Good grief, the Dodgers have collected some bad players over the years haha.

Jon no Ishii or Nakamura updates?

I really should be sleeping......

Just curious why the above make the list as ex-dodgers and the following don't? Milton, Alex Cora, Victor Diaz, Mr. Choi, Hollandworth, Bako, Grudzielanek, Dessens, Mellhouse, Beltre, Hollins, D Reyes, Sturtze, T Lilly, S Green, B Jordan, J Piedra, Abercrombie, Piazza, Roberts, Vizcaino, D Sanchez, Astacio. Still lots of junk but at least two HOF:)

Beltre of course is the answer to who is the 2nd HOF.

http://tinyurl.com/l8xf8

"Jason (Repko) is the kind of player, you wish you had about 10 of him on your ballclub," Little said. "The way he goes about his business and the type of player he is, he brings a lot of excitement and life to your team whenever he's in the game. We think he's going to be a valuable asset."

Sounds like Grady is drinking Jim Tracy's kool-aid.

"It's easy when you throw 98 down the middle, that doesn't take much thinking. I learned how to pitch when I was a starter. Now I've got to do it again.

"Mentally it's an adjustment because I can't go out and throw 15 fastballs in a row anymore."

Choi will stay at extended spring training. Looks like he missed a lot of action with a bad hamstring.

Nomo still speaks through a translator? After 12 years? Are you kidding me? I would have thought he'd have picked up the language by osmosis by now, if nothing else.

Any other players that still comment "through a translator"? Let's not count Sosa forgetting how to speak English.

As for Nomo, he uses a translator because the Japanese are very worried about sounding like they speak good English. Even Japanese who speak near-perfect English always apologize at their "poor" language.

Deep into the gap
the horsehide reaches orbit
Milton backs up third

http://dcbb.blogspot.com/

Springfield, Va.: How do both Matt LeCroy & Daryle Ward make the cut? Thanks!

Tom Boswell: LeCroy can hit. Ward hit in spring training. I'm surprised Ward stuck and will be surprised if he stays very long. But I'll be glad to be wrong.

The real surprise __to Ryan Church anyway__ is that once Soriano agreed to play the outfield it was suddenly a competition between Watson and Church for an outfield stop. I don't think Church realized that possibility __thought it out__ in time. By the time the light bulb went on in everybody's head, Watson was hitting .300 and Church .200. My guess is that Watson will hit his way back to the minors and Church will hit his way back up. If Watson pans out __and a slap hitter needs at least a .360 on-base percenatge, a bunch of steals and good outfield defense to justify his existence__ it will be a large plus. I thin a juan Pierre, Brett Butler type is wonderful. But a player who is 80-percent of that leadoff "type" is a negative. On the other hand, someone who is 80 percent of 30-home-run hitter is still a plus.

http://tinyurl.com/gxfab

Of course, since Choi pulled a hammy the other day that made everything pretty simple for the time being.

I think overall people here seem to lean slightly anti-Repko, actually. I'm slightly pro-Repko in a non-committal way, can't put my finger on it except I like him as a bench OF'er and not a starter, and like the energy he brings (and think he's a solid hitter) - and that he's also a little crazy and dense in the field.

Yep, Fry.

McLean, VA: I wish we'd put the "white Sox Small Ball: myth to rest. Here's how they ranked in the AL in 2005:

9th in runs scored
4th in HRs
11th in OBP

They were a mediocre offensive team that depended more on the long ball than getting on base.

1st in SHs
7th in SFs
3rd in SBs
1st in CSs
11th in SB%

They did lead the league in sacrifice bunts, and stole a lot of bases, but they also were caught stealing a lot too.

The White Sox won because of good pitching (1st in the league in ERA) and power bats, not because of smallball.

Tom Boswell: Good numbers.

The ideal these days is to be able to score BOTH ways. The Big Inning has always been central to baseball. In about 50 per cent of all games in baseball history, the winning teams has scored as many runs in ONE inning as the other team did in the whole game. BUT when you have strong pitching __like the White Sox__ it's also important to be able to generate 1 and 2-run rallies in close games. That's why the White Sox rank high in BOTH home runs AND stolen bases/sacrifice hits. They both have their place these days.

(link in comment 29 above)

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/sports/14228065.htm

Like the gym in "West Side Story", the Griddle is neutral territory.

There are no fights on the Griddle, but you can issue a challenge.

Predictions: Street and Smith's picked the Rockies 3rd. Author of S&S's NL West section? Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News. Still... it could happen I suppose. (Dodgers 2nd, Giants 1st, according to him.)

Lost amidst the list was this:

Even Gregg Zahn's injury hasn't guaranteed Jason Phillips a backup job catching with Toronto.

51 - Gregg Zahn? The guy from "That Thing You Do!" and "Reality Bites"?

54 - Like Piazza?

56 Not the only one. I'm a fan, too (though maybe a bit less than you are).

51-55 Had me laughing hard.

"As for how to follow the prospects this year in Las Vegas, the 51s PR Director Jim Gemma just informed me that you can listen to all their games online on the 51s website."

(describing a team visit to Blue Man Group show in Vegas)

"Jason Repko was on stage during an indescribable bit in which it appears they string him upside down and slam him into a wall."

In the Hee Seop Choi FAQ, I mentioned that yes, strike outs are actually worse than regular outs, to a minor degree (striking out instead of putting the ball in play for an out 150 times in a season costs the team about 5.5 runs). In the ESPN thread that linked, the only thing they focused on is "see, he admits strike outs are worse than other outs! We were right all along." Give an inch, they take a mile.

Really. Michael Tucker was beat out by Ward?
He's a decent ballplayer.

Now, I say this with no evidence other than anecdotal, and in full realization that he could hand-eye circles around me. This is a comparison to the best of the best, and I just don't think he's one of them. If baseball people like him as a player, other than his scrappy attitude (which I like too, but don't really value) it must be because they think he'll improve - that he has the raw materials for a good player (because his performance to date is not so hot). I guess that's the part I'm questioning, but since they're the ones who make the decisions, I hope I'm wrong.

Phillips
Edwards
Valentin
Grabowski
Mike Rose
Nakamura
Cody Ross
Chin-Feng Chen

Five of those spent some time in the OF. Repko should get better, too. Anyway, he was below average, but better than garbage. And if scrappiness floats your boat, good on you. So long as it doesn't become a brain-dead obsession (e.g. I don't care what anybody says, the only stat worth counting is number of times per game a fielder dives for a ball!), people can take any idiosyncratic side interest they like with out its bothering me (c.f. the beard brigade).

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/repkoja01.shtml

he can be a replacement runner late in games and uhh... thats about all i trust him to do right now. His batting stance is quite horrible. His huge legkick doesnt work well as a timing mechanicism because it makes him lunge for the ball and thats why he misses so many pitches. Maybe if he can improve on that he could be more useful. He is the perfect tools vs stats guy. He does have very exciting tools that managers orgasm over, but those tools havent exactly turned into skills yet.

yes he has occasional pop, but is that occassional pop worth it when he cant put the bat on the ball consistently or recognize pitches outisde the strike zone?

yes he has speed and a very strong arm, but does that matter when hes zig-zagging in the outfield trying to track down a fly ball?

Maybe im being a little too hard on sparky, he does hustle, and he does try hard so i do appreciate that. But he's just not very good.

If Ethier,Guzman,Aybar,or Loney came up for part of the season and hit only .220 in 300 ABs would you give up on them? Maybe,(give up on)Ethier and Aybar and not the other two?

"Los Angeles Dodgers: Can the Dodgers rely on Eric Gagne like they used to? If you're a Dodgers fan, aren't you a little concerned by Rafael Furcal's nagging injuries? And speaking of injuries, what will J.D. Drew give the team in '06? Can Nomar Garciaparra play first and stay healthy? Will someone please screw Odalis Perez's head on straight?"

the difference between repko and those players is that those players have a track record of success. repko didnt start doing anything until 2004.

I do think some of the Repko criticism here has been over the top; I also think that some of the criticism has been less about Repko than about his use in certain situations.

Having Repko's bat on the bench is just fine with me, as long as he doesn't pick it up and try to use it :)

(How's that for over-the-top criticism? Can I get a rim shot?)

Given. :)

Since the big guy upstairs bleeds Dodger Blue, this shouldn't be a problem, right, Mr. Lasorda?

Is your restraining order against Ramon Martinez not valid in the District of Columbia?

1. On the major-league roster, if his optimal use is as a 5th OFer, then he won't play enough to improve, and if he plays more, the Dodgers likely suffer.

2. The AAA OF is too crowded with real prospects (now that Guzman and Young are out there with Ethier), so that starting Repko in AAA would hurt their development.

Seems to me to be the classic case of a guy who needs a trade to flourish (unless the Dodgers are injured/daft enough to give him lots of MLB ABs).

So maybe they should play up his scrapitude as much as possible so that some other sucker (er, GM) is willing to trade something the Dodgers need. Heck, even future draft picks would be fine.

But the team would need to stay healthy for that to happen.

Thank god our division is weak that we can wait for the few top prospects (guzman, broxton, martin) to develop and get ready.

Does Colorado have anything the Dodgers need? Yeah, Todd Helton. Anything realistic?

sparky would love the wilderness and waterfalls out in centerfield as well.

89 Would they really put that in the media guide? I was told by a hotel employee (OK - bartender) that many teams stay at the newish Mandarin Oriental in Southwest. It is a easy hop to RKK avoiding downtown traffic, very fancy, and really only used by hardcore business types (and some rich live-ins); not many ordinary tourists as it is not in the normal downtown hotel axis. No clue about the Dodgers in particular.

http://tinyurl.com/gyy3v

And I still say Repko = Fry from Futurama, god bless 'em.

NY 94 wins
Bos 93 wins

Oak 93 wins
LAA 81 wins!

LAD 87 wins
SF 80 wins
SD 78 wins

I'll be surprised if Boston wins 90+ this year...

Would the Angels be worse off to anyone (well, to anyone besides Plashke)?

Also they assume 500 pa's from Bonds!

Hey, good news, for those of us who aren't in LA, can't watch the freeway series (games that don't count anyway) this weekend on TV or the opening series in person - the game Monday is on ESPN at 1pm.

Dog bless Tivo.

Actually, I think I'm coming down with something Monday. {{cough}}

The 10's gonna be jam-packed... I figure on taking surface streets towards Hollywood then getting onto Sunset at some point. Thoughts?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/020728shuey.html