Dodgers Offseason Moves

Dodgers have made a splash this off season, solidifying their rotation before the Winter Meetings even began. They hurt the division rivals and reigning World Series champion Giants by signing Juan Uribe to a 3 year deal. Here's a run of the Dodgers moves.

Juan Uribe: 3 year deal, will play 2nd
Ted Lilly: 3 year deal, #3 starter
Hiroki Kuroda: 1 year deal, #4 starter
Jon Garland: 1 year deal, #5 starter
Matt Guerrier: 3 year deal, 7th inning relief
Vicente Padilla: 1 year deal, incentive based, long relief and spot starter.
Blake Hawksworth: Trade with Cardinals for Ryan Theriot, long relief and possible spot starter.
Tony Gwynn Jr: 1 year deal, 4th outfielder?
Jay Gibbons: 1 year deal, 4th outfielder? starter?
Rod Barajas: 1 year deal, starting catcher
Dioner Navarro: 1 year deal+arb years, backup catcher

The Dodgers have addressed most needs, but now they need to fill out their bench, and get a decent left handed hitting left fielder. A Gibbons/Gwynn platoon simply won't work. Johnny Damon, the Hairston brothers, Marcus Thames, and former Dodger Scott Podsednik are among the left fielders remaining.

Dodgers call up Kenley Jansen, hopefully to showcase him for a trade.

Kenley Jansen is going to be called up by the Dodgers today, with Justin Miller going down, and it could be to showcase him for a trade to the Houston Astros or the Arizona Diamondbacks for Roy Oswalt or Dan Haren, respectively. Dbacks want major league ready pitching and calling Jansen up could prove that he is. I think that McDonald and Jansen would be part of a good package to send to one of these two teams. Right now, Oswalt seems more likely. He could come to the Dodgers along with cash for Jansen, McDonald, Aaron Miller, and a hitting prospect not named Dee Gordon. Let's hope for the best.

All Sports Update from the admin

Some South African guy (not even gonna try with the name) won the open championship?

Serena Williams is having surgery on her foot because she cut herself on glass. No explanation.

Dodgers say they have no intention in trading Matt Kemp. Ha! Take that Ken Rosenthal...

Some guy named LeBron got spoofed by Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd. Hilarious.

Forget starting pitching, Dodgers need relief help and they need it bad. Broxton has struggled as of late to say the least. His blown save against the Cardinals wasn't as bad as his one against the Yankees, but it still shouldn't happen. He's got to get it together. Belisario needs to put the drugs down and come back. Sherrill needs to do well in the minors. So does John Ely. Put McDonald in the pen where he is most effective and bring Ely back up to start if he does well in the minors.

Well, that's all for now.

Looks Like I Called It On The Pitching

The pitching was absolutely electric for both sides, and the Dodgers almost ended up being the goat on this game. Kuo airmails a ball that leads to an AL run, and Broxton gets in trouble in the 9th but got the save. Only one run for the AL on 7 hits. Great job, NL, 13 years is long enough.

Why the NL will end their 13 year drought tomorrow night

I do think that the NL will win the all star game for the first time since 1996 tomorrow night. Here's why:
1) Pitching. Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, and Josh Johnson will do wonders if they each throw an inning. Same with Jonathan Broxton and Heath Bell.
2) Injuries ended up helping them. Injuries brought in the choices that should have been made by Charlie Manuel. He is so biased and just pisses me off (putting Howard at DH instead of Votto, and not even naming him to the team). Final vote brought in first half MVP Joey Votto who was left off Manuel's roster for a guy who's power is worse than Carlos Zambrano's, Omar Infante. Also, with Jose Reyes getting injured, Manuel was forced to name Rafael Furcal to the team, who should've been named instead of Reyes in the first place. So, yes, the NL will prevail, even with a dumbass for a manager.
3) Ton of snubs in the AL, a lot of them were corrected in the NL. Mostly Kevin Youkilis who would've gotten in, if Joe Girardi and American were smart enough to realize that he's a more worthy All-Star than Nick Swisher.
4) Mo's pulled out of the game (thank god).
So yes, the 13 year misery for National League fans will come to an end tomorrow night.

Fisher to rejoin Lakers

Derek Fisher turned down a better contract offer from the "super team" Miami Heat to rejoin the Lakers for another title run. The deal is 3 years, with the third year being a player option. Even when completely ineffective, which is never, Fisher still provides a great veteran presence on the floor, and can help out the younger guys. Fisher will remain the starting point guard, with Steve Blake the primary backup, and hopefully Shannon Brown if he signs a deal to stay. Assuming Brown returns, this will bring back every key player from the Lakers 2010 championship team, other than Jordan Farmar, who signed a 3 year deal with the Nets. This will also keep the Lakers the title favorite over LeBron's Heat, who still are in need of a reliable starting center and the pickings are slim.

What was Dan Gilbert thinking?

His note to the public regarding LeBron James was over the top to say the least. Gilbert put the note out to revitalize the people of Cleveland. Instead, what he has does is ruined almost all hope for a championship in the near future. It was a personal attack on a person who left Dan's team to play for a team that now has possibly the best trio in NBA history. And if he thinks he can nab Carmelo Anthony or another big free agent after this, he is so wrong. People like Melo are going to look at that note to LeBron and say, "Why the hell would I play for this guy, he's insane. I don't want to be publicly crucified by this man if I leave the team to go somewhere where I can win." Gilbert has shot himself in the foot with his "personal guarantee" that the Cavs will win a championship before LeBron and the Heat do. Sorry Dan, you guys ain't winning anything anytime soon after this.

Back after a long absence, Dodgers get back on track against Cubs

Haven't been able to post for a long time, but I'm back for those of you that might see this, and I'm going to post more frequently.
Dodgers starting pitching is definitely lacking durability as of late, especially with the struggles of rookie John Ely, who was considered "the real deal" after a dominating first few outings with the club. Now, his record is 4-6, and his ERA has spiked to well over 4, and has been sent down to the minors. However, since his return from the disabled list, Vicente Padilla has definitely been picking it up. Since his return, he is 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA, compared to 1-1 with a 6.65 ERA before he went on the DL. So obviously, the Dodgers rotation has been streaky. So, if Ely can find what's wrong in the minors and return to his early 2010 form, and Padilla keeps this hot streak up, our rotation could be in good shape for the long haul, even without a trade deadline pickup. We'll see how it goes.

Dodgers Sign Garrett Anderson

Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times is reporting that the Dodgers have signed outfielder Garrett Anderson worth $550K if he makes the big league club and an additional $200K in bonuses. The signing was done by the Dodgers due to uncertainty with their left handed bat off the bench, as the two other front runners (Brian Giles and Doug Mientkiewicz) have uncertainty with injuries, as Giles' knee is still bothering him and Mientkiewicz dislocated his shoulder last April. Anderson hit 13 home runs as the Braves starting left fielder last year, and with Reed Johnson signed at the fourth outfielder role, Anderson will be pushed out of that role. Expect him to make the roster, Brian Giles to retire, and Mientkiewicz to wait in the minors for a while. This signing will definitely give the Dodgers' bench some more pop, something it had none of last year until they acquired Ronnie Belliard at the end of August. This will be a useful addition to the Dodgers, and let's pray he isn't like Jim Thome was for us last year.

Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre at the Nokia Theatre

On Saturday night, February 26th, T.J. Simers sat down with Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre to talk about baseball at the Nokia Theatre. Torre got Koufax to finally come out of the dark and talk to the public in this event. I attended the event and it was amazing. Koufax is such a calm, wise man but shows signs of humor at times (mainly in response to T.J. Simers' bad jokes) and shed some light on some baseball stories that have been told about him.) They brought up 21-year old left hander Clayton Kershaw pretending he was just some kid and Koufax "taught" him how to throw a curveball. This adds to the belief that Torre thinks Kershaw has the potential to be on a level similar to that of Koufax. It was a great time that I certainly will never forget. Also, Koufax and Kershaw talked on the plane ride back out to Glendale (Torre brought Clayton, hitting coach Don Mattingly, and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt to the event.) about pitching and everything about it. Kershaw is also in line for the Opening Day start. People finally got the public appearance out of Koufax that they always wanted, and was just an amazing evening for all that attended.

Bill Shaikin has a Report on the Dodgers's Payroll

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has an article regarding confidential documents from the McCourt divorce complications submitted by Jaime McCourt. "The Dodgers could seek to keep their player payroll below last year's level through 2018 while the average ticket price and club revenue could nearly double, according to confidential financial documents included in a court filing last week." This is a quote from the article from latimes.com. If this is true, they will lose ticket sales and only gain so much money. One of the main reasons the Dodgers have the best attendance in baseball? Ticket prices. $25 can get you a pretty damn good seat at Dodger Stadium. $50 can get you a box seat with a pole in your face at Fenway Park. If the Dodgers double ticket prices, you can look for a lot of people spending game night at home on TV rather than at the ballpark.

Dodgers Sign Eric Gagne

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Eric Gagne is back with the Dodgers. Gagne's career became a shadow of its former self after Gagne left the club at the end of the 2006 season, signing with the Texas Rangers. 2007 is considered his last effective season. Gagne spent the 2009 season with the Cam-Am League's Quebec Capitales. Gagne also received a minor league offer from the Colorado Rockies, but preferred to come back to a familiar club. Gagne could be a threat to make the pen behind Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, and Hong-Chi Kuo. He could split time with Hong-Chi Kuo and Ramon Troncoso at the 7th and 8th inning roles, and could close occasionally. This is a very sentimental reunion for the Dodgers and Eric Gagne, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

In-Depth Look at the Dodgers for 2010

Tony Jackson at ESPNLosAngeles.com has an in-depth look at the state of the Dodgers. It has five sections: Infield, Outfield, Pitching, Bench, and Management. Jackson had some interesting takes on the Dodgers that I hadn't considered, mainly involving the situation at second base. Check it out. Should tide you over until pitchers and catchers report in a little over a week!

Dodgers Sign Brian Giles

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has reported that the Dodgers have signed Brian Giles to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. To me, I am mixed about this signing. If Reed Johnson is a suitable fourth outfielder and Doug Mientkiewicz is a suitable left handed bat of the bench, then this signing was a waste of money. We don't have the roster space on the 25 man to even carry Giles, unless the Dodgers would be carrying 11 or 12 pitchers, which, in my opinion, is not going to happen. On the plus side, if Giles is healthy and returns at least to 2007 or 2008 form, he could be a pretty inexpensive pickup for a pinch hitter role. Expect him to have a role similar to that of Jim Thome if he makes the Opening Day roster.

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