Jon is so mad, he's going to watch "Private Practice" tonight instead of the Dodgers. And rave about the witty dialog.

I am amazed you found the time to write this and appreciative that you did. Well emoted, and well said.

What inanity.

Jon is so mad, he's violating Rule 10 because of Rule 1.

the "negated" quote really pissed me off too.

Here -- this is more fun: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/023190.php

Throw the babies out with the bathwater. That's the operating strategy that has been suggested over the past week

This has been the hallmark of the McCourt era. He is always looking for a quick fix. First it was go with Depo and the stats. When that was deemed a failure Depo was uncermoniously terminated. Change directions. Go with youth and character. When that doesn't work get rid of the kids and go with vets. Pretty soon Frank's going to run out of babies and bathwater.

Anyone remember the SNL skit (from the late 80s?) where the catch phrase was "I'm mad as hell!"? I can't remember the gist, but it seems like Danny DeVito was involved. That not withstanding, I seem to remember it being pretty funny.

I feel the same way as Jon. But, it's making me tired. If the Dodgers trade away their future, I may just give up baseball for a few years as I pretty much did in the 90s. Then again, I'm not the fan they care about. I rarely go to games. I don't buy their merchandise.

may just give up baseball for a few years as I pretty much did in the 90s. Then again, I'm not the fan they care about. I rarely go to games. I don't buy their merchandise.

Mega Dittos.

I want to know who these "insiders" are. Since it's not Ned or Frank McCourt, my guess is Tony Jackson. Or Jeff Kent.

This is one of the more irresponsible columns I've ever seen. I don't think he wants to run into me in a dark hallway any time soon.

I was about to write nearly the exact same thing.

i also can't stand the absolute deference that management and the press treat the veterans with. nobody seems to be able to criticize them or correctly lay the blame for this crappy season at their feet.

it's really odd that in our society, which for the most part values youth and productiveness over age and experience, where everyone is trying to look and seem younger, where there is such a "generation gap" because old people are thought to be out of touch, that in baseball there is still this culture of deference.

11 as 8

12
Yep. All of a sudden, Jeff Kent and Derek Lowe are role models.

Great red piece, and about time in my opinion.

Also watching last night I don't think we need to worry about hitting for the next few years, But we better do something about the pitching. All this stupid prattle aside, our pitching collapse took us out of the race.

This is a nightmare except it is still there when I wake up. Matt Kemp is the most exciting and talented player I have seen in a Dodger uniform in a long time. He is truly a pleasure to watch. The idea of Loney, Kemp and Martin along with some of our young pitchers makes me love being a Dodger fan despite the recent collapse. If we keep the likes of Sweeney and trade Kemp we are destined for 70 - 75 wins and a lot of ire from this old Dodger fan.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T DO IT.

Here is a list of players aged 23-28 who have complied an OPS+ > 115 over the last 3 years.

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

I'm going to be closing the poll at true blue today. At this point Orel leads by the slimmest of margins. Grady beat out Kevin Kennedy which says something for our voters. On the other hand Dusty Baker got some votes.

http://www.truebluela.com/poll_vote/1190302786_eQHzQYrZ

Bill Plaschke is a miserable person who is determined to inflict his misery on everyone else--indeed, it loves company. He already has the scalp of a Dodger GM to prove his own genius and power, so getting Kemp's would merely cement his reputation as Dodger guru and kingmaker. He doesn't care about the Dodgers' success--it is his own that drives him.

I thought it was eight is enough? Pierre or Kent should not have started last night.

I've held my tongue alot lately, as it seems alot of this is generated on stupid columns that may or may not be based on reality. Sort of like second guessing off-season rumors.

Still, Pierre is worse than Kemp and way more expensive. Also, if all of this has any basis in reality, why not shut up, and let managment get some value out of Kemp for a change. I like Kemp, I think it's great he's seen as a "5 tool" guy, but really it's Loney that looks like the superstar to me (besides Martin). Kemp looks bad in the field to me and uncomfortable at the plate (though he HAS gotten better at laying off the offspeed down and away).

There's a pile of deadwood on the bonfire. But there's a few babes in the bathwater, too. If Kemp can be used to get someone legit I would definitely consider it, but I sure don't trust Coletti or McCourt to have the same definition of legit (or value) as I do.

When a team has a great core of young players and they are able to come up more or less together to the majors, already feel like a team, already feel like they are going to win together, then get out of the way, encourage it, let it grow.

Good executives know when to get out of the way and merely remove the obstacles. What are the obstacles? Gonzo and Kent for sure and Nomar if he doesn't accept that he is now playing only as good as a backup.

This year's Dodger team reminds me most of the 1972 version, when Garvey/Cey/Russell/Ferguson/Yeager/et al came up and elbowed unproductive veterans aside. Two years later they were in the World Serious.

One point is worth noting: Tommy Lasorda came with them. He served as their minor league mentor and was present to ease their big league transition, even as they broke in under curmudgeonly Walter Alston. Isn't there a minor league manager or coach who knows our present babies and can come be their shepherd, advising them and advocating for them against surly vets and power-mad writers?

One of the most interesting lines in the column is "I had requested an interview with Frank McCourt, who has made a commitment to transparency and whom I summon only when absolutely necessary."

He summons Frank?

12,14 Yeah, ya know one thing that would be nice is to have a little heat directed at Kent. Because as much as I value the bat, combine the bad clubhouse attitude with statuesque defense and poor baserunning (was he sent last night or did he do that on his own?) and I'd rather he feel compelled to retire. I'd at least make it clear that his playing time could be halved.

Bravo, Jon. Great post. Hopefully someone from the Dodger management reads it (yeah, I know how likely that is).

It's funny... when I first moved to LA I was so excited that I was finally going to get a lot of Dodger coverage on the radio and in the papers, instead of all the Giants/A's press I got up north. Never would I have suspected that the LA press was largely a bunch of rancid whiny knife-stabbers who couldn't care less about balanced coverage.

Bill Plaschke gets about as much time of day from me as a rollie pollie. Sheesh talk about reckless abandon. What happened to mainstream sports journalism in LA?

Not to defend Plaschke or the theoretical "trade Kemp" plan, but let's say for the sake of argument that Kemp really is a bad clubhouse presence, that there are things we don't even know about, that he fights with his manager, argues with his GM, doesn't practice hard, etc.

Even if that's true, and the Dodgers therefore really want to trade him, why would you leak that story?? "This kid's a clubhouse cancer. Who wants him?" It makes no sense. Either keep him, warts and all, or shut up and trade him. But for the love of God, don't reduce his value by suggesting he's a big problem, and THEN try to trade him. Aaargh.

I like this one better. By runs created with the ages increased from 20 - 31 from 2005 - 2007.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/MMA7

Even if that's true, and the Dodgers therefore really want to trade him, why would you leak that story?? "This kid's a clubhouse cancer. Who wants him?" It makes no sense. Either keep him, warts and all, or shut up and trade him. But for the love of God, don't reduce his value by suggesting he's a big problem, and THEN try to trade him. Aaargh

Once Colletti sours on a guy, he doesn't seem to care about trade value. He just wants to get rid of him.

There's nothing wrong with this team that couldn't be fixed by axing the LA Times sports section.

Thank you, Jon, for being the big stick.

Hey Jon,
Any chance we lift Rule 1 for one thread? I definitely feel like I need it.

I'm done reading anything by Plaschke. I normally listen to Simers on the radio as I get ready for work -- no longer. And if Ned trades Matt Kemp, I'm done with the Dodgers, too.

I don't know how big the Daily News is, but the fact is there isn't enough competition in the L.A. newspaper market. These are the sorts of things I'd just laugh off, but I think Jon's anger, and I've never seen you get like this before, in fact I'm kind of scared of you right now; anyway:

Here's the Pattern of Plaschke:

-- Sours on Gary Sheffield, Sheff gets traded
-- Sours on DePo, DePo gets fired
-- Sours on Kemp

-- Sours on Beimel, Beimel stays and defies the Plaschke.

I swear to you, why pick on Kemp? I really hope the management isn't that dumb. I trust they won't be...

I was only kidding about the anger bit. I'm pretty miffed myself.

Funny how far the JP deal reverberates. If last year Lofton is re-signed to a one yr deal we are not even having this conversation becasue the Dodgers need three outfielders in '08. But with JP playing CF everyday as though its a birthright Kemp becomes expendable. At least in Coletti's mind.

7 it's from the movie "Network"

Beimel was spared becuase of contrition. He publically fell on his sword. The others did not>

As it stands right now, I think LaRoche is much more likely to be traded than Kemp.

Well it would be bad journalism to not read and analyze Plaschke's latest blather, here I go...

By the way, responding to D4P from the last thread...

I don't want to get too much into this, because my endorsement of Crawford is tepid, but his VORP for this year is 46th in all of baseball at 37.8. Pierre's VORP is 15.9.

Also he's 25 years old this year. And he made $4 million this year and makes $5.25 million next year.

So you might be right to say that he's Juan Pierre with middling power, but that makes him a nice player.

He's not the second coming -- and I'll repeat that I am not in any way advocating trading Matt Kemp for him -- but Crawford is a nice player and young and cheap. All I'm saying is if he were on my team, I'd be a fan.

Great work Jon. The only thing that could make it better was if I was reading it in the MSM. Maybe an article along these lines could get into SI?

Question: Does Ned have a history of being manipulated by Plaschke/The Media? Part of me thinks that a "PR Guy" wouldn't allow himself to be so easily manipulated. Part of me thinks Ned would stand up to hacks like Plaschke.

Is part of me wrong?

is Kemp the second coming...maybe...

is Kemp the problem...doubt it (his family is really nice and that is usually an indicator), but we aren't there, so who knows...

I see a trade happening, and us getting the short stick...I expect nothing better from Coletti...

it's apparent to me that Plaschke is Coletti's voice...

2 "Well emoted" ? Never heard that one before. Next time my girlfriend freaks out on me that's gonna be my first response, like a sophisticated theatre critic, "Well emoted Lara...well emoted."

I'm too depressed about this kind of stuff to be angry, or maybe I'm just tired and this is just too predictable. This does remind a bit of a thread a couple of years ago on John Sickels site where someone mentioned that they preferred Hunter Pence over Matt Kemp because of attitude problems and past troubles. They said something about getting into trouble with Sheldon Williams, the former Dukie.

43 That is likely to get you slapped.

Look, I urge everyone here to write a letter, snail mail, and send it to Mr. Frank McCourt, Dodger Stadium. Just take 20 minutes and do it, and mail it. Believe me, he reads a letter from a fan when he gets one. In business, the rule of thumb is that one letter probably represents the thoughts of ten thousand people - as so few will go to the trouble to write and send a letter.

My letter to him will be urging him to fire Colletti and Little, hire Logan White as GM, keep all the young players and stop signing over-the-hill vets. Try and sign A-Rod.

Just do it, please guys. Believe me, there is nothing more important you could do to influence the future direction of the Dodgers. Thanks.

43 I see a long and successful relationship there...emoted??...her response will be wtf does that mean....

35 I think the SNL sketch referenced the famous Network scene, or at least ripped it off. No one beats Peter Finch's Howard Beale for ranting, though.

I don't think I've ever seen Jon go for the three question mark sombrero before!

This is all so ridiculous, I wish we didn't even have to comment on it, but unfortunately we know Dodgers' management pays more attention to the LA Times woefully bad journalism than Dodger Thoughts. Still, I'm optimistic they're waiting for this kind of stuff to blow over and are not planning on trading Matt Kemp because of murmurs and rumblings and b.s. from the Times.

46 he might be more responsive to your letter is you limit your thoughts to "stay the course with the younguns"

what I have learned in business is make it count, hit on your main one or two points...if you hit him with a laundry list of matters, they tend to blur each other

I agree R-Dog, can't hurt to write a letter. At the very least plea the case of going young and staying that way. I think as fans, who pay money, if we write politely but adamantly, it can't hurt.

I always assume any unsourced rumor about potential Dodger moves comes from Lasorda. It makes me feel better.

Here's what I came up with:

"The Dodgers need a legitimate star, in the prime of his career, who can lead on and off the field."

Plaschke, use your unflappable pen power to lobby for A-Rod then. It seems all too obvious to me. Plus, it doesn't even require trading anybody.

"The Dodgers don't feel that giving up on Kemp means giving up on the youngsters."

First of all, what is anyone giving up on? A .364 On Base Percentage? A .504 slugging percentage? 10 HR and 40 RBI's in limited starts? A 125 OPS+?

Second, of course it means giving up on the youngsters. It sets a bad precedent, puts a damper on the morale of the team, etc etc.

No veteran is going to match the potential of what Kemp or Loney has now. These folks can get better. Anybody else you pick up this year, outside of maybe A-Rod, can only get worse and for more money.

Plaschke is way too concerned with the touchy feely aspects of players, and, the way I'm seeing it, it's like he's supporting the guys who support him back. That's not journalism, that's favoritism.

Jon, I believe you mean Diamond Leung of the Riverside P.E. (not Dylan Hernandez).

Jon;
This is the post I was looking for.

I don't even know what to say, except that Simers can go to hell.

I'd also like to ask Kent, and I see him around town here in Texas once in a while, so I just might...I'd like to ask him where he gets off bad-mouthing the only consistently productive aspect of the team.

Isn't that what this boils down too? Two teams: one that is good and young, and one that sucks and is washed up.

Apologies for the long comment. With all the good that is happening with this team, I would hate to see it ruined by the likes of Kent, Gonzalez and the "un-named complaining veteran who is obviously self-righteous Nomar 'Gee Maybe I'll Get Another Home Run Someday' Garciaparra."

So anyone else think that Plaschke's source for the article is Tommy Lasorda?

I don't know if there's any point in writing to bill.plaschke@latimes.com but maybe, or better yet a letter to the editor. Newspapers are basically cowards these days who worry about losing still more subscribers (so if you are still one even better) and it also helps to just counteract some of their printed stupidity with our own DT brand of smarts. So if you're in a letter writing mood, McCourt and the LA Times are both good targets.

By the way, when I was looking up Crawford's and Pierre's VORPs earlier, I saw this -- Mark Sweeney...

The Voice of Experience's VORP is -2.3.

Jon's mad enough to break out the red font tag.

Watch out, world.

(Thanks for yet another good one, JW.)

The Dodgers have so much young talent both on the team this year and coming soon that with all the roster spot openings coming (Saenz, presumably Martinez, Gonzo, Hillenbrand, etc) they could essentially fill ALL those spots with young players like Delwyn Young, Abreu, Hu, and so on. And sure, bring in a veteran pinch hitter, I don't even care if it's Sweeney, since he can also back up first base. But most of those spots can go with CHEAP, better young players and problems are solved. They should focus on pitching depth and leave the rest of the team to the young players, and ship the aforementioned deadweight vets off on a rickety boat with Bill Plaschke to fend for themselves.

End of story.

Great post Jon.

How can the Dodgers give up on someone like Kemp when they are so young? He is not Milton Bradley who allows emotions to affect the game. He screws up a lot on the bases, but isn't he just 22? Can't he learn the finer points of baserunning over the course of his potentially All Star career? Isn't that what Winter Ball and Spring Training is for...you know...INSTRUCTION BY THE COACHES!!!!!!!!!!

Fortunately, I do not think that Colletti will be swayed by the ravings of a media that just woke up to notice that the Dodgers missed the playoffs and then decided to "fix" them...you know what with all the contact they have with the players.

Ultimately I think that Ng, Colletti, and White will circle the wagons once the playoffs start and allow things to cool off a little.

I was already going to do this, but now I feel like it's a political act:

I'm going to the ballgame tonight, and I'm buying a Matt Kemp T-Shirt.

I'm going to tell the vendor why I'm buying a Kemp shirt and ask her to pass on my message to management.

From FoxSports.com rumors:

"Twins left-hander Johan Santana may end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. According to sources close to the team, Los Angeles is considering an offer that would send lefty pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw and young outfielder Matt Kemp to Minnesota. Kemp would replace Torii Hunter in centerfield. Kershaw, who might be the top prospect in all of baseball, would step into the rotation for Santana. -- FoxSports.com"

53 - Thanks.

I start to wonder how much of this "The Kids are immature jerks" is self-fulfilling. All year long, we heard nothing about immaturity or jerkiness. Then, all of a sudden, the media starts playing this up, needling and pushing the kids, trying to get them to respond. And when they do respond? Well, then the media says "Look! I told you they were immature jerks!"

I just want to know WHY? Why are the LA Times columnists in the corner of the sagging, overpriced veterans? Why do we not have columns about how lousy Nomar has been all year?

For goodness sake, WHY do these folks insist on the "win now" attitude? I'd love to see what their columns were like just before Piazza got traded.

Incidentally, it's been a while since I've read the paper in full: what happened to J.A. Andande?

62
Kemp would replace Torii Hunter in centerfield

Joke's on them: Kemp Can't Play Centerfield™...!

65 He took the buyout.

Ever read the blog "Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness"? Here's his post on Plaschke and co.:
http://tinyurl.com/2ev4mo

Any chance that this is all just a warning shot to Kemp? As in, "Improve your attitude or we'll trade you." Of course, that theory assumes that the whole front office is fiendishly disciplined and well-coordinated, rather than a sniping mess, but you never know...

I hope FoxSports rumor is as wrong as they usually are.

They say never post when you're angry, but it seems to work for Jon. Great job.

64 Ugh. Santana is a free agent in 2009, right? Why trade two potentially franchise players for a single year?

And that would be a trade for one year of Santana right, with an opportunity to sign him as a FA after that?

From the last thread, "255 - Sporky? Honestly, I don't know. I chose it because 'squishy' was taken." Funny... Everytime I see 'Sporky', I think "Sparky" only not, or maybe Toad the Wet Sprocket, only not. Sporky!

I just wish Coletti was fired. It all starts with Mr. PR machine/used car salesman who is working extra hard this year. He has created a perfect excuse for his failure. He has also created a perfect excuse for not sticking with the kids or if he does the expectations are that they arent good enough to win cause you know that takes time (yet AZ and Colorado are winning.)

So he has himself well covered.

Loney alone instead of Nomar probably get us into the playoffs, let alone all the other bone head moves.

One last thing, the best thing all of us can do is to stop reading columns and listening to the radio shows where self-important journalists (and their daughters who never go to games) write and talk just so that they can be the topics of conversation.

Every link to their opinion page is a message to their editors that people are reading and that their voice sells ad space.

Why trade two potentially franchise players for a single year?

Didn't Ned say he wouldn't trade the Kids for a chance to win one year...?

Dear Frank and Ned,
Trade Matt Kemp and we'll fill your house from floor to ceiling with raw uncooked Dodger Dogs.

Sincerely,
Fans