Moe's Tavern

Very tolerant...

2006-03-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Evidently, some poor sap who was idiotic enough to convert to Christianity in Afghanistan now faces the death penalty. Under Afghanistan's Islamic law, converting to Christianity is punishable by death (what about other religions? or is Christianity singled out?).

A quote:

"'Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die,' said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001."

This is a moderate cleric. I wonder what the conservative/hard-line clerics are like... I think we already know what they advocate, it's just that nobody wants to admit it.

Link to the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060323/ap_on_re_as/afghan_christian_convert

LOL

2005-07-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Ripped shamelessly from http://www.overheardintheoffice.com.

Incidentally, go to http://www.overheardinnewyork.com. Greatest site EVER, especially if you're from the Big Apple, which I'm not.

Co-worker #1: Hey, do we need to dress up when the Japs show up next week?
Boss: Don't ever refer to them as Japs! That's racist and very offensive. Please refer to them as Japanese instead.
Co-worker #2: Hey, while we're being all culturally sensitive and shit, can I show up to work dressed as a ninja to welcome them to America?

Just to piss people off

2005-07-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Go here and here.

Check it out, I was able to piss about at least half of the world's population. Pretty impressive huh?

I found these links off of ESPN Message Boards of all places, how those two sites became part of the Lakers forum I'll never understand.

I hate Cable

2005-07-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are cable companies and their employees the most worthless firms/people in the world? Ever try calling a cable company to start service? You would think that they want to pick up their phones within 45 minutes when it's a new customer. Once they sign you up, then the dicking over should begin.

Time Warner Cable in San Diego is the WORST company I have ever dealt with, and the sad part is that I still haven't been able to get cable. Their phone is BUSY all the time. Who the hell owns a legitimate business meant to serve thousands and allow their phones to be busy??? To top it off, when I was able to get through, they just put me on hold FOREVER, and there's no music!!! It's just dead silence, it's not like I enjoy the crappy music but it lets me know if I'm still on hold when I put it on speaker.

What really pisses me off is that I have no choice in the matter. I can moan and complain and go raise hell at their office, but I'm still stuck with their horseshit service. Maybe I should do DirecTV instead. To go off on a tangent, situations like this really demonstrate why deregulation of cable must be allowed. Cable companies bitch and moan that this would somehow drive up prices. What a bunch of crap. They know that with deregulation, there would be competition and then they'd actually have to hire people who aren't complete degenerates or retards (hell, maybe that's where all the sub-50 IQ indivduals work). The next Time Warner installation truck I see is getting its tires slashed.

There you go, I hate TIME WARNER. Just imagine if I actually was a customer, I'd be ready to take out their CEO. That company is full of the biggest bunch of losers EVER. Too bad nobody reads my blog...

Deferred success ?

2005-07-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Have we (well, the Brits but it's not so different here) gotten so pathetic that the term "fail" can't be used, and has to be substituted with "deferred success"??? WTF is deferred success anyways? Has it gotten so bad that we have to coddle the next generation to the point where they can't even learn the all-important life lesson and failing and picking yourself back up? The most successful people in history will tell you that learning how to pick him or herself back up after a setback was probably one of the most valuable lessons they have ever learned.

I mean, how many more excuses do we, as a society, have to make for others? Does anyone even take responsibility for their own actions anymore? Have parents gotten so lazy that instead of actually parenting their kids, they'd rather change the term failure to deferred success?

To anyone here who reads this and watches the Simpsons (I know, it's no one), there's a quote from a episode that fits quite aptly. Homer, the lazy selfish dad, is told by a rather angry co-worker (Frank Grimes, who subsequently electrocutes himself) that he "freeloads off of the people who actually work in America, and that if this were any other country, he'd already be dead." I can think of SOOO many people who this applies too... and most of them agree with replacing the term "fail" with "deferred success"

New Supreme Court Justice

2005-07-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

Looks like W picked John Roberts, a well-respected federal judge for the position on the Supreme Court. He is a conservative, so a fight is to be expected during the confirmation hearings. It appears that the fight will center around Roe v. Wade. Roberts has stated in a brief that there is no fundamental right to an abortion in the Constitution. Like it or not, that statement is true. Roe v. Wade was decided on a right to privacy basis. The Constitution doesn't say anywhere that abortion is a right. However, reading the Constitution in such a strict fashion is counterproductive. I tend to think that unless the Constitution (or laws passing Constitutional muster) says you can't do it, it's fine to read it as an unwritten right. That said, I do think women should have the right to choose, but I also think abortion should probably done as a last resort and not some form of birth control after a crazy weekend.

I think the main problem with the Democrats concentrating on Roe v. Wade is that it's really a minor issue in the overall number of cases Roberts is going to hear. Chances are pretty good that nobody will bring a Roe v. Wade issue before the court for a really long time. I don't think abortions will ever be made illegal because the majority of Americans support it. Any court decision overturning Roe v. Wade will simply itself be overturned by Congress in response. I do realize that Roe v. Wade was almost overturned a few years ago but in the end, I still think most Americans support that right and Congress will act accordingly.

The Lakers select...

2005-06-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Andrew Bynum...

I don't know much about this kid, all I know is that he's a legit 6-11 and 285 pounds, so he is probably the biggest 17 year old kid running around since Shaq was that age. It's a given that he's not going to do much for at least a year or two, anybody expecting Amare Stoudemire or LeBron James (i.e. immediate) type contributions are probably going to be disappointed. This kid has the size but is really young (remember, Amare was 19 when he came in and LeBron is basically a once-in-a-lifetime talent). On the plus side, he's relatively well-spoken and actually did well in school (a supposed 3.6 GPA and favorite class is physics). Therefore, character won't be an issue, if he works hard he should become a good center. What I'm concerned with is that by the time he gets good, his rookie contract will have expired. It would really suck if Bynum ends up being the next Eddy Curry, fat and often-uninspired.

I understand why the Lakers went with size over immediate help or even uber-athletic high school kids like Gerald Green, but most fans want immediacy, nobody wants to wait three years to see a draft pick pan out. As far as the 2nd round goes, I'm pretty happy with the Ronny Turiaf pick, that was one solid pick for the second round. That dude is basically a clone of the young Brian Grant. I don't know much about Von Wafer but it is the 2nd round after all..

What day is it?

2005-06-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm at work and this lady calls. Normally I don't answer phones but since the entire office is away, I'm doing everything now (the beauty of a one-person law firm who hires his wife as the secretary) and I have to answer the damn phone calls. This lady asks when the boss dude will be back (this happened on Monday by the way). I tell her he should be back Wednesday (incidentally he is NOT back yet so I'm stuck answering the phones again). She then says "will he be back tomorrow?", I tell her tomorrow is Tuesday and no he won't be. Then she says, "so he'll be back Wednesday?" and I respond "yes." For the next minute or two she basically repeats the routine of "will he be back Tuesday?" followed with "so he will be back Wednesday?" and then unceremoniously hangs up. Two minutes later she calls back and asks me the same question...

Useless waste of time

2005-06-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Anybody think what the Chinese customs officials are doing is completely ludicrous? Seizing textbook for a Japanese school because it showed China and Taiwan as different colors on the map sounds like a monumental waste of resources to me. It amazes me how petty the world is becoming. Anybody out there actually believe there will be world peace is crazy because it seems to me everyone everywhere is only interested in holding on to grudges (and yes i know why China, Japan, and Taiwan have problems...). Add to the fact that people in other countries (yes, even the supposed "enlightened" Europeans) really don't like individuals from other different backgrounds, ethnicities, and so forth.

Gitmo = Nazis??

2005-06-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Did I miss something here? How is it okay for Senator Durbin to compare what happened at Gitmo to that of the acts performed by Nazis or Pol Pot???? Have people gone so incredibly insane that they cannot discern the difference between what the Nazis and Pol Pot did versus what occurred at Gitmo or even Abu Grahib (or however that's spelled).

First off, American soldiers are not working the prisoners to death, baking them in ovens, or forcing them to eat bugs for dinner. Give me a break about the Koran "abuse." If dropping a Koran into the toilet or on the floor is the extent of the abuse, well shit, every prisoner in the world should be so lucky. Furthermore, what's with the double standard? Saudi Arabaia jailed a bunch of Christians for spreading "poison" of Christianity and someone dropping a Koran is thought of as some horrendous abuse of a prisoner's rights????

Think of it this way, if you had to be a prisoner of war, you'd be the biggest dumbass in the world not to say you want to be a POW in an American POW camp. That being said, I'm not disputing that some rights (especially in the realm of the detention itself) have been violated, perhaps even grossly, but to take it to the level of Nazis and Pol Pot is irresponsible and idiotic.

Pretty pathetic

2005-06-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Guess those crazed religious fundamentalists are at it again. Now they want to block showings of IMAX films that reference Darwin's theory of evolution. Keep in mind Darwin's theory of evolution is not the main subject but is rather mentioned a few times (if not only once) during the movie. I think it's time to kiss goodbye to scientific advances by America thanks to nutjobs like these who are more interested in Bible-thumping than science. My cousin said it best when he stated that science has best advanced through secular means. Ever wonder why most scientific advances in recent (like the past few hundred years) history was made in the West? Because we're more secular than some countries that shall remain nameless. The 60's was an extreme liberal movement, now the 2000s is shaping out to be an extremely conservative movement. I personally think we should take everyone on the extreme left and extreme right and have them be shot. People like them are completely useless, they don't understand the definition of compromise and restraint. Once they latch onto something, they'll fight it until they die even if they are completely wrong.

Phil is BACK!

2005-06-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!!! Phil Jackson is back as coach of the LakeShow. Hopefully with a new cast of players (with Kobe being pretty much the only holdover from the last Phil-led team), his triangle offense/zen philosphy will work again. Provided that Kobe doesn't wage another "psychological" war with Phil, next year's Lakers will be vastly improved. I say this because the Lakers defense will be much improved under Phil Jackson. His teams have always played great D, going all the way back to the Chicago squads, and this team has the athleticism to be a very good defensive team.

If last year's squad had even played a lick of defense, they probably would have won forty-something games. I see at least a 10 game improvement based on that alone. Obviously the lack of a power player is going to hurt. This is where the big IFs come in. IF Lamar Odom can step up, IF Kobe can share the ball, IF Caron Butler can duplicate what he did the last 15 games of last season, IF the Lakers draft a PF (Charlie Villanueva from UCONN?) or find one from somewhere, the Lakers will definitely be a team to be reckoned with. I'm not saying they're championship-material, but they can be pretty good.

Unless the Lakers pull off some major trade without losing any of their major pieces or whoever they draft simply blows up, this team is away from championship status for a couple of seasons.

Best case scenario is that Kobe plays the Jordan spot in the triangle and passes the damn rock. Lamar stops deferring so much to everyone all the time. Caron needs to become a dependable 15-ppg scorer, and whoever mans the PF or C spot plays relatively solid D. This could be pretty good, but it can also be pretty ugly if Lamar and Caron don't get the triangle.

But, have to say I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. Last year was an unmitigated disaster, the re-hiring of Phil has given me, the city of Los Angeles, and all Laker fans in the world new hope.

This is pretty funny--crazy if real

2005-06-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another person's blog and read through some of her stuff. It's pretty damn funny if it's satire, if it's real then I really hope there aren't too many people like her running around. Religion is good but taking it to the extreme is no good for anyone.

The "Woman's Purpose" and the part about how she used to dress is especially funny. I love when she says God created women so that man was incomplete. Man was incomplete because he didn't have women to cheer him on and shit like that when he does well. LOL!

Can't say what she says doesn't manifest itself in real life though. Think of cheerleaders and sayings such as "behind every great man there is a great woman" (I personally like "behind every great man there is another woman").

Guess Kerry wasn't any smarter

2005-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just released are Kerry's transcripts indicating that his grades were no better than Bush's. Wonder why Kerry played up the intellectual angle so much during the election. Well, one thing's for sure, they're both dumbasses...

Nakamura vs. Saenz

2005-03-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting tidbit from yesterday's Dodger Notes on mlb.com:

It won't be easy for Nakamura to make the club as it now stands. With Jose Valentin the starting third baseman, it was believed Nakamura would compete with Antonio Perez as the backup. But Perez is out of options and virtually has the job as the lone back-up middle infielder. Nakamura probably would need to beat out Olmedo Saenz as the primary right-handed pinch-hitter and back-up corner infielder.
Saenz has a guaranteed $650,000 contract, while Nakamura has a $500,000 minor league contract.

In my previous roster projections, I actually had room for both, but it looks like I was wrong. Saenz was quite good off the bench, but I'd prefer Nakamura, despite the money issue. Nakamura has more potential to be an everyday player and his glove is far superior to Saenz's, which is adequate at 1B and dubious at 3B. If Nakamura continues to hit, I think DePo should package Saenz in a trade. The guy does have value as a good right-handed bat with some pop who can come off the bench, so I think we can get a decent prospect in return.

Only having space for one or the another seems to be make it more likely that we'll carry 12 pitchers this year. I have never been a big fan of carrying 12 pitchers, but Tracy has regularly done this during his time as the field manager. Carrying an extra pitcher would probably mean that we'd have a situational lefty in the pen or that we'd be able allow us to either have a situational lefty (blech) or hold one to either Sanchez or Dessens. If Houlton continues to pitch well, I still see at least one of those two to be traded to clear roster space.

I should also point out that because Penny will be opening the season on the DL, we have more wiggle room at the beginning of the season.

Position Players

2005-03-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

If we carry 11 pitchers, that gives us 14 slots for position players. Here are my preferences/predictions:

Starters

1. Dioner Navarro (C)
2. Choi (1B)
3. Kent (2B)
4. Izturis (SS)
5. Valentin (3B, in straight platoon)
6. Werth (LF)
7. Bradley (CF)
8. Drew (RF)

David Ross has looked awful, while Navarro has shown some of his on-base ability so far in ST. If it looks like the new kid can hit around .250 in the bigs and draw enough walks to raise his OBP to around .300, I'd take that over Ross. Those numbers would be adequate in my view in the 8th slot in the order, even if my grand schemes about Grabowski (see blow) prove entirely unrealistic.

I've always been high on Choi, and I expect him to vindicate DePo's confidence this year. For a good place on Choi news, see this new blog.

Bench

9. Bako (C)
10. Ledee (OF)
11. Perez (2B/3B)
12. Nakamura (3B/1B)
13. Saenz (1B)
14. Grabowski (C/OF)

I expect Nakamura to be the regular platoon partner of Valentin at 3B. Perez swings a good bat, but he seems to have trouble adjusting to 3B in ST. I hope that Nakamura shows enough skill with the bat to take that job. Perez will get playing time as the all purpose middle IF utility-man. I expect Choi to only gradually get ABs against lefties, so against some LHPs, I'd like to see Kent at 1B and Perez at 2B. However, I do think Choi needs to get a fair shake against LHP to see what he can do.

I'm also being optimistic in this scenario that the Grabowski as 3rd catcher experiment continues to progress well. When he got consistent playing time, Grabowski hit well last season. In May, when he got 60 ABs, Grabowski hit 283/358/533. He got 25 ABs in June, the second-highest month for him in terms of playing time. I'd like to see him be "good enough" at catcher to maybe catch the first 5-6 innings of a fair number of games, with Navarro and Bako coming in as defensive replacements in the late innings, especially when we have the lead. I'd like to see Grabowski get maybe 300 ABs this way, along with random starts in LF, where he's pretty bad, as opposed to 173 ABs last year.

Of course, he may just not be a good enough backstop to do this, or Navarro may hit well enough that this isn't necessary. Or, Trace, who's very by-the-book, might not want to do this kind of weird juggling on the roster. We'll see I suppose.

If Werth isn't ready by the beginning of the season, I think we have Repko take his slot on the roster, if Repko doesn't end up like Jason Romano last ST. Romano had a great ST last year (like Repko so far this ST) and was promptly traded for Antonio Perez in DePo's most lopsided deal as Dodgers GM. Romano never stuck with either Tampa Bay or Cleveland and Perez looks to be a strong MI utilityman who can hit and still has upside. Perez may end up the everyday 2B if Kent leaves after his contract, and if Delwyn Young and Willy Aybar, our 2B prospects, don't pan out. Repko may suffer the same fate as Romano, and it may end up being the right thing to do. Repko's minor league career isn't terribly impressive, and I actually in some ways would rather CF Chen to open the season as the replacement corner OF if Werth needs some time on the DL.

The lineup is really the acid-test of DePo's style of management. Choi is the bigget question mark here, I think. As is Drew, who is a more complete player in my view than Beltre due to his high OBP, but who must stay healthy. The other issue is whether or not we'll get enough out of the catcher-position to prevent the 8th spot in the order from being a black hole.

First Impressions

2005-03-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well, here's my take on ST so far:

1. Penny

From today's Dodger notes on mlb.com:

Penny, continuing his steady progress, ended his 61-pitch bullpen session with three fastballs that had all the looks of game velocity.

"That was pretty good, huh?" said Penny, obviously pleased. "I got into it quicker today. Sometimes, it's a little, I don't know, stiff on maybe every fifth pitch or every 10th pitch, but today it felt good. And the end was really good, I really cut loose."

Penny's last few pitches looked like season-ready fastballs, and he had his whole body behind them. This was his 12th bullpen session of the spring, and he hasn't missed any or reported any setbacks.

This is obviously a good sign, although it seems clear that Penny will open the season on the DL. However, with the emergence of Scott Erickson as this year's Jose Lima, and Ishii's strong ST (4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 K, 2 BB today), I don't feel that this is a huge issue. If Penny come back healthy in mid-April and stays that way, we'll be more than fine. However, considering the strange nature of his injury, that is a significant if. Rob Nen pitched quite well for years after suffering a similar nerve injury, but the injury is so rare that it's hard to predict how Penny will respond.

2. Gagne

From the same article, here are Gagne's words on his sprained knee:

"I think I'll have to deal with it all year," he said. "[Trainer Stan Johnston] did a good job taping it really tight and it was pretty comfortable, but it's still in my head a little. I feel it a little when I land. I just have to get over the hump and trust it."

"I can't say now that it won't [affect my pitching]. But today it was better than I thought. I'm just not sure how it will hold up."

Will this be a significant factor during the year? Hard to say. Am I worried? Heck ya. Gagne's a tough operator, and if our starting pitching holds up and we hit decently, we won't need him to dupicate his 2003 Cy Young season, but this is obviously somewhat worrisome. Right now, though, there's no sense in fretting too much about it.

3. Pitching in general

The best thing so far is the emergence of Erickson, which gives us strong depth in the starting rotation. Ishii has also pitched far better than he usually does in ST, which may be a sign that after being banished to the bullpen twice last year and nearly traded once during the winter, he realizes that he needs to get it together or else. With Penny unable to start until perhaps mid-April and Odalis Perez also slowed down by what looks like a minor injury, this depth allows us to be cautious with both. Alvarez has also pitched well and declared a desire to join the rotation, but I think it's clear that he's too old to do anything more than spot start. He has far too much value in the pen in my view to place in the rotation.

I also would rather Erickson serve as the 6th starter/swingman, because I think Ishii has very little value in the pen, and because I've always been a fan of his and have been hoping for a while that he can find some consistency. That makes me biased, but I would hate to see him figure things out after we trade him. Anyhow, the only way he'll have trade value is if he has another strong first half, so no matter what, I think it's best that he open the season in the rotation. And right now, he's pitching well enough in ST to earn it.

So, when OP and Penny get healthy and ready, my rotation would be:

1. Lowe (R)
2. Penny (R)
3. Perez (L)
4. Weaver (R)
5. Ishii (L)

I think Lowe will have a great year--18-20 wins and an ERA in the mid-3s. I think Dodger Stadium suits him really well, and I think the less stressful environment of LA will do wonders on his psyche. If Penny is healthy, this gives us in my view the best rotation in the division, with two pitchers who've been successful in the postseason at the top of the rotation. People need to remember that Ishii was a big-game pitcher in Japan.

In the bullpen:

6. Erickson (RHP swingman)
7. Alvarez (LHP swingman)
8. D. J. Houlton (Long relief)
9. Carrara (Middle relief)
10. Brazoban (Setup)
11. Gagne (Closer)

A few comments are in order here. First of all, neither Venafro or Wunsch, our candidates for the lefty-specialist role, have been especially impressive. I think Trace would carry a lefty just for the sake of carrying one, but I'm personally hoping that DePo prevails on him not to. Far too much can be made of lefty/lefty matchups.

I'm also predicting the trades of Duaner Sanchez and Elmer Dessens. The latter I see as a waste of roster space in our organization, and although Sanchez had a decent year with us in 2004, I like Houlton more, who's pitched well in ST. Houlton is also a Rule V, so we have to give him back to Houston if he doesn't make the 25-man roster for the whole year. As a starter, I just think he has more upside than Sanchez, who has a live arm but who in our organization strikes me as pretty pedestrian. If Houlton continues to pitch well, I'd rather we give him Sanchez's spot.

If, however, we elect to carry 12 pitchers, and DePo isn't willing to trade both Dessens and Sanchez, I'd give up the former, because the latter still has upside.

I'll cover position players in the next post.

Closing In...

2005-02-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

If you go the official Dodgers site, you'll see a counter indicating how many days we have left until pitchers and catchers. We're thankfully below the four-day mark now

I just wanted to point to the Baseball America chat on the Dodgers farm system. Only subscribers get full access to the complete top ten, but you can glean a lot about our system as a whole from the chat, especially with regards to prospects who haven't quite arrived on everyone's radar screen yet.

What I want to highlight is the following lines from the chat:

Q: Mitch Miller from Los Angeles asks:

A little surprised to see Chuck Tiffany way down at the bottom of the list. I thought it was pretty clear that he was a top 100 overall prospect for sure. Can the Dodgers have 10 in the top 100?

A: Alan Matthews:

It's not only possible, it's likely.

This is of course great news. BA does top ten lists for every organization, giving 300 prospects total, and if the Dodgers have its own entire top 10 in the top 100 of all MLB, then we're obviously in great shape.

The one caveat I think is the relative youth of our system. Most of our true stads were drafted in 2002 and later by Logan White, our scouting guru. Their ETA is at best 2006, and we should probably be patient with many of them. Edwin Jackson might slot into the 5th starter slot if he has a strong ST, but I'd rather we wait and let him get more seasoning in AAA. If he makes the MLB team, I want him to earn it with a lights-out ST. Right now, this is how I think our roster might work out over the next couple of years:

2005

Rotation:

Penny
O. Perez
Lowe
Weaver
Ishii

Starters:

Izzy - SS
Werth - LF
Drew - CF
Kent - 2B
Bradley - RF
Choi - 1B
Valentin - 3B
Ross - C

[I'll ignore platoon issues for now]

2006

Rotation:

Billingsley
O. Perez
Lowe
Jackson
Ishii

Starters:

Izzy - SS
Werth - LF
Drew - CF
Kent - 2B
Guzman - 3B
Bradley - RF
Choi - 1B
Navarro - C

2007

Billinglsey
O. Perez
Lowe
Jackson
Tiffany

Chin-lung Hu - SS (assumes Izzy is traded)
Werth - LF
Andy LaRoche - 3B
Guzman - RF (we let Milton walk)
Delwyn Young - 2B
Drew - CF
Choi - 1B
Navarro - C (maybe Russell Martin instead)

Anyhow, this is obviously all pure speculation, and a lot of the names I entered can be totally different, but I do think that the Dodgers' future is quite bright. I don't think the Snakes will be very good anytime soon; the Giants are poised for a coming collapse when Barry gets old; the Padres don't have great position player talent; and Colorado is a perpetual basket case. If McCourt can keep payroll in the top quartile of the league as he promised, we'll have enough studs on the farm to succeed.

I really do think we'll also have two top-flight starters emerge from the farm in the next two-three season or so, coming out of the following group:

Edwin Jackson
Chad Billingsley
Chuck Tiffany
Jonathan Broxton
Julio Pimentel
Greg Miller
Mike Megrew
Scott Elbert

As for position players, I think we'll get some strong big-leaguers out of the following

Chin-lung Hu
Joel Guzman
Corey Dunlap
Andy LaRoche
James Loney
Russell Martin
Dioner Navarro
Delwyn Young
Blake Dewitt

The Tsunami Song?

2005-01-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

What kind of bullshit is this?? A NYC radio station, HOT 97, put out a "Tsunami Song" making fun of everyone who was killed in the tsunamis. To make it even worse, the DJ, a Miss Jones (or Miss Cunt), evidently thought there was nothing offensive about the song. Listen to the verbal spat she shares with her Asian co-host, where she starts yelling at her and claiming that the co-host separted herself from this stunt because she thinks she's better than everybody else. Miss Jones is not worth as much as used toilet paper in my estimation. I hope somebody kidnaps her and fucks her up like in "The Cell" so she might understand how much it sucks to know you're going to die but not for a few hours or days. Better yet, maybe George W. Bush should send her to Iraq, that way the terrorists can do to her what I can't do here in America.

Here's some excerpts:

..All at once you could hear the screaming chinks and no one was safe from the wave there were africans drowning, little chinamen swept away you could hear god laughing, "swim you bitches swim"
So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami
you better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now the children will be sold to child slavery...

When did this become entertainment? When did it become okay to say chink on the radio? Try dropping the N-bomb on the radio, then stand back and watch your life and career get flushed down the toilet. Isn't this worse than what Rush Limbaugh said about Donovan McNabb a year ago? Rush got fired for his idiocy. This cunt, Miss Jones, will probably get to keep her job, her punishment is that she has to donate 1 week's pay to the tsunami fund. What a joke of a world we live in.

The lull

2005-01-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I'm able to come up for air after a busy week for me work-wise, combined with a great deal of settling in Dodgerland, we can now see the general outlines of the 2005 Dodger roster.

Here are my preferences/projections for the roster

Rotation:

1. Penny
2. Lowe
3. OP
4. Weaver
5. Ishii

[Unlesss EJ blows away people in spring training, I'd rather have Ishii open the season in the 5th spot in the rotation. I haven't lost any hope in Jackson's long-term prospects, but I think he needs more seasoning in AAA. With a strong and deep rotation (assuming Penny's healthy), I also don't see much reason to push things with Jackson.]

BP:

6. Alvarez (L) - middle/long relief/setup if Brazoban falters
7. Wunsch (L) - situational lefty
8. Dessens (R) - long relief
9. Sanchez (R) - long relief
10. Carrara (R) - middle/long relief
11. Brazoban (R) - setup
12. Gagne (R) - closer

[I think Sanchez will open the season with the big-league club, although I have a hunch that it would be better to trade him to another team for good prospects. I'm also very high on our Rule V draft pick, D. J. Houlton, who we can only keep if he stays on the 25-man roster for the entire season. If Tracy insists on having a situational lefty, we have no roster space for Houlton if we keep Sanchez. With all that said, I hope we carry a situational lefty ONLY if he looks effective in ST, and not just simply for the sake of having LOOGY in the pen. I like Trace, but he overdoes L/R matchups, and I don't want a repeat of us trotting out the ineffective Tom Martin simply because he was left-handed.

On a more positive note, I think our pen is still very strong. Dessens is a bit of a question mark right now, but both he and Alvarez have the additional ability to spot start. Carrara is an excellent middle reliever, while Brazoban looks like the next Mota. And Gagne is Gagne.]

Everyday players:

13. Kent (2B)
14. Izzy (SS)
15. Werth (LF)
16. Drew (CF)
17. Bradley (RF)

Platoon players:

18. Valentin (3B)
19. Perez (3B)
20. Choi (1B)
21. Saenz (1B)
22. Ross (C)
23. Bako (C)

[If Choi hits as I think he will, I believe he will gradually be worked in against lefties, with Saenz left on the bench, where he's the most valuable. I'm quite optimistic about Perez's prospects at 3B. I also think Ross is a far better player than what he showed in 2004. I'll gamble and predict that he hits 250/330/400 catching maybe 4/5 games]

Bench

24. Ledee (L - OF)
25. CF Chen (R - LF)

[Chen making the 25-man roster is perhaps wishful thinking on my part, but he is out of options, and I don't think it's an impossible prospect. He MUST have a strong ST for him to beat out Repko for the last OF spot, though.]

In summation, I think we have a pretty good team, and if Penny stays healthy with only the "normal" amount of injuries due every MLB team occuring to the Dodgers, I think we win the division. Among my other bold predictions, I think Lowe will win 15 games with a sub-4 ERA, now that he's out of Boston with its hitter's haven and high-stress atmosphere, and that Choi will hit 280, OBP 360, and have 30 HR.

Strange priorities

2005-01-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

I just read that Kobe Bryant's jersey sales have fallen off the face of the earth, went from being top 5 in the summer to number 93 sometime last week. Does this strike anyone as being bizarre? During the midst of an impending rape trial, his jersey sales never once plummeted. Now that everyone has pinned the breakup of the Lakers on Kobe (not to mention the whole Karl Malone situation as well as the fact that they are mediocre at best now), nobody likes him anymore. Wouldn't the fact that someone is facing an alleged rape be a better reason to dislike someone rather than the supposed breakup of a team? The LA Times quoted a Laker insider as stating that Jerry Buss was unwilling to give Shaq his $30+ mil per year extension at age 34. He even said that had Kobe and Shaq been best friends, Buss still would not have extended Shaq's contract. And don't go pinning this on LA fans, jerseys don't stay in the top 5 based on one city. Fans everywhere were still gobbling up his jersey until the season started. I think this goes to show the screwed up priorities of many of us fans. Murderers, drug-abusers, rapists, and all-around assholes are tolerated if not loved as long as they kick-ass on the playing field (see Ray Lewis). The only way to lose support nowadays is to suck, and once that happens, the greatest guy in the world couldn't catch a break. Athletes may have their priorities out of order, but the same goes for us fans.

Steamrolled

2005-01-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

What a BCS Championship Game!! I'm not an SC fan, in fact, I hate the Trojans but man, that was hilarious. I can't express how happy I am that USC administered one of the biggest beat-downs in Bowl history, especially in terms two such highly ranked teams. Now all you retards in the East, South, and Midwest finally understand that the West Coast has some ballers, and they're a hell lot better than what you losers have to offer. Maybe now the West Coast will get some much-deserved respect. I guess if OU didn't have such a good, fast defense, SC would have scored 100 points. Auburn was right, they deserved to be in the Orange Bowl, who knew OU was such a fraud. SC is damn good team but 55-19 (and it wasn't even that close)??? I'm thinking UCLA could have beaten down on the Sooners too. Who knew the Big 12 was such a joke.

What a relief!

2005-01-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

ESPNews reports (via Rotoworld) that we've resigned Odalis at 24 mil/3 ys. I have questions about Odalis' heart, but in the current FA SP market, this is actually pretty reasonable. And OP did pitch well in crucial end-of-season games against the Gints, although he disintegrated against the Cards, as all Dodger fans know. We now have about 7 mil to spend by my count. Here's what I propose:

We send Ishii and 2-3 mil to the Mets for Trachsel. If we need to, throw in Duaner Sanchez--I think Steve Schmoll can take his place in the back of the pen this year. Trachsel will be due 5-6 mil this year, so that will just barely fit in the budget for the season. That gives us a rotation of:

Penny
OP
Weaver
Trachsel
Houton/EJ/Dessens/Alvarez/?

If Penny is healthy, I'd take this over any other in the division. Even if one SP goes down, we still have some depth, especially if we call a kid like Ketchner or Billingsley up from the minors.

Even if we don't get Trachsel, I think Ishii will do fine in the 4th slot. He's tough to watch, but he's very good when he's on, and who knows, maybe he can find some consistent success this season. And both OP and Weaver could be no. 1s, if they learned to better handle their emotions.

Green traded

2005-01-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

According to mlb.com, we are sending Green and 8 mil of his salary to Arizona to receive Navarro and a minor league pitcher, William Juarez. I'm not sure what to make of Juarez; he looks like a power pitcher and he had an excellent stint in 2003 in High A ball (46.1 IP) with 9.1 K/9 and a 0.97 WHIP. However, he struggled in AA last year and had a 5.0 ERA. He still struck guys out (8.1K/9), but walked more batters and gave up more hits. He's 23 and will turn 24 in April, so he's not really on the fast track age-wise. Anyhow, on first glance, he shows some promise, but he didn't make BA's Top 20 for the Texas League and his resume just isn't all that impressive from a cursory glance at stats. Navarro is the real return for the Dodgers in this trade, and although there have been questions about him as of late, he could turn out to be our long-term solution at catcher for 2006 and beyond.

To put it bluntly, I don't like this trade. I was never thrilled with getting Lowe, and although I liked the news in the Gurnick article that we will probably try a 3-yr. deal with Perez instead of a 4 or 5 yr. deal with Lowe, I'd rather have kept Green and stayed with our rotation as is. I'm high on Choi--I think he probably will exceed Green's production this year--but he's still a question mark, and Green would have been good insurance if Choi tanked. Furthermore, it's still unclear to me as to how Werth will recover from his ligament problems, and whether or not Werth's power last year was anything more than a fluke.

Following my previous figures, we now have 15 mil to spend. My guess is that we'll get Odalis for 7-8 mil, sign a cheap veteran catcher who bats left-handed to pair with Ross, and keep the rest of the money in reserve for mid-season moves. We may not get to 100 million exactly, but we will probably be in the ballpark of McCourt's promised figure by the trading deadline in July.

Green and stating pitching

2005-01-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have heard the latest rumor of us shipping Green and 8 mil to AZ for Navarro and Brad Halsey, who some of you may remember pitching quite well against us in the Yankee game Nomo starter last season. First of all, the rumor may be bogus. Jackson actually gets Halsey's name wrong, although he seems to be fairly reliable as a beat reporter. Nevertheless, he may be relying on the same NY press that declared the original RJ three-way a done deal, so I'll believe it when I see it.

If there's any truth to this move, it would probably be paired with a major effort to sign Lowe, which is why Green's salary would need be moved. Navarro needs more seasoning in the minors, and Halsey wasn't terribly impressive in his cup of coffee for the Yanks last year. Choi would then be given 1B in perhaps a platoon to open the season with Saenz, but I think the expectation would be that we'd gradually work him into the lineup against lefties over time. This is a plausible scenario, but as I said before, I'll believe it when I see it.

Trachsel

2004-12-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

With Milton off the market, and Millwood close to signing with Cleveland, there is very little left in the free agent SP market. That makes this rumor of us acquiring Steve Trachsel of the Mets via trade quite interesting. Ever since Benson set the market, free agent SPshave been getting absurd contracts this year, and I'd much rather acquire the servicable Trachsel via trade than overpay Derek Lowe in free agency. There were media reports of DePo making a strong run at Lowe, but I have to wonder if we're willing to pay what Boras is asking.

In the last two seasons, Trachsel has pitched over 200 innings/yr and posted ERAs of 4 and 3.78. Even taking into account Shea stadium's friendly confines, both ERAs were better than league average. He's 34 and no spring chicken, but we could do much worse for the no. 3 slot in the rotation, especially for 5 mil (6 mil if he has 160 IP in 2005). I would be happy with a rotation of:

Penny
Weaver
Trachsel
Ishii
Jackson/Houton/Alvarez/Dessens

Even if we can't get a decent SP by trade at the beginning of ST, I'd rather we open the season with what we have than waste money on the likes of Derek Lowe. Our division doesn't look all that strong, and all we have to do is stay competitive until July, when I expect starting pitching to be much more readily available.

I would also be open to resigning Odalis Perez at the right price, but it sounds as if he will end up with the Nationals.

Merry Christmas

2004-12-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Xmas to all!

I'm guessing just about everyone watched the most anticipated regular season NBA matchup in years. The Corvette won the personal battle but the Brick Wall won the war. The Lakers still shoot too many threes and their transition D was plain awful. Lamar Odom needs to get the ball more, that guy scored 24 points on very few shots and wasn't missing much as it is. You can see flashes in the Lakers but they simply cannot close out. It was a very winnable game but as usual, they pissed it away. Change the offense Rudy T, that Houston 3-point happy offense does not work. The only reason it used to work was because there was someone in the middle who was affectionately referred to as the DREAM.

Turn of Events

2004-12-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Much like what this article says, I find it very interesting that conservative students are becoming the "liberal" students of the 1960's. Liberals were an unpopular voice back then and now the conservative voice is the one that's unpopular. I identify myself as neither, I am conservative on some issues and liberal on others, I think having to be conservative or liberal on every single thing is unrealistic and pointless. What gets me about this article is the fear that teachers may "shy away from sensitive topics, or fend off criticism by "balancing" their syllabuses with opposing viewpoints, even if they represent inferior scholarship." That statement really bothers me, so balancing courses is now a bad thing? And who decides if it's inferior scholarship? Seems to me that back in the 1960's anything liberal was deemed inferior scholarship. Now that there's been a 180 the same principle no longer applies? College professors are hugely liberal but I don't really care. But I do care when they inject their politics into the classroom. I still remember my UCLA prof telling me it's not honorable to die for your country. Sure, maybe dying during war is a crappy way to go, but to say the death was not honorable??? Unless I'm taking a political science course, leave the politics at home. I don't give a rat's ass what you or anyone else thinks about the current state of American politics or Iraq if I am being taught Corporations or Contracts. If I want to engage in a political discussion (I don't, biggest waste of time, EVER) I'll bring it up. Don't preach to me about how the Republicans did this or the Democrats do that. My Environmental Law professor made a point to stay as clear as he could of politics (tough task), his main interest was teaching us the statutes. I think that other professors need to take a hint from him. Furthermore, injecting politics simply alienates students. It's really sad, the state of politics in America. NOBODY is truly interested in what the other side has to say. The only thing anyone is interested in is converting the other person to his beliefs.

Choi and Werth

2004-12-25T01:32:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, with Xmas having arrived a short time ago.

I've been meaning to write a post on this for a while--in light of how highly DePo thinks of Choi, I see it as unlikely he will be moved this season. My guess is that he will be the power lefty off the bench, which will probably doom Grabowski's chances of making the 25-man roster.

My guess is that the big league roster will be:

Penny
Weaver
Ishii
Lowe/Millwood
Edwin Jackson/?
Dessens
Alvarez
Carrara
Brazoban
Sanchez
Situational Lefty?
Gagne

That's 12 pitchers. 11 if Jackson doesn't make the squad and we have Dessens start in the 5-hole.

For the position players:

Werth - OF
Bradley - OF
Drew - CF/RF
Ledee - OF
Green - 1B/RF
Ross - C
Rose - C
Kent - 2B/1B/3B?
Valentin - 3B/SS
Perez - SS/2B/3B?
Izturis - SS
Saenz - 1B/3B?
Choi - 1B

BTW, it's unclear to me if Valentin really will be platooned. His agent made comments that he was promised to play everyday, which I interpret to mean that he will be batting against left-handed pitching, but others seem to be assuming that due to the predominance of right-handed pitching, playing everyday and batting only against righties is essentially the same thing. I've also heard rumblings that Perez doesn't have the arm to play 3B, so that's another open question.

I don't like carrying 12 pitchers, but Trace seems to prefer that setup; it fits with his tendency to rely heavily on match-ups in relief pitching. Besides, if Jackson has a strong ST, I think we have to let him start. Although I think one lefthander is enough in Alvarez for the pen, Tracy's MO has always been to use Alvarez as a middle or long reliever, as opposed to a left-handed specialist. I always thought Trace was far too locked in to using Tom Martin before we traded him last year, but oh well.

Anyhow, if Choi remains, I see him platooned with Werth. Against RHP, Choi is at 1B, Green is in RF, Bradley is in LF, and Drew is in CF (assuming we do put Drew in center). Against LHP, we go with Werth - LF, Drew - CF, Bradley - RF, Green - 1B. This is the same thing we tried last year before Choi was benched, but with Drew taking Finley's place. I now think Werth, who, despite his impressive power, only hit .262 last year, is probably not ready to play everyday, and I'm still high on Choi, so I see this as the preferred option.

Unfortunately, if we carry 12 pitchers, we have no space for Chin-feng Chen, who is out of options and who I hoped would serve as a reserve LF and right-handed power-bat off the bench. Besides, even if there was a roster spot, Jason Repko might end up taking that instead.

New Lineup

2004-12-21T23:17:00.000-08:00

Jon Weisman in the comments at DodgerThoughts pointed out that we may still be looking to move Green's salary to make payroll room for pitching. However, considering the size of his contract, I don't see us finding any takers, so I assume we still have him. That'll give us a possible lineup of:

Bradley - CF
Izzy - SS
Drew - RF
Kent - 2B
Green - 1B
Werth - LF
Valentin/Perez - 3B
Ross/Rose - C
P

Bradley posted a .362 OBP last season and a .421 OBP in 2003. Now that he's seen NL pitchers for a whole year, I can see him posting an OBP in the .380-.390 range. I'm just not persuaded Izzy can bat leadoff, and Bradley's developing power gives him a Damonesque touch at the top of the order. He's also got good spead, although after being caught stealing 11 out of 26 attempts, he needs some serious instruction in the Maury Wills school of baserunning.

This is actually a pretty good lineup, and one with far fewer questions that the previous iterations I've gone through. Green's flexibility as a RF/1B also gives us insurance for when Drew goes down, in combination with Ledee.

Now, the question is, what are we going to do about pitching? And is there any way we can upgrade at catcher? Choi is the prospect we can now move to try to fill either need.

Drew Coming to LA?!

2004-12-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

Well, shows you what I know. The Drew deal is still on. ESPN has a story out of the Bergen Record (NJ) that we've agreed to a 5 yr/55 million dollar deal for Drew. Tim Brown of the LA Times declares that "The fact is, they're about to get Drew." This would mean presumably that Green goes to first. Choi is now trade bait for a SP I must assume.

Drew's injury history is terrifying, although he did have a great year for the Braves. To answer the Lt.'s question, in purely monetary terms 5 ys/55 mil is less of a financial risk than Beltre at 5 ys/64 million; however, I'd still take Belly over Drew's injury risk. Although we don't really know if Beltre's for real, at least we know that barring botched appendectomies, the guy has a better chance to be on the field.

On the other hand, considering our large stash of 3B prospects, Blake Dwitt, Andy LaRoche, and Joel Guzman, considered by some the best power prospect in the game, and one who I expect to be moved this year from SS to 3B (many consider him too tall to be a middle infielder), it may be better to invest in a corner OF slot.

If we get Drew (big if, since we've had so many rumors come up false), I think we're sticking with Ross and Mike Rose to catch, unless we acquire one by trade. By my previous payroll figures, that leaves us 7 million for pitching. However, if McCourt's willing to shell out a little extra money than I budgeted, then we probably have enough for one of the remaining starters on the market. Jackson may be penciled into the five-hole, unless we acquire another starter by trade. Dessens or Alvarez could also start out of the 5-hole, if Jackson tanks in spring training. Perhaps we should even give Billingsley a legitimate shot in ST to make the big-league roster.

Another thing....

2004-12-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

After I wrote my attempt to judge the difference between the team we have and the team we might have had, I realized that the former doesn't involve a four year commitment to JD Drew. Although we pay more this year for Green, at least his contract ends this year. I love Greenie--he's a great guy as a human being and the batting gloves ritual in Dodger Stadium is one of the best things about baseball--but after this year, even if we extended him for a reasonable price and if he began to produce again, where do we play him? He's lost a step in the outfield and I think Choi and Loney will be occupy 1B for the forseeable future. Granted, we're thin in the OF down in the minors, but I'd rather we spend our free agent money in 2006 on a much younger corner OF.

Which team was better?

2004-12-21T17:30:00.000-08:00

I honestly don't know if the Dodger team projected below is all that much better or worse than the team we probably would have gotten in the wake of the trade.

In both versions, the no. 1 pitcher of the rotation has questions. Is Penny healthy? And is Javy going to be able to rebound from his experience in NY?

Who is better--Shawn Green, who despite a promsing 2004 second half has been for the most part a shadow of his former self the last two years--or the oft-injured J. D. Drew?

Both teams need Werth to show he's for real, Bradley to break out, and Choi to prove his critics wrong.

I think the back end of the rotation in the current team would be better, though. For all the frustrations that surround him, Ishii's a decent 4 starter in my view, and who knews, maybe he'll figure things out this year. That was one of the most frustrating things for me about the three-way--the fact that we would have to send back money to cover part of Kaz's salary. I know the sabermetric guys really dislike him, probably part of the reason why DePo was so set on dumping him at all costs, but I think he's fine as a no. 4, or better yet, as a no. 5 starter. Furthermore, in this version, we don't have to start the season with Jackson as the no. 5.

RJ deal is dead

2004-12-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

According to ESPN, the three-way is dead.

Now what?

Rotation:

Penny
Weaver
Ishii
Lowe/Loaiza/Milton/Perez?
Jackson??? [probably not, as I explain below]

Lineup:

Izzy - SS
Werth - LF
Bradley - CF
Kent - 2B
Green - RF
Choi - 1B
Valentin/Perez - 3B
[Catcher?]--DePo seemed uniterested in AJ, but that may change
Pitcher

Payroll [figures in millions]

Dreifort - 13
Green - 16
Ishii - 3.23
Werth - 0.32
Kent - 7.5
Valentin - 3.5
Alvarez - 2
Saenz - 0.65
Carrara - 0.5
Weaver - 9.25
Ledee - 1.25
Penny - 5?
Gagne - 8?
Bradley - 2.5?
Izzy - 1?
15 40-man roster slots @ 0.053 million a piece - 0.795

That gives about 74.175 million for players with contracts or who are abitration eligible as of right now. That leaves for our figures 11 slots open on the 25-man roster. If we pencil in Jackson as the fifth starter, we need at least one more starter. I also would like to upgrade at catcher--perhaps DePo will have more interest in Pierzynski now. I would wager that DePo will actually get two more starters, however, due to Jackson's disappointing 2004. So, let's say three roster slots via free agency, leaving eight at the league minimum. That's 2.56 million. Before further acquisitions, our payroll would be up to 77.275 million. If we still assume we're having a 100 million dollar payroll, leaving five-million to work with for mid-season deals, we would have about 18 million for two starting pitchers and a catcher. Perhaps Pierzynski at 4 million, Odalis at 8 million, and Milton at 6 million?

Dodger fans everywhere should pray that Choi can hit, because I don't see DePodesta getting Delgado. With Green's salary taking up 16 million of our outfield, I don't think we have the salary or roster space for a big bat. We also better hope Shawn's strong 2004 second half is a sign that he's back to at least approximating what he used to be. DePo seems to have decided he doesn't want to be extorted by Boras for Drew, which is fine, but heaven knows I wish we didn't have to go through all this rigmarole for a dead deal.

Note that this post was significantly edited, since I forgot to include Penny's salary in my first version.

Also note that Weaver's salary should be 7.75 million, because I forgot to include the money we're receiving from the Yanks in the Brown trade. However, I'll keep my totals the same and assume our payments to the league benefits fund will roughly approximate the difference. For good payroll figures that do not include the entire 40-man roster, see DodgerThoughts's sidebar.

Grizzly Demise

2004-12-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

Wow, a 24 point half? Was I witnessing a college game? How can any professional team score only 24 points in one half??? This was a western conference matchup mind you, not some agonizing 48 minutes of torture normally called eastern conference basketball.

A lot of this blame has to be put on Rudy T. Why are the Lakers shooting so many threes??? They are not a good three-point shooting team, attack the basket and fast-break. Lamar and Kobe can break down any defense. Stop penetrating just to create a three-point basket. There are other plays too, something like a pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop. Ever heard of screen-rolls maybe? A Kobe-Lamar pick-and-roll would be lethal. Lamar needs to be utilized more, I put this on Rudy because he's scared to tell Kobe to give up the rock to Lamar.

A lot of this is also on the players. Kobe is basically becoming the next Iverson, score points, get assists, have an un-godly amount of turnovers, and shoot an unsightly percentage. Lamar needs the ball to be effective, or at least go in the low post, but they have him standing around the perimeter jacking up 20-footers. When this team clicks (like in the Kings game), everything looks great. But when they're bad, they are arguably the worst team in all of basketball. Simply inexcusable for a team anchored by someone considered to be a top-5 NBA player.

It's Official! DePo is Garbage

2004-12-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

Let's make a list of all of the Dodgers moves this offseason. Adrian Beltre left to sign a 5-year $64 million dollar contract. With my fuzzy math that works out a little more than $12 mil per year. Now the Dodgers want to offer J.D. Drew at least $11 mil per year? Let's see, AD is 25 and coming off a monster season. J.D. is 29 and coming off a pretty good season. AD was a popular clubhouse guy and played hurt the whole year. J.D. has been a punk since draft day and is hurt for half the season every season. Now they've submitted the 3-way deal with the Yankees/Snakes. So we are giving up Brad Penny, Kaz Ishii, Brazoban, Shawn Green, and a couple of other losers for Javier Vasquez (who doesn't want to come to the Dodgers), two minor league suspects (wait, prospects), and a setup man from Arizona. I understand that this brings cap flexibility but there's another term to describe trading good players for prospects, it's called a fire-sale. Why would anyone who wants to win play for the Dodgers now? Furthermore, there is now a serious lack of loyalty shown by the Dodgers towards their players. There is absolutely ZERO reason why the Dodgers have to be run like the A's. LA is easily the #2 market in the U.S. and running their operations like a small-market team is inexcusable. Lastly, way to break up arguably the best double-play combination in all of baseball. Maybe Cora doesn't knock in too many runs, but he sure as hell saved a bunch of runs.

DePodesta is a moron, pure and simple.

100 million doesn't buy what it used to!

2004-12-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some very rough payroll figures, making various assumptions about arbitration and also taking into account some proposed signings:

13 mil - Dreifert
10.5 - Javy
3 - Ishii offset for the Yanks
9.25 - Weaver
7 - Kent (I can't remember the exact payout this year)
3.5 - Valentin
11? - Drew
8? - Gagne
3? - Cora
1.25 - Ledee
1? - Izturis
2.5? - Bradley
2.5? - Dessens
2.5? - Alvarez
4? - A. J. Pierzynski
1.6? - Koplove (ESPN has it listed as 330k, but another website has it as 1.6, not sure what's going on)

That already amounts to 83.6 million. Add 25 remaining roster slots at 0.3 milion a piece, which adds about 8 million. That puts us over 91 million. DePo should also leave space for moves mid-season. And I haven't added a free agent starter. There's also the issue of how to deal with benefits payments.

Anyhow, whether or not all my ? guessestimates for contracts and arbitration are correct, I do think that its clear that getting to 100 milion isn't actually all that hard. People forget about arbitration raises, and notice also that Dreifort after a Green trade would be our highest paid player.

Status

2004-12-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

So, Dodgerland, where are we right now?:

It looks like we're pretty close to completing the monster three-way trade between us, the Yanks, and the Snakes. In the latest version, it looks like we'll also lose Ishii and another prospect, Brandon Weeden, but gain Mike Koplove, a fairly decent Snakes reliever. This seems to cast doubt on the rumored ChiSox component where we'd flip Javy for Konerko, a good lefty reliever whose name I don't remember, and Jon Garland, a young pitcher with much potential but not much great performance yet. Anyhow, I think that deal is probably dead. So, just looking at the deal that seems to be in place, we'll have a rotation of:

Javy
Weaver
Millwood/Loaiza/Milton?
El Duque/Alvarez/Dessens?
Edwin Jackson

Javy was once a stud before he got that big contract in New York, and I could see him being rehabilitated in Dodger Stadium. Weaver is a decent no. 2 who could be more, and the rest of the rotation could be decent. Jackson could possibly fulfill his potential this year. We might also be able to call up somone like Chad Billingsley, Ryan Ketchner, or Joel Hanrahan at mid-season. Greg Miller might also be in the mix if he's healthy. The rotation might be surprisingly good. Or it might not.

Anyhow, to be optimistic, Florida did win the whole shebang with a pretty young staff two years ago. Someone like Billingsley might come in and blow hitters away with a mix of raw stuff and unfamiliarity on the part of hitters, sort-of a starter's version of Frankie Rodriquez in 2002. That's A LOT to ask of a kid, though. And Javy's meltdown in NY doesn't reassure me about his post-season abilities. Same goes with Weaver, who might be something of a perpetual headcase who can never master his emotions enough to rise to his potential.

Furthermore, I wonder if Zito's on the table. BTW, to answer Smash's earlier post, I think Beane's decided that since there's no chance he can keep the Big Three in free agency, he needs to move them for prospects. He seems to have decided that 2005 will essentially be a rebuilding year, although they may contend if their young pitching holds up. I think Beane will try to hang on to Zito long-term, much like they did with Chavez, but there may be a possibility that Zito could also be had. Nevertheless, DePo looks as skittish as Dan Evans in his unwilligness to move prospects, and we shouldn't get our hopes up for adding Zito to the rotation.

The lineup might end up being:

Izzy SS
Werth LF
Bradley CF
Kent 2B
Drew RF
Choi 1B
Pierzynski/Ross C
Valentin 3B
Pitcher

There may be a complicated platoon for Choi involving Kent and Antonio Perez. Against lefties, Kent may play 1B with Perez playing 2B. Valentin also should be platooned, but it sounds like we promised that he'd play everyday.

This could be a decent lineup. I'm of course assuming we sign Drew and AJ, which should be doable unless McCourt really is going to go into April with a 75 million dollar payroll after promsing a 100 million dollar one. I think its too young and has too many question marks, aside from Kent, but Bradley could have a breakout year, Drew might stay healthy, Choi might vidicate the sabermetric community, etc. We'll see I suppose....

With Steve Schmoll (a great kid with promise, a submariner who can touch 93 and throws a tough slider) and Koplove, I think we'll be fine in the pen. Losing Brazoban hurts, but we can deal with it. I think only closers are the real money position in the pen--you can get away with hard-throwing one pitch wonders and the like for mostly everything else in the pen, with the exception perhaps of the setup position.

One should also remember that part of the moneyball philosophy is to make big moves in-season at the deadline. A true ace or a version thereof--Ben Sheets anyone?--might be had in July. Same goes for a big bat. DePo will hopefully have enough payroll space left over to add someone at the trading deadline. Remember that the BoSox essentially won the WS with a crucial July trade of Nomar for Cabrera.

None of this is how I think it should be, but we don't own the team and don't make the personnel decisions. I for one think it's time to just move on from Beltre and see where exactly we can go from here. I think we can still have a pretty good team, if everything works out. And who knows, maybe Depo will prove his critics wrong?

A little international politics

2004-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post something international and political for once. I'm sure most of you don't really pay attention to this, but China's been pretty hard-up about getting Taiwan to reunify with them. Obviously the people of Taiwan are reluctant to reunify with a Communist state after working so hard to achieve a level of democracy. People can argue forever about whether or not Taiwan "has always been a part of China." I tend to disagree that Taiwan has "always" been a part of China, it was originally inhabited by polynesian-type aborigines, and it was the Dutch who founded it, at which point many Chinese people began emigrating to Taiwan. Most of Taiwan's history involves Chinese people, but the political history of Taiwan has not reflected that of China's. Remember, Taiwan was ceded to Japan "in perpetuity" in 1895, and in 1945 the original Republic government of China moved there to escape the Communists. From my point of view, China's politics have not been in Taiwan since 1895 so I disagree with the historical argument the Chinese government likes throwing out there. If you're asking me whether it's advantageous for Taiwan to reunify, I would say yes. Having access to that impending economic monster is nothing but good for the Taiwanese people. But the problem is the price; would anyone give up their democracy so they could regress to Communism? And for all you people out there who actually believe Communism is the way to go, then chances are good you have never been out in the real world or you are an idealist without a shred of common sense. The world in incentive-based, nobody is going to work hard if he can't reap the benefits of his labor. Sure there might be some truly altruistic people who would spend 10 years in med school to help people. But about 99.99% of us would skip all that schooling if it meant getting the wage as the garbage man down the street.

What's going on with the A's???

2004-12-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

First Tim Hudson, now Mark Mulder? I'm not an A's fans but trading two young stud pitchers seems like a pretty bold/idiotic move. Of the their three young starters, you would have thought it'd be Zito and not Mulder who gets moved. Beane either has some crazy master plan or it's another fire sale.

A Moneyballer's View

2004-12-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

Here's an argument from a sabermetric Dodgerfan blogger as to why all is not necessarily lost:

Benefit of the Doubt

2004-12-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some possible scenarios, assuming all the moves so far weren't simply to slash payroll:

1. We use the money saved from letting Beltre go on Delgado. Delgado's older, but there's no question of him being a one-year wonder, so this is a plausible move on the merits. I personally think Belly's now the real deal, but there was always some risk involved in giving him money. Delgado makes Choi expendable, who could perhaps be moved in a deal for a starter.

2. DePo has made it clear he wants nothing to do with Beltran, which is probably a good idea, but Magglio Ordonze and JD Drew are still available. Both will want big money, and both have serious health questions, but both could provide some desperately needed offense. I'm not sure why either is better than Beltre, but oh well, no use crying over spillt milk.

3. Some complicated set of trades, which fill our needs in unexpected ways. Maybe the proposed RJ trade with the Yanks/Snakes is designed to setup a deal with Oakland for Kendall. We can flip Navarro to Beane for Kendall, and now we have the salary space to take on Kendall's ridiculous contract. There are now rumors of bringing Sosa to Dodger Stadium--a move that I wouldn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole, unless the Cubs are so desperate to clear salary for Beltran that they throw in someone like Prior.

Anyhow, my point is, there's still time left to fill our needs. With the free agent market so thin, however, I think we'll have to make some creative trades. I really, really hope DePo is up to the task.

We shall see....

WTF???!!!!

2004-12-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

I have absolutely no idea what DePo is up to exactly. This does look like a bunch of salary dumps, although one would think McCourt would have the common sense to know that slashing payroll after having pledged to keep payroll static would cause a serious backlash. Or perhaps this is all just simple incompetence.

I've always been a big supporter of DePo. I to this day still think the LoDuca trade was the right move and that if Brad Penny had been healthy, we could have won the pennant. But I'm pretty queasy about what's happenned so far. DePo better have some aces up his sleeve, cause otherwise we're toast for 2005.

Can it get worse??

2004-12-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

Crap, as I'm writing my last entry, I see that the Dodgers might trade Shawn Green, Brazoban, AND Brad Penny to Arizona, who will trade Randy Johnson to the Yankees, who would then send Javier Vasquez, and two prospects to the Dodgers. WTF is going on here?? Why would the Dodgers trade Brazoban, Green, and Brad Penny for Vasquez and minor leaguers???? McCourt is holding a fire-sale of this team as we speak. I think we Dodgers fans can kiss any hope of a good season goodbye. The Dodgers trade LoDuca and Mota for Brad Penny and Hee Seop Choi. Now they're going to trade Penny. So we traded LoDuca, Mota, and Penny for Hee Seop Choi??? That guy better fucking become the next Carlos Delgado. This is a fire sale, pure and simple, bullshit is bullshit no matter how it's sold.

Belly Gone Bye-Bye

2004-12-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it appears that the Dodgers have lost Adrian Beltre to the Seattle Mariners. He signed a five-year $64 million dollar deal. This deal works out to a bit more than $12 mil per year, a steep price for someone who's only had one good year but a bargain for a 25-year old who most likely will continue to put up those type of numbers. The Dodgers are getting pounded in the offseason, not only did they lose out on the Tim Hudson deal they also lose their MVP-Caliber 3rd baseman. I don't know how many decent 3rd baseman are left out there, I sure as hell hope the Dodgers aren't stupid enough to put Kent at 3rd. Hopefully DePo has a few tricks left. A bad bad offseason for the Boys in Blue.

Kobe v. Ray

2004-12-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it seem like every week there's a new matchup between Kobe and somebody else? Seems to me like everyone non-Laker has sided with Shaq; deciding that Kobe forced out Phil, Shaq, and the Mail-Man. While that assessment is incorrect, his reputation as someone who you don't want to be friends with isn't that far off-base. Ray-Ray busted Kobe in the preseason, accusing him of being selfish and predicting that KB would request a trade after a couple of losing seasons. Well, since the Sonics have the best (or 2nd best) record in the league, there's not much to come back with. In the end, Kobe's not the type of guy who'd you really wanna be buddies with. Shaq may be a cool guy but he's a baby. Malone is NOT a cool guy and he is a baby. Mix them up with Kobe (who was more mature at 18 then he is now) and the end result is a 3rd-grade pissing contest.

Pedro in NY

2004-12-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, at least Red Sox fans can take solace in the fact that he's not teaming up with the Evil Empire and the fact that the Mets overpaid for the guy. He might be worth the first couple of years on that contract but the remaining will be an albatross on the Met organization. Pedro still can be dominant, especially next year since the hitters won't know him. But let's face it, he's lost velocity and now he has to pitch and run the bases. This will curb his throwing inside (now they can retaliate directly) and the baserunning will wear him out, he has a hard time lasting 6-7 innings as it is. I guess the Mets just love overpaying for pitchers (see Benson); although I can't blame them for overpaying for Pedro.

Patience

2004-12-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

So, not much has happenned in Dodgerland, but not much has happened in baseball period. According to the LA Times, Atlanta is back in serious play for Tim Hudson, but nothing's really transpired on that front, and I'm still confident DePo's in the running for that prize. The Times gives a bleaker picture, but remember they (like everyone else) had this deal as done over the weekend. It's still early, and a lot of the deals that have been done so far aren't necessarily ones that the Dodgers would really want to do. The Carlos Lee-Posdesnik trade seems odd for the ChiSox (perhaps I'm missing something there), and while I don't think the Pedro signing for the Mets is truly crazy, that's definitely NOT the sort of deal I want the Dodgers to be swinging.

Hudson and Beltre still on the market, along with most of the second-tier free-agent pitchers. DePo still has time to revamp the roster.

Confusion?

2004-12-13T08:49:00.000-08:00

Is the Hudson deal done? Is it not done? Who knows?

It's unclear as to what Billy Beane is up to, but I still think we have the inside track on Hudson. I do think, though, that only shipping A. Perez and EJ to the A's for Hudson is just too good to be true. I think it will take another quality prospect to get the deal done.

Ken Gurnick reports that we are out of the Matheny race, and that Koskie probably is done as an option. Beltre is still in play, and I think we now have the inside track on him. There's all this stuff swirling around Seattle getting Sexon, and Detroit getting Drew, so that might mean our only two rivals won't have the wherewithal to outbid us for Beltre.

The Gints may non-tender A. J. however you spell his name, and I think he would be a good fit. Sure, by all accounts he's a punk, but at least he can play. And what other options are there? I'd rather not continue the David Ross experiment. Catching isn't cheap this year--the Giants are going to give Matheny 3 ys/9 million for a 34 year-old catcher who hit 247/292/348 last year while surrounded by the NL's most powerful lineup. I actually think David Ross playing everyday wouldn't do much worse than that.

The LA Times reports that Toronto has offered Clement a 3 yr/25 million dollar deal. The Angels still feel confident they will end up with him, however. As far as I can tell, though, the Dodgers seem to be out of it.

Listening to a little bit of NY sports radio late this morning (WFAN), it sounds like the Mets will make an offer to Odalis Perez, who would be a good fit in Shea. The odds of Odalis staying seem to further decrease. At least we'll get draft picks for compensation.

If we get Hudson, and I think we will, who will be the extra starter we get via free agency? Now that's an interesting question. I can't remember where I saw it, but I thought I heard that Loaiza was getting a look-see.

Fast and Furious

2004-12-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

Fox sports reports that the Hudson deal is all set, with Edwin Jackson and Antonio Perez being sent to Oakland. There is no official word, yet, though, so that caution needs to be given.

I quite frankly expected the price to be much higher than EJ/Perez. Although Perez had a tremendous year at AAA, his defense seems to be at-best adequate, and offensive numbers are always inflated at Vegas. EJ's still a legit prospect with a very high ceiling, but comparisons of him to Doc Gooden were obviously overdone. With Dreifort's and Green's salary coming off the books in 2005, I see no problem in extending Hudson to a long-term deal.

I just hope these reports are legit, though. We'll see....

The word is now that Toronto has upped its offer to 20 mil/3 ys. to Koskie and are on the verge of finishing the deal, which is bad news for us, IF we don't get Beltre.

However, from what I hear on the message boards, Beltre's chances of staying as a Dodger have increased. All the talk earlier about DePo telling Boras to take a hike may have been posturing on his part, and the rumours of teams offering Belly ridiculous seven year contracts may have been Boras' attempt to get DePo to negotiate against himself.

The LA Times also reports that Angels officials are confident of their ability to sign Clement. If Beltre resigns with us, then our ability to get Clement becomes far more problematic. I have heard some suggestions by fans to give Millwood a contract--that might very well make sense. Derek Lowe would be another viable option. Remember that with Hudson and Penny at the top of the rotation, the extra free agent starter we get doesn't have to carry the burden of being the staff ace. That, and Dodger Stadium's pitcher-friendly confines, could allow someone like Millwood or Lowe to thrive. I would prefer Lowe, but that's because I'm more familiar with him than I am with Millwood.

I knew it! It's always the Girls fault!

2004-12-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

To continue a bizarre story, according to T.J. Simer's of the L.A. Times (registration required) the falling out between Karl and Kobe has to do with... Vanessa. Evidently during an earlier game when Karl showed up in a cowboy outfit, Vanessa asked Malone to join her. Malone gave her a hug and Vanessa said twice to Malone "hey cowboy, what are you hunting", the second time she said it he shot back with "I'm hunting for little Mexican girls" (LOL) Well, Vanessa felt Malone was hitting on her and told Kobe, Kobe then laid into Malone after the game. Kobe then called Malone again and threatened him, with Malone's wife Kaye listening in. So whose fault is it? If I had a wife and she told me a good friend had hit on her, I'd be pissed too. But then did Karl really hit on her?? The "hunting for little Mexican girls" did not sound like a hit-on to me; just seemed to me like he was telling her to shut the hell up about the cowboy outfit. Like most spoiled little girls (and guys too), Vanessa obviously can dish it out but can't take it. So she gets all huffy and tells Kobe a bunch of crap. Now the Lakers can't have Malone on their team. So like the title says, it's ALWAYS THE GIRL'S FAULT!

Arms Race Begins

2004-12-12T01:17:00.000-08:00

So it appears the Yankees have struck the first blow, they have agreed to a contract with Carl Pavano. The Red Sox didn't waste much time, signing David Wells to a 2-year contract while the Braves acquired star relieve Kolb. It's definitely a great time to be a pitcher, with .500 getting multi-year multi-million dollar contract. I personally think many of the pitchers are overpaid (Benson, to name one) but hell, if the owners want to throw money around, I for one don't care.

Clement's Price Tag

2004-12-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

According to the LA Times, Matt Clement is looking for 3 ys at 21-24 million. That's actually not too bad in this market in my view, and I hope DePo will get it done.

Ken Gurnick at dodgers.com indicates that DePo is no longer confident he can add two free agent starters in the current market. This is not a big issue in my view, IF DePo can get Hudson and on strong starter via free agency. Again, Clement is my first choice, but I'm open to other options.

Most rumoured deals for Hudson involved Edwin Jackson, A. Perez, and some mix of prospects, which seems reasonable to me. No mention of Choi, and I get the distinct feeling DePo will have him at 1B. Yes, I know, outside of that great at-bat against the Giants in the decisive ninth inning of division-clinching game, Choi did next-to-nothing for us, but I don't want to give up on him yet, and it seems that DePo will stick to his guns on him for now.

Gurnick also reports that DePo thinks Odalis Perez will accept a multi-yr deal elsewhere. I actually wouldn't mind Odalis accepting arbitration and pitching another year in LA, but in this free agent market, I don't think that will happen, even after OP's infamous meltdown in the NLDS. However, one potential suitor for OP, the Orioles, may have decided to pass. Nevertheless, there's nothing to say another one won't appear.

Gurnick's piece also indicates that DePo is trying to lowball Jim Colborn. That, I think, would be a serious mistake. I'm very high on DePo, but this is one place where I would disagree with him. Hopefully he's just being ruthless in negotiations, and Colborn will still be signed.

According to the message boards I frequent, there are conflicting accounts of Koskie's status. Some reports are that he and Toronto have broken off talks--others disagree. I still don't think Beltre will sign with us, but he hasn't yet accepted any of these rumoured seven-year offers, so we may still be in the running.

Yet more steroids

2004-12-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Jeff Kent, newly signed Dodger, has made his feelings known in regards to his position on steroids and baseball. It's good to see a ballplayer speak out against steroids. Usually the guys speaking out against it are either crappy players who would suck even if on steroids. I'm of the opinion that the Union caters way too much to the superstars, but then that's where all the money comes from. The Union needs to take care of the non-superstars and also start taking into consideration what the fans think. Baseball has overcome lots of things (the strikes, cancellation of the WS, etc.) but at some point the fans will draw a line in the sand. Steroids might be that issue.

Will Beltre Stay?

2004-12-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

According to a fairly well-informed messageboard I frequent, the new rumour out of ESPN Radio is that Depodesta is going after Koskie of the Twins. I'm not sure if the 7 yr/90 mil offer of the M's that has been circulating around is legit--perhaps a plant by Boras himself--but Beltre supposedly has seven-year offers on the table, which means that DePo may pass.

Koskie (.251/.342/.495) is no Beltre, but he isn't a blackhole either. Even after the park adjustments used by Baseball Reference, his OPS (OBP plus Slugging) is still 13 percent better than the league average with the Metrodome set as the home field. This is nothing like what Beltre (an OPS 63 percent better than the league average, park adjusted) did for us for last year. However, look at what the A-Rod deal did to the Texas franchise--and Beltre is no A-Rod. Seven years is a long time, and although Beltre didn't necessarily stink before 2004, this was the first season he's put up MVP-caliber numbers. Seven years is a long time, and a big risk for any player.

So, how much does Koskie cost, you might ask? One rumour has it that he has a 3 yr./16 million offer from Toronto. We'll probably have to pay at least that much, which seems a bit much for a .250 hitter, but with salaries escalating, this may be the best alternative. So, let's call it at 6 million per year. I'm guessing we could defer some of the money, so maybe 4-5 million on the books for this year. That should leave us enough money to go after Clement on the free agent market. Another alternative is to try to sign Sexson for an infield of Koskie/Izzy/Kent/Sexson.

Apart from free agent signings, I also think DePo is on the inside track for getting Hudson from the A's. Edwin Jackson will probably be a centerpiece of that deal, along with other quality prospects--its unclear right now how high the price would be. One good guess is that Choi will be part of such a package.

If we go with my preferred set of moves, we'd forego getting Sexson and go after Clement instead, who will probably command a long term contract at around 10 mil/yr. This would give us a rotation of:

Hudson
Penny
Clement
Weaver
Ishii (assuming he isn't traded)

Brazoban will setup for Gagne. Most of the rest of the bullpen will be the same as last year.

The offense would be weaker, unfortunately--I'd propose a lineup of:

Bradley - CF
Izturis - SS
Kent - 1B
Green - RF
Werth - LF
Koskie - 3B
Ross - C
Cora/A. Perez - 2B

I don't see us upgrading at catcher, although DePo may strike paydirt and get a kid with upside from another team. Right now, though, I'll just assume we're stuck with Ross. I think Bradley will have a breakout year and that Green will hit at least 30 HR this year--I think his shoulder has only now finally healed (he did have a pretty good second half in 2004)--but I do think the offense will be somewhat downgraded without Belly's monster bat.

Nevertheless, I really doubt Adrian was going to hit 48 jacks again this year--he struggled a bit toward the end of the year with pitchers adjusting, and although I think he'd still hit 35-40 HR with gold-glove caliber defense, I don't think we should overstate the offensive hit we'd take with this different lineup. I think only the catcher position will end up being the real black hole, and Ross could come back to life this year. Or DePo could find a good replacement via trade.

More importantly, if we can get Hudson and Clement, our rotation will be incomparably better than the sorry staff we had last year. That in the end was what really did us in the playoffs, and this revamped team without Beltre will still be better in my opinion than last year's version.

Kent on Board

2004-12-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

The Dodgers have just signed Jeff Kent to a 2-year $17 million dollar contract. I think this is a GREAT signing. It's only 2 years and $17 million for a guy who has put up those type of numbers is pretty much a bargain. He gives the Dodgers an added bat, and if they resign Beltre, they'll have two pretty kick-ass hitters. The Dodgers obviously need to re-sign Beltre (but not at $15 mil a year, too much if you ask me, Boras is one crazy guy). If they can add a couple of arms, with Penny coming back, next year could be a good one for the Boys in Blue. Last year the Dodgers were a great story, providing the perfect antidote for those annoyed at the egotistical nonsense emanating from the Purple and Gold. Hopefully the upcoming season will prove to be a good one for the Dodgers because things are looking a bit down for the Lakeshow. Seriously, can't these two teams ever be good at the same time??

Love-H8 Relationship

2004-12-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Guess all the love-fest between Kobe and Karl Malone is officially over. Evidently Malone feels a little disrespected by Kobe's comments, which I didn't think was all THAT bad (although I'm not sure what the private personal attacks were). Malone does tend to overreact but then that's what Kobe does to people. Seriously, does Kobe have any real friends left? The other Lakers defer to him probably because they're afraid they'll get traded or ratted out to the cops. Hopefully Jerry Buss will start saving cap room and go after a marquee guy in 2007.

Rushed decision?

2004-12-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

I read that the Lakers just traded Kareem Rush for two second round picks, in 2005 and 2008. I know that Rush isn't some kick-ass player but the dude was a 1st round pick who still has pretty good potential, and he's young. Why did the Lakers give him up for 2 second round picks?? Today's NBA has a shortage of athletic shooters, Rush is still pretty young and has a decent chance of becoming a pretty decent player.

BCS = Bullcrap

2004-12-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else think the BCS is becoming more pathetic by the year? It's bad enough that there are three undefeated teams and obviously one (Auburn) gets left out; it's even worse more than ever because shameless coaches like Mack Brown of Texas have resorted to lobbying. Cal was deserving of the Rose Bowl, based on the fact that they are higher ranked, they have a better team, and the Rose Bowl is traditionally reserved for the Pac-10 champs. How is it that a team ranked higher in the AP and Coaches poll gets screwed out of the Rose Bowl? Even though I hate USC (being an Bruin who attended UCLA during the last 4 years of the unforgettable 8-in-a-row), I'm hoping they completely destroy Oklahoma to show the nation that the West Coast does have a program. At least Cal only lost to SC by 6, Texas got shut out by Oklahoma. Regardless of how you may feel about Cal being screwed, you have to admit the BCS is a joke.

Blast off

2004-12-05T23:57:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post something for the heck of it...