I'm back with another look at some of my best tweets from August, just in case you haven't been following me on Twitter.
- Some of the pitches [Jair] Jurrjens threw that inning were fatter than a chubby child going to work on a chocolate cake. Also, probably as ugly.
- Realized I've neglected talking about the Claudio Vargas trade. I'd say the biggest factor behind this decision would be that I don't care.
- Jon Miller's egg yolk shirt is really disturbing me.
- Interesting to note that Schmidt was put on the DL today with Terrible-initis. It's not known if there is a cure...
- In my opinion, and I can only say this because I'm not affiliated with MLB, is that homeplate umpire Mike Reilly sucks.
- Aww. Puns? Don't do this to me. RT @DodgertownUSA Garko hits one into the Castro District to end the game. #Dodgers win game one vs #Giants.
- [James] McDonald should actually bean [Pablo] Sandoval now. I want to see Sandoval explode into a hundred angry bits of Orange Chicken. (Panda? Get it?)
- In retrospect, that last tweet was in poor taste. (Taste? Chicken? Get it?) But still, I'm actually not sure if I got the connection I made.
- Just a thought watching baseball highlights last night: Adam Dunn hit his 31st HR (86 RBIs), maybe we should've signed him this offseason. [Dunn currently: 35 HRs, 91 RBIs]
- Plaschke on ESPN says Dodgers are in trouble because they didn't add a starting pitcher. Most runs by a Dodger starter in last 10 games: 4.
- In fact, in all of August, no Dodger starter has given up more than 4 runs. [Dodger starter ERA in August: 3.33]
- Online banking site asked me if I wanted to try Giants Banking (checks with the SF Giants logo and whatnot). I almost canceled my account.
- BEES! That's horrifying. That would ruin the game for me. I hate leaving early, but being attacked by a swarm of bees might be my exception.
That's all folks.
Ok, let's do the hitters now.
And again, we'll use the good old system of COLD, HOT, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Rafael Furcal - .256, 4 HR, 21 RBIs, 36 BBs, 49 Ks, 5-9 SBs, .682 OPS - What happened to the guy who came out of the gates last year as a potential MVP candidate? He just hasn't been there this year. At least, on the bright side, he's been better since Manny's return. Take a look at our offense now, and imagine adding a Furcal in full swing. It could be scary.
- Russell Martin - .258, 2 HR, 27 RBIs, 48 BBs, 54 Ks, 8-12 SBs, .688 OPS - The really sad thing is that you look at our struggling lead-off hitter's numbers and realize they're almost the same numbers as another guy who most people thought would be a strong part of our offense this season. Neither one is really hitting. Both have more strikeouts than walks. Neither are stealing bases at a high enough percentage. Very few homeruns and RBIs, bad averages and OPS. These are ugly numbers.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Manny Ramírez - .355, 9 HR, 29 RBIs, 31 BBs, 21 Ks, 1.156 OPS - This is a weird one. Yes, Manny was gone for 50 games. And yes, it probably hurt us. But for God's sake, he's out-hitting Martin! I can't label him "COLD." He was gone, sure, but whenever he is here, he's still an amazing hitter.
- Orlando Hudson - .283, 7 HR, 48 RBIs, 38 BBs, 64 Ks, 6 SBs, .779 OPS - Hudson's had two seasons. There was All-Star Hudson, who in April and May hit .332, had a .877 OPS, and hit for the cycle. Then there's flailing Hudson, who after the beginning of June has hit .205, with a .618 OPS. On the bright side, he has hit more homeruns in the second part, so... that's something.
- Andre Ethier - .250, 18 HR, 56 RBIs, 39 BBs, 69 Ks, .813 OPS - It's so weird how I love some parts of Either's stats, and hate other parts. I love the 18 HRs and 56 RBIs. I hate the .250 average, and the 69 strikeouts. Ethier isn't looking like Andre Ethier, so much as he's looking like Adam Dunn. And it's a little odd.
HOT:
- Juan Pierre - .328, 19 BBs, 19 Ks, 23-31 SBs, .804 OPS - Pierre's two seasons have been well documented. I won't rehash them. The point remains, Pierre took over well during Manny's absence. And look at the OPS. It's not great compared to other people, but it's 83 points higher than his career average, so... that's something.
- Casey Blake - .285, 12 HRs, 55 RBIs, 36 BBs, 62 Ks, .850 OPS - Blake even added two stolen bases this first half, in one game! Which reminds me... He could steal 100 bases in a season, but chooses not to, because he doesn't like to dirty his beard. Casey Blake is... the Most Interesting 3rd Baseman in the World.
- James Loney - .281, 7 HRs, 54 RBIs, 37 BBs, 36 Ks, 6-7 SBs, .752 OPS - The OPS is ugly, but I like the RBI numbers and I like the BB to K ratio. I even like the stolen bases. Not bad. And call it a hunch, but I'm feeling a good second half coming for Loney.
- Matt Kemp - .320, 11 HR, 50 RBIs, 34 BBs, 78 Ks, 19-23 SBs, .879 OPS - I don't care that you didn't get named to the team, you're my All-Star, Kemp. Those are some excellent numbers. The one black mark being the 78 strikeouts. However, he makes up for it in my book with another nice stat: 10 outfield assists so far this season. Nice. Kemp is slowly blossoming into the guy we all thought he could be. A true 5-tool player.
Okey dokey folks. There's your first half. Now, to enjoy the All-Star game.
By the way, in case you haven't noticed it yet, I've started a Twitter account. I'm going to try and live-blog during Dodger games and other baseball events. If you have a Twitter account, follow me. Please. Don't make me beg.
So some stuff happened while I was gone. Here's a quick breakdown.
On Thursday, 20-year-old rookie Clayton Kershaw did what 35-year-old veteran Derek Lowe couldn't, shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.
Brad Penny made a good return Friday and the Dodgers showed some power to win the first game in the series against the San Francisco Giants.
Then we lost the next two games when our bullpen blew the lead late in the game, and while we should have swept the Giants, we ended up losing two out of three. And while we should have been in first place in the NL West by 1/2 a game, we now sit 1.5 games behind the Diamondbacks.
While in Arizona, I did manage to put some bad voodoo on the Diamondbacks. Orlando Hudson is going to be out for the rest of the year with a wrist injury. I was even watching that on Arizona's Fox Sports channel when it happened. Apparently, however, I wasn't in Phoenix long enough, as they picked up Adam Dunn today for stretch run. This is getting interesting.
The Dodgers will start a four game series with the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:10 L.A. time.
With less than a week away from the trade deadline, the Dodgers acquired veteran 3rd baseman Casey Blake from the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguers Jon Meloan and Carlos Santana.
There are some positives and negatives to this trade:
First, if the Dodgers were looking for a big bat (a homerun hitter the likes of Adam Dunn, Mark Teixeira, or Jason Bay), Blake won't be it. Blake did have 28 homeruns in 2004, but has seen his power numbers decline each year since.
Blake, however, does come cheaply enough (more on that below) and will probably fit in nicely with the current line-up. His 11 homeruns this year are tied for the team lead (with Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp), his 58 RBIs put him in the lead, one more than James Loney, and his .289 average puts him in 4th place on the team in between Matt Kemp (.290) and Andre Ethier (.277).
As for what the Dodgers gave up for Blake, it's not too bad. Jon Meloan had some promise, but his role was unsure with the Dodgers. He started as a reliever, and had some success, but was recently converted to a starter and struggled in Triple-A. He might ultimately find success in Cleveland, but the Dodgers have enough quality pitchers that they can afford to see Meloan go.
Carlos Santana was an intriguing player. He is a switch hitting catcher in Single-A who was batting .323 with 14 homeruns and 96 RBIs and is, supposedly, pretty good defensively with a strong arm. He might someday be a very good catcher, but the Dodgers currently have a very good catcher (an All-Star to be exact) in Russell Martin. They also have Lucas May, a 23-year old catching prospect playing in Double-A right now. He's a pretty good hitter, and a year closer to the major leagues than Santana was, so Santana became expendable. It is possible that in a few years, Santana could still be as good a player? Yes, but you never know how a prospect will perform in the future, and his value might never have been higher than it was now. How Santana evolves might be the biggest indicator of the success of this trade. That will definitely be something to keep an eye on.
And while Blake isn't the impact bat the Dodgers probably need to go deep into the playoffs, in the weak NL West, Blake might be enough to at least get the Dodgers into the playoffs. Ultimately, though, Blake is a rent-a-player. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, and the Dodgers won't probably make too much effort to resign him.
And that is why I'm also a little worried. Trading for Blake is a move for this season, not for the future, and there has been talk now, that since the Dodgers have Blake, Andy LaRoche might be next to be traded. This would be a big mistake in my opinion. LaRoche, I believe, is our 3rd baseman of the future. Given that Blake is 35, and will most likely move on at the end of the season, he's obviously not a long term solution at 3rd, and if LaRoche is traded, the future of 3rd base becomes a big question mark again. 
LaRoche has not really been able to get his bat going this year due to injuries and inconsistent playing time, but I feel that given the 3rd base job, he will perform. Also, by many scout's projections, LaRoche is believed to have the best power of any of the current Dodger young players (Loney, Kemp, Martin, etc.). LaRoche will be valuable to us in the future. I feel the best plan would be to send Blake DeWitt down to Triple-A and have him play 2nd base. I feel that is where DeWitt's future is, considing his projection to hit for high average, but low power, plus his good range makes him an ideal candidate for 2nd. He can take that spot over after Jeff Kent most likely retires at the end of this year. As for now, he needs to learn better to adjust to pitching, as his batting average has significantly dropped since the end of May. For now, allow LaRoche to stay with the team, play backup to Blake, play a little 2nd on Kent's off-days, and even give Loney a day off or two at 1st. LaRoche has nothing left to prove at Triple-A, but he still has a lot more to show at the major league level, he just needs to be given the chance.
Currently, the move to acquire Casey Blake seems to be a positive one. Two prospects were lost but the question now is what corresponding moves to the trade will be. I just hope moves aren't made (in desperation) to try and win in the present that will end up hurting us in the future.
