First of all, I am a Russ Martin fan, but foremost, I am a Dodger fan.  Earlier this year, I suggested that James Loney may be trade bait, but now I am also going to suggest that Russell Martin could be the one to be traded.   First of all, you should trade from a position of strength and we have AJ Ellis, Lucas May, Tony Delmonico, Matt Wallach and others moving up the ladder.  Russ Martin may also have peaked – we may have seen his best.  He was an overachiever, and maybe he will just continue to be a very good catcher, but not a star.   He will always be a good player, but trading him now may net us the most value in return.  Read the full story

The trip continues, but not at the expense of Dodgers commentary

Mom, Aunt Paula, Cousin Carla and I are all holed up at a Holiday Inn Express in a place called Shamrock, Texas, tonight, as we leisurely work our way from my daughter’s graduation in Colorado two days ago to a few days of R&R at my parents’ house in Fayetteville, Ark., but I did manage to keep up with the Dodgers’ doings, thanks to that wonder of modern technology known as the iPhone (no, I wasn’t watching pitch-by-pitch while I was driving). For those who didn’t realize it, this was the boys’ third walkoff walk of the season.

Anyway, Ethier’s injury doesn’t appear serious, and neither does Jason Schmidt’s — he was knocked out of his first rehab start at ABQ (third overall) 27 pitches in when he got hit in the Read the full story

Clayton Kershaw has been getting a lot of flack because several of his recent starts have been below expectations, he has been getting behind hitters and is not able to get past the 4th or 5th inning.  He changed all that today by throwing a no hitter through 7 innings.  As soon as he gave up a hit in the 8th he was pulled by Joe Torre, beacuse he had thrown 112 pitches.  Even if he had got out of the inning, I doubt that Torre would have let him come out for the 9th as he would have had over 120 pitches.  Clayton still did not have great control, but he used his change-up considerably more than last game.  When you have to watch for the fastball and curve, his change, which wasn’t all that good, just keeps everyone out of sync.   If he improves that pitch and/or adds another pitch, he will be really hated by NL hitters. Read the full story

Bill Shaiken of The LA Times writes a piece about Frank MCourt, which I believe, shows how the Dodger Brand is being polished and a Dodger Dynasty is being built.  In part, Shaiken writes:

McCourt glowed about Camelback Ranch, emphasizing that the new Arizona complex is not just a spring training ballpark but a year-round center for minor league instruction and injury rehabilitation.

“The Dodgers will once again have the best player development system in all of baseball,” he said.

He said the Dodgers cannot sustain success without replenishing their talent from within, alluding to such expensive mistakes as Jason Schmidt ($47 million), Juan Pierre ($44 million) and Andruw Jones ($36 million).

“We can’t do this just by bringing in free agents,” McCourt said. “I could put up a slide of some of my big, big mistakes with free agents. You’re just not sure.”

The Dodgers publicly announced each of their offers to Ramirez, an unusual strategy but one McCourt said provided him fan feedback that persuaded him not to raise his offer beyond the initial $45 million.

“You all, as the stakeholders in the Dodgers, let us know we were on the right track — ‘OK, that’s a good offer, he should accept it,’ ” McCourt said.

Once Ramirez accepted the financial terms, McCourt would not finalize the contract until a 6 a.m. meeting at his home, in which Ramirez embraced the concept of community involvement and agreed to donate $1 million to the Dodgers’ foundation.

“We were fully prepared not to sign him if that meeting did not go well,” McCourt said.

McCourt said he was aware of reports from Boston that Ramirez might not have given his all there.

“I appreciate when I make a mistake and get a second chance,” McCourt said. “I look at it that way. I think these will be the best days of his career. We’ll see.”

After all, McCourt owned up to one of his mistakes.

“I was the same guy that said, ‘Go ahead and sign Andruw Jones,’ ” he said. “Does that show you how smart I am?”

I believe that Frank McCourt is saying that “look, we will sign the RIGHT free agents when necessary, but our continued growth will come from within.”   He has admitted his mistakes and he seems to be learning from them.  He also said that he intends to go forward with the Dodger Stadium rennovation if the loan package is available.   Frank McCourt was “green” in in baseball terms, when he bought the Dodgers, but he has learned every step of the way and the Dodgers’ future is bright!  We may soon be saying that he is the best owner in baseball.

Late Night Update:  Josh Lindblom – 2IP, 3 K’s, 1 Hit

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT:

LAS VEGAS won 6-2.

Highlights:

• Jon Meloan pitched 6 string innings allowing only 3 hits and 1 run. He struck out 6 while walking 3. It appears his conversion to starting is beginning to work.
• Terry Tiffee continues to hit like he’s out of his mind. He was 3-3 last night and is now 19-31 on the season, bringing his BA to .617
• Jason Repko was 2-4 with a double, triple and 3 runs scored
• BOXSCORE

The Jacksonville Suns lost 2-0.

Highlights:

• Clayton Kershaw is now 0-2 as he pitched 5 innings allowing 7 hits while striking out 8. He allowed 2 runs
• Mitchell was 2-4 – this guy can hit
• Hammes pitched another scoreless inning
• BOXSCORE

The Inland Empire 66′ers lost 11-10.

Lowlights:

• Bell, Santana and Pedroza all had 2 hits
• Bell hit a HR and a triple and is hitting .343 – big diffeenece from last yera when he struggled at this level
• All the 66′ers pitchers got lit up. James Adkins started and pitched 4 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 ER and striking out 3
• BOXSCORE

The Great Lakes Loons did not play due to rain, in fact 6 out of 8 teams in that league were rained out as well.