Doubt it. His scrapbook of newspaper clippings tells him he's a genius.

Tracy won't be falling on his sword. He seems quite humble, yet I've never heard him ever admit to making a mistake.

That's the only time I remember him admitting to anything.

Here's a quote from the Viewpoint section of today's Times that I thought was pretty hilarious -

"Trivia question: What do you get when you combine the consistency and professionalism of Jeff Kent with the raw talent and heart of Milton Bradley?

Trivia answer: Paul Lo Duca, Adrian Beltre, Alex Cora and Dave Roberts."

As I think about it more, it's not the nature of managers to admit they made a mistake.

I doubt that Tony La Russa has admitted making a mistake. Nor has Joe Torre or Bobby Cox. Buddy Bell probably thinks he's blameless.

But the Cult of Alex Cora has made a resurgence.

"Chemistry is definitely important," DePodesta said. "I've said for a long time that it is the difference between major league players and championship players. You have to have the competitiveness and self-esteem to achieve at the highest level."

He said he sought those traits in bringing in players with playoff experience such as Kent, Ledee and Lowe.

"There comes a time when you have to realize that not every player can do everything you want."

That pretty much seals Bradley's death warrant.

He actually said, "If they sucked, I must have sucked."

He then went on to put down Moneyball.

I'm trying to think of teams that could use a power-hitting center fielder.

In the NL West, the Giants and Padres could use Bradley. Arizona has no place to play him since they have to keep Shawn Green around and they young outfielders. The Rockies have enough young guys to play center.

The Cardinals have Jim Edmonds. The Brewers have Brady Clark (well, he might be good next year). The Cubs ???. Hmmm.... The Astros probably don't need Bradley. The Pirates wouldn't know what to do with him.
The Reds have this guy named Griffey.

As for the East, I think the Braves like their CF. The Nationals don't. The Phillies don't have a regular one. The Mets most certainly do. The Marlins probably think Juan Pierre is going to be an offensive force.

The Yankees are going to need a center fielder for 2006.

To non-tender and then watch him go to a division rival would be silly. Sure, he probably won't bring back much in trade, due to the circumstances, but the real issue is having some control over where he goes next year.

First, there's this quote, "There are definitely things, if we could do over again, we would," he said. "You learn as you go and you hope you don't make the same mistakes the next time. I'll keep to myself what they were so I don't share with the competition what we did wrong."

http://tinyurl.com/7tkjf

I would submit that DePodesta is admitting to making mistakes, but not necessarilly the mistakes alleged by the CW MSM.

Do I know what those mistakes are? I do not. But it might have something to do with the defensive metrics used, or possibly overpaying for starting pitching, and possibly not having enough depth, and almost certainly not insisting enough that the best players must play.

Also, I'm not sure that Milton Bradley doesn't meet DePo's definition of a "championship player." Actually, I think both Kent and Bradley meet the definition.

Further, in terms of trading Bradley, I doubt we'd get anything like fair value. I would think we would offer arbitration (and due to injury and perceived problems his salary will likely be reduced, which would increase his trade value).

In my opinion, when you accept the premise of the CW MSM you've already failed to understand DePo.

All he's doing is pretending to fess up to the MSM's accusations, when in actuality he is admitting to very different mistakes, measured on his own terms and by his own metrics.

Additionally, just because it appears that DePo isn't looking at firing Tracy, don't count on him being back. Why couldn't it be the case that he's attempting to keep Tracy's reputation as a "genius" high to ensure that teams like the Reds would consider hiring him?

I am almost certain that this is DePo's dream situation. He doesn't want to have to deal with the know-nothing media and their irrational obsession with Jim Tracy (and Alex Cora, and Dave Roberts, and etc., etc.). The perfect solution is for Tracy to be offered a job elsewhere.

Then everyone in the Dodgers organization could talk fondly about him, wish him well, and then hire a Macha-clone.

Sheesh, everybody knows that!

I can understand people missing Lo Duca. I can understand people missing Beltre's 2004 production, but it's quite likely that these same letter-writers to the Times hated Beltre during his early struggles with the team. And then underestimated how good he was in other years. And they'd they complain that Beltre wasn't playing well enough to earn his money this year.

And I seem to see a dearth of letters by Angels fans complaining about how awful Steve Finley is this year. Baseball Prospectus rates Finley at #881 in VORP. Two Dodgers are worse: Nakamura (887) and Grabowski (910). They rate 914 players, the worst being Cristian Guzman.

It's also not the same thing as being willing to hold hands with your teammates and sing campfire songs with them. And I think therein lies DePo's criterion for deciding whether or not to keep Bradley: If he and Kent let their personal differences affect on-field performance, they are not 'championship players.' But as long as they perform on the field, it doesn't matter whether they argue like the Hatfields and the McCoys off of it.

Difference is Furcal seems to do that on a regular basis and he strikes me as a far better than average fielder.

Unfortunately, Izzy's trade value is nil right now, but Furcal has proven himself over a number of seasons.

August 27, 1895

Before a crowd of about 1,200 at Eastern Park, Brooklyn used two big innings to rout eleventh place St. Louis, 12-5. The win improved Brooklyn's record to 56-45 and in a tie for fifth place, 8 games behind first place Baltimore and 9 games behind second place Cleveland. The standings were confusing at the time. Baltimore had a higher winning percentage than Cleveland, but had played 8 fewer games. The newspapers reported Brooklyn's record as 57-45, but Brooklyn would later lose a win when a June 1 win against the Pirates was subsequently declared a no contest. The Dodgers had won a forfeit in Louisville on May 23, when Louisville failed to bring enough baseballs to the stadium.

Brooklyn got to St. Louis starter Bill Kissinger early. They knocked him out with five runs on seven hits in the second inning. Reliever Red Ehret calmed things downed until the sixth. Then Brooklyn scored seven runs to put the game away.

Player manager Dave Foutz left his starter Ad Gumbert in the game for seven innings. Foutz brought in rookie Jack Cronin to pitch the last two innings and he gave up two runs in the 8th and 3 runs in the 9th. Cronin would not return to the majors until 1898 and would pitch for six different teams and would eventually return to Brooklyn in 1904.

When the dust cleared at the end of the 1895 season, Brooklyn finished 71-60 and tied for fifth with Boston, 16 ½ games behind first place Baltimore.

Center fielder Mike Griffin was the big star for Brooklyn in 1895. Griffin batted .333 with a .444 OBP. He drew 93 walks and scored 140 runs. First baseman Candy LaChance batted .312 and drove in 108 runs.

Brooklyn's pitching staff was not much to brag about in 1895. Brickyard Kennedy led the staff with 19 wins (against 12 losses), but had an ERA of 5.12. Ed Stein was 15-13 with a 4.72 ERA.

The National League at this time was the domain of the Baltimore Orioles. Brooklyn was going to need some help from syndicate ownership to make themselves pennant contenders again.

Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

FWIW, here's what Rotoworld's Matthew Pouliot has to say about Furcal: "Furcal's performance over the first few months led to rumors that the Braves would just trade him and go with Wilson Betemit at shortstop the rest of the way. There was probably never any real chance of that happening, though. Furcal bounced back with a huge July and the rumors died leading up to the deadline. The Braves remain very unlikely to re-sign Furcal this winter. He'll be looking for at least $8 million per year, and Atlanta can get just as much offense at shortstop from Betemit. Expect the Diamondbacks, Cubs and maybe the Tigers or Nationals to pursue the leadoff hitter. The Marlins would be a darkhorse if they decided to move Juan Pierre. Prediction: Diamondbacks - five years, $40 million"

http://tinyurl.com/dnm9n

That seems rather steep. I'd rather see if Guzman (JtD) can play SS in the bigs.

He has a lifetime OBP of .313 (coming into this year) Which is actually higher than Cesar Izturis .293 OBP coming into this year.

5 yrs and 40 mil does seem a little steep, but on the other hand if I picture him starting at short for the D'Backs, maybe it's at least worth considering. I really would hate to see him wind up with another team in the West.

I may be totally wrong, but I would bet that Guzman will never spend a full season at short for the Blue. If he does his playing in L.A., I have a hunch it will be in the outfield (or at third, if they decide to move LaRoche for someone like Dunn).

By the way, Mr. Fundamentals, Mr. Heart-and-Soul, Derek Jeter had the worst zone rating among regulars from 2001-03...and he won a gold glove in 2004 because it improved to the league average.

Furcal - SS
Bradley-CF(still think we should keep him)
Drew - RF
Dunn - LF
Kent - 2B
Choi - 1B
Perez - 3B
Navarro - C
Penny - P

Of course, that would cost a couple of good prospects to get Dunn, but let's see what DePo can pull off.

This is of course what you get now when you start to say that "character" is a big issue in player evaluation.

I think chemistry is more important than character and with that in mind, I hereby substitute Sidney Ponson for Penny as my opening day starter

http://tinyurl.com/7rwwo

I can't justify playing Perez instead of Kent, but I also don't see the logic in playing Valentin or Edwards ahead of Perez at third. I think the jury is still out on Robles. He might be worth platooning with Perez since one hits right and the other left, although I think Robles makes a great first sub at second, third and short, which would give him plenty of playing time.

i'd personally like to see in 2006
martin c
choi 1b
drew of
kent 2b
giles of
bradley of
perez ss
mueller 3b

if martin isn't ready then
perez ss
choi 1b
drew of
kent 2b
giles of
bradley of
navarro/mueller
navarro/mueller

i don't think dunn is worth what we would have to give up.

laroche takes over at 3b when he is ready (2007 probably).

and we definately need a penny type starting pitcher for 2006, weaver will be gone, lets upgrade with someone better than weaver, a penny type, then when billingsley is ready (2007) trade lowe (1 year left on his contract), some team would want him for 1 year.

just my 2 cents.

Russ Martin: super-nice to animals.
JtD: fights corporate crime during the off season.
Chad Billingsly: Good listener/totally respects women.
Andy LaRouche: that scruffy goutee? Worn in protest of Burma's oppression of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Giles in LF would also be a huge upgrade.

Dunn would be a major acquisition:

I can dream...
SS- Furcal
LF- Giles
CF- Drew
RF- Dunn
2b- Kent
1b- Choi
3rd- Perez
C- Navarro
Pitcher

Bench: Robles, Cruz, Ledee, Werth, Saenz

Starters: Penny, Houlton, Lowe, Perez, Billingsley

I definitely believe AP can be a MLB average 3rd basemen. I think he should get as much time there in winterball as possible.

OK, somebody care to calculate what kind of budget we would need to pull off oldbear's lineup?

We don't have Dreifort or Green on the books next year, so maybe it's possible.

Delwyn Young: wears his goatee in protest of LaRouche's refusing to call Burma, Myanmar. Has called LaRouche a "filthy imperialist". Possible chemistry problem.

Are we generally targeting something like Dessens, Sanchez, Brazoban, Schmoll/Osoria, Broxton, Gagne for the bullpen? Or do we decline Dessens' option? Since Sanchez has that change working so well consistently, I'm not as fond of trading him as I had been

Wilson Alvarez - Gone.
Yhency Brazoban - Keep.
Jonathan Broxton - Keep.
Giovanni Carrara - Probably gone, but I can see the merits of sticking with him if the price is right.
Elmer Dessens - Replaceable, but the comment for Carrara applies here.
Darren Dreifort - Good riddance, although I'll enjoy the memory of attending his start where he K'd a career-best 12 including 7 in the first two innings.
Eric Gagne - Get well soon.
Joel Hanrahan - Just about done as a prospect, I believe.
D.J. Houlton - Listen to offers in the offseason, and if nothing comes of the let him fight for a rotation slot during spring training.
Edwin Jackson - Keep, but listen to offers. (As you can tell, I'm a firm believer in TINSTAAPP.)
Ryan Ketchner - Recovering from TJ surgery.
Derek Lowe - Stuck with him, for the time being.
Franquelis Osoria - Filler.
Brad Penny - Keep.
Odalis Perez - Keep, and pray he finds some consistency.
Duaner Sanchez - Keep, but listen to offers.
Steve Schmoll - K, blto.
Derek Thompson - Showed some potential, but hurt.
Jeff Weaver - I'd try to bring him back, if the money isn't crazy. Considering his agent, though, I'm not optimistic.
Kelly Wunsch - Replaceable.

Paul Bako - Hiya, Coach.
Russell Martin - Keep.
Dioner Navarro - Keep. He and Martin could make a nice platoon someday.
Jason Phillips - Ugh. Philllips' VORP: 4.3. Ishii's VORP: -0.6.
Mike Rose - Gone.

Willy Aybar - Keep.
Hee-Seop Choi - Keep.
Cesar Izturis - Has value, but not if he's thought of as a star. Or a leadoff hitter.
Jeff Kent - Oooh, tricky. I know he's the offensive MVP, but I've never really warmed to his contributions.
Antonio Perez - Whether he stays or goes depends on him finding a position.
Oscar Robles - Decent, as a backup.
Olmedo Saenz - Like him, but I would've already traded him to a contender that needs a bat off the bench.
Jose Valentin - Gone.
Delwyn Young - Keep.

Milton Bradley - Offer him arbitration.
Jose Cruz - Gone.
J.D. Drew - Keep.
Mike Edwards - (The 40-man has him as an outfielder. I thought the CW was he's a butcher out there.) Gone. He's not young, turning 29 in November.
Ricky Ledee - Keep, as the top reserve outfielder.
Jason Repko - Keep, as a potential 5th outfielder.
Cody Ross - Gone.
Jayson Werth - Keep, but don't rely on his health.

Assume we lose Weaver ($8.5 mil), Valentin ($3.5 mil), Green ($10 mil), Dreifort ($13 mil), Alvarez ($2 mil), and we trade Bradley for prospects ($2.5 mil). That's $39.5 mil, but a lot of that goes to salary increases. The following sums are guesses, likely terrible guesses. We then sign Saenz for a $2 mil upgrade, Furcal for $8 mil, Giles for $10 mil, and Dunn ends up with a $10 mil contract. Then it seems we could do this. However, that's assuming we go with nothing new in the bullpen or rotation. I'm also assuming we pick up Dessens' option.

Assuming you're somewhere close, how far does that put us from 100 mil?

upgrade weaver's spot in the rotation, a penny type, this is key, cause i don't think billingsley will be ready.

I agree that Billingsly won't be ready, but how do you upgrade Weaver's spot in the rotation without spending much more than you want to?

total: 46.9

IMO, a little bit too high.

SPs: http://tinyurl.com/2rvxg

Of note:

Jeff Weaver (Dodgers) - In my opinion, Weaver is the best long-term investment among this year's group of free-agent starting pitchers. ... $32 million over four years wouldn't make him a bargain, but who is going to provide better value? He might stay put in Los Angels, although that would lock the Dodgers into a lot of long-term contracts with starters. Prediction: Blue Jays - four years, $32 million

Matt Morris (Cardinals) ...Prediction: Nationals - four years, $36 million

A.J. Burnett (Marlins) - With Tim Hudson and Chris Carpenter agreeing to multiyear deals, Burnett is clearly the top pitcher on the market...Prediction: Yankees - five years, $65 million

Jarrod Washburn (Angels) - ...Prediction: White Sox - four years, $28 million

Esteban Loaiza (Nationals) - Prediction: Dodgers - two years, $9 million

OFs http://tinyurl.com/csczk

Johnny Damon (Red Sox) ...Prediction: Red Sox - five years, $47.5 million

Brian Giles (Padres) ...Prediction: Astros - two years, $18 million

Matt Lawton (Cubs) ...Prediction: Cubs - two years, $12 million

Adam Dunn is making $4.6 million, and I believe the arbitration numbers thrown around are between $9 and 11 million.

i know, its a l