Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2018 6:23:52 GMT -5
For the first time since 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers are National League champions (AL&NL Rings championship rings). They dispatched the Cubs in five games in the NLCS. The Dodgers are now four wins away from their first World Series championship since that 1988 season. They'll play the Houston Astros in the World Series when it begins Tuesday.
Like every team, the Dodgers were assembled through all sorts of different methods. They are not solely a product of their payroll, as Jonah Keri explained. No team is built exclusively through the draft, or trades, or free agency. It's not possible. Teams need to have success acquiring talent through every avenue available. The Dodgers have done exactly that. Let's look at how the 2017 Dodgers (custom AL&NL Rings championship rings) were built.
The Draft:
The perfect world scenario for every team is building a homegrown core from within, through the amateur draft, then supplementing that core with trades and free agent signings. The Dodgers have done that. Their two best players are original Dodgers draft picks. Six of the 25 players on their NLCS roster were acquired through the amateur draft.Cody Bellinger's story is an interesting one. The kid who set the NL rookie record with 39 home runs this season was once a rail thin high schooler in Arizona who scouts weren't sure would hit for power. Bellinger is the son of a big leaguer -- his father Clay Bellinger played four years in MLB and won World Series titles with the 1999 and 2000 Yankees -- and offered excellent makeup, athleticism, and work ethic as an amateur. The Dodgers popped him in the fourth round and have helped him develop into one of the best young sluggers in the game.
Perhaps the most unlikely Dodger on the postseason roster.Kyle Farmer is a 27-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut in September and found his way onto the NLDS and NLCS (cheap championship rings) rosters as the third catcher. He's gone 0 for 4 as a pinch-hitter in the postseason so far. Farmer is widely regarded as an excellent catch-and-throw guy with enough hitting know-how to stick as a potential backup catcher long-term, plus he can play some third base as well.Kershaw was the 7th pick in 2006 and the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball a year later. He made his MLB debut on May 25, 2008, less than two years after being drafted, which is a remarkable ascent for a high school player. Of course, everything about Kershaw is remarkable. He is the best pitcher of his generation and already a surefire Hall of Famer with three Cy Youngs, a career 2.36 ERA, and +57.4 WAR to his credit.Had he not signed his then-pitcher record seven-year, $215 million contract in January 2014, Kershaw would've become a free agent during the 2014-15 offseason.
Like every team, the Dodgers were assembled through all sorts of different methods. They are not solely a product of their payroll, as Jonah Keri explained. No team is built exclusively through the draft, or trades, or free agency. It's not possible. Teams need to have success acquiring talent through every avenue available. The Dodgers have done exactly that. Let's look at how the 2017 Dodgers (custom AL&NL Rings championship rings) were built.
The Draft:
The perfect world scenario for every team is building a homegrown core from within, through the amateur draft, then supplementing that core with trades and free agent signings. The Dodgers have done that. Their two best players are original Dodgers draft picks. Six of the 25 players on their NLCS roster were acquired through the amateur draft.Cody Bellinger's story is an interesting one. The kid who set the NL rookie record with 39 home runs this season was once a rail thin high schooler in Arizona who scouts weren't sure would hit for power. Bellinger is the son of a big leaguer -- his father Clay Bellinger played four years in MLB and won World Series titles with the 1999 and 2000 Yankees -- and offered excellent makeup, athleticism, and work ethic as an amateur. The Dodgers popped him in the fourth round and have helped him develop into one of the best young sluggers in the game.
Perhaps the most unlikely Dodger on the postseason roster.Kyle Farmer is a 27-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut in September and found his way onto the NLDS and NLCS (cheap championship rings) rosters as the third catcher. He's gone 0 for 4 as a pinch-hitter in the postseason so far. Farmer is widely regarded as an excellent catch-and-throw guy with enough hitting know-how to stick as a potential backup catcher long-term, plus he can play some third base as well.Kershaw was the 7th pick in 2006 and the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball a year later. He made his MLB debut on May 25, 2008, less than two years after being drafted, which is a remarkable ascent for a high school player. Of course, everything about Kershaw is remarkable. He is the best pitcher of his generation and already a surefire Hall of Famer with three Cy Youngs, a career 2.36 ERA, and +57.4 WAR to his credit.Had he not signed his then-pitcher record seven-year, $215 million contract in January 2014, Kershaw would've become a free agent during the 2014-15 offseason.