I Don’t Want To Write Off This Year, But…
we are heading the wrong direction. We have a plethora of talent that is major-league ready and just needs more gametime experience. That includes LaRoche, DeWitt, Hu and even Ethier, Loney, Kemp and Martin. I also think we need to look at options. Furcal? Sign or not? If he came with a guarantee that he’d be healthy then I’d say that we sign him in a heartbeat. Hand him a check and let him fill it in. But, is it realistic to believe that he can be healthier than he has been the past two years when he’s 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 years old, because it’s going to take a 5-year deal? You answer that question.
According to Ken Gurnick, it sounds like Blake DeWitt is the option at 2B in place of Jeff Kent. Maybe I knew a little more about LaRoche’s defensive prowess at 3B than some give me credit, or maybe Torre and I are just stupid!. Diamond Leung also answered a question in his blog:
My question is why wouldn’t Dewitt be moved to second and Laroche brought up for third base. Dewitt played 2nd base in the minors and he seems more athletic enough to handle second than Laroche. I know he wasn’t as good at second as he was at 3rd, but how bad was he? As bad as Delwyn or as bad as Kent? It just seems like the most sensible move.
Blake DeWitt could being taking ground balls at second base, according Manager Joe Torre, but DeWitt hasn’t heard anything about it yet. “I liked playing there,” said DeWitt, who spent part of the 2006 season at Class A Vero Beach playing second. “If the opportunity came up, playing a game there would be fine.”
Gurnick also reports that a specialist found the source of Tony Abreu’s problem and performed surgery to repair it. I guess the Dodgers owe him an apology! Abreu is done for the year, but remains an option in 2009. He can also play SS, not like Raffy or Hu, but he has a good bat and could hit 15+ HR in the future.
I think the Dodgers need to sit down with Jeff Kent and explain that in light of circumstances, would he like to (a) become a part-time player; (b) retire; or (3) accept a trade to the AL where he could DH. Let him decide, but we should DL him tomorrow and call up Andy LaRoche. By the way, LaRoche was back at 3B as Torre and the Dodgers may have reversed their thinking and decided that DeWitt was a better fit at 2B after a full year of playing it in the minors.
If Kent goes on the DL and is deemed healthy, he could help a team as a DH. Nomar has no trade value and will only be a pinch hitter if he returns. We are stuck with him. Furcal will be back in a week or two, but let Hu play until he returns to see what he can do. Without a leadoff hitter, we still need Pierre. Let’s run with this lineup for a week or two:
- Pierre LF
- Ethier RF
- Kemp CF
- Loney 1B
- Martin C
- DeWitt 2B
- LaRoche 3b
- HU SS
Run it for a week and see what happens.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT:
- James McDonald is still struggling with his control but went 6 innings last night to get his 3rd win in 4 decisions;
- Steve Johnson won his 6th game for Great Lakes last night and now sports a 2.60 ERA - he should be moving up soon
- Miguel Ramirez notched his 11th save for the Loons and still has a 0.00 ERA after 21 innings!
- Andrew Lambo drove in his 38 Run and seems to be an RBI Machine - he should move to Inland Empire before seasons’ end and is on track to be our LF by 2010.
I guess Destiny became a trainwreck.
This team is a mess, I’m amazed at the under-achievement that has occurred every season since Tommy retired.
I have never seen Grady Little and Joe Torre in the same picture, I am beginning to believe that they are actually the same person.
Ned, it was nice knowing ya.
Dodger fans are stinned and upset. The team simply cannot score runs.
Hu really looks overmatched at the plate. Loney can hit long foul balls, but seems lost. Kemp is back to swinging at pitches off the plate and lets the ball down the middle call him out on strikes. And on it goes.
It was felt that the NL West would be the strongest division, at least in the NL.
In the last 10 games, the Giants have the best record of 5 and 5. The Dodgers, Rockies, and Pads are tied for second with 4 & 6. The D-Backs are on the bottom for the last 10 games with 3 & 7.
If the D-Backs were playing at a better clip — they would have a 10 game lead and a lock on 1st in the West.
I believe if we jumped over to the Arizona board they would all be crying.
Just be glad we are not Seattle at 20 & 34 and 11.5 games out — how can that be with some solid pitching up front and some really nice hitters there? But that is Baseball.
Lowe should have won last night.
I think I would rather get Kent out of the picture and lose without him as lose with him. He takes up space.
OK i will drink the Kool aid!
So Torre is giving hints that Andy is coming. I hope he sets the world on fire like all of you say he will.
DeWitt makes an gradual move to 2b. But I would put Maza at SS until Raffy is back. I like his swings more than Hu’s. I like Hu but he is lost. He needs to be sent down. So then we have LaRoche at 3rd. The youth will be served.
Here is my BIG prediction. We will do well against the struggling Mets maybe 2 of 3. Kershaw has another good outing (remember the Mets struggle against Lefties, remember Kuo?) and by Monday we all have warm fuzzies again.
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The team is in a funk. I think young players will go through times like these. How they deal with it is anybody’s guess.
I still do not see a legitimate home run threat in this lineup. We have a group of singles hitters, and frankly they haven’t been all that good at doing that.
LaRoche will not be a difference maker in this lineup. Not immediately anyway. We need a guy that hit a ball out off the fists and out of the park.
And let’s face facts, this team is not the same without Furcal out on the field. I still say Hu has value, but unless and until we surround him with hitters, he will be a glaring hole in our lineup. He isn’t ready and we don’t have the time to let him work it out. We need offense and if we are a base to base team, we need it from every position.
At least our pitching has looked good of late.
Other than our pitching, we have no veteran presence in this lineup. And, we suffer the pangs of growing pains.
Unless we pick up some offensive fire power at the deadline, I am afraid we have a “wait til next year” on our horizon.
And honestly, I don’t see Fred getting it done. He hasn’t shown me much in the GM’n department.
No Veteran Presence?
Jeff Kent a AARP card member is in the heart of the lineup most nights. All kidding aside, Furcal is the presence we need. I think we all agree we are a totally different club when he is in the lineup. I would hope we go with The proposed lineup with DeWitt at 2b and Maza at SS and LaRoche at 3b. Let it ride and see how it goes. The saddest thing to me is our starting pitching has been lights out and we have nothing to show for it.
Yeah, Kent has been there quite a bit. Actually, he has played in 80% of the games. And hit .240. Schmidt has been down since he got here, Furcal is hurt, Nomar is made of glass, Jones is worthless - who else do we have that is a veteran - oh yeah, Pierre - the one vet that can actually be counted on.
All kidding aside indeed, our vets are not the ones in there mixing it up and trying to lead us every night. That would be Loney, DeWitt, Kemp, Ethier and Martin.
A team with Hu, Maza, DeWitt and Kershaw isn’t exactly what we had planned now is it.
We need Furcal. Without him, this is a .500 team at best.
And we need some power. Don’t know where we will find it, but this team is weak offensively.
I bet, in some ways, the fans in all of the teams in the NL West are writing this season off as a changing year. Injuries, hurting vets, rookies sturggling, etc.
Still, I am surprised by the Snakes. They are keeping the Dodgers in this thing because of their poor play.
Face it, if Torre is any kind of a manager, he will find a way to build a team to compete on the field from what we have (major and minor rosters).
Also — the June Draft should be any day now . . .
Can we really count on Raffy or Kent?
Can I throw this out there, then I will duck!
Could we send Pierre to Milwakee, We pay some of his contract.
We get Mike Cameron.
Hear me out… Cameron is on a 1 year contract, He has pop and speed. If Jones comes back, great! He plays next year but this year he splits time. Kemp slides over to right again and Andre back to left. Cameron isn’t a 40+ HR guy but I think he would be a plus for us.
I know it is a crazy idea but what do you all think?
It is obvious that the Dodgers are in desperate straits or we wouldn’t be proposing all of these desperation moves. We probably won’t be able to make any moves that will actually amount to much this season, only marginally, in my opinion (and I’m never wrong). Very difficult to polish a turd and make it into something of real value.
Good point dodgerman!!
I am of the belief that this year we should have a goal of being competitive. I know this is LA and we deserve a champion. But the quick fixes has gotten us exactly 0 playoff series wins and 0 championships. I believe strongly that without Kent, Nomar, Pierre, and even Lowe we can make a run at the division this year. That gives a lot of room for the kids and the future leaders of this team to sink or swim. Furcal would be nice (if he is healthy) but even without him we can make a run. There is a lot of time left and I think with more experience this year the payoff is just around the corner.
Pierre is not the problem, and if we ship him, and Furcal does not reboud - who leads off?
I keep Pierre. At least we know he will be there playing his ass off every night. Can’t say that about the other vets on this team.
This squad looks way too much like Jed Collecti’s S.F. Gints, sans Bonzabol.
Isn’t it crazy how a few years ago Ned was great? A mover and a shaker!!
Last year and early this year we couldn’t stand Pierre?
Funny how times have changed, and I am right there with you guys!
Guess that is why we all have day jobs!! LOL
I don’t have a day job. Don’t want one either.
I see Kent is back in the 4 hole. Our clean-up hitter has 4 dingers, 22 rbi’s and is hitting .242. Nice.
P.S., I didn’t liked the Jed hiring and I have always liked Pierre. I thought we overpaid him, but, then I think everyone is overpaid. I always thought we didn’t give DePo enough time to prove his worth. Mover and I have gone around about that one too.
But, it is what it is. Our old guys are not in great shape and our young guys have all turned into singles hitters and as a team, we suck WRISP.
It’s still early. Maybe things can get turned around.
Kant Did!
Penny was Bad!
DeWitt?
I’m coming around…
6-3
You can’t point the finger at our savior, Blake DeWitt. That kid produced the only runs for the Dodgers in the past couple of games. Also, he is batting a solid .300 through the 2008 Regular Season and a clear candidate for the prestigious NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Best Regards,
http://dodgers.tumblr.com
yippee, we scored 4 - on 7 for 33.
Bad Penny. 5 earned in 4 innings. So basically, we lost before the game became official.
David Wright has Brad Penny’s number. It’s as simple as that, Badger. These are the types of games that I dread watching. But, I have tickets for tomorrow’s game - hopefully that will be better.
Lets Go Dodgers!,
http://dodgersblog.com
See, That’s Penny’s problem. If someone had Don Drysdales’ number, guess what would happen?
That’s right. He better get out of the box. You can’t hit it out when it’s hitting you.