Does DePo really want another of Alou's bench coaches?

Ron Wotus would be the same number of letters as Jim Tracy.

Orioles also looking for a GM. Says they are interviewing Mets Asst GM Jim Duquette.

http://tinyurl.com/9gh5f (or go to orioles.com)

2 Less, relevant, and that's saying something, but same initials as Ron Washington.

Three of the five candidates have a double l in their last name.

Some exciting new free agents today:

Ben Weber
D'Angelo Jimenez

And Klesko fully intends to use his no-trade clause should the Padres attempt to teade him. The only reason he'd accept is if they rebuild. Either way, good news for Dodger fans

What about Gary Knotts! You left him out!

Anyone know why Wotus is getting interviewed? (Or have a theory even). I seem him as an excellent choice to be Tracy v.2 (or worse, Alou v.2), and to piss off Dodger fans (longtime Giants coach). The only upside I see is that he isn't Dusty Baker

DePodesta saw Wotus's resume on Monster.com and thought he seemed like a good choice.

Man, what a strange and disparate crew of interviewees. Since I know next to nothing about any of these guys, anyone care to suggest some interview questions (serious or otherwise) that you'd like the candidates to answer? Feel free to include context.

[Suggestion: avoid obvious questions about the over-/under-utilization of certain current Dodgers.]

So...

how is Ron Wotus different?

10
Is there ever a time when the best player on the team should bunt?

Laroche starting today, so far has a ground out and a fly out

Hull is on the mound, through 3 innings, he's given up 2 runs on 5 hits. Not walks, strikes outs or anything like that (although he does have a wild pitch)

I would seriously ask how many at-bats vs. a particular pitcher is enough to outweigh a given player's overall performance history.

Ron Wotus has been a Bench/3rd Base Coach for the Giants since 1998, when Dusty Baker was the manager. Before that, he managed in the Giants farm system, and managed to make the playoffs 6 times in 7 years, twice winning Manager of the Year. He's supposed to be good at infield defense, and was a teammate of Barry Bonds with the Pirates.

Wotus was a strong candidate for the last Giants' job, but lost out to Felipe Alou, and for the previous Pirates' job, but lost out to Lloyd McClendon.

I'd probably ask something like, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the current Dodgers roster and hope we just got talking from there.

Remembering Sandy:

With the post season underway, I thought I would look back at Sandy's World Series appearances. Although he was a member of the pennant winning 1955 and 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers, Sandy was not on the World Series roster in either year. Obviously the "bonus baby" rule that required him to be on the regular season roster after he was signed for a $14,000 bonus in 1954, did not apply to the post season.

Sandy's first World Series appearance was in game one of the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Soxs. Pitching in relief, Sandy entered the game in the 5th inning with the Dodgers trailing 11-0. Sandy pitched a scoreless frame in the 5th and 6th, but the game was hopelessly out of reach. The final score was 11-0.

Sandy's pitching line was 2 innings pitched, no hits, 1 strikeout (his mound opponent Early Wynn was the victim) and no walks.

Thanks to Koufax, written by Sandy and Ed Linn, and retrosheet.

Stan from Tacoma

It seems like the interview schedule is in order of importance.

Making a my own uninformed assumption, i think its between collins and Luvullo. You interview them last so you can keep them in town for the announcement. Sunday you make the decision and Monday you hold the press confrence.

Maybe its just wishful thinking.

Wasn't DePo going to Italy for his sister's wedding at this time, or something like that?

8 - Isn't he just the quota interview? Kind of like Ruben Amaro will (hopefully) be in Phila?

19 He left last Wednesday, and is suppose to return today

20 Not unless there is some quota for interviewing Felipe Alou's bench coach.

Laroche popped out in his 3rd AB on the second pitch. He's also made an error in the game. Hull out after 3 innings, Dannemiller in (gave up a HBP and a hit, but got got out of the 4th)

10 Here's a few:

1. Under what circumstances would you use Eric Gagne (or whoever is our best reliever) in an inning other than the ninth?

2 Assume Jeff Weaver has stayed with the Dodgers. It's the 7th inning. Weaver is pitching a two-hit shutout. The Dodgers are leading, 2-0. What do you do?

a) Leave him in there. He deserves a chance to succeed.
b) Watch him carefully, and as soon as he allows a two-run homer, take him out.
c) Watch him carefully, and take him out if he even gets as many as three balls on the first hitter.
d) No decision necessary. I already pinch hit Perez for him in the bottom of the sixth.

Jason Phillips is_____

a) A guy with great baseball instincts who can play first base and left field in addition to backing up Dioner.
b) Our back-up catcher, behind Navarro and Piazza.
c) Sorry, I'm not up to speed on Dodger history. Did he play in the 70s?

My favorite song is...

a)"This Will be the Start of Something Big," as performed by Nancy Bea Hefele in the style of Helen Dell
b)"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'n Roses
c) Whatever song the people at Chrysler are using to peddle Dodge trucks.

During breaks between innings, I like to:

a) Laugh at all the funny bloopers on Diamondvision;
b) Consult Paul DePodesta's computer for any relevant information;
c) Call my bookie.

If I'm Sabean, I let the Dodgers take him for nothing--the results will pay great dividends.

FireRonWoltus.com It has a ring to it....

From what I've read on up on the candidates (besides Wotus), here is how I would rank them:
1. Royster/Luvullo (tie)- both seem to like working with young players. Royster hasn't won much as a manager in the majors, but he has managed a lot of bad teams. Luvullo sounds like a great up and coming manager.
2. Alan Trammell- don't like him, took way too long to figure out that Curtis Granderson should be starting in CF over Nook Logan. Mishandled Carlos Pena.
3. Terry Collins- was a failure with the Angels. Is a hothead, can't handle star players/surly veterans

My #1 choice is Ron Washington, but it doesn't sound like he is even going to be interviewed.

PDP: "Hello, welcome, please, have a seat. It's great for you to be here."

JR: "Thanks! I'm glad you're giving me this chance to manage one of the storied teams of baseball."

PDP: "Sure thing. Okay, first question for you: hypothetically, let's say I'm trying to get the RISP for a certain group of batters based upon the ballpark they're playing in. Would it be more efficient for me to use a left outer join on my SELECT statement, or should I use a subquery in my WHERE clause?"

JR: "Uh..."

PDP: "Thanks for your time. Next!"

AT: "Hey man, thanks for giving me this opportunity. I'm sure I can make the team sparkle both on the field, and more importantly in the public eye, so we can beat out both the NL West, and that bastard Arte Moreno."

PDP: "That sounds great, Alan. Okay, let me ask you this. How would you get around the well-known limitation of JDBC pooling as it pertains to Oracle's CLOB inserts?"

AT: "I'm not quite sure what you're asking me..."

PDP: "Okay, no problem, thanks, Jamie will show you out."

RW (having just noticed JR and AT leaving): "I knew those guys would be terrible for the organization. I'm glad you're giving me a shot."

PDP: "Yes. About that: with my ETL query-builder, I oftentimes run into a situation where my connection times out prior to the query completing, causing me to have to submit the batch as a background task, disconnect, and poll the server for results. Can you help me with this at all?"

RW: "No, but look, I can help with the hitting, and there's a"

PDP: "Okay, okay, just testing you. We'll let you know, have a great rest of your day."

TC: "Okay, I understand I'm near the bottom of the list, but my guess is that you haven't found anyone outstanding and that's why you've asked me in here."

PDP: "That's it exactly!"

TC: (beaming) "So, how can I be the one sitting in the Dodger dugout come April?"

PDP: "Well, there are a few questions that I'd like to ask to gauge your level of expertise in the field... let's start out with something easy. Many times, the queries that I run take up the entire CPU and cause a few of the tables to be locked for insert, which just bogs all of the data imports down. I've been thinking of creating a shadow copy of the database, but there's an issue of data integrity and timeliness. What's the best way for me to ensure that the queries I run on the shadow accurately reflect data that's in the master db?"

TC: (lets himself out)

PDP: "Jamie, call in Mr. Luvullo."

TL: "Good afternoon. I... I can't say that I'll be very helpful, given what I've been hearing from the other applicants."

PDP: "Yes, well, you would think that a few very basic level questions wouldn't weed out so many people."

TL: "So, uh, I guess go ahead and ask away... I can tell you I value OBP much more than average, and I'm a big fan of UZR..."

PDP: (with an upturned eyebrow) "Alright, here's your first question. We have a clustered schema here in our offices, and we're trying to add hardware capacity, but running into an issue that the database isn't scaling horizontally very well-- it's a problem of diminishing returns. What's the best way for us to get the best bang for our buck in terms of hardware?"

TL: "Well, I'm not too sure, but I can ask around, see if any of my friends' sons can ask their World of Warcraft guildmates.."

PDP: "YOU'RE HIRED!"

You mean they don't just ask the standard interview questions? -

-What about your background and experience qualifies you to work for the Los Angeles Dodgers?

-I see here on your resume you were the (bench coach for the San Francisco Giants/head of player development, manager of the Detroit Tigers/coach for the Oakland Athletics/whatever Luvullo does). How did that go?

-Is there anything you'd like to ask us about the Los Angeles Dodgers or the job of manager?

26 When a guy's name is Nook, you gotta give him every chance in the world. Especially over a guy named Curtis.

Shorter No. 27: "Paul DePodesta is a big nerd who stinks like doody. He wants to marry a robot. Ironically, of all my magnificent possessions, I derive the most pride from my humble Yale diploma."

just because five interview candidates have been named so far doesn't mean depodesta is going to choose just from those five, does it? couldn't he interview more in the next couple weeks, or did he just say that these are the five finalists?

He has mentioned a "secondary list".

Any thoughts on if Francona would be on that list? Contract's up, McCourt has Boston envy...

29- you're right, I didn't take into account merchandise sales and marketability. He's like Kobe, Nene, Shaq, recognizable by his first name.

An SF relative tells me fans up there think Wotus is Alou's heir apparent.

31 - Dodgers.com said something about how surprise candidates may emerge. Unless they made that part up baselessly (something I now trust Dodgers.com to avoid more than, say, the LAT), there probably will be candidates not on the list. They may want to keep a high-profile candidate secret.

31 et al - It remains quite possible that the next Dodger manager will not be part of The Next Week Five.

The next Dodgers manager will likely not be a member of We Five.

Although when I woke up this morning, it was on my mind.

37/38. How about the Jackson Five?

38 ...and you got troubles, whoa whoh....

how about Ken Macha....

or Davey Johnson...

It's not quite over in the desert, but I have class (cursed Columbus Day means nothing). Bottom of tyhe 9th, Phoenix leads 13-6, there's only so much that can still happen...

Laroche: 1-6, K
Hull: 3 IP, 5 Hs, 2 Rs, WP
Dannemiller: 2 IP, 3 Hs, 1 R, HR
Miller: 2 IP, 2 Hs, BB, 2 Ks

Ed Wade had been GM for 8 years, after 8 years as assistant GM. No doubt about who's responsible for the current Phillies. But Tim Brown thinks the Dodgers will give DePodesta only three years. The only rationale for firing a GM after just three years would be to cut your losses after acknowledging a mistake. Kevin Malone, for example. If DePodesta's gone after next season, it won't be because of where the Dodgers finish, it will be because McCourt determines he's not up to the job.

Davey Johnson is the ur-DePodesta. He was the first man in a baseball uniform to use a computer.

38/40

Was just going to comment to Bob that no one would catch the We Five reference and then I got down to you at 40 Howard. Amazing.

Either of you remember the lead singer's name?

46 I never knew it to begin with. Did anybody?

45 I simply will not allow anything that I happen to learn about baseball make me re-think my opinion on Davey Johnson. That's where I draw the line on this whole rationality business.

You can go to http://www.WeFive.net to find the names of all the various members throughout the years.

They still tour.

47 -

Beverly Bivens

Allow me to pose a question. If you were DePodesta, would you consult with any players before deciding on a manager? Kent? Gagne? Penny/Lowe? An advantage would be that you'd be reaching out and showing respect. Some possible drawbacks would be that (1)you might not take their advice, and risk hurt feelings, (2) some or all of these players, esp. Kent, won't be around past next year anyway, so you don't care about their opinion and they know it, and (3) players don't know what's best, and would give worthless, perhaps even bad advice.

Thoughts?

51 -

Seems to me if you would ask four players you would get five different answers and then you'd piss them off even more when their favorite wasn't chosen.

I don't think any Dodger player is going to be consulted on personnel moves unless it's somebody who was a former teammate of a current Dodger and DePodesta wants to get a scouting report of sorts.

Look at Trevor Hoffman in San Diego. He's beloved. He's been there forever. He's arguably their greatest pitcher in franchise history. And I doubt that Kevin Towers has ever consulted with him about anything. And he might not be back. I doubt Towers ever asked Tony Gwynn's opinion.

I've heard of situations where a GM will also ask players to help "recruit" free agents.

Well, I'd say that choice of manager is more important to players than are other personnel moves. And I also doubt that DePo WILL ask for opinions, or even float trial balloons. And I'm not asking what you would do if you were you. I'm asking whether, if you were DePo (i.e., in his shoes viz. the press, the owner, the veteran players), would you reach out?

I'm not sure I would, not if I wanted to be taken seriously as "the boss," but I was curious how others felt. Whatever he does, Plaschke will think it's the wrong move.

In re: We Five

I have the two original albums. The second one "Make Someone Happy" includes one of the best versions of "Tonight" from "West Side Story" I've ever heard. Instead of orchestra it's a simple guitar accompaniment.

I'm late to the discussion today, but I think DePo questions should be general, rather than specific. This isn't about correcting Tracy's random weird choice to have Drew bunt (a singular occasion, even for Trace), it's about DePo finding someone who can agree with DePo's fundamental principles on team-building while presumably getting enough free-rein to manage.

DePo doesn't strike me as someone who wants or needs to micro-manage on-the-field issues... otherwise he should be a manager, not a GM. He just needs someone who can buy into his concepts and apply them to each and every game, and his questions should reflect that.

I know less than nothing about Wotus... even with Lovullo (whose name I'd never heard of before last week), he got a lot of praise from various sources. Wotus = bupkus, though presumably there's SOME reason DePo wants to interview him.

DePodesta won't ask for any player's input except in the most cursory or perfunctory way. Why should he? The management of a baseball team is not like managing a Starbucks.

56 Wotus = bupkus, though presumably there's SOME reason DePo wants to interview him.

I too wondered why he'd even consider another Felipe (bunt 'em if you've got 'em, and no more than one hitter per reliever) Alou bench coach, but here's a twisted scenario.

He wants the Giants to think he covets Wotus, so that they'll be sure to hire him to replace Alou.

57 Well, you could argue that when you're paying multiples of the wages you pay Starbucks people you ought to ensure those employees have a little more input than the barista.

I'm not going to argue that, but it could be done.

Or DePo is just trying to interview as many guys as possible.

Even organizations where people get paid a lot more, the decision makers don't usually ask the hired help for input on whom to hire.

Is is my imagination or does Bubba Crosby have a facial resemblance to Steve Sax?

Fire Joe Torre! :)

Ervin Santana has just fallen victim to the Grabowski Principle.

The Angels are doomed.

If the Angels lose because of a big hit by Bubba Crosby and maybe a relief appearance by Scott Proctor will this cause Plaschke's head to explode?

The only reasonable explaination for Wotus is the famed Chewbaca defense.

A clutch walk by Finley! I believe that was the only fourth walk the Angels have taken this series. Or maybe five.

Walking Finley might have evened the GP count.

Yep. Am I the only one who would rather have Santana than Mussina in this situation?

Bubba Crosby's stint as a Yankee hero lasted less than one half-inning.

Crosby and Sheff do their best Beltran/Cameron impersonation.

I don't think I've ever seen a pitcher with a windup quite like Mussina's, bending way over toward his toes from the waist.

Mike Mussina is not a loveable guy. This has nothing to do with where he went to school. He just always comes across in interviews as one of the whinier individuals around.

The man complained once that he wasn't able to warm up correctly because the Blue Jays tribute to their radio announcer who had a brain tumor (Tom Cheek, who passed away Sunday) took too long.

65.
Bob - Plaschke's head may roll before it explodes!
http://tinyurl.com/7m4r2

The LA Times sports section has already taken several cuts. The big columnists (Plaschke, Simers, and Adande) will keep their jobs until they make too much. The Times has to have some writers to market the paper around.

75. You have no idea how much the Trib wonks will disagree with that kind of thinking. The days of multiple "opinion" columnists, sports experts, etc. are numbered --

76
But who would appear on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters"? Who would yell at people on "Around the Horn"?

77.
Ex-players, ex-managers/coaches, ex-GM's, ex-owners, and ex-newspaper reporters ;>) When that supply runs low . . .

Where is Erstad-killer Al Leiter?

(Has Dodger Thoughts slowed down a bunch for anyone else?)

Al Leiter is coming in.
He has one job.
Get out Steve Finley.
The tension mounts ...

Then why was the Unit coming out of the bullpen?

That was really really weird seeing them warm up next to each other. Like seeing a 747 behind a...Cessna or something.

I guess Leiter was just insurance for Torre if Johnson couldn't get warmed up.

Let's let McCarver explain it to us Bob, I'm sure he will be right because he always is.

McCarver agreed with me! That's kind of scary.

--everybody takes two steps away from Bob--

Hey, Bengie Molina is up to .500 on the Series!

I didn't think I would take much pleasure from the Angels winning this series, but the sight of the Yankees propping up Mussina's old, dead corpse to get beat around (just like Kevin Brown in the ALCS last year) was extremely satisfying.

Chants* His name is RObert Paulson His name is Robert Paulson! His name is Robert Paulson!

Is "Bones" going to be the series that Fox endlessly flacks during the playoffs? I watched one episode of that.

One episode.

There will be no further viewings.

So McCarver has now been shocked AND stunned. Anybody wanna take "beaten senseless"?

Sheff pressing, trying to prove himself to Icaros . . .

And pops up. Icaros scribbles notes.

Did Colon come out of a deciding game 5 because he had a little back pain?

No Heart... No heart... No heart

Colon came out with shoulder pain, probably caused by his back pain.

I wonder if Molina tried to hit Cano with the throw to get the out?

I'm scared to go over to Bronx Banter now.

Argh, this is just like last year when the league didn't let ARod get away with the bitch-slap. Pack of cheaters, those Angels!

Also Erstad was positioned TERRIBLY to make that catch, but Cano totally should have just run right through him anyways.

95 And more so now.

So the Angels can go out there and talk to Santana for as long as they need to? What was his injury, I wonder...

89 - I believe the best new series starring a former Buffy supporting player is "Kitchen Confidential," over "How I Met Your Mother" and "Bones."

"Veronica Mars" now has Charisma Carpenter, however. She has been in a bikini or less in most of her scenes.

Wow, the Yankees offense is unbelieveably un-clutch tonight. They might actually be better off bunting every time they get a runner on.

If Bernie Williams were in center for that collision, would he have gotten over there in time to run into Sheffield?

In line with my prediction that LoDuca will be traded in the offseason, this from yahoo's scout.com:

"There's even talk that aging catcher Paul LoDuca might be moved to Arizona. "

http://tinyurl.com/e4zpy

I haven't seen any actual good sources for trade LoDuca talk, but it makes sense for the Marlins.

100
I don't think Williams would have been anywhere near Sheffield on Kennedy's hit. But the Yankees were lucky that didn't end up as a home run.

101

Could the Dodgers ward off the magical powers of Lo Duca if he came to Dodger Stadium 9-10 times a year? And paired with Green his powers would be even greater?

Knowing Arizona's front office, they'll send Connor Jackson over to Florida for Lo Duca.

Anyone know the game's official start time?

K-Rod should come in now.

I don't know the exact time, but the game started pretty close to 5:10 pm

Didn't Dave Justice wear #28 for the Yanks that year he took them to the Series? I wonder if the clutch-itude can be transferred from one player to another....ooooh, what a curve!!

I'm curious as to what sort of rating the Ducks game is getting tonight.

And the Ducks are playing at home!

Bronx Banter-ites sound defeated, mostly.

They would probably switch to porn sites if the Angels can score a run this inning.

Why?!? Why put Sierra in LF and move Matsui NOW when you've already gotten three wasted at-bats from Bernie "Offensive Black Hole" Williams"?!?

This team deserves Lou Pinella...grr...

109
Not much different from Dodger Thoughts readers after a Dodgers loss in August with Jason Phillips making the last out.

Finley manages to undistinguish himself in this game.

If he'd been on the Dodgers, imagine what a great year he would've had.

Finley did draw a walk against Mussina. And he scored on Kennedy's triple.

That happened while I was buying my family's dinner at El Burrito Jr. I did hear the triple though.

Finley also had a sacrifice! He has FOUR in the series.

If you've got lemons, you make lemonade. I do give Finley credit for that.

Finley is a pitcher that can't pitch.

The Angels had better end this.

Good old Darin Erstad.

I guess Erstad is a clutch fielder after all.

Welp, it's official Bob. We will see a new WS matchup this year, and a bloodletting in NYC once again this winter. Enjoy everyone!

$200 Millions just doesn't go as far as it used to.

No baseball farther east than Chicago now. Pretty weird.

Well, except in 2002, there was no team left further east than St. Louis. Or Minneapolis. They're pretty close in that regard.

Angry Yankees jettison A-Rod and Matsui - with cash - to Los Angeles?

I guess Matsui's going to be available.

George will probably leave him in a dumpster outside the Stadium.

The Yankees had 30 walks in the series.
The Angels had 6.

LA vs. Chicago. Party like it's 1959. The Angels should invite Wally Moon to throw out the first pitch in Anaheim.

I should have registered firejoetorre.

I could have retired after four days of work.

125 See, Moneyball doesn't work ;)

That, and you have problems when Bubba Crosby is providing more offense than Arod

Let's trade for A-rod.

Clutch postseason pitcher and World Champion Derek Lowe for ringless, choke artist A-rod (plus $2 million per year and the money from Texas). That would give us A-rod at $14.5 million per year. George always gets rid of postseason choke artists, especially recently (Vazquez, Weaver). Matsui would also be a nice pickup. He's obviously not a true Yankee.

Trade Izturis at the deadline.

1. Aybar 3B
2. Drew RF
3. A-rod SS
4. Matsui LF
5. Kent 2B
6. Bradley CF
7. Choi 1B
8. Navarro C

Nice!

123- great minds think alike

Now the Bronx Banter people are mostly saying none of them thought the Yankees could beat the Angels, and the Yanks were lucky to get this far. Disappointed but not surprised.

Anyone else bummed that Tracy/Macha wasn't named today? I have no idea how Eldred can sleep when his playing time rests firmly in the hands of the new manager

i wouldnt mind trading for arod if the yanks give us 2 mil a yr.

but he was very unclutch this postseason.

What do the Yankees need that we've got?

Pitching, pitching, pitching, and a left side of the infield (assuming A-Rod goes in the deal, and Jeter needs an heir with none apparent.)

We've got all that, but how much of it are you willing to give up?

they do need a centerfielder.

milton bradley+ odali/lowe+ chin lung hu for arod+ 2 mil a yr.

sounds fair? of course not. but the new yankee GM will do it anyways.

In a few weeks, they will announce that A-Rod is the AL MVP, and much will be forgiven. They're in third place without him.

A crown jewel or three would have to be sacrificed in a trade like that. As would DePodesta's long-term strategy, at least in part. But in the unlikely event that such an opportunity blows his way, I hope he considers it.

nate, I was half joking. Maybe the Yankees won't pay Matsui as much as they were going to originally offer him after the end of the season. I don't see A-rod going anywhere. He had a great season, is a big name player and money maker, and has big and complicated contract.

The Angels don't look to be going down in the standings anytime soon (save for a Dodgers'like injury onslaught) if their prospects are any sign of the future. Brandon Wood hit 4 homers today in Arizona, for 7 so far in the AFL. He has 23 ABs. I'd love for a SS like that in the Dodgers system...

re: 138

uhh.. guzman?

No joy in Anaheim tonight:

Oilers 4, Ducks 2

The Oilers have a player named Raffi Torres.

139 I meant who's actually suppose to play SS in the majors. If Guzman can play SS (and I really hope he can), then ignore that statement. That said, Guzman really didn't do what Wood did, I hope he can one day (despite the huge difference in ballparks, AF included)

there are some doubts that wood will be able to play SS in the majors as well. they could probably move him over to 3b if mcpherson doesnt work out and have aybar play SS.

142 - Orlando Cabrera makes that all very much a moot point, don't he?

143- 4 years $32 million and he's worth every penny. He knows how to hit and run, steal bases, and is a clutch defender.

144 - Uh, I think you forgot your winky face at the end of that sentence. Right?

Seriously, though, right?

hahahaha i totally forgot about Ocab and his enormous contract.

hes going to be blocking a lot of talented MIF prospects.

An Angels-Cardinals World Series would be a Cabrera-Eckstein clutch-off.

133 - And nate, don't do what Boston did and let $2M stand in the way of getting ARod. ARod is the best player in the league - surely an extra $2M over the next 4 (?) years is acceptable.

Plus we may need that $2M to get the payroll up to an even $100M so McCourt can prove he's "committed".

Maybe the Angels should trade them to the Dodgers. Repko, Phillips, [insert good bunter] for Wood, Kendrick, and Aybar? They could even have Grabowski

The NY Times has a Yankees postmortem. There supposedly is some fascination with the Yankees acquiring a great lefty reliever. Wagner and Ryan were bandied about. I can't imagine Wagner wants to go be a setup guy.

The DRays have named 4 new managers they plan to interview. Looks like the Dodgers have competition, as both teams will interview the coveted Alan Trammell. They'll also interview Madden, Valentine, and macha (assuming he doesn't go to Pittsburgh I suppose)

150 Ryan has already announced he will set up for the Yankees if they asked

145- he's not as big of a bargain as Ersty, who I believe signed the exact same contract. Ersty is as clutch as they come, especially defensively. He's a gritty leader, who knows how to play the game the right way. He can drop the bunt down to move a guy over or steal a base in a key situation. He's a big hustler and at the end of the day, he'll be going to the dry cleaners because his uniform will be filthy! A real grinder.

Apparently McCourt will take an active role in the manager search, but DePo insists that it will be his call. He will "consult with Frank." And the article (LA Times), restates there is a secondary list that is "deep and strong"

153 - I'll give the Angels a pass tonight - they earned it. Well, Crosby and Sheffield helped.

And what did Cano do to "Cowboy" Joe West in a previous life? First the neighborhood call at 2nd on Saturday (?), then that ridiculous call for running inside the baseline at firstbase? It still would've been a 3-run game with two outs and the bottom of the order coming up, but man that was a rough call.

I think the call made on Cano was correct. He was running inside the line. It interfered with the throw.

Case closed.

I thought he was right on the line the whole way, until maybe the last step (which I think is even debatable). Then two things - one, you'll miss the bag if you keep running with the lane, and two, Erstad was in his way if he had kept going.

When that play is called, its usually a lot more obvious. That was probably the closest I've ever seen it called.

All the improved statistical analysis available today does not capture the A-rod effect on a team. How can anyone perform like he does individually, plus be surrounded by incredibily talented teams in Seattle and NY, and not win championships? He must be carrying some significant negative variable that hasn't been defined yet.

158 Good one. I'm still giggling.

This might have been mentioned, and is certainly no surprise, but ESPN reports that the A's are interviewing Bob Geren and Ron Washington. If Beane chooses one, and the other doesn't want to play 2nd fiddle (likely), then the "loser" might be added to DePo's list. Not that DePo necessarily wants to hire Beane's leftovers.

You've heard of the Texas Bankroll, right? That's a couple of hundred dollar bills wrapped around a wad of newspaper. In baseball, Rodriguez is one of the hundred dollar bills. In Seattle the presence of two or three Hall of Fame level stars obscured the overall weakness of the team. In Texas it didn't even obscure the weakness, and the owner had massively overpaid even for a player of Rodriguez' ability, which crippled the team's ability to build around him. The Yankees are another team that's less than meets the eye, and on top of that they've got him at third base. His offensive advantage over third basemen isn't as great as his offensive advantage over shortstops, and that negates some of his value.

http://tinyurl.com/cvyzx
Tracy is the Pirates new manager. I hope Brad Eldred didn't buy a condo in Pittsburgh.

160 I get what your saying about A-rod, except his 1.031 OPS led the AL this year. His production might be more valuable from as a SS, but he ended up being the best hitter in his league regardless of position. Just for arguments sake, the next highest OPS for a 3B in the AL was Bill Mueller with a .799.

Izzy is out for the first half of the season. (continuing our pipe dream) If ARod mans our SS the way he has before, maybe he keeps it.

163... my source on Izzy may not be recent. I wasn't fully conscience with what I was typing at the time.

I believe I was the first one to mention Wotus (DePodesta and Tracy Talk - Separately - After Parting Ways - Comment 272) so I'd LOVE to see Ron as the new Dodger manager (for the obvious personal reasons).

Since none of us knows what his personal philosophy is, we have to assume Depo (and I guess McCourt now) is going to pick someone Depo can work well with.

Paramount of all is that Depo picks someone who can lead us back to the promised postseason land.

How sweet is it the Yankees are on the sidelines yet another season? It's a beautiful day!

Well, good luck to Jim Tracy in Pittsburgh. Current Pittsburgh #16 -- Salomon Torres.

Needless to say, I'm likely getting in over my head here, but am I right that Baseball Reference.com's park factors shows Dodger Stadium identical this year to last?

http://tinyurl.com/bfb2n (or go to baseballreference.com and then Dodgers and the attendance/park)

163 In an interview near the end of the season, DePo said Izzy thinks he can be back sooner than mid-season. The stated recovery period from TJ surgery is applicable to pitchers, not necessarily to position players--although a shortstop does need the ability to throw hard, he acknowledged.

The bottom line is, there's no telling when Izturis will be back. He could show up at spring training. He might be laid up til September.

Here's what the NY Times says about free agent starting pitching, from the perspective of the richest team in baseball. Things are tough all over:

"As for the rotation, the market for free-agent starters is slim. A. J. Burnett, Kevin Millwood, Matt Morris and two pitchers who failed in New York, Kenny Rogers and Jeff Weaver, are the leading names. The Yankees could stand pat.

"If Japan's Seibu Lions make their ace pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka, available to bidding by major league teams, the Yankees could be tempted. But they already have Johnson, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright under contract. Shawn Chacon, Chien-Ming Wang and Aaron Small are not under contract, but they are not free agents and are nearly certain to stay with the Yankees."

Somehow, I don't see Kenny Rogers or Jeff Weaver making triumphal returns to New York.

160 - I hardly think the Yankees deficiencies are due to ARod's salary. ARod's salary makes up less than 10% of the team's payroll, a perfectly acceptable number for a superstar.

I think it's fairly obvious from this series that the Yankess simply do not have any pitching (rotation and bullpen) to speak of, outside of Unit, Rivera, and Gordon.

Expect big changes from the Yanks this offseason, though it may be difficult to do much with the roster. ARod seems to be their only real tradable commodity, but I don't expect Torre and his staff, and Brian Cashman to be back.

Good old ESPN.com:

"Crosby said he knew immediately the play would be crucial. The irony is that it occurred while New York's reliable center fielder of the past 15 years watched from the dugout in what may have been his final game with the Yankees."

How is it ironic, except that with Williams out there, Sheffield wouldn't have had anyone to collide with him as Bernie would still be chugging towards the track?

Reading Plaschke so you don't have to:
For what feels like the 10th straight time, a Plaschke piece on the Angels invokes the word "magic." If magic is what's going on here, remind me why they need a $120M payroll and guys who play the right way? Just asking.

My neighbors took my paper today...

This normally wouldn't bother me, but I have to leave my house to let the cleaning woman do her job (and that is of paramount importance). And I had time to read it before work.

Sigh, now I will have to buy one at a rack. Urgh.