I wish Raffy's ankle weren't bothering him so much this season. He's really the key to their offense and I think that more than anything else is a major reason the offense is so erratic, imho.

Eric Byrnes 24.8
Orlando Hudson 20.2
Chad Tracy 11.9
Conor Jackson 7.7
Mark Reynolds 7.0
Chris Young 4.8
Augie Ojeda 3.8
Tony Clark 3.1
Chris Snyder -0.5
Stephen Drew -2.8
Carlos Quentin -4.0

Of course, if we take 4 out of the next 7, my outlook could change, but with Penny/Lowe being our only two reliable starters, the offense needs to carry some of the load. And I needn't say anything about the offense.

Mssrs. Martin, Kemp, Loney, and Ethier went a combined 20-for-44 with 4 2B's, a 3B, and a homerun over the weekend. I'll take my chances with that production every series out of that group.

We'll have our good weeks and then the rough ones like the one we just had.

I hope that Ned doesn't get trigger happy and trade Kemp, Loney, Bills, Brox. for some rental player (i.e Dye, Dunn) I would almost rather ride this year out and have the young nucleus mature so that next year we can come stronger.

I keep hearing that we are frontrunner for Mark Texieria but I don't know that he is the answer, because he would come at a hefty price tag. I hear we can get glaus for Laroche if it's straight up I would say go for it, but more than that I would say pass. I have a sinking feeling that Ned wants to move Loney in order not to deal with a weird situation with Nomar. Sorry for the long post.

Or, I will just piss and moan about it.

Wouldn't the arrival of Teixeira present an even weirder situation with Nomar?

He thinks you should pick the best player at the position, rather than the guy having the best 300 AB stretch.

So by that logic...I would say most people would rather have Rafael Furcal than Troy Tulowitski at short.

Also, Jake Peavy by a mile over Penny. I don't think anybody would seriously say Penny is a better pitcher than Peavy.

I would think Broxton over Heath Bell, as well.

Other than that, the picks would line up similarly to Jon's.

K/guo in his few starts has been pretty reliable outside of being lit up once due to command problems. He's certainly not the reason for yesterday; TB was lucky to get more than one run off him.

He also turned in a real nice September last year, including two starts vs. the Mets in a pennant race. I think he's to where he can be relied upon most of the time.

If Billingsley does no more than duplicate what he did last year--he should do better after his bullpen time and more experience--then he usually also can be counted on.

Granted, Wolf hasn't been impressive lately. And with Kuo and Bills available, neither Tomko nor Luch should pitch a first inning again.

If another starter is needed, I'm for giving Houlton a shot. He's much better now than with the Dodgers two years ago...so says Dodger brass, not just me.

Nomar 11-20-06

>>> McDougall, who was called up by the 51s from Double-A Jacksonville on Thursday to replace injured Andy LaRoche, spent all day getting to Cashman Field and then struck out in his first at-bat for Las Vegas as an eighth-inning replacement at first base in the 51s' 10-7 win over Colorado Springs. <<<

### His seventh time up, he hit a three-run homer, his sixth in a row and an NCAA record. He finished the day with 16 RBIs, another record, as FSU routed the Terrapins, 26-2. ###

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/8146507.html

Someone (maybe one of the Andrews) suggested that the way to get Nomar to waive his no-trade would be to simply take away his playing time. I wonder if that would really make him upset enough to leave his hometown, where his wife and newborn twins (Mia had twins, if you didn't hear) live. He may very well be content to hang out and collect 18 million dollars.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/articles/8152337.html

Ego and past glory.

On April 3, 1974, the Dodgers send pitcher Bruce Ellingsen to the Indians for a 17-year-old hitter from San Pedro de Macoris. Ellinson only pitched 42 innings for Cleveland in 1974 and never played again.

But the Dodgers are rapidly approaching a time when they're gonna need to make a decision about him and first base, and which direction they go will be quite revealing.

I've given up on stuffing All-Star ballot boxes. ESPY ballots, on the other hand...

LaRoche recently hurt himself making a diving catch, the same way he suffered the initial injury last June, but he isn't expected to miss much more than a week this time.

http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_6221222

http://tinyurl.com/2rn3mt

41 That conflicts with what Kevin Pearson of the Press-Enterprise reported:
"Andy LaRoche, who made his ML debut earlier this year and is back in Class AAA Las Vegas, was placed on the disabled list last week with a sore right shoulder. Laroche had left shoulder surgery in October after sustaining an injury while diving for a ball last season."

Obviously the distinction is a huge one as far as LaRoche's prospects for the future are concerned. Anybody know the straight dope?

32 "Someone (maybe one of the Andrews) suggested that the way to get Nomar to waive his no-trade would be to simply take away his playing time. ... He may very well be content to hang out and collect 18 million dollars."

And I would be content to let him. The money's already been wasted. If we can get him to be a pinch hitter/occasional first baseman/emergency SS or 3B for the rest of his contract, that's fine with me

Here we go again. Paranoia strikes deep.

Colletti has made some questionable decisions. But that doesn't make him a drooling idiot. Only a drooling idiot would trade players who have performed in the majors at the level of those four, who cost beans and are years away from arbitration, for older players that cost a lot and will be gone after a few months. All four of those players are performing at strikingly high levels now. Even Bill Plaschke at this point would pillory a trade such as what you're suggesting, because (as opposed to when he urged such trades a year ago), these players are no longer "prospects."

Ned might go deeper into the farm system, to the AA level where we have some great prospects, if that will get him a Troy Glaus/Jermaine Dye. Andy LaRoche could be some danger, although I doubt it. But for Loney, Kemp, Billingsley or Broxton, I don't think there is a conceivable trade involving any of those four that Ned would make, even if he was drunk. Short of getting Cabrera, or an extended A-Rod with the Yankees paying most of his contract.

Now I'm all confused. Last year did LaRoche tear his left labrum, his right labrum -- or both?

"'I know this,' Kent said upon his arrival in the clubhouse, 'I won't play beyond 40. That makes next year my last year. As for coming back next year, that will probably come down to how the team finishes this year.'
...
There's still a chance this might be Kent's final season, but the Dodgers probably will have to win the World Series. He admits, though, it's becoming increasingly difficult as a family man to dedicate himself solely to baseball as he did as a younger man."

In 1960, the Dodgers flipped Don Zimmer to the Cubs for Ron Perranoski.

In 1965, the Dodgers traded Dick Tracewski for Phil Regan.

In 1973, the Dodgers traded Willie Davis for Mike Marshall and Claude Osteen for Jimmy Wynn.

In 1975, Eddie Solomon and Geoff Zahn went to the Cubs for Burt Hooton.

In 1976, Joe Ferguson went to the Cardinals for Reggie Smith.

I'm just as confused as you are. Because I've been under the impression that it was his non-throwing shoulder.

Tough call.

Germano vs Lincecum up north tonight should be interesting.

Wolf's turn should come up next on Thursday but the Dodgers haven't announced their starter. The D-Backs have announced Hernandez.

The Padres have Thursday off so it appears we may miss Wells. It looks like we'll get Young, Peavy and Germano.

So, seven straight righthanders in the big showdowns.

A big fat bummer, as my Greek-American friends would say.

61 The presence of Eric Karros, among others, eliminates that possibility.

don't forget this is still baseball & anything can happen.

Jimmy Wynn in exchange for Claude Osteen and
Dave Culpepper (December 6, 1973).

Mike Marshall for Willie Davis

Both Davis and Osteen had been great Dodgers but were done.

Left shoulder: Complete tear surgically repaired

Right shoulder: Partial tear, rehabbed

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2914314

Dexter was a great show. Wonder how they will top it this coming season.

As far as the great trades go we usually get half decent players and somehow end up losing our big stars.

Cody White was promoted to Single-A Inland Empire after allowing one run in eight innings for low Single-A Great Lakes on Sunday.
White, a 22-year-old left-hander, was 8-5 with a 2.48 ERA, 68 H and 63/41 K/BB in 76 1/3 innings in the Midwest League. He has the stuff to be an asset out of the pen for the Dodgers someday

Harkey is a "3 star" recruit according to the service that BRO uses while the ESPN.com's scouting service has Harkey on their ESPN Top 150 watchlist. Meanwhile Rahim Moore, considered to be the best recruit according to BRO, has not yet cracked that ESPN Top 150, though he is close.

In 1938, the Dodgers traded Eddie Morgan and $45,000 to the Phillies for Dolph Camilli, who would post a career 143 OPS+ in six seasons with the Dodgers and win the 1941 NL MVP.

Later in 1938, the Dodgers purchased Whit Wyatt from the Phillies for an undisclosed sum. Wyatt went 80-45 with a 2.86 ERA in four and a half seasons with the Dodgers and would have won the 1941 NL Cy Young Award had such an award existed then.

In 1939, the Dodgers traded four minor leaguers and $35,000 for Pee Wee Reese, who went on to become, well, Pee Wee Reese.

I also wonder how important it is for Great Lakes to keep Kershaw around for a while longer, he is their best player and it is the first year they are minor league team for the Dodgers.

i went to his start tonight, inland empire vs san jose. Mcdonald currently leads the CAL League in strikeouts and is one of the better starting pitching prospects in the Dodgers system.

His line was:

5.1IP 8H 4ER 1bb 13K 2hr

Scouting Report

Physical Characteristics:

Mcdonald is long and lanky, listed at 6'5 195lbs. From my observation, he was very bit the 6'5 and as skinny as 195lbs; maybe even a bit less. Really skinny waist and stands tall on the mound. He has a short, quick arm action throwing from the high 3 quarters angle. he breaks his hands a little later then most and sqaures up to home plate a little later then most which adds nice deception and hitters have trouble picking up the ball. If the dodgers get him on a weight training program and he can gain 15-20lbs or so, he could definitely add velocity to his pitches.

Fastball: 60-65

Fastball velocity was a tick above average for a right hander, between 89-92 on stalker guns around me with 90-91 consistently. What makes it a 65 grade at times is the control and deception he gets to it. He was getting consistent swings and misses with his fb in fb counts and the only thing i can attribute that too is that he hides the ball well before he releases it. The fb is fairly straight, no extreme movement to it.

Breaking ball: 55-60

He threw some sliders but mainly curveballs. They were inconsistent but when he snapped them off, they were above big league average. When he gave up his first homerun, he had the hitter down 0-2 on 2 great curveballs, one looking and the second one swinging. Bad location and pitch selection on the fb lead to the homerun. It seemed he wasn't feeling his curveball that much because it was his third best pitch and third most used pitch in the night behind his fb and change up. the cb was coming in around 77-80 with the slider coming in a bit harder.

Change up: 65

In my opinion, it was his best pitch of the night. Plenty of swings and misses (about 5 Ks) on it and only one from my notes that was hit for a base hit. the CU was disguised well with the same tempo and arm action as his fastball with velocity around 78mph. The pitch had some sink and dive to it but his ability to command it and throw it in any count was impressive. I distinctly remember a 3-2 count where he pulled the string and got the hitter to swing and miss.

Control and Command: 60-65

As you can tell by the one walk issued, he was around the plate the majority of the time. He seemed to spot his fastball well and had confidence in his cu. he was iffy with his cb and had command of it depending on the inning. The homers given up were fastball with bad location that the hitters just tattered.

The Bad:

from my notes, i wrote down that he was inconstent from the stretch. He rushed his delivery sometimes to compensate from being so long and lanky with some inconsistent release points. Other then some badly located fastballs, he looks really good as evidenced by the 13:1 K:bb ratio. alot of the hits were bloopers and dribbles so he was a bit unlucky with his BABIP; i only remembered 3 hard hit balls- a double down the right field line and the 2 homeruns.

The flyball tendencies might be a concern, but i think he pitches different at home then away. his GO/FO ratio away is 1.35 compared to .47 at home. The Inland Empire home park plays pretty neutral so compared to other CAL league parks, maybe he realizes he can get away with pitching up in the zone alot more at home then on the road.

78 Did they have OPS back then? ;-)

Was Mark Grudzielanek that bad at second?

I'm excited to see Kemp and Loney develop. It will be nice to say half of our lineup is homegrown for a change. Just like it was in the 70's and early 90's

Chances are, despite the current results, Lieberthal would be a better alternative than Navarro because Navarro would probably not improve much by just sitting and also his value becomes less and less (he is not Salty) in terms of trade value.

I am always a lone wolf on this aspect but the money part is not really an issue that I see being very important.

Your point still stands, however, about not having a reliable 2nd baseman since Sax left. (Although Kent has been very good offensively as his defense has faded away)

He posted a 97 OPS+ over 7+ full seasons, and was a solid contributor. I will always remember him for backing away from Kirk Gibson as he got close to touching home plate in Game 1 of the 1988 WS, as if this was little league or something and touching Gibson would nullify the homer.

He likely would hit better given more playing time. Navarro would hate sitting on the bench all that time and rightfully so.

Interestingly, Kelly Stinnett has started 4 of the last 6 games for the Cardinals and it's possible that the Cardinals may keep him and get rid of Bennett when Molina comes off the DL.

"Oh, I miss Jose Cruz!"
"We should have kept Dioner Navarro!"
"Gagne should still be on the Dodgers!"
"Why did we get rid of Jose Lima?"
"Why didn't we re-sign Beltre?"
"It's not just LAT's daughter who likes Shawn Green!"
"We need Guillermo Mota!"

Like I said, loved the guy, but LA can do better.

Don't forget Alex Cora would've fielded every grounder that gets through the infield.

top 5 08 class!

thanks. i'll probably make one more trip out if kershaw pitches for the 66ers.

Marty, you doing OK?

http://tinyurl.com/3yne4t

yep. right now he has a solid 3 pitch mix but not one outstanding pitch. Hes only been pitching full time for a couple years and has the body frame where added mass=added velocity is a real possibility. It could definitely happen and if it does, he could be a callup option late next year if one of our starters go down.

When I first got to where you said Hendrickson backing up Martin I thought you were going in the direction of throws to home from the outfield and Hendrickson backing up the play

107 Trainwreck will probably agree that UCLA is one Holli day away from being the top 2008 class.

he doubled up in HS and his one year in CC. he started off his professional career as a positional player too. Only in the last couple years has he just focused specifically on pitching.

Jackie Robinson and Junior Gilliam would require some untangling.

Lots of silliness about a supposed conversation between Mitch Kupchak and Kevin McHale about a 4 team deal where the Lakers get Garnett and they deal Odom, Bynum and one of the Busses (not Jeannie) to the Wolves.

This will be an exciting NBA draft because a lo of teams are looking to deal. Hopefully the Lakers can make some positive moves.

I don't think Gagne left because of a $1,000,0000 difference. He wanted some guaranty that he would be The Closer.

I'm going to go have Number 1 (pastrami, cole slaw, russian dressing on rye) in his honor sometime this week

Well, let's see. Mazeroski in 1960. Was Joe Carter's HR for Toronto in the WS or the ALCS?

Hmm.

Mazeroski in 1960 - homer
Larkin in 1991 - single
Carter in 1993 - homer
Renteria in 1997 - single
Gonzalez in 2001 - single

The 1912 World Series ended on a sacrifice fly by Larry Gardner. That was Game 8 as there was a tie earlier in the series.

Which Closer do you like better?

Earl McNeely – 1924 Washington Senators vs. New York Giants (Game 7).

Bing Miller – 1929 Philadelphia Athletics vs. Chicago Cubs (Game 5)

Goose Goslin- 1935 Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago Cubs (Game 6)

Billy Martin – 1953 New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (Game 6)

Bill Mazeroski – 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Yankees (Game 7)

Gene Larkin – 1991 Minnesota Twins vs. Atlanta Braves (Game 7)

Joe Carter – 1993 Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Game 6)

Edgar Renteria – 1997 Florida Marlins vs. Cleveland Indians (Game 7)

Luis Gonzalez – 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees (Game 7).

Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Abreu, 3B
Penny, P

Plus, "interesting" news coming shortly. I guess it's kind of scary since Loney and Kemp aren't in there.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzalez, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Abreu, 3B

Penny, P

I would.
The Dodgers need a guy that can step in and play everyday if Martin gets hurt---thats what you want backups to be able to do. Lieberthal I dont think is capable at his age---in fact it wouldnt surprise me if Lieberthal is the "backup catcher" for his entire time with the Dodgers---that if Martin goes on the DL---Ben Davis would be the Dodgers starting catcher.

As for Navarro getting mad about playing time or needing time to develop---the Braves dont seem to have a problem having McCann/Saltamacchia both on their team.

4 mils bucks might not be anything to Fox News Corp--but I bet it means something to the McCourts.

How have Ethier/Abreu become such favorites?

So, you give the edge to Gagne. Besides he's younger.

news im looking forward to: any kind of demotion for bombdrickson. any promotion of meloan. pavement reuniting. dodgers getting cabrera for betemit houlton and brazoban. ; )

160 Heh. I like all your other possibilities.

http://tinyurl.com/3duq6s

http://tinyurl.com/3duq6s

Salty is 10x the prospect Navarro is; especially with the bat.

I don't want to hear any "interesting" news about the Dodgers. Interesting news scares the bejeezus out of me.

Could Lieberthal play everyday like Martin no, he couldn't. You would probably be in a situation where the catchers would be splitting time or at least 60/40.

okay it won't be but thats better then any other "interesting news".

Just get the best 25 guys on the team. I dont think thats too difficult. Yeah, I'm sure there's some pride involved there with young guys wanting to play---but in the end they are still getting the same paycheck.

Glaus has an $11M player option for 2009 which he'll probably opt out of. Maybe Ned figures this trade buys him a year to decide if he wants Glaus or LaRoche as his 3B for 2009-2013.

why do you torture me?

Why would Toronto want Loney? They have Overbay, they would need a 3b not a 1b. They aren't going to trade for a guy just because Overbay is on the DL.

Did I mention I'm writing a time travel script?

Besides if something does happen, will you want to go out or just sit home and stare at your computer muttering.

202 No one expects Brady Clark! His chief elements are fear, an almost fanatical devotion to...

I am all over Nomar and his one HR but for some reason I take offense when TJ joins in on the party (see today's entry).

(with new comments)

"Obviously, I overreacted," he said. "I called my ex-wife."

However, I'll be shocked if it happens.

However, even with Betemit's Andruwian batting average, his slugging percentage (.408) and on-base percentage (.329) are both higher than Nomar (.338/.321).

I believe interviews are usually scheduled in advance so it may not have anything to do with the "interesting" news and there hasn't been any announcements yet but just giving everyone a heads up.

How does replacing Abreu or Betemit's bat with Loney's become an offensive downgrade?

But Ned doesn't know much about Kobe Bryant!

But it does seem that third base should be our primary focus for an upgrade, correct?

Nomar at 3rd = bad news.

"UPDATE: As promised, here's a little more info. Grady just let the beat writers and other media know that Nomar is going to start taking some ground balls and working out at third base in the next few days, as there's a chance he'll start playing there. And as you can imagine, Nomar seems totally fine with it. He played there with the Cubs briefly and a little in high school and I truly believe him when he says "whatever's best for the team.""

Well, that's cool. I'm happy they're gonna try it out. Why not? I'm skeptical but think it's possible, and better than hearing about a trade of top prospects for somebody old and pointless.

Ned's demeanor during the interview seemed cranky, kind of putting a voice to how I imagine Bill James is during his chats on ESPN.com back in the day.

RIP Crippler and family

It would appear this would make sending Abreu back a lot easier, when Ramon Martinez is ready to come back. I get the feeling that Betemit sees his playing time drastically reduced though.

I think this is the only way it's going to happen this year, unless Nomar completely falls off the planet.

i got that feeling also, i'd probably feel the same if they asked me a stupid question about Kobe.

shows you what i know i thought they called up Meloan.

Nomar at 3rd = bad news.

I guess we'll see, but way to go Loney!

If he can't do better than those two, then Grady has every right to sit him. If Nomar hits badly at third, that certainly wouldn't justify moving him back to first.

In the meanwhile we get Loney at first.

pre-1973 season: Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen acquired for Frank Robinson, Bill Singer, Mike Strahler, Billy Grabarkewitz, and Bobby Valentine. Messersmith was the ace in 1974 and in his three Dodger season - as long as anyone in this trade lasted with his new team - his ERA+s were 128, 132, 149. Robby had one good comeback year for California and Valentine became the tragic "what if" story; I can still see the newspaper photo of his broken leg in my mind to this day.

pre 1976 season: Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson for Jimmy Wynn, Tom Paciorek, Lee Lacy, and Jerry Royster. Wynn was a season away from done and Lacy was reacquired in mid-June with Elias Sosa for Mike Marshall whose best days were behind him.