Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
... is roughing up my July 4. But I hope yours is full of the right kind of fireworks.
One thing, though: easy on the hatred. Reading comments over and over again about how much you hate this player or that gets a little tired. That so-and-so's presence is not the end of the world.
And with that ...
Happy Independence Day, you princes, you slaves of Dodger fandom.
* * *
goes to find some food...
I heard about him being hurt alot, hope everthing works out.
Happy Independence Day everyone.
what?? must have been a late late move.
Jon, where do you get your burritos? I'd like to know because (1) I never want to eat a burrito from the place that evidently made you sick, and (2) I can't find a decent burrito in the West LA/Santa Monica area.
I'll open it up to the board to list your favorite taco shops west of Beverly Glen, if such fine taquerias exist in this guero-est of neighborhoods.
One of these times, I'm going to call him Zimmermann.
Pechanga is really really good (fresh)
My LA burrito is El Nopal pregnant burrito in palms.
Me & me girlfriend agree, that the sauce makes or brakes a taco/or burrito
Review of El Nopal:
http://tinyurl.com/s3jnw
Jon, I join you in fearing I may have to really accept R. Martinez
Have any of you herd of El Tepeyac?
These fireworks are incredible loud -- my dog is hiding under the coffee table.
I'm a burrito guru in San Diego, but now that I'm back in LA I'm totally worthless when it comes to finding burrito-ey goodness.
I used to work at the Club I mentioned, so El Nopal was an easy walk for lunch.
Hopefully none of my neighbors go bonkers with the fireworks; my dog hides under beds. The 4th isn't usually too bad, but New Year's Eve here is insane--it's a two-tranquilizer night for the dog then.
I'll put it to you this way, I'ts interesting & amusing watching Sele hit.
I can't see how are "middle can keep failing". I know Kent is hurt, so I guess he is excused.
Any throws drawn are good. almost as good as a pitch.
Good Stuff happening.
I can't see how are "middle can keep failing". I know Kent is hurt, so I guess he is excused.
Any throws drawn are good. almost as good as a pitch.
Good Stuff happening.
why should he : )
That truck ain't gonna wash itself...
Garc or Drew or Kent is out. I may have even been sarcastic, but I'm not sure.
63- Inside the Dodgers says he has, "soreness in his left side."
Where was Drew hit by that pitch?
I used to get a kick out of Shelby-one of my favorites.
why did Gio go; I don't know; we had Sanchez, Gio Carrara, Mota, and some Vet who I think went to the Yanks, as well as Brazoban, at the same time and seemed to get rid of them as fast as we could. Gio got it stuck to him tonight.
[What? It looked like fun. . .]
And bless you Jon, for your sentiments in this posting. Couldn't agree more. And bless your Maalox supply, hope it's helping. (Ditto for me, after my unpatriotic spicy Indian dinner.)
And bless the Dodgers, for giving us a win on the 4th of July. And at least one day in first place (with two other teams).
And bless them for sending Kuo down as I'd hoped (not because I hate him - I like the guy and hope he comes back to show us what he can do!)
And bless the weather Gods for giving us San Franciscans a clear 4th for once.
And bless us one and all.
I'm guessing Bob was being avuncular.
We found out today that he passed away from a heart attack at the age of 52 on June 23rd. Though he lived in Wisconsin, I had the pleasure of meeting him in person at Dodger Stadium last summer. He was a beloved figure who will be greatly missed.
Loney hit his 3rd home run of the month and maybe starting to put that part of his game together.
The Dodgers are 5-1 when I attend. 3-0 in games in which Aaron Sele pitches.
They have scored: 8, 6, 16, 7, 10, and 11 runs when I've gone.
The only loss was in the first game a 9-8 loss to the Braves in game 3 of the season. That was Coachjpark's game.
The Rockies win and it's 3-way tie time!
For Drew. Ethier's not going anywhere.
Et tu, Brute?
I know this may be more appropriate for 6-4-2, but considering all of the discussion on this site of rookie starting pitchers, I thought I would offer some thoughts on King Felix vs. Jered Dream Weaver. It was definitely worth my 3 hour drive to see the match up. Jered was outstanding and proved to me worth DFAing his brother. He really kept the M's off balance with his breaking ball and change up. He mixed in the 92 fastball in spots when he needed to, but it was never a give in pitch 2-0 or 3-1. He would show it to them enough to get them to look for it and then made a living on getting them to flail at the off speed stuff. Simply impressive pitching for the rookie. I think struck out 8. I know he got Ichiro the first two times he faced him and that in itself is impressive.
Felix was good as well until he gave up a 2 run line drive bomb to Kendry Morales. That really unnerved him and he was never the same after. His body language changed from a confident, cocky presence on the mound to a guy who was clearly frustrated and battling himself. Felix is much more of a thrower, with his 95-98 mph gas and a wicked breaker. He simply seemed to me to be much more predictable: get in trouble, go to the fastball. The Angels hitter were ready for it and made him pay, 7-1 final score. Anyway, good to see that the Dodgers are back tied for 1st with the win today. I smell a sweep!
I'm proud of 3.5, he's going to get us something big, possibly Livan Hernandez (you can't get much bigger than that).
My recs:
El Parian on Pico in Downtown
El Gran Burrito on Santa Monica and Vermont
La Estrella on York in Highland Park
Ana Maria's in Grand Central Market downtown
Pueblas Tacos on Villa in Pasadena
Nazos on Figueroa in Mt. Washington
Tacos Baja Ensenada on Whittier in East L.A.
Any King Taco will do in a pinch
El taurino off of olympic and Hoover is a great taco stand too.
I dont what people love about titos tacos they taste like elementary cafeteria food.
Best taco/ burrito stand outside of East L.A.: Yuca's on Hillhurst in Echo Park.
24 & 110. Bluebleeder and Marty, I first discovered King Taco when they were on the reserved level of Dodger Stadium. Of course they were like $7.50 at DS and $3 on Pico. Actually King taco is much better than Titos but Tito has the bigger cult following. Best taco and hot sauce in town.
26 & 27 Sam and Link, of course I have never heard of El Nopal and I live right off of Motor. I will remedy that problem within the week and will follow up.
41. Link when did you work at BHCC and what did you do. I am a member and work out there 3 times a week.
110. Very impressive list Marty!
We were ROBBED!!!!!
Um, NO
Still waiting for him to go down the "Tomko path."
I think Unclemiltie was just having fun.
Ethier's VORP 13.3
Bradley's VORP *-*3.2
I think you add him. Hes a former supp 1st round pick who has held his own at every level. Some team is going to pick him. That said, I don't think you have to put him on the 40 man until after 2007.
someone on the espn dodger board. Now that board is completely retarded but before there were some very knowledgable posters there and one of them just passed away.
But who cares about a non prospect though right?
Thats a .426 average.
From the LA Times
Baez plunks Green on the hip with 96-mph fastball in the ninth.
Green, who had limped to first base, was not pleased.
"One hundred percent no coincidence," he said. "All I know is, the only guys that got hit [intentionally the last two days] were on our team."
Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez raised his voice in the clubhouse.
"It's … gutless," he said. "Go ask [the pitcher] so he can tell you the ball slipped out of his hand."
"Everybody knows I pitch inside to everybody," Baez said. "That's not anything new. If they're mad, that's not my problem. They can do whatever they want."
Baez is finally starting to earn his keep....now let's hope he gets suspended :)
I wish I could have seen it. What was Vin's reaction?
Of course its all luck. Even if you regress his numbers, he is still significantly outperforming bradley.
You don't get to dose five guys, and then feign anger when retaliation comes. Everything is even, and if you plunk somebody tomorrow, there will be a fight.
Sincerely,
Everybody with a brain.
If any team is in dire need of some helpful injuries (like the Dodgers had earlier in the season), its the Dbax. They need to phase out Gonzalez/Counsell/Green, and start playing Jackson/Quentin/Drew every day. Playing their useless vets right now wont get them anywhere.
Byrnes is taking his lumps right now with the rotation, but its necessary. Duque, Ortiz were useless riff raff.
He needs to do the same thing with his hitters. I mean, he's in last place of a pathetic division. Why not get something out of this season, rather than aspire to be the 2005 Jim Tracy-led Dodgers?
134
thats the thing with Bradley. The off/on the field antics never was a huge thing for me. He just never played. He is so brittle and fragile that he makes Drew look like Superman.
Maybe that might be the new "frontier" in sabermetrics, trying to acquire ballplayers that actually play full seasons.
lol, no ones going to even try and go after Broxton. You kidding me? 6'4 290lbs... you mess with the bull, you're going to get the horns.
Hee-Seop Choi hit the ball so hard off the fence in left-center in the second inning that the Red Barons had a close play on him sliding into second for his double. Choi hurt his right knee on the slide and had to leave the game.
-Despite his .207 batting average, at least it's good to see that Hee Seop is hitting the ball hard....
I dont know.
If the Dbax have some MMA guys on their team, I think Broxton would be in trouble fighting that style.
It'd be the coolest thing ever if in a baseball brawl, players start breaking out the MMA moves.
Broxton vs Matt Hughes
I'd pay money to see that.
Broxton really is twice his size
"Before the Angels designated Weaver for assignment last week, Stoneman asked the Mets for prized outfield prospect Lastings Milledge, baseball sources said. The Mets would consider trading Milledge for a top starter but not an innings-eater like Weaver, sources said"
Is Stoneman that dense?
"The Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers all are thought to have some interest. The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks could consider Weaver too."
Weaver watch is 5 more days.
Charleton didn't get thrown out, which was the absolute highth of outrage to me then. This was before I learned about the two errors on one play rule. . .
I think you're right. He liked his role a lot, perhaps even too much. No offense, but he could come across as a bit smarmy and condescending at times, which I think is partly what contributed to him having to leave the board.
true I live near by & I've only eatin there like 3 times, I don't understand why so many people like that place, I pass by all the time & see people waiting in line to get in there (I don't get it)
I've let go of that one.
My new quixotic battle is getting Jae Seo a save for his game on June 23.
It was essentially a self-imposed exile. Someone back in January (quite possibly Feeb) figured out where DFan worked and sent an email to his company, claiming to be conducting a study on internet use and wanting to inform the company that DFan was posting from work a lot. The company wasn't so much upset with DFan for posting from work, but were a bit worried that some weirdo would send them such an email and didn't want that to happen again. So, they asked DFan to stop posting from work, which he did. And, since he didn't have internet access at home, that meant that he left the board for good.
Re: El Tepeyac......I love "Manuel's", but would never order a burrito there. The enchiladas rancheras are outstanding; I've been ordering them for nearly 25 years and have never been disappointed. The taquitos w/guacamole are pretty good too. The burritos are the Mexican food equivalent of an "innings eater"; tremendous quantity, marginal quality.
I'd love to hear more about it now. Drop me a line at linkmeister@gmail.com if you feel like it.
http://tinyurl.com/h8yey
classic moment with those graphics were pretty interesting. Hearing Vinnie is always a treat.
https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/350694.html
relax. It was a joke. That doesn't change the fact that Baez is terrible. I don't see what Sele, Beimel, and Saito have anything to do with Baez.
Ned has a new nick?
I'm not trying to start anything here, but how come this wasn't your philosophy when Depo was GM? You railed against EVERY move the guy made, but now everyone is supposed to give Ned the benefit of the doubt on everything? I don't dislike him as a GM necessarily, but it doesn't change the fact that he has made a couple of pretty bad trades. He's also made a few good moves to balance it out...but that doesn't mean anyone is exempt from discussing his bad moves.
no, I'm about 100% sure that I haven't. But whatever.
Details later, Im going to lunch.
I get it now, Ned has the MIDAS TOUCH
because he stinks. AND we gave up prospects for him....simply put, no one is happy about it. When a guy is stinking up the joint, people are going to talk about it.
Why not discuss how GREAT Beimel, Saito, and Sele have been more often.
Because Beimel hasn't been "GREAT". He's got a 3.34 ERA...only 10 K's in about 30 IP. He's an okay reliever...certianly not great. Saito has been really good, that's a nice pick up. As far as Sele goes, so far so good...the problem is that the only good team he's faced is the A's and we all know what happened there.
I all read are negative nelly comments about how they are eventually going to flop.
Those comments are warranted with guys like Beimel and Sele. Face it, Sele has NEVER been a really good pitcher...so most of us refuse to believe he's going to miraculously become great at this point in his career. Most of us are waiting for the real Sele to show himself, much like Tomko did.
The only player Ned lost that mettered was Sanchez. Jackson, Tiffany, and Navarro are, or will prove to be GARBAGE. No big loss. Just think what the DRays could have had for Baez last July. They have to be beating their heads against a wall now.
Ned has shown the foresight to go out and get some effective, low salaried guys who have shined for us. And don't forget about that Ethier kid. That kid can play. You have to give Midas kudos for sticking it to Billy Beane like that. And don't forget how Ned had the courage to throw Choi down the trash chute. It took a lot of guts and he did it, making our ball club stronger and better.
Quite frankly, because they are not that exciting. Saito and Sele are 36 and no one knows how much more the Dodgers will get out of them. Beimel has thrown 29 innings and is a decent lefty.
You have seen a lot of discussion of how great Kemp and Ethier have been because it is likely they will be around for a long time.
procpects that haven't pand out (from what I've heard) Jackson who? Tiffany? I haven't heard anything positive about him since the trade.
182 I still believe that one of the problems Baez and to some degree, the rest of the bullpen is the lack of a consistent workload, some of that stems from inconsistent starting pitching from the 3-5 spots but even Lowe and Penny don't last even 6 innings, its hard to stretch a bullpen 3-4 innings a game. But if you look at the splits, you will find that on zero and one day's rest, Baez has been effective.
The other part of the bullpen's woes has been the number of blowouts (4 runs or more either way) this team have been involved in, the Dodgers have been involved in 36 games (Dodgers are 23-13) and I think it takes a certain maturity to pitch in those games.
After reviewing the first half, this team is going to go as far as its offense will take them because the only split that I have found that is a positive for this team thus far is games where they have scored 6 or more runs, they are 31-7, in all other games they are 12-23. They have not played a lot of one run games and after their 1-7 start in those games in April, they are 6-4.
This team is doing things so unlike any Dodger team in not only recent years but in its history, on a pace to score well over 800 runs, hitting .307 at home, over .280 w/runners on base, over .290 with runners in scoring position, which I think explains the problems it will have when facing dominant teams (luckily in the NL, not a real problem). But because they rely on a lot of hits to score, they don't hit home runs and on the pitching mound, unless Penny can go deeper in games, they don't have a dominant starter who can take 2-3 runs and make that stand up.
Summing up, I would feel better if they got a reliable corner outfielder with some pop or a number one starter because that is what they would need to compete in the post season but if that costs too much, they can go to the FA route after the season.
Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany may stink. They may even be worse than Baez and Carter (I doubt it) but they would be toiling in the minors somewhere and would not have cost the Dodgers. Baez has 4 loses and 7 blown saves. He has given up 24 runs in 45 innings. Carter has only one loss but 11 earned runs in 11 innings with an ERA over 8. These clowns have cost the Dodgers at least 12 games. If the Dodgers had won half of those games, they would lead the west by 6 games, not be tied.
I guess Choi had his fans, but saying that it took courage to dump the man, given the way he was characterized in the press and the way he had been treated by the team for the last two years, seems very mistaken.
This where the "we don't know what the buzz about these prospects are in baseball" comes in. My guess is that Edwin's ceiling was really low considering his AAA experience and his limited appearances subsequent in LA, he did pitch better in AA last year but he had not progressed as well as hoped, Tiffany had some conditioning issues going back to his signing and his status as an elite prospect was not as high. Elbert, for one, had passed him up.
There were also roster issues to consider with Edwin and Tiffany.
In the end, there are some clubs that don't deal a lot of prospects due to budget concerns (Minnesota, Atlanta and to some degree Oakland), others who deal them for right now (Yankees, Boston, San Francisco) and then those who are in limbo (Angels).
The Dodgers are in a position they I have not seen in my lifetime where they have a multitude of prospects that have upcoming roster issues where they are going to have probably deal some away (and again aside from Jackson, Tiffany, and to some degree, Navarro) Ned has not traded anyone on the Dodgers past couple of years top ten prospect list. Will someone go, probably, will people be upset sure. But he hasn't yet, so until he does, let's wait and see.
http://tinyurl.com/cxd2o
great point
Think Navarro had a good game last night v. the Red Sox, if no one else has mentioned.
Don't think it has been pointed out yet, but Toby Hall's middle name is "Ja(y)son"...
watching that chick dance no way
Tiffany has to be added to the 40-man at the end of this year, his conditioning is still an issue, he probably was no worse than other guys (Diaz, Rodriquez) on the Dodgers 40 man roster but due to the injury he still may need a few more years.
Navarro was dealt because I do think Tampa Bay wanted him, I always believed that they did not want to have two young catchers on the MLB club at that same time. Why is that, I'm not sure except Martin was going to play 80-85% time if healthy and Navarro's value was not going to get better by sitting on the bench.
I think Jackson and Tiffany are two examples about the hazards of drafting high school players, to some degree, they do have to "make it" at an earlier age because when they hit 22-23, they have been in pro ball for 4-5 years and if they don't think they can make it, they need to deal them while they still have value.
Navarro had a dead end hear, Ned did him a favor with that move.
I just think you can't look at one set of results and ignore the other. Has it worked out the way Ned thought, probably not, is it possilbe that Baez could turn it around in the second half, sure he could. But to say that the Dodgers would be six games better without the deal, I could say that they would have 3-4 more games in April without him and then who knows what happens to this club.
Instead we've got Hendrickson and Hall.
But it was worth it to get everyone's Burrito Thoughts.
*
Paul LoDuca, ages 22-24
22 A .821 OPS
23 AA .640 OPS
24 A .780 OPS
Pretty stagnant. Players have setbacks like this often. When you're younger, there's a better chance you can do something about it.
On another note, got this email reply from Will Carroll regarding Andy LaRoche:
Will:
I wanted to ask what you thought about Andy LaRoche, top position prospect in AAA. As you may or may not know, he suffered the dreaded slight tear in his labrum and after taking a couple weeks off, he is back playing.
Based on your article in 2004, it appears that surgery is really a last resort, and I am guessing that they are doing some rehab and exercise regimen to deal with it, it also appears that some like Glaus, will regain his power stroke while others like Shawn Green, never got it back.
Is there anything I and other Dodger fans should look for regarding LaRoche's injury from this point on. Thanks for all the great work.
Will's reply:
Exactly -- this is one I know Goldstein is watching. It's sadly a wait and see for me.
241 AB .266/.366/.390
Vegas or no, that's good for a 21 year old catcher in AAA.
His LA stats this year were:
75 AB .280/.372/.387
Or we could look at 40 rehab ABs. There's always reason to worry whether a prospect might not pan out. But if you cave in to it, you end up dealing a 22 year old catcher for Hendrickson and Hall.
Look, what's the worst that could have happened? We'd have had a subpar backup catcher. Assuming we don't right now, how could that possibly be worth trading in the lottery ticket?
I think I remember reading that somewhere.
I can respect that.
I don't know if you mean it sarcasticly, But Furcal can't sniff Izzy's glove when it comes to D.
Toby Hall had better numbers in his AAA stop for Tampa Bay before he came up, now after starting for the Devil Rays, we have a pretty good idea what kind of player he is going to be, decent average, makes contact, some power and very good throwing arm.
Dionner maybe a younger version of all that which is why Tampa Bay probably wanted him, not that save that much money but every little bit helps.
The one thing on using Loduca as an example of patience, obviously he was someone that not only the Dodgers waited on but the rest of baseball did too considering he had to be available as minor league free agent at some point but no one looked at him until he made the team.
The strange thing is the three catcher system, now for all I know Sandy maybe a pretty good option as a RH PH but I think as Repko, Ledee, Tomko and maybe Gagne come back, he will be one of the first on the list to go.
hahaha. I laugh everytime I watch that part and basically all the parodies of it.
another pretty funny part is in the other Hannibal Lector movie, Red Dragon, where the Red Dragon shows the guy all his tats and is like "DO YOU SEE!?!? NOW DO YOU SEE!?!?!"
soutpark made a great parody on that.
Sal: Mister, I'm glad you like me, but I really want to get home to my family.
Nate: It puts the hair cream in the basket
Sal: Mister, I'm just a backup catcher with manly facial hair, please let me go. I'll sign an autograph if you want
Nate: Put the #$#@%$ hair cream in the basket!
And hey, I am a charter member of the Sal's Pals fan club.
As an LA fan, there are three tough acts to follow:
1. John Wooden's UCLA Basketball teams (Coach Howland maybe the first hope to bring some consistency to the program in a long time).
2. Showtime Lakers, never ever will there be a team so fun and yet deliver championship performance year after year.
3. Eric "Game Over" Gagne 2002-2004. Eric led a bullpen to unbelievable heights that will never be seen again. Sure blowing 6-7 games (a few of those were 7th and 8th inning set ups) is not good but realistically you are going to lose a few but for those 3 years, you could not only bank on the win, you knew it wouldn't be close.
When it comes to Spinal Tap, on the other hand...
like writers block? I dought it your too smart bro.
hahaha. You just gave me a great idea Greg.
No one is.
There's still plenty of blame for Brett Tomko and Jae Seo too.
http://www.beverlyhillscc.com/
Thats why I had more of a problem with the Tomko signing. Everyone knew he'd suck, but Colletti still signed him. It was just ridiculously stupid. No upside at all with his signing. Thats how I feel about Hendrickson as well.
With Baez, at least there was a chance he could be a worthwhile reliever. Certainly not at the cost for which he was bought, but I still hate the Tomko move the most.
not in a million years will I set foot on it (too poor)
I think you are undervaluing Navarro when you still refer to him as a prospect.
Navarro has 272ABs at the MLB level.
He has a line of .283/.367/.393
Martin has 172Abs at the MLB level, and he's also a year older than Navarro. Do you still think of Martin as a prospect?
He has a line of .297/.366/.448
Would you have been upset if Russell Martin was traded for Mark Hendrickson? Of course you'd be.
But how much difference is there between Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro?
The problem is that there isnt alot of difference so far. However, 1 guy was thought of as being an untouchable and would only be traded for a Miguel Cabrera type, and the other is referred to as garbage, and was traded for Mark Hendrickson.
That doesnt add up.
there D
You know that show with Howie Mandel, with the suitcases full of money? I don't watch it, but there are these suitcases full of money. The player picks one at a time, and as that suitcase's ammount is taken off the board, the House makes a bid on what buying out the player's chance at the big prize is worth. Selling Dioner for Hendrickson and Hall is like taking the fifty dollar first bid, on the theory that, hey, it's fifty bucks more than you hade before the game, and there's no way to tell whether the bid would ever be higher. Maybe the bid never would be higher, but taking the fifty bucks is an abomination.
But, there are a number of people who make it their job, Baseball America, John Sickels, Baseball Prospectus and the like who have liked Martin more than Navarro and said as much for the last few years. These folks are not Plaschke wannabees, they shouldn't have any bias so I do value their opinions but then I have to look at the players myself too.
I agree to disagree on this deal, but I don't want anyone to think I think Navarro is garbage, I just think he was never going to displace Martin in the near future and he wasn't going to force the issue by becoming the next Johnny Bench in the minors. And I do think that having a defensive minded former starting catcher on the bench is a better situation than having two young catchers with less than a full year in the big leagues vying for playing time.
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