Matt Kemp

[filihok]

Two walks today. Two runs scored. A fifteen game hitting streak. Crossing my fingers that this guy is figuring it out and is on his way to fulfilling his potential.

[OldFatGuy]

I hope so.

[dannymac910]

He'll just go to the Yankees then.

[filihok]

and CBill lost his no-hitter in the 5th...

CBill, Kershaw, JBrox, Martin, Kemp, Loney, Ethier, LaRoche...

If we'd quit giving away Meloans and Navarros and Jacksons for peanuts we'd have something here

[ohms_law]

eh... I'm not really trying to put you down or anything here (I kind of like the Dodgers, myself), but they are in the NL West...

[filihok]

Not sure why their division is a put down to me.

[ohms_law]

I'm just saying, the Dodgers don't really have anything special in terms of players. Their in by far the worst division in baseball. No one in the NL West has anyone special... The D'Backs actually have an average team that's seriously under performing right now for some reason. Other than that though, there's no one there. Matt Kemp is a slightly above average player. Everyone else you mentioned is basically average.
*shrug*

[filihok]

For starters CBill's career 132 ERA+ at age 23 is hardly average. WHIP gone down each year in the bigs. K/9 gone up...

[HoustonGM]

I'm just saying, the Dodgers don't really have anything special in terms of players.
Chad Billingsley is special. So is Matt Kemp. And Andy LaRoche, but the Dodgers don't want to find that out. Russell Martin. Clayton Kershaw. Jon Broxton.


Their in by far the worst division in baseball. No one in the NL West has anyone special...
That's an overstatement. The Dodgers do, as I showed above. So does each team in the NL West...


Matt Kemp is a slightly above average player. Everyone else you mentioned is basically average.
*shrug*
We also have to look long term. All the special players are young, so while they may be average now, they look to be much better in the future.

Let's look at the players he mentioned.

Chad Billingsley, 3.26 ERA this year, striking out a batter an inning. In 366.2 career innings, he has a 3.41 ERA for a 132 ERA+. He's very above average.

Kershaw may only be an average pitcher right now, but that's saying a lot for a kid his age.

Russell Martin..average? :eek:

Loney has a career line of .311/.366/.505, 121 OPS+ and is only 24.

LaRoche has been poor in the majors but isn't getting a chance at regular playing time, and his minor league stats are very promising.

Ethier's an average corner outfielder.

Just because the NL West teams have poor records doesn't mean that they don't have very good (and young) players.

[filihok]

After some of our "conversations" it freaks me out when Houston and I agree...

[OldFatGuy]

Chad Billingsley is special. So is Matt Kemp. And Andy LaRoche, but the Dodgers don't want to find that out. Russell Martin. Clayton Kershaw. Jon Broxton.

Chad Billingsly IS special. But he's also inconsistent and doesn't trust his stuff. I've seen so many freaken games where he can't go past the 5th inning because he's used up his "allotted MLB standard" 100 pitches. He's got great stuff, if only he would trust it.

Kemp is another one. I've seen flashes of brilliance, and then streaks of "WTF?". Sometimes, I even wonder if he's gonna be another of those ballplayers I've discussed that have been gifted but because of their attitude they underperform.

Jon Broxton is a beast. At times he has trouble finding the strike zone too, but he could be a set-up guy on almost any team in baseball.

I am TOTALLY sold on Martin. He IS the real deal. He's a baseball player's baseball player. That guy hustles, that guy cares, that guy's got it.

Clayton Kershaw, I dunno. For me, the jury is still out. I really liked his stuff, but I wasn't nearly as impressed with his "presence." I dunno if he's too young and nervous, or if I'm overestimating his stuff, but something just tells me to not quite buy this guy yet.

Thing is, I could've written the above comments about a number of players on a number of teams. The Dodgers really aren't anything special, and that really does sadden me. And though I'm not as up to date and as smart as others that post here, Ned Colletti is LESS THAN spectacular IMO. I dunno, for the past 3-5 years, I've seen dumba$$ moves and I've seen moves that should've been made that weren't.

All in all, I think Ohms had it right. This division is full of just so-so teams and you keep waiting for someone in that division to make a mark.

[HoustonGM]

After some of our "conversations" it freaks me out when Houston and I agree...
It shouldn't. For example, I agree with some of your political views and a good amount of your religious ones.

[filihok]

I think too much blame on Colletti, not that he's a genius, or good, or adequate, but it appears that McCourt is a big part of the problem.

Casey Blake. Maybe he was needed, maybe not. LaRoche hasn't done much in his play one day, sit two days experience. I dunno the ins and outs but since Cleveland paid the rest of Blake's salary, I have to think that was McCourt's doing and that cost us talent. If the boss says these are the rules, you can't blame the guy playing by them.

EDIT: I should have started for LA tonight against SF and CBill coulda saved this outing for the DBacks

[OldFatGuy]

AND WHY THE F*** CAN'T THE PADRES WIN A GAME ANYMORE???

You remember those SD Padres don't you?? The ones that were ONE PITCH AWAY from a playoff spot last year. WHY THE F*** can't they beat the fricken Diamondbacks???

They aren't anything special either????

OK, OK, my bias and personal prefs are showing. Can't help it. Dodgers lead 4-0, and the PADRES? #)#*&$)#*($&#)(&#)($&Q

[filihok]

Yeah...it looked good there for a while...That's ok...we get our chance at them soon enough.

[Arctic Blast]

AND WHY THE F*** CAN'T THE PADRES WIN A GAME ANYMORE???

You remember those SD Padres don't you?? The ones that were ONE PITCH AWAY from a playoff spot last year. WHY THE F*** can't they beat the fricken Diamondbacks???

They aren't anything special either????

OK, OK, my bias and personal prefs are showing. Can't help it. Dodgers lead 4-0, and the PADRES? #)#*&$)#*($&#)(&#)($&Q

The Padres went in to the season gambling that they could squeeze one more playoff run out of an old roster before starting to reshape it after the year. They were wrong. As long as they don't do something stupid like chalking up THIS year as a blip, realize their team is old and needs a major overhaul, and atart making good moves after the season's over, they'll be fine.

[cartman00000001]

Got him on my fantasy team. Was a good pickup for me after JD Drew started slumping.

[ohms_law]

The Padres went in to the season gambling that they could squeeze one more playoff run out of an old roster before starting to reshape it after the year. They were wrong. As long as they don't do something stupid like chalking up THIS year as a blip, realize their team is old and needs a major overhaul, and atart making good moves after the season's over, they'll be fine.

They won't...
As Paul DePodesta says (http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com/), it's about the process (http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com/2008/06/draft-review-about-process.html).

[haveacigar]

as long as depodesta has his hands on the team, the Padres won't take the necessary steps to win. which, as a Dodger fan, makes me pretty happy.

I'm starting to wonder about the Dodger farm system though, because it seems like every prospect is the "Best ____ prospect" or "a terrific ____ prospect." But yet the team is .500 and a lot of these young guys are doing nothing. I'm still waiting for LaRoche to do anything to demonstrate that he's a major league starter.

[filihok]

The prospects are doing fine. Kent, the huge hole between second and third base where a short stop should be, and the centerfielders are pretty much AWOL.

This is a growing team and should be treated as such. Instead of moving Meloans for Blakes they should be moving the other way or holding pat. All this Maddux talk makes me nervous. I like Maddux. I wish we had resigned him two years ago-especially since that would have meant NOT signing Schmidty. I think having him on the team is a plus, especially to the young pitchers. But we don't need to be giving up the future for an outside shot at doing well in the playoffs this year. We don't need to keep running Kershaw up and down to AA or AAA. Make a plan and stick to it.

[beerchaser]

The Dodgers are stuck in a catch-22 with Laroche. His supporters blame the Dodgers for "never giving him a chance", but he hasn't done much with the opportunities he has gotten. DeWitt was playing well early in the year, so it was only fair to him to keep him in the lineup until he slumped. It'd probably be best for all concerned if Laroche got a change of scenery, and LA got a nice return back for him while his value is still high. I'd love to see a Hamilton-Volquez type trade where it works out great for both sides, but those don't come around very often. I think they'll hold onto him and he'll get his "big chance" next year with DeWitt moving to 2B after Kent leaves. That's assuming Laroche doesn't get hurt (again) which has been a big part of the problem.

[filihok]

Agreed.

[beerchaser]

I think Kershaw is up to stay now. Having an old pro and future HOF-er like Maddux work with him could only help the kid, imo. I don't have a problem with moving Meloan for Blake, as Meloan's star had dimmed some this year. Trying to make a SP out of him was probably a mistake. Losing the young catcher Santana was a little tougher, but he was still in high A ball so no way to know yet whether he pans out.

[HoustonGM]

as long as depodesta has his hands on the team, the Padres won't take the necessary steps to win. which, as a Dodger fan, makes me pretty happy.
That's an awfully tough charge on a smart guy...

[filihok]

IF Maddux comes to LA. Who drops out of the rotation.

CBill-no
Lowe-no
Kuroda-maybe since he's been struggling.
Penny-no
Kershaw-probably. He could pitch out of the pen but that would be "jerking him off"-David Cone-as we've done with LaRoche.

[beerchaser]

IF Maddux comes to LA. Who drops out of the rotation.

CBill-no
Lowe-no
Kuroda-maybe since he's been struggling.
Penny-no
Kershaw-probably. He could pitch out of the pen but that would be "jerking him off"-David Cone-as we've done with LaRoche.

Penny would be my guess. I could see him being used out of the pen.

[HoustonGM]

Penny would be my guess. I could see him being used out of the pen.
There's been reports that Kuroda is on the verge of being moved to the pen, regardless of a pickup, so I'd wager him.

[beerchaser]

I've heard Kuroda may have some injury issues, so sure he's a possibility. But Penny is just coming back from injury so I figured they might try to ease him back into things.

[haveacigar]

That's an awfully tough charge on a smart guy...

yeah, well, lots of smart guys aren't all that great at running baseball teams.

[HoustonGM]

yeah, well, lots of smart guys aren't all that great at running baseball teams.
Nothing at all has indicated that Paul DePodesta isn't good at running a baseball team.

He was ran out of LA by the media, because the media didn't like him because he liked to use stats. A good amount of his moves worked out well for the Dodgers.

[haveacigar]

Nothing at all has indicated that Paul DePodesta isn't good at running a baseball team.

He was ran out of LA by the media, because the media didn't like him because he liked to use stats. A good amount of his moves worked out well for the Dodgers.

I guess we agree to disagree

[HoustonGM]

Outside of Bill Plaschke's nonsense columns, I've seen nothing bad said or written about DePodesta. He's been praised everywhere he's been...except LA.

[OldFatGuy]

Outside of Bill Plaschke's nonsense columns, I've seen nothing bad said or written about DePodesta. He's been praised everywhere he's been...except LA.

So what are the experts opinions of Jim Bowden? Am I the only one that thinks he's an idiot? FWIW, I also thought he was an idiot at Cincinnati, but now that he's in Washington, I just find him much more disgusting. :D

[HoustonGM]

Bowden's ridiculed from many angles...:p

[Arctic Blast]

Bowden's never been all that impressive. He seems to think that the best way to build a team is to just bring in a whole bunch of new guys and throw them in a locker room together. Oh, and the more of them there are who are either world class turds, or like to break the law on a regular basis, or BOTH, the better.

[filihok]

20 year old Clayton Kershaw's last three outings

6 IP 0 runs
6 IP 0 runs
7IP 1 run

Special