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
If I'm not mistaken, Russell Martin's current pace would just about make him the National League's first 20-20 catcher (in home runs and stolen bases, that is).
Ivan Rodriguez had 35 homers and 25 steals for Texas in 1999, but that's the only example, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
With eight home runs and 11 stolen bases in the Dodgers' first 70 games, Martin is on pace to finish with 19 home runs and 25 stolen bases. Summer heat and more rest could slow down his production, but there's still more than a fighting chance.
* * *
Ideally, Chad Billingsley will be so efficient in his first start of the season Thursday that he throws 65 pitches spread evenly over six innings, hardly taxing himself before handing the game over to the Dodgers' late-inning relief.
But even a nice outing from Billingsley might force the Dodgers to rely on their bullpen for four or more innings Thursday. And that's without knowing how the exciting but still-developing Hong-Chih Kuo will do in his start tonight.
So, with no off days remaning until the All-Star Break, the Dodgers might need to replace a position player with a pitcher over the next 24 hours.
Who could come?
Though the possibilities aren't limited to the following, here are three principal candidates:
Who could go?
What would I do?
Meloan for Abreu. I'm just too eager to see what Meloan would do. But obviously, you'd like to see Hull actually get in a game, and I wouldn't mind Houlton get another shot at the bigs.
What will the Dodgers do?
I'll guess they do Hull for Loney. Or, they'll just gut it out with Hendrickson and Tomko and render this whole discussion moot.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/6u4w
The only ones to combine 20 SB with at least 10 HR are:
Pudge II
Jason Kendall twice (1998 & 2000; man he used to be good)
Craig Biggio 1989
John Stearns 1978
Benito Santiago 1987
Sigh.
Jonathan M. Meloan #'s as of today.
ERA 2.38
W-L 5-2
SAVES 12
IP 34
BB Allowed 13
SO 50
OPPONENT BA .147
I'm guessing they gut it out with Tomrickson.
Right now, Tomko and Hendrickson have the same role on the team. We only need one.
It's a much riskier move and I don't think they'd do it, but it is an option and not out of the realm of possibility.
Wow, i think mother nature can't cough up players like that anymore. But in all honesty those stolen bases must have been on pretty lousy catchers & long dangly pitchers
http://tinyurl.com/3dq8l3
Check the fine print.
Riley Up
Just for wiggles.
vr, Xei
I get to see highlights of his play nearly every night, since he's one of four current "Big League Bruddahs," as our local sportscaster likes to call Hawai'i-born players in The Show.
From a lvrj article in April:
Drinking a bottle of Corona after the game, Houlton showed no sign of a bitter beer face Tuesday.
"I was just frustrated not going up and not getting a chance last year," he said. "I kind of had a bad attitude. It was tough to come here and I was struggling, and it all snowballed on me.
"I tried to come in here with a positive attitude, and it's working for me."
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/7078971.html
...if Houlton is the pitcher best-suited to help the Dodgers -- and I'm not saying that he is -- how long should the team hold that bad attitude against him?
Luckily, Marlon Anderson will have provided the Dodger offense with 2 HR.
Who wouldn't or shouldn't be angry if they got sent down? If it's a player valued highly by the organization (a la Loney), he gets praised for having fire and will, etc. But if it's a player not as highly valued (Guzman), he's got a questionable attitude.
Firefox can't find the server at screenjam.toaster.tv.
If you like a player, getting mad about being sent down is interpreted as "Fire" and "Desire to win".
If you don't like him, getting mad about being sent down is "Pouting" and "A bad attitude."
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Martin, C
Saenz, DH
Betemit, 3B
Ethier, RF
29 - That quote would not seem to justify someone burying Houlton in the minors or holding a grudge against him.
neither of them starts.
Reports of the newfound enlightenment of Dodger management have, apparently, been highly exaggerated.
there's some people that think Alex Rios has a "Cannon" arm & he isn't even mentioned on that peace, he probably has an above average/accurate arm, cause i saw him live & he didn't impress me much.
[second sentence] That's true, too. He shouldn't have complained. He's acknowledged that and tried to have a better attitude. He is also pitching better and has had two more years of development.
Doesn't the amount Brady Clark signs for with his new team (probably a pro-rated minimum of $380k, or about $225k) get deducted from the amount owed him by the Dodgers?
Clark was due $3.8m this year. The Dodgers are paying him, but also received $2.1m from Milwaukee (I'm not sure if they paid LA or if they pay Clark as well...I would think they pay LA and let the Dodgers deal with paying Clark). There is about $2.25m (roughly) due Clark for the remainder of the season. I think the $225k or so Clark receives from his next team will be deducted from that remaining salary.
So my guess would be that if Clark signs with another team, whatever amount he gets does not affect what the other two teams owe him for the rest of 2007.
Neither started yesterday and we hung 10 runs (mostly) on a pretty decent starter, I feel like that's not going to help the cause. Its pretty frustrating, im curious what those guys will do with playing time.
When we get back to LA and still Kemp/Loney are not playing much, that will not fall in line with what Ned/Grady said last week but for now, I just think Grady is trying to spread out some time, see what Ethier can do, and give a couple at bats to some of his bench guys like Anderson and Saenz.
vr, Xei
Disgruntled poster who was banned and decided to act like a spoiled child.
I found an article for the poster boy for MLB severance pay, Griddle favorite Russ Ortiz.
http://tinyurl.com/2uajfu
From the article, "The Giants snagged him this winter after watching him pitch in Puerto Rico. They have to pay him only the minimum $380,000 salary, including a $3,000 monthly housing allowance. The remainder of his $7.5 million salary is being paid by the Diamondbacks."
Bengie Molina & Sal Fassano are long lost brothers i'm convinced of that.
the end of Jons last thread had some stuff on it.
I think the general consensus is that people hope Barrett catches every day and alienates the entire pitching staff.
Also as someone else mentioned. I haven't been able to access it the past couple days.
they also get a supplemental pick from what i've read, i don't know i really feel the Pads fans are gonna be pucking at his defensive skills/or lack there of.
Which blog is borderline creepy?
If it's The Griddle, I'll try to push it fully into the creepy category.
Inside Dodgers on mlb.com, I feel bad for Josh who either doens't have time or doesnt want to babysit.
Then again, apparently most Twins fans wouldn't trade Torii Hunter for A-Rod, so nothing really should surprise me.
And there is no way MLB would ever approve a cash for player move.
So, yeah, $100 million for the rights to the player, plus $100 million for the player himself right off the bat.
That's very 19th Century of you. Why don't the Dodgers just go operate two teams and put all the good players on one and leave the bad ones on the other.
Gave the Dodgers back-to-back pennants in 1899 and 1900.
he doesn't have a great glove he has a serviceable glove. He more than makes up for it with his bat, he made 2 or 3 really nice plays when we played against the Marlins a while back.
Imagine....
Bonds?
Ortiz?
Guerrero?
somebody from middle infield - maybe Utley?
Who else?
1. Hank Aaron (959) *
2. Orlando Cepeda (933) *
3. Frank Robinson (925) *
4. Joe Medwick (920) *
5. Mickey Mantle (914) *
6. Ken Griffey (907)
7. Andruw Jones (907)
8. Hal Trosky (905)
9. Vladimir Guerrero (900)
10.Al Kaline (900) *
Honest.
I logged on to DT, and the first post I saw was natepurcell, who wrote: "gipped." It occurred to me that that was misspelled, but I woke up before I could express my own outrage.
I love Cabrera as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is Greg Brock) but I don't think trading the best 20% of the projected 2008 team would be a particularly smart move. It all seemed so real!
walking with your hands is very difficult bigcpa, i applaud you if you can walk more.
Isnt that what essentially happened with Dice-K?
I wonder how many of them gained 50 lbs from 21 to 23 years old. I love Miggy's bat but at best he's a 1st baseman and probably a DH by 25. That has to be taken into account that this guy just isn't taking care of himself. The bat will travel but if I'm trading the future for his future I want a guy a little more dedicated to his craft.
Walking on your hands sounds really, really painful.
I had a dream last night that I was talking to Patrick Ewing near my local grocery store and he was wearing a Tennessee Titans uniform and said he was only stopping to chat because he had to go and run a pass pattern.
I think I'm batting a virus however.
that was my claim to fame in elemantary school, i also did some sick back flips.
Hong-chih Kuo
James Loney
Randy Wolf
Jason Schmidt
Juan Pierre
Andy Laroche
Rudy Seanez
Mike Lieberthal
Brett Tomko
Wilson Valdez
Mark Hendrickson
Huh? Diedrich Bader's brother? Not that I know of. You sure you have that right?
I think we need more then 1/2 a year to know for sure but I think he's one of our top 10 these days.
i've only heard Nate mention his name so i'm thinking he has some pretty good #'s were ever he is playing.
tall lanky right hander who has pitched full time for only a couple of years. dodgers drafted him in 2002, signed almost a year later as a draft and follow after going to CC for a year. played outfield in the system, couldnt hack it, dodgers moved him to pitching. last year in low a was his first full year at pitching and showed alot of promise (nice k rate) and hes having a breakout year in high A this year at the age of 22. I think overkill saw him pitch earlier in the year and said he was throwing 90-92 with the fb with a plus slurve breaking pitch or something.
Wild coincidence. I think I met him all of once. Was he a funny guy? I hope he's doing well, wherever he may be.
It would appear you're not the only one who is dreaming. :-)
Cabrera in Dodger Blue? It's a longshot and would be expensive
>>> If the Marlins traded Cabrera, they probably would want three top young players, and they always love pitchers. Figure three from the group of Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Kemp, Loney, Andre Ethier, Tony Abreu, Andy LaRoche and Clayton Kershaw. <<<
http://tinyurl.com/3aec9q
well, hes starting now so hopefully a starter. but its still too early, we would need to see how he does in the upper minors first.
If I could take any 3 from that group then I couldn't say goodbye fast enough to Ethier/Abreu/Broxton.
2003 - Pitched in GCL
2004 - Played OF in GCL
2005 - Played OF in Ogden/Rookie, pitched in 4 games
2006 - Pitched in Columbus/South Atlantic League
2007 - Pitching in Inland Empire/Cal League
Minor League Pitching States before this season:
7-14 197 IP 3.75 ERA, 9.2K/3.8BB ratio
2007 Stats:
5-5 68.2 IP 3.54 ERA 11K/2.3BB ratio
The "couldn't say goodbye fast enough" threw me off a little.
Kershaw gave up a homer but was the pitcher of record (for the one inning he pitched) when his teammates scored the winning runs.
Both pitchers only pitched one inning so they should be affected for their next start.
If they want to start McDonald in the first game in Lancaster (shall we all drive to Lancaster for the 4th of July) (which will decide who won the first half for their division), then Sunday is the day they would start McDonald if they are on a 5-man rotation.
The only "untouchables" should be Kemp/Billingsley.
Abreu/Ethier/Loney are not impressive IMO.
Broxton is good but just a reliever.
Elbert's hurt.
LaRoche's hurt.
DeWitt's a bust.
vr, Xei
Yellow alert is when you need a triple.
167
Wilson Valdez was in my kitchen once. He works as a plumber in the offseason.
Was thinking of hitting the 7/5 game. I have a friend going to the Lancaster game this Friday so he's going to give me the rundown of the stadium.
Cool, I always hoped someone I played with would make it but no one did. AA was the highest anyone made it. Let's hope McDonald passes that barrier.
My niece hung out with Freddy Sanchez from Burbank HS which is why my family always roots for him. It was great when he was drafted by the Bosox since that was her Dad's team. Now he's stuck in Pirate limbo but at least he got a chance to play.
All of those players currently sport a better VORP as hitters than does Nomar. It is really sad considering that three of pitchers, Seanez, Hendrickson and Tomko have a combined 0 hits this year. Really, Nomar is the biggest black hole in our offense right now.
a friend of mine made it for the Diablos de Mexico but that doesn't count, i also had 2 freinds make it as high as A ball & double AA.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.