LaRoche the rest of the way if we fall out of the race for sure, but Shea is my man.

I predict at least 5 runs will be allowed by Wells, not sure why, but I have a feeling.

[Dodgers could still win the game though... the Padre bullpen is tired]

Nomar and his first pitch fly-outs are rally killers. I personally don't miss his bat right now. If he gets hot, ride him. If not, Shea is my man.

I'm not even sure LaRoche will get a call up.

Oh, you mean this season...

Our team is finding ways to win while Shea is in the line-up. Perhaps not because of him, but certainly not despite him.

He's made a few great plays with the glove and he had 3 RBIs yesterday including the game winner.

4 hits in two days gents. He is my guy while we are making a run. Ride the momentum.

The Dodgers have 5 players on the 15 day disabled list, 1 of them is going to come off in the next week or so (Nomar), one is not available (Yhency Brazoban) and the other three are in some type of rehab (Tsao, Wolf and Kuo).

Of the players that the Dodgers are thinking of adding to the roster, five of them are not on the 40 man roster (Meloan, Hu, Lindsay, Valdez, and probably another catcher)

So the question for Ned, Kim Ng, DeJon Watson and the rest of the front office, outside of Yhency, who else do you put on the 60 day DL (not necessarily ruling them out for the season, Wolf would be eligible to come off immediately, Kuo in the first week of September, Tsao, who is probably out anyway, not until the middle of September)

In the end, I think we end up just adding Meloan, Hu, Valdez and a catcher to the roster, they DFA Roberto Hernandez, they transfer Yhency and Tsao to the 60 day DL and that wait and see what happens with Wolf and Kuo.

I am only writing about players not already on the 40 man roster, Abreu, LaRoche, Young, Hull, etc. are already on the the roster.

I also sensed good zoning laws.

Those four hits in two days has brought his numbers with the Dodgers to .255/.271/.382. He's also a god-awful fielder.

I recommend reading this article on why riding the hot hand is a terrible idea:

http://ussmariner.com/2007/08/20/projecting-future-performance/

I've been pwn3d? Is that like being "served"? When I read this, it reminded me of the kids on South Park getting "served". haha!

His last name is not pronounced "kwo". It may be spelled with a "K" in wade-giles, and he may or may not mind it being pronounced "Kwo", just for the convenience of english speakers, but believe me it is pronounced "Gwo". vr, Xei

"But he would be a very nice luxury item for a large-budget contender -- he bears some risk, but he's not outrageously priced, has loads of big-game experience, and is known as a good clubhouse guy. He would make a lot of sense for the Dodgers, in their never-ending quest for a third baseman; for the Yankees, if Alex Rodriguez decides, in the end, to opt out of his contract; or the Red Sox, if they want an alternative to giving Mike Lowell a three-year deal."

Just throwing it out there since we're talking about the third baseman issue...

Mayor Quimby: Now, Mr. Larry White!
Barry White: Actually, it's Barry White.
Mayor Quimby: Well, it says here 'Larry.'
Barry White: I think I know my own name.
Mayor Quimby: Yeah? Well, we'll just see.

34 Ah, duh.

At what point does a player have to be on the 40-man roster to be eligible for postseason play?

Is it August 31 or September 1?

"He's a kid that is pretty aggressive," Cooper said of Pence. "His on-base percentage is, I think, near the .350 mark. So you kind of want that guy up there to have an on-base percentage somewhere in that area. He's pretty close to that. He's gotten on base quite a bit for us this year.
"He's an exciting kind of player, so why not give him the opportunity to create some of that excitement?"

He at least mentioned OBP as important for a lead off man. Looking at the Houston roster, especially from an OBP/speed perspective, Pence is easily the best choice (only Berkman has a legitimately better OBP, and as far as speed, you don't want Lee, Lamb, or Scott leading off). Admittedly, Pence hasn't walked much in the Majors, although he did so more often in the minors, and while I would personally probably put Lamb lead off, this is still far better than batting Biggio's .286 OBP lead off.

In response to your question from the previous post, both Game 6 of the '75 WS and Game 6 of the '86 WS are available on iTunes.

There are a total of 27 classic games available on iTunes at the moment, and they seem to add more every few weeks. I've got to imagine they'll add the 4+1 game at some point.

Very cool! I wasn't aware that non WS games were part of it. I should get an Itunes account... this could be addictive.

No signing a third baseman.

However, I'm not smart enough to appreciate Ron Darling.

What Napa is to wine, Oregon is to beer. Take my word for it.

Obviously, I ask because of Meloan and a potentially similar scenario. Not saying he's gonna set the world on fire like KRod did. But shouldn't the Dodgers at least have this option?

So, do they have to get him on the 25-man by August 31?
Or on the 40-man by Aug. 31?
Or on the 40-man by Sept. 1?

Bob, even if the Phils pull it off (the sweep), I don't think it's anything to worry about. The Phils almost always find a way to blow their shot at the WC.

He plays this weekend on Friday for sure, then we evaluate from there depending on how we are playing and how he is playing. That doesn't mean LaRoche doesn't get a start, it just means that Shea has the job while Nomar is down and the team is winning.

He isn't lighting it up, but he is not hurting us either. He's been solid. You don't have to like the player, you don't have to like the move Ned made, but you have to like how we've come alive a bit since he's arrived. He might have nothing to do with it, but while we are winning, he stays in the line-up most days in my opinion.

Unless we get A-Rod, we aren't going after a third baseman this off-season. LaRoche in our man unless we get A-Rod and then trade him.

If the Mets missed the playoffs, I would be very happy. I would love to watch Baseballprimer melt down.

Beware the dark side, Bob.

And wouldn't that be a good thing?

Sorry, I forgot. I'm not supposed to hate things. I will be taken to the woodshed by a commenter who has the same initials as the Dodgers centerfielder.

If someone on your 40-man roster is on the DL when the postseason rolls you're allowed to replace him with anyone who was in your organization as of August 31. They do not need to have been on your active major league roster at any time, nor do they need to be on your 40-man roster. They just had to be in your organization by 8/31. Also, you can only replace a pitcher with another pitcher and a hitter with another hitter. So in the unlikely event that the Dodgers make the postseason and want to use a nonroster player like, say, the Minotaur in the playoffs, all they would need to do was put Jason Schmidt or Yhency on their playoff roster and then deem the Minotaur as his replacement.

So for Loaiza to be eligible for postseason play, one of two things has to happen:

1) He must be assigned to a minor league roster by Aug. 31 and then can be recalled to the majors at any time after that, or

2) Somebody like Eric Stults must be optioned down and Loaiza must be on the Dodgers' active MLB roster by Aug. 31.

Option #1 is more attractive because it would let the Dodgers keep Eric Stults continuously instead of losing him until Sept. 4. However, it raises questions of whether Loaiza would accept a minor league assignment, even one that was purely procedural.

I see standing pat at third and waiting for Nomar's contract to be up. LaRoche would get a shot to make the team but likely be the Loney of '08, having to push himself from Vegas and take Nomar's spot. Abreu is our Ramon Martinez of next year with more starts at second to groom him to be Kent's replacement in '09. Assuming Kent wants to play.

One thing that people underestimate is that Ned works with a much larger budget than Depo did. Depo never spent more than 11 million on a player and generally kept the payroll under 90 million. Ned signed Schmidt for almost as much in 3 years (51 million) as Drew would have made in 5 (55 million). Not to mention Furcal (39 over 3), the Player (45 over 5) and a few of players making Lowe yearly money over short contracts (Wolf, Nomar, Kent).

I still think it can be done without sacrificing starting pitching.

Or he could just pitch 5 innings on Friday after Boomer is blown out of the game and wouldn't be able to pitch until the 4th anyways.

Two of my best friends are longtime members of The Nation. Man they hate me about this Drew thing. First, I told them how pleased they'd be with Drew's basic production. Then, I told them that even if he wasn't hitting, he'd at least get on base a lot (not in the "signing Juan Pierre because he gets on base a lot" sense) and that plus his D would make him valuable. Then, I told them there was no way this awful run could keep up all year.

Now I tell them he must be secretly injured and afraid to tell anyone lest the heckling start up all over again.

But boy are they mad at me.

This can't be a good thing.

Shea has not hurt us. He has helped us. Just like Wells did with his bunt, the energy we didn't have is building. The new blood and desire to win have helped. You cannot measure that by statistics alone.

Plus Shea has smashed a few line drives that have found gloves. He isn't our savior, but I prefer to ride this out with him than to throw in a rusty Nomar. Plus, Nomar hasn't run yet, has he? So the choice is between Shea and LaRoche. Shea's been through a lot these last two years, he has something to prove.

I remind you all that we are on a four game win streak. Be happy for now and let's rally behind the guys on the field.

P.S. I've not worn my Slappy McPop-up shirt in a month.

Re-reading it looks like I am calling for dropping that payroll, but I am under no delusions. No one is paying for those players (besides the McCourts that is). Furcal could possibly be jettisoned, and if the gods were very, very kind maybe Nomar retires. More likely though, all of them are back next year.

I would much, much rather vastly overpay for greatness than slightly overpay for mediocrity . Nomar, Pierre and Schmidt took up 33 million dollars in payroll this year, and contributed, well, nothing. A-Rod takes up 25 million, but at least you know what you paid for.

Who walked.

And now Delago is batting with the bases loaded.

besides, if picking up loaiza means casting off wolf, then isn't it a wash financially? or do we owe wolf guaranteed money next year. i don't think we do, right?

Someone better go check on Joe Morgan.

We would want a back-up to Wells tomorrow, he will have a very short leash. But in a big game, do we want Stults in there anyway? It will be interesting to see.

Prediction: Shea has two more hits tomorrow and a few RBI's. DT posters buy me lots of beers in October.