If Nomar and others want to leave too then that is fine and we can accommodate them by trading them.

Sure, but the elephant in the room is that the young guys outperformed the old guys, with Kent as the lone exception. He probably thinks he's sticking up for Gonzo and Nomar who, in the end, lost their jobs, or portions of their jobs, fair and square. You'd think that type of perspective might factor in at some point. You're right, it does put Grady in a different light.

By the way, wasn't it Diamond Leung who last week disputed the claim that the Dodgers had clubhouse problems?

I think I've done three of those at once, but I'm not a professional athlete, so I can't get four emotions like that at once.

A few weeks back when SI ran their face of the franchise thing, it was an interesting exercise... but I wonder if the face of the franchise is really Nomar Garciaparra.

That's a fair point with Gonzo and Nomar, but Kent didn't lose his job and that's not what he complained about. Neither is he really in danger of losing his job if he returns (and certainly people here haven't complained about him manning 2B again like we have with Nomar, etc). I don't think he was really standing up for guys like Gonzo and Nomar as much as he was complaining about winning and the recent choke job.

I think the main issue is that Kent is being 1) irrational (the kids have carried the vets more than the other way around) and 2) hypocritical (ie, he's made dumb mistakes, too).

Kent signed up to win (and to play and to make money). If he comes back next year he has a good chance to do just that. He just doesn't seem to realize the kids help more than the typical PVL would (or he's frustrated and said something he didn't really mean).

La Roche cut kind of reminded me of a young Lieberthal, I'm basing this on only one home run of course but it did look pretty cool.

dont fans want the next Fernando? the next Orel...the next Piazza. I feel that if the Dodgers devoted a marketing strategy to promote the young players, it could work. I think fans of teams almost always want a homegrown superstar rather then a mercenary.

I dunno, it just seems the Dodgers didn't even try. For God sakes, even Brett Tomko had a stupid huge banner.

And fans at the game still cheer loudest for the third baseman with the funny name.

Anyway, reposting my last comment from previous thread just, 'cause...

No doubt he's been productive, and even this year, with 'tail end of his career' model Kent, he's still been pretty decent, and I've been totally fine with his surliness because he's always been competitive and a gamer. But calling out kids like that in the press is incredibly unclassy - even if it were true, which it isn't. If he wasn't future hall of famer Jeff Kent, he'd probably be asked to make a public apology, even.

And, yeah, I've seen as much or even more bad baserunning from Kent than I have from Kemp and company the past month so if he wants to point fingers he should start by looking in his mirror.

Kent disagrees about the money part in an article after signing his last contract:

"I'm willing to dedicate myself for another couple of years. It's safe to say I'm proud to be able to retire a Dodger. I'm 99.9 percent sure this is the last contract of my career.''

"It's not about the money. I've got enough money,'' Kent said. "After I talked with Mr. McCourt last night, and I got this feeling when I spoke with him over the winter, I felt his integrity and passion to put the Dodgers back on the map as a perennial contender. My last four or five years, all I've wanted was to be part of a winner.''

and then there's the macho business from Colletti:

"To me, he's got Hall of Fame credentials. He's as competitive as anyone,'' Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "You look at his last 10 years and he plays a lot, plays hurt, plays through just about everything. I think he's one of the best players on the club.''

http://tinyurl.com/26uebv

I definitely agree. I do not think it would be too hard to start a new marketing campaigned headlined by Russ and with all the other kids. The Dodgers have a great base to build on because the younger players are actually performing and performing at an extremely high level. It just seems there is absolutely no need for Colletti to acquire veterans just because they are a recognizable name for fans.

Circumstances prevented Andy LaRoche from playing when he would have a lot of time to grow back in August, and I can't see the manager playing him anymore than he did in September.

Tony Abreu or Chin-Lung Hu for Furcal, maybe, I don't know, but that would have been a pretty bold move.

Who else, Stults, Houlton instead of Loiaza?

I agree, Matt Kemp should have been a fixture in right field but besides that but how many more kids really could have played this year as it played out.

But what he is talking about here: "I don't know why they don't get it - professionalism, how to manufacture runs, how to keep your emotions in it." is about maturity and expectation.

Coming from Kent, I believe he's saying that the younger players don't yet know how to handle the adversity/pressure of a playoff run. Kent, as much as he's chronicled as a jerk, is also universally known as having a highly competitive, killer instinct style of play. Perhaps he believes some of the kids could have produced more had they felt like it. . . .been more dedicated to it. And if that was my perspective, I would be "angry and disappointed and perplexed and bitter", too.

Ditto!

very easy, I'm pretty sure '08 will show case there talents far more than PVL. The Marketing Team (is it a team?) would be foolish not to market the likes of Russell Martin, James Loney & Matt Kemp, Nomar will do his Sunday carne asade & all is well in DodgerLand.

And if he is counting Martin in that group then he is nuts, because Martin plays the game harder than Kent does. Also, Andre Ethier probably shows the most emotion of anyone on the team after at bats.

Benard went to high school with a friend of mine.

Okay, I need to go to the gym, work off all my pent-up aggression.

1. Kent retires. I just don't see this happening.
2. Kent re-ups, and is told, this is the program, so get with it.
3. Kent re-ups, and management tries to accommodate his need to not have so many young guys around.

None of these are good. 3 is an obvious disaster, but can any of us say its out of the question? When Ned gets this chorus of PVLs coming into his office saying that a team with this much youth just won't work, will he be able to see through that? And then the inevitable barrage of newsprint supporting the PVL point of view?

He's probably the only major leaguer who knows where Cudahy is.

Cudahy is one of four cities in L.A. County I have never been in and the other three are the gated cities.

This theory that the little things win games and is still propagated by men who've never played little ball in their life but expect others to, drives me up a wall.

Productive outs............

Ramirez was out from me to Palm Beach.

Dan Uggla followed with a single.

He just seems like a grumpy old man, talking about the way he did things in the old days and telling the press to get off his lawn. He is complaining for no reason and it has no resonance at all with me.

Whatever. It's Jeff Kent. He says stuff like that, and sometimes, he gets quoted saying it.

You aren't missing anything.

I heard Andre Ethier say last week that he rarely makes it to early BP but he does his work when his name is on the sheet.

Now, he has every right to not go to anything he isn't required to do but he is also a second year player that probably hasn't figured everything out yet. And that could rub guys the wrong way if they think you are not "respecting the game."

Maybe the life should just be measured in merit and how and why you do things shouldn't matter but generally that isn't how things work out.

The reason why the Juan Pierres get praised is that it is probably believed that they do everything possilble to get the most out of their talent, now the Dodgers have some guys with great talent but are they now willing to put in the work to continue to get better now that they have reached the big leagues.

That question remains unanswered for now.

that's pretty crazy cause my buddy is a truck driver.

I didn't go through with it.

Miguel Cabrera hits a 3-run homer to put Florida up 4-3.

What's wrong with publicly saying that the young guys still have a lot to learn?

But am I Dan Ackroyd or Jane Curtin?

I recently moved to a new neighborhood. I met my new neighbor, who was playing with her kids in the front lawn. I introduced myself to the kids.

"My name is Humma," I said. (I didn't really say Humma.)

"Do you mind if they call you Mister Kavula?" said my neighbor. "I'm trying to teach them respect."

I'm all for respect. I'm a big fan of treating people -- everyone -- the right way. The golden rule is maybe the wisest thing anyone's ever thought of.

But a lot of times, things get filed into "respect" that have nothing to do with that. What does calling me by my first name have to do with respect?

I know my example is entirely unrelated, but I wonder if there's a similar thing going on. Just because Jeff Kent spews his crazy opinions doesn't mean you have to listen to him; you can still respect what he's accomplished in the game.

And get off my lawn!

On the other hand, I find the younger librarians to be quite an asset. Mainly because they seem to like to do a lot of work.

My real post was going to be in reply 56 . I think he already got a ring in 1992 when he came up with the Blue Jays.

Oh, one more thing: Good riddance, old man. Your sparkling personality and your spectacular baserunning snafus won't be missed. Enjoy your Hall of Fame induction. The only people in attendance will be your wife and kids.

Just the other day we heard a story that Kent as a rookie didn't like the "wear the funny costume" ritual. Now, all of a sudden it's that the kids don't get it. Maybe they don't get that they are obviously better but don't get to play?

I can't figure Kent out, he's all over the place. Maybe he's just an ...

yeah, he's an old dude LAT, I tell him he looks young for being old but for some reason I got bad feed back when I said that (from Bob & TC, if I remember correctly it was in good humor though)

Also keep in mind that the media tends to print the stuff that will make the most waves. Who knows what else he said of importance.

That said, he should have bit his tongue. But Jeff doesn't do that. He's emotional and he hates to lose. If we're in Kent's position I'm sure we would be thinking the same thing, but we probably wouldn't say it.

And now Rollins doubles . . . still no outs in the seventh.