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Also ...
A Season in Savannah (Stanford Magazine)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2005) (Hardball Times)
Rick Monday (Baseball Analysts)
Baseball's Odd Couple (Baseball Prospectus)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) (Hardball Times)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2007) (Hardball Times)
Dodger home record: 40-30 (.571)
When Jon attended: 6-3 (.667)
When Jon didn't: 34-27 (.557)
Dodgers at home: 745-600 (.554)
Jon attended: 293-233 (.557)*
Jon didn't: 457-374 (.550)
* includes road games attended
Current Roster with Estimated 2008 Salaries
(updated March 28)
Most figures are estimates (some are wild estimates) but will be updated as information comes in. Corrections welcome.
More contract details here.
Starting Pitchers (5)
$12,300,000 Hiroki Kuroda
$10,000,000 Derek Lowe
$9,500,000 Brad Penny
$7,000,000 Esteban Loaiza
*$500,000 Chad Billingsley
Total: $39,300,000
Bullpen (6)
$2,000,000 Takashi Saito
$1,925,000 Joe Beimel
$1,125,000 Scott Proctor
*$500,000 Jonathan Broxton
$500,000 Chan Ho Park
*$400,000 Hong-Chih Kuo
Total: $6,450,000
Starting Lineup (8)
$14,100,000 Andruw Jones
$13,000,000 Rafael Furcal
$9,000,000 Jeff Kent
$8,500,000 Nomar Garciaparra
$8,000,000 Juan Pierre
$500,000 Russell Martin
*$400,000 James Loney
*$400,000 Matt Kemp
Total: $53,900,000
Bench (6)
$875,000 Gary Bennett
$600,000 Mark Sweeney
$424,500 Andre Ethier
$391,000 Delwyn Young
$390,000 Chin-Lung Hu
$390,000 Blake DeWitt
Total: $3,071,000
Disabled List
$12,000,000 Jason Schmidt
*$400,000 Tony Abreu
*$390,000 Andy LaRoche
Total: $12,790,000
Also Paying ...
$1,000,000 Brett Tomko
$750,000 Odalis Perez
$540,000 Yhency Brazoban
$500,000 Randy Wolf
$487,500 Jason Repko
$135,225 Rudy Seanez
$100,000 Mike Lieberthal
$50,000 Ramon Martinez
Total: $3,562,725
Working total: *$113,268,725
*Rough salary estimate
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Ever since I heard journeyman Jason Johnson would be starting for the Dodgers in Colorado on Tuesday, I've been wondering is there could be a hidden reason why the team's umpteenth best pitcher would be handed the ball at this stage of the season.
Would Clayton Kershaw, James McDonald or Jonathan Meloan be better? Would Brad Penny, who had a pain-free 40 pitches the other day, be a more valuable addition to the roster even if throwing for only a couple of innings?
Here are some Devil's Advocate (or Angel's Advocate, if you prefer) points on JJJ's behalf: 3.82 ERA, 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.28 groundout-airout ratio this season in the hitter-happy Pacific Coast League. By comparison, Eric Stults, whom I've backed as a legitimate 2008 option and who will start at Colorado on Monday, had this resume: 3.59 ERA, 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.04 GB-air ratio.
McDonald has had a fine season in AA Jacksonville, including a nearly 9.0 K/9, but his groundout ratio is 0.69. Given that you probably don't want him making his first major-league start in Colorado, it makes sense to pass on him at least for this start. Similar issues affect Meloan.
A good case can be made for Kershaw. I'd be up to see what he could do. But I'm not heartbroken over waiting. If Johnson gets bombed, we might see Kershaw, who hasn't allowed an earned run in his past two starts for the Suns, real soon.
And of course, you could just start the game with Hong-Chih Kuo, whose qualifications I shouldn't have to detail at this point.
In any case, the best strategy might be something radical that I'd not normally endorse. Instead of activating Mark Sweeney (which is pretty much plan Z in any good strategy anyway), the Dodgers could use their bullpen depth as a strength and throw the entire staff at the Rockies. Play matchups. Tell your pitchers not to hold back on their stuff in the hopes of coaxing an extra inning out.
In other words, whether or not JJJ is the right choice, lighten his burden as much as possible. The pitcher that gets sent down to make room for Mark Sweeney will actually be more valuable next week.
Update: Good guy alert - Johnson is one, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. "He pitches with an insulin pump, is a true role model to countless diabetics and a tireless charity worker."
And the Dodgers don't have an opening at first base. Loney has shown that he doesn't need a caddy. And Stairs is an outfielder.
If you want to get all technical about it ...
Actually, Clark just started one game in the field this year. And it lasted 22 innings.
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