And the winner is "Guerra Goes" :)

When I saw the headline I thought you meant Javy Guerra. This news isn't nearly as bad as that would have been.

This is the first time I've ever heard of her.

Me too.

I think there was a story about Guerra on MLB.com or somewhere last season, and that was the first time I had heard of her.

per diem interruptus!

DeWitt's meals per diem payout of $623 for the seven-day road trip is $89/day. I imagine most corporations expect to reimburse employees on travel that kind of figure for meals on the road. If you eat three meals in restaurants, it adds up pretty quick.

What is funny is that the team also provides a post-game spread in the clubhouse on top of the per diem.

Let me tell you a little story about acting. I was doing this Showtime movie—Hot Ice with Anne Archer—never once touched my per diem. I'd go to Craft Service, get some raw veggies, bacon, Cup-A-Soup— baby, I got a stew going.

Andruw's struggles and more

>> 1. Deja Blue: In November 2006, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti signed center fielder Juan Pierre to a five-year, $44 million deal. "I truly believe the city of Los Angeles is going to love this player," the GM said at the time. Just one year into the deal, though, Colletti realized that Pierre is an out machine at the plate with a noodle arm in the field. <<

But doesn't this beg the question ...

Why would Colletti need to watch Juan Pierre play for the Dodgers to discover this? Juan Pierre had been playing major league baseball for eight years before Colletti signed him.

%% His play in the field is even more jarring. The 10-time Gold Glover may be error-free, but he has noticeably lost a step. On Monday night Jones misplayed an Eric Byrnes line drive so badly, I had to rewind the play five times to make sure it was really him. %%

## Until the Dodgers hoodwink some team into taking Pierre, talented youngsters Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp face the possibility of erratic playing time. It'll be very interesting to see how Joe Torre handles this situation going forward. ##

http://tinyurl.com/6rd2fy

Huh?
I woudn't have even been that upset if it was Javy.
Well' I thought their diction was good. You know, at least they didn't say "its so easy........". Yes there is that.

6 When I go on business trips for work, our per diem is $64 a day or something.

4 - Really? I'm surprised.

Of course, the ballplayers have a (free?) spread in the clubhouse before and after games, so they don't have to necessarily dip into their per diem.

Andruw Jones is a great hitter when the pitcher throws the ball where he's gonna swing.

8 It is just too early to conclude anything about Jone with this small a sampling of at bats. But never fear, there are countless pundits waiting to swoop down on this saga of big vs. small franchise cliche if it continues to veer out of control. You can compose the first paragraph almost exactly without much effort.

It is just too early to conclude anything about Jone with this small a sampling of at bats

It's not a small sample size if you view this year as a continuation of his horrendous 2007.

Wow. Prince is playing Coachella!

I agree with 2, our playing Guerra can still throw gas after his TJ surgery, maybe the command will return.

Beside the free spreads do ballplayers ever pay for anything? My friend used to run a steak house in Palm Springs and now in Phoenix and he comps every baseball player who shows up. I expect that happens every night for these guys.

I always found it strange that the major league ballplayer can afford to pay for anything but rarely has to, while the minor leaguer who can afford nothing, gets nothing for free.

I always found it strange that the major league ballplayer can afford to pay for anything but rarely has to, while the minor leaguer who can afford nothing, gets nothing for free

This happens across the board, not just in baseball. The more money you have, the more likely people are to give you stuff for free. It's weird.

15 - Did Jones hit .103 in 2007? Calling his start this year is a continuation of that year is misleading. This is clearly aberrative. Either something truly traumatic has happened to him, or more likely, it's just a slump.

I think many people here are expecting low BA (.250 neighborhood), 25-35 HR and good fielding from Jones in 2008, and there's not yet a reason to think that won't happen. Now, that might not justify his contract, and you can certainly argue that. Rob McMillin, among others, panned the signing from the start, and he might be right.

But I've also heard floated by some commenters that Jones should be benched, even replaced in the starting lineup by a minor-leaguer. It's like people say, "I know it's a small sample size, but ..." and then ignore the part of the sentence before the "but ..."

Either something truly traumatic has happened to him, or more likely, it's just a slump

Was his entire 2007 season a "slump"...? Was he "unlucky" for an entire season...?

20 - It doesn't feel like you read my comment well.

There is no per diem on my business travel. But it's assumed I won't abuse the meal expense privilege.

20 It does feel like you just completely ignored Jon's 19 , even though you quoted it.

23 Small sample size. ;)

2 I thought Vida Guerra. I was wondering when she started working for the Dodgers

I continue to think that Jones' playfullness is causing him to want to participate in the musical chair game with Pierre, Ethier, and Kemp.

20
Ask Mike Lowell, it happens. Instead of harping on how bad A Jones has been why don't we bet on which of these hitters breaks out 1st from the 08 funk.
Name/AtBats/Average
Giambi/18/.056
K Johjima/28/.071
Ortiz/36/.083
Cust/30/.100
Martin/29/.103
Adam Laroche/31/.129
Andruw Jones/31/.129
Miggy/29/.139
Thome/32/156
Soriano/43/.163

I'm not sure what I'm misreading. People who dismiss Andruw's poor 2008 performance (and more importantly, his bad approach to hitting that involves swinging at everything and not hitting very much of it) as an issue of sample size seem to be ignoring the fact that he did this same thing for an entire season in 2007.

He's not gonna OPS .367 for an entire season, but he appears to be pretty much on his way to another .222/.311/.413/.724 that he put up last year.

I wonder sometimes how much we let our predictions get in the way of our rooting interest. I would be lying if I didn't in the back of my mind want A Jones to be successful because I predicted that 2007 was an aberration and Joe Sheehan backed me up on that.

On the other hand I disagree with Joe on many things so I'm cherry picking when I use him as an example of why I'm still feeling good about the A Jones signing.

I know who she is, I sat next to her during a Dodger/FoxSports premier.

27 - Maybe the one whose hometown warms up first.

27 Ortiz. I would say Miggy but he's adjusting to a new league and Ortiz is a better hitter than Martin.

31 Following that logic, Martin is going 4-4 tonight with 2 double, a HR and 6 RBIs.

33 - Doesn't sound good for Peavy.

10

I'm getting 900 bucks in fuel REIMBURSEMENT this month but only cause I was driving to an off-site office, man, that's peanuts to these guys... plus that's money already spent. I guess it's cool though, I know companies that don't do that.

34 Do we need to factor in pine tar? If we do I retract 33.

28 "People who dismiss Andruw's poor 2008 performance ... as an issue of sample size seem to be ignoring the fact that he did this same thing for an entire season in 2007."

The main problem is your insistence on calling a .367 OPS is "the same thing" as a .724 OPS. It isn't.

28 - Here's what you're misreading.

I'm talking about the fears that Jones can't even match his 2007 performance. I'm not saying he won't repeat 2007 - he very well might.

But I am very clearly distinguishing between his 88 OPS+ of 2007 and his negative-2 OPS+ of 2008. And so when you say in your previous comments that 2008 should be viewed as a continuation of 2007, that's misleading.

You're more on target with this: "He's not gonna OPS .367 for an entire season, but he appears to be pretty much on his way to another .222/.311/.413/.724 that he put up last year." That's very much possible, although hardly guaranteed.

And so when you say in your previous comments that 2008 should be viewed as a continuation of 2007, that's misleading

Regarding the continuation, I was referring more to his approach than the actual numbers. I'd be very surprised if anyone thinks he'll end up at .129/.206/.161/.367, but that's not really the point. The point is his approach to hitting appears to be the same one that produced poor numbers in 2007.

Jordan Hershiser is making a name for himself at USC

http://tinyurl.com/4enrsx

39 - We can take a poll, but I think there are a number of people who have expressed a concern if not a belief that Jones has dropped well below replacement level.

A while back I spoke to an Angels staffer who, as part of his responsibilities, was to hand out envelopes of cash to the players each week for their per diem.

Incidentally, I saw a few of the Dodgers last week walking around the Gaslamp district in San Diego looking for places to eat.

If you talk to any Braves fan, you will hear that Andruw Jones is an intensely frustrating player who, when he is hot, is a delight to watch, and when he's cold, looks like he is the world's worst hitter with no hope for improvement. You will also hear that he is indifferent to coaching, and that he has always employed the approach at the plate of trying to pull every single pitch for a home run. Despite these flaws, he's been one of the best players in baseball over the last decade, even if you include 2007.

There is no way a reasonable person can expect Jones to continue to OPS .367. A worst-case scenario probably involves him repeating his 2007 numbers. My argument would be that even if he's exactly as bad in '08 as he was in '07, he still will have been worth signing, for the following reasons.

1) It's a short contract, for the precise reason that Colletti was guarding against the possibility that Jones' '07 performance was real.

2) Jones' 07 level of performance would still be miles better than any other realistic option we had for center field this year, especially when you take defense into account.

3) While many will say a repeat of 2007 isn't worth $18 million, and they may be right, he almost certainly IS worth that much to the Dodgers because they had the money to spend and there was no obvious spot at which the club could be improved other than center field.

Kareem Abduj-Jabbar, blogger/recovering technophobe:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/kareem/2008/04/me-digital.html

Tonight's lineup (from Diamond):

Furcal, SS
Pierre, LF
Ethier, RF
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
Jones, CF
DeWitt, 3B
Penny, P

"Regarding the continuation, I was referring more to his approach than the actual numbers."

I hate his approach too, but it's an approach he's employed his entire career. And for most of that career, he's been good.

45 I wasn't necessarily against sitting Kemp vs. Peavy the first time around. But if we make a habit of sitting our best players every time we face Peavy, losing to him will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

19 - Rob McMillin, among others, panned the signing from the start, and he might be right.

Not that it especially makes me feel any better to be right (so far). It's twice as annoying to follow two teams and see both of them making nearly identical mistakes.

I agree with Jon to the extent that I think it's possible Jones isn't as quite bad as he's shown recently. Take a look at his 2007: he was this bad and worse in June, posting a .143/.211/.276 line, and .202/.286/.343 in May.

http://tinyurl.com/5nq2sc

What that tells me is that we may have to be patient in extremis with Jones before we see any apparent value from him. The fact that he's slumping this badly early is certainly not helping.

For clarity: my bet is that the big invisible fork has already been plunged into his career, especially considering some of the comments I've read about his plate approach (i.e. swing at everything, swing early, swing late -- the hallmarks of a guess hitter). I could be wrong and would be happy to be proven so.

Does Andruw Jones look for anything BUT a fastball? His swing is way off, and he has no chance on the breaking pitches, it appears.

I remember Tommy Lasorda asking former catcher, Charles Johnson (remember him?) if he needed glasses.

Andruw looks THAT bad at the plate.

If at the end of season Andruw has at least 25 HRs and 80 RBIs, I won´t be disappointed. No matter what his batting average is. He was signed to bring power to this lineup and that´s what I´m hoping for.

Pierre back in the two-hole is sickening.

Giants' Roberts to have knee surgery

http://tinyurl.com/6n3u4u

48 - s/this bad and worse/bad/. I was stuck on him being Mendoza-line, which he hasn't been in ages.

I remember Todd Jones complaining about having to pay for the post game spread in what amounted to his "we make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money too" column.

43 Pierre was actually more valuable than Jones offensively last year. Defense puts Andruw ahead, but it's not a huge gap.

47 - Agreed.

I used to wonder if a player, I think it was Beltre, needed glasses, because his night/day differential was so extreme.

51 Pierre back in the two-hole is sickening.

But he got two hits the other day. That's all Torre needed to see. :-) I felt pretty confident Pierre would be starting tonight.

Another "tough righty" tomorrow in Chris Young. Will Pierre start again?

No Kemp?! Why do you bench one of your best hitters against a pitcher like Peavy? Pierre went 0 for 3 on Saturday, I just don´t understand it.

58 - I was wrong. I thought Kemp would.

Just saw this referenced on MLBTraderumors. It's about Bonds, just idle chatter, but something in it made me think of someone on the Dodgers, knowwhatImean?

>>Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup...Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds would already be in uniform if he had come out said he would play 2008 for $3-5MM plus incentives? The baggage is what it is, but teams might find it easier to deal with it at a price Bonds is not likely to accept.<<

55 I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but:
EQA: Jones .259, Pierre .256
OPS+: Jones 88, Pierre 75

I haven't used the "YOU NEED GLASSES!" phrase in years, time to dust it off this sunday.

Flabby McWhiff is going to break out of his slump tonight.

I guess Torre felt he had to bench either Jones or Kemp vs. Peavy tonight and Kemp lost. I agree with the above, though, why not just give him a chance to face Peavy more often? I guess Pierre's bunt attempts are safer vs. Peavy, who owns the Dodgers anyway, but seems kinda backwards to me. Well, whatever, I said I wouldn't judge lineups and how the Dodgers are doing overall until they get out of the division and out of April, so I'll stick to it.

At any rate, it wouldn't be too brave to predict a 3-2 final tonight. If that.

For those of you who scream that all managers are pretty much the same. Pierre in the 2 hole and platooning says it all. Very Gradyesque.

He realized well heck the 6 hole needs protection and Pierre is truly usless in the 8 hole and I am my old school and wont hit him 9th and raffy can only hit leadoff and blech, 2 hole.

Tiger birdies 17 to get into the red, albeit 7 shots back. 18th hole is key, but I'll never count him out.

65 Hah hah. Awesome counterpoint to Slappy McPopup.

Yep, breaking through his slump this weekend would be nice.

Juan Pierre's first bunt attempt tonight will be:
A) A hit.
B) A sacrifice.
C) A foul ball.
D) A force play.
E) Popped up for an out.
F) Missed completely.

70
I'll go with C).

As an athlete it would make me angry that my Manager didn't think I could hit the best pitchers in the NL.

Pierre Start Watch:

Pierre = 5
Kemp = 5

Torre said Pierre would start the season as a bench player pinch-hitting, pinch-running and being available to spell a starter

Technically, Pierre did start the season as a bench player.

Thats easy, F.

70 OR
G) Bunt double
H) Bunt attempt sends ball into face.

25-Her backside defies all logic. I have touched it with permission, and I still don't understand.

72
You mean, being told you can't hit good pitchers wouldn't do wonders for your confidence?

COME ON!

I actually forgot to include what is perhaps the most likely outcome, thrown out at first bunting for a hit.

76 - Not to be one of those people, but, um, details? How does one get permission? Does one fill out paperwork?

What was Dunlap's per diem?

I'm trying to catch a game next week. Does anyone know how the pitching schedule will shake out due to yesterday's off day? Will Loaiza still pitch Sunday's game or have their been indications that he will get skipped and Billz will pitch on Sunday? Or to get to my question more directly - whose going to pitch Tuesday night's game?

And you´ve got to wonder if Pierre has enough power to hit a Sac Fly with a slow guy like Penny on 3rd. Even if he doesn´t get a hit against Peavy, he has more power to make productive outs.

What was Dunlap's per diem?

Carpe.

Dunlap ate the craft services table.

--

I think they should at least have Penny batting 8th and Pierre 9th, pull a LaRussa.

63 I was going by VORP, which Pierre leads 16.2 to 5.4. Since Pierre's plate appearances give him the advantage, he also lead in VORP rate .096 to .036.

Plus Pierre lead the league in base running last year, which does count for an additional few runs.

81 Sunday it´s Bills vs Maddux

67 Doesn't that back up the idea that all managers are the same?

79-We were at a party together a few years ago and she was wearing white stretch jeans and a tube top. My guy friends were gawking at her, so I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. I was working at FHM at the time, so I'd seen her infamous butt cover in all its glory many times but I thought it was the result of photoshop hijinkery like every other magazine cover. It wasn't. I couldn't believe it.

So I walked up to her and told her I admired it, and asked if I could touch it. I don't know why. It was kind of a Ripley's Believe it Or Not moment, and I'm a bit of a scientist at heart. She proudly said, "Sure!" So I did. And my guy friends cheered.

The end.

61 I thought Kemp would.

Since Kemp has four hits in his last two games and Pierre got two in his last game and Ethier has started all nine games I had a feeling Torre might decide it was time to sit Ethier and give both Pierre and Kemp a start. So I was only half right. :-)

88 Molly forget to add this closing line. It (I don't think I can use "they") is real and it is spectacular.

88 Was alcohol at all involved in this situation?

I am hoping Torre will settle on something consistent by May.

45 That can't be possible.

93
In a year that has been so probable, the possible has happened.

91 The same question might be asked of 45 .

Speaking of "F", that's about how the Dodgers will do on offense tonight. u-g-h.

86 So Monday would be Kuroda and then Tuesday would go back to Loaiza?

I knew that stupid double would cost us games.

The LogikReader Boycott

Just to show how much I appreciate actual baseball talent, I will not watch any game with Juan Pierre starting this year. Begininnnnng now!

97 86 So Monday would be Kuroda and then Tuesday would go back to Loaiza?

Yep, Loaiza against Matt Morris.

http://tinyurl.com/32n9hc

97. Monday: Kuroda x Duke
Tuesday: Loaiza x Morris

I've spent the afternoon working while listening to Jaime Jarrin's call of another Peavy game at Dodger Stadium -- the 4+1 game. Sadly, I don't think tonight's game will be quite as enjoyable.

Can the Dodgers not beat this lineup?

Giles. RF
Iguchi. 2B
Gonzalez. 1B
Kouzmanoff 3B
Edmonds. CF
Greene. SS
Hairston. LF
Bard. C

103 With JP and Peavy involved I have my doubts.

I've tried to be patient, but this lineup truly annoys me.

Kemp can launch a HR in any given AB and in what will hopefully be a low scoring game, starting JP is asinine.

103 Not if they don't score any runs.

99 You will miss half their games.

The best case worst case scenario is that the game goes 0-0 into the ninth then we steal a victory off of Hoffman.

108

Duly noted. Whatever it takes :-)

Please, let's not use the phrase "steal a victory." It'll only encourage them to play you-know-who.

103 This game has a 0-0, going into the 7th inning stretch written all over it.

As far as Dodger hitters slumps... to put things in perspective, they've played only nine games so far. I don't think that's a slump. 10% of your season is a slump. You can easily have a stretch during the season where you could hit .450 over nine games, so no, I don't think there's cause to worry.

To top it off, out of our nine games, the pitchers we have faced so far include Cain, Lincecum, Peavy, Young and Haren. Infact, Zito is the worst starter we've faced so far, so that's definitely saying something. Peavy, Young and Maddux coming up next. I predict breaking out with the bats for the Dodgers next week. A nine run game and a ten run game. Lock it up!

So what's the credibility to his players cost of Torre going back on his "regular bench player" statement in the first week of the season?

112 Only the first line of my post was a response to Jon's post. The rest of it is just me ranting and rambling, not a response to anything Jon said.

113

It depends on whether Torre is really doing this out of his own will, or due to the peer pressure of NedCo and JP's agent (and Plaschke).

At this point, it's too close to call.

113 None. He's won 4 world series and been in the playoffs 12 straight years. I think the team and fans should at the very least wait a little longer before attacking credibility. You can question his decisions, but I don't think his credibility has in anyway been shot with the team and most fans.

There must be great consternation at the Dodgers blogger summit meeting tonight.

Although if Jon isn't attending, the group is akin to the League of Nations in authority.

If I were there, I would be sure to ask for some nonbinding sanctions.

I can't think of any good reason to play anyone over Kemp. I'm justhoping it's early season thing,and fades quickly. The Diamondbacks allowed their youngsters to fight through slumps last year, and so far it appears to be paying off.

100 and 101
Thanks, that's what I was assuming, Loaiza would get skipped on Sunday but not skipped completely. So it looks like I'll try for Monday or Wednesday's game.

So is Joe Torre in love with Ethier or is he just above the rest of the outfielders? I know, the righty vs. lefty thing but every outfielder has sat out a game with the exception of Andre. Does Joe honestly think he's better than Kemp? And whats with him hitting 3 over Loney?

112 + 116 sums up what I've been trying to say here. Kudos!

If patience were measurable, with the most patient person being a full yardstick, some people here would only be an inch on that scale. Repeat after me: Thou Shalt Not Judge The Season By the First Two Weeks.

Then say a few prayers for going against Jake Peavy and we'll break early for pancakes.

Through the next 3 weeks, I have gone ahead and checked the potential pitchers that the Dodgers might face in their next 6 series.

In terms of L/R breakdown 7L/9R, tough righties are Peavy, Young, Harang, and Haren. (I think the Dodgers miss Webb again). They'll miss Hudson, Smoltz and the new Red, Cueto(sp.)

It's been an interesting 9 games, only 2 lefthanded starters, one, Doug Davis, pitches like Koufax against any form of the Dodgers.

After this series, the pitching quality goes down a bit due to missing some pitchers.

120 I think his hot spring training has a lot to do with it. At the very least, Torre thinks that he's a hot bat right now and wants him in the limeup everyday. He's also more experienced of all the kids. Hope there's more to it than that, but that's the most reasonable explanantion I can think of.

123 I also think that if I ever run a company making a Sprite-like drink, I shall call it LimeUp.

116

Yea, I know his resume- which is actually very mixed at best outside of NY(from where he was essentially made an offer he couldn't accept), but it looks like he is trying to chaise the hot hand every day which can be costly in the long run.

118 Tell that to Carlos Quentin.

Teams let players fight through slumps if there in no alternative or they can carry a slumping player. It also helps if no one expects you to win.

Last year, Arizona had no outside expectations to win and they had gotten rid of some players (see Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzalez) of got hurt (see Chad Tracy) who the manager might have been tempted to play if they were still around while the younger guys struggled.

If comparing to the Dodgers, certainly
Arizona committed to the youth movement earlier but it helped that there were not so many options available.

By no means should this be taken as an endorsement for Pierre to play over Kemp, as I am not sure I have heard a good reason given for splitting those two players time.

The only other thing I can think of is that given the fact that the Dodgers are likely to face 4 lefties next week, plus, I assume Jones will play all 3 games in Atlanta, its possible that Pierre might not play that much next week.

But I am just guessing that so hopefully we'll hear something about this from the manager.

125 You may be right. All I'm saying is let's give it more time. It hasn't even been two weeks.

125 There are not too many hot hands to chase right now in the Dodger dugout.

There are some well pitched games going on in the majors right now.

128

Yea, They are both atteched to Loney.... ;)

Hello, I don't often post but I'm a longtime reader. I just logged on quickly to check the line up and got caught up in this thread. Funny how that is. It's like those corny driveway bits on NPR. Anyway, it seems to me 3 things are becoming evident.

1. Andrew Jones clearly needs to get himself into better shape. I think it would probably help him control his struggles tremendously. Calls into question Joe Torre's rather passive aggressive move of having Jones speak to Abreu about conditioning in spring training.

2. If The Dodgers don't make the playoffs and Jones is still fat at end of the season, Colletti is gone. The media will make sure it happens.

3. Given the above and the obvious media influence of this site, we should start the rehire DePodesta campaign right now. McCourt can hire him a Secretary of Communication for his own piece of mind and DePodesta's original plan can resume with controllable damage.

Fight the power.

130 To me, a hitting streak, even a modest one, is one of the most exciting things to watch for in baseball. I hope Loney can find a way to keep them hot.

131 That has less chance of happening than Juan Pierre hitting a home run, a regular one, not some weird inside-the-park version.

133 I know but it'd be more fun to try than watching that cheap home run blow out on a windy day.

J.D. Drew just homered. If only...

The media will not drive Ned out, they never drove Mitch Kupchak out, they didn't drvie UCLA to fire Karl Dorrell. Heck, they didn't drive the Dodgers to fire their last two managers.

Now will some yell and scream, sure, but the Dodgers will just keep collecting revenue from the 4 million fans that will buy tickets this year.

133 I know but it'd be more fun to try than watching that cheap home run blow out on a windy day.

J.D. Drew just homered. If only...

Sorry if i sound bitter, I know we need to give Torre et.al. time, Im just ticked b/c ive got good seats and wanted to see Kemp play for the first time.... lets get a W!!

greeting from the frozen centerfield bleachers of Fenway, where I just saw old friend JD Drew tie the Yankees with a HR.

just a couple innings earlier, the fans were calling him Judy. fan hatred is fickle.

so in that spirit, let me wish Judy Pierre a good game. Dodgers solve Peavey tonight

135 Carlos quenting has shoulder problems and AZ had a logjam that made him expendable seeing as he had a higher risk/lower cieling compared to Upton. Plus unlike Pierre, he was tradeable. It seems to me that AZ's youngsters are a little bit ahead in developement compared to L.A's. Kemp needs to be playing every day, and LaRoche needs a forcefield.

137 Sounds like a a good pitching match up to go see. I'm sure you'll see Kemp at some point tonight. Have fun.

91- Yes, definitely. But I don't that night has anything on today's line-up card in terms of alcohol-induced insanity.

I am really starting to wonder about the impact of Pierre's agent's phone call to N.C.

I imagine that agents call G.M's with questions like that all the time. I think because Pierre is a story that someone saw fit to report it.

30-minute lull on a game night. Unusual, I think.

I let my computer take care of all the maintanance it does every Friday night unemcumberred, because Friday's at home(Dodger Stadium) is the longest wait for East Coast fans, and it's still almost 2 hrs. to go.
But there is something interesting going on--the first Yanks-Sox hoe-down.
I was interested to see that I was blacked out on one of DTV's channels, apparently the Yanks. I got the Red Sox on Nesn and one of DTV's that uses NESN. It is interesting because towns in SW Berkshire county(Ma.) are contended for by both the Albany NY network tv outlets and those in Springfield Ma.(not the home of the Simpsons). Because of this battle, DTV will not offer local channels, or even any network programming. In this way, many tiny areas in the USA, whether urban, rural or suburban, have now been without prime time network shows for a while.
In the game, the Sox prospect Bucholtz, who I believe BA ranked higher than Kershaw in the top 100, pitched a very nice 6 innings, departing 1-1, although now the Sox are behind 3-1. Bucholtz surprised me by how he comes right over the top,although I'm not sure how much of this is arm angle, and how much is an almost shocking tendency of his upper torso to fly towards first in the follow through.

I no longer would hold it against Kemp, if he goes "Larry Bowa" in the clubhouse.

It's like the Dodgers want me to get mad with them.

145 Me, too.

I wonder who calls Ned Colletti more often, Mark Pieper or Dave Stewart.

Seems like a simple left/right platoon, it is what it is until it isn't.

I do not like the direction of this season. Pierre in the two-hole, especially in favor of Kemp, is inexcusable. The D'Backs are freakin' good. We cannot allow them any more quarter.

CC is not holding up well under the pressure of pitching in his walk year. 9 runs in 3 innings. 18 earned runs in 3 games.

Game thread is open.

In Colletti's battle to sign Pierre with the Giants and his old boss, I wonder what was promised / committed to Pierre's agent that is not part of the written contract.

Pierre's agent calls and reminds Colletti that the only reason Pierre signed with the Dodgers was because Colletti made a verbal committment of some kind that sealed the deal. If so, that is another of those thousand cuts than alone are harmless and together are deadly.

But if the real goal is to sell 4 million tickets, whatever works to get continued and additional season ticket sales could save Colletti.