Two weeks ago, these Dodgers were playing out the dream and were junkyard Dogs – getting a key hit here and there, out-pitching the other team, coming from behind, scraping and hustling and never giving up. What a different a few days make. They are no longer fierce junkyard dogs, but are now Humiliated Chihuahuas, dressed in funny clothes and stupid shoes, and they are the laughingstock of baseball. These guys are so bad they could jump out of a boat and not hit water. People who have been abused and beaten come to the Dodgers because they don’t hit anyone. They are so bad that even Tim Lincecum can win a game again them. Maybe Tommy needs to talk to the Chihuahuas like he talked about Kurt Bevacqua:
Let’s get a little perspective about this losing streak – This will pass. Kemp, Ellis and Ethier will be back soon. A trade or two will be made and some of the non-performers will be gone. Don’t panic. This too shall pass. Remember the Cards of 2011. They also looked dead right about now.
There are lots of rumors flying around about trades involving the Dodgers. Carlos Lee can be an RBI Machine, but he seems to have lost his power in the same proportion he has gained weight. I think he could be a stopgap 1B until the end of the year. Garrett Gould should be more than enough to get Lee. Lee could provide excellent protection for Ethier at #5.
Jed Lowrie is not someone the Dodgers should be interested in obtaining. He is injury prone and I don’t think he will be a viable 3B for long. I do like Chase Headley and think he would be an upgrade at 3B for 2-3 years (until Corey Seager is ready – I told you he would sign this week and he did).
I would be willing to trade Zach Lee and Ethan Martin or Allen Webster for Chase Headley… maybe more!
Dodger News:
- Shawn Tolleson has looked horrible. I have never been a fan of his. Sorry…. just sayin’…
- I suspect that Nate Eovaldi’s start today will go a long way in determining if the Dodgers need another starter.
- Mark Ellis starts a 4-day rehab assignment. He will be a welcome sight back at 2B. What a quick recovery!
- Many writers think that Ryan Dempster to the Dodgers is likely when he returns from the DL.
Minor League Notes:
- Josh Fields is hitting .326 while OPS’ing .903 at AAA – he only has 8 HR is 285 AB’s. Is he worth a look? I think he should get a call, like now!
- Chris Withrow is back active and pitched 2 shutout innings last night.
- Red Patterson has a 2.28 ERA at AA
- FedEx is the PCL starting Catcher for the AAA All-Star Game.
- Trayvon Robinson is hitting .260 at AAA Tacoma – Not the exciting prospect many thought. He hit .210 in Seattle lasy year in 143 AB’s. Meanwhile, one of the players acquired for Robinson, Juan Rodriguez, is the Dodgers #11 Prospect and FedEx is #13. Robinson is no longer listed as a prospect.
Good post Mark. Thanks for taking the time to write this. Not unnoticed my friend!
Biggest Disappointing losers
Based upon 2012 OPS+ reduction compared to 2011
Sands -54
Gordon -38
Loney -37
Rivera -23
Kennedy -11
Gwynn -10
Uribe -6
Biggest Outright losers
Based upon 2012 OPS+
Casty 12 AAA
SVS 30 Go Back to AAA
Sands 48 AAA
Uribe 50 DFA #1
Gordon 54 Go back to AAA
Kennedy 69 DFA #2
Loney 73 Platoon & do not resign
Gwynn 74 Platoon – 5th OF
Biggest Outright Losers
Based upon 2012 WAR
Gordon -1.5
Loney -1.0
SVS -0.5
Uribe -0.4
Casty -0.3
Kennedy -0.1
Treanor -0.1
So who do you really think should be DFAd first?
What does it say about the Dodger minor league propects when the Starters have WARs below zero and there is nobody in the Dodger farm system capable of replacing them?
Lee would be an RBI machine only on a team that put a lot of guys in scoring position. Right now, that sure as hell isn’t the Dodgers. When they get back to full strength, provided all three middle of the lineup injured players are indeed back to full strength, then Lee would be an improvement over Loney. I assume he will be at first base. The idea of Lee in left field sounds scary. I also think Lee might give Rivera some kind of boost too, taking some of the pressure off him. Carlos Lee, provided he can hit his weight, is an improvement in our lineup. If all he costs is one B prospect, then by all means, take on the contract. I would rather have Encarnacion but, if this is all we can get right now, take it.
I agree that there is no need to panic. This is a serious bump in the road, but there is still a lot of baseball to be played. Who knows, maybe the gints get an injury, or the entire dbacks lineup gets snake-bit.
I also still believe the best fit might come later. The trade deadline is still a month away. There will be teams that want to either unload a contract, or re-stock the farm. It happens every year. We shoot our wad now, we won’t be ready for that better player later.
I am trying to convince myself that: If you told me going into spring that a week before the break we would be 1 game out of first playing mostly without Kemp, Rivera, Ellis (Mark), and a patchwork lineup. I would be happy.
The truth is I was hoping to stay close this year and then Stan and co. would make a move to improve the team. For the most part that is true. Capuano said earlier this week he sees it as the team saved up wins for a rainy day (paraphrasing) and now it’s raining. They will get through it. I hope its true.
The silver lining is this team is setting up for the future and trying to win now! That is what we all wanted. So lets just calm down and let the process play out. Come August 1 we can access the team and resume the panic!
“What does it say about the Dodger minor league propects when the Starters have WARs below zero and there is nobody in the Dodger farm system capable of replacing them?”
It says the McSphincter left this organization in a huge hole. It is going to take some time to get out of this hole, but I think we can finally assume we have stopped digging. Getting Frankie NoNuts out of the owner’s box was the first step. It took 8 long years of bad decisions to end up where we are, it might take a few years to get back to where we belong. (sound familiar?)
If the Dodgers trade Zach Lee — then I have to wonder if Logan and others have adjusted their view of his abilities for being a major leaguer. I mean after spending bundles of money to sign him, bring him along, untouchable and all — and then trade him off — maybe he . . .
I’m just saying.
There has been talk that Lee is looking to go back to football! maybe that is why the brass is starting to look the other way and trying to trade him before he decides to jump ship!
Any links or sources? becuz I never heard anything bout that.
Yes links please…..and not from bleacher report…..
Keep the minor leaguers. Hire some minor league coaches who know what they’re
doing. Hire better scouts, and keep plugging away. Find players who can play under
the lights of LA and who don’t aspire to be LA beach boys. From the lowest level
consider the NLWest teams to be life and death series, especially the Giants. These
rivalries are no joke, and play like it. If only the team cared as much as the fans.
I think that is a solid plan Bobbie. Set the goals and start moving toward them. This ain’t gonna happen in a couple of months – it might not happen in a couple of years.
I think Roger and David could be right about Lee. I have had my doubts from the beginning, and said right away if it were me, I would have gone to LSU and been big man on campus for 2-3 years, then made my decision – baseball OR football. But… the Dodgers come calling with their overbid and… what the heck. Take their money, work a couple of years, if it doesn’t pan out – LSU here I come. Lee has only pitched about 160 innings of minor league ball, with marginal success. He has the talent if he really wants to apply himself. But he has to WANT TO. Can you blame if he feels like maybe he missed out on the college experience? Big risk taken by the Dodgers. A risk other teams weren’t willing to take.
Latest is that Carlos Lee doesn’t want to waive his no trade clause?
Yeah.. I just read that too. And he might take the rest of the week-end to make his decision. That tuba is making $9 mil for the remainder of the year, and he needs to think about leaving a likely last place club to come to a contender? I would give him 24 hours to do his thinking then tell him to back to his box of doughnuts because we are moving on.
I like Josh Fields being brought up also. It would almost be impossible to be worse than Uribe. I would prefer to see Ethier on the DL. Just let it heal and be healthy for the second half.
Not sure about Carlos Lee, why not sign Derrek Lee about the same production better defense and only money to sign him.
And a month of spring training in AZ?
Just sign Lee, waive Kennedy, and put a finger in the dike until 7/10.
Its only money!
Meanwhile, LaHair, who some act like is the next coming of Don Mattingly at 1b, is 0-2 with a K today so far vs. a lefthander JA Happ
If I recall, he was already hitting like .075 vs lefties to begin with??? Why would we trade for a platoon player?????
I’d consider trading Gould for Lee. Gould is young, so you never know. But based on what he’s done to date, he doesn’t appear to me to be an uber prospect. Lee is no longer the player he used to be, but at least he’s a threat that can’t be ignored, is hitting OK this year, and he’s difficult to strike out. And first base is the only place I’d play him with the Dodgers.
Lee would become more valuable if a deal for him was followed by one for an impact bat or bats at 3B and/or the outfield. With the return of Kemp, Ethier and Ellis, the addition of Lee and the impact bat(s) would lengthen the Dodger lineup, making it considerably more difficult to pitch to. But like Badger and some others, I think that patience could be rewarded as more and more teams become willing to part with contracts as the trading deadline nears. And by the way, although I’m not much of an Edwin Encarnacion fan, I do concede that he would be an improvement over Uribe/Kennedy/Herrera. I just wouldn’t trade very much to get him. And Josh Fields to me is no option at all. Other than the 23 HRs he hit in 2007 (a year in which he also hit .244 and struck out 125 times in 373 AB), he hasn’t done much at the MLB level. Last year he hit .365 in 178 ABs at Colorado Springs (an environment similar to ALBQ), then followed it up by hitting .202 in Japan. He could hit .400 at ALBQ, and I still wouldn’t have any faith that he’d hit for the Dodgers. Fields is a gamble, and with a new deep pocketed ownership, the last thing the Dodgers need to be doing is taking gambles on marginal players like Josh Fields.
Although it’s been a strength this year, more pitching would also be welcome.
Not a big fan of Headley and I think he takes to much to get. I would like it if the dodgers went after Corey’s brother Kyle. He’s looking pretty good to me
Cubs & Dodgers
Salary dump for journeymen and prospects
Castro SS
Soriano LF -($ 19 mil)- 2015 Free Agent
Dempster P – ($ 14 mil)- 2013 Free Agent
for
Gordon SS
Casty 2B
Rivera LF
Sands LF
Pederson LF
Gould P
Tolleson p
They might do that. Wouldn’t hurt to ask.
So it sounds like there willing to take a flier on lee but not youk wow that is stupid. Youk really must have said no to the dodgers. Lee does not improve this team. That far boy will lose us just as many runs as he gives us with his crappy d. Bad move don’t make it
perfect timing for primetime sunday night baseball….
not only do baseball fans know how bad we are but now the entire world will!!!!
woo hoo!!!!!
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