Dodgers notes: Dave Roberts, trade deadline, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Taylor

Without getting into specifics on particular players mentioned, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that his communications with the front office take on a bit of a different tone this week, given that the trade deadline is Friday at 1 p.m. PT.

“It’s different in the content,” Roberts said. “But there’s always conversations daily with me and somebody in the front office, and obviously with the coaches. With the trade deadline looming, we’re talking about players, potentially. Just a lot of good baseball talk.”

Let’s see what some of that good baseball talk leads to over the next 55 or so hours.

Links

• Chris Taylor’s excellent season and recent hot streak caught the eye of Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs, who dug deep into Taylor’s successes this year and noted he’s put up three of the best 20 seasons by a super utility man (defined as someone who played 10 games at at least four different positions) in the wild card era.
• More on Clayton Kershaw’s reaction to his three-inning simulated game on Tuesday, from Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register.
• As Dave Roberts closes in on 500 career wins — in just a shade over the equivalent of five full seasons with the Dodgers — Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts says Roberts is on a Hall of Fame path. Weisman also excerpts a portion of the chapter on Roberts’ from his book “100 Things Dodgers Fans Must Know and Do Before They Die.”
• David Price was a part of trade deadline deals in both 2014 and 2015, and has thoughts on the Dodgers’ needs this season. Plunkett at the Orange County Register has more on Price’s perspective.
• Sheryl Ring at Beyond the Box Score writes about the strategy of Trevor Bauer’s legal team during last Friday’s hearing about the temporary restraining order against him, as it pertains to the Fifth Amendment.
• I was a guest Tuesday on the FnA podcast on AM 570, with hosts Kevin Figgers and Adam Ausland, talking about the Dodgers’ trade deadline needs, Kenley Jansen, and more.