Yu Darvish just wasn’t
going to cut it.
No, he wasn’t tipping
pitches in the JLB, but for new owner Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, Darvish
was a lone reliable starter during the regular season.
Even after an improbable
run to the NLCS in the JLB — he jumped from fourth to third in the final week of the
regular season, and in the NLDS, he watched his opponent purposely lose the
matchup on Sunday — the Dude knew there was room for major improvements.
A year of learning the JLB
taught him one major thing — you need pitching to win.
“Jumping in to the league last season with a
roster that had only one legit SP2 (Yu) and a guy like Matt Harvey, the DUDE
knew he had some work to do,” the Dude said. “However, it was worse than the
DUDE realized. After the keepers were in, the DUDE was surprised at just how
thin the available starting pitching were. The lack of available SPs led the
DUDE to take guys like Bellinger and
Rosario in the first rounds.”
In the long run, that may have worked out really well for the
Dude. Bellinger is one of the many cornerstone bats he has, and this offseason,
the Dude made some excellent moves to get himself in position to compete.
He added Gerritt Cole to pair with Darvish, as well as prospects
Luiz Gohara and Forrest Whitley via trade in the offseason. That trade also
came with the No. 2 overall pick, which he used to draft Johnny Cueto. He then
proceeded to draft pitchers — starters and relievers — with nine of his next 11
picks.
“Heading into 2018, the DUDE feels he’s positioned himself very
nicely via trade and the draft to make another run this year,” Dude said.
This all came about because of last year’s draft. The Dude, as
part of his drafting young bats in 2017, got Rafael Devers who can jump in and
make it bearable to trade Machado.
“Don't you mean Machoodo?” the Dude asked.
Yes, my bad. Machoodo. Go on.
“The reality of the situation was Machoodo needed a change of
scenery,” the Dude said, sipping his White Russian. “Machoodo was unhappy
playing in the shadow of Mr. Harper. Mr. Harper was diplomatic about the
situation throughout last season, but it was pretty evident there was a rift.
After the trade, morale is at an all-time high in the DUDE clubhouse. When Mr.
Harper saw the return, he did a jig, punched Papelbon (who was for some reason
hanging around the clubhouse), then did some Jager bombs.”
All his jokes aside, the Dude understands that no matter how tough
it was to hit accept on that deal, it was a button he had to press.
“The return for Machoodo was too good to pass up,” Dude said. “Cole,
Gohara, Whitley, Bichette and the No. 2 overall pick (Cueto).”
Well, that’s just like your opinion, man.
Sorry, had to quote Lebowski. You’re right. That’s an amazing
haul.
And now, the Dude has some great pitching to go with an offense
that really hasn’t lost much. He still has Bryce Harper, who I think is in for
another MVP season. He just has to stay healthy.
If he does that, boy, the Natinals will be upset to see that.
Bremmer will go crazy if McGuirk uses Harper to keep him out —
or even worse — knock him out of the playoffs.
“The Natinals, the Washington Capitals of Major League
Baseball,” the Dude said, sparking up the new National League rivalry before
they even play each other. “Can they make a damn NLCS already!?
“The DUDE offered to send Mr. Harper home to Bremmer, but it was
not in the Cards ('12) this offseason. The major sticking point was Bremmer
declining to provide Mr. Harper his own personal pet bear Cub ('17). The DUDE
looks forward to another season of Giant ('14) home runs from Mr. Harper. And
not unlike Trump, Mr. Harper will soon too be a Dodger ('16).
That’s some clever writing there, Dude. Why the hell am I
writing your preview?
Now I've learned a lesson. Give the Dude a pen and paper and tell him to write a few previews for me.
Hey, Dude, it's the least Yu can do.
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