My grandmother and I listened to all of this one:

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B08230MON1989.htm

I have partied at his house. He had Piazza posters all over his walls. It would be his dream to play for us. He also had Karros posters on his wall, but don't hold that against him.

Minor league posters?

Doesn't seem web accessible.

It's a real pain to deal with.

Let's get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

http://tinyurl.com/yjxlal

Drew's deal with the BoSox won't be completed until next week (we'd heard that) and will be for 5 yrs, $70M. So yeah, I'd say he made the right choice.

and

BoSox are asking for a package from the Padres that includes Peavy and Adrian Gonzales. If that's true, it's a better deal that Billz/Brox and Loney. Basically, two proven versions of we'd be offering.

I say fine, if the Padres agree to that. Let's see Manny pitch.

Or

Wolf,Nomar,Pierre for 5/70...

Which would you rather have?

Congrats Jon!

Now ... why do the BoSox think it OK to deal Manny because they are about to sign Drew. The '06 Sox were at least 1 solid bat short in their lineup (does anyone in their lineup besides Ortiz and Manny scare you?). With these deals, I believe they would STILL be one bat short. Keep Manny, play Drew in RF.

"Boras, insisting Rodriguez does not want to leave the New York Yankees, wants to subtly remind clubs it's foolish for any to even consider trading for Rodriguez. Rodriguez can opt out after each of the next three years. He can be an unrestricted free agent after 2007. If he does not get a $5 million raise for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, he can leave any preceding year.

"I'm sure (Rangers owner) Tom Hicks would like to see that happen," Boras says, "but teams don't realize the cost involved trading for (Rodriguez). The reality is ... he doesn't want to go anywhere."

Link to Boras story follows. Sidebar, "A-Rod deal can get sweeter," appears at left under the picture of the person baseball GMs and owners reportedly believe to be the Anit-Christ.

http://tinyurl.com/ygnobt

But little does Seibu know that he's just throwing out a suitcase full of his dirty undies.

I too, was at the game (and I believe Jon was too) so I am guessing that many of the comments were made by those of us that don't actually live in the L.A. area.

Frankly, I think the amount of comments about the Juan Pierre signing was more telling of the influence that DT has on the L.A. sports scene.

Hard to believe UCLA won by a bigger margin that day than USC did.

http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/522658.html

Otherwise known as:

5 2 4 9

The market does not value James Loney and Jonathan Broxton the way we do, for the reason that either one of them at this point could come up far short of what's hoped for from them. Whereas Manny is the only rival to Albert Pujols for hitting prowess, and he's proven it consistently.

The Padres are offering a Cy Young pitcher and a guy who was really impressive last season, Adrian Gonzalez. The holes opened by losing Loney and Broxton won't be easy to fill, but our depth in prospects makes me believe we'd more than survive it. And if the Sox want our prospects instead of the Padres' stars, we should be eager to accomodate them. You really, really don't want Manny in the NL West for the next four seasons unless he's with LA. (The Pads can afford to lose Peavey now that they have Chris Young, but they desperately need power. I think Manny can overcome the Petco effect.)

You're aware that Ramirez in the last three years OPS'd 1.009, .982, 1.058. And he didn't do that by playing 120 games every year. Like many players, he's had injuries, but here are his game totals for the past five years:

2002 -- 120
2003 -- 154
2004 -- 152
2005 -- 152
2006 -- 130 (sore knee)
Avg: 142

He turns 35 next season. To get him, we'd probably have to pick up the two options, so it's a four-year deal. Let's assume he can only play an average of 135 games in each of the next four years. With an OPS around 1.0, he's still worth having.

If James Loney is putting up those kinds of numbers in four years, we can always get him back. His asking price in 2011 would be about $30 million, whether he's playing for LA or not.

So, add by subtracting the guys whose roster spots the newcomers will take. Wolf means, what, no Hendrickson? Maybe no Kuo, but I doubt it. Pierre takes Drew's spot (yuck). Nomar might take Loney's (probably will). Or Loney goes to RF, and Nomar can be seen as having taken Lofton's spot.

I'm just picking nits. I agree with the spirit of your comment.

Around 1994/95 cause it was right after I graduated College.

(Also, any change in the Pods lineup would have to be good for the Dodgers cause they can't do any worse against the Pods than they did in '06)

Broxton, I like him a starter. But he's not. So as a reliever, he's good but not irreplaceable. His effect on the game isnt that great pitching 70ip a year.

If Ned got Manny for Brox/Loney, I'd consider that a very good deal.

I think the Dodgers should look into acquiring Scott Rolen from the Cards. He's got an ok contract, and would be a substantial upgrade too. Cards minor league system is pretty barren, and Rolen/Larussa got into it at the end of the season. He'd be a player I'd like the Dodgers to acquire.

LaRoche/Elbert for Rolen? I'd pull the trigger on that deal.

BTW - Stay away from this weeks TV Guide if you want to be surprised about what is coming up on Heroes, while it is pretty cool, I think if you are a fan, you'll want to wait and see what happens.

Bundy to manage Las Vegas 51s

http://tinyurl.com/ymcccd

http://tinyurl.com/y4vumg

Maybe it could still happen assuming good health, and assuming the alleged Boras-ban is b.s.?

I do worry that our lineup is already too right-hander heavy, and any trade for Manny or Burrell wouldn't do anything to help that problem. (Of course, neither would trading Loney or Ethier.)

If the Padres are really willing to trade Peavy, and the Sox are willing to trade Manny, and the Red Sox would rather have L.A.'s players than the Padres' players, then do this:

Let the Sox make the Manny-for-Peavy & Gonzalez deal, then trade Broxton and Ethier to Boston for Peavy. The Sox would thus fill holes at 1B, OF, and closer, all with young players. The Padres get a head case who can hit. And the Dodgers get Peavy, the most valuable commodity in the whole deal. (Who, by the way, is less than a year older than Ethier.)

it makes Ned's going ballistic over Drew's opting out a bit more understandable...

I'm not blaming Colletti for having expected Drew to stay, but I do think his blowup afterwards was pretty unprofessional.

1 Furcal SS
2 Pierre CF
3 Garciaparra 1B
4 Kent 2B
5 Loney RF
6 Burrell LF
7 Martin C
8 Betemit/LaRoche 3B

SP Lowe
SP Schmidt
SP Billingsley
SP Wolf
SP Kuo/Tomko/Hendrickson/maybe Maddux

RP Saito
RP Beimel
plus 4 of the following: Gagne, Miller, Brazoban, Tomko, Hendrickson, Meloan, Dessens

Bench
Hall or other random backup
Lucille II
Saenz
Anderson
Repko
Werth or D.Young

Alexander Graham Bell
Carlo Ponzi
James Doohan
Jessica Biel

Of course, one could say that he should never have been so naïve in a situation where Boras was involved.

The list of people I share a birthday with is fairly lame:
Antonio Vivaldi
Shemp Howard

plus a who's who of Dodger legends...
Dazzy Vance
Lefty O'Doul
Hiram Bocachica
Giovanni Carrara
Bruce Aven

But if we were to keep Manny:

Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Manny
Kent
Ethier
Betemit
Pierre

Penny, Lowe, Kuo, Wolf, Billingsley

Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Manny
Burrell
Kent
Betemit
Pierre

That'd be one sweet lineup if everyone was healthy, and Pierre in the 8th hole.

But even if the public hissy fit ended up not affecting the outcome on Drew, it still was a dumb thing to do. And, as Sheehan said, responding to the Colletti-assisted impossibility of re-signing Drew by overpaying in years and $$ for Nomar and Lugo added injury to insult.

If he re-signs Lugo, however, I promise never to mention JD Drew again.

With another one-sided option to go after two years?

The only time a club is hurt by a free agent signing, is if that player does not perform while under contract.

The Red Sox would probably insist on giving Drew that option. It'd be better business for them, if the gave them 2 really good years, and they didnt have to see the final 3yrs of that deal.

If I were long terming players, I'd always let them opt out mid way.

I need to change birthdays

I heard the tail end and it was really pretty cool just to hear Vin Scully weave stories about life and even golf.

Huh? Anyone know about this?

BTW -- my birthday mates include:
Horatio Alger
Robert Stack
Gwen Verdon
Charles Nelson Reilly
Jay McInerney
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Patrick Dempsey
Orlando Bloom
and Wayne Coyne, the lead singer for the Flaming Lips.

A more illustrious group of people died on my birthday: James Joyce, Ernie Kovacs, Donny Hathaway, Joe McCarthy (the baseball manager), Hubert Humphrey and Stephen Foster.

The long-term part can also be the upside to the team. The Twins will get Santana's services for $12M next year- that's Millwood money now. You think they would just shrug it off if Santana opted out today?

I suppose the opt-out can give the player extra motivation like a walk-year, but when the team is taking on the downside of a fat contract they deserve to reap the spoils when a guy breaks out.

Here's a tip: Don't drive on Beverly Glen on your birthday.

George W. Bush
50 Cent
Frida Kahlo
Sylvester Stallone
Nancy Reagan
The Dalai Lama

And Ogden Nash died the very day I was born...

actually, i do have one grandfather, but he's an alcoholic, chainsmoking curmudgeon. i much prefer vin and his golf stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_13

Not until Ethier's scout mentions him to Flanders

I might finally catch up on some reading this weekend. But who's to say?

Events
68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging.
1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.
1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.

Births
1891 - Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964)
1893 - Irish Meusel, American baseball player (d. 1963)
1915 - Les Paul, influential American guitarist
1931 - Jackie Mason, American comedian
1931 - Bill Virdon, Major league baseball player and manager
1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster
1951 - Dave Parker, Major league baseball player
1961 - Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor
1961 - Aaron Sorkin, American writer
On the SAME exact day and year: Johnny Depp, American actor
1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player
1980 - Mike Fontenot, professional baseball player

Deaths
1981 - Allen Ludden, TV Game Show Host
2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)

Flava Flav
Todd McFarlane
Alan Tudyk
Gore Verbinski
Abraham Nunez

Oh, and a man named Hee Seop Choi.

I'm referring to the video of the press conference by the way.

1960 - Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary
1961 - Doc Rivers, basketball player and coach
1962 - Jerry Rice, American football star
1969 - Nancy Kerrigan
1971 - Sacha Baron Cohen
1977 - Paul Pierce
1978 - Jermaine O'Neal
1980 - Ashanti

Reese Witherspoon
Elvis Stojko
Matthew Modine
Lena Olin
Bob Costas
Andrew Lloyd Webber
George Benson
William Shatner
Steven Sondheim
Marcel Marceau

and my grandpa. Baseball birthdays include Ramon Martinez, Cory Lidle, Jason Phillips, Glenallen Hill, and Rich Monteleone. Also Eddie Bane.

I also missed Kaiser Wilhelm I.

(I was just wondering if there was a published story on the Schmidt negotiations that I'd missed. Of course, if there was one, I'd probably find some reason to discount it.)

There was a Schmidt to the Cubs rumor the other day, but nothing definitive out there.

http://tinyurl.com/yhra7a

But I checked your date, and you've got P.T. Barnum, Warren Oates, Robbie Robertson, Rich Gossage, Edie Falco and Dolly the cloned sheep. That's an awesome list.

oz