Tag / Cody Bellinger

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Dodgers All Time Leaders – Through 2025

dodgersTo paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  As we head into 2026, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers began life in Brooklyn in 1883, moving to their current home on the west coast, along with their rival Giants, in 1957.  I’ve seen 177 players wearing the Dodger blue in the 30 games I’ve seen them play live, including the first two games of their 2008 NLDS sweep against the Cubs and their pennant-clinching victory in the 2017 NLCS.

Home Runs

Name Total
Kiké Hernandez 5
Matt Kemp 2
James Loney 2
Manny Ramirez 2
Justin Turner 2
Cody Bellinger 2

Hits

Name Total
James Loney 20
Matt Kemp 14
Russell Martin 14

Runs

Name Total
James Loney 12
Russell Martin 8
Rafael Furcal 8

RBI

Name Total
James Loney 12
Kiké Hernandez 10
Matt Kemp 9

Doubles

Name Total
James Loney 5
Matt Kemp 3
Juan Pierre 3
Freddie Freeman 3

Triples Continue reading →

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A Change Will Do You Good

In a move that was expected after last week’s Kyle Tucker trade, the Cubs have sent Cody Bellinger, along with cash considerations, to the Yankees.  In exchange, they receive Cody Poteet, a 30-year-old relief pitcher with 24 career major league appearances.

Bellinger, a former MVP, is owed $52.5 million over the next two seasons, with the Cubs will be sending $5 million to help cover that cost. He hit .286 with 44 home runs and 175 RBIs in his two seasons on the north side.  When he suits up for the Yankees, he, and his father Clay, will become the fourth father/son duo to play for the team, joining Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., Ron and Ike Davis, and Yogi and Dale Berra.

This is a salary dump, pure and simple.  What, if anything, the Cubs do with that money will determine if this trade is a winner or a loser.

Bellinger’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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Making A Move

Looking to make a splash of their own, the Cubs acquired outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Astros in exchange for Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and Cam Smith.  Tucker, 27, is a three-time All-Star and has averaged over 5 WAR over the past four seasons.  He is in his final year of arbitration and will become a free agent after the season.

The price for this single season of Tucker is fairly steep.  Paredes, reacquired by the Cubs at the trade deadline last summer, was penciled in as the starting third baseman and was under cheap team control through 2027.  Wesneski split time between the bullpen and the rotation last year and was a useful piece.  Smith was the team’s 2024 first round draft choice and is the 73rd ranked prospect in baseball.

Given Tucker’s contract situation, this looks like a win-now move for a team that has been mired in mediocracy since tearing down the remnants of their championship roster in 2021.  The next steps would seem to be moving on from Cody Bellinger to free up salary.  What happens after that is anyone’s guess at this point.

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FB10: Week 14

An up and down week, starting strong and then building back up after work got in the way.  A trip to Purdue on Sunday for Danny’s last band concert got the week off to a good start, finishing with 5000 steps.  Things kept pace on Monday, coming just 39 steps shy of 5000.  A midday escape down to Wrigley Field for a photo op with Cody Bellinger on Tuesday left me with 4500 steps.  A dramatic crash occurred on Wednesday, as I needed 29 steps just to reach 3500.  Things improved on Thursday, rising above 3800 steps.  Friday continued the upward swing, finishing over 4100 steps, despite rainy weather which caused me to skip the White Sox game.  Saturday jumped up again, ending the week on a high note with just 36 additional steps needed to get to 4500.

Total steps: 30,442

Daily average: 4348.9

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Belli’s Back

A week into spring training, the Cubs made perhaps their biggest move of the offseason, bringing back Cody Bellinger on a three-year, $80 million contract.  Bellinger, who was looking for a long-term deal in the $200 million neighborhood, has the ability to opt-out of the deal after the first two seasons.

Bellinger, who won the 2019 NL MVP award for the Dodgers, had a strong season with the Cubs in 2023 after years of injuries and struggles knocked his career trajectory off track.  He notched his highest totals in home runs, RBIs, average, OPS+, and WAR since that 2019 season.  Hoping to turn that success into long-term security, he turned down his option for the 2024 season and became a free agent.  The deal he was looking for, however, was nowhere to be found, likely because he has to prove that last year’s performance was the start of a trend and not a one-time resurrection.

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2017 BBWAA Award Predictions

2016wsballThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Jose Altuve, Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez

Francisco Lindor was was my pre-season selection to win the award this year, but he was left out of the top three in part to his teammate Jose Ramirez.  Judge should be a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, leaving Jose Altuve to take home the award, adding to his hardware.

Cy Young Award: Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Luis Severino

Ironically, in his first year away from the White Sox, Chris Sale will finally win his first Cy Young award.

Manager of the Year: Terry Francona, A.J. Hinch, Paul Molitor

Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I’m guessing the surprising Twins will give Paul Molitor some love, but A.J. Hinch should take home the award.

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Benintendi, Aaron Judge, Trey Mancini

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  Judge just might be a unanimous selection.

National League

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