LADodgerTalk.com – Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers

By criticizing some Dodger players the past few days, Don Mattingly has all but admitted that he has lost this team.  He is frustrated as we all are and wants the team to fight, not just play.  That sums up what is wrong with the Dodgers more than anything else.  Donnie said what he said [...]

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Win or lose, this team needs a new direction and it has to start with the manager.  Most of you were excited with the team Ned put on the field (not me so much), so Ned won’t get axed mid-season.  The rest of the Dodger brass proclaimed their satisfaction with the team but declined to [...]

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Do you really believe Joe Torre or Don Mattingly could have taken that rag-tag bunch of wanna-be’s, never-were’s and utilitymen to the 2000 Olympics and beat the heavily favored Cubans to win Gold for the USA?  No way, Jose!  Some people admire Donnie’s calmness.  That’s just the way he is.  Very little emotion.  Unflappable, some [...]

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I guess that’s what it comes down to.  Guggs and Company rode into town and threw money at problems like the fire department throws water on a fire.  They over-bought, over-paid and over-spent.  Then, they openly bragged about their resources and the Baseball Gods spanked them.  There’s something really bad wrong with this team.   That’s [...]

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I have always been a positive person.  Each year I have faced the season with optimism and have always felt that the Boys of Summer were full of promise every Spring.  It was not hard for me to see a silver lining in seasons of doubt.  I was frequently accused of having my eyes clouded [...]

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ELEVEN THINGS: If you want a scapegoat, you have one.  Why would Donnie start Luis Cruz at 3B?  His defense or lack thereof was a factor.  Uribe is superior defensively and has an OB% 300 points above Cruz.  What is wrong with him?  What is wrong with Ned?  Cruz is a waste of a roster [...]

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Wow, I was evidently branded as a heretic by some of the old-timers on this board who questioned my sanity for saying that Clayton Kershaw would become the greatest Dodgers pitcher of all time and questioning whether Ryu was a #3. Let’s address the Kershaw-Koufax comparison.  Let me start by asking you if you all [...]

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Aaron Harang is gone (thankfully).  Ted Lilly will likely never be what he once was (maybe a #4, but now he’s a # 8).  That leave Capuano and Ryu as part of the Dodgers rotation, but I see them as #4 and #5 starters (you pick the order).  It also leave the Dodgers without a [...]

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I want to propose a trade: Don Mattingly for Mike Scioscia.  I think it has only happened one other time in Major League History.  In 1960 Cleveland traded Joe Gordon to the Tigers for Jimmy Dykes.  That’s the only one I could find.  The Dodgers need a fresh start.  The Angels need a fresh start [...]

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There’s not much to say about this bunch – they have the 2nd best OB% in the NL and are almost last in runs scored and last in hitting with RISP.  That’s all you need to know.  No matter how you spin it, this team is a bunch of choke artists.  There is no fix [...]

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I am getting weary of hearing that the Dodger team is riddled with injuries and if they had all of their regulars things would be different.  Let me remind you of a few things: The Yankees have Michael Pineda (certainly the equal of Chad Billingsley), Joba Chamberlin, starting catcher Francisco Cervelli, starting shortstop Derek Jeter, [...]

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I think that song is appropriate for your LA Dodgers.  Listen, read the lyrics and weep!  The Dodgers are deeply entrenched in last place! The Dodgers have the third worst record in the NL.  Only the Cubs and Marlins are worse than the Dodgers.  Throw in San Diego (the team just ahead of the Dodgers [...]

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Yeah, but… injuries, disabled lists, blah-blah-blah… Save it.  It is what it is and it might change or might not. Boy, Carl Crawford must have it in for Chris Capuano.  Caps was already struggling when CC just kept pouring gas on the fire last night. I got a call from my old friend Tony Jackson [...]

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Capuano to make second start of the season tonight vs. Arizona LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed infielder Mark Ellis on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to April 27) with a strained right quad and reinstated left-handed pitcher Chris Capuano from the disabled list. Capuano has been on the DL since April [...]

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I know that the Almighty Stan Kasten and his Clown Crown Prince Sir Ned Colletti must have a plan to bridge the gap between the current Dodgers and re-building the farm.  The thing is: IT AIN’T WORKING! When the Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez for Nate Eovaldi, I was OK but not overwhelmed, as I [...]

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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed shortstop Hanley Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain and recalled shortstop Dee Gordon from Triple-A Albuquerque. Gordon, 25, had a .314 batting average with 19 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and 12 RBI in 25 games with the Isotopes, while [...]

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For the record, I hate people who say “I told you so” but on February 18, 2013, I wrote a column called Anybody Can Overpay.  In that column, I wrote: At a time when most Dodger fans are overjoyed and elated at the Dodgers’ prospects, I find myself very underwhelmed, even sad.  By all accounts [...]

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Mark McGwire is unconvinced too.  The hitting of this team absolutely sucks.  It can change, but will it? A couple of moths ago I said I would not be surprised if this team won 80 games… or 100 games (the lineup will have to change for that to happen).  I stand by that! This team [...]

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Josh Beckett showed up to spring training in great shape and has had one good game.  I know that it’s early, but he looks awful – kind of like last years “out of date” fashions.   In my opinion, it looks like Guggs and Company might have to munch on the $30+ million he is [...]

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I am not going to jump to any conclusions about Clayton’s relationship with his father.  I can certainly see the physical resemblance however.  Whenever parents are divorced, it presents challenges to the children and I am sure this was no different.  Who was his dad?  What was their relationship like?  We all want to know, [...]

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