Dodger Talk (2-27-23)

Spring Training Dodger Talk with David Vassegh live from Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to Dodger Talk David Vasse liveat Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
After the Dodgers and Padres played nineinnings in Peoria, where the Dodgers won
the game seven to six but lost. They're starting shortstop Gavin Lux. Eight
six six nine eight seven two fiveseventy is the phone number. Yes,

(00:24):
in case you missed it, GavinLux left the game today. In the
sixth inning of the game today inPeoria against the Padres. Luke Williams was
the hitter at the play and hegrounded the ball to third base for a
five four three double play. GavinLux was on second base and he was

(00:45):
running really hard to third base whenthere was no play there, and it
seemed like he was trying to duckout of the way of the ball being
hit to him or the ball beingthrown to second base, and he thought
that maybe he needed to duck.You know, I'm not Gavin Lux.
I wasn't at his vantage point,but I've looked at the replay several times,

(01:06):
and the ball was nowhere near hittinghim or being close to him when
it was being thrown, and unfortunatelyfor him, he got a little hyper
extended with his right knee, andit really was ugly as far as what
we saw in the replay when welooked at his injury as he was crumbled
to the floor right near third baseand needed the cart to take him off

(01:32):
the field. And today he hadan MRI after the game. There have
been no results announced right now bythe Dodgers. We should know more tomorrow
morning. But Dave Roberts rushed immediatelyto third base, where his starting shortstop
was in agony. And here's whatDave said after the game to us as

(01:52):
far as what he heard and sawas far as the lux injury. As
a player, you're thinking the worst. So our trainers looked at him.
I think their doctor looked at himand did some test manually. But we
don't know a whole lot right now. So he's gonna he's on his way
to get an MRI, you know. So I think right now we're just

(02:15):
hoping that it's more benign and notanything substantial. So we'll just kind of
wait and see. Dave, wasit just his knee or ankle as well?
It was just a knee and hewas trying to I think avoid the
tag. I didn't really get agood look at it, and so he
was trying to avoid that tag atthird base and his knee just gave way.

(02:36):
So I don't know really what theextent of it is. You call
it part pretty quickly. I justfelt that no. I just felt that
he said he couldn't really didn't couldn'tmove his knee. There was some numbness
which dissipated once he got in here. I just felt that it just made
sense to get on top of itquickly. So that was Dave Roberts after
the game, when we were askinghim details about Lux his right knee injury.

(03:01):
I could tell you this. TheDodgers were very protective over Lux when
he came out of the game.Andrew Friedman, who walked out of the
club house during the game, hadno extra details about the extent of Lux's
injuries. And look, it's veryunderstandable. Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman are

(03:22):
not going to say this is theend of the world. He's out for
the year when they don't have theresults of the MRI. Do they believe
that it's not good? Yes,of course. I mean you just heard
it from Dave Roberts. It doesn'tsound great, and we don't know how
long he's going to be out,but certainly it's going to be for an
extended period of time. And that'swhy the Dodgers trading for Miguel Rojas was

(03:47):
a necessity. They needed a backupinfielder that could play shortstop, and that's
why Miguel Rojas was acquired for minorleaguer Jacob Amaya. Roja. His value
is defense, no doubt about it. And you know, before today's game,
we were asking Rojas about how hefeels about this role where he's basically

(04:09):
an insurance policy. Well, thatinsurance policy is going to be cashed now
because Lux is hurt and he's notdoing so good and going to be out
for an extended period of time.We'll hear from Miguel Rojas coming up in
ten minutes. But as far asthis Lux injury, you know, just
the reaction I saw on social mediaand from the texts I got from some

(04:32):
passionate Dodger fans. Look, AndrewFriedman does not have a crystal ball.
He can't see during the offseason thatGavin Lux is going to tear up his
right knee on You know, Idon't want to say, a routine play,
but at play that really shouldn't havecaused this type of injury, but
it did. He doesn't know that'sgoing to happen. And look, that's

(04:56):
the reason why he felt the urgencyto make a trade for a guy like
Miguel Rojas, because without Miguel Rojason this roster, the Dodgers are in
a heap of trouble. And Iknow you can say the Dodgers have gone
from Corey Seeger to Trade Turner toMiguel Rojas as they're starting shortstop on opening
Day. But I haven't run intotoo many people that said, yeah,

(05:18):
you know what, I would havecommitted ten years and four hundred million dollars
to Corey Seeger. I haven't runinto too many people in baseball that had
said, yeah, if I werethe Dodgers, I would have committed ten
years and three hundred million dollars tothe Dodgers. I just don't buy that
argument at this point in time.Look, there's no bigger fan of Corey

(05:42):
Seegers and what he meant to thisorganization than me. But it would have
been a really, very very riskycontract to commit four hundred million dollars to
Corey Seeger after you gave Mookie Bettsa thirteen year contract for three hundred plus
million dollars. And I am abeliever about a window, especially when you

(06:03):
commit these kind of dollars to MookieBets and Freddie Freeman. There is a
window that you have, whether ornot anybody wants to admit it. You
have a window with these really good, possible future Hall of famers that you
want to take advantage of. ButI'm not sure how willing the Dodgers were

(06:26):
to do that, and I'm notsure how feasible it is to do something
like that. But in this worldthat we're living in that had Gavin Luck's
takeover at Shortstop, I think itwas a pretty good foresight by Andrew Freeman
to be able to pick up aplayer like Miguel Rojas to have for a
situation just exactly like this Mookie Bets. Speaking of Mookie Bets, he was

(06:50):
in the clubhouse after Gavin Lux gotinjured. And look, the Dodgers need
to move forward. The only problemis now the depth is being tested at
Shortstop because if for some reason,thirty four year old Miguel Rojas has any
sort of injury. The Dodgers don'treally have a great backup plan for Miguel

(07:11):
Rojas. The only guy I canthink of is Luke Williams, who has
been playing really good third base inthe handful or the three preseason games that
I've seen so far this year.Luke Williams, to me, is going
to be a Charlie Kulberson type ofrole that we saw a few years back
in twenty sixteen, where he's goingto be in Triple A for depth and

(07:34):
be a really good veteran that canhelp young players, but if necessary,
be called up to play third baseor shortstop or second base. So the
Dodgers are covered right now. Theirdepth with Miguel Rojas has actually come in
very handy and valuable right now.But if for some reason Rojas is injured

(07:57):
for an extended period of time,the Dodgers don't really have a really good
sustainable option at shortstop. So you'vegot to hope that the thirty four year
old Miguel Rojas can stay healthy.And now you've got to really hope that
Miguel Vargas can handle second base,because if he can't, I guess Chris
Taylor is going to have to comeinto the infield and play second base.

(08:20):
And if Vargas does not pan outat second base, that means that his
offense is not making it worthwhile tohave him at second base. But I'm
a believer that his offense will beable to be sustainable at second base.
And like I said, for me, if Vargas, the floor for Vargas
is to play Jeff Kent type asecond base. If he can play Jeff

(08:43):
can't level second base and do offensively, with the Dodgers believe he can do
offensively, it'll work out fine.And he's got a really good veteran shortstop
to play with. As long asLux is out look that injury did not
look. It did not sound goodwhen you hear a guy say he had
a pop in his right knee.So let's be really honest right here.

(09:07):
It's not looking good for Gavin Luxto be playing the first at least two
months of the season. Hopefully theMRI shows something different, but the tone
of Dave Roberts did not sound likethis is going to be a two week
injury. So we'll get more informationtomorrow morning on the results of the MRI.

(09:28):
But thankfully the Dodgers did acquire aguy like Miguel Rojas, and you
can say all you want, theyshould have signed Trey Turner and they should
have kept Corey Seeger, and Ican make an argument for both players,
but they didn't, and they wentwith Gavin Lux, who was the next
And they have a veteran shortstopping MiguelRojas to back him up for a situation

(09:50):
like this. Eight six six nineeight seven two five seventy is the phone
number? Do you believe the Dodgerscan weather the storm of the Lux injury?
And when we continue here on DodgerTalk, we will hear from Miguel
Rojas when we spoke to him thismorning about the role the Dodgers brought him
into that all of a sudden looksa lot different after the injury to Gavin

(10:13):
Lux's right knee during today's seven tosix spring training win over the Padres.
Eight six six nine eight seven twofive seventy is the phone number. David
Vasse live from Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, Dodger Talk until eight o'clock
on m five seventy. LA Sportsor Dodger Baseball for you tomorrow afternoon.

(10:35):
The Dodgers will be right here inGlendale, Arizona, for their second home
game of the spring, hosting theCincinnati reds Our. Pregame coverage begins at
eleven thirty with Dodgers on deck firstpitch with Rick Monday and Tim Nevert at
twelve O five eight six six nineeight seven two five seventy is the phone

(10:58):
number. We have two lines openright now. Many of you want to
react to the Gavin Luck's injury.We will hear from Miguel Rojas coming up,
and also at the bottom of thehour you'll hear my full conversation with
third baseman Max Munsey, and Igotta be honest with you. I know
from this standpoint with the Dodgers,maybe the best part of my day today

(11:18):
was seeing former Dodger A j Ellis. That's right, there was an aj
Ellis siding in Peoria, Arizona.He is working with the Padres and has
been for the last few years asa consultant. He's kind of a game
planning consultant. He works from homein Milwaukee and is able to do some

(11:39):
video scouting and game planning, similarto what Dan Herron does with the Arizona
Diamondbacks. So these guys have thework from home thing down before even the
pandemic. So it was great tosee Aj. A man him in that
uniform. He looks very managerial.I feel like he definitely has manager written

(12:01):
all over him. Whenever he's ready. I know he's committed to his family
and wants to spend time watching hiskids grow out there in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
But we all know a j Ellisand how high of a baseball IQ
he had, and how he cancommand the respect of some of the best
in the business as a catcher,and it was great to see AJ out

(12:22):
there. I was a little surprised. I wish, you know, I
would have got a text from AJlike, Hey, David, I'm here
in Arizona. Would you love tograb lunch or dinner one day? No,
just kidding. It's great to seeAJ, and he may even join
us on Wednesday night. I feellike he got a little bit of fomo
when I told him Andre Ethier stillchecks in on a regular basis. When

(12:46):
I told him that, I feltlike he wanted in on Dodger Talk eight
six six nine eight seven two fiveseventy. Let's go out to the phones.
Let's start out in my second favoritecity in La the LBC. You're
on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Roland? Hey, David, good
to hear from you. Anytime youin town, brother, asked Ronnie from

(13:07):
my phone number, and I'll takeyou out to dinner. All the content
you give me, I can giveyou an hour. Thank you, Roland.
I appreciate that. You'll see meon in Belmont Shores. Yeah,
I knew that was your neighborhood.I'll be quick, David. I ain't
no Monday morning quarterback. And Ididn't panic this offseason like everybody else did,

(13:28):
but I am worried about something likeyou said, positional death. We
don't got it now. I don'tthink mcgul Rojas is one hundred and sixty
two games and say this is worstcase. Say it's like lcl acl and
he gonna be gone now that weAver luxury tax is that Willie Thomas Cortman
Burns thing still real? And don'twe back the truck up at this point?

(13:50):
Because yeah, we desperate, butI just don't think you can plug
him play all these young guys.You know you got Mookie in right field.
You know Christ's young guys. There'sonly two. It was Rojas,
and everybody's counting on Altman. ButI feel like Altman's gonna start the year
in the minor leagues. Yeah,you know about thinking like Trace, right,

(14:11):
We haven't never seen Trace play afull season, so like, is
he gonna break down? We sawwhat happened at the end of the year
last year. It came out hotand got cold at the end. And
never I hate to break it toyou, Roland Trace is not a young
guy anymore. He's thirty years old, thirty one years old. Man,
we are getting Yeah, it's happeningfast. You know you ain't wrong,
David, But I guess my realquestion was if Lux is gone for the
whole year. If if it isthe case and Rojas is already coming off

(14:37):
a bunch of backs, you wantto know about Willi Adamas. You want
to know about Williodamas and Corbyn Burns. And that's all predicated Roland on where
the on where the Brewers are atthe trade deadline? And I got news
for you that NL Central it's ahorrible division. So if they're playing five
hundred baseball, they have a goodchance of still being in the race.

(14:58):
That's what's working against the Dodgers orany other team that wants Corbyn Burns and
or Willie Adamas. That division isabysmal and they can pitch over there in
Milwaukee, so that's gonna give theman edge. We'll see what happens,
Rolling, but if the Brewers areout of it, or if they don't
feel like it's going in the rightdirection. We saw last year they traded

(15:20):
Josh Hayter even though they were infirst place. So crazier things have happened,
So I wouldn't ruling out, butI feel like if Micguiel Rojas is
healthy, shortstop is taking care ofI would like to see them at some
offense in the outfield more than ashortstop. I agree with you, you
know, I was thinking, likewhat we need today is different than what

(15:43):
we needed yesterday, and like yousaid, it's going to be whether they
need to sell or not. ButI appreciate you, David, and you
have a great night. Thanks,Rolling. Appreciate the phone call eight six
six nine eight seven two five seventyis the phone number. Let's go out
to North of Hollywood. James.You're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi

(16:03):
jameson how are you doing? Myfriend doing well? Good, better than
Gavin Lux. Unfortunately, that lookedreally brutal. From a personal trainer's point
of view. I'm hoping for thebest and I'm counting on him being young
and hopefully, you know, wesee him before the All Star break.
But regarding the Andrew Friedman does looklike a prophet bringing in Miguel Rojas said,

(16:30):
I mean, I know the planwas originally to have James Autman start
in the minor leagues, but ChrisTaylor didn't. He come up as a
shortstop, you know, playing incollege and early on in his career.
I mean, having did. Buthave you been listening. I'm sure you've
been listening to me and explaining thefact that his elbow surgery last year did

(16:51):
not really lend him to be backin the infield. So shortstop is not
a position at this point in timethat is viable for Chris Taylor because of
his right elbow. Baseball question foryou, David, I'm surprised. Is
it because of the arm angle orthe Dodgers arm angle? It hurts him.
He doesn't have the elbow strength tomake it from shortstop to first base,

(17:17):
second base maybe more doable. Butthat's the reason why Dave Roberts has
said since the beginning of camp thathe's going to play the outfield, left
field, center field. He neverreally mentioned much of the infield for that
reason. That's a more shoulder driventhrow from the outfield gives the elbow a
breakout there. So thanks for clarifyingthat. I didn't know that the that

(17:38):
the elbow was still giving him issuesto the degree that they are. Yeah,
it's still it's still a factor.That said, I have a question
for you on the I saw theseprojections come out that have the Dodgers atop
the NLS by three games over thePadres wins. Bet MGM has the Dodgers

(18:00):
at ninety six wins. How doyou feel about that projection about Dodgers being
three games up over the Padres wherethe way things are for Gavin Lucks got
injured, how do you feel aboutthe activacy of that kind of projection looking
at the lineups and the way theteams are on taper. Look, I
think the Dodgers. I believe theDodgers can weather this injury because of Miguel

(18:22):
Rojas. Now if Freddie Freeman wouldhave gone out with a knee injury like
this, then I would have said, you know what, the Dodgers are
in real trouble and thanks for thephone call, James. I you know,
I know Gavin Lucks worked hard tobe the Dodgers shortstop. I know
that was the plan. But therewas a reason why the Dodgers felt the

(18:42):
urgency to make a trade for aplayer like Miguel Rojas who defense is such
a big difference maker as far ashim as a player that most infielders don't
have. So yeah, I'm notgonna say it's a doom and gloom for
the Dodgers because of this injury isan ideal, Absolutely not. It tests

(19:06):
their depth because now you're counting ona thirty four year old shortstop to again
take on the burden of trying toplay at least one hundred and fifty games.
Maybe something changes at the trade deadline, but at this point in time,
he's your everyday shortstop. But I'mnot gonna say it's doom and gloom.
I feel like all of you thatare panicking over this injury, we're

(19:27):
the same ones that we're saying GavinLucks can't do it and we need a
shortstop. I feel like it's thesame people they went from saying Lux can't
do this, the Dodgers are introuble to all of a sudden, oh
no, what are we gonna dowithout Gavin Lux? Like I said,
is it ideal? Absolutely not.It's not ideal. It's not an ideal
at all. But the Dodgers aregoing to be able to weather this because

(19:52):
they have enough good players. Andto me, we all know what Freddie
Freeman and Mookie Bets and Will andJD. Martinez are going to do.
To me, the biggest key tothis season and the success of this offense
is Max Munsey. Max Muncie needsto be the Max Muncie we saw two
years ago. The Dodgers need thatthirty five home run thump in the cleanup

(20:18):
spot again and the guy that hasgreat awareness of the strike zone. That's
the guy they need to bridge from. Whether it's j. D. Martinez
hitting third to Will Smith hitting fifth, they need Max Muncie hitting fourth and
being that guy. And we're gonnahear from Max Munsey coming up in just
a moment. But here was MiguelRojas this morning before the events that unfolded

(20:41):
in the sixth inning with Gavin luxtook place. As far as Rojas and
his role and why he is allin with the Dodgers. Yeah, I
just want to be part of thepostle. You know, I was saying,
since I get traded, they're beingpretty straight up to me what my
role is going to be and whatthey want me here for. And uh,

(21:02):
this club is is good enough toactually mix and match with a lot
of of the pitch pitching side orother teams, and I just want to
be able to help the team thatway. You know, I can play
for the four different spats in theinfield and even take some breaks and left
field if I need to. Ijust want to me. I just want
to make sure that I'm that I'mhere to serve and to help others,

(21:26):
and I think my job is goingto be easier that way. You know.
I've been playing for the last coupleof years of my career where I
feel like I need to be theguy. I need to be the guy
assure every single day and you don'tget that much breaks, you know,
when when you play every single day. So now that's my goal having changed.
I want to play a hundred andsixty two games. But I understand

(21:47):
that my role is a little bitdifferent and I just want to be a
piece of the postle. So I'mhappy with that and I'm just I'm just
happy to be here. Hey,Baseball rewards that type of attitude. He
came in with a great attitude.And yesterday here at Camelback Ranch, I
saw Miguel Rojas and Gavin Lux takingground balls before yesterday's game, and Miguel

(22:10):
Rojas was practicing with a purpose andhe was actually helping and mentoring Gavin Lux
to help him practice with a purposeand make him practice the right way.
Unfortunately for Gavin, in case youmissed the news earlier today, in the
sixth inning, Gavin Lux heard apop in his right knee as he stumbled
towards third base on a play andhe underwent an MRI today and we're going

(22:34):
to learn the results tomorrow. Butit's not looking good for Gavin Lux as
far as starting the season active onthis roster. And you know, there's
been some speculation and I stressed theword speculation that he may have torn his
acl in his right knee. Butwe'll wait to hear what the diagnosis is

(22:57):
tomorrow from the Dodgers. But whenyou see when you hear him say that
he had a pop, or hearDave Roberts describe him saying he heard a
pop in his right knee, onthe outside part of his knee. That's
acl territory right there. Eight sixsix nine eight seven two five seventy is
the phone number. Let's go outto San Diego. But he's a Dodger

(23:19):
fan. Our friend, Paolo,you're on Dodger Talk. Hi Polo,
Hi David, how are you myfriend? Good to talk to you again?
Hey listen and are so unfortunate aboutGavin Lucks. But listening to David,
so he went two for three Andwas it I mean, it was
it done? You know until thesixth inning? Was it really necessary to

(23:41):
be done? You know, it'safter all, it's wanted to you know,
the spring training and you know intwo innings you just stick him out.
You know, it could have offeredin the first indiviews there's a freaky
accident. I understand that, butwas it really necessary? You know?
Twe having done for three innings?And uh? And the second question,

(24:02):
I have a question about Julia Julius. I read a comment about Bob Nightingale
about Julia Julia is that he isas good as gone after the year.
I mean, what does he gethis sources? You know, he's been
with us, you know, sincesince he was sixteen years old, just
about and and uh, I mean, what does he get these sources?

(24:25):
Is it really true that that theJulio is gone after the year. No,
not at all. And I respectBob tremendously, but it's very premature
to report something like that. AndI saw what you were reading. I
read the same thing. It wasone of his notes at the end of
a column where he said he hadspoken to close friends of Julio that said,

(24:48):
Julio is not happy with the waythe Dodgers have managed his innings and
more than likely is going to leavein free agency. Look, he may
leave in free agency, but ifhe does, it's because he got a
better offer. Julio wants to pitchfor the Dodgers. He he did his
only English one on one interview withme last year and he said he hears
the love from the fans. Imean, let's face it, the Dodgers

(25:11):
have a great Mexican fan base andthe fan base itself sells out every night.
We all know how much this fanbase loves Julio Arias, and he
knows it as well. This isthe best place for Julio and his numbers
may not be off the charts asfar as data, but he competes and
he's a pitcher, and I wouldn'twant anybody else right now on this staff

(25:36):
outside of Clayton Kershaw on the moundin a big game situation than Julio Arias.
That guy's proving he's big game materialand that's that's value in itself.
Paolo, You know, Dad,you know what really bothers me. When
he won, you know, twentygames, not last year, of the
day before, he wasn't he goteven a sniff of the of the sayanga

(25:59):
wad, which also ridiculous. Yeah, I know, yeah, I mean,
I don't know what it is.It's because I don't know if the
wow factor isn't there for voters oryou know, front office people. But
I know the people with the Dodgerorganization that watch Julio pitch day in and
day out know how good he is. And if you just look at the

(26:21):
numbers on the surface, or maybeeven the deeper analytical numbers. It may
not jump off the page as others, but he knows how to pitch.
He's proven it. He knows howto pitch and pitch in big spots and
big games. Without Julio, theDodgers don't win the World Series. Eight
six six nine, eight seven twofive seventy is the phone number. We

(26:44):
have two lines open. Gavin Luxleft the game today with a right knee
injury, having an MLR tonight andit doesn't sound good. Miguel Rojas will
start at shortstop according to Dave Roberts, tomorrow in their spring training game against
the Cincinnati Reds, and that maybe the Dodgers shortstop on Opening Day Dodgers

(27:04):
Reds tomorrow. Here on Dodgers Radio, first pitch at twelve oh five.
Dodgers on Deck begins at eleven thirty. We have more Dodger talk around the
corner. Max Munsey will join us, plus we'll take more of your phone
calls at eight six, six,nine, eight seven two five seventy.
David Vasse live at Kemelback Ranch ona five seventy LA Sports five seventy LA

(27:29):
Sports. Dodgers on Deck begins ateleven thirty. Our guest is going to
be Will Smith and first pitch withRick Monday and Tim Navert coming up at
twelve oh five. We're going tohear from Max Munsey. In just a
moment, we have a full boardof calls wanting to talk about Gavin Lux's
right knee injury in case you're justjoining us. He came out of the

(27:52):
game in the sixth inning on aground ball by Luke Williams that turned into
a five four three double play.Lux was the runner at second base and
was not involved in a play atthird base. He just seemed to stumble
when he was ducking to seemingly getout of the way of a throw that
was not going to hit him fromthe third baseman. He stumbled and that's

(28:14):
where he kind of just found himselfat third base, hearing a pop,
as Dave Roberts described it, inhis right knee. So the Dodgers sent
Lux to have an MRI. WillThe Dodgers said, we'll have results of
that announced tomorrow morning, So youcan follow me on Twitter at the Real
Underscore DV for that information and allday long tomorrow. On m five seventy,

(28:38):
LA Sports Leading you up to DodgersReds at twelve oh five. I
want to say I was disappointed notto see Walter O'Malley's grandson Peter Sidler in
Peoria today. Peter Sidler has beengetting a lot of press for the payroll
the Padres and the tea that theyhave put together there with so much talent.

(29:03):
You know, I don't understand whyeverybody is so shocked by all this.
There's a lot of money involved inMajor League Baseball, and good for
Peter Seidler for being able to becompetitive. And you know, after the
Padres beat the Dodgers in the NLDSlast year, obviously they're not going to
just stop there. They want more. I do find it hard to believe,

(29:26):
though, with all the signings thatthe Padres made, including extending many
Machado, that they'll be able tomake up twenty one games in the standings.
That's really difficult to do. TheDodgers are still a very good team,
but certainly I wouldn't be surprised tosee those two same teams face off

(29:47):
in either the NLDS or the NLCSthis upcoming postseason. But I think everybody
forgets the fact that Peter and TomSeidler. Even though they don't have the
O'Malley last name, they are thegrandchildren of a very competitive Walter O'Malley,
and that DNA is still very muchin them. And I think everybody under

(30:11):
reports the fact that that is thecase. They are the grandchildren of the
great Walter O'Malley, and that's verymuch a part of them. Their mother
is Terry Seidler, who was thedaughter of Walter O'Malley and the sister of
Peter O'Malley, and certainly just afirst class family all the way. And

(30:33):
look, this is good for baseball. It's gonna make things tougher on the
Dodgers obviously, to have a teamlike the Padres in their division with this
much talent and the payroll close towhere the Dodgers have had it the last
ten years. But I do findit a little bit. I don't know

(30:53):
if it's funny or what the rightword to use is, but everybody's celebrating
the fact that Peter Sidler is spendingall this money. I remember, back
in twenty twelve, the Dodgers wereowned by an owner that was bankrupt and
were saved by this ownership group,the Guggenheim Ownership Group. Nobody made T

(31:15):
shirts of Mark Walter or Todd Bowley, but all of a sudden, they're
making T shirts of Peter Sidler.It's kind of you know, I don't
know, maybe it's everybody's tired ofthe Dodgers winning. But if you go
back, you know, Mark Walterhas been spending this type of payroll for
the last ten eleven years, notjust the last two years. But you

(31:37):
know, I don't know where thatgoes from. Maybe Peter Sidler is more
out in front. I know he'snot comfortable with all this attention, but
come on, the Dodgers have beendoing this for ten years. And I
really do believe even you take itfor granted, where the Dodgers were in
twenty eleven and at the beginning oftwenty twelve before they were by Mark Walter

(32:00):
and the Guggenheim Ownership Group, itwasn't that long ago. The Dodgers were
in a very bad spot until theseguys came in and turned the Dodgers into
what they should have been all along. And that's a big payroll, big
market team eight six six nine,eight seven, two five, seventy is

(32:21):
the phone number. We'll hear fromMax Monthly in just a moment. But
first let's go back out to thephone calls. Lewis in the Bay Area.
You're on Dodger Talk. What's up, Lewis, Hey, DZ.
Great to hear your voice, andthanks for reporting on the news. I'll
give you an optimistic spin. Firstof all, I think Dad, they'll

(32:44):
be able to manage somehow with Rojasif lex is down for a significant amount
of time. And secondly, Freedmanwhenever there's been a key injury as always
gone out and got somebody if theydidn't have him. A person who also
look at isam ed Rosario in Cleveland. His contract expires at the end of

(33:09):
the year and he was sort ofbeing nosed out by I think he Menez
and another player they have, andthat could conceivably be something. But I'm
optimistic on this one, even thoughit does hurt. It hurts. It's
not ideal, but it's not theend of the world for the Dodgers for

(33:31):
sure. Thanks for the phone call, appreciate it, Lewis. Let's go
out to David in New Jersey,who's listening on the iHeartRadio app. What's
up? How you doing, DavidGood? How are you doing. We
talked about waiting. It blocks hisout for long curded time, hopefully not
what he is that we wait tillmaybe to trade deadline to do something.

(33:53):
You think we can go with robotsbetween now and then without having really another
shortstop on this slasta. If he'shealthy, absolutely, Miguel Rojas is a
really good shortstop. If he hitstwo fifty or two sixty, his defense
is actually a huge upgraded shortstop.Oh, I agree with you, but

(34:15):
you know you gotta have another shortstop on your roster, and you know
you got to replace him on saidWhile he's not a trade turner to play
every day, day in and dayout, he did in Miami play how
many games do you play? Lastyear? He played nearly Andrew well,
he even played through a right wristinjury. So yeah, he played over
one hundred and fifty games last year. So you think the guys can go

(34:37):
between now and the training deadline withone shortstop. If I had said at
the beginning of the show, ifhe gets hurt, they're in real big
trouble. They have a guy bythe name of Luke Williams that can play
shortstop as well. But you saidhe might not be on the roster,
he might be in the minor leagueroster. Well now thinks me. Yeah.

(34:59):
I mean, at this point intime, I'm not sure who is
the backup shortstop for the Dodgers,but Luke Williams would be one of those
guys for sure. But there's nobodyin the minor league system that we could
not really no, no, that'swhy you know the Luxe. The Luxe

(35:20):
injury is a blow to their depthin a lot of different ways. Because
Rojas was coverage for lux for Vargasat second and even to play some third
base as well. He was goingto be a guy that can give all
of those three infielders days off whennecessary. Now those plans are kind of
out the window because he's gonna haveto play shortstop every day for the near

(35:45):
future at least. Okay, Ihope we can do it. I mean,
I'm not gonna go crazy yet,but I think they have to think
about somebody between the you want totrade deadline. That's what I'm saying.
The only other guy in their minorleague system that is somebody on their radar
that these top prospect websites talk aboutis Eddie's Leonard. I don't know if

(36:09):
he's that guy or not, butI guess in an emergency on their forty
man roster, that's the only guythat I see could step in for a
short period of time if there wassomething urgent. And by the way,
Miguel Rojas last year played one hundredand forty games, David, so I

(36:29):
would say he can handle the firsthalf of the regular season. Sounds good,
Okay, great, Thank you allright, David, Thank you for
the phone call. Look, thisis not just about Gavin Lucks. This
is about the rest of the Dodgersdepth because, like I said, Miguel
Rojas was going to accept a roleto be a guy that would spell Lucks,

(36:51):
would spell Vargas, would spell Muncie. Now he's the Dodgers everyday shortstop.
With Lux being out, that's theway it is, and we don't
know how long Lux is going tobe out, but it doesn't look good.
Let's be pretty honest here. Let'sgo out to Alex in Indianapolis,
Indiana, listening on the iHeartRadio APPIAlex, Hey, David, thanks for

(37:15):
taking my call. Appreciate you beingon the air. Hey, I'm happy
to be here. So I'm reallycurious the Jason Hayward signing as curious as
a as a Midwesterner. You know, we've seen him have some good years
with Cubs, some really down yearswith the Cubs, and I'm curious as

(37:36):
to your thoughts with his position,with especially Gavin Lux coming out now for
well potentially coming out for an unknownperiod. Do you think there might be
a shift from you know, anoutfielder into the infield there and then him
maybe having a better spot coming out. No, you know, the only

(37:59):
out fielder that can move in tothe infield as Chris Taylor, and like
I mentioned and explained earlier, youknow, shortstop is not his position anymore
because of the right elbow. Secondbase possibly, but that doesn't really help
you at the shortstop position. Ireally believe Jason Hayward's going to make this
opening day roster. They're going togive him, I would say, a

(38:22):
couple of months to see whether ornot this work in progress as far as
changing who he is as a hittertake shape. So they're going to give
him the benefit of the doubt.I would warn that it's a work in
progress. And not to get tooexcited off a backfield home run off of
Tony Gonsolin. But yeah, Iwould say Hayward's on this team on opening

(38:45):
day. Yeah, appreciate it.Thanks David. All right, Alex,
thanks for the phone call. Appreciateit. Eight six nine eight seven two
five seventy is the phone number.We're not gonna well, we do have
a little bit of time from hereto here. Max Munsey who joined us
on the pregame show, So herewas the conversation with Max. Max thinks

(39:06):
a lot for the time. Appreciateit and thanks driving me on. It
sounds weird to hear that, right, How does it feel to be one
of the guys that has been herelonger than most? It's just weird you're
considering when I at the time Icame in this clubhouse, just how you
know, how a ten ure ofthe group was that I was apart,
you know, joining Yeah, guysthat have just been here for so many
years, and now that the youknow, because they're all they're all out

(39:30):
of here in one way, youknow, one way or another, and
so it's just kind of weird tohear that. Does it feel like it's
your time? Now to pay itforward the way guys helped you and made
you feel comfortable here. Yeah,maybe a little bit. You know,
the biggest thing for me is justtrying to set an example of going out
and do your work every day anddo whenever you can to help the team
win. You know, the mostimportant thing in this club house is a
team. And as long as Ican send an example of making sure that

(39:52):
you do your work every day tohelp this team win. Doesn't matter how
you're doing it, you know,whether it's base running, defense, hitting,
pitching, catching, doesn't matter,as long as you're doing something to
help the team win. As longas I can set that example, I
feel like I'm doing a good job. Max. I'm excited for you because
last year, those of us thatwere around you every day knew how much
of a grind last year was ina lot of different ways, and you

(40:13):
put in the work seemingly. Theday after the season ended for the Dodgers,
how excited are you for this year? Yeah, I'm really excited.
You know, three days after theseason ended, I was I was getting
ready for this year. You know, I was just frustrated everything that happened
last year. Frustrated with myself,frustrated with how it ended with the team,
just as a very frustrating year thatI'm going to forget. And you

(40:35):
know, I was able to havea good offseason and get get myself back
to a healthy, healthy standpoint,a strong standpoint and ready to show this
year and you know, kind ofget back to the player that I know
I can be. Are you thesame guy that you were two years ago?
Do you feel like you're better equippednow with the experience and all the
work that you put in and rightnow, is you know, one of
probably it's one of the best thatI felt coming into spring training, just

(40:58):
strengthwise, move wise, everything.I just feel very very good. I
had a really good offseason. Iwas able to get after it and uh,
you know, just not being ableto do that for a couple of
years because injuries was you know,really detrimental to me and it definitely showed.
And so being able to just getback to you know, a healthy
and strong standpoint, this is justthe best I felt coming in in a
while. Would you say mind helpbody or body help? Mind's a little

(41:20):
bit of both, you know,It's uh, I think everything flows together
with that, you know, it'sjust you know, I just gotta make
sure i'd show up through my workand no know where I'm at and know
what kind of player I can be, and you know, just go out
there and help the team win,because like I said, at the end
of the day, you know,the team is what matters, not me.
We get back to that World Series, doesn't matter what kind of year
I have, as long as I'mhelping in some way, shape or form.
I was looking at, you know, the season ending statistics and you

(41:43):
were still like top two and hardhit baseballs. Do you feel like you
hit into some bad luck? Andnow the shift I saw you the other
day on the backfield. It's noshift. You gotta base it. And
you celebrated. Yeah, I mighthave. You know, I might have
been a bad look at the time, but you know it was just it
was a it was exciting, youknow, the groundball that the shortstops filled
it with these the last several years, there's no one there, you know

(42:05):
it. It was an exciting thingfor me. All right, give me
a break. Yeah, but youknow it's just one of those things where
you know, you talked about theharder percentage. You know, I when
I look back at last year,I felt like I was just a bad
player. But if you look backat some of the perof fuels, there
was a lot of bad luck.But you know, I can't. I
couldn't sit there and just say,oh, well, it was bad luck.
And I you know, when Ishow up next year, it said,

(42:27):
you know, I had to.I had to go about it like
it was all my fault last yearand that there was so much more that
I could do. And so thatwas what, you know, the main
reason for just you know, aday or two after the season, being
back in the weight room, beingyou know, trying to get myself ready
for this year is you know,last year was unacceptable and always shape and
form for me, and you know, I'm hoping that I can change that
this year and get like I said, just get back to the player that
I know I can be, andyou know it's all star caliber player that

(42:50):
can really help his team win.And you know, as long as but
like I like I keep saying,as long as we can help this team
win, I don't care where I'mat because the World Series is the goal
and it's not me. Max Muncyis our guest. Nobody has higher standards
for himself than Max Muncy and Max. When you look at the work you
put in, there's been a lotmade of a few of you guys going
up to the think tank in Seattleto do some experimenting was swinging. What

(43:15):
was the experiment like for you asfar as going up to this place called
drive Line. I know the internetnerds know all about it, but the
people in the real world don't.You know, it was interesting. It
was interesting to me just because Ididn't see any downside to going up there.
You know, the Dodgers approached mevery early in the offseason about it,
and I said, yeah, I'mall in. To me, there
was no downside because if I goup there and I did everything they you

(43:37):
know, if I did the program, we talked about it and I didn't
like it, I didn't have todo it. So, you know,
there was no downside. The onlything I saw that come out of it
was just positives. And so Iwent up there, and we know,
we did their program, did theirtesting, and you know, we talked
to them and talked to the hittingcoaches, and you know, we got
the weighted back program, and youknow, we decide we're going to do
it. And so far I'm seeingjust in terms of like the numbers you

(43:58):
know in the cage, you know, we kind of track our bad speed
and stuff. There has been anuptick in that and uh, you know
it's exciting to see. And it'sone of those things where if you know,
that can help me catch up tosome of the higher velocity. No
downside to it, and so youknow, I guess the my downside there
could be is you're you're swinging fasterthan you normally are, so you're out
in front and everything. But youknow, that's not a bad thing as

(44:20):
far as I'm concerned with how harderone's throwing these days. Well, you
put in the work to try toget better, even at this stage of
your career, right, you alwayshave to keep fine tuning. We can
always get better, you know.That's just You've heard it from so many
you know, Hall of famers andveterans, and you're you're always getting better,
You're always learning more. You cannever be complacent. And you know,
being teammates with Albert, that wassomething that you know, you know,

(44:40):
like I said, you've you've heardit from so many people, but
when you hear it from Albert,just on an everyday basis, you'd be
you know, he'd say something,Oh I never knew that, And you
know, you're just like you whenyou realize you were always learning in this
game. Regardless of how long you'veplayed, how good you are, you
know, who you've played with,there's always things you can learn. It's
there. You just can't be complacent. You gotta be You gotta put the
work in every single off season,regardless of where you're in your career.

(45:04):
Even two years removed from him beingyour teammate, it seems like the things
that you learned from him still resonate. Yeah, he had such an impact
on all of us. You know, it was just the teammate. He
was the player he is, andyou look at his career and you know,
there's there's so much that I learnedfrom him, and I'm hoping I
can use that going forward. AllRight, Since the Dodgers are in Peoria
today, Max Muncy padres Dodgers.So we all know what happened last year

(45:28):
a spring training game. How muchemphasis should we put on it? And
what do you think about the Iguess the adulation they've been given this offseason.
The opponent doesn't matter. You gottago out there and you gotta play
your game and you gotta do whatyou can to improve, especially in spring
training, it's all about doing whatyou can to improve that day. When
that day, it doesn't matter whoyou're playing, who you're facing, even

(45:50):
if it's just a backfield game,if you're just facing a live VP,
it doesn't matter. You got towork on getting better in your own way
every single day, and if youcan do that, I feel really good
about the outcome for us at theend of the year. And it doesn't
matter who we're playing, because theultimately, if you go out there and
play your branded baseball to the bestof your ability, you know, I'm
gonna trust our guys in this roomover anyone else in baseball. And if

(46:10):
if we're not playing our game,you know any team out there can beat
you. It doesn't matter who you'replaying. So that's why the opponent doesn't
matter. You got you gotta worryabout yourself and go out there and play
the game that you can play.Max. Thanks as always for the time.
Appreciate it. Great to see yousmiling again. I know that's a
big reason why as you're healthy,So thanks a lot and continued health the
rest of the way. Thanks forhaving me on. Appreciate it there he

(46:30):
is Funky Muncie. Oh yeah,my guy, Max Muncy. Appreciate him
joining us on the pregame show.In case you want to hear that interview
again, you can find it onthe iHeartRadio app. Also, our guest
today on the pregame show was today'sstarter, Ryan Peppio. You can also
find that on the iHeartRadio app.Pepio pitched really well today. He threw

(46:54):
strikes, filled up the strike zone, had his change up working again.
So it was a good day forRyan Peppio and it has been a good
start to spring training for him aswell. That I'll do it for us
tonight. We'll be back with youon Dodger Talk on Wednesday night, beginning
at seven o'clock. We'll see whetheror not former Dodger A j Ellis has

(47:15):
time to join us. I knowhe's very busy these days, but we'll
see whether or not A j jumpson with us from Arizona. Our next
Dodger Dodger game broadcast. It's tomorrowDodgers Reds pregame coverage at eleven thirty First
Pitch with Rick Monday and Tim Neverttat twelve oh five. Thanks Ronnie Fossio

(47:37):
for all this help, Thanks toyou for listening, and we will be
back with you tomorrow morning at eleventhirty for Dodgers on Deck. Dodger Talk
on Wednesday night at seven o'clock comingup next Fox Sports Radio. Jason Smith
is next. See u