on and on. Ya ya Max/Trea was great but it doesn’t outweigh all the others unfortunately. Cards, Braves, Giants all less headline grabbing but out did the genius. He taught his underlings well and they out-did him! He must go, not Roberts.
A lot of those Ks were on bogus called strike 3 off the plate. I wonder how many times he was rung up in that manner. It was a lot.
Really style of play that Andrew Friedman and his front office are looking for. WOW.. and dum dum Roberts is???? Totally unbelieveable….let an loser manage.. but a guy who tried to save your season..get away….tell me how that makes any sense????
Anyone with any brain at all in looking what took place this year to the other 3 NL teams in the playoffs, will see it was the FO that made the difference! Cards, Giants, Braves all below .500 either mid-way through 2021 or (in the Giants case) 2020. All made less splashy than the Dodgers moves during the 2020 off-season or at the trade deadline in 2021.
It’s Friedman/FO that needs to be replaced rather than Roberts IMHO.
I really hope that CT3 will be back in Dodger blue.
Next year’s starting rotation. Dustin May, Mitch White, Brustar Graderol, Jose Urias and what’s his name.
Bazooka is the closer of the future. Not a starter IMHO
It will be Buehler, Urias, Scherzer, and Bauer.
It will be Scherzer, Bauer, Buehler, and Urias.
Bauer has thrown his last pitch in MLB.
When he is proven innocent, you will regret bullying him and appreciate how good of a player he is.
And Dustin May won’t be ready until the All-Star break most likely.
We should be ‘thankful’ they didn’t move
on to The Series to face ‘The Hated Astros.’
The ‘depleted status’ of the team entering game
(6) would’ve been no match for The Stros & ‘the last
thing’ Dodger fans need is another ‘batch of gloating’ outta
‘The Cheaters!’ Better to face them in a year when we have ‘all
the stars’ lined up & heathy!
Tom, I kinda agree. I won’t even watch as the Cheaters will simply mash the Braves. Won’t even be a contest. I was just hoping that the baseball God’s would find it in their hearts at a chance for redemption. Muncy might have been available who knows. We never heard any updates on his progress. Would have been a dream scenario I know. Oh well. Such is life. Now we have to focus on the super-challenging off-season with all the FA’s and who knows if there will even be any baseball in 2022. CBA is a real question mark. If the players strike its anyone’s guess how it all unfolds.
Azul, as always you hit the bullseye re CT3!!!!! As a matter of fact, I wished the Dodgers would have extended his contract before the season ended. I find CT to be a class act : he lets his bat do the talking; defense is stellar; and his versatility is unparalleled. And as you said, after losing Kike and Joc, we cannot afford to lose Taylor.
Hope you and PD Jr. are in fine health and enjoying the good life!!!
Go Blue!!!
Fair weather friend. We do not need that type of allegiance. So bye bye. So shallow your
teeth must hurt.
This most be very disappointing for management. The front office did everything to bring back a championship to LA. Seems hard to believe that the Dodgers will have a better team in 2022. All teams were impacted by injuries. Bottom-line their batting was inconsistent and I believe the Dodgers have a leadership problem.
No doubt. Andy must go.