Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 62 - Offseason rumors, awards, Rule 5/AFL

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (Dodger Diamond) and I somehow record one of the longest episodes in the show's history, despite not having a whole lot to talk about.

We wrap up awards season and I divulge my Internet Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.

Tim Wallach was officially announced as Don Mattingly's bench coach. Bully.

Offseason rumors abound, and the Dodgers are mentioned with some good players and some not-so-good players. We also say goodbye to Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker.

The 40-man roster deadline is tonight and we discuss who we would add to protect from December's Rule 5 Draft.

The Arizona Fall League is over and Corey Seager had a "meh" showing. Not surprising for a 19-year-old in his first full season of ball.

The Dodgers hired an executive away from Washington to be a national crosschecker in the form of Roy Clark. Great hire.

Episode dedications
Jared and Dustin: Jose Nunez

As usual, we close with Q&A. Here's hoping for some more good ones next week!

We'll probably continue to record every other week, or as news warrants, during the winter.

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Look for new episodes of "Dugout Blues" every Wednesday. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we're always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

If you have questions you'd like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us (ladugout@gmail.com or feelinkindablue@gmail.com) or send us messages on Twitter (@Dodger_Diamond or @FeelinKindaBlue). You can also "Like" the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

Image credit: Joe Martin

Why the Roy Clark hire as nat'l crosschecker is a big deal for the Dodgers

Normally, bringing in a national crosschecker doesn't qualify as big news. But when the Dodgers brought in Roy Clark this week, it was big news.

Clark was hired away from the Nationals where he was the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel. Technically, he's taking a lesser position with the Dodgers than he had with the Nationals.

As the national crosschecker, he'll evaluate amateur players and current Dodger minor-leaguers. Clark will report to Vice President of Amateur Scouting Logan White and work with Vice President of Player Development DeJon Watson. Basically, Clark will scout the players the Dodgers scouts have scouted.

Don't be confused, Clark is making good money -- likely better than most national crosscheckers in MLB. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine Clark leaving an executive position with Washington for a non-executive position with Los Angeles.

Clark has a history with Stan Kasten, whom he worked with in Atlanta and Washington. In Atlanta, Clark was the Braves' scouting director. In his 11 years with the Braves, he drafted players like Adam Wainwright (1st round, 2000), Adam LaRoche (29th, 2000), Brian McCann (2nd, 2002), Matt Harrison (3rd, 2003), Tommy Hanson (22nd, 2005), Kris Medlen (10th, 2006), Jason Heyward (1st, 2007), Freddie Freeman (2nd, 2007), Craig Kimbrel (3rd, 2008) and Mike Minor (1st, 2009).

The fact the Dodgers were able to get Clark to take a lesser position (title-wise) in LA speaks volumes of not only Clark's willingness to help build a franchise from the inside, but also the Dodgers aren't just going to throw the most money at free agents every year. They got an executive with a damn good team to come back and do some of the "grunt" work that he did many years ago.

Logan White, from the official press release:

"'Roy is an excellent talent evaluator and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Dodgers. 'He’s a terrific addition and I’m looking forward to teaming him with Paul Fryer and John Green as National Crosscheckers.'"

With the Dodgers' seemingly new approach to the draft (seriously, read this great story from J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. Daily News), Clark will help determine the players the Dodgers should draft (along with White, Watson and Ned Colletti -- to a certain extent).

An organization can never have too many talent evaluators. Clark is one of the best in the business and should help the Dodgers build one of baseball's best farm systems going forward.