These Are Not The Same Dodgers- Part II

The Los Angeles Dodgers really got it cranked up at Baseball's Winter Meetings. After a day of denying that Dee Gordon was even being shopped, the Dodgers traded him, Miguel Rojas, and Dan Haren to the Miami Marlins for their #1 overall prospect Andrew Heaney, reliever Chris Hatcher, Enrique Hernandez, and catching prospect Austin Barnes.

I really do not like this trade for several reasons. The Dodgers gave up an All-Star in Gordon who lead the National League in Triples and Stolen Bases and who is arguably the fastest player in Major League Baseball and a veteran starter in Dan Haren for four unproven players.

Heaney did not stick around long enough to even get a Dodgers jersey as he was traded to the (whatever their name is this week) Angels for Second Baseman Howie Kendrick and I am still not liking the overall balance of this trade. Rojas and Hernandez was a wash as both have about the same amount of major league time in and are both middle infielders, Hatcher 30 years old middle reliever who has pitched in parts of four seasons with the Marlins, appearing in 81 total games, and Barnes who only has 62 at bats at the AA level.

The long rumored Matt Kemp trade finally happened as he was traded to National League West rival San Diego Padres along with Catcher Tim Fedorowicz for Catcher Yasmani Grandal, and pitching prospects Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin. I was not a big fan of this trade either. True the Dodgers had a glut of outfielders and Kemp was the logical choice to be traded (it should have been Ethier but he now has next to no trade value) but he was one of the hottest bats in the National League in the second half of last season. Grandal has always been a prospect since he first signed a contract with the Cincinnati Reds but he only has what amounts to a full seasons of experience under his belt.

Once again, Eflin did not stick around long enough to get a jersey as he, along with Dodgers pitching prospect Tom Windle, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for longtime Phillies Shortstop Jimmy Rollins. This is the only trade that made sense unless Eflin or Windle turn into twenty game winners.

The Dodgers also signed Free Agent Right handed starter Brandon McCarthy to slide into Haren's spot in the rotation. This is, without a doubt, the most active the Dodgers have been in the off season in years, if not ever.

Haren Clutch Again

Dan Haren continued his hot pitching last night against the San Diego Padres in the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 win. He pitched 7 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. He improved his record to 13-10 with the win and dropped his ERA to 3.99. Haren was backed by the bat of Carl Crawford who went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI's. The Dodgers have a road series with the San Francisco Giants coming up this weekend. The Dodgers send Hyun Jin Ryu to open the series against current Dodger nemesis Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner is having an outstanding season with 17 wins and a 3.02 ERA and has laways been tough on the Dodgers.

Consistently Inconsistent

Dan Haren has had an inconsistent season but over his last 4 or 5 starts, he has started putting it together like he did at the beginning of the season. He beat the Arizona Diamondbacks last night 2-1 as he pitched 6 innings of one run baseball and the Dodgers got an RBI from Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp hit his 18th homerun to give Haren all the runs he would need for his 12th victory. Kenley Jansen had a shut down 9th inning for his 40th Save. This is a series that the Dodgers really need to sweep. The Dodgers are trying to fight thru a slew of injuries and I have always said that Manager Don Mattingly seems to be at his best when he is mixing and matching the lineups to give the Dodgers what they need. These injuries have especially affected the pitching staff. Starters Ryu and Greinke have both missed starts and they just announced that Josh Beckett would more than likely miss the rest of the regular season. They are having to get major innings out of several rookies and castoffs to fill out their pitching staff and help maintain a very slim lead over the San Francisco Giants.

A Hit (By Pitch) And A Win

Los Angeles Dodgers Catcher A.J. Ellis took a Wade Davis cutter off the arm with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run in last nights 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. That is what Bob Uecker used to refer to as "taking one for the team." Whatever works. The offensive stars for the Dodgers were Second Baseman Dee Gordon, 4 for 5 with his MLB leading 9th triple, 2 runs scored, and his 40th stolen base, Yasiel Puig, 2 for 5 those being a triple and an RBI double, and Matt Kemp hit his 8th homerun. Dodgers starter Dan Haren did not make it long enough to pick up the win as he went 4 1/3, giving up all 4 KC runs, including 2 homeruns. Jamey Wright came in in relief and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win (3-2) and Brian Wilson pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get his first save in more than two years. Kenley jansen had pitched in 4 out of the last 5 games so he was unavailable. Scott Van Slyke, playing First base, snared a Lorenzo Cain line drive with one out and the tying run on second and doubled the runner off to end the game.

A Clueless Fan With A Laptop And A Blog

It seems like everytime I write or make any disparaging comments about Andre Ethier, he does something that makes me look like another clueless fan with a laptop and a blog, which I might be because no one reads this anyway. I try to be relevant and keep it interesting because I am a true blue Los Angeles Dodgers fan. Anyway, back to Ethier. The Dodgers Dan Haren gave up five runs last night (only two earned) and the Dodgers found themselves down 4-0. Andre Ethier's three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning got the Dodgers going in an 8-6 win. Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez had 2 hits and 2 RBI's and Dee Gordon's 2 hits raised his batting average to .375. Dan Haren went 7 1/3 innings, improved his record to 3-0, his ERA is at 2.16 and he is kicking his old team, Arizona's, ass. He has proven to be an important free agent pick up thus far. Since my blog has such a positive effect on Ethier maybe I should talk about how Brian Wilson (ERA of 10.13) carrying that goofy beard around is hurting his pitching arm. Hey, I am as superstitious as the next baseball person.

Play Ball!

It has been over five months since my last blog about the Los Angeles Dodgers and losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs last year left a bad taste in my mouth. I never felt the Dodgers were at full strength last year with all of the injuries that piled up and Don Mattingly did an amazing job with a bunch of rookies, has beens, and never were's. I was calling for his job after they fell about 10 games under .500 around the middle part of the season, but he proved me wrong and made all of the right moves to get them the National league West crown and into the playoffs. Some managers can do more with less talent than other managers and that may be Don Mattingly's strength. The Dodgers didn't make too big of a splash in the off season with Dan Haren probably being the biggest acquisition. They added second baseman Justin Turner, a former utility man with the New York Mets, late in Spring Training to get some time at second base until either Erisbel Arruebarrena or Alex Guerrero is ready to go. The Dodgers are picked to finish forst in the National League West but I believe injuries will once again be the key. Getting a healthy Matt Kemp back will do wonders for the offense and keeping Hanley Ramirez on the filed will be key as well.