"Infielder Ramon Martinez fills no need on this team"

Sure he does...

When will it be safe to get my Guzman jersey?
Without Jinxing his career?

Why does everyone like lofton better than cruz?
Why couldn't that article say guzman has been given a shot at starting in the outfield because the team isn't necessarily satisfied with lofton?

The Dodgers are hyping Guzman. I smell a trade. Bet he's dealt before the year's done.

4- BLASPHEMY!

If JtD makes the team I will honor whoever gave him that knickname by getting a jersey with JtD on the back.

Hopefully Mr. Ned only thinks Ramon Martinez has value in Vegas. Lets also hope this depth is targeted towards putting the best team out there rather than the just the old guys.

Did you read the article where it mentioned that Little was worried about "that Oakland thing" where you don't swing at 3-0 pitches. "Ethier said his new manager was right about his old approach at the plate.

"It's been ingrained in me since I was young," Ethier said. "I've been successful with that approach, not chasing balls out of the zone. It can be a tough adjustment." What does that mean? Are they encouraging him to chase pitches? Little's comment was one of the most boneheaded things I have read recently and I just hope that Little was taken out of context.

The Dodgers are hyping Guzman. I smell a trade. Bet he's dealt before the year's done.

guzman and martin for miggy cabrera? done.

if they are hyping him, that "monstrous" bomb to right center today just inched up his trade value a bit.

taking this from the last thread, anyone else concerned with little's "this isnt oakland, we swing on 3-0 here" comment?

i really think that comment by little has just set off a huge fire alarm here at the DT community.

That non-patience philosophy sure worked wonders for HSC.

I wear an extra large. Thank you.

10. I have a sick feeling about it too. Here's the optimistic interpretation: Little doesn't want it to be a rule that all 3-0 pitches are automatically taken, and he thinks that's a rule in Oakland. That's OK by me. Nothing wrong with allowing a hitter to hack 3-0 if he has a good eye and it's grooved. I mean, I sure as heck wouldn't tell Bonds to take 3-0 if he liked what he saw. But even dumber than a "take 3-0 no matter what" rule would be "swing 3-0 no matter what."

That's the optimistic take. But I don't believe it's the correct one. This is going to be frustrating. Still and all, I'll take fewer walks if it also means fewer bunts.

Little already seems as arrogant, blind, biased, counterproductive, and useless as Jim Tracy ever was.

Bad news: I'm finding it harder and harder to not wish I was an A's fan.

Good news: Steve's new blog should be as wonderfully entertaining as the last one.

The Giants will be paying Randy Winn $8.5 mil in 2009. Wow

You should neither take nor swing at all 3-0 pitches. Totally hitter- and situation-dependent. No further discussion needed.

14 A's fan? With two -- count them TWO -- cancers on their team? Taking bets on how many games into the season it takes for Milton to go after Frank.

Grittle's job interview with Flanders:

Flanders: Thanks for meeting with me. I have a question for you.
Grittle: Shoot.
Flanders: Do you do "the Oakland thing"?
Grittle: No.
Flanders: You're hired.

16

I totally agree. It's Little's Plaschke-esque generalization of the Oakland organization that really bothers me.

16 Obviously correct. So the worry is that Little prefers moral absolutes to situational ethics. That might get you into baseball heaven, but I'm not so sure about the playoffs.

17

Bet you those cancers win a hell of a lot more games this year than our lovable bunch of gamers do.

The problem is that 3-0 is not an "Oakland thing;" it's a long held cherished tenet of baseball. It's so long-held and cherished, in fact, that the odds are against it being useful. Nevertheless, that Grady Little appears to be an idiot is most unsatisfying.

21 -- We agree to disagree. The season will tell...

Little hasn't said he prefers moral absolutes. A few here seem quick to infer them.

Two predictions:

Joel Guzman gets traded this year.

Rafael Furcal moves to center field before his contract runs out.

what are you basing those predictions on?

D. Lowe talks about the C.Hughes situation.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5368932

....we feel fortunate to get him in the trade," Macha said. "I've been watching him in batting practice, and he stays inside the ball as good as anybody in camp. The ball jumps off his bat."

no, he isn't talking about Milton.

25- Overly long, slingshot style throwing motion?

29--

I'll charitably assume you're not being snide.

Nomar's arm action isn't suited for 1B.

You can disagree with me, but you're also disagreeing with several major league clubs on that score.

Maybe you should see how it plays out.

Do anyone have a breakdown of today's intrasquad game? I am curious to see what the pitchers did.

Is there a link?

26--

Call them educated hunches.

Bad news for the NFL: Talks break down. No salary cap extension. Free agency in peril.

More fans for baseball?

Jon - I think Ned is holding on Ramon Martinez for when he is ready to trade Felix Pie for a proven veteran.

I'm glad that Oscar is in camp, he will play a lot with Izzy and Furcal in and out with recovery. His only real negative is speed but he can fill in 2nd, SS and 3B, he hit .272 in over 300 at bats,and his contract will be around $350 - 375K while Martinez made 1 million last year. He is also four years younger.

BTW I kiddingly meant Dusty trading Pie for Martinez.

[9] taking this from the last thread, anyone else concerned with little's "this isnt oakland, we swing on 3-0 here" comment?

YES.

even scarier was ethier's quote on having to adjust to hacking at balls out of the strike zone. it's like i'm in bizarro land.

25
That is a bit bizarre predicting one of the best fielding SS in baseball will move to CF before he turns 30. I guess it is possible that Hu will be ready by 2008 but I doubt that Furcal's agent would allow them to move him in his walk year. Agents run this business and a player doesn't agree to do anything until he has run it by their plethora of advisors.

Glad to see Jack Wilson get that contract as now Izzy looks even more valuable to the right team. Sure wish Atlanta hadn't acquired Renteria as we'd have been a nice match for them if Izzy can stay at SS which I'm betting on. Wish the Twins would trade for Choi.

While we may all think that even if Drew has another 2004 type year, based on what was out there, he might not opt out of his contract with the Dodgers (and if he has a 2005 year, he certainly will be around), the rest of the Dodger outfield is pretty wide open. Based on that, any Dodger prospect or young outfielder (Werth) on the roster has a chance to stick. I have to think that will want to give Guzman, Young, Ethier, Kemp and the sleepers like Justin Ruggiano and Anthony Raglani a shot.

3.
Because Lofton is a 6 time all star, who hit .335 last year, and went 22/25 in SB attempts. And he is a 4 time gold glove winner. You got to stop your fantasy bleep about downing on Lofton, he is better than Cruz. Baseball is not all about the following:

www11.brinkster.com/xtraxisx/t3.html

I want my JtD t-shirt. I'm collecting the whole set.

24
Little hasn't said he prefers moral absolutes. A few here seem quick to infer them.

Didn't say that he did. I could be wrong more often than not, but I always try to choose my words carefully. I said that the "worry" is that does. Meaning "my worry."

And it's not an obviously dumb thing to worry about. Lots of people like to have "rules to live by," figuring that having a rule is easier than making decisions on the fly. It's been my experience that long-time baseball men are disproportionately of that type.

So, no, I don't know that Little is unthinking. But statements like the one quoted make me worry that he might be.

So, Werth is out of the picture then? Will he be bundled in a trade with HSC?

Dude the last time Lofton won a gold glove, our hitting coach was a DH and Jeff Kent was a reserve (to Carlos Baerga)

37-

Indeed, it's a bizarre prediction. Time will tell.

39
I'm a Lofton fan more then most on this site but posting someone's past accomplishments when they are a 39 year old center fielder does little to defend your position. His days of gold glove defense are far in his past. His 2005 average was his best in years and hasn't been a consistent 300 hitter since 1999. If you translate his Phillie 2005 numbers to Dodger Stadium he still had a solid year but to expect a 39 year old to duplicate the best year he had in 5 years seems silly.

39 My primary concern for Lofton can be summed up in one number: 39.

42 I really hope that Werth isn't out of the picture. I'm fantasizing that Werth boots Lofton to the bench and given at least two months to show us what he can do if healthy, but I'm not optimistic about it.

There are few certainties with Drew.

I think he could skate if he has a big year.

He's not an LA-type of guy.

36 - Remember this is the same type of thing we heard with the team wanting HSC to become more agressive at the plate. And while that seems to be the mantra of LAAofA, it certainly does give one pause. But again, as Jon says, while there were players like Ventura or Zeille who would never swing at the first pitch or a 3-0 pitch, I think it is a game by game situation.

I always thought that what Oakland and the Yankees for that matter believe, is that by making the pitcher make more pitches, you get to their bullpens earlier which gives you a better chance to win. No one ever seems to bring up the Yankees in this discussion and they are always among the leaders in walks.

I think the bigger issue is telling Ethier that he should look for a pitch to hit instead of waiting out a walk, I always thought the auto-take was a little inane, if the pitcher knows he can throw a "strike" that the batter won't swing at, then he can set up a pitcher's strike at 3-1. Maybe someone has tracked this, I wonder what the collective average is on 3-1 after the batter has taken the first strike at 3-0.

39 Fantasy bleep? How does that help?

I don't care if Lofton is a sure hall of famer based on his career stats (which he ain't). All that matters is what he projects to do this year. And for guessing that, last year was the anomalous one amidst a secular decline over the past several years. And he's even older and in a pitcher's park. I expect him to be pretty lousy this year. Better than lousy if platooned, but lousy if played every day. I haven't even looked at any projections - what do those say?

Mike Cameron had hit 4 home runs in a game and the count went 3-0 and he took the pitch. It was right down the middle. I thought he was nuts but BP gave him props for playing the game right. I thought they were nuts. In his previous chance to hit his 5th home run he had been hit by a pitch. He is the only player to get 2 chances to hit 5 home runs in a game and he watched his pitch go right down the middle of the plate. He then lined to right.

Now that he's broken the rules of the site what do you propose we do with him, LAT? :)

49
That he'll be fair to middling to crappy but nothing like 2005.
BP has him at
283/346/370 for his median projection. A decent OB but quite a hit in power as he's slugged above 400, 4 years in a row.
HQ has him at
258/324/334 which is a bit dismal and backs up your claim.

Lofton's ZiPS Projection: 265/320/378

Just for fun I checked retrosheet to see what Mays did at the age of 39. Not shabby. Still wished I'd see him play in his prime instead of at the end of his career.

I think I pretty much do not agree with any manager baseball strategy wise.

30- I disagree with several Major League clubs everyday before breakfast. It's stopped bothering me, when I do.

Is the only reason you're willing to give (for your bizarre prediction that Furcal gets sent to CF) really that other people think so too? Is the real reason a secret?

why can't the GM be the field manager too? how much extra effort would it be?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=2347129

cool article on our catchers.

OT and sorry if this has already been discussed in another thread but did you guys see Randy Winn's 23.25 million dollar contract extension with the Giants? I for one am ecstatic that they're placing some of their post-Bonds resources in a guy like Winn.

From the AP:
"The switch-hitting Winn, slated to be the team's leadoff hitter and starting center fielder this season, will get a $3 million signing bonus and salaries of $4 million in 2007, $8 million in 2008 and $8.25 million in 2009, according to agent Craig Landis.

Winn will make $5 million this season in the option year of his prior deal."

Pat Caddell has the worst barber on the planet.

49 a reminder not to feed the trolls. It is too easy to argue that one season for a veteran does not predict the next (witness Steve Finley 2004 to 2005).
39 Consider your tone when you say You got to stop your fantasy bleep about downing on..., because one could just as easily throw such invective about any argument made by anyone, including, perhaps, you.

Oops. I fed a potential troll. Shoot me.

I've really grown to dislike the very idea of MLB field-managers over the past couple years.

Their jobs, to me, seem as meaningful as the college basketball star who gets paid to keep alligators out of the gym.

Regarding "swinging on 3-0": the 2005 3-0 Dodger splits are pretty remarkable. Unless I'm reading it wrong, the 2005 Dodgers racked up a total of 2 basehits on 3-0 counts, while drawing 131 walks.

http://tinyurl.com/guldw

62
I've really grown to dislike the very idea of MLB field-managers over the past couple years.

Yeah, I really started to feel the same way last year. I mean, if it's the GM's job to assemble the roster, and if the GM (as Depo did) has really strong preferences for who should be starting and at what positions, then why not just let the GM make the lineup everyday, and let the coaches handle the other responsibilities? There are obvious problems when the GM and manager don't see eye to eye, so you might as well just let the GM make the roster decisions.

The 2005 Dodgers make a great case for "Managers: what are they good for?"

Absolutely nothing.

Apparently.

50 - That was the most exciting line out I have ever watched though.

64 - The 2005 Atlanta Braves (or NY Yankees or ChiSox for that matter) show you exactly what managers are good for.

Is there a rule that teams must have a manager? If not, I'd like to see a team (e.g., a relatively poor $$ team with nothing to lose, such as, say, Tampa Bay) begin a season without a manager and see how it goes.

I thought the 2005 Atlanta Braves showed us what having the best farm system in baseball for the past 20 years was good for.

Remember after the Marlins series choke job, do not expect Colletti to have much of a fondness for Jose Cruz Jr.

69 I don't completely remember that game, but wasn't that drop just icing on the cake?

63 - I checked out the espn.com site for split stats, its true the Dodgers had 2 hits in 12 official at bats on 3-0 counts (I knew that one of them was a Jeff Kent grand slam), Kent was by far the leader of being able to swing 3-0 with 7 attempts and both hits.

However, it does seem to be par for the course, for example, the Angels only had 2 hits in 3 at bats.

Maybe Grady has a point, Oakland had one at bat on a 3-0 count by Chavez otherwise they walked every other time (I think 112 walks in 113 plate appearances). I should have checked Oakland's stats on 3-1, I can tell you that Dodgers hit .329 on 3-1 counts, some of the leaders include HSC batting .529, Oscar Robles and Jason Repko.

Who knows what this proves, generally 3-0 probably means that you are going to walk the vast vast majority of times so you should probably limit attempts for Rick Monday key analyst point of looking for a pitch to drive.

67- Well there was the year that Jerry Coleman left the broadcast booth to manage the Padres. Not quite as sucessful as Pat Riley leaving the booth to become the Laker's assistant coach and them be hired as head coach a few years later.

I wouldn't go so far as to argue that mangers are pointless. Maybe they're pointless-to-destructive during games, but I imagine that the key to managing has to do with keeping 25-40 millionaires focused for 6 months. It's probably not a coinky-dink that they're called "managers" and not "coaches." All those other old guys do the coaching.

And even for the in-game stuff, I imagine there's a lot of variation in how much managers run the show versus following the advice of their coaches. Sure managers make pitching changes, but how do we know when they're leaving the decisions about same to pitching coaches? Same thing for pinch hitting or defensive switches. Having one guy as the overall "manager" of the game makes sense. It's about accountability.

Just like the presidency - it's not a one-person job by any stretch, but it's still a good idea to have one person who is supposedly accountable for all of the decisions of the others.

A lot of us just think that only bad choices can come from independent thoughts during games by those guys. Hire smart underlings, then get out of the way.

71
I may have been a bit premature in using the word "remarkable", as I didn't look at any other teams' splits.

I wouldn't go so far as to argue that mangers are pointless.

OK, I choose my words carefully, but apparently not my keystrokes. Mangers might in fact be pointless, but I guess that's a religious issue, far from the purview of DodgerThoughts.

Managers is what I meant. Yeah, that's it.

Managers can render themselves pointless, and most do.

Maybe they're pointless-to-destructive during games, but I imagine that the key to managing has to do with keeping 25-40 millionaires focused for 6 months.

If I owned a team, I'd hire an in-dugout, licensed psychologist/counselor.

Why pay a Harley-riding bumpkin to do the work of a professional therapist?

Three-and-Oh by John Walsh for the Hardball Times, http://tinyurl.com/7ad4t. Basically talks about the 3-0 Count. "Advisory: one thing I don't intend to do here is to try to determine the optimal batting strategy to adopt on 3-0. That might be an interesting study, There are numbers here, as you will see, but they're not so much for thinking about as for perusing and (hopefully) enjoying."

I don't know exactly why.

But something in this thread got me thinking----
Werth-spring 2005, drilled by a Barnett fastball;wrist broke, torn ligament not discoverd till after season; surgery in Nov.!! not ready for spring!
Drew- nursing his shoulder this spring after labrum surgery. Also clean-up surgery
on right wrist.(avoided surgery on left wrist,broken by pitch on June 3rd,ending season effectively! not to mention chondromalcia(progressive arthritis in left knee.!
Furcal- had surgery on his right knee in January(January!!!) and is not ready for spring training!
Although I condensed the evidence it can't be denied given the money involved there is massive incompetence in either medical evaluation or Front office decisions.
Somehow Isturis has managed to rise above this meat grinder. It was obvious he declined hugely trying to play with grevious injuries. It could be that he will shine out of this mess.

77
I was going to say the exact same thing. If the primary role of the manager is to motivate the players and maintain a focused, harmonious clubhouse, why not hire a consultant who specializes in those skills?

Perhaps some kind of Matt Foley type...who lives in a van...down by the river...

79

How cruel is it that the only two Dodgers since 2004 who returned from injury ahead of schedule were Cesar Izturis and Alex Cora?

80

There you go!

78 - That is great thanks, it does seem that by a little perusal, most teams don't swing that much on 3-0, but the real damage is done at 3-1, again no total stats but led by the Yankees and the White Sox who hit .391 and .390, I think the highest team averages are at 3-1 and then first pitch swinging. BTW, the A's also hit I think .350 plus, Bobby Crosby is the big hitter, there.

I think they're called "managers" because they started out as guys who handled all the business dealings. The "manager" didn't start making the field decisions until the late 1880s more or less. Usually the team captain did.

Soccer teams in countries other than the U.S. are led by "managers" and not "coaches".

Of course, it's the pointless ones that do the least harm.

80 I can't believe I'm defending managers as a species, but I think there's an obvious answer to that question -- players need to "respect" the source of advice. So either a Frank Robinson type, who was so good he must know what he's doing (right, Bob?) or a kindly old bumpkin who has been wearing the uni for 400 years and has forgotten more about baseball than the young players know, etc. etc.

That doesn't make it right, but it makes it understandable that no club has bothered to innovate away from the tried and true. Young pups like Eric Wedge really do stand out as exceptions.

There used to be a lot of player-managers, but not for a long time.

79, 81 - On the other hand everyone misreporting Gagne's injury EVEN after it was reported shortly after surgery that he did not need a TJ operation, all the media outlets kept saying he was going to be out for the better part of 2006. It was not until this winter when they started reporting his injury correctly.

And actually once Penny came back last April, he was injury free for the rest of the year.

I blame the Padres for another problem last year, had they just gone out and won going away, basically putting the Dodgers out of the chase by mid-August, maybe we could have seen HSC play everyday, Jeff Weaver might have been dealt (although people here might like the draft picks more) and injuries like Werth and Drew's could have been examined more closely. But because we had that more than slight chance to stay in the race, Drew tried to rehab for September, Werth continued to play despite apparently never being right and Weaver kept pitching for the Blue. Are we better off because we stayed in the race or did we lose a chance to make some evaluations.

BTW, I apologize if this was brought up during the dog days of last season, if it was thourougly vetted, then accept this rant and we can move on.

67 , 77 , 80 - Actually Tampa Bay seems to have found one of those: http://tinyurl.com/ldhl8

Steve et al, it's almost time for our weekly fix of Betty White and William Shatner...

Eric Gagne already thinks he's the GM. Do you think he'd accept the team captain role?

85
players need to "respect" the source of advice

But can't pitching coaches, hitting coaches, etc. etc. offer legitimate advice that players will respect?

83 Ah well, 'twas a worthy effort nonetheless. OK, it IS a coinky-dink, but it's also appropriate.

I must admit, when our infield had Beltre, Isturis, and Cora (was it 2004?) and we had Roberts and for some reason I felt like the Dodger tradition was intact and I was actually proud of the way we played!! I know it wasn't ideal but it has theme and style and thats what a team needs.

There are lots of reasons why teams don't innovate, none of them having to do with whether what they are doing now is successful.

Guess the player who commands the same respect as Roger Clemens (in his own mind):

"If somebody has a good year, stays injury-free and goes out there and does their job, I don't know why you would expect that person to take a backup role," [Player X] said. "If Roger Clemens goes out and pitches well and does his job, I don't think there would be teams that expect him to take a role as a reliever. I don't know why anyone would expect me to do that when I feel my abilities are going on the upswing, not the other way."

http://tinyurl.com/s9f9j

89 Sure. But they can also undermine the "manager" if they feel they know more than he does. Just wait, D4P, until you get your first academic gig, and have to teach a 400-student class with 10-12 unionized teaching assistants, some of whom are older than you. The "managing" part rushes to the forefront. It's no longer about how much you know, and much more about how well you're able to convince people your way will work.

Also, it's not just advice. It's also decisions about playing time.

Look, I agree that the more managers make their presence felt during games, the worse it usually is for their teams. But I also believe that vertical accountability works better than some sort of group decision making.

Remember those long threads before DePo was fired about how hard it was to come up with a name of someone who would play DePoBall, but still seem legit as a manager to the players? Some of us guessed that Hershiser might be such a guy, but it was really just pure speculation, probably because he wears nerdy classes.

Boy am I having a bad experience with T-Mobile. I get a blackberry for my work and go two billing periods with out a bill for the device. Then I get a call from T-Mobile saying they are going to shut off my service if I don't pay the overdue bill for the phone. I tell them they never sent me a bill and she says "You should have called us when you didn't receive it". I say I always didn't receive it so should I be calling constantly? She doesn't find it funny.

Today, I get a bill for the amount I paid last month with a 2/1/06 due date. With it is a sheet of paper saying ignore the due date, the January bill is not due til 3/11. But it's the bill I already paid! Argh. I know they are going to try to dock me for that amount again if I don't put up a fight.

I hate T-mobile

I said Gigantor. I get no points.

You haven't lived until you've gone on a six year jeremiad against Qwest, the Jim Tracy of phone services. Good times.

T-Mobile is the Danys Baez of phone services. Nice spokesperson though...

93- Given the choice between him and the player whose spot he's fighting for, I'm not sure I don't choose him.

93
That has to be Baez without looking. Once Gagne proves healthy expect Baez to be a solid trading chip and I bet we get more for him then we gave up to get him. Remember just last year the Tigers got Polanco for Urbina and that was only to pop him into middle relief. The team that trades for Baez will be desperate for a closer. Think Atlanta.

99 Everyone here wants to believe that the choice is between him, the guy whose spot he is trying to get, and Alfonso Soriano. Most people vote for Alf.

93
OMG was I way off. I should have known it was a National player since Sam posted the URL. Clayton has always thought more of himself then anyone in baseball but he does keep getting starting gigs which is about as weird as Nefi Perez and the Cubs.

I mean, I don't blame him the attitude in general or the basics of the statement. It's just hauling out Roger Clemens that seems a little dicey to me.

91 - The Dodgers have not had their tradition in nearly 20 years due to not bad but horrible drafts, good players who never were able to perform in L.A. (Daryl), bad personnel moves (nuff said), and ownership changes.

While they had their Rookie of the Year run in the 1990's, let's not forget that none of them were highly thought of when they were drafted, Karros, Piazza and Hollandsworth, Raul was identified pretty early but he was a signed as free agent from the Dominican, and Nomo was from Japan.

Then the new sheriff came and went, Evans came and went, DePo came and went. Now Neddy, who because someone (I guess Evans) brought Logan White on board, and he was able to convince them to sometimes pay money to picks, (LaRoche got a big bonus to sign while drafted in the 38th round), he now has the system packed and ready to go.

The Dodgers are fortunate to have nearly 50 years here and some links to past success (Vin and Tommy) around to keep their fans around but I won't be real happy until I see big Chad pitching and some of the guys from Jacksonville and Vegas standing behind him and catching him.

100 I dunno about Baez. While I think that trading him or Gagne if both prove healthy and effective would the smart thing to do, I don't see it happening. My bet is that Colletti wants both. And with Little's bullpen follies, it might not be as dumb as it would be otherwise.

101- That makes sense. Although, I don't envy Nat fans getting to watch Soriano at SS. That'd have to be brutal.

is there a big difference between the 80 dollar mlb.tv package and the 100 dollar mlb.tv package?

Wait a minute. Nationals fans...want Soriano...to play...shortstop?

Shortstop is just like second base isn't it?

108

Soriano or Izturis at SS? You make the call.

109

If they played under a giant mirror, wouldn't shortstop be second base?

Wait a minute. Nationals fans...want Soriano...

I hope Robinson bats Soriano leadoff because the ideal leadoff man should be able to draw 100 walks and score 100 runs.

And have SWAGGER!

Having started this rumor, methinks it's mostly talk radio chatter. It starts with someone saying, "you know, Soriano played shortstop coming up; the Yankees moved him over because of Jeter."

I'd say the truest generalization is that Nationals fans want Brad Wilkerson (and the people they think of as "those other guys") back and want Soriano to go away.

94
Just wait, D4P, until you get your first academic gig, and have to teach a 400-student class with 10-12 unionized teaching assistants, some of whom are older than you.

Maybe I'm lucky. The classes in my field are quite small (35 max), and the TAs are almost invariably masters students. But I agree with your larger point.

Brian Schneider only swaggers on defense.

Check out this gem from our new skipper in another Gurnick article from Dodgers.com

>

Apparently, taking on 3-0 is an "Oakland thing." That's not so endearing to me, personally.

Oops, here's the excerpt from the article:

Little said he gave Ethier the hit sign on a 3-0 pitch, but the lefty took a strike.

"I was a little scared he was into that Oakland thing," Little said, referring to Oakland's emphasis on patience and on-base percentage. "We swing here on 3-0."

im watching quite frankly and omar is on it.

he has a thick new york accent. i didnt know that.

That Grady Little quote and the subsequent Andre Ethier reply is about as bad as it gets.

If I was Joel Guzman,I'd be happy tho. Apparently plate discipline is no longer a pre-requisite for making the roster.

Hack. Hack. Hack. Hack.

Good Times in 2006.

haha, i would LOVE to see soriano at short. that would be pure comedy in motion.

Colletti and Little would like the Cubs roster more than ours.

77 -

Icaros, you said you'd hire a licensed psychologist.

Ned and Grady may have been listening to you. He's probably not licensed but our new bench coach Jauss has a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Amherst College and a Master's degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

123

Great. Now Little can scram.

88. If Eric Gagne is the true GM of the Dodgers, I hope he has better luck than Kobe Bryant's GM run with the Lakers.

92. Exactly Steve. Teams wont change their direction unless they start losing money. Most sports franchises measure success by their profit margin, not their winning percentage.

Most sports franchises measure success by their profit margin, not their winning percentage.

Once again, capitalism rears its ugly head and "we the people" are the losers.

Mostly they just suffer from an appalling lack of imagination.

125 What were his demands again? I remember the first was a .310 hitter (which, technically, we fufilled with Lofton). What was the other one?

40 homerun hitter and re-sign weaver

Oooh, he's not gonna be happy.

125

Eric Gagne is not even in the same universe as Kobe Bryant in terms of value to his team, even when O'Neal was still around.

It's like if Kevin Malone had a vulcan change.

If you root for the Yankees, then you're a winner.

If you root for the Pirates, you should be thankful you have a team despite being undeserving.

I think the best thing baseball could do is contract 2-4 teams, which then in turn would increase the overall quality of the game.

I've always felt Anti-Trust has severely limited Baseball's ability to govern itself. That, and I believe anti-trust is anti-capitalism.

Also, do away with the MLB draft and just let teams sign which ever players they feel should be signed. Age limits are bogus. Etc. Etc...Unions are bogus... Etc Etc..

If only Larry Kudlow was the commish of baseball.......

93 109
Everything I've seen seems to have Sam's Player X fighting Cristan Guzman for short. AFAIK, the Nat's are still trying to move Soriano to the outfield.

135 Spring Training might get better ratings if they did just fight. Although having shed the Predator thing, Clayton has given up a key advantage.

Of course, Guzman looks a lot like an Ewok at the plate, so it doesn't really take a Predator, I suppose.

51. Steve, as to 39 I can only quote Reverand Johnson's immortal words to Sheriff Bart, "Son, your on your own."

I have found Casey. Man was he hidden away. Now I know where to hide the Hope Diamond after I steal it.

Actually, it was the link at 39 that sent me over the edge.

139- It was the third time he's linked that.

Not exactly related: remember that guy who kept trying to get us to call Odalis Perez, Peanut? That was pretty awesome.

138
Now I know where to hide the Hope Diamond after I steal it.

What good will it do you if you keep it hidden? For that matter, what good do diamonds ever do?

I will hide the Hope Diamond until I can sell it on eBay.

One for every beloved TV celebrity its killed over the last two days.

143
Use the numbers, Steve. The numbers are your friend.

From Entertainment News:

Hmm, maybe the fat lady should shut her mouth and take a seat. The New York Post hears brand-new buzz that Showtime has not only picked up Fox's canceled Arrested Development but has ordered a full 26 episodes.

I know that the whole 3-0 thing came up, and kind of ruined the moment, but "Project Ethier" (aka GROTheR or Get Repko Off The Roster) got off to a rousing start.

But project KROTheR fared well in the eyes of someone whose opinion actually counts...

Also drawing praise from the manager (was)...Jason Repko, who stole extra bases from Young by sprinting to dead center and hauling in his long drive.

"We were excited with the way...Repko caught it," he said. "It was good all the way around."

South Korea's first baseman hit a homer in an exhibition game against the Chiba Lotte Marines. Unfortunately it was the former Marine Seung-yuop Lee. I'm guessing either he or Choi will DH, especially since they're probably Korea's best hitters. Anyone know?

Boot Repko Off The Roster

BROTheR

All in favor. The vote is unanimous.

Not a huge surprise that the highlight of an 8-3 loss would be what was no doubt another terrible Repko jump. That was the highlight of all of last year's 8-3 losses to real major league teams.

Remember that time Nate showed up drunk and the only person who noticed was Steve?

Appropriate uses the term would be something like "Oh BROTheR, do we need a new centerfielder" or "Oh BROTheR, why is he running to left center when the ball in in right center." We are saving pixels and having fun at the same time. Greenpeace would approve.

Now seems like a good time to propose that we (as I have already been doing) refer to "Grady Little" as "Grittle," for no fewer than the following three reasons:

1. Grittle is shorter
2. Grady looks like someone who might go by the name of Grittle
3. Grittle sounds like Griddle

I'm guessing the Dodgers played the intrasquad game with a DH. Unless they learned how to fit Nomar, Mueller, and Saenz onto the field at one time. And Ethier batted 3rd while Laroche batted 8th, somehow I don't see that happening in Vegas this year

148

You are pretty much correct about Lee and Choi being Korea's biggest two power threats.

Jong-Beom Lee is supposed to be pretty good.

Jong-Beom Lee should change his name to "Long Boom Lee." That would catch on and give him some exposure.

He could come to the US play baseball and if it didn't work out he could be the next Dirk Diggler.

46.

Yes, but you have to admit, based on last years numbers, Lofton would appear more productive than Cruz. And if you would argue that Lofton was a product of the Philadelphia ballpark, you would be wrong.

He hit .310 in Phili, and .367 on the road.

Lofton getting on, and Guzman driving him in sounds a lot better than Cruz and Guzman.

120.

No matter how you slice it, this is a better team in every way than the 2005 disaster.

Especially on offense, this is a big improvement.

131.

Gagne was beyond happy with this dodger offseason. He likes the direction of the team, he said so.

122.

Well, in 2005, Depo would take the A's roster over the White Sox for sure according to your reasoning.

a homerun for TB!

161- He's an RBI machine.

but hows his BA with RISP?

Have you been following the Greinke Chronicles, Nate? Any theories on what happened?

and pretty soon he will reach this plateau

http://tinyurl.com/h9gbr

from what ive gathered and read...

grienke is a wierd kid. grienke also has a lot of self pride and since hes been labled the royals savior the past 3 years, he doesnt take failure or criticism too well.

buddy bell, the royals manager had a closed door meeting with greinke this weekend where he told him that greinke will start the year in AAA and not in the royals staring rotation. apparently, greinke left because of that.

Okay, maybe Jon will start another thread but before the spring training games begin, predict tne Dodgers final 25 man roster on April 3rd.

I am going against the trend and I am picking both lefties to be on the club and Houlton to go to Vegas to start with possibly the best bullpen in Dodger AAA history.

Kelly Wunsch
Tim Hamulack

Alomar will be the b/u catcher
Saenz, Robles b/u infielders
Ledee will be one outfielder.

Which leaves Choi, Repko, Aybar and maybe Ramon Martinez for two spots. Saenz and Ledee are going to be the top righty/lefty pinch hitters and if Ledee plays, Cruz can switch.

Logic tells me that Repko has to be there because they need 5 outfielders and none of the prospects will be there because they want them to play not sit.

So then we are at the last spot, Choi, Aybar or Ramon Martinez. I hate to say it but if Choi is going to play, they really should try to find someone who will give him shot because it doesn't make sense to have him as a second left handed pinch hitter. I like Aybar in this spot because he can back up the rest of IF positions.

Unless Nomar gets hurt this spring, the Dodgers are probably hoping HSC hits a lot of homers and someone calls. I just don't see a spot for him. Blame Tracy for not playing him last year and playing guys like Phillips, et. al. but I think HSC will not be in a Dodger uniform when he comes back from the WBC.

Robles,Martinez, Repko and Aybar cant all make the team, can they?

Scraptacular bench.

159. Gagne was happy last off season too. In fact, he spouted off to the press about just hwo happy he was with the additions.

Later, these quotes made Gagne look like a total moron when he went back on those words, and started ripping management.

I lost mucho respect for Eric after those comments.

157-

you can't base Lofton on last year's numbers because last year's numbers don't follow the trend. He had three or four extremely average years before that. If anything, Lofton is going to slide rather than improve...and I HIGHLY doubt he repeats his numbers from last year.

Mr. Tony Watch

Today, I heard some of Mr. Tony's radio show coming in to work. Two comments:

1. The show is sponsered by a lobbying firm called -- honest -- Hyjek & Fix. Somehow, I thought they weren't quite supposed to describe the work exactly like that, but what can you do.

2. Mr. Tony had Dave Sheinin, who is covering Nationals Spring Training, on (a not that you care note -- Sheinin is a national bb writer, not the Nationals' Beat Writer, but that guy couldn't make it to campe b/c he was coverying Olympic hockey). Anyhow, first question, "So, isn't Jim Bowden a complete boob?" Kornheiser went on to rip Bowden for being a "self-aggrandazing" "fool." Sheinin -- no Bowden lover himself -- tried to defend a little by pointing out that at least the Lawrence deal seemed a like a good one, because the team got something for an overpaid broken down third baseman they didn't need and who they were basically ready to dump for nothing, and Kornheiser somewhat deftly pointed out that the contract they were so desperate to bump was given out just last year by Jim Bowden.

Then I got to work. Good stuff to start the day. Kornheiser's bit gets repetitive and old pretty fast, but I think he's a smart and observant guy.

166
Greinke seems immature. He comes off as extremely cocky to me. He admits that while he is pitching, he just messes around with hitters or tries new things out because he gets bored.

Living in KC I get to hear his interviews sometimes and he just comes off wrong to me. He has been highly successful at each stop in his career so this kind of news is not taken easily.

156 But would he be as toolsy as Dirk Diggler?

[173] that pun physically hurt me, marty.

158
I've got some time to kill. I'll use the starting lineup the 2005 team was supposed to have.

1st- Nomar versus Choi/Saenz - Nomar has had 321 and 230 at bats the last two years. He hit 283/320/450 with 9 home runs. The Choi/Saenz combo hit 30 home runs with about a 250/330/465 line. As Jon has pointed out numerous times the combo of Choi/Saenz was very effective in 2005. Saenz didn't do anything he hasn't done before except get more at bats which helped his counting stats. Other then 2001 he has slugged over 460 every year of his career. Nomar will have to dig back to 2003 and stay healthy to be an upgrade.

2nd Base - Kent, no change but Kent is one year older at a position where players don't age well.

SS - Furcal is a huge upgrade over Izzy

3b - Mueller over Jose Valentin - On the surface a solid upgrade but Mueller is now at the same age that Valentin crashed and burned and it would not surprise me to see Mueller not be able to play 50 productive games. He's always had chronic knees and they don't get better as you get older. This won't bother me one bit since by August LaRoche would be a better option anyway and Aybar might even be a better option right now.

C - Navarro over J Philips - Yes, another solid upgrade. Maybe even a huge upgrade because Navarro can get on base and actually score when Furcal gets a hit after he was bunted to 2nd base by Lowe.

RF - Drew versus Drew -

CF - Lofton versus Milton - Not a big fan of Milton but he does win the battle. No question that Lofton had an excellent year in 2005 but I don't think to many people will choose a 39 year old CF whose game is speed over a 28 year old CF with power and speed. If Werth can come back and take some LHP at bats and put up his 2004 line then this could be a wash but I think Werth is done as a Dodger after his latest string of constant injuries. CF will be the 2006 weakest link unless they move Drew to CF and move Lofton to the 4th outfielder role. Since he is not much of a team player based on his previous whining in NY when asked to be such a player this will probably not happen.

LF - Cruz versus Werth - I guess I'm the only Cruz fan here but I'll take Cruz even over the 2004 Werth. Neither are special and if Guzman can take the job so much the better.

Yes, I'd have to agree that the 2006 offense looks better then the 2005 offense at the same point of the season. Still think the team would be better with Nomar in LF and Drew in CF with Lofton a 4th outfielder and Choi/Saenz manning 1st. What I like most about the 2006 season is that unlike 2005 we have answers for injuries. Anyone of D Young, Guzman, Ethier would be better then Ross, Feng, Repko. Aybar has already proven he can play a decent 3b with solid OB skills. Robles can handle SS for a few games at a time. Martin can step in if Navarro goes down. If Nomar can hit like 2003 and Drew/Kent/Furcal stay healthy this can be a very good offensive team but I can't imagine Nomar all of the sudden being able to be both healthy and good at the same time anymore. I also have zero faith that JD Drew will stay healthy enough to be the big hitter we need. 3 more surgeries makes me nervous especially the shoulder one and since he was unable to do a winter workout since he was rehabbing from all the surgeries, a slow start like 2005 is probably on the horizon. Which is to bad because I'd rather see him have his 2004 season and then exercise his option and take himself elsewhere.

Of course without the greenies who knows what any of these players are actually capable of during a full season. To me that will be the big story of 2006 and I wish Bouton was around to give us the inside look at how the players handle having to deal with work without any external pick me ups. I guess coffee and red bull will be ingested in large quantities.

Interesting article in the Daily news about how the Dodgers will be using the Blue Man Group to promote the team this season. Not only will they be in the televised ad's but they will also be part of the stadium experience on the video board.

Also liked the Times article on the game yesterday.

Well, the Blue Man Group by themselves is 10 kinds of awesome.

Not sure how well they'll mesh with the stadium atmosphere. If we can't have organ music, the Blue Man Group is definately preferable to whatever they're pumping into the stadium.

The problem with that Henson's Jax article is that it reports Navarro taking a four pitch walk. Someone needs to talk to that kid quick.

175. Nice analysis, ToyCannon. I think you are spot on in most of your conclusions. The only place I tend to disagree is re Nomar. I have no basis for this and its more hope than anything else, but I am expecting a good/healty season. He will be the Jeff Kent signing of 2006. Unfortuanlatly, I think you are very right about Drew. I can't imagine that after multiple surgeries he will be better. As evidenced by Shawn Green, a bum shoulder can really rob you of your power.

A question about the Choi/Sanez 30 HRs: Does that number exclude HRs hit by Olmado while playing third?

I was feeling depressed earlier in the week so I signed up to join the Blue Man group.

179 The actual number is 26. Dodger first basemen hit 30 (three from Phillips, one from Kent.)

180
Was Tobias there?

So who's going to announce the spring training games on radio? There's a press release out stating that Steiner and Lyons will be calling the WBC for XM radio and Jamie Jarrin will also be working for XM as well.

140- Should I be ashamed that I've referred to Odalis Perez as Peanut a few times.

I should be ashamed that I remember that fellow's screen name (kind of like gnuvisage).

179
I hope your right. Once upon a time he was my favorite player when he could actually play SS with any skill. I do however hate his ritual and I'm very surprised that Major League pitchers just don't plug him every so often because it is so annoying. I am rooting for him to succeed and for Choi to get traded to the Twins where he can help them forget about Big Papi.

179,181 What I think you're failing to point out here is that last year Dodgers first basemen, while not epileptic-friendly, hit

ThIrTy bOmBs!.!

and therefore...well, I had some sort of point there, but I don't know what it was.

On another topic, I got an e-mail from MLB.com regarding GameDay Audio - telling me they're going to be automatically charging my credit card for this year. I would have bought it again anyway, but was there something when I signed up saying that this would be a recurring annual fee? What if I changed e-mail address and didn't want it anymore? How would I know to cancel it?

Did anybody else get this/feel that it's a bit excessive assumption that I'd be back? I'm considering contacting them over it.

188- It was in the fine print,

Always read the fine print.

186
i think the sense here in minnesota is that justin morneau will help ease the pain of cutting ortiz loose. mauer will likely dh one or two times a week, with lew ford or rondell white dh-ing the rest of the time.

but, since we seem to be collecting middle infielders, maybe the twinks will make juan castro available.

188
I got the same email and wondered the same things. I too had planned on renewing, and while it's more convenient for them to simply charge my credit card without consulting me first, it's a nevertheless a bit disconcerting. I thought it was strange that there was no language in their email addressing what to do if you don't want to renew.

I know that they mentioned the automatic renewal somewhere in the mlb.tv signup.

188

They do tell you it's automatic renewal when you sign up. But most people just skip over it.

For TV, I use Extra Innings on my cable system because I find it easier to look at a TV than my computer screen.

190
Yes, but you must be a bit worried about the Morneau injuries. I find him and Choi an interesting case. Justin was a ballyhooed 1st base prospect who has failed to inspire in his 1st two seasons but everyone seems to realize that he will progress and realize his potential. Choi followed the same prospect path but has already been discarded into the failed junkheap. Morneau after 876 major league at bats has a 248/313/461 line hitting in a favorable hitters environment. Choi after 915 at bats has a 240/349/437 line while hitting in 2 pitcher parks and yet Morneau is still the future for the Twins while Choi is splinter material. Neither is stellar with the glove. Go figure

194
morneau had/has at least three things going for him here in minnesota: first, he was replacing dougie mientkiewicz (admittedly a fan fave, but with no offense to speak of) who had worn out his welcome with the manager, and second, he had the support of the local press who pegged him as the power threat the twinks desparately needed. they even dubbed morneau and mauer the "m&m boys". sacrilege. finally, the twins really don't have any other options, so morneau gets to play through his struggles. the twinks did go with their jason phillips wannabe (matt lecroy) at first a few times, but they must have realized that was a failed experiment.

anyway, hsc's hardships in the local press have been well documented, and being asked to replace an icon like mark grace couldn't have been easy.

it seems that terry ryan is not afraid to cut bait with prospects after a year or two (restovich, kielty, and possibly cuddyer), while at the same time he gives extended tryouts to others (morneau, guzman, rivas).

184. Curtis Lowe
140- Should I be ashamed that I've referred to Odalis Perez as Peanut a few times.
Yes, Curtis you should be ashamed and you are officially On Notice.

Since it's easy to do, from MLB.com:
Tracy may be relentlessly optimistic, but he is also a relentless teacher of the best parts of the game. If you saw where the Los Angeles Dodgers were when he took over as manager in 2001, and where they were when he led them to a National League West championship in 2004, you would easily grasp the positive influence he can have on a ballclub. The fact that the 2004 division-winning roster was dismantled for 2005 by a GM who is no longer on the L.A. scene is not a demerit on Tracy's record.

"Jim Tracy has brought life to this team," said Wilson on Tuesday. "And I'm not saying that just because I want to hit second. This is the first year I have ever seen so much optimism here."

Oh what fools these Pirates be...

Jack Wilson should hit second for the Pirates. After all, I expect he's a very good bunter.

Meanwhile, Bob has the top five slots on the sidebar locked up. At what point does it just become showing off?

196- awww.

195- et al. HSC to Oakland when Thomas goes down? What do we get back? Bradley?
(it's a joke).

Ya reckon we can pry an outfielder away from Atlanta for Baez? That strikes me as the best bait LA has at the moment.

OT, but I bet the security guy in this story gets fired.

http://tinyurl.com/okgrp

Maybe the kid was making a statement (sort of in the mode of de Bergerac). I hate to hear it, but it gave me a laugh, too.

okay, my officially new obessesion is miguel cabrera; and it will be until he is traded (hopefully to us).

the marlins dumped beckett because hes making 4 mil or so in arb this year, cabrera's going to make somewhere around that next year... can we say huge trade deadline deal?

who could beat our offer? the angels could, but stoneman is hold'em with his prospects. the dbacks could, but they are pretty cash strapped themselves.

197
It was clever of Tracy to convince Beltre to follow up his disappointing 2003 season with an MVP-esque 2004 campaign.

202- What is "The Offer"? What do they need?

Watched "Walk the Line" again last night, I enjoyed it more than the first time which is really rare for me.

204- Baez?
Oh BROTHeR, I recommend Heart and Soul, Repko. I can see the twisted "sentences" from Platiskite now.

197 and 203

"Jim Tracy has brought life to this team," said BELTRE on Tuesday. "And I'm not saying that just because I want to hit SEVENTH".

Nate the local FOX Sports Net(L.A.) had highlights from the Jax/dodger game yesterday so it had to have been televised somewhere. Most likely whatever fox sports net services Jacksonville area. there has to be a way to view it.

202-

I don't see any way they trade Cabrera. If anything, he'll be the one guy they keep.

Although if they DID trade him, our proposal would probably have to start with Guzman and Billingsley....ouch.

Couple of things, Jim Callis of Baseball America, in his weekly espn.com chat said a couple of things Dodger related, first he thinks that this year's team will win the division, Joel Guzman is the most likely prospect to be traded, if Miguel Cabera was to be made available, the two LA teams would be in front of the line to bid for him and he likes Kemp over D. Young as a prospect.

Finally and I think something that will drive this thread for the rest of the afternoon, someone asked Jim Callis the classic choice question, Ginger or Mary Ann and he picked Mary Ann. Without any scientific basis, to me Mary Ann has to win this poll but why. Is the cute girl next door quality, her ability to bake pies on a island, or do we just think that Ginger isn't all what she is cracked up to be?

I'd offer Guzmn, LaRoche, and Martin. Cabrera is a franchise type player. He's almost on the Albert Pujols level.

As for Greinke, he's a really weird kid. You can listen to an interview with him here
http://tinyurl.com/s7dp7

He kind of sounds like an autistic person. As for Greinke the pitcher, he's special. He has a huge repertoire of pitches and definitely knows how to use them. He's very mature as a pitcher and kind of reminds of Greg Maddux the way he pitches. He's always mixing it up, trying to think along the same lines as the hitter. I'd give up a lot for him too (though I really doubt the Royals are going to trade him).

How can Florida trade away all their major league talent except for Dontrelle and Miguel, and STILL need to cut payroll? Would Dontrelle be the only guy on their roster making more than $1 million at that point? That has to be a prime example for contraction.

Nate the local FOX Sports Net(L.A.) had highlights from the Jax/dodger game yesterday so it had to have been televised somewhere. Most likely whatever fox sports net services Jacksonville area. there has to be a way to view it

that could be my new mission this weekend.

I chalk the Ginger or Mary Ann debate as analogous to a discussion of girls you would want to date and girls you want to marry.

I'm down to just four things on the sidebar at this moment.

But I'm off work today and my biggest other tasks today were doing my laundry and taking Casey to the vet.

And finding Casey.

Why is Lovie never thrown into the mix during these Ginger or Mary Ann sessions?

215 I think he's just afraid of being burnished. Maybe if you put down the polishing drill, he'll be more receptive.

216-

I'm alone at my computer, and you just got an audible laugh out of me. good times.

Ginger is too high maintenance. Underneath that mid-west exterior, Mary Ann is a freak.

216 because she has funny hair

216-- That is so indescribably wrong on sooo many levels.

216- if you're going to include Lovie, you might as well throw in the Skipper too.

222 Then we could call it Brokeback Island

Troycannon,

1st- Nomar versus Choi/Saenz - Nomar has had 321 and 230 at bats the last two years. He hit 283/320/450 with 9 home runs. The Choi/Saenz combo hit 30 home runs with about a 250/330/465 line. As Jon has pointed out numerous times the combo of Choi/Saenz was very effective in 2005. Saenz didn't do anything he hasn't done before except get more at bats which helped his counting stats. Other then 2001 he has slugged over 460 every year of his career. Nomar will have to dig back to 2003 and stay healthy to be an upgrade.<<

I am sorry, but if Nomar is a healthy, this is so big of an upgrade, it is not even funny.
By the way, yes, last year was an abberation for Saenz. He had not had so much as 45 RBIS before, and not even so much as 12 HR before.

In Oakland, he had similar at bats in 2001, and only had 9 HR, and 32 RBIs.

Also, there is a difference between Mueller and Jose, first, Mueller has not been on a decline, Jose was a on a decline the previous years. Also, Mueller played 150 games last year, I don't think you should question his health.

224
Mueller has not been on a decline

SLG %

2003: .540
2004: .446
2005: .430

Curiouser and curiouser.

"I'm a loyal guy. I'm sure it goes both ways. I don't think it will be an issue, unless something stupid happens. There's such a good chemistry, I don't see that. We're grown-ups. We're not against each other. It's true family." - Eric Gagne on Dodgers.com

Let's note this day 3/1/2006, the day Eric Gagne said that money won't be an issue, it will be the old familiar respect card.

225- You're missing the point.

Mueller's BARISP

2005: .338
2004: .231
2003: .331

He had a heart deficiency in 2004, but he's still at the top of his game.

I wish just once someone would say be the first one to pay me blank and I will sign the contract.

210

Yep, Sickels followed my lead on Guzman.

He'll be traded next year, I suspect.

Mueller has missed at least 30 games a season most of his career.

When you get more at bats, counting stats like home runs and RBIs tend to go up.

Garciaparra would have to go back to his year 2000 production for him to be anything better than a 50 point OPS upgrade (and that's basically fantasy by itself.)

Think of the middle relievers JtD will bring! Dare to dream -- could we get Gigantor? Al Reyes? Arthur Rhodes? All three!

55
128
145
116
153
70
111
146
110
150

I am sorry, but if Nomar is a healthy, this is so big of an upgrade, it is not even funny.

And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a pushcart.

Nomar has to go back to 2003 performance, his age 29 year, to post a line better Choi/Saenz did last year. That's a risky proposition, taking the easy doubles off the Green Monster away (there goes the SLG), and two years of injury to boot. And he's 32. His BP forecast is to hit .750 OPS. You are too bullish on Nomar, too bearish on Choi/Saenz. At least, that's what the data tells us.

By the way, yes, last year was an abberation for Saenz.

True. His OPS was down to .805.
2001 was the only time Saenz didn't post an OPS over .820 since he made the bigs to stay. True, it was also the only time he got the AB he got last year. But the people around here are suggesting a platoon of Saenz and Choi. Choi would get more AB in the platoon, in facing RH SPs, and thus you won't expect Saenz to get more than 250 PA (since presumably, Aybar will back Mueller at third, not Saenz). Historically, he's put up .838, .915, .822, .857 in years with that level of PA.

and only had 9 HR, and 32 RBIs
RBI: please research why more and more, no one is looking at RBI as a meaningful statistic.

14
104
135
109
135
100
145
72

Player 1 Avg. 125
Player 2 Avg. 114

Clearly, one of these men is the Rock of Gibraltar.

224
I am sorry, but if Nomar is a healthy, this is so big of an upgrade, it is not even funny.

When was the last time Nomar was healthy?

Mueller has not been on a decline
Also, Mueller played 150 games last year, I don't think you should question his health.

OPS
2003: .938
2004: .811
2005: .799

Also, Mueller has played in fewer than 120 games in three of the last five seasons.

225.

2003 was a carrer year for Bill. And no, he is not an OPS machine. But in terms of batting average, and overall hitting, he has not declined.

236.

Mueller ise not an OPS guy.
Also, we are talking about now. And now, Mueller can play 150+ games.

237

In simple terms, what good is batting average? Is the point of the game to have more hits, or is it to score more runs? OPS correlates more closely to run production than does batting average.

As has been pointed out twice now, Mueller is on a decline.

Also, we are talking about now.

On Pluto

Remember, everyone, we're back in Wonderland again. Unless another beloved TV personality dies, tread lightly.

But, I thought OPS was a term for overall hitting.

238

All hitters are "OPS guys." For comparison, Ichiro has had better than an .800 OPS in three of his five MLB seasons.

How do you deduce that Mueller will play 250 games, considering he's done so only twice in the last five years and has averaged 114 in his career?

"Deduce" is such a strong term

234.

Well, those easy doubles that go away in fenway would be home runs in dodger stadium. The man's carrer OPS is .911. Thats a safer bet than HEE-SEOP SAENZ.

Sabremetrics in LA is DONE. Face it, it did not work. It's not HOW you win ball games, it is winning. You all like to look at individual statistics, but baseball is a team game. It's all about the unit, and this is a good unit.

It's almost as if you would rather have games played on your computer, and won the right way. If a team only won 50 games, but won with THIRTY BOMBS, and BBs, then you are satisfied. But if we win 95 games this year, with bottom of the leauge home run totals, top of the leauge SB totals, defense, and the best bullpen in baseball (that's how the angels won last year), you are questioning it.

Excuse me, make that 150 games, and averaged 125.

Well, those easy doubles that go away in fenway would be home runs in dodger stadium.

huh?

245

Well, those easy doubles that go away in fenway would be home runs in dodger stadium.

You do realize DS has a park effect that minimizes XBH (a presumed strength for Nomar & Mueller)?

the angels won last year because of their pitching. pitching wins games. even "moneyball" could "deduce" that.

this is getting on the verge of ridiculous. someone please stop him. i dont have the inner strength not to debate with him without using language that would be in appropiate for this community.

Why? He convicts himself.

By the way, on dodger.com, another poster made a great point about Bill Mueller:

"Old...I mean BttE has tryed to convince you Bill Mueller shouldn't be here. He says he's declining and yadda yadda yadda.What are his motives? Don't know. Never have. But I will disprove his theories on Bill Mueller on many levels.

Once again, for all who aren't paying attention . . . .

Hypothesis: Bill Mueller is declining, mediocre, and is a bad contract.

Test:
Mueller's career OPS is .798 -- He posted a .799 OPS in '05.
Mueller's career BA is .292 -- He hit .295 in '05.
Mueller's career OBP is .373 -- He recoreded a .369 OBP in '05.
Mueller's career SLG% is .425 -- He posted a .430 SLG % in '05.
Result: Test Failed

Test:
Per full season Mueller has averaged 89 runs / 35 2B / 3 3B / 11 HR / 65 RBI. In '05 Mueller had 69 runs / 34 2B / 3 3B / 10 HR / 62 RBI.
Result: Test Failed

Test:
Removing Mueller's obvious career year of 2003, Mueller has posted OPS' of .797 / .778 / .750 / .721 / .851 / .752 / .811 / .799
Result: