The New Additions

The Dodgers were very active up to the end of the trade deadline with the newest additions being Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino and Seattle Mariners Right-hander Brandon League. In Victorino, the Dodgers got the leadoff hitter they have been missing since Dee Gordon went down. He is only 31 years old, was originally drafted by the Dodgers, and will give them the production out of Leftfield they have been missing. The Dodgers traded 3 minor leaguers and pitcher Josh Lindblom and Brandon League slides into his setup role. The Texas Rangers won the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes and all of the baseball experts are saying the Dodgers lost out by not acquiring him. I believe they'll be good to go. The Giants also bettered their offense by trading for Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence. Talk about your fire sales.I am surprised the Phillies didn't try trading the Liberty Bell.

Sweeping The Giants

Clayton Kershaw finished off the sweep of the Giants yesterday with a 5-hit shutout in a 4-0 Dodgers win. The win allowed the Dodgers to tie the Giants for the lead in the National League West. After the Giants shutout sweep of the Dodgers about a month ago, this was a different Dodger team the Giants faced in this series. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier were both back and Hanley Ramirez has joined the team since then. Shortstop Luis Cruz has also joined the team since that series and he drove in 2 of the 4 runs in yesterdays game. Dee Gordon may have a hard time getting his job back when he comes off the Disabled List. Cruz plays a more consistent shortstop, hits for more power, and for a better average than Gordon. He has no where close to the speed Gordon has. Catcher A.J. Ellis had the unusual line in the boxscore of having no official plate appearances but he drew 4 bases on balls. Albuquerque Isotopes Outfielder Jerry Sands hit 2 grand slams in a AAA game yesterday and I would love for him to be able to bring that power with him when the rosters expand September 1.

Making A Statement

Yesterdays 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants is the kind of statement I was talking about. The Dodgers got solid pitching from Chad Billingsley (7 1/3 IP, 0 runs), power from Matt Kemp (a two-run homer), and ESPN Sportscenter making highlight defense from Andre Ethier. That leaves the Dodgers one game back of the Giants in the National League West. Hanley Ramirez is 6 for 16 with 6 RBI's since the trade and the trade seems to have energized the rest of the Dodgers as well. The Dodgers did roll out a different batting order last night. Mark Ellis batted leadoff with Andre Ethier batting second against a lefty Barry Zito. Manager Don Mattingly was hoping to get Ethier jump started by hopefully getting him better pitches to see batting in front of Kemp and Ramirez. He went 0 for 4 with a run scored. Nathan Eovaldi got a win in his first start with the Miami Marlins as well. I really hated to see him go but the Dodgers needed bats.

The Giants Series

I hate to think a series with the San Francisco Giants at the end of July is key to the Dodgers season but in this case, I believe it is. It is time for the Dodgers to make a statement. In Game One, they won the first round. What is a Dodger game here lately without the Dodgers bullpen taking a few jabs to the nose and letting the Giants tie the game up in the late innings. Newly acquired Hanley Ramirez delivered the knockout blow with a two-run homer in the 10th inning. I could live without all of the hot dogging after he hit it but who better do do it against than the San Francisco Giants. Another Dodger, Scott Elbert, hit the Disabled List so the Dodgers are back down to one Lefty in the bullpen. All of the internet chatter has the Dodgers back in the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes and I would really give that up if I was the Dodgers. All of their parts are slowly coming back and I really do not want to trade any more young arms.

Hanley Ramirez

The Dodgers traded for the bat in Hanley Ramirez from the Florida Marlins that they hope is going to put them over the top. They were also able to get the additional left-hander for the bullpen in Randy Choate to take some of the burden off Scott Elbert. They gave up Nate Eovaldi and a minor league pitcher in return. This may push Juan Uribe out altogether and I see Adam Kennedy staying in the same role- spot starting and pinch-hit duty although he did hit the 15-Day DL today with a groin injury. Hanley Ramirez has not been the same player the past two seasons that he was in the first five seasons of his career. I am hoping this trade will snap him out of this season long slump and provide the kick in the pants the Dodgers offense needs.

Five In A Row

The Dodgers have surged to five wins in a row including a sweep of the New York Mets. In Sunday's finale against the Mets I thought the Dodgers bullpen (and James Loney's glove and hands) had blown another one when the Mets tied it at 3 in the bottom of the ninth. Don Mattingly pushed all of the right buttons in extra innings. Pinch hitters Matt Treanor and Adam Kennedy drove in two runs a piece in the top of the 12th and rookie Josh Wall got the win with a scoreless inning of relief in his major league debut. Wall has been appearing on the Dodgers top prospects list in Baseball America since 2006 and he has always been projected as a starter. This is his first year as a closer and he was leading Albuquerque in saves when he was called up. The Dodgers opened the series with the St. Louis Cardinals with a 5-3 win as Chad Billingsley (5-9) came off the Disabled List and gave up one run in 6 innings for the win. Luis Cruz struck the big blow with a three-run homer in the 2nd inning and Mark Ellis drove in the other two.

Juan Uribe

As soon as I want to dump Juan Uribe, he comes thru with a homerun and has 4 RBI's. Maybe its time to dump James Loney. Chris Capuano (10-5) had a so-so performance but got the win. The Dodgers bullpen can't seem to stand it if they don't make it exciting but Kenley Jansen got his 18th save after putting two on in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Ryan Dempster talks have kind of cooled but now the Dodgers seem interested in Cubs right-hander Matt Garza. The principals have probably not changed much, if at all, for the Dodgers but Matt Garza is younger than Kempster and may come with a higher asking price. With Billingsley and Lilly set to come off the Disabled List, possibly as soon as Monday, this could get interesting. Billingsley just can't seem to put it together and may end up as the long man out of the bullpen if he is with the Dodgers at all.

New York, New York

The Dodgers started off a ten-game road trip by winning the opener against the New York Mets 7-6. The seven runs scored by the Dodgers represents about a weeks worth of runs scored here lately and I am hoping they didn't use it all up. Aaron Harang (7-5) hung around long enough to get the win and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth to get his 17th save. Sometimes watching the Dodgers bullpen labor through the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings is like watching a car wreck and this game was no different. Matt Kemp hit a homer, his 14th, in his second straight game and it is paramount for the Dodgers for him to get rolling again. Shortstop Luis Cruz hit his first major league homerun off Johan Santana of the Mets and I have to admit, I know very little about Luis Cruz and I had to do a little bit of research. He looked good in spring training from what I saw of him but so do a lot of players I never hear from again. He can play a variety of positions in the infield. He had previous experience with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers and I didn't realize he is as big as he is (6'2" and 220)and he has showed some pop in his bat in the minors, hitting 9 homeruns last year at Round Rock in the Pacific Coast League and hitting 8 homeruns thus far at Albuquerque this season before the call up. He became the Dodgers shortstop by default when Dee Gordon got hurt.

The Ryan Dempster Sweepstakes

The Boston Red Sox are evidently out of the Ryan Dempster Sweepstakes and the Dodgers are back in the running. The Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves are also seeking Dempster via trade. The latest internet rumor has the Dodgers offering Outfielder Jerry Sands and two minor league pitchers for Dempster. Former First Rounder Pitcher Zach Lee is probably going to be mentioned in any trade before the deadline and I am begging Ned Colletti to not do it. This is not a baseball card you are trading but a power arm that is only 19 or 20 years old and holding his own at AA Chattanooga. He is one of the top ranked Dodger prospects and that would be to steep a price to pay for less than a half a season and 13 or 14 starts from Ryan Dempster. The Dodgers need bats. I like going after Third Baseman Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres. It is time to cut our losses on the Juan Uribe experiment. For that matter bring up Josh Fields from Albuquerque. I liked him in Spring Training. I know there has to be a price that is paid but I would like to suggest Nathan Eovaldi, Jerry Sands, and Ethan Martin for Dempster. This is also probably why I am not a General Manager.

A Waste Of Good Piching

The Dodgers have wasted some excellent starting pitching the past couple of games and they were lucky to come out of it with at least one win. They are only 2-4 since the All-Star break and the Giants hot start in the second half have left the Dodgers 2 1/2 games out of first in the National League West. Stephen Fife (no relation to Barney) pitched an excellent game in his major league debut giving up a lone run to the Philadelphia Phillies in 6 innings and left with a 2-1 lead that the Los Angeles bullpen could not protect. That game ended in a 3-2 loss. As a reward, Stephen Fife got sent back to AAA Albuquerque when Javy Guerra came off the Bereavement List. In the series finale The Dodgers scored 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie it at 3 before Matt Kemp won it with a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th. Starter Clayton Kershaw only gave up one run in 8 innings but once again, did not get the win. Matt Kemp drove in three runs and it was his first homer and first RBI's since coming off the Disabled List. We need a lot more of that if they are going to pull this out.

The Post All-Satar Break Blues

Losing 3 out of 4 games to start the second half of the season is not exactly how I pictured the Dodgers taking control of the National League West. The Dodgers have even created new and exciting, ESPN-worthy ways to lose. They gave up a stolen base in the ninth inning to tie a game they later lost and then they committed 5 errors the next day to lose again. And they lost to the Padres. The stinking San Diego Padres. Their offense needs help. Getting Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier back hasn't seemed to help. The two biggest internet rumors are going around are the Dodgers going after Ryan Dempster, starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, and Shortstop Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies. I believe they are out of the running for Dempster, the Red Sox have more prospects and a glut of outfielders to offer in a trade, and I can't see the Dodgers trading for Jimmy Rollins. I don't believe he would be a good fit for this team. He is a high salary, aging veteran who is not going to put the Dodgers over the top. That does however seem like Ned Colletti's kind of trade. I hope Magic Johnson has the power of veto.

The All-Star Break

The Dodgers staggered into the All-Star break like Otis Campbell staggers into the Mayberry Jail on a Saturday night. I had to throw in a Andy Griffith Show reference. RIP Andy Griffith, a fellow Tarheel thru and thru. The surprising thing is that they are still in first place in the National League West with a 47-40 record, a 1/2 game over the rival San Francisco Giants. There have been a lot of positives in the first half of the season. Matt Kemp's great start, Chris Capuano's 9-4 record, contributions from a bunch of call ups from the minors and a ragtag bench, AJ Ellis emerging as an everyday catcher, and Kenley Jansen emerging as the closer out of the bullpen. The negatives can pretty much be summed up with one word. Injuries. Then there were more injuries. Then I think a player may have got hurt. There are a lot of things to look forward to in the second half. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier's return, Clayton Kershaw getting on a roll like he did last year, and Nathan Eovaldi getting some run support.

The Dodgers Need Hitters

The Los Angeles Isotopes or the Albuquerque Dodgers need hitters. The Dodgers have been shutout in 5 of their last 7 games including a shutout sweep by the San Francisco Giants. I do not know if this kind of offensive futility has ever been achieved in baseball history. I was able to catch the Mets game last night and Dee Gordon and Elian Herrera bunting was about the hardest the Dodgers hit the ball all night long. Carlos Lee of the Houston Astros has been mentioned as a possible trade but he is only batting .290 with 5 homeruns and 29 RBI's as of this posting. He is not the answer. He is 36 years old, at the tail end of his career, and he is a defensive liability as well. The Dodgers do not even have much to offer in the way of trade material. James Loney has no value and all they have is some young arms in the minors. Hopefully the Dodgers will be getting all of their major pieces back soon and they can recapture the National League West.