Blah, I got LAT'd.

In re: the Broxton Dilemma:

It's all well and good to say that because players won't complain about being hurt, management has to figure it out and take action, but how is management supposed to figure it out? With some injuries, an MRI or X-Ray will tell the tale, and management can order the test and respond to the results. But the best diagnostic tool is still asking the patient questions. If they lie, you're out of luck, unless House is your team physician. When "tell me where/when it hurts" gives you zero information because players won't fess up, management is pretty much screwed.

Now, they can still go ahead and bench a player for poor performance, and not really care if the reason is an injury, but I don't see how that would be a better outcome.

Jon, what movie was it?

Movies I am not ashamed to admit I have cried while watching:
-Rudy
-Field of Dreams
-Major League

I swear to Ch-i, "The Indians win it. The Indians win it. Oh my God, the Indians win it!!!" get me everytime!

I got LATed, but the point remains, I miss Jayson Werth and think an outfield of Werth-Ethier-Kemp would be a lot of fun in the field and at the plate.

As for this season, well, it's been a blast, I was hoping they'd hang on just long enough for pre-season NBA action to start up, but oh well. The hot stove action will be interesting, I guess.

A movie hits me in a certain way, and I'm hopeless. It's the wife and kids that did it to me, and it's done.

I understand that completely. The same thing happens to me. I'm a complete sucker for parent/child relationship moments in movies.

The Dodgers have never made me cry, and the wretching season and heartbreaking moments eventually pass. But I'm old enough to have memories of 1988, 1981 and the 1970s almost-annual contenders to fall back on.

I guess from the subject header that Jon had a lot of 'Spillaining to do.

But I couldn't have said it any better myself. Well put, Jon.

Wait, what movie did you see this morning?

GM/White update:

Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Amaro Jr is the favorite to be named the Astros GM. This is the second source to report Amaro as the favorite (the Philly Daily News reported it this morning). However, in the Houston Chronicle, McLane was quoted saying he needs to discuss the matter further tomorrow morning with Tal Smith. The Post-Gazette also mentions that Ed Wade would join Amaro in Houston as an advisor, which makes sense (he has close ties to both Smith and Amaro).

The Post-Gazette also mentions that as of tonight, the Dodgers had not requested permission to interview to Logan White.

1 - honestly, I think the better coaches and front office types are able to spot when a player is hurting. It might be a little thing like them not going as hard in warm ups, or something being off in the mechanics. The problem is, because most coaches use to be players, they also have it ingrained in their heads that not playing when your hurt is letting your teammates down.

2 I should have read more into the title of the post.

Speaking of Jayson Werth's nice night, maybe it's good luck to discuss 19th century literature with Molly Knight. Can she discuss maybe Moby Dick with Andy LaRoche?

And now, by selfishly re-posting my blather from the last thread, I've wiped my dirty boots all over the clean carpet of Jon's terrific new post. Sorry about that.

I'm the same way with sports these days. I get very annoyed when people in positions of authority make avoidable mistakes, especially when it's due to stubbornness. But I no longer get angry with players for screwing up. I don't blame Juan Pierre for being Juan Pierre. It's not his fault someone paid him a fortune and someone else plays him every day.

And over time, especially with baseball, I've become as much a fan of the game as of my team. I'll cheer for a no-hitter against the Dodgers. I love watching Barry Bonds hit or Jake Peavy pitch. The 2005 season did not bother me because the team on the field was awful (due mostly to injuries to all the good players) - it only bothered me when Tracy still found a way to make the worst of a bad situation.

As I said a week or so ago, I think a lot of this is because the team I'm most passionate about, my alma mater, has been just horrible for most of my fandom. Going 1-10 really makes you appreciate the 1. Maybe the same is true for Jon, whose own alma mater has seen more rough times than good ones (at least in football, and despite recent success, mens hoops).

The Dodgers lost 1.5 games in the standings to every team ahead of them in the NL, except the Mets. They, and the Rockies, lead the Brewers/Cubs by 1/2 game.

I wonder if the "which starter on three days rest Saturday" question might become moot by then, practically if not mathematically.

6 -- Did you mean the Pirates haven't requested permission to interview White?

11 Yeah, I have a feeling Stults may be going on 16 days rest Saturday.

Today I saw an upcoming movie called "Lars and the Real Girl." Read the description, and then wonder.

Tomorrow, I see "Juno."

12 Yes

14
I have been waiting to see "Juno" for awhile. I basically want to see it because it stars Ellen Page along with AD alums Michael Cera and Jason Bateman.

I'm with you, Jon.

I am disappointed but not feeling particularly rancorous. It's been a mostly enjoyable season, and there are still a couple of weeks to go.

I don't give Little or Colletti a pass for any of their mistakes but...eh. They've done more things right than wrong. I don't see any of our competitors having a magic formula that we're missing out on. It's going to be a competitive, exciting division for the next few years, one that will drive us crazy.

That's the thing about today's games. Colorado's got some damn good players. It's no shame to get beat by the likes of Jeff Francis, Matt Holliday and Todd Helton (Durham is another story). Our young guys were unlikely to go from AA to the World Series in a year. It should be good enough for this season to know that Kemp, Loney, Billingsley, Broxton, Abreu and Martin weren't hype like Dodger prospects of the past. And I sure don't give any credence to speculation that Colletti's going to replace them with more 40-year-olds.

Anyway, it's still fun.

I agree its tough to invest too much emotionally in this season.It was all so iffy and transitional,tonight's let down hit me pretty dispassionately.I remember as a kid watching Stan Williams walk in the winning run in the 1962 playoffs against the Giants.That stung. Niedenfuhr's flameout in 1985 and Forstner's gopher ball to Morgan were painful.This was more like.... whatever.
If you're Colletti how do you take the club from mediocrity and diminished expectations to the promised land?

There are now 4 NL teams fighting for 3 playoff spots. As it stands right now, the D-Backs, Mets and Padres are in but the Phillies are now not only a game and half behind the Padres but now also the Mets.

I long for the good old DePodesta days. Colletti's penchant for the aged gives me cramps. If you gonna lose, lose with style, Ned.

Re players playing hurt, UH football coach June Jones just said that his QB (Colt Brennan, who's got a very badly sprained ankle - black and blue variety) would play Saturday. "If you want to play in the NFL you gotta play with that kind of pain."

Well, maybe, but not at the team's expense or at your long-term health's expense, I wouldn't have thought.

I can't imagine how badly Saito feels; I'm frustrated but I didn't have a whole lot of hope left anyway, so to heck with it. Let the Brewers win; they haven't been there since 1982.

18 You just made me shudder, bringing up that Niedenfuhr '85 business. It's been too long since I've gotten angry about that.

Man, that one hurt. I'm a bit under the influence (for unrelated reasons) so I won't say anymore than that.

Terrific post Jon. I can't help feeling that the Dodgers, strange as it may sound, are kind of where my Phils were towards the end of last season: shifting gears on the fly, yet still making a run of it, a couple of oldies that no longer really belonged (although to their great credit, Wolfman and Lieby seem to be fitting in very well in LA) and a whole slew of youngsters who make the future look brighter than ever.

But hey, if I were of an older generation of Phils fan, I would certainly be able to tell ya that 4 1/2 games back with a dozen to play is most definitely not insurmountable...

14 Written by Nancy Oliver who used to write for Six Feet Under. Looks great, even if the premise superficially makes you think of Mannequin, but it sounds like a different planet from there. I love Gosling and Paul Schneider, who was so good in All the Real Girls and quite funny and different in Live Free or Die. (not Hard)

19 Hey, the Dodgers aren't officially eliminated yet! ;-(

The only thing that's making me -truly- sad is knowing that I'll have to survive months without the Dodgers. Making the playoffs is obviously wonderful in itself, but it also delays the inevitable hibernation of baseball.

Hopefully after today's 2 losses, we'll see more of Meloan, Hu, Young etc.

Given the payroll and not making the playoffs---McCourt must be fuming.

With Zona' and San Diego being ran by people that know how to use computers, it'd be nice if McCourt brought that style back. Someone that knows the value of OBP, SLG, etc, cost-benefit analysis, upside....

PVL wont win you anything but smiles from the media.

The one potential positive of the wind being knocked out of the Dodgers sails is LaRoche getting more playing time so he can (hopefully) taste some major league success heading into 2008.

After his silver sombrero® in Game 1 today, LaRoche's line is .193/.382/.263 in 76 PA. He has been a two true outcome© player with the big club this year, walking or striking out in 42.1% of his PAs, putting him on par with:

Russell Branyan 49.5%
Ryan Howard 47.1%
Adam Dunn 42.1%
Wilson Betemit 42.1%
Jim Thome 42.1%

Hopefully LaRoche can get HR #1 out of the way, then the floodgates can open.

I actually thought Tony Jackson's last blog post tonight was one of his better ones, FWIW.

Okay, back to writing, vegging and sleeping. Here's to Hu's at Short tomorrow.

25 - The difference between this movie and Mannequin is like the difference between Ramon Martinez and Matt Kemp.

30 RM1 or RM2? :)

14 Commencing wondering.

30 - I was thinking the difference between Earth and Betelgeuse but go with the baseball analogy. Or between Matt Kemp and Mike Edwards?

I look forward to it.

Given the payroll and not making the playoffs---McCourt must be fuming.

If he's realistic, McCourt will understand this is a roster in transition.
Last offseason, no one was sure if the kids could build on their promise. So, the team brought in veterans (and went overboard doing so).
A year later, it's obvious the young players are here to stay. Now, the challenge is to reshape talent into a winning team.

27 Maybe you would be but I just don't think he is fuming.

He certainly is not going to throw Ned under the bus for this season, I heard him say it at DT day and everytime he is interviewed that the best decision he made was hiring Ned.

I don't see McCourt as a guy who fulminates like Steinbrenner.

The team has done pretty well, just not well enough. And a lot of people have paid to come to the stadium.

28 He's still over 10% behind Cust though, so he has a lot of work if he wants to be number one. Though if he increased his number anymore without hitting .300, he'd end up in the same situation as Betemit.

However, I think this just shows that Laroche really is pressing. He's striking out far more than he ever did in the minors, and I don't think the dramatic increase in K rate is solely a result of facing better pitchers.

37 Wow, Cust is at 52.5% of his PAs ending in BB or K! I should have thought to look him up.

Maybe Grady Little just needs to be Leo Durocher to LaRoche's inner Willie Mays, by going up to his young slugging third sacker and saying "you're my guy" to get LaRoche to settle down.

I don't know why there is this big concern about Andy LaRoche, he has had an inconsistent season, especially with all the injury breaks, now he is expected to perform well with sporatic play during the last two weeks of the season.

I would hope that whatever happens, good or bad, Andy will be given a fair shot to be the third baseman next season. And I think that will be the case.

And is it a good thing that the owner becomes very angry when things don't go right? It was considered a bad things after the 2005 season when the McCourts went on a firing binge.

So is the best way to respond to a bunch of panicky moves is with another series of panicky moves?

The McCourts knees can jerk only so many times.

Red Sox fan not happy either, with glorious picture of Gagne in Bosox uni.

http://tinyurl.com/36e2bq

I didn't notice the title of today's Dodger Report until after Game 2 tonight. I had to laugh amid my sorrow when I read "A Title Could Push Wells Out of Game".

Players in the last quarter century who have posted an OPS+ of at least 125 at age 23 or younger:
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/xKv8

Carlos Baerga
Jeff Bagwell
Barry Bonds
Ryan Braun
Travis Buck
Ellis Burks
Miguel Cabrera
Robinson Cano
Jose Canseco
Eric Chavez
Will Clark
Kal Daniels
Alvin Davis
Adam Dunn
Lenny Dykstra
Prince Fielder
Travis Fryman
Troy Glaus
Juan Gonzalez
Mike Greenwell
Ken Griffey Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero
Mel Hall
Jeremy Hermida
Kent Hrbek
Andruw Jones
Ricky Jordan
Austin Kearns
Matt Kemp
Ryan Klesko
James Loney
Don Mattingly
Joe Mauer
Brian McCann
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire
Lloyd Moseby
Matt Nokes
John Olerud
Jhonny Peralta
Albert Pujols
Tim Raines
Aramis Ramirez
Hanley Ramirez
Manny Ramirez
Cal Ripken Jr.
Alex Rodriguez
Scott Rolen
Gary Sheffield
Ruben Sierra
Grady Sizemore
Darryl Strawberry
Frank Thomas
Jim Thome
B.J. Upton
Robin Ventura
David Wright

Players in all of Los Angeles Dodger history who have accomplished this:

Tommy Davis
Ron Fairly
James Loney
Matt Kemp

39 I would hope that whatever happens, good or bad, Andy will be given a fair shot to be the third baseman next season. And I think that will be the case

I hope so too. Well said.

4 i'm not even close to being a parent yet, but "house of sand and fog" made me weep like a little child.

Eric,
Fine use of PI there.

45
My advice to anyone whose mother has passed away recently: don't watch "The Joy Luck Club."

Or you can just watch "Grave of the Fireflies" anytime and you'll be weeping within 15 minutes.

43 Eric, keeping your theme alive, here are the pitchers 22 or younger in the last 25 years with an ERA+ of 140 or higher (min 100 IP):

Chad Billingsley
Mark Buehrle
Scott Erickson
Dwight Gooden
Scott Kazmir
Francisco Liriano
Pedro Martinez
Ben McDonald
Mark Prior
Jose Rosado
Bruce Ruffin
Bret Saberhagen
Anibal Sanchez

Dodgers in bold.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/G4y4

47
I was about to say, I would bring up "Grave of the Fireflies," but I am sure Bob will do it.

You know how some things make you feel so dirty that you have to immediately take a shower? Well, as soon as I left class I put on music that made me happy and then I went and got some nachos, because I was in dire need of happiness.

Can we bold Scott Erickson for old times sake?

"Pather Panchali" was so depressing and made me so uncomfortable, I actually thought of walking out of class.

The Dodgers would like to know if they can use the last 15 words of 49 in next year's advertising for the AM/PM pavilion.

Well I guess I did that a lot actually, but the thought was in my head for completely different reasons.

50 Your wish is my command.

Pitchers in L.A. Dodgers history with a season ERA over 6.00 (minimum 50 innings):

1 Odalis Perez 6.83 59.1 2006 29
2 Carlos Perez 7.43 89.2 1999 28
3 Phil Ortega 6.88 53.2 1962 22
4 Hideo Nomo 8.25 84 2004 35
5 Scott Erickson 6.02 55.1 2005 37
6 Roger Craig 6.15 112.2 1961 31

Speaking of dominant Dodger closers having a bad day, Eric Gagne's seven week sojourn with the Sox has been less than stellar:

14 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2.14 WHIP
opponents hitting .365/.429/.540

Opponents were only hitting .192/.265/.275 against the Texas version of Gagne.

55 Is he worth a $6M flier for 2008?

Catchers who had a single-season OPS+ of at least 114 by Age 24:
Ted Simmons (4)
Johnny Bench (4)
Earl Williams (3)
Joe Torre (3)
Joe Mauer (2)
Jason Kendall (2)
Darrell Porter (2)
Russell Martin
Brian McCann
Javy Lopez
Mike Piazza
Craig Biggio
Matt Nokes
Mark Bailey
Rich Gedman
Lance Parrish
Biff Pocoroba
Gary Carter
Milt May
Carlton Fisk
Thurman Munson
Ray Fosse
Bill Freehan

56 I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Maybe we can play an edited version of the opening to Welcome Back Cotter when he enters the game next year!

56 No.

55 - Gagne is of the most beloved relievers in Dodgers history, and one of the most reviled in Red Sox history.
Quite a feat.

To amplify, Saito's cheaper and just as effective, and so far he's not shown himself to be as injury-prone as the latter-day Gagne.

57 - In the expansion era (1961-), I should've added.

61 The question was not about replacing Saito with him, though. That would be nuts.

60 - Gagne is the anti-Dave Roberts.

I don't revile Dave Roberts. I quite like him, actually.

56 ,58 I should add that there is no way Gagne would comeback to the Dodgers because he's going to want to close and he's not going to close in LA.

57 Catchers with 18+ HR, 20+ SB:

Benito Santiago, 18/21 (1987)
Ivan Rodriguez, 35/25 (1999)
Russell Martin, 18/21 (2007)

Perhaps Gagne is the anti-Nomar.

60 ,64 He is the anti-J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo...oh wait.

65 - Roberts won a place in my heart by successfully climbing Tal's Hill to steal a home run.
And that play kept alive a save for... Paul Harvey, er, Eric Gagne.

If Gagne were the anti-Nomar, each player would have the added distinction of being reviled by the major league team closest to where he's from.

65 - Do I really have to explain? I just meant that Boston has had the opposite reaction to him.

71
He thought you mean Dave Roberts, the former Padre.

I'm a little disappointed that this thread hasn't evolved into everyone listing movies that make them cry. I stick my neck out with "Major League" in 2 and now I hear crickets! :)

Snoopy Come Home.

73 I figured you were joking

For whatever reason I've become much more prone to tearing up during movies in my post-college days than I ever did before. Even a movie like Donnie Darko that isn't much of a tear-jerker got me a bit welled up recently. Others off the top of my head that blurred my vision:

Field of Dreams (obviously)
Little Children
The Elephant Man
Garden State

73 I was trying to think of some, but most of them were in 1989 when I was like 12 years old.

Field of Dreams
Glory
Dead Poets Society
Dances With Wolves
Antwone Fisher
Schindler's List

That's about all I can come up with.

BTW, watched AI (the Spielberg movie, not reruns of American Idol) tonight and found it a bit dull. There was one basic theme with no fleshed-out side plots yet the movie was almost 2 1/2 hours long. The overall message of the movie was interesting, but I feel like it could have done a better job of building a relationship between the robot and the family.

Oh, and E.T. Definitely E.T.

I know there are E.T. haters out there. They are few, and deeply misguided, but they're out there. Of course, I suspect none of them are on this site, because they all hate baseball. And sunshine, and puppy dogs, and apple pie.

Speaking of crying I was in the Dodger dugout as young stringer in 1982 and Terry Forester was crying alot!

I can accept this season easier then some of the others where the Dodgers have seemed to under achieve. But for next year as important as figuring out 3rd base will be, the Dodgers will need in my mind more of the starting staff to pitch deeper into games. Can't prove it but some of the problems from Broxton of late I attribute to too much work. He is talented but those pitches staying up are brutal.

I believe tonight was the beginning of the end of the Grady era as manager of the team. The outcry has gone public with A. Martinez speaking of the clubhouse discontent openly on the broadcast.
I would very much like to see Dusty Baker given a chance as Dodger manager. I think he would be a fantastic role model for the youth on this club, he knews the league and the division, was a hated one but originally one of us. Yes, Dusty would be the next guy I feel

80
You just completely changed my mind.

Keep Grady!!!
Keep Grady!!!
Keep Grady!!!

Dusty Baker hates young players more than any manager I've seen in my 25 years of closely following baseball. He just absolutely despises them and will do everything he can to make sure they do not get a chance to play.

Not to mention, he destroys pitchers' arms with overwork. His strategies are bewildering at best. He bunts every chance he gets and gives lots of playing time to really awful players. I mean, this is a man who, in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 of the World Series, sent up Tom Goodwin, David Bell, and Tsuyoshi Shinjo to hit as his team's last best hope. Give me a break.

I'd rather have Jim Tracy back as manager than to hire Dusty Baker

78 - I'll say I liked E.T. more than Before Sunset. That's all I can give you.

Plaschke has weighed in on the Dodger Talk controversy. Is there really a need for this to go on?

80 - I don't want Baker either, but what did A Martinez say?

I always lose it when I see the scene where the Richard Farnsworth character dies in the television adaption of "Anne of Green Gables" especially when he tells Anne after she says they should have gotten a boy to help him with the farm, that he wanted her the minute he laid eyes on his Anne.

That and certain Bonanza episodes does it for me.

Following the posts a couple days ago about the Dodgers' record with Kemp/Loney, I took a look at their record when Lieberthal starts in place of Martin.

In those games, the Dodgers went 3-13.

This means that when Martin starts, they were 76-59, a .563 winning percentage, which would project to 91 wins and a playoff spot.

Not saying that Martin should start every day, but it's food for thought for anyone who thinks your backup catcher can be any over-the-hiller who hit 30 home runs once.

There are far too many to mention, but a few that get me every freaking time--

Ray Kinsella: Dad...Wanna have a catch?

Harry Bailey: A toast to my big brother George...The richest man in town.

Oh Captain, my captain

Christopher Plummer sings Edelweiss before leaving Austria

Oskar Schindler is given the ring

C.S. Lewis and his son in Shadowlands

The end of Glory

"Say goodbye to Frankie"...In America.

85 According to A Martinez, towards the end of the first game, he spoke to a "veteran" player who was upset that Grady played LaRoche and batted him 7th in such a crucial game.

Martinez added that generally there have been rumblings about Grady's lineups for a while but this was the first time someone had spoken to him about it.

Which is more important, the offensive gap between Lieberthal and Martin, or the defensive one? Or is it just the combination of the two that's a killer?

86 I'll call you very soon. I've had a rough week and a half.

91 No sweat.

87 Can you list the starters for the Lieberthal games?

I was just about to post something wondering whether Brock thought he was too good for us all of a sudden now that he has a highfalutin' job. After all, what would Dodger Thoughts at 2 a.m. be without Greg Brock?

And then he comes along and repeats four, count 'em four, of the six movies I named.

So I'm not the only Dodger fan having trouble sleeping tonight!

90 If Martin played something like 11 out of every 14 games, I think the backup catcher's win-loss record would be better than 10 games under .500

94 Brock isn't too good for anybody. Brock loves his DT peeps. Brock has had the worst week of his life. Brock is just climbing out of major, major depression.

Brock is picking up the pieces.

86 The great thing about YouTube, while I was thinking about that scene of Anne of Green Gables, I was able to find it and yep, it does it to me everytime.

96 Brock has people here wishing him well. So, there's that.

89 I would guess there are three possible "veterans" that would express disappointment with LaRoche batting 7th in game 1:

Kent, Lowe, Gonzo

They are usually the ones with the veterany type quotes. Nomar seems too quiet to grumble, and I can't think of who else it would be.

It would be fantastic if Shea Hillenbrand was the unnamed veteran!

And in other news, just on the basis of hairstyles, I can't see how the Phil Spector jury is deadlocked.

Though to be fair, I have not followed the case at all and it was probably not too hard to come up with doubt, whether or not it was reasonable doubt is another question.

Anyone know where one can find catcher's ERAs for 2007?

97 GB, I hope things turn around for you.

This should cheer you up!

http://tinyurl.com/2fohfl

99 Yeah, I ended up not getting the job I thought I got. It's a long story...And I'd really not have to go through the whole deal, but I ended up not getting the job.

So I'm unemployed. So there we are. On the bright side, I won't be unemployed for long. Teaching jobs aren't that hard to get. At least I can go to the beach for awhile.

Sharing life's total unfairness is fun!

100 Wouldn't Hillenbrand be the most likely guy?
A) Has complained about his playing time literally everywhere he's been
B) Plays third base
C) Hasn't been let out of his cage in over a week
D) Is more likely than Nomar to complain since Nomar knew he'd be starting the nightcap
E) Is just an all-around jerk

100 I was going to add that from their perspective, you do have a kid with very little time and less success playing in probably a make or break game, why not start Nomar in the first game against the better pitcher and see what happens.

I mean Jeff Francis is a pretty tough pitcher anyway. And if you are going to play Andy, why not bat him 8th?

I mean I can understand the questions.

105 Somehow, from listening A Martinez, I just have to believe it was from someone who was a little higher on the totem pole than Shea.

Found it at espn.com (catcher's ERA):

Martin 3.72
Lieberthal 6.11

Looks like a pretty big gap.

103 That actually cheered me up quite a bit. Thank you for that, Eric. It's actually the best part of being a practitioner of Dudeism...It's like, whatever, man. I abide.

Brock abides.

104 Sorry man, just call when you can.

But one of the great things about Shea is that he always THINKS he's high on the totem pole when he's not.

106 I can definitely see the veteran perspective on this, especially coupled with the fact that LaRoche has clearly been pressing and he was injured fielding grounders on Sunday.

109 Hang in there, Brock. Certain things will come to light. Sounds like you could use a little silliness to take the edge off. Am I wrong?

I can come pee on your rug if you want.

112 On the otherhand, it shows that Grady was going to play Andy when he felt he was ready to play, for whatever good that did today.

I think everyone who has doubted Loney after his 2006 season should give him an apology.

Doubting Loney after his 2006 season was nuts. Doubting him after 2004 was a little more understandable. Even I'll cop to that one.

113 I'm fine now. It's amazing what four days of not showering, shaving, or getting out of bed can do to re-energize the batteries. I don't know why people knock depression...It's actually quite theraputic.

I've been working on my dance quintet. And building a replica of the San Juan Capistrano Mission out of cheese. And adapting the Elian Gonzalez fiasco into a musical. I'm staying busy.

But yeah, the silliness would be great right about now. Unfortunately, I'm more focused on getting a job.

106 Considering how feeble Nomar looked against Mark "All-Star" Redman, I don't really mind LaRoche striking out against Colorado's ace.

Doubting Loney after his 2006 season was nuts. Doubting him after 2004 was a little more understandable. Even I'll cop to that one.

I agree, 2004 was understandable but I still remember some people who were still strongly doubting him after 2006. Its okay though. We just need Laroche to get it in gear and our core should be set for a while.

After reading Plaschke's column, I think I should host DodgerTalk, so I'm looking for my first caller of the night.

120 I really hope Rawitch doesn't take the fall. Sure, he's a PR flack, but he's a cordial, intelligent, and open PR flack. And he's a nice kid.

I wouldn't want to bear the brunt of criticism for Ned Colletti.

So I went to my school's career today, which probably signifies the official Job Search May 2008. I wonder if spending the majority of my free time posting on DT is good networking to the angry I hate dodger talk shows PR man.

career fair...I've had a long week.

121 Yeah, it really would be ludicrous if Rawitch ended up getting the ax over something like that. And frankly, the more quotes I read from Camille Johnston, the creepier she seems.

I criticize Josh sometimes, but it's really because of my disregard for the PR flak species in general. Josh himself does quite a good job of promoting the Dodgers without resorting to self-serving BS. He also seems to have more respect for his audience's intelligence than most PR people do, despite the posters on his blog doing everything they can to show how unintelligent they are.

120 Hey BH, thanks for taking my call. I don't really want to discuss anything; can I just take a shot at the Dodger trivia question?

Greg Brock - good luck and chin up man! Stiff upper lip and all that.

The answer to the Dodger trivia question is Tracy Woodson. I don't know what the question is, I just know the answer is Tracy Woodson.

123 You could always head to Nashville for the 2007 Winter Meetings, they do have a job fair there too.

Or you could wait for the 2008 Winter Meetings in Vegas.

127 That's a good guess, but no the answer was Ted Sizemore.

128 Ned Colletti at a conference in Las Vegas. Now there's a mental image.

The movie "Mannequin" was "our movie" for my very first girlfriend and I, and the theme song was one of "our songs".

I am hoping for a "Wizard of Oz" offseason. Frank McCourt sees Oz for brains, courage and a heart. He fires the two men behind the curtain, then taps his heels together three times while saying "there's no place like home" and he vanishes. Jon hits the lottery and takes over the team based on some legalism like imminent acclaim. All the DT posters get good jobs in the organization. They may as well start stenciling "los Angeles Dodgers - 2008 World Champions" on the trophy.

Brock, you deserve better. Hang in there.

It didn't even occur to me that Josh would be fired over something so silly. Have I gotten so naive? I mean, forest for the trees, here. The team has been treated so well in the press all year until just a week ago, a moment when tension against the team figured to rise anyway.

I've cried at more movies than I can list -- I tend to watch movies from "inside" the story and sympathize with the characters, whereas my wife, who went to film school, tends to watch them as a detached observer who examines what the director and cinematographer are doing.

I dare everyone to watch "Love Story" and not cry themselves silly.

In a way, reading this blog is a bit like watching a good movie. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go cry a bit over Brock not getting his dream job.

Brock: When in doubt, go back to school. It's a warm, safe cocoon that shelters you from the scary world outside.

Bye, bye 2007 season. I keep thinking about that Furcal error against the Giants, too, Jon. In reality, this was not a championship team and I think it's long way from it. Even with all our young guys playing next year, we definitely need help.

I'm not happy with Grady Little or Ned Colletti, but we're probably stuck with them for awhile. Why do they always seem to be a step behind in the common sense department?

Felt sad for Eric Gagne in his most recentl Boston failure. I guess it was not a mistake not to bring him back. Being a Red Sox fan (my AL team) and rabid Yankee hater, not even that race is looking promising right now.

Of all the things that happened or didn't happen this year I think I would have liked to have seen more rest given to Martin and Furcal. Furcal's big error had more to do with fatigue than anything else. Martin's bat would have been stronger in the second half if he had more rest throughout the season.

Third base was the weakest spot all year long and not moving Nomar to third and Loney to first at the beginning of the season has cost the Dodgers a few precious games.

I wouldn't mind seeing a new third baseman next yeat, perhaps making a trade for Colorado's Ian Stewart who is currently blocked by Atkins.

When is Dodger Talk on? I've never listened to it before, but after reading about the recent doings, I think it might be the perfect forum for a theory I've been working on. I think Juan Pierre is the one who's been speaking Cantonese in the locker room, destroying the team chemistry.

Now is the time a team should begin looking at its players of the future. That means playing them.

The Rockies have every reason to celebrate yesterday's wins, but there's something funny about this sentence from the Denver Post:

"This (victory) kept the Rockies in the postseason hunt and practically vanquished the Dodgers' dreams in the process."

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6931966?

Team records:

79-72 Rockies
79-72 Dodgers

139 unfortunately, for Coletti, playing Gonzo, Nomar & Kent IS looking at players of the future

expect to see alot more of Hillenbrand, we still won't see much if any of Delwyn Young or the young pitchers we have, and Martinez will be a regular now that Furcal is out for the season

140 they were probably referring to the Dodgers dreams of winning the division, while the Rockies dream of just making the playoffs...just a guess

140
Not to mention BP's playoff probabilities:

LA: 3.1%
CO: 2.5%

In your face, Rockies.

with the season done, why not play Hu and Abreu and Young for the remainder of the season...give them an 11 game test run

142 Maybe I am looking thru my rose colored glasses again but I think September 30 is the last time you see Gonzo in Dodger Blue. Kent and Nomar have 1 more year. If Nomar becomes the Nomar of the old days he might return but if we see the Nomar of '07 again he will be gone after '08.

137 Martin's bat would have been stronger in the second half if he had more rest throughout the season

1st half: .306/.374/.492
2nd half: .281/.380/.453

Just how strong would you like his bat to be? That 2nd half is pretty much inline with his first half. A drop in BA, but an increase in walks.

146 Ref to 142 should be 141

42

It would take a locomotive to push Wells out of the game.

117

What kind of cheese? Mmmmm... cheese.

147 - Are you disagreeing that Furcal and Martin could have used more rest this year?

I'm really glad I decided to sleep off yesterday's doubleheader disaster rather than log on to DT and vent. Rules 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12 all would've been violated with prejudice.

I feel a little better this morning. Not much better, thanks to some tangential Rule 11 issues, but I'm at least a little more even-keeled about things. Time to warm up the hot stove and get ready for 2008!

Dodger Thoughts is one of my favorite things in the world. I'm really glad I found this place. Take for instance this morning. Wake up very late for work with fierce hangover. Get to work after the subway stalls for an hour. Check Dodger boxscore see that they lose game 2 of the double header. Glimmer of hope for watching Dodgers in playoffs at Shea down the drain. Flash of anger. Check this blog things are put in perspective and start thinking about movies that make me cry. And now I am happy again. The movies I've cried at are far too many to list but the last one was Hard Day's Night. The most perfect crying movie ever made is After Life by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

I would like to see what Hu does with some playing time not to mention I don't want to watch Martinez play. Abreu should more or less platoon with Kent and Nomar. LaRoche needs to wait until next year. Meloan should have been participating regularly long before now.

150 - I think Furcal could have. I still haven't seen one person begin to show that resting Martin more would have improved the team's won-lost record.

There's this assumption that if Martin had rested more in the first half of the season, the positive impact today would outweigh the negative impact then. Why is this taken for granted? It's not as if he is worthless now, nor that he wouldn't have shown some decline in the second half even if he rested a game a week.

I can understand the concerns over his future, as vague the impact of this season on his future is, but I still don't see a strong case that Grady didn't handle Martin correctly as far as getting the team in the playoffs. Games in the first half count too.

So show me.

while we're writing farewells to the 2007 season, here's mine:

i think this year has to be considered a monumental failure. after making the postseason last year, having a wealth of budding talent, and spending big bucks in the offseason, there's no way this team should have missed the playoffs. during last offseason, i thought we had potentially the second-most talent in the league [to n.y.]; all we needed to do was to augment our existing talent with some smart new additions. needless to say, those didn't pan out.

i'm usually optimistic during the offseason, but this year i'm just queasy. how do you tear up a team that has so much young talent? you don't--but something's still missing. based on what we know about colletti, little, and even our veteran leadership, i have to think a "big splash" offensive acquisition is a near-metaphysical certainty. after typing that, i begin to worry even more.

what's clear to me is that the nucleus of youth MUST stay intact: martin, loney, ethier, kemp, bills, & broxton are here to stay. obviously, we'd like to see players like laroche, abreu, & meloan get their shots as well.

personally, i wouldn't be heartbroken if furcal were traded [hu could take over and pierre could limit his damage to the leadoff spot]. but it would take a miracle for pierre or nomar to be sent packing.

the pitching looks all right. it would be nice to see some combination of kuo/tsao/brazoban regain their health and return to form.

as for 2007, say goodbye to madame george . . .

I almost would prefer us not making the playoffs this year because I do not think we have the team to win a series against whomever we play. I would rather let the prospect of not even getting there and finishing 4th annoy Martin, Loney, Kent, et. al, for the entire offseason than us squeaking in there and having the organization think we are "close" when they get to Vero next year.

While I was at the game last Saturday, I couldn't help but think about the two games we let get away in SF. The Furcal error definitely comes to mind, but if we had swept the Giants, the Dodgers would have had a completely different mentality this week.

Was anyone else wanting one of the Dodgers to appeal Helton touching home plate last night? I know, sore loser.

I don't know how to express how this year has made me feel. I did go to bed very sad last night. Today I feel a little better.

155
I think that the decision to consistently play Nomar over Betemit and Tomdrickson over Billingsley in the first half cost between 4-6 wins. As far as Furcal resting, I think that a case could be made that putting Betemit in there once in a while could have made a marginal difference, but I do not think more than a game or two. I can't see the Martin thing...

154 - Do we really need a stat to prove what intuitively seems likely. Martin caught extra inning games, caught all innings of blowouts, caught day games following night games, caught games after long late flights home.

In the first half he hit more often in the top of the order than he did in the second half. And maybe it was a tired mind that called for that pitch location to end the game yesterday. Maybe in another city Saito's breaking ball breaks enough that he hits the target but why call for a pitch near a left handed hitters wheel house in the first place?

9-No, I'm a known around the office as a jinxer. Which explains why the Phillies are doing so well right now. I am currently working on a feature about why Philadelphia sports teams are snake bit.

Bridge to Terebithia is the last movie that made me cry quite a bit. I had not read the book, and I lost a friend like that when I was younger, so it brought on the floodgates.

Strangely, the one thing I'm saddest about is that the Dodgers' second loss yesterday invalidated my preseason prediction of 91-71. However, I refuse to give in just yet. I'm still a ten-year-old and I'm still holding out for 90 wins.

160 - To me, intuitively, those extra efforts in the first half contributed to wins, at a time when we didn't have Loney and Kemp to help the batting order. To me, intuitively, every time someone says Martin is dropping off, he comes up with a big hit like he did yesterday. The stuff about the tired mind is just pure speculation.

Again, I'm not saying a dropoff hasn't happened. But you still have to somehow convince me that he'd be more useful now with more rest than he was in the first half of the season. And he was incredibly useful then.

163
Posters still alive:

marty 80
bill crain 81
d4p 82
trainwreck 83
clair malone-evans 83
joeyp 84
humma kavula 84
schoffle 84
regfairfield 84
scareduck 85
greg brock 85
gobears 85.5
kavymon 86
disabled list 86
gagne55 86
bobtimmermann 87
gen3blue 87
oldfan60 87
ssjames 88
toycannon 88
underdog 89
natepurcell 89
bhsportsguy 89
vishal 89
unclemiltie 89
paranoidandroid 89
dodgerbakers 90
bumsrap 90
johnson 90
stopthebeachballs 90
lat 90
screwballin 90
thinkingblue 90

Here is a question that I have: Assuming we do not make the playoffs, where do we go from here? The only decent free agents out there are outfielders this winter (A-Rod not included). Pitching will again be at a premium with few arms available, though we have three consistent starters coming back.

I am racking my brain to figure out what we can do to improve the team that is not an abstraction (sorry, but Pierre has about 640 games or so left as a Dodger and noone else wants him).

Maybe a Little for Baker/Kennedy swap would do the trick...

I've never equated tearing with crying. I shed teardrops all the time, but I've only cried once since I was a child. My wife cries at least once a week, probably because she's married to me.

The last time we did not make the playoffs, our GM got fired. Maybe we can hope for the same here. Probably not, but here's to wishing for the best.

Movies that make me cry, off the top of my head:
I Am Sam
In America

168
I've been waiting until (God forbid) we're officially swimming with the fishes to bring it up, but it has not escaped my attention that:

1. The previous GM made the playoffs his first year, did not make the playoffs his second year, then got fired.

2. The current GM made the playoffs his second year, (did not make the playoffs his second year?), then...

The viewing of all the saved (previously censored) love scenes at the end of Cinema Paradiso.

I've felt for awhile that even if the Dodgers could reach the post-season they didn't have enough to go farther. The pitching implosion is somewhat beyond control. But having three left fielders play sometimes can't be good. Sometimes Gonzo looks better to me than Pierre and Kemp. Kemp is young, though, and has the howitzer arm in addition to the bat. I know it is old, but I just can't wrap my head around the Pierre signing.

I'm not ready to write off LaRoche just yet, BUT, the fact remains that the Dodgers need another big bat in their offense (provided Kemp progresses to where we all think he might).

We're stuck with Pierre. Furcal will be good next year once he heals. Kemp, Loney, Ethier, and Martin are (god-willing) locked in. I know it's a long shot, but Alex Rodriguez is on my Christmas list. And I've been a very good girl this year.

Yesterday morning I really believed we needed to sweep the Rockies and when we lost the opener I figured it was over for 2007. Despite that thinking I hope Grady plays every game until we are eliminated like it matters. I much prefer a, "Never Give Up" mentality to a realistic, "We are too far behind to catch up" one.

I hope Grady plays every game until we are eliminated like it matters

But what does that mean? Does it mean playing the old guys or the young guys?

166
I don't see the need to do anything but let this team grow together in 2008 while preparing for 2009 when we free up 35 million or so in salary.

I see a nice mix of high upside youngsters(Loney, La Roche, Kemp, Ethier, Martin) and players in their walk years (Kent, Furcal, Nomar) with backups(Hu, Abreu, Young). I don't see one position I'd spend a dollar on unless it was Arod.

To me the pitching is already set.
Billingsley, Lowe, Penny, Loaiza will be the 1st four.

The 5th will come from Schmidt, Kuo, McDonald, DJ Houlton

The summer of 2008 will see Kershaw, Elbert, Orenduff, or even McGrew

The bullpen is:
Saito, Broxton, Beimel, Meloan, Hull, and whoever

Ned should do all he can to land Arod, otherwise I'd be sitting pat.

Will that happen. Not on your life.

Maybe if the Dodgers had a third catcher and allowed Lieberthal to pinch hit more often all made posible by trading Olmedo Saenz, Martin could have been strategically rested more often.

The Dodgers have not been elilminated and can still make the playoffs. With Billingsley, Penny, and Lowe the Dodgers could do well in the playoffs. We should fill the ether with positive thoughts.

Only someone completely enamored with Depo and disgusted with Ned, can equate our 2007 season to the 2005 season.

Will that happen. Not on your life

I tend to agree, which raises the question: Where will Ned make the changes? 2B, SS, C, and CF seem virtual locks. 1B would seem to belong to Loney, but you never know. 3B is likely to be some kind of Nomar/platoon situation. Will Ned be comfortable with Ethier and Kemp flanking Pierre?

170 At a 3% playoff probability ...

At any rate, even if I do get something nice for [insert appropriate upcoming religious or secular holiday], I don't see much good it will do. We won't be rehiring DePo. I really have no idea if Kim would be any good if promoted and I don't see any one on the market that wouldn't be just as bad as Ned. Also, unlike our prior GM, Ned has saddled the team with at least one crippling contract (arguably two, if you include Nomar - which I would if it were not for the length).

167 - I tear up, but oddly, only in my left eye, and only in the mornings, sometimes.

180
Tell your wife to stop sticking her finger in your left eye while your asleep.

I meant of course emotional tearing.

Gosh, I'm really sad right now. After our terrible play in August, I knew making the playoffs was a long shot. But, I'm just so sad!

I have never divulged this to anyone and am embarrassed to the point of shame, but I teared up during Armageddon right before Bruce Willis exploded himself.

I hearby turn in my Man Card...

Cheer up, you could be a Giants fan. :-)

I think this will be the height of my sadness. That is, until the Angels sign A-Rod.

178
I would not be shocked if he felt he needed to upgrade 3b, and I'm not sure I'd be adverse to such a move. As much as I like La Roche the bulging disk changes everything, and Andy did himself no favor by not following the simple excercises they prescribed for him.

177 ... as any right minded Dodger fan should be.

I completely agree on ARod. It is part of what made the Nomar and Pierre signings so stupid (only part, of course). The Dodgers were one of the few teams that - if they prepared properly - could have afforded Boras' demands vis-a-vis ARod. We have a great core of young (and therefor cheap) players. It would also have opened up some options - such as (though hardly necessary as ARod is more valuable moving back to SS in 2009 anyway) moving LaRoche in a high value deal. We also have a high payroll. So we could have realistically offered ARod a long contract in his expected $30/year range and not harmed the franchise. We would probably only be paying a franchise tax in his last couple of seasons - which could also have been manged with some appropriate front loading.

In spite of the Pierre and Nomar signings, I still think we should be doing what we can to sign him. The creativity it will take to be a leader in the bidding for ARod, however, is sadly lacking from our GM and staff.

168 yeah I am wishing for it for sure. This team did not meet my expectations I wonder if it met McCourts.

I am tired. Twenty years tired. It is time to stop making excuses for this team. The Dodger is in need of some serious changes primarily in the dugout. Grady Little must be fired and replaced with some fire. Who? There's one answer and all one has to do is look at the team that has totally surprised MLB: The Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers need to cut ties with Grady and bring in one of the main reasons why the DB's are stunning the baseball world. Kirk Gibson. Gibson has been one of the main ingredients to the success of the DB's. To bring in Gibson as manager makes so much sense on so many levels I won't even go into all. But just a few will do: Passion, No tolerance for losing or losers, and finally the love and respect of the Dodger fans. This would show the Dodgers fans that the organization is truly on the road to reclaiming the respect that they have lost in the baseball world and among many long time Dodger fans.

165 I guessed 85.5? What the hey? I am sure to be wrong. Or was the question phrased as "what's the over/under?" That could be a half-game, whatever it takes to maximize the volume of bets. Or maybe I just weasled it and said "85 or 86?"

Eh, whatever.

It is worth pointing out that the Dodgers were pretty healthy this year. Furcal played at less that 100%, and we lost Schmidt and Kuo early (and Repko!) but that's about it. Nomar...but that's no surprise.

190
IIRC, you weasled it.

87 93
Record when Mike Lieberthal starts: 3-13
Starting pitchers:
Hendrickson (0-3), overall 4-7
Kuo (0-2), overall 1-4
Loaiza (0-1), overall 1-2
Lowe (1-1), overall 12-12
Stults (0-1), overall 1-3
Tomko (0-1), overall 2-11
Wells (1-1), overall 3-1
Wolf (0-2), overall 9-6
Seanez (1-0) (Wolf started)
Tsao (0-1) (Wolf started)

Lieberthal did not start for either Penny or Billingsley. The starters' records when Lieberthal was catching are in line with their overall W-L records, with the exception of his Philly buddy Randy Wolf. Looks like Lieberthal is a victim of small sample size and lousy starters.

So here is what we root for.
Yankees make the playoffs, get eliminated in the first round and A-Rod goes hitless. NY Press and Yankee fans blame him for the loss, he gets mad and opts out of his contract vowing to never play for a NY team again.

O.K., this is really lame, but I honestly doubt, among this forum, that I'm alone in this.

The scene in "The Rookie" where he calls his wife to ask him to bring his coat and tie to Arlington - copious tears.

175

2007 was the year the team was supposed to have grown together after all the short-term bridge-the-gap contracts in 2006 (Nomar, Lofton...).

But Colletti decided to bridge the gap for one more year (Gonzalez, Nomar, Kent extension, ...).

Bob, the Dodgers are doing their best to sleep with the fishes as soon as possible.

190
1. We lost Kemp early in the year when he slammed into the wall and then went to AAA to rehab and didn't show up for a while.
2. Kent was the hottest hitter on the team when he went down and then it took a while before he got his stroke back.
3. Furcal was never healthy all year.
4. Nomar and La Roche were lost at a key time in August.
5. Schmidt
6. Kuo
7. Wolf
8. Tsao-thus allowed Ned to rationalize the trade of Betemit for Proctor

I don't see how losing 3/5 of your rotation is healthy.

175 As often happens I agree with the Cannon.
I am generally too conservative to think about something like A-rod, but the fact is I see no reason to spend anything on position players, ending up with mostly cheap home grown solutions. If we could just develop a few starters we could afford him.

155 Late to the party, but... I always say to rest Martin for his future. He seems to be a freak of nature in being able to handle the workload now, but who knows what it means in the long run.

And A-Rod. Yes. Sign him.

If I'm not too late to the party, I cry at "All that Heaven Allows" when Jane Wyman's kid gives her the television.

189 - As soon as Gibson makes his first boneheaded decision - as all managers ultimately make - no one will care about the passion. Ultimately, I suspect he wouldn't be much more successful than Magic Johnson was as Laker coach.

I love Kirk, but calling him a main reason that the Diamondbacks are stunning the world?

152 Well said, Wilbert. And speaking of Japanese tear-jerkers, did you see Nobody Knows? That one had me sobbing.

162 And Terabithia had my girlfriend bawling uncontrollably. In fact she was mad at me for "making her" watch that. I think she related to the little girl in that film, too.

190/197 - Yeah, I wouldn't dismiss injuries as having little effect on the team. The loss of those two starting pitchers was devestating, I think. Furcal was never right. As Toy says, we lost Nomar and LaRoche right after they traded Betemit away, which made that trade look even more stupid. Having either Tsao or Kuo healthy (and effectively so) would have helped a great deal. It was a downward spiral for the team right after the first month or two, despite their solid record for awhile after. Whatever pitching depth they add next year it better be someone with little to no track record of surgery and injury, alongside, hopefully a young pitcher from the minors or three.

Calling Gibson a good luck charm makes more sense, even if it's at least as irrational. Maybe the Dodgers need to add a human lucky charm to their bench. (Not a leprechaun, a former player...)

189

It's not as if there haven't been changes in the Dodger organization for twenty years. The changes that have taken place have mostly been harmful to the team. As a lot of the comments have alluded to (more playing time to Ethier AND Kemp, more starts to Billingsley, etc..), wholesale changes are not needed for this team to compete for a championship.

186 - You're right about 3B being the main place they could upgrade. If A-Rod is not in the picture, who then? Mike Lowell? I am just afraid Ned will trade the wrong young talent to get a PVL at 3B. They already blew their chance at getting a prize CF this year by blowing their wad on JP. Furcal is okay and will be better when healed next year(just stay away from Repko{Schleprock}) and he'll be back to his 2006 numbers.
I felt the injuries to the rotation was our Waterloo this year. Losing 3/5 of your original starting 5 this year to injuries or incompetence(Tomko)truly hampered us this year. Hoping next year Schmidt can at least bounce back and earn some of the money we threw at him prior to this season. He should be a better option than this year's 5th starter in Tomrickson. Lowe, Penny and Billingsley are a good starting three. If Loaiza doesn't work out and turns out to be another Tomrickson then I would look to one of the youngsters mentioned in other posts above, McDonald, Stultz, Houlton or if he is truly ready for the show, Kershaw.

I don't know, it's strange since I honestly don't care all that much that it's over. Maybe it's because I threw in the towel over or a month ago, or even before the season started, but last night was simply met with a "huh, that sucks", and I moved on.

I don't think firing people are the answer. A third great purge in four years won't help much. We almost all argued that DePo deserved time to let his plan take hold, so why shouldn't we give Ned the same benefit? Yeah, we can argue about his love for PVL, but I think everyone except LaRoche has pretty much gotten a fair shake. If you want to see what it really looks like to see a young player get screwed over, look at Adam Jones in Seattle.

Firing the manager won't change anything, anyone you hire will be exactly the same, or be Dusty Baker and blow up the staff. As I keep saying, any manager that's ever missed the playoffs is hated by his fanbase, and as long as you aren't doing things that are detrimental to the long term health of the club, it doesn't really matter.

We'll be a much better club next year, and that's all there is too it. This year needed too many things to go right for it to be successful, and not enough of them did. Cest la vie.

196 Yes, in the Luca Brazzi division.

189 Little is hardly the problem. He blunders like all MLB managers, but it is not as if he has some systemic, crippling issue (the likes of which we saw from Jim Tracy). Firing him and replacing him with - well, anybody - would not have any dramatic effect on the team's winning ability.

[203 (et al)] Our injuries were relatively minor this year. Like pretty much every team in baseball, we had some injuries and at least one (Schmidt) should be considered as having a "major effect." But this was not anything like 2005. As a whole, the Dodgers were healthy. I also don't think it is at all fair to blame 3B on "injuries" - the core problem was trading away for essentially nothing the guy that should have been our starting 3B all season. That was a GM problem, not an injury problem.

206 Would you exercise Wolf's option ($9M vs. $500k buyout)?

I love Andy, but if they can get one of the best players in the game to play 3B, the Dodgers should do it.

That's A-Rod or Miguel Cabrera.

How much would you guys offer A-Rod, if he's even available to the Dodgers? I'm in the camp that thinks the Yankees will sign him to an extension.

What would you guys offer in a trade for Cabrera? Wouldn't the mythical beast have to be a centerpiece of that trade, and if so, are you still interested?

I'm sorry if this has been broached before, but assuming the dodgers want to keep the young core together for the foreseeable future, what are the payroll issues for keeping them?

It looks like Billingsley, Broxton, Kemp, Ethier, Martin, and Loney are all under $500k right now, but for how long? And if Loney or Martin has a couple more full seasons on par with this year, won't they be expecting healthy raises pretty soon? If so, will the Dodgers be able to keep them all (assuming there will still be some Pierre-esque contracts around)?

207 Well, it'd be nice to fire Pierre.

202 Yes I actually recently saw that one and it got me as well. Oh and while we're at it Ikiru by Kurosawa is great also. You can actually watch it here if anybody feels like crying: http://tinyurl.com/3yu3st

207 Not that I disagree, but most of us argued that DePodesta shouldn't have been fired because he had only 2 years to implement his plan... while one could argue that Ned Colletti has no plan, neither trusting the kids nor jettisoning them for veteran players. Giving him another year or three might only bring more of the same.

I think that's splitting hairs, but I do see that side of it.

After reading the Times game recap, I was surprised to read that the Rockies have never finished higher than the Dodgers in franchise history?

I'd love to see the Dodgers offer Martin, Loney, and possibly Kemp (next year) long-term contracts to keep costs down.

212 None really, any long term contract signed after this year will probably be structured something like this:

2008 - One million
2009 - Four million
2010 - Six million
2011 - Seven million
2012 - 12 million
2013 - 12 million

The real money won't come up until it's someone else's problem. The Dodgers have absolutely no financial commitments after 2011 right now.

Did Furcal hang it up for the season--there was a post earlier to that effect.

215 Of course, in fact I've argued in the past that Ned has no plan whatsoever, but I don't think that's true anymore. He just believes in very slowly integrating young talent. It will be interesting to see how he handles the first young player that doesn't immediately set the world on fire.

202
I had no idea how Terabithia ended. I was a bit shocked that a children's story would have such a real ending. It was hard to sit through and I was angry she died, but unfortunately, real life isn't done by Disney.

207 "We almost all argued that DePo deserved time to let his plan take hold, so why shouldn't we give Ned the same benefit?"

Because Ned's clear plan is a plan for failure that will be saved (or rather, mitigated) only by our farm system. The sooner he is gone, the better (though as I said in an earlier post, I don't see any obviously better alternatives - but I also don't see how it could get worse).

DePo's clear plan, on the other hand, was going to be successful and was building on the right abilities. It was not random luck that with DePo we have 5 Center fielders for our 5 outfielder positions. It was not random luck that the bats were stacked with TTO hitters. etc. etc.

198
I know our recent forays into the FA 3rd base market has not gone well (Mueller/Nomar) but we could splurge a little on Mike Lowell, strengthen our bench a bit and call it an offseason.

That leaves mucho $$$$$ in the bank for a Mr. Santana and Miggy Cabrera after the 2008 season.

218 We only have 2 financial committment beyond 2008 (Schmidt, Pierre) excluding potential buyouts (Penny, Loaiza). Payroll will look a lot different in 2009.

In 2007, this team found it's identity in a lot of ways. If we had one more pitcher (Maddux?) we'd be right in it. A few close games going our way and we are in it. If we win Lowe's three complete games, we're in it. We established our young players as the future, and now we need to win on the basepaths and with fundamentals and defense.

Next year will be a battle from day one and we simply need to win the battles within the game to get back to the top. The Rocks are loaded with guys who can smack the ball. The D-Backs had their fun this year, I don't see them as a complete team just yet but they are young and will be in the mix for some time. The Pads have pitching and a pitcher's park. The Giants will improve because they can't be any worse than this year and they have young pitching, good young pitching.

I don't think we need big splashes to be in a position to win it all. We just need to keep our core intact, stay healthy, and keep the faith.

My reaction to this being over for us is how Saito reacted last night. You look, you realize you didn't do enough, you move on. And you know that you'll be right back in it with more desire and experience in 08.

The future can be very bright, let's not overreact.

224 Penny will almost certainly be there for 10 million in 2009, and we have some other minor commitments to Nomar.

223 I just can't see that happening unless LaRoche is just out of the Dodgers plans. It knocks Nomar out of a job, something that Ned would get eviscerated in the press for, and turns LaRoche into plan C.

Considering Mike Lowell will get paid this offseason, he doesn't seem like a wise investment.