LATed again!

Play where?

To hell with Luis Gonzalez.

Feel free to delete this post.

Look at what happened to the last team Luis Gonzalez left because he didn't like younger players being moved in to replace veterans.

I need to buy some Luis Gonzalez baseball cards, so I can burn them.

I guess Jon felt news like that needed its own post.

Then again, Mark Grace has said, "If you don't like Luis Gonzalez, you don't like people."

Maybe he was talking about the guy who played for the Rockies.

I don't like Mark Grace.

7
I don't know if Mark Grace's statement was transitive.

Fine. I don't like people.

LuGo pisses me off more than anyone though. I blame him for 80 percent of the clubhouse problems. He needs to retire and tend to his triplets.

I think LuGo has just realized that there really isn't much of a market for a 40 year old left fielder with a lousy arm. Particularly when Barry Bonds is already on the market.

Go away LuGo!!!

Gonzalez is despicable. I'm convinced his "nice guy" reputation rests entirely on his political skills, and that he more than anyone was responsible for the clubhouse uprising. That said, his triple-uselessness is cemented--I'm sure even for Colletti--by the emergence of Delwyn Young.

See ya, Luis.

I have some sand in my backyard that Gonzo can pound. vr, Xei

I wish every Dodger with children delivered more than once at a time would go away.

I know the sample size is small, but Loney shows every indication of being a much better 1st baseman than Grace. ( and it's not tht small!)

Oh, and Jon, good luck with selling your work.

16 Loney is already a better announcer.

Predictable, so predictable. That fool probably thinks we're going with all vets now or something.

18 From the Times article: "[Gonzalez] has 2,502 hits in his career and said his goal is to reach 3,000."

I actually hope the Dodgers resign him, just to bench him and make it that much harder for him to reach his nearly impossible goal.

Spite is a good reason to fill the roster, right?

3000 hits? You mean he thinks he's going to play until he's 45?

If we bring Luis Gonzalez back, we won't set the record for most Luis Gonzalezs lost to free agency in a year, and that would be a huge shame.

22 -- I know what you are talking about, but I doubt anybody else does, unless Nate is lurking.

23 I understood it.

If I read that the Dodgers re-signed Gonzalez, I certainly hope Luis Enrique was the player in question and not Luis Emilio.

Not even Ned can be that possibly stupid.

Right?

20- reminds me of that FJM post where Bruce Jenkins was talking about why Omar Vizquel should be the NL's starting shortstop in the allstar game, and how he might end up with 3000 hits. But if that kind of silliness can't happen in the all-star game, one might think we're safe.

Leo: "Nice guys finish last"

Gonzo would look great in a Giants uniform..

I'm worried that this development will steer people away from detesting Derek Lowe.

It's important to remember what a weenie Lowe has been.

Just as a matter of principle.

I have tried to say this a number of times but never came close to saying it this well.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_7365460

Torre does not restore Dodger tradition

When the debate on best shortstop between AROD, Jeter, Nomar was going on I wonder who thought one of them would be negotiating for a 10 year contract in 2007?

Let us not forget that Ned intially tried to sign LuGo for 2 years. Let us also not forget that LuGo's BA and SBs were higher in 07 than in 06.

If Ned doesn't offer arbitration, it seems like it won't be out of fear that LuGo would accept.

BTW: The 11-member caps on "On-Notice" and "Dead to Me" lists seem arbitrary and capricious.

"Not even Ned can be that possibly stupid."

Do you think we should wait until October 2011 for an answer, when all the data will be in on the Juan Pierre signing?

While recognizing that all the results aren't yet in, I'm persuaded Ned's track record shows unlimited stupidity potential on a transactional basis. I'm not saying he isn't capable of some good moves. It's just that there is significant risk for off-the-chart stupidity.

If signing LuGo is the price for signing Torre, then Joe has got to go. Is it too early for firetorre.com?

Thank you for giving me a laugh even before I've had my morning coffee, Jon. I didn't think that was possible.

What a tool.

30 The News article touches on but doesn't emphasize The most important thing to me. The Dodgers are coming into an era of marvelous identity, because the most important thing is homegrown players like Russell Martin. When you get down to it the owner, GM, and manager, don't amount to a hill of beans next to a Sandy Koufax or Martin. If you want to ruin it, just trade Dodgers for other players.

Luis is not on the team anymore and he is still trying to get the kids traded

One way to look at A-Rods 10/year 350mil
contract desire is the fact that one could buy a large no. of ML franchises for that
much, including Arizona and the Rocks. You would control some great players, and actually could make both teams you own much better with complimentary trades. Of course it wouldn't fly with the regulaters, but the fact that it works financially says a great deal.

I should add that 38 isn't an original idea, but based on something I read at LA Dugout.

The Daily News column is excellent. Why doesn't that columnist have the pull of Plaschke in L.A.? It probably won't even come to McCourt's attention.

40
I believe circulation numbers answer that question.

Also, the LA Times has a long head start on all the other existing papers in Southern California.

The "Daily News" column is really a San Bernardino Sun columnist, but almost all the suburban papers are really the same now. They just change out a few pages of local content.

40 - Oberjuerge is a columnist for the San Bernadino Sun (he's the one who first wrote about clubhouse friction in September, before Kent spoke up). The Sun, Daily News, Press Telegram and others are owned by the same entity, so you'll see their copy on each other's sites.

It's sad that a statement of the obvious becomes the standard for an excellent column, but such is the state of affairs. I could do without a few of his more minor suggestions, though, like Karros as a bench coach.

13--What you say about Luis's role in the clubhouse uprising makes sense, since for Jeff Kent to do it would have required him to be aware of something around him.

But your line about political skills brings to mind Leo Durocher's great blast at Ernie Banks: that he never remembered a sign or forgot a newspaperman's name.

Vincent Bugliosi is being In Depth'd on CSPAN2, right now. He's gone some serious lapels going on. And he's being combative with the interviewer.

Gone=got.

I guess someone painted over the "writing on the wall".

don't call us Luis, we'll call you

I saw this via Baseball Think Factory, and I apologize if this was already discussed 3 weeks ago, but here is more wisdom from Gonzo:

"If you look at our record, we had the best record in the National League at the All-Star break. And we brought up a lot of young kids, and when they brought the kids up, they did well. There's no doubt these are all great young players. They were hitting .340, .350. (James) Loney, Kemp, (Russell) Martin, Ethier -- they're all great players, but we weren't winning games. They're getting three and four hits, but you're not winning games.

"So in baseball a lot of times people look at the numbers instead of the results, and the results for us were we were not winning games, but that's what the organization wanted. They wanted to develop these young kids. And instead of us going out there and winning games, we ended up finishing in fourth place and the fans are ticked off, and the organization is now going to continue to this youth movement, which is great for them."

http://tinyurl.com/2a8t5j

I really, really, really don't like Gonzo.

48 - Apology accepted :)

Who on the list of free agents (http://www.mlb4u.com/freeagency.php) do you most not want Ned to sign? I am strongly opposed to Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter, at least as long as Pierre is on the team. Jones in particular seems to have declining skills and will be overpaid for years past rather than future performance. I look at the list of free agents and don't even see any interesting position candidates outside of A-Rod, but Ned is certainly going to do some tinkering.

Would Luis Gonzalez come back if the Dodgers were using D4P's autonomous collective style of managing?

Maybe Luis needs a fresher approach to management.

Speaking of Dodger tradition, anyone have any thoughts on what the franchise would be like now if Dick Riordan would have let O'Malley build a football stadium and get an NFL team? I don't really remember the O'Malley ownership per se, and I think what memories I do have are blurred with the legend that the O'Malleys have become.

52
For starters, there would be a lot less parking available at Dodger Stadium.

And we wouldn't be watching the Patriots-Colts game today in L.A.

50-- Amen, Jones is embarking on the era where the stats on the back of his baseball card will begin to look less impressive.

52 - I think things would be better than they are, but not knowing how things are, I'd have thought they were worse.

Basketball aside: Lute Olson takes leave of absence.

http://arizona.scout.com/2/697933.html

Expanding on 48 , The Dodgers did in fact have the best record in the NL at the end of play July 16, after having won their first 4 games after the all-star break. They stood at 53-40, and went 29-40 to end the season.

From July 17 on, here are more real reasons the Dodgers lost:

1) Gonzo: .258/.326/.384 in 178 PA

2) In the 40 starts not by Billinsgley or Penny, here are the numbers: 6.29 ERA, 5.18 IP/start

50 Aaron Rowand. While being in a contract year isn't proven to help performance, I can't think of any recent examples of a player actually establishing a new level of play in a contract year. He's had two great years, after which he's gotten a new contract, and three years where he VORPed less than Juan Pierre did this year.

56 I wonder if its for health reasons. He looked OK during his sideline interview at yesterday's UCLA-Arizona game.

57 Sadly, it's also very easy to correlate expanded play time for the kids with the Dodgers losing. I was wondering if anyone would use that rhetoric this off season, and here we are.

For those interested, The Fielding Bible rated Ethier as the 4th best right fielder in baseball, although James has him at 7th. Russle was 2nd among all catchers, and Furcal was 9th for shortsops, I think. They combine both leagues for their awards. Jones was back as the best center fielder, as well. Luis, was not found.

60 - is it too much to ask that someone in the front office understands the fallacy of "post hoc ergo propter hoc"?

61 Other numbers I found interesting:

Nomar at first: -18 (making him easily the worst defensive first baseman in baseball since he spent half the year there)

Kent: -13 (fourth worst second baseman)

And some non Dodgers:

Hanley: -37 (3rd worst defender in baseball, why I refuse to put him in the top five of the league)

Gary Matthews: -26 (almost as bad as Adam Dunn, yet one is considered one of the worst in baseball and one is considered Gold Glove caliber)

Tulowitzski: +35 (second best defender in baseball, behind Pujols)

61/63 - Where are you getting those?

64 fieldingbible.com

Also of not is Adam Lind's +11, not bad for a guy thought to be a career DH, and Franklin Guiterrez's +22.

64 http://www.billjamesonline.net/fieldingbible/2007-plus-minus-leaders.asp

Bill James online?! I can't believe I was totally unaware of this.

http://tinyurl.com/2kr2pt

There is also a new book coming out from ACTA in February, but everyone probably knew that already.

There's a new book coming out from the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority?

Cool!

68 Bob acts this way when the Griddle gets scooped. What's the deal with Lute?

Wow a lot of hate here for Gonzo, I guess deservedly so. I'm not sure I would agree he is a political slut. The guy has done a huge amount of charity work in AZ and I don't think he did it for the recognition. Before this year he was roundly admired as one of the nicest guys in baseball. I know he signs and is more willing to talk to fans than many. He just has a huge blind spot where the remainder of his career is concerned. Do any of us want to admit we are too old. Too overpaid. Ready to yeild our jobs to younger professionals. Ready to be put out to pasture. I almost don't blame him. I blame Ned. Gonzo's blind spot was no suprise. D'Backs management knew it. Gonzo had shown it before he arrived in LA. He is what he is. I can't classify a good guy as dead to me cause he won't go into the night quietly. I'm glad he is gone and I wish him well.

Would Luis Gonzalez come back if the Dodgers were using D4P's autonomous collective style of managing?

Talk about unintended consequences. If LuGo is the alternative, I'd much rather pay some Baseball Guy $4 million a year to sit on a bench.

70
I don't think I've disliked any Dodger as much as Luis Gonzalez since Darryl Strawberry is on the team.

And most of the time, I just don't care.

I just suspect that Luis Gonzalez is the baseball equivalent of a Potemkin village.

I just suspect that Luis Gonzalez is the baseball equivalent of a Potemkin village

Or a Trojan horse.

73
You mean when we're all asleep, a bunch of Reggie Sanders type players will jump out of Luis Gonzalez?

67 With all the hype around the Rockies defense look at Hawpe (-25) and Atkins (-29), both in the bottom 3 in the majors. They don't have a CF on the chart but the 6 guys on there only total +11.

72 Please believe me when I say that there is no comparison between the two. One was a drug addict, probably had a personality disorder of some kind and those who knew him said he couldn't be trusted, even when he had his heart in the right place. The man was a walking contradiction and in spite of his talent I wouldn't want him anywhere near my baseball team.

The other guy is Luis Gonzalez.

I knew Luis many years ago and plenty of people in baseball have known him since. Their opinions tend to echo mine: good luck finding a nicer guy.

He's a competitor that doesn't want to go gently into that good night. That's the worst thing we can say about him. I don't want him back. But Luis Gonzalez is welcome in my home anytime. And he can bring the kids.

This is random, but the General Potemkin reference somehow led me to this, which just can't be ignored.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

74
If we're lucky, we'll get a bunch of Kevin Youkilises.

76- He may be a good guy, but he has handled this situation horribly, and broken many unspoken codes of mouthshuttedness that most men hold themselves to.

70
What he said about Gonzo.

Hey, hey Eric Byrnes best fielding LF in baseball. Oh and Ethier was the 2nd best RF, only bested by the guy he was traded for if you follow the trade tree, one Franklin Gutierrez.

So I'd like to ask Joe Sheehan that if you can field like Byrnes and Etheir and hit a little are you really a 4th outfielder? If so, somone is going to have to define what a starting outfielder is, since I'm evidently clueless since I saw an awful lot of starting corner outfielders who couldn't carry these guys jocks.

http://www.truebluela.com/story/2007/11/4/14250/9464

For the record, I did not say Luis Gonzalez was "dead to me" nor do I think he is as bad as Darryl Strawberry, but he's getting fairly close.

80 Once I saw that I became convinced that Ethier should be starting for someone. Not necessarily us, since we're already stocked with good players, but someone. Same with Byrnes. Sure, he probably won't hit that well again, but with that defense and his speed (50 steals this year with 88% success) he'll be a useful player until that contract runs out. 3/30 for Byrnes was a huge bargain, but I don't know if Arizona was the right team to make the deal.

I have admittedly not been paying close enough attention but I am confused about the intense hatred for Gonzo. I agree that his comments about the young players producing but not winning was, well, stupid. I also know that he was seriously pissed about his lack of playing time. But I think that was Ned and Grady's fault for leading him to believe he's be the starting left fielder if he performed at the lever he did. Other than the quote referenced above, is there something I'm missing about why everybody now hates the guys guts?

Oh, and to add my 2¢ of personal experience, it's right along with SB's. Sat with him for a drink for maybe an hour on two occasions and he was as nice a person as you could ever hope to meet.

83 He's made many similar quotes, while being oblivious to the fact that the Dodgers started losing once he stopped hitting. Obviously it's not all his fault, but he's certainly not blameless.

82 - Byrnes for Pierre!

Gonzalez was making similar statements about younger players (specifically Carlos Quentin) taking over in Arizona while he was still there.

There seems to be a pattern that he not only does he not want to go gently into the night, but he wants to set off a large explosion behind him so everyone remembers him.

Sorry, one more thing... I know he was very upset long before those comments made their way around but it was Kent who made them public first. Gonzo actually did keep it in house until the very end. I agree he should have kept it in house through the end but by then, Kent had opened his yap to the press.

87. I hear you. I think you may be right that he sometimes lets his pride get in the way of what's best for the team. I didn't like the way he talked about AZ after he left either. I like the way he handles 90% of his business but that other 10% could use a little work. Can't the same be said for most of us though?

For an explanation of Gonzalez' behavior, I like Kipling:

From "Bertran and Bimi"
http://www.bibliomania.com/0/5/31/880/8625/1/frameset.html

"'It would be well for you, mine friend, if you was a liddle seasick,' said Hans Breitmann, pausing by the cage. 'You haf too much Ego in your Cosmos.'"

Add me to the list of folks up top who aren't ready to compare LuGo to Hitler.

As LAT so aptly phrased it, he has a blind spot with regard to the end of his career and of course, his comments about our young guys don't exactly enamor him to those of us who hang out at DT.

But we all knew about Kent's personality going into the season. He had showed his true self several times for several teams.

Gonzalez was more of a stealth attack, but I was not surprised because of his Arizona behavior.

Sorry for the fillibuster. I drank my diet Coke too fast I think.

For some reason, I get far more worked up during the offseason than during the regular season.

More Peyton Manning commercials...I look forward to the day he does the "Canyonero" spot....

95 "12 yards long and two lanes wide, 65 tons of American pride." (Please note: Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts.)

One of those rumor sites which tend to be wrong 90% of the time says the Dodgers have made it known that they might be interested in Andy Pettitte on a short term deal.

Assuming that this even has a shred of truth to it, would this be a good thing? Too much money? Too much chance of injury? Someone great to shore up the staff?

Pettitte has publicly said he would either resign with the Yankees or retire.

97
We would probably give him too much money, but he is a good pitcher.

98 - The Yankees have publicly said the won't negotiate with A-Rod. I don't necessarily believe either statement.

I'm not a huge fan of Pettitte. His strikeouts took a pretty big drop this year and a lot of the improvements in his home run rate are likely from switching parks.

101 -

For the huge difference in salary, I'd rather see us bring Wolf back. I think he would like to come back and show that last year's signing wasn't a mistake and he really was fairly effective (for a 4th or 5th starter) until he got hurt.

The FA pitching market is really thin this year. Is Schilling the best option for the Dodgers? Or maybe bringing back Wolf on an incentive-laden deal? Those are probably best long term as well as they don't block McDonald/Kershaw, etc.

do you think I should follow through on my plan to submit all my other scripts tonight and award to highest desperate bidder? plan b is to change my name to alan smithee and scab myself out. plan c is to do nothing, which will probably win.

wow, my teams are so ridiculously snakebit by injury this year. now I expect the lakers and ucsb and ucla to lose at least 5 key players before too long, too. sigh.

104
Submit them all!

106. done! now when do my residuals start trickling in?

I tend to agree with most of the Oberjuerge article. However, in fairness to Frank it could be argued that Frank has followed the Dodger Way. The only person left from the Dodger Way days is Tommy and Frank has given Tommy a lot [too much] of rope.

(First defending Gonzo and now Frank. I better have my testostorine level checked)

Adrian Peterson looks like a Hall of Famer.

109 And just when I say that, he fumbles.

All LuGo cares about is keeping his chance at 3000 alive. He's repeatedly said that. He cares zero about a team unless, as he suspects the Torre news may mean, it's interested in playing a 40-year old veteran over a younger player.

Maybe it's human nature to want to hang on as long as possible, but it doesn't mean that I, as a fan, have to like it. So, rather than call my feelings hatred, let's just say I feel very strongly that LuGo should retire or play for SF.

I have friends on staff for My Name is Earl who think this could be a long, brutal strike.

109 Peterson is already at 993 yards and his 8th NFL game isn't over yet!

112 Marty, does that mean you are a "Friend of Greg"?

For the last two years, I was hoping the Raiders would take Peterson. Then we got 1st pick and I was ecstatic because Peterson was going to be a Raider.

Then we drafted Cheeseburger Russell.

Sigh.

115 They wouldn't have needed to draft a QB if they had picked Leinart at #7 in 2006.

I've seen like 5 minutes of the show and hated it.

But I'm happy for my friends, it's already been sold into syndication.

116
Leinart is horribly overrated. He has terrible footwork and mechanics. USC quarterbacks benefit from being around tons of talent.

I am very happy we did not draft him.

118
At SC Leinart was always very good at checking off to the right receiver and not throwing into coverage. He had a strong arm and didn't get rattled; he was just never very accurate.

Hey, hey Eric Byrnes best fielding LF in baseball.

How did Brynes get such a bad reputation in Oakland as being a poor fielder, if in fact he's actually one of the best?

119
He is solid, just not top shelf QB. I think he was drafted too high. He always had bat footwork and when he gets pressure, he kind panics and his mechanics go by the wayside.

120
He would make the spectacular play a lot, but then mess up routine plays. Also, he would dive for balls he never had a chance at catching.

I'm certainly happier with cutler over leinart, except uh today. but long term I think he'll be the better qb.

back to the dodgers, critical question: who will be their backup catcher next season, now that moeller and lieberthal are both FAs? someone from the minors?

123 Tony Jackson said they would try to resign Lieberthal at a deal lower than the $1.4m option that was declined.

The Fielding Bible
http://www.billjamesonline.net/fieldingbible/

Every time Luis Gonzalez says something stupid, there's a reminder of what a great guy he is, as if - no offense to the people here today - we haven't been told that a hundred times by every broadcaster covering his games. Just like with Juan Pierre.

So Luis, go be that great guy.

If I were a Dodger, and I read Gonzalez saying, "Oh, I'm willing to play with you now because of the manager" - with the obvious implications behind that quote - I'd be locking the doors. As a ballplayer, Gonzalez strikes me as "when the going gets tough, the tough start whining" and there's no amount of parenting or charity work he can do to change that.

In the end, the charity work and parenting is more important, so again, good for him. But please, let him go flourish somewhere else.

Was there any evidence, even when the team was winning, that LuGo made a positive contribution to the clubhouse or to helping groom the young players? I don't remember a single story about his impact on the team. All I remember from the early part of the season was his proclamation that older players only care about winning and younger players only care about their own stats.

Why have there been three missed field-goal returns of 108 yards or more in the past three years? The frequency of this play seems strange.

127 Andre Ethier for one mentioned Luis Gonzalez as a good influence on him earlier in the season, a good example of the type of player he could be like. I'm not sure if he was just stroking the veteran's ego, though.

All I have left to write for my thesis is a 5 page conclusion, so I have been reading the Dodger Thoughts archives.

I just read the "DePo to be fired" entry and the 400 comments attached to it. Now I need a nap.

It's amazing to me that an NFL team got caught filming other team's play-calling and only got fined for it, with no other punishments.

130
You can just buy the book!

128
Teams have wised up to the fact that it's not as hard to return a missed field goal as other kicks. The field goal squad isn't picked for its ability to get downfield fast and cover return men. The players are picked for their ability to block.

The play doesn't happen in college football because you can't return a missed field goal out of the end zone. It's automatically a touchback. Although I should doublecheck the rulebook.

I had one run back of a missed field goal for a TD in covering high school games. It was around a 95 yard return.

131 I thought they lost a draft pick?

Ahh, in college ball, you can return a punt or missed field goal out of the end zone, but you have to catch the ball on the fly. If it hits the ground, it's dead.

133
I think they should have had to forfeit Super Bowls, and Baggy Bill should have been banned from the league.

126 You say it much nicer than Alec Baldwin:

"I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see, pal, that's who I am. And you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a $$$$. Good father? $$$$ you -- go home and play with your kids!! You wanna work here? Close!! You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you $$$$$$$$$? You can't take this -- how can you take the abuse you get on a sit?! You don't like it -- leave. I can go out there tonight with the materials you got, make myself fifteen thousand dollars! Tonight! In two hours! Can you? Can you? Go and do likewise! A-I-D-A!! Get mad! You sons of $$$$$$! Get mad!!"

You say it much nicer than Alec Baldwin

Alec's from Downtown. They're not so nice.

Come on, Colts. Don't let the Dark Side win.

138
It's Star Wars 3 for D4P!

Is there any particular reason to believe that the Patriots are no longer cheating?

I sense a great disturbance in the Force.

And there are no Ewoks to come save the day for D4P.

man, i hate the pats.

Who knows how widespread the cheating in the NFL is.

If the Patriots were cheating, they certainly took a long time to get it to work today.

If the Patriots were cheating, they certainly took a long time to get it to work today

They obviously don't want to make it obvious.

Clippers will be undefeated for at least one more day. At the worse they will be 2-3 by next Sunday instead of 0-5 as many predicted.

Kevin Durant and Jeff Green will be a killer combo in years to come.

Bill Belichick is really good at coming off as a jerk.

AZ Snakepit wrote about Gonzalez back on Halloween.
http://www.azsnakepit.com/story/2007/10/31/20331/026

The Patriots aren't telepathic. They have to spend the first half videotaping your sidelines and whatnot, then adjourn to the video room at halftime, then come back and win. Jeez, people.

i dunno if anyone shared this here, but probably the funniest quote i read about torre joining the dodgers came from this dodger group i belong to on livejournal:

"Dodgers name Joe Torre manager.

He couldn't finish the job in New York, but Torre is completely committed to wrecking Scott Proctor's arm, no matter what it takes."

I'm going to laugh in the Patriots go 16-0 and the Rams go 0-16.

Stupid Mike Martz.

As a fair weather football fan who roots for the Pats, I have to say I am dissapointed because I felt whoever won this game will inevitably lose the one in the play-offs.
My friends who are football fans said the Pats won this game dispite the officiating, which I am inclined to ignore because they are pretty one-sided.
Sorry to some of my rational friends here.

I just noticed the sidebar update containing the "2008 Payroll Worksheet."

Thanks, Jon.

It's amazing how much different the 2008 Dodgers will be compared to this year's team.

Boras prepares for A-Rod discussions

>> When he arrived at spring training with the Yankees last February, Rodriguez made clear that dollars are important to him.

"I love being the highest-paid player in the game. It's pretty cool. I like making that money," he said. "You get crushed, but you know what? It's pretty cool I enjoy it." <<

http://tinyurl.com/3973c7

At this time of year, in this situation, I feel good for every day that goes by with nothing major happening to the D's.
One final rant. Last night I saw the incredably brightened comet "Holmes" in my good binoculars. But despite the incredable values to be had now, I will never buy another telescope-Why- the true 15 day forecast( although not much good in NE) is for "mostly cloudy" every night. Really! And the light pollution is unbelievable.

Franchises that do contact Boras about A-Rod should be prepared to get a slew of documentation on why he is worth $30 million or more annually.

I don't understand why any of this "slew" should have any influence on a GM.

By the way, TC, you're welcome for Brevin. He gets hurt a lot, but otherwise he passes and steals with the best of 'em.

I would probably die of exctasy if A-Rod got no offers. I could actually see this happening so I am working on my will.

I would probably die of exctasy if A-Rod got no offers

Me too. I'd settle for him making less than he was going to make had he stayed with the Yankees.

So Belichick and Boras are both Star Wars characters, Darth Bill and Bobaras Fett...? works for me.

The San Diego Union is reporting that the Padres may want to sign David Eckstein to play second.

That could be 18 guaranteed days of complaining by the anti-Ecksteinites.

I'm just pleased that my years of rooting for Gary Sheffield despite everyone telling me what a jerk he was can now be counterbalanced by my annoyance at Luis Gonzales, despite him being such a nice guy and all.

Now Derek Lowe, he's annoying and you're not going to get anyone standing up for what a good sort he is in life, so it's a simpler case.

162
Maybe the Padres aren't Depo's team after all...

164 Ironically, Eckstein has turned into a player that only 2001 Billy Beane would love. No D, no speed, but he can still put up a .350 on base percentage.

only 2001 Billy Beane would love

Bob loves the lil' guy too.

David Eckstein is my hero.

136-- Safe to say that Gonzo finished in 3rd place;

The McCourts would find a way to award the Cadillac Eldorado and the steak knives, to their sons

151

That is pretty funny vishal. He also has Broxtons arm to toy with now.

that quote from Dodgers49 should have had some caution/read at own risk or something.

30

beauty is in the eye of the be holder I guess. I definitely see some spin in that article

It is possible to like a guy and not want him on your team again. Such is my attitude toward Eckstein.

Torii's contract parameters

Torii Hunter rejected a three-year, $45 million offer from the Twins in August, and the sides haven't spoken much since. Minnesota has exclusive negotiating rights until Nov. 13, when other teams can begin making formal offers, but Hunter said he would like to see what's out there before resuming talks with the Twins. He wants at least a five-year deal. Industry insiders think his contract could reach $90 million.

http://fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/26251

thats pretty cool (reading Blue Notes) the Kamenetzky brothers pimped DT a few days ago.

172
If you don't like David Eckstein, then you just don't like World Series MVPs!

Give me 25 Landry Clarks, and I'll win every time.

Clear eyes, full hearts!

Unrelated note: how the heck did Lakers Basketball all of a sudden get exciting? What a great start so far!

178

Bynum looks really good.

178 - 115-102 with 1:01 to play. A couple more games like this and I think we'll be able to put the "Kobe is about to be traded" talk to rest. And they still don't even have Odom back (who is likely going to be trade bait when he does come back).

Heh, Stu Lantz on Derek Fisher: Stats can be very misleading.

As crazy as that sounds, I don't care, I just love having D-Fish back.

same here. I still can't believe they steamrolled Phoenix on the road the way they did.

181 Fisher > Smush

Smush = Gonzo

183 - well, yeah. They never should have let him leave in the first place.

Here's a scary thing for the rest of the league, Kobe in the post-game interview just said, "my legs feel like I'm 17 years old again".

184 That's cold.

183 He was pretty expensive when he left, they just couldn't get a decent guard in the meantime.

66 degrees and sunny is the forecast for the 10:00 a.m. press conference.

I think we are going to be looking at Fisher like we looked at Gonzo this year. He may be surprisingly starting off well, but you are going to be wanting Farmar or Crittenton starting ahead of him at some point this year.

158
Love his game. Best backup point guard we've ever had. He went down today with an injury to his face and was replaced by my favorite 2002 College player Dickau who hit a key 3 pointer for his 1st basket as a Clip. Rueben Patterson is the guy you hated on the other team. Now that he's a Clipper he's still doing all the things you hated. Plays tough defense, grabs every loose ball, and has just enough offense to be effective. The Clippers have a bizarre team. It is old, has no stars but really has no weak players on either the 1st or 2nd unit. When your 2nd unit is Knight, Patterson, and Cutino your not scared of the 2nd qtr.

Both LA teams have been a lot of fun to watch early on. Don't forget how great the Lakers looked last Nov/Dec before injuries and rookie walls took their toll. This year they have 3 big men in Bynum, Brown, and Mihm along with a healthy Turiaf, and Radman to go with a more seasoned Farmer and the old vet Fisher. Throw in the best player in basketball and Odom and they should do some damage. That is what bugged me the most about Kobe's comments. This team can win, it may not be championship capable but it is a playoff team. Looking forward to seeing Chris Paul and company on Tuesday Night.

188
Fisher has always been unselfish. I doubt it is a problem. Did you see him hug Farmer when he replaced him in the 4th?

Staples has some awesome LA sports art for sale. Some of the best pieces:
1. Magic/Bird fighting for position - 5500.00
2. Koufax staring in - 5500.00 (My wifes favorite painting)
3. Lakers big 5 of Magic/Captain/Worthy/Coop/Rambis - 1900.00

If you go to Staples, walk around and check out the art.

188 - I'm not sure about that. I think Farmer and Crittenton both have a year or two more of development time. Plus, unlike baseball, basketball allows you to substitute guys in and out. Starting matters less, it's more about who gets the most playing time, and maybe by the end of the season those three are close to even, but Fisher is still better defensively than either of those guys.

And Fisher has gone from being a starter to being a back up and back. He's shown a lot of class during his career in that regard.

Well, I did not mean he would be grumpy about it like Gonzo. Fisher said he was actually expecting to come off the bench.

Just statistically, Fisher's defense and shooting have been going down a lot. So I expect by some point we will hope to see more of the younger guys.

Driving home from the game I was telling my wife how they have to use CF for the Torre conference and how ridiculous this whole thing is. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said "are you kidding, he's Joe Torre".

193 The first thing Joe says, "We gotta change the color of the seats."

I think Odom can take his time coming back to the lineup.

I think Lamar Odom would be a huge help to this Laker team. He would push Luke Walton to the bench, and he gives us a more consistent second offensive option in the starting line-up. I am very excited to see what the Lakers do when he returns from injury.

Odom would push Turiaf to the bench.

196-

While I like Lamar, he needs to be traded.

Everyone talks about how dealing him for someone like Marion would be a "lateral movement". But, no one takes into consideration the 20 or so games a year that Lamar spends in a three piece suit.

He's a great player, but get someone who can play 82 games....

I can't wait to hear what Mike Dunleavy has to say about this recent hire.

"I think he's great for the Dodgers. I think this year's Dodgers, they had a great run up until the middle of the season and, whatever, didn't glue it together in the end when they lost the West. It's a situation where [someone] like Joe perhaps can give them the experience and the ability to glue the team together down stretch."

Phil Jackson on new Dodger manager, Joe Torre.

The guy got a concussion in a car accident. Yes, I know he was hurt before, but that is an issue. It is like blaming JD Drew for getting hit on the wrist by a pitch.

There is probably no deal where we would get a better player in return, unless we also traded Bynum.

200 Too bad about Mike Roll, he looked really good on Friday (but then in a 50 point win, everyone looks good).

Tomorrow Bob T joins me as we see if UCLA can survive one game without someone getting hurt.

I think Randy Pfund would make a great manager for the Dodgers.

201
Yeah. Hopefully the more playing time it gives Westbrook and Shipp helps later in the year. Greg also said they may give some playing time to Chace.

203 They had some interesting fivesomes in the game, my favorite "speed" team was the line up with Collison, Shipp, Westbrook, Aboya and Luc. I also kept waiting for a lineup with Mata, Love and Aboya.

There were also times when either Westbrook or Collison were in with 4 forward types, which meant either Luc or Dragovic were the 2.

Of course, no lineup lasts more than 3 minutes anyway.

I am so surprised that Mata seems to have moved to the bench and possibly even behind Aboya.

I'm really happy to see Bynum doing what I thought he could do....it doesn't seem hard to see that he is a quality big man, and yet he is constantly trashed by radio haks, and emotional Laker fans....He might be a 20-10 guy by next season...

205 Behind Love, you are joking right?

Mata's has pretty good footwork around the basket but he still can't complete the play and his getting fouled is not a good thing.

Defensively though, both he and Aboya still do that great job of help defense and doubling the post. Not so much with Love.

206 Next season will be his 4th year, that's a long time to wait.

207
I thought he was going to start with Love. Luc at three, Shipp at two, and DC at one.

Bynum has to sustain it. He tends to come out like gangbusters then regresses as the season goes on.

Odom would push Turiaf to the bench.

The reports have been that Odom will finally be starting at the three this season, his natural position, with Turiaf at power, and Luke leading the second unit off the bench.

Part of Lamar's injury issues with LA could be attributed to his having to bang at power forward all game. He's always been better suited for small forward.

211
Well I hope that becomes reality.

Me too.

Bynum will be an All-Star, and the Lakers were smart to trade him for nothing less than Garnett....big men with his coordination are very few and far between....

208
Since this season is his 3rd, drafted out of HS, and he was a project, it really is not that long to wait.

Odom can help if his head is on. The loss of his child and his subsequent talk about retirement should be worrisome for Laker fans.
If he's all in, he just makes the Lakers all that more dangerous and will give them an even more skilled 2nd team.

Less than 10 1/2 hours before Ford Frick Honoree, Vin Scully introduces Dodger GM, Ned Colleti who will then introduce the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Joe Torre.

I am more amazed by the fact that Joe Torre is our manager than I am happy about it. It was like seeing Greg Maddux in a Dodger uniform. I appreciate it, just because he has been such a big figure in the game these last ten years.

218 Not to hype it too much but next week, when you can see Kevin Love in a UCLA uniform (assuming you are not watching the games on computer), I think you will be amazed again.

219
I just found out that CSTV has an actual TV channel and I get it. So I hope I can see the UCLA exhibition games on it.

220
Another person who lives in either Cuba or the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

220 On Friday, Love blocked a shot and hit a three before I blinked. And Dragovic looked quite comfortable. Losing roll stings a bit, but Dragovic could really contribute this year.

My hope is that the Roll injury allows Westbrook to start. The more Westbrook the better in my opinion.

223 Westbrook and Collison both bring aggressive dribble penetration. They're not the same player, but the play the same way.

I like having a good spot-up shooter off the bench to beat the zone, which has killed us two years in a row. If not Roll, then it has to be Dragovic.

Dragovic can't play a lick of defense though.

Greg and Tracy from Scout.com, do not even think he is a UCLA level player and they think he could go back to Serbia after the season.

Lugo apparently thinks Torre is a very forgiving person.

He might be a 20-10 guy by next season

Bynum would already be a 20-10 guy if he didn't get called for so many fouls. I don't watch the games, so I'm not sure whether the foul calls or legitimate or whether the refs are just picking on him because he's so young.

Rotoworld is predicting that we will sign Kyle Lohse (3 yrs/$33 mil).

Scary.

Kyle Lohse (3 yrs/$33 mil)

Tomko/Hendrickson/Wells at three times the cost?

Where do I sign up?

What a Marvelous day

228 That signing means the end of all our A-Rod fantasies.

Why did Lohse end up on my "stuff I want to happen" list?

Signing Kyle Lohse is its own reward, no matter how it affects the A-Rod chase.

228 Fortunately it's just what one guy thinks and isn't based on actual fact.

234- I've been calling a Lohse signing for six weeks now. So, it's what two guys think, buster. Once you get two of something, it becomes data.

Andrew, do you qualify the "reward" as a real one or were you just being sarcastic?

---

If the writers are on strike, does that mean Screen Jam goes on strike too?

I would not be happy to see Kyle Lohse pitch for the Dodgers.

Jon, do you know a Variety writer named Dade Hayes? He spoke about the writers' strike on a Canadian news program today. When they said they would be interviewing a writer for Variety, I held out some hope that the writer would be Jon Weisman.

So is there going to be a q&a during this press conference? And if so, will the questions be something more than 'Hey Joe how much do you love LA/Frank McCourt?'

I don't see why this press conference is a big deal. I suppose it would be somewhat interesting if we didn't already know who the manager was gonna be, but as it is, who cares?

238 - Yes, I know him; no, it wouldn't be me.

239 - Good question! New post up top.