December 4, 2025 • 34 mins
Alanna Rizzo and Clint Pasillas react to the return of Miguel Rojas (1:09), who is coming back for one final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thoughts on the deal and his future with the organization and what it means for Kiké Hernandez's potential return (4:40).
Another big free agent name tied to the Dodgers is off the market with Devin Williams going to the Mets (6:49). Are the Dodgers going to sign any of the big names still on the market (10:53)? And do they have to? What do the Dodgers look like if the season started today? Alanna and Clint discuss.
Baseball author Eric Vickrey joins to talk about his new book about the Dodgers and the greatest draft class in history (19:57).
Pick up "Before They Wore Dodger Blue: Tommy Lasorda and the Greatest Draft Class in Baseball History" http://bit.ly/4pk0wbL
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A great deal for the Dodgers, great deal for Mickey Rowe,
(00:02):
and I love the fact that they just they put
the language out there already. He is going to remain
in the organization. He is going to be involved in
some way.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to Dodgers Territory, a brand new, fresh
episode on this Thursday, December fourth. My name is Alana Rizzo.
That is Clint to CEUs. We are psyched that you
are here. Please rate us five stars, like and subscribe
as Clint and I do our damnedest to get to
fifteen thousand subscribers. We appreciate you guys so much. You
(00:43):
can do it on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts,
whether it's Apple or Spotify or whatever float your boat.
We appreciate that very much. A lot to talk about.
Eric Vickory is going to be joining the show later
on in just a few minutes. He's an author talking
about Tommy Lasorda and the best draft class in his
opinion that ever was. So we're going to talk to
(01:04):
him about that. But I tell you what, we got
some news. Welcome back, MIGGI Roe.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
News.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
News news we have. It's kind of a warm stove
Clint Pius, Miguel Rojas was retiring. Then he wasn't. He
was a World Series hero, and he's coming back, reportedly
on a one year deal. Our friend Fabi and Ardaiya
with The Athletic says that McDill Miguel Rojas is coming
(01:33):
back with the Doyers for his final season. We think
it's his final season in the big League's gonna one year,
five and a half million dollar deal. Sources confirmed. Daniel
alvarez Ee was on it. Rojas is then expected to
assist the Dodgers front office and player development once his
time as a player is done. So it's not only
this next year, but he also has the next level
of job opportunity. MIGGI row working it. I love it.
(01:55):
I'm good for him. You know what he said, he
was going to retire, and he didn't want to retire,
and he's coming back with the Dodgers. He wanted to
finish his career there. This is good for La Clinton.
Five and a half million, that's nothing, good for good
for McGough ross.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I mean I got that in my back pocket.
You know, really money there, easy money. No great deal
for the Dodgers, great deal for Mickey Row. Obviously, this
is one of those moves I predicted last about a
month ago when I did the nine Dodgers who will
return won't be returning? I said, between him and Keik,
I can almost guarantee that Miguil Rojas would be the
(02:29):
guy returning keyk. You know, jury still a little bit
out on where that ends up. But a great deal.
And I love the fact that they just they put
the language out there already. He is going to remain
in the organization. He is going to be involved in
some way, whether it's a coach, whether it's you know,
some sort of roving instructor or whatever. That role is
going to be. Obviously right now it's going to be
a little ambiguous because he's still got another season or
(02:50):
another World Series to win. But great deal. Five and
a half MILLI easy money for the dude. And it's
nice to know that not all of Andrew Friedman and companies,
I guess Andrew and Farhan, not all of their their
you know, time is going to that Lakers, gig no.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I think that the Dodgers are still their priority. Tie.
If Cartman from South Park has anything to say about it, yeah,
good for him. I don't know what does this mean
to you in terms of the likelihood Clymphesias that they
bring back Kik. They're similar players, right, They're both postseason heroes.
Kik has more of a a resume of being a
postseason hero, but Miguel has done some other things and
(03:31):
he's obviously much more of a player coach, I guess,
but they are very similar in their styles. Does that
mean that Key k is not coming back? I mean,
how do you see this playing out for him?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I mean, this is a team that really loves competition
in spring training. I think it helps this team a
whole bunch, you know, Dave Robertson and company to have
more people veterans, good players, living players show up in
spring training and battle fight for jobs. It really comes
down to how much they trust Hessan Kim to be
playing some sort of role for the team or you know,
(04:06):
also to a degree, I guess with Keik not so much.
To a degree, the health of Tommy Edmund, because the
expectation is Tommy is gonna miss you know, he could
miss a couple of weeks into the season coming off
the ankle surgery. Not that there's anything out there about that.
But yeah, if it comes down to to the Dodgers
and KEYK reuniting, it's gonna come back to what you
(04:26):
and I spoke with Andrew Friedman about on this show
last offseason, the importance of him in that clubhouse, his
ability to step up big when it matters most. And
the good thing is with key K, we know he's
gonna miss the first month, maybe two months with that
elbow surgery. It gives him time where and the organization
time where if another job, another opportunity doesn't arrive, arise
(04:51):
somewhere along the way, he's gonna be sitting there. Then
Dodgers are gonna sign him and he'll be around, He'll
be in the organ and then eventually October will come
and he'll be happy with this new healthy elbow.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You know what I'm telling you. I know it sounds
a little silly. Again, it's very easy for me to
spend other people's money, But if I'm Andrew Friedman, I'm like,
you know what I'm telling Key K. Right now, you
go ahead and heal up. Son. We're not gonna need
you obviously for the first two months of the season.
This is a club that's built on October. That is
where you shine, take all the time you need. I
(05:23):
don't know that there is you know, twenty another teams
banging down the door to get key K because they
I think a lot of folks look at his regular
season average, they don't realize unless you're watching the Dodgers
all of the time, and if you know key K,
they're not begging for KEYK to join their team. So
I do think this might be a situation where they're like,
(05:45):
we're gonna, we're gonna sign you. It's right, I know,
we don't, don't. I know, right, We're gonna sign you
when the sixty dayil opens up or what kind of
like an Evan Phillips situation, right, Evan Phillips on a
position players side. I do hope to see key K
again with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
One final thought on it too is I love I
think it was something that Miguel Rojas said a couple
of weeks ago, the idea, the ability to have them
all run it back. He believes they all deserve it
and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But to
button this up. Congrats to Miguel Rojas staying home, being
(06:27):
in the right spot, spent ten years or so away
from the organization, but he's back and he's here, and
he is ready to continue doing a phenomenal job off
the bench in whatever role, and he ends up needing
to play for this team outside of Miggy Roe. Since
we were last live, there was another move you want
to tell the fine folks and one of the Yeah,
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Think everyone knows at this point, but let's talk about it.
Devin Williams is not coming to Los Angeles, guys, and
that's okay. I mean, he's staying in the Nationally John
Hayman on X saying that the Mets have signed him
apparently for a forty five million dollars do you for
three years? So what does that mean? As far as
the Dodgers' back end of the relieving core closer situation
(07:08):
is concerned. Ry sell Iglesia stays with Atlanta, Ryan Helsley
goes to the Orioles. Devin Williams apparently is now a Met.
So you still have the biggest name out there in
Edwin Diaz. Now, the Mets, from what I understand, are
not closing the door on bringing back Edwin Diaz, but
it seems like the door is pretty closed, right If
you're breaking on Devin Williams, what is the likelihood that
(07:30):
they also signed Edwin Diaz. I don't see that, And
I think Edwin Diaz is going to want a five
year deal. I don't. I am more than you. I
think we need a closer. You don't think we need
a closer. But I am not paying a closer a
five year deal. I'm not paying a closer for five years.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So let's say five years and probably about twenty million
a year. I don't know. I don't think the Dodgers
go that route either. But we know Steve Cohen has
crazy money. We also know that the GM David Steren's
over there with the Mets not very big on investing
in relievers. It is kind of a shock that they
(08:09):
go with Devin Williams. But it is only three years.
It's not a massive commitment there Seemingly. You would argue,
and we talked about this on my All Dodgers Show,
you would argue that maybe it opens the door a
little bit more for the Dodgers. I mean, they have
the most money. Maybe the Yankees get in the mix
and they just do some sort of weird closer slap
(08:29):
swap there. My thing is, are the Dodgers willing to
go to that kind of price range? I don't think so.
I think this is one of those off seasons where
they are waiting. They they aren't willing to go to
the agent's markets, they aren't willing to go to the
player's markets. They're waiting. They're back to being normal, back
to pre Shoheo Tani days where there aren't a lot
(08:53):
of holes on this roster right now. Yes, there are
a couple of holes, some nice you know, left field
you'd like to add to. And we'll look at something
in a little bit that tells you what the team
would look like right now if the season were to
start and there is Miguel Rojas in there now. But
that's a big question, like are they willing to go
to a five and twenty, you know, five and one
hundred million? And do they need to? I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I don't think they do either.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I don't. I don't see a world in which the
way that the game has changed, Clint. I don't see
a world where you need to play a dude one
hundred million dollars to be your closer. I think you
could be serving. And again, like I am more of
the the school of like we need all closer, but
I don't need I don't need one hundred million dollar closer.
I don't need to be on the hook for an
(09:37):
Edwin Diaz for five years for one hundred million dollars.
I would be happy.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I was.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I would have been really happy with the Devin Williams
three year, forty five million. But that being said, I'm
still okay with I don't like closer by committee, and
I hated the fact that Dave had to figure out
every flip and night of the World Series and the
postseason like what he was doing, but he did it beautifully.
(10:03):
But I don't want, like that's that's unnecessary stress that
I don't need. But I'm saying I'm okay with the
fact that, you know, okay, Devin Williams is not going
to be a Dodger, Okay, But I don't need I
don't need a I don't need an Edwin Diaz price tag.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And you know, you could argue they already you know,
kind of made that play last year with the Tanner
Scott signing.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I think we're all really crossing our fingers and every
other digit that we can that Tanner Scott rebounds, it
becomes a dude we assumed he was going to be.
But still they're in a good spot the bitching side
of things. We can have more conversation, I'm sure. I'm
sure we'll have a lot more conversation that week next
week as the Winter Meetings kick off. But this thing,
and obviously Dodgers now they re signed Miguel Rojas. He's
(10:50):
not one of the top free agent names out there,
but losing out missing out on some of those names
that they have been linked to, some of the bigger news,
you know, free agent right handed, free agent relievers, all
that kind of stuff. The way that the offseason has
played out so far. Yes, still early. Like I said,
so I got the Winter Meetings next week. I that's
the thing I wonder I'm kind of asking myself aloud,
(11:13):
and apparently everybody here in you is, like, what happens
if the Dodgers do miss on the big targets? Like
I don't think it's a major problem.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't know that there's like a big target. I mean,
what are the big targets? In your opinion, outfield is
a problem. Right, So we now know that Cedric Mullins
is signed with the Tampa Bay Race. Okay, so we
know that Cedric Mallins is not going to be in
the Dodgers outfield. So what does that leave it? Either
it either means a Stephen Kwan trade with the Guardians,
it means a Byron Buxton trade with the Twins, or
(11:43):
it means a free agent outfielder Mike Yastremski.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
A my dog doesn't like, okay, sure sure, sure yeah,
or the big name.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Or the Kyle Tucker the world. As as much as
I'm not paying Edwin d As one hundred million for
five years, I am not paying Kyle Tucker four hundred
million or whatever it is that he's gonna get. He's
a serviceable outfielder, but he's not a five or four
hundred million dollar outfielder.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I would take my chances with ta Oscar, with Tommy Edmund,
with Andy Paz and whoever the f we're going to
throw in left field, whether that's Ryan Ward or Alex
call who, by the way, is coming on our show
on Monday. I don't need I'm not paying four hundred
million for Kyle Tucker, I'm just not.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Well either way, we're not. I guess we are in
some way, shape or form through either Mitch a lot
of sales and hot dog sales and parking sales and
all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know what I mean. That's a silly that's really
pricetag me.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
It's less about the money, it's more about the commitment.
And you know, we've talked about the whole idea of
the Padres have a bunch of years committed to aging stars,
aging superstars that are all going to be in their
late thirties, some even into their forties by the end
of their contracts. I don't like the idea of the
Dodgers having a bunch of those type of dudes. Maybe
maybe Kyle Tucker, you know, profiles to being a very
(13:05):
good hitter and the still being a very good hitter
and decent enough outfielder towards the tail end of that contract.
But you still also have Mookie under contract for years,
show Heyo Tani under contract for years, and not to
say both of them can't hold up, but still to
have when there are already conversations about age and the
age of this roster and all that kind of stuff
(13:26):
to be stuck in so many words with guys that
are going to be playing almost into their forties. I
don't know that that is the best play. I do
know they need a left fielder. It's probably not going
to be Tucker. Probably maybe won't be Cody Bellinger. And
that's kind of the market I'm thinking about. Like the
way things are playing out, I think they'll miss out
on the bigger targets. And we talked earlier today about this,
(13:49):
the whole idea of like what do the Dodgers look
like if the season started right now? Putting this on
the screen for the people who are watching and not
listening to the podcast side. A lot of the same
names that just won a World Series are out there, Alana.
The biggest difference is left field is Ryan Ward, but
he's taken over for a keyk. Hernanezu didn't really hit
in the postseason, and Michael.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Can Forda was a black k hit in the postseason.
No I did.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
He did for a little bit, then then he stopped
hitting after aggravating that elbow. He played defense, He played
in the phenomenal defense. All that kind of stuff. I'm
not taking away I'm not saying Kik was a problem.
Nobody hit in the postseason for what it's worth.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Okay, so let me ask you this, like throw throw
your beautiful graphic threw up that beautiful bean footage again,
because Ryan Ward no disrespect to mister Ward and certainly
no disrespect to his parents. That cannot be your starting
left fielder for the Los Angeles Daughters. The rest of
the rest of the field, I'm fine with. But that
that ain't it, Okay, Like I'm sorry, I guess And
(14:50):
this is this is assuming Clymphesias that ta Oscar Hernandez
is gonna be like one of those swing players that
you were talking about in terms of a Taoscar rebound.
You're assum that Teo is going to be as good
as he was in twenty twenty four. Okay, you're hoping
for that because he struggled in twenty twenty five, especially
coming off of that injury. I'm fine with the Andy
(15:12):
Paez experiment. He runs some interesting routes, but he is
getting better. But if you don't have a left fielder
that is that is a bona fide left fielder, and
I don't want to throw Dalton Rushing out there. I'm
sorry that ain't the answer either, because I know, I
know that he's had some time in Triple A in
left field, but he is built like a brick house.
He needs to show what he can do behind the
(15:34):
plate to spell Will Smith, especially if maybe Dalton can
move into the primary catching role if Will goes to
first eventually, you know, when Freddy retires and all the things.
My point is Ryan Ward is not your starting left
fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day, like
you need somebody else.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah, focusing on the twenty twenty six side of things,
and I'll put the graphic back up. I mean, he's
also seen some of the names in the depth chart
side of things. Alex Freeland I kept in there because
he is one of the infield options that is currently
still on the forty man roster. But yeah, as of
right now, Ryan Ward or Alex call are your opening
(16:11):
day left fielder Dalton Rushing. That's one spot, realistically, that
is one spot where he could find a way to
kind of slither into that lineup, you know, picking up
two more days, you know of playing time a week
if he can find a way to get some left
field in there, that would go a very very long
way for this roster for the kid beyond that, though,
(16:34):
you know Ryan Ward, you don't have a lot of
faith in him. He had a very good year, very
very good year at Triple As.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I have faith in him. There's no reason to have
faith in him.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So he's never done it putting words here out there. Yeah,
maybe twenty ten Dodgers. I think of a Jerry Sands
type of dude. Type of dude twenty ten Dodgers, twenty
the right now, most teams, let's say the right now
White Sox can run why Ryan Ward out there and
you probably might feel pretty good. But a team that's
(17:03):
trying to go and run it back for you know,
it's third championship in a row. Yeah, Ryan Ward. And
even Alex Call as good as he was in you know, uh,
particularly the postseason in the small sample size and was
fine with the Dodgers and had you know, very nice
first half of the season with the Washington Nationals. Alex
Call probably shouldn't be your starting left fielder. He can
(17:25):
be part of the platoon. He could be, you know,
pick up playing time as a fourth outfielder. Very very
good fourth field outfielder and all that kind.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Of stuff, and we'll talk to him about that, Like
he's kind enough to join us on Monday, and we will.
We will talk to Alex about the season that was
for him and like his role moving forward and the
outfield situation for the Dodgers and all the things. But
I think if you're really thinking about the holes that
need to be filled, left field is one of those.
You're one hundred percent right. I mean, we have enough infielders,
(17:53):
We have enough utility guys. We have enough. I say,
we have enough, you know what I mean? We have
really good starting pitching. But yeah, left field is an
interesting question mark for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, I still think you know, to kind of button
this up and move on. We obviously have a guest waiting.
I still think they'd likely find a way to to
sign some insurance pieces, some competition for in spring training.
They love those kind of dudes. You're Jason Hayward's. Obviously,
Confordo did not work out, but there have been plenty
of other dude, plenty of other dudes who have worked
out in some way, shape or form. They need a
(18:25):
solid right handed reliever does not need to be a
top tier right handed believer does not need to be
a closer, and they need a veteran left fielder. If
it is a Yastremsky, you know that is that is
one of the options. They will find somebody. But the
thing is, most of the pieces are already in place, and
that's a good, very good position.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
For you said it really well, that's a really good
position to be in. So much more to come on
Dodger's territory. Eric Vickory is going to be joining us momentarily,
but first a word from our friends have fell KP.
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Speaker 2 (19:56):
All right, welcome back to Dodger's Territory. Everybody's psyche that
you were here. As always, we appreciate the support. There's
another way that you can support us, and that is
buying our merch. Go to the Dodgers' Territory store. It
is open. You can go to Dodgers' Territory Shop dot
com or click the store button here on YouTube. Support
the show and style support those that support us, and
(20:17):
that would be awesome if you guys could help us
out on that. We are pleased to be joined by
author Eric Vickory, who is the author of Before They
Wore Dodger Blue Tommy Lesorta and the greatest draft class
in baseball history. Eric, great to be with you. Thanks
for taking the time to be with Clinton US today
on Dodgers' territory. Tell us first of all, how this
(20:41):
particular subject matter interested you. Why Tommy Lesorta and that
particular draft class.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, so I'm always interested in kind of under the
radar baseball stories, and really this came to my mind
a couple of years ago when I wrote a book
about the nineteen forty six Spoken Indians, which was minor
league baseball team that was involved in a tragic bus accident.
And it was kind of during the research of that
book that I learned about the nineteen seventy Spokane Indians,
(21:11):
which was one of the greatest minor league teams ever assembled.
There were seven future All Stars on the team, and
of course this was a Dodgers TRIPAA affiliate and the
team was managed by Tommy Lasorda. So when I saw
that roster and just the amount of talent on that team,
I really piqued my interest. So I decided to really
dig into that, and what I learned is that most
(21:34):
of those players came from the draft class of nineteen
sixty eight, which is by all accounts, the greatest draft
class in baseball history. So I thought it'd be a
fun project and set out to tell the full story
from the adoption of the amateur draft in sixty five
through the Dodgers sixty eight draft and then this nineteen
(21:55):
seventy Spokane Indians team.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Now, when you look at that class, it is an
unbelievably impressive class. So the Dodgers end up drafting six
future All Stars in nineteen sixty eight, headlined by future
nl MVP and National League Ironman Steve Garvey. Tell the
folks that are listening and watching, Eric, who else was
on or in that draft class and why it was
so intriguing.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, So the number one draft pick in the June
sixty eight draft was actually Bobby Valentine, who, given all
the talent you see there, Bobby Valentine was actually considered
the best prospect of the mall. He was a star
football player in Connecticut and actually committed to USC and
was gonna take over for O. J. Simpson as running
(22:40):
back at USC, but the Dodgers talked him into signing
and he won a couple MVP awards in the Minor leagues,
but ultimately injuries kind of derailed his career later on.
But yeah, plenty of other talented players on that out
of that sixty eight class. Of course, the Dogs future
infield three of the four came out of that class,
(23:05):
Ron Say, Davey Lopes, and of course Steve Garvey. Tom
Patuak was an outfielder. Future All Star Doyle Alexander Jeff
Zhon were a couple of pitchers that won over one
hundred games in the majors. So there's kind of a
laundry list of future stars out of that sixty eight
(23:26):
class that really sort of reshaped the direction of the
Dodgers franchise in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And yeah, I mean you look at all those names.
Of course, you think about Tom Losorda in there a
lot of those players. All of those players played in
one under Tommy at Triple A. Of course, you mentioned
Spokane Indians eventually becoming the Albuquerque Dukes. They win in
seventy two. Everybody essentially gets called up and they start
winning at the big league level. Tommy piloted them to
(23:53):
a number of World Series births. All of them kind
of make it through and eventually reached that Final Mountain
beating the in nineteen eighty one, and then of course
everybody kind of goes away talking about the Tommy factor.
This is this one's for me. Tommy's former players. Dudes
have stories. They got a lot of Tommy stories. I'm
(24:13):
curious about some of the guys you ended up speaking with.
What was your favorite Losorda story or Losorda ism that
maybe was shared amongst several players, or just something that
really stuck to you.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Wow. So that's that's a tough question to answer because
there were so many Lasorta stories, and I really the
book actually starts with Lasorda as a scout. The first
chapter is him attending the funeral of Willy Crawford's grandfather. Lasorda,
this was in nineteen sixty four was trying to recruit
and sign Willy Crawford for the Dodgers, and this was
(24:49):
a year before the Amateur Draft, and Lasorda went to
Willie's grandfather's funeral and actually ends up giving the eulogy
at the funeral, as only tell me Lasorda could. And
then a year later, the Dodgers hired Lasorta to be
a rookie league manager, so he managed in the rookie
(25:12):
Leagues and Pocatella, Idaho, and Ogden, Utah for four years
and interviewed a number of players from those teams, And
what I found was interesting is that Losorta was really
the guy you saw later in Los Angeles, way back
in the mid sixties in rookie ball. He was, you know,
third base coach slash manager, dancing around in the coach's box,
(25:34):
the ultimate motivator, telling his players that are some of
they They're going to play at Dodger Stadium. So he
really convinced these young rookie league players that they were
going to reach the major league someday, even though many
of them, most of them in fact, didn't have a chance.
One of my favorite stories involving Losorta came from a
(25:57):
cup of coffee pitcher named Bruce Brubaker. He had a
really short major league career, he told me in nineteen
sixty nine with the Spokane Indians. Bruce was pitching it
in Tacoma one day and Lasorda got ejected from the game,
and shocking, yeah, not at all unusual. And then so
(26:17):
Bruce is in the on deck circle and he hears
his voice coming from the crowd and he he looks
over and he realized it's Lasorda in disguise. He had
snuck into the stands and was giving his players signs
from the crowd in a in a costume.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
And then and then decades that's where Bobby Valentine learned
different exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So decades later, Bayer is watching a game on ESPN
and sees the highlight of Bobby Valentine doing the exact
same thing. And it turns out Bobby was the short
stop for the Spokane Indians that day, and so it's
undoubtedly where he learned.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That unbelievable and oral Erscheiser was in that game or
in the dugout as well, obviously now the Dodgers longtime broadcaster.
That's a great story. I'd never heard that before. Eric,
thanks for sharing that. Do you think that there is
any sort of comparable draft class in today's game in
terms of accolades or potential? Then that nineteen sixty eight class,
(27:21):
what would be the closest if there is even one.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, really, there's no one even close to that, no
matter how you look at it. So in terms of
war wins above replacement, that draft class had two hundred
and thirty four wins above replacement. The next closest draft
class was about one hundred and eighty war and that
was basically almost all Roger Clemens and Ellis Burks. The
(27:50):
only other in terms of number of future major leaguers
the Mets eighty two class. They had seventeen future major leaguers,
including Dwight Gooden and Roger McDowell, but again didn't come
close to reaching the success of the sixty eight team.
That group had over eleven thousand hits combined over eleven
(28:11):
hundred home runs and three hundred wins from their pitchers. So,
anyway you look at it, sixty eight DoD your sixty
eight draft class is the best of all time.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, it worked out pretty dang good for that team,
for that organization. Still working out. Hey, back then, they
hired all these dudes to be scouts, and it kind
of broke the draft. I love part of the I
guess the liner notes of your book or whatever it
would be from your publisher mentioning you know, the draft
was kind of instituted to help the poor clubs, to
(28:42):
help bad clubs get better. Dodgers are already a good club.
I found a way to get better by finding the
best talent out there. And again that's still something we
see this organization enploying today by having the best scouting
you possibly can out there. You mentioned that record setting infield.
Three of those guys were drafted in that draft club
with Garby Lopes, and say they join shortstop Bill Russell
(29:04):
and go on to play together for eight and a
half seasons. Do you ever think we'll see anything close up,
maybe even like five years together. Well, we see an
infield play five years together in this game, in this modern.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Game, Yeah, that would really be hard to imagine. As
much player movement as there is today with free agency
and trades. I really don't envision that at all unless
somehow a group all came up at the same time together.
And you know the club control clubs have six years
of control over players, So but as far as eight
and a half years, I don't think that'll ever be topped.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Yeah. I doubt very seriously that we'll ever see anything
of the likes of that. Again, Eric, the holiday season
is upon us. I know you can pre order the
book now, but tell us how we can get our
hands on this.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah. The book officially comes out on December seventh, so
it'll be available everywhere at that time. Right now, my publisher,
which is called August Publications, is doing an exclusive pre order,
so for the next few days you can order from them.
I also think it's available on Barnesandoble dot Com for
pre order. After December seventh, it'll be available on Amazon.
(30:13):
I always encourage people to check out your local independent
bookstores as well. Yeah, I'm excited to see it come
to fruition after working on it for a year.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
And a half.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Oh, I'm certain that it's going to be nice to
finally get it in your hands and take a look
at all the different work and all the time that
you put into it. Eric Victory, author of Before They
Wore Dodger Blue, Tommy Lesorda, and the greatest Draft class
in baseball history. Thanks for taking the time and taking
us kind of down memory lane. We wish you the
best of luck with the publication and the book sales.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Thanks Alan, and Clinton is great talking to you than
you all right?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Eric, thanks so much. All right, Clinton, let's take a
look at last licks.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
All right, guys, let's do our thing right. Southern California.
I have so much faith in you, Dodgers fans, faith
in you. This is Lula Bene. She needs an adopter. Okay.
She is a sweetheart. She's a Border Collie German Shepherd mix.
She is a three legged tripod. It does not slow
her down. She does zoomies. She's all over the place.
She doesn't even know that she only has three legs.
(31:17):
Other than that, she's perfectly healthy. What happened was she
had a break. It healed very misaligned. In order to
give her the best quality of life, we needed to
amputate her back leg. She's spade, she's healthy, she's vaccinated,
she's awesome. She needs to be a solo dog right now,
and probably a home with older kids because she's a
little active in that type of thing. But if you
know anybody that would like to adopt her, man, she
(31:39):
is so ready for her forever home. So hit us
up on Gidrey's guardian dot org or any of my
socials for more information. All right, what are you doing
on all Dodgers with Clint Passias. Are you guys continuing
to hand out grades?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Yeah, we started our grade series this week. It's been fun.
It's been of course engaging because people get mad at
you when you don't give the grade that they wanted.
People will say we were harsh to Freddie Freeman earlier
in the week by giving him a bee. Actually I
think I gave him a B minus. But Freddy wasn't
as good as Freddy can usually be. He just went
on our Max Mountsey went on foul Territory earlier this
(32:13):
week and said, hey, Freddie is mad at himself even
hitting three hundred, or if he doesn't hit three hundred,
it's a waste of a season. It's a garbage season.
So we're continuing the series tonight tube in on the
All Dodgers YouTube channel. If you don't mind, we'd appreciate it.
But we got other news as part of our big.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Big, big crops to Katie Wu who has done a
great job covering the Saint Louis Cardinals for five seasons
for the Athletic, but she's going home. She's from California now,
albeit she's from northern California, but she's going to be
the second beat writer for the Athletic, joining our friend
Fabby and our Daya at the Athletics to cover your
Los Angeles Dodgers. So both Fabby and our Dia and
(32:53):
Katie WO will be the Dodgers beat reporters for the
Athletic Congratulations Katie on her opportunity to go back to
California and cover a championship organization. Ken Katie we progress.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
This is huge, huge for us of course the network.
I'm sure we'll see her here on Dodgers Territory time
and time again. She covers a baseball the baseball great
and I'm happy to see I'm happy to see her
come to LA and see what she can contribute to
this organization, getting different different angles, different views for fans
who read and enjoy and all that kind of stuff.
(33:27):
So congrats Katie. Looking forward to getting to know Katie Wu.
But otherwise that's about it for us today. Hopefully you
guys enjoyed this Thursday edition of Dodgers' Territory. If you can,
please subscribe to the channel, we'd appreciate that as well.
Trying to get to fifteen thousand k as Alana said
on the subscriber side of things. Also leave a rating
(33:48):
and review on the podcast side of things, if you
could positive only that goes a long way. Buy your stuff.
You've still got time before Christmas and all the holiday
shopping season Dodgers Territory shop dot com. I hit all
the important talking points there. My beanie came in. By
the way, it's behind me. I did not put it up,
but it is behind me.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
It's thirty two degrees here today, So please go ahead,
somebody and buy me a Dodgers Territory beanie because it
sucks in Massachusetts. All right, guys, we appreciate you very much.
Have a great Thursday, great rest of your week. Clinton,
I will be back on Monday. Go Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Bye.
A great deal for the Dodgers, great deal for Mickey Rowe,
(00:02):
and I love the fact that they just they put
the language out there already. He is going to remain
in the organization. He is going to be involved in
some way.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to Dodgers Territory, a brand new, fresh
episode on this Thursday, December fourth. My name is Alana Rizzo.
That is Clint to CEUs. We are psyched that you
are here. Please rate us five stars, like and subscribe
as Clint and I do our damnedest to get to
fifteen thousand subscribers. We appreciate you guys so much. You
(00:43):
can do it on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts,
whether it's Apple or Spotify or whatever float your boat.
We appreciate that very much. A lot to talk about.
Eric Vickory is going to be joining the show later
on in just a few minutes. He's an author talking
about Tommy Lasorda and the best draft class in his
opinion that ever was. So we're going to talk to
(01:04):
him about that. But I tell you what, we got
some news. Welcome back, MIGGI Roe.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
News.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
News news we have. It's kind of a warm stove
Clint Pius, Miguel Rojas was retiring. Then he wasn't. He
was a World Series hero, and he's coming back, reportedly
on a one year deal. Our friend Fabi and Ardaiya
with The Athletic says that McDill Miguel Rojas is coming
(01:33):
back with the Doyers for his final season. We think
it's his final season in the big League's gonna one year,
five and a half million dollar deal. Sources confirmed. Daniel
alvarez Ee was on it. Rojas is then expected to
assist the Dodgers front office and player development once his
time as a player is done. So it's not only
this next year, but he also has the next level
of job opportunity. MIGGI row working it. I love it.
(01:55):
I'm good for him. You know what he said, he
was going to retire, and he didn't want to retire,
and he's coming back with the Dodgers. He wanted to
finish his career there. This is good for La Clinton.
Five and a half million, that's nothing, good for good
for McGough ross.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I mean I got that in my back pocket.
You know, really money there, easy money. No great deal
for the Dodgers, great deal for Mickey Row. Obviously, this
is one of those moves I predicted last about a
month ago when I did the nine Dodgers who will
return won't be returning? I said, between him and Keik,
I can almost guarantee that Miguil Rojas would be the
(02:29):
guy returning keyk. You know, jury still a little bit
out on where that ends up. But a great deal.
And I love the fact that they just they put
the language out there already. He is going to remain
in the organization. He is going to be involved in
some way, whether it's a coach, whether it's you know,
some sort of roving instructor or whatever. That role is
going to be. Obviously right now it's going to be
a little ambiguous because he's still got another season or
(02:50):
another World Series to win. But great deal. Five and
a half MILLI easy money for the dude. And it's
nice to know that not all of Andrew Friedman and companies,
I guess Andrew and Farhan, not all of their their
you know, time is going to that Lakers, gig no.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I think that the Dodgers are still their priority. Tie.
If Cartman from South Park has anything to say about it, yeah,
good for him. I don't know what does this mean
to you in terms of the likelihood Clymphesias that they
bring back Kik. They're similar players, right, They're both postseason heroes.
Kik has more of a a resume of being a
postseason hero, but Miguel has done some other things and
(03:31):
he's obviously much more of a player coach, I guess,
but they are very similar in their styles. Does that
mean that Key k is not coming back? I mean,
how do you see this playing out for him?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I mean, this is a team that really loves competition
in spring training. I think it helps this team a
whole bunch, you know, Dave Robertson and company to have
more people veterans, good players, living players show up in
spring training and battle fight for jobs. It really comes
down to how much they trust Hessan Kim to be
playing some sort of role for the team or you know,
(04:06):
also to a degree, I guess with Keik not so much.
To a degree, the health of Tommy Edmund, because the
expectation is Tommy is gonna miss you know, he could
miss a couple of weeks into the season coming off
the ankle surgery. Not that there's anything out there about that.
But yeah, if it comes down to to the Dodgers
and KEYK reuniting, it's gonna come back to what you
(04:26):
and I spoke with Andrew Friedman about on this show
last offseason, the importance of him in that clubhouse, his
ability to step up big when it matters most. And
the good thing is with key K, we know he's
gonna miss the first month, maybe two months with that
elbow surgery. It gives him time where and the organization
time where if another job, another opportunity doesn't arrive, arise
(04:51):
somewhere along the way, he's gonna be sitting there. Then
Dodgers are gonna sign him and he'll be around, He'll
be in the organ and then eventually October will come
and he'll be happy with this new healthy elbow.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You know what I'm telling you. I know it sounds
a little silly. Again, it's very easy for me to
spend other people's money, But if I'm Andrew Friedman, I'm like,
you know what I'm telling Key K. Right now, you
go ahead and heal up. Son. We're not gonna need
you obviously for the first two months of the season.
This is a club that's built on October. That is
where you shine, take all the time you need. I
(05:23):
don't know that there is you know, twenty another teams
banging down the door to get key K because they
I think a lot of folks look at his regular
season average, they don't realize unless you're watching the Dodgers
all of the time, and if you know key K,
they're not begging for KEYK to join their team. So
I do think this might be a situation where they're like,
(05:45):
we're gonna, we're gonna sign you. It's right, I know,
we don't, don't. I know, right, We're gonna sign you
when the sixty dayil opens up or what kind of
like an Evan Phillips situation, right, Evan Phillips on a
position players side. I do hope to see key K
again with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
One final thought on it too is I love I
think it was something that Miguel Rojas said a couple
of weeks ago, the idea, the ability to have them
all run it back. He believes they all deserve it
and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But to
button this up. Congrats to Miguel Rojas staying home, being
(06:27):
in the right spot, spent ten years or so away
from the organization, but he's back and he's here, and
he is ready to continue doing a phenomenal job off
the bench in whatever role, and he ends up needing
to play for this team outside of Miggy Roe. Since
we were last live, there was another move you want
to tell the fine folks and one of the Yeah,
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Think everyone knows at this point, but let's talk about it.
Devin Williams is not coming to Los Angeles, guys, and
that's okay. I mean, he's staying in the Nationally John
Hayman on X saying that the Mets have signed him
apparently for a forty five million dollars do you for
three years? So what does that mean? As far as
the Dodgers' back end of the relieving core closer situation
(07:08):
is concerned. Ry sell Iglesia stays with Atlanta, Ryan Helsley
goes to the Orioles. Devin Williams apparently is now a Met.
So you still have the biggest name out there in
Edwin Diaz. Now, the Mets, from what I understand, are
not closing the door on bringing back Edwin Diaz, but
it seems like the door is pretty closed, right If
you're breaking on Devin Williams, what is the likelihood that
(07:30):
they also signed Edwin Diaz. I don't see that, And
I think Edwin Diaz is going to want a five
year deal. I don't. I am more than you. I
think we need a closer. You don't think we need
a closer. But I am not paying a closer a
five year deal. I'm not paying a closer for five years.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So let's say five years and probably about twenty million
a year. I don't know. I don't think the Dodgers
go that route either. But we know Steve Cohen has
crazy money. We also know that the GM David Steren's
over there with the Mets not very big on investing
in relievers. It is kind of a shock that they
(08:09):
go with Devin Williams. But it is only three years.
It's not a massive commitment there Seemingly. You would argue,
and we talked about this on my All Dodgers Show,
you would argue that maybe it opens the door a
little bit more for the Dodgers. I mean, they have
the most money. Maybe the Yankees get in the mix
and they just do some sort of weird closer slap
(08:29):
swap there. My thing is, are the Dodgers willing to
go to that kind of price range? I don't think so.
I think this is one of those off seasons where
they are waiting. They they aren't willing to go to
the agent's markets, they aren't willing to go to the
player's markets. They're waiting. They're back to being normal, back
to pre Shoheo Tani days where there aren't a lot
(08:53):
of holes on this roster right now. Yes, there are
a couple of holes, some nice you know, left field
you'd like to add to. And we'll look at something
in a little bit that tells you what the team
would look like right now if the season were to
start and there is Miguel Rojas in there now. But
that's a big question, like are they willing to go
to a five and twenty, you know, five and one
hundred million? And do they need to? I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I don't think they do either.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I don't. I don't see a world in which the
way that the game has changed, Clint. I don't see
a world where you need to play a dude one
hundred million dollars to be your closer. I think you
could be serving. And again, like I am more of
the the school of like we need all closer, but
I don't need I don't need one hundred million dollar closer.
I don't need to be on the hook for an
(09:37):
Edwin Diaz for five years for one hundred million dollars.
I would be happy.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I was.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I would have been really happy with the Devin Williams
three year, forty five million. But that being said, I'm
still okay with I don't like closer by committee, and
I hated the fact that Dave had to figure out
every flip and night of the World Series and the
postseason like what he was doing, but he did it beautifully.
(10:03):
But I don't want, like that's that's unnecessary stress that
I don't need. But I'm saying I'm okay with the
fact that, you know, okay, Devin Williams is not going
to be a Dodger, Okay, But I don't need I
don't need a I don't need an Edwin Diaz price tag.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And you know, you could argue they already you know,
kind of made that play last year with the Tanner
Scott signing.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I think we're all really crossing our fingers and every
other digit that we can that Tanner Scott rebounds, it
becomes a dude we assumed he was going to be.
But still they're in a good spot the bitching side
of things. We can have more conversation, I'm sure. I'm
sure we'll have a lot more conversation that week next
week as the Winter Meetings kick off. But this thing,
and obviously Dodgers now they re signed Miguel Rojas. He's
(10:50):
not one of the top free agent names out there,
but losing out missing out on some of those names
that they have been linked to, some of the bigger news,
you know, free agent right handed, free agent relievers, all
that kind of stuff. The way that the offseason has
played out so far. Yes, still early. Like I said,
so I got the Winter Meetings next week. I that's
the thing I wonder I'm kind of asking myself aloud,
(11:13):
and apparently everybody here in you is, like, what happens
if the Dodgers do miss on the big targets? Like
I don't think it's a major problem.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't know that there's like a big target. I mean,
what are the big targets? In your opinion, outfield is
a problem. Right, So we now know that Cedric Mullins
is signed with the Tampa Bay Race. Okay, so we
know that Cedric Mallins is not going to be in
the Dodgers outfield. So what does that leave it? Either
it either means a Stephen Kwan trade with the Guardians,
it means a Byron Buxton trade with the Twins, or
(11:43):
it means a free agent outfielder Mike Yastremski.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
A my dog doesn't like, okay, sure sure, sure yeah,
or the big name.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Or the Kyle Tucker the world. As as much as
I'm not paying Edwin d As one hundred million for
five years, I am not paying Kyle Tucker four hundred
million or whatever it is that he's gonna get. He's
a serviceable outfielder, but he's not a five or four
hundred million dollar outfielder.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I would take my chances with ta Oscar, with Tommy Edmund,
with Andy Paz and whoever the f we're going to
throw in left field, whether that's Ryan Ward or Alex
call who, by the way, is coming on our show
on Monday. I don't need I'm not paying four hundred
million for Kyle Tucker, I'm just not.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Well either way, we're not. I guess we are in
some way, shape or form through either Mitch a lot
of sales and hot dog sales and parking sales and
all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know what I mean. That's a silly that's really
pricetag me.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
It's less about the money, it's more about the commitment.
And you know, we've talked about the whole idea of
the Padres have a bunch of years committed to aging stars,
aging superstars that are all going to be in their
late thirties, some even into their forties by the end
of their contracts. I don't like the idea of the
Dodgers having a bunch of those type of dudes. Maybe
maybe Kyle Tucker, you know, profiles to being a very
(13:05):
good hitter and the still being a very good hitter
and decent enough outfielder towards the tail end of that contract.
But you still also have Mookie under contract for years,
show Heyo Tani under contract for years, and not to
say both of them can't hold up, but still to
have when there are already conversations about age and the
age of this roster and all that kind of stuff
(13:26):
to be stuck in so many words with guys that
are going to be playing almost into their forties. I
don't know that that is the best play. I do
know they need a left fielder. It's probably not going
to be Tucker. Probably maybe won't be Cody Bellinger. And
that's kind of the market I'm thinking about. Like the
way things are playing out, I think they'll miss out
on the bigger targets. And we talked earlier today about this,
(13:49):
the whole idea of like what do the Dodgers look
like if the season started right now? Putting this on
the screen for the people who are watching and not
listening to the podcast side. A lot of the same
names that just won a World Series are out there, Alana.
The biggest difference is left field is Ryan Ward, but
he's taken over for a keyk. Hernanezu didn't really hit
in the postseason, and Michael.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Can Forda was a black k hit in the postseason.
No I did.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
He did for a little bit, then then he stopped
hitting after aggravating that elbow. He played defense, He played
in the phenomenal defense. All that kind of stuff. I'm
not taking away I'm not saying Kik was a problem.
Nobody hit in the postseason for what it's worth.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Okay, so let me ask you this, like throw throw
your beautiful graphic threw up that beautiful bean footage again,
because Ryan Ward no disrespect to mister Ward and certainly
no disrespect to his parents. That cannot be your starting
left fielder for the Los Angeles Daughters. The rest of
the rest of the field, I'm fine with. But that
that ain't it, Okay, Like I'm sorry, I guess And
(14:50):
this is this is assuming Clymphesias that ta Oscar Hernandez
is gonna be like one of those swing players that
you were talking about in terms of a Taoscar rebound.
You're assum that Teo is going to be as good
as he was in twenty twenty four. Okay, you're hoping
for that because he struggled in twenty twenty five, especially
coming off of that injury. I'm fine with the Andy
(15:12):
Paez experiment. He runs some interesting routes, but he is
getting better. But if you don't have a left fielder
that is that is a bona fide left fielder, and
I don't want to throw Dalton Rushing out there. I'm
sorry that ain't the answer either, because I know, I
know that he's had some time in Triple A in
left field, but he is built like a brick house.
He needs to show what he can do behind the
(15:34):
plate to spell Will Smith, especially if maybe Dalton can
move into the primary catching role if Will goes to
first eventually, you know, when Freddy retires and all the things.
My point is Ryan Ward is not your starting left
fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day, like
you need somebody else.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah, focusing on the twenty twenty six side of things,
and I'll put the graphic back up. I mean, he's
also seen some of the names in the depth chart
side of things. Alex Freeland I kept in there because
he is one of the infield options that is currently
still on the forty man roster. But yeah, as of
right now, Ryan Ward or Alex call are your opening
(16:11):
day left fielder Dalton Rushing. That's one spot, realistically, that
is one spot where he could find a way to
kind of slither into that lineup, you know, picking up
two more days, you know of playing time a week
if he can find a way to get some left
field in there, that would go a very very long
way for this roster for the kid beyond that, though,
(16:34):
you know Ryan Ward, you don't have a lot of
faith in him. He had a very good year, very
very good year at Triple As.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I have faith in him. There's no reason to have
faith in him.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So he's never done it putting words here out there. Yeah,
maybe twenty ten Dodgers. I think of a Jerry Sands
type of dude. Type of dude twenty ten Dodgers, twenty
the right now, most teams, let's say the right now
White Sox can run why Ryan Ward out there and
you probably might feel pretty good. But a team that's
(17:03):
trying to go and run it back for you know,
it's third championship in a row. Yeah, Ryan Ward. And
even Alex Call as good as he was in you know, uh,
particularly the postseason in the small sample size and was
fine with the Dodgers and had you know, very nice
first half of the season with the Washington Nationals. Alex
Call probably shouldn't be your starting left fielder. He can
(17:25):
be part of the platoon. He could be, you know,
pick up playing time as a fourth outfielder. Very very
good fourth field outfielder and all that kind.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Of stuff, and we'll talk to him about that, Like
he's kind enough to join us on Monday, and we will.
We will talk to Alex about the season that was
for him and like his role moving forward and the
outfield situation for the Dodgers and all the things. But
I think if you're really thinking about the holes that
need to be filled, left field is one of those.
You're one hundred percent right. I mean, we have enough infielders,
(17:53):
We have enough utility guys. We have enough. I say,
we have enough, you know what I mean? We have
really good starting pitching. But yeah, left field is an
interesting question mark for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, I still think you know, to kind of button
this up and move on. We obviously have a guest waiting.
I still think they'd likely find a way to to
sign some insurance pieces, some competition for in spring training.
They love those kind of dudes. You're Jason Hayward's. Obviously,
Confordo did not work out, but there have been plenty
of other dude, plenty of other dudes who have worked
out in some way, shape or form. They need a
(18:25):
solid right handed reliever does not need to be a
top tier right handed believer does not need to be
a closer, and they need a veteran left fielder. If
it is a Yastremsky, you know that is that is
one of the options. They will find somebody. But the
thing is, most of the pieces are already in place, and
that's a good, very good position.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
For you said it really well, that's a really good
position to be in. So much more to come on
Dodger's territory. Eric Vickory is going to be joining us momentarily,
but first a word from our friends have fell KP.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
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but it's not just shorts.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, don't be fooled by the website's name.
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Speaker 2 (19:56):
All right, welcome back to Dodger's Territory. Everybody's psyche that
you were here. As always, we appreciate the support. There's
another way that you can support us, and that is
buying our merch. Go to the Dodgers' Territory store. It
is open. You can go to Dodgers' Territory Shop dot
com or click the store button here on YouTube. Support
the show and style support those that support us, and
(20:17):
that would be awesome if you guys could help us
out on that. We are pleased to be joined by
author Eric Vickory, who is the author of Before They
Wore Dodger Blue Tommy Lesorta and the greatest draft class
in baseball history. Eric, great to be with you. Thanks
for taking the time to be with Clinton US today
on Dodgers' territory. Tell us first of all, how this
(20:41):
particular subject matter interested you. Why Tommy Lesorta and that
particular draft class.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, so I'm always interested in kind of under the
radar baseball stories, and really this came to my mind
a couple of years ago when I wrote a book
about the nineteen forty six Spoken Indians, which was minor
league baseball team that was involved in a tragic bus accident.
And it was kind of during the research of that
book that I learned about the nineteen seventy Spokane Indians,
(21:11):
which was one of the greatest minor league teams ever assembled.
There were seven future All Stars on the team, and
of course this was a Dodgers TRIPAA affiliate and the
team was managed by Tommy Lasorda. So when I saw
that roster and just the amount of talent on that team,
I really piqued my interest. So I decided to really
dig into that, and what I learned is that most
(21:34):
of those players came from the draft class of nineteen
sixty eight, which is by all accounts, the greatest draft
class in baseball history. So I thought it'd be a
fun project and set out to tell the full story
from the adoption of the amateur draft in sixty five
through the Dodgers sixty eight draft and then this nineteen
(21:55):
seventy Spokane Indians team.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Now, when you look at that class, it is an
unbelievably impressive class. So the Dodgers end up drafting six
future All Stars in nineteen sixty eight, headlined by future
nl MVP and National League Ironman Steve Garvey. Tell the
folks that are listening and watching, Eric, who else was
on or in that draft class and why it was
so intriguing.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, So the number one draft pick in the June
sixty eight draft was actually Bobby Valentine, who, given all
the talent you see there, Bobby Valentine was actually considered
the best prospect of the mall. He was a star
football player in Connecticut and actually committed to USC and
was gonna take over for O. J. Simpson as running
(22:40):
back at USC, but the Dodgers talked him into signing
and he won a couple MVP awards in the Minor leagues,
but ultimately injuries kind of derailed his career later on.
But yeah, plenty of other talented players on that out
of that sixty eight class. Of course, the Dogs future
infield three of the four came out of that class,
(23:05):
Ron Say, Davey Lopes, and of course Steve Garvey. Tom
Patuak was an outfielder. Future All Star Doyle Alexander Jeff
Zhon were a couple of pitchers that won over one
hundred games in the majors. So there's kind of a
laundry list of future stars out of that sixty eight
(23:26):
class that really sort of reshaped the direction of the
Dodgers franchise in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And yeah, I mean you look at all those names.
Of course, you think about Tom Losorda in there a
lot of those players. All of those players played in
one under Tommy at Triple A. Of course, you mentioned
Spokane Indians eventually becoming the Albuquerque Dukes. They win in
seventy two. Everybody essentially gets called up and they start
winning at the big league level. Tommy piloted them to
(23:53):
a number of World Series births. All of them kind
of make it through and eventually reached that Final Mountain
beating the in nineteen eighty one, and then of course
everybody kind of goes away talking about the Tommy factor.
This is this one's for me. Tommy's former players. Dudes
have stories. They got a lot of Tommy stories. I'm
(24:13):
curious about some of the guys you ended up speaking with.
What was your favorite Losorda story or Losorda ism that
maybe was shared amongst several players, or just something that
really stuck to you.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Wow. So that's that's a tough question to answer because
there were so many Lasorta stories, and I really the
book actually starts with Lasorda as a scout. The first
chapter is him attending the funeral of Willy Crawford's grandfather. Lasorda,
this was in nineteen sixty four was trying to recruit
and sign Willy Crawford for the Dodgers, and this was
(24:49):
a year before the Amateur Draft, and Lasorda went to
Willie's grandfather's funeral and actually ends up giving the eulogy
at the funeral, as only tell me Lasorda could. And
then a year later, the Dodgers hired Lasorta to be
a rookie league manager, so he managed in the rookie
(25:12):
Leagues and Pocatella, Idaho, and Ogden, Utah for four years
and interviewed a number of players from those teams, And
what I found was interesting is that Losorta was really
the guy you saw later in Los Angeles, way back
in the mid sixties in rookie ball. He was, you know,
third base coach slash manager, dancing around in the coach's box,
(25:34):
the ultimate motivator, telling his players that are some of
they They're going to play at Dodger Stadium. So he
really convinced these young rookie league players that they were
going to reach the major league someday, even though many
of them, most of them in fact, didn't have a chance.
One of my favorite stories involving Losorta came from a
(25:57):
cup of coffee pitcher named Bruce Brubaker. He had a
really short major league career, he told me in nineteen
sixty nine with the Spokane Indians. Bruce was pitching it
in Tacoma one day and Lasorda got ejected from the game,
and shocking, yeah, not at all unusual. And then so
(26:17):
Bruce is in the on deck circle and he hears
his voice coming from the crowd and he he looks
over and he realized it's Lasorda in disguise. He had
snuck into the stands and was giving his players signs
from the crowd in a in a costume.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
And then and then decades that's where Bobby Valentine learned
different exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So decades later, Bayer is watching a game on ESPN
and sees the highlight of Bobby Valentine doing the exact
same thing. And it turns out Bobby was the short
stop for the Spokane Indians that day, and so it's
undoubtedly where he learned.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That unbelievable and oral Erscheiser was in that game or
in the dugout as well, obviously now the Dodgers longtime broadcaster.
That's a great story. I'd never heard that before. Eric,
thanks for sharing that. Do you think that there is
any sort of comparable draft class in today's game in
terms of accolades or potential? Then that nineteen sixty eight class,
(27:21):
what would be the closest if there is even one.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, really, there's no one even close to that, no
matter how you look at it. So in terms of
war wins above replacement, that draft class had two hundred
and thirty four wins above replacement. The next closest draft
class was about one hundred and eighty war and that
was basically almost all Roger Clemens and Ellis Burks. The
(27:50):
only other in terms of number of future major leaguers
the Mets eighty two class. They had seventeen future major leaguers,
including Dwight Gooden and Roger McDowell, but again didn't come
close to reaching the success of the sixty eight team.
That group had over eleven thousand hits combined over eleven
(28:11):
hundred home runs and three hundred wins from their pitchers. So,
anyway you look at it, sixty eight DoD your sixty
eight draft class is the best of all time.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, it worked out pretty dang good for that team,
for that organization. Still working out. Hey, back then, they
hired all these dudes to be scouts, and it kind
of broke the draft. I love part of the I
guess the liner notes of your book or whatever it
would be from your publisher mentioning you know, the draft
was kind of instituted to help the poor clubs, to
(28:42):
help bad clubs get better. Dodgers are already a good club.
I found a way to get better by finding the
best talent out there. And again that's still something we
see this organization enploying today by having the best scouting
you possibly can out there. You mentioned that record setting infield.
Three of those guys were drafted in that draft club
with Garby Lopes, and say they join shortstop Bill Russell
(29:04):
and go on to play together for eight and a
half seasons. Do you ever think we'll see anything close up,
maybe even like five years together. Well, we see an
infield play five years together in this game, in this modern.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Game, Yeah, that would really be hard to imagine. As
much player movement as there is today with free agency
and trades. I really don't envision that at all unless
somehow a group all came up at the same time together.
And you know the club control clubs have six years
of control over players, So but as far as eight
and a half years, I don't think that'll ever be topped.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Yeah. I doubt very seriously that we'll ever see anything
of the likes of that. Again, Eric, the holiday season
is upon us. I know you can pre order the
book now, but tell us how we can get our
hands on this.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah. The book officially comes out on December seventh, so
it'll be available everywhere at that time. Right now, my publisher,
which is called August Publications, is doing an exclusive pre order,
so for the next few days you can order from them.
I also think it's available on Barnesandoble dot Com for
pre order. After December seventh, it'll be available on Amazon.
(30:13):
I always encourage people to check out your local independent
bookstores as well. Yeah, I'm excited to see it come
to fruition after working on it for a year.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
And a half.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Oh, I'm certain that it's going to be nice to
finally get it in your hands and take a look
at all the different work and all the time that
you put into it. Eric Victory, author of Before They
Wore Dodger Blue, Tommy Lesorda, and the greatest Draft class
in baseball history. Thanks for taking the time and taking
us kind of down memory lane. We wish you the
best of luck with the publication and the book sales.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Thanks Alan, and Clinton is great talking to you than
you all right?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Eric, thanks so much. All right, Clinton, let's take a
look at last licks.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
All right, guys, let's do our thing right. Southern California.
I have so much faith in you, Dodgers fans, faith
in you. This is Lula Bene. She needs an adopter. Okay.
She is a sweetheart. She's a Border Collie German Shepherd mix.
She is a three legged tripod. It does not slow
her down. She does zoomies. She's all over the place.
She doesn't even know that she only has three legs.
(31:17):
Other than that, she's perfectly healthy. What happened was she
had a break. It healed very misaligned. In order to
give her the best quality of life, we needed to
amputate her back leg. She's spade, she's healthy, she's vaccinated,
she's awesome. She needs to be a solo dog right now,
and probably a home with older kids because she's a
little active in that type of thing. But if you
know anybody that would like to adopt her, man, she
(31:39):
is so ready for her forever home. So hit us
up on Gidrey's guardian dot org or any of my
socials for more information. All right, what are you doing
on all Dodgers with Clint Passias. Are you guys continuing
to hand out grades?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Yeah, we started our grade series this week. It's been fun.
It's been of course engaging because people get mad at
you when you don't give the grade that they wanted.
People will say we were harsh to Freddie Freeman earlier
in the week by giving him a bee. Actually I
think I gave him a B minus. But Freddy wasn't
as good as Freddy can usually be. He just went
on our Max Mountsey went on foul Territory earlier this
(32:13):
week and said, hey, Freddie is mad at himself even
hitting three hundred, or if he doesn't hit three hundred,
it's a waste of a season. It's a garbage season.
So we're continuing the series tonight tube in on the
All Dodgers YouTube channel. If you don't mind, we'd appreciate it.
But we got other news as part of our big.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Big, big crops to Katie Wu who has done a
great job covering the Saint Louis Cardinals for five seasons
for the Athletic, but she's going home. She's from California now,
albeit she's from northern California, but she's going to be
the second beat writer for the Athletic, joining our friend
Fabby and our Daya at the Athletics to cover your
Los Angeles Dodgers. So both Fabby and our Dia and
(32:53):
Katie WO will be the Dodgers beat reporters for the
Athletic Congratulations Katie on her opportunity to go back to
California and cover a championship organization. Ken Katie we progress.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
This is huge, huge for us of course the network.
I'm sure we'll see her here on Dodgers Territory time
and time again. She covers a baseball the baseball great
and I'm happy to see I'm happy to see her
come to LA and see what she can contribute to
this organization, getting different different angles, different views for fans
who read and enjoy and all that kind of stuff.
(33:27):
So congrats Katie. Looking forward to getting to know Katie Wu.
But otherwise that's about it for us today. Hopefully you
guys enjoyed this Thursday edition of Dodgers' Territory. If you can,
please subscribe to the channel, we'd appreciate that as well.
Trying to get to fifteen thousand k as Alana said
on the subscriber side of things. Also leave a rating
(33:48):
and review on the podcast side of things, if you
could positive only that goes a long way. Buy your stuff.
You've still got time before Christmas and all the holiday
shopping season Dodgers Territory shop dot com. I hit all
the important talking points there. My beanie came in. By
the way, it's behind me. I did not put it up,
but it is behind me.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
It's thirty two degrees here today, So please go ahead,
somebody and buy me a Dodgers Territory beanie because it
sucks in Massachusetts. All right, guys, we appreciate you very much.
Have a great Thursday, great rest of your week. Clinton,
I will be back on Monday. Go Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Bye.
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