The Dodgers should not spend big on the bullpen next year

Ned Colletti was recently quoted in an interview as saying "I don't think we're that far away" re: the 2012 Dodgers roster.  Strange as this statement may be, we thought we would take a look around at various parts of the team to add our ridiculously insightful opinions on what exactly he may mean, arbitrarily starting with the bullpen. 

When this season started, Jonathan Broxton, Vicente Padilla, and Hong-Chi Kuo were expected to be the bedrocks of the bullpen, a trio of “proven veteran leaders” (see what we did there?) that would dominate the last two to three innings of a game.  That plan worked out flawlessly.

Look, there is no getting around the fact that Broxton was a disappointment this year- though probably not because he lacked the balls to pitch. No matter how much people may say Broxton lacked the heart or guts or other cliches to close, his absence since May 5th shows that his ineffectiveness was due to SOMETHING being wrong with him physically.  Still, he brought no value to the Dodgers this year and will certainly be gone next season.  You can add Vicente Padilla to that list as well, for mostly the same reasons.  We wish them both a healthy recovery and a chance from another team- hopefully one in the American League, so they can’t shut us out 15 times next season as a Giant.  We’ll get to Kuo shortly.  

 
Before we get to the Kuo question, though, let’s look at the good that came from the early season bullpen implosion::  the Dodgers brought up four young pitchers who have quietly (too quietly) been very good this year.  Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Scott Elbert and Josh Lindblom have all stepped up and provided Mattingly with some impressive weapons out of the bullpen.  Guerra got the flashy job- saves are overrated, but 18 of them in 19 attempts is pretty darn good. But what really jumps out to us is the fact that he's only given up one homerun in 169 plate appearances against him while holding opponents to a .602 OPS.  His strikeouts could stand to come up a little, but they're not terrible either.  We already did an entire post on Kenley Jansen so we won't rehash just how great he is here, but needless to say he's still awesome and in fact gotten even better since our post. He and Guerra should be handling the closing duties from here on out in one fashion or another.  Scott Elbert has long been an interesting case- the talent has never been questioned, but he's just never seemed to be able to put it all together,  in particular, his control has always been an issue.  This year, though he’s been used sparingly, it seems like he’s finally figured it out.  His ERA sits at 2.64 in just over thirty innings with 30 strikeouts and, here's the part that has us optimistic about his future, just 11 walks.  Josh Lindblom hasn't been quite as good as the previous three, at least in terms of his strikeout to walk numbers.  His ERA is a shiny 2.88 and he's holding opponents to just a .591 OPS so he's clearly doing something right, but in 25 innings pitched he's struck out 18 and walked 9 (though 3 of them were intentional).  These might not be dazzling stats, but they're good enough to go to battle with him next year.

That leaves us with four locks for the bullpen next year, all (here’s the great part) making the league minimum.  Matt Guerrier and his $3.75MM salary can be added to that list as well-  overpaid he might be, but he's still a veteran, rubber arm type of guy that can eat up middle innings and pitch back to back nights.  Plus, there’s no way anyone else would take him off our hands at that salary, so there you go.
 
So we have one to two spots open in the bullpen next year, depending on whether they go with an 11 or 12 man pitching staff out of the gate.  The current candidates include Hong-Chih Kuo, who has had all kinds of problems this year and stands to make a hefty chunk of change in arbitration next season, Blake Hawksworth, Mike MacDougal, Ramon Troncoso and John Ely.  It's hard to tell which direction the Dodgers will go, but I suspect they won't be willing to pay Hong-Chih Kuo too much, and will continue to have zero faith (for good reason) in Ramon Troncoso.  John Ely doesn't really seem suited to pitching out of the pen, but he has a shot to make the squad as a mop-up/swingman type.  We honestly wouldn't be surprised if Hawksworth and MacDougal are both brought back, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Those two probably would not be pitching the highest leverage innings and neither one has been too bad this year either.  

The bottom line is this: the Dodgers are in desperate need of offense and have little money to upgrade.  Let's put aside our hopes of Fielder or Pujols- that just isn’t going to happen- but they're going to have to do something.  Having a bullpen this good, and this cheap, is crucial to providing the payroll flexibility needed to sign a bat or two.  

Pardon the Interruption...

The last week or two here on the site have been pretty darn spotty, as far as coverage goes.  Our apologies.  Between job obligations (Richard) and unchecked laziness (Danny), we've been unable to spend the time lovingly crafting the blog posts all twenty of you have grown to know and love.  The good news is, nothing interesting has happened with the Dodgers in the last two weeks, right?

...What's that?  Hottest team in baseball?  Billion dollar offers from state-owned Chinese institutions?  Dee Gordon returning from the DL?  DIONER NAVARRO BEING DFA'D FOR POOR WORK ETHIC?  Aw, crap.

While neither the work (Richard) or sloth (Danny) figures to change anytime soon, you have our assurances that this lapse in coverage will not happen again.  Starting again very soon, we'll be back to filling you in on all the on-and off-the-field travails of the boys in blue.  

Wishful Thinking

Could this wonderful partnership/friendship be coming to an end?

 In recent news there is a long shot chance (extremely long shot, so let's not get too excited) that the Cubs may be interested in our very own Ned Colletti to fill their opening for general manager.  Because of our admiration of his work and our desire to see him succeed, we here at Proven Veteran Leaders have decided to be grown-ups about this and submit the following letter of recommendation.

Dear Tom Ricketts,

We are writing on behalf of Ned Colletti, who we believe is an ideal fit to be the general manager of your fine franchise.  He got his start in your organization and we feel that a reunion would be good for you and good for baseball.  You see, Ned’s an old-school type, a real “baseball guy.”  He’s not one of those nerds who tend to rely on things like statistics and “facts” in their evaluations of baseball players.  He relies on his own damn peepers, and looks for players with guts and a knowledge of how to win.  You might be saying to yourself: “Those sound like intangible things with no real way to measure or quantify them.”  Well first of all, that sounds like Communist talk to us.  Second of all, and this really is the greatest thing about Ned Colletti.  There is a way to quantify intangibles, and Ned Colletti is the only one who can do it!  That’s right, he has figured out a way to measure the immeasurable, calculate the incalculable, tangabilize  the intangible. 

                It’s because of this we feel Ned Colletti would be a great leader for your organization.  In addition, he likes the same gritty white players the Cubs seem to enjoy.  We’ve employed both Ryan Theriot and Aaron Miles in the past two seasons.  Of course, you know all about Ryan Theriot as you traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Blake Dewitt.  What’s that you’re saying?  Blake Dewitt is not nearly scrappy enough, or white enough, for you?  Well, then rest easy.  Ned Colletti will trade him for the most valuable asset in the game of baseball.  That’s right, middle relief. 

                Now you might be wondering why we’d be so eager to rid ourselves of such a great leader.  Well, the thing is, as you may have heard the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a built of a pickle with their ownership.  See, with Frank McCourt at the helm, the Dodgers won’t be able to afford to go after the top tier free agents, or middle-tier for that matter, so we feel Ned’s gifts of overpaying for marginal talent would best be put to use where there might be money for him to waste, pardon, invest.  What the Dodgers will do, is just give a young guy like Logan White a chance to build a cheap team.  Dodger fans everywhere are willing to make this sacrifice for you.  Plus, Ned Colletti already has an awesome Chicago ‘stache.  Hell, if Saturday Night Live ever brings back the “Da Bears” sketch, he could fill the late Chris Farley’s role no problem.  That kind of ‘stache just can’t be bought. 

Sincerely,

Proven Veteran Leaders

And in other news, Kenley Jansen has been activated with Josh Lindblom sent back down to aaa to make room.  Don't worry, Lindblom fans.  He should be up as soon as rosters expand on September 1st.  Also, it looks like Dee Gordon should be back by Saturday.  Let's just hope this means that Eugenio Velez can continue his pursuit of a hitless season in another uniform rather than Justin Sellers getting sent down.  

Kershaw Inspires Greatness Around Him

Remember that old cliché that offenses don’t need to try as hard when their ace is on the mound?  I seem to recall this being spouted a lot when Roger Clemens pitched.  The theory was that somehow his teammates, professional baseball players, were so in awe of his awesomeness that they just coasted on the idea that they’d win 1-0.  This, of course, is completely absurd.  But let’s pretend that this phenomenon is true for a second, because if it were then Clayton Kershaw is single-handedly destroying that myth.  The Dodgers have scored him 4.28 runs per game in 2011.  The National League average is 4.15 runs per game this season.  This means that somehow the Dodgers actually become a better than average offense when Kershaw is on the mound.  

                Meanwhile, the Dodgers have managed just 2.93 runs per game for hard luck Hiroki Kuroda, and their overall season average is just 3.63, better than only the Giants in the senior circuit.  What does all this mean?  Well, nothing really.  But interesting facts nonetheless.  If anything it just increases our desire to see Clayton Kershaw cloned nine or ten times. 

                Oh, and Kershaw pitched today.  He went 8 innings, allowed zero runs, struck out 6 and walked none.  And the Dodgers scored 5 runs in their 5-1 victory over the Brewers, after only scoring two runs in the previous three games combined.   Barajas contributed a solo homerun, Carroll, Miles and Rivera all contributed RBI hits, and Kemp (despite striking out three times) added to his (longshot) MVP credentials by singling, stealing second (his 33^rd) and scoring a run. 

                The real story though is Kershaw.  We all had high hopes for him as soon as he was drafted.  He hasn’t disappointed in the slightest, and seems to get better with every start he makes.  His one Achilles Heel was his high walk rate, and he’s cut that down drastically (2.4 walks per 9). 

                Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts breaks down his chances at the Cy Young Award this season.  As Jon says, Halladay is probably the favorite, but the award is hardly out of reach for Clayton.  And if not this year, I think it’s fairly safe to say he should be in the running for years to come. 

Dodgers lock down some draft picks

Federo-what?

Yesterday was the draft deadline- the last day teams could reach agreements with the players they selected in this year's draft.  Surprisingly, the Dodgers seemed to do alright, reaching agreements with their top 9 picks and 28 of their 50 total (at least according to their official draft tracker page).  It appears, however,  that's mostly due to the fact that they went after signable talent, rather than top-tier pricier picks.

It seems like the Dodgers got the memo that the system is barren at 3B and C, as 4 of the top 9 picks went to those positions.  I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to break down the talent drafted- John Sickels of Minorleagueball.com does a great job of that in the linked article- but most everyone agrees it was a pretty bland group drafted by the Dodgers, in what was called a historically deep draft class.  There are a few highlights, though- third round pick Pratt Maynard (pictured above) profiles as an above average MLB catcher offensively, although there are questions about his D behind the plate.  And fourth rounder Ryan O'Sullivan is apparently a second round talent that fell thanks to some "makeup concerns".

All in all, there may not be any superstars in the 2011 draft class, but I'm inclined to trust Logan White and his scouting team.  Obviously constrained financially, it looks like White still managed to fill some of the glaring needs in the organizational depth charts, and the selection of more college players than previous years means the players picked this year could contribute sooner than in the past.

And by contribute sooner, I mean get traded as a PTBNL for Carlos Zambrano in the off-season.

Sweep?

We swept the Astros!  We AREN'T the worst team after all!

Between a heavy workload, family obligations, and- if I'm being honest here- Dragon Age 2 on the PS3, there hasn't been much time for updates in the last week.  At least some of that will change in the next week or so, seeing as how I've almost finished defeating the Tevinter Imperium.  Damn video games.

So what have we missed?  Well, the Dodgers were swept by the Phillies, and then responded by sweeping the Astros.  Neither of those things should be surprising- the Phillies are the best team in the NL, by a wide margin, and the Astros are by far the worst.  Seriously, they're awful.  32 games out of first in a solid but not great division.  Their winning percentage is lower than Matt Kemp's batting average.  So while it was nice to see the Dodgers reel off three straight wins (including one for Hiroki Kuroda, hopefully saving him from being the unluckiest pitcher in Dodger history), don't read too much into it.  I'm fairly certain that the Chattanooga Lookouts could take 2 of 3 from Houston at this point.

Tonight marks the start of a 10 games in 10 days road trip, with stops in Milwaukee, Colorado (the battle for third place begins!) and St. Louis.  Randy Wolf & Ted Lilly face off in Game 1, which should be fun for anyone not named Ted Lilly or Randy Wolf.

Depressed Dodgers taking frustrations out on themselves

We apologize for the lack of posts lately, but we're still stinging from Wednesday's loss.  Not only did the Dodgers blow a six run lead and ended up losing 9-8, but they lost Dee Gordon to the disabled list.  Nothing seems to be going right for the Dodgers this season.  I think we can all agree that Ned Colletti is a terrible GM and Frank McCourt is the incarnate of Lucifer himself but, believe it or  not, there are more reasons then just those two why the Dodgers find themselves just one game out of last place in the National League West.
One of those things is luck.  I believe the last time I checked the Dodgers, at one time or another in the season, have placed 974 players on the disabled list.  But that's just an estimate on my part, really.  Some of these guys we knew would spend some time on the DL, like Blake and Furcal, and some guys were pretty likely, such as Uribe (because he's old and fat).  But then there's the young guys too.  Broxton, Kuo, Hawksworth, Jansen, De La Rosa, and now, Dee Gordon.  This is just getting ridiculous.  The Dodgers infield now consists of Loney at first (owner of the worst OPS in baseball since the all-star break),  the hitless wonder Eugenio Velez at second, solid-but-bug-eyed Jamey Carroll at short, and Aaron Miles, on loan from a Tolkien novel, at third.  Other than Loney, none of those guys were expected to be regular contributors, or, in Miles and Velez's case, probably not even on the 25 man roster.  This team is clearly snake-bitten with injuries, and though we wrote this season off long ago, it's still a bummer to have the one joy left taken from us, and that is watching a guy like Dee Gordon get a chance to show he can handle the Major Leagues. 

Now, I should add that since Dee Gordon is hurt, it's a good thing that he's going to the disabled list.  That doesn't sound terribly insightful, but too often we see players trying to keep injuries secret and play through them, hurting themselves and the team (I'm looking at you Jonathan Broxton).  With the Dodgers as bad as they are, there is no reason to risk Dee Gordon's long term health by trotting him out there.  This was a good call by the Dodgers, even though they are calling it mostly precautionary.  The hope is that Dee will take the 15 days, get healthy, and then come back and play every day for the rest of the season.  This should still give the team plenty of time to properly evaluate whether or not he's ready to handle the starting job next season. 

In other news, the Dodgers agreed to terms with their first round draft pick, Chris Reed,  and he will be introduced at Dodger Stadium tonight.  He signed for what appears to be a 1.589 signing bonus, which is slightly above slot.  I gotta say, it's nice to see the Dodgers going over slot to get talent.  Last year they did it to get Zach Lee, this year for Reed.  I sort of wonder if McCourt authorized it just to piss Bud Selig off, but either way we'll take it.

Update:  It appears the Dodgers called up shortstop Justin Sellers from Albuquerque to take Gordon's place on the roster.  Sellers doesn't exactly quality as a prospect, as he's 25 years old with a career .746 OPS in the minors, but at least there's some upside there.  Here's hoping he'll get more playing time than Eugenio Velez.

Things we learned from last night's game (8/9/11)

Ted Lilly?  He throws like a girl.

Overview: Lilly strong, Cliff Lee stronger.  Dodgers lose, 2-1.

Pros:  Ted Lilly gave up a home run to Cliff Lee, but was otherwise very solid.  He pitched 8 innings, giving up only 6 hits and a walk against a team with All-Stars starting at six of the eight positions.  It was the deepest Lilly has gone in a game for the Dodgers this season, and a well-earned quality start from a guy we've been pretty hard on this year.  Blake Hawksworth pitched a shutout ninth and has quietly gotten his ERA under three. Considering the Dodgers got him for the moldering corpse of Ryan Theriot, he has to go down as one of Ned Colletti's best trades. Casey Blake deserves some love too, following up Monday's two hit, two walk game with another 2 for 4.  He's gotten his average up almost twenty points in the last week- maybe he's playing his way into a waiver deal?

Cons:  It's hard to knock the offense for getting shut out by Cliff Lee, so the big story here is Dee Gordon.  He re-injured his right shoulder and had to leave mid at-bat, and is at the doctor's office getting an MRI as I type this.  As we've said before, any kind of injury to Dee is disasterous, and if this turns into a lingering issue for the rest of the season, the Dodgers are in serious trouble.  Here's hoping a cortisone injection and a couple of days off heal the kid.

What we learned:  The Dodgers have lost to the Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee by a combined three runs.  A loss is a loss is a loss, of course, but they've played hard and have been in both games until the final out.  It's nice to see the team fighting against the no-doubt best team in the NL, and it makes you wonder how the season would have gone had this group gelled earlier in the season. 

Photos from last night's game

In lieu of a full recap of last night's rough loss (James Loney is not my favorite person today), I have instead compiled a series of photos from the game.  These were taken on a cheap camera from long distances, so it's full of blurry figures and disappointment, much like me at the bottom of a bottle of scotch.

No, I can't rotate the photo.  I don't know why.  

This gentleman was VERY friendly and genial.  I think it's because I could smell the paint fumes from where I was, several feet away.  He must have been SUPER high.  That's probably the best job in the stadium.

Can't rotate this either.  Or the one after that.  I promise it gets better.

I won these tickets off the Dodgers twitter account last week- in honor of their hitting 65,000 followers, they gave out tickets to the first 65 people that messaged them with their email.  The seats were actually very good, and the guy that emailed me from the Dodgers PR department couldn't have been nicer.  It was really great of the team to reach out to fans like that.  Color me impressed.

Last bad one.  Sorry.  

Here's Don Mattingly, shagging flies in the outfield during batting practice.  I wonder if he's getting into game shape so he can activate himself and DFA Loney.  Also spotted during batting practice: Juan Uribe hitting in the cage, and Jonathan Broxton working out and doing sprints in the outfield.  Here's hoping we see Broxton again at some point this year- I know it's been an up and down few years with him, but I'd like to see him throw a couple of 100 mph fastballs one more time before he goes away at the end of the season.

See?  Now they're fine.  It doesn't make any sense to me either.

Meet 'The Big Cheese'.  Purchased at the field level CPK for $16.00, it's a huge piece of cheesy focaccia bread with marinara and ranch.  It made me very sick.  Sadly, Campy's Corner (home of the Victory Knot) was closed, so we were forced to get this instead.  Interestingly, several of the field level food options were closed.  Trying to save a few dollars in payroll, I guess?  

This guy must be really strong.

You see the kid sitting on the end of the bleacher, wearing the backwards white hat?  Every time a ball was hit to a player anywhere near him during batting practice, he would scream in a high pitched voice.  He wouldn't scream the player's name, or ask for the ball, or anything useful.  He'd just scream.  It was excruciating.  I really hope those girls standing to the left made fun of him.  He deserved it.

I don't think he understands what 'Winning' actually means.

This guy was sitting a few rows down in the padded seats.  You can't really tell in the photo, but he's got a faux-hawk.  Look, Major League is one of my all time favorite films.  And I have to assume he got the jersey before we all knew what Charlie Sheen really meant.  But it's the Phillies vs. the Dodgers.  However, I have now decided I won't rest until I get a Roger Dorn jersey, so I guess it all worked out.

Trent Oeltjen's favorite movie is Happy Gilmore.

Apparently Trent Oeltjen gets paid in really big checks.  Maybe it's a clause in his contract.  Maybe that's how it's always done in Australia.  What am I, psychic?

Dee Gordon could FIT INSIDE HIM.

Dee Gordon and Tony Gwynn Jr. sharing a laugh with Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.  I'd like to point out that no one approached Shane Victorino and hugged him during warmups.  That's because everyone in baseball  knows that if any of his goblin blood gets on them, they'll be turned as well.  Must be hell in the Phillies locker room.

Yes, there were catcalls.

Ah, rookie hazing.  Fraternities may frown on it, but it's still okay in baseball.  Of course, I can't feel too bad for him, as he's most likely already a millionaire.

Sweep the leg, Rod!

Is it wrong that I was hoping Kuroda hit him?  Just to see what would happen?

I tried to get a pic of him throwing.  I'm not a very good sports photographer, as it turns out.

Dee!  He entered the game in a double switch in the 7th, and showed no ill effects from the shoulder injury.  His throws looked crisp, and it didn't seem to affect him at the plate.  Some small comfort, at least.

Juan Rivera, getting back in shape for the NFL preseason.

This picture came immediately after Rivera did his best middle linebacker impression in the 8th inning, mowing down Chase Utley at full speed.  I could hear the impact from my seat, and it was pretty awesome.  I can't imagine Utley felt good this morning.  Unfortunately, Rivera was called out for interference, and it played a big part in killing our rally and chances at tying the score.

Even when he misses, it's pretty.

Last pic- this was Kemp's swing and miss for strike three in the 9th.  Even though it was only the second out of the inning, pretty much everyone left in the stadium knew the game was over.

It was a brutal loss, to be sure- Loney's second inning error cost the team two runs that may have been all the difference, and Victorino's 9th inning tater off of Mike MacDougal was an especially bitter pill to swallow.  Overall though, we had a great night at the ballpark.  Thanks again to the fine PR staff of the Dodgers for allowing us to see it.

Hitting McCourt where it hurts: his nuts. Also, his wallet.

Anyone?  Anyone?

Unfortunately, we can only do one of those things.  Fortunately, it appears we are.  Yay us!  Jim Peltz of the LA Times posted an article yesterday afternoon detailing just how effective those boycotts and holdouts have been:  the combined ticket, concessions, and parking losses are going to cost the Dodgers 27 million this year.  You should definitely click through to read the article, as it goes into great detail of exactly how that number was reached, and how it's actually pretty conservative- the real figure, which we may never know, is likely much higher.  

This is great news.  As McCourt has shown, again and again, he is motivated purely by money.  He's so delusional that public outcry and protests mean nothing- hurting his bottom line (there's a joke in there somewhere) is the only thing that we Dodger faithful can do to make our voices heard.  This team used to pull in 3 million fans like clockwork, no matter how terrible the on-field product was.  To lose an average 8,000 fans per game this season is (and this is saying something) possibly THE most shocking indictment of just how badly Frank's destroyed his reputation in the city.  Good for you, Dodger fans.  Keep it up.

************

And in completely unrelated and totally not hypocritical at all news, I'll be at the game tonight (don't worry, the tickets were free).  I'm bringing a camera and my wife, so expect lots of pictures of us eating a Victory Knot in tonight's post-game recap.

Things We Learned from Today's Game (8/7/11)

Overview:  Ransom costs Dodgers/Kershaw win.  Diamondbacks 4 Dodgers 3

Pros:  Clayton Kershaw's overall numbers might not look all that great, pitching 6 and 1/3 innings and surrendering four runs while walking three.  This only tells half the story though.  Kershaw struggled out of the gate, walking Ryan Roberts on four pitches then giving up a two run blast to Kelly Johnson on a 3-2 pitch.  Kershaw would go on to walk another in the first, throwing 31 pitches in the inning.  After that, though, he cruised for the next five innings, allowing only two hits.  He looked virtually unbeatable until the seventh when he gave up another two run homer to Cody Ransom, of all people.  Those four runs he gave up were insurmountable for the Dodgers, but Kershaw, for the most part, pitched much better than his line suggests.  He did strike out 7, raising his season total to 184 in 167 and 2/3 innings, and continues to lead the league in that category. 
Other positives that came from today was James Loney homering in the fifth (fun note: I was complaining during his at-bat that he never turned on balls anymore and always seems to pop the ball up to the left side, then immediately after he drove the ball over the right field fence).
Lindblom also looked good, pitching a scoreless inning and 2/3 to finish the game and lower his season ERA to 1.80.
Finally, Aaron Miles scoring from first on a double by Ethier was one of the funniest images I've seen in a long time.  He is a small, hobbit-like man.  

Cons:  As mentioned earlier, Kershaw gave up a homerun to Cody Ransom.  And it was no cheap shot either.  It was gone the second it touched his bat.  Ransom hadn't hit a homerun all year, and in parts of 9seasons in the majors, he has hit a total of 9.  So, of course he hit a homerun against the Dodgers best pitcher.  Why wouldn't he?
Meanwhile, Navarro went hitless, dropping his season average back below .200, while Eugenio Velez, who is not very good, continues to look for his first hit of the season.   Look, I know Gordon is hurting, Furcal's been traded and their aren't a lot of great middle infield options for the Dodgers right now, but can't Ivan DeJesus Jr or Justin Sellers at least get a look?  At least there's some upside in those two.  Eugenio Velez, who is not very good, has zero upside and contributes nothing to this team  now, or the future.  Did I mention he's not very good?  I do hear he's fast, but I have trouble verifying that because I've never seen him on the basepaths before. 
It's not often that we mention negatives about Matt Kemp (much less about Kershaw and Kemp) but I'm not sure what he could've been thinking trying to bunt for a hit.  A guy having an MVP caliber season like he is should pretty much under no circumstances be laying down a bunt.  Even if he had beat it out, it would've been a bad idea.  The Dodgers need his power more than his ability to show off his awesome bunting ability.  By the way, that was sarcasm, because it was a horrible bunt.  We love you, Matt.  We just disagree with this particular decision of yours.  (We don't want to anger him too much, because we'd really like him to sign with the Dodgers long term).

What we learned:  That trotting out an infield of Aaron Miles, Jamey Carroll (nothing against him, he's been very good for this team for two years now, but he still should be a utility player on a better team), Eugenio Velez and James Loney (yes, I remember he homered today, but remember it's just  his fifth of the season), with Dioner Navarro catching, is not going to win many games.  I know some of us were getting excited about the Dodgers playing well of late, but a team that trots those guys out on a regular basis is not a playoff team.  We here at Proven Veteran Leaders don't want to be complete downers, we're just frightened of Ned Colletti getting excited about the "playoff hunt" and trading prospects not on the 40 man roster for, well, Proven Veteran Leaders.  

Things we learned from tonight's game (8/6/11)

I love that Steve Lyons continues to ask him questions.  Hard hitting  coverage from Psycho, here.

Overview:  Captain EO gains a nickname and fans seven in his MLB debut, but Dee Gordon leaves with a shoulder injury.  Dodgers win, 5-3.

Pros:  Nathan Eovaldi starts his major league career off in pretty good fashion, going five innings with seven strikeouts.  He also went one for two at the plate, hitting a single and later scoring a run to help his own cause.  Captain EO (hat tip to twitter's own Chad Moriyama and Robert Huitron for that gem) threw 77 pitches and still looked fresh, but was pulled for a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth.  Andre Ethier got his average back over .300 with a two hit game, and he, Rivera, Miles and Barajas (3 for 4?!?) chipped in RBIs.  On the pitching side, Blake Hawksworth threw two perfect innings and Scott Elbert danced around some shaky defense in the ninth to record his second save of the season.

Cons: DEE GORDON GOT HURT.  Thankfully, it doesn't sound like it's a serious injury, as Gordon wasn't wearing a sling and was back in the dugout laughing with the team after a few innings.  But the Dodgers need to see Gordon play every day for the rest of the season, and a lingering shoulder injury would be disastrous for long term planning's sake.  If Ned doesn't trust Gordon by the end of the season, there's a high chance he could do something stupid (Tejada and O. Cab are free agents) or really stupid (Jimmy Rollins for six years and 100 million?) in the offseason.  Also, Matt Guerrier continues to not be very good- starting to get a little more concerned about that three year deal.  

What we learned:  That Nathan Eovaldi will be the starting pitcher five days from now, and five days after that.  It's one start, so Eovaldi mania should be tempered, but it was certainly an encouraging start.  We're looking forward to seeing more.  A quick word of caution to him, though- don't expect five runs of support every time, Nate.

Does the Nate Eovaldi era start tomorrow?

Peek-a-boo, bitches.

Tonight, the Dodgers open a three game series in Arizona, wrapping up a quick six-game road trip before preparing to take on the Phillies at home starting Monday.  Chad Billingsley is on the mound tonight opposite Josh Collmenter, and Sunday Clayton Kershaw (swoon) takes on Ian Kennedy.  But as of right now, the Dodgers site currently shows this as the matchup for Saturday:

TBA, huh?  Heard his curve is filthy.

What does this mean?  Well, the Dodgers.com writers seem to think that it means we're calling up Nate Eovaldi tonight.  So does Anthony Jackson, who originally tweeted about this on August 2nd.  Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness went so far as to put up a great piece looking at Eovaldi in-depth.  As he shows, Eovaldi wasn't highly regarded prior to this season- he profiled as a middle reliever and didn't crack the Dodgers' top 20 preseason prospects, which is probably why Ned hasn't traded him yet.  This season, however, Eovaldi has put together a great year in AA, and now looks to be a legit mid-rotation candidate on a big league squad.  

Is it a bad idea to call him up now?  Possibly.  While his season in AA has been very good, he doesn't exactly have a proven track record in the minors, and he's still only 21 years old.  Rushing him onto the big league roster before he's ready could set his development back significantly (see: Jackson, Edwin), and if we're just looking to fill a few starts, Dana Eveland and John Ely are both fully capable of giving us replacement player level starts through the end of the year.

Honestly, though, we're excited for the chance of an Eovaldi call-up.  If it turns out things do go horribly awry, we can still plug holes with that Elyveland two headed monster, and there's little doubt Eovaldi has more upside than either of those two.  And to be harshly blunt, we didn't expect anything from Nate Eovaldi.  He was an 11th round draft pick that cost a 250,000 signing bonus to get.  Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure, but he also isn't one of the highly protected big money draft picks we have still getting comfortable in the minors.  This isn't like rushing Zach Lee to LA.  If he succeeds, it's a bonus.  

Plus, we might as well find out what we have right now- his success or failure will affect how the Dodgers proceed in free agency this offseason.  A few average to above-average starts from him down the stretch may save us from the one year, 8 million dollar Justin Duscherer contract you know Ned has tucked away in his top drawer.

What we learned from Tuesday's game (8/2/11)

Kuroda in 1914, the last time the Dodgers provided him with any run support.

Overview: Hiroki Kuroda learns what it takes to get a win.  Kemp does more great stuff.  Dodgers win, 1-0.

Pros: Fun fact- five of Hiroki Kuroda's seven wins have come via shutout.  Look, I think we were all a little disappointed when Kuroda invoked his no trade clause prior to the trade deadline, especially when it came out that the horrifying deadline trade of Trayvon Robinson (he's wearing a Tacoma Rainiers jersey in that link, which I guess means that whole thing wasn't a nightmare I had while laid up with a strained ligament and hopped up on my mother-in-law's arthritis meds) was kind of his fault.  But it's hard to be angry with him when he's pitching shutouts.  Matt Kemp shockingly provided the only offense for the Dodgers by knocking in Dee Gordon in the fourth inning.  Javy Guerra nailed down his ninth save- and yes, saves are overrated, and yes, Javy Guerra is probably not a great choice to be our closer long term, but dammit, he's a rookie who's been a bright spot this season, and I'm happy for his success.

Cons:  Outside of Gordon (2 for 4! get ready for your Profile in Courage, Dee!) and Kemp, no Dodger reached base more than once.  Also, they didn't work a single walk.  Mat Latos is a solid pitcher, but damn.  That's kind of embarrassing.  Good thing our new hitting coach has fixed everything.

What we learned:  Same story, different day.  If teams ever learn how to pitch around Matt Kemp, the Dodgers are screwed.  One interesting thing to note- Andre Ethier sat, with Rivera getting the start in RF.  Mattingly said he was frustrated after a tough game Monday and needed a breather.  But it certainly sounds like the frustration runs a little deeper than that- Roberto Baly of Vin Scully is My Homeboy had some first hand contact with just how frustrated Ethier is/was.  Sounds like those of us hoping to lock up Ethier long term might be out of luck...

Things we learned from last night's game (8/1)

 Overview: Kershaw goes distance, Dodgers actually score runs.  Dodgers 6 Padres 2

 Pros:  Clayton Kershaw. Probably nothing more needs to be said than just his name anymore, but I'm going to try anyway.  Kershaw pitched another complete game, striking out 4 (a low number for him), walking 2 and surrendering 6 hits.  What does that mean?  This was Kershaw on an off-day, without his best stuff.  Then there's this quote from Kershaw after the game when somebody mentioned he was pitching to contact.  "I hate the term pitch to contact," he said. "I'm not trying to let them hit it."  I seriously love this guy.  Instead of spouting off some useless cliche that we hear all the time like "I just have to grind it out" or some shit like that, he gives a real answer.  I've always hated the term pitch to contact too, Clayton.  The win gives him 13 on the season.  Not that the wins stat mean anything for a pitcher, but I have to admit I'm rooting pretty damn hard for him to reach 20.  If for nothing else, it's something to cheer for this season.  Can you imagine if Kershaw manages to win 20 games and Kemp manages to lead the league in RBI's this season?  Again, those stats are useless in trying to evaluate a player because they're so team dependent, but I think in this case it speaks to just how good these guys are that they can put up these numbers on a team so bad.
Speaking of Kemp, he went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and 2 runs scored.  He also probably would've stolen third if Rod Barajas hadn't selfishly singled him home.
Finally, Carroll went 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored, and 2 stolen bases.  I mention this mostly because I started him in my fantasy line up and now look like a genius.

Cons:  The biggest con from yesterday is not from the game itself, but the news that Rubby De La Rosa is hurt and might require Tommy John Surgery.  Richard covered that news in an earlier post.  Check it out here.
Other than that, I don't really have anything negative to say about last night.  It was a good win all around.  Even James Loney, who went 0 for 3, proved once and for all that he's a "run producer" with a sacrifice fly.

What we learned:  How fragile young pitching can be.  We wish De La Rosa the best in his recovery, and pray to any God that will listen that Kershaw doesn't go down with some kind of arm injury.  Because that just might kill us.  Literally.

You thought things were going to get better?

Ow.  Ow.  Ow.

2012 just got a lot scarier.  Rubby De La Rosa, one of the most exciting (read: only) pleasant surprises of the year, has a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and is done for the season, if not longer.  If he does have to undergo Tommy John surgery, which is expected at this point, we won't see him back in the rotation until September of next year at the earliest, but it's more likely 2013 would be the target at this point.  There's a small chance that he won't have to undergo the procedure, but we don't recommend holding your breath.  John Ely has been called up to take his place for the foreseeable future while a course of action is determined.

This is a huge blow, on a lot of different levels.  Rubby was outperforming pretty much everyone's expectations of him this season-  he was averaging a strikeout per inning in the majors, and opponents were hitting just .244 against him.  Sure, his control wasn't perfect, but for a 23 year old that throws 100mph, you can't expect pinpoint control.  Of course, those shiny 100mph fastballs have their price, and it looks like the bill just came due.

What does this all mean?  Well, if Tommy John surgery is necessary, the team's rotation- one of the only areas where it seemed fairly well-off going into next year- becomes a big question mark.  Assuming he's gone, next year's rotation now reads as Kershaw/Billingsley/Lilly/Ely/?. It certainly helps the odds of Hiroki Kuroda returning to the team, if he decides to stay in the US.  And with a strong spring training, you could easily see the team rolling the dice on Zach Lee or Nate Eovaldi sneaking on in place of Ely.  With all the holes in the lineup next year, and all the uncertainty with the team's payroll and financial obligations (not to mention the weak FA pitching market), crossing our fingers for the next batch of prospects to mature may be the best bet we have to replace RDLR's quality innings next season.

That said, with a healthy RDLR back and ready to go, 2013's rotation is STACKED.  Kershaw/Bills/RDLR/Z. Lee/Lilly is pretty filthy, and hopefully by that point one of our other pitchers will have developed enough to push Lilly out entirely.  Proven Veteran Leaders- always looking on the bright side of things.

Angry like the Wolff

Whoa.  When did John McCain and Ernest Borgnine find the time to clone this guy?

Just a quick update this morning: lost in the shuffle that was yesterday's disastrous trade deadline, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports that Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff publicly called for Frank McCourt to sell the team, making him the first MLB owner to make an on-the-record statement regarding the Dodgers' ownership woes.  

And the impetus behind finally making a public statement?  Not the $35,000,000 reportedly spent on the divorce.  Not the fact that the team filed for bankruptcy.  Not the dozens, if not hundreds, of personal mud-slinging attacks between McCourts in public, bringing transgression after transgression against themselves and the Dodgers to light.  Wolff finally went public because McCourt dared to question Bud Selig's salary as MLB commissioner.

"For anyone to seek to diminish Bud's accomplishments in order to rationalize their own actions is, in my opinion, ludicrous and hugely disingenuous," Wolff is quoted in the article as saying.  

You know what?  We'll take it.  As ridiculous as it is that this is what finally pushed the owners to publicly speak out, the fact of the matter is that this is a pretty big deal.  The owners are, to put it mildly, notoriously tight lipped, and while off the record comments and 'anonymous' interviews with GMs and owners that are critical of  McCourt have surfaced in the last few months, that fact that one went public shows just how fed up they all must be.  That it was Wolff, who makes his home here in Los Angeles and has been brought up several times in the past as a potential Dodgers owner if/when McCourt is ousted, just makes it better.   

We've stayed away from most of the divorce coverage here because 1) we are woefully ill-equipped to understand most of the hundreds of pages of court documents filed back and forth (we're not very bright here) and 2) we're doing our best to remain positive in our coverage of the team.  But having another owner unload on McCourt is too juicy to pass up.  The best quote from Wolff is towards the end of the article: "I can't think of one owner that is not supportive of the actions taken by MLB," Wolff said.  You'd think that if that weren't true, other franchise owners would have released a statement in support of McCourt by now- that is a clear line in the sand drawn by Wolff that no one will back McCourt in his showdown.  


So far, there hasn't been a peep from any other franchise.  

Things We Learned from Today's Game (7/31/11)

We decided to feature a picture of Blake Hawksworth today because, well, when is he ever going to be featured again?




Overview:  Rubby's De La Roasted.  Diamondbacks 6 Dodgers 3

Pros:  Andre Ethier, before flying out to end the game, collected four hits in his first four hit game of the season.  Matt Kemp had a couple hits, though left 3 on base as well.  Juan Rivera, who started for the second time in a row at first base (is management finally realizing that James Loney is just not very good?), contributed two hits including an RBI single.  Dioner Navarro had something of a tale of two games in that he homered and threw out two runners attempting to steal second, but he also grounded into a double play, struck out to end a rally and lost a wild pitch in an embarrassing fashion, allowing Gerardo Parra to go from first all the way to third.  Kudos also go to Blake Hawksworth, who tossed two scoreless innings when De La Rosa failed to make it into the fifth.

Cons:  Speaking of De La rosa, he labored through four innings, needing 103 pitches to do it, while walking four and giving up 3 runs.  We've seen flashes of his potential, but clearly there's still some work to be done in his development.  Hong-Chih Kuo  didn't fare any better.  In his one inning he walked one, gave up 3 hits, one of them a two run homerun to Parra, his second of the game.  Kuo had a rough July, in which he only pitched 4 and 2/3 innings.  In that span he has walked 8 and given up 7 runs, good for a 13.50 ERA.  Clearly he's having some issues, but our question is this:  If you don't trust a guy enough to pitch more than a few innings a month, why even have him on the roster?  He's not going to pitch himself out of his slump while sitting in the bullpen.
 As for the other cons of today's game.  Well, Eugenio Velez is still inexplicably on the roster, Aaron Miles put up an 0fer and the Diamondbacks announcers (I live in Phoenix) are painful to listen to.  They chastised Rafael Furcal for about ten minutes because he never gave up his number 15 jersey, never mind that he'd been wearing the number in a Dodgers uniform for over 5 years, to Davey Lopes.  Then they urged the Diamondbacks to not look ahead to their big series starting tomorrow against San Francisco  until today's game was over, and then proceeded to talk about the big series against San Francisco for the entire game.  I miss Vin Scully everyday.

What we Learned:  That we're not any less upset about Ned Colletti's asinine trade now then we were five hours ago.  A team, who clearly desperately needs offense, can't just trade away one of their top offensive prospects because they're thin at catcher. 

We've changed our minds.

This deal was brilliant.  Just look at that stache.  AND his nickname is Fed Ex.  Ned Colletti probably assumes that A) they must be related, and B) Federowicz moonlights as a deliveryman.

Well, that came out of left field. And by that, I mean Trayvon Robinson.

You mean that was today?  Oh, shit. Guess I better trade my one good Minor League piece.

Right as the trade deadline passed, reports started coming in about Erik Bedard going to the Red Sox.  A strange pickup, considering he hasn't been healthy and is notoriously press and attention shy, but whatever.  I nodded and continued my write up about how the Dodgers blew their chance to acquire some IF/C prospects by spinning off their veteran pieces.

Oh, how stupid of me.  Why trade veterans when we can get rid of our highly regarded minor leaguers instead? The Dodgers have traded Trayvon Robinson in a very confusing three team deal that brings Boston C prospect Tim Federowicz and Seattle Mariners Red Sox pitching prospects Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez.

I'm just freestyling here, as info is still coming in and there hasn't really been time to adequately process this information, but my initial reaction to this deal is WHYGODWHYHAVEYOUFORSAKENUS?

Sorry about that.  This is just so ridiculously ill-conceived that I don't even know what to say.  Trayvon Robinson has improved every year he's played in the minor league system, going from org. depth to fringe prospect to legit future piece of the big-league future.  I don't think he was ever going to play in an All-Star game, but he profiled as a decent hitter with plus defense that could play all three outfield positions.  He was going to allow us to move Jerry Sands to move to first base to replace Loney and free up money to address our infield disaster.  He was cheap, young, productive, and healthy, things this team needs desperately.

And the return?  We get a guy that projects as a backup catcher, and two pitchers I can't even find scouting reports for.  

Look, I know that Ned's idea here was to deal from our strength in an effort to shore up a very weak position in the organization.  And maybe details will emerge that paint Fife & Rodriguez as more than just minor league cannon fodder.  But I can't help but see this as yet another example of Colletti's massive ineptitude towards his farm system.  You don't trade a plus prospect for a middling prospect.  Or two.  Or three.  You trade off guys with expiring contracts for middling prospects.  At least, that's what a GOOD GM does.  

Things we learned from last night's game (7/30/11)

Chad Billingsley, having a catch with a fan in the middle of the sixth inning.

Overview: Billingsley loses control, Mattingly lets him.  Kemp still good.  Dodgers lose, 6-4.

Pros: Matt Kemp makes baseball look easy.  He had a little help from the offense, as well- Tony Gwynn Jr. had a couple of hits, including a triple, and Jamey Carroll reached base twice as well.  Casey Blake, back from the DL, went 0 for 3, but had a sacrifice fly and made the D'backs pitchers work, which was a pleasant change of pace from Uribe.  On the pitching side, Scott Elbert went two scoreless and Josh Lindblom, called up when Kenley Jansen went on the DL for heart arrythmia, pitched a scoreless ninth.

Cons: Don Mattingly.  I'm usually a Donnie Baseball supporter- aside from his weird fascination with Dioner Navarro, that is.  But leaving Billingsley out to die on the vine in the sixth inning was inexcusable.  Bills started the game pretty shaky, allowing two hits in the first and then loading the bases with no outs in the second.  After that, though, he buckled down, allowing only a sac fly in that frame and then getting through the fifth with only two more singles.  As soon as he took the mound in the sixth, though, it was obvious he was done.  Something happened mechanically, to the point that Chad was literally falling over after every pitch, and he just couldn't find the strike zone at all.  So what did Mattingly do?  He left him in to face the next seven batters.  Bills got two outs, walked four and gave up a RBI single, finally (but not mercifully) being pulled after walking Kelly Johnson to load the bases for a second time.  In came Matt Guerrier to face Justin Upton, and if you think Guerrier mowed him down to end the threat, you haven't been watching the Dodgers in 2011.  One bases clearing double later, the D'backs had all the offense they'd need, and that was it.

What we learned: That Billingsley should not have been left in to face seven guys in the sixth.  Seriously.  Everyone- even Vin Scully- knew there was something wrong immediately in the inning, yet Mattingly and Honeycutt didn't make a move until far too late.  It was near heartbreaking watching Billingsley implode on the mound, as he obviously knew he had lost his rhythm and couldn't get it back.  Also, we learned that Mike McDougal and Matt Guerrier have some sort of perverse game going on to see who can allow more inherited runners to score.

******

In other news, Ned Colletti said yesterday that he isn't planning on making any more deadline deals, so this might be a quiet few hours leading to the deadline.  We're still waiting to hear what the return is in the Furcal to STL deal, but Octavio Dotel hasn't checked out of his hotel yet, so it doesn't look like Ned got his guy.

Blake activated from DL stint for neck stiffness; Uribe to DL with groin strain. Related?

"Lower... lower..."

Amidst the flurry of activity leading up to tomorrow's trade deadline, the Dodgers have made a different kind of roster move: Casey Blake has been activated from the DL, with Juan Uribe replacing him there after trying- and failing- to play through a groin strain.

Sexual innuendo aside, I'm all for anything that gets Juan Uribe out of the lineup, and it's nice to see Blake again in what will almost certainly be his last season in Dodger blue.  While it'd be nice to pay lip service to the idea that this will hurt Uribe's chances to get picked up as a waiver claim in the next few weeks, well... that's not going to happen.  So enjoy having Casey Blake back on the field, for as long as his body will allow, and try to pretend for the next 15 or so days that we don't have Juan Uribe signed for the next two seasons.  Ugh.

Hiroki Kuroda says the East Coast can F off, will remain a Dodger for remainder of season.

Kuroda, preparing to show Ned Colletti just how strong his pimp hand is.

Broken simultaneously on twitter by Ken Gurnick and Dylan Hernandez a few minutes ago: Hiroki Kuroda has reportedly informed the Dodgers that he will NOT approve a trade, and will remain with the team for the rest of the season.  We love Hiroki, but damn.  There goes the (admittedly faint) hopes of spinning the ONE legit trade piece on the Dodgers for a top flight prospect.  While this certainly bodes well for his possible return this offseason, it would have been nice to add some 3B/C/1B prospects to the farm system.  Ah, well.

UPDATED: The End of the Rafael Fucal Era

Um, yeah.  About that...

UPDATE: Dodgers receive Alex Castellanos, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Castellanos, a 10th round pick in the 2008 draft, is having a pretty good season in AA this year, hitting .319/.379/.562/.941 overall, but is already 24 (25 next week- happy birthday, Alex) and has 94 strikeouts in 391 ABs so far this year.  He looks to be primarily a RF, but has played 17 games in CF this season, and has played 1B, 2B, 3B, and all 3 OF positions in his minor league career.  He even has 1 game at SS in 2008, where he apparently made 2 errors.  Overall, he looks to be a little better than a typical depth guy, as his power and speed both look solid, but he needs to cut down his K rate before he'll have a shot at moving forward in the organization.

Details are still coming in,  but it appears all but certain that Rafael Furcal is about to join the St. Louis Cardinals, pending his approval as a 10-and-5 player.  It's certainly bittersweet seeing Furcal go- as everyone with even a passing knowledge of Dodger baseball knows, when healthy Furcal had the ability to be one of the most dominating players in all of baseball.  Unfortunately for him and the Dodgers, those healthy periods were rare, increasingly so in the last few years.

We still don't know what the Dodgers are getting in return for Furcal.  Reports say that cash is going along with Furcal in the deal, so it doesn't sound like a straight salary dump, but odds are the return for him won't be much more than a fringe-y prospect.  It also sounds like this trade closes the door on any trade for Jamey Carroll that may have been in the works, as the Dodgers have stated previously that they were open to trading one, but not both, of the players.

Truthfully, while it's a little sad to see Raffy go, this is the best possible situation for all involved.  It's thankfully clear now that Colletti doesn't see the Dodgers' recent mini-hot streak as a sign that they can compete in the division/wild card race and isn't going to make any ill-advised trades for more PVLs (as much as our blog title wishes it were so).  Dee Gordon should be boarding a plane bound for LAX any minute now, adding- at the very least- some much needed fun to the final two months of the season.  Rafael Furcal gets to go play meaningful games every day and attempt to rebuild a little value going into a very uncertain free agency.  And while the Dodgers are sending cash along in the deal, it will save a little payroll space in the grand scheme of things, maybe (?) giving a little more flexibility in the offseason to fill some of the gaping holes at pretty much any infield position.

Plus, we can all cross our fingers that  maybe Colletti got The Riot back in return.