LADodgerTalk.com – Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers

2011 was an aberration for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  For those of you who think the 2012 version of the Dodgers is not a very good team, I say:  “I beg to differ.  In fact, I will go as far as saying you are crazy if you think this is a bad team.” It’s popular [...]

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We don’t know: If Mark Ellis falters, could Alex Castellanos be his replacement?  Alex will start the season at AAA, and he needs to play 2B everyday, but could he be a long-term solution?  His glove isn’t Gold (at least not yet, if ever), but he has some “pop” and he’s a mature player.  Could [...]

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I want you to consider a few questions and how you would have answered them on January 20, 2010: If I had told you that James Loney would hit more home runs than Andre Ethier in 2010,  would you have probably felt pretty good about the 2010 season? If I had told you that RDLR [...]

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Adrian Beltre plays for Texas, Casey Blake plays for Colorado, Andy LaRoche (sniff) plays for the Indians, Josh Bell plays for the Orioles and the Dodgers have Juan Uribe at 3B! Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh! Next: Good for Casey – He’s closer to home.  Can he hold up physically?  That’s the question… Prince Field ‘er… never mind! Hiroki [...]

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I am giving Bill Plaschke a temporary respite from being a fish hack. His article in The LA Times today hits the nail on the head.  Tomorrow he will go back to being a fish hack like the rest of his ilk, but today he’s FREE. Look, you can spin it anyway you want it, [...]

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… and other things: Why did it take so long to dump Navarro? Why couldn’t Dodger Management see that Jeff Pentland wasn’t getting his job done? Why is Juan Uribe so fat? Why is Andre Ethier a platoon player? Why is Casey Blake so old before his time? Why was Raffy never healthy? Why do [...]

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Yeah, that’s the ticket! What should we expect next season? Who the hell knows? The end! OK, we do have a few clues.  Some big money comes off the books, namely about $58.5 million or half of the Dodgers payroll.  At least $12 million will be given back in the form of a raise for [...]

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In a year when there has been very little to be excited about (except Kershaw and Kemp), the Dodgers minor league teams are a combined 40 games over .500 and every team at every level currently has a winning record.  There’s hope on the farm. Javy Guerra has looked like a closer this year, but I [...]

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First of all, there is a lot I don’t know.  Here’s a short list (there are others, including what the weather will be and where the Stock Market will close) I don’t know if Frank McCourt will prevail and own the Dodgers next season. I don’t know who the manager of the Dodgers will be [...]

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No, I don’t mean that Frank McCourt should sell Ned Colletti (wait, maybe that’s not such a bad idea… but I doubt there’s a buyer). What I mean is that it is time to trade Hiroki Kuroda, Aaron Miles (yes, there are teams who want him), Jamey Carroll, Rod Barajas, Dionaro Navarro (maybe there’s one [...]

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It’s July 4th and the Dodgers are officially out of it. So, let’s first say this” “The American flag does not fly because the wind moves past it. It flies from the last breath of each military member who has died protecting it. Soldiers don’t fight because they hate what’s in front of them…they fight [...]

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A few years ago, I was repeatedly berated for calling Andre Ethier “soft.”  I backed off for a while when he had some clutch hits, but let’s face the truth:  He is soft.  He’s a singles hitter who can’t hit lefties.  It is what it is.  You can’t pay a soft player what he is [...]

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you’re a lot closer than you think!” I live by that creed, and it could apply to these Dodgers…. But that is very unlikely! This team is rapidly reaching a tipping point of no return.  The naysayers had it right! The popular view is to blame Frank, and he does have to shoulder a share [...]

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I felt compelled to post two days in a row, because I believe that the next ten days will be critical in the History of the Dodgers.  A lot can happen in the next ten days.  It might not all happen, but most of it has a good chance of occurring.  Here’s what I see [...]

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No other word comes to mind when trying to describe the current state of the Dodgers.  The only good thing is that Frank McCourt got his loan so that he could meet payroll.  Maybe that will make the boys in blue more relaxed.  It was a “back-door loan” in that Bud would not approve  a [...]

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CLAYTON KERSHAW He’s no ace.  He got bombed and gave up 3 runs in 6 innings at Colorado as he saw his ERA balloon to a lofty 2.08.  The man is obviously done.  Shot.  Give it up now!  Or not…  (for the uninitiated, I am kidding) Really, I think Coors is always going to give [...]

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The bottom-line is that the Dodgers took 3 out of 4 games from the reigning World Champs! Rants and Raves: Raffy looks healthy and if he is all season, he’s a difference-maker. Kuroda wasn’t perfect, but if he can [pitch like that all year, I’ll take it. The lack of power again is troubling. Casey [...]

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After the game, Matt Kemp said: “This is just the beginning.” Tony Jackson of ESPN/LosAngeles hit the nail on the head:  Davey Lopes is helping the Dodgers immensely, especially Matt Kemp.  After describing Matt Kemp who went from first to third on what might have ordinarily been a double play ball, Tony wrote this: “There [...]

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Here it is: March 31st, 2011 Opening Day. Kershaw vs. Lincecum. Dodgers vs. Giants. Us vs. Them. You all love to criticize me because I step out there and make predictions, but now’s the time to do that. Are you scared? I’m not. I’m going to make mine RIGHT NOW! We will re-visit these in [...]

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With a little over a week to go in Spring Training, a few things have shaped up and other things are taking shape.  Here’s what I see: With Casey Blake on the DL to begin the season, I think that Aaron Miles Miles has made the team.  The only question is:  WHO ELSE? Hector Gimenez [...]

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