The Dodgers announced today that they have resigned Vicente Padilla to a one year contract worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million.
Now, I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about this.For one, I don't care much for Vicente Padilla, the man. And that's not just me, lest we forget his Rangers teammates threw a small party when they learned he was let go from the team last year. But this is also the guy who mysteriously got shot in the leg this offseason. Seriously, did we ever get the straight story about what went down? The article on Dodgers.com said he did it, but until I just read that, I was pretty sure his bodyguard did it. Look, this has obviously nothing to do with his pitching skills. I'm just saying that this guy seems to have trouble follow him around wherever he goes.
Also, is it Vincente or Vicente? That always messes me up.
Which Padilla is going to show up for us in 2010? Is it going to be the one who posted a 4.92 ERA in Texas for the good part of 2009, or the one who showed up in Los Angeles and had a 3.20 ERA over seven starts and made two excellent starts in the playoffs?
Also, how many innings can we get out of Padilla? In his last six seasons, Padilla only made over 30 starts and cracked 200 innings just once, in 2006.
To be honest, I was hoping to fill the #4 starter spot with Jon Garland (or someone like him, though, really, I'm too lazy to think of a comparable name on the Free Agent market). Garland is someone who has made 30+ starts in each of his last eight seasons and has gone 200+ innings in five of those (the other three ending with him in the 190 inning range). Garland's ERA, though similar to Padilla's over that stretch, seems to be slightly lower. Oh, and, in each of those eight seasons, Garland was never run out of a city, nor has he been shot or shot somebody (or both, at the same time).
But, I guess you go into the 2010 season with the team you have, not the team you want. Look, Padilla isn't horrible. He isn't good, but he'll probably give us 20 something starts and a 4.00 ERA, which for a #4 starter at $5 million isn't horrendous.
It's just, after Milton Bradley, Jeff Kent, and Manny, you start to get a little tired of the headcases.
According to reports, Jeff Kent is set to retire Thursday after 17 seasons.
It's been quite a career for Jeff. 377 homeruns, 1518 RBIs, and a .290 career average. He also holds the record for most homeruns hit by a 2nd baseman.
I am going to miss his hard-nosed, no nonsense style, but it's a good time for him to hang them up.
Now he can head off to the ranch, ride some motorcycles, and wait for the Hall to come calling.
Happy Trails, Jeff.
Ok, moving on to 2nd base.
Player: Jeff Kent
2008 Stats: .280, 12 homeruns, 59 RBIs
2008 Analysis: Was it just me, or did it seem like Jeff Kent missed more than just 41 games this year? In any case, Kent played well... for a 40-year old 2nd baseman though underperformed by his own standards.
He did have 440 at-bats this year, which isn't a full season, but enough of a sample size. His batting average and OBP was the lowest it's been since 1997 (his slugging was its lowest since 1996) and despite having only 54 at-bats less than he had in 2007, he had eight less homeruns and 20 less RBIs.
Defensively, Kent, who never was a Gold Glove 2nd Baseman to begin with, was sometimes difficult to watch playing 2nd. He's lost a step or two... his range is obviously much less than it used to be. 
His fielding percentage was .976 in limited chances. But then again, Kent's defense was never his strong suit.
2009 Outlook: There are a couple possible scenarios for Jeff Kent:
1. Kent decides to retire. If he does, then good for him. He's had a good long career (Career: 377 homeruns, 1518 RBIs, .290 average) and is most likely Hall-of-Fame bound.
2. Kent decides to keep playing. If he still wants to play, the best place for Kent is probably the DH position on an American League team. If he's willing to accept that DH role, he could have another year or two of swinging the bat left in his tank. However...
3. Kent decides to keep playing, but wants to remain a 2nd baseman. Jeff Kent is a man of pride. He might not want to play in the watered down position of a DH. Should he still want to play, and remain a 2nd baseman, he might be able to find a team willing to give him that role. The Dodgers, however, with Blake DeWitt in the wings, might be ready to move on. If that's the case, Kent will have to look elsewhere, possibly out of his comfort zone (his adopted state of Texas or his homestate of California) to find the job, which could be much less appealing.
How do I think this will all go down? Most likely, I feel like Jeff Kent will choose option 1. He's missed time due to injury the last three years, and his stats are falling, if only slightly. It might be time to ride off into the sunset. Kent certainly has some outside interests that would keep him busy. He's made it clear in the past that baseball doesn't mean everything to him. I think he might go choose to enjoy retirement on his ranch and wait a couple years for the Hall-of-Fame to come calling. But then again, Kent has never been an easy guy to read. Who knows? Maybe his desire for a World Series ring will having him coming back for another go at it. Whatever the choice is, I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Jeff Kent.
The Dodgers fall in extra innings to lose their second game in a row.
Tyler Walker got the win, he's 5-8. Jason Johnson took the loss, he's 1-2.
Derek Lowe started for the Dodgers and went three scoreless innings. The start was short, of course, to not overwork him before the first game of the playoffs. The Dodgers used eight different pitchers throughout the game. James McDonald relieved Derek Lowe and pitched two scoreless innings. He's now pitched six scoreless innings over four games to begin his major league career. Chan Ho Park gave up two runs in 0.2 innings of relief. His ERA has risen almost a full point from 2.48 on August 24th to 3.23 today. Jonathan Broxton blew a save by giving up an unearned run in the 9th, and Jason Johnson got only two outs in the 10th before giving up the winning run.
The Dodgers used 27 players in the game today. 17 different players had at-bats in the game. There isn't too much that stands out offensively in the game. Manny Ramírez went 2-2 in his only two at-bats in the game. 
Jeff Kent went 1-3 with a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 1-4 with his only hit coming on a solo homerun in the 9th inning. Russell Martin had a pinch hit two-run homerun to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead in the top of 9th, which they then proceed to give up in the bottom of the 9th.
The Dodgers will play the second game in this weekend series, starting tomorrow at 6:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (83-77)... James Loney's homerun gave him his team leading 90th RBI.
Opinion: Russell Martin giveth, Russell Martin taketh away. Thanks to Russell Martin's two-out top of the 9th inning homerun, the Dodgers were able to take a 5-4 lead. The Giants, thanks in part to Russell Martin's throwing error, were able to tie the game at 5-5... Whatever, this weekend is pretty much a throwaway weekend. I mean, it's kinda lame to go into the playoffs a 83-80 team, but I'm not sure anyone really cares... One last thing, so is Jason Johnson Joe Torre's "Abort" button. He's thinking: "Hey, we came into town early this morning, didn't get a lot of sleep, I gotta end this game. Hey, Honeycutt, get Johnson up in the pen. This thing is over by the 10th!" Johnson is 1-2 in the season, both losses were extra-inning away games. His first loss was an 11 inning game in St. Louis on August 5th. "I don't want to carry this game on by throwing a good pitcher out there to keep the game tied. I'm tired. Let's get some rest. Unleash Johnson on them!" Ok, I'm done. I'm tired. I'm pushing the Jason Johnson button on my night. I'll see you all tomorrow.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 earlier today to fall behind 4.5 games with only three games to go. 
This allows the Dodgers to clinch the National League West.
As such, Eric Stults will replace Greg Maddux today. The lineup is also being juggled around so Joe Torre can see who he'll want to put on the playoff roster. Rafael Furcal and Jeff Kent are batting 1st and 2nd respectively.
In any case, congratulations to the Dodgers on their first division win since 2004 and first playoff appearance since 2006.
The Dodgers go down in the second game of the series, and now find themselves in a six game losing streak.
Tim Redding got the win, he's 9-8. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 6-11. Joel Hanrahan picked up his 6th save.
Greg Maddux went 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk. Defense was more Maddux's undoing. An error Maddux committed led to two runs, and an error from Jeff Kent led to another. Chan Ho Park gave up a homerun in his one inning of work. Jonathan Broxton struck out the side (all swinging) in the 8th inning.
Offensively, Andre Ethier had a good game. He went 3-5 with two doubles and a homerun, scoring one run and driving in one. James Loney went 3-5 as well. He also had a double and a homerun, and also had one run scored and one RBI. Casey Blake went 2-3, with a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored. One of those two RBIs and the run scored came on a homerun.
The San Diego Padres completed their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the Dodgers will remain three games back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Nationals starting tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall to three games under .500 (65-68)... Andre Ethier's homerun was his 17th, good for first on the team... James Loney also drove in his team leading 72nd run.
Opinion: The Dodgers left another 20 runners on base in today's game, though they did, amazingly, get a hit with runners in scoring position. The four runs they drove in today were the most amount of runs they've scored in a game in the last 10 days. Four runs are better than we've been playing, but still not enough. 
Then again, we only scored four runs today because we hit three solo homeruns, which we can't expect to do every night. I'm starting to wonder if at this point, it's gotten into the players' heads. They must know how bad they are hitting with runners in scoring position. I wouldn't be surprised if they go up to the plate with runners on, and with some added pressure to hit with runners on, they get pull-happy and end up hitting into some easy outs. I mean, really, a team can't be this bad at driving in runs. It has to be a mental thing right?... Again, the only silver lining I can find in all this is that Arizona is playing awful as well. They are now on three games over .500. The issue now, though, is that Colorado is approaching quickly. They are currently playing, but if they win today, they'll pull within two games of us for second, and within five games of first. This really shouldn't be a three team race (though it really shouldn't be a two team race)... In any case, playing this bad hurts. I'm starting to forget what winning feels like. We've only done it once in the past week and a half. If you really want a good example of how bad we are playing, here's tomorrow's preview again: "The Dodgers will try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Nationals starting tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time." This ain't good...
The Dodgers blew a 9th inning lead, then lost in extra innings to fall for their third straight game.
Chad Durbin got the win, he's 5-2. Joe Beimel took the loss, he's 4-1.
Hiroki Kuroda made a good start for the Dodgers. He went six innings, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo followed with a scoreless inning of relief each. Jonathan Broxton came in to pitch the 9th and struggled with command. He gave up the tying run to force the game into extra innings. Joe Beimel pitched a scoreless 10th inning, and started the 11th by allowing a runner on base. Jason Johnson came in to relieve Beimel, but walked a batter. He followed that by getting two outs, before giving up a walk-off three run homerun.
The Dodgers, despite collecting 13 hits and five walks, still managed to score only two runs. Jeff Kent went 3-5 with a RBI, Andre Ethier went 1-4 with two walks and two runs scored, and James Loney went 2-5 with a RBI. Those were three most noteworthy hitting performances in the game.
The Diamondbacks also lost their game, so no ground will be changed in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to avoid the four game sweep in tomorrow's game, starting at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: The Phillies used 20 different players in the game, the Dodgers used 18... With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to .500 (65-65).
Opinion: Just another bad game for the Dodgers. Where in the last two games, we struggled to get runners on base (yesterday, the Dodgers scored two runs with only five runners getting on base.), today we had 19 runners reach base (13 hits, five walks, and a HBP), yet the issue of scoring runs still remained. The Dodgers left 25 runners on base today. We had more than enough chances today to put the game away. We had bases loaded and no outs in the 1st inning and managed to score only one run. We had bases loaded and no outs again in the 10th inning, and didn't even manage a run. We just aren't hitting. When we first acquired Manny Ramírez we had an increase in offense. We started playing well. There was some life in the team. Yet, in this last week, that's all seemed to disappear. We've lost three in a row and five of our last six, and we now find ourselves playing .500 baseball again. In fact, since Manny has arrived, we are 11-11. I said it when we got Manny. It doesn't matter how good Manny is, he can't carry a team. The rest of the team has stopped hitting (or at least driving in runs). That isn't to say Manny is doing much better (he has only five hits in his last 20 at-bats and no RBIs since August 17th). Sorry, I'm wandering a little. The point is, we aren't scoring runs, it's as simple as that, and if we want to hold on to any hope of catching the Diamondbacks, we'd better start.
The Dodgers fall again to the Rockies to guarantee a series loss.
Taylor Buchholz got the win, he's 6-3. Jonathan Broxton took the loss, he's 3-5. Brian Fuentes picked up his 24th save.
Chad Billingsley made a good start, but threw far too many pitches. He went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks, while striking out six. He did this, however, on 114 pitches, only 68 of which were strikes. The bullpen did not fare much better. Chan Ho Park went two innings and gave up an unearned run, and Jonathan Broxton gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th.
The Dodger offense collected a handful of hits but failed, again, to collect enough runs from those hits. Jeff Kent went 2-4. Russell Martin went 2-4, as well, collecting a double and a run. Matt Kemp went 1-4 with the only Dodger RBI on the day.
The Diamondbacks beat the Padres again, and so the Dodgers will fall to two games back in the NL West. They'll try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Rockies tomorrow at 12:10 L.A. time.
Also: Danny Ardoin, starting at catcher today, stole a base. It was only his second career stolen base. His last stolen base was over three years ago (June 7th, 2005)... Every position player in the starting lineup except Casey Blake collected a hit today... The Dodgers were not able to draw a walk in the game... The Dodgers had four errors in the game (from Martin playing at 3rd base, one from Blake playing at 1st, and one from Ardoin).
Opinion: Well, these have been two ugly losses against a team we need to, and should be beating. Again, like last night, we collected a bunch of hits, and hardly any runs. Two runs today came on an error. So, we really only had one run today on nine hits. If you don't count the three "gimme" runs the last two games, the Dodgers have collected only three real runs from 20 hits (six doubles) and two walks. And that's not good... Also, the bullpen again today looked a little shaky. Jonathan Broxton has given up a run in three of his last five outings. You start to question if Broxton should be our solution at closer, and then you realize we don't have any other real options. And that's also not good... 
I'm not so sure if this whole "Give Russell Martin the day off, play him at 3rd" thing is working out. Martin plays in a spot where he doesn't get to play often and looks uncomfortable, Blake is moved around, and the only person who really gets the day off is James Loney, who probably needs it least of all. How about, if we want to give Martin the day off, give him the day off... So, we find ourselves back at two games behind Arizona. We really need to stop doing this. If we want to get to the playoffs, we can't keep playing this cat and mouse game. It's like riding a roller coaster that never really goes over the peak. We get near the peak, or even settle on the peak, then we roll back down. Then we start climbing again, we get to the peak, sit there for a few games, and start rolling back again. Except, there's one problem. Other than being increasingly frustrating, the ride is going to be over in 36 games, and if we haven't gotten over that peak by then, well... Oh, and finally, good ole' Mark Sweeney was at it again. He came in to pinch hit in the 6th inning and grounded out. I gave him an ultimatum: get a 10th hit by your 75th at-bat. He couldn't do it. He's 9-75 (.120), and as such, will suffer the consequence of continuous mocking from a random no-name blogger. I have something more about Sweeney, but I'll save it for the next post, along with some other assorted thoughts about the recent trade. See you then...
The Dodgers struggle with both offense and pitching and fall to the Rockies in the first game of this three game series.
Ubaldo Jiménez got the win, he's 9-11. Hiroki Kuroda took the loss, he's 7-9.
Hiroki Kuroda gave up four runs in the first three inning, before settling down and not allowing another run through the next three. His final line was six innings, four runs on six hits and a walk, and three strikeouts. The bullpen, however, was not as good. Jason Johnson came in and pitched a scoreless 7th, but gave Matt Holliday a hanging breaking ball to start the 8th which Holliday hit out. Hong-Chih Kuo came in, gave up two walks, and then a three-run homerun that, for all intents and purposes, ended the game.
The Dodger offense, despite collecting 11 hits and two walks over the game, were only able to cash in three runs. They even had five doubles on the day. Jeff Kent went 3-5 with one of those doubles and a RBI. 
Matt Kemp went 2-5, both of which were doubles, and added a RBI and a run. Casey Blake went 2-4, and both of his hits were doubles. He also scored a run.
The Diamondbacks won today, so with the loss, the Dodgers find themselves a game back in the NL West... again... Tomorrow's game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Tanyon Sturtze came in to relieve Kuo in the 8th, making his Dodger debut. Despite giving up a double, he managed to settled down the Rockies and get out of the inning unscathed.
Opinion: I'm a little bit stunned as to how a team can collected eleven hits (five of which were extra base hits) and not be able to score more than three runs. And one of those runs was scored on a passed ball. So really, it took eleven hits to score two runs. I'm going to go ahead and say that today (hopefully) was an anomaly. We'll see... Speaking of issues though, our bullpen struggled again. Jason Johnson is someone I have trouble trusting on the mound in an important situation, so I'm not shocked to see him give up a homerun. Worse though was Hong-Chih Kuo's performance. He has looked pretty good most of the year but recently has started to show some of his mortality. Kuo's ERA has been pretty much below 2.00 since the beginning of June, hovering around 1.75-1.80. After today, his ERA has been raised to 2.26. This could be an issue of overuse, or just an unlucky streak, we'll find out soon enough... 
Finally, Mark Sweeney came in in the 6th inning with the tying run on 2nd base and a chance to be a hero. He grounded out to the second baseman on the first pitch he saw. That's what I call a "professional at-bat." He's now 9-74... but at least he got to meet Chazz Palminteri.
The Dodgers continue their winning ways, and collect their fifth win in a row to take the first game of this weekend series.
Chad Billingsley picked up the win, he's 12-9. Manny Parra took the loss, he's 9-6. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 9th save.
Chad Billingsley pitched a solid game, going seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out five. A combination of relievers Ramon Troncoso, Joe Beimel, and Jonathan Broxton kept the final two innings scoreless.
The Dodgers had a good day offensively. Each position player in the starting lineup collected a hit. 
Casey Blake went 3-4 with a double, a homerun (his 4th as a Dodger), two RBIs, and a run scored. Jeff Kent went 3-4 with an RBI. Russell Martin went 1-4, scoring twice, and collecting a RBI on a solo homerun in the 8th inning, his 11th on the year.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers will hold on to the tie with them for first in the NL West race. The Dodgers also moved to 63-59, four games over .500. They'll try to keep up their winning ways tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Chad Billingsley's win today was his 12th on the season, good for first place on the team... Jonathan Broxton had an at-bat in the 9th inning (his third of the year) and drew a walk.
Opinion: It was a good game for the Dodgers, but I'm not going to talk about that. Rather, I'd like to talk a little bit about my experience at the game. Through some connections, I was able to sit in the Dugout Club seats behind homeplate. My seat was three rows behind the big screen that blocks foul balls on the right. It was a lot of fun, and something I'll have to post about later. I took a bunch of pictures, as well, so those'll be in there once I can upload the pictures to my computer... Also, a couple of pretty cool moments in the game that the crowd got into both before the beginning of the 9th inning. Some guy asked some girl to marry him, she said yes, kisses and hugs, all that good love stuff, set to the applause of 44,000 Dodger fans. 
Then, the JumboTron showed the highlight of Michael Phelps representing our country, chasing history, and winning a very close race to collect his 7th gold medal. Lots of cheering and a big "U.S.A.!" chant. It was a pretty cool atmosphere that carried into the 9th, seeing Jonathan Broxton strike out two and get Jason Kendall to fly out and end the game. Cue the music: "I Love L.A."...
The Dodgers completed their second comeback in as many games and take the third game in the series to assure a series win.
Jonathan Broxton got the win, he's 3-3. Clay Condrey took the loss, he's 3-3.
Brad Penny had a bad start for the Dodgers. He went just three innings, giving up six hits on six hits and two walks. All six runs came on two-run, two-out homeruns (two in the 1st, and one in the 2nd). The bullpen took over in the 4th and did much better. They allowed no runs on only one hit over the next six innings (though they did walk four guys and hit a batter). Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect 9th, striking out two, and was the pitcher of record when the Dodgers won in the bottom of the 9th.
The Dodgers had a solid day offensively, collecting 12 hits and five walks. Jeff Kent went 4-5, scored a run, and had a big two-RBI double with two outs in the 8th inning. 
Andre Ethier went 2-5, with a RBI and two runs scored, hitting his 12th homerun on the year. Manny Ramírez also hit a homerun. It was a two run shot, his 5th as a Dodger (for the day, he went 1-3, with two walks, two RBIs, and a run). Russell Martin bounced back from his recent struggles, going 3-3, with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Nomar Garciaparra went 1-5, but the one hit was a big one. He hit a walk-off line drive homerun into the Dodger bullpen in left field to win the game for the Dodgers.
With the win, the Dodgers move to 61-59, two games over .500. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so the Dodgers move into a first place tie in the NL West. They'll try to go for the four-game sweep of the Phillies tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney also collected a RBI today, moving his total up to a team-leading 68 on the year... Mark Sweeney came in to pinch hit in the 3rd inning and grounded out to 1st, lowering his average to .125.
Opinion: A good win for the Dodgers, who are starting to act like a team that wants to be in the postseason... Brad Penny worries me though. He was throwing some very hittable pitches to the Phillies. I do wonder if we'll be able to rely on him down the stretch. Though I'm not sure it really matters, because even if there are some better options, Joe Torre's reluctance to make a change won't allow it... Mark Sweeney made another out today, but thankfully it was in the 3rd inning, so there was no chance he could come up in an important situation later in the game. I really feel like I'm beating a pointless dead horse. Sweeney only needs to survive until September 1st when the rosters expand, and then he can make it the rest of the year easy. Torre knows that when the rosters expand they'll be less pressure on the bench and Sweeney himself. I'll be shocked if Sweeney isn't with us the rest of the year, and deep into the playoffs... The Dodgers have really made a strong statement this series against a top team in the NL East. It will be even stronger if they complete the sweep tomorrow, not that winning the series itself won't be a good statement. It's just that, I'm going to the game tomorrow, and I really want to see a win.
The Dodgers outslugged the Phillies to take the first game in this four game set and move back to .500.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 9-10. Kyle Kendrick took the loss, he's 10-6. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 8th save.
Derek Lowe bounced back from his last start to pitch a solid game today. He went 6 and 1/3 innings giving up three runs on five hits and a walk while collecting 13 groundball outs. The bullpen struggled afterwards. Chan Ho Park came in and gave up a run (as well as a base hit that allowed an inherited runner to score that was credited to Lowe). Jonathan Broxton came in to finish the 8th, then struggled through the 9th. He gave up two runs on a walk and three hits before finally shutting the door on the Phillies and closing the game.
The Dodger offense exploded for seven runs against Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick, including six runs in the 3rd. That inning included a two run double from Manny Ramírez, a two run single from James Loney, and a two run homerun from Casey Blake, his third as a Dodger. Overall on the day, Matt Kemp went 3-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Jeff Kent went 3-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Manny went 2-3 with two walks, two RBIs, and a runs scored. James Loney went 3-4 with three RBIs. In total, the Dodgers collected 16 hits and seven walks on the day.
The Diamondbacks were inactive today, so with the win the Dodgers pick up a half-game on them. They are now one game back in the NL West. They'll try to take the second game in the series tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney's three RBIs gave him 67 on the season, good for first place on the Dodgers... Of the seven walks the Dodgers received today, four were intentional walks... On top of the 16 hits and seven walks, Jeff Kent was also hit by a pitch.
Opinion: While the Dodgers had a good offense day, having 24 batters reach base, and scoring eight runs, there was some down side. In total, the Dodgers left 23 players on base. Nomar Garciaparra is due to come of the DL tomorrow, and just in time, as eight of those 23 left on base were from Ángel Berroa. Another issue today was the bullpen. It gave up three runs in 2 and 2/3 innings, while also allowing an inherited runner to score. This is not a good sign considering their struggles the past few days. The question is raised: has the bullpen been overworked or are they just going through a bad streak? We'll have to monitor that over the next several days.
The Dodgers rallied late to tie the game in the 9th, but lost it in extras, and fall back to .500.
Jaime García got the win, he's 1-1. Jason Johnson took the loss, he's 1-1.
Chad Billingsley started the game, but with two rain delays, he was taken out after the 5th inning. He gave up just one run on six hits, while striking out six. 
The Dodger bullpen, however, struggled. They gave up a run in the 6th inning, and two in the 7th. After that, Ramon Troncoso and Cory Wade provided a combined three scoreless innings, before Jason Johnson surrendered a two-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th.
The Dodgers failed to mount any offense through the first eight innings. They collected only four hits scattered over those eight innings, three of which were erased on double plays by the very next batter up following the hit. The Dodgers then proceeded to get a lead-off homerun in the 9th inning from Andruw Jones. They followed with another four hits, a walk, and a sac-fly in the inning to tie the game 4-4. Manny Ramírez went 2-3 with two walks and a run scored, Andre Ethier went 2-5 with a run scored, and Jeff Kent went 2-5 with an RBI in what were probably the Dodgers top three individual hitting performances of the game.
With the loss today, the Dodgers move back to .500, now at 56-56. The Arizona Diamondbacks won yesterday to move 1.5 games up on the Dodgers. They won again today, and with the Dodger loss, they'll push their lead to 2.5 games in the NL West. The Dodgers will take another shot at cutting into the lead tomorrow at 5:15 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney grounded into two of the three Dodger double plays today. That puts him at 20 this year, third place in the Major Leagues (the league leaders are tied at 22)... Mark Sweeney lined out to end the 9th, his average is now down to .114.
Opinion: The Dodgers showed almost no signs of life until the Andruw Jones homerun in the 9th. By the way, I hope this doesn't mean he's going to get a lot more starts. The pitch he hit (and not to take anything away from Jones) was an 89 MPH fastball, with pretty much no movement, belt high, and almost exactly over the center of the plate. So... make your own deductions... Here's mine: I'm pretty sure any one on the Dodgers could have put it in the bleachers. 
Well... let me reword that... any self respecting major leaguer could have put it in the bleachers... Mark Sweeney would have grounded out. Speaking of my favorite punching bag, for real, how many more at-bats does he get? Today was his 70th. I saw another thing today that I was worried about after the Manny trade. What incentive to teams have to pitch to him. He walked in his last two at-bats in the game, when it was on the line. Teams are not going to pitch to him. The issue is not if Manny will help us, but more, can we help ourselves? If James Loney and/or Jeff Kent don't start putting a little more fear into pitchers with some consistent hitting, then Manny isn't going to see a whole lot of pitches to hit the rest of the year.
The Dodgers give up another two runs to the Diamondbacks, but this time, get enough runs to get a victory in the third game of the series.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 6-8. Yusmeiro Petit took the loss, he's 1-2. Chan Ho Park picked up his 2nd save.
Hiroki Kuroda, after having three bad starts since the All-Star break, settled in and had an excellent start. He went 7 and 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and no walks, while striking out six. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched an inning and 1/3 giving up a run and getting into a little trouble in the 9th before Chan Ho Park came in and got the last out to close out the game.
The Dodgers offense did well today. Manny Ramírez and Casey Blake each had their first homeruns as Dodgers. 
Manny, Blake, James Loney and Jeff Kent each went 2-4 on the day. Manny had 2 RBIs, while Blake and Kent had one each.
The Dodgers got back to .500 with the win today, and have one game tomorrow to cut the lead to one game in the NL West before the head out on the road. The game tomorrow starts at 1:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp went 0-4, snapping his hitting streak at 19 games... Kemp was the only position player in the starting lineup to not get a basehit.
Opinion: Well, I guess one person can carry a team. Manny was involved in three of the four Dodger runs today, either scoring as the run, or knocking the run in, or both. Still though, as I said yesterday, it's just one game. So far, we are 1-1 with Manny in uniform. We'll probably need a few more games to see how good we can be. And by the way, what's up with Casey Blake? Does he not know how to groundout or flyout? As of today's game, Blake has had 29 at-bats with us. He's collected 10 hits in those at-bats. He's also struck out 12 times in those at-bats. That means only seven of Casey Blake's at-bats with us this year have not ended in a strikeout or basehit and two of those times came today. He went 2-4 today with no strikeouts. Just odd, that's all I'm saying...
By the way, Vin over at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness posted an analysis of the Manny trade. It's a good read and has some interesting similarities to my post... I knew I liked those guys for a reason...
Ok, the last post was the simple informative post on the big trade. This one is reserved for my opinion and analysis.
I'll be honest, I'm having a flurry of emotions with this trade. There are some good points, and bad points, and overall, it raises a lot of questions.
For one, let me say this (and as a Dodger fan it pains me to say this): we are not that good a team this year. I had decided not too long ago that the goal for this year should be to get into the playoffs (something I think we could have done given our current players) and maybe win a game or two. Who knows, we could have lucked out and maybe even won a series. I had made peace with the fact that this year was more a rebuilding year, as we got to watch the kids play and grow a little, and we work toward the future. I was a huge supporter of letting the kids play, and saving up for the future.
Well, apparently, that has all changed. This trade for Manny is saying we want to win now. And for me, that's both the good and bad in this whole thing.
I'm glad we are committed to winning. I'm really glad we have a guy in the lineup now who will instill fear in the opposing pitchers. I'm glad we have that player who will be the guy that managers fear seeing on the lineup card every day (something the Dodgers have lacked since Adrián Béltre in 2004). It's going to be awesome to have that kind of power in the lineup. That's great...
But let's all be honest for a second. How much is Manny really going to help us? This is the part that raises the questions.
Is Manny good enough to carry us into the Playoffs? No doubt. We can easily take the Diamondbacks down now.
Is Manny good enough to help us win in the first round of the playoffs? Maybe. It depends on who we are playing...
Will we be able to out-slug the Philadelphia Phillies? What about the Chicago Cubs? Or for that matter, can we even come close to matching the Angels lineup or pitching should we even get that far?
What is our goal this year? How far into the playoffs are we trying to go? Because Manny alone won't be enough to get us there. He has no protection around him in the lineup. Our pitching staff, in its seemingly constant state of flux, might or might not survive the playoffs. If they aren't constantly on their game, we still might not make it past the first round. And that was something I was ok with before.
But...
The Dodger world is changed by this trade. I could accept some minimal success if this were still a rebuilding year.But now?
Anything LESS than a World Series seems like a waste... especially because Manny has a $20 million dollar option for next year that we aren't going to pick up (part of accepting the trade here for Manny).
This trade says that we want to win THIS year, and honestly, I don't think we are ready for that. I don't think this team is ready for that.
And what did we give up for the trade. Well, for one, Bryan Morris was an intriguing pitching prospect. He was a first rounder that was coming off elbow surgery, but was looking like he had regained form, and was starting to pitch up to par. Sure, he was in Single-A. He might not even pan out, low risk there. But here's the killer for me: Andy LaRoche.
Again, it goes back to the idea of winning this year. If we somehow can win the World Series, then it will be all worth it. But here's my biggest question:
What happens if we don't?
Manny will probably leave at the end of the year. Casey Blake looks to be leaving at the end of the year. Jeff Kent will most likely retire at the end of the year. Who, exactly, do we plan on replacing Blake and Kent with? The Free Agent market for 2nd baseman, and especially for 3rd baseman looks very weak this year. Blake DeWitt is not going to hit for the kind of power that is expected from a 3rd baseman, if that's where the Dodgers plan on keeping him. If that's the case, who plays 2nd. If he moves to 2nd, who plays 3rd?So what becomes of our team next year? If we don't accomplish anything this year, where does it leave us?
For years since Adrián Béltre left for Seattle, we've seen a revolving door of 3rd baseman... just a list of guys who couldn't cut it with the bat, or with the glove, or both. 
In Andy LaRoche, I saw a kid who could draw a walk, who could play a pretty good 3rd base, who could hit for a solid average, and most importantly, could hit for power. I saw... a solution. And all the scouts saw it. All the other teams saw it. Dodger management were the only ones who didn't. Them, and the Dodger fans who wanted LaRoche's head because he didn't immediately come up and hit .400 and 10 homeruns by pinch hitting every third game. He got all of four starts in a row to prove he could handle the 3rd base job, though by most scout's estimations, he's a streaky hitter that was going to need to play everyday to show what kind of player he could be. But, apparently, all the Dodgers needed were 152 big league at-bats, scattered inconsistently over two seasons (that has seen him be sent back to Triple-A three times since his debut) to decide he wouldn't be the player they wanted handling the hot corner for the next several years. By comparison, Jeff Kent, with his day's off here and there, has had 154 at-bats since June 5th alone. That's it, less than two months of playing time (by the way, Kent had only had eight more hits than LaRoche over that stretch). And now our solution to the 3rd base issue is going to be playing 3rd base in Pittsburgh. I hope for his sake that Pirates' management treats him better over there than the Dodgers treated him here.
But on top of all this, I still have other questions...
If we were able to get Manny, could we have not as easily got Jason Bay, who was also involved in this trade, and who is younger than Manny, hits very well, is less of a clubhouse distraction, and who is under contract for at least another year? The pieces all seem to be in place, why not skip the middle man in Boston?
And will Joe Torre make out the lineup the right way every day? He now has five outfielders. There are three that should be out there every day. Can he bring himself to stick Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones on the bench where they belong?
And the third, and one of the most important questions:
How will Manny behave for us? Peter Gammons, who was on ESPNews after the trade to give his analysis was nearly in tears recollecting Manny's time there. Gammons, a life long Red Sox fan, grew up in a time when the game was played for love of the game. When he started talking about how Manny gets paid $20 million dollars to play the game of baseball, and then on top if it all, he gets unhappy and starts doing his little primadonna act and playing lackadaisically, you could hear his voice start to break. 
Manny was a perfect example of how the game has changed. There's not a lot of love for the game of baseball. It's become a lot more a game based on personalities and paychecks (Look for the Peter Gammons Analysis Video Here, listen to the sadness in his voice when he talks about what this has all done to Terry Francona).
But I can understand that. I'm 19, I've grown up in a time where it's been made abundantly clear to me that baseball is a business. I can understand how that would be a lot harder to take for 63-year old Peter Gammons. I, honestly, am at a point where I couldn't care less about money, as far as how much players earn. Yes, they are grossly over paid for simply having the ability to hit a ball with a bat, but I'm fine with that. What I won't be ok with, is if Manny chooses to not care anymore. It's bad enough that Andruw Jones clearly doesn't. It's going to be very hard to watch if another player joins him.
So... those are just my issues, but who am I but a lowly blogger. You want to know why I think this trade really happened?
...Because there is not enough foresight. Because it doesn't matter what the future holds (or doesn't) if you can get some positive press now.
Attendance has been down this year for the Dodgers. In part because the team has struggled, and in part with the struggling economy and people having less to spend.
What will Manny bring to the Dodgers? Attendance.
Already in radio stations and on message boards, people have begun to express how enthusiastic they are that the Dodgers have acquired Manny. They exclaimed that they are going to be heading back to the stadium now because the games are going to be exciting again. Have these people even considered what they want from the team? Do they think that Manny will be enough to put us over the top? I hate being so negative... but he won't. Do you really think we are making it to the World Series?
But what does Frank McCourt care? As long as Manny puts butts in the seats...
And Ned Colletti will breath a sigh of relief. The media might just get off his back long enough that he might actually believe he has some job security. And if not, what does it matter, he'll be gone before the effects of what's he's really done begin to take shape.
But sure, for now, the Yahoo Sports or Fox Sports writers will write about how the Dodgers were "winners" at this year's trade deadline. And they'll leave us here to play our games, then won't think twice about what happens to us in the future.
And Bill Plaschke will jump up and say "Ah hah, ah hah! I said this should happen! I was right!" and when the Dodgers are full of holes next season and playing below average, he'll write a piece about the Dodgers having no soul or something like that, and condemn them for their lousy playing.
And T.J. Simers will write a moronic piece, kissing the Dodgers' butt, saying they are now the favorites to win everything, and exclaim he was a supporter all along. And then we will fail to make it to the World Series, and he'll write a piece where he explains how he wasn't really a supporter, and how the Dodgers were really a bad team all along.
And next year, he'll write 27 more articles about how he hates Andruw Jones... and collect a paycheck for doing so. Wow. Just wow...
But for now, all that matters is that the Dodgers have Manny. They have a four game series starting tonight against the Diamondbacks, of which Manny will probably make it to play for the last three of the series.
And who knows, we might just make it out of this weekend in 1st place, and never look back as we push towards the playoffs.
Presently, that doesn't sound too bad.
And that's what I'll have to do.
I'll keep thinking about the Dodgers in the present... because it makes me a little sick thinking about the future.
The Dodgers get some great pitching and shut down the Giants for the second game in a row, earning the win, and taking the series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 11-9. Jonathan Sánchez took the loss, he's 8-7.
Chad Billingsley had one of his best starts of the year, if not his entire young career. He went the full nine innings, giving up only five hits and no walks, while striking out eight. He shut out the Giants until getting into some trouble in the 9th. 
After giving up a double off the top of the wall to José Castillo, Randy Winn hit looping base hit to left field. Andre Ethier charged the ball as Castillo rounded 3rd and fired a strike to home. Russell Martin made a good block of the plate and applied the tag to end the game and preserve the shutout.
Speaking of Martin, he had a good night with the bat as well. He went 2-3 with a walk, 2 RBIs, and a run scored. Jeff Kent went 2-4 with an RBI double and Matt Kemp went 1-2 with two walks, two stolen bases, and two runs scored.
The Dodgers moved a game above .500 for the first time since May 27th. The Arizona Diamondbacks won again, and so they will remain one game up on the Dodgers going into the big four game series starting tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With Matt Kemp's single in the 5th inning, he extended his hitting streak to 17 games... Chad Billingsley's complete game shutout was the first of his career... Billingsley's win today was his 11th on the season, good for first place on the team... James Loney had an RBI sac-fly today as well, that gives him 60 RBIs on the season and puts him first place on the team in that category... The Dodgers shut out their opponent for the 10th time this year, which puts the team as a whole in first place in the National League in shutouts.
P.S. I attended the Dodger game tonight, and had a good time. I tried getting into the clubhouse for some post-game interviews but apparently I didn't have the credentials, so sorry, no quotes for this story... maybe another time...
The Dodgers shut down the Giants to take the second game of the series and move back into .500.
Jason Johnson got the win, he's 1-0. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 6-9. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 5th save.
Jason Johnson, who hadn't made a start in the majors in almost two years, pitched an excellent game against the Giants. He went six innings, gave up five hits and no runs, while striking out three and getting 11 groundballs. Chan Ho Park went 1 and 2/3 innings striking out two, and Broxton pitched 1 and 1/3 innings, striking out three to close out the game and pick up his 5th save in five chances.
Overall, the Dodgers managed to get nine hits in the game. Their big inning came in the 6th. Matt Kemp led off with a single, then stole 2nd. Andre Ethier advanced him to 3rd. Jeff Kent lined out. James Loney followed with a clutch 2-out RBI single to left to score Kemp. Casey Blake followed with a double, and in an odd play, Giants left fielder Fred Lewis deflected the ball into the stands to allow Loney to score. Those two runs would prove to be enough though.
The Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers will remain one game back again. They'll take on the Giants tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time in the rubber match of the series.
Also: Matt Kemp went 2-4 with a stolen base and a run scored, extending his hitting streak to 16 games... Jason Johnson's win tonight was his first win since May 28th, 2006... Though Giants catcher Bengie Molina is notoriously hard to steal on, the Dodgers stole four bases in five attempts in the game... The only extra-base hit in the game was Blake's double in the 6th... The only RBI in the game came from James Loney's single as the second run scored was unearned due to error by Fred Lewis... The 6-9 hitters in the Dodger lineup went a combined 1-13 with nine strikeouts, the only hit was Blake's.
The Dodgers got a combination of good hitting and excellent pitching and take the second game of the three game series.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 8-8. Odalis Pérez took the loss, he's 3-8.
Lowe went eight innings, walking one and giving up just one hit while striking out four. More importantly, though, Lowe forced batters into 15 groundball outs. He made 107 pitches over the eight innings so he was replaced in the 9th. Joe Beimel started the 9th, got one out and gave up a hit.
Cory Wade replaced Beimel, got an out, gave up a walk, then struck out the next batter for the final out.
Every Dodger in the starting line-up, excluding Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones collected hits today. Matt Kemp had a two-run homerun in the 1st inning, and Nomar Garciaparra hit one in the 4th. Nomar also had a scoring fly-ball in the 1st, collecting two RBIs on the day. Even Derek Lowe had a good offensive game. He went 2-3, with two singles and an RBI. In his third at-bat, he drove a long fly ball to center that was caught at the warning track.
The Dodgers with the win today move back within one win of .500. The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers remain one game back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try tomorrow to go for the sweep at 1:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp's homerun gave him 12 on the year, good for first place on the team... Kemp's homerun also extended his hitting streak to 13 games... Casey Blake, in his first game as a Dodger, went 2-3 with a single and a double... Blake DeWitt was sent down to Triple-A to make room for Casey Blake, and in Triple-A, he will occasionally work at 2nd base, which is something I was hoping for.
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.
Also, is it Vincente or Vicente? That always messes me up.
