Fred's Ramblings

The end of Shohei Ohtani’s six-year run with the Los Angeles Angeles has come to pass and he now begins a new chapter in his career as a Los Angeles Dodger. He has signed a 10 year deal worth $700 dollars that is supposedly heavily deferred allowing the Dodgers to remain competitive in the free agent market going forward. That at least indicates that Ohtani’s desire to be on a winning team was real. He will likely become the next Bobby Bonilla, collecting a yearly salary long after he has retired.

Now come the questions…Is he actually worth that kind of money considering the injuries he has had lately. It is common knowledge that he will not be pitching in 2024, already placing him in the “normal” category of many other free agents. Assuming he will be able to pitch in 2025 and beyond, you have to assume that the $700 is money well spent. Time will tell however and history has shown that these long term contracts turn out to be albatrosses in the latter part of the deal.

Spring training is not that far away and as a Dodgers fan, I for one am looking forward to the coming year. Now to get some pitching to go along with the offense. Let’s Play Ball…

Well I bet that the TV network that will carry this year’s World Series are worried about how much time people will spend watching this classic. No one could have imagined a World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers. If memory serves, the last time the Diamondbacks were involved in a world series was in 2001 when they beat the NY Yankees after 9/11 took place. As for the Rangers, the last time they were in a world series was in 2011. This should be interesting.

In spite of all the discussions that took place regarding the MLB playoff format, you have to give these two teams credit for gelling at the right time and that is usually the formula needed to pull off this playoff run for both teams. It will now be up to which of them can continue their run to become the latest World Series champion. My pick is the Texas Rangers…I have been wrong before believe it or not so don’t take my prediction to the bank.

For any Dodgers fan, they are in their rightful place atop the Western Division of the National League. It has taken a lot of work and some of the players playing up to their potential, but they have finally reached the top of the division. The big task now is to maintain this level of playing for the rest of the season so that they can enter the playoffs in a good position to hopefully again reach the World Series.

As noted, the Arizona Diamondbacks are tied for second place with the Giants and to count them out would be a mistake as they have shown that they have the mettle to make this race an interesting one. Colorado is in its usual place at the bottom of the heap, but I think everyone is surprised at the San Diego Padres sitting in 4th place. The Dodgers have a precarious 2 game lead at the moment that can change at the drop of a hat, and it is quite possible that the Padres will make themselves heard before the season is over. This should be an interesting race going forward.

It seems that every year about this time, the discussion of whether or not Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame is brought up. Bonds’ talent and accomplishments are unquestionably Hall Of Fame worthy. He passed both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, ultimately hitting the most home runs of all time with a total of 762. The subject of PEDs, however, has kept him out of Cooperstown. MLB Hall Of Fame voters haven’t forgiven the former San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates superstar. Bonds’ absence from the Hall Of Fame has led to various opinions on the matter. Some believe he should remain out of Cooperstown because of the PED issue, while others are willing to look past his troubled history and think he should be a member.

While the subject is up for debate, my opinion is that he should not be a member of the Hall Of Fame. Yes, he is the alleged leader in the home runs category, but who is to say that he would have achieved that spot without the use of PED’s. The PED issue taints all of his statistics and the fact he cheated to get those stats should keep him out of the HOF.

Electing Bonds to the HOF would create a domino effect. Other players linked to PEDs, such as Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmiero and plenty of others, would likely join Bonds in Cooperstown. And therein lies the problem. If one player linked to PEDs is elected, then everyone else involved in PED’s will likely get in. Pete Rose has been kept out of the Hall Of Fame because of his gambling, but he earned his Hall Of Fame statistics without having to cheat. If Rose is not allowed in, then for sure, none of the PED players should be allowed in.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I just provided mine. I would be interested in hearing other’s views.