Beastmode, Deactivated

I was going to call this post something along the lines of "Our Long National Nightmare is Over" but I always seem to come late to the party.

Anyway, sources (I'm looking at you, Tim Brown) are reporting the Dodgers have shipped Juan Pierre off to the White Sox. Dodgers will eat $10.5 million of the $18.5 million left on the two years of Pierre's contract.

In return, we are getting a couple of PTBNL's, some salary relief, and a new lease on life.

Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but Pierre has been somewhat of albatross on the Dodgers the last three years. A combination of his strikingly sub-par ability to get on-base (as a leadoff man, no less), his horrifyingly below average throwing arm, and his dwindling stolen base rate (71.% in 2009) has made Pierre somewhat of a negative word amongst Dodger fans.

... But all that's over. That's Chicago's problem now.

Now, as for the trade, we could talk about Pierre's (mostly) professional attitude to becoming a bench player for the first time in his life, but that's been covered.

We could also look at the implications of the trade: is this money we just opened up for a free agent or lawyers' bills? Given that we are eating much of his contract, will the PTBNL's we get have some nice value or are we just happy if they have a pulse? Questions to be answered.

... But you know what? That's for a later time. For now, I'll just leave it at this: Pierre it's been fun. Enjoy the fact that you will actually be playing in Chicago. (We all will.)

Alright, Let's Talk About This

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?

Dodgers Acquire George Sherrill

The Dodgers acquired George Sherrill earlier today from the Baltimore Orioles for prospects Josh Bell and Steve Johnson. Let's look at the trade.

Things started off interestingly enough. Rather, infuriatingly enough. Original reports said the trade sent Bell and Scott Elbert to the Orioles for Sherrill, which would have been... terrible. Frankly, a trade of Scott Elbert straight up for Sherrill would have been terrible.

But then reports updated to state that the Orioles would be acquiring Bell and Johnson for Sherrill, which led me to breathe a sigh of relief.

Don't get me wrong. I liked Josh Bell. He was turning out to be a pretty solid prospect, but I don't know for sure if I was sold on him. I guess we'll see in a few years how that turns out.

I hadn't heard much on Johnson. He's had his ups and downs in recent years, but recently did put up some nice numbers in AA Chattanooga. I think he was fairly low on even the Dodgers Pitching Prospects chart and I'm not sure if he ever had a place in his future with the big club.

As for Sherrill, I do like the pickup, especially if Hong-Chih Kuo is back and healthy, which so far, so good (1.2 IP in 2 games, 1 K). Sherrill has been excellent against lefties. That means if a situation comes up in the 6th or 7th and Torre feels he needs to use a lefty to get out of it, he now has two excellent options out of the pen. And he still has another bullet in the chamber for later in the game, should the need arise. Plus, Sherrill has been a closer in Baltimore, and should be able to step into that role for Jonathan Broxton should Broxton need some rest.

I guess what I'm saying is that I really like Sherrill's versatility. I think there's a number of situations he can be used in, and he should provide quality relief in those various situations.

Overall, I'm a little sad to see Bell go, but I'm still happy with the trade.

Editorial: Sweeney and Maddux

Dodger game is going on right now, but I had a few assorted thoughts.

First, I said I had an interesting note about Mark Sweeney. Here's Torre's quote on Sweeney from a Dodgers.com article:

"Torre said he remains committed to left-handed pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney, despite his seasonlong slump. The popular Sweeney is batting .122 on the season and is 9-for-60 (.150) pinch-hitting with five RBIs.

Torre pointed out that Sweeney has improved since coming off the disabled list July 27 (3-for-10) after a hamstring injury that bothered him long before he was injured.

'You'd have to find somebody that's a better option and we don't have one,' Torre said. 'What he's done and his experience carries some weight. For a pinch-hitter, average isn't that important, although .120 is proof he hasn't gotten enough hits. Early on, he was terrible. But a lot of his average was when he was trying to play with the leg problem he had. He knows what to do up there. I still have faith in him to get big hits.'"

That's good that Torre still has faith in him to get big hits. I'm fairly sure he's the only one. I'm not even sure Mark Sweeney has faith he can collect some big hits anymore. This does confirm what I've said before: Sweeney is going to make it the whole year. He's with us until the end. If we make the playoffs, don't be surprised to see him there, too.

As for the Greg Maddux trade, I like it. We've already committed to winning this year, so we might as well go all out and get whoever we can for the stretch run. Still, the trade will be hard to analyze until we know who the Padres are getting back for Maddux. Hopefully, Ned Colletti had the sense to know the Padres were in a corner, and that they either had to keep Maddux, or send him to us. Supposedly, we are sending them two Players-To-Be-Named-Later, both of which are playing in the lower minor leagues, which seems ok to me, so long as those aren't the top two players in the lower minor leagues. We really shouldn't have to give that much for Maddux, but we'll find out soon enough. The Padres have to pick their two players by October.

Editorial: Manny

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.

Dodgers Acquire Manny Ramírez

The Dodgers, in the last few minutes of the trade deadline, completed one of the biggest deals of the year. They sent Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pirates, who in turn, sent Jason Bay to the Red Sox, who sent Manny Ramírez to L.A. Boston also sent Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen to the Pirates to complete the trade.

Casey Blake Traded From Cleveland

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.