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

Last off-season, I predicted that it would not be Manny who made the team better, but rather “the kids.”  Little did I know what would happen to Manny and how he would later struggle.  If the Manny Ramirez of 2008 had played in 2009, the Dodgers might still be shaking the confetti out of their shoes, [...]

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I am not going to mention any names (Gammons, Rosethal, Stark, Heyman, Morosi, et al), but I am convinced that some (most or all) of these guys sniff around all their contacts every day and when they hear “Well, we have some interest in so-and-so,” they conclude it’s a done deal.  Most of the rumors [...]

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I had a cheesy grin on my face as I read the Top 200 Prospect list put out by True Blue LA.  The Dodgers do not have 200 Prospects.  They have about 20 PROSPECTS and 180 SUSPECTS!  However, the Dodgers Organization is not nearly as bereft of prospects as some think.  We don’t have a [...]

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It turns out that the Dodgers have 34 minor league free agents, which is more than any other team.  What does that mean?  Does it mean that our farm system is depleted?  Well, we did trade away a few prospects (Santana, Bell, Johnson, Young, LaRoche, Meloan, et al), but the biggest culprit of why we have [...]

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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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        I have no clue where this “Debacle in the Ravine will take us, but I’d say Jamie does not have the upper hand.   No, I’m not going to speculate on who we will sign and who we won’t or who we should trade.  Today, I just want to do some “farming.”  [...]

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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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Joe Torre Has Spoken:   Pitchers (11) Ronald Belisario, RHP                         Chad Billingsley,RHP                           Jonathan Broxton, RHP                        Jon Garland, RHP                                Clayton Kershaw, LHP                        Hong-Chih Kuo, LHP                          Vicente Padilla. RHP                           George Sherrill, LHP                            Ramon Troncoso, RHP Jeff Weaver, RHP Randy Wolf, LHP Infielders (8): Ronnie Belliard Casey Blake Juan Castro Rafael Furcal  (S) Orlando Hudson (S) James Loney  [...]

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Some people have said that you have to get Carpenter early or you don’t get him.  Not true – for the past three years, the league is hitting .305 against Carpenter after 61 pitches. The Dodgers need to be patient… and then NAIL Carpenter.  POUND him!  HAMMER him!  SAW him off!  SCREW him!  If that doesn’t [...]

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It was a story that the Dodgers scored some runs, let alone 5 (count ‘em 5) runs in one inning.  It was a story that gimpy Casey Blake made plays at 3B no one else would have made, and got key hits and doubled in the clutch.  It was a story that Juan Pierre starts [...]

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… but the fact is, I don’t.  I just don’t!  Yeah, I know all the stats, but the one that bothers me the most is 6.  6 Blown Saves.  That’s not what an elite closer does.  I hold my breath  everytime he enters the game.  I just don’t think he handles pressure well.  Just my [...]

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I think some of you may misunderstand why I said Chad Billingsley “has deep-seated psychological problems.”  First, you need to know that I have been a Chad Billingsley fan way back to the beginning of his career.  I am still a big proponent of Chad Billingsley and… I’ll say it:  I think he should be in [...]

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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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“We know we are a good team.”- Andre Ethier “The one thing I found out about them, is every time they’ve been tested they’ve done all right.” – Joe Torre “We’re just going through a bad stretch right now.”  – Russell Martin “We’re all right.  We’ll come back tomorrow and have a better game.” – [...]

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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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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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Look, Chad Billingsley pitched well enough to win yesterday.  The offense let him down, but much like Jon Broxton, I expect much more from Chad Billingsley.  For the past few days I have been castigated all over the blogosphere because of my criticism of Jon Broxton.  I can take it – it’s no big deal – I just [...]

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It no secret that Jon Broxton has been my whipping boy lately, but it’s only because I think he can be so much better than he is.  In fact, we saw how good he could be in the 8th inning yesterday.  It was a smart move to bring Broxton in to face the heavy RH [...]

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Sabermetricians seem to be all the rage in baseball.  There’s a stat for practically anything and more are being invented by the minute (maybe second).  It’s no longer ERA, BA, SLG %, OB%, it’s WHIP, OPS, BAbip, OWn%, XBT%, BABIP and on and on it goes.  There are literally HUNDREDS of more statistics that sabermetric [...]

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