Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
A year ago, Nomar Garciaparra wasn't even considered physically capable of playing third base. Even as the Dodgers questioned the abilities of Wilson Betemit, they dismissed the idea of moving Garciaparra to third and having shining prospect James Loney play first base in April 2007.
The idea that Garciaparra couldn't play third base at all was absurd - but so is the idea that he can play it every day. So even if Garciaparra busts out a strong comeback season at the plate, the idea that he can do it while playing six or seven games a week is even more pie-in-the-sky. Tony Abreu therefore could be critical, though Abreu right now comes with his own set of physical concerns, not to mention the responsibility of backing up 40-and-a-day-year-old Jeff Kent.
Delwyn Young has come on strong defensively this spring, enough to posssibly consider him as a backup to Kent and maybe even a third-stringer at third. (Amid my ongoing dismissal of Spring Training stats, it's worth asking whether exhibition fielding is actually meaningful, in contrast to exhibition hitting - which Young doesn't happen to be doing at the moment.) And there's always the option of using Chin-Lung Hu around the infield. (You can keep your Ramon Martinezes.)
As far as a trade goes, well, the Dodgers should be able to stand pat into April. In a month's time, they should have hints of whether Garciaparra looks competent and the timing of LaRoche's recovery. Dodger Thoughts commenters like Eric Enders pointed out Friday that the estimate of eight to 10 weeks for LaRoche might be optimistic, depending on the severity of his injury. Regarding the ulnar collateral ligament that LaRoche tore, the Kerlan-Jobe (as in Dr. Frank) Orthopaedic Clinic writes:
Third base was going to be a low-expectations position in April for the Dodgers even before yesterday. Whoever played figured to bat no higher than seventh in the Dodger lineup. We'll never know what LaRoche could have done if he won the position, but there was a strong chance that he wasn't going to win it - if for no other reason than the team's recent tradition of breaking in young players like Loney, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier and Chad Billingsley after May Day. So not much has changed in the short term.
For the long term ... well, Garciaparra & Co. need to show they can hold down the fort for as long as it takes for LaRoche to show signs of returning. It's a similar situation to that of the team's No. 5 starting pitcher. If the Dodgers have a losing April but LaRoche and Jason Schmidt look ready to help by June, how much patience will general manager Ned Colletti have?
"The good news for the Dodgers is that Andy LaRoche, who's far and away their best internal option at third base, is raking thus far. He's come to bat only 17 times, but a batting line of .353 AVG/.421 OBP/.588 SLG is putting him in good position to win the job."
Sigh!
With LaRoche on DL, if Abreu is healthy, Abreu should be able to make the team out of Spring training. Whenever Abreu plays he adds speed and creates a need to add power elsewhere in the lineup. This helps Ethier get playing time.
I think Kemp should be hitting second. He has speed and seems to be able to get on base better than he seems to be able to drive in runs at this time in his career. With Kemp's speed in the #2 spot, Pierre perhaps drops to the 8th spot or gives way to a more powerful bat lower in the order.
Stan from Tacoma
On a happier note, my kid drove down for the game today.
Oh, my ears! Remember I live in South Pasadena, swearing is illegal in my city this week!
I had forgotten the front two thirds that we are capable of, which I suppose is not a good sign.
It's really all about team.
Stan from Tacoma
I'm with 1 - I don't want Lucille II on the team at all this time 'round -- unless he keeps them from trading from some horribly overpriced 3rdbaseman, in which case I'll choose the lesser of two evils.
>>Tony Abreu, who yesterday played in his first game after being out of action with an abdominal injury, now has a gluteus injury (a pain in the, well, you know). It isn't thought to be serious, maybe just a day-after injury from his having finally played in a game. Torre said he felt it the first time he took a ground ball. LaRoche's surgery is Monday in L.A. Nomar is fine, but will be out of action for a couple of days. Joe and Ned met this morning, and pursuing a 3B from outside the organization was discussed, but don't look for it to happen until later in the spring, after all other options are explored -- and those options DO include trying Delwyn Young and Chin-lung Hu at 3B.<<
Man, if they think LaRoche is injury prone, I wonder what they think about Abreu at this point?
i would love it if Delwyn showed he can handle the hot corner.
Spring training is a time for everyone to get sharp.
Was it a nice deep smash?
Yah, Vinnie's still in spring training, too, cut him some slack.
A no-doubt-about-it, thing of beauty.
And Loop is out of it.
Hot corner a sore subject for Dodgers
The ball ricocheted off the helmet of Cardinals base runner D'Angelo Jimenez and struck LaRoche on the base of his right thumb, causing a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament.
http://tinyurl.com/2yvg9s
DeWitt's up with two on.
But only one of the players you listed above was on a team that won the World Series five years ago, and that's where winning comes from.
Then Repko hits a soft liner that Izturis boots for an error. Probably partially the duststorms in the infield to blame.
Man, poor Vinnie is goofing up left and right but he's clearly rusty.
And now Furcal lines a hit and scores yet another run. The rout is on!
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200706110.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200709140.shtml
So it sounds like Hiro is done already, he's throwing some more pitches in the bullpen to keep going but is probably done. And with Tom Martin warming up in the pen it's probably not over yet!
And now Troy Glaus may be hurt on a play sort of like what happened to LaRoche, on a throw to third. But Glaus looks okay, probably just a stinger.
No, wait, he just hits it back to the box for the third out. Sorry.
I'm surprised, you usually seem to have a lot going on most weekends to be posting spring training inning recaps.
Someone will have to take over for me soon though, and for tomorrow's game. Er, not that anyone needs these recaps.
Back to the game: Tom Martin sucks.
Makes sense to me. Kent lack of range wouldn't hurt as much and he still has the arm and reflexes to play 3rd base, while Abreu at 2nd would be a huge improvement.
I totally agree with Jon's post. We were within an eyelash of Nomar already being on the DL, I think you could get great odds that he will be on it by May 1st.
I'm no fan of Brandon Inge but I'm a huge fan of a healthy Eric Chavez. Even in a injury plagued year he still posted an OPS+ north of 100 and I think his glove is still golden.
I also think Andrew is right in that Andy is going to be damaged goods even when he comes back. These hand/wrist things never work out coming off the DL. Time to do some research but I don't think it bodes well for Andy in 2008.
Paul wisely avoids ramming into the Bison and dives low for that ball. Nice double play turned just before that though.
Loney must not be a fan of the swirling winds and sun in this ballpark. Don't think we'll see him goof like that many times.
http://tinyurl.com/yuzs9y
And George Lombard and His Orchestra hits one out!
Maybe he can play third base.
Who says hitters need a lot longer to get the rust off?
And Lucille II comes in to run for Loney.
Tanyon Sturtze is pitching, which isn't as cool.
In fact Sturtze already looks awful. Which is probably a good thing.
Garciaparra gets third chance with Dodgers
>> most enigmatic of Dodgers veterans has suddenly become perhaps the most important <<
http://tinyurl.com/3bhno9
13-6
Bison Power!
something...
And Blake Hawkesworth walks Blake DeWitt. And now William Blake is up, followed by Hubie Blake and Blake Edwards.
16-6
Now 16-6, so the Cards still need a TD and a field goal.
Rene Rivera is up - first time I've seen him for the Dodgers.
They do have William Inge, though.
Good call on the Tygers, though...
>> Before last season, the Dodgers didn't open their right-field bleacher pavilion unless the left-field bleachers sold out. Then they began offering 3,300 right-field bleacher seats with unlimited Dodger Dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, soft drinks and water. The section averaged 2,200 fans a game last season — and sold out for one-third of the team's home games. <<
http://tinyurl.com/2r7mhc
Thanks for the memories!
He already may have made inquiries...."just in case."
When your system calls for PVL and backups for backups for backups, you never can have enough, even if it causes lineup logjams. After all, the manager can work all that out, right?
I think one of Ned's worst nightmares is having injuries hit so hard that he literally has no one to put on the field to play a given position. That's probably less likely than needing a 3rd string catcher, but Ned probably thinks Frank would fire him on the spot if it ever happened.
Ned may not be tempted too strongly unless whoever plays 3B for the Dodgers doesn't produce. C'mon Nomar and whoever else...
But if there's a chance to move JP and $$ for a decent 3B and and some extra bats and balls and Gatorade or whatever...scratch that trading itch, Ned!
Just k'd Brian Barton, I believe.
did he strike out the side there?
have a great day everybody.
http://tinyurl.com/yobuz3
Are they honoring anybody? Do any seniors play for USC?
Reed Doucette is the lone senior for USC. He has not played a minute this season!
The 3 juniors have played a total of 412 minutes before today, an average of just 14.2 per game.
As UT's Pat Summitt guides her defending national champs back into the NCAAs, if she's wearing a coonskin cap, this may be where it came from---
But sounds like this particular coon wouldn't give it up easily...
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803080359
Does Hu have enough pop is his bat to justify manning 3b? It is obvious that Hu has the makings of a great SS, but for now he can fill a need at third without making a trade, get plate appearances at the MLB level, and put competetive pressure on Furcal by playing next to him.
It looks like Abreu has a soft body. What's up with this guy, The Dodgers have great physical therapists don't they?
It sure looks like the Bison, Loney, and Eithier have done the things that are necessary to preare their bodies to perform.
Hu looks like he's ready to step up if Nomar goes down or just isn't able to produce.
Too far gone.
Lies were told.
Oregon needs to do some damage in the Pac-10 tourney to get seven into the NCAAs.
Standings through Friday:
http://kenpom.com/conf.php?y=2008&c=P10&t=p
The Bison looked like a man running around playing with a bunch of kids out there today.
In our early discussions regarding this guy, we compared his stats to Miguel Cabrerra's at similar stages of development.
It might be time to put those in the "trash can".
As an athlete, the Bison looks to be superior to Miguel.
This is a question that I love. As the Bison learns and gets more experience, how will he be producing and what will he be capable of 24 months from now?
Usually, since a lot of smaller conferences take up many NCAA bids, you pretty much have to be top 40 in RPI to make it.
I think UCLA, Stanford, WSU, USC, and Arizona are in already, plus the winner of the Oregon/ASU tilt tonight. The loser of that game will probably have to get to the Pac-10 tourney final or win it to get in.
I messed up the schedule. Oregon is playing AZ, and ASU gets OSU. So there still could be 7 teams in the NCAA tourney.
I'm still bitter about the Gonzaga game. I would have won 3 different pools with that game!
I don't know how non-UCLA fans can stand to watch any game with Steve Lavin in the booth. The homerism even grates on me, and I root for the Bruins.
Rule 7, Section 1, Article 3.
"The ball shall be out of bounds when it passes over the backboard from any direction."
Back in the day, Dwight Anderson of USC threw up a shot from behind the backboard that went in. It was really cool looking, but it shouldn't have counted.
Shipp's shot was very close to going over the backboard.
The rule was put into place back when Bill Russell was playing because USF would just toss the ball over the backboard on out of bounds play for Russell to grab and lay in.
It was five hours long.
Can anyone picture people sitting around for five hours listening to ONE political issue being discussed today?
FIVE hours!
Cheaters!!! :)
No one else remembers Dwight Anderson? He was one of numerous "saviors" for USC during the Stan Morrison era.
He wasn't bad.
His famous shot happened in 1982.
>>By the way, Blake DeWitt is NOT a serious candidate to be the backup 3B. He has only spent half a season at Double-A. But this was a big day for him, and Joe Torre now knows a little something about his game. <<
http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/
He does have alot to overcome though. Already with a history of a bad back, bad throwing shoulder and now a nasty injury to the thumb on his dominant hand, I wish him luck and success.
Some players are very gifted, but prone to injury. Others seem to be made of steel and rarely if ever get hurt.
Mind reader!
>> Chin-lung Hu has an 8:30 a.m. appointment tomorrow to begin taking grounders at third base tomorrow. <<
http://tinyurl.com/39s5sz
You have to make an appointment for that? It's not a walk up?
Arizona State wraps up the #5 slot.
UCLA is #1, Stanford is #2, ASU is #5, Cal is #9, and OSU is #10.
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2008/03/10/dodgers-expand-their-pursuit-of-an-infielder/
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