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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
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4) arguing for the sake of arguing
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7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
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The wait (if you were waiting) is all but over. Greg Maddux, baseball pitching legend and guru-in-action, benefactor of large parks and fine defenses, is unofficially on his way to the Dodgers for a player or players to be identified in times hence.
I've written about this before: Petco Park has been hiding some of Maddux's decline, leaving him arguably no better than the Dodgers whose innings he will take. That doesn't mean he can't or won't help, any more than we know whether the trade will be worth it while we're ignorant of whom the Dodgers gave up.
maddux + manny + blake - andruw = chemistry = wins.
Somewhere, the phrase "heart and soul" is going to be used and I will be ashamed I even asked this question.
Manny Ramirez vs. Greg Maddux:
2 for 11 with a double.
Hence, this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kYayO4KCSY
Imagine if your favorite T.V show lost it's theme song. No sir I will not!
Maddux can't do much worse than a sore-armed Penny, I shouldn't think.
Xavier Paul and Justin Orenduff or Greg Miller.
You have to be kidding me.
X Paul is a decent guess. The Padres like college players now, so it could also be somebody like Pedroza or Orenduff.
Paul is a good OF prospect who also doesn't fit into the teams plans.
Stults could be sent back down for Maddux. And Strutze or JJJ could be waived when Wade comes back.
*Stults optioned
*Proctor to 60-day to make room for Maddux
Also, if Furcal comes off the DL you have to clear room for him off the 40 man as well, correct?
Yes, someone will need to be moved to the 60-day DL (Saito?) or DFA'd if Furcal comes back.
Kuroda 7-8 3.88 1.22 (5.6 k/9) (2.1 bb/9) (0.7 hr/9)
Maddux 6-9 3.99 1.22 (4.7 k/9) (1.5 bb/9) (0.9 hr/9)
Those are pretty similar numbers.
On another note, one of the things I remember from Maddux '06 was that he was on a limited pitch count, only going 5-6 innings. I wonder what effect this is going to have on the bullpen, that has already show some wear the last few days sans Cory Wade. Anyone have access to how many pitches he's averaged per start? I know he's averaged 5.9 IP per start. I guess the question is will he save the bullpen more than Stults, Johnson, or McDonald?
This is true. Although I would have thought that the biggest effect Petco would have had would have been to keep the HR down. However, he's actually allowed 9 HR at Petco (0.9 hr/9) and 7 HR away from Petco (also 0.9 hr/9).
How can CC (a) win MVP playing ~3 months, and (b) win MVP but not win Cy Young?
Gresh said Sabathia wins MVP, but can't win Cy Young because he hasn't been there all year. My head just exploded.
Also: Maddux BABIP splits (if I figured them out with with late night math):
HOME: .236
AWAY: .353
TOTAL: .291
I guess either way, I believe it comes down to who was going to tax the bullpen the worst. With McDonald probably being on a IP limit (already at 134 ip), I'd think that Maddux is the best option out of Maddux/Stults/Jason Johnson.
Maybe Andruw Jones has just become Val Pascucci.
But it looks like I will be able to now though!
>>Although Kershaw is a power lefty and Maddux is a command and control righty, the rookie plans on learning all he can from Maddux.
"If he does get to come, I definitely would ask him as many questions as I can," Kershaw said. "Hopefully he likes answering questions, because I'm definitely going to be doing a lot of that.
"He obviously has a lot to teach. He's been out there so long. He knows a lot more about the game than I do right now, so I'm definitely going to just try to listen to him, pick his brain."<<
The PTBNL normally can be on the 25-man roster, but the rule is he has to switch leagues, so in this specific case it would have to be someone not on the active roster.
"The Dodgers will be paying at least a part of the remaining portion of Maddux's contract, making him the first of four trade acquisitions this season whose entire salary isn't being picked up by his former club."
So, the two PTBNL can't be of much significance if we're paying some money.
.315/.411/.410
Also...
68 walks
14 steals in 16 attempts
He is the YOUNGEST player on the team.
1. Deal must be complete within 6 months of trade.
2. Player(s) cannot have played in the same league at the time of the trade.
Rule 2 means that in trades within the same league, the player to be named later cannot be on the active roster at the time of the trade.
The usual procedure is the trading team provides a list of players that the receiving team uses to make its choice.
If the player is on the 40 man roster, he must clear waivers or they will wait until after the season to make the trade. If the player is not on the 40 man roster, that player does not need to clear waivers.
Age 21:
Furcal (A/A+): .322/.387/.389
DeJesus (AA): .315/.411/.410
Not much power but really good hitters who could work the count. Biggest difference is Furcal had an incredible 96 SBs that year.
55 Me, too. It actually reminds me of mummification, but that involves a hook, not a pick.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/agechart.html
Disregard 62 , since it was based on the incorrect date listed on his minor league BB-Ref page.
40 There are dozens of players that rake in AAA and can't hit in the bigs. Hence, the "Quadruple A" tag.
Maybe Andruw Jones has just become Val Pascucci
. . . or Andy LaRoche.
8/23 - @ Philadelphia
8/28 - @ Washington D.C.
9/2 - San Diego
9/8 - @ San Diego
9/14 - @ Colorado
9/19 - San Francisco
9/25 - San Diego
376, 386 - Passage ... out?
Maddux last pitched on Friday against the Phils, although it was at Petco Park and not Citizens Bank Launching Pad. He did pretty well, going 7 IP, allowing only 5 hits and taking a hard-luck loss on a 7th inning solo HR to Pat Burrell.
Maddux's next start was scheduled to be Thursday, so I'm hoping he ends up pitching at home against Colorado that day. That would put Lowe in Philadelphia on Friday and Kershaw on Saturday.
AZI: FLAx3, StLx3, CINx3, SFx1, @StLx4
LAD: SDx3, @PHIx4, @WASx3, @PITx4
In all other respects, the schedule is identical (plus 6 HtH games, split evenly at three at each stadium).
Although I don't think Dan Whitney could have pulled Alyssa Milano.
Come to think about it though, if Maddux plans on beginning round 2 of his Dodger career the same way he began round one, I wouldn't be very disappointed watching him shut down the Phils in person…minus the rain, of course.
(The fact that I have tickets to Saturday's game has in no way influenced my opinion on this.)
But it would be tough to turn down.
The Dodgers are going to be in a very bad position because of Schmidt, Jones, and Pierre. Free Agents are Nomar, Kent, Furcal, Penny, Lowe, Blake, Manny. Right?
It's primarily a cost saving move. If they can save $500k to $1m (depending on how much of the ~$2.25m the Dodgers are paying) they will do it.
Also, they will be adding two prospects that will at least add depth to their farm system.
Penny has a club option at $9.25m, with a $2m buyout, so there's a chance he won't be a free agent just yet.
http://tinyurl.com/6bzo7k
Really the only two places Maddux would sign to play are LA and San Diego, and I doubt the Padres would sign Maddux if they had to give up their 2nd round draft pick (their 1st rounder will be too high to surrender).
It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Maddux accepted arbitration. The best case scenario is for Maddux to be a Type B free agent so he can sign with the Padres and net a supplemental draft pick for the Dodgers.
Anyone with a Santana statistical update? He was older for he league he was playing in so my wonder was if his value was a bit inflated.
Santana has made a Smooth transition to the Hi-Class A Kinston Indians, hitting .368/.442/.605 in 19 games.
I forgot Beimel as well. He will be a free agent as well, probably a Type B.
Whether he's cash poor or he simply doesn't want to give Ned any more of his money to light on fire, the message is clear: no more salaries in 08.
I still think the odds of the Reds saying "here, have Adam Dunn and two draft picks, we don't want them" were near zero.
That's not true. Per Article B(4)(c) of the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement:
A Type A or B Player shall be subject to compensation only if (i) he signs a contract with another Club prior to December 1; or(ii) he is offered salary arbitration by his former Club on or before December 1 pursuant to Section B(3) of this Article XX and signs a contract with another Club
I agree. There was no risk associated with blocking Dunn.
The problem with expecting Ned to block Dunn is that such an expectation assumes that Ned would believe that Dunn would help the DBacks, when in fact, it's more likely that Ned thinks Dunn will hurt them.
I mean, if the Dodgers claim him, so be it, but if they don't, the D-Backs claim him, the Padres would probably have to pull him back because he has a no-trade clause (similar to Giles) and then the Dodgers can't get him.
Ned: "Gee what would we do with another outfielder? Pierre's agent keeps calling me as it is."
Kim: "Okay, should we put a claim on Maddux?"
Ned: "No, let's wait to see if we need a starter down the stretch."
Kim: "But if we do that, won't the Padres be able to ask for more?"
Ned: {sigh}.
I wasn't clear in that 2nd paragraph of 85 , but I meant that's what the Padres would give up if Maddux was a Type A. That's why I mentioned the best case would be for Maddux to be a Type B free agent, so the Padres could sign him without giving up anything but cash.
Billingsley
Lowe
Kuroda
Maddux?
414 408 I realize that...it's just the quick way to figure the magic number.
Let's look at the end of the 1996 NL West. Going into the final 3 games of the season (Padres at Dodger Stadium), the Dodgers held a 2 game lead, 90-69. The Padres were 88-71. At that point, the Padres' magic number was 6 (Dodgers could finish 93-69, so the Padres needed 6 wins to beat 93), meaning they had to sweep to win the division. Which of course they did.
Actually, the Padres' magic number was 2. Why 2? Because the magic number is determined with reference to the team at the top of the standings. Which in this case was the Dodgers. And any combination of Dodgers wins and/or Padres losses totaling 2 would have eliminated San Diego. So if one had looked at the standings at the beginning of that series the number in the Magic Number column opposite San Diego would have been a 2.
In more ways than one. Like I said: it's very unlikely that Ned thinks Dunn is a good player. Ned probably thought he was being strategic by not blocking Dunn.
That's not right at all. 2 was their "tragic number". :)
I suppose they could use something like which team last made a waiver claim.
Again, those types of rules are hidden like the City of Atlantis.
Dunn is at $13m; Maddux is $10m
2 months of a .220 hitter and horrible defense + 2 picks < what Arizona gives up for him
Not that I agree with him, but that could be the only logical explanation.
Now the Royals have him.
Another logical explanation is that he's incompetent.
And second, what happens if the Dodgers beat out the Diamondbacks? By most reasonable definitions, Maddux is now the Dodgers' fifth-best starting pitcher. Would management bump him from the rotation in October, in favor of 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw? Probably not, and that might actually be a stroke of genius. Before this season, Kershaw had never thrown more than 122 innings in one season. Right now, he's at 134 and counting. Figure seven more starts and he's up to 170-175 innings, which is about the most you'd want to see him throwing this year.
Maybe I'm giving Ned Colletti too much credit, but I wonder if the possible acquisition of Maddux isn't designed, at least in part, to save Kershaw's arm.
1) 8th place all-time wins, passing Roger Clemens (354) - Maddux is sitting on 353 (Maddux could also go CC and get the 8 wins needed to catch Kid Nichols for 7th!)
2) Tying Don Sutton for most seasons with 10+ wins - Maddux, sitting on 6 wins in 2008, has 20 such seasons, one behind the Permed One.
3) 13th place all-time IP, passing Bert Blyleven - Maddux is 2.1 IP behind the Dutch wonder
4) 5,000 IP - Maddux is currently at 4967.2 IP, so he needs 32.1 IP to hit this plateau
5) 1,000 walks - he's at 995 (I wouldn't put it past him to not issue 5 walks)
6) 11th place all-time, hits allowed - Maddux has given up 4683 hits, 9 behind Sutton
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports the Los Angeles Dodgers could be poised to claim Colorado Rockies CL Brian Fuentes when he's put through the waiver process. They just have to have a worse record than the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Sal Maglie, 1956 Dodgers
The 39-year old was 13-5 in 26 starts, 2.87 ERA (140 ERA+), finished 2nd in both CYA and MVP to teammate Don Newcombe; club went to the World Series for the 4th time in 5 years, and Maglie lost to Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.
Rick Sutcliffe, 1984 Cubs
16-1 in 20 starts, 2.69 ERA (144 ERA+), won CYA (unanimously, over a 19-year old rookie named Doc) for a Cub team making their first postseason appearance in 39 years
Doyle Alexander, 1987 Tigers
9-0 in 11 starts, 1.53 ERA (278 ERA+), finished 4th in the CYA and helped beat the Blue Jays by 2 games in the AL East. Cost was a little steep (a young pitcher named Smoltz) though.
Randy Johnson, 1998 Astros
10-1 in 11 starts, 1.28 ERA (321 ERA+), finished 7th in CYA voting, lost twice to the Padres in the NLDS despite a 1.93 ERA in the series.
CC Sabathia, 2008 Brewers
8-0 in 9 starts so far, 1.60 ERA (270 ERA+)
I'm sure I'm missing some, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind when thinking of Sabathia.
The Dodgers do have a worse record than every other NL contender, except Arizona and Florida.
Don't be surprised to see Bruce Dern at the Stadium tonight giving the thumbs down sign to Kuroda.
I've always considered them as two ways of referring to the same thing. In others word, I've always viewed the magic number as the number at which a team will be eliminated. In that example the Dodgers Magic Number was 2 which was the combination needed to eliminate San Diego. Since San Diego's Elimination Number was 2 then that's their "Magic Number" the way I see it.
Can we still use the GreenCine promo though? ;)
Wait, now I'm being traded to the Mariners -- argh! This isn't my day. I thought I'd cleared DotCom Waivers already.
There was no better way to phrase this? I almost choked on my diet coke.
Good thing you weren't eating chicken.
Apparently it was just some faulty information from Ken Rosenthal.
The Devil, you say.
http://tangotiger.net/scouting/scoutBallot_LAN.html
vr, Xei
Do you wear women's cowboy boots, by any chance?
How does Dunn make Arizona a worse team?
Are you arguing that Dunn in their lineup is blocking a better player? If so, whom is that player?
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/419463
Sign up now!
I don't know Maddux (that's a weird last name when you think about it) dose not instill confidence in me to be a good playoff pitcher, anybody have playoff numbers on Maddux?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=maddugr01&post=1&t=p
vr, Xei
For the short term, anyway.
vr, Xei
Agreed. :-)
Whatever the numbers are, and I'm very sure he has solid playoff numbers, they are not relevant to what he will do in 2008 given his current skill set.
Yep. They're going as "all out" as they can, given current conditions and constraints.
vr, Xei
3.34 Playoff ERA
3.14 Career ERA
>> The Suns had only two hits over the final seven innings of the game, both by Ivan DeJesus Jr., went 4 for 5 on the night. <<
http://tinyurl.com/62odre
Maddux would be a benefit to the Dodgers if you believe he'll do better than James McDonald, Stults, or Johnson in relation to what you have to give up to get him.
But any other perceived intangible value is a slight to the current players IMO.
Its not like if Kershaw starts to suck, that people will blame Maddux.
This intangible Maddux argument is a little too much like "Juan Pierre lights a fire under JD Drew" stuff to believe.
vr, Xei
If some pitcher on the team pitches better after Maddux arrives, will the media start giving Maddux credit for said pitcher's improvement? And will TJ write about it? And will said pitcher get upset?
Furcal 2 yr 26 mil
Manny 3 yr 65 mil
If those could be done, with Kent, Lowe, and Nomar gone those would cancel out. You could fill 3B with DeWitt, fill 2B with Hu/DeJesus. Than your rotation would have Bills, Kershaw, Kuroda for sure Than you can fill the 2 spots with McDonald, Penny, Schmidt of "X" free-agent if they want to increase pay-roll that much.
That's a team I'd like to watch.
>> Dodgers center fielder Andruw Jones, on a rehabilitation stint with the 51s (65-65), hit solo homers in his first two at-bats. Las Vegas' other two runs scored on two-out RBI singles by Chin-lung Hu and B.J. LaMura in the fourth inning.
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/27123084.html
vr, Xei
In fact, looking at his home/road splits, Dunn has shown less power on the road (20 fewer home runs, 20 more doubles, or there abouts), his batting average (and no, I don't care that I'm the only guy around here that actually thinks it's an important stat) and his on base percentage are lower on the road. It stands to reason, seeing more games in Arizona, San Fransisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles will cause the same effect. Plus, that doesn't even factor into the hits that would have been home runs in one stadium that end up being F-9 in the NL West.
Beyond that, Dunn is now engaged in adventures in right field, and he's probably not a good enough defensive player to be playing right field.
I could be wrong. It's entirely possible that Dunn is the guy that catapults the Diamondbacks to the title this year. But, much like my Magic 8 Ball says, "Outlook not so good".
Just curious, the great left handers I can remember combined an excellent fastball with a nasty slider ( Carlton, Santana, R Johnson) but I was having a hard time coming up with a great LHP who only had a fastball and curve. Koufax seems to be the only who jumps into my mind.
Can you guys throw some names my way that were basically a two pitch pitcher whose arsenal included only a fastball and curve?
Tears in my eyes...
You do realize Manny is 36 years old, correct?
But (36 + Gloss) = Oh, around, 31 or so.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8466180/Dodgers-making-moves,-but-missed-a-key-one
>> Checking the ESPN Park Factor page, we see Petco Park ranks dead last for runs scored, and Dodger Stadium is right there with it at No. 29. Basically, nothing changes. <<
http://tinyurl.com/6kjmg3
I don't think I would say BA is not an important stat, but it definitely doesn't deserve the weight it typically receives, and it needs to be looked at in the context of OBP and SLG
vr, Xei
"David Wright has driven in 95 runs, but is his .292 average too low?"
Apparently David needs to have a .300 BA or higher to be a viable MVP candidate.
I really wish ESPN would remove their "Park Factors", or at the very least change the name. It's very misleading.
it was just a bad angle.
According to ESPN Radio host Andy Gresh, Sabathia is the NL MVP! But, as Gresh also notes, CC can't win the Cy Young because "he hasn't been there all year." Sometimes ESPN makes my head hurt.
Joe's stuff from Beijing has been excellent.
Xaphor, I will see you tonight for the glove handoff. I need it for my game tomorrow night.
Maybe I'll try to figure it out later if there aren't any answers on here.
Hello
I'm the guy who sits next to you
And reads the newspaper over your shoulder
Wait
Don't turn the page
I'm not finished
Life is so uncertain
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lovett-lyle/here-i-am-1066.html
Nope, he is not dressed well enough. Good thing I have a dual monitor set up, so now he can't see my internet browsing.
Presumably pitchers are excluded so you can skip the 1981 season of the Dodgers with Sutcliffe, Howe, and Valenzuela.
Of course Valenzuela wasn't a ROY during the 1981 season. He was just a rookie. And Sutcliffe was hurt a lot. But not hurt enough to tear up Lasorda's office.
That is an awesome question!
So far I have only found this close one:
The 1999 Braves (year 1 B.F.) featured ROY winners Walt Weiss (1988) and Ozzie Guillen (1985) log the most time at SS.
I remember it very well. I needed a ton of sugar to get it down.
The top four first basemen for the 1964 Giants were all ROY:
Orlando Cepeda
Willie McCovey
Harvey Kuenn
Willi Mays
Only 3 innings from Cap Peterson prevented a clean ROY sweep!
He is now monitoring your wherebabouts.
Mays had no starts at first base that season. His only time there was on May 1 in a game in LA. He was 2 for 4 with a homer and a walk in a 7-1 loss. I'm guessing Mays was moved because he was hurt. To start the bottom of the second, the Giants moved Jesus Alou from RF to CF, Duke Snider from LF to RF, Willie McCovey from 1B to LF, and Mays from CF to 1B. What a random game to set such a record!
Peterson was a PH who was inserted as a defensive replacement at 1B in two 8th inning multiple-switches where three of the ROY were taken out of blow outs (SF allowed 13 runs in each game) on July 23 and August 27. Kuenn, Mays, and Cepeda were pulled from the former game, leaving only McCovey in LF; McCovey, Cepeda, and Mays were pulled from the latter (Kuenn had sat).
The four ROY all had regular playing time on that team (Kuenn a bit less so), whereas Nomar has played only 9 games/68 innings at 3B/1B and Berroa 2 games/2 innings at 2B.
Mays was moved to first in that game in 1964 because he had a leg injury and manager Herman Franks didn't think he could cover enough ground in center in that condition. However, he still hit like a 1964 version of Willie Mays, i.e. he was very good.
Mays did not use a first baseman's glove when he played first. He just used his outfielder's glove.
Only looking for LHP so of your list only Ankiel makes the cut and he is a good comp. As I recall Boras wouldn't let him throw the slider or am I mistaken?
Isn't Zito a fastball/curve only guy?
http://longbeachstate.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/081908aaa.html
jose lima? jeff suppan? PVLness? ?? ??? ?????
Speaking of high horses, our campsite this weekend was surrounded by packs of beautiful horses that were out on a grazing break from a nearby mountain ranch. That was pretty cool (except for their residue near our campsite).
Dunn has more HR at GABP, but he also K's just as often there; a hitter at home can expect about 94.3% of the K/PA they get on the road, but Dunn is up at 99.6%. Home hitters also walk more often, 106.7% of their road rate; Dunn's just been 103.0%. And his wOBA on balls in play is .297 at home and .299 on the road; the norm is .312 at home and .306 on the road. So, while Dunn's HR total has been helped by his ballpark, the simplest interpretation is that trying to hit the extra HR at GABP means he doesn't benefit from the HFA in K, BB, or balls in play as much as a typical player.
Dunn is a very good batter, and none of the arguments I have seen to the contrary have any merit.
It wasn't the grounds crew fault that Coleman got hurt. Busch Stadium at the time had a tarp that rolled out mechanically from a slot near the first base line.
There was sufficient time for Coleman to see the tarp rolling out and get out of the way. The Cardinals used that setup for years and nobody was else was getting hurt by it.
The Cardinals have a regular old tarp now and the grounds crew there is extremely good at getting the tarp on and off.
I'm not one to hold grudges.
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