Yes. That's what he's saying.

um....isn't this his job, to do exactly that?

hence, the 15 shortstops on the roster last year.

Elbert, a left-hander, was a first-round pick in 2004 who has climbed steadily through the farm system and could be ready for the major leagues by midseason.

maybe midseason 2008 Stevie.

And I'd wish Grady would at least platoon Kemp and Loney, and the same goes for Betemit and Laroche, with the other 6 being Martin, Nomar, Kent, Furcal, Eithier, Gonzo.
Then if Both Kemp and Loney outperform Gonzo, send Gonzo to the bench.

The one guy that sticks out like a sore thumb that shouldn't even be on the team is Pierre.

How about if we used the best players avialable? For ZIPS, we use this lineup:

Kemp
Martin
Furcal
Kent
Garciaparra
Gonzalez
LaRoche
Ethier
Pitcher

With PECOTA:

Repko
Martin
Furcal
Kent
Loney
Kemp
LaRoche
Ethier
Pitcher

There is of course something else to consider that we have not considerd yet: that Alexander might be injured. He only pitched briefly in the Dominican Winter League before returning home, though nothing was said at the time about an injury.

How do you feel about K/Guo's apparent inability to fully warm up out of the pen? If he's more comfortable physically working as a starter, then I would be inclined to only use him in that context, since he is still a huge injury risk.

If he starts the season in Vegas, then he can easily be plugged in if Wolf or Schmidt's arm falls off, or Penny is jailed for a road-rage incident, or Lowe mixes his pills with too much booze, etc.

Pitching 180 innings would be a 10% increase for Billingsley. A 20% jump for Kuo then would be about 140 including the postseason.

Juan! huh-yeah!
What is he good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Uh-huh!

Juan! huh-yeah!
What is he good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Say it again!

I don't know enough if Taiwanese pitchers follow Japanesee practice techniques or if they are more like MLB. I would be inclined to think that the former is more common.

I wouldn't normally myself, but it was Kuo who made that comment, and I'd tend to believe a guy who has already felt his arm blow-up twice.

If you are going to start him in the rotation at AAA< then you mind as well put him in the rotation in the majors.

I thought that was the plan, until the superfluous Randy Wolf signing.

So, yeah, I hope Kuo enjoys Vegas.

Billingsley is the man. If you can find a staring spot for Kuo, splendid. But please Dodgers, don't mess around with Billingsley.

He can get a pretty good view from the dugout. But I'd still prefer him to be on the field.

Mainly because Billingsley did well out of the pen last year and Kuo didn't. And injury concerns aside, I think Kuo might be better than Billingsley anyway.

I'm not sold on anyone being the man yet, and if I was GM they'd both be starting, but I'm not and apparently they're not either.

Not to mention that Kuo is likely better than Wolf. What is it about Wolf's most recent seasons that makes people optimistic about his performance this season?

I totally agree, but I didn't want to bash Wolf for a third-straight comment.

I have no problem with the Wolf signing for the purposes of depth and insurance, but he has no business in the rotation without having to prove himself better than Billingsley and Kuo.

Wow. Just wow. This kind of brings me to something I've been thinking about. A lot of folks around these great parts are bullish on Kuo, which is nice. But I think a lot of people are also in for a very rude awakening. I think he can be a fine pitcher, but there is no indication that he's going to be whatever it is that so many people think. He's a lefty and throws hard. That's awesome. But the Kuo infatuation is kind of crazy.

Also, there has never been any indication, at any level, ever, using any metric, that Kuo will be better than Chad Billingsley. None.

Dude, we're talking about pitching prospects. Nobody knows what will happen with them. Stop acting like I've just said that Babe Ruth was worse than David Eckstein.

--sigh--

Jon, can we get a counter up top to let us know exactly how long there is until pitchers and catchers report?

31 - "A lot of folks around these great parts are bullish on [Billingsley], which is nice. But I think a lot of people are also in for a very rude awakening. I think he can be a fine pitcher, but there is no indication that he's going to be whatever it is that so many people think. He's a [righty] and throws hard. That's awesome. But the [Billingsley] infatuation is kind of crazy.

Also, there has never been any indication, at any level, ever, using any metric, that [Billingsley] will be better than [Randy Wolf]. None."

http://tinyurl.com/23gfrh

34 Again, I like Kuo.

obviously, the dodgers are banking on Wolf having a healthy elbow. In the years where he has had a healthy arm, he has been a good pitcher. And the last couple of years, he has been injured or in pain.

I wasn't getting defensive, but at this early stage of their careers I think it's not too much to assert that one promising young pitcher might be better than another promising young pitcher without the Greg Brock class lecture.

I have a dream.

well uh, he had TJ surgery to fix the elbow pain, rehabbed, pitched in the second half last year pain free and showed he had his stuff back. The only thing missing was stamina and control; which is the characteristic of the majority of first years of TJ comebackers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2738172

No worries. Didn't mean to get snotty.

Utley is set for life.

Sorry that I'm not a Phillies fan and am not that impressed with a guy who has had two seasons in his career (five years ago) with an ERA under 4.00.

He's okay, but his upside is not too exciting for me.

honestly, i think this was premature. he was in his first yr of salary arb and is already 28.

If Ned and Grady wind up letting the best players play then I like that the Dodgers will not be relying on players that are not yet 27, the time when they usually become good and consistant.

I would be more confortable if I thought the pricier veterans would sit when the cheap young players were ready, regardless of the situation.

Penny starting in the playoffs last year over Bills tells I may be dreaming.

Max: What happened?
Siegfried: We silenced him with a pistol butt.
Max: Well that's a little drastic, couldn't you just shoosh him?
Siegfried: We don't shoosh here.

The first episode I watched was the one where Max plays the Scar, a munitions expert and it had the part where after the Dutchman makes all the introductions, he comes to the part where he asks the Scar how he intends to blow up the safe and he pulls out a vial identified as nitroglycerine and says with this, the Dutchman says "You are a cool one Herr Scar."

Get Smart had a number of those lines that my friends and I used while growing up and to this day, if one of us says something like "we don't shoosh here" or "the old hacksaw in the belt buckle trick", we bust up.

http://tinyurl.com/3dknz3

This wasn't bad:

BDD: Are you comfortable going into camp with the Wilson Betemit as your starting third baseman? Or will Andy LaRoche get a long look with an opportunity to win the job?

NC: I think there's always competition at this level. I think that LaRoche deserves the opportunity to compete for a starting position, and Wilson Betemit deserves the opportunity to retain his spot. We'll let them figure it out.

55 I think part of it is that LaRoche still has 2 more option years and the Dodgers having Betemit at a cheap price already ahead of him. Also, LaRoche still has not played a full season in AAA and I think, like Loney and Kemp, the plan is to let them play everyday there as opposed to sitting up in MLB.

Actually, that is pretty much the plan of most big league teams, they are just real hesitant to promote young players unless they have to due to injuries or other personnel moves. Look at the current economics, you really only have 3 years at a reasonable price if your prospect plays well, after that, you have to start paying them like a veteran. Now, perhaps it pays off if you get a good deal like Pujols but if you can't get the player to agree to a long term deal, they can continue to double up (just think, if K-Rod has another good year, he might make 10M+ next year as a closer).

https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/583138.html

NC: Well, the deal came about for a couple of reasons. First of all, J.D. Drew left the club. So if you looked at the board, you saw we had Andre Ethier, who only really had four months of big league time, as our only everyday outfielder coming back. We had one. We had to have at least three. (laughs)

The second piece was…on the free agent market there wasn't an abundance of outfielders. (Alfonso) Soriano was going to Chicago. There weren't many everyday outfielders after that. Is five years a long time for a contract? Sure. But the market bore out what it was going to take…at least from what the agent said and what our sources told us. If I was going to make that kind of deal, I wanted to at least do it with someone who had a track record of being healthy…who loves to play everyday. If you look at his track record, it's pretty consistent. The strengths and the weaknesses are there practically every year. He played 162 games a year for the last four years. He has a lot of hits. (He) doesn't hit the ball out of the park much. So you kind of know, that in the case of Juan Pierre, you have as good a feel for what to expect as any other player.

maybe you should get his nationality right before speaking up.

I think everybody's just upset that Ashley Harkleroad lost.

Clayton last year
37/28/5/54/0

I felt Kuo regained his command as he pitched more innings and got his mechanics back in sync. Not sure why people are down on the Wolf signing. More starting pitchers are a good thing or hasn't anybody noticed the attrition rate of starting pitchers as the season progresses.

This is ridiculous, and no explanation at all. I wonder if the Road-runner repainted the line into the cliff whether Colletti would just keep running.

I think people are "down" because of the perception (whether justified or not) that Wolf (with his "LA discount" $8 million salary) has been virtually guaranteed a spot in the rotation, thus bumping out either Billingsley or Kuo without a "fair" competition.

Yes. I want to turn to Wolf when Billingsley or Kuo flops, not the other way around.

Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. Expect silly rap songs to follow.

If the Patriots make the Super Bowl, I would expect a blowout. The Patriots will not make as many mistakes as the Saints have today.

Yeah, it was me. What violation did I commit?

Which stinks, because I was just about to lay into D4P somethin' fierce...

Aside from one year where he got his home run rate down, he gave up a lot of home runs in a slight pitchers and has seen his strikeout rate decrease constantly.

The upside of the Wolf deal is that he pitches like he did was he was 26. How likely is that four years later? It seems like there's a chance he'll be a decent 4.50 ERA guy, and an equal chance he'll chance he'll put a 6.00 ERA on the board. I hate to say this, but we have that guy already in Tomko. It certainly isn't a horrible deal, but Wolf isn't near the high upside signing that I originally thought it was.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060782/

In general, Cal QBs and Super Bowls don't mix.

The cannon cannot be stopped.

I think the points regarding the spelling of Kuo's name have been made plenty at this point. As far as I'm concerned, for now, Kuo and Guo are acceptable - and there should be no need for anyone to correct anyone else. Let's just let it go at this point.

I should write for MadTV.

Yeah. This was completely unacceptable.

I was just about to lay into D4P somethin' fierce

Both: Just don't look! Just don't look!
Just don't look! Just don't look!
Just don't look! Just don't look!

Mine will never die. At least, not for a few years or so.

The 49'ers are better because they dominated, but the Patriots are better because they stand out in the so-called age of parity.

I couldnt tell, he shifted his shape.

Liriano said he felt pain through five starts without telling the team, and that could have aggravated the injury.

"I decided to tough it out, even though now I know I shouldn't have," he said.

Sounds like he'd fit right in on the Dodgers.

They'll just replay old games on television instead of playing new ones.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/019003.php

Is it ever a good time to be a Giants fan? Dave Smith, the founder of Retrosheet, is a big Dodgers fan and he may be the biggest Dodgers fan in the state of Delaware.

Yup, you guys made it. Still stupid.

http://tinyurl.com/2laafm

Very Boise State/Oregon State like of you.

Hoisted by my own petard!

Hi-larious

That wouldn't sound good even if John Facenda read it.

Which really doesn't make sense if you don't know the context.

But a lot of it comes from my extreme dislike of Joe Montana and John Elway.

I have loved you Bob,
But not like this before

John Elway is a triple threat:
1) attended my archrival high school
2) attended Stanford
3) forced me to watch numerous boring Super Bowls

True, but I associate him mostly with that odious NFL team from the Bay Area.

(Well, one of the odious NFL teams from the Bay Area...)

(For entertainment purposes only.)

Would that be "Sasaki of the Sailors of Seattle"?

Geez, no kidding. Someone thinks he should win every year for the rest of his life.

But doesn't that just beg the question...?

Chicago Bears: 2 NFL Championships since 1946, 9 Titles since 1921.

Chicago Bulls: 6 NBA Championships since 1991.

Chicago White Sox: 1 World Series title and 2 pennants since 1959; 2 Titles since 1917.

The question is what had Chicago's other professional sports done in the post-season since the Cubs last won a World Series and last played in a World Series.

its not suppose to snow in downtown tucson.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/35455

Definitely time well spent. I'm sure Tucson received more, even though it never snowed the four years I lived there.

Enjoy the U nate, you'll soon miss it as I do.

Ugh. At least you have an excuse for liking Young. But Montana? COME ON!

Joseph Robert Theismann

Joseph Robert Theismann

1) Snapping the ball too soon. The split end on the left wasn't set yet, and could not possibly have gotten set because Brady rushed the snap. Maybe he thought he saw something? Even if he did, a QB needs to give his players time to get into position. The outcome: 1st and 15, of which the Pats make up 12 and are forced to kick.

2) Snapping too late. On one of the next plays Brady held off on the snap, even though the WR on the right had no one within 15 yards of him. Of course when he did get the ball he dropped it, but if the snap had been two seconds earlier, Buggeye McDroppy could have cha-chaed into the endzone. (Everyone waltzes in...)

A-Rod is a Bears fan for the next few weeks.

3. Russ's walk-off
2. Nomar's walk-off grand slam to win the last home game.
1. 4+1

Marlon Anderson accepted the award for the No. 2 moment in 2006 in L.A. sports.

Phil Jackson referring to Vin Scully as Vince and Vin Scully sending it back to Bill and Petros.

I like "Bad Juan Pierre" as a nickname though.