Russell Martin.

Aw man, Jon is making me think about stuff instead of just making snide comments. No fair!

It's easily Russell Martin. The kid looks like he can call a game, is solid behind the dish, will develop power as he grows, and just seems like a really nice young man. Kemp is a beast, Loney is silk, and Billz can be an ace. They may all turn out to be better players than Russ...But he's my guy.

I heart Hong-Chih.

Derek Lowe. Because he's all too human. He's on medication, he likes attractive blondes (even when they're not his wife), he rags on his own hitting prowess, and he still manages to put up a pretty decent line most every start.

Then again, I've lived in Tacoma, Hartford, and Los Angeles, and he seems to follow me around (or vice versa). So I feel a certain connection.

James Loney because we share the same birthday.

Russell Martin.

After that, oh, name any youngster. Loney, Billingsley, whoever. Matt Kemp's is the only page I sponsor at BB-Ref.

They are like the shiny new toys you get for Christmas as a kid. Only I hope to still be enjoying these 12-15 years from now.

I'd have said Russ Martin, yesterday. But now that I've seen Juan Encarnacion on Matt Kemp's PECOTA comparable list, it's gotta be Kemp.

The cost of keeping your players.

Angels avoided arbitration by agreeing to one-year deals for Sheilds and K-Rod, Shields got a raise from 2.1 million to 3.4 million and K-Rod went up to 7 million from around 3.8 million last year.

Both are now going into their 5th years, which means they won't be free agents until the end of the 2008 season.

9 ... is a lot less than signing no one's players (free agents).

8 You'd think with how much money K-Rod makes and stands to make in the future combined with his violent delivery that the Angels would consider moving him for something. But I suppose that 'something' would be minor league talent which they have in spades. The rest of their bullpen isn't that hot either, but hey, I read Moneyball recently so I have Beane on the brain.

Russel Martin...he's all heart. We need that in our team.

Rafael Furcal. I like short (and SSs). I've seen him listed at 5'10" and 5'8", so I'll guess he's 5'9".

Does Vin count? (You didn't say "player", but it seemed implied.)

Shields is worth every penny he can get. Hendrickson is worth every penny I can get.

Guo, because he's very good, under the radar and his last name is butchered by every announcer I've listened to.
vr, Xei

10 At $7 million, he's still a relative bargain. They still have the option of a trade after this season, or during '08 if they aren't contending themselves.

I join the Russell Martin bandwagon group, but Nomar is on the list because he is the second best athlete in his own house.

Juan Pierre will be the heart and soul of the team through the upcoming World Series Championship run 2007 to 2015.

Takahashi Saito.

Jon Broxton gets my vote - The guy is just massive.

Well, until recently, I would have said Gagne. (sigh) I guess I don't really have a favorite; we're still trying to figure out who's going to be here more than a season or two. I'm most excited about Chad Billingsley because I love a great young pitcher, and the Dodgers haven't had a really great homegrown pitcher for an extended period of time since Hershiser, the favorite player of my life. I hope Bills is the real deal and that they keep him around for a long time.

In terms of established guys, I have to say Penny. His All-Star showing was incredible and he gets so much undeserved criticism. He's a solid young pitcher who is very exciting to watch; I'm amazed he survived the offseason (so far) and I hope he doesn't get purged like the rest of Paul's People.

And so good that he's AlmostGagne?

That would have worked better if I was quicker on the trigger.

Mike Lieberthal!

Someone has to vote for him, don't they?

Homegrown Dodger - Russell Martin

Non-homegrown Dodger - Nomar Garciaparra; I've been a big fan of his since his rookie year.

Saito would be third on my list.

This is a tough one. My two favorite players are Takashi Saito and Russell Martin. In the short-term, I'll say Saito. He came out of nowhere and was one of the most dominating relievers in baseball. I'm also a fan of BJ's beard.

My least favorite player is...well you know.

I am going to chime in with a vote for Matt Kemp. I would love to see him in the Dodger outfield for the next dozen years.

When combining personality with ability, Russell Martin gets my vote as well.

Saito is the most fun to watch because of his pin-point control.

Furcal is up there as well due to his quiet confidence and exciting play.

Nomar, Kent, and Lowe are favorites as well due to their abilities.

Ethier is up there with Martin in terms of personality, so he could turn into my second-favorite if he can build on last season.

Ah, my weekly visit.

Nomar. My mom bought me a jersey, it's got his name on it, it's her favorite player, it's my first baseball jersey ever and it is SO comfortable, I'm thinking of making it part of my formal wear.

Am I the first vote for Nomar?

I seem to root the most for Loney and until I get to know him better he is the one that I would really like to see do really well.

Martin is gaining ground with me.

Kemp could be the most fun to watch. Speed, power, potential to catch the ball.

28 See 24

Logan White

Jason Repko. I felt so bad for him with all the bashing he took here I just couldn't help but "adopt" him.

3.5 and Martin would probably tie for 2nd.

Repko on account of his goatee and his crazy diving catches that are so much fun to watch. I still hold out hope that he can develop a consistently productive bat, given opportunity.

I have rooted for Loney too ever since he was nineteen and had a stellar spring training a few years back.

23

No one else wants to get on the Lieberthal train?

How about the Luis Gonzalez Express? Or the Jason Schmidt Cannonball? Or the City of Juan Pierre?

I guess I'll pick Merlin, just for form's sake. But if for some reason he doesn't play like it's September 2006, then I'll pick James Loney. And if for some reason he doesn't play like it's 5 2 4 9, I'll pick, I'll pick, I'll stick with him goshdarnit!

Olmedo. I always love when obese men can be considered professional atheletes. Plus, he's an old school Dodger, going all the way back to 2004.

If not Olmedo, then Penny.

Chad Billingsley because I tend to favor pitchers and I always favor building a team with young players. Billingsley should be pitching for us for years to come and he has the stuff to be really good.

Is Mike Megrew too obvious...?

Olmedo Saenz - I'm a big fan of team continuity, and he's the closest thing the Dodgers have to that. Besides, as 36 notes, you gotta love a big guy with a big stick.

Nomar Garciaparra is my favorite baseball player.

He came up to the Red Sox when I was in school in Boston and it was love at first sight. I was rooting big time for the Sox to win that series, and when the Sox won it without him, he was the first guy I thought of -- before thinking that I should really call my friends.

Russ Martin by far.

He symbolizes everything you want in a baseball player.

BTW, if Nomar hadn't re-upped with the Dodgers, my answer would be the bull, Jonathan Broxton. I'm a pretty small guy, but still: you could fit three of me inside him.

I love all the young guys - Martin, Bills, Loney, Broxton, Ethier and the top two for me - Kuo and Kemp. I just love watching both of them play.

28

At least we know your mom isn't cheap when it comes to paying per letter.

Marlon Anderson

In looking at all this, I realize I have several favorites. I like this team, mostly. We don't have any obvious Gary Sheffields or Kevin Browns to hold our nose about. Ned Colletti overpays for "character guys."

Based on last year, the Dodger player I was most happy to see come up was Rafael Furcal.

Actually, he was #2. I would have said J.D. Drew (seriously), because I admired his consistency. But now with Drew gone, I am happy to embrace Furcal as my favorite Dodger.

45

Is he the fifth outfielder, or the fourth?

Furcal.

Except for the month of April, he did everything that he was expected to do for the Dodgers, and then some. He was exciting to watch, he played hard, he made great defensive plays, and he showed some pop in his bat.

More importantly, he hustled the entire season and played the game hard from start to finish.

Somehow his accomplishments were overlooked by many. He also quieted those he considered him overpaid. At times he carried the team.

He might be more qualified for seventh or eighth.

Matt Kemp. I only attended four games in 2006, but one of them was The Last Game Gagne Ever Saved For The Dodgers. That game, I told my friend during Matt Kemp's second or third AB, "If he hits a home run during this at bat, we're both getting 'Matt Kemp' tattoos on our chests after the game." The next pitch was launched into the left field pavilion. We went crazy, but did not follow through on our promises later that night.

For that reason, every time I see Matt Kemp I can't help but smile. That's good enough rationale for me.

Billingsley is my favorite pitcher, and Loney is my favorite position player. If I have to choose one over the other, I go with Billingsley.

Thank god this didnt happen: from fox sports....
The Jays, according to major-league sources, failed in attempts to move outfielder Alex Rios to the Phillies for righty Brett Myers and to the Dodgers for righty Chad Billingsley and a second piece, most likely outfielder Matt Kemp or righty Jonathan Broxton........
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6375694
seeing that my favorite player is Chad Billingsley

1.Andre Ethier 2. Nomar 3. Raffy Furcal

Now don't go asking who our all time favorite is, my head hurts from this one bad enough...Ok, Orel Hershiser..

Definitely Jeff Kent. I love how much Giant fans resent his success for the Dodgers. I also remember him fondly as the one happy thing about 2005.

I look forward to adopting Loney as my favorite in future years. I love watching him play. I hope he can stay at 1st. What most impressed me about him was his first PA, walking against Smoltz. Then, when he was sent down, he said that he learned what he had to do to get by in the bigs and that he would do it. Then he went down to the minors, dominated, and was still awesome when he came back up.

Obligitory inflammatory comment of the day: Drew would have been my pick.

Guo

Does Vin Scully count for favorite current Dodger?

Aww, man! You guys took all the good ones, and I'm left with Jeff Kent!

Seriously, the guy could use a little love. He's down home, he likes to spend his weekends washing his truck, he doesn't get along with Barry. He's a sailor, he's in New York, if we get this guy...

OK, now all kidding aside, name two current Dodger players guaranteed to be in the Hall of Fame. Jeff Kent and who? Gonzo? Schmidt? Don't think so. Sure, he'll wear orange and black when he goes in, but we've been woefully short on HOF talent in the past few decades. We had Piazza (he'll be in). We had Murray for a couple of years. And Pedro for a season out of the 'pen. Anybody else? Sheffield, if he makes it - and he wasn't a guy to root for.

So I don't mind the deteriorating defense and the 'stache, I'll take Kent and root for an all-time great for a few years.

54 Great. I start writing a comment, get up to do my dish from dinner, come back and post, and find that Jeff Kent is taken too! I tell you, I can't win! ;-)

Loney.

So he'll get traded tomorrow, of course.

So he'll get traded tomorrow

Nah. Released.

58. Zach Hammes is free :-)

60 - Better. Released hurts a lot more.

Greg Miller....never give up hope!

from that same rosenthal article..

Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Phillies — two teams with a relative surplus of starting pitching — are holding tight, knowing the demand only will rise.

sounds good. lets pull our own zambrano for kazmir deal.

64 We'll be the ones getting the Kazmir in that deal, right?

RIGHT?

I'm gonna have to go with Kent because of the 'stache, but if he were to shave for some reason, then it would immediately change to Saito.

James Loney. He was a pitcher and now is a first baseman. Plus, he's a lefty. I was all those too.

Well, I'm still a southpaw.

All time is a no brainer for me. Koufax

We don't have any obvious Gary Sheffields or Kevin Browns to hold our nose about.
There's one who immediately comes to mind.

I'd also like to add that my favorite prospect (with no appearances in the majors) is Tony Abreu.

this ok st/texas game is awesome.

Current favorite pitcher: Chad "I'm an ace with runners in scoring position" Billingsley

Current favorite position player: Andre "3.5" Ethier

All-time favorite pitcher: KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKoufax

All-time favorite position player: Jack Roosevelt Robinson; he changed the game. He was also a vicious competitor. It also helped that he had 740 career walks to 291 career strikeouts, career .409 OBP.

70
This stupid game is cutting into Australian Open coverage, and my search for tonight's Camille Pin!

Favorite pitching prospect with no ML apperances: Orenduff, because he's a CAA guy

Favorite position prospect with no ML appearances: Laroche

72

Her?

72 I hope your search for the next Camille Pin turns out better than yesterday's discovery of Camille Pin.

As for prospects I go with Elbert and LaRoche. Elbert because it was the first time I ever bothered to follow MLB's draft and he was our first pick. LaRoche because I think he is our best position prospect and because we kinda have the same name, kinda.

70
Durant is so ridiculously good.

I am just choosing to ignore the reports about James Lofton being close to be named Raiders' coach.

I do not need two Karl Dorrell's coaching the teams I like.

76 Lyndon Larouche? I had my suspicions, but I'm glad you've finally revealed yourself. Will you be running again this year?

Her?

Hey, she's funny.

I hope your search for the next Camille Pin turns out better than yesterday's discovery of Camille Pin

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby. But I'm open to change, preferably someone who is a good enough player to actually be on TV more than once a year.

my god its not fair that a man that tall anf long can nail threes like that.

Please, no double-overtime.

so if you had the first pick in the draft...durant or oden?

tough call.

79 Dude are you not familiar with Ashley Harkleroad?

Ashley Harkleroad

If I were to caption this photo, I'd probably go with "V is for Victory"

http://tinyurl.com/2afg5w

har har har to d4p

Wow.

cameltoe

69 Who? Kent? Penny?

Rough edges on both those guys to be sure, but nothing like the paranoiac narcissism of Gary Sheffield or the soul-sucking discontent of Brown.

84
Have you thought about the deleterious effect that photo could have on Sam DC's son's lunch box?

82
Depends on the team. Durant is the better scorer and probably overall player, but Oden is extremely good and plays a position that most NBA teams lack quality at. Really cannot go wrong with either player.

I'd like to adopt "soul-sucking discontent" as my superhero power.

87 Thanks to Britney Spears, the cameltoe is now extinct. You look at the picture and, y'know, at least she's covered.

Yes, I don't know what you call a cameltoe that's exposed.

And you all wonder why Oswald bailed on us.

Or maybe you don't.

94

We can't help what D4P does.

always leave it to marty to bring to light the large elephant(toe) in the room.

Icaros wins the "Who gets to blame and make fun of D4P first challenge."

Have you thought about the deleterious effect that photo could have on Sam DC's son's lunch box?

Anything to take his mind off Maria Sharapova...

BTW: Is there anything more annoying than the televised sporting event preceding the one you're interested in taking way longer to finish than it was expected to?

I call em as I see em...

97

Finally!

I'd like to adopt "soul-sucking discontent" as my superhero power.

Wouldn't we all?

98

this game is better then any women's sporting event.

I'll admit, I set that joke up, but I didn't expect you guys to go after it that much.

And kick it
And hit it with a bat
And shoot it with a bazooka
And drop a MOAB on it

Well done, lads. I knew you had it in you!

Thanks for the terrible angle ESPN.

this game is better then any women's sporting event

Thereby ending any chance of Oswald returning.

Sadly, unless Durant misses this game most likely is not going to another overtime.

105

Don't blame him. He's just a kid.

one of the knocks on durant coming out of high school was that he needed to show more fire when playing. Well, hes pretty freakin fired up tonight. wowwzerz

That is one weird camera angle they were using in Stillwater.

I wanted to see Durant get another chance, damn that sucks.

Damn, I hate coming in late, all the good ones are taken, can't be original.

I'll just go with honesty:
Russ Martin (a winner, competitor, good guy, already one of the most reliable guys on the team)
Takashi Saito (infectious guy)
James Loney (already!)
Derek Lowe (goofball personality, can't help but love it)

Unbelievable game. Besides Lebron, Kevin Durant is the best 18 year old basketball player I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen anybody handle the ball like that at his height. He's also an incredible shooter. This is the 3rd time I've seen Durant play. Where Durant/Oden are picked will depend on who gets the number one pick. If Charlotte gets the number 1 pick, they'd almost certainly take Durant. A team like the Grizzlies might prefer Oden. Either way, the teams that get the first two picks in the draft will both be winners. I'm extremely excited to see how this draft turns out because there is so much talent in it. There aren't many years where a player as talented as Mustafa Shakur could drop to the 2nd round.

Problem with NBA draft is that NBA scouts pigeon hole players and never change their minds and they look at potential more than anything. Mustafa was a guy that was going to be a second round pick if he came out last year or the year before. Now that he is actually starting to play well and actually showing something, he still will probably be a second round pick. The best thing he has going for him is that this draft may lack PG depth.

That was some game. How you feeling about 25 minutes of Andre and Roger, D4P?

The lunch box incident has not been repeated. And I'm man enough to admit I've never heard the term "cameltoe" before and I think that's a good thing.

How you feeling about 25 minutes of Andre and Roger, D4P?

Well, normally I get pretty annoyed when, after a sporting event has been delayed for an hour, they finally make it on the air and then talk for a long time, instead of going directly to the action.

But, in this case, I kinda enjoyed listening to Andre and Roger.

Veronica Mars just had a preview for next week's show during this week's show. Kind of dumb.

Luxembourg's Anne Kremer may end up being tonight's Camille Pin by default.

117 Dude you are KILLING me.

Just go watch some women's rugby and be done with it.

118
I'm not saying she's attractive, I'm just saying it doesn't look like there'll be any alternatives.

For whatever reason, the networks are convinced that Maria Sharapova is the only attractive female tennis player, and that, as a result, all of her matches should be shown because they think people want to watch her.

119 In your defense, there is one saving grace for all female tennis players...

Ridiculous gams.

The Real Housewives of Orange County are back! Let Nate rejoice.

Serena lo