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

So, if he’s hurt, he has to go and if he’s not, he has to go. The common denominator – he has to go! Maybe he can get it together somewhere else. He’s a good dude. I have no issues with him personally, but baseball is a bottom-line business, and the bottom -line is the Dodgers cannot afford to keep him based upon “hope.” My only fear is that no-one will take him for 7 mil. I will say this: If the Dodgers have to give him away, they will be better for it. Imagine what they could have gotten for Sherrill and Broxton in the offseason. Maybe J-Brox can end up in his home state. That just might be the ticket.

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Think how different the Dodgers might have been this year without the contracts of Broxton and Sherrill. They could have afforded another big bat or top-of-the-rotation starter. I begged them to trade Brox for two years and Sherrill after last season. Some people think that I am just a “Broxton Hater” and that there is no way that I can tell he is not a guy who thrives under pressure, Think what you want – don’t judge me by what you can do – but I have been saying that Broxton chokes under pressure for three years and that the Dodgers should have traded him.

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… but I have reservations about him.  However, I am from Missouri, so he’ll have to “show me.” But, it’s a done deal.  Frank and Ned gave their word before the season that Don Mattingly would be the 2011 Dodgers manager and they are being true to their word. Nice!  Keeping your word! Damn!  Keeping [...]

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Most Rants – Few Raves… First the Raves: Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly – that would be a nice rotation 1-4, but the last two are most likely out of the picture.  Raves to Kershaw and Billingley.  Clayton has shown that he can be the Ace and Bills has righted his ship [...]

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I guess it is me against the world on this one, but as long as Frank McCourt is owner of the Dodgers, I am on his side.  I don’t know Frank McCourt and I probably wouldn’t like him if I did.  I have shook his hand and that is about it.  He doesn’t know me [...]

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Let’s face it, after his 50 game suspension, he was really never the same hitter – he had flashes, but he was not the difference-maker he once was. It was time for him to go and when the Dodgers had someone (ChiSox) step forward, his fate was sealed.

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Look, Joe Torre is nor a cerebral manager. He is a Hall-Of-Famer, but sometimes being a Hall-of-Famer is just being in the right place at the right time. Maybe Joe Torre was the perfect manager for the Yankees and their big contracts and big egos and the bigger pressures of playing in NY. I am not going to take away his HOF status, but this team has quit on him.

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There are a variety of reasons for this, but the not the least of which is the disconnect between the coaches and the players. Joe Torre and Company are not known for being brilliant strategists, and that issue was readily exposed this season. In my opinion, none of the coaching staff should be back. There needs to be a clean sweep. I would give Ned Colletti one more year. I think he has learned a lot, but I still think giving up James McDonald for Dotel was a bonehead move. I believe that James McDonald IS BETTER RIGHT NOW than Octavio Dotel.

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We have all heard the term “Little Man Syndrome” used in connection with someone who might try to overcompensate for a lack of physical stature in some other fashion.  I think that just the opposite is true in the case of Jon Broxton, and in a minute I will explain why. But first, let me [...]

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We have all watched the hitters on this bipolar team for 3 years, and it seems that they are all smoking hot or all ice cold. Some of it was predictable.  When Andre Ethier was hitting .393 we all knew he couldn’t keep that up.  That his batting average has dropped a .100 points is [...]

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There isn’t much difference between a dude and a dud – One Little Letter! An offseason ago, it was proposed that the Yankees trade Robinson Cano for Matt Kemp.  It made sense for the Yankees:  Cano was under-performing and they needed a CF.  To me, it made no sense for the Dodgers – after all Matt [...]

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I think there comes a time when you have to assess what you have and what you could have if you are willing to roll the dice. Sure, the hitters have been slumping lately, but that’s only temporary.  This is a very good hitting team, especially when all the parts are in place.  I think [...]

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I’ll be in I agreement with Joe Torre that Carlos Monasterios is the “odd-man-out” of the rotation. He will be better served and better serve the Dodgers as a long-man in the pen when Padilla is activated on Friday.  The question is, who comes off the roster?  It will probably be Justin Miller, which means [...]

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I have been saying for some time now that the Dodgers need to GO BIG OR STAY HOME.  Sign Oswalt or Lee, forget journeymen like Wolf.  The Dodgers wanted no part of Hudson or Wolf because of what they might have made in arbitration.  It’s true that the Dodgers have payroll constraints, but it’s not [...]

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Was it Larry Bowa who suggested that Matt Kemp be traded?  Was it because he sometimes runs through Bowa’s stop signs, like yesterday?  Casey Blake ran through Bowa’sStop Sign yesterday as well. Take aways those two runs which Bowa tried to strand at 3B and the Dodgers may have lost.  The question is:  Is Bowa [...]

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Want an Ace? Would you trade Manny Ramirez, James McDonald and Chris Withrow for Cliff Lee? Let’s not stop there.  Seattle sucks.  Their re-building is dead. How about Manny Ramirez, James McDonald, Vicente Padilla, Dee Gordon, Chris Withrow,  Casey Blake, Xavier Paul and Jon Broxton for Cliff Lee and Ichiro Suzuki? Eight for two! Then [...]

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I guess all good things have to come to an end, so Joe Torre might as well roll Ramon Ortiz out there tonight to put an end to this streak. What?  You say that’s negative? OK.  Well, I’m POSITIVE that Ramon Ortiz can put an end to this 9 game winning streak!  It would be [...]

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Many of you had the Dodgers dead and buried a couple of weeks ago (no, I am not going to just let it go – you need to learn a lesson) and now they are red-hot-on-fire-the-hottest- team-in-baseball! Like it or not, here is what you are seeing: You are seeing the maturation of some young [...]

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I think James McDonald and Josh Lindblom will both play a big role with the 2010 Dodgers. If Hiroki Kuroda can continue to hit 95 MPH on his fastball and mix up his pitches like he has, he will be an All-Star this year. The Kiddie Corps of Chad and Clayton are starting to hit [...]

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After a promising first inning where the Reds went down 1-2-3, Chad Billingsley suddenly started “grooving” pitches and giving up hits.  ”Here it is right down the pipe for you, go ahead and hit it,” and they did.  Chad didn’t walk anyone in his three pathetic innings.  Instead, he pitched like a man who had [...]

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