Its only Halloween but considering the Tigers just pulled off a trade for Renteria and ARod declared himself a free agent, its never to early to make out a Christmas Wish List.
How would I fix the Dodgers, get us to the playoffs and have a shot at winning the title? Here it is in a few short steps.
1. Trade LaRoche, Kemp and Kershaw to Minnesota for Johan Santana and sign him to an extension. (7 yrs, 100 mil? - Something like the Oswalt deal)
2. Sign ARod. Bend over and take it. Whatever the cost. 7 yrs, 35 mil on average. Fine. Do it. He's never hurt and is the game's premier player, regardless of October problems. He'll play long enough to pass Bonds for the HR record and maybe Pete Rose for the hits record. The Dodgers are raking in the cash, already charge us twice as much to park as is a game ticket and are on the verge of busting the 4 million mark in attendance. What better way than to put ARod at 3B.
3. Cut, trade or retire Jeff Kent. He's an ass in the clubhouse. His defense has taken a huge step back. His bat gets worse every year. Nice career but you and Grady can ride your bikes back to the midwest.
4. Sign Geoff Jenkins to play a corner OF spot with Ethier.
5. Bolster bench and bully with a couple key vets - this is where Torre's rep will come in handy.
Where does this leave us? Look at this;
C- Martin, 1B-Loney, 2B-Abreu/Hu, SS-Furcal, 3B-Arod, LF-Jenkins, CF-Pierre, RF-Ethier.
Starting P's = Johan, Lowe, Penny, Billingsly and Schmidt.
Bully = Saito, Brox, Meloan, Loseriaza, etc.
Bench = Nomar, Repko, and others.
I'd like our chances.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Another classless move by Ned and McA-hole
I am not opposed to firing Grady Little and finding a better manager. I am opposed to acting like JD Drew, repeatedly say a certain person would be back next year and then acting like this. If you want to hire Joe Girardi or Joe Torre, give Grady the respect he deserves, FIRE him, and then proceed with the search. DON'T have a guy in place, interview and offer others the job and have it leaked to the press and then have Grady "resign" to save face. I swear this continues to be the worst run organization in baseball since McStupid took over.
Now to Torre. I'm ok with Joe as our manager, I guess. My real problem is that Mr. Yankee, Donnie Baseball is rumored to be coming with him. WHAT? Excuse me? Is nothing sacred anymore? Are cats and dogs living in harmony? For an organization as old and full of quality alumni as the Dodgers, to hire MULTIPLE YANKEES makes me throw up in my mouth. Torre I guess, isn't really a Yankee. He was a Brave, a Met, a Cardinal as player or coach, never having much success and then landed the right job at the right time with the Yanks and the rest is history. I'm ok with this but Don Mattingly?!?!?!?! What about Orel Hershiser? Kirk Gibson? Tim Wallach? Karros? Look what happened when we ignored Mike Scioscia!
This just makes no sense. I don't care if his punk ass son is in our minor leagues, that is not reason enough to offer him a job. He is the Yankees and they didn't want to hire him? That should be a clue. Also, does this mean we're trading the kids or committing to them? Is Torre really a coach for a team of rooks? He's never really had to bring up kids outside of Jeter, Posada and Rivera. Soriano didn't last in NY. Many other NY kids were constantly traded away.....
Does this help get us ARod? I could swear Torre batted ARod 8th last year. Called him out several times. Took Jeter's side. I really want ARod and would pay what it takes but does this get us closer or basically kill that dream? We'll find out soon.
Now to Torre. I'm ok with Joe as our manager, I guess. My real problem is that Mr. Yankee, Donnie Baseball is rumored to be coming with him. WHAT? Excuse me? Is nothing sacred anymore? Are cats and dogs living in harmony? For an organization as old and full of quality alumni as the Dodgers, to hire MULTIPLE YANKEES makes me throw up in my mouth. Torre I guess, isn't really a Yankee. He was a Brave, a Met, a Cardinal as player or coach, never having much success and then landed the right job at the right time with the Yanks and the rest is history. I'm ok with this but Don Mattingly?!?!?!?! What about Orel Hershiser? Kirk Gibson? Tim Wallach? Karros? Look what happened when we ignored Mike Scioscia!
This just makes no sense. I don't care if his punk ass son is in our minor leagues, that is not reason enough to offer him a job. He is the Yankees and they didn't want to hire him? That should be a clue. Also, does this mean we're trading the kids or committing to them? Is Torre really a coach for a team of rooks? He's never really had to bring up kids outside of Jeter, Posada and Rivera. Soriano didn't last in NY. Many other NY kids were constantly traded away.....
Does this help get us ARod? I could swear Torre batted ARod 8th last year. Called him out several times. Took Jeter's side. I really want ARod and would pay what it takes but does this get us closer or basically kill that dream? We'll find out soon.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Dodger Odds and Ends
Some Dodgers news this week in between the World Series excitement.
The Good: Apparently the Dodgers are trying to play 1 game at the LA Coliseum next season to commemorate the 50th year anniversary in Los Angeles. There are a lot of hurdles to overcome, namely, fitting a baseball diamond into the Coliseum as its set up today. Here's hoping this gets done. This is a great idea and you can count me in. I've always wondered what it was like to see the Dodgers play there before the Stadium opened up and this would be a great opportunity. Don't screw it up McCourt!!!
The Bad: Rumor has it, if Joe Girardi is not hired by the Yanks, the Dodgers might hire him to either coach under Grady for a year and then presumably take over or just come in next year as manager and show Grady the door now. One the best indicators of being a good manager is that guy was a former player and played catcher. Check and Check. Another is past success. One year in Florida and Joe won NL Manager of the Year. So why am I against this move you ask? Its because of the "other things."
1. He got fired after one year. He obviously likes to be an ass, speak his mind, and shop around, otherwise Florida would not unload him after one really good year.
2. He was death to Florida's pitching staff. In 06 under Joe, Florida had Willis, Olsen, Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco as their starting 5. This year, after all that success last year, Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco all missed most of this season and Willis and Olsen while "healthy," pretty much sucked and performed under career norms. My guess is that is because he did not manage and use these guys properly last year. With LA having Schmidt already on life support, Billingsly and Kershaw the young arms of the future, I don't want Joe to kill them after one year.
3. He's a Ned guy and so far Ned guys have SUCKED! I half expect Ned to commit high treason and sign that ass Bonds to play for us next year. Don't you dare Ned!
The Good: Apparently the Dodgers are trying to play 1 game at the LA Coliseum next season to commemorate the 50th year anniversary in Los Angeles. There are a lot of hurdles to overcome, namely, fitting a baseball diamond into the Coliseum as its set up today. Here's hoping this gets done. This is a great idea and you can count me in. I've always wondered what it was like to see the Dodgers play there before the Stadium opened up and this would be a great opportunity. Don't screw it up McCourt!!!
The Bad: Rumor has it, if Joe Girardi is not hired by the Yanks, the Dodgers might hire him to either coach under Grady for a year and then presumably take over or just come in next year as manager and show Grady the door now. One the best indicators of being a good manager is that guy was a former player and played catcher. Check and Check. Another is past success. One year in Florida and Joe won NL Manager of the Year. So why am I against this move you ask? Its because of the "other things."
1. He got fired after one year. He obviously likes to be an ass, speak his mind, and shop around, otherwise Florida would not unload him after one really good year.
2. He was death to Florida's pitching staff. In 06 under Joe, Florida had Willis, Olsen, Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco as their starting 5. This year, after all that success last year, Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco all missed most of this season and Willis and Olsen while "healthy," pretty much sucked and performed under career norms. My guess is that is because he did not manage and use these guys properly last year. With LA having Schmidt already on life support, Billingsly and Kershaw the young arms of the future, I don't want Joe to kill them after one year.
3. He's a Ned guy and so far Ned guys have SUCKED! I half expect Ned to commit high treason and sign that ass Bonds to play for us next year. Don't you dare Ned!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
World Series thoughts
So the 162 game season has come to an end, 8 playoff teams have been cut to 2 after 2 rounds and we are left with the Colorado Rockies vs. the Boston Red Sox. Wow. Who would have predicted that one in March. (Not SI - those idiots had Dodgers v. Angels! thanks for the JINX!) Since I improved on my 0% prediction rate in round 1 to a whopping 50% after the Championship Series, that must mean I am due to nail this pick. I am going to go against the grain and possibly sanity and pick the Rockies to continue shocking the world. Here's why:
1. The DH/Defense issue. The old adage is that pitching and defense wins championships and this will never be more important. The Rockies are by far the best defensive team in baseball. The statistics bear this out as COL finished with one of the highest fielding percentages ever. Why is this important? Coors Field is the most spacious OF in baseball. You have to be on your "A" game with decent speed to cover all that area. Who does Boston start in LF? Yeah, Manny Ramirez, next to Barry Bonds, one of the worst and laziest fielding players EVER. JD Drew will either be in RF or CF depending on Boston's choice for 1B (Big Papi or Youk). If the Sox start Ortiz at 1B, they lose defense there. If they stick Youk in RF and move Drew to CF, they'll have two terrible corner OFs. Boston's best bet is to leave Drew in RF and go with the speedsters in Crisp and Ellsbury in CF and then rotate the two hitters at 1B and pinch hitter.
2. Rockies are not scared of Fenway. They played 3 interleague games in Boston this year and guess what happened? Colorado won 2 of 3 there! They lost 2-1 but then won 12-2 and 7-1. There will not be anything to intimidate Colorado outside of the great Sox fan support but no fans are easier to take out of a game than Boston fans. They choked in game 2 vs. the Indians and are notorious for packing up and fearing the worst when their backs are against the wall.
3. Rockies can hit on the road. True the Rockies never play as well and hit as much on the road as at home but the difference here is the Boston is an EXTREME hitters park as well. Its not like they are going from Colorado to Detroit. The Rockies bats will not be silent in Boston and adding the DH will only benefit them as they have some pretty skilled hitters on the bench.
4. The Rockies pitching is not as bad as it used to be. Yes their ace is Jeff Francis who most people don't know but their ace to start the year was Aaron Cook who's now set for game 4. Their 2 rookies (Jimenez and Morales) have been electric and Fogg has been steady and gets the game to the bullpen who has been lights out. Fuentes and Corpas are dominant in the late innings and can stop the Sox bats when they have a lead. Boston on the other hand has Beckett (who is great!), Schilling who will gut it out and then what? Dice K? He has not been as great as advertised, has tired a lot in the 2nd half and looks beatable. And the Boston bullpen, outside of Papelbon, they are all hittable. Gagne is a gas can and they can't use him, can they? The rest can be decent but can also stink. Also, Boston has no 4th starter as they left Wakefield off the roster. I can see Beckett winning 2 again but if he doesn't, this is over in 5 games.
5. The rest. Some people wonder if the 8 or 9 days off will hurt Colorado because of their hot streak but I think they will be fine. They are not a team of sluggers that need to stay in the zone but rather a team of solid hitters that play fundamental baseball and run the bases well so the rest will just help them get their legs back under them.
6. Finally, the altitude. It will almost be a home field advantage for COL if they can take 1 of 2 in Boston. The Boston players do not strike you as fine tuned, in great shape, athletes, that will be able to handle the exhaustion one feels playing at that altitude. Whereas Colorado is used to it, plays their all the time and has better conditioned players (with the rest helping here too).
If Colorado can get one to start in Boston, then the Rockies will win in 5. If it goes 7 though, I don't see how the Red Sox lose.......
1. The DH/Defense issue. The old adage is that pitching and defense wins championships and this will never be more important. The Rockies are by far the best defensive team in baseball. The statistics bear this out as COL finished with one of the highest fielding percentages ever. Why is this important? Coors Field is the most spacious OF in baseball. You have to be on your "A" game with decent speed to cover all that area. Who does Boston start in LF? Yeah, Manny Ramirez, next to Barry Bonds, one of the worst and laziest fielding players EVER. JD Drew will either be in RF or CF depending on Boston's choice for 1B (Big Papi or Youk). If the Sox start Ortiz at 1B, they lose defense there. If they stick Youk in RF and move Drew to CF, they'll have two terrible corner OFs. Boston's best bet is to leave Drew in RF and go with the speedsters in Crisp and Ellsbury in CF and then rotate the two hitters at 1B and pinch hitter.
2. Rockies are not scared of Fenway. They played 3 interleague games in Boston this year and guess what happened? Colorado won 2 of 3 there! They lost 2-1 but then won 12-2 and 7-1. There will not be anything to intimidate Colorado outside of the great Sox fan support but no fans are easier to take out of a game than Boston fans. They choked in game 2 vs. the Indians and are notorious for packing up and fearing the worst when their backs are against the wall.
3. Rockies can hit on the road. True the Rockies never play as well and hit as much on the road as at home but the difference here is the Boston is an EXTREME hitters park as well. Its not like they are going from Colorado to Detroit. The Rockies bats will not be silent in Boston and adding the DH will only benefit them as they have some pretty skilled hitters on the bench.
4. The Rockies pitching is not as bad as it used to be. Yes their ace is Jeff Francis who most people don't know but their ace to start the year was Aaron Cook who's now set for game 4. Their 2 rookies (Jimenez and Morales) have been electric and Fogg has been steady and gets the game to the bullpen who has been lights out. Fuentes and Corpas are dominant in the late innings and can stop the Sox bats when they have a lead. Boston on the other hand has Beckett (who is great!), Schilling who will gut it out and then what? Dice K? He has not been as great as advertised, has tired a lot in the 2nd half and looks beatable. And the Boston bullpen, outside of Papelbon, they are all hittable. Gagne is a gas can and they can't use him, can they? The rest can be decent but can also stink. Also, Boston has no 4th starter as they left Wakefield off the roster. I can see Beckett winning 2 again but if he doesn't, this is over in 5 games.
5. The rest. Some people wonder if the 8 or 9 days off will hurt Colorado because of their hot streak but I think they will be fine. They are not a team of sluggers that need to stay in the zone but rather a team of solid hitters that play fundamental baseball and run the bases well so the rest will just help them get their legs back under them.
6. Finally, the altitude. It will almost be a home field advantage for COL if they can take 1 of 2 in Boston. The Boston players do not strike you as fine tuned, in great shape, athletes, that will be able to handle the exhaustion one feels playing at that altitude. Whereas Colorado is used to it, plays their all the time and has better conditioned players (with the rest helping here too).
If Colorado can get one to start in Boston, then the Rockies will win in 5. If it goes 7 though, I don't see how the Red Sox lose.......
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
CORRECT Playoff Preview, part deux
Yeah, I know nothing.
Wow, I can't believe I missed the boat on every prediction. Just goes to show you that anything can happen in sports. After watching SC and UCLA lose this weekend, that has never been more apparent.
NLCS: Ok, ok, so what if AZ as a team gave up more runs than they scored this season and yet still were tied with COL for the most wins in the NL. Go figure. This is a tough series to gauge but considering my record so far, I can only go up. The two teams played 18 times this year with COL winning 10 of the 18. Considering COL has won 17 of 18 and seems to be a team of destiny, it'll be hard to pick against them. BUT, I just don't like their pitching and pitching and defense wins Championships. With Tulo, Atkins, Holliday, Matsui, and Taveras they have great defense though. AZ has CY Young Webb and whole lot of nothing. But it was enough to stop the Cubs' bats. This should be a tough, close series but I'm going to ride the streak and take Colorado in 6. The Rockies in the World Series! OMG! Makes me sad to be a Dodger fan (even though this shows how strong the west was).
ALCS: Indians vs. Red Sox. The Sox looked back to normal against the Angels but of course, they own Anaheim. Even JD Drew was getting hits?!?!?!?! Boston has Beckett, DiceK and Schill but Cleveland has Carmona and CC, 2 of the AL's most dominant pitchers this year. I'm a HUGE Grady Sizemore and Pronk fan and would LOVE to see Cleveland snap their streak and BAN LeBron from ever attending games at the Jake or from wearing Indian gear since he's a sellout. PLUS, Boston fan is getting way too full of themselves with the Patriots and Garnett on the Celts now. This is just wrong, for the sports world to be in balance, New England must be miserable and angry. Here's hoping a new Bill Buckner emerges! Cleveland wins in 7 games! Now Bill Simmons can write another book about a new curse!
What does all this mean? Go bet on AZ to face Boston in the World Series!
Wow, I can't believe I missed the boat on every prediction. Just goes to show you that anything can happen in sports. After watching SC and UCLA lose this weekend, that has never been more apparent.
NLCS: Ok, ok, so what if AZ as a team gave up more runs than they scored this season and yet still were tied with COL for the most wins in the NL. Go figure. This is a tough series to gauge but considering my record so far, I can only go up. The two teams played 18 times this year with COL winning 10 of the 18. Considering COL has won 17 of 18 and seems to be a team of destiny, it'll be hard to pick against them. BUT, I just don't like their pitching and pitching and defense wins Championships. With Tulo, Atkins, Holliday, Matsui, and Taveras they have great defense though. AZ has CY Young Webb and whole lot of nothing. But it was enough to stop the Cubs' bats. This should be a tough, close series but I'm going to ride the streak and take Colorado in 6. The Rockies in the World Series! OMG! Makes me sad to be a Dodger fan (even though this shows how strong the west was).
ALCS: Indians vs. Red Sox. The Sox looked back to normal against the Angels but of course, they own Anaheim. Even JD Drew was getting hits?!?!?!?! Boston has Beckett, DiceK and Schill but Cleveland has Carmona and CC, 2 of the AL's most dominant pitchers this year. I'm a HUGE Grady Sizemore and Pronk fan and would LOVE to see Cleveland snap their streak and BAN LeBron from ever attending games at the Jake or from wearing Indian gear since he's a sellout. PLUS, Boston fan is getting way too full of themselves with the Patriots and Garnett on the Celts now. This is just wrong, for the sports world to be in balance, New England must be miserable and angry. Here's hoping a new Bill Buckner emerges! Cleveland wins in 7 games! Now Bill Simmons can write another book about a new curse!
What does all this mean? Go bet on AZ to face Boston in the World Series!
Monday, October 1, 2007
PLAYOFF PREVIEW
Ok, now that we can finalize one of the most disappointing seasons in Dodger history, lets look to October at the teams still standing and try to make sense of the remaining teams.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Is there anyone out there that thinks the NL has a legit chance to win this thing? Philly? The Cubs? D-Backs? Ha ha, NO! The World Series Champ should be coming from the AL and it will be quite a race.
Angels v. Red Sox: Everyone knows by now that ANA has trouble against Boston. For some reason while ANA owns NY, Boston owns ANA. I think that could change this season. The Halos have been pretty solid and have a 1-2 in Lackey and Escobar that can easily match up with Beckett and DiceK or Schilling. Mix in Jered Weaver and some luck with Saunders, E.Santana or even Colon and the Angels should have better pitching than Boston. Mix in KRod and their previous Oct. experience, the Angels are looking like a strong ALCS bet. Boston started strong but barely held off NY, have injury and sucking issues with Manny, Nancy Drew, Gagne, and Coco B. Average. I'm taking Anaheim.
Yanks v. Indians: Cleveland enters Oct. with MLB's best record and "home field advantage." Whatever. The Yanks slept through April and May, woke up and played Bronx Bomber baseball for 4 months and easily took the 4th playoff spot. Yes their pitching is TERRIBLE but this is October which means Jeter, Clemens, Posada, Rivera, etc. Heck, if ARod just doesn't suck, NY will score about 5-8 runs a game. BUT, Cleveland does have some great pitching. CC and Carmona have been lights out but is that enough? Hafner, Sizemor, VMart and Garko are all young and without much, if any, playoff experience. I want Cleveland, I'd like to pick Cleveland but the friggin Yanks are the Yanks. I'll begrudgingly take NY.
ALCS pick - ANA over NY.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Flip a coin, not like it matters.
Cubs at DBacks: Being an NL West guy, the fact that AZ won the west amazes me. THEY WERE OUTSCORED ON THE SEASON BY 20 RUNS! How has this not been in the news more? When has a division winner ever not outscored their opponents? Every other playoff team smoked their opposition yet AZ is minus 20 runs on the year? What does this mean? Only one B.Webb and lots of green kids makes for a Cubbies visit to the NLCS. I don't think this will even be close. Cubs in 4 at worst. (Soriano, Lee, ARam, Zambrano, Lilly, Bartman, etc.)
COL/SD winner v. Philly: San Diego has no offense and their only healthy players are all utility type guys playing over their heads, that ends in Oct. Colorado is the feel good story but they just don't have the pitching or bullpen (I don't think) to keep up with Philly. Hamels is back, Howard, Rollins and Utley lead a great offense and they have enough poo to throw against the wall to come up with some pitching to beat either NL West team. Phills take this series.
NLCS: Cubs over Philly (showing money can buy happiness and keeping Philly guy angry and bitter)
World Series: Angels over Cubs, no Bartman required.
(I reserve the right to completely deny the above the predictions were made and select new teams if needed.)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Is there anyone out there that thinks the NL has a legit chance to win this thing? Philly? The Cubs? D-Backs? Ha ha, NO! The World Series Champ should be coming from the AL and it will be quite a race.
Angels v. Red Sox: Everyone knows by now that ANA has trouble against Boston. For some reason while ANA owns NY, Boston owns ANA. I think that could change this season. The Halos have been pretty solid and have a 1-2 in Lackey and Escobar that can easily match up with Beckett and DiceK or Schilling. Mix in Jered Weaver and some luck with Saunders, E.Santana or even Colon and the Angels should have better pitching than Boston. Mix in KRod and their previous Oct. experience, the Angels are looking like a strong ALCS bet. Boston started strong but barely held off NY, have injury and sucking issues with Manny, Nancy Drew, Gagne, and Coco B. Average. I'm taking Anaheim.
Yanks v. Indians: Cleveland enters Oct. with MLB's best record and "home field advantage." Whatever. The Yanks slept through April and May, woke up and played Bronx Bomber baseball for 4 months and easily took the 4th playoff spot. Yes their pitching is TERRIBLE but this is October which means Jeter, Clemens, Posada, Rivera, etc. Heck, if ARod just doesn't suck, NY will score about 5-8 runs a game. BUT, Cleveland does have some great pitching. CC and Carmona have been lights out but is that enough? Hafner, Sizemor, VMart and Garko are all young and without much, if any, playoff experience. I want Cleveland, I'd like to pick Cleveland but the friggin Yanks are the Yanks. I'll begrudgingly take NY.
ALCS pick - ANA over NY.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Flip a coin, not like it matters.
Cubs at DBacks: Being an NL West guy, the fact that AZ won the west amazes me. THEY WERE OUTSCORED ON THE SEASON BY 20 RUNS! How has this not been in the news more? When has a division winner ever not outscored their opponents? Every other playoff team smoked their opposition yet AZ is minus 20 runs on the year? What does this mean? Only one B.Webb and lots of green kids makes for a Cubbies visit to the NLCS. I don't think this will even be close. Cubs in 4 at worst. (Soriano, Lee, ARam, Zambrano, Lilly, Bartman, etc.)
COL/SD winner v. Philly: San Diego has no offense and their only healthy players are all utility type guys playing over their heads, that ends in Oct. Colorado is the feel good story but they just don't have the pitching or bullpen (I don't think) to keep up with Philly. Hamels is back, Howard, Rollins and Utley lead a great offense and they have enough poo to throw against the wall to come up with some pitching to beat either NL West team. Phills take this series.
NLCS: Cubs over Philly (showing money can buy happiness and keeping Philly guy angry and bitter)
World Series: Angels over Cubs, no Bartman required.
(I reserve the right to completely deny the above the predictions were made and select new teams if needed.)
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