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.
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