I actually think those chances are quite high.

Isn't it possible that Drew may start the season on the DL along with Werth? In that case, the struggle would really be for a number 4 and 5 outfield spot. You have to figure Repko's a lock in that case. Would love to see Ethier come up as at least the temp. 4 or 5 OF.

And I'm not sure I'd call Saito fodder just yet. No one, save the few other Japanese players, have faced him. For all I know, he could have a bizarre pitching style that American hitters wouldn't be used to (does anyone know how he pitches?). I don't think he'll make the team, but he has the potential to surprise

At this time I would like to nominate Lance Carter as the honorary Jason Phillips Roadblock player of 2006. This ad has been approved and paid for by the Free Jonathan Broxton Campaign. Thank you.

I don't think there's an arm angle around that will give a 36-year-old reliever with a 3.82 ERA from the equivalent of a minor league a reason to be on the Dodger staff.

I agree with just about the entire roster. As with everyone else on DT, I would like to see Broxton/Kuo/Osoria in the pen in some way.

Maybe at the expense of Carter? Hamaluck? I guess somebody has to start in the minors.

But Carter and Hammerlock are really going to have to do something to win me over. Which they might do, but if it happens, it will be a surprise to me.

For that matter, I'm pessimistic about Tomko, too.

Choi and Kuo are going to be in Asia for part of camp and that will definitely affect their chances of making it with the Dodgers. Of course, the WBC could help showcase Choi.

Martin is also going to be in the WBC, but I don't think Canada will get out of pool play. I would be pretty surprised if the Dodgers let Gagne pitch. Canada could put him on the roster in hopes that the Dodgers would let him pitch in the final rounds, but I still doubt that.

Furcal, Brazoban, and OP are on the DR squad. Cruz and Ledee will likely see some time for Puerto Rico (Martinez is on the roster for the Boricuas as well).

Robles is on Mexico's roster and I would think he would start. He played in the Caribbean Series.

Seo is also on Korea's roster.

The tiebreakers in the standings used for advancement will be head-to-head record, followed by fewest runs allowed per inning, fewest earned runs allowed per inning, highest batting average in head-to-head games and a drawing of lots. The tiebreakers are based on International Baseball Federation rules

Fans of Broxton/Kuo/Billingsley should have no concerns about roadblocks or lack of opportunity.

A greater concern is overwork and abuse. See Jackson, Edwin, 2003.

Given the dearth of good pitching in MLB, if a pitcher is any good, he'll get plenty of chances against major league hitters to throw his arm right out of its socket.

Jon, I think Broxton likely would benefit from more time in the minors. He was pretty innaccurate as a rookie. If your concern is that Las Vegas is a poor environment for him, send him back to Jacksonsville. Same for Kuo. If they're healthy and throwing strikes, they won't be there very long.

The more decent pitchers the merrier in spring camp. Let's say Meadows tears it up but there's no room for him. Maybe you work out a deal to keep him in Triple A -- "4A" pitching depth there was poor last year and it hurt the LAD. Or maybe you swap him for a prospect.

Which Dodger, if any, qualifies for the batting title?

17 - They're both learning, or will be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2323199

"The coach formerly known as the Zen Master must now be considered my bucket boy."

What a great line.

That doesn't mean he won't be worthy and still get sent to the minors, but he won't be held down long.

28 - Wasn't there talk of him buying a stake in...the Pirates?

The more I think about it, the more I hope Hee is traded, for his own sake. The "I hope Nomah gets hurt so Choi gets the starting job" dream is probably misguided, in that there's no guarantee that Hee would get the starting job if Nomah got hurt. A more likely scenario would involve Kent/Saenz/Alomar/Borders getting the job, or Flanders signing yet another aged vet.

Colletti's acquisition of Nomar wasn't quite a door slammer for Choi. Although Nomar profiles defensively at first base more than he does the outfield, the fragility of the team's outfield also was a factor in his acquistion.

Sure, Garciaparra, an infielder all of his life, would likely prefer first base and probably would find it an easier transition than left field (the left fields in the NL West, by the way, are among the most challenging in MLB).

Still, Colletti likely also was getting Nomar as outfield insurance and we've since learned that Werth likely will be out until June.

The point here is that I doubt Colletti/Little are writing off Garciaparra as a candidate for some time in LF to open the season, given the precarious health of the other OFs.

If Nomar shows he can judge a flyball -- and that's in question -- he could slide over to left for at least a few games per week. It's not like Lofton/Cruz/Drew are ironclad locks to be starting everyday. I'd say it's more likely that one of them is on the DL to open the season.

Choi, of course, needs to do his part and crush the ball in spring training. Power appears a short suit with this team. It's up to Choi to show Little and Murray that he can supply it.

Here ya go

http://tinyurl.com/9eoqu

http://choicentral.blogspot.com/2005/12/d-day.html

Which I believe is directly taken from the Daily News article linked from that post, but which is no longer available on the web.

43
I guess the Dodgerthoughts spellchecker doesn't recognize that "fantabulous" isn't spelled "okay".

Maybe the persistence that Choi doesn't suck on this site has had an impact? From Dodgers.com, Gurnick proclaims: "Garciaparra has the greatest challenge. He not only is playing a new position, but predecessors Hee-Seop Choi and Olmedo Saenz actually finished the season with respectable platoon numbers at first base (a combined 31 homers and 104 RBIs)." A rare set of props for the 10th best 1B production in the majors last year.

Touche to you, sir.

Robin, to the Choimobile!

The Robin to a Batman.
The Tonto to a Kimosabe.
The Grover Dill to a Scott Farkus.

The Patrick to a Spongebob.

The Jason to a Jayson.

The JD to a Dr. Cox.

But not a Jason to a Ja(y)son. I gotta draw the line somewhere...

DBacks vs PD Dodgers
Pitching Matchup Results
B.Webb vs B.Penny ... PD Dodgers win 3-2, 13inn.
Game summary: The Dodgers scored one in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and then one in the 13th to end a thrilling game. .

O.Hernandez vs D.Lowe ... DBacks win 8-7
Game summary: The Dodgers rallied back from a 7-1 deficit, only to see the DBacks score one in the top of the 9th to win the game. J.Drew and H.Choi each drove in three runs for the Dodgers. J.Estrada and E.Byrnes each had four hits for the DBacks. .

R.Ortiz vs J.Weaver ... PD Dodgers win 12-6
Game summary: The Dodgers scored 9 runs in the first two innings and never looked back. H.Choi, M.Bradley and D.Navarro each slugged HRs, Navarro's was a first inning grand slam. The Dodgers took over first place in the standings.

Now if you did this with pencil, paper, and moxie...

http://tinyurl.com/dd2ml

This has two problems: First, once you lead the league in a category, it doesn't matter how much you lead the league. Usually, there's no difference between hitting 200 and 500 home runs. Also if a large gap emerges between two players, it encourages in the player on the bottom to abondon the category, since they have no chance of catching up.

Second, it places equal weights on every category. On a one for one basis, a stolen base is more valuable than a home run. This leads to things like Chone Figgins and Scott Podsednik being 3rd round picks. (Home runs do end up being slightly more valuable in the end, since you get a run and RBIs too.)

In a points league, you get a certain amount of points for every thing: one for a single, three for a steal, ten for a home run, etc. You total up your points at the end, and that determines the winner. It really is a better system.

By the way, I've really enjoyed your Piazza retrospective. dodgermath.com/?p=260 (that's the latest), if anybody else hasn't seen it. I wonder if Plaschke ever reads back through his own archives. Maybe he could have a staffer read them to him. Slowly.

Even though a points system is fairer (as in, the team with the best overall players usually wins), Roto presents alot of interesting strategic moves. Where as most trades and moves in Points systems are just to try to get the best player possible in any situation, in Roto leagues you get alot of teams playing different strategies and trying to get points in different categories (and trying to screw each other over to lower their points), which makes for a pretty interesting game...

As always, this sort of talk is merely an embarrassment to the player. But the bigger question is whether the Times will embarrass itself by taking the player's side (as it did with Cora, Beltre, et al) or the team's side (thus continuing to highlight the double standard in their respective coverage). Will Tim Brown brush up the resume tomorrow? Stay tuned...

But since I don't have a new post for you at this moment, carry on.

I haven't played points (unqualified opinion here), but it seems like the draft in the a non-keeper roto league is much more difficult to prepare for if you do the auction style drafting.

Other interesting MLE numbers:
Billingsly 3.64/1.16
Broxton - 3.27/1.16
Gonzalez - 4.92/1.65
Hamulack - 1.49/1.08 he was awesome last year. Should be at least as good at Wunsch as our LOOGY.
Hanrahan - 5.62/1.64
Orenduff - 3.98/1.23 small sample for starter
Osario - 2.13/