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

It’s no secret that the McCourts are in the midst of a messy divorce, but would things be any different if Frank and Jamie were still together? Would that have caused the Dodgers to offer arbitration to Randy Wolf and/or Orlando Hudson?  Would that have caused the Dodgers to sign Wolf?  Well, no one can [...]

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The Baseball Winter Meetings are being held in Indianapolis beginning on Monday, December 7th thru Thursday, December 10th.  While MLB would not issue me a credential, I will be there and hopefully get lucky.   The only thing that credentials really do is get you inside the interview room when there are news conferences. I can [...]

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Just in case you haven’t figured it out, attendance at Dodger Stadium is not the only source of income for the Dodgers.  While their have attendance has been stellar,  most other teams  have seen substantial declines in attendance, which means that the Dodgers get a smaller cut of the gate and concessions.  It is not clear [...]

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If you have a home which is worth $400,000 or $400,000,000 and you are served divorce papers by your spouse,  what do you do?  It’s obvious that a great part of the parties’ net worth is that asset.  Some people are idiots about this – some have even burned-down the house rather than split the [...]

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The Dodgers have improved over 2008.   They won more games, but they still couldn’t get past the Phillies, and the Phillies will still be good next year.  I suspect that Raul Ibanez had his career year and will slip back to reality next year and the Phillies will have some holes to fill, just like [...]

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 This team is far from needing rebuilding, but any good team needs to ”retool” every year.  Last year, the Phillies won the World Series with Pat Burrell in LF.  They evidently decided  that he wasn’t the answer this year, so they signed a guy even older who ended up having his career year.   The Phillies may yet be [...]

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Blame it all on Joe Torre if you want, but when we score ZERO runs, the likelihood of losing is pretty high.  Blame it on Kuroda if you want.  Blame it on Billingsley or the fact that  we left Jon Garland and Jeff Weaver off the playoff roster.  But, the reality of the situation is [...]

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That remains the question.  Will we see the Kuroda of last month or the Kuroda of last year.  I would guess that Chad Billingsley is the long man today.  Jim Thome goes back to Philly where he had some of his best years and would like nothing better than to stick it to them.  It [...]

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Just when we need to step up and win some games, we don’t get any effort.   The Dodgers are human and I think they are so focused on the playoffs they have forgotten about the last 7 games.  They are looking ahead and plan to make up for last year, but they need to finish [...]

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If there was any doubt, it is painfully apparent that Chad Billingsly has deep-seated psychological problems.  Fear of success can be just as paralyzing as fear of failure. Many people fear success because it tests their limits and makes them vulnerable to new situations. Even worse, success can expose weaknesses and force people to deal with [...]

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…whether tis nobler to replace him on the playoff roster or use him as a DH.  Yes, that is the question.  You can cuss and discuss this, but I think  the answer is simple – you can’t use Thome if he’s not ready to hit.  In order for him to be ready, he’s going to [...]

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Do the Dodgers already have a ticket to the dance with Destiny this October?  After flirting with mediocrity for a couple of months, theDodgers are starting to peak late in the season.  It’s too early to anoint them Champs of anything, but they do have a magic number that we will post that until they clench.   The [...]

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… to beat the Dodgers.  It was nice to have a “laugh-er” for once.   I need to re-interate that I am a prophet!  Last month, I predicted that Loney would be “white hot” in September and yesterday I wrote that this was the time for Ethier, Kemp, Loney and Martin to step-up and show this [...]

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Yesterday when I said it was time for the Dodgers to put up or shut up, I was not being negative.  It’s just time to quit talking about it and just get  down to the business of doing it.  At this juncture, the season has dragged on for 140+ games.  Guys are beat up, guys are [...]

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Of course they do.  I know and you know it.  How else do you explain the following: Earlier in the season, I trashed Andre Ethier and call him Mr. Softee – presto, he’s an MVP Candidate. In the middle of August, I said we couldn’t win with Broxton as our closer after some blown games – [...]

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Stirring the pot?  Me?  I resemble that statement!  However, this I believe: Manny Ramirez has become a liability – he’ll get better, but he’s still a liability; Russ Martin will regain his post-2009 form (maybe this month, maybe next year); I like Orlando Hudson, but he will probably be too expensive.  I think the Dodgers would [...]

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Would Manny jilt the Dodgers for someone who will pay him more money?  Manny would! Would Manny dog it in the outfield chasing a double and playing it into a triple?  Manny would! Would Manny take an illegal drug in order the get an unfair advantage?  Manny would! Would Manny ditch his teammates if he [...]

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But, they might just help us win the World Series.  I love Juan Pierre, but would you rather have him or Jim Thome as DH in the World Series?  Well, we now have a choice.  Thome says that he is not physically able to play 1B (although I suspect we will see him there from [...]

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I know that we are in the midst of a pennant race, but it always is important to look ahead, and plan ahead.  I have a few ideas as to how the team will look next year and I’m sure Ned has some of the same thoughts, but first:  Ronnie Belliard for Minor League pitcher Luis [...]

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I was impressed by Vicente Padilla yesterday – he has a “live arm – ” that’s a given.   He has multiple pitches and excellent stuff, topping out at 96  MPH.  Listen-Up!  These guys don’t grow on trees, and he must have really ticked-off the Rangers.  He entered the season as the number 2 starter behind Kevin [...]

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