I wanna divorce.

1 - You know you'd just come crawling back after a couple of months, maybe weeks.

Wait, I thought the girl was Jim Tracy. Now it's a bunch of 0's.

Abusive relationships are like that.

Try to keep up, Big :)

So are we breaking up with the 2005 Dodgers? That's fine. I'd also like to slap them with a restraining order.

It's just a momentary analogy. Life will continue anon.

If there's a divorce, who gets custody of Oscar Robles?

6 -- LOL

8 -- LOL

I need to get to "Acceptance." I thought I was there, but it appears that I'm not.

Meanwhile, Ryan Drese has thrown seven scoreless innings. It still counts, even against the Angels.

Frank Robinson is on my list now.

Baseball Robinsons I like:
Jackie
Wilbert

Baseball Robinsons I think are overrated:
Brooks

Baseball Robinsons who had a job for far longer than they deserved:
Kerry
Jeff (both of them)

Baseball Robinsons I despise:
Frank

I'm still mad about his 1972 season with the Dodgers too!

I still love her, but tonight she sleeps on the couch.

FYI-Joel Guzman has played the last 5 games at 3b for Jacksonville. This is the move we all expected just curious why it took them so long.
James Loney has been on fire and is finally hitting again.
I'm expecting Depo to make a big trade and we will be without a few prospects in about one month. I thought Broxton would get traded but now it looks like we will need him in the bullpen. Still have plenty of ammunition, just curious which bullets our GM will use.

The Padres are handing us a frickin gift and we can't take advantage of it. Oh the humanity!

I'm taking a break from the dating scene...

11 - Miscellaneous Robinsons I like:
Mrs.

#13: I'm pretty sure that Guzman has played games at 3B before this, but it looks like he's going to be playing there more often moving forward.

The LA Times reports that DePodesta is looking at more of a rotation filler (Cincinnati's Aaron Harang, Colorado's Joe Kennedy, Toronto's Ted Lilly, Detroit's Mike Maroth and Pittsburgh's Mark Redman). None of these guys should require a large outlay of prospects, though the downside is that none of these guys would make much of an impact. Harang and Redman have pitched very well this year, but their career averages loom large in the background. Lilly was projected to the best of the bunch coming into this season, but he's pitched horribly so far. Kennedy has one year of good performance surrounded by a lot of sub-mediocrity. Maroth is the most consistent of the bunch, but the consistency is only in his mediocrity.

If it makes any of us feel a little better the AL was 12-2 against the NL yesterday.

17 - Well, that doesn't make feel any better. I think we have enough "rotation fillers" in our own system. We need another #2 or #3 guy. Not that it will matter much, we'll just have guy that finishes with a record of 5-6 with an ERA of 3 and 5 no-decisions at the rate we're going.

I'm not bitter...

The NL West continues to shine as the worst division in baseball. Here's the division rankings by their overall winning percentages.

1. NL East - .532 (173 - 152)
2. AL Central - .524 (166 - 151)
3. AL East - .500 (163 - 163)
4. AL West - .496 (127 - 129)
5. NL Central - .482 (186 - 200)
6. NL West - .469 (151 - 171)

#18: Here's AL vs. NL, overall:

1. AL - .507 (456 - 443)
2. NL - .494 (510 - 523)

So, the AL is +13 games over the NL, but most of that came from the +10 performance yesterday.

#19: I agree, which is why I would take a chance on Lilly before any of the others. I think he has the potential to be a solid #3 pitcher if he can turn things around. His performance this year is dramatically out of line with his career performance, so he can be expected to improve. Additionally, he's recovering from an injury so at least there's a plausible explanation for his struggles. And last, he's still under arbitration for another season, so he could contribute beyond just this year.

Mark Redman will not come cheap this year. He has been one of the best pitchers in the NL all season. Don't look at his W/L record check out his real stats. He has pitched better then anyone on the Dodger staff.
Toronto is in the AL East race. Why would they be trading Lilly?
Harang has some upside and actually strikes out hitters so he probably wouldn't fit in with this current weak ass strike out staff.
I have no idea what to make of Joe Kennedy since he pitches at Colorado. He was a ballyhooed prospect who was solid in the beginning for Tampa Bay and then was ineffective, was shipped to Colorado and actually had a decent year in mile high last high. Sucks again this year.

Not sure how any of these are a big enough improvement on what DJ Houlton/Thompson have given us. Unless they feel that OP will not be coming back soon then I can understand the need for another pitcher. Otherwise in two weeks if Werth is still werthless then we need a LF with some pop.

Does this scare the hell out of anyone else:

Dodgers extending Weaver's deal?
Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta told The Los Angeles Times he probably would begin talks soon with right-hander Jeff Weaver on a contract extension. Weaver reportedly has said he would like to remain with the team.
The Dodgers, however, might not be willing to match Weaver's current salary of $9.25 million.

"Jeff has done a terrific job," DePodesta told The Times. "We'd all be interested in [an extension]."

Granted, it's from ESPN's "Rumor Central" but I just do not get why we would extend Weaver. That would give us the same 4 mediocre pitchers we've suffered through this year, for at least the next two years?!?

#22: Redman scares me. His K rates have been declining the past few years:

2003: 7.12 K/9
2004: 4.80 K/9
2005: 4.53 K/9

And he's 31 years old, so it's unlikely that his improvement is real. A lot more flyballs are getting caught rather than going over the wall (.40 HR/9 this year vs. .95 HR/9 over his career). A lot more balls in play are turning into outs (.260 BABIP this year vs. .292 BABIP over his career). Some of this could be real improvement, but most GMs will pay for it like it's all real improvement. Thus, he's probably not a good value.

Harang would be another good candidate, because as you mentioned, he has some upside. He's younger, at 27, and his improvement has come through significantly increasing his K-rate (8.68 K/9 this year vs. 7.03 K/9 for his career) as well as dropping his HR-rate (.65 HR/9 this year vs. 1.13 HR/9 for his career). I'm more comfortable with a pitcher dropping his HR-rate when it's associated with generally increased dominance. Also, his BABIP this year (.307) is in line with his career average (.300), so luck doesn't seem to be a huge factor.

The two reasons Toronto might consider trading Lilly are:

1) Toronto always considers trading players. They have to in order to stay competitive on a year-to-year basis.
2) Lilly has not been performing well this year and there's supposedly been some friction with the coaching staff.

I think the problem with our SPs is that they are suffering from the "offense blues". For example, it seems to me if the opposing team gets a lead then the current SP kinda resigns to the fact that there is a low probability of the offense recovering any ground... it may be affecting their confidence and, more importantly, their attitude. I don't know, just an opinion.

How does Lowe feel about going into tonight's game knowing if he allows 3 runs he's probably going to lose (rhetorical question)?

#25 - Let's not get too down on the offense. Did you feel the offense was frustrated when they knew they had to score 8 runs/game earlier this year?

It's a team. Both units need to pick each other up when the other is struggling.

Outside of Erickson's comments earlier this year, and Weaver's comments that I think we're a bit overblown, I haven't heard any snippiness coming from either side.

#23: If we could sign him to a reasonable salary for a 2 or 3-year deal, I wouldn't be against it. Unfortunately, my definition of reasonable ($5 - $6 million) is probably nowhere near Weaver's definition ($8 - $10 million). Here is my reasoning:

1) If anything, our experience this year shows that you need to have more than 5 starting pitchers, because at any time at least one of them will be ineffective or injured.

2) The free agent starting pitchers after this season are essentially Burnett or Bust. When you compare Weaver to the other guys we could end up signing, he starts to look a lot better.

3) Our top minor league pitchers won't be ready to contribute in the starting rotation until 2007, so we need to fill that gap somehow.

My take is that if DePodesta is able to trade for a starting pitcher signed beyond this season, he'll let Weaver walk. Otherwise, DePodesta will push hard for resigning him.

#27 - I seriously doubt Weaver signs an extension that would result in a 50% paycut, regardless of what his performance has been this year. Guess that means Depo matches his price (or close to it - maybe $7M/yr), or Weaver goes on the open market.

I could really see him going back to Detroit.

I have complete confidence in Depo to not sign Weaver to an extension. Boras knows that Weaver can get a lot of money in a pretty barren free agent market in the upcoming offseason. I have a hard time believing that Boras would let Weaver accept a deal equal to or less than the one that Penny received. Depo has an interest in staying on Boras' good side due to the upcoming negotiations for Hochaver. Boras probably does not have a "good side," but I am sure he has a "bad side."

Oh geez, I didn't realize Weaver had Boras on his side. So much for an extension at a cheap price. Definitely no way that Weaver signs an extension at anything less than $8M/yr, not after this past offseason. And if you don't think Boras is aware that the quality of SP's falls of a cliff after AJ Burnett this offseason...

Weaver returns to Detroit this offseason, for 3yrs/$21M.

It should embarass the GMs of the NL West that the AL Central, comprised of teams with low payrolls--where the Minnesota Twins can consistently win the division!--should be kicking our butts this month. With the possible exception of the White Sox (and I'm not really convinced by them either), these teams stink. But we stink worse, apparently. Imagine if you're a Padre fan right now (I don't have to imagine, because I can get 24-hour Padre cheering section, the Mighty 1090, at my house). If they were at all competent, they could have put the division away the past two weeks while LA, AZ and SF flailed against weak competition. I have to say, it's no wonder ESPN treats this part of the country like a minor league.

I hope DePo avoids Lilly like the plague. I watched him for two seasons in Oakland, and his performance was eerily Weaveresque -- occasional periods of dominance (particularly in the second half of 2003) interspersed with average-to-poor performances, with a nagging injury accompanying him each year as well.

I wouldn't doubt that the rumors about friction with the Blue Jays coaching staff are true -- he was frequently at odds with the A's coaching staff during his tenure there. There were times when he was forbidden from shaking off signs from the catcher, because the coaches were so fed up with his refusal to listen to their suggestions. While the Dodger pitching coaches have hardly inspired much optimism this year, I don't think another fragile, volatile pitcher is what this team needs.

26 - I totally agree... I'm expressing my concerns over the current state of production which happens to be a lack of timely hitting. That is what is so frustrating as well. As soon as the offense gets going, the pitching will regress. At least that's been the trend so far.

# 24 Didn't say I wanted Redman just that he would be most expensive of the pitchers mentioned because of his excellent year.

# 31 The Twins don't stink, they have the best defense up the middle in all of baseball, the best bullpen in all of baseball and enough hitting to get the job done. We start A Perez at SS, Edwards at 3b, Werth in RF, Grabowski in LF and you think the Twins stink. With the injuries, we are not fielding a very good team right now. For this team to be competitive Milton Bradley needs to play and Jason Werth needs to hit like he did last year. Until Werth stops his Royce Clayton act we are at a huge disadvantage. He has been by far the worse starting RF/LF in baseball since his return with a negative VORP. It is hard to generate alot of offense when your corner outfielders (Grabowski/Werth) both have negative VORPS and are both the worse at their position except for Brian Jordan in the NL.

Is this a polite way of saying you hope the Dodgers will get breast enhancement surgery?

I suppose that would be one way to go.