Dodger Updates
First off, the Brian Stow family has filed a civil suit against the Dodgers. While the suspect just arrested for his beating has not yet been charged.
I wonder if the Stow family were Dodger fans if they’d go thru with the suit, but since it was a Giant family visiting the game, my guess is they could care less if the Dodgers are broke now or what, just another chance to screw us over right? I don’t think there’s much of a case here and if it does go to court, the Dodgers can’t be held liable even if it was done in their parking lot. I think in the end it will be settled out of court for an unknown sum of money just to make them go away.
Dodger phenom Rubby De La Rosa has been called up from AA and pitched a scoreless 8th to help the Dodgers win last night. Lance Cormier has been designated for assignment, my guess is he’ll end up being released and no one will pick him up. With all the relievers being injured (MacDougal, Broxton, Kuo and Padilla) De La Rosa will be coming out of the bullpen and maybe get a start or 2 if a certain #5 reliever proves to continue to be ineffective.
It’s interesting, before the season the big story was their starting pitching depth and now their relief depth is really showing, something we either didn’t have last year or former manager Joe Torre didn’t elect to use.
Speaking of youth, they showed up last night. Jerry Sands hit a grand slam in the 3rd to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead, this is 3 days after he hit his first home run on May 21st and also collected his first 4 hit game the day after, it seems he’s really starting to settle in and show why he was given such a long leash.
De La Rosa as I said pitched the 8th, no hits, 2 strikeouts and Javy Guerra got the save on only 8 pitches, all for strikes, who said the Dodgers minor league system was weak? They look pretty good to me.
So, who’s next? I don’t know, I didn’t even expect to see any of these guys here, especially this early. There are now 3 Dodger rookies in the bullpen and one in the outfield, 1B/3B Russ Mitchelll is on the bench. The only way I see another rookie make the team is if one of the back up outfielders go down, or Loney gets hurt (which he never does) which means we’ll probably see Jamie Hoffmann who is hitting .305 with 9 home runs in AAA or maybe even Trent Oeltjen, but other than that, no one. With the Dodgers struggling, this is the perfect time to show case that youth, hopefully we get to see Dee Gordon sometime in September, despite how badly he played in spring training. This team has a bright future in their minor league system, let’s just hope Ned Colletti doesn’t trade any of them away for rentals trying to win a lost season.
I Have a New Respect for Andre Ethier
During this 30 game hitting streak Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier has won me over. Now, I’m not Gay for Dre or anything like that but the fact is that he’s kept up this amazing hitting streak all in the midst of Dodger turmoil and the issues he’s had over his contract at the beginning of the season. So unlike a lot of guys who are upset they don’t get an extension and just go out and falter, Ethier has come out and just hits, he’s not in the media, he’s not being smug, heck he doesn’t even cause a lot of drama with the streak, in most of the games he gets it out the way in his first at-bat, but no, he just goes out and plays baseball and I love him for that.
Andre Ethier needs to be signed to a 3-5 year extension now! I swear, if we lose this guy to the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, or even worse (shudders) to the San Francisco Giants, I will go into the Dodgers front office myself and toss General Manager Ned Colletti and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt out the office and do a Donald Trump on ‘em “You’re fired“
Dodgers Central All Time Dodger Team
As a kid I used to put together all star teams from my baseball card collection, get a pin and a piece of foil, make a defacto diamond on the bedroom floor and play imagination games for hours. So I thought it’d be fun if I made an all time Dodger team just because. It will be made up like a normal baseball team, so it’s not just a team of the best at those positions but will be put into a line up as well.
Here are my rules:
- Have to have started for at least 5 years
- Brooklyn and LA Dodgers are included.
- No players added before live-ball era.
- Relievers had to have pitched at least 40 games to qualify.
- Team will be put together like most major league teams, 13 position players, 12 pitchers.
- There will be 8 starters, back up catcher, 2 backup infielders and 2 backup outfielders.
- For pitchers, 5 starters, 2 long relievers, which can be starters, 3 middle relievers, 1 set up and 1 closer.
Position Players
Infielders
Catcher – Roy Campenella this was simple, one of the best catchers of all time.
First Base – Gil Hodges, another easy one, played nearly his whole career with the Dodgers and a fan favorite.
Second Base – Yeah, this one was hard /endsarcasm. Jackie Robinson. Although you could argue that he’d be better off the bench because he played multiple positions, I feel in a line up he’s more valuable than Davey Lopes, Jackie just does more.
Third Base – At first I wanted Adrian Beltre but I decided to go with fielding, longevity and consistency over one great year. So Ron Cey.
Shortstop – This one was tough, it was between Maury Wills and Pee Wee Reese but eventually I had to go with Wills because he’s just a beast on the base paths
Outfielders
Left Field – This one was tough as the Dodgers have had a lot of turnovers in left field but I eventually went with Dusty Baker. He wasn’t an original Dodger but he still spent a lot of time with the team in the late 70′s and early 80′s.
Center Field – Simple enough, Duke Snider, one of the best Dodgers of all time.
Right Field – I know this one will be a shocker but believe it or not, Raul Mondesi leads all Dodgers right fielders in games, home runs and other categories. He was a personal favorite of mine and was my favorite all time Dodger until Matt Kemp came along, who just missed being on the team because he’s only started the season as a Dodger in four seasons.
Bench
Catcher – Mike Piazza, he barely makes it starting 5 years flat with the Dodgers before being traded, but how could I leave his bat off?
Infielder #1 – Pee Wee Reese, I just had to have him on the team, nuff said. Can play both middle positions.
Infielder #2 – Steve Garvey, I feel a guy like him off the bench would do well. Good solid bat and can even play a little third.
Outfiedler #1 – Willie Davis, the current leader in consecutive games with a hit, has good speed, good glove and can play all 3 positions.
Outfielder #2 – Andre Ethier, more on the bench for his bat than anything else, just made the team by starting in RF in 2011.
Lineup
#1 – SS Pee Wee Reese
#2 – 2B Jackie Robinson
#3 – CF Duke Snider
#4 – 1B Gil Hodges
#5 – C Roy Campenella
#6 – RF Raul Mondesi
#7 – 3B Ron Cey
#8 – LF Dusty Baker
Pitchers
Starting Rotation
Starter #1 – Sandy Koufax, you had to see that one coming. Koufax was incredible in his time and could’ve set tons of records if it wasn’t for his arm.
Starter #2 – Don Drysdale, him and Koufax were two of the best Dodger pitches of all time and for several years were in the same rotation, couldn’t imagine knowing I was going to encounter them in a 3 game series, must’ve been frightening.
Starter #3 - Orel Hershiser, not only one of my favorite Dodger players of all time but favorite people of all time. Class act and was an incredible player.
Starter #4 – Don Sutton, longevity, consistency and was a great pitcher would have sure ace status in today’s major leagues. One of thee Dodger hall of fame pitchers.
Starter #5 – Fernando Valenzuela, final spot was between him and the guy who will be the top long reliever, Fernando was just too good while he was with the Dodgers to not have as a starter.
Bullpen
Long Reliever #1 – Don Newcombe, too popular to leave off personally.
Long Reliever #2 – Bob Welch, couldn’t leave Welch off, it was between him and Ramon Martinez
Middle Reliever #1 – Jim Brewer, left handed and has the most finished games in Dodger history. Darn good pitcher.
Middle Reliever #2 – Ron Perranoski, know him more for him as a coach for the Dodgers during my time but he was quite a good pitcher in his time and is another left hander, can’t have too many of those.
Middle Reliever #3 – Jonathan Broxton, as bad as he’s been in the second half of 2010 and this season, you can’t deny before then he was one of the most feared relievers in baseball pumping fastballs up there at 98-100 mph, no way I could leave a guy like that off.
Set Up – Jay Howell,was too efficient not to put in a set up position and is a perfect set up man for…
Closer - Eric Gagne, I know there are issues with reports he took performance enhancing drugs but nothing was ever truly proven, but you can’t disprove how dominating he was and the excitement he brought. Funny thing is, he really only makes it because he was a starter for two seasons before he became a closer for 4-5 seasons.
So that’s it, what do you think, any objections? Who would you take off and replace.
Starting RotationL
Can the Dodgers Make a Move?
With the take over of the Los Angeles Dodgers by Major League Baseball and the appointment of Tim Schieffer, a lot of the media and fans started wondering if this would enable the team to make a move much like the Texas Rangers did last year acquiring Cliff Lee after baseball took over.
There’s a fundamental difference. First, the Rangers were able to make payroll without the issues the Dodgers have, so adding payroll by trading for a big time player just doesn’t seem smart and if Bud Selig has to take money from the other teams in order to fix things, you can be sure they really won’t want to sign off on it if the Dodgers acquire somebody raising what they’d have to put in.
There’s also the issue of talent, it took Justin Smoak, the 13th ranked prospect in 2010, along with 3 minor leaguers, starting pitcher Blake Beavan, second baseman Matthew Lawson and reliever Josh Lueke in order for the Seattle Mariners to give up Cliff Lee. Reliever Mark Lowe was also traded to the Rangers but, he was more of a throw in and only pitched in 3 games for Texas.
That’s quite a bit of talent and Ned Colletti in the past has shown a reluctance to trade multiple players for another. Even when the Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez all the Dodgers had to give up were Bryan Morris and Andy LaRoche. So I just don’t see Colletti making a move anytime soon for a player because of these two circumstances but if he were to make a move, these are the areas I’d love to see addressed.
First Base – This is simple, James Loney is hitting horribly and doesn’t seem to be making too many strides in improving nor has he shown the type of power he said he’d improve on in the off season, I even wrote an article putting my support behind him.
Of course the #1 person here is Prince Fielder. Last season I wasn’t really excited about the thought of trading for him but seeing the ineptness of this offense this year, I’ll take his average defense at first and slow footedness on the base paths for his bat. Main issue here is that he makes $15.5 mil this year and is in a contract year and more than likely will want an increase on that from $18-20 mil easily since his agent is Scott Boras, which also complicates this because Dodgers GM Ned Colletti doesn’t like Scott Boras. So don’t expect anything there.
Outfield - I love Jerry Sands, don’t get me wrong but he’s not an outfielder, he doesn’t have the range and will more than likely end up at 1B next season, which is another reason you won’t see Loney be moved, he’ll probably be non-tendered and Sands will move in full time next season, so here’s my suggestion. Move Sands back down to AAA and trade for Carlos Beltran. He’s a switch hitter, the Mets want to move him and would be willing to take on part of his $18.5 mil owned this season in order to move him. He’s a great fielder in center field, which will enable Andre Ethier to move to left field which I feel is his more natural position, and Matt Kemp can move to right field, which is his more natural position as well. Also since this is more of a one year type of thing, this leave CF open for Trayvon Robinson next season who I feel despite his high strike out rate can be a good lead off hitter.
Third Base – The Mets have also been fielding offers for David Wright, but they aren’t in a hurry to move him or move him at all but I’m sure if the Dodgers could blow them away they’d definitely look at it. Great thing is he’s signed through 2013 with a $16 mil team option in 2013 but I don’t know what the Dodgers could possibly give them
Lastly, just an interesting thought but something I’d like to put out there, another Met.
Shortstop - Jose Reyes. Why not? The San Francisco Giants are looking hard at him, and wouldn’t it be sweet to take him from under their paws? He’s 28 and I really don’t think Dee Gordon will that great of a major leaguer, his strikeout rate for such little, or no power is just too high, he makes too many errors at SS and gets caught stealing a lot. I just don’t feel that Rafael Furcal can play like his old self or stay healthy and with Reyes you get someone who gets on base, is very fast and is a pretty good fielder while you can replace the money you save on Furcal leaving in the off season ($12 mil) on keeping Reyes. Also like I mentioned earlier, the Giants really want him and what better joy is there than screwing the Giants!
In the end, I just don’t see anything happening unless it’s a small deal or something money saving and the Dodgers will mire in mediocrity for the entire season, fighting just to stay at .500 unless Sands starts to hit like he did in the minors, and Furcal and Blake can stay healthy for at least 100 games and I don’t see the latter two happening but Sands may turn it on at some point. I feel sorry for this team, I feel we have the talent to compete but there are just so many distractions and injuries but you never know, who thought the Giants would even make the playoffs last season?
Dodgers Win 5-2 and the Ox Shuts ‘em Down!
Lots of great things to take from this game, but here are a few things I just wanted to point out.
- Andre Ethier‘s hit streak is extended to 28 games.
Everyone’s calling it “half way to 56″ I think that’s just undue pressure on Ethier, although he can definitely handle it. I just want to call it what it is, a great dang distraction in the midst of the turmoil surrounding Bud Selig and Frank McCourt.
- Juan Uribe continues his hot hitting.
He may be hitting .247 but since Major League Baseball announced that they’d be putting someone in charge of the day to day operations of the Dodgers, he’s been hitting .379 with 3 HR’s with 12 RBI’s in 9 games helping to carry this team along with Andre Ethier. It seems the off-season investment was more than just taking him away from the Giants, he’s been huge.
- Bullpen threw 19 pitches in 2 innings.
First Vicente Padilla came in, threw 11 pitches and 10 for strikes without giving up a hit then Jonathan Broxton of all people came in, threw 8 pitches 7 for strikes and struck out one.
Now, this isn’t that big of a deal for Padilla, he’s always worked quick and thrown strikes but for the Ox Broxton that’s huge.
So, how significant is this? In his last five games he’s thrown, 20, 27, 19, 28 and 25 pitches and has either given up a hit or a walk in each of those, which has been one of his biggest issues. The last game he came in and didn’t give up either a hit or walk he threw 9 pitches and this was way back on April 1st versus the San Francisco Giants.
Broxton is at his best when he throws less than 20 pitches. Last season before he threw 48 pitches against the Yankees, he only threw 20 or more pitches in an outing 7 times and 10 times after that game, and this year he’s already done that 5 times.
So hopefully this is the beginning of a turn around for Broxton because I’d love to see him succeed, when he’s on, he’s one of the best in the league.
