The Trade Of The Century

The Dodgers pulled off an unbelievable trade today with the Boston Red Sox. They were able to acquire First Baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Outfielder Carl Crawford, Starting Pitcher Josh Beckett, and Third Baseman/Utility Man Nick Punto. The Dodgers gave up First Baseman James Loney (who is due to be a Free Agent at the end of the season), Pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, and Infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr., and Outfielder Jerry Sands. With the exception of De La Rosa, I do not believe any of the players traded had a future with the Dodgers. The Dodgers have waited forever for Loney to live up to his potential, Webster is still 2 or 3 years away, DeJesus never could get over the hump, and Sands was never really going to get a legitimate chance because of the Dodgers crowded outfield. For the Boston Red Sox, this deal was primarily financial. They unloaded $261 Million in salary and the Dodgers opened up the checkbook like they never have before especially during the McCourt years. With the exception of Punto, all of the players the Dodgers acquired have been All-Stars, MVPs in one way, shape, or form, and are still in their prime. Carl Crawford will not be able to help the Dodgers this year but the Dodgers have seriously changed the balance of power in the National League West.

Ned Colletti's Whiff 'N Poof Express

I remember seeing a BC comic strip one time where a sports reporter was interviewing the manager of the BC baseball team and he asked him if his teams lineup had a nickname like "Murder's Row" or the "Gas House Gang". The BC manager replied yes, he did, they were called the "Whiff 'N Poof Express".

That comic strip reminded me of Ned Colletti's free agent acquisitions in the past several years. This years crop of Catcher Matt Treanor, and infielders Mark Ellis, Adam Kennedy, and Jerry Hairston, Jr. are all at the tail end of their careers and are all utility men at best. Mark Ellis and Adam Kennedy are probably going to be penciled in as starters at Second and Third Base, respectively, and Catcher Matt Treanor may end up being the starter at Catcher.

Colletti's track record with these signings is not too good and I can use last years signing of Marcus Thames and Jay Gibbons as a reference point. I can only hope that someone emerges from the non-roster invitees or the minor leagues to take over a few positions.

Juan Castro

Juan Castro has more Dodger lives than a cat. They brought him up from AAA Albuquerque on Friday and sent rookie infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. down so he could play everyday. DeJesus only played in 16 games, going 6 for 31 with one RBI.

This makes the fourth time that Castro has joined the Dodgers and I wonder what the all-time record is? He is a solid, if not spectacular defensive player, and I can see him being a late inning defensive replacement and getting a few spot starts. He is not going to knock the cover off the ball so this move made sense a long time ago.

Jerry Sands is still hanging with the Dodgers and getting alot of starts but he is barely hitting above the Mendoza line, has only shown warning track power, and he may be the next in line to get sent back down for more seasoning. I have only got to see him play a few times this year but from what I have seen, everything he hits goes to right field. I am not a big fan of is bat position when he is at the plate so they may need to tinker with his swing over the course of the next off-season.

I am pulling for DeJesus and Sands to make it more than anyone because I long for the days when the Rookie of the Year Award was almost synonymous with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers minor league system has slipped several notches but I believe the talent level has increased over the past couple of years. Now if we can only get GM Ned Colletti to keep from trading them away.

Kershaw The Giant Killer

Clayton Kershaw pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants last night in the Dodgers 6-1 victory. That runs his string against the Giants to 23 2/3 innings without giving up a run. Its about time the Dodgers had a Giants killer.

The victory came at a price as Rafael Furcal broke his thumb sliding into third base on a steal and is lost for 4 to 6 weeks probably longer. Every Dodger fan had to know this was going to happen sooner or later this season. In the six seasons Furcal has been with the Dodgers, he has only played two that have been injury free.

The two most logical choices to replace Furcal are Rookie Ivan DeJesus Jr or veteran Juan Castro. If its DeJesus, Jamey Carroll will probably slide over to play shortstop and if its Castro, he will probably take over at short. Only 10 games in and the Dodgers are already playing with a makeshift infield. Casey Blake has missed the last couple of games because of a thigh bruise suffered against the Padres.

They lose alot on offense with Furcal being out and I don't believe that Castro or Carroll are the long term answers, even for a couple of months. Carroll is better offensively and Castro is the better defensive shortstop. This is why I am hoping that DeJesus can step in and take over.

The Pedestrian Lineup

New Manager Don Mattingly decided to rest as many regulars as he could last night and the result was a 10-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. The loss drops them to 2-1 on the season and they go after the series win tonight on ESPN2.

When you get shutout there can't be too many offensive stars but Andre Ethier did go 3-4 and Jamey Carroll went 2-4. My man Xavier Paul went 1-3 and Hector Gimenez did get his first major league hit. Ivan DeJesus Jr. is off to a rough start in his career as he went 0-3 last night with 2 more strikeouts (0-7 with 5 strikeouts in his two starts- Jamey Carroll is back starting tonight at Second Base) and he made a throwing error. It should be a fairly short trip back to Albuquerque.

The pitching was just as bad. Ted Lilly didn't make it through the 5th inning and Kenley Jansen gave up more runs last night (1 IP, 4 ER) than he did his whole rookie season. Reliever Lance Cormier did get in some work (3 IP, 1 ER) and he had the best showing of all of them.

Off To A Good Start

The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a 2-0 start after a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants last night. The Dodgers capitalized on a couple of errors by the defending World Series Champions.

The offensive stars for the Dodgers were Rafael Furcal who went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Matt Kemp who was also 2 for 4 with an RBI on a ground-rule double in the third inning. Rookie Ivan DeJesus got the start at second base but he had a rough major league debut as he went 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts and a walk. Also making their Dodger debuts were Aaron Miles (1-4 with a run scored) and Hector Gimenez got an appearance as a pinch-hitter. He grounded to Giants pitcher Sanchez who promptly booted the ball and allowed Aaron Miles to score. The Dodgers were 2-7 with RISP.

First Base Coach and former Dodger great Dave Lopes has tried to instill some aggressiveness in the Dodgers on the basepaths working with the team daily during Spring Training. It was a point of emphasis and Matt Kemp became his special project. It seems to be paying off so far. Matt Kemp went from first to third last night on a groundout to third basemen Pablo Sandoval and has shown much better awareness in the first two games. Rafael Furcal had a little rougher day on the bases as he was picked off first and was caught stealing.

The Dodgers' pitching was solid if not spectacular. Chad Billingsley only made one bad pitch but it resulted in the first major league homerun by rookie First baseman Brandon Belt and drove in three. Billingsley left the game behind 3-1 but he eventually did get credit for his first win of the season. Blake Hawksworth vame in and quickly loaded the bases on 2 hits and a walk but struck out Buster Posey to put them away. Matt Guerrier also got in his first appearance as a Dodger giving up one hit in his inning of work. Jonathan Broxton came in to shut the Giants down and get his second save in as many games. This is a vast improvement for Broxton over last year. In appearances covering 2 2/3 innings against the Giants last year, Broxton gave up 6 runs, had an 0-3 record with 2 blown saves. He made last nights appearance with the Giants short and sweet, only needing 9 pitches to finish them off.

The Opening Day Roster 2011

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced their opening day roster for 2011 after their final exhibition game last night against the Seattle Mariners. Injuries helped to dictate at least 5 positions on the roster as Jay Gibbons, Casey Blake, Dioner Navarro, Vicente Padilla, and Jon Garland are all starting the season on the Disabled List.

With Casey Blake being on the Disabled List, that allowed Ivan DeJesus Jr. an opportunity to make the team although Jamey Carroll will get the start at second base against the San Francisco Giants tonight. Non-Roster Invitee Aaron Miles also made the team as a backup infielder.

I do not know why I am so enamored with Outfielder Xavier Paul making the team but he did make it as a backup outfielder. He was a 4th round draft choice in 2003 and has slowly worked his way through the Dodgers minor league system. He has never really hit for a high average, only has below average power, and he does not have game changing speed. He also struck out too much this spring. He has had injury problems the past couple of years but he has logged 135 at-bats in the major leagues with a lone Homerun to his credit. For whatever reason, I wanted him to make this roster.

The pitching staff was pretty well set after Padilla and Garland hit the Disabled list. Right-handers Lance Cormier and Mike MacDougal made the team. I would have preferred the Dodgers take another left-hander in Scott Elbert but Cormier kind of forced their hand not to mention the fact that Elbert had some serious control problems this spring. He is another player I have been campaigning for to make the roster (maybe it was because I saw him pitch for the Savannah Sand Gnats a couple of times) but this one was not meant to be.

The Dodgers decided to carry three Catchers coming out of Spring Training- Rod Barajas, the more defensive minded A.J. Ellis, and the one that was swinging a hot bat this spring, Switch-hitter Hector Gimenez. Gimenez has more pop in his bat and can also occasionally play First Base.

The "real" roster will be set when everyone starts coming off the Disabled List. Casey Blake is due to come off April 8th (my guess would be back up Catcher A.J. Ellis will be sent down at that time) and Pitcher Tim Redding is due to start on April 10th, the first time the Dodgers will require a 5th starter. I believe DeJesus will be the first to be sent down of the infielders.

That is the great thing about the first game of the season. The possibilities are endless and the Dodgers stand as good a chance as anybody to win the World Series.

The Games Have Begun

The Los Angeles Dodgers opened their spring training season yesterday with split squad games versus the Angels and the Giants. Both of the Dodgers squads lost, 4-1 to the Angels and 8-3 to the Giants.

In the game with the Angels, the only Dodgers regulars to see action were outfielders Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and catcher Dioner Navarro. I see Navarro as more the back up to Rod Barajas, maybe even in a platoon type situation due to the fact that he is a switch hitter, more so than I see AJ Ellis winning the back up job. Navarro also has a little more pop in his bat than does Ellis.

Dodgers prospects Jerry Sands and Jake Lemmerman got some at bats against the Angels but the only run driven in was a sacrifice fly by Russ Mitchell. I really don't see him making the team out of spring training either.

On the mound, 2010 organization pitcher of the year Rubby De La Rosa got roughed up a little bit and Scott Elbert also got in a couple of innings of work. Elbert has a chance to make the team out of spring training as a left-handed reliever but he has always had control issues and that may be his downfall. I had a chance to see Elbert pitch about a year or two after the Dodgers drafted him when the Savannah Sand Gnats were the Dodgers low Class A farm team and they played the Asheville Tourists. He was a starter at that time, threw in the low 90's, and worked quickly and effectively. His ticket to the majors seems to be as a reliever.

Most of the Dodgers regulars faced the Giants and prospects Trayvon Robinson, Dee Gordon, and Ivan DeJesus Jr. got in some work against the Giants. I think that DeJesus's window of opportunity closed when he broke his leg a couple of spring trainings ago and his best bet to get to the majors is as a trade throw in at the trade deadline at the end of July. Pitcher Carlos Monasterios got lit up in this game and the Dodgers will probably send him down for more work because they do not have to keep him on the major league roster this season.