July 14th, 2016 at 8:00 am 
by Evan Bladh At the unofficial halfway point of the season (+10 games), it is time to reassess the status of the club. This is a Dodger season that has been hampered by injuries and challenges for rookie manager Dave Roberts. Yet, the ball club remains in the hunt when they easily could have been buried by the red-hot San Francisco Giants, who own the best record in the majors. Had the team gone into a tailspin, they could easily be 14-15 games back in the standings. Instead they kept pace, currently with the 4th best record in the National League, holding fast when many of us dreaded they would free fall into the second division when Kershaw’s back ailment surfaced.
The Dodgers will begin the second half with a record of 51-40 – the exact same record they had at the All-Star break in 2014 and 2015. (Photo credit – Dieter Ruehle)
With that said, there are 71 games remaining, many of which will be played within the division. Are we to look at the rest of the season positively? Will the offense rebound?
I throw these questions out to the ThinkBlueLA readership:
- Do the Dodgers catch the Giants and win their 4th consecutive Western Division Title?
- What will the Dodgers final regular season record be?
- Who do you consider to be the Dodger MVP for 2016 thus far? Seager or Kershaw?
- How many wins will be needed to win the NL West?
- What is the biggest surprise about the Dodgers this season so far?
- What grade would you give manager Dave Roberts at this point of the season?
- Who will be the comeback player of the second half for the Dodgers?
- Who will regress and not perform as well during the second half?
- What is the Dodgers greatest need at the trade deadline?
- Would you be willing to trade Yasiel Puig at the trade deadline?
- What player(s) should be uneasy about being traded at the trade deadline?
- Ninety wins – Will the Dodgers be over or under that threshold?
- How many wins will the Dodgers need to qualify for post season as a wild card entry?
- On August 1st, who will be the starting five in the Dodger pitching rotation?
- Will Julio Urias return and make a contribution in September?
- Will Brett Anderson return to the club this season?
- Will Andre Ethier contribute this year?
- Is there any doubt that Seager will be the NL Rookie of the Year?
- If Jose De Leon is part of a trade package at the deadline, who must the Dodgers obtain in return?
- Does Adrian Gonzalez comeback and finish with over 15 homers, .290 BA and 90+ RBIs?
- Do the Dodgers go after Lucroy or do they hope that Grandal’s recent hot streak lead to a second half comeback?
- If the Dodgers fail to win the pennant, is this season considered to be a failure?
- Will Kershaw win the NL Cy Young?
- What is the Dodgers biggest hole to fill, and how would you fix it?
- Do you consider the Friedman/Zaidi team a success thus far?
Feel free to comment below.
Posted in 
I think Kershaw will be the Dodger MVP. At this point I’d give Roberts an A with how he’s done so far. I think Utley, because of his age will falter, although I think he’s done a great job thus far. I think we should trade Puig only if we can get something really good in return. I don’t believe the Dodgers will win 90 games (88) but it will be enough to get to the wild card game. I don’t think think the Dodgers will catch the Giants. I think Seager will win the Rookie of the Year award. To me it would be a successful season if the Dodgers get back to the postseason.
It’s hard for me to judge how well Friedman/Zaidi are doing at this point. I find it difficult to answer the rest of the questions.
I agree with your successful season and Friedman/Zaidi assessments. The Friedman/Zaidi report card will come after the 2018 payroll clearance, and whether they can get Kershaw to extend.
I do not see how the Dodgers can catch the SF. SF is playing over their head, but they will also be getting Pence, Panik, and Duffy back. Ramiro Pena has done a great job as a fill-in. And they have the best manager in MLB. I predicted that the Dodgers would win 89 games before the season, so I see no reason to change. The biggest surprise for me is to see the Dodgers 11 games over .500 with the number of DL days they have experienced…especially at SP, and the way the BP has come through as a group, but especially Liberatore. As good as Seager has been, IMO Kershaw is the Dodger MVP. To me Seager is NL ROY, but I can see votes going to Trevor Story and Aledmys Diaz.
I believe that Roberts has grown tremendously in his role. His game decisions are head-scratching at times, but maybe that is me who has the benefit of hindsight. I believe where Roberts has really grown is in how he manages the BP. It started out rough, but once he figured out who he could trust in high leverage situations, the BP has been lights out.
With respect to trades, Friedman has indicated that he is looking at elite players. I have not really heard any elite player names. Dodgers need SP, but if Ryu can come back, that need lessens. But there are no Price or Hamels being considered available. Sonny Gray may or may not be available, but he is questionable this year. Teheran is not available. Elite to me would be Jose Fernandez, and we know the Fish are not selling. The only intriguing arms that I can think of are Drew Pomerantz and maybe Jake Odorizzi. Chris Archer falls into the Sonny Gray column; too questionable to acquire at the cost required. No to Hellickson, Santana, or Cashner.
They need an 8th inning set up reliever, but I do not see the A’s moving Dull or the Rox moving McGee or the Bucs moving Melancon. Too much competition for the Miller/Chapman quest. The cost is going to be prohibitive. No to Abad or Madsen or Ramirez.
They could use a corner OF, but I am not inclined to support a Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, or Jay Bruce trade. I also do not believe that Melvin Upton is much of an upgrade (if any). I am not aware of any other corner OF who might be available. They might as well stay with the potential of Puig and see if Ethier can come back to platoon with Thompson. Maybe Grichuk or Piscotti.
They could use a 3B, but I have not heard that Kyle Seager or Josh Donaldson are available (elite 3B). I could get used to Matt Adams at 3B, but I have no idea at what cost.
I would be comfortable with a Lucroy trade, if the cost does not include a Jose De Leon level prospect.
I do not want to see Friedman make a trade just to do so. There really is not anyone available that will get the Dodgers closer to a WS this year that may cost the future. They have way too many RHSP that are ML ready or soon to be, so I hope they can package some of those and try to get an elite corner OF, 3B, or catching prospect.
Scratch Pomerantz. Red Sox just got him.
Word I’ve got is Lucroy has a not trade list and doesn’t like big cities. If both are true Los Angeles is likely on it.
What’s the 3b deal. That red-headed guy is solid there.
Turner is solid, but he is a FA and not likely to be re-signed. He does not appear to be someone Friedman/Zaidi would sign a multi-year contract for (wrong side of 30). The Dodgers do not have any ML ready infield prospects so if they can package some of that RHP and get someone just below an Alex Bregman, I would go for that.
But your first point is more important. Drew Pomerantz for at least Bosox #4 prospect. And Boston has a good farm. If that is what Pomeranz is bringing back, I cannot see any trade scenario for an elite player that Friedman will go for, and honestly I am okay with that. Boston is obviously all in this year. Now let’s see what Cleveland, Baltimore, and Toronto have to counter.
I know Lucroy mentioned NY as non trade city, but I never heard about LA. I agree that he would not likely sign an extension with LA so it is probably not worth what he would probably cost. But he was the only “elite’ player that I thought could be acquired.
Sorry for taking so long to answer. A forest fire had my internet shut down all day yesterday.
Regarding JT: The topic is the remainder of this year, which is what I was responding to. As far as going forward, JT likely wants to stay with the Dodgers since he lives in Bellflower, therefore may take less to stay.
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