Well, unless the Dodgers are really heavy in which case they shouldn't tuck their shirts in.

But I don't really understand why Choi and his agent agreed to this. The Dodgers have shown NO faith in Choi and I have to believe he would have been better off going elsewhere. I guess a trade is still possible. The Yankees look like a potential fit (Choi + Bradley for Pavano + $$$ might have been a mutually beneficial deal, but that's water under the bridge now).

1. Choi spot starts, but otherwise sinks or swims as a LH pinch hitter (Ledee's forte).

2. Choi goes back to Vegas (if he really isn't out of options) and tears the place up in anticipation of a callup or trade.

3. Choi platoons at 1b, with Nomar sometimes resting, other times spelling Mueller, Furcal, or Cruz Jr/Lofton.

4. Choi traded for a pitcher. How about Choi for Byun-Hyung Kim? Helps both teams. But I'd like Colletti to find a way to get Kim more cheaply.

From McCourt's POV, this has to be a no-brainer. He'll make that salary back in a month of ticket and merchandise sales to the Korean/Kor-Am community in LA. And it doesn't hurt to have one actual first baseman on the team.

Tell me where I'm going wrong.

choi and izzy for nick johnson and john patterson (happening after izzy comes back)

The signing reflects that there is a market for Choi, not that Colletti wants him on the team. He might be a nice piece to throw into a trade for a starting pitcher. That's got to be the thinking.

all in all, you're probably right, but i still think it would be an even trade, allowing the dodgers to fill pitching needs and get a first baseman for the future. and the nationals would get an everyday gold-glove shortstop and an everyday first baseman with loads of potential. perhaps to sweeten the deal, the dodgers could include myrow, edwards, aybar or werth (or some combination of those players).

10 bucks Edwards signs with the Pirates.

Check this out (I learned how to use tinyurl!)

http://tinyurl.com/8fqnl

Incoming!

Choi signed and Phillips and Edwards non-tendered?

Sucks to be a Pirates fan!

And I'd also say that Bowden is probably not looking too hard for a slick-fielding light-hitting shortstop, although I admit it's hard to know how to characterize Izturis as a batter at this point.

Mulva...?

Did he really think that $800k was the best he could do in the open market? Perhaps it is. But then again he could probably get paid that for one year from an American league team with some headroom in the DH slot and at least get to start in a platoon role.

The only thing I can think of is that contrary to reports, the Dodgers were going to tender Choi regardless. Therefore Choi's best bet was to sign a reasonable contract before arbitration.

(That is, If I understand all this tender/ non-tender stuff correctly)

He must have stopped to eat or he had to go to the bathroom.

'cause Choi loves LA? I also don't understand why he agreed to the contract.

65
Haha interesting; thats another posibillity. I know some female Korean fans in school that love Choi eventhough they know almost nothing about baseball haha.

Seung-Yeop Lee is Korea's single season home run record holder I believe. He played for Chiba last year.

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_354222357.html

Thank you for the info. Its gonna be fun to see Choi in WBC.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-damon

"The New York Yankees grabbed center fielder Johnny Damon away from the rival Boston Red Sox, reaching a preliminary agreement Tuesday night on a $52 million, four-year contract."

Ouch! That's GOTTA hurt. Can't wait to see Bill Simmons's take on this.

this is unnatural. didn't he see flatliners? you weren't supposed to go there, johnny!

what ever happened to christina the A's fan. i think she was the only other female that i can remember.

https://bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com/archives/306055.html

So much for 7 years. The Boras mystique seems to be fading.

I thought I heard that the Sox offered 4/48. I can't believe they wouldn't have gone to 4/52 to keep him.

Also, couldn't have been much interest from anyone else or Boras would have milked this until after New Year's

Must not have been too convincing

I wonder if the timing of the Lofton signing is coincidental -- maybe Boras/Damon were waiting to see what the Dodgers might offer?

At 200 a year, 7 years would be correct. At 202 a year, it would only take 6 years

It balances out, since he somehow played 163 games in 1996.

gotta go now. but it's been fun being the token female of dodger thoughts. i haven't gotten this much attention since the breast reduction (just kidding).

i'll check in from time to time. until then, remember boys, tracy's a continent away, depo's a young man with a bright future, and loduca is back where he was born. so play nice, it's gonna be a fun year!

My wife has no wisdom teeth, so maybe our son will get one.

All true.

The MLB record is 165 by Maury Wills but that was because the Dodgers had 3 tiebreaker games.

Anyway, welcome to the site. You brightened the day of a lot of commenters here, I can tell. It's like being a guy in a Master's in English program or in the development department of a museum.

He has 1,789 hits

136-
I have forumlated my guess.

kwame: 9 minutes, 1 point 2 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blocks, 1 turnover.

Jon, I already knew this was the premier site but only a 150 comments or so at Bronx Banter is kind of weak. If something like the Damon deal happened here we would break a thousand.

Can Kobe pitch? vr, Xei

lakers 95, kobe 62, mavericks 61

Stan from Tacoma

J. Damon to NY;
Kobe scores 62pts

That's because this community is often more forum than blog. I imagine someday JW'll install phpBB and we'll evolve into an expansion team.

"One of the most magnificent athletes we will ever see"

Calling them Kobe worshippers is an understatement. I'm sure they are wearing Kobe jerseys under the suits, have "Kobe" tattooed on their chest, and have a picture of Kobe on their mantle.

You can see what's on my mind

White Sox right-hander Jon Garland and A's left-hander Barry Zito represent possible trade options, but many in the industry suspect that Garland will be traded to the Dodgers or Angels, while the Astros might not have the type of young impact players that A's G.M. Billy Beane would want for Zito.

Garland, a native of southern California, is a free agent after next season. His long-term preference might be to play closer to home, and both the Dodgers or Angels are deep in prospects who would appeal to the White Sox.

my favorite band. vishal, what do you think of you fail me. not as good as jane doe, but i still like it. it has a really raw feel to it. really brings them back to their punk rock roots.

Ah, the days when Sammy mattered. It has to be one of the quickest falls from sports grace ever. At least where there haven't been any criminal charges filed.

Ah, the days when Sammy mattered. It has to be one of the quickest falls from sports grace ever. At least where there haven't been any criminal charges filed.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-non-tenderfreeagents&prov=ap&type=lgns

i haven't been listening to much new music at all for the past year or so. i went to like, 60 shows a couple of years ago. this year i went to maybe 5. i hope that doesn't mean i'm getting old.

Not much that's very interesting, maybe Wade Miller, although he's hurt

Mavs play no defense. But its also weird that Kobe gets 62 of 95 Laker points. Its like the other players arent even doing anything out there.

I dont think Kobe is a ball hog anymore. He just plays with lazy players like Lamar Odom whom are way too passive.

Lakers seem to get it together for a few games, then lose to the Rockets at home w/o Yao Ming.

If they can pull Artest though by the deadline, they might make the playoffs.

So do you think if he lost all his $$$ she would stick by him?

Sorry too cynical tonight.

On diffrent note, has anyone seen Tom Hanks picture on cover of Newsweek. Very depressing. He is looking old. Remember the Bossom Buddies days? Donna Dixon. Now there was a good looking woman with no talent.

In a significant departure from former general manager Paul DePodesta, Colletti clearly values speed. The Dodgers were next to last in the National League in stolen bases and success rate last season. Furcal, who had 46 stolen bases, and Lofton stole more bases than the entire Dodger roster (58).

"The game itself is going to be more speed-oriented, more fundamental-oriented, with fewer three-run home runs," Colletti said. "That's what I predict, anyway."

That's code for "I'm going to tell you what you want to hear." I have a hard time believing that this team will have "fewer three-run home runs" than last year's.

Do the Dodgers have no plans to resign him?

Wunsch signs: The Dodgers re-signed left-handed reliever Kelly Wunsch to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. If he makes the major-league club Wunsch will receive a base salary of $650,000 with bonuses of $25,000 for each of 40, 50 and 60 appearances.

shed probably ask for shawn green back in a dodger uni :)

"I think I hear your mom calling you."

I still think that this is just a station wagon with a Mr. Microphone in it.

"I don't get heart attacks I give 'em"

"Although the numbers say Hee-Seop Choi was better than Garciaparra the last two seasons, I'll take what Garciaparra has proven over what Choi is capable of.
As Davis said. "I don't utilize potential, I utilize ability. You don't have the potential to do something you've never done. You have the ability to do what you've done before."
Garciaparra won't hit .372 again. Lofton won't steal 75 bases, Mueller won't bat .326 with 85 RBIs.
But somewhere inside them is the muscle memory of those accomplishments. They're the same people. And there's a feeling that the Dodgers are now about names more than numbers."

Muscle memory, that's the ticket.

Nice Eric Davis rant in the new jj article in LA Times

i dont like this. our prospects are getting too much hype. if they fail to produce right away, they will be scrutinized endlessly and run out of town.

its going to be konerko x5 all over again.

it could work if we played each other more than 6 times a year.

plaschke is a tool and it will take one two week slump for him to turn on laroche or guzman or martin.

Would you rather have Mike Edwards, Antonio Perez and Hee-Seop Choi?

At least this year's decorations are familiar, and, if we don't like them, their short contracts or LaRoche's long swing could quickly make them distant memories

SHUT UP TOOL!!

Lexis = Attorney crack. They push it hard when you're in school, send in the rep, get you hooked and then when you need it most they make you pay for it. There oughta be a law.

Yes, I know what you're thinking.

A two sentence paragraph!

Sometimes, the comedy just writes itself.

but yea, laroche's swing is kind of long.

Of course, if you're not here, you're doomed.

i forgot who they compared loney too.

Glad we made defense a priority.

Did anyone see the original press release that compared Choi's defense to J.T. Snow's? Something like they were both second in the league in fielding percentage. If that means anything.

I'd check Westlaw, but I don't think the Times is included in their databases.

The South Korea native also made just two errors in 762 total chances at first base, tying him with San Francisco's J.T. Snow for the second-highest fielding percentage (.997) among all National League first baseman with 750 or more total chances.

Probably a useless stat, but given my lack of info on defensive stats it sounds good to me.

You can use that aroung the Xmas dinner table. Should make for great conversation.

"The club is trumpeting the Jacksonville Five such that press notes from the Suns' Southern League championship series were given to writers on Tuesday. But the truth is, the Dodgers will be fortunate if two of those five players make a big-league impact."

Glad we made defense a priority."

After all those years at SS, I've gotta think he knows how to handle a ball in the dirt. I know it's not that simple, but many players have made the transition.

Assuming that Nomar is a league average first baseman defensively, the Dodgers have improved the average rate2 on the team (minus Drew and Kent) from 99.3 to 100.8. Basically, the difference between Navarro and Phillips, everyone else sort of cancels each other out.

And yes, I recall reading he might be join the A's and I think their source was about as good as mine and BTT's.

Or if you prefer you could read it in "The Word" which was the name of my high school paper. I was the editor in 1982.

In an interesting coincidence, I was editor of my high school's paper from 1993-95 -- called "Sabre." (My efforts to convince school administrators to drop the extraneous "E," however, were unsuccessful...)

The paper got its name because I went to John F. Kennedy High and we had a line from the inaugural address on the masthead "Let the word go forth to a new generation, a torch has been passed..."

Or something like that.

For all I know, I may have keyed your car.

I think I'd rather have Weaver than Garland. I think last year's high home runs allowed total was a bit of a fluke so we'd be getting Weaver while his value is lower than it should be. 3 years, 27 million wouldn't scare me at all.

Ya think?

C: Paul LoDuca
1B: Darin Erstad
2B: Mark Grudzielanek
SS: Jimmy Rollins
3B: Joe Randa
OF: Mark Kotsay
OF: B.J. Surhoff
OF: Quinton McCracken