Not much to report…
Thank you all for your comments regarding ticket pricing and the all-you-can eat section. Believe me, we know that when we raise ticket prices it’s not going to make our fans very pleased, but as some of you mentioned in the comments, it’s a necessary evil sometimes when the cost of doing business goes up the way it has in the game of baseball. We obviously do our best to make sure that there are still affordable seats for every price range, including seats as little as $8 (and even less on a season ticket basis). There’s not much more I can really add on this topic, but I certainly didn’t want to ignore your comments.
As for combining an all-you-can-eat section with regular seats, that’s pretty tough to do logistically. Our goal is obviously to try and decrease the time people wait in line at Dodger Stadium and trying to make sure that people are in the right lines or issue wristbands would probably create a hassle. For now, we’re going to try it in the RFP and then we’ll obviously see how it turns out.
For those who did not see one of the last comments on the previous post, it is true that we are close to a deal with Chin-Hui Tsao, the Rockies former closer. There is still a physical left to be done and other details to work out, but he could be quite an interesting additon, provided he’s healthy.
A couple things to be on the lookout for. This Sunday night at 8 p.m. on FSN Prime Ticket is the award ceremony hosting by the Los Angeles Sports Council. Many of us from the Dodgers will be on hand, including Marlon Anderson, who we are flying in from Texas to accept any awards the Dodgers’ might win (specifically those pertaining to the four-homer night in which he hit the fourth in a row).
We’re also finalizing travel plans for about 10 current Dodgers for the upcoming caravan on Feb. 6-7, so be on the lookout for information later this week on dodgers.com. Randy Wolf is one of the guys who will take part and if you missed his interview on Roggin/Simers Squared on Monday, it should be on KLAC’s site.
For anyone looking to make a trip out to Vero Beach, individual game tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. ET and you can get them at dodgers.com, too.
And finally, I talked with one of our trainers, Stan Johnston, who told me that tomorrow he’s going to be going down to San Diego as a guest of the commander of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan which is getting ready to head to Iraq. He’s going to give them a "pep talk" of sorts and thank them for doing what they do so that he (and we) can do what we do for a living. I thought that was something pretty cool to pass along, as I’ve received several emails of late from servicemen and women overseas. It would actually be pretty cool if any of them were reading this blog from the Middle East, though I’d imagine they have better things to do with their time.
I think that’s just about everything for now. Funny, I titled this post "Not much to report," but I guess I was wrong.
Inside the Dodgers 
If this is a minor league deal w/ invite then this is a great deal. He has really good stuff and considering he gets his injury problems out of him as well as being out of Coors then he is good insurance for our bullpen should we trade a couple arms and Meloan, Alexander, Greg Miller, etc aren’t quite ready.
am570 doesn’t have the interview on “FREE RADIO” I just checked, they done that a couple of times.
ps don’t they have a TON OF ADVERTISING??????
I dont really know the big deal with the buffet seating. Yes, it is pricier but also it is giving the Dodgers national exposure (not all positive, but exposure none-the-less) and also there are plenty of seats to go around. This I see as more of a group gimmick.
And honestly, the Dodgers aren’t going to be hitting a lot of HR’s to the LFP this year considering our power is mainly RH so these guys aren’t going to be spilling their nachos. I just think that if they added $1 beers to that section then it would be a guaranteed sell-out considering the food restrictions already in place with these promotional type seats.
Look at our pitching depth!
SP: Schmidt, Penny, Lowe, Wolf, Billz, Kuo, Tomko, Hendrickson, Stultz, Elbert (midseason?)
RP: Saito, Brox, Dessens, Beimel, Meloan, Alexander, Greg Miller, Brazoban (midseason?), Hull, Hammes
Considering Tomko, Hendrickson, and Kuo currently make up 3 members of our bullpen currently we have plenty of pitching depth.
I really feel we can overwhelm a team with our surplus of pitchers and other players to land our impact bat regardless of their availability currently. For a prime player I would sacrifice many players I would never consider trading under normal circumstances. For Miggy Cabrera I would definitely part with Billz, Brox, Ethier, Betemit, Delwyn Young, and DeWitt because Cabrera is THAT good and we can overcome the loss of all those players and have Cabrera. Heck, Id throw in Dunlap, Brazoban, and another piece of it meant something. There are plenty of players that can be role players on this team and we still keep Kemp, Loney, and LaRoche.
hey, hope everyone is doing fine..
http://raysdodgerblues.blogspot.com/
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
lvproduction@yahoo.com
if healthy we should be o.k. in our division let alone around the NL.
nice projections on your blog ray….sounds about right to me.
I know interpol, I was just pointing out the amount of depth we have. Not saying we SHOULD do anything. But even if we traded some of our gems we are still just fine. As long as it’s not for a rental player with no place on our team like Lugo was. And when was Lugo good in the NL? He wasnt great for Houston back when, but he’s a fine AL player for whatever reason.
Again, I was just pointing out the DEPTH in our pitching staff and making overwhelming trades for other teams for their “superstar” and still being just fine as far as prospects and pitching depth to replace them.
I still find it odd Phil Nevin hasn’t gotten a deal anywhere. He can play OF, 1B, and C and no one wants to sign him? Maybe it’s the price tag or something. I would think he’s worth a major league contract somewhere. Good pop off the bench who plays some position although hopefully not 3B anymore (he was dreadful).
Also, considering our depth we could conceivably get every piece or player another team would want to make a deal happen for their superstar. Does it deplete our farm system? Sure, but we still have fill-ins who we project as decent regulars, superstars, or aces. I mean Kershaw, Elbert, Josh Wall, Greg Miller, Eric Stultz, Zach Hammes, Chris Malone, Jonathan Meloan (closer-in-waiting), Kemp, Loney, Abreu, LaRoche, etc etc.
Minor League Deal for Tsao is done.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers18jan18,1,6937568.story?coll=la-headlines-sports
alex41592@aol.com
whats that saying Low risk high reward.
This signing really just makes me think that Ned has something up his sleeves involving a couple of our starters currently in the bullpen(i.e. Hendrickson, Tomko, Kuo, or Dessens). Why would he further crowd an already crowded bullpen if he didn’t have something in the works? Tsao’s got good stuff and, if his heat and his control are really back, could prove a very viable asset to us. His slider is just plain dirty. Maybe I wasn’t too far off on my guess about a Jacque Jones trade. This definitely has the potential to be a low risk/high reward situation. Remember the word “potential” in all of that, though.
What does Ned have up his sleeves?
all i read was he has thrown about the same amount of innings as kuo, and he has had sever shoulder and elbow operations. was it a major league deal assuming hes healthy or what??? im not counting on anything out of him judging from what I read.
Let’s remember that Tsao is basically a minor league addition, unless and until he can prove differently. On that basis I’m all for it – probably worth finding out whether he’s recovered from his surgeries and can still muster the stuff for at least AAA level.
graffiti –
It’s a minor-league deal worth next to nothing if he doesn’t make the club out of ST. I believe the proper language is a “non-guaranteed minor-league contract”. Sort of like what was offered to Ramon Martinez last year and Olmedo Saenz in 2005.
thanks dualtone. nice. so he is healthy and clear to compete in spring training huh?? and if he doesnt make it he goes to AAA ?? sounds like a good deal considering he was once a top prospect.
I think that was probably Ned’s thought too. Yeah, he’s gonna have to compete for a spot in ST and if he can’t make the cut he goes to Vegas and gets paid beans. Seriously, I think they’re gonna pay him in beans…
“Eliza Dushku and L.A. Dodger boyfriend Brad Penny catered a steak-and-seafood lunch as a thank-you to the cast and crew of her new film “The Alphabet Killer” at the Crown Plaza hotel in Rochester over the weekend. …”
Atta boy, Penny!!! But hit the track and lose 30 lbs before spring training!!