Ajaxtalk

His head down, his body exhausted, Kenley Jansen walked off the mound, unable to tame the remorseless beast that is the Astros offense. No one on his team could, not Sunday, in a game that lasted 5 hours 18 minutes and pushed the Dodgers one defeat away from the offseason, down 3-2 in the series. The outcome felt cruel, for the Dodgers did not wilt. They just could not hold back their opponents.

“This is it,” Jansen said. “We can’t hang our heads.”

Their best was not good enough. The Dodgers handed Clayton Kershaw seven runs of support — and lost. They grabbed a lead on a fortuitous run-scoring triple by Cody Bellinger in the seventh inning — and lost. They overcame a three-run deficit in the ninth inning — and lost. They trusted Jansen to keep them afloat — and lost. The Astros were too much, too deep, too resourceful.

Masterful for so much of October, manager Dave Roberts saw his bullpen decisions backfire before the relentless pressure of Houston’s offense. On Sunday, the Astros launched five home runs as they broke Kershaw, broke Roberts’ in-game strategizing and broke Jansen. The fusillade may have broken the Dodgers. They will try to save their season Tuesday in Game 6 at Dodger Stadium.

Dubbel schreef:Dodgers brengen al na 2 innings Kershaw voor Yu.

AL West: Angels
How this team came within a win of .500 -- in a year in which Mike Trout missed more than six weeks, no less - remains one of life's great mysteries. It also inspires some hope that perhaps, with the right offseason investments and, of course, a full season of Trout, it can seriously challenge the defending champion Astros in 2018. Re-upping with Justin Upton was helpful, and one key to the deal was the way Upton's salary is backloaded. That, combined with the financial freedom finally afforded by Josh Hamilton's expired contract, gives the Angels the ability to do more. And do more they must. Third base and second base are basically black holes (in-season acquisition Brandon Phillips is now a free agent), and first base ain't no picnic, either.

With all of the above taken into account, perhaps it's no surprise that the Angels go into the offseason expecting to prioritize the position player group (Mike Moustakas, Neil Walker or Eric Hosmer would all be fine fits here) while largely betting on better health in their rotation. Billy Eppler has been at the helm for two years and has mostly had to do his club construction through the trade market. But this looks like his first opportunity with some money to burn.

At the GM meetings on Monday, Mets GM Sandy Alderson stressed the importance of bolstering the team's bullpen.

"Any way you cut it, the bullpen is becoming more important," Alderson said, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Newsday's Marc Carig revealed last week that Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom may be the only starting pitchers the Mets allow to face an opposing team the third time through the lineup each game. (MetsBlog)

Agent: Ohtani chooses Angels as destination

Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Baseball, released a statement on Friday revealing that the Japanese two-way phenom has chosen to join the Angels following a wild courtship from all 30 Major League teams.
http://beta.latimes.com/sports/mlb/la-s ... story.html

Dubbel schreef:Zat er aan te komen. Bijzondere transfer. League MVP plus MLB HR leader met 59 HR en Miami betaalt ook nog 10% van de 300 miljoen salaris (over 10 jaar) als ik het goed begrijp.
Blij dat Jeter niet bij Houston of Texas heeft gespeeld...

The acquisition of Stanton by the Yankees brings a dramatic swirl of trade rumors to a firm close. There had been speculation about Stanton’s availability as early as July, though a trade never materialized despite Stanton reportedly clearing revocable trade waivers. Early in November, reports surfaced that the Marlins were interested in moving Stanton (and other big contracts) in order to trim payroll to about $90MM before the start of the 2018 season. While the Marlins were able to work out the framework for deals "<strongwith the Cardinals and Giants, Stanton ultimately used his no-trade clause to block those deals. The Marlins were ultimately forced to settle for a lesser prospect return from the Yankees, although Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Yankees took on more of Stanton’s salary than the Cardinals were willing to. MLB Trade Rumors