[PilotMan]

1987 Post Season and Awards


The Expos have fired long time manager Jim Fanning. The 2-time Manager of the Year was let go after missing the playoffs for the first time in 6 years. A run that brought 1 Championship home to Montreal. The Expos also fired GM Jimmy Miller. The Expos finished 5^th place with a record of 76-86.


LA made a couple of coaching adjustments. They resigned hitting coach Omar Bernal to a cheap 2 year extension. Bernal is a very good coach. The team also let go of pitching coach Jim Gulley, who had been with the team for 2 years.


LA avoids arbitration with Pete O'Brien, Tony Phillips, Steve Sax, John Franco, and Ken Howell, by signing them all to 1 year deals.


AL Gold Glove Winners


P Sid Fernandez SEA (1)
C Tony Pena NYY (2)
1B Kevin Seitzer BOS (1)
2B Jeff Blauser BAL (1)
3B Tim Wallach CAL (2)
SS Dick Schofield CAL (1)
LF Barry Bonds CHI (2)
CF Joe Carter CHI (1)
RF Jesse Barfield TOR (2)


NL Gold Glove Winners


P Greg Maddux PHI (1)
C Bob Melvin PHI (1)
1B Andres Gallaraga MON (1)
2B Johnny Ray PIT (2)
3B Mike Pagliarulo CHI (1)
SS Ozzie Smith STL (6)
LF Willie McGee STL (1)
CF Gary Pettis HOU (1)
RF Glenn Wilson CHI (1)


AL Rolaids Reliever of the Year
Dave Smith TOR (3-3, 3.13, 36/39 S, 10.1 K/9)
Smith wins his 2^nd award in a row.


NL Rolaids Reliever of the Year
Lance McCullers PHI (4-5, 1.74, 37/42 S, 8.6 K/9)


AL Silver Slugger Awards


C Ernie Whitt TOR (1)
1B Mark McGwire CAL (1)
2B Lou Whitaker KC (2)
3B Corey Snyder TOR (1)
SS Tony Fernandez TOR (1)
LF Barry Bonds CHI (3)
CF Joe Carter CHI (1)
RF Lloyd Moseby CAL (1)
DH Wally Joyner TEX (1)


NL Silver Slugger Awards


P Jaime Moyer PIT (1)
C Craig Biggio ATL (1)
1B Will Clark STL (2)
2B Juan Samuel PHI (1)
3B Kevin Mitchell NYM (2)
SS Barry Larkin HOU (1)
LF Fred Lynn LAD (1)
CF Eric Davis CIN (2)
RF Kal Daniels CIN (1)


AL Rookie of the Year
Joe Magrane NYY (19-14, 4.05, 264.1 IP 1.31 WHIP, 167 K's)


NL Rookie of the Year
Greg Swindell HOU (16-7, 2.82, 233 IP, 1.03 WHIP, 203 K's)


Pete Incaviglia finished 3^rd in voting. Larry Walker who hit 38 HR's and had 120 RBI's was 2^nd.


AL Manager of the Year
Gene Mauch CAL (2)


NL Manager of the Year
Miguel Hernandez NYM (1)


AL Cy Young Award
Roger Clemens CLE (1) (19-10, 2.66, 284.1 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 285 K's)


NL Cy Young Award
Doc Gooden NYM (3) (23-7, 2.22, 288 IP, 1.01 WHIP, 269 K's)


ROY Greg Swindell finished 2^nd.


AL MVP Award
Barry Bonds CHI (2) (.324/.457/.652, 45/127, 50 SB)


At 23, Bonds has won ROY, and 2 MVP's. He's a 2-time All Star, with 2 Gold Gloves and 3 Silver Sluggers. He is building an impressive resume early in his career. The White Sox signed him to a 7 year deal after the season.

NL MVP Award
Doc Gooden NYM (2) (23-7, 2.22, 288 IP, 1.01 WHIP, 269 K's)


Gooden has his 2^nd MVP to go with 3 Cy Young Awards, 3 All Star appearances and now he's got his first world title. He is the best player in the NL and he's only 22.


The Dodgers have signed relative unknown Luis Vasquez as the new pitching coach for the team. Can't get very excited about that move at all. They really needed a bigger name, but it does leave more money for players.


The Dodgers did not offer arbitration to Alejandro Pena and failed to get him signed to an extension. In a horrible front office move he is allowed to walk for free from the team. Pena won the NL MVP in 1984, and is a 2-time All Star. He was also the most effective pitcher in the bullpen this year. Even though he only threw 36 innings, his 2.21 ERA was the best on the team. For his career, Pena is 34-17, 7 S and a career ERA of 2.22. Terrible move.


It's gonna be an interesting free agency period for LA. They only lost 2 starters from the roster, one of them being Dave Dravecky, who was acquired from the Padres in the DeCinces trade. He finished the year 3-7, with a 5.23 ERA in 63.2 innings. The other loss is Fred Lynn. Lynn was allowed to walk after they couldn't or wouldn't commit to a long term deal for a 35 yr old outfielder. Last year, Lynn hit 44 HR's, good enough to lead the NL. It was his best season since 1979 and the highest HR total of his career. It leaves a huge production hole in the offense, and one that the team can afford to fill. The question is will they? And if they do, who will it be?


In addition to Lynn, here are some of the bigger free agents available this offseason:


OF Claudell Washington
P John Tudor
C Ernie Whitt
C Carlton Fisk
OF Chet Lemon
OF Kirk Gibson
OF Jesse Barfield
3B Mike Schmidt
OF Eric Davis


LA made their first trade of the off season. Leaving LA is third basemen Ray Knight (.284/17/80) coming off of his best season since 1982, along with some cash for 28 yr old OF Mitch Webster. Webster came up with the Blue Jays, and started 120 games in 1986. He's fallen far off the depth chart with their outfield now. Last year he batted .275/.328/.383 in 73 games, the best season of his career. He can play all 3 outfield positions and is reliable with the bat, and speedy on the bases.


The Houston Astros who came so close to win the West are all aggressive this off season. They've signed Kirk Gibson and Randy Ready to big contracts and just added ex-Dodger reliever Alejandro Pena to the staff. Pena signs a 2 year deal worth 624k.


LA finally gets a good signing in the offseason. While I was pulling for Eric Davis to show up in Dodger Blue, instead of going younger, LA has gone older, and cheaper. No, Fred Lynn isn't back....yet, this guy is older. Last year Dave Winfield played in Kansas City on a one year deal, batting .299/.354/.543. He's 36, a 7-time All Star, 2 time Gold Glove and 2 time Silver Slugger. He plays on the corners, and will keep Rickey in CF in all likelihood.


The Dodgers make, what could be, the biggest deal in the Winter Meetings of this year. LA packages their #1 prospect, Paul Sorrento (.292/.411/.435 10 HR in AA) along with RP Rafael Montalvo (4-2, 13 S, 1.85 ERA in AA) and C Gil Reyes (.273/.357/.409 in AA), SS Juan Bautista (.196/.274/.304 in AA) and SS Seiji Tomashino (.249/.324/.332 in A) to the St Louis Cardinals in exchange for 2-time All Star, and 7-time Gold Glove SS Ozzie Smith (.255/.313/.325, 47 SB). Smith only has 1 year remaining on his contract so hopefully the team will look to lock him up for that. The Dodgers farm system is pretty much empty at this point.


Dodgers Draft Picks, first 5 rounds


P Jerry Spradlin (1.21)
C Bill Hasselman (2.10)
P Arthur Rhodes (2.25)
OF Trey McCoy (3.21)
P Jeff Mutis (4.21)
SS Jose Oliva (5.21)


A pretty weak draft class overall. The Brewers drafted Jim Edmonds as the 1.1 pick. Kenny Lofton went to the Orioles with 1.2 and the Twins added Jose Offerman with the 1.3 pick.


Veteran infielder Jim Morrison was last in LA in 1986. He was placed on waivers, picked up by the Padres and went on to hit 31 HR's between the Padres and Mariners the last 2 seasons. Morrison, 35, is coming back to LA on a 1 year deal worth 400k. He wants a chance to start at third and with Knight gone, it looks like he'll be going against Tony Phillips for that job. Phillips lost his job when Ozzie Smith was signed.


World Series hero Donnie Hill is gone. The Mets took advantage of his value and added catching prospect Eddie Taubensee to a trade with the Padres for first basement Glenn Davis. Davis is in his prime and hit 36 HR's last year. Bonilla is already holding down first for the world champion Mets, where will they put Davis?


LA brings a starter into the fold. Longtime Expos starter, Bryn Smith, who has won 57 games in the last 3 years in Montreal is coming to sunny LA. Smith was an All Star starter in in '85, and started his career in the bullpen. He's 32 and in his prime right now, LA has to hope that he can keep his winning ways that he had in Montreal. His contract is a 3yr/4.32M with an expectation that he gets to start here. Who will be on the outs? LA didn't lose any starters in free agency.


Another old bat comes to SoCal. This time it's the big, bad bat of Mike Schmidt. Schmidt started 82 games last year for the Yankees. He missed lots of time due to multiple injuries. His slash line was .268/.354/.490. He hit 17 HR's and had 55 RBI's. It was his lowest HR total since '72, when he was 22. He's 38 now, and 6 HR's shy of #500. Schmidt has to be a HOF shoe in. He's a 2-time MVP, 6-time Gold Glove, 9-time All Star, and 3-time Silver Slugger. He is certain to take over at third and will be an upgrade from Ray Knight, even if he is 3 years older. His contract is a 2yr/1.9M deal, but his 2^nd year requires that he have at least 550 PA in order to be good. Otherwise, he'll be a free agent. That's a good deal for LA on paper.


Fred Lynn is gone, but he's not gone far. Returning back to SoCal, Lynn will be wearing an Angels uniform again and looking to start in left, along side Eric Davis and Lloyd Moseby. That gives the Angels 3 guys who had over 40 HR's in 1987, and 6 guys who had over 100 RBI's.


LA isn't done wheeling and dealing and we have an idea of who is on the outs in the rotation. The Dodgers made another trade, this time sending longtime starter, who has only pitched for LA and Pittsburgh, Rick Rhoden (17-10, 3.28), going to the New York Yankees. In exchange, the Dodgers have a new center fielder. Von Hayes, 29, had just finished the first year of a 6 year deal with the Yankees after starting off in Cleveland. Last year, Hayes batted .235/.330/.423, he hit 28 HR's and had 83 RBI's. He's stolen 20 or more bases 5 times. Hayes can play all outfield positions as well as first. He has 5 years left in what was a 6yr/8.26M contract, so he's not cheap. Rhoden has 170 career wins and a career ERA of 3.31. He's pitched 200 or more innings for 6 years in a row. The Dodgers also got throw in minor league shortstop Larry Blackwell. Blackwell, 23, has bounced between Rookie and A ball in his 4 years playing pro ball. At best, he's a quick utility player.


One day later, LA makes another move, and it's clear that the Dodgers are making some major, wholesale changes. LA is bidding farewell to another long time Dodger. This time it's second basemen, Steve Sax. Sax, 27, batted .308 last year, had 43 steals and 73 RBI's. He also committed only 13 errors in 133 games. Sax is a career .294 hitter and could be a free agent after this season. In return, the Dodgers are getting southpaw reliever Bob Patterson (2-0, 3.66) and former Padres first round pick and former #20 MLB prospect thirdbasemen, Ken Caminiti. Caminiti, 24, is the real prize here. He's only hitting .241 in 129 games over his short 2 year career. He appears to be falling way short of the expectation that was heaped on him after a draft pick that high. He's a good defender, with a decent bat, but nothing more at this point. Patterson ran out of options and looked like he would have a hard time making the roster. In parts of 3 seasons, he's 4-0, with a 4.62 ERA in 39 games pitched.


The Hall of Fame Class of 1987 is in!


Steve Carlton (97.8) was inducted in his first season of eligibiliy and goes in as a Philly. Carlton finished with 280 career wins and 3387 career K's.


Brooks Robinson (77.2) was inducted in his 6^th season and he goes in as an Oriole. Robinson played his entire career with the O's, batted .267, had 2848 hits, and 268 HR's.


Dick Allen (75.7) was inducted in his 6^th season and he goes in as a Philly. Allen batted .292 in his career, hit 351 HR's and had 1848 hits.


Willie McCovey (70.6, 3^rd), Reggie Jackson (61.8, 1^st) Tony Oliva (46.3, 6^th) were the next 3 that didn't make it.


LA makes another trade, in what has been the most active offseason for moves in recent memory. The Dodgers have shipped IF Tony Phillips to the Cincinnati Reds. This means that LA has gotten rid of 3 of their 4 infield starters from last season and brought in 2 of 3 new outfielders. That's turnover. LA gets in return, southpaw reliever Frank DiPino (3-2, 3 S, 5.02 ERA). DiPino has 41 career saves, and saved a career high of 22 in '84 for the Astros. His career ERA is 3.38. He's a solid player, but he's no monster. The Dodgers also get OF prospect Lee Stevens. Stevens, 20, was the Reds first pick in 1985, the 17^th overall. He's been stuck in rookie ball and played in A ball last year, where he batted .354. He was the #95 prospect in MLB last year and he can play first and center.


LA has signed all top 5 picks with the exception of Trey McCoy and Jose Oliva. This is much better than past seasons. Now will they be cut after spring training?


LA signs starter Richard Dotson (14-12, 4.13) to a 1 year deal. Dotson's best year was in '85 with the Angels when he went 16-7. Right now he will get a chance to come out of the pen. It just looks like there are too many arms in the rotation for him to have a chance. He's got an average fastball and curveball. He also throws a slider and changeup, but both can be hit and miss. He's 87-80 with a 4.00 ERA for his career.


Dave Dravecky signed a 1 year deal with the Detroit Tigers worth 110k.


The last old guy that the Dodgers add to the roster is 41 yr old, Kent Tekulve. The submariner has pitched the last 4 years with the Yankees. He has a career ERA of 2.93 in 767 games. It's a 1 year deal worth 366k.