OK, maybe Mattingly won’t get fired this week

By Craig CalcaterraMay 20, 2013, 2:00 PM EDT
16 Comments

In response to Ken Rosenthal’s column on the possible imminent end to Don Mattingly’s career in Los Angeles, Bill Shaikin reports thusly:

The Dodgers have “no plans” to fire Manager Don Mattingly when the team returns home Thursday or any time before then, a club official said late Sunday night.

So he’s safe. That is, unless the Dodgers are crazy-impulsive. Crazy-impulsive people do things without “plans” all the time. Like, say, drive to Canada the morning after some heavy drinking. Or get a tattoo while on vacation. Or trade for the most expensive players on a losing, in-fighting team late in the season.

You know, insane, last minute things.

UPDATE: Conflicting reports on the Blue Jays calling up Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

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By Craig CalcaterraApr 19, 2019, 3:35 PM EDT
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UPDATE: Welp, Hécto Gómez may not have this one right. Scott Mitchell of TSN is reporting that it’s “highly unlikely” Guerrero is recalled unless some sort of injury occurs, so I suppose we should all stand down.

Anyone up for keeping him down until the Super Two cutoff in June?

3:35 PM: Héctor Gómez‏, a baseball writer from the Dominican Republic, reports that The Blue Jays will call up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He will reportedly make his MLB’s debut on Tuesday. The Blue Jays have not confirmed this yet, but I’m sure we’ll hear sometime this weekend.

As we’ve noted over and over, Guerrero has nothing left to prove in the minors and has not had anything to prove there for some time. Guerrero is currently 7-for-17, with a line of .412/.500/.824 in five Triple-A games this year. In one he hit the ball clear the heck out of the stadium. This coming off a 2018 season in which he hit .381/.437/.636 with 20 home runs and 78 RBI in 408 minor league plate appearances.

A minor injury in spring training made Guerrero unavailable for Opening Day and gave the Jays cover to keep him down in the minors to start the season. With that Guerrero is ensured of not getting a full year’s worth of service time in 2019 and thus the Jays have obtained a full six years of control of him after this season. As such, there really is no baseball nor business reason to keep him down on the farm any longer.