Loaiza getting a bum wrap

The treatment of Esteban Loaiza, by Joe Torre, is absolutely disgusting. The Dodgers are mired in a four game losing streak & Loaiza has had very little to do with it. Sure his era is 6.75. However, that is in one start & one relief appearance. This is after Torre says after his last start that Loaiza is his fifth starter and he is going to stick with him. What about Andruw Jones, signed for $18.1 Million a year to be hitting .114 w/ 1 RBI in 10 games? What about Brad Penny who gave up four runs in one inning last night? Do we replace them right away?

The Dodgers are off to their worst start in 10 seasons, but take into account that they have a guy at third base who has never played above Double A. An outfield consisting of a hapless Jones, a right fielder in Matt Kemp who makes a sport out of even the simplest of fly balls & Juan Pierre who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I lobbied for the Dodgers all off-season to get Joe Crede. It would not have been that expensive and his track record shows he is worth the investment. This is indicative of Dodger management gong back to the Pierre signing & the Jason Schmidt signing. I was one of the people that heralded the Andruw Jones signing as a step in the right direction and it still might be, but the truth is that Ned Colletti & Frank McCheap have turned one of the storied franchises in baseball into a club in constant flux, in rebuilding mode.

Juan Pierre should never have been signed, but since hindsight is 20/20 what should have been done is moving him while picking up some of the tab. Matt Kemp will get his hitting on track, but his defense is abysmal & would be better suited for an American League team where he can hit 35-40 HRS while DHing. Andre Ethier is turning out to be a hell of a player and outperforming many people's expectations. The Dodgers will be there at the end of the season, probably in contention for a wild card, but unless some changes are made in the hierarchy (this means you Colletti) then this will be a vicious cycle of being on the cusp and inevitable failure.

Last Day of Business

Today is the last day of business before the New Year for MLB clubs. Barry M. (moron?) Bloom writes this for MLB.com:

Heading into their 50th anniversary season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers made a big splash this month by signing free agents Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda. This coming after Torre left the Yankees and replaced Grady Little as manager.

Though Jones will displace Juan Pierre in center field, perhaps moving Pierre to left, the Blue Crew still could use another power bat in the middle of the lineup behind Jones and Jeff Kent. If not, they're eyeing another season using the oft-injured Nomar Garciaparra at third base.

While Scott Rolen would fit nicely into this picture, GM Ned Colletti may be more likely to pit Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche against each other this spring. An outfield surplus of Pierre and Andre Ethier gives Colletti some trading chips. And it's hard to believe, because of the current falling out between Rolen and manager Tony La Russa in St. Louis, that Rolen will remain with the Cardinals.

Keep this one on the front burner.

What the fuck? Please Ned Colletti keep this off the front burner, in fact keep it in the fridge. We already have one hobbled 3b in Garciahamm. Andy LaRoche at least deserves a shot if we can't acquire a solid 3b. Solid meaning someone who doesn't need crutches while taking his position. Crede would be a nice addition.

As for Bloom's contention that the Dodgers don't have any other power hitters, I beg to differ. Matt Kemp hit 10 homers in 292 AB, had an OPS of .849 & is still only 23. What about James Loney? He hit 15 dingers & had an OPS of .919. He too is only 23. What about Russell Martin? Well Mr. Martin knocked out 19 last season while playing the most physically demanding position in baseball. His OPS? .843. He'll be 25 when the season starts. This is a young team with the makings of a nucleus that could be together for a number of years. Remember those years of Sax, Garvey, Cey, Russell & Lopes? They all came up right around the same time & the Dodgers were a force to reckoned with.

Barry Bloom is a nationally read journalist a little fact checking and common sense should come into the equation. Scott Rolen is a liability the Cards can't wait to get rid of, he's been a cancer in nearly every clubhouse he's been and burned so many bridges that Tony La Russa publicly ridicules him. I do concede that there is one way this could happen & that is if the Dodgers move Pierre for Rolen straight up then move either LaRoche or Ethier to left and trade the odd man out for relief pitching. The salaries match up pretty closely & even Rolen is better than Pierre. Colletti has had a good spring thus far. I can't help but wait for the other shoe to drop.

Juan Pierre to Chicago?

Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times is saying that there may be some interest in Dodgers CF Juan Pierre from the White Sox who are coached by all around bad manager and big mouth Ozzie Guillen who used to coach while Pierre played in Florida. Guillen, known for being abrasive and moronic, seems to be in love with Pierre, who is known for being bad at baseball.

I'm all in favor of this move. The Sox could use Pierre in CF, we could keep Ethier and maybe even get a reliever out of the deal though, it wouldn't really matter. Pierre may be worse in LF than he was in CF. If he's gonna be moved this is as good a place as any.

Bag of Balls and a Fungo Bat for Pierre

Eric G weighs in on the Juan Pierre saga:

Ship him to SF for all I care

I dont give a flying F if we give Juan Pierre to the Giants for a bag of peanuts, AND, pay ALL of the $35 mil or so left on his contract...Please, it would be worth it so that we wont have him play D or hit in our line up for FOUR MORE YEARS!!! Four Years!! Christ! That's worse than having Bush for 8 years!!!

Trade him to the white sox, rangers or some other team in desperate need for a shitty Lef..errr I mean Centerfielder..I think some sort of middle reliever and paying half of what's left on his contract is more than worth it. At least, he is guaranteed to NOT be playing center in the Ravine next year...ANDREW!!!!

Andruw Jones News

Ken Gurnick is reporting that the Dodgers are stepping up their efforts in regards to Andruw Jones, but are reluctant to go past two years on any deal. This would either make Juan Pierre available, which he may already be or perhaps pave the way for a Andre Ethier trade. Juan Pierre getting moved would be the best alternative, but his ridiculous contract may preclude any takers. Not to mention that he sucks.

Juan Pierre is not clutch

Clutch hitting has always been something of an anomaly. Is it real? Is it just coincidence? Bill James recently wrote an article in the book The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 discussing his ambivalence to clutch hitting at first being that it was difficult to prove, but now he has rethought his previous theory and has some interesting theories on Juan Pierre.

Who hasn't hit well in the clutch? Juan Pierre hasn't done great.

Juan Pierre Season Avg OBP Slg OPS AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO GIDP 2002 .111 .111 .111 .222 27 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 2003 .318 .434 .364 .798 44 14 0 1 0 8 9 2 2 2004 .233 .327 .349 .675 43 10 1 2 0 10 5 3 0 2005 .309 .367 .382 .748 55 17 2 1 0 14 5 6 2 2006 .229 .289 .314 .604 35 8 1 1 0 4 2 4 2 2007 .190 .246 .206 .453 63 12 1 0 0 10 3 4 1 Totals .240 .311 .296 .607 267 64 5 5 0 47 24 22 7

Nobody would confuse Juan Pierre with David Ortiz anyway, but that's not a great clutch record for a guy who gets 200 hits a year.

Once again Juan Pierre is not good at baseball. He gets many infield hits, slap hits and his speed helps him get hits that would normally be outs, but those hits do little to help the Dodgers win. In fact, he does more to help them lose. If you'd like to read the entire article then here's the link.

Dodger Checklist For The Winter Meetings.

This has been a very quiet Winter for the Dodgers thus far & I get the feeling that the Winter meetings are gonna be just as quiet. There are some things that need to be done & here some of them are:

THIRD BASE

• Nomar Garciahamm can't be expected to contribute anything as his hitting is declining with age & he's extremely injury prone.
• Miguel Cabrera will not be a Dodger as long as the asking price is as high as it is. The Marlins want at least 3 or 4 major league ready prospects & that's too much to give up for one player, even if that player is a potential Hall of Famer. It's also possible that the Marlins aren't really sure they want to Cabrera just yet, especially if you listen to recent comments from Arte Moreno.
  
• Joe Crede was said to be available a couple of weeks ago according Barry Rozner of the Chicago Daily Herald. He mentions Kershaw, Kemp & Loney who at this point should be untouchables, but maybe Andy La Roche & Delwyn Young or James McDonald. Crede had a down year last year, but was injured, he could bounce back and would be a nice pick up.
  

CENTER FIELD

• Juan Pierre is bad at baseball, very bad. His OPS is abysmal & his fielding is literally costing the Dodgers runs.
  
• Aaron Rowand is looking for something in the range of 5/70-75 million which is a little pricey, but if you look at his WARP-1 numbers and his run production, he consistently performs. Combined with Loney, Martin, Kemp & maybe someone like Crede this could be a dangerous lineup.
  
• Andruw Jones has Scott Boras as an agent. Need I say more? Well I will. His numbers tanked last year & he's been regarded for quite a while as a lazy ball player. he may be able to be acquired at a discount, but once again do we want him? The Braves won't be offering him arbitration so he can be acquired without giving up any picks. It won't be cheap & he may not be worth the clubhouse headache.
  

STARTING PITCHER

• Jason Schmidt can't be counted on for next season & Esteban Loaiza if healthy could be a decent number 5 starter.
• Johan Santana is going to the Yankees. Nuff said.
• Hiroki Kuroda was offered four years by the Mariners, which is a bit aggressive and risky as far as I'm concerned & I can't see him wanting to play for a team that is going nowhere fast.
  

So that's it! Don't expect many surprises. I've never been a huge fan of Colletti's (2nd pic look at the ring) but that could change if he does the right thing and doesn't move any of the quality young talent & stops wearing that damn Giant ring. Fucking traitor you're a Dodger now!!

First Post

First I'd like to welcome everyone to my newest venture. I hope you all get some joy out of knowing about the greatest team in baseball. I mean the Dodgers...yeah those Dodgers...yes the same Dodgers that have only won one playoff game since '88. At least we're top 3 in attendance every year.

For the real stuff here is my declaration: AHEM...Ned Colletti...Do not trade Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp in the same trade. Bill James -- uber sabermatrician has projected these numbers for the 24 year old Matt Kemp this year --- .322 avg., .365 OBP., .508 Slug & a .873 OPs. Over a career that equals Cooperstown. You keep him in right, pick up Aaron Rowand at a cheaper price than the Angels foolishly paid for Hunter & try to move Pierre maybe to the Twins. Of course, you'd have to suck up some of that $44 million you gave him last year but it's worth it if we could get a new bat boy out of it.

Remember when we traded Pedro Martinez straight for Delino Deshields because everyone thought the 22 year old Pedro was too skinny to be effective and Deshields had just come off a solid year? Boy were they right. Pedro only went on to win a few Cy Young Awards and Deshields got ran over by Raul Mondesi and was always hurt and bad at baseball. Trading a 19 year old Kershaw with the upside he has would be a mistake.

It is a well known fact that Joe Crede is available in Chicago and can be had for much less than Miguel Cabrera in Florida. He may not be the same caliber of player but he's a hell of a lot better than what we have now. I'm just saying be a little patient Colletti. You're a Giant anyway so any move you make is suspect.