Los Angeles Times

Dodgers want a sweet pitcher, not a tweet hurler

- Jack Oakes Santa Ana Email: sports@latimes.com

Enough with Trevor Bauer’s Twitter feed. What the guy posted before he became a Dodger means zero. Was he a jerk? Who cares? Is anybody forced to read the prattling of a kid with an inflated ego who throws a baseball for a living? Let’s see what he can do between the lines. The rest is noise. Robert Collector

Santa Barbara

My thanks to Jack Harris for his Tuesday recanting of Trevor Bauer’s social media “behavior.” If these are the worst examples of Trevor’s exchanges, we Dodgers fans can all rest easy; this guy is not going off the rails as had been portrayed by earlier articles. Let’s move on to baseball and leave the Twitter world behind. Ken Blake

Brea

So, Trevor Bauer self-identifies as a 12-year-old? I believe him. He acts like a 12-year-old. I hope Mr. Betts can have a positive impact on him very, very soon.

Scott Hamre Cherry Valley

Justin Turner gets a lot of credit for his hitting, especially when it counts in the playoffs. But I will never forget the heads-up play in Game 7 against the Braves when he tagged the runner out and immediatel­y, on his knees, turned for his throw to third base to complete a double play. Good offense wins games, but great defense is really sweet.

Craig Peterson Santa Monica

To me, there’s only been one sour note this year in the whole Dodgers story, one entirely avoidable, I think. It’s about the layoffs announced together with the report of losses “north of $100 million.”

This decision must have been made or recommende­d by an MBA.

I fully believe the reported losses are real, though whether cash flow was equally impacted was not stated. How much could staff members cost? $10 million for a year? Of course that’s real money (two months’ pay for a top pitcher), nor do you want employees standing idle.

Dodgers management could have kept them all on payroll and donated their services to SoCal charities or government­s. How much good will would that have been worth? It could have been priceless.

Bob Wieting Simi Valley

In October, the Dodgers told us the team lost upward of $100 million last season.

In the last week or so, Trevor

Bauer signs a three-year deal for $102 million and Fernando Tatis Jr. gets a 14-year, $340-million deal.

What would these deals look like if MLB teams didn’t lose $100 million last season?

Mike Yoakum Arcadia

The other guys

OK. I’ll say it. Arte Moreno, it’s time you sold the Angels to an owner who is hungry for World Series glory. You keep hiring newbie general managers and then tying them down to your own whims on talent and finances. When a general manager says, “Let’s play the games and see what happens,” it translates into another visionless year.

No playoffs. No glory. Arte, sell the team.

Can AD lead?

The Lakers have much more to worry about than Anthony Davis missing the next few weeks of NBA play. With LeBron set to retire in a couple of years (although you never know for sure), AD becomes the de facto leader of the franchise in the next era. Problem is, he’s shown he can’t be counted on to stay injuryfree and carry his teammates as others have while playing in the Lakers’ superstar culture.

When a team commits almost $200 million to its next star, it seems having him stay on the court is the least they should get back in return. Allan Kandel

Los Angeles

Billy Preston’s 1974 hit “Nothing From Nothing” is similar to the Lakers’ plight, as everything minus AD equals nothing, and ya gotta have something, or so the song goes. Marty Foster Pismo Beach

Not a star on Galaxy

I enjoyed Kevin Baxter’s solid background reporting on the Galaxy’s Javier Hernández. The only thing “striking” last season was his wife’s racy Instagram posts. Certainly a super-sub role should be in line this season as Hernández looks to rebound his life and soccer play. Karl Heinz Heim

Yorba Linda

Look down the hall

It was obvious to me that the Clippers threw away their chance for a title when they paid Luke Kennard more than Montrezl Harrell wanted. Now it’s obvious to everyone. Hey, Steve Ballmer: You don’t replace a tiger with a kitty cat.

Tim Clark Los Angeles

What’s the deal?

Based on how little the Colts gave up for Carson Wentz, I definitely want to play poker with the Rams’ Les Snead!

Fred Wallin Westlake Village

The Times welcomes expression­s of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. Each must include a valid address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

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