Blame Game Begins As Dodgers Lose In First Round

Yeah, that was pretty bad. The Dodgers began their offseason earlier than most of us would've liked, although in the back the our minds we knew it was possible all along. In the front of our minds, too.

Los Angeles lost to the Nationals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine and everyone watching in the stands, from the dugout or from a safe distance on the tube was either exposed, exhausted, exasperated, ready with the expletives or excited ex-Expos.

Yes, Clayton Kershaw was a problem in the postseason again, yes it's easy to feel badly for him and yes, Dave Roberts threw his man to the wolves with an assignment that should have been erased the minute it hit the chalkboard. And there's never a whistleblower around when you need one.

Kershaw shouldn't have been in the bullpen for Game 4 at Washington on Monday, and he shouldn't have been in the pen last night. Not in the pen, not anywhere near the center of the diamond, not in the vicinity of sharp objects or an important job to be done. This was time for neither wishful thinking nor sentimentality. It wasn't the time for the personal redemption of one man either.

Roberts is clearly the goat in this his fourth postseason in L.A., and I'm not sure if he is incapable of learning from his mistakes or is just unable to see the similarity in the mistakes he is making and therefore thinks he's making entirely new mistakes. Which is a major problem heading into year number 32 without a victory parade. At least that 32 has a nice ring to it. Oops, sorry to rub salt in the wound, Los Angeles. I shouldn't have said ring.

So while it's clear that Kershaw is a disappointment and that Roberts is worse than that, that the heart-of-lion hurler may be forgiven because of what he's accomplished in this town, Roberts was at his worst in the 2017 World Series, lost again in 2018 and may have topped it all here. The skipper's greatest on-field accomplishment, you may recall, was as a member of the Boston Red Sox. And nobody in these parts cares a whit about that. Few in the media have defended Mr. Roberts more than I have, but that stops right here and stops right now. You know, after the carnage.

Andrew Friedman does not and cannot escape blame. It's always the bullpen, right? Always. Is there a one among us who will argue the point? Friedman has had five years to assemble a championship-caliber relief corps and he simply hasn't figured it out. It's unfathomable, really. Kind of like Steve Sax with the throwing that one year. But that pimple of an issue lasted but a couple of months, and the old Dodgers' second baseman has something special on his trophy case, and on his finger to be proud of for as long as we both shall live.

More importantly, if Friedman didn't want Kershaw as a bullpen option in the NLDS, he wouldn't have been one. He had a say, OK? How big a say we don't know because Friedman's not talking and even if he were we'd have to sift through the platitudes and gobbledygook, perhaps with a little help from the universal translator to decipher the damn thing.

Friedman is a free agent. So if it's money and I just spent $35 million over five years for an executive to win zero World Series, and he's due for a raise in his next contract ... uh, pass. Hard pass. I'm taking Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations Josh Byrnes at a fraction of the salary (perhaps with incentives) and giving Friedman a gold watch. Or better yet, a silver.

Yes, A.J. Pollock was 0-13 with 11 strikeouts. And sure, Corey Seager never met a breaking ball a solar system out of the strike zone he didn't like. And yeah, Joe Kelly seems to load the bases first, and oh, I don't know, unload them later. And Cody Bellinger, uh, plays good defense.

You win as a team, you lose as a team. Cliché alert! Anything can happen in a short series. Cliché alert, part deux! Because five games is s short series, apparently.

That's all I've got for the morning after. While I'm not recommending it, I won't complain if Roberts gets a pink slip in a day or two. If Friedman goes, I'm absolutely fine giving someone else a chance. Someone who doesn't use phrases like "solve for pitching," if it can be arranged.

I'm taking some time off and then we'll get right to what happens next. The Hot Stove is in full force, just as soon as I can stomach it.

The five stages of grief? Put me down for stage five. Anger, denial, Sleepy, Dopey, pissed.