June 16, 2025
We have to start with the Dodgers, who are navigating this difficult stretch of their schedule quite nicely so far. They took 2 of 3 against the Padres, followed by another 2 of 3 against the Giants. That gives them a 2 game lead in the division with the Padres in town for 4 games at the Ravine starting tonight. The big story though is Shohei Ohtani pitching his first game for the Dodgers tonight. It’s exciting and I look forward to seeing him take the mound, but I stand by what I said before. This isn’t necessary. His bat is too valuable to risk losing due to a pitching injury. Hopefully it’s not more than 60 pitches. We shouldn’t be surprised though. Dave Roberts said he would pitching after the All-Star break, which usually means “screw it, let’s start him tomorrow!” It was great to see Clayton Kershaw pitch well and get closer to 3,000 strikeouts, but I certainly hope the Dodgers aren’t counting on him to start the first couple of games of a playoff series. I’d be worried about Dustin May as well, who has already pitched more innings than ever before in his life. I don’t understand what’s going on with Roki Sasaki. Why is he essentially shutting himself down for the season without knowing why? This seems more like a confidence issue than anything else. In any case, the Dodgers should plan on trying to find one innings eating starter and one high leverage bullpen piece at the deadline. Blake Snell sounds like he has a good chance to come back, but never hold your breath on Tyler Glasnow. You’re better off buying a lottery ticket.
Speaking of the Dodgers, I cannot believe the stupidity of Dylan Hernandez in the LA Times the other day. Hernandez wrote an article on how wrong it is for the Dodgers to not have commented on the ICE raids taking place in Southern California, and the protests in response to that. Sorry Dylan, but in case you’ve learned nothing from the past 5 years, sports franchises, including the Dodgers need to stick to sports. If you want politics, go turn on Fox News, CNN, or whatever other bs you wanna hear. Just ask the NBA how that worked out for them when they went political 5 years ago? They are still trying to recover from it today. Fortunately, Dave Roberts is a lot more sensible than Hernandez, because when he was asked by the media about it, he said he doesn’t want to comment on things he doesn’t anything about it. That’s smart, and the proper thing to say. Even Andrew Friedman’s computer would tell you that!
As for the Angels, they got swept by the lowly Orioles to fall another 7.5 games back in the division, and 4 games under .500. This team makes you think for a hot second they have figured something out, then they revert right back to mediocrity. The real question is if they will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Taylor Ward, Tyler Anderson, and Kenley Jansen look like some nice pieces that a contender could really utilize in a pennant chase. I think the Halos would be wise to give them up in exchange for some young talent with upside. Unfortunately knowing Perry Minasian, he will pretend like he’s a real player and not deal any of them, keeping this team locked into mediocrity. After the Giants stole Rafael Devers from the Red Sox yesterday, it’s clear that the Halos have the wrong Minasian brother. They should really be calling the Giants to see if they can trade one GM for another!
To the NBA, where we’ve got game 5 of the Finals tonight in Oklahoma City. This series looked like it was there for the taking from the Pacers, but now it looks like OKC has all the momentum back. The Pacers had game 4, and could have put the Thunder on the ropes by taking a 3-1 lead. Frankly, OKC didn’t even play that well, but SGA found a way to take his team home and get them a hard fought victory on the road. Regardless of what the ratings say, this has been really good basketball. I wouldn’t even be surprised if we got 7 games, which would be great for the NBA at this point.
We might even get a 7 game series in the Stanley Cup Final, if the Oilers can win on the road tomorrow night against the Panthers. Right now, it just feels like the Panthers have a little more depth and consistency from their role players, which the Oilers were getting earlier in the playoffs. Everyone is talking about Mitch Marner’s free agency or even Sam Bennett’s. However, what they should be talking about is Brad Marchand. Give that guy a one-year deal for $10 million and he will score you some tough playoff goals, while giving you the grit you need. Are you listening LA Kings?
There’s already been some NBA transactions while the NBA Finals are going on, and it does impact the Lakers. Steven Adams from the Houston Rockets re-signed for 3 years and $39 million. Adams is a tough rebounding center, who re-established his value this past season, but $13 million seems like a lot for that kind of production. However, it also suggests that the Lakers may not be able to lure the likes of a Clint Capela or Brooke Lopez to be their starting center next year, only offering a tax payer mid-level salary of $5.7 million. They only have that plus their veteran minimum contracts to offer. Keep in mind the Lakers need a starting center, and two wings at minimum. Ideally, free agency would get them two of their three needs, and they could get the third need via trade. You can forget about the Giannis trade rumors though. It’s clear that he won’t be requesting a trade, because he would have done it already. Plus if Desmond Bain is worth 4 1st round picks, Giannis would require 7 picks and the mineral rights to your state.
Finally, we are still on Jalen Ramsey watch with the Rams. The Rams need a cornerback, and the Dolphins need to get rid of his salary. Derion Kendrick was waived over the weekend, which now brings the Rams salary cap space is $22 million. Jalen Ramsey is about $16.6 million against the cap, so not sure what the hold up here is? Draft compensation? Trying to get Ramsey to further restructure his contract? Is Les Snead demanding some Joe’s Stone Crabs as part of the deal? This deal needs to get done for both sides sooner than later, especially with mini camps here.
