http://fifthoutfielder.blogspot.com/2008/07/rule-one-violation.html

I have a question regarding K rate.

Wouldn't measuring the % hitters struck out be more effective that just looking at K/9IP?

I mean the higher the WHIP the more chances you have to strike someone out, if you K 7 guys in 6 innings and face 30 should that really be measured higher that a guy who stikes out 5 in 6 while only facing 20?

- Torre on Colletti: "I think Colletti did a hell of a job in making a deal. On a daily basis, his work ethic is second to none as far as I'm concerned."

What weird, backhanded comment to make on your GM. It comes over as damning with faint praise, although I'm not sure it was intended that way.

- Colletti on the Andruw Jones situation: "We have three everyday outfielders and somebody who's struggling to get his game together."

Three? So if "somebody who's struggling" follows the "and", that means Ethier is an everyday outfielder? So where is he then?

or tony abreu if anyone can find him, they should put a chip in his ear

Casey Blake said he was excited about gaining free agency at season's end and has said he would like to retire a Cleveland Indian. "I still have a chance to finish my career there," he said.

Does he treat him like a trash?

I will never get tired of that line.

Several (Scareduck?) have claimed for years that McCourt's lack of deep pockets would hurt this franchise but I think this is the 1st time I've seen it in action.

1
And as I recall he was a bigger fan of Blake then most.

Over the last two years I wrote about Carlos Santana more then any other Dodger prospect. I asked many scouts/baseball analysts about him and I never got much positive feedback. It perplexed me as the power/patience numbers just jumped out at me even when he was 19. I couldn't even get BA to include him in their daily prospect write-ups until this weekend. This is what Deric McKamey Scout/Analyst from Baseball HQ had to say when I asked him about Santana last month.
"I've always liked Santana and his season is absolutely for real. His bat has always showed some promise and it is good to see him living-up to his abilities. Defensively, his receiving skills are improving, and is doing a better job of making his arm strength an asset in halting the running game. I don't know if he's going to be strong enough defensively to be an everyday catcher, but I wouldn't sell him short.
"

I hated that. "I can't believe he hit that hanging curveball!"

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Still on the Clock.

Yes, but the guy struggling is playing everyday, so it doesn't make sense.

Lol.

Martin down the line!

Myspace for me.

Now Martin with the double! Love it!

Welcome back Perez.

The cork was dry. Send him back.

(imperfect transcription, no doubt, but pretty darn close)

3-2 Giants Bottom 6!

Better lights, proper batters' eyes. Pitchers in the minors mights have less command, but a lot of them throw harder.

?

Haha. Good point.

Ned "Iron Guts" Colletti

We needed him to come through in that first at bat.

To show us that he was ready to be the third baseman we've been waiting for.

He let us down.

It was like he just didn't want to be there.

Three guesses...

Nice to see the 4-0 score though!

Primal scream ...

How much longer is Torre going to let Jones play at Ethier or Kemp's expense?

Yeah, no MLB player for me tonight, apparently, so it's Gameday Time.

As does their offense.

I told you rooting for them does no good.

Btw, the first Futurama movie is on Comedy Central right now.

Woah, there, camper. Let's start with the high .500's.

...which I thought was decent but not great. Among other things, Fry's voice didn't sound right.

Have been out trying to recapture my great days of tennis at GG Park, any thoughts on the day for the Norcal DT's to see the Dodgers?

189 - Yeah, I gave it a B. Some great moments but no classic. Still haven't seen the newest one yet.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe not. It's not about this season for me. This team isn't that good anyway. The West is a young division, and I want to compete long term with Arizona, SF, Colorado, and SD.

Didn't realize it was out.

199 - Huh, did not know that. Maybe he feels spurned by them, or is trying to overcompensate to cover his past allegiances...

I think Lowe is very good, but I don't think he's so great that trading him is throwing in the towel. If Penny happens to come back to anything useful, even less so.

And since in my family I was always taught, if you don't have anything nice to say, violate Rule 1 with impunity while saying it anyway; I think I'm going to go play cards.

And now watching Andruw Jones, I have to believe Torre benches him, starting tomorrow.

So does anyone know how many draft picks the Dodgers would have in 1st and supplemental rounds next year if you count their own pick (assuming they don't lose it) and losses of Lowe and Blake?

Hopefully it won't be at Kemp's expense.

Btw, that reminds me, my dad came back from a trip to Yellowstone and brought me back a pack of Bison playing cards. He wondered why I was so thrilled with the gift.

Was overrated in the first place.

A bigger question is why Ned's repeatedly picking up 30+ year old men with beards...

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

What any reasonable GM could have done with this team in 2 1/2 years with this farm system and a $75 mil payroll on it's way to $115 mil?

So was trading him away more like organ donation?

First he says a Dodger announcer told him that "Carlos Santana the catcher isn't playing any better than Santana the guitarist." Ray Knight quoted his stats and was confused by the comment.

Then Carpenter proceeded to read Kershaw's stats and claim that the Nats should score some runs tomorrow.

I'm just saying, if you're facing Brandon Lyon, you gotta like your chances since he's been so shaky lately.

The reason the Indians were able to get Carlos Santana, a very high-level prospect, in the Casey Blake deal is that the Indians took on all of Blake's remaining $2 million salary. Several general managers around baseball wonder whether L.A. doesn't have cash flow problems.

Mine is louis99@wans.net

The Nats' broadcaster got a little too excited on that long foul by Kearns.

And... scene.

Sour grapes.

The D's didn't bite on his fluky free agent year.

Whatever dude.

Yeah, but that's an unfortunate way to put his foot down. Kinda like letting draft picks go because you don't want to spend an extra few hundred-thousand.

271 Thanks, I'll post something this week!

Welp, good night folks.

And, yeah, I said "welp" - what's it to ya!

Well...I guess Colletti has done a great job fueling the Money Train. Plus throw in
$600,000 for Mark Sweeney just for fun.

1. McCourt put his foot down on spending for Sabathia. He did not trust Colletti to hand out more free agent dollars to Sabathia.

2. Other GMs, to some extent, feel like the buck does not stop with Colletti and that multiple people approve Dodger deals despite what Colletti might think. This has led to a number of reports that it is difficult to deal with the Dodgers.

3. Colletti might be trading away better prospects because he has no money to spend on new players. This seems incredulous even to me, but Colletti's record is dismal as far as handing out money to people.

At the very least, I think McCourt, if able to do things over, would not have hired Colletti.

"I'm not allowed to have feeling with what goes on around here," Ethier said.

Okay, check this out. I don't post anything useful, much, mainly, I 'spose, because I consider myself, rightly I'm sure, to not be one of the more informed fans of the Dodgers or of baseball. But reading through posts on this and several other boards all calling for Colletti's head I feel like asking this somewhat extended hypothetical question.

Suppose:
1) Casey's bat helps to propel the team into the playoffs where it aquits itself honorably, ie, at least extends its 1st round series to (what is it?) 5 games.

2) DeWitt plays 2nd in the minors for the rest of the season. The position switch is considered to be provisionally successful.

3)LaRoche is kept up for the remainder of the season. Through creative position management he recieves a fair number of at-bats. he performs pretty well.

4) Blake is somehow let go after the season with or without compensating draft picks.

5) Next season begins with LaRoche at 3rd, DeWitt at 2nd, and the rest of our beloved young players at their respective positions (i.e. None were traded off for PVL's).

How would everyone judge Colletti at that point if all or nearly all of the above scenario were to occur. Would he still be condemned by most. Was this trade a bad one, on principle, even if it happens to yield short-term results?

Does my scenario have to many hypothetical points to be worth considering, ie, "Yeah! If everything goes perfect, we'll be fine!" I don't think so, but it may.

My point is, Ned's had a long streak of "bad luck" with his moves. I can't tell if it's all due to poor decision making or some of it truly is bad luck. But if this trade actually, by miracle, or happenstance, does work out well in the short-term and indifferently to well in the long-term, will people here feel more well-disposed toward the Nedster at this time next year, especially in light of point #5?

If I were McCourt, I'd be looking at the dollars wasted by Colletti, and I'd be seriously thinking about firing him. Plus there is a real threat of losing Ng and/or White at this point.

Too bad the game was so quick.

I think the highlight was bluebleeder corralling a beach ball and then letting me stick my pen in it to deflate.

The people sitting behind us hated us.

And we were all very happy.

291 - We're behind you all the way Andre. You'll be in there. This Jones disaster is coming to an end soon.

It would be one thing if he was on a team with a halfway decent group of outfielders. Kemp and Ethier are pretty close to be league average offensively and they still blow away the other two clowns.

With the exception of Blake propelling the Dodgers to playoffs and playoff success, what of the rest of your post would be different had they not even bothered to acquire Blake?

4 for 5 with a double, 2 triples, four runs scored and 4 RBI's.

In addition, Luis Maza is playing second base and is 4 for 4 with a walk, 4 runs scored and 3 RBI's.

Sights at the game, seeing LaRoche in the dugout realizing that he is the odd man in, watching Vin singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame with us during the 7th inning stretch, and seeing Odalis take a meaningless dive at first base.

1. Nomar, when healthy is putting up good numbers so far.
2. Furcal might come back.
3. Hu, with his eyesight taken care of and allowed the development time he was supposed to get this year anyway, might finally be major-league ready by September.
4. DeJesus as been doing rather well in AA and might pull a Blake DeWitt for a month.

So ... Nomar for July (until injured), DeJesus for August (until the league figures him out), Hu and Furcal for September. What more do we need?

1) Casey Blake got a big welcome from the fans. But Juan Pierre got a bigger one. Alas.

2) A guy two rows in front of me wore a t-shirt with the weather forecast for Mecca across the back. Monday through Friday were highs of 90 degrees with a picture of the sun shining. Saturday was a high of 5000 degrees with picture of a mushroom cloud. He was there with his young child. Hope this is not a rule 5 violation but I was pretty shocked.

3) A guy two rows behind me said that Matt Kemp was the dumbest guy on the planet and pointed out how he had been picked off first more than any player in history, can't hit a fast ball, etc.

4) A guy just to my left said that Juan Pierre was his favorite player because he "makes things happen."

5) My head did not explode. I was enjoying a beautiful night too much to allow these morons who live among us to ruin my mood.

6) My 5 year old had his first bite of a Dodger dog. He called it a "hello bite" and took a few nibbles from the side. Then he ate the entire bun and allowed the dog to roll on the ground. Told me it was junk food. I let it go, reluctantly. He is now asleep, clutching his new Dodger bear, dreaming of James Loney and Matt Kemp.

I wouldn't worry about your 5-year old not liking a hot dog right away. He'll come around.

Highlights from an interview with Ned with Charley Steiner on the pregame show:

On Casey Blake : They've been watching him for a while now. Very competitive, doesn't take an at-bat off and more stability at third.

On Blake DeWitt: Outstanding first four months.

Andy LaRoche fits in their plans for the future. But, for right here, right now, they needed one more bat. A veteran bat. A bat who's been through a pennant race. More experience means more stability. Kids can lean on the vets.

On trading Santana: Santana can hit, but with prospects at Triple-A and Double-A they felt it was something they could do. Between Russ and Lucas May they had depth to move him. Plus he may end up playing the outfield and not catching in the future.

On Jon Meloan: Passed by Wade and Troncoso. He'll pitch in the big leagues, but had to move him.

On July 31st: Looking to add a pitcher. It may not happen. Asking price is too high today.

There are a couple of power bats being thrown out there, but one is a true stretch to be traded and the price would be astronomical. Another one has a spotty track record, he goes up and down and is hard to gauge whether it's staying up. It would be ultra costly and doubtful anything will happen in that area.

On the rest of the season: Blake will help us. Consistency on offense. Needs the pitching to get back to where it was before the break. Games against the Rockies and D'backs are huge. He praises the Rockies offense.

On injuries and potential comebacks: Penny could be back in ten days. Schmidt continues to go back and forth. Furcal is working out in Arizona with a physical therapist. Hopefully, we get him back. But, realistically not before September 1st. Saito will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

Assessing Ethier, Martin, Loney and Kemp: Continue to see improvement. Some inconsistency. Kemp's at bats are much better, his defense was great last night and improving. Martin is Martin. Plays hard everyday. Loney is a second half player and we'll see his power. Ethier has been more consistent and improving. Each is getting better and better. Their names all come up in trade talk from the other side as do Billingsley and Broxton. Those six are everyday players and can handle the pace of the season and be successful doing it.

That is very encouraging to read, mostly. Thanks for the transcript.

A tease:

And based on everything Colletti knows about baseball, he said, "Casey Blake is a solid player."

"And did you think Andruw Jones was a solid player?" I wondered.

"Yeah," Colletti said. "Did you?"

"No," I said, his .222 average and 138 strikeouts a year ago raising just a little bit of doubt.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers27-2008jul27,0,7140986.column

Poor Casey Blake had no idea what he was in for.

"It's not the time to be heroes and pitch complete games," Lowe said. "It's time to win games."

Which is why Lowe said that when Torre asked him if he wanted to pitch the ninth inning, he said no. Lowe's next scheduled start is Thursday, when the Dodgers open a four-game series against the Diamondbacks. The opposing pitcher that day will be Brandon Webb.

"I'd rather save the 15-20 pitches," Lowe said. "I understand where my next start is."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers27-2008jul27,0,2939809.story

Shaikin:

The Dodgers tend not to respond to trade proposals as quickly or decisively as other clubs, leaving those executives wondering whether to approach Colletti, McCourt or one of the assistant general managers for a prompt response and whether scouting guru Logan White is whispering into McCourt's ear to hold onto the prospects.

The Dodgers say this is nonsense. Colletti solicited White's opinion on Saturday's trade, even dispatching him for a last-minute evaluation of the better of the two prospects, catcher Carlos Santana. White gave his blessing to trade the prospects.

Even without them, there is youth aplenty in Dodger blue. With McCourt's commitment to young players, not only last winter but through this trading season, it becomes increasingly apparent that Torre was not the best choice as the Dodgers' manager.

These Dodgers would have been better served with a younger, high-energy manager -- say, Torey Lovullo or Ron Wotus, two of the names on the candidate list that Paul DePodesta compiled three years ago, before McCourt fired him

Kim Ng as Dodger GM and Brian Cashman as Nats GM...These two things need to happen to my two favorite teams.

If that's really true, it does make me feel a little better. Santana's entire value lies in his being able to remain a catcher; if he can't stay behind the plate, then he's just another player.

The point in 331 is something that's been obvious almost from the moment Torre was hired. Ever since Torre expressed a desire during the offseason to remain ignorant about his team, it's been apparent that this is a bad match. I'm not saying it won't work eventually, but the Dodgers could have done better. I'm glad somebody is finally saying so out loud.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2705919860_fa5902e725_b.jpg

We could, potentially, have three first round picks next year (top 30) -- our own, Lowe, and Blake.

First it was the Chevy Techron commercials.
Then it was Owen Wilson and Paul Newman.
Now it's a trolley that isn't even a trolley.

I miss the days when cars were feared. They were 1964 Plymouth Furies with death in their hearts.

This person and someone else indicated they did not believe Ned would be back next year. They were fairly matter of fact about this.

Lowe is about as close to 100% as it gets to not returning (Boras factor).

We're not signing CC (McCourt factor).

Offering Blake arb is a hedge against LaRoche/DeWitt.

The "McCourt Factor" isn't cheapness. It's instability and a desperation to be liked.

Billingsley
Sabathia
Kuroda
Kershaw
Penny (if option gets picked up)

That would be a silly staff. Imagine if somebody could hit 25 home runs.

Consarnit.

At least I predicted Blake DeWitt would be one going down to AAA.

Is Logan White playing the Tom Hagen role?

Tommy is Abe Vigoda, right?

Lasorda...Not so much.

Ken Rosenthal is The Turk. You just wish he would go away.

Larry Bowa has to be Sonny.

Winner

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08209/899937-63.stm

"In fact, it might be the best deal Colletti has ever made, because the Dodgers don't have to pay Blake anything to play third base, the Indians paying his entire $6.1-million salary.

"I wondered how that conversation went when Colletti went skipping into the Parking Lot Attendant's office and told FrankMcCourt he had just acquired a guy who won't have to be paid.

"'Anything else?' Colletti said while turning to the other reporters.

"What's more important than that to the Parking Lot Attendant? That's why Angel Berroa is still here. The Royals are paying his $4.75-million salary, and now with Blake, that's two of the 25 players on the Dodgers' roster whom McCourt doesn't have to pay."

I wonder if Colletti is working off Jones' salary with almost $11 mil in free players. That would remove some of the sting of DFA'ing him.

The scouting director who oversaw most of those disastrous Pirates drafts was Ed Creech, the same guy who wrecked the Dodger farm system before Logan White was hired. I'm amazed he was able to get another job after his tenure with the Dodgers.

Now he works for the Giants. [Rubs hands together with glee.]

Repko is the only player he ever drafted who got more than a cup of coffee with the Dodgers. Otherwise, the most notable players he picked were Abercrombie, Victorino, Hanrahan, Thurston, Koyie Hill, and Edwin Jackson, the last of whom was the only player in the Dodgers' 2001 draft to play so much as a single game in the major leagues for anybody.

1. If Torre's job was to "heal the clubhouse," he's not doing a good job with the outfield.

2. Management's divisions sound pretty much like Ned vs. everybody else. Thus it should be easy to fix the divided voice" problem. (I do wonder where Ng is in all of this).

3. Ned's stated reasons for getting Blake are just inane, PR speak--which is what you would expect.

4. I doubt that the "cash-flow" problems are much more than McCourt tired of Ned wasting his money. This could mean Ng/White moving Pierre this winter as well as letting big contracts walk.

5. We'll have more reason to swear if Jones plays today and this week. It's good that the press is finally willing to question Torre as well as Ned.

On a lighter note, I thought this quote from Lowe was amusing in it's inaccuracy:

"I consider my tenure to be a failure. We've only won one playoff game."

Dodger playoff wins, 2005-2007: 0

I shudder to think what Lowe thinks of his tenure now.

With the exception of Blake propelling the Dodgers to playoffs and playoff success, what of the rest of your post would be different had they not even bothered to acquire Blake?

These are a couple of changes, I think positive, that the Blake aquisition may have precipitated.

1) DeWitt's in the minors working out at second base. Many of us wanted that.

2) LaRoche's role for this season is more firmly defined as utility man. With any creativity on the part of Torre he can be found enough at-bats in a slightly less pressure filled environment to both avoid becoming rusty and to get more used to the big leagues, eased in, so to speak.

3) If all of that works out as it might then infield roles going into NEXT season might well be clearer than they would have been had we continued as we were.

4) The offense IS improved, I think. It's a little baseless to claim that LaRoche would likely as performed in the third base lineup slot as well as Blake is likely to. The outfield is a fairly separate issue which involves Torre doing the right thing. We could end up a decent playoff team, I think.

Question: If all that transpires that nicely will we judge this "typical" Colletti move less harshly than we have retrospectively judged the ones by which Baez and Hendrickson were aquired? Or is he just the proverbial blind squirrel?

a) shorthand; or
b) fact checking

Dodger Fans, Rest Easy. There's a steady hand at the helm of your ship. A hand that wears a cowboy hat. A hand that also wears snakeskin boots. Ned's hand.

An excerpt:

What happens when a team attains such a dangerously high gaminess quotient? Will Juan Pierre grow a thick, Baron Davis-style beard to prove that he's more of a gamer than Blake? What if Jeff Kent shoots himself in the foot with a crossbow just so he can play through the pain of a crossbow wound and be hailed as the gamiest Dodger of all? What if Nomar turns himself into a 5'6" white guy, and then Broxton transforms himself into Brett Favre in retaliation, and then Hong-Chih Kuo tops them all by becoming the ultimate gamer: a 5'6" Brett Favre?

Any tips on how it works and how to have the best experience with it?

Thanks!

It's based on something other than what's happened, but it's not based on nothing. Blake is beating his preseason projections by 80+ OPS points. His hitting at about his 75% PECOTA projection. Most of the people who think that LaRoche would be better than Blake for the rest of the season expect that Blake will be falling off his first half pace. Some expect he'll be falling well off.

People who expect LaRoche would have outperformed Blake for the rest of the year are also likely to be disposed to giving no (or nearly no) credence to LaRoche's 59 ABs, because they do not represent a useful sample. The bases for the LaRoche projections are the same as they were in March. That's problematic, given his broken hand, but there's not a more defensible jumping off point I can see.

I've been posting this morning thinking I had the thread all to myself. I did--the previous thread.

I'm going to hide my head in shame now.

Not that any of this matters. Barring an injury, LaRoche isn't going to play much for the Dodgers this year. So, we'll never know. If he doesn't get sent to Boston this week, we'll get to argue next year whether it was the kid glove treatment that allowed him to breakout in 2009. How Joe Torre took a broken, destitute prospect and turned him into a big league third baseman. Hallowed be his name.