http://tinyurl.com/2fj8br

Well, I guess the Dodgers will still be able to claim they had nobody named in the Mitchell report at the time the report actually came out.

It doesn't really matter what Bennett used to get whatever his terrible OPS+ is. He'll never play.

I don't think the ESPNews host knew his subject as he asked Law, "Kuroda's not the Dodgers' #1, is he?" Why can't Brian Kenny be on ESPNews 24/7?

Ned's first misstep of the offseason. It may not seem like much, but he's probably sentenced Martin to another year of overwork.

It just goes to show how useless that report was for actual baseball. A completely media driven story.

Maybe Keith Law can find Kuroda's groundball rates.

Let's hope Larry Bowa doesn't uphold this tradition.

*$500,000 Chad Billingsley
$10,000,000 Derek Lowe
$9,500,000 Brad Penny
$12,300,000 Hiroki Kuroda
$12,000,000 Jason Schmidt

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/17/jail.escape.ap/index.html

If you include his bonus, Schmidt makes more.

It's likely that NPB keeps the stats, but they don't publish them online and/or in English.

25-man roster as of 12/17/2007 1:30 p.m. PST

Pitchers (9)
Penny, Lowe, Billingsley, Kuroda, Loiaza, Proctor, Beimel, Broxton, and Saito
Catchers (2)
Martin, Bennett
Infield (5)
Loney, Kent, Furcal, Garciaparra, LaRoche
Outfield (4)
Kemp, Ethier, Jones, and Pierre

Probables
Pitchers (2-3 from this group):
Schmidt, Meloan, Kuo, Brazoban, Hull, Houlton, Stults, or NRI
Infield (1-2):
Abreu, Hu, Valdez, Sweeney, or NRI
Outfield (1):
Young, Repko

"I'm Mister Heatmiser, I'm Mister Sun;
I'm Mister Heatmiser, I'm Mister hundred and one;
They call me Heatmiser, whatever touch, simplys turns into mush, he's too much."

19 "Yeti" works if the snowman is, well, abominable.

I'm still shopping for a generation.

http://tinyurl.com/yt6knu

Oh well, at least he's not Chad Kreuter, still my least favorite all-time Dodger backup catcher.

Perfect for a backup C. Lieberthal must have reacted Kemp-like (trash can) when Gonzo and the gang gave him flowers and balloons when he started late last year. :)

Nevermind.

Do the Dodgers have any long-term plan to preserve Martin? Surely they realize that he is the very best asset that the team has, because he can hit and he plays catcher. Catchers have a short shelf-life, career-wise.

I realize that arguing about a team's backup catcher is a little pedantic, but how long can the team keep running Martin out there every day before our Golden God will be tarnished?

In which ways?

I'm not convinced that had he kept Leiberthal around there wouldn't be the same complaints. Heck Ned has pretty much done everything the majority here hoped he would do. So without anything really to complain about it's Kuroda isn't very good and he's overpaid (granted that's the minority). Others refuse to give Ned credit and insist he's being forced to hold onto the kids.

I guess we're lucky if we have to try and find things to complain about.

How many times did Lieberthal pinch hit last season? My recollection is he was used a few times in that role. Bennett is just a space plug on the 25-man roster. Irritating signing.

Waterwoman?

To answer your question, I think this offseason overall has made a number of skeptical people reasonably happy, including me.

I actually like the Bennett signing. If the Dodgers can make the playoffs, I'd say Bennett is the perfect candidate for "unlikely postseason hero."

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/Kd8T

Do we still have Tomas Perez?

1. I really disagee with this notion of Kuroda's having "no upside." True, it's unlikely he'll win 20 games or finish in the top five of the Cy Young vote, but it's possible he could achieve a great level of success here. It's entirely possible he could be our 3rd best pitcher this year, and on a contending team, that's not small potatoes.

2. While the amount of money spent is a bit alarming, I think the true test of fiscal prudence [i.e., saving for the future--whether it's Martin, Kemp, or Santana] will come next offseason. I count about $47m coming off the books next offseason: that's when we need to decide what direction we're heading. I hate to sound like Colletti, but we're still smack in the middle of that transition/bridge period where we're just adding veterans to supplement the youngsters.

3. I have no opinion of Bennet. All I ask is that he's better with the bat than Bako.

Heck, is he better than any?

So you could either say a phoenix or a car.

2007 - 138
2006 - 134
2005 - 133
2004 - 134
2003 - 137
2002 - 138

Last year, the Yankees' backup was Jose Molina. In 2006, Kelly Stinett. In 2003, 2004, and 2005, John Flaherty.

79 I'd say he's better than all of them. They're really, really bad.

Logan White needs to draft a few catchers. Perhaps in 2009, when we'll have as many as seven first round picks (our own, plus compensation picks for Lowe, Penny, Furcal, possibly even Kent).

"[Bennett] hit .252 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 155 at-bats in 2007....Bennett replaces Mike Lieberthal, who hit .234 with no homers and one RBI in only 77 at-bats as Martin's backup."

FWIW, those don't seem actually worse. So there must be other stats to make many people so contemptuous of him. Yes?

Also FWIW, I liked Lieberthal: he seemed a nice guy. He was used throughout the season more as a package with Wolf, who's gone.

Let's say it was time to start resting Martin twice as much as last year. Wouldn't we need someone better and younger than either Lieberthal or Bennett? And more expensive? Might it not make sense to wait until sometime mid-season to look for one of those, when they'll be both more plentiful and cheaper? Then Bennett will become the 3rd-string catcher. I can't see how getting Lieberthal helps in this scenario. Use the money towards the more expensive guy mid-season.

Still the worst trade in franchise history, though.

83
Lieberthal started 17 games for the Dodgers last season, and the team was 3-14 in those games. Ouch.

I don't think he would ever use a top ten round pick on a catcher (Mike Nixon anyone).

I say that will checking the records so I will be proven wrong, I know it.

Actually, we're allowed to revisit the trade iff Depo traded Lo Duca for steroid reasons.

Answer: he turned 37. Or he got unlucky. Either way, after following up campaigns of .267/.297/.457 and .252/.286/.465, his hits didn't fall and he lost his power and batted a positively anemic .165/.206/.252 in 2005. That is an OPS+ of 23. Joe Torre gave him 127 at-bats to do that.

What we do know for a fact is that Ned was able to choose between Lieberthal and Bennett, and chose Bennett despite Lieberthal being the obviously better pick.

Or, as he was once called by the LA Dogtrainer, "De Owner of De Area behind De Plate."

I hope some reporter makes Ned say something good about Bennett. He can't say he's good on offense, can't say he's good on defense, and can't brag about his character.

What's left?