On the most recent episode of Ross Stripling and Cooper Surles ‘Big Swing Podcast’, they sat down with ESPN insider Jeff Passan to discuss the off-season.
As part of the episode, Passan eventually interrogated Stripling as any good journalist would do. He asked about his view of the way the Dodgers have handled the off-season and Stripling is still maintaining hope. Here is the link to the full episode of the Big Swing Podcast:
WE ARE BACK! Check out our new episode with ESPN’s @JeffPassan! https://t.co/UfsNcx59IK
— The Big Swing Podcast (@bigswingpodcast) December 25, 2019
Keeping Faith
Stripling gave direct mention of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and credited him for raising an excellent young core of ballplayers. Many of the Dodgers’ biggest stars are homegrown players or were once diamonds in the rough.
“It is just the nature of the beast. We have won seven straight NL Wests but no World Series. You have a fan base that wants us to get over the hill, but you have a president in Andrew Friedman who can really develop guys and knows that we probably don’t need to make any moves and still win 100 games.”
With the current roster, the right-hander believes that the club can win 100 games. This is nothing new as the Dodgers have maintained relatively the same core for the last three years and have done well for themselves.
Full Episode
Holding Out Hope
The Dodgers have been involved on a variety of fronts this off-season from the trade market to the free agent market. Stripling is glad to see the Dodgers supposedly involved everywhere possible and believes that they still are on the verge of making a big move:
“The fact that this was such a top-heavy free agent class and there are major trade pieces, how could we not be in the mix when we have the prospects to get them and the money to pay them? I like that we are in on everyone. Obviously, our team does not want to trade our future for a Francisco Lindor or Mookie Betts, but I mean, if you have the chance to get that much better, how do you not explore it?”
The club is reportedly exploring different avenues to improve even though nothing has materialized yet. Just as Ross Stripling is holding out hope, so should we.
NEXT: LA Times Writer Questions Dodgers’ Objective to Win it All