TORRANCE TRIBUNE December 14, 2017 Page 5
Dodgers Preparing for Another
Successful Season After Near Title
By Adam Serrao
It may be difficult for fans of the Los Angeles
Dodgers to even think about baseball once
again after the team’s heartbreaking defeat in
last season’s World Series. After making it to
the very last game that they possibly could
have played, the Dodgers once again came
up short of their goal of attaining the team’s
first championship since 1988. Despite their
shortcomings, Dodgers president of baseball
operations Andrew Friedman and general
manager Farhan Zaidi have already begun
to discuss moves for the 2018 season and
remain optimistic about their team’s chances.
In fact, the Baseball Winter Meetings took
place this week and by the time this article
comes out, the Dodgers may very well have
made a deal or two. Though it may indeed
be difficult to think forward to next October,
what the Dodgers do in this offseason may
just be what gets the team over their horrific
postseason nightmares from seasons past.
“We’re excited and encouraged that a lot
of this group is going to be back and we’re
going to look for every way to make it better,”
Zaidi explained while addressing his team’s
chances next season. “It was exhilarating
to get to the World Series, to see our fans
respond to it. In the last few years we’ve
taken steps each year to get to the ultimate
goal. And our goal is a year from now, we’ll
be able to say that was another step for us.”
But what can the Dodgers do to take that
next step? The team already finished with
the best record in the entire league and
made history at various points throughout
the regular season for their prolific play. Yet,
still, no World Series. The biggest stars on
the team like Clayton Kershaw and Kenley
Jansen--who had been counted on all season
long to get the best players in all of baseball
out--simply failed to do so. So how do you
make a team that was already considered
to be the best in baseball, yet failed under
the pressure of the postseason, even better?
Well, despite being in the running for
two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani since
August, the team recently lost out on that
bidding war to the Los Angeles Angels.
Giancarlo Stanton remained a longshot trade
option for the Dodgers before he also signed
elsewhere with the New York Yankees. That
left L.A. with the offseason task of filling
needs in the bullpen, possibly at second base,
certainly at starting pitching and definitely in
the starting lineup, all while having already
missed out on this offseason’s two hottest
commodities. So, where else could the team
look to get better?
Brandon Morrow was a gem for the Dodgers
last year, specifically in the playoffs. Unfortunately
for Los Angeles, Morrow played so
well that he earned a role as a closer and a
contract that matches. Sure enough, he signed
with the Cubs last weekend. Logan Forsythe
didn’t necessarily set the world on fire in his
first year in Dodger blue and can be seen
as one weakness in an otherwise healthy
Dodgers lineup. Bringing back Chase Utley
to platoon at second could be an option, but
his intangibles certainly outweigh his playing
abilities at this point in his career. Kershaw,
Rich Hill and Alex Wood will be back at
the top of the rotation for L.A., but a clear
number two starter who may or may not be
named Yu Darvish could be in the team’s
sights. Andrew Toles could join Alex Verdugo
as possible offensive additions to the lineup,
but fans would have likely much rather seen
a big-name bat like Stanton step to the plate
in between Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger.
As far as other free agent targets go for
the Dodgers who are not named Ohtani,
Stanton or Darvish, look for the team to
possibly make a strong push for Lorenzo
Cain. Cain would provide the club with a
great right-handed hitting bat who could hit
pitchers who throw either right or left. He
also won a World Series with the Kansas
City Royals and is almost as reliable as they
come in the outfield. As far as pitching goes,
don’t be surprised to see Los Angeles in on
the Jake Arrieta hype. Dodger fans have
almost certainly grown at least an acute dissatisfaction
with the Cubs and their former
players, but the right-handed ex-Cy Young
Award-winning Arrieta might just look good
in the pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium with
Rick Honeycutt tweaking his delivery.
One thing to understand about the Dodgers
and their front office executives is that they
have the tendency to not rely on expensive
free agent trades (like Stanton) or signings
to come in and save the day for the team.
Friedman and Zaidi took over with the promise
to create a sustainable model for success.
So far, they’ve done so, all while relying on
players like the previously unknown Chris
Taylor and others from the farm system like
Bellinger who don’t tend to initially break
the bank. The Dodgers will be near the top
or at the top of the MLB in payroll in 2018.
That figure is designed to drop drastically in
subsequent years. All that said don’t expect
the guys who are calling the shots to pull
the trigger on high-figured free agents. The
front office has a plan in place. Unfortunately
for the fans, it doesn’t involve taking on any
other large contracts that would force them
into paying the luxury tax next season.
The 2018 season is still months away with
162 games to be played that seemingly take
ages to complete beyond that. The Dodgers’
success next year is hard for fans to think
about right now, especially after feeling like
they’ve already missed out on two players
who could become huge difference-makers
like Ohtani and Stanton. Once the season
does start, though, the entire Dodger faithful
can rely on the fact that the team will once
again be among the league’s elite. Even
with a lineup closely resembling the one
that took the field last season, Dodger fans
will certainly still be able to look forward
to competing for a sixth straight NL West
title and a World Series appearance for what
should become the second year in a row.
– Aserrao6@earthlink.net - @UpandAdam6 •
Up and Adam
West High Basketball Is Already
Rolling in Pioneer League Games
By Adam Serrao
The season may still be young, but the West
High Warriors basketball team is already finding
a way to separate from the rest of its rivals from
the Pioneer League. The Warriors began regular
season play nearly three weeks ago and have been
on fire ever since. Under head coach Neal
Perlmutter, West jumped out to a 5-1 record
through the first six games--with the team’s
only loss of the year coming in the third round
of the Mira Costa Tournament to Brentwood.
Behind the strong play of junior guard Alex
Mishaw and the elite play of his teammates
Justin Hight and Nick Snyder, to name a few,
the Warriors are already making a name for
themselves and look to be a force to be reckoned
with during the 2017-18 basketball season.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the start
to the regular season by the Warriors isn’t even
the fact that they have been winning so often, but
more that they have taken wins in most of those
games by double digits. In four of the team’s
first five victories of the year, West has enjoyed
victories of at least 10 points or more. The
Warriors won their first two games of the season
against Executive Prep Academy of Finance
and Carson by 18 and 17 points respectively,
making a clear statement to the rest of the
league by starting the year off on the right foot.
Certainly, the schedule is bound to get tougher
for the Warriors in games that are left to be
played, but Perlmutter’s club has already shown
that it can win the close ones too. In a game
played last Wednesday on the road taking on
the Foothill Knights, West stuck to the script
it has followed all season long. By putting up
31 points in the first half, the Warriors began
the game hot and took a five-point lead going
into the half.
A strong second half showing by Mishaw,
including 10 points in the fourth quarter, allowed
the Warriors to increase their lead. Foothill
battled back behind the 12 points and five
rebounds of their leading scorer, Jacob Jang.
Ultimately, Mishaw, Hight and company proved
to be too much, as they have proven to be to
most every team they have faced this season
so far. Mishaw’s 24 points, Hight’s 13 points
and nine rebounds, and Snyder’s nine points
and eight assists were all enough to give the
team a nice 58-52 team victory.
The Warriors will enjoy a brief two-week
break for the holidays before getting back
into action against the Westview Wolverines
in tournament play near the end of the month.
It won’t be long before West (5-1) will enter
league play to take on foes from around the
city of Torrance. At this point, judging by how
the beginning of the regular season has gone,
the Warriors have to be licking their chops for
the opportunity to take down any and all of
their Pioneer League rivals.
South High
Though a new season brought with it an
opportunity for a new beginning, the South
High Spartans seem to be stuck in the same
boat that they sank in last year. After finishing
the season in last place and with four straight
losses one season ago, the Spartans have opened
up the new basketball year with losses in each
of their first three games--including a 48-42
loss at the hands of the Bonita Bearcats in this
year’s Valley Christian Tournament.
If there is any solace at all for head coach
Leo Klemm and his team, it lies in the fact
that all of the losses that they have suffered
so far this season were the result of very close
finishes. In addition to the six-point loss to the
Bearcats, the Spartans (0-3) have also taken a
three-point loss at the hands of the Palos Verdes
Sea Kings and a six-point loss at the hands of
the Diamond Ranch Panthers. There is a lot
of season left to play. Klemm and company
will look to use that fact to their advantage
in order to get things turned around this year.
North High
Like other Pioneer League teams, the North
High Saxons (0-5) have been struggling to begin
this year’s boys’ basketball season. Through
the team’s first five games of the year, the
Saxons have failed to record one win. Losses to
Westchester, Van Nuys and Artesia all highlight
a winless record through five games of play
for North. A matchup against Peninsula this
week will round out the beginning-of-the-year
schedule for North before the team takes a
winter break and then gets league play started
in early January.
Torrance High
Like most of their counterparts from the
Pioneer League, the Torrance Tartars have
failed to get a win through their first four
games of the season this year. The West High
Warriors must be smacking their lips as they
look through the standings and see three of
their inner-city rivals struggling to get started
this year. Torrance took a disastrous 61-36
loss at the hands of Rolling Hills Prep to open
the season before subsequently falling to Mira
Costa, Gardena and Carson respectively. The
Tartars (0-4) began the year slowly last season
as well, losing three in a row to start the
regular season. That team eventually finished
in second-to-last place in the Pioneer League
standings, ahead of only South High. Head
coach Paul Nitake and company will be looking
to avoid a similar fate this season.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com - @UpandAdam6 •
City Council • School Board • Events Calendar • Local News
BE IN THE KNOW
Herald Publication is now offering FREE digital delivery
of any of their community newspapers.
Be the first to know about upcoming local events.
IT’S EASY AND IT’S FREE!
Sign up at - http://bit.ly/2fMg4Eh
El Segundo Herald • Hawthorne Press Tribune • Lawndale Tribune • Torrance Tribune
“My commitment is to Los Angeles,
so whatever helps this continue to
be a great city, that’s what I would
be focused to do, and the Dodgers
are certainly iconic to Los Angeles.”
– Patrick Soon-Shiong