It Is A Young Man’s Game!
I have become more and more aware of this aspect of baseball. Without steroids, as we enter the “dog days” the players bodies will be slower to respond to rest and recovery. We are also on track to be a 1,000 HR behind the number of HR hit in MLB last year. I believe that teams with the youngest talent will have a “leg up” on teams full of older players, which bring me again to Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciparra. Great players, both, but past their prime and one is tremendously injury prone. We have a guy at AAA who is OPS’ing at about 1.100 and who also hit very well in the Spring. I am saying that Andy LaRoche needs to be on this team, even at the expense of Kent or Nomar.
Andy was 1-2 last night with 2 walks. I am not saying that he should start over Blake DeWitt, but he should be on the team. Blake has earned a spot and is currently the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year (BLAKE DEWITT!). We have an “old” 2B barely hitting his weight who has NO range at 2B and we have a former SS who is a mere shadow of himself. Youth needs to be served! LaRoche or DeWitt needs to take a crash course in Second Base - 101. My choice would be DeWitt because LaRoche has the best arm (more of a 3B arm), but I have read that DeWitt didn’t play well at 2B in the minors, so I’ll leave that to the pros. One of these guys needs to start working out at 2B right about now. It’s no secret that Delwyn Young is not a 2B - he may not be an OF (but he is a hitter). If Hu is not playing regularly, he needs to be in Vegas so that he can play every day. What are you waiting for? Get LaRoche or DeWitt a 2B glove already!
- We haven’t seen enough of Jones doing what he’s doing in the photo below (does he really look fat? I don’t think so!). It’s nice to see AJ starting to break out a little - we are going to need him.
- FLASH: Lucas May with his 8th HR - a 3-Runs Shot. He’s hitting .318 and DeJesus is at .304! They are playing in a “pitchers’ league” - notice should be taken!
- Cody White is now 4-2 with a sub 3.00 ERA at IE after pitching a 3 hitter through 6 last night!
- Andrew Lambo hit his 5th last night for GL - a 2-run shot!
- Mark Bellhorm (MARK BELLHORN?) was 2-2 at Jax!
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C-Bill pitched well to Gary Bennett. I have been blaming Honeycutt for all of our pitching woes, but could Russ Martin have a hand in it? It’s something to think about (Russ is my favorite player, too).
LaRoche has spent a lot of time in the trainers room.
DeWitt with a back problem? Furcal with same? What up with that?
If Hu isn’t at 2b or short, then send him to Vegas so he can play everyday and work on his stroke. I thought he was ready, and maybe he is if he played everyday, but that won’t happen here.
I still don’t get our outfield. Arguably our best young hitter is our 4th outfielder. Only on the Dodgers.
I regurgitate, which means to repeat, this team is put together strangely. Does Confetti have a clue?
I give Ned Kudos for not trading Biils, Loney, Hu, Kemp, Martin, Ethier, Kershaw, McDonald, Broxton, Meloan, LaRoche, DeWitt and the rest, but some of his moves have been curious:
Navarro, E-Jax and Aybar netted us what? AIR? Roster Space? A couple of low-tier prospects?
Guzman? Well, he looks like a flop.
Tiffany? Chuck Who?
Pierre = I have no problems with that!
Gonzo = Disaster
Nomar = Disaster
Kent = 1 year too many
Schmidt = To Be Determined
Jones = Jury still out
If Jones and Schmidt are FLOPS for the rest of their contracts, then the jury will be in and the evidence will convict Ned. He will be banished, if Andruw and Jason continue to be duds!
I agree this team is constructed oddly. I wish we would have gone with an all out youth movement last year. Our line up should be:
1b- Loney
2b- Hu or Abreu(if he can ever stay healthy)
SS- Furcal
3b- DeWitt (I am buying he is the real deal. Reminds me of Mueller when he was young)
RF- Kemp ( Not in CF because I dont trust him chasing fly balls. It is always an adventure!)
CF- Jones or Pierre ( JP got exposed more last year because of Gonzo in LF. With Ethier playing , I think he is better.)
LF-Ethier (The most under-rated guy on our team. He is solid in every aspect but is repeatedly pushed aside)
If we don’t try LaRoche or DeWitt at 2b,We need to shop around for pitching . I believe LaRoche could bring us top of the line pithing help. Not that I want him gone , but that might be our best trade bait.
Aside from our “Golden Boy” Kershaw where is our young pitching. Bills looks like he is on his way but we need more to keep up with the D-backs on Padres of the world.
If I am not mistaken we are 4-0 when Martin doesn’t catch, but starts at 3B. Is there something about Martin that is causing our pitchers to underacheive?
I don’t think it has anything to do with Martin. Our pitching has underacheived on their own. Lowe and Penny have been my biggest disappointments this year. Lowe used to go deep into ball games and not get run support. What happened? Penny is reverting back to the pitcher he was when we all wanted him traded. I also am suprised that Kuroda isnt having more success. Usually the first time through the league a pitcher is lights out if he is any good. Other than his first start I am having flashbacks of Ishii.
Martin hasn’t been able to throw out runners this year like he did last–even on a pitch out his throws to second are usually to the shortstop side of the bag. Maybe it’s just a bad streak but it might be a mechanical thing that needs correcting.
I have no problem with moving DeWitt to second to make room for LaRoche or playing LaRoche at second if DeWitt has trouble making the pivot on the double play. With those two in the lineup Nomar can stay on the roster as our right handed pinch hitter and fill in at third and first. But what do you do with Kent? Rumor has it that Kent is a real a$$hole in the clubhouse. Maybe we just cut him loose to make room for the kids. The other option is to keep him as another right handed pinch hitter but that would cost us Young who is out of options.
If Furcal’s back problems are chronic and he’ll probably be in and out of the lineup and who knows how effective he’ll be–and he’ll soon be gone. We need to trade for a shortstop who can run, hit and field the position like Furcal. That’s why I jokingly referred to Isturis who we traded away for a cupcake and a warm glass of light beer. Hu’s not the answer. His arm is not impressive, he doesn’t seem to have that much speed and he can’t hit as well as Mendoza.
Package Hu, Pierre, Brozabon and Proctor and some prospects for a real leadoff hitter who can play short.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we can get anyone to bite on that. Too bad there isn’t a Timberwolves franchise in the majors who’d trade Pao Gasahol for an expensive turd and a prospect…. *_*
I think Mitch Kupchak has pictures of somebody doing somebody they shouldn’t have been, to make that trade…
I do have to give props to Andre Ethier. That was a clutch hit the other night in Milwaukee in the 9th, when he singled to RF. He wasn’t “sof” then.
Lawdog,
I think that Hu can be a very good SS.
1. He runs well but doesn’t steal well.
2. He does have a good arm - not like Furcal, but then not many SS have an arm like that.
3. Defensively he will be as good as Raffy.
4. I think he will be a #8 hitter, but he could be a #2 in time.
5. He has show surprising power and I think he’ll be a nice SS, however the SS position is now maned by guys who win can MVP’s (Rollins, Reyes, Ramirez, Jeter, et al) and Hu is not in that category!
I do think he’s a guy who will play Gold Glove Defense and hit .270-.280 with 25 doubles. I could live with that if we have power at 3B and 2B.
I think it is time to change this place to LA LakerTalk.
The Dodgers seem to have the reverse-Midas touch. Good players either become injured or quit playing when they arrive on our blue shores.
Time for the Lakers forum, MM.
Feel Free!
I find it difficult to be critical of aging ball players, but it seems that most don’t leave on a high note. It must be the money as they just seem to hang on. I know Ned was low on options but Jeff and Nomar were questionable signings to carry into 2008. Here’s what ToyCannon wrote last November about Jeff kent:
“As Jeff Kent turns 40 he is about to enter an area that historically has not been kind to 2nd baseman. Here is a list of 2nd Baseman sorted by age who ever did squat since integration. As you can see only HOF Joe Morgan was able to accomplish the feat at the age of 40 and most of that was accomplished by his OBP and the OPS+ of 103 is hardly noteworthy. I see several players who interest me when looking to see if Kent can withstand what no one else has been able to do. Bobby Grich one of the most underappreciated players of his time was done at age 37. HOF Craig Biggio’s last good season came at age 39. At age 40 he fell off a cliff. Lou Whitaker retired at age 38 and given that he retired at such a high level it is possible he’d been a decent play at age 40. Old friend Davey Lopes had an outstanding season at age 38 for Oakland but it would be the last time he played 2nd base on a regular basis.
That is it folks, not very inspiring if your counting on Jeff Kent to continue to be an offensive force in 2008 at age 40. Throw in the fact that if he’s not way above average offensively, he’s killing you defensively. He cheats so much when a runner is on 1st base so that he can get to 2nd that the hole between 1st and 2nd results in endless singles snaking their way into right field. He still has a strong arm and that is about the only positive I can say about his defense.”