I guess that's why they call 'em prospects, but this news gives me the blues.

Actually, they also got their 1st Round pick (Chris Withrow) from the Red Sox since they lost their first round pick to the Giants for the Schmidt signing.

I was LATed.

Hot Stove - GM merry-go-round

Right now, the only open jobs are the Mariners and Phillies, Cashman's contract ends at the end of this season but odds are he will remain in NY, though Seattle (if Gillick takes president's job as rumored, is possible), Philadephia or LA are other rumored destinations for the NYY GM,

The only GM who could be fired right now and this would be more of not renewing his contract is Jim Bowden.

The only positions where interviews will take place at this time are for Seattle and Philadephia.

If Seattle sees themselves as a contender (why I don't know), then going the Gillick/Cashman route would make some sense, if they want to start fresh, some of the asst. GMs looking for their first GM job would be a good place to go.

In Philadelphia, Ruben Amaro has the inside track according to those who follow the team.

Washington is a mess but Bowden does have ownership in his corner according to press reports so who knows if they will let him go.

I think in the end, Cashman stays, Seattle hires an asst. GM from another organization, Phillies promote Amaro and Bowden is given one more year.

Astros – Ed Wade signed through 2010
Blue Jays – J.P. Ricciardi, signed through 2010
Dodgers – Ned Colletti, signed through 2009
Giants – Brian Sabean, signed through 2009 with team option for 2010
Mariners – Lee Pelekoudas, interim GM
Nationals – Jim Bowden, signed through the end of 2008 (team renews contract every 6 months)
Padres – Kevin Towers, signed through 2010
Phillies – Pat Gillick, signed through 2008
Rangers – Jon Daniels, signed through 2011
Reds – Walt Jocketty, signed through 2011
Yankees – Brian Cashman, signed through 2008

BH you should repost your handy GM job update list from previous thread.

I can't imagine any rational universe that will see Jim Bowden brought back in Washington, but maybe the Nats' ownership isn't rational.

Ah, and there it is!

The Nationals' ownership appears rational in the sense that they like a cheap, profitable team. And they have one.

Milton Friedman would love them!

In terrifying headline news, there is an article on the LHC project up at washingtonpost.com titled "Scientists seek to re-create the Big Bang"

6 Physics DR is probably very excited right now.

6 They should just once let kids sit behind home plate just to make it look full.

My research tells me that Bowden latched onto the current ownership early on and basically is riding that horse as long as he can.

5 I know that I did not go through all 30 jobs but I believe that the guys just hired are probably safe for at least another year.

I suppose you could rank them like this in terms of probability of having a new GM for 2009:

1. Mariners (100%)
2. Phillies (100%)
3. Nationals (50%)
4. Yankees (20%)
5. Dodgers (20%)
6. The field (the other 25 teams) (10%)

Somewhat sad news regarding Guzman. At AA he showed some promise ; however, he was never able to make the necessary adjustments to his game that would have taken him to the major leagues

Gillick may just choose the Mariners, rather than the other way around. If he decides he wants to be the GM for Seattle (he lives there) I don't see how they could turn him down, rebuilding or not.

Thats too bad about Guzman. Seems like just yesterday that the Dodgers signed him for a record signing bonus, he was destroying the ball at SS, & people were pumped the Dodgers would have a slugger at SS.

The not walking thing was his roadblock that he never recovered from.

8 They should! My kids, in fact! Who of course are not old to sit unattended.

The cover of Baseballamerica.com is a bit cringeworthy.

(Sorry if this was already mentioned).

The Jays beat the White Sox. The Royals playoff hopes are not yet dead!

14 Tell Nate not to look at that.

Toronto has also won 9 straight games, but are 8 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and still have to jump over Minnesota.

14 :-/

It doesnt look like the Dodgers 1st round pick this year will be protected.

Right now, they have the 14th best record in baseball. They'd need to get down to 16 to have it protected. The two 2 teams closest behind them are the Dbax (71-72) and Marlins (72-72).

Basically, if the Dodgers win the division their pick wont be protected.

If they lose the division, they'd still need to finish worse than the Marlins to have the pick protected.

Cool, another Tim Brown article on the Dodgers. At least this one doesn't lecture them and us about getting too confident.

http://tinyurl.com/6ny5wu

>>But, and maybe this explains the healthy glow and Endless Summer perspective, the NL West has been kind to Torre, Manny and the Dodgers. There is a sense some of the organization's rising talents – Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw – have had nice growth seasons, ones that will serve them (and the franchise) in Torre II and Torre III, assuming he serves to the end of his contract.

If nothing else, the young Dodgers have been allowed to be young Dodgers. When they lugged their duffels into their first big-league clubhouse, they discovered the world not only wasn't about them, but didn't think much of them, either. The manager at the time – a very nice gentleman named Grady Little – was suffering from his own crisis of confidence and, as it happened, was on his way out. Their new, veteran teammates cared more about their own jobs and their own at-bats than for creating a chummy, constructive workplace.<<

Underdog killed the chat.

Joe Giardi could be the Dodgers coach. Just think about that.

Sometimes it just takes a player a little longer to figure it out. Five, six years ago we saw a tremendous amount of potential there. I wouldn't mind them picking him up for nothing or close to it, and stashing him in the minors for a year or two just to see if he catches on... He's still only 23 years old.

Some of the $4 million that's going to Torre could have been used to keep Santana. Just think about that.

Or we could have kept Grady Little for this year, and have this team finish 10-152. Just think about that.

So you're saying you think Torre's overpaid? ;-)

I guess we could also think about some of the money going to Schmidt, who has contributed nothing for his millions, or Jones, or Pierre, or... at least Torre's contributed something. If any one of those contracts were different or hadn't happened, they wouldn't be penny-pinching and using prospects. Er, not Brad Penny-pinching.

Shawn Merriman on IR as of Today. Looks like the Chargers decided to end that charade.

at least Torre's contributed something

Um, I guess.

As I read BA my guitar gently weeps.

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/los-angeles-dodgers.html

Huh, Tommy Tazner is Bill's agent. Guess he figured out how to do Draft bonuses negotiations now.

[6, 7]

If you haven't checked out the LHC rap on Youtube, do it now. Very funny.

Per Diamond - the return of Nomar and Andruw:

Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Ramirez, LF
Garciaparra, 1B
Blake, 3B
Jones, CF
DeWitt, 2B
Berroa, SS
Kuroda, P

6 "The Nationals' ownership appears rational in the sense that they like a cheap, profitable team. And they have one.

Milton Friedman would love them!"

Minus the publicly owned stadium.

Nomar, and Jones?

....Hahahahahahahahahaha. Oh man.

The animated corpse of Nomar is being wheeled out for the stretch run(tm).

Anyone else thing that maybe the experiment with Martin hitting leadoff has run its course? I also think he could use a couple of days off. he really hasn't hot anything the last month or so.

I thought Kemp did well hitting first, why not move him back there?

37 really hasn't hit anything...

Forget about the animated corpse of Nomar. Jones has no business being anywhere on the field, even with Kemp's struggles in his at bats.

I said at the time that Torre was floating the idea of Jones' availability for the postseason was a way for him to let him play Jones once and a while and Torre actually did something he'd say he do.

Tell Nate not to look at that.

Too Late.

##Smashes Keyboard##

Carlos Santana will be a decent catcher in the majors. Unless the Indians resign Kelly Stoppach and/or Victor Martinez to long term contracts.

From what I remember Jones is a good hitter at Petco.

Jones goes deep today, I called it.

Well, I think I heard Loney has only sat one game this year, and if you are going to give Kemp a brake, this is the team to do it against. I am going to go with ambivalence about this one.

Imagine today's middle of the order five years ago....that would be awesome.

Well, not Casey Blake so much, but whatever.

I kind of feel like starting Jones now is like the lottery...sure, the Dodgers are probably worse off, but if he does come back to form it would be awesome.

If San Diego can win with their lineup, than we can win with this one!

Optimism!

Let's just hope that we shut out the Padres.

i'm trying to look for the B-R.COM page that tells me how players do in any plerticular park but can't find it.

33 Wow. That's hilarious.

i don't know if it's just me or what but i feel Martin swings at first pitch pitches when he's batting first, maybe reverse pshychology?

Andruw has been rebuilt from the ground up. Time to see if the newer model can help or not.

41
He can be a good catcher in the major leagues independent of what Cleveland does with their current stable of catchers. One is not related to the other.

48
Splits, scroll down, near the bottom.

glenihan (nyc): Is Cody Ross a potential target for the Yankees? I think he's heading to arbitration, can't imagine the Marlins want to pay him

Joe Sheehan: Platoon player, marginal center fielder. Not a solution.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=519

One thing that's confusing about the Jones start - if his knee is still gimpy why is he getting a start in one of the most spacious OFs in the league?

54 I highly doubt that there is all that much wrong with Andruw Jones' knee, other than the fact that it is attached to Andruw Jones, who is really not very good at baseball.

NPUT

Lineup Thoughts: I think the Nomar for Loney move can be justified based on splits data (atleast on offense), also keeping in mind that PetCo tends to supress home runs in left handed batters more so than right handed batters. The Jones for Kemp move makes very little sense, as both are right handed and Kemp is by far the more superiour player on offense. I'm not sure if Jones still rates that much higher (if at all) in CF than Kemp with his added poundage and supposedly sore knee. The simulator gives Nomar a slight boost over starting Loney, but a big red flag is raised looking at the data dump with Jones in the starting lineup instead of Kemp. Overall, the pre-game simulator win expectancy drops from 58.87% down to 56.99% with these moves... which amounts to about 2 tenths of a run.
vr, Xei

I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, Eyes--
I wonder if It weighs like Mine--
Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if They bore it long--
Or did it just begin--
I could not tell the Date of Mine--
It feels so old a pain--