The All-Star Break
The actual break starts today for those of us up north and despite the NL’s loss yesterday, it was actually a very good game. I guess that means we’ll have to play Game 7 of the World Series in Anaheim, Boston or Cleveland (one can only hope).
I had the honor after the game to give Russell Martin his All-Star ring and while I wasn’t down on one knee, it was the first time I’ve handed over a ring since I got engaged three years ago. Suffice to say, it was an awkward but funny moment. He really seemed to enjoy himself, as did Saito and Penny. All three of them stayed up here for the week, as did Jaime Jarrin and Stan Conte, and the team will meet up with all of us tomorrow night after working out at Dodger Stadium.
Penny’s got his family in town and I think they headed to Alcatraz today. Saito’s family flew home today to Japan after spending a few days here in San Fran and Russell’s dad was here to enjoy all the festivities.
Now it’s a short break until Friday’s opener, which should be the start of a fun series. If I can think of anything interesting to post tomorrow, I certainly will. If not, my apologies in advance.
Inside the Dodgers 
sadness…no one has posted anything, so i guess i will. the boys did an awesome job at representing us last night. congrats to martin on getting his AS ring…i’m sure josh did a nice job presenting it to him.
glad to see colletti is willing to rely on the kids. personally, i think it would be pretty sweet to watch them grow within the organization.
now, let’s sweep the hated ones this weekend!
Josh, thanks for the little tidbits. This is definitely the worst time of the season for the fans with no games to watch and discuss. However, I am glad the players get a short break and some rest. What better place to start a big winning streak than phone company park in San Francisco.
There is the AAA All-Star tonight, right now, actually. Delwyn Young of the 51s is on the team.
The one thing I’d like to hear about is how Grady and company are setting up the rotation coming out of the break. The probables on dodgers.com show Billingsley, Billingsley, Lowe, which is NOT correct!
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp?c_id=la
It’s cool that Martin is getting A WELL DESERVED REST. I can’t wait for the 2nd half to get started, i really feel it’s gonna be loads of fun.
well inside edge released their midseason reports and surprise surprise our least effective offensive starter has been Juan Pierre. Most Effective James Loney.
As for Pitching…Billingsley has been the most dominate but its really his command thats keeping him from being out best pitching but that will come with experience. Worst pitcher has been Bombko duh and our best has been Saito.
Inside Edge Scouting Report: Very interesting thoughts below, thanks Max, you can see for yourself at http://inside-edge.com/teams/dodgers/index.htm
Tony Abreu:
Pros: Decent AB’s in clutch situations
Cons: Horrible Plate Discipline
Wilson Betemit:
Pros: Tremendous plate discipline, good in clutch situations
Cons: Horrible against offspeed pitching and tends to swing and miss a lot
Andre Ethier:
Pros: Great in clutch situations, can hit all pitches very well
Cons: Tends to do poorly with pitches up and can chase pitches with 2 strikes
Rafael Furcal:
Pros: Good plate discipline, has good AB’s in clutch scenarios
Cons: Hasn’t shown power
Nomar Garciaparra:
Pros: Tremendous in clutch situations, great against offspeed pitches
Cons: Surprisingly poor against fastball, no power
Luis Gonzalez:
Pros: The best plate discipline on the team along with Martin, he also does best with two strikes against him, gives a quality at bat the majority of the time
Cons: Does average job in clutch situations
Matt Kemp:
Pros: Does very well against fastballs, his power. Great with pitches up and/or inside.
Cons: Horrible against pitches down and/or outside also swings and misses at strike three a lot
Jeff Kent:
Pros: Good in clutch situations and has good plate discipline. Has the best average of balls hit hard aside from Loney (his problem is he’s hitting them right at people, if he finds the holes he could break out big in the 2nd half)
Cons: Offensively nothing sticks out as poor, defensively his lack of range
Mike Lieberthal:
Pros: Good plate discipline
Cons: Bad in clutch situations
James Loney:
Pros: Hits the ball hard, can hit any ball anywhere at anytime, tremendous in the clutch
Cons: His only flaw is a pitch high
Russell Martin:
Pros: Best plate discipline on the team along with Gonzo, good in clutch situations, great with RISP.
Cons: Some issues with inside and low pitches.
Ramon Martinez:
Pros: Good plate discipline
Cons: Doesn’t hit ball hard, average against offspeed pitches
Juan Pierre:
Pros: Does not strikeout, gets a lot of hits, puts ball in play
Cons: Chases pitches with 2 strikes, horrible in clutch situations, and a stunner no power
Olmedo Saenz:
Pros: Good plate discipline, kills fastballs, does well with RISP
Cons: Can’t hit offspeed at all, bad in close/late game scenarios (not good for a pitch hitter)
Pinch hitter*
Who says that we’re letting it go 7 games???
alex…i think in JP’s case putting the ball in play alot isn’t really a pro.
I knew you would say that…it’s like a moth to a flame
I watched the HBO special on the D’s and I had no idea the Giants were found to be stealing signs from centerfield in that 1951 game. Just another reason to hate the gnats!
We won the Best Finish ESPY for the game vs. the Pads from last sept….
This could be a great pick up if we could make it happen!!!!…..The Florida Marlins have said now that they are intending to trade Dontrelle Willis, they also stated that they were not going to let him go to any team in the NL East and would prefer him go to a team in the West! Now that puzzled me a little, why send a decent starting pitcher to a division that has arguably the best pitching teams in baseball?! But anyways D-Train would be a great addition IMO to this already stacked starting Rotation, i mean come on this would look very nice: Penny, Lowe, Wolf, D-Train, and then Bills to clean it up! WOW!!!!! I don’t know about you but that would certainly look very nice going into the playoffs! The only thing that i could see a problem with this is that D-Train pretty much is terrible at Dodger Stadium, i think he has won 1 game in his career at Dodger Stadium, but other than that everything else i love about the guy in the last 3 seasons he has had a record of 44-33 (thats a win% of .571) and in those 3 seasons he has had a total of 13 CG’s with an average of 218 IP per season, this is only his 5 year in the league and he has the ability to stay pretty healthy as his IP has shown. He is also pretty good with the stick as well with a career .217 avg he even hit 3 HR last year lol, he would fit right in with our pitcher sluggers! The whole thing about Dodger Stadium i think is because he does not play there in the Dodger Blue i mean come on that uni brings some life into some, maybe all he needs is a scene change and im sure LA would not mind seeing him in Dodger Blue!
Now what could we offer Florida in return, now im pretty sure Florida would like something decent in return i mean its not like hes having a great season but he is the D-Train and a former 20+ game winner so i would look for Florida to eyeball a couple top pitching prospects. I would obviously put up Bombko (good luck in them taking him away) and maybe even Hendy but that would be kind of playing with fire because we would be screwed with no long reliever, but i would also put up Kuo and maybe even Houlton or Stults. Now Bills IMO is pretty much untouchable right now but i still think we would have the most to offer Florida in the long run. As far as contract extension i don’t think he would be asking for a top notch pitcher salary but im sure we would have to pay a little more because of his ability and past.
In this whole mess i think what im trying to say is i think we need Ned to take a good look at this possibilty, it fits right in there with his Stacking of quality pitching and would give us another blade to cut down the rest of the NL West. I look forward to hearing that Ned made a move to get the D-Train!!!!!!!!
To get Willis (assuming he’s actually available) would take Billingsley and probably a close to ready major league player. It’s not worth it…besides we’ve made too many trades to the Marlins only to see them end up with the Mets to burn us later. The only way I’d ever make the trade is if we paid them a BUNCH of money (i.e pay the rest of Willis’ contract with some extra thrown in) and give them some B-level prospects. Anything more than that, I would flat out deny. I read a report Oswalt was willing to waive his no-trade clause, he’s locked in until 2012 with the Astros. Now that may be worth looking into, but that seems even more unlikely than Willis. Just please remember whatever you hear in the next 2 1/2 weeks is most likely rubbish. But, it’s interesting nonetheless. But, in the end it’s much about nothing.
We, The Dodgers, seem to be in a precarious trade situation currently– i am afraid that Ned will find it hard to get anything done bc of the amount of young major league ready players we have… Would another team really trade one of their best players without getting one of ours, even if ours is sig. better?? I am afraid not…
However, i would love to see D-Train in Dodger blue but not for Bills—- Kuo, Meloan, D. Young…. I would take that./… How long is he signed for??
Willis that is..??
I wonder why Delwyn Young never gets mentioned in trade talks, I mean the guy is absolutely raking in AAA and is definitely roadblocked at the big league level. With Dontrelle’s down season, I wouldn’t be suprised if the Marlins shop him for minor league talent and $$$. Kuo is still a young flamethrowing lefty, and Young is an athletic and talented outfielder. Those 2 might be inticing for the Marlins but I still think they may want more young talent or $$$.
Sorry ewk, just saw your post, apparently were on the same page.
I really don’t want any part of Willis right now. I case anyone noticed he’s having a mediocre at best season and can’t be seen as anything more than an ‘inning eater’ right now. Is that worth giving up some of our best young talents? Of course not. They aint gonna do it for Kuo and Young guys, cmon.
it get willis we are going to have to get rid of Billingsley and someone else perhaps LaRoche since Cabrera won’t be a Marlin much longer either.
ewk…
Willis is under club control through 2009 so other than getting raises through arbitration before next year and the year after he can’t become a free agent for 2 more seasons. Therefore he is relatively cheap at this point in his career but chances are even through arbitration the next two years his salary will probably reach 10 mil+ especially if he rebounds from his horrible year so far
If thats the case than it most likely would take more than Kuo and D. Young, but at the same time i firmly believe we possess enough talent to make a trade like that worthwhile witout giving up Kemp, Loney, Bills, Brox… It’s just a question of whether or not the Marlins GM could trade away a fixture of their franchise without being able to turn around and say “we got one of their best”. Me being the Marlins GM,I would trade him for Kuo, Young, Meloan, Tomko and we eat Tomkos Salary for the year lol…. ****, i would give them LaRoche too– he could turn LaRoche, Meloan, or Young around for quality players bc they all are…
Willis is all hype!
The guy is a back of the rotation starter. He has been terrible this year and either average or poor throughout the majority of his career. He had two good seasons out of five.
You will have to give up prospects at the value of an ace, but the problem is Willis a back of the rotation starter.
He walks a ton of batters and his ERA is nearly 5.00 this year.
I would take him for a B or C level prospect, but that is about it.
We need a back end starter right now. We are currently throwing Hendy in the #5 spot and he best serves our team as a long reliever. Remember, if Hendy is starting, that means Tomko gets the nod in long relief situations and we all know that will hurt us more than help. If we don’t make a move for another starting pitcher, we are in trouble. I’m not saying Willis is the answer, but we need a Jennings, Vasquez type guy to solidify the back-end of our rotation.
Speaking of pitching, does anyone have an update on Wolf? If he goes down for an extended period of time we will be in BIG trouble.
Stunner, Marlon Anderson signed a minor-league deal with the Mets. I sense some clutch hit during that September series in Flushing.
Nevermind, we play them in August…proceed
so that makes it: Mota, Sele, Alomar, Lo Duca, Valentin Green, Pedro(DL), Duaner Sanchez (DL), the DFAed Park, the soon to be DFAed Ledee, and soon Marlon…am I missing anyone?
10 Day Outlook: Tentative Pitching Matchups for the next 10 games:
* denotes good pitching matchup
@ S.F:
7/13: Chad Billingsley vs. Matt Cain
7/14: Brad Penny vs. Matt Morris
7/15: Derek Lowe vs. Noah Lowry
vs. Phi
7/16: Mark Hendrickson vs. Jamie Moyer
7/17: Eric Stults or Brett Tomko (NO!) vs. TBD (Phillies 5th starter)
7/18: Chad Billingsley vs. Kyle Kendrick
vs. NYM
*7/19: Brad Penny vs. Tom Glavine
7/20: Derek Lowe vs. Oliver Perez
7/21: Mark Hendrickson vs. Mike Pelfrey OR Dave Williams
7/22: Randy Wolf vs. Orlando Hernandez
I like the D-Train, and I think we could get him without giving up any of the untouchable 7 (Loney, Kemp, Abreu, Bills, Broxton, LaRoche, and Martin) (though LaRoche and to a lesser extent Abreu may be touchable, and Martin is so far beyond that list it’s silly to even discuss). Possibly Kuo, but also we could ship some other guys. Willis has good stuff. Even though we roughed him up, I think he would enjoy Dodger Stadium, and flourish again. And, I hate to say it for the people that don’t like this, but he is a “great clubhouse guy”–Vinny quoted Brad Penny as saying “if you don’t like Dontrelle, you don’t like people.” I’m happy with the team as-is, but adding Dontrelle without losing those key 7 guys would be good (can it be done? Unlike Cabrera, D-Train is eligible for Free Agency sooner, and will get a big contract, because if you are left-handed and can pitch in the major leagues, you can get a good contract, and if you have his stuff, you can get a better one).
Here’s a real problem though: The Press-Enterprise Blog is reporting that Tomko will start Sunday and Lowe is being moved back a day. http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/baseball/dodgers/
Is this a joke, or some sick plan to assure that Bonds hits 756 against us?
Say it ain’t so.
which one would u guys NOT play vs lefthanders?
.234 .247 .266 .513
.364 .440 .364 .804
.304 .350 .446 .796
.338 .411 .538 .949
REVISED: With Tomko starting Sunday, OBVIOUSLY WE’RE ALL GOING TO HATE THIS…moving past it they’re putting Tomko in Frisco because this way they can bring Wolf back on the 20th. They can’t start Houlton because he was optioned so it was Tomko or Stults…it is what it is. It’s only one game, but **** that game is gonna be hard to watch!
@ S.F:
7/13: Chad Billingsley vs. Matt Cain
7/14: Brad Penny vs. Matt Morris
7/15: Brett Tomko vs. Noah Lowry
vs. Phi
7/16: Derek Lowe vs. Jamie Moyer
7/17: Mark Hendrickson vs. TBD (Phillies 5th starter)
7/18: Chad Billingsley vs. Kyle Kendrick
vs. NYM
*7/19: Brad Penny vs. Tom Glavine
7/20: Randy Wolf vs. Oliver Perez
7/21: Derek Lowe vs. Mike Pelfrey OR Dave Williams
7/22: Mark Hendrickson vs. Orlando Hernandez
well Alex as u say we had little choice but this is solid proof that we need to trade for a starter. Imagine by circumstance that Sunday is game one of a playoff series and we roll Tomko out there….
They total FOOLS for not starting Stults. At least he’s pitched pretty well out the pen. This is a sad, cruel joke.
Juan Pierre
Matt Kemp
Andre Ethier
Luis Gonzalez
Easy call, I’ve always been on the side of benching Pierre or moving him down to #8 against lefties. Never gonna happen
we also need to go back to 12 pitchers….
In Pierre’s defense historically he hits lefties about the same as righties. I am just not sure why they won’t give him a rest from time to time…nothing major. When you consider that out of 10 ABS kemp is getting on 4 times and Pierre two times. Let alone the Power issue etc..this is not a hate Pierre post its more of a, we have 4 solid OFer so just rotate them away from their weakness.
pierre playing against left handers is the cruel joke!
That happens when Wolf comes back…most likely Abreu gets optioned
prob. houlton gets called back up…but why not let houlton get the spot start? i mean he hasn’t been nearly as bad as tomko. neither has stults. i don’t get the thinking on this one at ALL, unless its tomko’s swan song, and even then why conceed the game? its not like tomko is going to get a warm welcome from the phone park crowd or anything. just a bad situaton there.
It is very true though Pierre throughout his career can hit left handed pitching, so the law of averages would hint at Pierre doing very well from here on out. He’s also a tremendous second half player, so this is where Pierre notoriously turns it on BIG TIME! I just want to win, like everybody here. So, we have 25 guys and whoever they put out there. Just win and we’ll shut up, it’s a proven formula lol.
In 30 years of following the dodgers this year is by far my most love/hate relationship with them that I have had. We have such promising signs and then other things that just make me so angry.
Houlton probably would get the start but he was optioned on July 8th and would not be eligible to be called back up for 10 days, unless somebody else went to the DL to allow him to be called back up early. Which makes the move even more questionable to option Houlton down, but seriously it’s just one painful game. A game where our offense will have to win the game for us and maybe a miracle will take place and he’ll be decent, who knows.
Yeah the game isn’t lost by any means. That’s why they play the games. Were playing a last place team with only one good hitter.
Thank god were not the Giants!!
Good point, indeed, who would you want Tomko facing? The Giants lineup or the Phillies!?! For that and that alone I agree with pitching Tomko in the Giant game so long as it’s his last!
Alex that’s negative. We really need to hope for him to get it together and turn it around. I mean dont get me wrong I am the “President of the Brett Tomko can go F himself fan club” but let’s hope for a huge turnaround. lol