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

Must Be A Padre Fan...

 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 sorry that they signed Raul Ibanez, but right about now, that move is looking pretty good.    They added Shane Victorino and Jason Werth in 2005 and 2007 as key pieces to the puzzle.  How did they get them?  No Big Blockbuster Deals, just incidental signings, which turned out to be pretty good.    I don’t think we need to rebuild – the core of the team is in place, but re-tool, we must!

I have taken the 40-Man Roster, plus some others who are technically not on it and divided them into three (3) groups:

1. Core players who we need to keep – in BLUE;
2. Players who we needs to keep under the right conditions – in BLACK; and
3. Players we need to try and lose, trade, release or not sign – in RED.

It’s not hard to see that our core is young and will get even better.  I have Jon Broxton on the BLUE list (even though I have serious doubts about him), because we don’t currently have better options (that too could change).  Now, I am not saying that I wouldn’t trade Broxton or some of the others, but it would have to be a trade that we would make from a point of strength.  Read the full story

Mark Loretta?  That bum is a waste of roster space!Ronnie Belliard?  Why should he start over Hudson. 

Kirby Lee - US Presswire

Jeff Weaver?  Keep McDonald on the playoff roster for crying out loud!

Jim Thome?  Forget it, he’s shot!

Juan Castro?  Why waste a spot for him when he won’t play?

It was Joe Torre who decided which guys he wanted on the playoff roster, and four of the five have already made an impact.

The Big Dodger in the Sky had a say in all this, including when he “blinded” Matt Halliday in the 9th inning.  Read the full story

• Jim Thome didn’t get a chance when Adam Wainright drilled him rather than pitch to him.  My 10 year-old said “So that’s how he handles that?” (speaking of Wainright). 
  

  Go Back, Jack - Do It Again...

  Wainright wasn’t going to get beat by Thome.  He made his mind up about that. 

• Clayton Kershaw didn’t have his “A Game,” but he pitched out of jam-after-jam and only walked one – he kept us in the game, and pitched well enough to win against anyone… except Wainright!  As a side point, Clayton Kershaw is a man!  Koufax had 5 seasons with and ERA below 3.00.  Clayton has one and is now four behind Koufax.  However, Koufax got his first when he was 26 years-old.  Enjoy this kid – he’s special!
• Matt Holliday opened the door a crack and we busted down the rest of it – winning in our last at-bat for the 23rd time this year.
• The Cards out hit us by a 2-1 margin, but they left 15 on-base and we only stranded 4.  Destiny was smiling upon us.
• Mark Loretta was 0-15 against Ryan Franklin in his career when he drove in the winning run. 
• It looks like these just might be Destiny’s Dodgers – 21 years later!

I have read extensive analysis of which match-ups are the best for the Dodgers in the NLDS, which is a lot like all the baseball pre-season predictions.  I read all those magazines (and save them, which shows how stupid I am) and then go back and see how the prognosticators fared.  A monkey throwing darts at players names would be more accurate. 

These people PRETEND to have some special ability to foresee the future because of their vast baseball knowledge.  PURE RUBBISH!  To try and analyze (AND PREDICT) that the Cardinals are the best match-up for the Dodgers is like doing your taxes by starting at the bottom line and working up.  It’s silly and dis-honest! 

Look, no one knows what will happen at a time when ANYTHING can happen.  Who will step up?  It could be someone like Raffy or Russ Martin, who have had less than stellar seasons.  Casey Blake could be the MVP.  Vicente Padilla could be lights out.  Chad Billingsley could pitch a perfect game (OK, I got carried away on that one).   Maybe Manny will find his stroke and hit like last year (OK, now I am really delusional).  The point is – we play the Cards.  We have to beat the Cards to go on.  Read the full story

…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

On or Off the Playoff Roster?

 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 have to face a lot of “live” pitching.  That means pinch-hitting more than once a game.  It means that he has to play 1B 4 or 5 times before the season’s end or it means going to Arizona and hitting in some intra-squad games.  If he can’t do that, then I can’t see him on the playoff roster.  Just my opinion.  If however, he could get 30 AB’s by year end, he could be a huge factor in the World Series.   Maybe he just needs to take live BP off of Clayton Kershaw – then everything else would look easy.

• Brian Akin is writing a blog as he rehabs from Tommy John is Glendale, Arizona.   His blog is http://deartommyjohnletters.blogspot.com/.  I met his parents in Chicago this Summer.  They were up for the series to see the Dodgers and the Cubs and were great people.   His dad is an orthopaedic surgeon in Louisville, KY who gave me some advice on my hip replacement surgery (I gave him a false address so I haven’t seen his bill as yet).  Brian will be 28 at the end of next month and he’s still chasing his dream.  Brian Akin’s Career Stats
• Kevin Baxter of The LA Times weighs in about what’s wrong with C-Bill with two pieces #1   #2  I’m sure that Joe Torre would like to resolve Billingsley’s situation, so Wednesday should help tell the tale, one way or Read the full story

It’s tempting to only write about Chad Billingsley’s meltdown in the 5th inning, but really, what lost the game for us was again a lack of hitting.   Andre Ethier had 3 hits and the rest of the team didn’t show up.  We do have a new LH pinch hitter: Doug Mientkiewicz.  With Jim Thome on the roster is it possible that we will keep both for postseason play?  I doubt it!   The Dodgers have been in a malaise for a while, except for and occasional outburst.  I am not panicking at this point because I would rather get hot LATE!  The Cards are white hot -it’s doubtful they can stay that way.  The same thing happened to the Rox.  Hopefully we will get HOT at the right time.

Which brings me back to C-Bill.  He was pitching a perfect game through four innings, then a one-out double (it broke up his perfect game), and then he pitches out of the stretch – BANG first pitch HR!  Is that the inside book on C-Bill?  When he goes to the stretch does he automatically come in with a fastball strike?  Maybe he shouldn’t pitch out of the stretch and maybe he shouldn’t throw a fastball strike on the first pitch after a base-runner gets on.  Of the first 12 batters he faced, he had 9 first pitch strikes (8 were fastballs).  They were sitting on that pitch and that was the game.  The other two runs were of the ticky-tack variety.  If Blake were at 3B, both might not have scored.  Belliard is not a Read the full story