I think it goes without saying that any player who sucks that bad is busting his hump trying to get batter

Ba dump bump.

With pleats, with a long-sleeve button up tucked in, held up with a leather weave belt. Plus shoes and socks.

http://tinyurl.com/6esce8

The article mentions that DePodesta was guaranteed $500k per year in his contract with the Dodgers (ending in 2008), but I remember his contract being 5 years, $4m ($800k per year).

"He's a very impressive-looking guy, but the guy is a walking corpse, because he's rotted inside out. He's a pathetic figure."

Still think I'll be wearing chinos.

(Stay strong Sammy.)

"We'll sacrifice the speed to get someone who'll give us quality at-bats," Manager Joe Torre said. "We need to get something started."

This was on leading off with Nomar instead of Kemp. Maybe it was because he was 2-11 in the first PA of the game, but more likely it's because Torre would rather see a ball put into play for an out on the first pitch than a strikeout.

Sam Peckinpah movie.

So impressed, I am, with those of you above who did all-S posts above.

Sammy: get better soon.

's up to you, Big Ox.

Isn't there a children's story about a sports team owner who is constantly making rash moves and people react--then all of a sudden he actually HAS to make a rash move and nobody believes him?

This new is not the best way to start our week, but I hope the best for Saito. What a drag.

I was on a trip to NYC over the last week. Man it was exciting! I got to try all sorts of things to eat, but strangely, the best thing I ate there was BBQ. I went to a place called "Virgil's" and it was really good. The pulled pork was fantastic. I didn't even have to add sauce.

Far as the best pizza I had, I felt it was a tie between Di Fara in Midwood and Grimaldi's pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge. Funny thing was, right after leaving Grimaldis, there was this HUGE line outside to get in! I did not know it was that popular.

NY Baseball: There seems to be a growing sentiment among writers that the two teams have sold out with the new stadia. There was a paper called the "Village Voice" that took a huge quote from Alex Belth/Bronx Banter about this. I'm not used to newspapers quoting our baseball toaster writers.

Yankee Stadium is.... well.... old! If you thought the DS upper concourses were small, wait until you try a sold out game at Ruth's house. Holy cow, it was slow as molasses getting out, but nevertheless, the place is incredible once you get to your seat. Good game too, it's the one where Abreu hit a walkoff double. So its a treasure to be sure, but I think a new ballpark is welcome.

Speaking of, the New Yankee stadium looks really nice from the outside! It's basically a replica of the old stadium with wider concourses, and basically wider seating areas.

ps: if you ever go to Yankee Stadium, skip the Dog and get the chicken fingers. Those puppies are good! Almost everyone had their own chicken fingers at the Tier Level.

Shea Stadium: it is what it is... it reminds me of a bowl of cereal. However, the crowd was much more laid back, and for whatever reason, I had more fun at Shea. Mr Met lived up to the hype. I also was surprised how much they use the organ there. Sight lines were, of course, lousy, but the scoreboard is huge. Shea appears to be larger than Yankee stadium. I had a chance to see some views of Citi Field. That is going to be a remarkable ballpark. My only gripe is... why are they stealing all the Dodgers' ideas? Its basically Ebbet's Field in a big parking lot. Come on Mets...

New York was a ton of fun! but even so, I'm so glad I'm back here in Santa Barbara, and in California. I missed this place to death... the mountains, Dodger baseball, the beatiful ladies, good burritos, good hamburgers, heck even taco bell!

I'm sad for Sammy... man, this is just not our year is it?

Shea always seemed like a dump to me, so I think the new ballpark will be a godsend.

You missed the fire in SB, too. (I was there to enjoy it though!)

Kershaw got a win, a shutout (6-0), allowed two hits and a walk over 7 innings - and got an RBI!

http://tinyurl.com/6r5mbb

Odds on when he comes back up? I can imagine the Dodgers moving either Park or Stults to the bullpen and calling him up if Saito goes on the DL.

This team is winning nothing, not a playoff game, not a division. Nothing. What a joke.

Sweet!

Sine qua non Sammy Statement: Somebody please, stop the bleeding.

Juan Pierre = $9 million/year
Andruw Jones = $18 million/year

Cody Ross = $390 thousand/year

And if they don't DFA Sweeney, then I don't see much hope for this team.

Nothing perverse about that. Andruw and his multi-colored sombreros = comedy gold.

Make today your Someday. This paragraph sounds like a commercial I heard somewhere.

D4P has come unstuck in time.

Not only that, but more specifically, that Ned thinks players like Pierre are worth $9 million a year and players like Ross are worth nothing. It's the huge gap that bothers me the most. Even if you think Juan Pierre is better than Cody Ross, I can't imagine thinking he's $9 million/year better. But that's how Ned "thinks".

Signing off

Simply watching the commercials during each Dodgers broadcast will provide us with several options to put a stop to your last sentence.

Kemp, RF
Ethier, LF
Martin, C
Garciaparra, SS
Jones, CF
Loney, 1B
LaRoche, 3B
Maza, 2B
Billingsley, P

(If I could ) stay, then the night would give you up

(And you say), stay

(We got tonight, who needs tomorrow, we got tonight babe, why don't you) stay

Don't blow it Andy!

>>FWIW, Mitch Poole was in the process of putting together a Dodgers jersey with the last name "Wilson" on the back. He made a Clemens one last year with the trading deadline coming up.<<

He slugged over .500 5 years in a row in the minors, from 2002-2006, never OPSing less than .848.

Does that constitute "Can't Miss Superstar"? Probably not (unless your name is Matt Kemp, in which case your head would be annointed with oil).

But does it constitute "an indication prior to 2007 that Cody Ross would be anything but a 5th outfielder"? In my opinion, yes. Yes it does.

Just because the numbers said 5th outfielder doesn't make it so.

The numbers also said the Marlins would be the worse team in the NL East this year. That ain't happening.

I still don't understand the dismay, the games we have lost have been close just about every night. The Indians had higher expectations then the Dodgers and they are close to being the worse team in the AL. Now that is a team the fans can cry woe over.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

How does Ross stay on the team in 2007? He'd be coming off a year of .227/.293/.431 and he'd be competing with an out of options Jason Repko for the job.

Then again, maybe if Ross was on the team, he would have been playing center that day and Furcal doesn't get hurt.

I predicted Laroche for Embree a month or so ago.

But is it $9 million/year less valuable than Juan Pierre...?

The water is under the bridge. The milk has been spilled. The bed has been made.

As for me, I'm going to take my bed and throw it off a bridge and pour milk on it.

For most it's just a desire to get people to look at them as they say "I called it!"

100
If you're not nice, I'll put a wooden block between your legs and break your ankles with a big mallet.

I expect everyone here would hope that LaRoche produces when he's given the chance not only because it will help the Dodgers but because we want to be right about something that seems so obvious.

I don't want to be a pundit. I just want to be a pedant.

and LaRoche is in only cause it's a lefty on the mound???

a terrible game by the bums today, and I suspect some kind of move is made during the all-star break...maybe a trade, maybe a front office move...but McCourt won't be able to resist with several off days to think about things...

DeJesus started quite a few games at 2nd base prior to the futures game. I wonder if it was just to help him be ready for this game since he can only be looked at, as a SS for us.

I'm wondering if it's mathematically possible for a centerfielder's defense to "make up for" a .167/.261/.253/.514 offensive line over the course of a season.

In 2008, Dodger centerfielders are averaging nearly 3 chances per game. I would think that, on average, at least 2 of every 3 chances will be "easy" plays that pretty much any CF could make. That means that, on average, a CF will have no more than 1 really hard play to make, such that a great CF will only really matter on no more than 1 defensive play per game, on average.

On the other hand, if you're in the starting lineup, you can expect 3-5 PAs per game in which you have an opportunity to have a direct and significant impact on the game.

Does it really make sense to think that 1 defensive play will (on average) matter more than 3-5 PAs...?

Other then Jason Philips playing 1st base I can't say I've openly rooted for a player to suck since the Kevin Brown era.

However, Andruw Jones is only having a bad year because D4P foretold it.

I guess my question (which may be tough to answer) is this: at what point is a player's offense so bad that his defense can't make up for it? Has anyone ever tried to quantify this in triple-slash, EQA, etc. terms?

Let's stop hurling spitballs and passing notes while the substitute sits at the desk. :)

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen..."

C J.Phillips
2B A.Perez

The Dodgers lost to the Rockies 11-3.

Phillips and Ledee went 1 for 9 in the game.

What we need is a Beane trade. One with an eye for this year and 2009-2010. We need to add a talented middle infielder in AA or AAA who's blocked.

We have good pitching. Phillys desperate for starters and in first. Seem to be set with Rollins and Utley. Lowe's going and we'll get the two first rounders. But like Cleveland Shapiro says, the odds are long for mid to end of first round actual players.
Scout the heck out of this Philly kid we been hearing about. And around the league.

We have no Nomar, Furcal and Kent next year.
We have a few possibilities in Hu, Dejesus, Abreu, Dewitt or Laroche. What we've seen is when you have unproven guys, you need numbers. You can't give it to a guy.

Great organizations fill their pipeline at the A level, the AA/AAA level, early players each and every year.

We need MORE of a commitment to young players. I have no confidence that Ned would do this since other than Milton/Ethier, he never has added talented youth. And he's a lame duck feeling the pressure...a dangerous mix.

The last thing we need is to subtract a young talent while commiting to the free agent market for middle infielders in the off season.

And besides, LaRoche is "the best....around!"

Some things that might be gonna ever keep him down:

1. Poor performance
2. Injuries
3. Management

If Furcal does not play anymore in 2008 and signs with another team in the offseason, do his stats qualify as a player the Dodgers would get 2 picks within the top 50 for?

Just checking.

http://tinyurl.com/elias-nl