Player Profiles: 3rd Base - Casey Blake

Player: Casey Blake

2008 Stats: .251, 10 homeruns, 23 RBIs (Full Season: .274, 21 homeruns, 81 RBIs)

2008 Analysis: Casey Blake was a solid veteran presence at 3rd base for the stretch run. He wasn't great, but he was solid. His 10 homeruns in just over two months was impressive, but he didn't hit for a high average and struck out an awful lot. His defense was above average, collecting only two errors in 133 total chances (.985). Overall, he provided what the Dodgers needed at the time. An everyday 3rd baseman.

Whether or not the Dodgers gave up too much in the trade for him is still to be seen, but as far at the 2008 season goes, he's was good enough.

2009 Outlook: The free agent market for 3rd basemen is not strong at all. Frankly, the only two free agents worth really looking at are Joe Crede and Casey Blake. Crede is a health risk but I'd rather have him than Blake. Still, should Crede end up not an option, or some other 3rd baseman can't be had in a trade, I guess I wouldn't mind seeing Blake back for the 2009 season. Maybe...

Player Profiles: 3rd Base - Blake DeWitt

Player: Blake DeWitt

2008 Stats: .264, nine homeruns, 52 RBIs

2008 Analysis: Well, for a kid who was mostly expected to play no higher than AAA in 2008, playing in 117 games at the big league level and starting at 2nd through the entire playoffs was a bit of an upgrade. And for a kid who had that low expectations coming into the season, how he performed was above and beyond the call of duty.

That being said, DeWitt was a lot less impressive over an entire year. He was solid in April, excellent in May (.322, five homeruns, 18 RBIs, .896 OPS), then dropped off for the rest of the year. Following May, until the end of the year, DeWitt batted .235 with only four homeruns and 23 RBIs. His OPS over that span was .649.

DeWitt's fielding at 3rd was solid, even though his fielding percentage was an average .969. DeWitt's percentage wasconsiderably better at 2nd (.981) though in less chances. He did look uncomfortable there at times, though.

2009 Outlook: So what are we to make of DeWitt's numbers in 2008. Can he play more like a May-DeWitt or will he play more like a 2nd-half-DeWitt? Baseball is always said to be a sport about adjustments. Can DeWitt make those adjustments? Scouting reports must have come out after May, because pitcher started hitting him with breaking balls low and in that DeWitt could neither hit nor hold off on.

Here's what I feel. DeWitt is good baseball player. He's not going to hit well enough to warrent a third base job (you'd ideally like someone with a little more power over there), but he could be our 2nd baseman for years to come. If he can make the adjustments he needs to, he could hit maybe somewhere around 15 homeruns and bat in the high-.200's for a whole season. If we get that kind of production out of him at 2nd, I'll be happy.

I hope to see him shore up his defense at 2nd base and come into Spring Training 2009 ready for the job.

Player Profiles: Shortstop - Nomar Garciaparra

Player: Nomar Garciaparra

2008 Stats: .264, eight homeruns, 28 RBIs

2008 Analysis: Oh Nomar, what are we to think of you? When you are consistently healthy, you can still hit, but therein lies the problem. Nomar made three trips to the DL this season.

The weird thing is that I can't quite figure out how to judge Nomar this year. He played half of April, none of May or June, almost all of July, the second half of August, and parts of September. He didn't play one season this year, he played three or four, so it's hard to really say how Nomar did.

I will say this though, he did flash signs of his offensive goodness in places during the season. He also played in three of the four infield positions throughout the season (including playing shortstop for the first time since 2005), moving around to help out the team, and that's definitely a big plus.

2009 Outlook: Nomar is currently a free agent. Of course I don't know what Nomar is thinking, but if I could take a guess, I would assume Nomar would like to be a starter somewhere. I would also assume Nomar would like to still play for the Dodgers. Well, we have a hole at 3rd base that needs to be filled, and it seems like a good fit to bring him back. ...but here's the thing. As much as I like Nomar, I can't trust him. I'm not willing to just resign Nomar and ink him in for 3rd base for the 2009 season because of his surprising ability to get hurt. He did make it into about 120 games in both 2006 and 2007 for us, but he hasn't played in more than that since 2003, so I'm a little bit scared of having a big hole at 3rd base for a good portion of the season.

I would, ideally, like to resign Nomar to be our mega-utility infielder. I'd like to keep him on the bench to pinch hit and spot start at 1st or 3rd, or maybe even a little shortstop and/or 2nd base, but I want, in no way, to end up relying on him. I want him to be part-part time player, part-coach, part-Dodger ambassador, but I don't want to put much more on him other than that. I've been disappointed too many times in the past, and I don't know if I can be hurt by him anymore (*tear*)...

Player Profiles: Shortstop - Chin-lung Hu

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...

Editorial: Baseball Fields

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...

Player Profiles: Shortstop - Rafael Furcal

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...

Offseason Awards: MVP

Ok, the other awards are out of the way, it's time for the big one. The Dodger MVP. Here are your nominees:

Andre Ethier
-For a man who's starting job was in question coming into the season, and who had difficulty getting consistent playing time until halfway through the season, he finished the year with some fantastic numbers. .305 average, 20 homeruns, 77 RBIs, not too mention some solid defensive play. Plus, he was hot when it counted, down the stretch.

Derek Lowe
-I already laid out Lowe's stats in the Cy Young award post, and noted there as well, the Derek Lowe might have a better shot at the MVP award... and I wasn't lying. For all the interest around Manny during the last couple months of the season, Derek Lowe was quietly the anchor of the pitching staff. He wasn't as sexy to talk about, but almost as important.

Manny Ramírez
-Manny had a great year, in the span of two months. In just 53 games for the Dodgers, Manny batted .396, had 17 homeruns, and drove in 53 RBIs. He was vital in the Dodgers' drive toward the playoffs. I could talk on and on about how good he was with the bat, but anyone who watched the Dodgers the last two months of the season knows how important Manny was to this team.

Chad Billingsley
-Again, his stats were presented in the Cy Young post, and on top of those good stats, he was the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Cy Young Winner." Big plus.

James Loney
-Loney, despite having a somewhat slow year (at least for what many were hoping for from Loney) still managed to bat .289 with 13 homeruns and lead the Dodgers with 90 RBIs. Sure, it seems like a somewhat quiet 90 RBIs, but 90 RBIs is nothing to scoff at. Impressive for a kid in just his 3rd season with not a lot of power.


...and the 2008 Dodger MVP is...

Manny Ramírez.

Yes, Derek Lowe was fantastic down the stretch. Andre Ethier and Chad Billingsley had excellent breakout years. James Loney led the team with RBIs.

But let's face facts. In 2008, there wasn't one player who meant more to the team than Manny. He gave the team the much needed spark when they were just average around the trade deadline. He single handedly won games with his bat. Most of all, he made the players around him better, and he pushed us to the playoffs. There was no real competition.

Without a doubt, Manny Ramírez is the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 MVP."