Dodger Talk

And hey, we spent a lot on Steve Nash and that didn't exactly work out. I was all for it, too.

 

Of course that looks better, but Kansas City doesn't have anyone close to a Kershaw or a Greinke and they still won it all with a well-balanced 25-man roster.

So no, it's the exact opposite of how it works in the NBA.

 

You're right about the comparison, but likewise, it's not the same as Kevin Durant either.

 

Right, but again it's a different sport.

In the NBA you almost have to need a superstar or two or three. In the MLB, wins are more based on a collective 25-man roster, not piling on superstars.

Okay, I understand. What I'm seeing is you want to have your cake and eat it too. Have Greinke AND everybody else we signed, or have Greinke AND David Price or something like that. Yes, that sounds great, and I wanted that as well.

But even if it didn't happen, we still shored up our team in other areas, so all hope shouldn't be lost. And yes, the Dodgers team can lose money if they keep overspending, so I can see why we didn't give him the keys to the kingdom.

I'm sad to see him go too! But I still think our other guys and our depth are more than capable of delivering a lot of wins this year.

So if we lost out on LeBron James but instead shored up with 2 or 3 other solid pieces, that would sit well with me but strictly in a baseball sense, and definitely not in a basketball sense.

 

Well, we lost today. But hey, that happens when you only have one true starter in your lineup! And even then we still have to hope Pederson will do a little better than last year and not be the same guy he was the second half of the season.

All our pitchers seemed to do pretty well except for Howell. Dude is kind of an enigma. He has the lowest ERA, but he seems to let runners on base all the time, only to get bailed out, lol.

And hey, a Mondesi sighting! Raul Mondesi's son, that is. Apparently he's playing for the Royals. I feel old.

 

There's hope for TV. Finally someone, Time Warner at least is offering a reduction in price to DirecTV and others not carrying the Dodgers yet. I think the Dodgers themselves should show good faith and work with TW on their contract pricing for TV if the mentioned price cut is still not enough. It's Vin Scully's last freaking year.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-channel-compromise-offer-20160322-story.html


Time Warner Cable lowers price of Dodgers channel, hoping to end stalemate
Meg JamesContact Reporter
Time Warner Cable is floating a proposal designed to end the standoff over distribution of the sports channel owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers to allow legions of Southern California baseball fans to enjoy Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully's final season in the broadcast booth.

Time Warner Cable said late Tuesday that it had cut by 30% the price of the sports channel offered to DirecTV and other pay-TV providers with the hope of spurring long-stalled negotiations over carriage of the channel before the new season begins April 4.

The move could provide a hoped-for breakthrough in the bitter dispute that has prevented thousands of Dodgers fans from watching their favorite team on TV for the last two seasons. Alternatively, Time Warner Cable could strike out once again, frustrating long-suffering fans.

“We owe it to Dodger fans to try to get a deal done, especially because of the historic nature of this year with it being [baseball announcer] Vin Scully's final season,” Time Warner Cable spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi said late Tuesday.


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Currently only baseball fans in 1.8 million homes in Southern California served by Time Warner Cable or Charter Communications have access to the channel owned by Guggenheim Baseball Management. Time Warner Cable distributes the channel on behalf of the team.

DirecTV, AT&T, Verizon and Cox Communications have balked at the price of the channel that Time Warner had been demanding. Pay-TV providers have been under pressure to hold the line on programming costs because consumers are tired of seeing their pay-TV rates increase every year.

The stalemate between Time Warner Cable and other providers has roiled politicians and fans who receive their TV service from DirecTV, Verizon, AT&T and Cox Communications. Those companies all have refused to carry the channel, citing its high cost.

Because of the channel's limited distribution, Time Warner Cable has lost well over $100 million a year since 2014. The company is motivated to try to bring in fees from other pay-TV providers to mitigate its losses.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>

Time Warner Cable executives late Tuesday declined to discuss the new rate for the channel but confirmed that the company was offering distributors SportsNet LA at a 30% discount compared with last season's prices. According to SNL Kagan, the channel had been offered for about $4.90 per month per subscriber home.

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As part of the new proposal, Time Warner Cable has offered the channel to other providers at a cost of about $3.50 per month per subscriber home, according to two people familiar with the proposal who were not authorized to discuss deal terms.

The lower rate would bring the cost of SportsNet LA more in line with the industry average for regional sports networks. Until now, the Dodgers channel was the second-most-expensive regional sports channel, behind the YES Network, which carries New York Yankees games, according to SNL Kagan.

The team and Time Warner Cable have been trying to encourage DirecTV to take the deal, which would double the circulation of the Dodgers channel almost overnight. DirecTV declined late Tuesday to comment.


The four types of fan reactions to Time Warner Cable's ongoing Dodgers channel plight
The move marks the first time that Time Warner Cable has slashed the price of the channel to try to entice other pay-TV providers to come back to the bargaining table. Last season came and went without a deal — or even substantial progress in negotiations between the various companies.

But the campaign to end the stalemate took on greater urgency in recent weeks because this will be Scully's 67th and final year as the Dodgers' television announcer. Scully plans to retire after the 2016 season.

Scully began calling the games back in 1950 when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn.

The proposal by Time Warner Cable would be a one-year deal covering the upcoming season.

So far, none of the other pay-TV providers have agreed to play ball, although talks with at least two providers are in the early stages and are expected to accelerate in the next week, said two knowledgeable people who asked not to be identified.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>
Time Warner Cable, in a statement, said late Tuesday that it was not sure whether the other pay-TV providers would finally drop their objections to carrying the channel — at least not before the season begins.

“We've had discussions with several providers but we don't expect any other distributors to carry SportsNet LA by opening day,” Fegyveresi said in a statement. He encouraged fans to switch to Charter or Time Warner Cable.

There already was great hope that this would be the year that the blackout would finally end because of ownership changes among pay-TV distributors. Charter Communications is close to winning federal approval for its $67-billion takeover of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, which also carries the Dodgers channel.

Last June, Charter agreed to finally carry SportsNet LA in Southern California, several weeks after announcing its deal to buy Time Warner Cable. Charter Chief Executive Tom Rutledge had pledged to try to make the Dodgers channel more widely available should his company win approval to take over Time Warner Cable's operations.


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However, Charter probably won't close on its huge merger until mid-May at the earliest — more than six weeks into the new season.

In addition, Frontier Communications on April 1 is taking over Verizon's pay-TV operations and that company, which is new to the region, might have an incentive to sign up for the channel.

If a deal can't be reached, it will be the third baseball season that a majority of homes in the region would not have access to Dodgers baseball. In some areas, such as Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates and southern Orange County, consumers do not have the option of receiving the channel because Cox Communications and DirecTV have declined to carry the channel.

“We hope we can come to an agreement with TWC SportsNet LA that does not burden our customers with excessive price increases,” Cox said in a statement.

 

Crap! ..... this offer from TWC is smoke and mirrors, while the Dodgers themselves do even less than that ..... nothing. It's only a 1 year 30% discount according to this article today from Bill Plaschke.

http://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20160325/282132110572487/textview

 

Eff Magic and his group and the Dodgers for not fixing this last season after screwing their fan base already for one full season. 2 seasons now and heading for 3 .... they are losing fans over this. A-holes.

 

ITFDB!

 

Not a bad opening day and first win for Dave Roberts. 15-0 over San Diego (opening day shut out record over old 14-0). Kershaw 7 innings 1 hit 9 Ks. I guess it happened because I read about it. No TV for me.

http://www.usnews.com/news/sports/a...aw-brilliant-as-dodgers-embarrass-padres-15-0

 

Team looks amazing

 

Late to the party, but what a way to start the season! Tough loss today, though. I've said all along, I'm not sure about Wood, and if the dude doesn't do well after 4 or 5 more games, I expect to see Zach Lee or Carlos Frias replace him somehow.

I also don't expect Stripling to win his first game Major League game tomorrow, being in San Francisco of all places, lol, but hopefully we'll at least take Game 3 with Kershaw on the mound.

Speaking of Stripling, he has a lot of promise but has been mostly forgotten because of TJ. Maybe he'll surprise us tomorrow, so we'll see.