I still think someone will be DFA'd. Here's why:

We only have a certain amount of 60-day DL spots to play around with to open spots on the roster (Schmidt was placed on it to create room for Hillenbrand). We will need at least three come September 1 (Meloan, Hu, and a 3rd string catcher).

I suppose Repko and Brazoban could be 60-day DLers. Maybe Tsao or Kuo. But who else? We need those spots, so somebody will be gone, I'd say.

From previous thread, paraphrasing myself:

Hamulack is still on the roster?! My word, there's your roster spot right there!

It's like Chinese water torture having this genius run my favorite team.

Maybe he'll surprise us and have Wells pitch once against the southpaw-fearin' Mets and then put him back out to pasture. The ultimate "spot starter."

But I doubt it.

I loath Wells and threatened earlier to join the Shimmin/Dbacks Marching and Chowder Society if he was signed. Well, I'm a man of my word.

GO ZONA!!!!

if Tomko doesn't pitch his little hart out who else would it be?

You knew it was gonna happen (the tone in Josh's last post sang the tune) I'm not really bothered by it Houlton or who ever else could have done the same job David Wells is gonna do.

ps I hope he proves us wrong but I really doubt it.

I'm thinking he can still muster up a quality start or maybe 2 but it will be down hill after that, trust me!

Do it for Sam. And our nation's capital! And America! You don't hate America, do you Marty?

Seriously, what's the objection to this deal? As long as we don't let ourselves think this is a major move, it seems like a good one.

Is there a minor league starter ready to go who he'd be blocking? Not from what I can tell, unless you're a member of the DJ Houlton Marching and Chowder Society.

I was interested in the idea of McDonald, but he's clearly not available.

Penny
Lowe
Billingsley
Wells
Stults

is so much better than

Penny
Lowe
Billingsley
Tomko
Hendrickson

And if Wells falls apart, easy enough to send him packing, and bring Tomko or Houlton back. But I think Wells will want to prove something to Towers and to all the other baseball execs who think he's washed up.

This is a low-risk, high-reward gamble. The kind of shot you're supposed to take.

Again, if we have to suffer through Tomko and Wells together for the next month, then I'm gonna be more bummed out.

Tomko has obviously lost all confidence at this point. I cringe everytime he pitches and as bad as Wells can and probably will be, I am ok with the Dodgers trying something new. Wells is capable of a good start and things like pitching on national TV against the Mets or pitching against the Padres to stick it to them might actually coerce a good start or two from him.

The biggest downside to this, as far as I can tell, is that Tomko will be trotting out of the bullpen every now and then to lose a lead or two. That will be depressing.

Well it's a dog's life in a rope leash or a diamond collar
It's enough to make you think right now
But you don't bother
For goodness sake as you cry and shake
Let's keep you face down in the dirt where you belong
And think of all the pleasure that it brings
Though you know that it's wrong

And there's still life in your body
But most of it's leaving
Can't you give us all a break
Can't you stop breathing

http://tinyurl.com/2hbyh6

If he pitches poorly, Houlton is still available.

If it was serious money, or a decent prospect at stake, then Wells would be a bad idea. But absent those two cases, bringing him here works.

Also, a totally non-sabermetric point. So far, our young pitchers, particularly Billinsley and Broxton, have had a chance to be teammates with: Greg Maddux, Jason Schmidt, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny and an assortment of OG relief pitchers who had good seasons in the past. One HOF lock, and at least three others who've pitched in the World Series.

Isn't it kind of good for the kids to be exposed to these kinds of men, pitchers who developed their gifts to this level?

Houlton would be a warm body, an anti-Tomko but not much more. Wells at least makes this look like a pennant race. It's a flyer.

The Nationals announced today that tonight's starter -- rookie John Lannan who started the season in A-Ball -- will be shut down after one more start. Nice to see them making such a move, and also making sort of public point about it. http://tinyurl.com/298q8y

Again, I'd rather see Houlton than Tomko. (And would rather see ____ than Tomko.) But don't think Houlton is really much of a savior. I think people latch on to him because he's a young starter who is not Tomko. (I actually think Miguel Pinango, of Vegas' starters, would be more interesting to take a look at, if we wanted an in house young starter...)

Sam will be staying up late for that one, though I don't know who he will listen to as he watches the game.

Lannan is not dreamy. But he's got guts. Why, John Lannan's got more guts in his little finger than most of us have in our large intestine, including the colon!

1) Wells pitches on Friday, Penny is bumped up to Saturday, Stults is bumped up to Sunday. Wells drops his appeal after the game, meaning Tomko takes his place for one start and Wells is next eligible to pitch on Sept. 1 against SD.

2) The Dodgers don't officially sign Wells until Sunday morning. He pitches that night and skips town before his appeal can be heard, delaying his suspension until 2008. (MLB may not let the Dodgers get away with this scenario.)

3) The Dodgers sign Wells and his appeal is heard tomorrow. Tomko starts on Sunday, Wells serves his suspension and is not eligible to pitch his first game for the Dodgers until Friday, Aug. 31 at San Diego.

I will go on record saying I'd prefer Tomko over Wells. Tomko gives up fewer homers and strikes out more men, and his home/road split shows he's been mediocre anywhere. Wells has slightly better control, but outside of Petco, has been far worse than Tomko anywhere. Unless we score 5+ runs, cances are the team won't win with either starter. The only player that would give the Dodgers a legitimately better chance at winning is McDonald, and if his velocity is down, it would be far better to rest him for next year.

If I were GM, Proctor would have been named a starter a week ago, Hernandez and Tomko would be DFA'd, and Hull and Meloan would come up to pitch the 7th inning with Beimel. But who am I?

Clubbies should be paid time and a half.

I think you can list the demerits of David Wells and end it with, ". . . and he's still better than Brett Tomko."

However, for now, I'm still a Dodgers fan.

http://blog.nbx.com/2007/08/throwin-heat--3.html

To make matters worse, the Dodgers are also a relatively old team. Unlike most teams that are trying to get younger, the Dodgers have a hard time letting their youth play. For example, it's rumored that LA might be signing 44 year old David Wells. Wells is a good guy to party with, but his work ethic isn't very good and he isn't a good influence on the younger guys. And, it makes no sense to sign him since the Dodgers already have guys that are better than Wells. For instance, 27 year old Eric Stults has pitched well enough to earn a spot in their starting five.
...
Bottom line... there's an old saying in baseball, "it's better a year too soon than a year too late". In other words, if you've got some promising young players at your disposal, you're better off playing them even if you're not quite sure if they're ready, than playing older guys who are past their prime.

It just seems that if I met Gary Cohen in a bar who would dislike me just because I'm from the West Coast.

Yeah, if Broxton gains another 40 pounds and starts beer-belching at umpires, then perhaps I underestimated the downside. The thing I like about Wells is his competitiveness. If his stuff is working, he can rise to the occasion. Another thing I like is that he was a journeyman who figured out how to become a more effective pitcher at a relatively advanced age.

your a poster at Dodger Thoughts who's comments are well respected just like all DT'ers post are respected.

ps But I don't know about Proctor starting though, was he a starter in the minors?

He's my Russ Ortiz.

For that matter, if you make your judgments of Wells based on what you remember from 2005 (or 1998, or 2001), you're equally off base. I don't think there's any question whatsoever that right now, in 2007, Houlton is a better pitcher than Wells. Plus he has infinitely more upside than Wells.

And you know what, I think Colletti knows this. This is a CYA move. I think he's reasonably certain that Wells will fail, but that your average Dodger fan will be seduced by Wells' famous name and say to himself, "Well, at least Ned tried. He brought in some big-name players."

This sort of follows in a pattern of acquiring guys like Nomar, Gonzo, Pierre, and even Maddux, where their actual performance on the field matters much less than the cachet their name gets among the fans. Three of the other four tanked, and with Maddux he just got lucky that a pitcher who had been having a really lousy year suddenly turned it on.

And I don't think Wells is bumping Stults, is he? Stewart must think Tomko is staying in the rotation and Stults is sitting. Is there any indication that's how it's going to go? You don't have to be a mind-reader to pick up that Little is ready to be shed of Tomko as a starter.

They were so impressed by his work with Kim Ng that they hired him to scourt Asia.

Makes perfect sense.

Thank god for Kemp, Loney, Martin, and Bills.

It should not be confused with ScCourt which is when you scout players for Frank McCourt.

"A lot of organizations -- and some past Dodgers organizations -- wouldn't be comfortable bringing up 21-year-olds and letting them play," said Stewart.

"A lot of clubs make young players wait too long in the Minor Leagues and they lose the glimmer and spark. The Dodgers were brave to bring them up and let them play. Ned and Grady only saw them play a little in the spring. They didn't have a lot to go on. That takes a lot of confidence."

59 I'm not writing off Houlton's entire career. He might wind up a solid contributor to the Dodgers or some team, someday soon. When I was comparing upsides, I was talking about for the next two months only.

This move is about the pennant race, and keeping the veterans' heads in it. If you show Jeff Kent or Derek Lowe a rotation that has three near-rookies in it, talented as they might be, and those players conclude you've written off the season. Wells arrival says, "We're going for it."

I'm not expecting the Dodgers to win even the division. But I think it's good for the kids to be part of a team that is driving toward it, rather than starting the exhibition baseball season six months early.

But then you know that you will never get into heaven.

What else would you expect from the only person kicked out of Narcissists Anonymous for talking too much during meetings?

For the year, he has a 102 OPS+, which is significantly below average for a left fielder. So instead of "tanked," maybe I should have just said "played significantly below average."

They score 6 in the inning, topped off by a 3 run dinger by old friend Marlon Anderson.

The antecedent of "it" in this case being "dinner".

It looks like the Pads are losing now 7-6