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

Well, we are settled in at Camelback Ranch.  I sat next to Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLa, Tony Jackson of Espn/LA and Jim Peltz of The LA Times – at least there were three good writers in that group.  I feel like on of those “Which one doesn’t belong” kid’s games. “Which one doesn’t belong?  Jackson, [...]

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Arguments can be made who should hit where, but I do think Joe Torre has a definite plan of hitting Kemp right behind Furcal (who has looked re-juvenated this Spring) and ahead of Ethier with Manny at Cleanup.  This is all subject to change, but that lineup followed by Loney and Blake would give excellent [...]

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Starting Pitching ($22,800,000): Kershaw (He will pitch great but with a losing record) $425K Billingsley (He will figure “IT” out this year) $3,850,000 Padilla (Will surprise us this year) $5,025,000 Kuroda (50% probability of injury) $13,000,000 Stults (Will continue to pitch very erratically until Torre gives up on him) $500K Relievers ($11,550,000): Broxton (Will have [...]

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Just a laundry list of a few things I expect to see this year (actually my wish list along with predictions): A healthy Rafael Furcal who is 100% physically and (most importantly) mentally (it takes a while to recover mentally from a surgery) regains his form and is again one of the elite short stops [...]

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Torre, Ramirez and Loney headline team of Dodger players on international goodwill trip PHOENIX – The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the expected roster for the upcoming three-game series in Taiwan. Additional players may be added or changed prior to the March 10 departure. The Dodgers will bring 33 players, including 17 with Major League [...]

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… nor am I a hater.  I see the good he has done as the owner of the Dodgers.  I see the mistakes he has made as well.  However, he seems to have learned each time he makes a mistake.   Overall, the Dodgers are in much better shape than when he took over.  His lifestyle [...]

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Lawrence Delevingne, a writer at  The Business Insider, sent me this link to his article The Nastiest Billionaire Divorce Ever: Jamie And Frank McCourt.  It deals with the facts and not the rampant speculation that some of you state as facts.  It’s a worthwhile read, if you want to know all the players in this process. [...]

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It turns out that Ronnie Belisario and I have a lot in common – No I don’t have a DUI, but we both have Visa problems that prevented us from reporting yesterday.  He hasn’t been able to obtain his, and I have to work to pay mine off!  So there you go.  Joe Torre isn’t [...]

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My sources tell me that Manny Ramirez checked into Camelback Ranch one day BEFORE the pitchers and catchers were to report.  For whatever you think about Manny Ramirez, he is a hard worker and his early arrival (way early) bodes well for the Dodgers upcoming season.  Without saying a word, he is making a statement: [...]

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Pitchers and Catchers report on February 2o, 2010 and the first workout is February 21, 2010, so I am going to take a few days off.  I’ll be back on the 20th or 21st.  I’ll leave you with a few things to cuss and discuss: Is it possible that the Combination of Reed Johnson and [...]

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It pains me a great deal when fans berate players - ”He’s a bum.”  “He’s worthless.”  “He can’t play.”   What do we know?  As it turns out, not much.   I will say that anyone who plays at the major league level is so far advanced over anyone else that it’s like comparing my writing ability to Jon [...]

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Tony Jackson of ESPN.LosAngeles and Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times are both reporting of the Dodgers interest in several players for the 4th outfield spot.  I suppose  there are reasons to consider Gross, Anderson and maybe even Johnson, but Brian Giles?  He became irrelevant a couple of years ago.  The problem is that none [...]

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… and nothing but the truth!  That’s why you come here, because I am going to tell you the truth.  God knows it’s not because I’m a writer.  At any rate, let’s consider the following and see if what is happening is true or false. True or False:  Ned Colletti, Frank McCourt and Dennis Mannion have [...]

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Some people are saying that the Dodgers are a .500 team (when I say “some people” I don’t mean “informed baseball people”), which I think is just plain delusional.  I think sometimes Dodger fans fail to take into consideration that change is inevitable, and often, it is good.  Will everything be OK?  Seth Godin summed [...]

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There is much debate among baseball professionals and fans regarding the benefit of taking multiple pitches during an at bat in order to drive up the pitch count of the starting pitcher and to see more types of pitches in order to be more productive later in the game.  However, it is well know that [...]

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Los Angeles – In what has to be somewhat of a surprise, the Dodgers made two major announcements today.  The first announcement has to do with the divorce proceedings of Frank and Jamie McCourt who agreed to a continuance of their May hearing: The McCourt’s announced that they have resolved their personal issues and that [...]

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Look, it is apparent that the Dodgers are trying to stay around $100 mil in payroll.  The Angels are not spenders either, and I would not be surprised if their payroll was lower than the Dodgers.  While attendance was good, I think that other revenue streams in LA have receded.  It apparent from the (in)activity [...]

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Some people say I am too optimistic and that I always predict career years for the Dodgers, so I thought I’d post what I said last year.  This is from a February 16, 2009 post, which was BEFORE O-Dog and Manny were signed: 1B- James Loney is quietly becoming a force at 1B.  He will win [...]

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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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Bill Shaikin of The LA Times has an interview with Dennis Mannion, the Dodgers President & Big Kahuna.  While I am not one to believe everything I read, I believe most (maybe all) of what he said.  Here’s one quote I found interesting: “Our baseball and business decisions have not been impacted by the proceedings. [...]

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