Pierre in front of Ethier? No way, Ethier's been our best offensive outfielder so far.

LAT'd comment:

Baseball America's list of executives (which isn't perfect) lists 10 GMs for the Dodgers.

I think the Dodgers were going by the list that Baseball America uses:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=franchise&fid=lad#gm

1 Ethier was given the night off to rest (he's played in every game thus far).

Ethier hasn't had a game off since the season started. Torre said he'd be off tonight, so the move isn't much of a shock. Hopefully Jones can continue to look better at the plate...

For Nate from the previous thread regarding DeJesus.
12
Ask these guys
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/5X6r

I hope this lineup makes me eat crow.

Mmm, tasty, delicious crow!

6
If you cook up crow right, it tastes just like raven.

2 The Coca Cola Quiz last night featured the question which university did Jackie Robinson attend?

A. USC
B. UCLA
C. UCSB

My comment to Marty was something like I guess the Dodgers don't recognize the New York Times style guide.

I think they list UCSB for Trainwreck.

With a fleece blanket crowd and Nomar's 1st game back I expect he will get a rousing ovation the 1st time he's introduced. I hope he earns the 2nd ovation.

1 We should not get upset every time someone gets a day off just because Pierre is starting.

Nice to finally see Nomar back in the lineup. I hope everyone gives him a chance to contribute instead of looking for every little flaw in his game like they do with Pierre.

10 Well, let's be honest: You don't have to look very hard these days.

5 PVLs > 3 kids.

Holy crap I didnt realize we have a stretch of 10 games in a row starting on Friday. That might have something to do with Ethier getting a break today.

8
UCSB is quite random.

I'm getting this tingly feeling in my tummy that Nomar will swing at the first pitch he sees this year.

To me, fleece blanket night and Nomar just go together.

It really seems like Penny should be batting 7th

12 That's still a lower PVL ratio than last year. We no longer have Gonzo in there!

Expecting to be proven wrong momentarily, I still think Troncoso goes down.

The Baseball America list of executives list starts at 1950. The Giants have had seven GMs in the same period as the Dodgers 10:
Chub Feeney
Horace Stoneham
Spec Richardson
Tom Haller
Al Rosen
Bob Quinn
Brian Sabean

Sometimes these guys left and came back so there are numerous Grover Cleveland type situations.

14
I wouldn't be surprised if the person who wrote the question went to UCSB.

When do they have to announce who's roster spot Nomar is taking? vr, Xei

In my humble opinion I really think Sabean is by FAR the worst GM in major league baseball.

22
Anytime before the game starts.

I think either DeWitt goes down or Delwyn gets the ax tonight. I'm leaning toward DeWitt.

I don't think it will be Troncoso, because of the aforementioned streak of 10 games in 10 days. The Dodgers probably feel they need twelve pitchers for that stretch, and if they send Troncoso down tonight they can't recall him until April 26.

23 And think, we hired his padawan.

Anyone think it could be Hu?

25. I tend to agree. Cutting Sweeney would be my "dark horse". If you send DeWitt down is Hu the only reserve who could then play SS/3B? vr, Xei

27 No team's going to go without a utility infielder.

Can anyone here explain this statement:

Garciaparra close to returning to the team

>> but because Las Vegas has an early start (11a.m.) at San Bernardino with the Inland Empire 66ers and frigid temperatures were expected, that assignment was nixed. <<

Las Vegas is actually playing a night game in Salt Lake City. But why would Doug Padilla think that Las Vegas would be playing Inland Empire? Or am I missing something.

http://www.presstelegram.com/moresports/ci_8939876

27. Then whom would be our backup SS? Nomar is not allowed as an answer.
vr, Xei

I'd prefer to send DeWitt down. If they keep him up, he's not gonna play all that much, and they'll just send him down anyways when LaRoche is back. Might as well send him down and have him play every day.

30 I would guess this sentence is missing the word "and" from between "Bernadino" and "with". I guess it would need a couple of other small alterations but I'm guessing that's what he meant to say.

30 It is not uncommon for Dodgers to rehab in San Bernadino due to its proximity to Los Angeles. The downside being that they play A-ball competition instead of AAA. However, I do not see how that applies to your quoted passage.

32. Where do you send DeWitt to? Las Vegas or Jacksonville? And if you send him to Vegas, then where do you send LaRoche to on his rehab assignment? Not arguing, just wondering. vr, Xei

I just don't see DeWitt going down until Torre sees what he has in Nomar, who is still complaining of pain, after all.

30
Doug Padilla's column was also in the sister paper LA Daily News. That passage was cleaned up to the following:

"The original plan was to have Garciaparra play one more rehab game today in San Bernardino with the Inland Empire 66ers, but that assignment was scratched"

I thought it was reported yesterday that because Vegas had a night game tonight, Nomar wouldn't be with them because of the late travel. I'm guessing the San Bernardino game was nixed due to the frigid temperatures? Maybe a sentence or two got accidentally cut out of Padilla's Press Telegram column.

35 Reportedly, LaRoche is going to be dropped off in Florida when the Dodgers head east, for extended spring training.

According to the Weather Channel's info, the temps in San Bernardino tonight are not going to be frigid by anyone's definition. It should be 66 degrees there at 7 pm.

38
That makes it sound like LaRoche is just asking "Hey guys, how far you going? I'm going to Florida. What? You're going to Atlanta. That's cool. Can I get a ride to there?"

40 As long as no parachutes are involved, I think it'll be okay. ;)

37 That makes sense. Thanks.

31 Furcal doesn't ever really sit, and I imagine that they want Hu to play every day. Young would play 2nd when Ol' Blood an' Guts needs a rest, and in an emergency, NOMAR could step in at short. When LaRoche comes back DeWitt goes down, and either Abreu (If healthy) or Lucille/Chavez comes up. I like having Hu up, but if he's the future I'd bet they're more inclined to have him be an every day player.

Looks like Lucille II is on the 7-day DL.

http://tinyurl.com/4x97mm

43 If that were really the plan, though, I would have expected them to try Young at 2B during one or both of the blowouts the last three days. That they didn't do that indicates to me that they have no plans to have him serve as the team's sole backup second baseman.

I wonder why the Dodgers felt the need to wait until after batting practice -- i.e. right before the game starts -- to announce the move. I hope it's not because Torre is preparing himself for one of those "Son, this is the most difficult part of a manager's job..." conversations.

Perhaps they could just put Young on the DL and say he's still suffering the effects of being conked in the head with the ball. They've made up similarly bogus injuries before, in situations where they were in danger of losing the player.

If Ethier is traded, then a spot frees up. Saito could be going to the DL. Whatever happens I bet DeWitt stays. If he went down, how long before we could recall him? 9 days?

Kid on phone: "How do you get to the library?"
Me: "Where are you coming from?"
Kid: "Home."
Me: "Where is your home?"
Kid: "California."
Me: "No, I need to know the street and if you're coming by car or by bus?"
Kid: "We're walking."
Me: "Are you in Los Angeles?"
Kid: "I think so, let me ask my mom."

47 I have to say, those are two options I hadn't considered.

47 Ten days, unless another player goes on the DL, in which case the waiting period is waived.

47 - "If Ethier is traded, then a spot frees up. Saito could be going to the DL."

Huh? What?

46 Perhaps Torre wants to see for himself if Nomar really looks ready. Nomar, after all, says he still has pain.

48 It should have gone like this:

Kid on phone: "How do you get to the library?"
Me: Hard Work.

I think they wait until close to gametime to make the decision because, I say half-seriously, you never know when someone's gonna get hit by a batting practice line drive.

Saito's still throwing as hard as ever. Losing the bite on your slider isn't really an injury.

I think 47 and 48 make a logical progression.

So somebody is out there practicing right now who won't be on the team in an hour. I'm picturing a Far Side-style cartoon here with the caption, "Delwyn knew the end was near when he was moved into the same batting practice group as the batboys."

48 My favorite customer service call was when I worked for the rent board, and the caller was being evicted from his mobile home pad because he was a cross dresser. Though perhaps not to the untrained eye, this presents one of the most complex possible issues in housing law. His biggest complaint was that his adversaries apparently did not appreciate the work of Milton Berle.

This line-up is not quite right, but I do like the first two thirds of it. Ethier should not be the one to rest, although with Jones beginning to show life it is probably not the time to rest him. If Pierre should play, which is conceivable, he should bat after Penny, who could be a formidable RBI guy. Then JP could get a chance as a lead-off guy in some circumstances. Oh well.

Nomar is back!

Wooooooo!

We all knew it was coming...and look, DeWitt far exceeded all expectations, but there is a fine rationale for starting Nomar over him. At least Torre's not batting Nomar 3rd, as Little did last season.

And of course I don't like Pierre playing over Ethier, but Ethier has played 14 days in a row, so I wouldn't exactly call this a platoon. Let's just assume the top of the lineup carries us like last night until proven otherwise.

Man, C.C Sabathia got lit up again. 9 runs in 4 plus innings. His ERA before today was over 10 with a WHIP of almost 2.5. He might be costing himself an absolute ton of money.

He might be costing himself an absolute ton of money

Meh. Andruw got a raise after his worst year in the bigs.

63 Yes, but that doesn't contradict the statement that he's costing himself a ton of money. A free agent is going to get a hell of a big raise no matter what. If he's actually good, he'll get an even bigger one.

I'm in loge 145 row t if anyone wants to say hi. Go blue, go nomar

63

Before the year, there were some huge numbers thrown around concerning his new deal. Obviously hes not going to be this bad for much longer (one would hope), but this start raises a bunch of questions that need to be answered. But if he has the equivalent of the 2007 Jones, he's going to lose at least $30 million.

CC threw alot of innings last year.

OK, ok.....how bout this...may, MAYBE Ned is trying to work out a trade, which is why they are waiting until the last minute to make an announcement...I'm thinking Young or Pierre....

Sabathia seems determined to single-handledly ruin my fantasy season.

"There's few things in life more boring than hearing someone talk about their fantasy team"

- Will Carroll

It's Troncoso, according to Diamond.

70 When I talk about my Fantasy Football team,grown men tear up and throw roses.

63 Jones got 2 yrs / $36M. If he had had a good year in '07 he likely would have rec'd Torii Hunter money, 5 yrs / $90M. That's $54M of "bird in the hand" money he cost himself. It remains to be seen if he can get 3 yrs / $54M or better for 2010 and beyond.

71 Pay up!

Oh, wait, no one bet me. Darn it.

{Shuffles feet, looks glumly down at ground}

I'm gonna take myself for a walk.

Turns out the Pat Jordan story on Joe Posnanski's blog to which Marty provided a link earlier today also appeared on the Toaster a few months ago.
http://bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com/archives/891907.html

72 Funny, when I talked about my Fantasy Football, people would throw up and tear roses. Or at least my g/f would.

I'm gonna take myself for a walk

Be sure to bring a bag...

I like the idea of resting Ethier and starting Pierre tonight. After all, it is the Pirates. I would rather see Ethier rested and playing well against the Braves, Reds and D'Backs then playing tonight. This is what a fourth outfielder is supposed to be for.

Its also the perfect night to start Nomar. After all he'll be facing Paul Maholm of the lifetime ERA 4.60 Maholms. Its a nice soft spot for him.

77 Got that, the leash, and a ball... Ah, forget it, this is gettin' weird.

But after a 60 minute work conference call, I definitely need a break so I can return afresh for Nomar's 4, one-pitch at bats tonight.

I think Ken Arneson should do a follow-up post explaining the hows and whys behind the pronunciation of Paul Maholm's last name.

Like this move for a number of reasons. Dodgers find out or start to find out where Nomar is at, if Torre only wants to play him five innings and see if there is swelling or problems tomorrow he still has the solution as a solid back-up. Troncosso is valuable and while most on this site would have loved to have seen a JP trade for some great power hitting prospect two years away, I don't think that is even remotely on the Dodgers radar-this also would be my solution but I am not the GM.
One other good thing about Nomar starting now he should get a number of days playing at big league at bats to really get a better picture of where he is at now and probably for the rest of the season. If he does nothing now than it will make it far easier to play La Roche without getting into an immediate platoon, giving La Roche the constant big league at bats he needs...Can't wait for the game

Garciaparra returns....Let the Plate Dancing begin!

Speaking of our old friend Luis Gonzalez, well, guess who just hit a pinch-hit HR?

Harking back to last night's discussion of lonnnnng relief, the AL record for longest relief stint is 17 innings by Ed Rommel of the Philadelphia A's on 7/10/1932.

The A's beat the Indians that day in 18 innings, by a score of 18-17.

PHI 201 201 702 000 000 201 - 18
CLE 203 011 601 000 000 200 - 17

Rommel gave up 29 hits in 17 innings. And got the win!

The NL record is even longer (according to SABR records lord and master Lyle Spatz) at 18 1/3 innings by Zip Zabel of the Cubs on 6/17/1915 against Brooklyn. The Cubs won 4-3 and Zabel gave up just 2 runs in his 18 1/3 innings.

Not to nitpick or anything, but does Ethier really need an extra day of rest before a travel day? I'm not upset about him not starting, but the "rest" argument always seemed strange to me when the next day is an off day/travel day.

84 - I'm a sick, sick man, I think I would have appreciated the second half of that game more than the first.

The LaRoche brothers are discussing the spelling of their last name on the pre game show. They are spelled differently on their jerseys (ANDY LAROCHE/ ADAM LaROCHE). Both said they didn't know the proper way to write it, and didn't care, so long as it was on a major league jersey.

45 Young did play the last two innings of the blowout of the Padres at 2B paired with Hu at SS.

85

I think it's more of a situation were they wanna GIVE Pierre a game he'd sat for 2 games straight, I think it's more that than anything.

86 IIRC, for a couple of days last year Andy decided it should be spelled "Garcia."

85
I think the rationale behind the rest before an off day is to maximize the off day, so he gets 2 full days (even though he might pinch hit tonight) while only missing one game.

Also in the 1932 Philadelphia-Cleveland marathon.
It took just 4:05 to play.
I counted 89 total baserunners in the game.
Cleveland shortstop Johnny Burnett was 9 for 11 in the game.
Cleveland led 14-13 with two outs in the 9th when Jimmy Dykes reached on an error by Cleveland first baseman Ed Morgan. Al Simmons walked and Jimmie Foxx singled in two runs.
Foxx hit three home runs and drove in eight.
Cleveland used three pitchers and Philadelphia used just two.

By contrast, during Sunday's 1-0 game between the Dodgers and Padres there were nine pitchers in the game.

Contact rate can be more revealing than batting average

>> So, when it comes to batting average, perhaps the skill that we should be tracking is the rate at which a batter makes contact.

Contact rate (at-bats minus strikeouts, divided by at-bats) is a statistic that is far more stable and projectable. League level rates run about 80%. Our .300 hitters often come from those with contact rates greater than 90%. Batters with rates less than 70% typically have trouble keeping their batting average above .250. <<

http://tinyurl.com/54mplj

Ethier obviously isn't tired. I just think this is Torre's way to get Pierre a game in. Kemp is too hot to take out. If this is how Torre utilizes Pierre, spelling one or the other very occasionally, I'll be a lot less worried.

89 yeah, they mentioned that. It was his dad's last name.

Nice segment with Ethier & Pycho Steven Lyons talking about hitting (apposite field)

90

That should be the rationale with Russell Martin one would think, he's getting hot though.

Dallas's win over New Orleans means the Lakers play Denver in the 1st round.

I think the ghost of Ed Rommel is pitching for both the Yankees and Red Sox tonight.

Dodgers activate Nomar Garciaparra, send Troncoso to minors

>> "The best thing that's come out of the whole bad luck part of (the rash of injuries to the third base position) was Blake DeWitt," Torre said. "We certainly got a peek at a guy who didn't come to spring training with it, and found himself playing on opening day. So whatever happens for him from here on out has certainly been a positive for him and us both—to watch the way he's handled this stuff and to know that he's there in the event that we need some help." <<

http://tinyurl.com/44xoxx

97 Which sent me immediately scrambling for playoff tickets. Of course, I will be rooting for the opposite of the majority of the posters here.

97
And if Houston and San Antonio hold their current leads, Suns & Spurs will meet in the first round.

South Park time. I'll talk to you shortly, folks.

This is the bracket I wanted - Denver, Utah, and Houston. Let those other 4 teams beat on each other. Utah is really good, but I like how we match up with them.

Utah is really good

...at home. They're currently 17-23 on the road.

103
Utah/Houston are slated to play as 4/5 seeds in round 1 (assuming the Spurs and Rockets win tonight). Presumably, the Lakers will play the Hornets, Mavs, Suns, or Spurs in the conference finals.

Jon Meloan is having a terrific start again (5 IP, 1 hit).

This guy deserves a shot at the #5 spot soon.

105 - Houston would have home court over Utah though.

At least Nomar/Pierre are at the bottom of the lineup.

Sending Troncoso down was also a good move. Nomar cant play everyday at 3b.

Just heard Rick and Charlie on the pre-game show talking about Nomar. Rick asked Nomar if he is "pain free." And Nomar indicated "no" but "at least he knows what he's dealing with." Apparently, Nomar's index fingure is causing him pain up through his wrist. As such, they expect Maholm will pitch Nomar inside. So I ask, why is Nomar coming back if he is still in pain? Jon, loves it when this happens.