Furcal medical update

LA Times reports Furcal has been put on the D.L. That's too bad. I hope he comes back soon.

Crap. From Tony Jackson:

Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, whose stiff back has been slow to heal, will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 6. Furcal has had an MRI, which shows he has a strained lower back.

Furcal is expected to get a cortisone shot Tuesday.

Utility infielder Luis Maza is expected to be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to replace Furcal. Maza, who has never played in the majors, is hitting .402 with a home run and 15 RBIs in 33 games. He is 6 for 11 in his past two games for the 51s.

I'm afraid that will solidify Pierre's starting every game, because he's classified as a leadoff man. Isn't the idea for a leadoff man to get on base more often than some other guy? With what Pierre has shown in the last week, we certainly have some better candidates more likely to get on base at the start of the game than Pierre, don't we. Hopefully Torre will keep a close eye on him, and if nothing good happens in Milwaukee, can we at least hope that Torre might select another leadoff man for the Angels series.

Crap. Exactly my thinking messagebear. Wouldn't Ethier provide a more furcal-like offense than popgun pierre? Martin, Kemp, or even Ethier would be far better leadoff options. IfJoe doesn't play the right guys, we might find ourselves buried by the time furcal is healthy again. And this is why exactly why i DONT why to sign furcal to another long deal. He's injury prone, period. Im not sold on Hu. Perhaps we should sign a one or two year SS next year while we wait for DeJesus,who's looking good at AA.

they're going to have to make room on the 40-man roster for Luis Maza.. they'd have to put some one on the 60 day DL.. either Schmidt or Abreu, i guess..

I hope Ned doesn't panic and make another stupid trade. Stick with Hu and make up for the lack of offense by playing Ethier and sitting Phew. Martin can lead off.

Bottom of thread recovery.
.
I can name at least five guys on our team who would do a better job in the leadoff position: Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier, DeWitt, LaRoche.

.
Anybody know much about Ivan DeJesus? Is he anywhere near ready to test big league waters?

"Management has attempted to acquire an emergency replacement for Furcal"

oh god no. neffi perez for andy laroache.

18-14 with Furcal. 1-4 without Furcal. Get better soon, Raffy.

Excuse me while I wax Plaschke:

Joe Torre isn't afraid to play Martin somewhere else.

He's tried him at third.

He could try him at short.

MIKE PIAZZA IS A FREE AGENT!

This would be a great move to pick him up now.

The McCourts could show that the era of FOX is officially dead.

Ned Colletti could show he can be clever and creative without giving up the farm.

Joe Torre can pencil Russell Martin in the lineup more. Even as a leadoff man.

That's right, leadoff man.

Russell Martin gets on base.

And he can run.

Do it, Ned.

And Brad Penny, you better give up #31!

Mike Piazza!
Are we getting desperate here!
What's next asking for Gagne...
It's simple Hu replaces Rafael and that's final.
or should we start playing chemist all over again.
Juggling people around.

Martin to SS! LaRoche to catcher! Solved! Little fun fact--- at one time the dodgers considered moving LaRoche to catcher. But seriously, Hu should start period. Anything else would be madness. Maza should only bat in an emergency. We've already got enough problems with pierre (inexplicably) batting leadoff again.

If Ned's going to do something, I'd rather it be signing Piazza than trading LaRoche for Christian Guzman or someone like that. It strikes me that Colletti is in panic mode, and this would be a good way to help calm the panic with minimal harm.

I'd rather stand pat and play Hu. No move is more often than not, the right move. Patience Ned. We know you've been itching for a reason to make a trade. Just take your meds and don't panic.

Give Hu a couple of weeks of consistant playing time and AB's. It will give him an opportunity to get his timing down and show what he is capable of. We may be pleasantly surprised and at least you will have a better idea about him and whether or not he is possibly the future SS of this team. Besides, your going to get some other teams cast off that will not be any better just because they have been around longer.

It is so sad to me what is happenning to my team right beneath my eyes.

Case in point..3 related facts things..

Furcal. I love the guy and as Gurnick and others are correctly pointing out...We are in deep **** without Furcal and his offense. But He is only one player. And honestly not exactly on the top of my list to be my teams best player if i want to have a great team. I can think of at least 20 guys i'd rather have. More even.

On Sunday the lineup had one guy not in his 20s (excluding Kuroda) and most of the time the lineup will feature 5 players making 500k or less. (Martin, Loney, DeWitt, Kemp, Ethier)

The pitching staff has no real Ace.

So I ask you guys, how and the hell do the Dodgers have the highest payroll in the national league at 126 million.

Don't answer.

Pierre is getting playing time because he gets on base and scores runs.
Here are the stats.
Runs scored to date: Pierre 10. Ethier 20.
It's time for the PR department to come up with a different story.

brutal. but here is some good news on the kid

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/is-clayton-kershaw-worth-the-hype/

jhall,
Fantastic job on all the posts from the previous thread. The songs were priceless. Kudos goes to enchanted for keeping you going. It was hilarious, and thanks for turning a frustrating situation into something to laugh about, eventhough we all know this is no laughing matter. You guys definitely need to publish this stuff.

That really sucks to hear about Furcal. I guess this means that Ethier will be sitting the next 4 out of 6 games(He has only played day games since Pierre stole his spot). I read up above about Piazza. I saw him a few times in Oakland. Why would we want him back? He didn't do much for Oakland.

well my fantasy team is officially screwed. in one league I have lose furcal, arod and vernon wells... this sucks

Thanks for that article on Kershaw, jungar. Unfortunately, he finally had himself a bad outing today:
IP 3.1
H 5
R 5
ER 5
BB 0
SO 3
HR 0
ERA 2.21
One bad outing in 8 appearances. I'll take that every time.

Of course, I'd be fine with calling up LaRoche and letting him or DeWitt play short.

I'm also fine with Pierre starting...over Andruw Jones. Jones needs to clear his head, and few things make you feel better than watching Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp play while eating a bag of chips.

For some reason old_fogey_la no longer has permission to post here? What did I write?????
.
Dear Joe Torre,
.
I'm sure you are aware that Russell Martin has a .425 OBP at the moment and put up a .374 last year. He also has enough speed to have stolen 21 bases last year. As a temporary leadoff hitter to replace Furcal for the next eight games or so, he should be just fine, and much more effective than that scrappy LF who has a .329 OBP for the last three seasons.
.
Additionally, you may have notice that Furcal had quite the OBP and Slugging Pct this year. That pop has to be replaced and the most likely source is Andre Ethier. Please play him in LF, a lot.
.
Thank you,
.
westernmost_in_flavor
the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

Maybe Andruw needs to get some pointers from Zito on how to clear his head. Zito managed to pitch 6 innings and got a no decision. Up here, the news crews were estatic that he didn't lose. He only had three earned runs. So, whatever he is doing to help with his head game is working to some degree. The gnats' Zito is the equivalent to our Andruw - a whole lot of booing going on.

Are you serious westernmost? lol!
Do we have a code or rules that I am not aware of?
BTW - fabulous letter!!

DODGERS
James Loney is widely available in fantasy leagues and it would be wise for fantasy managers to grab him while they can. The Dodgers big bopper slammed 15 homeruns, drove in 67 runs and batted .331 in 96 games last season. Now in his first full season of major league service, the 24-year old has four homeruns, an impressive 27 RBI and a respectable .286 batting average. It seems like the Dodgers have found the middle of the order that they have craved for years. Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and James Loney are the heart of the Dodgers order, and they, hopefully, will be for years to come. While Kemp has recently reached fantasy stardom, Loney is not far away.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2008/05/12/mlb_fantasy_view_of_the_diamond/

Just more proof that Kemp and Ethier need to be in the lineup every day, especially now, with Furcal out. Everybody else is seeing it - why can't our management?

I'm going to reserve my right to comment until I see what Ned does in response to Ferk.

The worst thing about Raffy's injury is that now Torre will play Slappy and sit Dre, which is exactly the wrong move. Martin could lead off and the Dodgers would be better than Joe's way. Also, Stan Conte must be incompetent or he speaks with forked tongue. At first they say nothing serious with Raffy, and he's day to day, and now a week later he hits the DL. Andruws problem is his weight, until he or the Dodgers realize it and make him do something about it he won't live up to expectations.

fliegel - we've been down this road before and I think you're right about Conte on both counts. I'm certain because of his experience keeping the aged Gnats on the field, that Ned brought him in to patch up and keep the old vets running. In that respect he has failed miserably (not that that's all bad), and a look at Nomore and Jones speaks volumes about his conditioning program.

No way that Pierre should be in LF now much less leading off, but I'm sure Ned's sitting back in his chair congratulating himself for having the foresight to have signed another leadoff hitter now that Ferk's out for awhile. Nevermind he can't get on and that his hot week was just an aberration. Part of the blame too rests with Tory for stubbornly penciling in JP #1 thinking he's capable of doing something on a consistant basis (or doing something period.)

Now we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop announcing that Ned's traded away Ethier or LaRoche for another popgun SS who won't see action for much more than a couple weeks. Oh hurry Ned, we might be able to get Lugo again...

Yea, Ned probably thinks that Lugo deserves another chance under the brilliant leadership of Torre. That move wouldn't surprise me a bit.

How about if they trade Pierre for ****?

Oops, I used the word "a" and the abbreviation for shortstop.

IMO, we got the wrong Torre/Torii.

Lead off Martin and play Ethier!!!!

On a better note for possibilities to add to the Dodger organization Leo Mazzone, the former pitching coach for the Braves, seems anxious to come out of his early retirement. Personally I can't see what Honeycutt has ever added to our team, and it might be a way of shaking up the organization to get him out of there.

Of course, if we don't start Ethier instead of Jones or Pierre, much else won't matter. Just waiting to see today's starting lineup, but don't have much hope with Torre's decisions.

To quote old_fogey, for some reason kahliforni no longer has permission to post here? What did I write...as well????? Beware of BIG BROTHER. I am looking into it and am in e-mail contact with mlb. And please, oh great eye in the sky, let me go on record as saying I JUST LOVE Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, Joe Torre, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They're ALL doing a FANTASTIC job............

kpooiemon
(formerly known as kahliforni)

Wow, I can't think of anything that you guys wrote that was so awful to get you banned. It is ridiculous..

You know we want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to fire Ned
He stalled the teams evolution
Well you know
We'd all like to have his head
But when Frank talks about construction
Don't you know that he's looking for an out
Not right, Logan White

He says he's got a real solution
Well you know
We don't love his crazy plans
They never want our contribution
Well you know
It' really more than we can stand
But if you want more money for tickets,concessions and parking gate
All I can tell you is Frank get a GM that we don't hate
Sad plight, Logan White

We'd like to change this convolution
Well you know
We all think you've lost your head
The Dodgers were an institution
You know you need to fire Ned
But when you sign players that are fat cows
You ain't going to the playoffs, ain't no how
Don't you know its gonna be
A Bite
A Bite
A Bite

I LOVE Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, Joe Torre, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They're ALL doing a FANTASTIC job............I LOVE Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, Joe Torre, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They're ALL doing a FANTASTIC job............I LOVE Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, Joe Torre, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They're ALL doing a FANTASTIC job............I LOVE Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti, Joe Torre, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They're ALL doing a FANTASTIC job............now PLEASE, turn off the hot light and give me a sip of water...

Tin soldiers and Ned is calling
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the calling
Two barred from our blogging home

Gotta get down to it
Josh is cutting us down
What if you blogged with him
And found him dead on the blog

And there could be others!!!...tortured and too weak to blog...

LOL!!

I can't get this song out of my head - thanks, jhall!
We are doing a tribute to the Beatles in two weeks, and I have your song stuck in my head. OMG!!! lol!!

DO THE RIGHT THING, JOE - PLAY ANDRE ETHIER!!!!!!!
PLEASE JOE - PLAY ETHIER!!!!!!!!

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a blog over there
Telling me, I got to beware

Everybody's got something to hide
'cept for me and old_fogey

Classic!! LMAO!!

Hey Ned, don't make it bad
Take a sad team and make it better...

Imagine there's no Ned
It's pleasant if you try
No Phew among us
Andre on the rise
Imagine our young guns
Playing everyday

Imagine there's no Nomore
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to bitch and moan at
And no Bloiaza too
Imagine our infield
Making all the plays

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm Not the only one
I hope someday Joe will join us
And the Dodgers can be number 1

Imagine there's no Andruw
I wonder if you can
No need to sit Andre
A much better man
Imagine our outfield
The same everyday

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday Frank will wake up
And Ned will soon be gone

Watch it, jhall, next thing you know you'll be writing verse from Guantanamo Bay...

Remember, to bench Jones and Pierre
Then you begin, to make it
Better, better, better, better
Owwwwwwwwwwwww
Naaaa na naa Na na naaaaaaaaaa
Hey Ned

LOL!!

Guess we're striking a wrong chord. LOL

From now on call me Disenchanted...

Did I make it in?

Apparantly I'm harmless........

Here come Ned Stachio he come grooving up slowly
He got Joe-Joe Torre he one old-man lover
He got brains down in his hiny
Got to be a joker he just do what he please

Come together with the young guns victory

Well at least, they know we're not happy with Ned. It's the same on every other blog I've checked out. They all believe he is in over his head and should be released.

jhall, I think you and enchanted have talents that transend the known universe.......

Way to go ML. LMAO!!!

LOL Eric, thanks.

Hey Ned
Don't make it worse
We're almost all gone
becuz we cur-ur-ur-urse

Remember when Juan Pierre pouts
Keep his rear out
He's no table setter

Hey Ned
Please be afraid
Because you know we're
All out to get you-oo-oo

Remember the revolutions begun
Because you've not won
Or made things better

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
He-ey Ned

Sweet E!!

ENCHANTED, JHALL AND MLK
ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!!!!!

Now that old_fogey and I have had our privileges slapped down, I'm beginning to feel like a political prisoner in hiding. But we don't deserve accolades or martyrdom because we haven't done anything out of the norm. It has to be a glitch somewhere. I mean, who the heck cares what any of us think, anyway? Except maybe each other.
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

Come together, right now, fire Ned!!

Actually it happened to me a couple of months ago. I thought I had been barred because my comments would show. It came back in a day or so.

would not show

Ned is the egghead, Ned is the egghead, We are the bloggers.
Goo goo ga joob!! Goo goo ga joob!!

Here is my attempt at being creative - my class of first graders helped - You would have been impressed on how much they know about this lineup.

Dodger Acrostic:

Don't mess with Loney
Only play the best
DeWitt or LaRoche at 3rd
Get better Furcal ( I wanted to put Get rid of Ned - lol!)
Ethier and Kemp everyday
Russell, nothing to say, he's the best
Successful season

First Grade? That's pretty cool ! My compliments dnel!!!

Super Nelson, give them my kudo's!!

Josh, when will we know more about Furcal. Please keep us updated. Thanks!!

Oh baby let me be, your Neddy bear
Put a mil in front of them, and they'll sign anywhere
Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your Neddy bear

I didn't wanna be a Tiger
'Cause Tigers win too much
I didn't wanna be a Giant
'Cause the Giants are already (insert you're favorite verb here) ----ed enough

I just wanna be, your Neddy bear
Playin' Druw and Slappy too, so we won't go anywhere
Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your Neddy bear

Torre let me be, around you every night
Run your line-up through my brain
And we'll lose again tonight
Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your Neddy bear

I didn't wanna be a tiger
'Cause tigers win too much
I didn't wanna be a Giant
'Cause the Giants are already (----)ed enou-ou-ou-ough

Just wanna be, your Neddy bear
Give me vets and wanna bes - I'll lead you to dispair
Oh let me be (oh let him be) your Neddy bear

Oh let me be (oh let him be) your Neddy bear...
I just wanna be your Ne-ed-dy bear (ooh...)

Bravo!!!! Disenchanted, you are touched......

Thanks - jhall and enchanted
You've both have got the inspiring touch!!

Another good one enchanted!!
Publish, Publish, Publish!!!!!

i know some of you have already touched on this subject.. but here are my thoughts..
____________________________________________________________________
Right now, with raffy out, I really think torre can / should consider russ as leadoff. Mainly because I don’t want him playing Pierre everyday, and hitting him leadoff everyday. So, hoping that raffy will only be out another 10 days or so, I think russ can handle the lead-off duties (while playing 3rd base for a couple games, or DHing in Anaheim). Just for the time being, here’s the lineup I’d like to see until raffy returns (unless he’s out more than a couple weeks which of course would present a more serious problem)…
_____________________________________________________________________
Russ (C, DH, 3rd);
Dre (LF, RF);
Matty (RF, CF);
James (1B);
Kent (2B);
Blake (3B, 2B);
Hu (SS, 2B) or Maza (SS, 2B);
Andruw (CF) or Pierre (LF);
Pitcher
_____________________________________________________________________
Obviously, the first position and person I listed is what I find as the most ideal...

Sara...makes too much sense to me...

Sara,
It would be great, and you would hope it's not wishful thinking.
That lineup would be fantastic! We can always have that hope, I guess.

PLEASE, JOE, DO THE RIGHT THING!!

I love it Sara. Makes too much sense for them to do it though.

well i guess since it make sense to us, it's never going to happen.. SIGH

I just don’t see the logic of playing Pierre EVERYDAY. I kind of get playing andruw to hope he works out of his problems, but playing Pierre daily makes ZERO sense. He just doesn’t bring anything to the lineup that is special enough to warrant it..

Well said Sara...

Hey Ned,
You know we don't approve of the job you have done so far. Please do not take it personally. I'm sure you are a great guy, husband, and father. I think you have made some progress and learned some things. Please don't swap any of our young talent for some has been ragged out stop gap to play SS. Stick with Hu. See what he's got.
Please trade Juan Pierre. If you can unload him it would greatly increase your approval rating and the rest of your body of work would be just about even.

Thank You

You guys are STILL trying to dump Pierre? I still like his game and think he is a good choice for leadoff. Yes Ethier should be starting.. Jones is the one who should go away.. not Pierre.

JP actualy has a better OBP right now than both Loney and Kemp and he has been doing a much better job of drawing walks this season. Having someone with speed at the top of the lineup is imperitive wih the lack of power we have on this team. Jones isn't gonna suddenly start cracking homers.. he can't hit anymore... best suited for a late inning defensive replacement at this stage of his career. JP, Kemp and Ethier should be the starting outfielders.

Why is it this blog can put together better line-ups than Joe? Hey Joe, let Sara make out the line-up for awhile.

Think we pretty much all agree that Hu could stand somemore seasoning at AAA, but when Nomore gets back, after watching him [mis]play 3B, is there anyone here that honestly thinks he can handle SS to where he could be the supersub that we all originally envisioned?

Honest question: Does anyone think that if the D's DFA'd Jones that another team would sign him to anything other than a minor league contract?

I doubt anyone would take Jones' salary off of our hands, but I think someone would take the same risk we have taken to see if he can return to his power hitting form, and not his current round form.

new post

Pierre would be great at leading off. The problem is that he has to get on base to be great, something he doesn't do very often. That and left field is a power position, another thing he doesn't do, hit with power.