You are cool to me Professor. I only have a very old B.S. degree in your field. In fact, you're beyond cool, a Golden God second only to the likes of Dijkstra and Knuth! (Rule 6?)

man, I can't wait to see Meloan pitch at Dodger Stadium, I really hope Andy La Roche is 100% now.

This off-season will be interesting to see how teams manage their free agents.

Will the Angels offer arbitration to Bartolo Colon, not likely since they could be on the hook for a one year deal for no less than 11.2 million and with his current 7-11 record for the last 2 years, he is not even going to rank as a Type B free agent. Other pitchers include Joe Nathan, who will have his option exercised, the Yankees will resign Rivera, I think Hoffman already guaranteed his 2008 contract. Bobby Abreu has a team option for 16 million or a buyout for 2 million.

Right now, the only 2 players I can see be given arbitration are Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter.

I think the Padres will try and sign Milton Bradley and hope Michael Barrett has a good last month. For one thing, Milton just may not have enough statistics to be worth a Type B free agent (remember it is based on his last 2 seasons and the now you have to finish in the top 40% as opposed to 50% before) and Michael Barrett, while he should be still worth some draft picks, what is worth in the open market. And frankly, if Milton is healthy, he is worth more than a draft pick.

They could be better off trying to get them to sign one-year deals since they don't have any depth in their minor league system anyway.

1B, Saenz... no.
1B, Sweeney... aah, no.
1B, Hillenbrand... no, we need him at third.
1B, Martinez... that's the ticket!

Don't get me wrong, Meloan should be fine but I can't see him being say better than Broxton.

The player can still make your playoff roster. The K-Rod loophole still exists.

I think our best hope, my hope at least, is that Meloan is Broxton II or perhaps a little worse. His minor league performance shows every indication that he will dominate in the majors.

Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Double-A Jacksonville (Dodgers)

Earlier this month, the Dodgers promoted Kershaw to Double-A. After striking out 10 over seven innings on Saturday while allowing just two hits, Kershaw has limited Southern League hitters to a .153 batting average in 21.1 innings while punching out 25. Have we mentioned that he's just 19 years old? It's been a long time since we've seen a left-handed prospect this young and this good, with one scout recently comparing him to "Scott Kazmir with five more inches and 30 more pounds." That's a scary proposition, and Kershaw is the best pitching prospect in baseball, but remember it's anything but a sure thing with pitchers. How many fans have kind of forgotten about Francisco Liriano? If Kershaw needs his own reminder on how fleeting prospect greatness can be, there's always Greg Miller, who like Kershaw dominated Double-A as a teenager, and four years later is still in that Double-A rotation.

"3. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Double-A Jacksonville (Dodgers)

Kershaw skipped high Class A after going 7-5, 2.77 with a 134-50 strikeout-walk ratio in 97 innings at low Class A Great Lakes. And while the seventh overall pick in 2006 went through some predictable growing pains early on in Double-A, he's locked in now.

Last week, the 19-year-old lefty went 1-0, 0.69 with 18 strikeouts in 14 innings.
...

11. Justin Ruggiano, of, Triple-A Durham (Devil Rays)

Along with center fielder Jason Pridie and third baseman Evan Longoria, Ruggiano has been one of the biggest reasons for Durham's surge to the top of the IL's Southern Division standings. Over his last 10 games, the Texas A&M product has hit .429 with three homers, five doubles and 11 RBIs. Ruggiano, 25, has hit a surprising .310/.383/.508 this season with 19 homers and 26 steals. The caveat: 142 whiffs in 118 games."

That is all.

Josh Fogg
Jason Jennings
Freddy Garcia (I don't think the Phillies risk offering him though since he makes 10M)
Livan Hernandez
Steve Trachsel
Kip Wells
Carlos Silva
Kyle Lohse

Nate gets nervous when all these compliments start pouring in.

Thank you.

That is why I think they are looking at Orenduff, Wade, Wright, Kyle Wilson, etc. While I think McDonald will be in the mix in spring training and Kershaw will get invited to the major league camp, it will important to make sure no pitcher who can be of some help here or be traded for other depth has to be carefully considered.

I think there are at least 10 spots on the 40 man roster that can be filled with players in our system, though we may not need all of them.

It appears to me that any help the Dodgers get pitching wise, is going to come from who is on the team now or is in the system.

:: goes back to hole ::

"If you're cold, I'll keep you warm"

- Dido

So I'm not rooting for anybody tonight.

Bob: "Can't understand why this guy keeps getting traded. One of toughest offensive weapons in baseball. . . . Always leads the league in hits . . ."

Don: "Well, his defense might be considered expendable. . . . rainbow arm . . ."

:: heads back to hole : :

Don: "This is not a good start for the Nationals."

aw crap.

How are we doing now?

that is all.

Sigh.

He also nicely talked about needing to stop and take it all in when he stepped out on the mound "where so many of the good things in my life happened to me."

But I'll be sad when he leaves us, Sam.

Of course not as bad as Joe Morgan repeatedly calling Shea Hillenbrand "Shawn". Does he really follow baseball?

the Nook Logan vs. Juan Pierre battle of the speedy little Titans will decide this series. You heard it here first.

It just seems wrong 'cause he's a speed guy whose name should be NUKE!

---

Basilisk looks like Babyface Nelson.

man, I'm making all the 20s and 30s references I can handle tonight.

Nothing terrible, but it appears he feels like he's important enough to the Padres that he can start with the antics.

like I mentioned earlier I was kind of surprised at the grade I gave Loney, I gave him a marginal grade for lateral movement (first step quickness) maybe I'm wrong on that assumption, I'd love to hear what other posters gave him on that.

He is also going to hit the ball nine miles.

We scored 0 so someone else could score 4.0726 runs. You know this, D4P.

Still no score after 5 innings. The umpire has a very generous strike zone tonight.

Needless to say, the Dodgers 2008 3rd starter has matched scoreless innings with Jake Peavy.

Darnit. I was ecologically fallacious once again.

He'll get better.

Sigh.

League ID#: 609093
League Name: Friends of Dodger Thoughts
Password: loney
Custom League URL: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/friendsofdt
Draft Type: Live Draft
Draft Time: Mon Sep 3 7:30pm PDT [ Add to My Calendar ]

Very true. Yes, Matt has played hundreds of games in the minors, but most guys in the majors have played 5-6 years of baseball year round even before they reach the minors. Sure, kemp should know better, but i'm guessing he didnt think lopez had a play and he wanted to get a good jump and score. Of course, with nobody out he should have frozen, and he should have known where Lopez was playing, but you do see baserunning mistakes like that by more experienced veterans, as well. Its looks easy on tv, but baserunning is not simple.

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/lunar.html

the boos bug me more than the home run.

Home Run, Eric Byrnes, so that makes it 1-0 Dbacks.

Who would we want to win this game? I assume the snakes?

Do not allow the opposing team to hit home runs.

Orenduff: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, 0 HR
Hammes: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR

203 No.

202 Yes.

197 Oh man! Okay, I better sign up then.

1-0 Dbacks, to the 7th we go!

But it would have been better with runners.

I am watching the Dodger game, but I have the other game on plus the Angels/Mariners.

stupid observation: the lights at Safeco Field are so bright, even night games look like day games.

Isn't that a band, not a soccer club?

--

Let's go Dodgers! Let's get... Gasp! A second run! Shoot for the moon!

Oh, nevermind.

I was just thinking it was interesting they brought in a righty to face Loney. Not that it was necessarily a bad move, just shows that Acta was aware of Loney's #s vs. lefties. So much for that, though.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wilsoch01.shtml

So far the only sources for the suicide stuff are the National Enquirer and Star

is it a total eclipse of the hart???

[crickets chirp & fruit being thrown]

::looks around for yellowed game rules::

And no, I don't quite buy the Owen Wilson story - especially since it's only tabloids that are breaking with the suicide angle. Possible, but I'm withholding opinions on it for now. Just hope he's okay.

Geoff Blum 2 run HR... Padres now up 2-1

7th inning, Pads still batting

Atlanta newspapers and ESPN reported that the Falcons were interested in both McCown and Walter.

Trading Culpepper would be SO much smarter

Now back in San Diego, it's litmus test time for the Bullpen, which had been struggling in late innings.

As of now, so far so good for San Diego

And does anyone have any obvious reason why his ERA as a starter is 6.12, but out of the pen, before the scoreless inning he just put up, was 2.70?

No, but seriously, I the Robert Wadlow anecdotes.

294 Yah. Works for me!

I was actually "Bender's Killbots" in another fantasy league once but the team was doing so bad I had to change the name for luck.

Have I ever told you that you're paranoid?

How can you not go to bed happy when you see that Sammy Smile™ ?

Abreu 2-5, 2 2Bs
Young 2-4, 2 2Bs, BB
Laroche 2-4, BB
Hull 1 IP, 2 K

Now they're nodding seriously. They're acting like they're being interviewed on the MacNeil News Hour.

Well I'm not a Dodger you doofis, so I get to worry about it.

I also liked the way Hendrickson completely suffocated them after the D's took the lead. That's an important moment in any game. You just took the lead -- don't give it back. Not a big failing of this Dodger team, but it shouldn't be overlooked.

This was by far not Lowe's best game, but considering how many times the Dodgers have scored ZIP for him, it was nice to see him get a bit lucky...327 While Kennedy and the boys were a bit hard on Kemp, Kennedy on Saturday called out Grady for using Kemp in the wrong place. He has also been more honest in describing Gonzo's problems.

Rooks are just stupid.

The LA Dodgers record is 8 straight games: Beltre in 04, Green in 01, Smith in 80, and Tommy Davis in 64.

14 LA Dodgers have streaks of 7 straight games.

The major league record for consecutive games with an RBI is 17 by Oscar Grimes of the 1922 Cubs.

P.S. Enders stole your television.

I call the big one "Bitey"

{shakes fist}

Life is good for one night.

I've got 3 free tickets available for tomorrow night if anyone is interested.

I have a bet with my brother from before the season: I bet a case of beer that Billingsley would have a better ERA this year than Lowe. After tonight's game, Billingsley has a slim lead, 3.48 to 3.56.

http://tinyurl.com/3x5zso
>>The 39-year-old Gonzalez hasn't started in five of the Dodgers' last eight games, but he isn't becoming accustomed to sitting. And he has no intention of doing so, meaning his time with the Dodgers could be up when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Asked whether he saw himself coming back to play under similar circumstances, Gonzalez replied, "No, no, not here. . . . Anything can happen in the last month, but they've got a good nucleus of young kids here and that's their future. I don't know where I'll end up next year. I'll go with an open mind into the off-season and see what happens."<<

346 I'm glad that he's relatively ambivalent about it, which he was not when leaving Arizona...Under the exact same circumstances.

Maybe he's come to grips with the fact that he's not very good anymore.

Okay, I'm going to bed. I was going to set my alarm for 3AM to watch a few minutes of the lunar eclipse, until I realized how flippin' foggy it is here right now. Sigh.

I was sitting right by the visiting dugout and Dmitri strung together a potent string of rule 1 violations after his AB.

For that matter, will they sign or trade for any starting offensive players? Will (probably) missing the playoffs in 2007 leave a sour taste in Colletti's mouth enough to not stomach handing over the car keys to the kids?

This will never happen, but if this is the 2008 lineup and bench:

C Martin
1B Loney
2B Kent
3B LaRoche
SS Furcal
LF Ethier
CF Pierre
RF Kemp
Bench Nomar
Bench Abreu
Bench D.Young
Bench Lucille II
Bench Sweeney or some facsimile
Bench Lieberthal

How many runs would that lineup score? Is that a lineup that could win a division?

Plus Meloan, Beimel, Broxton, Proctor, and another lefty. And maybe Saito (but I doubt it). I'm always more worried about pitching than hitting. But the pitching should be okay.

Well, unless we sign A-Rod and move LaRoche to the outfield or second.

LF Pierre
CF Hunter
RF Kemp/Ethier

Obviously, I prefer Pierre gone but that is unlikely.

This is all assuming he actually exists, which, of course, he does not.

359 I think another OF is needed, to take either Sweeney's or Lucille 2's spot. Maybe a Bobby Kielty type.

Book it.

kershaw
laroche
mcdonald
hu
meloan?
abreu?

1. Sergio Sheets, cf
2. Ban Butland, 1b
3. Tot Kilroy, lhp
4. Manny DeMars, ss
5. Nikco Brush, cf
6. Tub Leathers, c
7. Cito Rosario, rhp
8. Pedro Rightnowar, rhp
9. Whammy Parkinson, DL
10. Hughie DeMerit, 2b

372 - For the longest time, I thought that the A's AAA catcher in MVP 2K5 was one of their randomly combined names. Then I saw the real life Kurt Suzuki watching Kazmir highlights last night...who knew? Besides Ken, of course...

...and is anybody else on the East Coast staying up to watch the eclipse?

I'm not sure how Kershaw doesn't make the top 5 considering he's the fairly unanimous top pitching prospect in the game by now. That is as long as Homer Bailey and Yovani Gallardo have exhausted their eligibility by the end of the year (even so, both have shown to be less than the sure things they were before the year started).

Well he does have better seats.

(just joking with you GB)

then how will they write off his success in AA? He is a strike out machine who will only improve as he keeps pitching full time.

Then again, what great hitting prospects are left in the minors? It seems that an unusual amount of hitting prospects graduated to the majors this year. Out of the top 20, only Evan Longoria (holding steady) Brandon Wood (slipping), Andrew McCutchen (slipping even more), Jay Bruce (moving on up), Reid Brignac (slipping a bit), Carlos Gonzalez (slipping), and LaRoche (holding steady but seemingly injury-prone) still remain.

It wouldn't surprise me if next year's top 5 went:

1. Bruce
2. Longoria
3. Kershaw
4. Buchholz
5. Rasmus

assuming guys like Maybin, Bailey, Gallardo, and Adam Jones aren't considered rookies anymore.

Might I now ask the obvious question, to wit, how many strikeouts does Mike Cameron have this year? 127? How many ABs did Mike Cameron have at the time? 483? So does that mean that there was a 26.29% chance that Mike Cameron strikes out in that AB? And what was the score at the time? 1-0? And the Pads have Peavy pitching? And if Cameron strikes out, someone then need get a hit since Peavy on 2nd can't score on sac fly by Bradley, or a slow roller to 2nd? So maybe the thought was, and as much as some despise Joe Morgan, he rightly called us on it on Sunday, and so Bud's thinking was simply that to avoid the K with Cameron and all that such would entail, move Peavy and the other fellow to 3rd and 2nd, respectively, with the bunt, and then let Milton Bradley put the ball in play, with Adrian Gonzalez coming up next. Last lesson for today is that general rules are general rules and one ought never to apply the general rule without looking at the specific circumstance. Not otherwise Bud's fault that Milton decided to play Dodger for an AB and K swinging with a runner on 3rd with less than 2 out.

bhsportsguy just hates the Dodgers. And America.

Plus, while Milton is an overall good hitter, he seemed to have a horrible approach with runners in scoring position and less than two out from the years I watched him. Combine that with Cameron's speed (lessening the chance of a double play) and it still seems pretty clear that you let Cameron hit away.

Got the message, I will accept said offer and resend GBrock my email address.

Thanks LAT. (And GB)

(are you Westies really all not staying up to watch this thing??)

398 - But EE, what if he is already asleep and misses all of Eclipse Thoughts??

My successful method? Game Boy Dr. Mario.

Enjoy all, now it's time to sleep over here!

Have fun tonight LAT.

The Nationals were supposed to run out 22 yr old John Lannan but he's been shut down for innings count reasons. Instead, they are pitching Jason Bergmann (Bob swoons!) who is making his first start back after a long DL stint (his second of the year). He's a hard throwing young pitcher whose has suffered from poor command over the years. He was awful in Spring Training and wasn't supposed to be in the rotation this year (or ever, really) but Jason Simontacchi injured himself early and Bergmann was called up. After a horrible start, Jim Bowden gave him a big chewing outm=, and after that, he pitched a long string of dominating starts until he went the DL. On May 14, he took a no-no v. the Braves into the 8th inning. Nats Nation is muy interested to see what he's got tonight.

Here's a good post from Cap Punishment on Bergmann -- http://tinyurl.com/2b9jne

Maybe they'll just wait till Sept 1st to activate him.

Granted, leading the Central Division is like being the tallest midget in the circus...

Kendall's OBP is .392 over his 1st 104 abs as a Cub.

Craziness.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/08/dodgers-interes.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/28/SPJ7RQ6F0.DTL

I would have no problem with Loaiza replacing Wolf in the 2008 rotation. He has one year left, and then he's gone. Sounds like a nice match to me but I'm saying this without knowing what it would take to get him.

...yoi

Is Sidney Ponson available?

Can't wait til next year!