12-02-07 - A Wolf in Padre Clothing

Note:  The Clayton Kershaw photo is compliments of “Mike Sciosca’s Tragic Illness.”  I feel the same way!  Randy Wolf is set to sign with the Padres and be their #4 starter.  As a flyball pitcher, he should do well in Petco.  In other news, the Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to any of their free agents. Luis Gonzalez was a Type B free agent and if offered arbitration and signed elsewhere, would have garnered the Dodgers a compensatory draft pick. Then again, you run the risk of Gonzalez accepting arbitration.  I keep hearing that the Dodgers are the leaders in the Aaron Rowand sweepstakes and that he’ll get a 5-year/$55 -$60 million deal from us.  However, I will submit this to you: 

Rowand IS an upgrade over Pierre, especially on defense, but he is not a middle-of-the-order hitter and his HR total will suffer greatly in LA.  He was in a great hitters’ park in Philly which inflated his HR total to 27.  I think he’ll be lucky to hit 18 in LA, but he is a good character in the clubhouse.  He wouldn’t be a bad acquisition, except for the fact that we will lose a draft pick since he was offered abritration by Philly.  Therefore, I will cast my vote for Andruw Jones since he was not offered arbitration and can be had for a 2-3 year deal.  Picks can be very important to a teams continued player development.  Lose one and it hurts a lot!

I am sure that Ned would like to move Pierre first, and I do believe that there is substance to the Pierre for Josh Hamilton deal.  Dusty Baker likes Pierre and loves a speedy leadoff hitter.  The Reds do have a glut of outfielders, with Bruce Almighty penciled in already, but I think they would be wise to move Griffey or Dunn  to 1B, as they don’t have a real power threat at that position.

I am sure that some people (not me) think that Kemp can be our CF and that an outfield of Ethier, Kemp and Hamilton would be nice, but an OF of Ethier, Jones and Kemp would be nicer, with Hamilton, Repko and Young fighting for the last 2 spots.

We could see these deals go down this week!