I don't know how I should feel about yesterday's Spring Training game (Dodgers beat the Rangers 13-7), featuring Jason Schmidt.
Is it good news that Schmidt made it through two innings without his shoulder falling off?
Or is it bad news that he gave up three runs in those two innings, including serving up a homerun?
Or is it even worse news for Claudio Vargas, who gave up four earned runs in his 2.1 innings of work. This included giving up three homeruns, one of which came to... ANDRUW JONES!
Eric Milton, however, went three scoreless innings in relief, lowering his Spring ERA to 3.12.
And Jeff Weaver has been pretty good this spring.
Things are heating up. This is just like watching a four-horse horse race for the 5th starter position.
Except all the horses are old and gimpy.
This is kinda weird. Supposedly, according to Dodgers.com, the scheduled starting pitcher for Monday's Spring Training game is some guy named... Jason Schmidt (sp?).
Who is this guy? He's not a Dodger minor leaguer. He didn't come up through our system.
Ok, I checked his stats. It says he pitched six games for us in 2007... what???
Does anyone remember that?
Seriously: Andruw Jones, Esteban Loaiza, Mark Sweeney, Shea Hillenbrand (amongst others). These are all guys who started their Dodger careers after Jason Schmidt's last start with us and finished them before his next one. Randy Wolf has had two go-arounds with the Dodgers in between Schmidt's starts. Hell, Andy LaRoche (*tear* still miss you, buddy.) had his first major league at-bat, was sent down, called up, hit his first major league homerun, then was horribly injured, called up and sent down several times more, hit some more homeruns, and was shipped off to Pittsburgh in between Schmidt's starts.
Really, is anyone in waiting on pins and needles to see Jason Schmidt return? Is anyone expecting a major league, regular season start for the Dodgers from Jason Schmidt?
That's not to say I wouldn't gladly welcome a healthy Jason Schmidt as our 5th starter.
I'm just not holding my breath.
I was going to post a quick comment on another blog about possible trade ideas for Juan Pierre now that we have Manny, and started researching and writing and before I knew it, I kinda almost wrote an entire article on my idea. Anyway, here it is:
I have a hard time finding trading partners because I don't know how much value Pierre has to other teams 
(read: I don't know if they realize how bad he is), but let's take a look at the Reds.
Let's assume this is a fit for a couple reasons:
1. Dusty Baker had him for one year in Chicago and liked him enough to send him out there for all 162 games. (Minor Problem?: Dusty Baker knows the truth about Juan Pierre, and will tell the Reds GM to steer clear? I actually have no idea how Baker feels about Pierre, but let's assume he likes him.)
2. The four outfielders on the Reds 40-man roster are Jay Bruce, Willy Taveras, Norris Hopper, and Chris Dickerson, so let's say there is room for improvement. (Minor Problem: Willy Taveras is already basically Juan Pierre) Still, Pierre is an improvement over Hopper and Dickerson.
Anyway, assuming those two things, here's a couple options to chew on: Juan Pierre to the Reds for either Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang.
Pierre is owed $10M in 2009, $10M in 2010, and $8.5M in 2011.
Harang is owed $11M in 2009, $12.5M in 2010, and $12.75M in 2011 ($2M club option buyout).
Arroyo is owed $9.5M in 2009, $11M in 2010, and $11M in 2011 ($2M club option buyout).
Obtaining either of the pitchers would mean additional payroll, but McCourt is $30M under last years payroll, so he could stand to spend a little more.
Harang's been good, Arroyo's never been great, but both had pretty sub-par years last year, though I'm willing to bet those ERAs will lower in the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium (also, the idea of Aaron Harang or Bronson Arroyo as our #5 starter is actually pretty nice when you think about it). Plus, there's the added benefit that if they don't work out, we don't pick up their 2011 option.
The Reds also have a lot of good young pitchers coming up and filling out the rotation, so more than likely, one of the two I mentioned would have to go at some point anyway.
Personally, I like the idea (probably because it's mine), but then again, it's hard for me to be objective. I'm not really sure the Reds would go for it.
Not to say it doesn't benefit them. They lower their payroll, acquire a "solid" outfielder, and free up space in their clustered starting rotation for a young arm.
See? This trade makes sense, both in terms of economics and personel. Both sides win. This seems like a great idea to me.
...which mean it'll never happen.
Everyone is happy.
For real.
At least it seems that way.
Joe Torre, Ned Colletti, Dodgers players, Dodgers fans, Manny himself. Even Scott Boras is on ESPNews saying he's happy with the outcome. Of course, he's also saying a lot of other Agent spin and various BS. (Edit: Sorry, I meant to continue this article, but there's a lot of weird stuff going on with this Boras interview. Picture this: As the "Star-Spangled Banner" plays loudly in the background, a fly lands ever so gently on Boras's suit and begins walking around. Neither Boras nor interviewer Michelle Bonner acknowledges either thing as happening. Meanwhile, behind him, three umpires emerge from a seemingly hidden room within a wall and approach Boras as though they are ready to kick his ass. Oh no! They are going to collide! At the last second the umpires move to avoid Boras, but never avert their angered stares from him. Now Boras completes the interview by saying Good-bye to Michelle Bonner, spreading wings, and flying into a firepit that has just opened up in the ground behind him. Ok, that last part didn't happen, but in my mind, that would have fit, and would have finally proven to me that in fact, Scott Boras, is some form of Demon, or quite possibly, the Devil himself. Anyway...) All of them say they are happy with the signing.
But it does pose the question. Where does this leave Juan Pierre?
Well, I think there might be a happy solution for him as well.
According to Dodgers.com:
"The Dodgers have given Juan Pierre's agent permission to explore potential trade partners for the outfielder who again lost his starting job with the re-signing of left fielder Manny Ramirez."
Fantastic. So, for his own benefit, Pierre can find a team that will let him start. That's pretty good motivation. I'm not going to lie, however, and say it's going to be easy. Pierre has a difficult contract to move, especially in this economy. But the important thing is that Manny's back in the lineup and Pierre is out of the lineup.
And that makes me happy.
So, ESPNews (which really doesn't mean one thing or the other: is it ESPN ews [perhaps a collection of all the gross things in sports?] or is it ESP News?) lied to me last night and told me that Manny had signed with us for 2 years/$45 million. 
Then they retracted that statement not too long thereafter. At that point I considered that ESPNews had a vendetta against me and began plotting revenge.
But now I apologize to you ESPNews. I understand now that ESPNews does in fact stand for ESP News. You were reporting the future. I shouldn't have doubted you.
In any case, now everybody is reporting it. Manny is ours again. Same offer as before: 2 years/$45 million, opt out clause after the first year. ...which in all likelihood means if we want Manny back next year, we are doing this all over again. But that's for another off-season.
Anyway, I'm excited. We have a pretty solid lineup now, one of the best in the National League, but we'll discuss this later. For now, the important thing is that Manny is back...
God, I feel pathetic.Here's where I'm at: I went on a date with a pretty hot (but possibly mentally unstable) girl, let's call her Mandy. It was nice. 
We had a good time... It didn't end the way we hoped, but I think we both enjoyed it. I told her to call me.
Flash forward a few months. The more and more I think about that girl, and the more and more I look at my current situation, the fonder I become of her. We've talked a few times, but nothing serious has come from it. We just can't seem to agree on where we're at, as far as the relationship goes. I put a lot of the blame on her weird friend Scott. I think he's trying to keep us apart for his own reasons.
So since nothing is happening with Mandy, I'm starting to get impatient, after all, the Big Dance is coming up, and I'd really love to have her as my girlfriend for it.
I've considered dating some other, less-hot girls, but ultimately, I decided against it. It didn't feel right. That window closed anyway, they moved on to other guys. Maybe for the better. I'm not even sure I wanted to date those other girls. Maybe I just wanted to make Mandy jealous.
So now I've given thought to moving on without her. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, maybe I don't need Mandy. I do have a backup plan. It's this girl I've known for the last couple years (let's call her Juanita). Problem is, she's not an attractive girl. She's really more like a sister. Don't get me wrong, she's a good person, she's reliable, but as far girlfriend material goes, I just don't think I can take her seriously, especially when I still have Mandy on my mind.
I check with Mandy. She's still single. Wow. With her looks, you wouldn't think she'd stay on the market this long, but I guess none of the other guys want to put up with her shenanigans. (She did mention she was thinking of moving up north, to the Bay Area. She met some guy on the internet, but that guy won't love her the same way, and she'd come to learn, she's not going to love him as much either. Plus, the weather is way nicer down here.)
Man, it just seems like the perfect fit. The Big Dance is almost here and neither Mandy nor I have a date. Even her weird friend Scott is starting to back off her a little. I remind Mandy of my previous offer to "Call Me."
Now I'm starting to really lose it. Day by day goes by and the more I look at the odd, misshapen face of Juanita, the more I understand that I can't go through with this without Mandy.
And this is were I start to feel pathetic.
I can't stop checking for Mandy. I check my phone, I check my e-mail, I check websites. Every day. Hell, every couple of hours. I'm looking for any kind of indication from Mandy that we can continue our relationship.
What is taking so long? What kind of sick game is she playing with me? I'm going crazy!
Stupid Scott, this has got to be his fault. In my heart, I know Mandy and I are perfect for each other, and Mandy has to know it, too. So what is the freakin' holdup?!?
I can't be sure, but I feel like it's close now. Any minute, that call is going to come in, or that e-mail will show up in my inbox. Any minute now.
But this wait is killing me. I still can't figure out how it got here, how I let Mandy mess with my life so badly, but it's happened, and now I'm her prisoner. I need her, and I need her soon...
And God does that make me feel pathetic.
P.S. I guess there's always hope. ESPN was reporting not too long ago that we were back together. As far as I know, nothings official yet, but I think everyone around us pretty much understands that we are meant to be.
Hey, I haven't posted in a while, but I'm posting now to inform you that, effective immediately, the blog will be undergoing a format change.
We will no longer be doing game recaps and news stories, and will instead be focusing on opinion and analysis related articles.
Also, the colors are changed. The blog as a whole is brighter. This makes it feel happier and warmer. Don't you feel it?
New articles to begin soon.
By the way, since I can't add captions to photos, I'm going to name the photos I put in my blog posts with the caption I would have used. Just click the photo to see it's title.
Is it good news that Schmidt made it through two innings without his shoulder falling off?
