the signing has every chance to be the first true albatross of GM Ned Colletti

Pierre or Schmidt? Take your choice.

Jon, never mess with Juan Pierre when death is on the line.

After watching every inning of this last series I see zero value in discussing Pierre. It's like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I don't think the D's are a sinking ship, but there are so many other icebergs to look out for.

FYI, Jon, the David Wells photo link in the Fungoes article is broken.

I think Pierre's 5 year contract (including Four More Years! Four More Years!) makes it the highest-ceiling albatross.

4 As are all the other links on that page...

I am very discouraged and curious about the Juan Pierre dilemma the Dodgers have.

What do the readers of this great blog think the percentage chances are for Juan Pierre when it comes to remaining a starter for the rest of this season and the rest of his contract? How much is Colletti willing to cut his losses and how soon?

For example, I believe there is a:

90% chance he stays a starter for the rest of this season

25% chance he stays a starter for the Dodgers the remainder of his contract.

All the links work if you use the indispensable Firefox extension Jumplink. The only part that's broken is the SI credit-taking prefix.

Oops; commented too quickly. Some of them are broken no matter what.

Some, now that I've actually tried them all, being every single one, save the Shaikin link.

the indispensable Firefox extension Jumplink

Which I just tried to install, only to be told that it only works with older versions of Firefox.

7 You're talking about what we think will happen and not what we want to happen, right? I think Pierre will be the starter for the whole season. He won't be traded and he won't be benched. However, I'm still hopeful that they will at least: a) move him down in the line-up (which may not do much at all) and b) sit him down once in awhile. With the Dodgers only going with 4 outfielders at this time, there's no room for Kemp but I'd like to see them bring him up at some point and give him an occasional start in CF. Pierre needs to sit at least once in awhile, come in as a pinch runner or something. He's not sparking the offense at all right now.

Anyway, that's what I think. We'll be right back after this message.

3 - I disagree, it's like rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenberg (ty Stephen Colbert)

I forgot about that. You have to tweak the version compatibility. Which means downloading the xpi file, unzipping it, and then editing the code, a little bit. It's not too hard (as evinced by my having done it), but it's a bit of a project.

Let's just forget I mentioned it. Or anything else.

90% for this year
1% by the end of his contract

I don't see any sign that Schmidt will be an albatross at all. He didn't undergo surgery and he should join us for the 2nd half of this year. I expect him to still be in the rotation by the end of his contract. If he had been hitting 85MPH with no arm problems then I'd be worried but once prodded we quickly found out how sore his arm was.

Let's just forget I mentioned it. Or anything else

Done.

I think the links are working now - thanks.

Pierre or Schmidt? Take your choice

Pierre's an albatross bc he hurts the team by playing.

Schmidt doesnt really hurt the team by not playing, other than the payroll space he takes up.

But having a "sore arm" doesnt really pin point a cause in the loss of velocity. Maybe his arm is sore bc he's old?

The jury is out on Schmidt's contract. I say this as someone who favored that signing, but I still believe it's too early to say that Schmidt is done being an ace. (Of course, if he does turn out to be done, the contract is, in fact, an albatross.)

I didn't see mention of this, so... in JA Adande's piece on the Dodgers in today's times, he was talking about the biggest worry actually being their defense right now. I thought this part was interesting.

--Teams can get hot at the plate. Bad defensive teams tend to stay bad. When asked what can be done to change it, Dodgers Manager Grady Little smiled and said, "Sometimes it takes different people."

"But those kinds of things happen. Right now we didn't play good baseball defensively. Every mistake we made out there, we had to come back and pay for it with runs on the board for the other team."--

Pierre's an albatross bc he hurts the team by playing.

When I used the word "millstone" to describe Pierre, the lovely and talented Mrs. Kavula said, "He's more than a millstone, weighing them down. He's rowing in the wrong direction."

12

Correct, I would like to know what you think will happen, not what you wish would happen.

If Pierre is still playing CF for the Dodgers in 2011, I'd like to jump ahead in time to read the Dodger Thoughts comments.

21
Mrs. Kavula sounds like a very intelligent woman.

7 Barring injury, I'll give a 99% chance that Pierre will be the starting center fielder in 155+ games this year. It is important to note that Pierre has been as advertised -- okay, maybe slightly worse, but not so much worse that anyone should be especially surprised.

Chance he'll still be a starter by the end of his contract: wild guess of 10%.

Why did I just flash to that live Monty Python bit...

John Cleese in cigarette girl drag: "Albatross."
Audience (Terry Jones): "Two choc ices."
Cleese: "I don't got any bloody choc ices, I just have the bloody albatross!"
Jones: "Well, what flavor is it?"
Cleese: "It isn't any bloody flavor, it's bleedin' albatross flavor!"

We want chocolate ices but instead we have Pierre.

20 - I'm not sure what to make of all the recent talk of the Dodger fielding problems.

Betemit had two unfortunate plays Sunday, but otherwise has been rock solid for the team defensively. (LaRoche, fielding .905, which is a meaningless stat but one the Dodgers probably will look at, certainly hasn't made a case that he's superior.)

Furcal has made six errors and Martin has made five, but they're not in trouble.

Kent has made eight errors, but he's not going anywhere - unless he were to go to first base in place of Garciaparra. But I'm not holding my breath for that.

The outfield defense, of course, has been in question all year, but if they've gotten this far, defense isn't going to be what takes them down.

So what is there really to talk about?

20

that is something new- Grady tends to be the "dance with the one that brung us" guy, wonder what he has in mind.

23 Dodger Thoughts, September 29, 2011:

349. Humma Kavula 2011-09-29 21:45:19

That marks Juan Pierre's 2,700th out, not counting the 45 outs he's made on the basebaths.

And let's not forget that busted squeeze play back in May of ought-seven.

27

I have never felt good about Betemit's defense. It was lousy yesterday- he should have been given 2 errors. The non error play probably cost them the game. I dont think Laroche is better though. Thats a real problem.

If Pierre is still playing CF for the Dodgers in 2011, I'd like to jump ahead in time to read the Dodger Thoughts comments.

Jon could have a sequel to his first book:

"The Worst of Dodger Thoughts"
The Juan Pierre Years
Forward
by
D4P

29- If DT isn't holographic by 2011, I'll be very dissappointed. Bad enough that there aren't any flying cars yet.

I'll just be happy if the The Internets haven't been destroyed by Evildoers by 2011.

Much to my dismay, none of the official scorers who are members of SABR replied to my question about how to score the play when LaRoche hit a ball off of Figgins' glove and then Figgins dropped into the photographers' well.

34 Mrs. Kavula was rooting for the double error.

Hi all I have been on vacation for a good 10 days. Missed the last three series.

It is amazing we are in first place.

We talk about Pierre (and oh yes I agree with the negativity), but how on earth can they roll out a 3 hole hitter who slugs .360? OPS is below Furcals who when I lef town was hitting .200 (so thats a huge positive at least)

Nomar has 12 runs scored. How can they roll out a 5 hole hitter with 13 RBI? Thats crazy, talk!!

27/30 - I'm less worried about Betemit's defense than some are. He was fine before yesterday, really; I think people are worried about his hitting and using defense as another reason to chime in against him. So I agree on that front, Jon, but with a pitcher like Lowe, groundball pitcher, doesn't he need the defense to play well behind him? Of course, in the previous tough loss in Florida, it was his hitting that him down. And the hitting let him down yesterday, too.

Still, the fact that they lead the NL in errors - that's not a worry to you at all? On a team that's going to have an erratic offense... it sorta worries me. Though, yes, maybe too much is made of it right now since this weekend was just a bad series.

37 "that let him down" - that should read...

I personally am tired of not being able to really root for each player starting for the Dodgers. I want to see high-ceiling long-term players such as Kemp, Loney, Billingsley, Abreu play and therefore if Gonzo, Peirre, Nomar, Betemit, Tomko do well, I will have to wait at least another year to see my favorites play.

It is not so much that I am trying to say who are the best players, it is more about the players that I want to cheer for.

36 You missed the last three series but your comments sound more aimed at just the last one, no?

Hope you had a good vacation!

36 I'm with you on Nomar. He's my favorite player, but so far this year, it's tough to watch him.

With Gonzles... I don't know. I feel funny dragging his low-RBI stats into the mix right after knocking Nomar for not getting on base... if Nomar's not on, Gonzales can't knock him in...

can't we at least platoon pierre? he's been abysmal against left-handed pitching.

37 - I'm just saying that this has been a questionable defensive team since the start of the season, so I don't see any news in the recent talk of the defense, nor any sincere push to do anything about it.

If memory serves, the Dodgers had a long errorless streak in April. I do think defense can have hot and cold runs.

43 True, true. I guess they've just been even a little worse overall than I expected. But it's true that can be streaky, too, just like offense. The fielding overall should get better, even if Pierre and Gonzo's arms won't get stronger.

I was hoping for a less streaky, up and down, rollercoaster-ish team than last year's model, but that was probably naive.

37

didn't Florida win that game you are referring to on a walk off HR following a Betemt error (that may have ended the inning)?

can't we at least platoon pierre? he's been abysmal against left-handed pitching

We could just release him, a la Jose Cruz Jr.

[46] i am definitely all right with just giving him his pink slip, but a platoon would be at least a minimal improvement in the situation, and that's at least reasonable in the near term. i don't think it's at all likely or conceivable that pierre just gets released.

It's not as if Pierre's .306/.333/.347/.680 line vs. RH is something to write home about. Though, to be fair, I never write home about baseball stats.

How likely is it for us to light up Suppan tonight?

45 You're right! There was an error that extended that inning. Again, though, he had no offensive support at all that game. If he had, the whole landscape of the final inning or two might well have changed.

49 Depends on which Dodger offense shows up, Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. And for that matter, which Suppan.

47 I think by "platoon" people mean "bench". ;-)

I think by "platoon" people mean "bench".

Some people might mean "Shoot with gun in dense Vietnamese jungle, and then take off in helicopter when shooting victim is trying to get on and is being riddled with Vietnamese bullets and is raising arms toward heavens."

Maybe Betemit's defense SEEMs worse b/c of the timing of a few bad plays??

51 I don't mean that. He sounds like a nice man.

I just want him benched is all. I'll even buy him is first post-benching beer, into which he can cry. I'll be a sympthetic shoulder. Meanwhile, on the TV at the bar, I'll be watching Matt Kemp take Pierre's at bats.

[48] no, but it's much less of a sinkhole than his .182/.213/.205/.417 line against lefties.

if kemp were up, he could play center against lefties and give ethier and gonzo a rest a couple times a week.

54
I don't see platooning Pierre to be an option. It's all or nothing. If you're gonna acknowledge that he's not a starter by platooning him, you might as well just go ahead and bench him full-time.

36 13 RBI's is almost twice as many GiDP's Luis has so far this season. Almost.

55

"I don't see platooning Pierre to be an option. It's all or nothing."

How do you know that?

Bp's quotes of the week (free link) are up. Free Ricky Henderson!

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6253

Rickey Henderson. That's embarrassing.

Nate better watch out, D4P better not whine
Canuck better not pout, Ole Ned is telling you why
Santa Glaus is coming to town

Ned is checking his lineup and checking it twice
He decided that 3b was naughty and that power was nice
Santa Glaus is coming to town

He'll be in your dreams when your sleeping
He'll thrill you when your awake
Doesn't matter if you've been good or bad
When he hits those dingers he'll make you glad

So DT, stop all your whining
Kemp will soon be here
Loney won't be languishing forever
Santa Glaus is coming to town

Oh, the batters will start banging
Once Santa Glaus gets into town

Santa Glaus is coming to town
and he's bringing the kids

60
Wow

"I would come personally back here to blow it up. I'd pay my own way. Maybe even just to watch it."

--former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, on Shea Stadium.

60 really made me laugh out loud! That is terrific!!!

Off topic, but I may actually get to go to a Dodger game this year! First one at Dodger stadium since my grandma stopped getting season tickets. I'm from out of town and would like to know where a good place to park would be (i.e. where you don't have to pay $15). Also, how long before the game should we show up? We're thinking about going to the Saturday game vs. the Cubs this weekend at 12:55. And one more thing, where is the best place to get tickets. We're looking to not spend much money, and there will probably be a group of at least 4 adults and 2 kids.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

60.

Nice song but will you still be singing after we get Glaus for a package that includes either Billingsley or Kemp? I can't imagine that Toronto would take anything less.

63 Day games are not usually hard to get tickets, ToyCannon will usually suggest EBay since there are no added fees. Stubhub, Dodgers official site and Ticket Exchange all have their good and bad things about them.

If you can, try to get seats in some shade (for Infield reserve think rows M and above) because it can get very hot. Bleachers are totally exposed as is a lot of the Top Deck.

I am not an expert on Parking outside the gate and it is all street parking but I am sure others can chime in.

Our team defense is much better than it was last year, according to the numbers. While the 2006 and 2007 Dodgers have almost the same defensive efficiency, .681 vs. .682. However, Dodger pitchers have allowed much less easily catchable balls this year. The Dodgers are second in the league in ground balls, which get turned into singles far often than fly balls, and are near last in the easily catchable batted ball types, fly balls and popups.

While this doesn't account for factors like Juan Pierre's arm, the 2007 Dodgers have converted batted balls into outs more effectively than the 2006 Dodgers thus far.

63
Cubs games are VERY popular especially since the team makes just one trip.

It appears the Padres have the best pitching and the best defense in the NL West.

I don't get the carping about Pierre. His OPS-plus is more than double that of another NL West CF....Steve Finley.

Where does one find "pitches seen" team totals?

ToyCannon fave Shane Victorino is the man of the hour at si.com/mlb.

New post at Screen Jam, focusing on the Sopranos - but open chat also welcome there.

My comments were not aimed at the last three games at all since I didn't see any of them. I said for the year our 3 hole hitter is slugging .360 and our 5 hole hitter has 13 rbi. I am happy were in first with those results alone.

64
Just having fun, I couldn't care less which way they go but if they do deal for him, Kemp or Billingsley would not be part of the deal.
He was traded last year for Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista because the contract is long and large. So that comes out to an average 2nd baseman and a lousy pitcher.

They are a last place team with a huge payroll. Ricarrdi rolled the dice and crapped out. No other team with a large payroll has a hole at 3b other then the Angels so it is not like he has many options if he does decide to move him.

70 http://tinyurl.com/2rczv8

69- ESPN keeps those in the Miscellaneous Batting section under the Stats tab of the player cards.

Team totals. Oops.

69 Finley isn't a starter amd isn't signed to an absurd contract. Also, saying Pierre is better than awful doesn't make him good.

Yeah, I also think the Jays would want a pitcher and would take someone like Kuo. I really don't see the Dodgers trading Billingsley unless it was for someone like A-Rod. They're pretty high on him. And if the Dodgers ate a chunk of Glaus' contract, the Jays would be more willing to accept a deal not involving blue-chippers. (I think, anyway.) Still, I'd rather see us give LaRoche a chance there, unless Glaus were only on a one year contract, which he isn't.

69 I thought Finley was platooning for the Rockies? Isn't Taveras playing more? On the other hand, if you want someone to make you feel better about Juan Pierre, seriously, watch Taveras for a couple of games.

49. DodgerSims has us with a 59.55% win probability vs the Brewers tonight. Both teams have been having their ups and downs of late. I'd say a low scoring Dodger win is more likely than a shalacking of Suppan. I would like to call a low scoring game between these two teams a pitching duel, but in this case it would be more of a case of a non-hitters duel. Anyways, what is the term for a low scoring game due to lack of hitting rather than talented pitching?
vr, Xei

69, 78 --
Yes, Finley is platooning. Just making a lighthearted point about the wretchedness in the NL West at that position.

79
That's called "Cardinals vs. Dodgers"

Impossible for me to be bullish about Schmidt's prospects for this year. I can see him muddling through a few outings after the rejuvenation of rest and rehab, but the failure to identify what was causing his shoulder so much trouble leads me to believe the problem will come back.

I don't trade Kuo or Hendy. The pitching isn't as deep as it may appear. One of these days, the farm system has to produce a reliable starting pitcher. I can't recall when that last happened.

80 You're right, it is pretty wretched. Dave Roberts was okay but no one to fear much, and now he's on the DL. Cameron was a good one but looks lost and old this year. Taveras is awful. Pierre is mediocre. Chris Young is the only decent CF in the bunch right now.

82 Billingsley will be the first in a long while. Once they realize he should be starting. Hopefully Kuo and/or Elbert and/or Kershaw will be next.

My Immediate Attempt at a Solution to What We Need is:

Call up Matt Kemp, as early as today, but no later than in time for tomorrow's game.

Here is why:

1. We need a power bat, we need to light a fire under Juan and LuGo. Kemp waiting to take at-bats away from them can get them to react like Betemit did to LaRoche showing up.

2. Thursday is an off day. We don't need 12 pitchers this week especially after Lowe goes the distance yesterday. Kuo gets first nod today if Tomko goes south, then he gets sent down for Kemp.

3. Grady promised changes to the offense and then did nothing. After the weekend, and if things don't improve greatly tonight, he and Ned HAVE to make a move, a statement. We have the bat we want at AAA.

4. Kemp can play 4 or 5 games a week, in three different outfield positions, and he'll be a great pinch hitter and let us save Olmedo for late in a game.

GET KEMP UP HERE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

85. Send down Guo?? Are you trying to start another Land War in Asia? vr, Xei

I believe that long and large contract is 10.75M (2007) and 12.75M (2008) with a player option of 11.25M (2009). Given the current market this seems like a very reasonable contract, and with a current OPS+ of around 170 I would be shocked if all it took was Kuo and a couple of throw in's. Not that I don't like Kuo, but given his medical history and his lack of playing history, I just doubt his trade value is very high.

86

Not for good. Or DL Tomko or something. We need to find a spot for Kemp. Kuo, Guo, whatever has options. Get him back up here when we need him, but give Kemp some at-bats for a week and see if that sparks us.

How'd he lose his spot on the team after hitting .429? He got hurt and is stuck at AAA now? Doesn't make sense to me.

82
You don't think bursitis in his pitching shoulder is enough identification of what ailed his shoulder?

DodgerSims has us with a 59.55% win probability vs the Brewers tonight

Does your Sim ever predict the Dodgers to lose? I don't recall ever seeing that...

Can someone make a case for saying LuGo needs a fire lit under him, or is deficient in any way other than defensively? I keep seeing it pop up, and I'm not sure what to make of it. And I'm not just playing the expectations game; LuGo is taking care of business. He's not a star any more, and his defense is admittedly ugly, but he's been a relatively bright spot, to me.

91 He's a left fielder slugging .396.

LuGo draws a lot of walks.

91
Why, he did all his hitting in the 1st two weeks of the year. Since then his only contribution has been some walks. He's doing what I expected and it is not a bright spot for me. It is all about expectations. He is doing what I expected which isn't much and so I'd have no problem with an upgrade. Nomar however is doing much less then my expectations so I'm willing to wait until he gets it going. He's never hit like this when healthy so he's either not healthy or it is just an extended slump much like many premium players are still experiencing as we hit mid May.

93 That he does, so he's not useless, but if his walk rate drops to where it was last year he's down to .259/.338/.396. I can see this happening as it becomes more and more apparent his last vestiges of power are gone.

To me, LuGo's SLG represents an issue. It's not good and it will need to be addressed.

But: first things first.

91.
He's hitting .261! He stole a base this weekend, but doesn't have the speed of a Kemp. He doesn't have an arm like Kemp, etc, etc, etc

Perhaps LuGo will have more pop in his bat with more time to sit around and watch a young guy play. He is a crafty veteran, I'm not saying release him or don't play him, but don't keep Kemp in AAA if we are willing to keep LaRoche in the bigs and playing four times a week.

Too much upside for Kemp to be in Vegas right now. He's ready. GET HIM UP HERE!!!!

90. haha! It had the Angels favored to beat the Dodgers on both saturday and sunday, but the Dodgers favored to win on friday evening.
It has the Dodgers (59.55), Diamondbacks (68.22) and Astros (53.67) as favorites in today's games featuring NL West teams.
vr, Xei

I can see this happening as it becomes more and more apparent his last vestiges of power are gone

Yeah. I've gotten the impression thus far that pitchers have pitched around him a lot, which is surprising because of his lack of power and because Martin hits behind him. Maybe his roid years are still shaping his reputation as a hitter.

88. Yeah, I agree with you in general. I was just trying to be cute. vr, Xei

The weird thing about Kemp is that he was pretty much going to be at least a platoon player with Ethier, if not the starter, when he got hurt. Since then, he has generally been tearing up AAA (until The Shoving Incident), and Ethier hasn't been too impressive. Why hasn't Kemp been allowed to resume his role from earlier in the season?

Since April 25th, Gonzalez has one double, a "triple" (Josh Hamilton diving for a ball he had no chance of getting) and a home run.

Now, this is a carefully chosen small sample, but it should be noted that our left fielder has two extra base hits in close to a month.

It's still cold. When it starts to warm up, that SLG will soar at least another .004 points, I bet you.

Oh, alright. I continue to maintain LuGo's getting misdirected Pierre-ire. Although I hadn't noticed, as ToyCannon did, that he's been so awful of late.

Last 28 days: .211/.341/.303
Last 14 days: .184/.326/.263
Last 07 days: .118/.286/.176

That's pretty rough.

102
Our center fielder has three extra base hits over that same time period.

I guess we can't bench the whole team.

91 Gonzalez has been a bright spot? I'm not one to make analogies, but ...

Gonzalez:Pierre::distant star:black hole

The left field loge hates Lugo and wants to see Kemp in LF ASAP. We still love Nomar. Can't talk for the rest of the stadium.

101 - I'm seeing Vegas play in Tacoma this week. Can I just get one chance to see Kemp before he's recalled please?

106- Bright in relative terms. Outside of Martin and Kent, (and Furry's recent explosion and LaRoche's promising start) nobody's been sparkling too brightly at the plate.

From BP's Kevin Goldstein and his Monday Morning 10 Pack on what could have been and what we have. I particulary like the 2nd to last sentence related to Kershaw.

Luke Hochevar, Double A
It's hardly time to go into panic mode, but there is some cause for concern here. In his third start of the season, Hochevar struck out a career-high 11 in 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two hits, but since then, he's struggled mightily. Pitching against Arkansas on Friday night, last year's No. 1 overall pick allowed five runs in five innings. With 19 runs allowed over 22 innings in his last four starts, his ERA now sits at a surprisingly high 5.44, as Texas League hitters are batting .286 against him while slugging .474. There are some good signs here, though, including 55 strikeouts against 16 walks in 48 innings, but while Hochevar's curveball and control are as good as ever, his velocity has been off from the start, sitting usually at 89-92 mph, a solid 2-3 ticks off from both his days at Tennessee and last year's pro debut. Tired arm from the off year, or something more serious? We just don't know yet.

Clayton Kershaw, Low A
On Saturday night at Kane County, Kershaw had arguably his best start of the year, firing six one-hit innings while striking out nine. It was a nice recovery from his worst start of the year, which happened six days before, in which the 2006 first-round pick gave up seven runs before being pulled in the second inning. Eight starts into the year, Kershaw has delivered six dominant outings and two horrible ones. He has a 2.84 and 54 strikeouts in 38 innings overall, but if you take away the two horrible games, his is 1.05 in 34.1 innings, with just 20 hits allowed, 14 walks and 50 punchouts. Kershaw hit 97 mph on Saturday, and looked arguably like one of the best lefthanders the Midwest League has seen in a generation. If he can avoid the once-a-month-start in which he self-destructs, he could end the season as the top pitching prospect

i asked this a while back, but perhaps it's time to bring it up again...

whither larry bigbie? according to the 51s website he's hitting .371/.450/.557/1.007 in vegas. i think he could do better than gonzo's been doing at least.

and looked arguably like one of the best lefthanders the Midwest League has seen in a generation.

http://minorleagueball.com/story/2007/5/21/103956/282

this guy wasnt as glowing as goldstein on kershaw.

108

Go to the game tonight, I want him in LA tomorrow. And he ain't going back to AAA!

I'm comfortable enough with my sexuality to say that I'm simply LONGING to see Matt Kemp. Please send his pretty swing up here Neddy boy? Please?

@107

The LF Pavillion- section 307- is in agreement.

I mentioned a reshuffle of the line up yesterday in the absence of a trade...

Furcal
Martin
Nomar/Loney
Kent
Gonzo/Kemp
LaRoache
Ethier
Pierre

More Radical...

Furcal
Martin
Ethier
Kent
Gonzo/Kemp
Nomar/Loney
LaRoache
Pierre

I know it's just a pipe dream, but with Pierre in the 8th spot taking the walks in front of the picther he would make fewer outs, and LaRoache would get better pitches to hit.

107, 114

I heard that LuGo's three 8 year olds agreed too. They want their daddy at home and know that a cardboard cut out of Kemp has as much range as their daddy does.

He's a nice guy and all of that, but geez, can't we find a way to put Kemp on the roster already? He's been in AAA for weeks and I can't figure out why.

112 Well, not as glowing, but it's hardly a negative review.

and LaRoache would get better pitches to hit

Debatable.

111 He's a player that had a decent, average driven peak season, and has used that to fool teams into thinking he's a useable player.

In a highly offensively driven environment, he has a .458 BABIP with only an 18.9% line drive percentage. If he normalized to a .309 BABIP, assuming he loses only singles he's down to around .252/.334/.449 at Vegas. Bring him to the bigs with those numbers, and he's back to the .240/.310/.370 player he's been the last two years.

No way Pierre hits 8th-- yes, he'll get walks but won't get chances to run when the pitcher is hitting behind him.

Now, if we could hit him 9th, or better yet-- 10th!

I would love to see...

Furcal
Pierre
Martin
Kent
Nomar
Ethier
Gonzo
LaRoche

Jon - I thought that J.A. Adande's likening of this year's Dodger offense to that of last year's Angels squad was pretty on the mark. Though he didn't go that far, you could also add that both teams were relying too heavily on aging veterans to provide more offense. With a guy like Lowe on the mound, a porous defense is pure poison.

85 88 97 113 116

So, um, paranoidandroid, am I correct in inferring that you'd like to see Matt Kemp back up with the big club?

I think you've made your point - and it's not as if anyone is disagreeing with you.

120 - Someone had suggested Pierre batting 7th, with either LaRoche or Betemit at 8. This would maximize Pierre's running ability considering you'd actually have someone that could take a pitch following him. However, that leaves you with the pitcher to knock him in, so I'm not sure how much of an advantage it ultimately yields.

A difficult task it is, coming up with the best place to bat Pierre.

121 - I don't disagree. But as far as Sunday's game went, the critical plays were (or weren't) made by the youngest guys in the infield.

brewcrewball has a good introduction to the 3-Game Dodgers/Brewers series. It seems these two teams have quite a bit in common.
vr, Xei
Most people would look at this series and see the battle between two division leaders, maybe even a possible postseason preview in May. I, on the other hand, see the contest between the suckingest third base combos in the game.

Is Kemp's spot on the roster being occupied by a pitcher now? It's not like any other new OFers have stepped up in his absence, and even fellow OFer Marlon Anderson is injured.

121. This is right. And it's not really different from last year's Dodger offense either. Other than Vlad, none of those teams has (had) much power to speak of, so they rely on what Bill James called "long sequences" to score runs. That is, they need strings of improbable events (hits and walks) to occur to score at all. 5 hits fortunately bunched into one inning means a few runs. 5 hits scattered over 5 innings means zero runs because of the lack of power.

This is an approach that can be fun in that the number of innings with at least one guy on base might be higher, but also very frustrating (a la Vinnie yesterday) when BA w/RISP isn't unusually high.

The biggest differences between the 2007 Dodgers and the 2006 version, are that Lofton's OBP has been replaced with Pierre's, Drew's with Gonzales's, and Nomar early 2006's with this Nomar. Off the top of my head, it seems that only Martin is better than last year.

123. I remember the lineup generator (pre-season) was recommending Pierre bat 9th and the pitcher bat 8th. That way you get his stick near the bottom of the order, and he's able to run with the likes of Furcal and Martin up after him. vr, Xei

10 net steals in 44 games isn't anything to worry about loosing.

@123, I'm still convinced its 10th.

128 - But to make that happen, you'd have to hire Tony LaRussa. That's not a sacrifice I'm prepared to make.

122

Yes, I went a bit overboard. I will cease now. I think I broke one of the rules without intending too. I'm surrounded at work by gloating people wearing red shirts with A's on them and this weekend's four runs has made me ready to jump out of my skin.

115,120
What I think might be worth trying without Kemp up here is:
Pierre
Martin
Furcal
Kent
Nomar
Gonzo
LaRoche/Betemit
Ethier

With Kemp, I would like to see:
Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Kent
Kemp
Ethier
LaRoche/Betemit
Pierre

Although I agree that it would take a lot to get Grady to put Juan in the 8th spot. It would not be a total stretch to see the first one I listed. I think it has to be considered.

[119] so you're saying his foot fracture and hernia had nothing to do with his performance?

btw, where do you find LD% for the minors?

[133] nevermind, i found it.

133 MinorLeagueSplits.com

It probably did. I don't follow Larry Bigbie all that closely, so all I have to go by is the numbers. I didn't take the numbers from when he was amazingly bad in Colorado and St. Louis, just from when his decline began at the beginning of 2005. Bigbie seems to have just the standard development curve, with a decline accelerated by injuries. He works as a fifth outfielder on a team that needs to seek out that sort of thing, but I wouldn't have high hopes for a team that used him in any other function.

My friend Mark and I were discussing the Juan Pierre situation yesterday during the game. He and I both agreed that we will never truly know what Juan Pierre's real contribution to this team will be as he is a leadoff hitter, has always been a leadoff hitter. While he rarely walks, his 200 plus hits per season and stolen bases have come atop the order. To place him in arguably the most difficult spot in the batting order with virtually no experience doing so creates so many other problems for this team. Why the Dodgers are glued to having Furcal leadoff is a mystery to me. Pierre now has to concern himself with a myriad of other issues in the 2 hole that seem to confuse and distress him frequently (note his body language each time he enters the batters box with Furcal on first). This is not Kenny Lofton we are talking about. Pierre is a prototypical leadoff hitter and the flip flop needs to be made sooner than later.

The side bar poll at Brew Crew Ball is pretty good, too. I went with Neugebauerian.

136 Interesting point. Questions:

1. Why do you believe that Pierre would do better in the leadoff spot than in the 2nd spot?
2. How much better do you believe that Pierre would do? One hit a week? Two hits a week? He's really not all that far off his recent averages.

I'm all in favor of whatever gets Pierre to hit, but I don't agree that giving him more at-bats is a good idea.

Pierre is a prototypical leadoff hitter

Doesn't take many pitches, doesn't get on base much...?

136 - To place him in arguably the most difficult spot in the batting order with virtually no experience doing so creates so many other problems for this team.

I thought the #2 slot was the easiest. That's what "they" tell me every time a struggling hitter is moved there to jumpstart his season. They're supposed to get, like, more fastballs or something.

Anyway, Pierre's .300 OBP is already too close to the leadoff spot for me as it is.

[135] does "better than gonzo" really fall under the category of "high hopes"? :)

It seems to me that Larry Bigbie and Jason Repko careers are following the same path.

142 - I'd say he's more of a Jayson Werth, in that Bigbie actually showed a bit of promise at being able to hit major-league pitching before injuries derailed him.

The only difference I would expect with JP hitting 1st instead of 2nd would be fewer force-outs, because the bases would be empty for him. I can imagine that a very small number of those force-outs forgone would turn into infield hits (if a fielder could make the throw to 2nd in time, but not to 1st. Otherwise, JP (and any other hitter) is what he is. Batting order has been shown to matter very little if at all. I thought that "lineup protection" had also been show to be mythical.

The only difference I would expect with JP hitting 1st instead of 2nd would be fewer force-outs

And thus a smaller number in his "R" column

Second is a great spot to be a hitter -- you have the distraction potential of the leadoff man, who, presumably, should be on base more often than most hitters. With a man on first, that creates better hitting angles to the right side of the infield. Presumably, the No. 3 hitter is an above-average hitter who will make the pitcher more inclined to confront the No. 2 hitter.

Juan Pierre made up the entirety of the Cubs lead off spot last year.

The Cubs finished, by far, in dead last in runs scored last year.

Why then is Juan Pierre known as a run scoring dynamo? I just assumed the man scored 100 runs last year, but he, well, didn't.

Dead last in runs scored from the leadoff spot that is.

Another confirmation on the accuracy of the Forbes' report on baseball economics?

This morning on 570, Arte Moreno said that the Angels made $200 million (or will make in 2007) in revenue (Forbes projects 189MM), which is double what they did when he bought the club in 2003.

He also said that while they have doubled their season ticket base from L.A. County (no numbers given), the majority of their increase in fan attendance comes from the Inland Empire. (I have always wondered about the origins of that name)

He said that their season ticket base is second to the Yankees at around 30,000, last time I recall a Dodger number given, it was around 27-28,000.

Last week on 710, Mason or Ireland said that they think that after this year, the Angels will broadcast their games on Moreno's radio station, which could open up the bidding for the Dodgers when their contract opens up after this year.

Would love to read a detailed report on how Kemp and Loney are performing, what specifically they are working on as hitters, what Murray wanted them to accomplish. Is Kemp showing a better approach on breaking balls? Is Loney working on improving his power? I assumed that they are using Triple-A at-bats to develop in a way that increases their chances for lasting success next time they come up. Is this happening?

150 - Along those same lines, has Loney been starting in the OF predominantly?

Just so you know, bhsportsguy gave me tickets for today's game which I gave away on the Griddle in a contest.

A Giants fan won.

151 - no, at first base. His last game in the OF was May 9.

By the way and knock on wood or the examination table but given the fragile state of some of the players on this team, the fact there is still only one injury with major consequences, Jason Schmidt (and the team is 4-2 when he has started in his place, so hard to see the impact right now).

Last season, injuries in May led to Ethier, Martin, Aybar and Kemp to be brought up to the team. Ethier and Martin stuck, Kemp hung around through the All-Star Break, Aybar went up and down until he got traded.

After the 2005 and 2006 seasons that were filled with multiple trips to the DL, this year has been a refreshing change. Also, the recovery rates for the players on the DL have been close to their projections, even Schmidt, in which there has been no official word on his prognosis but initially 4-6 weeks was given, could turn out to be only off by a few weeks if Schmidt starts pitching in rehab games by the end of the month.

Is this relative good health, coincidental to the change in sedical personnel from the past two years, no way to know for sure. But if injuries were the key to seeing minor leaguers brought up in the last two years, in 2007, that has not been a legitimate reason so far.

I just heard an interesting tidbit of info on the radio at lunch:

The Dodgers have scouts in Toronto right now watching Troy Glaus to gage his health status in preparation for a possible trade.

Anyone else heard anything?

152 Bob Timmermann

I guess that this is the best place to confess your baseball related sins.

156
The sin isn't mine. It's the Dodger fans' fault for not winning.

149 - there's a lot of speculation to the effect that Moreno will move the Angels to KLAA. It certainly makes sense, and the callsign would indicate as much, but until it happens, I'm not believing it.

From what I can tell, KSPN has a better signal throughout Southern California.

156 As Bob noted on "The Griddle," a regular poster here on DT and Dodger fan responded first with the correct answer but did not want the tickets.

Bob, of course, followed all rules of raffles, bingo, internet quizes and the ball under the cap games when determing who wins all Griddle contests.

155 - Something similar was reported last week too, with similar (non)details.

He's on the hook for "only" another $12.5M next year, but he's got a full no-trade clause. He'd presumably want something in return for waiving it (an extension?).

155 - this was going around last week. The Glaus-to-somewhere-else rumor appears to me to be the product of some speculation; the Jays are still too early in their season to give up on it.

158 They say that station has 50,000 watt system. I wil say this, KSPN is the only AM station I can get in my office on my portable radio.

I wonder how you book the income from related businesses but I would guess that the station would pay rights fees and radio station would get all the ad rates, interesting to find out how fans will react to the Angels being on a bilingual station.

160 - I just noticed that as a part of his AZ-to-Toronto deal, a 2009 option for $11.25M was added to his contract. He'd most assuredly want that picked up.

160

Sorry about the lack of details but I heard the tail end of the report as I was getting in my car to go to lunch. That's why I was asking if anyone else had heard anything...

164 - Sorry, what I meant was that there doesn't seem to be any details to report, period. Just rampant speculation by reporters trying to play GM :)

the Jays are still too early in their season to give up on it

This seems to assume the Jays wouldn't get something in return that could fill Glaus' shoes this season. Maybe that's true, but maybe it's not.

All-Star talents behind plate.

>>> In the National league, it's likely to be a race between the Mets' Paul Lo Duca and the Braves' Brian McCann. Lo Duca earned the fans' nomination last season, and McCann was elected via the players' ballot.

The two catchers have both been putting up solid numbers again in '07. Lo Duca is hitting .292 with two home runs and 14 RBIs, while McCann is hitting .292 with three home runs and 21 RBIs. >> Also a factor in the race is the Dodgers' Russell Martin (.318, 2 HR, 26 RBIs) and the Cardinals' Yadier Molina (.294, 1 HR, 10 RBIs). <<<

http://tinyurl.com/2pahft

Wouldn't Dodger scouts be in Toronto also because the two teams play each other six times in the near future?

If Paul Lo Duca is chosen as the NL All-Star catcher or McCann or Martin, then I would have to say that it's all just a popularity contest.

Oh wait, it IS a popularity contest.

I'm hoping Eckstein is chosen over Reyes, Hardy, Ramirez, etc.

LoDuca wins the fan vote. LaRussa takes Molina as the second catcher.

171 Sigh. That will indeed probably be the scenario (or the other Molina), even if it really should be McCann and Martin who go. Well, keep voting everyone. You can vote many times over in the all-star ballot, so keep those Martin votes coming.

I'd rather Martin get some time off. Lord knows he's not going to get much on this team.

Concerning Nomar, It seems to me that a lot of the balls he hit over the fence last year are barely reaching the warning track this year. And, if true, what would that mean? He doesn't appear to me to have any kind of injury.

For Jon and Bob:
NCAA Women's Tennis Semifinals:
Doubles matches:
UCLA leading in first match 5-2
UCLA and Stanford tied 3-3 in second match
Stanford leading in third match 5-1

After those matches that count for one point in the race to get 4 points out of 7, there will be 6 singles matches to determine the finalist in tomorrow's championship match.

I am sure this match will have a bearing on the all important Director's Cup given to the athletic program that finishes the best across all of the NCAA sanctioned sports.

There are probably several players on the Dodgers who would 'take one' for the team. What we need now is someone who will 'give one' for the team, someone who can help Pierre up when he falls and ruins a knee in the showers.

I'd like to see Kent take more days off. Get his mind right.

162 - interesting to find out how fans will react to the Angels being on a bilingual station.

I don't think that's so much the issue as whether KLAA will be able to develop enough content to fill non-Angels game times, and making sure that content doesn't conflict with Angels games. Do they run Angels talk after the game? For how long? On off days? The Dodgers are still contending with these issues under KFWB, and I suspect the Angels will have similar problems, in-house ownership or not.

A crazy stat for me is that tonight when I watch the Brewers 2 hole hitter (Hardy) I need to remind myself that if he hits 2 bombs tonight and we dont hit any he will then be tied with Furcal, Pierre, Nomar, Kent, Gonzo, Martin and Ethier in total homeruns.

179
In other words, he's already tied with Furcal, Pierre, Nomar, Kent, Gonzo, and Ethier

179 - JJ has already set his all-time professional career high in homers, in only 43 games so far this year.

Where did this year come from? Is he going to have one of those years where he hits 2 the rest of the way (a la Brian Roberts)?

In case it hasn't been mentioned, our very own Ned the Communicator takes it on the chin (again) today from the folks at FJM.

FJM has a Rolen/Dodgers related update, which includes this tidbit excerpted from SI.com:

Colletti recently said he wasn't going after Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus. But he hasn't denied interest in Rolen

Ken T. ends with this:

Who would be dumb enough to trade for Scott Rolen? Who is dumb enough to think that Scott Rolen will provide "power" for a team, especially one that plays in a cavernous stadium? And who would be dumb enough to trade Andy LaRoche, who is 23, cost-controlled, and 7-for-his-first-27 with 2 2B, for Scott Rolen, who will be paid $12m a year until 2009?

Oh -- hang on. Ned Colletti is dumb enough.

This trade will probably happen.

183cont.
Or what 182 said.

183 Where in his time as Dodger GM has he made a prospect for a player with a long term contract?

Again, while there is certainly things to debate about Colletti's time in LA, he has not made that type of acquisition.

Sure, the net is a place for folks to spout off their own opinions, which is fine, but I do think when you start quoting them as if it means anymore than what I could say here in my comments, than I think it is misguided.

175 - Go Stanford!

186 Stanford will need to win 4 out of 6 singles matches as UCLA wons the doubles.

I liked what I read about McGeary, I think he´s a nice pick. There´s a guy named Savery, some say that he´ll be the Dodgers first pick, is he good?

Link:http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/2007/05/draft_ready.html

188
Ricardo, I apologize if my "About Schmidt" joke seemed rude yesterday. I meant no offense to you. I've just been waiting to use that joke all year!

189 No problems Bob, I like jokes. But I didn´t understand it was a joke because of my English, sorry.

190
Well, your English seems impeccable.

Or at least only lightly pecked.

OT:

There's an expression I see a lot here -- especially on Bob's comments -- "that's crazy talk."

Usually, it's taken to mean something that is not crazy, but obviously logical, yet rejected by people stuck in conventional thinking patterns.

I tried to figure out where the reference comes from and found this:
http://tinyurl.com/29ubfv

which subjects the phrase to rigorous analysis and finds the phrase used in a few old movies that are, by now, pretty obscure.

So either "that's crazy talk" is a viral phrase purely within an internet context, with no specific origin other than somebody saw it, liked it, passed it on, yada-yada, and now lots of people use it; or it's from a specific source, but some of us just don't know what it is.

(Knowing this group, I would guess it's either Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development or Cheers -- three shows DT posters seem to have memorized that I'm less familiar with.)

188 Joe Savery is good, but he would be a very unwise pick for the Dodgers. Rice coach Wayne Graham is notorious for slagging his pitchers' arms till they're hanging by a thread. No pitcher coached by Graham has ever had a successful major league career. Most of them have ended up with major arm trouble, including the three aces of their 2003 championship team who were all high draft picks. Drafting a Rice pitcher is probably even riskier than drafting a Stanford pitcher.

Logan White does love Savery, though, from what I understand. He's drafted him once before.

192
I believe the phrase "That's crazy talk" comes from "The Simpsons."

192 I was under the impression that it was a fairly common colloquialism.

194 - I thought it was a Tracy Morgan skit from SNL where he plays the fabulous animal show guy.

I liked what I read about McGeary, I think he´s a nice pick. There´s a guy named Savery, some say that he´ll be the Dodgers first pick, is he good?

Dodgers picked Savery in the teens in the 2004 draft but he had a one million dollar price tag to buy out his scholarship to rice. He had shoulder surgery over the winter and hasnt regained all his stuff yet this spring. I think 20 would be too high for him but 39 wouldnt be bad.

I think "That's crazy talk" has been used in so many instances across a wide spectrum of pop culture that you will have trouble attributing it to one source. In fact, I just watched an episode of Firefly with the exchange:
Jayne: That's crazy talk.
Simon: Then let's talk crazy.

Marge: Homer, why aren't you at work?
Homer: The car won't start. I don't feel very good today. I am at work.
Marge: You're afraid to go to work because Frank Grimes will be there, aren't you?
Homer: That's crazy talk. You're crazy, Marge. Get off the road!

http://tinyurl.com/3y7h5y

One thing that surprised me about the link in 188 is BP's contention that the best player Logan White has drafted so far is Chad Billingsley rather than Russell Martin.

Here's hoping that's true. If Bombko stinks tonight, we may find out sooner rather than later.

Anyone know why Zach Hammes started for Jacksonville today?

Too bad David Price didn't sign with the Dodgers when they drafted him in '04. Too bad for us, that is, not Price.
---
So, what about Julio Borbon?

BA came out with their top 100 prospects for the draft today. good info.

202

im not a fan of Borbon. He has been injured, doesnt hit for power and has boras as an advisor. if we take a boras CFer, id rather take the higher ceiling player in Kentrail Davis.

202 MLB certainly wasn't thrilled with the bonus they gave LaRoche so to sign Price where he was drafted (1st Round money), would have been even more surprising.

195 - Me too. I figured it'd been around as long as people were talking crazy.

Marge: And this is for my huggy-bug, in honor of this special day. [serves Homer breakfast of eggs and bacon, spelling out ``I love you'']
Homer: [thinking] Special day!? Oh, what have I forgot now? Now don't panic. Is it Bacon Day? No, that's crazy-talk.
Marge: [smile gradually fades from her radiant visage]
Homer: [thinking] She's getting impatient! Take a stab at it![aloud] Happy... Valentine's Day...
Marge: [rubbing his head] [squeak] [squeak] Aw, thank you, dear.
Homer: [in celebration] Woo-hoo!

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/9F13.html

203 So Nate, will you be tracking the Draft on the West Coast?

205

and joe savery! After their sophmores years, Price and Savery looked like they would be 1A and 1B heading into the 2007 draft.

I sure don't look forward to Glaus or Rolen but we're sure as heck going to get one or the other of them. And I can live with it, providing we give up Tomko and Pierre in the deal; of course we have to give them something good, too. Probably LaRoche, maybe a kid pitcher. It'll be OK if Pierre and Tomko go.

But "Never promise Crazy a baby"...that one's new.

200
I also found that odd considering what each has accomplished at the major league level.

Please stay away from Rice pitchers.

194 There's a reference to the Simpsons in the post I linked to in 192, but the quote they cite seems to be an allusion to a prior usage. (In it, Bart buys firecrackers from an Indian named "Crazy Talk.")

The phrase is everywhere now! It's a "snowclone."

208

i really dont know yet. I had an internship interview today actually and if i get it, i'll probably be in arizona the whole summer.

204 Ack, I didn't realize the Boras connection. Never mind. I was just wondering aloud because BP had mentioned him in that Dodgers report.

Nate, who do you think is this year's best bet for a LaRoche-style signability pick who we might want to draft late and then throw a lot of money at?

(By the way if we had signed Savery in 2004, Wayne Graham would have been doubly pissed at the Dodgers, since we had already robbed him of LaRoche.)

216

well one obvious one would be Jack Mcgeary.

Chad Jones might be another. I think hes the #1 rated football player out of Lousisiana with a scholarship to LSU. Hes freakishly athletic and he reminds me of a left handed Matt Kemp because of similar tools. If hes not taken in the first 2 rounds, he will probably drop off alot of teams draft boards because he has indicated he needs top two round money to sign him away from LSU.

I think Brad Suttle is another one too. Hes a draft eligible sophmore from Texas and he is a pure hitter. His advisors have put a 1mil price tag on buying out his remaining years at Texas.

Give me Rolen and throw in Ankiel, I'll give you Pierre and throw in a Betemit.

I wish the Mariners would fall out of the race. I think a nice little deal where we swap CF would be cool. They get a CF for the next 4 years that they think is Ichiro light and we get Ichiro for the rest of the year. He walks at the end of the year and were free of the Pierre contract and we had a better player for the rest of 2007. Get them to throw in Adam Jones for our future CF needs and we will throw in some pitching like Kuo.

Manager: If you want to see the future, throw a treasured personal item onto the fire.
[Bart tosses a small object, which explodes with a bang]
Not a firecracker!
Bart: Hey, I bought it from a guy on your reservation.
Manager: That's Crazy Talk.
Bart: No, it's true.
Manager: No, I know, that's my brother, Crazy Talk. We're all a little worried about him.

218

oh i like adam jones very much so.

ichiro and jones for pierre, kuo, dewitt, and hammes.

sorry, no more trade proposals.

Why do you think taht Sequoyah Stonecipher will be the Dodgers 1st pick, nate? I don´t remember his name, but there´s an outfielder from Puerto Rico that they say he´s the next Carlos Beltran.

218 - Bavasi is trying to save his job, and trading Ichiro doesn't seem to be a step in that direction. Ichiro is an institution in Seattle.

Now if Bavasi gets fired, an Ichiro trade might happen, but I see Boston as a better fit, with someone like Ellsbury going to Seattle.

218 I like your thinking there. I'd take a partial year of Ichiro over 5 of Pierre. Pierre and Kuo for Ichiro (they wouldn't throw in a top prospect like Jones too, though). But I don't think either GM will like your thinking, unfortunately.

Why do you think taht Sequoyah Stonecipher will be the Dodgers 1st pick, nate?

I dont. I just think his name warrants #1 pick overall status :)

I don´t remember his name, but there´s an outfielder from Puerto Rico that they say he´s the next Carlos Beltran.

his name is Angel Morales. Hes toolsy but he still has some holes in games, particularly in his swing. I dont think hes going to be Beltran but he could be Endy Chavez!

I would pay top dollar to just to look at a player with "Stonecipher" on the back of his jersey.

Yeah, that's an excellent name. It sounds made up, as if from a Terry Pratchett book or something. His name makes me think he won't make it in the bigs because it all sounds too fantastical.

226

i think his middlename is Trueblood.

Interesting Draft tidbits:
In the year of the supersized Supplemental Round, here are the amount of picks for each of the NL West teams, between the 5 teams, they have 24 out of the first 88 picks.

San Diego - 8 of the first 88 picks (12 in the first 5 rounds)
Los Angeles - 3 out of the first 87 picks (6 in the first 5 rounds)
San Francisco - 6 out of the first 51 picks (7 in the first 5 rounds)
Arizona - 5 out of the first 74 picks (8 in the first 5 rounds)
Colorado - 2 out of the first 73 picks (5 in the first 5 rounds)

San Diego hit supplemental bonus, since they have only 1 first round pick, their supplemental bonuses may not be that outrageous but since teams can spend 4-5 million for 12 picks in the first 10 rounds let alone first 5, they will probably be considering signability as much as talent.

Los Angeles pretty much is in a standard draft outlook, their picks and bonuses should fall in line with past drafts, with over 48 picks between their supplemental draft pick and their second round pick, perhaps they will be willing to spend a little more bonus money.

San Francisco has three first round picks and six in the first 51, luckily for them, they will do not have next pick until Round 5 because they may need 5-7 million to sign those first 6 players.

Arizona has the last supplemental pick if their 2006 first round pick remains unsigned by next week, unfortunately for them, the change where they would get a similar first round pick for not signing a player does not go into effect until this draft.

Colorado is the only NL West team that did not get a supplemental pick, they do not pick second until the rest of NL West clubs have taken 19 players before them.

I wonder if the Giants and Padres wished that they would have approved trading draft picks, some interesting scenarios could have arisen if that could have been done.

Wakefield's got the best PFX in the game.

PFX didn't help Wakefield there.

I guess there's no chance Jarrod Parker or Matt Harvey slips to us? Those certainly seem like Logan White-type guys. I also salivate over Jason Heyward, but he seems like more of a Depo-type pick.

231

its a possibility. Jarrod Parker is smallish for a pitcher, especially a right handed pitcher and people will wonder about the competition he is facing in Indiana. That said, he has explosive stuff with an extremely quick arm action to go along with a clean, effortless delivery. if he dropped to 20, i would definately pick him.

Harvey is more interesting then Parker and in alot of ways, his stock is more volatile. First off, heading into the spring, he was 1b to Rick Porcello as the top prep pitcher available but he has been more inconsistent this spring. Combine that with the meteoric rises of some of the other prep pitchers (parker, aumont, bumgarner), Harvey seems to be the forgotten pitcher now. When he is on, his stuff is electric and has a plus spike curveball. He throws way over the top and some people are not enthralled by that because it puts more stress on the shoulder. 2 other factors that could effect his draft status are 1: his agent 2: UNC. Boras is his advisor and UNC has a great track record of getting their top commits to come to school.

228 Last year, just looking at the bonus amounts, teams with the Giants' picks spent 6.9 million in bonus money and teams with the Padres' picks spent 5.6 million in bonus money. Those approximate amounts (some rounding) are for those picks through pick 51 for the Giants and pick 88 for the Padres.

It's very smart of Alex Cora to be putting up a .333/.380/.545/.926 line (and he just added a single to that). Sutcliffe said he's a "winning type player" and a "kid who knows how to win".

from TJ's blog..

our Brewers players -- pitchers Jeff Suppan and Chris Capuano, infielder J.J. Hardy and outfielder Bill Hall -- will tape a segment tomorrow for an episode of Young & the Restless scheduled to air on June 20

so thats what 1st place gets you!

233

I read somewhere that Moores has alloted 10mil for signing bonuses for the upcoming Padres draft.

They also still need to sign Matt Latos; who will probably get 1.25mil or around there.

232 With the shortened timeframe (August 15th cutoff), who has more leverage, the high school player with the strong committment to a particular college or the college junior who may want to start pro ball right away?

Phillippe Aumont would be sort of an intriguing pick. He's from Quebec, throws 96, and has a whiff of Gavroche about him. BA says "there is an element of uncertainty regarding his background. He now lives with guardians, and his adviser says Aumont is reluctant to discuss his parents or his past." Also, it's friggin' cold up there so BA is forced to list his stats as

"0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
No spring season "

236 Wow, that is more than they have ever have allocatted and could be the highest ever given out if they actually do pay that much.

Since 7 of their picks fall between the 40-88 range, their bonus amounts per slot, is not that bad, it is just there are so many of them, where they can make up ground is if some of Boras' clients fall due to perceived signability issues and they use that amount you mentioned to get them signed.

I think the other interesting thing about this draft is the almost universal agreement in what I have read is that the real strength is in the high school ranks.

Will "small to middle market teams" be willing to spend money on this depth or will they spend less on more "predictable" college players.

Per Diamond Leung's blog - Lineup shakeups?

CF - Pierre
SS - Furcal
1B - Garciaparra
2B - Kent
C - Martin
LF - Gonzalez
3B - LaRoche
RF - Ethier
P - Tomko

A slight shake-up to tonight's line-up, at least...

(From Tony Jackson)
CF Pierre
SS Furcal
1B Nomar
2B Kent
C Martin
LF Gonzo
RF Ethier
3B LaRoche
LH Wolf

So Pierre at #1 - as some of you had suggested. We'll see if that affects anything. Martin ahead of Gonzo is good. Gonzo in the line-up, bad. LaRoche in the line-up good. We'll see.

bh wins by a nose. I placed, at least!

243 They each had Ethier and LaRoche flipping from 7th to 8th so I guess the tiebreaker is whose is correct, I think I should get bonus points because Diamond's blog is a little harder to access.

Tomko and Wolf in a steel-cage death match to see who gets to start the game.

Hmm, the fact that Jackson posted his entry twice makes me not trust him. Either way, I'll give you the extra points. ;-) I think LaRoche ahead of Ethier might be interesting.

Wait, yeah, wasn't Tomko the scheduled starter? Now I really don't trust Jackson. Let's wait for the ItD posting to call it.

242
Shopkeeper: Take this object, but beware, it carries a terrible curse!
Homer: Ooooh, that's bad.
Shopkeeper: But it comes with a free frogurt!
Homer: That's good.
Shopkeeper: The frogurt is also cursed.
Homer: That's bad.
ShopKeeper: But you get your choice of topping.
Homer: That's good.
ShopKeeper: The toppings contain potassium benzoate.
(Homer stares at the shopkeeper, not comprehending what this means.)
Shopkeeper: That's bad.

Diamond has been blogging all year, I believe - just that the RPE combined their Angels and Dodger blogs. The Daily News was doing that at first, too. I think both wanted to see if their beat writers could generate enough content, because, you know, blogging is so dang hard.

Tennis Update -
UCLA leads 3-1 but Stanford should win their second match in moments and it will come down to two matches going into their third sets.

So: The Player has earned additional PAs.

249 Diamond considered DT the "elite" of Dodger blogging.

So, Leung had it right:
Pierre, CF

Furcal, SS

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Martin, C

Gonzalez, LF

LaRoche, 3B

Ethier, RF

Tomko, P

per ItD.

A few little-known facts about tonights starter, courtesy of a Google search for "Tomko is":

Tomko is closer to a Jim Bouton than one of the guys.
Tomko is the definition of average.
Tomko is a cum laude graduate of the school of hard knocks.
Tomko is incredibly dumb.
Tomko is a talented player who will likely challenge for a spot in the lineup early in her career.
Tomko is known more for his days as a promotor of NWA: All-Star Wrestling.
Tomko is a historian, performer, and re-embodier of dances past.
Tomko is "The Recovering Bully". Having spent much of his early life as a bully, he was part of the problem, now he is proud to be part of the solution.
Tomko is actually a pretty cool action figure.
Tomko is available for travel throughout the United States and the world.
Tomko is chiefly noted as the runner-up in the World Series of Poker.
Tomko is backstage with a lead pipe.
Tomko is the Western Canada distributor of Plexipave, the world's # 1 selling tennis court paint.
Tomko is one of the worst wrestlers in the history of the galaxy.
Tomko is the steepest rapid on the Upper Blackwater and definitely one of the most fun.
Tomko is planning the technical side of upcoming versions of "Bye Bye, Birdie" and a musical "Irma La Douce."
Tomko is still in the game, what the ----.

If anyone here like Wilco, the new record is fantastic.

Of course it's fantastic. They're Wilco!

Saw this funny note in Gammons' blog about Dave Roberts. Apparently Roberts was getting some good-natured ribbing from his Giant teammates because he constantly talks about his short stint as a Red Sox player.

He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame for making the "steal" of the century over the 2006 winter.

Roberts says that not one day goes by, wherever he is, that someone fais to come up to him and thank him for that post-season, not one.

255 256 I know you can stream it from their web site, but is it on the market now?

Nice article Jon. Totally agree. I think you've helped me bring my feelings on the Pierre subject from my subconscious to words.

Good work.

The Player has been moved to leadoff so teams will start giving intentional BBs to the pitcher.

260 - hahaha tomko will be ibb to get to the human out machine lol
all this won't matter because tomko is pitching however....

Game thread is open.

I would love to see the Dodgers trade Juan Pierre + a prospect for Richard Sexson. While Pierre has been terrible, I think he'll bounce back to around his career norms. The thing is, I don't want him here for 5 years. While Pierre is an easy target and has contributed to the team's poor offense, Nomar has been really awful, when you consider the average production from other 1st basemen in the league.