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

Most Dodger fans are not too excited because it seems that the Dodgers didn’t sign any of the big Free Agents.  They argue that the Dodgers should have spent the money on Prince Fielder instead of the same amount on Juan Rivera (4.5 mil), Tony Gwynn, Jr. (.85 mil) Jerry Harriston (2.25 mil), Mark Ellis [...]

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Now that Frank McCourt has been give the go-ahead by the bankruptcy court (barring reversal upon appeal) to negotiate a new TV deal, he might just have given Ned the go-ahead and sign Prince Fielder. As near as I can figure, I think it will take probably the same amount Albert Pujols received. He’s 5 years younger [...]

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I find it interesting that of the TOP 10 teams in MLB with the highest salaries, only one is alive in the playoffs and that is the number 10 team.  I guess money can’t buy you love.  This is the new paradigm. Frank McCourt certainly has good attorneys.  Who can predict what will happen at [...]

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The 2011 Dodgers are 7 games under .500 and are 11 games out of first place.  They also have won 5 in a row and have 18 more games with division rivals, mostly the Giants and D-Backs.  Of those 18 games, 10 are at home (of the 8 away games, 3 are at Petco).  Do you [...]

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Final Score: Rockies 5, Dodgers 3 Gritty performance by Billingsley, though he was done in by homers. The 5 walks really came back to bite him too, as two of them came into score. Kuo did a great job of striking out Helton in the 8th. If James Loney never plays another game outside of [...]

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Lineups Dodgers Aaron Miles 3B Justin Sellers SS Andre Ethier RF Matt Kemp CF Juan Rivera LF James Loney 1B Dioner Navarro C Jamey Carroll 2B Chad Billingsley P Rockies Dexter Fowler CF Mark Ellis 2B Carlos Gonzalez RF Troy Tulowitzki SS Jason Giambi 1B Seth Smith LF Eliezer Alfonzo C Chris Nelson 3B Kevin [...]

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Lineups Dodgers Tony Gwynn LF Casey Blake 3B Andre Ethier RF Matt Kemp CF Juan Rivera 1B Aaron Miles 2B Rod Barajas C Jamey Carroll SS Chad Billingsley P Brewers Corey Hart RF Nyjer Morgan CF Ryan Braun LF Prince Fielder 1B Casey McGahee 3B Yuniesky Betancourt SS Jerry Hairston 2B Jonathan Lucroy C Yovani [...]

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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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If you were grading the Dodgers first-half performance the team would have to get a D -. There’s no way to sugar-coat it – the Dodgers sucked big time in the first half.  There were a few bright spots including Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Jamey Carroll and even Aaron Miles.  At the end [...]

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This 2011 version of the Dodgers may be hard to figure out, but I saw a bunch of happy excited young ballplayers last night when Tony Gwynn, Jr. drove in the winning run.  In a season where victories have been few and sometimes, far-between, the Dodgers got another command performance from their Ace, and Tony [...]

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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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Hey, I read here every day, but today I thought I’d weigh in with my opinion. Chad Billingsley is disappointing.  His proclivity to blow leads is troubling.  It appears to me that he’s throwing, not pitching.  I think he’ll turn it around, but I feel better about Lilly than I do about C-Bill right about [...]

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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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Allegedly the Dodger hitters are “working on looking at pitches” which is why they are dead last in NL in Spring Training hitting at .230.  By the way, the Padres are #1 at .329!  OK – It’s early, but don’t wait until it’s too late.  The Dodgers are in the middle of the pack with a [...]

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Any disagreement so far?  OK!  I know we have some common ground already.  I’m not saying that they won’t win more, but I tend to think that 81 is something that is very plausible.  I mean, they won 80 in 2010 when everything went wrong.  So, winning 81 really isn’t raising the bar much. However, [...]

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Yesterday, Don Mattingly showed me that he’s no dummy by naming Clayton Kershaw the Opening Day Starter and Jon Broxton the Dodgers’  closer.  I have been as staunch a proponent of Clayton as I have been an opponent of Jon.  It turns out that Broxton’sstruggles were mental – which was what I have always said.  [...]

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I feel more confidence in the Dodgers 2011 starting rotation than any other Dodger starting rotation in the past several years.  Barring injury or alien possession, the Starting Five should be very good.  While not the best in all of baseball (at least not now, not on paper), this group has to be in the [...]

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It was season derailed shortly after the All-Star break, but the fact of the matter is that nearly everything that happened to the Dodgers in 2010 (outside of starting pitching) was bad. I don’t predict “career years” every year for Dodger players (no matter how many times you say it), but out of nine starters of the caliber the Dodgers had last year, it should have been expected that 2, 3 or 4 might have good years. They have shown they were capable. If you say you saw this coming, I think you are out of touch with the reality of the situation. They all had off years!

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