So, I was at the game last night. What? Don't believe me? I'm not sure why you wouldn't. But that's ok. I have proof!
I got on television!
See me? No?
How about now? I'm the pixel blob on the right. The other two pixel blobs are my mom and grandpa. I think...
By the way, I know it's been said many times before, but Dodger Stadium is really one of the best baseball parks in the world.
Seriously.
But, I digress. While at the game, some interesting stuff went down. And we should talk about it...
Ronnie Belliard! Nice homerun!
Oh... and we traded for Jim Thome and Jon Garland. Ok, I guess if we have to talk about this, let's talk about it.
We got Thome for virtually nothing. An older low-A prospect who wasn't hitting too well, which is great.
And Thome certainly fills a void for us. He'll provide an excellent pinch hitting option off the bench, and looking into the all-to-distant future, a DH in an American League ballpark.
My only gripe with the Thome trade (and it is very minor) is just a question of how much we can actually use him. Thome himself told Ned Colletti that he can't really play first base anymore (though during the phone call he personally placed to Colletti, he did say that he was perfectly happy riding the bench and pinch hitting which, to me, shows good character from a guy I already liked). So, Thome will primarily be used as a pinch hitter. Maybe he'll get a start once or twice (if there are no lefties in the lineup to hit it at him) but ultimately, we're kinda just looking at something like 30-40 at-bats for Thome, and the possibility that somewhere down the line we use him at DH anywhere from 2-4 games. It's not too much. That's the danger with acquiring anyone this late in the year.
However, (and remember, I warned you this was just a small gripe) when looking at what we gave up for him, if Thome can affect a game or two with even just a couple of those at-bats, then he's given us value.
And now, we turn to the Jon Garland trade. At first, admittedly, a bit of a head-scratcher. Geez... I don't like that term at all. Conundrum is too extreme though. I'll have to work on this.
But, again, I digress.
Garland was acquired for a PTBNL. Now, before we discuss Garland's value, the PTBNL needs to be addressed.
So far, the only name being branded about is Tony Abreu, which would be unfortunate. Yes, Tony Abreu is probably too much for Garland, though there are certainly enough options for the positions that Abreu plays (third and shortstop are shored up for the next several years, and resigning Orlando Hudson, Ivan DeJesus Jr., and Blake DeWitt are all options at 2nd next year, not to mention Chin-lung Hu, who has recently had a resurgence in AAA). But. But... Tony Abreu's name is only being brought up in the most flimsy of manners. The D-backs beat writer said on his Twitter account that Dodger players were saying that Abreu was the PTBNL. Now, obviously, I don't know anything about a professional clubhouse, but I was under the assumption that the players weren't making the trades.
In any case, we'll see. Again, Abreu for Garland is probably too much, but even if it is Abreu, I'm not going to be too broken up over it.
Now, for Garland's worth. Like Thome, Garland probably won't be able to contribute too much this season. He'll most likely make 5-6 starts, though some of his value might come if his arrival makes Joe Torre comfortable enough to go with a six-man rotation. If Garland's arrival allows Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley (or both) to skip a start or two while still providing quality pitching in their place, he'll have provided value.
The next question comes if (when?) we make the playoffs. Garland might or might not be the 4th starter. He'll probably battle it out with Kuroda for that spot, though I wouldn't mind giving it to Garland, given his prior playoff and World Series experience (2 excellent starts: 9 IP, 2 ER and 7 IP, 2 ER). Not to say Kuroda's two starts last year weren't quality, they just weren't as good. Either way, I'd be comfortable with both pitchers on the mound.
Looking at the big picture, I'm happy with both trades. Yes, the PTBNL in the Garland trade might dampen my happiness a bit, but I think I'll still take it.
Overall, pretty good, and kind of exciting to have so much happen on one night...
I mean, Ronnie Belliard hit a homerun in his first at-bat with the Dodgers.
How cool is that?
Player: Chin-lung Hu
2008 Stats: .181, nine RBIs, 23 Ks
2008 Analysis: Chin-lung Hu had a tough time at the plate. Well, that might be an understatement. Hu was getting buried at the plate. His at-bats looked bad. He was wailing away, hardly making contact, or not even doing that. There's been talk that he's had eye issues, and he did apparently adjust his contacts (or something like that) before going back to AAA, where he suddenly began to hit again. I think he has it within himself to be a good hitter, he just needs to hit. Easy enough, right?
Defensively, Hu was excellent. Only one error in 165 total chances between playing time at 2nd and shortstop (no errors in 121 total chances at short). But defense has always been Hu's strong point.
2009 Outlook: Hu is going to turn 25 before the season starts, so it's hard to say this is Hu's last shot, but if Hu can't crack it at Spring Training this year... well... Ivan De Jesus is approaching quickly. I'm willing to give Hu the benefit of the doubt though. I want to give him Spring Training to prove he can see well enough to hit decently, and if he can, I'd be willing to give him either of the middle infield positions to start the season (depending of course, on what the situation is there at the time). Hu is just a year removed from being the Dodger Minor League Player of the Year, so he does deserve another shot, but not too many more...
So, there's been a lot of talk about something Dodgers President Jamie McCourt said earlier this week.
From the L.A. Times:
"If you bring somebody in to play and pay them, pick a number, $30 million, does that seem a little weird to you?" Jamie McCourt asked in an interview at the Evergreen Recreation Center in East Los Angeles. "That's what we're trying to figure out. We're really trying to see it through the eyes of our fans. We're really trying to understand, would they rather have the 50 fields?"
Now, obviously, there has been a tremendous amount of backlash to this quote. The McCourt's insist they were speaking on a philosophical hypothetical level. Which very well could be the case. However, many are viewing McCourt's words to be something else... a testing of the waters.First off, when did both charity and free agents become mutually exclusive? Why not have both? In any case, should this be just a hypothetical statement, then all is forgiven.
If this statement is really inferring that the McCourt's won't be ponying up some cash to bring in quality free agents this offseason, then there are going to be some issues.
The money that Dodger fans spend on going to games or purchasing merchandise is, at least by my assumptions, going back into the team. 
Yes, I know a lot of it is going into Frank McCourt's pocket, or to pay team President Jamie McCourt's salary. But I still assume the rest of it will go back into the team. It's bad enough when I see ticket prices being raised to Frank McCourt can build some kind of crazy super mall in the front of the stadium, but to think that the money I'm spending is going to be put into something that I'm never going to see the fruits of, then I'm going to start seriously reconsidering where I put my money.
I mean really, putting money into things you don't gain anything from? That's what property taxes are for.
If the McCourt's want to set up a foundation for building baseball fields, then do that, but keep the Dodger money away from the charity money. Those are two different piles of money, as well they should be.
Look, there's still obviously a lot to be seen with the backlash from all this. Will the McCourt's pay for quality free agents or not? Within the next couple months, we'll start to figure out what this all means. I'm not really ready to completely bash the McCourt's yet on some quote that might not mean anything in a few weeks.
But I am a little worried. And quite frankly, Jamie McCourt, if you really want to know what the Dodger fans think, these are the poll results from the L.A. Times:
That's right, folks. The Dodgers mean a lot to a lot of people. You can't even stick poor kids in between Dodgers and their fans. And I'm with them. Don't make us choose between the Dodgers and the kids, because first and foremost, I want my team to win. Is that really so wrong?
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving people. They'll be a new player profile up tonight. It's Chin-lung Hu. Don't get too excited...
Ok, back to player profiles, continuing at shortstop where we left off.
Player: Rafael Furcal
2008 Stats: .357, five homeruns, 16 RBIs, eight stolen bases, .439 OBP, .573 Slugging
2008 Analysis: What an interesting year Rafael Furcal had. He played in only 36 games this year, his lowest ever since he came up to the majors in 2000. In those 36 games, however, he really made it count. By comparison, Furcal had about 80 less at-bats than Ángel Berroa and really demolished any and all of Berroa's stats.
For the first month and change, Furcal was, dare I say, looking like an MVP candidate. He was on fire! Then he was scratched from a few starts for some discomfort in his back. And then he needed a 15-day DL trip. Then that DL trip lasted over a month. Furcal tried to come back and made it through a couple AAA rehab games before feeling the discomfort again. Then he had back surgery. And yeah...
Furcal came back from back surgery late in the season and started all eight Dodger playoff games. He went .258, with a .378 OBP, and scored nine runs. It was a not-bad post-season, though Furcal did commit some very badly timed errors at shortstop that led to some losses. I'd chalk that up to coming back too soon from heavy surgery on his back, and I can really fault a guy for trying to help his team.
2009 Outlook: Furcal is currently a free agent and is getting a lot of interest from various teams. Personally, I'd like to see the Dodgers try and get Furcal back. I originally hoped to give him a short deal with incentives, but it looks now like despite the fact he had some injury questions, some team is going to give Furcal a good deal.
That being the case, even though he might be an injury question mark, I still want Furcal back. When healthy, he's probably in the Top 5 of all current lead-off hitters. He can hit for average, he's got some power, he can field, he can still steal bases. He's the spark plug for the lineup, and if we can be assured he healthy, I say give him whatever he wants, but maybe have Chin-lung Hu or Ivan De Jesus waiting in the wings...
The Dodgers are out slugged by the Padres and fail to complete the three game sweep.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 10-11. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-3. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 29th save.
The pitching was a bit shaky today. The Dodgers used five different pitchers and each gave up at least one run. Eric Stults started. He went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning each (the 8th and 9th respectively) and each gave up a run.
The Dodgers had a bit of an odd game offensively. 16 different players had at-bats. 
Chin-lung Hu went 2-3 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. Jason Repko went 1-1 and drew two walks. Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and a run scored. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt had an odd game. He went 0-1 and scored two runs without collecting a hit or walk. He came in as a pinch runner and was brought home, then later was hit by a pitch and came around to score again.
The important event today happened before the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers clinched the NL West before today's game even started. The Dodgers will travel now to San Francisco to begin their last series of the season. The three game weekend series begins Friday at 7:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to seven games over .500 (83-76).
Opinion: There's not much to say about this game, as will probably be the case for the next three games as well. 
The starting lineup was different, but it didn't really matter because the scrubs were all in by the 5th inning. We're just getting everyone out there and getting them some playing time. We are going to see a lot of playing time for Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu this weekend, and that's fine because we have nothing to gain by winning the next three games, but the possibility of losing a starter to injury before the playoffs is horrifying. That said, it would be nice to go into the playoffs with at least 85 wins, not at the cost of losing someone, but just for some pride and a nice even number. The important thing, though, is that we are in the playoffs, and for now, I'll just celebrate that.
So there's been talk recently about the shortstop position and what the Dodgers should do there.
Well, first and foremost, Nomar Garciaparra deserves the chance to continue showing the Dodgers he can handle short, which I believe, if he can stay healthy, he can.
However, we do know how injury prone Nomar is. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Nomar could find his way back to the DL by the end of the season, and if he does, we don't have any real good solutions at short.
Recently, a lot of talk centered around the Dodgers trading for Jack Wilson from the Pirates. I don't hate the idea as far as Wilson the player, but from what I've heard, Wilson likes the Pirates and the Pirates like Wilson so they aren't too willing to part with him. And that means if we want him, we can't just ship them any nobody and they send us Wilson as a salary dump. We'd need to send them something of value, and I definitely don't think the Dodgers should give up any real value for Jack Wilson.
Also, yesterday, Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com noted in his game recap:
"After hearing constant rumors during the day that he was headed home to Detroit in exchange for Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria, Lowe focused on outdueling Tim Hudson in a 2-1 win over the Braves..."
After hearing about a really bad possible trade with Cleveland that was vetoed a few days ago, now there's news of this. Again, what a ridiculous trade. How would giving up a solid part of our starting rotation for a shortstop who has not been hitting well at all this year help us? Would Renteria really help us win more games than Derek Lowe would? If we trade Derek Lowe, we are basically saying we are out of it and not looking to make the playoffs this year, and if that's the case, trade him for a good prospect, not a declining, older shortstop.
MLB.com has a section devoted to the trading block, and one specifically dedicated to middle infielders.
Here are some options I'd look at if we were to try and pick up a shortstop:
There is also David Eckstein. I like him as a player, but he's not great, and he's probably not a long term solution. However, he could be probably be gotten pretty cheaply. There is a question as to how much he has left but he might be worth a shot if it doesn't cost us much.
Cristian Guzmán is having a great season, and is still fairly young. The page says the Nationals might try to negotiate an extension with him, but if they feel they can't they might trade him. The Nationals, however, are one of those teams that enjoy building up themselves with prospects, so they might ask for a good amount from us for him.
The page also mentions Juan Uribe. I think Colletti tried getting Uribe before Berroa. He's not too bad. He's hit for power in the past, but he's got a pretty low average. He's pretty good defensively, and the page says that might be enough for the White Sox to keep him.
Also, Felipe Lopez. The page says he's making 4.9 million this year. He had one good year in 2005 and hasn't come close since, he's got ok speed. I think I'd only take him if he came really cheap.
Finally, from the page, Bill Hall. His stats have been sagging since his great year in 2006 so that might make him cheaper to come by, but I don't care for his complaining over playing time. There is also the question of if he can play ss, he hasn't since 2006, though he has been playing some infield this season. He still might cost a pretty penny, and I'm not sure if it's worth it for the Dodgers.
Now, thinking outside the box a little bit, there are two other options the page didn't mention. There is an issue however, and that is that they are both from NL West teams and there always seems to be an issue trading within the division.
In any case, the Rockies have four players who can all play in the middle infield positions: Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, and Omar Quintanilla. Quintanilla isn't too good a hitter, and the Rockies are high on Stewart and Tulowitzki, so I see Barmes as an option. He had a good year in 2005, has struggled a little since, but is making a good comeback this year, and is still young enough to be a long term solution at short for us. There is the question, though, of how much it will cost us and if we are willing to deal within the division.
Another idea from in the division might be Khalil Greene from San Diego. He's under performing this year, and many in San Diego are losing patience with him, which could make him a cheaper pickup. He's solid defensively, and can hit for some power, even in ridiculous Petco Park. The main issue is that the Padres don't have anyone to replace him. Therefore, we'd need a package that included a replacement ss for them, and we don't necessarily have that. We could offer them someone like Berroa or Maza just so they'd have someone (anyone) to play shortstop, but we'd need to give them a good prospect as the real meat of the trade, or possibly Chin-lung Hu and another prospect.
Ultimately, I want to see how well Nomar can still handle shortstop. So far, he's done well. The question is: for how long? The big dilemna comes around July 31st. If Nomar is still healthy, should we gamble and assume he can make it the rest of the season, or play it safe and add another shortstop? That's for Colletti to decide. And that worries me a little...
So the Dodgers finally made a move today that was a long time coming...
From Dodgers.com:
"...the club [has] optioned rookie shortstop Chin-lung Hu to Triple-A Las Vegas."
I like Chin-lung Hu. He plays good defense and he might very well have some future with the Dodgers, but I think everyone, including Chin-lung himself could see he was just playing way over his head. He had collected just two hits in his last 34 at-bats and looked completely lost against any form of adequate big league pitching.
At the same time, however, Hu does deserve some applause. He was forced into starting for the Dodgers at shortstop due to injuries and he gave it his all every day. He never complained or whined, he just went out and played. Unfortunately, for all of us, it wasn't good enough. Hopefully, he'll get consistent playing time in AAA and fix his stroke. He can hit, he just hasn't been showing it.
Good luck, Chin-lung... Godspeed...
Anyway, on to other things.
Though it wasn't officially announced yet, all indications seem to say Andy LaRoche will be getting the call to replace Hu on the 25-man roster.
This simple roster move has accomplished two good things. We've got Hu back in the minors where he can work his issues out, and we're bringing LaRoche out of the minors, where he has nothing left to prove, so much so that LaRoche took to playing other positions while at Las Vegas to make himself more versatile for the big league team.
He already can play 3rd, but in the last few weeks has played several games at both 1st and 2nd, and his hard work should pay off with more playing time.
LaRoche should be able to platoon with DeWitt at third for a couple games a week (though possibly not just against lefties, as DeWitt is hitting surprisingly worse against right handed pitchers than against southpaws: .274 vs. .348) and can also play 2nd on Jeff Kent's weekly day off. He can take over for Loney on his occasional day off, and can also be a good right-handed bat of the bench. Plus, the Dodgers will be in Detroit this Friday where they'll be able to use his bat with the DH rule in effect for three games.
The only thing left now to wonder is if LaRoche can prove he can hit big league pitching. He struggled in his 93 at-bats last year and turned some people off the from the idea that he is our long term solution at third base (though 93 at-bats isn't nearly enough to prove or disprove anything). If he can come up this time and not overly try to impress (like I get the feeling he did last year) he should be able to settle down and show everyone why he's likely to be a Dodger fixture for years to come.
Then again, even if he doesn't impress immediately, he still probably won't be any worse than Chin-lung Hu (parting shot)...
And Thome certainly fills a void for us. He'll provide an excellent pinch hitting option off the bench, and looking into the all-to-distant future, a DH in an American League ballpark.
Now, for Garland's worth. Like Thome, Garland probably won't be able to contribute too much this season. He'll most likely make 5-6 starts, though some of his value might come if his arrival makes Joe Torre comfortable enough to go with a six-man rotation. If Garland's arrival allows Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley (or both) to skip a start or two while still providing quality pitching in their place, he'll have provided value.
