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

OK,  I know that this is going to be just like the Jon Broxton thing (“I have an irrational hatred of Broxton because I can see in his eyes”), but I still have to say it:   The object of the Dodgers affection should be Adrian Beltre.  I can see it already:  “Timmons has an [...]

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On this blog, Jon Weisman asked yesterday if people were really saying that the Dodgers would not sign any free agents.  Jon, here’s the best example of a tirade against McCourt: McGoo actually made one major draft signing this year–probably as a requirement from Selig’s office to try and stimulate fan interest. Our farm system [...]

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Tony Jackson of EspnLosAngeles has the latest about Logan White. Will Tim Wallach be on Mattingly’s staff or a manager somewhere else? According to Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com, the Dodgers announced 2011 season-ticket pricing Monday, with nearly 80 percent of stadium seat pricing staying the same or being reduced down for the fourth consecutive season. Boy [...]

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Let me make this clear: I have little inside information. This is just my opinion.  But… I think the Dodgers will make a BIG splash in free agency this offseason! Frank McCourt knows that he needs to regain the fans confidence in order to put more butts in seats and raise the brand value in [...]

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The Dodgers young nucleus may be ready, willing and able to deliver in 2011. The pieces might need to be shuffled however. There is also an element of luck (where preparation meets opportunity) involved. Case-in-point: Aubrey Huff was a player no one wanted and the Giants signed him for $2 mil – he was arguably their MVP. Buster Posey also stepped up. We knew he was good, but we din’t know he would be THIS good THIS soon.

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Of all the glaring weaknesses this year on the Dodgers (and there were many), the biggest weakness was the total lack of a clubhouse leader.  They Dodgers did not have a guy who could lead the calvary in a charge over the hill.  James Loney isn’t that guy.  Matt Kemp sure isn’t that guy.  Andre Ethier [...]

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The Dodgers are 15th in Batting Average (.235) and tied for last in Runs Scored with the Mets at 183. That’s an average of less than 3.3 Runs Per Game. That is a total breakdown and it is worse than pitiful! It is unacceptable and heads must roll! Torre, Mattingly and Pentland must face the Guillotine!

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Most Rants – Few Raves… First the Raves: Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly – that would be a nice rotation 1-4, but the last two are most likely out of the picture.  Raves to Kershaw and Billingley.  Clayton has shown that he can be the Ace and Bills has righted his ship [...]

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The Number One Reason is that Jon Broxton’s inability to pitch in the clutch cost the Dodgers 8 games, and what made it worse, is that nearly every game he blew or lost was of the “tear-your-heart-out” variety.

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Look, Joe Torre is nor a cerebral manager. He is a Hall-Of-Famer, but sometimes being a Hall-of-Famer is just being in the right place at the right time. Maybe Joe Torre was the perfect manager for the Yankees and their big contracts and big egos and the bigger pressures of playing in NY. I am not going to take away his HOF status, but this team has quit on him.

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There are a variety of reasons for this, but the not the least of which is the disconnect between the coaches and the players. Joe Torre and Company are not known for being brilliant strategists, and that issue was readily exposed this season. In my opinion, none of the coaching staff should be back. There needs to be a clean sweep. I would give Ned Colletti one more year. I think he has learned a lot, but I still think giving up James McDonald for Dotel was a bonehead move. I believe that James McDonald IS BETTER RIGHT NOW than Octavio Dotel.

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It pains me greatly to say this.  I never raise the white flag, but Ned tried and it was too little, too late.   Podsednik, Theriot, Lilly and Dotel arrived at the fort after the troops had already been massacred. This year is done.  It’s time to hop on the Bus Gus, we don’t need [...]

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We have all watched the hitters on this bipolar team for 3 years, and it seems that they are all smoking hot or all ice cold. Some of it was predictable.  When Andre Ethier was hitting .393 we all knew he couldn’t keep that up.  That his batting average has dropped a .100 points is [...]

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I will preface what I am about to say, by stating that the Dodgers are capable of reeling off a 15 game winning streak! Jon Broxton can be a great closer, but he just lacks the “C” in closer, which makes him a loser.  According to some pin-headed bloggers (Jon Weisman not included), I have [...]

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Pavolv had this dog who heard a bell ring and he proceeded to salivate all over himself. That sometimes happens when you see an young attractive lady walking down the street too.  In the instant case, I think that Russell Martin is “Pavlov’s Dog.” Jeff Pentland, Joe Torre and Don Mattingly work with him, and [...]

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Jared Massey and I were both at Blogger Night in LA on Monday Night and during the six plus hours at Dodger Stadium we gained a lot of insight into the 2010 Los Angeles Dodgers.  So, here is some of what we have learned: Ned Colletti spoke with us for nearly an hour and was [...]

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There isn’t much difference between a dude and a dud – One Little Letter! An offseason ago, it was proposed that the Yankees trade Robinson Cano for Matt Kemp.  It made sense for the Yankees:  Cano was under-performing and they needed a CF.  To me, it made no sense for the Dodgers – after all Matt [...]

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The Knucklehead:  Getting shot in the leg is enough to cause you to get branded as a knucklehead, but there’s a lot more to it than that.  Vicente Padilla arguably has some one thebest stuff you will ever see, but it’s his “knuckle-headedness”  which has kept him from achieving his potential.  Obviously, something happened in [...]

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I would say that with yet another very good performance, Clayton Kershaw is taking a “stranglehold” for the role as Staff Ace.  Some might think he hasn’t had his best “stuff” at times this year, but I think so of that comes from the fact that he is using more pitches, which sometimes has caused [...]

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Many of you had the Dodgers dead and buried a couple of weeks ago (no, I am not going to just let it go – you need to learn a lesson) and now they are red-hot-on-fire-the-hottest- team-in-baseball! Like it or not, here is what you are seeing: You are seeing the maturation of some young [...]

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