Reporter: "Izturis is slumping badly and he hit into two double-plays last night. Have you considered adjusting his spot in the lineup until he gets back on track?"

Tracy: "Would I consider moving him? NO, we need his glove at the top of the order."

On the other hand, I was also at a Nomo start at Wrigley Field in 98 when he was knocked out of the box in the second inning. I think the Dodgers lost 7-1 to Kerry Wood. The legendary Trenidad Hubbard hit a solo blast to save a shutout. As an interesting side note, Wood had only one strikeout in this game (Todd Zeile, I believe). What makes it interesting is the fact that he had his epic 20-strikeout game in his next start.

I want to close by saying that I am disturbed by the trade Cesar talk. I am disturbed because the trade talk is based on the fact that he is currently over-valued in the market. In other words, my favorite current Dodger is seen by other Dodger fans as nothing more than an overpriced stock to be dumped before his price crashes.

Numbers are broken down as April, May, June

K/PA: .131, .071, .122
BB/PA: .047, .071,
Non-HR hits: 33, 41, 8
Balls in play: 87, 108, 68
% in play: .813, .857, .829
BABIP: .379, .380, .118
AVG: .333, .350, .103

A couple observations:
- strikeout rates are similiar to his April numbers
- walk rates are almost identical with April
- the percentage of balls put in play is in line with what he did in April and May
- his batting average has been between 87% and 92% of his avg of balls in play for all three months
- the obvious number that sticks out is the June BABIP of only .118

Let me say that I understand that BABIP is more relevant for elavuating pitchers than hitters, but still, that's a horribly low number. I don't have the benefit of watching many games, so I can't tell if Izturis is making contact incredibly weakly or if he's just very unlucky of late. I'm sure those of you how get to watch more than 3 games a month could lend some insight. But based on numbers alone, I'd venture to guess that he's had some bad luck to go along with his inevitably regression to the mean that we all knew was coming after hitting ~.340 for 2 months.

Any thoughts?

My favorite Dodger was and still is Hideo Nomo. My most painful memory as a Dodger fan is seeing him booed by the home crowd when he pitched against the Yankes at Chavez Ravine last season. If it wasn't for the fact that I share some of Nomo's stoicism, I probably would have bawled like a baby. That being said, I in retrospect think Tracy made an obvious mistake in sticking with him for so long.

My own opinion is that we will always have the memories that made our current "favorite" Dodger, but a GM's job is to plan for the future. Izzy has been a joy to watch, but if a good trade comes up, then we should trade him. If not, then we should stick with him.

Success in baseball is always a fleeting thing, and players will naturally move on--the only exceptions in my view to this are Gagne and Bradley. Gagne, assuming he comes back healthy, is a true "franchise player," while Milton's personal demons make his hoped-for success in a Dodger uniform something that transcends baseball.

WWSH

Is that vintage Tracy? I think so.

on the flip side, i was at the home opener at dodger stadium in 96, when nomo outdueled tom glavine and pitched a shutout beating the braves 1-0. he walked more than hit safely against him, but it was still a great feat to behold.

Keep plugging away on bar studies. If you are prepared, the test is not all that hard. The key, in my opinion, is the daily, steady preparation (which it sounds like you are doing).

And Go Dodgers

I have to admit that a big part of my anti-Tracy bias is the fact that he comes across as such a dweeb. I wonder if the players see him the same way.

Because Izturis rarely hits the ball to the wall, it limits the areas to which the ball can safely land for a hit. Even if he Uses the Whole Field, he's only reaching, say, 85% of the available real estate in which to land a line drive or fly ball.

Basically, any fly ball Izturis hits is an out. Guys like Drew and Kent can hit fly ball singles and doubles because the outfield has to play them deeper, and they'll knock a couple off the wall.

Cesar isn't particularly fast, so his GB/hit ratio is going to be a little lower than average, since he's not going to leg out more infield hits than a speedy batter, but he won't scorch too many past the first baseman either like JD Drew might because he doesn't hit the ball too hard.

His batting average is tied almost solely into his ability to hit line drives that fall in. I'd be curious to see if he's hit more fly balls during his slump than during his hot streak. Unfortunately, he refuses to take walks so his OBP is tied to his line-drive hitting as well.

That's my best guess as to his slump - he has less margin for error than a more powerful or patient hitter.

If Nomo keeps winning, he is bound to get traded to a contender before this year is over.

No one ever called it Nomania.

Oakland
24-38 start
12-2 since
36-40 overall

LA
12-2 start
24-39 since
36-41 overall

I liked Hideo Nomo very much. I thought last year was sad, and unfair, in the sense that he should have been allowed to go on the DL in peace.

What bugs me about Drew: He scores the first run last night, then fires himself up by slowly walking, expression-less, back to the dugout. No fire in that belly, playing hurt or not.

I was watching the Yankees and Orioles on NHK yesterday. Michael Kay, the Yankee announcer was talking about what Oriole manager Lee Mazilli said when he was asked about moving down Sosa in the lineup. Maxilli replied that he wasn't moving Sosa down, he was just moving batters around to mix things up. Mazilli's point was that it was not a demotion for Sosa, it was just a realignment that would hopefully break a slump.

So, if Sosa can deal with batting 6th, I'm sure Cesar can handle batting 8th.

They get defense. Yeah, that's one of the few teams I would admit some defense would make sense.

Nomo was a victim. Choi, that was horrible.

Yes, must get the small joys where I can...

Someone mentioned the As upthread. The As of May are basically the Dodgers of now - they were hit incredibly hard by injuries that month. Now their guys are off the DL, and Kendall's adjusted to the AL, and boom, here you have what we're seeing now.

So I still have hope for the Dodgers this year.

Fick flied into double play right, Giles out at third.

TO: J. Tracy

FR: Sitrick & Co.

CC: F. McCount, P. DePodesta

RE: All-Star Game Marketing

Jim,

You may be aware that the Anaheim team is likely to have several players make the All-Star Team. We advise that in order for the Dodgers to maintain their position as the primary Los Angeles team, you must ensure that the Dodgers also have All-Star players.

Following is a list of mandated actions that you must implement to ensure this activity.

1. Keep Mr. Izturis in the leadoff position. This will ensure that his name is atop the box scores in newspapers nationwide, as well as on the ESPN highlight show.

2. Refer to Mr. Izturis as an the top All-Star shortstop candidate in all media interviews. Remember: Repeating the primary
message often enough will make it so in the minds of the feeble-minded baseball fans.

3. Link Mr. Izturis' candidacy with that of Mr. Kent.

4. Have Mr. Izturis bunt to protect his batting average. Note: When reporters ask you about his buniting, deny that you have ordered him to do so.

==============================================

On the most part I am a convert to statistical analysis, but I think that a manager should be measured by more than just his ability to properly play the percentages. I believe that an underrated role of a manager is to motivate the most out of his players, whomever they may be.

As an outside observer, it appears that Tracy is failing miserably in this area.

When I was on the Frosh-Soph team as a Freshman at Kennedy High (Orange County), we were mired in a deep slump. To mix things up, our manager picked the lineup by drawing names out of a hat. Our lineup was funky as can be. Studs batting 7th, bench warmers (me) batting lead off, etc. We went into the game loose as geese. We ended up winning going away.

This is like back in the days when Lasorda would try to bust slumps by pitching BP or coaching 3rd base. Maybe some of you feel such antics are sally and worthless, but I believe that keeping a ballclub/office loose raises morale and, ultimately, performance.

Meanwhile, the Padres give us a gift double.

I remember as a junior in high school, I was told by my English teacher that she wouldn't accept mediocre work from me any longer, after I turned in a paper that would have been an A if anyone else in the class had turned it in, but because it was me, she gave me a B. I was upset about it for about five seconds, thought about it, realized she was right, and started doing my best instead of coasting along. It was exactly the kick in the ass I needed.

Of course, when I passed that story around, the next year a friend's parent tried to include it in a letter to the school board as part of a general rant about the pressure on students due to homework loads, too many tests, etc. I told the mother I wasn't on board with the "meanie teacher" angle she was trying to take, and she had to delete the anecdote from her letter.

Uh, baseball. Hooray for Kent, now please do something other than K, Olmedo!

Maybe the Dodgers should auction off the right to set the starting batting order (presumably, setting the lineup would be too much for anyone to take) to Charity for a game. Better yet, to make it "fair," get both teams in the same game to do it, then have a competition between when them which can find the craziest fan willing to pay the most for the power. Would've been perfect for Dodgers/Angels.

That's the way some people play. Don't count it against them. It's called "being a professional" when you want to positively spin it.

As much as I dislike Tracy, Plaschke and Simers were really starting to far outstrip Tracy as far as my blind rage. Plus, my partner in crime, Jerry, has always hated the name and the inherent limitations of it. He is not as confrontational. So the idea was to look more broadly.

But Tracy started doing the stupid nonsense again - letting Perez bat in Colorado, etc. The last straw was his misuse of Weaver in May, which would have been misuse had it been Josh Beckett, much less Jeff Weaver. Jerry and I had decided on some other name, and then I can't remember whether it was the Arizona game where Tracy left Weaver in to die, or the Braves game where Tracy left Weaver in to give up the Grand Slam, but I e-mailed Jerry and told him the name would change when hell froze over.

Man, can't tell if I am really sorry or really glad I missed that.

Steve -- didn't you add quotation marks around the name for a while while the issue was under submission, sort of suggesting it was a statement made at some point, rather than a necessarily ongoing mission?

I was very hopeful that things this year might be different. Probably naively so.

Kent scrappily goes sliding into first! Shades of Alex Cora!

How exactly is it that, with guys on first and second, Kent can hit an infield single and the infield can't get anyone out?? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but how did that happen?

With full count and 2 outs, the only shot would be at 1st.

Would it be too much to ask that Izturis be inspired by Kent's ability to hit for power and even take a walk from time to time?

Also... 1/3 the way through the game, our 7-10 hitters are 0-5. Our 2-6 hitters are 5-9.

BUT

I do wish if the Padres were just going to hand us outs, that we would take advantage. Both Ojeda and Blum were out by five feet on even below average throws.

Notice how our defense and pitching responds terribly when under pressure.

I take that back. If the throw pulls the first baseman off the bag sliding is okay if it's to avoid a tag.

Sliding never, ever gets you to the bag more quickly.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!"

Phillips has been struggling and is cheap enough to be benched. With Martin looking good and coming up in AA, I'm not as worried about starting Navarro's service time.

3 out of 17 starts have been dominant starts (7 or more innings with 1 or less earned runs). I guess this is okay for #3 or #4 starter.

The somewhat unlikely success of Derek Thompson (from Jacksonville) fed this phenomenon the way a Grabowski HR feeds Tracy.

Oh great. They're going to encourage him now.

Take your Choidamn bunts and put them where the sun don't shine

Sincerely,

Steve

But I'll take it.

Still, you get the feeling all the postgame conversation will be about Izturis' bunt.

Can someone tell me how impressive Ross' DP throw was earlier in the game? Routine or great?

All this nonsense about trading Izturis: The far more likely asset to be traded soon is Perez. We've got a power hitting third baseman who isn't a good fielder already, and he'll be back at work in August. Behind him, the inevitable march of the Suns. If Valentin looks to be healthy, it's Perez we'll use to pry a hard-hitting outfielder loose from Cincinatti or wherever. He's done a nice job, but he's going to be a spare part soon.

Cody's throw was a one hop strike to Perez. If it had been at all off line Giles would have been safe so I'd have call it a great throw. Or near great, at the very least.

The Perez rehab schedule is one of the following:

1. a bizarre torture ritual in which Perez returns @ coors wherein Tracy leaves him out there for a dozen runs and 150 pitches, OR

2. buying time for someone else to get hurt thus allowing Erickson to remain on the roster. Has anyone suggested that Erickson has either killed or kidnapped DePo and is, himself, acting as GM of the Dodgers?

119 wasn't meant as a swipe against our current catchers, although I can understand why it was interpreted as such based on its timing. I like Phillips plenty, but he's not so awesome that we can't try a kid out if the season soon doesn't get more hopeful. And, I don't expect Navarro to be any kind of savior this season. I actually don't think ANYONE in Vegas is 'the answer.'

With the current state of affairs, it's not an unreasonable question, though. DePodesta might want to take a long look at Navarro this season before finishing his offseason plans. Based on that idea, will we see a lot of Navarro this year? Maybe.

How a guy gets a three-run lead, then comes out and walks the first two batters I'll never know.

They have played 76 games.

Your children's teachers and personal physicians are more likely marijuana users.

After Kent caught that pop fly, he patted another Dodger (Ross?) in a friendly way.

Cancer in remission!

The Mets had a bunch of stoners a couple years back, Darryl Kile was high when he died. Heck, even Rex Hudler smokes.

I guess any job that allows you to wake up after noon, and doesn't start until 5pm is pretty conducive to potheads. No drug testing either.

Having known many shaggy punks when growing up in Simi Valley, yes, I can say with certainty that Weaver is hitting the bong, bowl, hukkah, and j.

Your point about doctors and teachers is well taken, though. I have a friend in med school who once said he wanted to be a doctor so he could afford to spend $1000 a week on weed. I'm not wholly sure he wasn't joking.

I can't tell if this is a joke or not. What munchies has he brought to post-game interviews?

Perez is the only minor league position player we've seen who looks like he might have a chance in the majors. Depending on how he does the rest of the year, I'd sooner trade Guzman or La Roche or anyone in the system. I've wanted to address this for a while and since Jon mentioned it earlier I will now.
I think it's very foolish to pin too much hope on minor league talent. No matter how good they look in Jacksonville the odds are against them making it in the majors. A few will eventually make it but predicting who is next to impossible. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if we never see our top prospects in Dodger uniforms. Which is why Perez has increased his value so much. Even with shaky defense he is worth more right now than half a dozen prospects because he has shown he can handle major league pitching.

Aloha Mr Hand.

Not watching the game, how does Saenz look? Slower than usual?

April - ERA 6.23 K/9 4.15
May - ERA 5.25 K/9 6.75
June - ERA 2.63 K/9 6.81

That's a pretty good June by anyone's standards. He went 7 innings in 5 of his 6 starts and 6 innings in the other. His season ERA now stands at 4.53, and if you take away the Atlanta grand slam that he gave up, his ERA would be 4.19, which is pretty good for a #3 starter, I would think.

Wunsch's strategy is to have them hit it too hard.

Trace: great game, give me the ball
Weaves: no its not time yet, i am good.
Trace: I make the decisons, and I say it's time

Weaves:If i am here and you are here, dosen't that make it our time, Mr. Hand?

Beltre 11mil
Rose 300k
Edwards 300k
Houlton-500k
Approx-12mil

Puts us at 94 mil this year.

Beyond that, you don't have to defend yourself. Just ignore him.

But don't pretend that "11mil" is what Beltre would have accepted to come here.

and then we would be in the same place as we are today except we would owe Beltre 50 more million dollars.

243-im from the camp that Beltre would have produced better staying in LA...lets say at 2nd half '03 levels.

1.Izturis
2.Werth
3. Drew
4. Beltre
5. Kent
6. Bradley
7. Choi/Saenz
8. Phillips

Thats a lineup that I would feel comfortable with going far in the playoffs. We are missing 2 big sticks with our current lineup, one with Bradley back.

246- Saves aren't possessive.

You mean the same Beltre who essentially didn't perform in LA until last year? Maybe he would have been mediocre Beltre in LA this year as opposed to terrible Beltre in Seattle.

How about that road trip when Mikey Edwards was holding down the fort? He was making about 2 plays a game that weren't errors but inexperience plays (mistags etc).

Obvioulsy, there's 90 games left in the year, but what I'm getting at is, is there something wrong with Beltre? A three week slump by Izturis has got us all questioning his physical soundness. On the one hand, I'm glad he's stinking somewhere else, but I really liked Beltre.

For this you want to pay $50 million? Note that Perez has won a few games for us with his bat.

We have no guarantee that Beltre would be hitting any better in LA than he is in Seattle. And you've just shown that his better defense would not have saved a significant enough portion of games to justify $50 million.

Our mark of historical success ever devolves.

I, like most, was sorry to see Beltre go, but understood that at the more likely 80-90 million that would have resulted from a bidding war, such a move was necessary. The pitching staff, given your lineup, would have been Dessens, Ishii, Weaver, Houlton, and Derek Thompson.

It is becoming clear that DePo was right, and the rest of us were wrong, regardless of whether Beltre somehow scrapes his way back to .800 OPS. .800 OPS is Shawn Green. Currently, Beltre is finally past Izturis, but now he's battling with Neifi!(TM)

Of course, I can't defeat the speculations and conjectures that you claim might have been if Beltre was playing here. Those are sophistry.

At $10 million / year (the Dodgers offer), I'd be willing to deal with Beltre's performance to-date. But, at roughly $13 million / year, the Mariners have got to be kicking themselves.

I feel that Beltre needs to be highly motivated to perform at top level. That motivation can come from Tyler Houston, Robin Ventura or Scott Boras.

if you look at his career numbers, he is off from his adpendectomy year numbers.

I don't know about Beltre, but had DePodesta spent any amount on money on anyone else with Beltre's numbers, some folks around here would be singing a different tune.

Derrek Lee
Nick Johnson
Brian Roberts
Bobby Abreu
Albert Pujols
Alex Rodriguez
Luis Castillo
Brian Giles
Moises Alou
J.D. Drew LAD
Carlos Delgado
Travis Hafner
Luis Gonzalez
Vladimir Guerrero
David Dellucci

Derrek Lee
Brian Roberts
Albert Pujols
Álex Rodríguez
Bobby Abreu PHI
Vladimir Guerrero
David Ortiz
Carlos Delgado
Miguel Tejada 8
Jim Edmonds
Jason Bay
Andruw Jones
Miguel Cabrera
Nick Johnson
Travis Hafner
Adam Dunn
Jason Varitek
Morgan Ensberg
Moisés Alou
Aramis Ramírez
Brian Giles
Mark Teixeira
Chase Utley
Manny Ramírez
Cliff Floyd
David Dellucci
Felipe López
Gary Sheffield
Reggie Sanders
David Wright
J.D. Drew
Pat Burrell
Kevin Mench
Jeff Kent

Because the Dodgers only signed Drew because they didn't sign Beltre.

No fantasy trading Choi.

"I thought I was out...they pull me back in!"

But your own arguments in this thread have been focusing on having Beltre around this year for a playoff run this year, and you've just admitted that the Dodgers ended up with the better man for this year in Drew.

I also am wary of Drew breaking down, altho for our sake I hope it never happens.

But keep in mind also that even if Drew breaks down in future years, the trade will still end up being worth it if our much-cheaper 3B of the future--whether that be Valentin, Perez, or one of our prospects--performs better offensively than Beltre in future seasons. Unless Beltre steps it up with his offense, the bar isn't going to be set terribly high.

But keep in mind also that even if Drew breaks down in future years, the move will still end up being worth it if our much-cheaper 3B of the future--whether that be Valentin, Perez, or one of our prospects--performs better offensively than Beltre in future seasons. Unless Beltre steps it up with his offense, the bar isn't going to be set terribly high.

On Drew vs. Beltre, at the time, I think I would have gone with Drew, all things equal, but it would have been close. Of course, that is without me having any special access to his medical reports. Basically the choice was taking a risk that Drew would play in as many games as he did in 2004 vs. a risk that Beltre would play as well as he did in 2004. Because Drew, when healthy, is only a slightly worse hitter than Beltre was last season. (obviously, positioning gives Beltre extra value overall) I think the odds of Drew staying healthy were better than Beltre continuing to hit at that rate, particularily considering that he'd never been above average prior to that. I think it's easier to make a guy healthy than it is to make a guy a hall of fame hitter.

And regarding Beltre bitching that Depo didn't call him personally. Get the f' over it Adrian. That's not his job. Kim Ng handles contracts, and she called him. If Depo had Billy from consessions call him, I could understand. But Ng is what, his #2, #3 person in the organization? Welcome to what we call "business" Mr. Beltre. Sorry if your feelings were hurt.

Drew gets a huge edge over Beltre due to our prospect breakdown. For example, using Sickels' top 20 list:

2B: B (Young), B- (Aybar)
SS: A (Guzman), B- (Hu)
3B: B (DeWitt), B- (LaRoche, obviously higher now)
OF: C- (Kemp, who?)

We obviously need outfielders more than infielders. VERY obviously.

Also, Baseball America has a Ask BA regarding Kuo at:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba.html

RK PLAYER TEAM AB BA OPS

1 Derrek Lee ChC 74 .419 1.407
2 Tony Clark Ari 49 .408 1.169
3 Jeff Kent LAD 64 .406 1.153
4 Albert Pujols StL 71 .394 1.296
5 Clint Barmes Col 51 .392 1.044
6 Omar Vizquel SF 63 .381 0.952
6 Mike Matheny SF 42 .381 1.131
6 Nick Johnson Was 63 .381 1.159
9 Michael Barrett ChC 54 .370 1.112
10 Olmedo Saenz LAD 41 .366 1.196
11 Jimmy Rollins Phi 55 .364 1.052
12 Rob Mackowiak Pit 61 .361 1.133
13 Garrett Atkins Col 59 .356 0.872
14 Edgardo Alfonzo SF 49 .347 0.873
15 Luis Gonzalez Ari 75 .347 1.056
16 David Eckstein StL 52 .346 0.960
17 Craig Biggio Hou 64 .344 0.910
18 Juan Encarnacion Fla 68 .338 0.974
19 Bobby Abreu Phi 69 .333 1.000
19 Adam Everett Hou 54 .333 0.898
19 Miguel Cabrera Fla 93 .333 0.926
22 Craig Counsell Ari 52 .327 0.869
23 Brad Wilkerson Was 43 .326 1.050
24 Sean Casey Cin 71 .324 0.769
25 Jim Edmonds StL 65 .323 1.078
26 Paul Lo Duca Fla 63 .317 0.789
26 Morgan Ensberg Hou 63 .317 1.093
28 Carlos Lee Mil 95 .316 1.042
29 Pat Burrell Phi 84 .310 1.053
30 Phil Nevin SD 78 .308 0.783
31 Brady Clark Mil 49 .306 0.844
31 Chad Tracy Ari 49 .306 0.887
33 Jason Bay Pit 59 .305 1.058
34 Matt Lawton Pit 46 .304 0.908
35 Alex Gonzalez Fla 69 .304 0.830
36 Jason Phillips LAD 63 .302 0.796

Dunn, 25, isn't a free agent until after the '07 season, so his value might be at its peak. Any team that acquires him would get two-plus seasons of his prodigious power, albeit at arbitration-inflated increases from his current salary of $4.6 million.

from Rosenthal (sporting news)

Class AA righthander Chad Billingsley probably is untouchable, but the Dodgers possess one of the deepest farm systems in the game, both in pitchers and position players. They could send left fielder Jayson Werth back to the Reds as part of the package. Or they could keep Werth and use Dunn at first base.

NAME AB BA OPS
Antonio Perez 22 .455 0.975
Jeff Kent 64 .406 1.153
Olmedo Saenz 41 .366 1.196
Paul Bako 14 .357 0.899
Jayson Werth 29 .310 1.003
J. Phillips 63 .302 0.796
Derek Lowe 7 .286 0.571
Ricky Ledee 37 .270 0.668
Jose Valentin 15 .267 1.213
S. Erickson 4 .250 0.500
D.J. Houlton 4 .250 0.650
Jeff Weaver 17 .235 0.529
M. Bradley 46 .217 0.651
J.D. Drew 51 .216 0.740
Cesar Izturis 67 .209 0.547
Mike Edwards 21 .190 0.499
J. Grabowski 16 .188 0.521
Hee-Seop Choi 50 .180 0.606
Oscar Robles 10 .100 0.282
N. Nakamura 11 .091 0.258
Jason Repko 21 .048 0.281

So when we need a pinch hitter, we should call upon DLowe or Weaver!

This comes to mind because of a story 6-4-2 blog linked to in the St. Louis Post Dispatch concerning the continuing problems of Mark Mulder (a pitcher we wanted badly, remember?) He doesn't get what happened to the great pitcher he used to be, and the Cardinal pitching coach is still trying to figure it all out with him:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3EA684B07295A4438625702E00193EE7?OpenDocument

Something like this has to have happened to Cesar Izturis, and I assume he and Wallach are spending long hours reviewing tape of Izzy's solid line drives of last season and this spring to determine what he's unconsciously started doing differently.

Harold Reynolds was, and is, clearly insane.

that is what I thought but I really,really want to believe him on this one. can't I have this one?

If Antonio Perez became Pedro Guerrero, he could stay here for a decade. I would have no problem with that. But Harold Reynolds is like Plaschke with baseball players, and me with the Over/Under. A contrary indicator. He likes Jose Reyes for crying out loud!

That part of the list just about runs the gamut of love, hate, and everything in between.

312. Steve Saxs Sweaty Jockstrap
Belly and Dukie will always have a special place in my heart, and the hearts of others.

Cue Christina: "Awwwww..."

337 - I maintain that Beltre will never, ever have a year like had last season. Of course, he doesn't have to be that good to have a terrific career.

He's struggling but even in his darkest days in L.A. he was a second half player. I thing Beltre will be much better after the all-star break.

He's another guy who isn't having a great year, but I think Kent deserves to start because of the type of career he's had.

Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg and Harold Reynolds. And they call the catcher's equipment the tools of ignorance.

http://www.minorleagueball.com

It's the blog entry from Monday.

#1. I wouldnt trade Izturis until after Valentin is clear to play.

I'd still deal Izturis, Guzman, and Jackson for Oswalt/Everett. Thats a deal that I think the Astros would take. Guzman, I'm not as impressed with him as Steve is, because his K's to BB's is terrible. Guzman started out well, but he's tanked. I'd have no problem playing Antonio Perez at SS with LaRoche at 3rd. At this point, Guzman is closer to Ruben Mateo than Miggy Cabrera. Oswalt is Oswalt. A dominant #1 pitcher in his prime.

But I was thinking about aother Izturis trade, albeit slightly minor than the previous ones.

We have a bullpen problem correct? No team can win with Gio/Duaner.. As steve mentions.

Dan Evans/Bill Bavasi up at Seattle have an affinity for toolsy out machines that previously played on the Blue.. Jolbert Cabrera and Adrian Beltre.

How about this:

Dodgers trade SS- Cesar Izturis:
Dodgers receive: RHP Jeff Nelson, and LHP Ron Villone.

Nelson/Villone fix our bullpen problems, Izzy out of the way fixes Trace's crack addiction.

Any takers?

Sigh. When Kent retires and starts doing commentary, he will be an idiot too. There must be a toxic waste dump under the second base bag in every stadium.

I like catchers. Joe Garagiola, Tim McCarver (yes, Tim McCarver), Joe Torre, Bob Uecker.... These are people who humbly try to understand and appreciate baseball.

#326 - yeah, the phone call situation was just a big mess of ignorance and finger pointing. I remember that my first reaction to hearing it was, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that Depo is now consulting with a 25 year old with a 10th grade education on all team decisions." (no offense to the 25-year-olds; I've only got Beltre by 13 months)

I'm actually waiting for Plaschke to write a column complaining about why him and TJ weren't consulted with. Hell, it could be worked into the regular rotation:

- Kent is grumpy/mean/quiet
- Izturis is the man
- Drew is a pansey/soft
- Jim Tracy can do no wrong
- Bradley is a jerk/punk/thug
- Google boy is over his head
- McCourt has no money / wrecked the stadium
--> Bill & TJ should run the team <--
(repeat)

Steve Stone is a good analyst too in my opinion. He was fired by the Cubs because Dusty Baker couldnt take the legit critism Stone put on him.

Have to respect an announcer that is openly critical of his own team.

That gives me a great idea. Wunsch comes in as a LOOGy, right? But say the guy on deck is a righty, and the guy in the whole is another lefty. Wunsch gets the first lefty, then he and Perez switch positions. Perez gets the righty, then they switch back. How could it fail?

That'd be a steal for the M's.

It was joked about last night, but I think it's a best fit with the Twins. Izturis makes a reasonable salary, and he'd clearly be an upgrade over Cristian Guzman, whom the Twins tolerated for a good 5 years.

The likeliest trading partner I can come up with is the the Reds. Though Felipe Lopez is performing well with the bat, there are serious questions about whether he will be able to stick at SS due to his defense. Aaron Harang would obviously have to be the centerpiece coming back, but he's definitely not the dominant starter I would be hoping for.

One potentially creative match is the Braves. Rafael Furcal is a free agent after this season, and the Braves don't seem to have a solution for next year and beyond. If we were willing to take on salary, we might be able to do a SS swap, getting a good prospect or two in return, perhaps either Kylie Davies or Kelly Johnson. On the other hand, this does not satisfy my original trading condition, which is getting a dominant starting pitcher. The only way this trade would make sense is if we were confident in a replacement for next year, which, at this point, we are not. Perez and Guzman both have serious defensive concerns associated with them.

But, I think moreso this is just an intellectual exercise in order to generate some excitement that the Dodgers have been lacking on the field. In terms of the gap between perceived market value and actual value, Izturis may be the best trading chip the Dodgers have. In that regard, he's very similar to Paul LoDuca last year.

For 8 2/3 innings Izturis is the #9 hitter?? What kind of logic is that Jon? haha. Yeah I guess you could say that, but he also has one more at bat than anyone else at the beginning of that stint and there won't be any other player on the team with more plate appearances. Funny nonetheless.
vr, Xei

Yesterday (Wednesday for me) I got to see the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters shut out the Seibu Lions, 4-0.

The Fighters used FIVE pitchers and the starter only went two and didn't leave with an injury. He left with being bad.

Enjoy the day off. I will be trying to see the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles tomorrow. They will be playing the Fighters also. Weather permitting.

From Baseball Prospectus:

RAR (Runs Above Replacement): 18
RAA (Runs Above Average): 3
RATE (Fielding Rate, 100 is Average): 104

From Hardball Times:

FWS (Fielding Win Shares): 2.0 (18th out of 49, includes non-qualified)

From ESPN.com:

FPCT (Fielding Percent): .976 (13th out of 26)
RF (Range Factor): 4.70 (10th out of 26)
ZR (Zone Rating): .847 (11th out of 26)

The gist is that statistically, Cesar is a slightly above-average shortstop defensively. On the other hand, it's not clear that he is worse this year than last. A couple of last year's statistics were better (FPCT .985 & ZR .881) and a couple were worse (RF 4.31 & Rate 98). My guess is that's he's only a bit worse this year, mostly due to the increased error rate.

To my eyes, his defense doesn't "pop" like it did last year. Maybe I'm not watching enough Baseball Tonight.

I myself had a similar thought when I look at Fearing Blue's reasonable (and depressing) offensive projection for Izzy's season. However, I can't find BPro's a separate breakdown fielding metrics on its free site. Using ESPN's fielding stats, Izzy is a disappointing eighth in Zone Rating among NL SS. He was first by a healthy margin last season. I believe Fearing Blue had put up some VORP numbers recently among SS, with Izzy not looking so hot, which include the fielding metrics.

WWSH

Well, I wouldn't even have bothered to write that if I had seen 371 go up. =)

WWSH

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~28541~2944960,00.html

Point about the Padres having more signficant injuries is valid.

I love the Izturis stat that he didnt make one error last year on a ground ball.

Milton Bradley, Odalis Perez, Eric Gagne, Wilson Alvarez, Jose Valentin, and Ricky Ledee contribute more value than Mark Loretta, Ramon Hernandez, Adam Eaton, and Phil Nevin on a game-by-game basis.

I dunno stubbs--if the fielding metrics are right, then Izzy's slight regression on defense is probably just an off-year. I certainly don't think his offensive production needs to be explained by injury. His minor league offensive stats were never very impressive, and it was never really clear that his respectable OPS of 710 last season was really his actual talent level.

WWSH

I believe that I've read an article that says Izzy did indeed try to add more muscle in the off-season. He seemed to wear down last season, and I think this was his idea to try to prevent that again. That, and of all things, making sure to get up early enough to eat breakfast! The bulking up may be one of those well-intentioned ideas that backfired.

WWSH

"I turned around and screamed at (third-base coach) Jim Lett, 'What's he doing here?,"' said Tracy, who hadn't called for the bunt.

Of course, Izzy may promptly go on the same sort of tear he started the season, making skeptics like me look foolish. He's young enough I think that he still has some upside with the bat, regardless of his minor league numbers.

WWSH

And if he continues to be an average to slightly above average fielder, what exactly is his value?

The real wild card is his defense. He really needs to get back to being a top 3 guy.

http://tinyurl.com/br6go

Based on this formula, Cesar's BABIP would be around .320, which would correspond to a .287 overall batting average. But, this could still be a little high, because in the case of slap-happy hitters, K's may not be an indicator of additional power.