It was one of those tweets that immediately made you grab your chin and say Hmmm…. Late Wednesday night, MLB Trade Rumors posted this on Elon Musk’s new Twitter:
Although you could almost hear a loud “Noooo!” echoing throughout LA on the warm Southern California night, it did cause pause for Dodgers fans to at least think about it, even if only for a moment.
Consider this: In the 115 games that the (now) 35-year-old Anaheim, CA native and third round draft pick in 2009 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of UC Riverside appeared in during his three seasons with the Dodgers (2019-2021), he posted a 7-4 record and a respectable 3.59 ERA while striking out 94 and walking 35. He also surrendered only nine home runs to the combined 450 batters he faced while wearing Dodger Blue.
Where that pause may come into play is because of the infamous pouty face that the eccentric 6′-1″/174-pound (very) hard-throwing right-hander made his after intentionally throwing at Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa during the 2020 season in retaliation for the Astros cheating scandal in 2017, even though Kelly wasn’t even on the team then and for which he received an eight game suspension from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Needless to say, Kelly falling on his sword forever endeared him with a good many Dodgers fans.
Although there has been no official word from the Dodgers on whether or not President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is indeed seriously considering re-signing Kelly, with the Dodgers in desperate need of both starting and relief pitching help, it may not be as far-fetched as some Dodgers fans may think it is.
But with nearly every MLB team in need of pitching help, someone will make a play for Joe Kelly before the July 31 trade deadline, of that you can be sure.
Play Ball!
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Not a fan of the oft injured Kelly, but I’m all in if Chisox will pick up the remainder of his salary for this season, include Aaron Bummer while taking back Phil Bickford and Alex Vesia.