Happy 4th of July everyone! To honor our country's birthday, I'm having people over for a cookout and cocktails. But the menu is entirely Mexican, carne asada, pollo preperada stuffed chiles and pozole. Plus margaritas.

Ole!

1 - Where's my invite? :)

Just kidding. Everyone have a great fourth!

I wish I was at some sort of BBQ right now. Since I woke up at around 4 pm Italian time, I missed lunch, but when I went out to try to find a place to eat dinner, it seems that most restaurants close until 6 or 7 pm. I've noticed that most other parts of the world are much less worried about convenience than Americans are. During all my time walking around, I haven't seen one grocery store, one liquor store, and the only fast food being a couple McDonald's.

1

Pozole is my one true weakness i'll eat that stuff till i turn blue, absolutely love it.

really nice read Jon, I really doubt Randy Wolf will have problems with his shoulder, like you mentioned he's never had shoulder problems so i'm pretty sure he'll be o.k. Have a safe & happy 4th of july i'll be kicking it at the beach trying to master the art of body surfing.

Memories of dealing promising Paul Konerko in order to keep an aging Eric Karros do not inspire confidence that Kemp or Loney won't be dealt, too, even though this is an entirely different administration. Just as Kemp must demonstrate he will lay off low-and-away sliders, so Colletti must show he can exercise the discipline required to stock this team with Kemps and Loneys (and Betemits over Nomars).

To some extent, Tomko has been unlucky so far--I make his BABIP as .318. Although he is slumping now, if he can regain the confidence Grady mentions, he could reduce the pressure on Colletti. Let's root for Tomko!

Interesting how things change. After the offseason, the Dodgers were thought to have a surplus of starting pitchers, and were considering dealing Penny. Halfway through the season, the Dodgers' #9 starter (Houlton) is a candidate for the rotation, and the Dodgers are looking to be buyers in the starting pitcher market.

One thing I hate more than family hogging the TV so I can't watch the Dodgers?

Injuries.

I don't really hate the family for hogging the tube. It was a great game last night and I missed it because the wife needed to watch another chick flick (a curious habit of a post-graduate who happens to be a respected teacher) and the kid had to beat Zelda for the umpteenth time. I get it and I ain't hatin'.

But I do hate injuries.

7 Damn straight, pardon language. You never, EVER deal pitching unless you are SURE said pitching will never be as good as the guys you got. Pardon the shouting...

Dealing Penny at that time would've been like the Red Sox giving up on Roger Clemens. On a significantly smaller scale, yes, but still...

How about Steve Traschel? He's cheap, he's experienced in the NL, he's an inning-eater and he's due off the DL Mid-July. Andre Ethier for him would be a good deal. We don't have to give up Loney or Kemp and we get a stopgap #5 starter. What's not to like?

Am I the only one who thinks Honeycutt could be part of the problem?

10 How is Honeycutt a problem?

I don't think we'd have to give up Ethier to get Trachsel. His numbers are very pedestrian and he doesn't have a ton of trade value. I'd actually be in favor of trading spare parts for him instead of overpaying for a moderately better pitcher, but I'd rather give up someone like Xavier Paul - someone who has enough promise to make him desirable, but enough of a question mark that I wouldn't mind giving him up.

10. Yup. You're the only one. The rest of us got together and discussed it, and it's just you.

Nah. It's partly injuries. Can't blame Honeycutt for those. We knew going in that Schmidt and Wolf were injury risks. Kuo too. They were good risks to take, but came up snake eyes. It's also that a couple of those guys (Hendrickson, Tomko) were not really good options to begin with. So if you need to place blame, blame the GM for stocking up on pitchers with high risk of failure. But mostly I'd blame bad luck.

I'm pretty sure that Juan Pierre is Honeycutt's fault though. Can't RH work on his throwing mechanics? It's simply amazing that a healthy 29 yr old throws so badly.

Actually, I was just kidding, but now that I think about it, I wonder if pitching coaches ever work with non-pitchers. Who knows more about throwing mechanics? Yeah, pitching is different from long-toss, but I wonder if anyone has ever tried to figure out if Pierre's throwing can be improved.

Looks like Kobe's hotdog reign is over. Chestnut is roasting.

8 yes. my wife is a very, very smart Ph.D. to-be who adores the chick flicks and reads Harlequins. But don't tell her I told you that, as she'd be terribly embarrased.

Orenduff has been pitching well lately. I hope they give him some starts or long relief stints .

14. Heck, we're a bunch of smart folks who spend an inordinate amount of time dissecting and agonizing over a game in which millionaires dress up in clown suits and try to hit a ball with a stick, so I'm thinking we wouldn't be in a position to throw stones. Tell your wife to own her vices.

this hot dog thing is the most awesomely appalling thing I have ever seen. U-S-A! U-S-A!

announcer: "this would be the greatest moment in American sports..."

Announcer just said this could be the greatest moment in the history of American sports if Chestnut can bring the belt home.

Looks like Chestnut will win by a nose.

12 Pierre seems to go a bit too over-the-top with his throws. Usually when an outfielder has an extreme over-the-top motion it's because he gets good snap on the ball and can make crisp throws. Since that doesn't describe Pierre at all, his throws seem to float too much. If he had more of a 3/4 arm angle it seems like his balls would at least have less loft and get to their destination quicker.

20 Chestnut wins by a handful of vomit.

Chestnut - 66
Kobe - 63

21 I don't think it has anything to do with his arm angle. He throws from his heels, and it has the same effect as when he swings from his heels. I wonder if he got in the habit overcompensating for a generally weak arm. Either way, it's an easily fixable problem for a little leaguer, but I don't know how much you can change in a guy his age.I could teach him to form throw in about 5 minutes, but I doubt it would stick.

24. You're probably right. But the one thing we hear (that we believe) about Pierre is that he's a hard worker. It seems as though he'd be willing to try if anyone actually bothered to demand it.

24 Thats very Rick Peterson of you.

Recently there's been talk here of players showing they can handle AAA, then moving up.

Seems like the Dodgers have a history of moving some folks to the majors directly from AA. Didn't that happen with Fernando?
I don't think of others right off, but it seems like there have been.

If this is the case, Meloan's chances are good.

7 - TINSTAASOSP - There Is No Such Thing As A Surplus Of Starting Pitchers.

27. I think the team has realized that numbers in Vegas (and Albuquerque before that) are so distorted by park effects that AA numbers might be better indicators of actual ability. Of course, the competition is likely better in AAA, but pitchers will look worse (and maybe pick up bad habits) and hitters will look better than they are (and ditto).

Although Valenzuela didn't pitch in the PCL at AAA, he pitched parts of two seasons in the Mexican League, which is considered AAA, before coming up to the Dodgers.

Broxton was called up from AA in 2005, but spent part of 2006 in AAA.

27 The question is are they gonna grab someone from Vegas before Jacksonville because of the distance? They would have to have made their decision late last night or early this morning to bring up Meloan.

U-S-A! U-S-A!!

I wonder if we can get a Screen Jam post to discuss Kobiyashi's "reversal" and where it ranks on the all-time list of televised American sporting moments...

Didn't Ned get Stan Conte from the Gnats, because he is considered one of the best trainer? in fact I believe he is going to the All-Star Game, as the Head Trainer....pretty good credentials in light of the fact, 2 starting pitchers are on the DL, one gone for the season, another..who knows??

I am with Jon about standing pat. I feel like any trade we make would give up a young player who is just blossoming and would end up backfiring on us. I feel like we can get by with what we've got.

Would someone like Buehrle make more of an impact on our rotation than Houlton/Kuo/Meloan/?Hendrickson might make in the long run? Especially considering the cost...

33 As much as I like blaming people for things, I doubt much of this can be placed at the feet of Conte. He might have some mild culpability for Schmidt coming back too soon the first time, but the pitching motion is a high stress movement in general. Conte's not a voodoo doctor (maybe we should get a voodoo doctor).

There seems to be concern Ned will do something dumb in a panic pitching trade.

I think any immediate such trade on terms unfavorble to the Dodgers is less likely because there's a bit of time to see how the triple threat of Hendrickson, Houlton, and (shudder) Tomko do.

This could give triple threat a whole new meaning...

But Hendrickson hasn't been at all bad lately.

And I think Houlton is better than quite a few ML pitchers who've been around a lot longer. His numbers the year he was with the team were as good as Tomdrickson normally have. Dodger management has praised him as much improved, and I think he'd have been starting all year on many teams.

And watching him last night--you actually could see a Dodger game here, on TBS--he pitched with poise and stayed within himself despite what he seemed to think were a couple "uh-oh" pitches, one of which almost left the park.

Note to Tomko: see reference to pitching with poise and staying within yourself. If you had ever learned to do that with your "stuff," you'd be an established uppper-level ML starter.

35
I've been doing some scouting in Port-au-Prince and I've got a few leads.

Happy 4th everyone! Have a fun and safe holiday (even if it is a mid-week one).

I'm actually kind of glad Wolf was hurt and going on the DL - not literally glad he's hurt but glad there's a reason for his suckitude the last two starts. I know he's a better pitcher than we've seen. I just hope this helps him. He'll only miss a start, sounds like. Any word on who is coming up in his place? Sure would be fun to see Meloan, but I assume it'll be someone like Hull or Stults (neither of whom have been that impressive as of late in AAA, but it is the PCL...)

I may check in here later during the game, but if not, happy 4th and go white and blue! (Minus the red.)

PS: Re: the Ethier for Trachsel suggestion. In a word, no.

Don't sell Ethier so short. Trachsel could be an okay acquisition but he shouldn't cost nearly that much.

35 I would think and hope that Stan would best know the health issues of all the players. Yes, the players needs to step-up and acknowledge if their is soemthing wrong. Just hope Wolf's setback is minor...Our rotation going into the the 2nd half will be Penny (funny how we all we're looking for him to be traded in the off season) Lowe, Bills, Hendy, and until the All Star break, we can probably go with this with Houlton in long releif and Tomko visiting Dr. Melfi.

38. Yeah. Hate Red. Go Bears!

Mmmf. Sorry. Autonomic response.

38 "even if it is a mid-week one"

My company gave us Thursday and Friday off because of the mid-week holiday, so I'll take mid-week ones every time!

Happy Independence Day everybody!

I was wondering, now a few years back, the Dodgers picked up a knuckleballer off waivers and used him for a few months. It was a hoot to watch and listen to Vin go on and on about "The Knuckeball is outside, the knuckeball falls in for a strike."

He was effective for probably two starts, but after that every team pretty much raked him across the yard. Anyway, what was his name?

43 Tom Candiotti?

42 I'll take working for your company over working for mine, then!

It can get really scary sometimes, seeing all that depth on the Dodger bench and on the farm and Ned's eyes bulging out with the prospect of dumping great talent for aging rent-a-players.

The knuckleballer was Dennis Springer. Hell of a nice guy, by the way. He was a product of the Dodger farm system who was cut loose, bounced around to a lot of other teams, and then came back to pitch five games for the Dodgers and give up Barry Bonds' 73rd home run.

I don't want Trachsel on the team, by the way. It's hard enough to set aside three hours to watch the Dodger games. I don't want to have to set aside five.

Hallux, that's a little too far back. This was sometime after at least 2000.

Hey there you go... thanks Eric! I wonder what Springer's up to these days?

Ah, Springer! That makes more sense. Candiotti was just the only knuckleballer I could think of for the Dodgers.

40. I certainly never wanted to trade Penny (absent a return in the ARod/Cabrera category. If someone can find a comment in which I advocated a Penny trade, I plead temporary insanity. But I've always liked Penny. Loved the trade that brought him (and Choi) here. I admit that I was worried about his health after the 2nd half of last season, but when he's healthy, he's a #1 starter.

Re: 43

Are you referring to Dennis Springer, who saw minimal action for LA in 2001 and 2002?

WWSH

Naw, it wasn't Candiotti, he was with them for awhile. I know who you mean... Was it Dennis Springer?

Should refresh before I post.... =)

WWSH

45 Thank God for spoiled brat entertainment industry types! It's kind of funny- not even all the divisions in our company get the extra holiday. I have several friends who have to work tomorrow.

D'oh, Wayne beat me to it!

It certainly wasn't Charlie Hough. He was around for awhile. ;-)

How about this for Springer trivia?
As a member of the Dodgers, Springer surrendered Barry Bonds' Major League record-setting 73rd home run on October 7, 2001. The homer came off a 3-2 pitch clocked at 43 miles per hour (a knuckleball) in the bottom of the first inning of Los Angeles' 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants. (From Wikipedia)

Dennis Springer's last stint in pro ball came in 2002, when he spent the whole year pitching for us at Vegas. Not sure what he's up to now. His wikipedia page says the pitch on which he game up Bonds' 73rd homer was clocked at 43 (!) mph.

drat.

{echo} {echo}

You were WWSH'd by me, Eric. ;-)

So no word on who's coming up for Wolf?

Okay, I'm gonna go enjoy the day, since it's actually sunny here. Ciao.

56 43? I think I won a prize at one of those radar gun booths at a fair once when I was 12 for guessing that I would throw 43 and proceed to do so. I realize a knuckler isn't supposed to be fast, but doesn't Wakefield's at least sit in the low 60's?

Proposed pitcher trade: Tomko for Gagne.

{braces self for hurricane force wind produced by gales of laughter from Texas in response}...but then you never know. There's no telling what a given GM or owner might do (see Rod-A, others).

Then try Houlton & Hendrickson in the rotation while seeing what happens with Wolf.

Would Gagne come back in any trade if he weren't to be closer, if his contract gives him the right to refuse for that reason? Couldn't justify taking closer away from Sammy now, even as great as Gagne was. Amazingly enough, Gagne seems healthy now.

I wonder if it means anything that with Jacksonville leading 3-2 going into the ninth inning last night, Meloan was conspicuously absent and Brian Akin picked up the save.

62 Possible, but I think they've been treating him with kid gloves all year. That's one reason I think management is slightly hesitant to call him up. It would be all too tempting to make him the 7th inning guy and put him in there whenever the game's close whether he had pitched a lot recently or not.

60 No one's that dumb. Teams like Cleveland and the Yanks will be heavy after him around the deadline, so I'm sure the Rangers will get at least a B prospect for him.

Good to hear straight from a doctor that things have changed a lot with how they treat labrum tears. Very nice that he is aware of trying to get Schmidt back pitching, not just free of pain. Would be great to have him trailblaze a new way to come back from this injury.

Happy fourth everyone!

55. I'm at work now. Althought, as I'm posting, perhaps that's more form than substance.

I just want to see how many days pass before someone else uses the "low hangng fruit" analogy. It won't catch on like "resonate" but it will reappear.

Old Friend Edwin Jackson was having such a promising outing vs. the Red Sox before falling apart in the 4th and 5th innings. I guess it doesn't say much for my expectations of the guy if I was getting excited after 3 innings of decent ball.

66. In academia, it's used constantly. Usually to disparage someone's work. Same idea as "So easy/obvious, even a caveman could do it."

67. It's looking more and more like Jackson is destined for the bullpen.

68
I sometimes feel like the requirement that research hypotheses have a strong theoretical base almost by nature renders the research questions easy/obvious. It's as if the hypotheses must have such a strong basis that we pretty much already know what the findings will be before we find them, and thus they end up seeming "easy/obvious".

Lets trade for Edwin Jackson. I would like my jersey to not be a throw back anymore.

Without a strong theoretical basis, it's not a hypothesis - it's a guess. And there's a difference between deductive validity ("if X is true, then Y MUST BE true") inductive plausibility ("if X is true that Y MIGHT BE true"), and invalidity (if X is true then Y cannot be true").

But not all hypotheses are obvious. Of course, sometimes they seem obvious once you've heard them, but that doesn't mean you'd have thought of them absent the theory.

68: shows what circles I run in

72
I guess that part of the of the purpose of discussing counterarguments and casting doubt (e.g. in a dissertation) up front is to show that your hypotheses are not completely obvious, and that it could very well be that contrary hypotheses could be posed.

74. Yup.

For years my management has used "low-hanging fruit" to describe the easy to accomplish tasks that remain on our schedule and they always recommend that we pick it, forgetting that what they are really accomplishing is deferring the HARD tasks, which are harder to predict accurately, and then they wonder why they are always in a time crunch when things do go 100% smoothly as the final deadlines approach.

Last October I was in Michigan visiting my brother and his kids. One day, I took the kids apple picking.

I was with the three youngest kids who ranged from ages 5 to 8.

They had dwarf trees.

Why? So kids could get the low hanging fruit.

I can't believe I have relatives who find apple picking to be an enjoyable pastime. At their age, if my parents took me apple picking, you could have heard me whine from L.A. to Detroit.

Let the record reflect that I do like apples however.

Will someone please stop Evan Grant before he hurts someone?
http://tinyurl.com/34exh4

He's at it again, trade rumors.
"If you put all those things together, you know what you get?

A-Rod to the Los Angeles Dodgers, that's what, probably in a deal that sends first baseman James Loney to New York. And then the Dodgers and A-Rod hook up on a long-term extension for Rodriguez in La-La land.

And you know what that would means for the Rangers, right? No chance at trading Teixeira to LA. No chance at Loney. And, an extension for Rodriguez of his current contract, even if it came with the Dodgers would keep the Rangers on the hook, paying $7 million per year to the Dodgers for three more years. They'd basically be paying the Dodgers to take Rodriguez."

One Yankees blogger a few days ago proposed a deal of Nomar, Betemit, and Meloan for A-Rod.

Um, where do I sign?

I can't believe I have relatives who find apple picking to be an enjoyable pastime

Some guys have all the luck.

BTW: Was your person or your Prius hit by the U-turner last night...?

I also wish I was at Marty's house.

74 & 75 are clever enough to make me giggle, even on a working holiday. Though you can infer how much I'm working by the fact that I'm lurking around DT.

Could have been worse for Bob. Could have been peaches.

79 If Loney is the centerpiece it takes to get Loney then bring it on. Unfortunately, it would probably take Billingsley, Kemp, and Loney to get A-Rod unless he is adamant about opting out after this year.

Speaking of peaches, we are also having peach ice cream made with peaches from my trees.

Ahhh, nothing like a Jack and Coke in a cut-off water bottle with no ice to get the night started. Which begs the following questions:

What's it with Europeans and not having ice?

Why did my 330 mL Coke cost 2.50 Euros (almost $4)and why did the place I bought it from reluctantly sell it to me since their register was for some reason closed at 9 pm?

If we had to trade Loney plus somebody else to get Loney, I'm guessing that would be a bad trade.

81
I was not hit. I thought it scared something out of me, but a recent trip to the bathroom proved that not be the case.

88 I'd try to make some clever joke about it being some other random current or former baseball player, but apparently there has never been another Loney that has played professional baseball.

Looks like this egg on my face will just have to drip helplessly.

Cut off water bottle? What are you a Trailer Park Boy?

87
The Italians would ask you why you want all that ice in your drink. And why do you need to go to a store to buy a Coke at 9 pm? And why you watch baseball instead of calcio?

91 It's either that or the 4 ounce glasses they give you in your hotel room.

It was fairly common for guys in my fraternity to drink out of pots and gravy boats in college when we ran out of glasses, so a cut-off water bottle seems perfectly reasonable to me.

89
I'm still not understanding. Was your Prius hit?

Has anyone ever taken the Metro to the game? I am coming from the Pasadena area tonight to go to the game and want to experiment with the Metro, but I am taking my wife and 2-year old.

How long is the walk from the nearest Metro station to the LF Reserve section entrance? What stop do I get off on? Is it worth it or should I just pay the $15 and deal with the traffic?

My car was not hit

The nearest Gold Line stop is Chinatown, which I wouldn't recommend walking to and from. The bus stops on Sunset and it is a long walk also.

Pay the fifteen dollars. Leave when the game is over and watch the fireworks from the parking lot.

Everyone must be out at their BBQs. Who is still around to entertain me before I delve into the Bologna nightlife only to once again be rebuffed by not being able to find a semi-decent bar?

I still have a while before I meet up with my friends for our BBQ. We suck at planning, because we don't.

Our plan is to get drunk , play Wii, and then have a poker tournament.

95 My best advice is to get there a little bit early and park right outside the Academy entrance. It's a pretty short walk and best of all it's free!

96
I had thought your initial post said you were hit. I just went back to reread it and saw that it says you were "almost" hit.

Now I get it.

100
I am thinking that my experiment needs to be saved for when my son is not with me.

Thanks

I was surprised, this morning, to learn that Priusi can get up to 100MPH.

I rode in my first Prius last week. Twas a 2007 model, and seemed somewhat "spaceagey".

103 That was my reaction as well.

That and the fact that the Gore daughter shown in the msn.com story is pretty hot.

Man, God bless The Juice, but sometimes he's kind of scraping for "Please explain..." topics.

UCSB just got a nice recruit, though I'm sure the Bruins would have been a better fit for a guy named Brew:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/colleges/ci_6296800

106 Agreed, especially with the latest installment. I just responded to his post, but I don't expect this one to be a big dispute. His one big argument is that Fallon was considered one of People's most beautiful people of 2004. Dude, that was three years ago, I'm sure People were just trying to catch a hot young comedian before they got big. The fact that he hasn't appeared on subsequent lists is a clue that his popularity isn't that big. It's not like Fallon's movies are bringing home $100 million dollars apiece.

Good job Gauchos! Now if we could only make the tournament.

109 Next season is William's last shot, otherwise he's gone. He's had a nice recruiting run this past year, actually, they should be one of the favorites. If they don't make the tourney, he's done.

Williams' last shot, that is.

Okay, the smell of barbecue is in the air. I need to be outside. See y'all later.

6. Let's root for Tomko!

Sorry, no can do. :-) I happen to think Grady is just being diplomatic. As far as I can tell Tomko is justified in his lack of confidence. The "stuff" he is throwing up there is quite hitable.

I just signed myself over to the Hostel Gods and reserved a spot in a hostel for the next two nights. Good thing I never saw the movie that would scare the crap out of me.

36. There seems to be concern Ned will do something dumb in a panic pitching trade.

And most of that concern probably comes from watching him "panic" and then make a dumb signing during the off season. He shocked us by showing us he was capable of operating in panic mode. His reaction to Drew's opting out bordered on being unprofessional. And what followed was kind of scary.

From Evan Grant, Sportsday, referenced in 79==

"...Gagne's limited no-trade clause. He can only be traded to 12 teams without his permission. And I do not believe the Tigers are on that list of 12. Therefore, the trade would require his approval. And to get his approval, Detroit would probably have to be willing to guarantee the rest of the incentives in Gagne's contract, which would carry the value to $11 million for this season. Not necessarily a huge stumbling block, but making a trade with a team that Gagne can't veto (such as the Dodgers) might be easier to complete."

Also Grant says Gagne has said he'd like to stay in Texas, FWIW. And Rangers likely to deal Gagne before Otsuka since Gagne will be a FA; Otsuka's under Ranger control two more years.

113
Just carry a whistle with you.

Good thing I never saw the movie that would scare the crap out of me.

There are other ways in which not having seen that movie is good. Many.

114-This is the sort of overstatement that makes me a little nutty. The Pierre signing was abhorrent, and I'd be shocked if even Colletti isn't well aware at this point that it was sub-optimal. But nothing he did or said (and yes, I know what he said) about Drew was even close to being "unprofessional." He did what he could with what was available at the time. Not what most--any?--of us here would've done, and it's easily his worst move since becoming our GM, but to characterize it in in such inflammatory terms ("scary," "panic" et al) seems extravagant.

The jury's certainly out on Colletti, but given that he has yet to trade a single truly significant prospect (we love to quibble with the returns he's gotten for some, but it's possible we overestimated their value), this fear seems alarmist.

114. Yep, Pierre was the result of Ned's hastiness after Drew bolted and no free agent power worked out for the Dodgers. Ned could have waited and done better.

But Ned didn't give up any of the crown jewels of the system for JP--only McCourt's money. Unlikely he will do so now for no more than a #3 starter, IMO.

There's time to see if the pitching problem can be resolved in-house. Beyond Houlton {uncertainty} Hendrickson {trepidation} and Tomko {outright fear}, Wolf may be able to come back fairly quickly, and Kuo might get it together at LV.

Plus, Taso's now back in the pen. Hope he stays healthy.

I've only scanned the posts. I can say that I am not eager to rent or acquire more expensive pitching. I would give Houlton a long and fair evaluation. He may well be in a class by himself and I have heard it mentioned several places that his stats may not differ from LV to LA. In which case he would be better than most #5 starters.

After the crying of the last year, I also don't see how we could give up much offense( even potential) for pitching right now. Could it be that we might have to be patient for a year or so, happy with just a winning record, to gain long term success?
Excuse my radicalism.

118- It wasn't just signing Pierre, it was the weepy, roaming press conference for a couple of days, about who was sufficiently Christian, or true to his word. Colletti did not appear to take the opt out well. Then he went and signed the albatross. To a five year deal.

ItD:

Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Nomar, 3B
Kemp, RF
Ethier, LF
Hendrickson, P

It's Stults.

How boring. Appropriate for today, though, since he's been getting lit up like a firecracker this year.

I guess I have to hope the Dodgers don't consider a guy with a 7.11 ERA in Triple A to be a long term option. Maybe it's just that there were no flights from Jacksonville to L.A. today.

2007 vs. LH

Nomar: .229/.288/.292/.580, 0 HR
Betemit: .217/.280/.391/.671, 1 HR

121-Right. I remember, though I don't exactly think either "weepy" or "roaming press conference" characterizes Colletti's behavior here any better than terms like "soulless," "Google boy" and so on do that of his illustrious predecessor. This point has been hashed to death, and I see no point in reiterating it yet again. The loss of Drew was unfortunate. (if perhaps...not quite as unfortunate now or yet as it looked at the time.) The gain of Pierre in his stead was unfortunate (if, similarly, we don't know yet what kind of "albatross" that contract really is; my guess is, after this off-season it'll look thrifty and he'll become more tradeable than you think). Colletti's irritation at Drew makes sense to me, and I'm not even particularly bothered that he aired it. To suggest that his doing so somehow unfits him for his job is precisely analogous to the idea that JD Drew is not a "gamer" because he doesn't act like a game show contestant on the field. Both ideas seem to me equally preposterous.

Interesting that Kemp is playing well enough that Ethier spells Gonzo in LF.

My problem with Colletti is that he thinks Pierre is a good baseball player. I don't know whether he panics or not (I believe there is evidence that he does), and I don't care very much. If he didn't think Pierre was good at baseball, than his panic would only mean that he'd have to increase the budget for James Taylor music and herbal tea.

If Drew had stayed, who would have been the centerfielder?

Stults is a good choice. His AAA home ERA this year is 10.80 while on the road it is only 3.35. Since he is basically replacing Houlton, who was replacing Hendrickson, Stults is just going to be a multi-inning mop-up guy. I would have only brought up Meloan (and started his options by putting him on the 40-man roster) if he was going to get late-inning short-relief work, replacing Saito, Broxton, or Tsao.

The GCL Dodgers won yet again, and pitcher Jose Dominguez struck out 7 in 2 IP. He actually picked off a runner, so 2 of his K's were wild pitches, and he threw a third one that didn't result in a strikeout. And according to MiLB.com, he's apparently 16 years old, 17 next month (is that even allowed? I thought the Braves got in trouble when it was discovered Betemit was 16, right?). Anyone (nate) know anything about this kid? It was his first appearance of the season today.

Lambo and Orr each had a pair of hits as well, although Baez went 0-5.

Anyone know why the Yankees wouldn't have hit 175 million attendance before the Dodgers?

128-Well, I certainly ain't gonna argue with you there. That he thinks Pierre is a good player... that's the most unsettling thing about Colletti's tenure. And any counterargument I can think of (that he mightn't be as irredeemably bad as we've seen, that there's a margin for slight improvement) is weak broth indeed.

Then, all GMs make mistakes in who they deem to be "good players." They don't necessarily make them so expensively, but even the GMs we consider to be superior make them. Regularly. Until Colletti deals a truly valuable prospect for trash, I'm willing to hold out hope that he won't--at least--do that.

I don't think Pierre is really as bad as he's been, or that he will continue to be this bad; at least not for a couple of years. I also, if grudgingly, agree with refairfield that he hasn't been the very biggest problem with the team this year. If this were his one bad judgment call, it wouldn't be as troubling. But he went out and got Hendrickson. Didn't pay much, as we've been reminded over and over, but the getting is the disconcerting part. And Baez.

But Furcal, too. I'm not sure how much credit to give him for LuGo, but some, anyway. I don't really think he deserves credit for knowing that Maddux is a good pitcher, but he knew that trading Izturis was a good idea, so. . . Anyway; I'm not a Colletti hater. I have a strong distaste for the things he said after Drew opted out, and I don't know how to get around Pierre. But he certainly hasn't been an abject disaster. Maybe some day I'll even like him. But I don't trust him, yet.

131 -- The Press-Enterprise blog reported the signing of Dominguez, for $50,000, just a couple of days ago. He throws a fastball that touches 90 and has a curve. Logan White was quoted saying "It's rare to see a kid as polished as he is."

It is only signing players BEFORE age 16 that isn't allowed. To be only 16 in the GCL is really rare, though, and if somebody can excel there at that age, well, they are instantly recognized as ELITE prospects.

LaRoche is the guy I fear won't be a Dodger on Aug. 1st. Assuming Loney is set at 1B for 2008, then the soonest LaRoche could take over 3B is 2009 barring an early retirement for Nomar. Benching or waiving Nomar would be a national story that I can't see Ned walking into. And if you want a bad omen, ITD marks the anniversary today of the Konerko for Shaw panic trade.

It was not long ago that some people thought Loney wouldn't get a shot at first base until 2009.

121. 118- it was the weepy, roaming press conference for a couple of days, about who was sufficiently Christian, or true to his word.

Agreed. That is what I was referring to as being unprofessional. I felt that was just uncalled for. I might have been more sympathetic had Drew given COLLETTI his word that he would not opt out and then reneged. But neither side indicated that is what actually happened. By all accounts Drew simply indicated to a sports writer in August that he and his family were happy here and he didn't intend to use his opt out clause. There is no reason that statement could not have been true at that time. However, the following facts were known:

1). Drew had an Opt Out clause in his contract.
2). Drew's agent is Scott Boras

These two facts alone should have been enough for any GM to realize that the Opt Out clause was almost certain to be exercised. Drew had demonstrated in the past that he listens to Boras. And Boras includes those clauses for a reason. I expected Drew to opt out once Boras laid out the facts to him at opt out time and would have been surprised had he not done so. So I was just dumbfounded that Ned was unprepared for what transpired. If Ned didn't see this coming then that was Ned's fault, not Drew's. And to publicly call Drew's Christian beliefs into question over this was just plain wrong.

132- A couple of good years in the Coliseum probably helped out pace the Yanks

138 - A couple of years in the Coliseum would have helped true prove his christianity.

140 Throwing Drew to the lions? or Coletti?

ha.

137 Right, but with a place to put Nomar. Do you really think they'd ever bench Nomar for performance reasons? Even if they acquired Glaus it would be an awkward embarrassing situation.

1-0 Cards in the second inning.

132 The Yankees all-time attendance, from 1901 through yesterday, according to Baseball-Reference.com, is 157,635,802.

According to the numbers on BB-Ref, the Dodgers attendance is "only" 174,516,819.

2 run homer by Montero. 2-1 D'backs.

Game thread open up top.

New post at Screen Jam.

Need a reason to root for Hendrickson? Read on: :-)

Hendrickson looms large in Dodgers' scheme

>>> If getting better is not good enough to get the job done, which means helping deliver the Dodgers to the postseason, Colletti and owner Frank McCourt will face a decision in the heat of a sizzling pennant race.

It's always hard to be patient in a pennant race. McCourt's precarious financial situation makes it harder to be patient. He's mortgaged, leveraged and whatever to the hilt. While he gets high grades for being extremely creative in putting together his financing, the pressure to generate income immediately, if not sooner, can cloud the decision-making process.

If Hendrickson falters, the urge will be strong to punt patience and venture into the market place in quest of a front-line starter. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/2gvzdq