Podcast: ‘Dugout Blues’ episode 167 – Rumors, good offense, Alvarez

On this episode of “Dugout Blues,” Jared Massey (Dodger Blue) and I record 20 hours before the non-waiver trade deadline. Spoiler alert: There were no trades during our recording time.

We did talk about all the rumors involving the Dodgers. Most prominent were Jay Bruce and Chris Archer. I truly believe Archer is their No. 1 target. The also have interest in Matt Moore, Josh Reddick, Rich Hill, Chris Sale and maybe even Jonathan Lucroy after he vetoed the deal that was to send him to Cleveland.

The reason there haven’t been any deals yet is because the market is crazy, but also because the front office is busy working on some 5-team, 19-player deal, because that’s what happens.

The offense has been really good this month, with most of the big bats finally producing at the same time: Yasmani Grandal, Howie Kendrick, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Justin Turner. This is great considering every Dodger pitcher is getting hurt.

Speaking of Archer, he put forth one hell of an audition against LA on Tuesday. While he gave up three runs, only one was earned, and he struck out eight in seven innings. He’d be the perfect fit for this team. Moore followed up the next day with a solid outing of his own. They also took 2-of-3 from Arizona over the weekend, including a 14-run outburst on Sunday.

On the farm, Yadier Alvarez has been quite impressive in his first professional season. He has 50 strikeouts in 33 innings between the AZL and Midwest League. Oh, and he also hit 101 MPH with his fastball on Sunday. That’ll play. Edwin Rios hit his first home run in Double-A since his promotion. His raw power is almost unmatched in the system, but he’s extremely aggressive at the plate. Omar Estevez has played well for the Loons this season and is looking to be surprisingly competent at shortstop (for now). He might have been a nice $12 million investment.

We end with a lengthy Q&A session full of trade questions … and some submissions that weren’t actually questions.

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Look for new episodes of “Dugout Blues” every Monday. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we’re always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

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About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.