Dodgers Territory - Chris Taylor Released! Dodgers Pitching Struggle Bus; Jeff Snider Joins

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

The Dodgers shocked the baseball world again with the release of long-time utility man, Chris Taylor. With Alanna out on vacation, guest co-host Jeff Snider joins Clint Pasillas with reactions to the decision (1:20) and answers to the question of 'why now?'And who might be next on the chopping block for LA? (12:45) They discuss. Beyond the CT3 news, the Dodgers were also swept by the Angels (20:36). What went wrong and what's going on with the pitching staff? Is there any help on the horizon? (24:54) We have the latest on the state of the Dodgers. Get 20% off your first Slab Pack or card purchase by going to https://ArenaClub.com/FOUL and use code FOUL. Subscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTube!Rate and review our podcast on Apple and Spotify!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the story of the woman who last participated in a Formula One race weekend, the recent uptick in F1 romance novels, and plenty of mishap scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years.

Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract.

Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything.

I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Dodgers for the Greater Park have effectively been playing two men down with Barnes and CT3 on the roster. And it absolutely raises the floor for the active roster. What is going on, party people? I am not Alana Rizzo. I am Clint Bacias. I am usually on this show.

It's funny how that one works out. But joining us today is my friend. We call him Snydog. That is Jeff Snyder. Of course, he hosts the Lockdown Dodgers podcast. There are so many podcasts out there for everybody to consume. And we hope you make us, Dodgers territory, and locked on two of your shows, along with my show. You know, all of that.

Quit your job and watch Dodgers shows, you know? Yeah, yeah. You don't need to work, guys. Just come hang out, watch Dodgers all day. We got some stuff going on, guys. Chris Taylor was released over the week. weekend the Dodgers were sweet by the Angels. Listen, the reason

things are going a little rough is because you guys haven't given this show a five-star rating and review on your podcast platform. So check those out. Like the show, subscribe to the show, and we're going to get into the big ticket right now. Jeff, I'd ask you, are we going to talk CT3 first? Are we going to talk

the Angels series first? And I feel that given the weight of what's gone on for the Dodgers over the last not even a full week with the Austin Barnes move and the Chris Taylor move. I think we've got to talk about Chris Taylor. The Dodgers opted to release Chris Taylor on Sunday.

One of those moves where it's like it's shocked, but not surprised at all. Where were you when the Dodgers released CT3? And what are your thoughts about the situation? Yeah, I was just sitting in my living room like I normally am. It was about, you know, I don't even know if I had the shock. It seemed like a foregone conclusion at this point. When it seemed like what needed to happen, the writing was on the wall. Once we knew that Tommy Edmund and Teosker Hernandez were coming back.

And at that point, once you know you have to make room for two guys who are definitely coming back, James Atman was the easy call. And then it comes down to Heson Kim or Chris Taylor. And unfortunately, that's an easy call too at this point. And so it was sad, but especially after, like you said, they just pulled the trigger on Austin Barnes, kind of showed, okay, they're in this. They are in it to win it.

They are not worrying about, you know, how long you guys have been around, feelings, all that stuff. They are focused on putting together the best roster possible. And there's no version of this roster in which Chris Taylor is part of the best roster possible, possible when people are healthy.

Yeah, to me, that's a big one. I think the Dodgers with the Austin Barnes moves really signaled that, They mean business this time around. It's not just waiting and leaving, it feels like to me, the last couple of years for this team. Ever since rosters, you know, the active roster has expanded the 26 players. The Dodgers for the greater part have effectively been playing two men down with Barnes and CT3 on the roster. And, you know, agreeing with you here, man, it effectively or sorry, absolutely raises the floor for the active roster.

Heson Kim has been phenomenal in his short burst. And apparently what, 14 games or at 14 games right now, he's proven enough. And Dalton Rushing, they made a move, they made a decision with Dalton Rushing that, you know, this is the time. This is the time to make your roster better. I love what Andrew Friedman said, you know, it's about winning. We'll get to Friedman in a little bit. But did you expect, I've already asked a few people this, did you expect, you know, Heson Kim, to in 14 games and less than a month kind of make Chris Taylor obsolete.

I wouldn't say I expected it. I didn't know what to expect from Kim. You know, we watched him in spring training. He definitely wasn't ready for the big leagues yet. Yeah. And so the decision to start him in AAA made a lot of sense. But then, you know, I've watched. I've watched more Oklahoma City comments games this year than I have in my entire life combined.

And part of that is just because they're more accessible these days. But also because. guys like Dalton Reson and Hayeson Kim were down there, Alex Freeland, some of these guys who I want to see them in action. And so I've kind of watched Kim get better and better. And you get to the point where you've done everything you can in AAA, and now it's time to see if you can do it in the big leagues. And the correlation isn't always one-to-one.

It's never one-to-one. But you know, you never know what somebody's going to do with the big leagues until they get a chance to try it in the big leagues. And so the time was right to call Kim up. And when they called him up, I said he has a chance now to force the issue. My first thought when they called him up was Cody Bellinger in 2017. Cody Bellinger got called up because Jock Peterson got hurt. Cody Belanger came up and played left field for the Dodgers.

And he played so well during the two, three weeks that Jock Peterson was out that when Jock came back, the Dodgers said, hey, Adrian Gonzalez, it's time to take care of your shoulder. You're going on the IL so that we can keep Cody Belmont. are around. And, you know, that's the opportunity that a young guy has when he gets the call up is to force his way onto the roster. That's what Kim has done. Rushing, it's a little bit different because they made that commitment. He has more of a track record at AAA. He's more clearly ready for the big leagues, especially for the role, you know, the worst case scenario role of backup catcher. He's definitely an upgrade there. And so he's going to stick around.

But for Kim, he took that opportunity to prove that he deserves a spot on the roster. Whether it's in the starting lineup, you know, he's not going to be an everyday starter. He's probably not even going to be a most day starter, but he's going to get two or three starts a week. And he's going to provide speed off the bench in pinch running, you know, enough defensive flexibility that they can pinch run him for anybody between his defensive flexibility and everybody else's. You know, he serves that Chris Taylor role with less good defense in the outfit. but much more offensive upside. Yeah, it's, it's, again, it raises the floor for this roster, something they needed. One of the things that will listen to Andrew Friedman right now, one of the things Andrew

had also brought up, it's like, look, this NOS is a lot better, and they don't want to, like, have to struggle. They don't want to have to battle late into the season and hope to win the division. I think that is a real concern for them with all of the injuries. We'll talk about the state of the pitching staff. later on. But beyond all of that, I'm seeing people in the chat, you know, everybody's kind of got some mixed feelings about this with, yeah, Chris Taylor has meant so much of this club, blah, blah, blah, but it being time, anyways, I've beat around the bush on this. Let's listen to Friedman's

thoughts and we'll come back and ran. Yeah, this has been a very emotional week for all of us. Barnes, the NCT have been in the middle of some huge moments for this organization. both guys have left an indelible mark on our culture and where we're at this point. So the decisions were incredibly difficult. The conversations were tough. But with where we are, division race, you know, composition of roster, everything, you know, we felt like this was in the Dodgers' best interest in terms of how to win as many games and put us in position to best. winter world series this year doesn't mean that it was easy um but ultimately felt like it was the right thing to do yeah in the business of of making the dodgers better and and again i said last week

you know i we all knew this chris taylor move was coming especially after the barns move but the dodgers suddenly mean business after years of holding on to veteran dudes um you know as you like to say at the top of your show. We're all dudes that have covered this team for years. We've been in the clubhouse. We know the dynamic. We know the vibes in there. We know how these dudes, how they care about each other. What do you think of these two moves in particular in a vacuum due to that clubhouse chemistry? I think short term there's an impact. I don't think there's going to be a long-term impact. I think that they've all been around. Like Clayton Kershaw is the only guy on this team who has never changed teams. Yeah. Who has never been

released or traded or something. And so they understand much better than we do that it's a business. And they also know better, they know baseball better than we do. And so every one of them, as much as they like Austin Barnes, every one of them can watch Austin Barnes try to throw a guy out at second base and say, crap, we need something better than this. And every one of them to watch Chris Taylor go up there and swing it the same swing at three different. pitches three times in a row and then go sit down and say oh man remember when that guy was good and not in a mean way yeah yeah you know but you when your goal is to win a world series you want the best players possible on your team and i'm sure that's true for them and and it's not like

not like they're not friends with austin barnes and chris taylor anymore they still have his phone number they're still going to show up to ct3's polar plunge event if he does it next year you know that these guys they have a bond for life they won two world series with both of those guys uh you know it that bond is there and yeah so it's gonna bum them out for a day or two but then as they see you know as dalton rushing every hit dalton rushing gets they will be more and more okay austin who oh yeah my friend austin oh yeah i guess we were teammates once now we're just friends and that's just fine and that's what we're going to see Because that's what it should be.

Baseball, there's room for friendship and sentimentality and everything, but the most important thing is winning. The fact that there's only a handful of guys left from that 2020 World Series. There's only, I think, what, just Kershaw and Kiki left from the 2017, the first time the Dodgers went to the World Series when, you know, I didn't know if you heard the asteros cheated that year. What? Insanity.

And yet we, as fans, we don't love this. team any less because Corey Seeger's not here anymore or Kenley Jans is not here anymore or Pablo what was his name Paco Rodriguez isn't here anymore you know yeah that was the most obscure guy I could think of you know we're Dodger fans Jerry saw Jerry Seinfeld said we root for root for laundry and that's what we're doing we like the uniform that's what we're rooting for and uh whoever's wearing that uniform is who we're rooting for and for the team whoever's wearing the same uniform as them that's who they're rooting for and they will get past the personal issues pretty quickly.

Yeah, baseball is a business this much we know. Podcasting is also a business. We have more Chris Taylor thoughts, but first we're going to throw to our friends, my friends, over at Fowel Territory, and then we'll be back and talk a little bit more CT3 before talking about the Angels sweeping the Dodgers in L.A. Isn't that fun, but here's the FT boys. Crats, I'm going to let everyone in on a little secret.

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And use our exclusive referral code territory in your profile. Send $5 to a friend within 14 days. And you'll get $10 dropped right into your account. Terms apply. That's money. I'm Clayton Eckerd. And in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan.

he became the first bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral.

The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of He Said, she said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpbright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun. Tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Termaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Germain was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real.

I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people need. knew the truth until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why hasn't a woman formally participated in a Formula One race weekend in over a decade?

Think about how many skills they have to develop at such a young age. What can we learn from all of the new F1 romance novels suddenly popping up every year. He still smelled of podium champagne and expensive friction. And how did a 2023 event called Wag Ageddon change the paddock forever? That day is just seared into my memory. I'm culture writer and F1 expert Lily Herman, and these are just a few of the questions I'm tackling on no grip, a Formula One culture podcast that dives into the under-explored pockets of the sport. In each episode, a different guests and I will go deeper into the wacky mishaps,

scandals and sagas, both on the track and far away from it, that have made F1 a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cash app. And we're back, and I saw this comment. Mr. Classic, players are uneasy right now due to the two DFA. So this leads, I think, nicely into one of the next thoughts you would have about this, Chris Taylor move and the Austin Barnes move.

It's like, who do you think is next on the chopping block? Because, again, if they are cutting dudes who have meant as much to this organization as Christopher Armand Taylor and Austin Murder Barnes have meant to the clubhouse and everything, two World Series, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, it's got to make some other dudes feel a little uneasy in there in that clubhouse and all that. What do you think? Who would be somebody that you're kind of watching now with a more fine-toothed clone? I don't know if you watch with a fine tooth comb.

But you can do anything with a fine tooth comb. Fine tooth combs are pretty versatile. Like they're Chris Taylor of watching implements. There's really only three names that I think are at any risk. And that would be Michael Conforto, Miguel Rojas, Max Muncie. Rojas and Muncie both in the last year, their contract, Conforto and the only year of his contract. And all three of them, to some extent,

I guess you wouldn't say Rojas is underperforming. Rojas is Rojas. And, you know, Comforto and Muncie both showing signs recently of breaking out of it. But, you know, it's hard to know which is the real version, the version that was really bad for a month and a half for the version that's been solid the last week and a half. You know, and Comforto even like we're now, what, three games into him being bad again. And so it's a roller coaster right now when it comes to Comforto. they're not going to pull the trigger this quickly on him. But with Dalton Rushing's technical theoretical ability to play left field,

plus the fact that we know that Andy Pahas is better in a corner outfield spot, and they have, you know, Edmund and Kim who can play center field, you know, there is some pressure on Comforto that he needs to step it up. I think he probably has at least into June before they're going to pull the trigger on on dumping him. And not because of the money that's owed to him. I saw somebody on Twitter asking you and me about why did they DFA Taylor, release Taylor instead of Comforto? The money is about the same. And I don't think he has anything to do with the money, at least not directly, because the way it has to do with money is the reason that the Dodgers signed Michael Conforter to a $17 million contract is because he has a history of being a very good hitter.

Yeah. And that is the same reason that they're going to give him a chance to see if he can become that good hitter that he has historically been. And so we will wait. They'll wait and see. But yeah, if he doesn't get it figured out, they do have options. They could move off from Conforto today if they made that decision and they have players to fill his spot right now.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's Max. Go ahead. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's one of the things that does make me excited about, about, you know, Chris Taylor kind of freeing up some roster of versatility there or at least

opportunities. We know Teasca Hernandez is coming back tonight, which means James Altman will get the boot back to AAA, but you know, you're still going to see Tommy Edmund getting some center, getting some second base. You're going to see Pahez getting some center, probably now moving a little bit more to left field while Teasca plays some right field. But the Kim factor there, Heson Kim could play maybe play some left field as a position they have tried them at a little bit, at least in spring training, some at the AAA level. But, you know,

in a best case scenario, like your best lineup, best defensive world, layout world, whatever, alignment, you know, Kim in left or at second base with with Paez and Edmund and center. And then I know the hands help everybody. If you guys are listening, I'm doing hand gestures because I see the outfield in my head. And he's an air traffic controller in a previous life. or currently, and that's why it's, you know, things are a little wonky out there when you're talking about airports and planes landing and pets' heads falling off. But anyways, this helps the team get better. And Conforto now would have the opportunity to, if things don't shake up or straighten

out, he could move to the bench. And, you know, there's not really anybody else knocking, you know, pounding down the door at this point when you're looking at Kim being up, rushing up. There's nobody else in AAA, really pounding on the door to take that spot. So then, you know, the Dodgers get what they love, a veteran on the bench, all that kind of stuff. And maybe it works out that way. But they're in a much better spot. We thank Chris Taylor for his service and all that kind of stuff.

I do have, Alana's not here today, if you guys couldn't tell. But I did ask Alana to send in her thoughts about Chris Taylor because obviously her and CT were tight. They spent a lot of time together with this organization. So let's hear what Alana had to say about Chris Taylor. Taylor. Hey guys, what's up? Always thinking about Dodgers territory. I'm on vacation today, but I will be back with you guys this week. I didn't want it to go without me saying anything, though, about Chris Taylor. Dodgers have had to make some really difficult decisions in the last couple of days, weeks, obviously with the designating of Austin Barnes for assignment and now

obviously releasing Chris Taylor. Both of those guys have been massive parts of what the Dodgers have accomplished over the course of the last nine to 11 years, depending upon who you're talking about. But Chris Taylor, that's a guy that's never done anything wrong, right? I mean, this is a guy that did everything that was asked of him, as did Austin Barnes, obviously a super utility player, a guy that could play all over the field, infield, and outfield. And he's had some incredible moments in a Dodgers uniform, and particularly in the postseason. We all remember the postseason in Milwaukee. You know, this is a guy that has given everything that he had to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And I will never forget when they made the announcement that the Dodgers had a quarter. acquired Chris Taylor, infielder, Chris Taylor from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Zach Lee. And I was like, who's Chris Taylor? I didn't know a lot about him. And I tell you what, I'm glad I got to know him. He is one of the best people that you'll ever meet. And I wish nothing but the best. A lot of love and success to Chris and his family, his wife, Mary, his son, Theo, and the entire Taylor clan for everything that they were able to do in a Dodger uniform. and obviously the best for him and his future. Thank you, CT3, for everything you gave to this organization, forever indebted to you.

Best a look, Chris. I think Alana buttons it up well there for us, guys. Chris Taylor, gone, not forgotten. The door is open for him to return in some capacity. It isn't as a player down the road. But I think we've covered this much enough, and we need to talk now about the Dodgers getting swept by the Angels was not a good weekend overall. before we do that, we're going to hear once again from our friends at Fowl Territory. I just want to say before Arena Club, if you were trying to very actively buy, sell,

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Go get after it. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final Rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom.

with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search for it. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young.

This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of He Said She Said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families.

Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun. Tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Tremaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Termaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth.

For 22 years, only two people knew the truth until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why hasn't a woman formerly participated in a Formula One race weekend in over a decade.

Think about how many skills they have to develop at such a young age. What can we learn from all of the new F1 romance novels suddenly popping up every year? He still smelled of podium champagne and expensive friction. And how did a 2023 event called Wag A Geddon change the paddock forever? That day is just seared into my memory. I'm culture writer and F1 expert Lily. Herman, and these are just a few of the questions I'm tackling on No Grip, a Formula One culture podcast that dives into the under-explored pockets of the sport. In each episode, a different

guests and I will go deeper into the wacky mishap, scandals, and sagas, both on the track and far away from it, that have made F-1 a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC. the bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him.

If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search for it.

This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of He Said She Said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story. about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families.

Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Termaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Termaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity.

The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth, until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why hasn't a woman formally participated in a Formula One race weekend in over a decade? Think about how many skills they have to develop at such a young age. What can we learn from all of the new F1 romance novels suddenly popping up every year? He still smelled of podium champagne and expensive friction.

And how did a 2023 event called Wagageddon change the paddock forever? That day is just seared into my memory. I'm culture writer and F1 expert Lily Herman, and these are just a few of the questions I'm tackling on no grip, a Formula One culture podcast that dives into the under-explored pockets of the sport. In each episode, a different guest and I will go deeper into the wacky mishap, scandals and sagas, both on the track and far away from it, that have made F1 a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I don't give a shit you feel good as four months hits up there.

Oh, man, that front end just feels too real right there. I think this team could use Thomas Charles Lassour to, to be. beat a little scent into them. But, hey, Jeff, I don't know if you're watching, but the Dodgers were swept by the Angels in L.A. over the weekend. And apparently the Angels won the World Series, or at least in the eyes of fans.

See, Jake, this is a dude who follows a team very, very closely. You know, they love seeing Otani fail, and everybody loves to beat the team that has the $2 billion payroll. Of course, I think you guys got some comments last night on your channel, on your show, locked on Dodgers from your usual. co-host Vince Sampereo posting that like sweeping the Dodgers is good enough that makes Angels fans feel good. What's wrong with the Dodgers? I mean the only thing wrong with them is

they lost three games in a row which which happens to every team. I think there's what the second maybe even third time this year they've won probably the second time they've won or lost three games in a row hopefully the last time but this was a definitely a bad weekend for the Dodgers you know, when you were talking at the beginning about should we lead with Chris Taylor or with the Dodgers getting, as you said, sweeped by the angels. I'm not sure about that. Yeah, it gets sweeped. Apparently, yeah. And I was going to say, the reason we led with Taylor is because this is a thing that we'll still remember in three weeks is Chris Taylor getting released.

We're not going to remember this because three weeks from now, three months from now, the Dodgers will be in first place, the angels will be in last place. and we will not remember other than, you know, it's kind of like that, the triple play the Padres turned last year, that stupid game ending triple play, which clinched a playoff spot for the Padres. And after how the rest of the season went, we can now watch that play and just laugh. Oh, you remember how excited they were

and how they thought that gave them a chance. Angel fans don't even think this gives them a chance. They just think, hey, look, we won our World Series. Hey, look, Mookie Betts was right. This was our World Series, and we won it. So congratulations. I hope they get the rings. I hope they get the parade. I hope they sell an extra seven tickets to put them up to 20,0007 per game. And, you know, I have nothing against the angels. I don't care. They're in a different league than the Dodgers literally and whatever the non-literally. I've got an English screen on the wall right now. Figuratively, that's the word. Sweeped. You know, so yeah, it sucks. It's not. fun to watch your team lose three straight games. That's my entire takeaway from that.

It made me glad that I have a policy of not getting upset about regular season games. Yeah, as I like to call you, occasionally much to your chagrin, I like to call you the voice of reason. And I share that sentiment as well, like this series, it sucks. It's frustrating, but these things happen over the course of a long season. The thing that makes it, I don't know if it's more difficult to kind of palate or stomach right now is it, it's really setting the team up what we're seeing right now more of the pitching staff it's setting this team up for kind of extended failure

or at least a little stretch of failure because the pitching staff, to say it's taxed, would be an understatement because the starting rotation continues to not get it done. You had Sunday Bloody Sunday with Tony Gonsland kind of struggling early with a thumb issue that affected his command, not that he wanted to assign any blame to that,

but Gonsland puts up his first real stinker start of the four that he's had this year. You know, Clayton Kershow, I haven't talked about him much online, but he struggled with command, you know, since, or in his first start, since, you know, surgery, his season debut, Dustin May wasn't fooling anybody on Friday, and that's leading to the bullpen, just getting beaten and battered, and we're seeing some real struggle,

struggles with two guys in particular. Alex Vescia and everybody's favorite lover, Anthony Bonda, they really love giving up homers right now. And I don't know if it's a symptom of the overuse or if maybe just the command, maybe they're a little bit off right now. But it's been, I don't want to say, I mean, yeah, tough to watch.

It has been tough to watch. What are your thoughts on the state of this rotation? and, you know, really, or I guess really the entire pitching staff and help being on the horizon for this team. Yeah, the starting rotation doesn't concern me as much. Obviously, there's concerns because they're not getting deep in games. But I do expect Kershaw to improve. I think that was a relatively expected lack of command in his first game pitching in 10 months in Dodgers Stadium in a real game that meant something. Tony Gonsland, I think it was a fluke.

I think it was definitely related to the thumb. And so both of those guys, I expect to probably be better the next time out. Dustin May, I have no idea what we have in Dustin May. He's in the rotation for now, just like Land and Nack. Both of those guys maybe get bumped from the rotation if and when guys get healthy. The bullpen right now, like the state of the current bullpen is really bad. You look at, the Dodgers have an entire elite bullpen on the injured list right now. Yeah.

Between, you know, Graterall, Enriquez, Kopeck, Phillips, Trinen, and Yates. Like, that's six guys. That's almost an entire bullpen who are somewhere between good and great. And instead, what they have in the active bullpen is Luis Garcia and Ryan Lutis and, you know, insert other names here. Yeah. Yeah. And then you've got Anthony Bonda, who apparently is bad now. And, you know, maybe they can figure that out. I don't know. I don't know, man. I feel like the clock struck midnight on Banda because if you look at the career stats, these are a lot more in line with what he had over the first X amount of years in his career as opposed to that, you know, outlier last year really hope I'm wrong on that. I think a lot of people would hope that we're wrong on that. But yeah, I agree. There's so many quality arms that we're left, wait. on. Kopeck as well, one of those guys you mentioned.

You know, he's, he struggled a bit in his, you know, attempted ramp up on minor league rehab assignment. What, he gave up five runs in his first inning, or his first outing, gave up, or recorded no outs. He did throw three strikes out of 23 pitches, though. Well, that's good. I mean, it plays. No.

No? Doesn't play? And then, you know, somebody asks in the chat, like, where the hell is bruised are? He's still not, you know, I think August. is kind of the target for Brewsdar. I've seen some murmurs that maybe Kyle Hurt is somebody who could be available later on in the season, like later, later, later on in the season for this team as he bounces back from Tommy John's surgery. But still, it kind of feels like right now what we see is kind of what they have.

And that's a bit concerning. And, you know, other names on the 40 men, if they decide to pull a Nick Frasso lover. I haven't looked at what Jackson Ferris has done in more recent vintage. Bobby Miller continues to be somebody who loves to walk a bunch of dudes, but can sometimes put together decent starts. Maybe it's time for him to move to the bullpen. It feels to me like suddenly, you know, what is it? Five months ago, Andrew Friedman said this,

that the goal is to not buy in July. It feels like this team needs to be buyers and not just for a couple of sprinkling pieces. Suddenly, they kind of need some serious help. At least it feels that way. Am I overreacting? you might be um it's may 19th right now yeah my father-in-law's birthday by the way happy birthday read happy birthday but uh the the trade deadlines two months away to over two months away

we don't know who's going to be available from other teams we don't know who's going to be available for the dodgers you know i think it's reasonable to think that copec and phillips and trinan and yates might be back by then you know and rikas was just showing us throwing in in Arizona. You know, he might be back with it. Five of those six guys could be back by then, at which point they're replacing the guys who, like Luis Garcia and Ryan Lutis and, you know,

the JP Fire Eyes enrol. And, you know, Lou Trevino was good in his first appearance. We'll see if, you know, maybe Lou Trevino is this year's Anthony Bonda or Ryan Brazier or whoever, you know, but it's way too soon to think that. But I have no idea what this bullpen is going to look like. like if everybody was healthy right now or if all these guys were injured, I feel like I would have just as much idea what the bullpen's going to look like in July,

no matter what, because we knew that Blake Trinan was 74 years old. And we knew that Kirby Yates was 79 years old, you know. And so the fact that they're injured isn't that surprising. You know, Evan Phillips hopefully is back soon and effective. Kirby Yates, it didn't look like a big thing. So, you know, they might have to buy. in July, but I don't know that we know anymore than we would if everybody was healthy right now.

Yeah, right now it's just kind of, you know, weather the storm. That's what it feels like. This team's going to have to do. Luckily, what, three more games before they get a much needed day off. And this was, I think, the most difficult stretch of their schedule, at least not in terms of quality of opponent, even though apparently that's a problem because they lose, you know, one to the athletics and they lose three to the angels, which is always fun. watch but um you know playing what was it the 20 games not 20 games 19 games of 20 days something

like that they've been playing a lot of baseball and they doesn't be much easier over the next few weeks so they've only got like two two days off in the next three weeks or something like that so uh yeah it's a bad time to be short on pitching yeah uh and that's what you see guys like louis Garcia pitching three games in a row. It's like, hey, guess what, dude? We don't care about your arm. This is why we're paying you money to go out there and be our sacrificial lamb. But yeah, in a one-run game, they would much rather run out a better pitcher. In a tie game, they would much rather not have Anthony Bonda go back out for a second inning. But the options aren't there right now. They are not there. They might not be there for a little while. But, Jeff, I appreciate

you hanging out with me. The show has run long. So I'm going to quickly talk about a dog. before I ended up wrapping up. You want to look at this dog with me? I love looking at dogs. All right. We're going to look at this dog for Alana, guys. This is Last Licks. And as usual, on Last Licks, we have ourselves a good paparoni.

This is Lolita. She is a two-month-year-old, two-month-year-old, two-month-old pity mix. And she, listen, listen, sometimes words are hard. I got a lot of buttons in front of me, man. Let me tell you that much. But this is a loving pepperoni that needs some love, needs a home. It could also probably use some support. through Gidreys Guardian.

They're always looking for any sort of donations, any sort of help. But do reach out to Alana or gidreysgarden.org for, if you're interested in adopting that dog or any other dogs, any way that you can help out Gidreys and Alana, she would very much appreciate it. That's probably about time to hit the wrap it up button because, listen, we can talk about the Dodgers all day long as we usually do, but we like lockdown, try to keep this to about a 30-minute show. live later on tonight. I don't know if I'm going to do

on All Dodgers tonight because I got some things going on at work that I got to deal with, but either way, make sure you give that man a follow at Snide Dog. I appreciate you joining me. Watch him on Locked-on Dodgers every single day of your life or at least five days a week, sometimes more.

That's it. Any final thoughts before I sign off? I'm glad I looked at that cute doggie. That's what we want to hear, guys. Please like the show, rate the show on your your podcast platform, subscribe to the show. We are super close to 10,000 subscribers.

Alana and I would very much appreciate it if you would be the 10,000th. Couldn't do it without you quite literally. We will be back. I think Alana and I will be back postgame on Wednesday, not Tuesday, Wednesday night. So we will see you then. Bye.

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