now i'll admit he's pretty sensitive to loud noises, but the crowd never sends him diving under his seat. Just Walk This Way (so clever . . .)

http://tinyurl.com/97qxl

Cost of organ music = Annual check to ASCAP to pay royalties + per game fee for organist

I'd like to wear one of those things around my neck.

"Working in his bedroom in Merthyr Tydfil"

If we could vote to ban "Walk this Way", "We Will Rock You" "Welcome to the Jungle", "Day-O" from being played I almost wouldn't mind any other taped music.

Speaking of, I wonder if that escaped whippet from Westminster has turned up yet.

I'd really like one that repels everyone but me.

I could take it to Disneyland and never have to wait in line.

I've often read that last year's injury barrage was an extreme deviation from the norm. This year, it's often said, the Dodgers must be improved simply because they can't possibly suffer as many injuries as they did in 2006.

I just don't buy that assumpution, because it you take a look at this 25-man roster, it's chock full of fragile players. It requires little imagination to envision this team imploding like the last one did.

Really, would anyone be surprised to see Drew, Werth, Cruz, Lofton and Ledee make at least one visit to the DL this year? With its OF alone the Dodgers could lose 200 games to the DL.

Turning to the infield, how about Mueller, Furcal, Izturis and Nomar? Put a yellow flag next to Furcal and Kent. Put a red flag next to Izzy. Oh yeah, Saenz. He's still exhausted from last year. Give him a yellow flag, too.

The backup catcher is Sandy Alomar. Red flag, which isn't a bad thing.

Now the starting rotation: O. Perez's idea of conditioning is to quaff a few El Presidente beers. He's become more and more fragile in his 20s and his pitching with a recon. elbow. Now he appparently will attempt to pitch in some patriot exhibition games. Give him a red flag.

It's encouraging that Penny lost weight and is off to a good start, but he still gets a yellow flag. No one seems sure why his biceps nerve flared up the way it did, but some of the early theories on such injuries is that's the sign of bad things to come for the labrum.

Gagne? Red flag. Bright side: He's a Boras client in a contract year -- see Drew and Beltre two years ago.

Brazoban? Red flag if you believe the stuff coming out of the D.R.

Wunsch? Coming off surgery. Yellow flag.

It's amazing how few of these players project as durable. Have faith, Choi fans -- your guy could be one of the few healthy players.

http://tinyurl.com/apto7

Cue Aretha: "R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me"

You exaggerate about a couple of people - Saenz, for example - and I do hope the Dodgers have better luck this year. And better luck can happen. But better luck is what it would be.

At least the loud music should discourage cell phone use at baseball games.

Mueller and Nomar have missed more games the last several years than most anyone on our team. How could you have left them off your injury flag report?

Sorry, I mentioned Mueller and Nomar in the infield intro and forgot to get back to them because there were so many other fragile Dodgers to mention.

Give Nomar a bright red flag with a crutch emblem on it.

Mueller gets a yellow.

Choi, Aybar and maybe Repko are about the only position guys I'd give a green. Maybe Navarro, too, but he reputedly has struggled with conditioning. Furcal is green-yellow for me. He's fairly young and has been durable. But he's coming off surgery and a salary-drive year.

All in all, a pretty scary medical picture and I can't say the recent work of the medical staff tempers my pessimism.

I'm kind of like Duck on this one -- didn't get the impression you were pessimistic about this team's health but hadn't followed it that closely. I was referring to the many team previews by MSM and bloggers and others.

I believe the move towards recorded music is about trying to appeal to younger fans, kids in their teens, etc.

But it'll be a sad day when they dispense with it entirely. There's something peculiar and delightful when they play the Mexican Hat Dance after the 7th.

I was there one time with some friends, sitting way up in the upper reserved section (blue seats, now turqouise). This one friend was more or less bored / zoned out and tired. It's the end of the 7th, and they start playing it. Buh-dum buh-dum buh-dum, ba da-da-da-da da-dum. (Clap clap) Buh-dum buh-dum buh-dum, ba da-da-da-da da-dum. (Clap clap).

I look over, and he's absent mindedly clapping along... Just perfect.

http://tinyurl.com/8nnzn
http://tinyurl.com/8ava4
(there's a better picture of Penny in the dodgers.com photo gallery, but I can't link to it)

I haven't talked as much about the pitching, and I'm more concerned about Kent just declining than being hurt. The seriousness of Furcal's knee problems, I'm still unclear about.

I may not be as pessimistic as you, but no, the team isn't out of the woods healthwise. There will just be the illusion of more depth because more real prospects are in AAA.

When you arrive at the park and hear piped in contemporary rock or hip hop, the experience becomes bland, boring, less distinctive. You could be going to one of a thousand different places. The mall, a bar, the beach. You can hear that junk anywhere.

Ah, but the organ...

When you're walking toward the stadium and you first begin hearing Nancy Bea jauntily playing a Gershwin or Rodgers and Hart classic, you know the peanuts, hot dogs, and the slow rhythmic cracking of BP is just moments away.

Nothing like it.

Agree...

So I will be able to tell future generations that "Who Will Buy?" from "Oliver!" was the first mp3 I ever stole.

Sniff. Sniff.

I know Steve likes the Earl show, but I've not forgiven it, yet, for that introduction.

"The answer is... the most likely profession of one who's first napster song is "Who Will Buy?" from Oliver."

"What is a libarary employee?" :)
----------------------------------------

I'm taking a break from lesson planning (oh, the joy). Some of you know I'm a teacher and now I can report I'm a recent convert to hip-hop. I've been listening to it frequently because that's what my "kids" are listening to and what can I say, they got me hooked.

I guarantee you that if hip-hop was played between innings at baseball games, the crowds of young people at the ballpark would increase by a lot. The most popular sport amongst the kids is basketball, football and soccer. I don't know where baseball ranks.

I'm not arguing for it. I'm just making a rambling observation here. I prefer Nancy B. over the blaring rock music but if the choice were blaring rock and hip-hop, I'd prefer the stuff kids are listening to.

Back to the planning...

http://tinyurl.com/8bx66

Jon: Becker
Bob: According to Jim
Steve: Yes, Dear

And now that have 3 draft picks with potential signing bonuses of around 3.5MM-4MM combined, I would really doubt anything happens at this point unless Boras does a complete turnaround in May.

Dodger Stadium without Nancy B is almost akin to the Doders without Vin Scully.

We had the upliftment of the Adrian Beltre experience, who came up to bat to the new hit booty-shaking reggaeton music, which got us all excited. We were all dancing after he clobbered one to right center.

And then we had the more serious, low-keyness of Shawn Green's approach, who came to bat to classic pre-pubescent KROQ whining music, which made us anxious to see our hero prevail. Too bad, as we were all cursing our fates on the way to the parking lots after our hero hit into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth.

(That actually happened, I was at the game, a great example of a bunt situation for all the pro-bunters in the world)

While Im here, Id like to point out that a historic sporting event is taking place next month in California:

February 12, 2006; New York, NY….Twenty-seven year-old prodigy, Josh "The Punk" Thomson (10-1), will square off with fellow 154 pound contender, Clayton Guida (19-2), for the inaugural Strikeforce mixed martial arts lightweight championship during "Shamrock vs. Gracie," California's historic, first mixed martial arts fight card that will take place at San Jose's HP Pavilion on Friday, March 10th.

"People are gonna see a fast-paced fight from me. I'm gonna be very explosive," said Thomson, a resident of San Jose and a former wrestling standout at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I powerhouse, Stanford University. "I throw a lot of funky, weird stuff that not a lot of fans have seen before."

For all those who feel that ESPN and the establishment are ignorant to reality, know that despite their closed mindedness, MMA is the sport of the near future. Since California is somewhat of the crossroads for the sport, the legilization of the sport in our great state will be a moment of a frution. In the next decade, this sport will become large and mainstream in the US, but for now, we can enjoy this incipent stage of the sport's development. For those who attend, there will be the sense that you will be able to look back on a moment of historical significance in sport.

Houston beat the Dodgers 3-2.

It was not a LOOGY pitching, it was Brad Lidge.

Izturis led off with a bunt single. Jose Hernandez then struck out trying to bunt. Paul Lo Duca walked. Jason Grabowski batted for Guillermo Mota and walked to load the bases. Shawn Green then bounced into a 1-2-3 DP to end the game.

That was the only win for the Astros over the Dodgers in 2004.

http://www.sherdog.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=197

Thanks for finding the game, I couldnt remember the opponent and thought it was in June.

This is from the AP story:

Both teams were started off the game ice-cold -- the score was 1-1 until the 12:27 mark of the first half.

Oregon won 67-37.

During pregame warmups, he would excitedly marvel at the "tremendous accuracy" of the outfielders as they threw long-toss to each other.

Adam Morrison is my favorite basketball player on my favorite team. That doesn't happen very often. Does anybody's favorite baseball player play for the Dodgers? Piazza was the last player who was my favorite player who also played for the Dodgers. Beltre was close but was never my favorite player just my favorite Dodger.
Pujols
DTrain
B Giles
Oswalt
A Jones
J Edmunds
Vlady
Tejada
Ichiro
Mauer
D Ortiz
Griffey - still
Jeter

Those are all players I still switch my TV to when they are playing.

Hee Seop Choi! Hee Seop Choi! Hee Seop Choi!

Check that: Hee doesn't actually play for the Dodgers...

60 - J. D. Drew is my favorite player!!

--everybody's sarcasm detectors explode--

In thirty odd years of following the Dodgers, Mike Piazza was the closest thing I had to an all-time favorite player. I used to think of Piazza the same way that my brother, a huge Denver Bronco fan, thought of John Elway. With Elway gone, my brother doesn't follow the Broncos with the same enthusiasm he used to. Piazza was amazing but even with him gone, my love for the Dodgers did not wane. It has been tested severely but it does not wane.

Fernando
Pedro G.
Orel
Piazza
Choi

That was the only game I went to in the '04 season...my buddies were hoping for atleast a Shawn Green strike out where as I, being the ever so optimistic one (how times have changed...), convinced myself he would atleast pull a double...

Man, you guys should have heard the things people were saying about him when leaving the stadium...I'd repeat a few but I don't think I'm allowed to...

I am of the generation that still thinks of Helen Dell as the Dodger Stadium organist, though honestly I think both she and Nancy Hefley were/are pretty insipid. I prefer the hearty "Roll Out the Barrel" school to the Carpenters Songbook approach. On the other hand, I find the current canned music soundscape overbearing, cliched, derivitive, tasteless and idiotic, and it literally keeps me from attending ballgames in person. It just boils my blood.

That's pretty much how I would characterize the DePodesta era. "Fan-friendliness" was not a high priority for Paul.

1. Chad Billingsley - A-
2. Joel Guzman - A-
3. Andy Laroche - B+
4. Jonathan Broxton - B+
5. Russell Martin - B+
6. Scott Elbert - B+
7. Blake Dewitt - B+
8. Chin-Lung Hu - B
9. Andre Ethier - B
10. Justin Orenduff - B
11. Tony Abreu - B-
12. Delwyn Young - B-
13. Travis Denker - B-
14. Matt Kemp - B-
15. Blake Johnson - B-
16. Hong Chi Kuo - B-
17. James Loney - C+
18. Justin Ruggiano - C+
19. Anthony Raglani - C+
20. Josh Wall - C+

http://minorleagueball.com/

Seems like Kemp's way too low and Dewitt's a bit high, any thoughts?

Kemp was ranked 8th in BA and Sickels' concern is his strike zone judgment. BA is already sold and Sickels need to see him improve in Jacksonville.

Kemp may get some ABs in Vero since he was a non-roster invitee, so we can all take a look at Kemp, Ethier, Delwyn Young and maybe Guzman during the early spring games and for sure the B games.

Isnt Hu another no-hit, no-walk, no-power, slap hitting Izturis clone?

Why would he even be mentioned in the top 8 of our prospects?

From Tony Jackson's article: Brazoban has declined to be in the WBC, and only Miller and Houlton remain unsigned on the 40 man roster

"The Yankees and Dodgers seem to be the most popular American sports teams in Turin, based on hats and jackets. And I'm talking all sports, NBA, NFL, PBA, whatever. That Dodgers thing surprised me."

The room the brave book discussers were in looked like every public library side room I've ever been in. The panel was eight old ladies (of varying degrees of crotchetiness), one old guy who didn't talk, two middle aged women, one of whom was the brave leader, and a middle aged guy who really, really, wanted to talk about gentrification. The which, he insisted, was properly called REgentrification.

LAMB: Talk about how you write. Where do you write?

EHRENREICH: Where do I write? I write in a basement room just because that's the room where there's space at a computer and it's cluttered. Very cluttered.

(So, maybe she had the mirrors and ventilation system installed later)

1. Chad Billingsley
2. Joel Guzman
3. Andy Laroche
4. Jonathan Broxton
5. Russell Martin
6. Scott Elbert
7. Justin Orenduff
8. Delwyn Young
9. Matt Kemp
10. Hong Chi Kuo(injury prone why so low)

I worded that post bad, Grace actually had obp.
Loney reminds me of grace in the sense of great defense great batting average not enough power.

The diffence between the 2 is obp.

I'm probably alone in that view. There are probably 5-7 other Dodgers prospects that most analysts would take over him.

I also believe Willy Aybar -- in the right organization -- has a 40 percent chance to stick as a pretty good 3B and a 75 percent chance to stick as a good utility man. Doubt this is the right organization for Willy, though (I'm not sold him at 2B while acknowledging that his bat profiles better there).

I'd put Abreu in my Top 10. His defensive skill is undervalued (not unusual when prospects are rated).

As for Hu being likened to Izturis, there are far worse comparisons for a young SS.

Major league personnel regarded Izzy as not a pretty good SS but a very good SS -- before the injuries of last year. Without him the 2004 LAD do not win the NL West. The medical reports on his elow, to be sure, are disconcerting.

If James Loney has the career that Mark Grace did, he should be very grateful.

If that makes any sense.

Is this the one you meant?

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/433/pennymurray6po.jpg

For some reason i couldn't think of a great defense, good batting average, average to below average obp, below average slugging 1b.

That's going to be loney in a nutshell.

http://tinyurl.com/mumuo

doug MCcaveithezzzksdhdkl

anyways. hu is different from izzy. he hits for more power, and will probably hit for a higher average. he plays great defense. Some of the people here undervalue the importance of MIF defense. but whatever.

sickels list is fine. Ruggianno should be a B-, just like in the book. Even though he hit well last year, shouldnt everyone be concerned about the extremely high k rate? he was also 23 yrs old, which is old for the FSL and a little old for the southern league. if his k rate was lower, i would be more convinced his numbers were not a fluke.

and for HS pitchers or college pitchers. There have been recent studies done that the difference between successes of either are really not that extreme. But yea for the #7 pick, i want the best available HS pitcher. i guess im in the high cieling, prep camp.

theres a great billingsley article in the dailynews. everyone should read it. jon should link it as an update.

http://www.dailynews.com/dodgers/ci_3524460

ps: i am not impressed by pennys and lowes beards. very pretty boy, not enough rugged woodsmen to it. I guess thats what hollywood will do to ya.

You got it Barry.

They say Hu is the best defensive SS in the minors. Add a nice average and some pop and you might have Rafy Furcal in 3 years. That is who I've heard a scout compare him to.

Well, if you agree with me then I retract my statement. Just kidding.

No, he's not Young; Young's at second. Hu knows where Aybar will play.

Pitchers picked from HS are much more likely to get injured than pitchers picked from college. Its common sense. I'd be very dissapointed if the Dodgers used the #7 pick on a high school pitcher. It would be extremely poor risk management.

If the Dodgers want a blueprint on developing top end pitching, while also not wasting signing bonuses, follow the A's plan.

a little about miller, hes a 6'7 lefty that throws heat and probably the best secondary pitch in the whole draft- an RJ-esque slider that absolutely buckles knees.

his line: 6IP 4H 0ER 1BB 9K

the criticism of miller in the past is that he has trouble harnessing his stuff and gets wild with a college career bb/9ip of 4.85. Although its "effectively wild" because his era the last two years have been 2.98 his sophmore year and 2.93 his junior year.

If miller falls to #7 and we pick him, the following things will happen:

1- my jaw will drop to the ground in utter disabelief

2- i will immediately start envisioning a 2010 mlb staff that is the best in the majors spearhaded by the righty-lefty duo of billingsley and andrew miller.

3-i will run around my block naked and hollering "dodgers rule, giants drool"

It turns out he was actually 23 his rookie season. And was signed by the Braves at 19, far older most other DR'ns.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/F/rafael-furcal.shtml

Sounds like a scene from Porky's

it matters in the minors. A player that hardly makes contact in the minors, while being old for their respective leagues are going to have a hell of a time making contact in the bigs.

Pitchers picked from HS are much more likely to get injured than pitchers picked from college. Its common sense.

i dont really believe that. BP and BA have both come out with recent studies showing that the risk almost the same and the difference is very small.

I'd be very dissapointed if the Dodgers used the #7 pick on a high school pitcher. It would be extremely poor risk management.

why? if that player is the BPA according to logan white and dodger scouts, why not pick him. you want the player with the most long term potential, or at least in my philosophy in the mlb draft. this is a contradiction from you. I always read you preaching about how the big league team is "safe" and not enough potential to be very good. you always say you will always take the higher risk if it means the return will be higher. why does that philsophy differ when it comes to drafting?

If the Dodgers want a blueprint on developing top end pitching, while also not wasting signing bonuses, follow the A's plan.

you mean how they drafted 3 prep pitchers in the top 5 rounds of the 2005 draft?

A very rewatchable scene at that.

that jimmy is sure a funny character.

.......

.............. lol.

#1. Chad Billingsley
#2. Joel Guzman (should still play SS)
#3. Russell Martin
#4. Justin Orenduff
#5. Jonothan Broxton (should start)
#6. Justin Ruggiano
#7. Andy LaRoche (was only average at AA)
#8. Matt Kemp (should play in CF)
#9. Scott Elbert (needs more experience in order to garner a higher rating)
#10.Andre Ethier

Thats my top 10. I hope the Dodgers let Joel Guzman play SS for Vegas. The longer he stays at SS the more value he has, since there are few 30HR's caliber SS's around the majors. Move him and his value sinks.

Same thing with Jonothan Broxton. Keep him starting until he cant handle it. He's more valuable to the Dodgers pitching 180IP a year than just 80. Endurance is a concern with a guy as out of shape as Broxton, however that stuff can be corrected.

Matt Kemp-- give him CF. Its one of the few positions they can mask his poor K's to bb rate, if it doesnt improve. If you move Kemp to a corner OF spot, his value drops.

i dont agree with your rankings at all, but that was inevitable.

Purcey - 10 years from now you'll look back and think "What a dork I was back then."

It takes a lengthy drafting process (over several years) in order to see significant gains, just like investing. If you constantly minimize your risk by drafting college pitchers with top level picks, gradually you will come out ahead of other teams that gamble.

I suspect the A's "gambled" this past year bc of the set rotation they already have in place for the coming years. They could afford to take on higher risk since they've accumulated enough pitching wealth to sustain them should those risky picks get injured/underperform/ etc...

For a team like the Dodgers whom has little or no proven young high end starters to work with currently, it'd be best IMO to build up some pitching wealth through risk averse drafting, rather than continually risking high picks when they have no pitching wealth in the bank currently. And by pitchign wealth I mean legit proven young guys at the MLB level. The A's already have those, so they can afford to risk more in a select draft (although I still thoughtit was dumb..i understood the gamble). The Dodgers dont, so I think a risk averse strategy would benefit them much more.

Nobody watches the Pro Bowl.

1999
prep
josh beckett
josh girdley
robert bradley
brett myers
ty howington
jason stumm

college
kyle synder
barry zito
ben sheets
mike paradis

2000
prep
mike stodolka
matt harrington
matt wheatland
mark phillips
joseph torres

college
adam johnson
justin wayne
beau hale

2001
prep
Dewon Brazelton
Gavin Floyd
jon griffith
mike jones

college
prior
josh karp
chris smith
john van beauschten
ken baugh

2002
prep
chris gruler
adam lowewen
clint everts
zach grienke
scott kazmir

college
bryan bullington
*jeff francis
joe saunders

so from 1999-2002, ive counted grienke, kazmir, brett myers,and josh beckett as successes with adam loewen and clint everts and to be determins.

so 4/20 comes out to = 20%

from 1999-2002, i would count, prior, barry zito. jeff francis and ben sheets as successes.

so that comes out to 4/15= 26%

*jeff francis went college in canada.

again the sample size is very small. but just going back and picking a random 4 years worth of draft picks, you can see the difference is pretty small. I mean, if only 3/15 of the college picks panned out, it would have equaled the same 20% of the prep pitchers.

this shows that ALL pitchers are huge risks.

whatever. it couldnt be that beane understood that HS and college pitchers were basically a wash in risks. I find it funny how you have to distort your views and justifications to fit into the "moneyball" mold.

Still, regardless of injury, I would prefer a top college arm

i understand what you are saying. this draft looks like its going to be a run on college arms in the top 5 picks. so, would you want the 4th or 5th best rated college picher or the top rated HS pitcher with the 7th pick?

for me, im not to worried what we have in the high minors. I am worried about our high cieling depth of arms, we are really thinned out right now.

Crede: .251/.303/.347

LaRoche: .273/.367/.445

LaRoche is going to be considerably better in the majors than Crede.

once again, you show a big contradiction that im curious about. you put orenduff #4, but you put laroche #7, stating that he was average in AA.

umm, what would you call orenduff's performance in AA? he was pretty average as well, while pitching in a pretty darn good pitchers stadium while laroche was hitting in a pitchers park.

If all the college arms are gone by #7, I'd prefer drafting the best available non-Boras guy. No reason to go strictly after a prep arm when there might be better guys available. Like I said, the 26 and 31 picks can easily be used on high ceiling prep guys. Last year, only 3 prep guys were gone by the 26th pick, and the Marlins took 2 of them

We have a top college arm, and we can't sign him because he's a top college arm. I think this is why the pendulum is swinging. Once top college arms start eating at soup kitchens, they will become draftable again.

Because the Dodgers as a whole will never be soley built through the draft. I believe that every team has to have a few solid home grown cheap players, so they can afford the true difference making superstars in free agency.

With the draft, I'm not looking for superstars, bc the chances of finding those players are minimal. I'm mainly looking for depth. I'm looking for enough good players, that will make it to the Big leagues, and fill roster spots on the cheap. So give me the safest picks. Why?

Because like I said before, I can always sign the proven Superstar in free agency. I can supplement good safe high yeilding drafts.

Its much easier/safer to build a team using the draft to fill depth, and free agency to secure the superstars. Rather than building a team through trying to draft superstars, and using the free agent market to acquire depth.

But Nate, I did say I'd rather have a high risk/high reward TEAM at the big league level. And if I was a fan of the D-Rays, Royals, or Pirates, which arent financially capable of acquiring the super star talent in free agency, then I would support drafting high risk/high return talent bc thats the ONLY way those teams could acquire said players. They certainly cant afford them in the free agent market, or through trades.

But with a team like the Dodgers, its not necessary to take on additional risk, when they can fill those needs for superstars through the free agency market.

In a nutshell, the Dodgers dont need to risk drafting superstars when you can always sign a proven one in free agency. And the only way you can have enough funds to sign a few proven superstars, is if your drafting has been safe enough to where its filled most of the roster.

James Loney: .284/.357/.419

Dave Justice: .227/.333/.336

Bernie Williams: .281/.409/.414

Shannon Stewart: .287/.398/.390

Torii Hunter: .263/.324/.401

If Loney hits for average in the majors like Williams and Stewart, and has Williams' power, with a GOOD walk rate but not a fantastic one like Williams, and couples all of that with Gold Glove defense, the Dodgers are going to be very happy with Loney for a very long time, even if the people around here who surely hate every Dodger first baseman since Gil Hodges are complaining.

The goal of the MLB Draft (for a big Market club), should be to acquire depth.

The goal of the MLB Draft (for a small Market club), should be to acquire superstars (since thats the only way they can get them).

Dont get me wrong. It'd be great to develop some superstars within the Dodgers system. But I'm not willing to gamble high risk picks in order to do that. I'd much rather have good safe picks that add depth. The difference makers (superstars), can then be acquired through free agency provided the Dodgers have enough depth drafted and thus funds available.

Also, LaRoche has had a more volatile career than Orenduff. Orenduff seems more consistent.

You had better prepare yourself to be disappointed with our up-coming draft, because I think the odds are very strong that Logan White will take a high school pitcher at #7 overall. DePodesta didn't deter White from going with his preference for high school arms early, and now DePodesta isn't around for White to have to compromise with at all.

thats not really true. Laroche raised his bb/PA and ISOd a bunch when he went up to AA. if anything, that should help his cause because it shows he can be patient against top level pitching.

when orenduff went up to AA, his hit rate, homerun rate, and era all dramatically rose. His k rate also dropped from 12+ to 8+.

Also, LaRoche has had a more volatile career than Orenduff. Orenduff seems more consistent.

really? how so?
look at orenduffs 2003 year at odgen, 4.74era, 5+bb/9ip, 1.63 whip.

Orenduffs career has been just as volatile.

the biggest difference between laroche and orenduff are the TOOLS that both have. i know you could care less about what scouts think, but scouts rate laroche has having the tools necessary to be a top tier 3rd baseman in the majors. Orenduff only grades out as a #3 at best because he has a 89-91mph fb with a plus slider and no third pitch at all really.

this is from the article
Penny continued to work on a sharp breaking ball.

what does that mean? is he working on another pitch? or is he sharpening his old loopy curveball?

actually, he IS related to Eva Longoria.

"After hitting only .221 last year, I want to prove to these guys that there's more than what they see in the numbers."

really? ive read that he isnt related. so he is eh....

well that automatically puts him at the top of my draft board.

im just throwing oldbear and other college players a bone. can longoria switch to CF? lol

And Repko had a heck of a quote: "After hitting only .221 last year, I want to prove to these guys that there's more than what they see in the numbers."

That's what Repko's talking about, I fear.

i hope billingsley is starting!

Ned Colleti commenting on what input he will have on playing time, lineups, etc. - Ken Gurnick's notes on dodgers.com

Yes, it would have been nice if DePo could have the same opportunity.

That last part proves that he listened intently to Tracy's lectures, assuming Rob Rossi's definition of Tracyball is true: "[Tracy] believes in catching the ball on defense and putting it into play on offense. After that, things such as pitching and scoring should take care of themselves."

"If my knee holds up, I'll keep on going. I'm playing psychological games with myself right now. I don't want to set myself up for disappointment if things don't work out this season."

http://tinyurl.com/glzqf

Some day reporters are going to catch on that nothing he says really means anything. That he doesn't take them seriously.

Why would Acta want to bench him? Wasn't he pitching really well? Maybe the Dodgers sent word to shut him down because they thought he had pitched too much already last year.

Although I can't pinpoint the articles, it seems to me as though Yhency has been sounding a little angry lately. That might not be a bad thing. Up to now, he's been kind of "just there".

I think some attitude combined with his fastball and new changeup could make him very effective this year.

Side note: Why is Repko's inability to catch excused (and celebrated) while Phillips' inability to throw gets him...well...moved to first base?

There was no 2005. It was like baseball by The Strangers.

Not sure exactly what you're getting at Steve. Do you want Repko moved to first base or to catcher? :)

Another Repkoholic. Welcome to the club (there are very very few of us, you know).

133 - Hey Steve, were you over at Bob's place yesterday when he noticed that Sabean has been doing this for ten years?

173 - Some day reporters are going to catch on that nothing he says really means anything. That he doesn't take them seriously.

No, they won't. Ever. Not even after 756.

180 - There was no 2005. It was like baseball by The Strangers.

Hmm, the White Sox win the World Series, the Dodgers hire a general manager from SF, someone who is NOT The Barry wins the NL MVP, the Padres make the playoffs with the 14th most wins in the majors...what was going on last year?!?

apparently, there is another izturis, julio izturis who is the younger brother of cesar and macier. julio who is 16, just signed a contract with the sf giants for 60,000.

i cant wait for another izturis to play in the majors!

http://tinyurl.com/hayaq

"You see some things you've never seen before," Weaver said of his time in the holding tank. "I wouldn't say it was cool to experience, but it was a trip to see people you'd never even see on 'Cops.' It was crazy."

These reporters are rejects from the White House press briefings.

but he cant do that lol.

202 If you say so

If im not mistaken Acta has not been a big fan of Brazo for a while. I remember reading from a poster in the dodger board that is in the DR, that Brazo would be lazy and walk around like he was a superstar. He would show to practice late and everything, Acta wouldn't put up with it and benched him. If i can find a link i will.

That sound familiar to anyone?

Of course, he needs to make adjustments, and if he can't adjust he'll have to work it out in Vegas. I'm interested in seeing how Ethier & Young play also. I hope one of them steps up & shows some skill.

Unlike you, I'm not ready to write him off before ST.

Just thinking out loud, i remember reading stuf f that people thought he was on roids, but looking at before and after pics the guys never looked roided up. And he doesn't look smaller now (ala Bonds and Sammy).

Seriously, thanks for the description, my MSM boycott has prevented me from truly reveling in this story despite Bob Costas and his constant attempts to sneak things...

218 et al - Maybe Steve would like to handle this one, but...what is Danys Baez? :)

http://tinyurl.com/mrw4b