micah owings is hitting 7th today.

The fact that LaRoche stays back with the B-team leads me to upgrade Nomar's 3B status from "inside track" to "sure thing starter." And these lineups are pretty darn consistent. We spend 4 months pondering Pierre's fate, and he ends up with a promotion and 30-40 more pa's in 2008.

Maybe LaRoche isn't going because sitting on a plane for a half a day isn't good for a dude with a bad back.

I'm certain that all the players going are going to get first class seats and will be able to stretch out. There's no way the MLBPA would have agreed to the trip without that.

And LaRoche is going to be on a long plane ride from Vero Beach to L.A. And later in the season he's going to have fly cross country at least twice.

2 - The non-China team is not a B team. Look at the pitchers and catchers going to China. And Kent is staying back; Ethier and Pierre are staying back.

3 Well knowing the black cloud that hangs over LaRoche, he'll hit 4 bombs the week of the China trip and Lasorda will forget to tell Torre.

2 Not sure I agree with your assessment. I spent the whole offseason fully expecting both Pierre and Nomar to be handed starting jobs out of spring training, but I wouldn't construe that its permanent (e.g. Pierre gets 40 more PAs). Its similar to the Tomko situation last year. The guy who's been around is going to be given every chance to fail. The good news is that if and when they do, we've got the better option in hand. The bad news is however long it takes to figure it out. Its the politically safe move that virtually any manager would make.

2
Neither Martin, Loney, Kent, Pierre nor Ethier are going to China. I don't think LaRoche's absence overseas gives us any insight into his starting status come March 31.

Nomar is a famous player, that is probably more well known worldwide than any other Dodger. That, more than anything, is the reason he's going to China.

todays line-up looks like it maybe our opening day line-up... scary.

3---Nomar is starting at 3b today.
Pierre batting 1st.
Kemp/Ethier batting 7th/8th.

Whats the difference between Grady and Torre?

5 I know but don't you get the feeling that Nomar is Torre's guy? If there was really a position battle wouldn't Torre want to get a longer look at LaRoche?

And I'd say this is far from our A-team, which makes me wonder why Kemp and Jones are going. Does anybody know which Padres are going?

2 That's funny, I had the opposite reaction. I saw the list and thought it was great that LaRoche stayed with the A team. None of our top starters or relievers are going. Our starting Catcher, 1B, 2B, SS are all here. It looks like they threw in a couple good players (Kemp, Jones), a name (Nomar) and left most of the other regulars back home. JP and Ethier get to battle it out with regular playing time in the OF, and LaRoche gets regular time at 3B with the rest of the starting infield to see how he fits.

2 The team going to China is the "B" team, Torre, Nomar and Jones are the main stars (along with the Asian contigent) of the trip. I'd say Matt Kemp too but he is not going to be that well known in China.

The team left behind will have Loney, Kent, Furcal, LaRoche, Martin, Ethier, Pierre, all the starters, the main relievers and whomever is left of the NRIs.

Let's analyze these line-ups - today's; the China trip; the team not going to China - like they're the Zapruder film!

It's fun for the whole family.

No one else had responded to 2 when I started typing. Didn't mean to make bigcpa feel like everyone was ganging up on him.

The China trip doesnt mean much at all IMO. The more telling thing is the starting lineups that Torre puts out for the actual spring training games and the batting orders.

Why on earth are Ethier/Kemp doing batting at the bottom of the lineup?

If its because Torre wants to get the older vets ABs sooner in these games bc they'll be taken out early--thats fine.

But if he just laying the groundwork for how he'll manage the lineup during the season, then its business as usual. Not good.

10 Its the 5th game and I think Torre is going to play Nomar at home because Nomar is generally not going to travel around the grapefruit league, I think LaRoche has played in every game.

Tony Jackson is not making the trip. I think I would have enjoyed his insights into this trip. Or his complaints.

"All the food here is Chinese food!"

11 - Nomar has the inside track - I don't think the China trip increases or diminishes that.

I also think that minds have not been made up.

It's not a case of A teams and B teams. It's a split squad. MLB requires you have a minimum of viable starters in every exhibition game you play.

10 Torre's got rings, and he's been there more times than Grady. Unfortunately, they seem to be identical philosophy wise, which is bad news for us fans of the youth....err I mean better player movement.

19
I hear the elevator to the press box at Wukesong Stadium is state of the art. TJ will be missing out.

Again, its just numbers, going into today's game Nomar had played exactly 8 innings at 3B in the field while LaRoche has played 22.

Maybe it just seems like more.

So did anyone else watching games from the Urban Invitational in Compton notice that Southern and Bethune-Cookman, which are HBCUs (Historically Black College or Univeristy), had teams that pretty much had the same ethnic make up as USC and UCLA?

http://tinyurl.com/3xth5h

24--Reverse affirmative action?

Today's live boxscore:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_03_03_balmlb_lanmlb_1

Chad gave up a two-out single in a scoreless first. Pierre singled, stole second and came home on a two-out single by Kent.

it's hard to ignore what pierre can do when he gets on. turned a single into a triple and an easy run.

not saying he should start but it's just hard to ignore.

26 didn't he steal 2nd and 3rd?

24 Did you turn off your TV when a certain HOF was interviewed during the game.

He was also at the Laker game yesterday.

27
You really should just come out of the closet and make a stand like a man. You love JP, shout it, don't cloak it.

27 The problem is "when he gets on" is a rarer occurrence than it should be.

23 It seems like more when Torre makes ridiculous statements before March is even here. Nomar should be at home helping Mia with the twins receiving insider tips on the stock market with that OPS he put up last year. How someone could be the favorite with those numbers is beyond me.

29
Frank and I have developed a rapprochement.

Ken Gurnick describes the team that is going to China as a "goodwill squad."

30 the things he does well he does really well, i can't argue that ops is the best measurable for an offensive player so i can't justify him starting.

27 Okay. Don't ignore it.

35 ok

It's really sad that Reggie Smith's page doesn't have a sponsor; does DT sponsor any pages yet?

Rick Monday: Matt Kemp needs to learn contact.

Billingsley gave up 3 singles in the 2nd inning. 1 ER as a result.

He's at 0-4 on GB/FB.
2 Ks.

37 No, but I sponsor a particular favorite of Jon's.

39 i think he gave up a single in the 1st.

he gave up a leadoff 2b in the 2nd, a k, a passed ball, a single, fly-out, fly-out.

Billingsley gave up a double and a single in the second for a run.

How did the Dodgers' final out in the bottom of the first come? Did Kent get thrown out on the bases?

BTW, if Loney and Kemp hit over .400 this spring, it will be hard to bat them 7th and 8th.

37 - I used to.

Yes--Kent was thown out at 2nd according to the box score.

42 Yes, he was out running to second.

42 Jon, it was a veteran play, he won't get a sit down with Bowa.

Actually from what it sounded like, he stumbled rounding the bag and then he just kept going, he was out (as Vin would say) form me to you.

Ethier smashed one that deflected off the first baseman, to the 2nd baseman, back to first, robbed of a hit and RBI sounds like. (Listening on the radio.)

Furcal out, Martinez in.

34 the things he does well he does really well

I think you accidentally put an "s" at the end of the word "thing." It gives the impression that you think he has more than one skill. I'm sure that was just an innocent typo.

43 what about .500?

Looks like the Dodgers-Red Sox game Thursday is on ESPN. Which is cool, even if meaningless.

Jason Johnson in to pitch.

44, I emailed them asking if there was a way for multiple people to paypal money for sponsoring. I'm guessing that would be more of a pain for them than would be worth it, but if I find out that we could all paypal to with Reggie Smith as the subject, I'll report back. Maybe if everyone donated $1-5 it'd sponsor him for a while and help out baseball reference.

Everytime Jeff Kent makes an out on the basepaths, Jack Bauer kills a terrorist.

51 "Juan, say hello to the bench." Nah, even if they hit .500, Juan would still be starting a lot.

38 Marty: Rick Monday needs to learn announcing.

Johnson, although he is methodical and plans everything, gives up a single up the middle to Markakis.

BTW, if Loney and Kemp hit over .400 this spring, it will be hard to bat them 7th and 8th.

promise?

40
I immediately checked Buddy Carlyle's page, but to no avail! :)

45
LOL- I wonder who he blamed? Kemp or Loney?

I sponsored the Cube baseball pages for Kershaw and McDonald just before Baseball Reference came out with their minor league system, thus pushing the Cube like Retrosheet into the background. It was like buying a new DVD player just before BlueRay won the war.

60 He tripped over a trash can rounding first.

I guess a negative for the team being left behind is that Lasorda will have at his disposal every likely pitcher to make the 25-man roster except for Kuo.

Good day for Juan so far.

And a diving catch by Juan Pierre to rob someone of a hit! Charley Steiner got excited by it anyway.

And many fans on DT groan quietly to themselves.

I had no idea Sturtze was on the roster. My attention has been diverted elsewhere, obviously; the question is "to where?"

Hmmm.

52 57 , is jason johnson pitching? it has bills at 2.2 ip 5 hits, 1 er, and 3 k on mlb.com

I'm rooting for Juan to hit 330 and play spectacularly in LF.

Looks like Guo and Hu will be working as the team's translators on the China trip. To tell you the truth I don't think it matters much which players are going as far as sending well known players or not. Baseball is not very popular (atleast yet) in China, though I am confident that it will eventually become so, as the Chinese are huge sports fans. I just don't see there being a difference between who gets sent. I think it's more of a sign to show that MLB cares about putting on a good show. The NBA and basketball are huge there. Most of the young english speaking people there wanted to talk NBA with me. The most common question I got was who do I think the best player in the NBA was. I just hope the players and staff making the trip to China bring plenty of anti-biotics with them, the kind that work well against upper respiratory and sinus infections. The food, historic sites and people are great. Should be a memorable trip for those going. I wonder if the players going are flying there from Florida, or coming back to the west coast for a while first. That's a long fligh from Florida. It's already long enough from SoCal. They will be there just in time for the new giant airport terminal in Beijing. I believe it just opened.

vr, Xei

And Pierre is now 2-2. More groans from the peanut gallery.

64 Not me, I can't root against the guy, just not in my nature.

It's nice to see Billingsley not walk anybody in his first outing, does anyone have # of strikes/ total pitches thrown?

Yeah I am no fan, but if Juan can throw up a .360+ On base and play decent LF more power to him.

68 And it will get only bigger when the Olympics start there, the biggest current story has to be Yao's surgery.

I wonder how much Arizona ponied up to send the Padres and Dodgers to China? When they win by one game they will be able to point to something that happened in China that tipped the scales in their favor. Nothing good is going to come of this.
Do a China trip in the off-season with a combination of players from multiple teams. To much risk for me.

Has the Kurkjian piece on the Dodgers' starters been noticed already? If not here it is...

http://tinyurl.com/2sn4ht

66 nevermind, mlb corrected it.

Lucille II is not doing himself well so far, did anyone else see Tony Jackson's article that noted that they are asking Nomar to take some grounders at SS as a flexibility move for double switches (which I can't see since Furcal is good defensive SS anyway). But his article also noted that the Dodgers may go with 12 pitchers so they may only have 4 extra spots for regulars (outside of the starting 8 and the back up catcher), and if they go with 5 outfielders, that leaves only 2 infield spots, one to Sweeney and the other to Nomar if LaRoche wins the job.

70 It's easy to root against guys making that much money. Especially when they aren't worth a quarter of what they are being paid, and they are blocking better players. That's easy in my opinion. Willie Harris on the other hand is extremely easy to root for.

75 Yep, commented upon in previous thread yesterday. But good stuff. Other than the 5th starter, he points out, the Dodgers are in really good shape for starting pitching (at least on paper). The quotes on Bills and Kuo were particularly eye-opening.

Yeah, I don't think anyone here groans when Juan does something well. The groans are due to the fact that those things don't come around often enough.

74 What about the Red Sox and the A's playing two regular season games in Japan?

I would agree with your sentiment but it seems like the minimum amount of potential hangover exists due to the players that are going, I think they will have about 10 days to recover plus they will be on the West Coast when the season starts.

74. haha. You could get hurt in China, Florida or Arizona right? Maybe the base coaches won't have to wear helmets in China, with the loose safety standards and all. I think that alone, would make you a proponent of the trip. :)
vr, Xei

80 I think my assumption is more that people are hoping he doesn't win the starting left field job, and thus during spring training games everything he does contributes to that decision. But perhaps it's already decided, and/or he will be platooning with Ethier anyway. And I agree with you, rooting against him in the regular season at least doesn't make all that much sense.

78 I never let money influence who I root for, but that's me.

And again, the player isn't the one who forced any team to offer that amount of money and isn't the one who is charging for the tickets or parking.

All those things are in the control of the team.

Players are the cost of doing business in pro sports. But they are not entirely to blame for this situation.

20 Is there really an MLB rule that says you have to play a certain number of starters in exhibition games? I've never heard of such a thing before. How is it worded exactly?

I'm rooting for Pierre to break the single season record for home runs, that's how true a Dodger fan I am!

why do i have a feeling jason johnson will be this years brett tomko?

81
Don't even get me started on how ridiculous I think that is. This is the regular season they are dicking around with.

watch he's going to be the #5 starter, have 1 or 2 good starts get ripped for a few weeks, head to the pen pitch decent, than get ripped and replace tomko as my girlfriends favorite player because, "poor guy"

Regardless of which team is considered the A or B team, wouldn't it be to LaRoche's detriment that he'll be playing for a week when the guy making the decisions won't be around to see him?

Loney double off the wall. Steiner gives it the homerus interruptus call.

82
Everyone should wear helmets all the time. I'm wearing one now as I type for fear of an earthquake. We are due you know.

90
I'm getting tired of how easy Loney and Kemp are making this game look. Don't they know this is supposed to be hard.

Loney's just on fire this Spring. Hope he can carry this over to the regular season. That gives Steiner enough time to judge the difference between a Loney home run and a Loney double.

85
Teams are required to bring a "representative lineup" to each spring training game.

LA Times, March 1, 2008. Angels notebook:

"Though the Angels seemed to test a Major League Baseball directive to bring a "representative team" to spring road games with Friday's lineup, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels has no plans to file a formal complaint.

MLB reportedly sent teams a memo on the subject earlier this week, defining "representative" as a minimum of four position players who were regulars the previous year or had a "reasonable chance" of being regulars this season."

Steiner's clearly been reading Dodger Thoughts. Heh. "They're not prospects any more. These guys are just talented young players."

92 Loney expects huge numbers!

I was optimistic with my Loney/Kemp projections. But I stand by them! Now we just need Ethier and LaRoche to mash Juan Pierre and Nomar out of the picture.

86
One of my niece's friends is a bigger Eric Byrnes fan than you, if that's possible.

94 Hmm. I wonder what they can do to enforce that since it's a directive and not an actual rule. Anyway, it seems vague enough that they could never enforce it even if they wanted to.

Pacman homers.

79 Of course, the one day of DT comments I miss.
I agree. That quote on Kuo gives me another reason to hope he beats out Loiaza for the 5 spot. Last year Mr. Byrnes always seemed to be the one on that team that worried me...even when he was out in the field playing D.

The China roster is an outrage. An outrage!

Gary Burghoff gets shafted again.

Furcal left the game due to tightness in hamstrings. Nothing serious, according to them via Steiner.

Yep, Adam Jones rudely greets Matt Riley.

I have a story filed for the amazing comeback of Matt Riley. It is doubtful I'll ever have reason to post it other then as a postscript to his retirement.

Charlie Steiner: "Now pitching for the Orioles is somebody I guarantee you you've never heard of." And then proceeds to announce the name of a pitcher I've heard of.

Eric Byrnes is prolly the best case to be made if a "fielders should wear helmets" movement begins.

At least during home games he'll still be able to ride a motorcycle bare-headed to & from the stadium to tempt fate.

The wild west still exists a little out here in AZ. And they don't need your fancy Daylight Savings Time, either.

97- A woman of exquisite taste, clearly.

104 I thought that was Canseco.

105
She is probably between 10-12 years old since that is his most popular demographic.

By the way, Marty, if you're still around, I'm offering a special on my Remote Nasal Séance Therapy. Just send me your money, and I'll protect you from any airplane colds, through magic. It's clinically proven to be just as effective as Airborne.

MLB says the home run was off of McDonald?

107- 74 home runs for Pierre this year. Book it!

109 Was off Matt Riley.

I don't know if McDonald is even with the team yet?

Man, I can't wait for that - more prospects, less NRI fodder please.

109 They had Eric Hull pitching in yesterday's game.

In otherwords, they have a good shot at being wrong once you get beyond the starter.

Never mind they just corrected it. I swear it said McDonald for 5 minutes.

111 They are there, McDonald is in the major league camp since he is on the 40 man roster.

I would expect to see him pitch once these split squad games start.

Is this game being run by the MLB customer service dept in India?

Diamond is reporting Furcal is out of the game with tightness in both hamstrings. Anything mentioned on the radio?

114 Ah, good. That should be this week, yah?

Hm, now MLB has Johnny Podres pitching for the Dodgers. Pitching well, too.

104 The wild west still exists a little out here in AZ. And they don't need your fancy Daylight Savings Time, either.

They don't use it in China either.

All the best to my first leadoff man.

http://tinyurl.com/2hyyqo

116 meet 101

Dodgers Radio is going to violate Rule 5 a lot this year.

119 A good reminder to all those 40 and over to start getting regular prostate exams. It's not fun, but it's important.

Actually, if you are over 40, start getting everything examed.

Or examined. You decide.

121 Heh. Meaning the KABC ads? Yeah, all the more reason to splurge on an MLBTV account if you're outside LA. More Vin, less ads for Bill O'Reilly.

18 I wonder if the players going are flying there from Florida, or coming back to the west coast for a while first.

I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago that the trip to China would involve 18 hour flight. So I don't think there will be a stopover on the west coast.

107
Niece and friend are both 20. I took great pleasure in taunting the Byrnes fan after he made the final out of the NLCS sliding into first base.

Tomorrow will be interesting, vs. the Nationals: Kuroda will pitch again, plus Broxton, and Beimel, and Proctor, and Brazoban. And (adds Charley Steiner) "perhaps Greg Miller."

Loiaza, McDonald, Orenduff and Meloan will pitch in the other SS game.

The photo on the front of ESPN's MLB page is not kind to Nick Johnson. He looks huge in that photo!

http://tinyurl.com/2lwgez

128 And considering it's against the Nationals, it might even be "interesting."

126 Tony Jackson said the team will go to Orlando and fly their charter out from there. They are leaving on the 12th and their games are on the 15th and 16th (in China), (10 p.m. PDT the nights before)

125 They are better than the ads for certain surgeries.

on scene reporting: Andy has grabbed a helmet.

133 Why, is he taking over for Bowa?

84 So you would say this is Ned's make or break year correct?

loney just had the hardest hit ball of the day, the pitcher happened to get a piece of it.

stand down on andy watch, after loney made out, torre called him back

122
I didn't think you were part of the over 40 brigade, Daniel.

Once I turned 40, I was introduced to the wonderful world of statins.

There is nothing worse than being forced to listen to a Janis Ian song. Sheesh, sorry Janis Ian fans.

135 No, I wouldn't say that.

They just signed onto to the Joe Torre plan for 3 years while Ned's contract is through 2009.

From everything I have seen and remembering what I have heard Frank McCourt say a number of times, McCourt remains a strong supporter of Ned's.

I don't think this anyone's make or break year as far as the front office goes.

134
That is why I love this place.

George Costanza just homered.

weather report: it is sprinkeling. there is still enough light to where I don't think it should be an issue.

122 Youtube comes through again. Perhaps the funniest example of what Daniel is talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfzXpE0QB2U

a good throw to the catcher and he is out from me to you

Dear Charley Steiner: Please no more singing Johnny Cash songs on the air. Thank you.

145 More please.

145
Is Charlie singing "25 minutes to go"?

"Tennessee Flat-top Box"

"Ballad of Ira Hayes"

147 A Boy Named Sue.

(Which I realize technically means I should have told him to quit singing Shel Silverstein songs.)

If he was singing "Daddy Sang Bass" it would be alright by me.

149
Much better than him singing "The Crocodile Went to the Dentist" I suppose :)

Pac-10 teams in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN's resident bracketologist, Joe Lunardi:

UCLA - #1 seed (West)
Stanford - #3 (East)
WSU - #6 (South)
USC - #7 (Midwest)
Arizona - #9 (Midwest)
ASU - #10 (West)

Lunardi has 6 teams from the Pac-10 getting in, tying them with the ACC & Big 12, and 1 behind the Big East.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

Could be the best group of Pac 10 talent I've seen since the old days before the hardship draft.

The X-Man goes deep!

So it is Xavier Paul who hits the first Dodger ST home run.

Line drive single for Andy.

goodbye, estebanyan!

152 I am not sure Arizona can win 2 games in Oregon but they will have to fit in that scenario.

http://weblogs.variety.com/season_pass/2008/03/wire-and-in-tre.html

At Season Pass, I compare the differences between the flawed characters of HBO series "In Treatment" and "The Wire."

158
According to the Ken Pomeroy ratings, Arizona has a 51% chance to win in Oregon on Saturday (after a 93% in Corvalis on Thursday).

USC has a 51% chance to win against Stanford on Saturday as well.

http://tinyurl.com/2ogqu5

Ethier ties the game in the bottom of the 9th.

Woo!

158
Also, if Arizona gets the 6 seed in the Pac-10 tourney, the would (presumably) match up against #3 WSU on Day Two, and Arizona has already beaten them twice.

161 how?

Delwyn could have helped himself but nice ABs by Paul, LaRoche and Ethier.

161 For real,Eric?

Does anyone know what ax Jeff Pearlman has to grind?
http://tinyurl.com/25vpx8

"In one of the least fan-friendly displays I've ever witnessed as a baseball writer, Garciaparra spent the absolute minimum amount of time signing [at Dodgertown Autograph Day]. He never looked up. He never said a word."

163 Xavier Paul homers to make it 4-3. LaRoche singles, gets to second somehow while I wasn't paying attention, and scores on a bloop single by Ethier to tie the game. George Lombard pinch runs for Ethier and steals second, but Delwyn grounds out to end the inning.

Free baseball in florida. one inning for me to see my only win at vero.

It would appear Winona Ryder is poised to have some very short kids if she makes that choice.

http://tinyurl.com/2gg59n

SFW.

166
Jeff Pearlman has a shed at his house full of dull axes.

166 Don't get me started on Jeff Pearlman. He's better off being ignored and maybe eventually he'll go away. The man is a disgrace.

are we playing extras today?

166 not sure about the axe, but it is the truth. for being such as fan favorite, he sure didn't seem to care about giving back to the fans yesterday.

no one else seemed to be as botherd by the event as Nomar was.

"Breaking ball, strike three, inning over! That is a VERY impressive performance by Jonathan Meloan."
- Steiner

last ups in vero and the sun just came back out. Lucille, bennett, and maybe griffin

looks like Hu up 3rd

Are we stillplaying, and Meloan looking good?

Hu's on deck, paul in the hole. lucille on first

bennent gets the sac down. basehit should do it.

who grounds out to second. wiining run 90 feet away. paul up, andy on deck

George Lombard sounds more like someone who would be a bandleader at the Starlite Room in 1950's San Francisco than a modern outfielder. But maybe that's just me.

Is that ibleedbloo yelling "Let's go Dodgers."

180 Agree with that.

BB andy with a chance to be a hero

Paul walks after working the count full and fouling off three straight 3-2 pitches.

Andy with a chance to win it.

I thought there was no such thing as defensive indifference anymore.

There's tying in baseball.

LaRoche K's. Game over.

strikes out on 3 pitches...not a good AB. tie

181 I think ibleedbloo is manning the ring bell.

Not a very "comfortable" at bat for Andy. But he did get a single the inning before.

Oh man, a Sister-Kisser! Feh.

So, Dog, you think the headline will be "Vets can't do anything--but youngsters manage to tie it"? Fat chance.

184
There is defensive indifference in baseball. The definition was refined last year.

191
That headline likely wouldn't fit.

191 I'm not sure why that bugs anyone but then I am usually the least bothered by stuff like that anyway.

191 How about "Vets try hard but kids can't win it for them"?

193 But it would be fitting.

196 Sounds like last year.

Good games today:
Pierre, a couple of hits, couple of SBs, nice play in OF. (I wouldn't say another solid performance, Mr. Steiner)

Loney, a couple of doubles, Kemp, another hit.

Chad did fine his first time out (again, get the work and don't get hurt.) Meloan, sounds like is secondary stuff worked well today.

Paul, 2 good at bats that should bode well for him when management evaluates this spring. Andy and Andre had some nice ABs in the 9th.

Uggh. Keith Law was on ESPNews talking about Inge to Dodgers. Do not even acknowledge this stuff! Then it can just go away.

200 there's one trade that would make me vomit.

And the Rule 13 violation is narrowly avoided...

That rumor is the classic internet/blog rumor, no one has mentioned anything about who the Dodgers would deal, one site speculates the Dodgers have salary to dump (Loaiza, Garciaparra or Pierre) but other than that no other names mentioned.

There appears to be a rumor about this back in December but now I think the team is working through the Nomar/Andy battle.

The only thing I have read about Inge lately is that he is really unhappy about having to put on the catching gear again and that he wants to play full time at 3B.

Xavier Paul did a good job today.
Maybe he can play CF after Andruw leaves in 2 years?

Kemp needs to learn to take a walk.
The k's arent that troublesome because power hitters are going to strikeout quite a bit, but the lack of walks and strikezone judgement is troubling.

202 - Not in spirit ... but it is an unwritten rule, after all.

202 , 205 ok now i'm curious what's rule 13

206 Jon doesn't like it when people use this phrase.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=V+in+my+M

RE: China bound roster
Awesome! get to see Matt Kemp, Andruw Jones, Nomar, Park Chan Ho, Kuo Hong Chih, Greg Miller and even Ramon Martinez.

Kemp gets to see first hand that China is bigger than the Dominican Republic.

Most disappointed in Russell Martin not coming over.

Got my tickets already...sweet seats along the 3rd base line on Saturday and 1st base line on Sunday.

I'll endeavor to write up something and send it to Jon along with some pics.

rgds
will

207 If you know rule 13, isn't that link a little too revealing, a la the euphemism clause in rule 1? tinyurl is called for there!

There's a picture of Sandy Koufax signing autographs at Vero, if I had known that Sandy was going to do that, I would have flown down there just for that.

Did Koufax put on a "fan-friendly display"?

NPUT