1 joekings , J. Reyes 390 points (25-7, 7-1)
2 Timberlake 1 , S. Timberlake 380 points (22-10, 8-0)
yu 4 pto bracket , d. yu 380 points (22-10, 8-0)
kiely 1 , t. kiely 380 points (26-6, 6-2)

Wile E. Coyote, Super-Genius.

As for the Dodgers, Furcal singled, Lofton singled, Cruz singled, and an error advanced the runners, Kent hit a sac fly, Nomar popped up, Mueller singled in another, Ledee doubled, Zimmerman threw away Alomar's ball to score 2 runs, Lowe made out, 5 runs scored

BRAD
PITT

Furcal
Lofton
Cruz
Kent
Nomar
Mueller
Ledee
Alomar

Be thankful for boring GMs (Evans, DePodesta, Colletti).

Old friend Daryl Ward with the RBI groudout.

For example, I see Cristian Guzman as a good hitter.

1) Daryle Ward should never be placed anywhere which would require using a fielder's glove. The DH rule should be re-named the DW rule.

2) Some would like to see LaRoche start the season as the Dodger third baseman. Some would like to see Nomah move to third so HSC could have a place to play on this team, but gosh darnit, Bill Mueller knows how to hit, and we're going to be very glad we have him this year.

He would use words like "aggregate" when responding to questions from McDonnell and Krikorian, and they had no idea what he was talking about.

Joe McD has found love and has shed the McNasty part of his life. He may actually start expanding his vocabulary to three or four grunts.

Bradley lost in the championship games of BOTH the NIT and NCAA to CCNY in 1950.

And both teams were on the take.

I'll be sure to start blabbing around 7 pm PT.

Except I'm worried that Casey (aka "Little Pussy") is out to get me.

I'll be watching at 6:00 myself.

*Penalties apply for Lucile II votes.

I'm not paying all that money to squat like a catcher for three hours.

Apparently martinez can play every position except catcher, so he could be the 5th outfielder.

Its gonna be interesting to see what the dodgers do with repko and ross, if martinez is the 5th outfielder and with guzman and ethier and young in the outfield at AAA.

Could we get anything good in a trade for repko and ross?
Will the dodgers add someone of significance to repko/ross to get something valuable back.

my biggest problem is that this whole Martinez thing is going to take a spot away from someone else..and we're short on spots as it is. SOMEONE is going to be odd man out so that Martinez makes the team which is a huuuuge mistake in my opinion.

All you do is complain!

So why would he be taking about cement?

It was code for the contents of Jim Tracy's skull.

I see a trade coming involving choi and an outfielder or 2 that doesn't make the team.
And maybe the dodgers sweeten the pot with someone else to get something of value back.

Maybe i'm nuts.

I predict that, at some point during the season, seeing the Blue Man Group one more time will make me seriously consider killing myself.

That would be a trip.

Photos and slideshow of the two semifinal games yesterday, from Ducksnorts via David Pinto:

http://tinyurl.com/hxbxs

Also, the Pirates are looking to deal Craig Wilson for a veteran starter. I'm not sure we can trade him, but Sele is as veteran as you can get. He's also a professional, Tracy would love that

Who would want to give up a player for Aaron Sele?

Especially since Flanders will be practically giving him away.

Red Sox get: Choi and Aybar
Padres get: Wells
Dodgers get: Dave Roberts

I see Ned trading Choi and/or Ross for a PTBNL or cash.

UConn better win this game!

Five runs scored in the first inning on a fielder's choice and error off the bat of Jose Cruz Jr., a Jeff Kent sacrifice fly, an RBI single by Bill Mueller and a two-run throwing error by Zimmerman.

Amazingly this was the first time Kentucky and UConn have met.

Being a UConn grad, I'm quite pleased with the outcome, and seeing the rest of the bracket (Washington, George Mason, & Wichita St), I'll be mightily disappointed if we don't get to Indy now.

The Cora and Izzie reunion! It's only a motion away!

And I wouldn't give you false hope.

Hedging your bets. Are you going to root for the Huskies too in the UConn-UW game as well?

If we carry 11 pitchers, take out Saito/Osoria
1. Alomar
2. Martin/Navarro (if Navarro isn't healthy)
3. Furcal
4. Nomar
5. Kent
6. Mueller
7. Robles
8. Saenz
9. Cruz
10. Drew
11. Ledee
12. Lofton
13. Repko
14. Martinez

If we carry 12 pitchers, take out Robles

Ledee
Saenz
Alomar
Martinez
Robles/Choi/Ethier (LH bat)
Ross/Repko/Cruz (with Guzman starting) (RH bat)

Interestingly, it's less about Cruz than Repko and Ross, who are giving the Dodgers an excuse to delay Guzman.

A close friend called me to say that Bradley had won, and did I remember that his daughter graduated from Bradley?

I did actually attend Arizona for a few years, so I guess that connection is more legit.

Would the red sox like brazoban choi and cody ross, and could we get a good top prospect (a billingsley or guzman type) for them?

The Deity of your Choice smiles upon you.

But as to the question, no. Brazoban Choi and Ross might not even get us David Wells.

Hamulack is out of options anyways.

Not even wells, wow.

123 -- Apparently not.

125 -- Who could be?

126 -- Arizona. Please.

133. Ten MLB-ready arms? Im I missing something? I dont love this deal either, but trading pitching prospects for major league talent isnt a bad thing. The last time the Dodgers traded a pitching prospect for a veteran reliever it worked out ok. Carter seems pointless to me, but Baez is basically Duaner Sanchez. I see those deals like this:

Baez, Carter, and Seo for Jackson, Tiffany, and Sanchez. Thats not a bad trade, and should Jackson and Tiffany falter (and lets face it, the odds are against both of them) this looks like a very nice deal.

I wish Ned couldve gotten more for Jackson and Tiffany, but there is plenty of upside in this deal for the dodgers.

136. That's exactly my point, Ned's moves have their faults, but even his worst moves arent disasters.

At his salary, Tomko is far from untradeable. I'd rather error on the side of too many starters, even then, its not like he cant be moved to the bullpen.

Correct. This is intuitive -- Tomko last year had a VORP of 20. One inning pitchers are not inherently valuable. Saying they are does not make it so.

i would take baez over sanchez if you didnt factor in any other variabls (cost, opportunity cost, etc).

sanchez is basically a roogy, his splits for lefties are horrid. baez gets lefies out at a far better clip.

baez vs lefties- 268BA 744ops against
sanchez vs lefties- 310BA 867ops against

If I had to identify the two most highly suspect young pitchers in the system, it would be Tiffany and Jackson.

that sentence just put a hope in my step

148- Colletti definitely isn't the worst, but I'd probably put him in the bottom of the middle of the pack. The Furcal contract was very creative and an excellent move. The Seo acquisition would have been fine had he not then signed Tomko and traded 2 top prospects for 2 rental relievers. The funny thing though is that Colletti might be the 2nd best GM in the division. That's pretty sad.

Make no mistake, Im not saying Baez was, or ever will be half the pitcher Gagne is, but I cant see how Baez's credentials make him "useless". You can say many things about Baez, he's overpaid, overrated, and probably unnecessary, but can be very usefull to a team that had major bullpen problems in 2005.

Since he is all of these things, I see no reason to further belabor the point.

Thats all im trying to say. He didnt fire Paul Depodesta and he hasnt sacrificed the future. In fact, Colletti's biggest mistake to date has been the decision to work for Frank McCourt, who's actions deserve our derision much more than Colletti.

On a side note, I really hate Ned's voice. He sounds like he has a NY accent or something, but supposedly he grew up in Chicago? He doesnt sound like any Chicagoan Ive met.

The statement "trading pitching prospects for major league talent isn't a bad thing" is so vague it is meaningless. The term "pitching prospects" can apply to pitching talents ranging from great to garbage. "Major league talent" can be Albert Pujols, or it can be Christan Guzman. Unlike Steve, I am NOT against trading pitching prospects for a middle reliever or two depending on the players involved and the Dodgers' circumstances. During Evans' tenure, I was all for the Paul Shuey for prospects Ricardo Rodriguez and Francisco Cruceta trade, because I thought Rodriguez and Cruceta were very over-rated, and because we needed, at that time, help for the bullpen and had no young MLB-ready arms the like of Broxton, Kuo, and Osoria on our own farm who could have stepped up. I am against the Tampa Bay trade for two reasons: ONE, I believe Jackson and Tiffany are the real deal, rather than just pretenders like Rodriguez and Cruceta, and TWO, instead of being short on reliever talent like we were when we traded for Shuey, we are DROWNING in bullpen arms right now. Adding Baez and Carter to our potential reliever talent pool was like emptying a bottle of water into a swimming pool. In short, we paid too high a COST for negligible BENEFIT.

This is not true. It is supported by the fact that he is a middle reliever. There are several facts bound up with that categorical fact, and it is sufficient.

If you assume Jackson and Tiffany are the real deal, then ya, the deal is terrible. But that's a pretty dangerous assumtion. I think you have to work with the assumption that at least half of you pitching prospects are going to fall significantly short on expectations, and thats probably still being too optomisitc. What pitchers in the Dodgers' system, in your opinion, were the going to fall short of expectations? They cant all turn into good major league pitchers.

Do you remember Kaz Ishii? The Dodgers had to actually pay his salary so another team would take him. Its not the money its the years. But its more that Tomko (4.5), Lofton (3.85), and Mueller(4.5) could have bought 1 great player and filled the other two spots with cheap prospects.

he hasnt sacrificed the future
Trading Bradley was a very bad move for the future. In fact, I think its the worst trade the Dodgers have made in the last 20 years. .800+ OPS CF'er...making 3mils a year.. 28yrs old... and we trade him?

Also moving Joel Guzman off of SS was a terrible move for the future.

Colletti has built a team with limited upside and limited downside. But he did it with a 100+ mils payroll. So it has to be considered a net loss IMO.

Offering Baez/Carter arbitration is about as risky as offering Steve Finley arbitration.
The Dodgers got stuck paying Shuey/Quantrill more than they were worth. I doubt they want to go down that road again. But maybe Colletti does? Benitez, LaTroy Hawkins, Jason Christianson, etc....

Sorry, lofton is my hated offensive player this season, like izturis was in 2005 and roberts in 2004.

Can you tell i don't like slap hitters.

Furcal would be playing 2nd base in 2007. That is if I was the GM. I'd move Furcal over to 2nd the minute Guzman was ready at SS. I'd also have Guzman at Vegas playing SS all year this year.

Trading Bradley was worse bc Bradley was an established every day player. Konerko was just a prospect. Pedro was a middle reliever.

Actually, Sheffield for Brian Jordan/OP in a salary swap move was almost as bad as trading Milton Bradley.

But I'd still put the Bradley trade as the worst of the last 20 yrs.

When is the last time the Dodgers traded an everyday position player in their 20's, for only a AA minor leaguer? I'm not even mentioning AP either. He might turn out to be good too. But trading Bradley was a killer.

.800+ OPS CF'er..cheap salary, in his prime... You dont trade those guys.

Therefore guzman a middle infielder (ss or 2b).

NO.

I was just saying i'd rather have bradley than lofton.

There's gonna be a huge drop off at 2nd base no matter what when Kent leaves. There's no one that could replace him. So why not move Furcal to 2nd (at least he's an average hitting 2nd basemen), and keep Guzman at SS (whom could give us a big value here).

I'd rather have Guzman/Furcal in the middle infield, than Furcal/Izturis in 2007.

If Guzman can play SS, you dont sign Furcal.

Thats true. I'd go for that, keeping Furcal at SS and Guzman at 2nd. Its really the same difference.

I was just thinking it'd be easier for Furcal to switch positions, than Guzman.

I dont think Guzman would be more usefull of OF'er, than what the team could find in the free agent market.

Soriano is acceptable at 2nd base or SS though. He's not acceptable in the OF.

The Pedro Martinez affair is a cautionary tale of listening to Tommy Lasorda. The Paul Konerko trade could be filed under this category as well.

Trade loney, perez and ethier for a top starting pitcher that takes perez spot, billingsley takes tomko's spot, moving tomko to the pen.

Mueller is on the bench, cruz is on the bench.

And we start a dynasty.

Kent isnt the quickest guy out there but he has good reflexis and good hands. I think Guzman could handle it.

How quick do you need to be to play 2nd?

And if Guzman's height doesnt stop him at SS, why would it at 2nd?

Then we sign a free agent top starting pitcher and trade for a high ops 1b.

Andruw Jones, Adam Dunn, Jim Edmonds are coming up on free agency the next few years. Edmonds this year. AJ/AD i'm not sure but its either this year, or the year after.

203 made me laugh.

I think its more of.. I love safe average veterans and chemistry

Some questions are better left unasked.

I don't often agree with oldbear either, but he's entitled to his opinions, just like the rest of us.

IF we respond, the terrorists win.

Its like a mainstream media old baseball philosophy frat party there, everyone is cozy with everyone including the moderators untill a sabermetrics person pops up.

I'm wondering why Thinkingblue chased you over here to continue to argue?

Its like a mainstream media old baseball philosophy frat party there, everyone is cozy with everyone

Which maybe explains why a few have shown up on this site... Perhaps not anyone over there is allowed to argue since they all think the same?

(1) inside

or

(2) outside

the parentheses kinda guy?

Let OldBear be.. nobody said hes right all the time.

They're not going to bash the kid publicy, of course, but it's pretty evident they believe Guzman wasn't the answer at shortstop.

That squares with accounts of outside scouts. This wasn't all that complicated. Blast the Dodgers for many things. Lord knows, they give one cause. But moving Joel Guzman off shortstop was a pretty easy choice. His footwork and actions don't translate there at the major league level. (There's even talk that the game is too fast for him at any infield position, save perhaps 1B)
His transition to MLB will be hard enough. As exciting as his power is, he's going to strike out a lot, probably every third at-bat. Adding shorstop travails to the load would've been ill-advised. Sticking in him in the big lot was the way to go.

Oh yes, Furcal, someone above mentioned my forecast there -- indeed I see him in CF in 2008.

2005 OPS

Rafael Furcal: .777
Dave Roberts: .784

Dave Roberts started 101 games in CF last year.

In other words, he was in Club Med while the likes of Furcal were grinding out game after game. It was a career-best OPS for him -- a jolly good job, but he missed 48 percent of the potential starts.

Hope I didn't imply that Furcal was paid $39 million for his offense.

And again, I said 2008 for CF.

In 2006-07, I expect Furcal to far exceed the average OPS for a NL shortstop (last year, it was .692) while also playing above-average defense and also exceeding the norm for leadoff OPS.

And for pitching i'd FOCUS on drafting guys who are predicted to keep the ball outta play (low whip, high k rate, low hr rate) and are predicted to be starters, if they don't turn out great then use them for the pen.

...and maybe you guys can figure out what I did to 118 over on the Griddle last night :(

Several factors, and again, I'm talking three years from now.

Not necessarily in order of importance: He could be a terrific CF, although, of course, he'd have to show he can judge a flyball (I apply the same disclaimer to Nomar going to LF, where I beleive he should be. One cannot assume a SS can judge a flyball, but it's not a crazy bet).

The need at CF could be greater for the LAD.

I also believe Furcal's "max-effort" throwing dynamics will start to take a toll in his late 20s. His arm strength is incredible, no question. But he's a gunner -- he struggles to make the low-strain flip a la Vizquel and some of the other SSs. I think all of the years of a 5-foot-10 SS(listed) gunning 120-foot throws will nudge him toward CF.
And yes, I realize it's unlikely and that 2008 will be a walk year. I also realize that his OPS differential, and in turn, value is greatest at SS, which I expect to hold up at least another year or two.

I do believe playing CF would be a bit less taxing, which could enhance his leadoff/offsensive energy as he gets near age 30. Grant him an .800 OPS in CF -- that would have been .023 above last year's NL/CF average. Not bad at all for a leadoff guy. And I wouldn't be surprise to see the NL/CF average OPS go down circa 2008. Andruw Jones, Edmonds and Griffey will be pretty far along.

Guzman's career path could track somewhat like Sheffield's. Sheffield was thought a more athletic infielder and in fact played a pretty good 3B for San Diego while challenging for the Triple Crown.

290 - So Guzman is the next Miggy Cabrera? Nate may have something to say about this!

Talk like that can get you killed.

Tonight's episode of "The Sopranos" was derivative, however unintentionally, from the "Frank Furillo gets shot" episode of "Hill Street Blues." And I felt a certain amount of David Chase's "Northern Exposure" background in it as well. But it was still good.

I'd couch that one to "Furcal was one of the best defensive shorstops in baseball."

Major league personnel were very keen on Adam Everett. The NL Gold Glover was Vizquel.

As ranked by Dewan's The Fielding Bible, which I recommend, it was Everett, Wilson, Furcal in 2005; over the last three years, Everett, Wilson, Rollins and Furcal.

Dewan says of Everett, "Quite simply the best shortstop in baseball (defensively)." In the same book, Bill James makes a pretty compelling case for Everett (that one, vis a vis Jeter).

So now we see the rapid descent of AJ? As every character in Star Wars said at one time or another, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

I also think this Vito fellah is gonna be a problem. Most likely for Meadow's husband, once he quits dental school.

Feh. Too much lasagna and wine.

last time they came, i came on here too late and all the nasty comments i wanted to read were deleted.

well this isnt my fault, i blame LAX and southwest for delaying my flight for 3 hours.

...This is a recording. >beep!<

(Feels like deja vu all over again to me, anyway...)

Btw, I'm a little worried about Brazoban, too, though the Dodgers don't seem to be - and I'm certainly not very worried about their bullpen this year.

In fact, Colletti has said he's looking for a veteran OFer. Maybe Pena for Choi is in the works?

I think that's a good deal for Boston (well, how about a good risk for Boston) since Arroyo is extremely over-hyped. Arroyo could challenge Milton for the league-lead in HR's given up based on his G:F ratio.

Pena is no good, but will give a decent RH-compliment to Nixon.

A good starting offense combined with good starting pitching, in my opinion make middle relief for the most part irrelevant.

But in my opinion we don't have a good enough starting offense nor good enough starting pitching.

If you consistantly score 6 runs and your starting pitching consistantly gives up 3 runs, or 5 and 2, or 7 and 4, you can consistantly go from your starting pitcher to your setup man then your closer.

Alot of dodger leads are going to be blown in middle relief this season in my opinion, assuming any of brazoban carter hamulack wunsch houlton sele saito beimel make up middle relief.

When you look at the team, there are weaknesses, and so on a given day you may see the middle relievers look bad. But singling out the middle relief as a problem is almost beside the point. It's about where it should be.

Jon Broxton? He could be very key for this pen.

Gagne, Baez, Broxton, and Kuo make up 4 very nice power arms. The rest is filler, and probably won't pitch with a lead most times.

Jon Broxton? He could be very key for this pen.

Bingo, and i'm all for broxton in the pen.

I would certainly hate for the Dodgers to have invested more toward the middle relievers.

I agree.

Invest in starting offense and starting pitching and you make middle relief for the most part irrelevant.
That's why i can't stand lofton mueller and tomko.
And i know the free agent market was thin, so i'm not necessarily saying we could have gotten better players than those 3 guys.
Just pointing out what i think are the weakest links that will contribute to the middle relief playing a role.

It does open up another possible destination for Choi...

I disagree on Mueller. He'll put up solid numbers throughout the year..won't win a batting title again but should still be solid.

I'm holding out judgment on the whole Tomko thing until I see him pitch on a regular basis.

Completely agree on Lofton. That signing doesn't make much sense to me....I mean, look at his previous years before last year. It's not a pretty thing to look at it. It seems like a lot of people are expecting a Lofton that plays 115 games and hits .310. I don't know why I'm so low on him, but it honestly wouldn't shock me if he hits .270. Taking his bat out of the lineup, putting Nomar in LF, and putting Choi at first just seems like a much better option. But, that has been discussed ad naseum and I don't want to open up that Pandora's Box again....

I disagree on Mueller. He'll put up solid numbers throughout the year..won't win a batting title again but should still be solid.

Out of the 3 guys i mentioned above (lofton mueller tomko), mueller is the one i have the LEAST problem with.

Weakest link starting offense = lofton
Weakest link starting pitching = tomko

Back to the bullpen, I see it as above average - Gagne, Baez (no relation to Joan), Kuo, Broxton (maybe), don't forget Lance Carter who I think was the quiet steal in that deal, and Houlton (maybe) in long relief, I'll put that bullpen up against just about any other team's. Some good pitchers are going to be on the outside looking in to start the season...

As for the Reds and Choi, I hope not, for his sake as much as ours (and especially not if they're offering pitching!)

As for the bullpen, I'd like to see Sele and Houlton pitching every 5th day in Vegas as injury replacements. The bullpen should be (IMO):

Gagne, Baez, Carter, Kuo, Broxton, Braz, and Hamulack/Wunsch.

If its a 6-man pen, Broxton looks to be the one to start the season in the minors.

Is san francisco harder to hit hr's than st louis, san diego, seattle, cincinnati?

317- You don't think they leave Dunn at 1B and bump Freel up to starting LF? That's what I'd do, as if that meant anything. What are the Sox going to do with Pena? Move Nixon to DH and Ortiz to 1B? Nixon and Pena at the corners, and many Manny to DH? It's a nice problem to have, I guess, but still. . .

http://tinyurl.com/kft6z

The article answered my other question. Pena and Nixon look to be platoon partners.