407. LAT
I was a pretty soft touch as a judge. The only people I really threw the book at were those driving without insurance. If you hurt someone and don't have the resources to compensate them you better have insurance or you better not be driving. BTw, there are tons of people without insurance out there.

The only other person I gave a maximum fine to was someone who did not have her baby in a car seat. No excuse for this.

Back in posts 152 and 164 Toy Cannon and bhsportsguy provided some scouting analysis from BHQ and BA, respectively, on the Met's prospects being traded for Santana. I looked up the BHQ ratings for Dodger prospect from a post TC put on True Blue LA, and the BA rating from their own writeup. While this comparison is admittedly crude, here is an attempt at mapping a similar set of Dodger prospects:

BHQ BA rank Age Pos. NY Plyr
9E 2 18 RHP Guerra
?? 3 22 CF Gomez
7B 4 22 RHP Mulvey
8C 7 25 RHP Humber

BHQ BA rank Age Position LA Plyr
8B 3 24 SS Hu
9C 4 22 LHP Elbert
9E 6 19 RHP Withrow
8C 7 23 RHP McDonald

The Dodgers don't have a CF prospect like Gomez, but I used Hu because he's at a premium defensive position. The Dodger pitchers may be too good (if Withrow = Guerra and McDonald = Humber, Elbert > Pulvey); consider, say, Orenduff, who is outside the BA top-10 and a BHQ 7C.

I suspect that some/all the following are true:
-Santana blocked LA
-LA doesn't want to give the six-year extension
-Minn just traded for a SS and needs the CF more
-Santana really wants NY or Boston

D-E-N-I-A-L!

And then just wait until she has a baby.

My father-in-law was a wreck when we told him he was going to be a grandfather.

Speaking of that: I heard today that the average age that one becomes a grandparent in this country is forty-six. I couldn't believe it.

I'm doing my part to help raise that average age.

These kids today are spoiled with there "young" grandparents.

These kids today are spoiled with their "young" grandparents.

Plus, he brings a cache to the job.

What exactly is Joe Torre trying to hide? Is he going to put Juan Pierre in his cache? Fantastic!

Or maybe he's got some extra memory for Colletti's laptop, so that it can display more statistics.

Either of those might be more useful than cachet, which won't help the Dodgers win any games.

None of my nieces and nephews really got to know any of their grandparents on either side of their family.

I grew up with my maternal grandmother in an extended household and I think it really helped. I loved having her around because she knew so much stuff. She could talk about the past without boring you to death.

And she made the world's best grilled cheese sandwiches.

So I have a couple half-nephews (kids of my half-brother and half-sister) who are older than me, and all of them are around my age.

We all get along great.

Bob? You tend to know these things...

It occurs to me that the Mariners are giving up more for Bedard than the Mets are for Santana.

5 - "Crown Prince," not "Mustache!"

The other things that I thought were regrets were just annoyances. I knew I would love being a dad but words just can't explain how cool it is. I want it to speed up and slow down all at once.

(I do like the new one better, btw.)

However, what does that mean when by most analysts, the Mets did give up their 2nd best position player and 3 of their top 5 pitching prospects.

It means that they'd already largely depleted their farm system through trades and promotions.

http://tinyurl.com/262e3g

Also, the sideburns are a nice touch.

I had to Google Lester Freamon, as I have not seen The Wire. It's my next series to catch up on. I know it's great; I just didn't want to jump in without seeing any previous seasons.

In a similar fashion, Thursday will be my inaugural first run Lost episode, as I am now fully caught up.

Is there room for two utility guys on the 25-man roster? I think that means one of two things will happen:

1) an 11-man pitching staff
2) Ethier or Pierre will be traded

I'm assuming Delwyn Young is on the squad (maybe that's faulty reasoning). Or maybe Tony Jackson was just speculating on the two utility spots. Who knows?

Mets guys (with the rank in their system):
#2 Deolis Guerra, RHP, Grade B+
#3 Carlos Gomez, OF, Grade B (undecided, may raise to B+. You guys are right about the injuries, but you also need to be more wary of Mets propaganda.)
#4 Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Grade B (may raise to B+)
#7 Phil Humber, RHP, Grade B-

Dodger prospects that fit into the same grade range:
#3 James McDonald, RHP, Grade B+
#4 Chin-Lung Hu, SS, Grade B
#5 Jonathan Meloan, RHP, Grade B
#6 Dewlyn Young, OF, Grade B-
#7 Chris Withrow, RHP, Grade B-

So, essentially, a package of McDonald, Hu, Meloan, and D. Young is almost equivalent to what the Mets gave up (slightly lesser since Gomez and Mulvey were borderline B+'s). Simply switch LaRoche (an A-) in for D. Young and all of a sudden our deal is better. That's a long way from the Kershaw/Kemp/LaRoche package we were expected to give up.

http://tinyurl.com/2o8l5t

Nomar is considered the ultimate utility guy. Lucille is basically competing with Abreu and Hu.

Preferably, the utility players are Abreu and Nomar, with Abreu getting roughly 30 starts at 2b and 10 or so at shortstop.

Nomar should spell Loney, Laroche, be a PH specialist, and maybe play a little left field.

Pierre should.....well, you know.

Not to ad to TC's comment but I was a hall monitor in high school & would sneak girls out that way. To be really honest it wasn't GIRLS. It was only one girl, my girlfriend, I also had the key for the elevator which led to the teachers lounge.

Now, I have two kids, and my mom turns 50 next month.

So, she's in there with the "average age" crowd.

Also, my wife's mom is only a year older than my mom.

In other news, we only watched about 15 minutes of Breaking Bad before Mrs. D4P decided it was too dark for her. I guess I'll be watching it by myself, which is OK because I like this kinda stuff.

I didn't love the way the show started, but you might give it another chance. Otherwise, you'll just be like Bob, won't you ...

As for "Breaking Bad", all I can say is that show is awesome. I totally dig the premise and Bryan Cranston cast in the lead is magnificent. I don't think they could have done a finer casting job for the protagonist.
Find the time and watch the show, you will not regret it.

I ran in to my first obstacle for the board project today. Where do I find photos/cards of all the players like the guy in the video?

78 I believe the Bedard-to-Dodgers rumors last time around centered on Kemp and Kershaw. Nevermind the fact that Kershaw has been declared all but untouchable; talentwise, that's more than what the Mets just gave to the Twins for Santana, and probably a little more than what the Mariners are offering. And that's more than I'd be comfortable giving up for a pitcher who would improve an area that we don't really need a whole lot of improvement in, and would weaken our lineup considerably this year.

Bedard is also something of a question mark. He came out of nowhere and has had two good seasons, but he was shut down last September for some reason, and that's a big red flag.

I like Bedard and at one time hoped we could get him without including either Kemp or Kershaw but after looking at what the Mariners offered I don't see how that is possible. That was a great offer and I'm baffled why the Orioles have yet to accept it.

But I'll continue watching and give it more chances.

And me.

Here's the 2009 rotation right now.

Penny
Billingsley
Kuroda
McDonald
Schmidt

This is with Kershaw waiting in the wings, Kuo possibly still having some promise, and a free agent class that includes Sabathia, Sheets, and Oliver Perez. The only way to replace Kemp is by going free agent shopping and giving a long term contract to Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn. I do love those guys, but they're going to want a lot of years and are not going to age gracefully.

Pitching is this teams biggest strength. You should deal from where you have a surplus, not one of the thinnest parts of the organization.

He had a serious injury but the timetable for recovery he is on puts him on target to be ready to take the mound. Whether he'll have a setback in March, April, May, June or never is beside the point. Let's just accept the fact that we don't know. Certainly, that's the premise that the Dodgers are operating under. They're not counting on him, but they haven't dismissed him.

They go on sale to season ticket holders today at 10:00.

Anyway for a laugh here is part of the message they sent out.

"Tickets are subject to availability. You may purchase up to
16 tickets. Tickets are available in the following three price
categories: $25.00 and $15.00. "

See anything wrong with that statement?

"I was twenty one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty two now, but I won't be for long
People ask when will you grow up to be a man
But all the girls I loved at school
are already pushing prams."

113 i'd much rather give a long term big money deal to dunn, rather than sabathia/sheets and i don't think i'm alone there

121 agreed

122 Why would you give a long term deal to someone with old player skills? I understand wanting to stay away from Sheets, but Sabathia?

But if you want to go by Dodger history, what's most likely is that Schmidt will pitch in April, pitch ineffectively and then go on the DL. Which just goes to show again that there are too many wild cards to know one way or another.

What do we do with Loaiza if we get Bedard?

now i know you're about to say but you want to trade for a pitcher whose had arm problems. bedard is cheap for '08 and '09 and after the '09 season schmidt comes off the books and if you want to extend you can use some of that money. and as much as you guys love kemp he'll probably be a .350 OBP guy and i don't know how likey a consistant 40 HR season is from him....

ok attack

What do we do with Loaiza if we get Bedard?

Our offense would really suffer without Kemp in the lineup. I am slowly coming to the realization that Ethier might be dealt sometime soon. As much as it pains me to say that, I am much more comfortable with Pierre, Jones, Kemp than I am with Pierre, Jones, Ethier

Just like it is on the Board!!!

You are better off eating the orange. More fiber and it take longer to digest.

I'd give Sabbathia a contract before I gave one to Bedard. I love the big horse.

Don't you think Cleveland will do all they can to extend his contract this year?

Yeah, I know that. But I didn't really care much for the therapist either. I think I prefer it when therapy sessions are part of a show rather than the whole show itself.

I didn't love the way the show started, but you might give it another chance. Otherwise, you'll just be like Bob, won't you ...

You make a good point.

77
That is exactly what happened when my wife and I started watching it. I also liked the darkness of it.

The beginning of the second episode started to remind me of "A Simple Plan", which I loved (and my wife couldn't watch).

That is exactly what Kemp will probably do this year. At age 23.

Try this:
http://www.truebluela.com/story/2007/11/21/162636/72

Which eight did you ask?

Speaking of movies, help me settle a bit. Saw and enjoyed the heck out of Cloverfield last night. But is the Statue of Liberty's head really that small? It seemed like they took, uh, some liberties there but I could be wrong. What are the dimensions of the head?

--

Re Kemp - our offense needs him more than it needs another great pitcher, frankly. Bedard is great but our pitching is fine, with Kershaw and McDonald still to come. The offense has more question marks so the Dodgers are right to hold on to Kemp.

you must have received a different email than I did...there is no "three" in my email

Or better yet... "I don't like Bruce Springsteen."

(ok, I do, but I'm just trying to start something.)

And some human hocks for soup; there's a potluck later.

They don't always agree, which is why your opinion is welcome and you shouldn't worry so much when people do disagree with you.

159 - Yes, people disagree with me. It helps that I'm wrong sometimes - that makes it easier for people to do it.

How would Bedard guarantee something better?

The question is is Eric Bedard one of those irreplaceable talents, and should we gut our offense to get him. If it was still early in the offseason, I might lean towards yes, but now that the team is pretty much set, there's no good way to replace Kemp.

This Bedard talk is tiresome.