Buzz McWeeny returns!

Random Dodger game callback

July 10, 1929

Johnny Frederick hit his 12th home run of the season and Ernie Moore had a double and a triple as Brooklyn outslugged St. Louis, 9-6 at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers were now 34-40 and in fifth place, 14 games behind Pittsburgh.

Cardinals manager Billy Southworth was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Bill Klem. Southworth was in his first managing job after mercurial Cardinals owner Sam Breadon demoted Bill McKechnie to the minor leagues after the Yankees swept the Cardinals in the World Series. But before the season was over, Southworth and McKechnie would switch jobs again.

The Dodgers had little trouble with Cardinals starter Jesse Haines, yet another in a long line of puzzling Hall of Fame choices from the era. Brooklyn had 14 hits in 6 innings off of Haines. Haines was charged with all 9 runs.

Frederick led off the bottom of the first with a home run. Moore tripled in two in the third and doubled in two in the sixth to power the Brooklyn offense.

Staked to a large lead, Dodgers starter lefty Watty Clark gutted out the rest of the game. Chick Hafey (hey, he's in the Hall of Fame too!) hit a 2-run homer off of Clark in the sixth and an RBI triple in the seventh.

Frederick had a great rookie season in 1929, batting .328 with 24 home runs. However, injuries would keep Frederick from a long career and he was out of the majors after the 1934 season.

The 1929 Dodgers finished in sixth place at 70-83, 28-½ games behind the champion Cubs. The Dodgers had some good hitters, in addition to Frederick; Babe Herman was outstanding, batting .381 with 21 HRs and 113 RBI. Del Bissonette, slowed by injuries, could play in only 116 games.

But Brooklyn's pitching aside from Clark, who was 16-19 with a 3.74 ERA and Dazzy Vance, 14-13 with a 3.89 ERA, was horrible. Buzz McWeeny, Clise Dudley, and Ray Moss all took turns in the rotation and all had ERAs higher than 5.

The Dodgers brought up a rookie pitcher in September named Bobo Newsom, who would have a career that would make anyone not named Mike Morgan shake his head in astonishment. Newsom's career went this way: Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, back to Washington, back to the Browns, Detroit (where he starred in a losing cause in the 1940 World Series), back to Washington, back to Brooklyn, back to the Browns, back to Washington, on to the Philadelphia Athletics, back to Washington, on to the New York Yankees (picked up a World Series ring in 1947), on to the New York Giants, back again to Washington, and finally back to Philadelphia. At age 45 in 1953, Newsom finally retired. Or was told to. Newsom passed away in 1962.

Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

Dodgers starting lineup is in:

1. Robles ss
2. Repko cf
3. Kent 1b
4. Phillips c
5. Perez 2b
6. Edwards 3b
7. Werth rf
8. Grabowski lf
9. Perez p

And taking a look at the Astros starting pitcher...yup, Backe's right handed. Does Backe also pitch with weird arm angles or has Grabowski just crushed him in the past?

At least he'll be rested for the Home Run Derby:

Dodgers
Robles SS
Repko CF
Kent 1B
Phillips C
A Perez 2B
Edwards 3B
Werth RF
Grabowski LF
O Perez P

Astros
Taveras CF
Biggio 2B
Berkman 1B
Ensberg 3B
Lane RF
Everett SS
Burke LF
Ausmus C
Burke P

I'm assuming that Kent is playing at first today because it's easier on his hamstring. And A. Perez will provide a little bit more offense.

i hope tim wallach is at least working with choi in BP to perfect his home run swing. i want to see him dominate tomorrow. :)

Only two Dodgers have ever faced Backe:
Choi is 0 for 1 and Phillips is 1 for 1.
Choi struck out and Phillips hit a home run.

As for the Astros against O Perez

Ausmus is 1 for 2 with a 2B and a BB
Berkman is 2 for 4 with a BB and K
Biggio is 4 for 8 and all the hits were doubles. Also 2 BB and 2 K.
Ensberg is 0 for 1 with 2 BB and a K
Everett is 1 for 3 with a K
Palmeiro is 0 for 2
Vizcaino is 0 for 2 with a K

Minor League Update

Las Vegas 51s (AAA):
The 51 split a doubleheader with Portland.

In the first game, the 51s got shut out 5 - 0.

The 51s were held to three singles on the evening, one each by center fielder Todd Donovan, left fielder Henri Stanley, and shorstop Tony Schrager. Third baseman Willy Aybar went 0 for 2 with a walk. Catcher Dioner Navarro has not played since Wednesday and will likely return to the disabled list. Navarro strained his shoulder Wednesday on a successful pickoff attempt. As such, Navarro will not be able to play in the upcoming AAA All-Star game.

Wilson Alvarez pitched one inning to start the game for his second rehab appearance. Alvarez did not pitch well, allowing 2 runs (both earned) on a walk and a 2-run homerun, though he did strike out 2. Left-hander Derek Thompson took over in relief, pitching 5 innings. Thompson allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits (1 double and 1 homerun) and 3 walks, while striking out 4. The 51s defense was shaky, committing 3 errors in the game, one each by Thurston (fielding), Myrow (fielding), and Thompson (pickoff).

In the second game, the 51s won 6 - 3.

Third baseman Willy Aybar, first baseman Norihiro Nakamura, and second baseman Jose Flores each reached base 3 times in the game. Aybar went 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI (.303/.365/.445). Nakamura went 3 for 4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI (.282/.345/.554). Flores went 2 for 1 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and an RBI (.302/.433/.379).

Nick Christensen has a story on the 51s patchwork lineup as a result of all the Dodgers injuries: http://tinyurl.com/a65e9.

Jacksonville Suns (AA):
The Suns were crushed 11 - 1 by Montgomery.

The Suns managed 7 hits (2 doubles) and 4 walks in the game, but stranded 10 baserunners. The lineup was depleted by the absence of Andy LaRoche and Russell Martin for the Futures Game (Sunday at 4pm EST on ESPN2). Eduardo Perez, a 20-year old third baseman, and Carlos Medero-Stultz, a 19-year old catcher, were called up from the GCL Dodgers, likely to provide some depth with the absences. Perez came on as a defensive replacement late in the game. Medero-Stultz got a pinch-hit double in his only at-bat. Second baseman Delwyn Young went 1 for 5 with a double and 2 strikeouts (.291/.338/.459). Third baseman Joel Guzman went 2 for 4 with a strikeout (.287/.353/.497). First baseman James Loney went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts (.277/.357/.395). Right fielder Justin Ruggiano went 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout (.444/.545/.778).

Starting pitcher William Juarez pitched 3 excellent innings allowing only a infield single, before imploding in the 4th. In the 4th inning, Juarez allowed 6 runs (all earned) on 6 hits (1 homerun and 1 double) and a walk. The only exciting aspect of the night was the return to the mound for Hong-chih Kuo. The last time Kuo pitched was on July 3rd, when he was removed after feeling a pop in his arm. In tonight's game, Kuo's velocity was down, only reaching 93 - 94 mph, instead of the 97 - 98 mph he had regularly reached earlier in the season. Hopefully, the drop in velocity is just due to Kuo being timid in his first appearance. Kuo was also having a little trouble with his control, regularly reaching 3-ball counts, though he only walked one and allowed 1 single. In the inning, Kuo did not record any strikeouts. Prior to this appearance he had struck out 10 in 3.1 innings with Jacksonville.

Vero Beach Dodgers (High-A):
The Dodgers game against Sarasota was cancelled due to rain.

Columbus Catfish (Low-A):
The Catfish out-slugged Asheville, winning 14 - 9.

On the night, every Catfish starter reached base at least once and every starter other than first baseman Daniel Batz reached at least twice. Second baseman Travis Denker went 2 for 6 with a run scored and an RBI (.290/.410/.491). Third baseman Blake Dewitt went 3 for 6 with a run scored (.272/.319/.428). Recently promoted center fielder Jeremy Brown went 2 for 5 with a run scored and 4 RBIs (.167/.231/.167). The 2 singles were Brown's first hits since being promoted from the GCL Dodgers on July 5th. The two best offensive performances came from the Catfish catchers. Starting catcher Gabriel Gutierrez went 3 for 5 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI (.259/.335/.367). At 21-years old, Gutierrez is likely not a prospect. Catcher Christopher Westervelt started at designated hitter and went 5 for 6, with 2 doubles, a homerun, 5 runs scored and 4 RBIs (.325/.366/.382). Westervelt was selected in the 11th round of the 2004 draft out of Stetson University. Westervelt tore up the Pioneer League last year to the tune of a .341/.440/.580 batting line, but he didn't join the Catfish until the end of June. At 23-years old, Westervelt needs to pick up the pace to get his level to catch up with his age. Here's what Baseball America wrote about Westervelt prior to last year's draft:

"Stats-savvy teams will covet Stetson C/DH Chris Westervelt, who's hitting this season after an ankle injury crippled him as a junior. Westervelt, a 40th-round pick last year of the Athletics, still runs with a limp but mashes from the right side, having hit with wood (.336 in the Valley League in 2002) and with metal, hitting .403 in 2002 and .380 this season. In those two years, he's drawn 66 walks against 66 strikeouts. He's not considered even an average defender at any position."

Starter Brandon Weeden took a no-decision, allowing a brutal 8 runs (6 earned) on 10 hits (2 homeruns and 2 doubles) and a walk. In his 3.2 innings, Weeden struck out 3. The outing raised Weeden's ERA to 5.21. chad Bailey, a 22-year old left-hander, got the win after allowing 1 run (unearned) on 2 hits and 2 walks over 3.1 innings. Bailey was selected in th 47th round of the 2002 draft and is repeating Low-A. Albenis Castillo, a 21-year old right-hander, piched two scoreless innings to finish the game. Castillo was signed as an amateur free agent in 2000 and is also repeating.

Ogden Raptors (Rookie):
The Raptors lost to Casper 7 - 5.

Third baseman Russell Mitchell went 1 for 4 with a solo homerun, extending his league-leading total to 8 (.321/.333/.691). Right fielder Sergio Pedroza continued his ridiculously hot hitting, going 3 for 4 with a homerun and 3 RBIs. Pedroza's batting line of .524/.592/.833 would lead the league in all three categories if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. If he continues making Pioneer League pitchers look silly, Pedroza should expect to be promoted to Columbus or Vero Beach shortly. Catcher Juan Apodaca went 1 for 4 with a double (.370/.404/.667). Second baseman Jesus Soto went 1 for 5 with an RBI (.350/.381/.575).

Marlon Arias started the game for the Raptors, allowing 4 runs (all earned) in 5 innings. Arias gave up 6 hits (1 homerun and 1 double) and a walk, while striking out 5. Arias has been one of the Raptors best starters, with a 3.48 ERA, 26 strikeouts, 9 walks, and 3 homeruns allowed in 20.2 innings pitched. Jordan Pratt pitched two innings of relief for the loss. Pratt allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits (1 double) and a walk, while striking out 3. Pratt is repeating the Rookie level for the second time after being drafted in the 5th round of the 2003 draft. Ramon Troncoso pitched the last two innings of relief to finish off the game. Troncoso allowed 1 run (earned) on a double and a hit-by-pitch while striking out 3.

GCL Dodgers (Rookie):
All of yesterday's Gulf Coast League games were cancelled due to rain. We can only hope and pray that everyone is safe with Hurricane Dennis rapidly approaching.

Ah yeah, I think you're right, Bob. This is a good way of keeping Kent's bat in the lineup while also protecting his hamstring. And Perez hasn't really played in this series. Part of me was hoping for a new Jim Tracy excuse in the post-game recap, though.

#5: Well, that explains why Phillips is batting cleanup and Choi is out of the lineup. If only the Astros could move the walls in about 10 feet for Phillips.

Thanks for the minor league updates, Fearing Blue. They're super helpful. Seeing that Kuo pitched is enough to balance out my displeasure of Choi not starting against another righthander.

How sad is it that I'm more interested in checking whether Choi is playing that I am in the actual score?

Re: 6

Won't this DL stint be the second for Navarro? This season has really be disappointing with regards to him, although he still has age on his side. Martin's stock in the organization must be significantly higher now.

WWSH

Fearing,
Thanks for the updates and I'm glad it's not called "Farm Report" like they seem to at every major league stadium and they show highlights accompanied by Flatt and Scruggs music.

Moral dilemma:
The Giants have 9,999 wins in franchise history. They will become the first franchise to win 10,000 when they get the next one.

The dilemma is: do we want the Giants to do it today to get it over with or risk the chance of the Giants earning win #10,000 at Dodger Stadium next weekend. With a four-game series upcoming, it's likely that the Giants will win at least one game.

Or do we just hope that the Giants lose tonight and then lose four straight?

I hadn't though of Nakamura is quite some time, until I saw him mentioned in the AAA write-up. Wouldn't it seem like he's probably earned another chance on the big league club? And be could certainly use the positional versatility given all the injuries. I'm of the believe that Robles just had a lucky week, and his average will drop and drop and drop until it gets back down to .240 or so. Nakamura would allow us to play Perez at SS and get Robles out of the lineup. As bad as Nakamura looked, I'm willing to believe him that he needed to adjust to American style pitching, and that he would defintly hit better than Robles.

Or do we just hope that the Giants lose tonight and then lose four straight?

obviously. :)

i mean, i root for them to go 0-162 every year.

The Giants are the ESPN Sunday night game. Which means that the Miller and The Other Guy will likely not talk at all about the best team in the National League. Except in passing.

But we'll find out a lot about Felipe Alou and what a quality human being he is and why Barry Bonds is misunderstood.

#10: Yes, it would be his second DL stint. Navarro's season has been somewhat of a disappointment, but as you mentioned he's still only 21 years old. Navarro's batting line of .278/.376/.415 is not too impressive considering it's the PCL. His plate discipline is awesome, with 33 BBs and 22 Ks in 212 ABs, but he still needs to develop power. Seeing as power is often the last thing to develop, Navarro still has a tremendous upside.

I agree that Martin's stock may have passed Navarro's, but not by as much as you think. Martin has a .319/.445/.428 batting line in a pitcher's league. But, Martin has been benefitting from a .368 BABIP whereas Navarro's is only .288. If Navarro had a .368 BABIP, he would be hitting .319 (what an odd coincidence). Thus, the difference between their batting averages is primarily due to luck. Martin's plate discipline is a little better than Navarro's with 52 BBs and 40 Ks in 257 ABs, but against AA pitching instead of AAA pitching. And, the difference between the power being displayed, ISO of .109 for Martin and ISO of .137 for Navarro, is probably just due to the league factor.

So, though I might put Martin ahead at this point, it certainly wouldn't be by much, especially considering Navarro is a year younger.

#11: I haven't figure out how to add a musical background to a blog posting, but I'll keep working on it :).

#13: I'm not sure how much Nakamura would contribute. Nakamura is actually the second-best hitter on the 51s at this point. First baseman Brian Myrow has posted a .283/.401/.524 batting line in more at-bats (254 vs. 202). One of my main concerns about Nakamura is the he has an odd 2B:HR ratio (8 2Bs: 15 HRs), since a lot of the PCL-aided HRs will turn into outs in Dodger Stadium.

Our out of town viewers will have to watch the Astros feed on Extra Innings. But no great loss. I would take the Astros announcers, especially Larry Dierker over the team of Steiner and Lyons.

#13 - believe me, I'm not convinced that Nakamura is going to come up and hit with the same power as he is in AAA. However, he would at least (hopefully) hit with SOME power. Robles, on the other hand, has none.

I'm trying to see if there are other players who are comparable to Robles in the number of pitches seen per AB, but with few walks.

Coming in to the game, Robles was seeing 4.06 pitches per PA, which is pretty good.

Bob Abreu is at 4.52. He has seen over 120 more pitches this season than any other player in the majors.

is there any way to convert batted balls to figure out if a ball that was hit out in vegas would also be a home run in dodger stadium? i guess you'd need data on each ball such as approximate velocity and distance traveled.

#23: Generally, people just look at park factors for individual stats (HRs, 2Bs, 3Bs, etc.). Unfortunately, I don't know where to find all that information for minor league ballparks.

Over/under on Astro runs in first inning: 3
Over/under on astro stolens bases in 1st: 3
over/under on Dodger errors in 1st: 3
over/under on inning I will have had enough: 3

I'll take the under on point #4.

I think Baseball Prospectus publishes park factors for all minor league parks as well as Japanese parks in its annual edition.

i'm gonna take the under on all of 'em

Random folly: Wouldn't the appropriate background audio for something called "farm report" be hog, cotton and wheat futures at the CBOT?

#21: That assumes that Perez can play SS regularly, which he hasn't done very well this year or in throughout his minor league career.

Also, Nakamura is striking out 18.5% of the time in Las Vegas, whereas Robles has only struck out in 10.3% of his major league plate appearances.

Overall, once you incorporate fielding into the equation, I don't think Perez at SS and Nakamura at 2B is really any better than Robles at SS and Perez at 2B.

Oh, and don't think I missed the "Roger Rabbit" paraphrase, Jon.

Who let Robles get caught stealing four times already?

jon's referenced judy blume and roger rabbit in a 3-line post. he must be feeling concentrated today.

Paul is the King of Big Screen, but Robles is the King of the Busted Hit and Run.

That was a very typical inning for the Dodgers this year.

Under on all of them except #4, which remains to be seen.

Hopefully the failure to get more will take a little wind out of Astro's sails.

23- Interesting question. It might be best not to worry about each individual ball's distance and just take a law of averages approach, assuming the distance of fly balls will distribute on a bell curve around a mean. You could compare HR rates between Vegas and other PCL parks and/or try and calculate by what factor a ball will fly farther in Vegas vs. Chavez Ravine, then account for the different fence distances. Another way might be to look at the ratio of HRs to outfield flies in both parks. Of course that doesnt take into account the different caliber of pitching. At some point, JPL will have to get involved. Interestingly, there is a device that will tell you how much air pressure will affect the flight of a projectile, and it is called a nomogram.

#27: Thanks Bob. I didn't realize those were there. Unfortunately, there are still two problems:

1) The Park Factors by Baseball Prospectus only take into account Runs, not individual counting stats.

2) The Park Factors are normalized within each league, so a 1080 in the PCL is not equivalent to a 1080 in the Southern League for instance.

Thus, unfortunately, there's still not enough information to determine how many of Nakamura's HRs would go out in Dodger Stadium.

You mean, Repko's NOT a good situational hitter? You gotta be kidding me.

Izturis and Robles are a combined 5 for 15 on stolen base attempts.

#27 - BP only publishing the overall park factor in each book. They don't break it down by stats though.

Since Dodger Stadium suppresses doubles, maybe we don't need to trade for Adam Dunn.

#38: Wow.

For all you fans of scrappy shortstops out there, Adam Dunn could beat 5 out of 15 on stolen base attempts.

Star Jones could beat 5 out of 15 - is someone stealing signs? Are these two tipping when they're going to run?

Astacio's pitching today for the Padres in Coors field. What's his over/under?

#40 - BP did an article on Dodger Stadium early this year in which they determine that Dunn is EXACTLY the type of hitter who the Dodgers need.

Coming into the game, the Dodgers had the highest OBP of any NL team when leading off an inning at .357. The Red Sox are at .367.

Two first place teams are toward the bottom in the majors are toward the bottom.

The White Sox are at .300 (27th overall, 14th in the AL) and the Nationals are at .295 (29th overall, 15th in the NL).

Getting the leadoff might not help much. The Giants and Royals are among the better teams at doing it.

But with 2 outs, the Dodgers have an OBP of .306 (28th overall and 15th in the NL). Washington has the highest OBP in the NL with 2 outs. The White Sox aren't good hitters with 2 outs either.

If you want to go by batting average with 2 outs, the Dodgers are at .233, 14th in the NL, just ahead of the Mets and Brewers.

44. 7 runs

is it just me, or has odalis lost some weight? he doesn't look nearly as pudgy as he used to.

Woody Allen once said that giving people lots of money doesn't change people, it just turns them into the person they always were.

Odalis Perez is getting a lot of money to walk the pitcher.

hey, that was nice.

Found it. For those of you with BP subscriptions (and you all should!!), here's the link:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2678

Here's a snipit:

Roughly speaking, L.A. needs "Three True Outcomes" type of hitters rather than those whose SLGs comprise a high batting average and oodles of gap power.

Incidentally, Dunn, whom the Dodgers are rumored to have been ogling, may be a nice fit, provided his recent performance trends hold. Last season, he slugged .465 with an ISO of .250, which is a reasonably lofty total at the major league level. Breaking it down into components, we get a singles cSLG of .110, a doubles cSLG of .063, a triples cSLG of .008 and a HR cSLG of .283, which comes to 60.9 percent of his total SLG and is 33 points greater than his already high ISO. That's quite a bit of power devoted to only homers, and it's why, despite hitting from the left side, the Dunn of '03 might be a nice fit in L.A. Granted, his component power numbers from 2003 are out of step with his previous two seasons in the majors, but his recent self illustrates the profile quite nicely.

45 - I agree (would love to have the big fella), it was a joke about Nakamura's high HR to double rate in Vegas, and the fact that if he hits even fewer doubles at Dodger Stadium, he'd be a lot like Dunn: lots of HRs + lots of Ks.

43 Yes but what 2Bman would stay in there with a shooting Star coming at you.

I want that hillbilly!

With a lefty (Jeff Francis) starting for the Rockies, the Padres are batting Ramon Hernandez cleanup and using an outfield of Jackson-Johnson-Giles.

That's Ben Johnson.

Not the Canadian sprinter on steroids either.

54. ben johnson? what happened to xavier nady?

"Roughly speaking, L.A. needs "Three True Outcomes" type of hitters rather than those whose SLGs comprise a high batting average and oodles of gap power."

Despite the milquetoast language, them's fighting words. This is a revolutionary sentence - the conventional wisdom was that big parks reward gap hitters and "contact guys."

Nady is playing first base today for San Diego.

SCRAPPY! SCRAPPY! SCRAPPY! SCRAPPY! SCRAPPY!

Is there anywhere I can see things like first pitch swinging percentage or pitches per plate appearance on a game by game, or at least month by month basis?

well, dodger stadium is a fairly regular field which helps the fielders to cut down on extra bases, and 330 on either porch isn't particularly deep. plus the ball carries well in the daytime.

By that token, does this mean that there isn't any situation where three true outcomes guys aren't better than contact guys? Or if we're turning the CW on its head, that contact guys do better in bandbox ballparks? I can think of at least two Rockies GMs who might disagree with that.

A screwy day like this demands a Dodger GS here.

Man sure am glad it isn't Choi coming up here right now...f*cking Tracy.

I can't understand why the Astros would want to walk Kent to face our cleanup hitter.

The reasoning is that (for some reason) Dodger Stadium drastically reduces doubles and triples, and quite a bit for average as well. But Home Runs are about average. So the thinking is, why bother fighting the park by trying to find guys who will do the stuff the park makes it hard to.

BTW, LA's park factors by stat:

AVG 92
2B 82
3B 52
HR 99
BB 103
K 106
LHB-AVG 93
LHB-HR 95
RHB-AVG 92
RHB-HR 101

Choi could have had a better AB blindfolded swinging a broom handle. A slow bat at least makes contact.

Tracy has incriminating photos of God.

Dodger Stadium has always been a bad park for triples. The corners aren't oddly shaped and the gaps aren't big. You have to have a crazy bounce, a misplay, or a very fast batter.

I'm not sure why doubles are so low though.

I haven't seen an email from Suffering Bruin yet for the Adam Dunn extravaganza. Anyone else who signed up get theirs?

59,
You can at least get pitches faced per at bat by month at MLB.com.

You just get the split for each month for a player. It will have the number of pitches faced and the number of plate appearances and then you just have to do the math yourself.

First pitch swinging might be a little harder to find.

Looks more likly we may see Penny today

I have an extra ticket for Saturday's game against the Giants. If anyone else wishes to use it and see if the Curse of Jason Ellison remains, drop me an email or let me know here.

Pyscho claims Odalis throws an Erickson level fastball for some reason.

70 - Interesting, I looked there and didn't see it come up. Thanks.

Sometimes you have to tweak the MLB.com stats to get the splits to come up. If you don't see any splits at first, click the button for "pitching stats" and then go back to "hitting stats" and more splits come up.

I have no idea why this is.

good news on milton bradley from charley steiner; he took live BP at dodger stadium with no ill effects. no timetable yet though.

Dang, my guess at the AFLAC question was wrong.

Hint: It's definitely a case of quantity over quality.

The question was: Who was the LA Dodger career hit leader?

And the answer was Willie Davis with 2,091.

Personally, I think Jason Repko is on his way to becoming the white Willie Davis.

And that's not a compliment. Willie Davis just sort of appeared to be good. His career BA was .279 and his career OBP was .311. He slugged .412.

3 Dog was one of my favorites. You can't look at his career totals as he would have good years and then bad years. A very inconsistent player but an excellent CF other then the 66 series. He was 6'3 and became a regular at all the So Cal tracks. He seemed to shrink with age and last time I saw him he was just a tiny man who couldn't have weighed more then 140 pounds. Good thing he had the ML pension or he would have ended up like Leon Wagner.

With all the dogging of Repko who is only a rookie and playing out of his element against RHP, why does Werth get a by here? He is the guy who needed to step up. He's been the biggest disapointment to me by far on this team.

Yay! Phillips cleans up for another week!

The Whopper!

What a home run trot!

Please describe for the tv-impaired.

The Daily Breeze ran a story about Willie Davis when he showed up at the 1965 team reunion. He had gone through some very bad times, but he was finally sober and cleaned up and he looked pretty good.

I just wonder if his substance abuse problems started while he was playing. I remember in 1973 when the Dodgers named him team captain and made a big deal about it. The next year he got traded to Montreal for Mike Marshall. And I think the Dodgers were a lot better off with Jim Wynn in center. As a kid, I wasn't used to the concept of a power hitter in the Dodgers lineup. Weird that Willie Davis's biggest home run year was in 1962 (21) when he was playing in a huge Dodger Stadium.

Werth is a Three True Outcomes sort of player, except that he seems to have only the home run or strikeout outcome.

79. my dad once heard a rumor that charlie neal was reduced to driving a bus down olympic boulevard after his career was over.

Philips hit a big home run to left field. It's a short porch out there, but I think he hit up on to the railroad track.

I think Charlie Neal did end up as a bus driver. He and the Dodgers did not part amicably. He was sent to the Mets in 1962 and I ran across an article from spring training where he said the 1962 Mets were going to have a better infield than the 1962 Dodgers.

Umm, probably not.

The Dodgers infield in 1962
1B - Ron Fairly
2B - Jim Gilliam
SS - Maury Wills (MVP)
3B - Darryl Spencer and others

The Mets infield in 1962
1B - Marv Throneberry
2B - Charlie Neal
SS - Elio Chacon
3B - Felix Mantilla

85 - thanks, how was his home run trot?

86 - As an interesting aside, Fairly has been the color man on Mariners games for about 6-8 years now and is universally despised for his lack of insight and ability to repeat the same anecdotes. You will hot find a single person who likes him. About the only way Fairly could get support now would be if Frank McCourt fired him.

87. really really slow. it must've taken close to a minute.

well, > 30 seconds for sure, anyway.

Just seen in the Nationals-Phillies gameday log: "op 7TH B:0 S:0 O:2 Washington Nationals catcher Brian Schneider left the game due to an injured head."

ouch

Ron Fairly wasn't very good as an announcer for the Angels or the Giants either.

Padres up 3-0 in the 2nd already.

Remember how Jeff Francis walked no Dodgers?

He's not like that today.

5-4 with the tying run on 3rd with no outs? Carrara must be firing up the Vulture Engine.

Vishal,

I was at Spring Training this year and ran into Odalis Perez at the Vero Beach Mall. He indeed did look very fit and much trimmer than in the past. He told me he was going to have a good year. He was a pleasure to talk to as I generally do not approcah atheletes in public. We just made eye contact and he knew I knew who he was.
He was going to arrange for my son to get all the teams autographs the next day, but the game was rained out (he did get Tommys, Tracys, Lowes, Letts, and Sweet Lous).

Vishal,

I was at Spring Training this year and ran into Odalis Perez at the Vero Beach Mall. He indeed did look very fit and much trimmer than in the past. He told me he was going to have a good year. He was a pleasure to talk to as I generally do not approcah atheletes in public. We just made eye contact and he knew I knew who he was.
He was going to arrange for my son to get all the teams autographs the next day, but the game was rained out (he did get Tommys, Tracys, Lowes, Letts, and Sweet Lous).

Just a reminder: The Futures Game (Minor League Allstars) starts at 4 (1 pst) on ESPN2.

BTW, who on the Dodgers is dating Alysia Milano? She is at the game.

Brad Penny is supposedly dating Ms. Milano.

97 - i was hoping this meant that barry zito was on his way to socal.

Man, Ms. Milano loves her some baseball players. Pitchers seem to really catch her eye. Looks like she's particular about her guys.

If Brad Penny is available to relieve today, why in the world would Carrara be warming up?

Ms. Milano used to like date hockey players, but she seems to have switched to baseball players as of late: Pavano, Zito, and Penny.

The Futures Game is on ESPN right now as ESPN2 is showing the end of a golf tournament.

#98 - well, if you want to get technical, Barry Zito does live in SoCal. He lives in Los Angeles.

I found this story about him interesting. This offseason, he was planning on having an enormous home theater installed in his place, but after the Mulder or Hudson trade (whichever was second), he cancelled the whole job immediately. I wondering if that meant (1) he knew he would be in Oakland for a while, or (2) he wouldn't be traded to LA anytime soon. Oh well, something I thought about at least.

So it's not just me who's wondering why Carrara is in.

This will not end well.

Do we really need to see the end of this game? Is it not possible for everyone to concede the fact that the Dodgers will blow it with fundamental errors in the 8th or 9th?

Re: 104

I really don't think fundamentals are our biggest problem--our players just stink.

WWSH

OK, Taveras will steal second now. If we're lucky, Garner will call for a bunt.

Yeah, but in this situation, it's always the late inning miscues that cost the team.

Here's an encouraging link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2102706&num=0

Baseball America's future all-star team has 3 Dodger prospects in its lineup. (Martin, Guzman, LaRoche). And we all know that the pitching prospects are coming along, and anyways, we've got some solid starters locked up for a year years. This year has been hard, but it's going to be good to be a Dodger fan from 2006-2010.

Re: 107

I see your point, but even if our pitchers cover 1B and the like, another guy would probably give up a HR. Our talent level is just too dismal right now with guys like Repko in the lineup.

WWSH

In the words of Mayor Quimby,

Well, that was unexpected.

109: That's true. Talent level is depleted, but even during this drought, they've been in every contest, and had plenty of opportunities. Surprisingly, it seems like the miscues have been outweighing the general sense of having star athletes on the disabled list.

I would say that if the game came down to a battle of managerial wits between Tracy and Garner, I'd bet on Tracy.

Yeah, I don't know if Garner's really proven himself as a top of the line manager yet.

Aside from the last half of the 2004 season, Garner has a managerial record stunning in its inepitude.

112 -- I would agree with that. Garner is less than brainless. Why would you have Biggio bunt with a runner on second and nobody out in the fourth inning of one game, then in the seventh inning of a tie next game, have your runner caught stealing, rather than just have Biggio bunt?

Looks like Garner's taking too many pages out of Tracy's book.

Is it just me or do the games LOOK different when vinny isn't calling them?

117: Definitely. Everything feels different, and for the worst. I like Steiner, but I'm already concerned with the fact that Scully doesn't go east of the Colorado River these days.

Padres must have been upset about the shutout last night.

They lead the Rockies 6-2 in the 4th and are ready for more.

Duaner Sanchez is the Dodgers "Go To Guy"?

I feel a chill just typing that.

I can see why you would not bring Brad Penny in. The season is over and you just gave him 30 million to go 30-30 over the next four years. But if that is so, why would you take pains to announce that he is available? He's obviously not available, so why say that he is?

I don't think I can bear to watch this happen again. Instead I've switched for a bit to the Futures game hoping to see LaRoche or Martin do something noteworthy.

Anyone watching the Futures Game? Loved it when they cut away from LaRoche's at bat to show Sam Ryan interviewing George Brett in the dugout.

By the way, LaRoche singled.

Yea I was excited when they did that, heato

You know Erickson could come in and get a ground ball.

Or so I've been told.

Adam Everett seems to have gone to the Antonio Perez School of Bunting.

Maybe Penny is the...

CLOSER!

After a 1-0 game yesterday, the Padres and Rockies have scored in 7 of the 8 half-innings today.

The Padres are using their third pitcher in the fourth inning. All have been former Dodgers: Astacio, Reyes, and now Quantrill.

ledee earns a free pass

Let us all say a Hail Mary for Warning Track Power

Ledee saves Duaner's bacon

It's so nice to have a real major leaguer in the outfield.

Brad Ausmus is 1 for 1 in his career against Sanchez.

It's a vitally important stat.

131 that one was over the fence. a luis matos/torii hunter type catch by ledee

The Rockies closed the gap to 7-4.

I have a feeling the final score will involve more runs for both sides.

Well, so much for that. Nice hanging breaking ball to the worst hitting catcher in the league.

However, 6-5 will be the final in Houston.

2 for 2, now

133- I agree.

135 -- I saw it. I just meant that if Berkman had hit it, it was the kind of pitch that ends up in San Antonio.

Don't give up guys. We've got Grabby coming up.

well, at least duaner can save money by switching to geico.

Now Tracy throws Choi in there against Lidge.

Well, I don't think Lidge has any "arm angle" issues.

Old Maid really does look hurt.

This past week have been particularly frustrating. These guys make me feel like they have the game in hand and they give it up every time. The bullpen has been awful.

I thought for a second Old Maid would have to come out after that first pitch. Would have been a nice bookend for Wunsch's injury.

wow, we may be the worst running team ever.

Wow, very scrappy attempt. Blah.

them's fundamentals for you

Well did you expect that if Robles got to second that Scrappy was going to get a hit off of Lidge?

149. You didn't need to include the word "running" in that post

Our offense isn't great, but more than anything we need help in the pen. We lost this series in the bullpen, and having no one who can pitch a shut down inning is brutal.

I can't take any more heart. I really can't. If these guys show one more hint of heart, I think I'll snap.

A couple seasons ago when we had no power and all scrap, weren't we praised as such a fundamentally sound team? Tracy being the reason? What happened to that?

The Padres have a triple and three walks in the fifth against the Padres.

And so far no runs scored.

I'm watching on gameday. How close was the Robles play at second? Anyone?

Robles was out by a pretty good margin. Taveras's throw was offline, but Everett had time to come back and make a tag.

Not close. Not anywhere in the neighborhood of close.

I really really miss having a shutdown bullpen. A couple of years ago, close games seemingly always went our way. But since we never score late and we can't hold a lead I am worried all the time now. The game in Colorado where we were up by 5 only to lose by 3 was a microcosm of the rest of the season. I think that we could win at a 500 clip or better with this pitching and offense, but we have to stop giving away games.

159 Thanks. I was going to say that if it was close, I wasn't going to jump in and castigate Oscar (or the 1b coach). However...

If Tracy pulls the lefty Grabowski for the lefty Choi with the game on the line, then obviously he thinks Choi is the better hitter.

So why doesn't he just start Choi instead of Grabowski? Based on Tracy's logic here, wouldn't that give us a better chance at winning over the entire game as oppossed to just one shot against their best pitcher at the end? Edwards and Grabowski are both terrible outfileders so it's a wash defensively if Edwards moves to the outfield and Perez and Kent slide over.

It. Doesn't. Make. Sense.

162 -- I'm not sure I would anyway. Against Lidge, with Repko coming up, our best hope was the Miller/Hiller/Haller Hallejuah Twist.

How much longer is Sanchez going to be a Dodger? (Rhetorical question).

#160: The good news with us losing and the Padres winning is that I can't imagine us trading JtD, LaBomb, CBill, K-Brox, or Russell now.

I guess it's easier to push Choi's numbers down if he only faces closers. I like Olmedo, but in some sick way, I found it satisfying that he whiffed too.

#163: I think Kent was playing at 1B to rest his hamstring.

The blame for being thrown at second is all Robles's. The first base coach usually doesn't tell the batter to take an extra base. The play was in front of Robles.

He was just trying to be the big hero.

But he ended up as a goat of sorts, but I think the goat horns belong to Sanchez. He gave up the run and his three outs came on a K after the batter fouled off two bunts, a great catch in right, and the potential 2nd run of the inning being thrown out at the plate.

"Russell"

?

No nickname?

I propose we start leaking "The Canadian LoDuca" to the local media, so as to win their hearts early.

163- I think the logic is that Choi has more pop than Grabowski.

Everyone probably knows the answer already, but does JtD stand for "Joel the Devestator" or something?

I like Robles trying to make it to second. Aggressive baserunning isn't always bad. And there's no way Repko and Chen would've gotten hits off Lidge which is what it would have taken to score Robles from first. Choi looked terrible. He wasn't within three feet of the ball. I don't think Saenz should even be playing. It's painful just to watch him swing a bat.

Let's call him Joel the Shortstop, just to be clear.

164 - I was thinking more along the lines of the SABRmetric notion that there's a tolerable percentage of failed stolen bases. If some CS's are tolerable, it seems that running into outs on the bases is tolerable at some level. I just don't know how to determine when trying for the extra base is a reasonable risk, and when it's just stupid.

I just don't know how to determine when trying for the extra base is a reasonable risk, and when it's just stupid.

I would say in that case you have one of the few examples where it is 50% of both.

Missed the game, caught the box score. Any reason why Kent started at 1B and Choi sat against a RHP? Choi injured? Arm angles? Bad moon alignment? Or is Tracy a little too country, and Choi a little too rock n roll?
vr, Xei

LaRoche nearly took out the pitcher just now. Line drive to center for a single.

177,

The operational theory was that Tracy felt that Kent's hamstring would fare better at first base rather than second.

I just realized I missed the pitching update from the second game of yesterday's 51s doubleheader. Here it is:

Starting pitcher Heath Totten pitched 5 innings and received the win, even though he did not pitch well. Totten allowed 3 runs (all earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 3. The story of the night was Steve Schmoll, who relieved Mike Neu with 2 men on in the 6th and none out. Schmoll struck out the first two batters he faced and then got a ground out to end the scoreless inning. Schmoll proceeded to pitch a scoreless 7th for the save, allowing 1 hit and striking out his third batter of the night. Schmoll dropped his ERA to 4.78 in 26.1 innings with the 51s. In the 26.1 innings, he has struck out 31 and walked 13 while only allowing 1 homerun.

The more I think about it, I don't seem to be too upset about Robles's being thrown out at second. He was likely thinking that he was going to surprise Taveras, but he didn't, although it wasn't a good throw.

What Robles should be upset about was throwing away the easy DP ball in the first inning that Biggio hit. If the Dodgers turned that, O Perez might have lasted another inning.

I still wonder what the deal with Penny was. He was in the bullpen. Could he just not get loose?

Did he get up at some point? I had the sound down.

176

I agree. Tavaras would have had to have been really napping or have made an absolutely awful throw for Robles to make it. It's sad that I'd still take those odds over Repko and Chen getting hits. Maybe Robles should have stayed at first and tried to steal second, third and home. I think that would allow him to succeed Repko as the Mayor of Scrapadelphia.

#172: Steve coined the nickname Joel the Destroyer.

#174: I couldn't come up with anything for Martin, so I thought I'd go with the "one of these things is not like the other" approach. Perhaps Canadian Soul is good, because if it's in his nickname he's gotta have it, right?

#175: It's exactly the same analysis as stealing second. With one out, I think you need to be able to make it like 60% of the time for it to be a good play.

It was a routine single -- the outfielder who turns that into a double isn't going to be around very long.

But there was no way we were going to score that inning. Hanging breaking balls to Brad Ausmus doesn't come back to you very often.

#184: Or even the Heart of Canada.

Penny was shown warming up twice.

Even though the Dodgers had a great start of the season and are now struggling. They have the All-Star break figure out what there going to due for next 74 games left. Even though there 8 games under 500, they still have a chance to win the division. I say 86 wins will win the division, and the Dodgers can do it. It may be tough to win with players who have 3 years or less experience in the majors, but if and when the players are back from the DL, they have a great shot winning. Thank god they play in the NL West.
By the way I'm a newcomer.

#185: It could be that Robles assumed the ball was going to make it through and was already in no man's land by the time Taveras cut it off. Without Taveras' speed in center field that ball probably does get through to the wall.

#188: I agree with you that 86 or 87 wins could take the NL West. Unfortunately, even to get 86 wins, the Dodgers would have to go 46 - 28 the rest of the way, a .621 winning percentage. Only the Cardinals (.632) and the White Sox (.651) have been able to do that so far, and the Dodgers probably aren't that good even with everyone healthy.

To get to 86 wins the Padres would only have to go 39 - 35, a .527 winning percentage.

184. How about "Canadian Club"?

How about Paul LoHoser?

A bit of humor, since watching and listening to all of the close losses lately is just getting more and more depressing and also the realization that though the Padres are winning-they are far from world beaters. Perhaps Grabowski is being used more that he should right now, because the Dodgers are showcasing him?

They could only be showcasing Grabowski for the Japanese league as no one in the Major Leagues could possibly be interested.

Odalis Perez seems a bit frustrated.

``When you see a team going in different directions, pitchers pointing fingers at position players and position players pointing fingers at pitchers, you know something is wrong,'' Perez said. ``This team is doing that. The way to win games is to pull together as a team, not to be pointing fingers at each other.

``We have no superstars on this team but we have some players who came from other teams who think they are superstars.

``We have to pull together and not say things about other players. If one of my teammates has something to say about me, then come say it to me. We don't need to have a meeting. I hate that.''

So I'm thinking that Odalis Perez and Jeff Kent don't hang out together much.

Just for fun, I decided to try and rank the Dodgers top prospects based on mid-season performance. I would love feedback on where you think I'm off.

1. Joel Guzman, SS, 20.6 years old, A-
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): .287/.353/.497 with 23 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 12 HRs, 33 BBs and 93 Ks in 300 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting SS in 2007
Potential upside: MVP shortstop

2. Chad Billingsley, SP, 20.9 years old, A-
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 4.22 ERA with 101 Ks, 29 BBs, 77 Hits, and 8 HRs in 85.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2007
Potential upside: #1 starter

3. Jonathan Broxton, SP/RP, 21.1 years old, B+
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 3.32 ERA with 89 Ks, 28 BBs, 69 Hits, and 4 HRs in 84.0 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Setup man in 2007
Potential upside: Top closer or #2/3 starter

4. Andy LaRoche, 3B, 21.9 years old, B+
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): .333/.380/.651 with 14 2Bs, 1 3B, 21 HRs, 19 BBs, and 38 Ks in 249 ABs
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): .338/.417.622 with 6 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 5 HRs, 10 BBs, and 20 Ks in 74 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting 3B in 2007
Potential upside: All-star third baseman

5. Russell Martin, C, 22.4 years old, B
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): .319/.445/.428 with 13 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 5 HRs, 52 BBs, and 40 Ks in 257 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting catcher in 2007
Potential upside: All-star catcher

6. Chuck Tiffany, SP, 20.5 years old, B
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): 3.61 ERA with 82 Ks, 25 BBs, 60 Hits, and 8 HRs in 67.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2008
Potential upside: #2/3 starter

7. Delwyn Young, 2B, 23.0 years old, B
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): .291/.338/.459 with 21 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 11 HRs, 23 BBs, and 75 Ks in 320 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting left fielder in 2008
Potential upside: Below-average defensive left fielder with middle-of-the-order bat

8. Edwin Jackson, SP, 21.8 years old, B
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 2.88 ERA with 19 Ks, 7 BBs, 20 Hits, and 3 HRs in 25.0 IP
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): 8.62 ERA with 33 Ks, 37 BBs, 76 Hits, and 13 HRs in 55.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2008
Potential upside: #2/3 starter

9. Justin Orenduff, SP, 22.1 years old, B
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): 2.24 ERA with 81 Ks, 26 BBs, 35 Hits, and 3 HRs in 60.1 IP
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 9.45 ERA with 14 Ks, 8 BBs, 16 Hits, and 1 HR in 13.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2008
Potential upside: #3/4 starter

10. Hong-Chih Kuo, RP, 24.0 years old, B
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): 2.08 ERA with 42 Ks, 10 BBs, 19 Hits, and 2 HRs in 26.0 IP
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 4.15 ERA with 10 Ks, 3 BBs, 7 Hits, and 0 HRs in 4.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Lefty specialist in 2006
Potential upside: Top closer

11. Travis Denker, 2B, 19.9 years old, B
2005 Performance (Low-A Columbus): .290/.410/.491 with 15 2Bs, 1 3B, 14 HRs, 69 Ks, 60 BBs in 293 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting 2B in 2009
Potential upside: All-Star 2B

12. Carlos Alvarez, RP, 20.3 years old, B
2005 Performance (Low-A Columbus): 0.93 ERA with 63 Ks, 12 BBs, 24 Hits, and 0 HRs in 38.2 IP
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 2.84 ERA with 10 Ks, 1 BB, 6 Hits, and 0 HRs in 6.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Setup man in 2007
Potential upside: Top closer

13. Dioner Navarro, C, 21.4 years old, B-
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): .278/.376/.415 with 11 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 6 HRs, 33 BBs, and 22 Ks in 212 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Backup catcher in 2006
Potential upside: All-star catcher

14. Derek Thompson, SP, 24.5 years old, B-
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 3.89 ERA with 43 Ks, 19 BBs, 45 Hits, and 3 HRs in 41.2 IP
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): 3.71 ERA with 12 Ks, 8 BBs, 16 Hits, and 1 HR in 17.0 IP
2005 Performance (MLB Los Angeles): 3.50 ERA with 13 Ks, 10 BBs, 16 Hits, and 0 HR in 18.0 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2006
Potential upside: #4/5 starter

15. Willy Aybar, 2B, 22.3 years old, B-
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): .303/.365/.445 with 23 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 4 HRs, 29 BBs, and 39 Ks in 274 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Backup infielder in 2006
Potential upside: Above average big league 2B

16. Greg Miller, SP, 20.7 years old, B-
2005 Performance (Rookie GCL Dodgers): 5.40 ERA wth 7 Ks, 3 BBs, 3 Hits, and 0 HR in 5.0 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2008
Potential upside: #2/3 starter

17. James Loney, 1B, 21.2 years old, B-
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): .277/.357/.395 with 16 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 7 HRs, 39 BBs, and 63 Ks in 311 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting first baseman in 2008
Potential upside: Gold glove first baseman with average offense

18: Justin Ruggiano, OF, 23.2 years old, B-
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): .307/.394/.510 with 14 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 9 HRs, 27 BBs, and 65 Ks in 241 ABs
2005 Performance (Jacksonville Suns): .444/.545/.778 with 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 Ks in 9 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Backup outfielder in 2007
Potential upside: Above average outfielder

19. Blake Dewitt, 3B, 19.9 years old, B-
2005 Performance (Low-A Columbus): .272/.319/.428 with 18 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 9 HRs, 22 BBs, and 57 Ks in 327 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting third baseman in 2009
Potential upside: Average defensive third baseman with slightly above average bat

20. Ching-Lung Hu, SS, 21.4 years old, C+
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): .279/.322/.401 with 15 2Bs, 1 3B, 7 HRs, 16 BBs, 25 Ks in 312 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting shortstop in 2008
Potential upside: Gold glove shortstop with gap power

21. Julio Pimentel, SP, 19.6 years old, C+
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): 4.28 ERA with 77 Ks, 31 BBs, 83 Hits, and 4 HRs in 80.0 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Starting pitcher in 2009
Potential upside: #4/5 starter

22. Steve Schmoll, SP, 25.4 years old, C+
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): 4.78 ERA with 31 Ks, 13 BBs, 24 Hits, and 1 HR in 26.1 IP
2005 Performance (MLB Los Angeles): 4.96 ERA with 8 Ks, 9 BBs, 18 Hits, and 1 HR in 16.1 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Middle reliever in 2006
Potential upside: Quality middle reliever / setup man

23. Eric Stults, SP, 25.6 years old, C+
2005 Performance (AA Jacksonville): 3.31 ERA with 58 Ks, 14 BBs, 73 Hits, and 6 HRs in 68.0 IP
2005 Performance (AAA Las Vegas): 4.58 ERA with 18 Ks, 7 BBs, 27 Hits, and 3 HRs in 19.2 IP
Projected impact timeframe: Long reliever in 2006
Potential upside: #5 starter / long reliever

24. Cory Dunlap, 1B, 21.2 years old, C+
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): .277/.377/.369 with 14 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 3 HRs, 39 BBs, and 35 Ks in 249 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting first baseman in 2009
Potential upside: Average first baseman

25. Matt Kemp, OF, 20.8 years old, C+
2005 Performance (High-A Vero Beach): .272/.310/.560 with 11 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 16 HRs, 13 BBs, and 61 Ks in 232 ABs
Projected impact timeframe: Starting outfielder in 2009
Potential upside: Right fielder with 40+ homerun power and poor plate discipline

The following prospects were not considered because they have spent a significant amount of time on the major league roster:

Jason Repko, DJ Houlton, Yhency Brazoban, Franquelis Osoria

The following prospects were considered, but did not make the cut:

Scott Elbert, Tony Abreu, Joel Hanrahan, Eric Hull, Mike Megrew, Blake Johnson, Christopher Malone, Javy Guerra, Juan Rivera, Anthony Raglani, Ryan Ketchner

The Dodger Thoughts Adam Dunn Scouting Spectacular, 2005, is on for July 27th. Attending will be the following folk:

Suffering Bruin
Rob of 6-4-2
Icaros
Vishal
Leadman
Burns
Drucker
Kim
Surfpunk

Nine DT readers scouting Adam Dunn... and there are nine Supreme Court Justices. Coincidence? I think not.

So, as far as I can tell, the Dodgers have the following prospects who are likely to make an impact in 2006 (beyond those currently on the 2005 roster):

Derek Thompson (starting pitcher)
Dioner Navarro (backup catcher)
Willy Aybar (backup infielder)
Hong-chih Kuo (lefty specialist / setup man)
Steve Schmoll (middle reliever)
Eric Stults (long reliever)

LaRoche has an outside chance of contributing, especially considering the hole at 3B, but his plate discipline is not yet where it needs to be.

russel martins nickname=

canadian mountee of walks

fearing blue, your list is pretty good.

but i think miller has the highest upside out of any pitcher in our system and still has #1 potential. i still think jackson has #1 potential, but more likely will be a solid 2-3.

I think you are undervaluing pimental. he is only 19 yrs old and in the FSL. so he is very very very young and is holding his own very well. His K rate is good, he jsut needs to work on his walk rate.

this is my top 10 halfway through the year. miller is not in it because he has not pitched enough this year.

1.andy laroche- slugging over 650 this year, should hit 35+ homers in the bigs in his prime. cieling= david wright/hank blalock

2. chad billingsley- top 5 pitching prospect in the minors. aboslutely destroying the southern league. devastating K rate.
cieling= a mixture of bonderman, sheets and harden

3. russ martin- one of the top C prospects in the majors. unbelievable plate discipline, developing power, great defensively.
cieling= kendall in his prime with plus defensive skills

4. joel guzman- one of the youngest players in AA at 20 yrs old. holding his own very well. everything looks great except for the high k rate. his strikesouts concern me alot. but the potential is very high.
cieling= tejada like impact if he stays at shortstop.

5. jonathan broxton- was doing very well as a starter, and imo SHOULD stay as a starter. but hes in relief now, and should see LA by the end of the year. could maybe have a brazoban like impact from last year. has better stuff than yhency.
cieling= poor mans carlos zambrano. solid #2 pitcher or lights out closer.

6. edwin jackson- rough rough time in AAA. but has recouped and pitching very well in AA. he is only 21 with an electric arm. fastball location has been his problem and he still has plenty time to improve.
cieling= still has ace potential. it all depends if he can get the pyschological part worked out.

7. james loney- I gave loney a mulligan last year. this year, he started out very slow and looked to be a big bust. but his average is up to almost .280 and his k:bb ratio is excellent. he already has GG defense at 1b and if he can develop eventual power, he should be a good one. he has a sweet sweet stroke.
cieling= lyle overbay. high OBP, lots of doubles but with excellent defense.

8. chuck tiffany- pitching pretty well at vero. his K rate is outstanding and along with the rest of his peripherals. the only thing that concerns me is that he has given up more homeruns then i would like. other than that, very solid solid pitching prospect. in most orgs, he would be thier #1 guy.
cieling= very comparable to barry zito with the outstanding curveball but throws a couple mph harder. realistically, he could be a better version of ted lilly.

9. travis denker- denker gets the award for biggest riser in the dodgers system. at age 19, his line of 290+/400+/500+ as a 2b in the sally league deserve major props. he leads the sally league in walks and certainly that catches the eyes of the dodgers GM. his cieling is the higest amongst our crop of 2b, which includes aybar, youn, abreu and perez.
cieling- marcus giles type impact bat at 2b. i dont know much how his defense right now, but if he hes decent with the glove, hes going to get major publicity from prospect sites at the end of the year.

dioner navarro- what makes navarro an excellent prospect is that: he switch hits, very good defensively, only 21 and in AAA, has the ability to make contract and not strikeout, and has an excellent k:BB ratio. what makes him not as good of a propsect as martin is that martin is better than navarro in all those catagories. but this isnt a slam on navarro, hes an excellent catching prospect and would be the top flight C's in most organizations. he still has time to mature and develop power.
cieling- posada type catcher. more lilely posada but with less power.

on the cusp: justin orenduff, julio pimental, delwyn young, willy aybar, blake dewitt

#200:

Re: Miller, I agree about his upside. I should have put Ace Starter. He could move up quickly once he starts to get some innings. But, at this point, recovering from serious shoulder problems, I feel it's better to undervalue him.

Re: Jackson, I agree the potential is still there, but his K-rate this year scares me, even in AA.

Re: Pimentel, I agree that he's young, but I don't know who on the list above him I'd put him ahead of. I should have put his upside as a #3/4 starter.

I think you're overvaluing LaRoche and Martin. They've both been aided by ridiculously high BABIP numbers. LaRoche has struck out almost 25% of the time in Jacksonville so far.

I do agree that Navarro is still a top prospect. Other than a difference in BABIP, which I mentioned earlier, Navarro and Martin basically have the same stats.

Dear Chicago White Sox,

Take your Smartball and shove it.

Sincerely,

The Oakland Athletics

I think you're overvaluing LaRoche and Martin. They've both been aided by ridiculously high BABIP numbers. LaRoche has struck out almost 25% of the time in Jacksonville so far.

i think laroches high BABIP is due to probably a higher percentage of line drives. he hits the ball on the screws on a very consistent basis.

if anyone is watching the giants cardinals game, is alex sanchez' defense as bad as he has shown in this game?

#203: Perhaps, but Martin has a .369 BABIP and Navarro has a .288 BABIP. I don't think that huge disparity is due to line drive %.

yea, i think in martins case, its more luck and less luck for navarro.

also for a catcher, martin is pretty fast. he probably has his share of infield singles.

#205: I guess I should actually respond to your comment instead of what I thought you were going to say :). LaRoche's BABIP in Jacksonville so far is .409. Line drive % may get him to .320 - .340, but luck is carrying him the rest of the way.

whats guzmans BABIP?

#208: Guzman's BABIP also seems high at .379. Guzman strikes out in about 27.9% of his plate appearances. Even Delwyn Young has a BABIP of .350. Perhaps BABIP is higher in the minors because of the quality of defense?

#209: Just to add to the list, James Loney's BABIP is the lowest of the bunch, with a .328, but isn't he the one most known for having a line drive stroke?

#210: It does seem that the 51s have consistently lower BABIPs.

Navarro - .288
Nakamura - .287
Myrow - .314
Stanley - .331
Flores - .333
Aybar - .342

maybe park/league factors have something to do with it.

Great stuff on the minor leaguers - can anyone direct me to a list of when these guys are rule 5 eligible?

#213: I've been keeping track of the information on my own. I don't know if there's a list anywhere online. Here's the list to the best of my knowledge

Already on the 40-man roster:
Edwin Jackson
Russell Martin
Dioner Navarro
Joel Hanrahan
Delwyn Young
Steve Schmoll
Willy Aybar
Franquelis Osoria
Jason Repko
Derek Thompson
Ryan Ketchner
DJ Houlton
Cody Ross

Rule 5 eligible after this season:
Joel Guzman
James Loney
Jonathan Broxton
Chin-Lung Hu
Eric Stults
Eric Hull
Hong-chi Kuo
Beltran Perez
William Juarez

Not eligible for Rule 5 after this season:
Chad Billingsley (1 year remaining)
Andy LaRoche (1 year remaining)
Blake DeWitt (2 years remaining)
Chuck Tiffany (1 year remaining)
Scott Elbert (1 year remaining)
Julio Pimentel (1 year remaining)
Xavier Paul (1 year remaining)
Cory Dunlap (1 year remaining)
Tony Abreu (1 year remaining)
Blake Johnson (1 year remaining)
Justin Orenduff (1 year remaining)
Javy Guerra (2 years remaining)
Matt Kemp (1 year remaining)
Jaun Rivera (2 years remaining)
Justin Ruggiano (1 year remaining)
Carlos Alvarez (1 year remaining)
Travis Denker (1 year remaining)

May not be eligible for Rule 5 after this season:
Greg Miller (1 year remaining assuming 2004 does not count)
Mike Megrew (1 year remaining assuming 2005 will not count)

Hey Nate, did you notice that your man Travis hit 3 homeruns tonight?

Hey Nate, did you notice that your man Travis hit 3 homeruns tonight?

yeep i saw that. hes probably going to end the season with 25+ homeruns which is spectactular to go along with his OBP.

denker needs to get some pub from BA and other prospect sites. his numbers are very comparable to daric bartons year last yr in low A. just one big difference is that denker is already turning those 2bs into homeruns whereas barton only had 13 all of last year.

Whenever you guys show this list of Rule 5 eligible players in our system, it brings home the fact that DePo does have a need to get value from some of the players in the top two lists, and probably will be dealing this summer. I mean, why not? He'll lose the prospects one way or another, so why not see if an Adam Dunn or Aubrey Huff can be reeled in? I believe the 2005 season is probably a lost cause, but I might think differently if we could rent a power hitting outfielder to take Drew's place temporarily in exchange for a prospect we'd probably lose anyway.

Jeff Weaver plus, say, Loney and Osoria might induce Texas to give up Hank Blalock or Micheal Young. Texas won't miss the home runs so much because of the overall lineup they've got, but they need a starter with Weaver's credentials. (Then we can re-sign Weaver if need be over the winter.) Meanwhile, the question of who would play third or first would be resolved for quite a while and we wouldn't have to depend on prospects to deliver.

* i mean, 13 in low A in 313ABs

Just got home to see the Giants game, but Alex Sanchez has had a reputation for being a very poor outfielder who gets poor jumps on balls and takes poor routes.

#217: I disagree. Many people have claimed that the 40-man roster is an excuse to trade prospects, but it is not and should not be a motivating factor. After the 2006 season it will be a different story, but this year our hand is definitely not forced. First off, we could lose William Juarez, Joel Hanrahan, Cody Ross and Beltran Perez to the Rule 5 draft and it really wouldn't impact our team now or in the future. Second, we have guys in the minors who can step into roles on the 25-man roster that are opening up next year, so we should have enough room for everybody. At this point, if we are going to trade top prospects for major league talent, I'd wait for the offseason when there's not such an exorbitant premium. But, whether we make trades now or in the future, it should be based on helping the team, not at all on 40-man roster issues.

#220: Let me know if you'd like me to post what I think our 40-man roster would look like for next year.

#217: Additionally, one power hitter, no matter how good, does not turn a .400 team into a .620 team, which is likely at least what it would take to win our division. In order to seriously contend this year, we probaly need to add at least two impact bats and have Milton Bradley come back soon.

I wouldn't mind seeing what you think the 40-man should be.

2 impact bats and MB sounds sorta like our projected starting line-up plus one more impact bat...

projected starting lineup:
ss robles
3b perez
rf drew
1b dunn
2b kent
lf giles
cf bradley
C phillips

* 3way trade where we ship izzy and choi to some team for prospects, and those prospects shipped to the reds for dunn.

I'd be very interested in seeing your picks for the 40 man next year. The only caveat is that I don't doubt DePo will do something to rock it to some degree, whether it's shedding veterans or trading prospects.

I agree you don't turn a team around with one hitter. But it seems like there's a zone between buyer and seller where the Dodgers are right now, in which we can be charging the "premium" rather than paying it, using our in-demand veterans plus our surplus prospects as leverage to coax flawed but contending teams like Texas, Baltimore, Alanta, the Cubs, Houston, Philadelphia, etc. to part with players that we could use, young established players in return for the pitching (i.e. Weaver) they lack.

With a little luck, a strengthened lineup could put us back in the race or at least make it interesting. I don't think San Diego is incapable of a major breakdown. First place might remain in sight even to this sorry Dodger team until September when the tables could turn in our favor. (For the same reasons, I don't think the Giants are completely out of it either.)

Giles?

As in Brian Giles?

heres a good idea:

izzy and choi to the twins for liriano, kubel, durbin and boonser.

then ship off, tiffany, durbin and boonser to the reds for dunn.

twins do it: they get their SS (current ss is juan castro) and they get a middle of the order bat to go along with morneau (one can dh while the other plays 1b and vice versa)

reds do it: pitching, pitching and pitching.

dodgers do it: they get liriano and high cieling outfielder.

hah, this will never happen.

*Giles?

As in Brian Giles?*

yep, sign him to a nice little two year deal.

Brian Giles?

He wouldn't be cheap. He's making $8 million this year. I can't imagine he would take a contract much smaller.

i know. i was thinking of a 2 yr 17 mil contract.

8.5 mil a year.

i think it would be worth it. adds a big bat, that will OPS around 900.

lengthens the lineup, puts werth as the 4th outfielder, which he is more suitable to be.

224 -- Is that the secret plan, or is this just part of the secret plan?

Well, whatever I like it with Dunn involved.

And with Izturis not involved, though Robles will just be filling in until JtD is forced to be brought up at the ASB with 62 home runs at Vegas.

exactly steve. its part of the secret plan.

it paves the way for the destroyer to make his dodger debut in 2007. with robles holding over and being the stop gap.

we also get liriano and kubel.

the scret plan changes daily though.

Nope. Kubel is no good because he's injury-prone. His knee exploded in the AFL last year and he's out for this season, at least. If DePodesta acquired an injury-prone player such as Kubel, it would make him liable for all future injuries to that player. Since he knew they were injury-prone. Or something. Right?

Anyone care explaining what "The Rule 5" is. I have a general idea what it is, but just need to be filled in on the details, and perhaps how it works into a GMs strategy of promoting it's prospects.
Thanks.
vr, Xei

Twins don't trade their prospects, not their good ones anyway. The only mistake they have made in a while is letting Ortiz go. Course that mistake may have cost them several WS appearances. They wouldn't be the least bit interested in Choi and Depo is not going to trade Izzy. Robles is doing a fine job as a fill in. I'm sure the more he plays the more he'll prove he's a fine backup infielder and should remain a backup infielder. If Tracy does not play Choi because of defensive issues, Joel Guzman will never be a Dodger SS while Jim Tracy is the manager no matter how much we wish for it.

I heard that Larussa is mad because the Cardinals got the late prime time game sunday night and he and 6 of his players will be on the red eye to the all-star game in Detroit. I'm not sure how far in advance he knew his game would be an evening game. But if it was planned/scheduled in advance then Larussa is just being a crybaby and he should just let someone else manage in his place.
vr, Xei

Kubel is not injury prone. He's had one injury and it cost him the 2005 season. Snelling for Seattle is injury prone but still a player I'd trade a small prospect for just because he'd be a great fit for the Dodgers.

570AM radio announcer says Dodgers should trade for Casey instead of Dunn. Says Dunn strikes out way too much. Not sure what he was thinking, how many first basemen do we need. He didn't say who he would trade away. I think the Dodgers should trade for Joe Borchard, White Sox prospect who has been blocked in Chicago. Neighbor is related to him and says Borchard wants to get traded. White Sox could probably use some help for their AL playoff run, and the Dodgers could use some depth in the outfield.
vr, Xei

bochard is having a terrible year as a 26 yr old outfielder in AAA.

240. So he'd be perfect for us. Buntermaker could bat him cleanup. :)
vr, Xei

CASEY!

Millions down the toilet for Kevin Millar's reverse body double. Memo to ignorant media hacks: There is a REASON other teams are trying to dump their crap on us, and it's not that they just used the airplane lavatory!

#230: The more I think about, the more I think it will take a 3-year deal for at least $11 million / year to sign Giles. He'll only be 35 and he'll be one of the few impact bats available through free agency. I don't think we'll have the money for that kind of deal, unless we want to leave our 4th and 5th starter slots up to Derek Thompson, DJ Houlton, and Eric Stults next year.

OPS = .766. I can see why 570 Guy would think that impressive, given that it is 60 points higher than The Mighty Beltre, and about 400 points higher than the Red Sox's new mascot, but down here on Planet Reality, even Hee Seop Choi's OPS is at, that's right, you guessed it --

.780

#242: It's those kind of talk shows that explain why the Reds aren't trading Dunn. Why trade Dunn when you think you can pawn Casey off on some unwitting sap?

#244: But, but... Choi strikes out too much :)

That's right, even Bad, Evil, Hated Choi has a better OPS than the Reds' 6'4", 250 lb. Izturis clone.

238 - sorry, i didn't have the sarcasm cranked high enough. I was applying Plaschkian logic for effect, but it was too subtle.

Kubel is a fine prospect, and I'm not sincerely labeling him as 'injury-prone.'

There is a list of players that would cause the self-immolatory glory that I spoke of some days ago. That list is not and may never be fully complete, but I know, as God is my witness, that Sean Casey is on that list.

#225: Ok. I'll post my hypothetical 40-man roster in tomorrow's thread. Right now I'm trying to figure out which of our players will be or will possibly be arbitration-eligible after the season. Because of the whole super-two exception, it takes a lot of work.

"Is It Time for Something to Be Dunn?"

http://tinyurl.com/7wrmk

see, everyone wants dunn lol.

#223: Indeed. My belief is that we'd have to end up with more firepower than our original starting lineup to contend. Our lineup coming into the season was probably a .575-ish team. We need to pump it up to .620 to have a chance.

251 - Your link got me to the game story... is O Perez kinda paranoid? "Why's everybody looking at me?" We need to find a taker, that might've been Depo's worst move.

Funny story -- I am up in SF on business and was getting dinner at a bar here and I'm sitting next to a blonde with unbelieveable jewelry, and looks to match, watching ESPN highlights. Eventually I realize she is Mrs. Larry Walker, waiting for hubby to join her after the Sunday night game. I get about a half hour of conversation outta her... let's just say she was very proud to be Mrs. Larry Walker (when I asked "Who is your husband?", she says "Larry", as in "Cher", or "Madonna", or "Pele"). Unfortunately I choked and didn't ask the best questions (such as "Is Jim Edmunds really a jerk?") but did find out he is definitely retiring because he "can't even move his neck", getting traded to St. Louis was their greatest moment besides the birth of their children, specifically because the Rockies franchise is horrible starting at the top, not "having" to go to the All-Star game is a relief, Ray King is a good guy (because somehow we started talking about him), and as we talked ESPN was showing some feature on a sports agent, this guy Rosenhaus, she called him a "bottom feeder". I brought up Boras, to which she practically gagged, and called him one too. Eventually Larry showed up and I shook his hand, said I was a Dodger fan, to which he replied "I forgive you." He is a big dude...

Odalis is turning into Carlos, right before our eyes. This team is like re-living Dodger history every night. Who do you think Odalis was talking about? Bet it rhymes with "Mooooooooo."

# 248 - Your right, I missed the sarcasm. Plaschke would ream us for the deal but no way the Twins trade Kubel, they will need him next year. The have plenty of other 2nd tier prospects they can move to shore up their infield. They have never made the big move during the season I would be shocked if they changed now.

#250: Here are the results I came up with for arbitration eligibility. I've also listed the projected service time, assuming the player stays on the 25-man roster through the end of the season:

Arbitration Eligible:
Hee Seop Choi (3 years 34 days service time)
Jason Phillios (3 years 28 days service time)

Super-Two Potential:
Jayson Werth (2 years 136 days service time)
Duaner Sanchez (2 years 107 days service time)
Jason Grabowski (2 years 99 days service time)

At Least One Year Remaining:
Antonio Perez (1 year 128 days service time)

Two Years Remaining:
Yhency Brazoban (1 year 62 days service time)

All the rest of the rookies on the team will have at least two years of pre-arbitration time after this season.

#256: So, assuming Sanchez and Werth are both arbitration eligible, it's probably about $2.25 million / player for 4 players instead of $0.40 million / player. That cuts approximately $7 million out of our budget for next year. I'm guessing we'll have about $11 million total to spend between a starting pitcher, left fielder, and third baseman. Not so good.

I don't know about the other guys, but no way Sanchez gets 2 million. No way.

players in their first yr of arby dont get raises of close to 2 mil dollars.

#259: I was trying to be conservative, but I hadn't checked actual figures. It looks like first-year arbitration players get between $1.25 million and $1.75 million. So, maybe $1.75 million for each of Choi, Phillips, and Werth and $1.25 million for Sanchez? That would total $6.5 million vs. $1.4 million they're making this year. Thus, cutting $5 million out of the budget, but leaving $13 million to spend. I'm assuming that Bradley in his last year of arbitration will make about $7 million. Does that seem reasonable?

Choi again makes himself out to be a standup guy, from today's LA Daily News:

Flippo recognized: Dodgers bullpen catcher Rob Flippo will accompany first baseman Hee-Seop Choi to tonight's All-Star Home Run Derby in Detroit. Choi, who will be competing for his native South Korea, asked Flippo to join him and pitch to him in the Derby.

Participants are allowed to bring a coach of their choosing at Major League Baseball's expense. Choi is paying travel costs for Flippo's family to go, as well.

258, 259

Agreed the only exception I can think of is Eric Gagne.

254. Reading the story, I thought Odalis might be talking about Drew, but also, I thought he might mean Penny. Also, what is the deal with him complaining about NOT being taken out. If he knew he was gassed, tell the coaches

Is there some player's code of honor to never tell the coaching staff how you really feel?

Odalis is ticked b/c they sent him out there for the 6th inning, after pitching 5 strong. It was only his 2nd start back. He shouldn't have to tell the coaches he was gassed.

But the icing on the cake is that Penny was "available". Pregame strategy should've dictated 5 from OP, then go to Penny for 3, and Brazoban for the 9th if necessary.

At least the Dodgers represented themselves well at the Future's game. Martin really looks like LoDuca back there (aesthetically speaking). Gammons has a big man-crush on LaRoche. His swing looked freakin' sweet.

254, 263:
Read Tony Jackson's story in the Daily News:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E28569%257E2959687,00.html

The most likely target of Perez's contempt is veteran pitcher Scott Erickson...

#265: I read that as well. If that's the case, I'mm all for contempt.

Ahhhh...we should have known that. We share that contempt. OP is hereby absolved.

I've heard that Erickson isn't the most loved guy on the Dodgers.

Fearing - Let's say we hit the eject button on this year. We don't have many parts that we could sell off, but we could start firing people left and right - namely the bullpen. If we were to drop Erickson and Gio (to start), which of our kids in the minors would be most appropriate to bring up?

You've warned against knee jerk callups like Broxton, et al. Who could come up without worrying about starting their clock?

Chris Carpenter vs. Mark Buehrle?

That's the best we can do for an All Star game?

Derek Lowe started in 2002.
Charles Nagy started in 1996.
Terry Mulholland started in 1993.
Jack Armstrong started in 1990.

Just read Tony Jackson's game story in the Star News. If it wasn't for OP breaking down, Erickson would have been dealing with his illegal hot tub in Tahoe the last month.

Erickson's continued presence in uniform, and in the clubhouse is the single most indefensible thing that DePo has done.

#269: I would consider the following pitchers:

Derek Thompson - 24.5 year old left-hander with Las Vegas
Steve Schmoll - 25.4 year old right-hander with Las Vegas
Eric Stults - 25.6 year old left-hander with Las Vegas
Eric Hull - 25.6 year old left-hander with Jacksonville
Hong-Chih Kuo (if healthy) - 24.0 year old left-hander with Jacksonville

All of these players are close enough to their peaks that we're not risking much by bringing them up. Additionally, I would expect at least 2 or 3 of them to contribute next year, so the major-league seasoning would be helpful.

I just don't see why the anti-DePo people keep honking on about Skippy the Red Sox Backup Mascot-Infielder when Scott Erickson is sitting there like a loaded gun ready to kill DePo's career.

#272: I agree wholeheartedly. The best I can come up with is that DePodesta mentally declared the season shot a long time ago, and thus, decided not to start the clock on kids too early. The reasoning is flimsy at best, which is why I'm so confused.

#273 - Desperate for a lefty, one of those 4 LHP's need to come up.

If instead we see Mike Venafro...

#274: I'd throw Jason Grabowski on that list as well. Henri Stanley wouldn't be much of an upgrade, if any, but Grabowski has fairly conclusively demonstrated that he's not the answer as a 5th outfielder.

On the other hand, the difference between player X and player Y for the 24th and 25th spots on the roster won't significantly impact the season. Of course, that doesn't preclude us from using them as scapegoats :).

#275 - I know Choi has a lot of support here, but couldn't we draw a similarity between Depo's continued support of Choi and Erickson? Could there be some ego involved here?

[Waiting for lightning bolt]

But Mike Venafro has LOOGY goodness.

#276: Eric Hull is actually a right-hander. That will teach me to go off of my memory. Kuo is the only guy who would fit the LOOGY model, but he still needs to show he's healthy after a recent injury scare. Thompson, Stults, and Hull would be better as long-relievers, since all three are currently starters.

mmmmmmm....LOOGy

#278: Choi is a 26 year old with good supporting statistics, a huge upside, and a good personality. Erickson is a 37 year old with lousy supporting statists, no upside (hasn't been good in 6 years), and an arrogant and bitter personality (calls out his teammates). Other than that, I can definitely see the comparison.. they're both tall (6'5" vs. 6'4") and similarly built (240 lbs. vs 230 lbs.).

278,
No way. It's fair to make the argument that Choi is one of our top 8 hitters and deserves to play everyday.

Erickson is not one of our top 12 pitchers even with everybody injured.

#282 - I should've signed my #278:

Sincerely,
Devil's Advocate

But superficially speaking, I think Depo really thinks Erickson should be the type of guy to succeed in Dodger Stadium. He's sort of a Derek Lowe-lite, except without the talent, execution, stats, heart, charm etc. He's truly been awful this year, except this last month pitching out of the bullpen (representing approx. 9 innings?).

Choi has had two good streaks, one early this season, the other one glorious weekend against the Twins. Other than that, he's been pretty awful as well.

Honestly, its almost beyond explanation why Erickson has been here so long. It's almost become a fun game speculating on 1) why he's made it this long and 2) what will be the thing that finally gets him?

I'm probably caught up in the moment, but screw firejimtracy. It's time for "Fire Scott Erickson, Paul DePodesta".com

I'm glad we're not alone in our contempt for Erickson. OP should comment with us. He'd fit right in.

284 - "Choi has had two good streaks, one early this season, the other one glorious weekend against the Twins. Other than that, he's been pretty awful as well."

From what I remember of last year, Werth had a similar platoon role in LF until he showed he might have everyday capability. Seems like Choi has shown that he's at least capable of a platoon role, but it seems like he doesn't even have that.

So to top it all off, Erickson is a Sheffield in the clubhouse. If he had a big contract then he would be the prototype "team-killer": he already has awful performance, clubhouse cancer and wasted roster spot on his 2005 resume.

#286 - You could've seen this breakdown of Saenz a mile away as soon as Tracy made the 1B "platoon" one in name only. He even said it himself earlier this year - that he wanted to pace Saenz so as not to overextend him. Not that you can't blame him for trying to ride the hot hand, but it came at the expense of giving Choi at bats, and it was so inevitable that he would end up breaking down.

If Erickson is Depo's cross to bear (bare?) to date, I'll nominate the Saenz/Choi non-platoon as Tracy's.

If Erickson performed at Sheffield's level, I would be far more forgiving of his personality "quirks".

#283: Choi is a 26 year old with good supporting statistics, a huge upside, and a good personality.

I realize this is heresy but here goes:

Granted against Erickson, anyone looks good. But how much time do you give Choi to realize that "huge upside"? It would be nice if JT gave him more playing time but that's life in baseball and others face the same adversity all the time. They make it or they don't with the limited opportunity they are given. I have continually maintained the position here that Choi has unfairly been a lightening rod. He seems like a nice kid and I would like to see him succeed but the fact is he is average at best and I am afraid that the upside is not huge but only slightly more than average, if that. Chi, Fla and now LAD have all had the same experience with this guy, why will it change?

As for his good personality, there are those who posit that chemistry is irrelevant. Thus, Choi's pleasant personality and Erickson's lousy personality should not matter.

LAT,
You're not branding Choi with the Mark of Greg Brock are you?

290 - Choi has a .780 OPS and the third most homeruns on the team. He is also the most unlucky player in baseball, according to his line drive percentage.

What, exactly, is wrong with him?

Addendum - That makes him so bad that he should be lumped in with Erickson and shouldn't at least be on the good side of a platoon.

#290,
The one time he did have a consistent opportunity (FLA), he produced and did well (an 800something OPS over a period of almost 4 months). The upside is there. We don't praise Choi as our savior (well, maybe as our *S*avior); we know he's not Derrek Lee. But can you say that you'd rather play guys like Mike Edwards, Cody Ross, Jason Grabowski over Choi with a straight face? Even if he's average at best, those guys are below average.

Chemistry isn't totally irrelevant. It's just overrated. Being able to get along with a guy and being a guy's best friend are 2 different things. And if nobody likes a player and the player isn't producing, all the more reason to get rid of him.

#290, 294.

Choi is like Paul Konerko. He will eventually become an above average, power hitting force. But not for the Dodgers, unfortunately. It's a blind spot; they're waiting for the reincarnation of Eric Karros. The Dodgers would rather have a guy they can count on to hit 20 low-impact home runs, rather than someone who might excite the fans by hitting 40 meaningful ones, but also might strike out a lot on the way to that level.

(Caveat: I have an unreasonable, unfair hatred of Eric Karros. I even resented that he was right-handed. I burned with envy during the Karros era for every team that had a ball-crushing left-handed first baseman and couldn't figure out why the Dodgers wanted to pretend that Karros was anything but mediocre.)

290-293 What is wrong with him? .236 BA (.234 career BA). Defense is marginal. Strikes out nearly 25% of ABs. I'm not being all that critical of him. I simply see him for what he is, an average player with certain strengths and weaknesses. I do not see the "huge upside." What's more if we could make a reasonable deal for Dunn, I would like to see him at 1B and would be ok with not seeing Choi again.

293 I was not comparing him to Erickson. In fact, I pointed out Erickson sucks. I am simply responding to one of the many posts suggesting Choi has "huge upside" and its all Tracy's fault Choi doesn't realize that potential. Other than very brief flashes that tend only to give us hope, (maybe false hope) that potential has not materialized. I acknowledge that for one weekend he put the team on his back (Uck, sounds like Rick Monday). I was there the day he hit three and I stood up and chanted his name with everyone else. I wish he was Paul Konerko or Karros but he is not and I see nothing to suggest he will be. This is not to say he shouldn't play. He should play on this team because he is the only one with any power (especially w/ Kent and Old Maid hurt) but he is not much more than we have seen in the last two years.

Let the plagues rain down.

I think when Choi strikes out in the homerun competition, there will be a lot fewer people around here on his bandwagon.