What is going on?!
On the heels of Russell Martin announcing he'd be out 4-6 weeks, Cory Wade is going to be out 2 weeks with a shoulder issue, and Casey Blake had to leave today's game because of a strained side muscle.
We're less than a week into Spring Training and everyone is breaking down! Luckily, Blake's injury doesn't seem serious, and Wade will be back before Spring Training is over, but I don't like the bad vibes we're starting this season with.
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In other news, this headline from Dodgers.com forced me to come up with a bad joke, that I know I shouldn't share with the outside world, but I just can't help myself.
Well, sure, Martin is easy. Let's see him spell Mientkiewicz.
Russell Martin is going to be out for the next four to six weeks with a pulled groin. Now this poses a few issues.
The first is obvious. Who will replace Martin? Word from Joe Torre is that A.J. Ellis will get most of Martin's starts to begin the season, which is something I'm only 60% ok with. I like Ellis, and I like the fact that he's stuck in there for the last seven seasons since he's been drafted by the Dodgers, and I've even supported Ellis as backup catcher for the last two seasons or so, I'm just worried with the idea of "A.J. Ellis, starting catcher." Still, there aren't many other options, none especially better, so that issue kind of settles itself.
Here's the bigger issue, Martin has in a round-about way declared that he's going to push hard to try to come back quickly which is, really, just the worst thing he can do.
Martin has always been known as a hard nosed guy, who doesn't want to sit out a game, or who wants to play through injuries, etc. but in this instance, he would be putting himself at risk for no reason.
I mean, really, we're not just talking about a handful of games in April, but here are the teams we are playing:
3 @ Pittsburgh, 3 @ Florida, 3 vs Arizona, 3 vs SF, 3 @ Cincinnati, 3 @ Washington, 3 @ New York Mets, 4 vs Pittsburgh
That takes us to May 3rd. 8 weeks from now. Which is more than enough time to heal up and make sure you are 100% ready for the season.
Is there one series in those eight (in April, by the way) that is an absolute must win? There is absolutely no need for Martin to rush back.
Russell, you feel like you need to play, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Sit. Heal. Watch some scouting videos or something.
Or grow your totally awesome mustache back.
...and get paid to do it. We'll see you in six weeks.
...make it Garret Anderson!
The Dodgers added Anderson today on a minor league contract, and he'll supposedly compete with Brian Giles and Doug Mientkiewicz for the role of 5th outfielder/left handed batter off the bench.
Now, we can debate whether or not we really need a 5th outfielder1 or if we could fill the role of left handed batter with a better option than one of the aforementioned.2
1. We don't.
2. We could.
...however, we do have Joe Torre as a manager, so having an old busted up veteran to fill the unnecessary role is almost a guarantee.
So, who to pick out of the three? All three are pretty much question marks.
Mientkiewicz only had 18 at-bats last year, and wasn't bad, but that's such a small sample size, you can't draw anything from it. He still deserves a spot and a chance in Spring Training, but for the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to rule him out.
I mean, come on, this was the highlight of his season.
So that brings us to Brian Giles and Garret Anderson.
Brian Giles had a horrid season last year, splitting half the time being injured and the other half being a terrible hitter. I've said it before, but his numbers last year (.191, 2 HR, .548 OPS!) dipped into Andruw Jones-ian territory. And that's not 20 at-bats. That's 225 at-bats! That's a good 2/5th's of a season.
Garret Anderson, on the other hand, has been slowly melting, statistically speaking. Average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging, and Homeruns have been on a downward trend the last three years. So, now the question is, has he bottomed out, or does he still have room to slide more?
Between the last two, Giles has far bigger upside, in that, if he returns to form as the Brian Giles of old, he can make a huge impact on the team. However, I'm going to say there's only a 10% chance of that happening, whereas with Anderson, I feel like we know what we can get from him.
I'm going to go out on a limb here (so Anderson can screw me over) and say that I think Anderson has fallen to his lowest level. Anderson hit .268 (.705 OPS) with 13 HRs in a weak 2009 season and I feel that's probably similar to what he would do if we threw him out there everyday in 2010, which would be really terrible if he was going to be our starting left fielder, but not the worst thing if you are going to make him a left handed pinch hitter, a la Jim Thome.
Basically, what I'm saying is, if we absolutely, positively, gots-to have a 5th outfielder/left handed pinch hitter/old person, then I'm ok with Garret Anderson for the job.
"I'm your man!"
I know I haven't been posting a lot, but it's all part of the plan. You see, this is how I've been going about this offseason:
Picture the offseason as a glass. Every meaningless signing adds a few drops to the glass. Eventually, the glass starts to get full and overflows. And then, as all the non-roster invitees are spilling on the counter, I finally decide to do something about it.
Why am I doing it like this? Laziness? Busyness? The inability to bring myself to dedicate an entire post to Justin Knoedler? Pick one.
Who???
Either way, consider this post emptying out the glass.
Ok, let's take a look at what we've added since I last posted:
- Timo Perez - Outfielder. Hasn't been in the majors since 2007. Doesn't have much value. He's dead to me.
- John Koronka - Pitcher. 4 games since 2006. Never posted an ERA below 5.60. He's dead to me.
- Reed Johnson - He was signed to be out 4th outfielder. He's ok. His contract is cheap. There were probably better options, but I'm not going to go to war over a 4th outfielder.
- Justin Knoedler - Catcher. Hasn't played in the majors since 2006. I can't imagine using him at all in 2010 unless something horrible happens to the several catchers ahead of him in the depth chart. Dead to me.
- Alfredo Amezaga - Utility player. Much like Johnson, he's ok. Also, he's cheap. He can play a bunch of positions. He's coming off surgery so who knows how effective he'll be. Also, I don't know who's spot he's taking on the roster, so he might not even be relevant this year.
- Jeff Weaver - I actually like this signing! Wow! Weaver was effective as a swing man last year, he's coming back as a non-roster invitee. So, either Weaver will be good and find his way back to the roster, or he won't and will sit cheaply in AAA. Nice.
- Ramon Ortiz - Pitcher. 5 games for two teams in 2007. 5.45 combined ERA. Has had a below 4.00 ERA once in his career (2002). Here's a better question ... who has a better chance of being useful in 2010: Russ Ortiz or Ramon Ortiz? The answer? They're both dead to me.
Alright. That's it. The glass has been emptied and I feel better.Look, if something meaningful happens, I'll post about it.Otherwise, I'll be back in a week and a half to discuss the addition of another five players who are already dead to me.
So, I was out and about today, and I finally got around to checking the news, and what did I see?
Well, lookey here. The Dodgers resigned Ronnie Belliard and Brad Ausmus.
And like almost every thing we've done this offseason, I am just ... feeling ... blah ... about it.
Ausmus is fine. He did well enough as a backup catcher last year, and he'll be back this year relatively cheap. If he continues to play adequately and maybe impart some old catcher wisdom on some of the younger players, then he's a good guy to have around.
Plus, he's got connections.
Which I guess brings me to why I'm so unsure about Belliard. What is his point? Is he here to start or come off the bench? And if we have Belliard, what's the point of Jamey Carroll? They play the same positions. Both bat right handed. Carroll gets on base better. Belliard slugs better. Neither excels at both. It's just a little ... blah.
On the bright side, Yahoo! Sports reports that Belliard's contract comes with a stipulation that is both sad and funny:
"The infielder’s $825,000, one-year contract, which was announced Tuesday, will become guaranteed only if he reports to spring training at 209 pounds or less. If he reports at over 209 pounds, the Dodgers can release him and owe only termination pay."
Basically, show up fat and you lose everything!
I can only imagine the horribly depressing conversation that would take place between the coaches if Belliard doesn't show up in shape in Spring. The inevitable: "Is Ronnie looking sluggish?" question. The debate whether or not to bust out the scale. The decision on whether or not to cut him for being 215.
"Are we supposed to add the weight of dreadlocks, too?"
Say what you will about the signings, but at the very least they've added a little bit of suspense to Spring Training.
And really, isn't that all you can ask for in a blah offseason?
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.
So, I haven't written a blog post in almost a month. But can you really blame me? There hasn't really been a substantial bit of news in that time.
Matt Kemp is dating Rihanna? Good for him, but how sad is it that the biggest news the Dodgers have had in the last month was reported by TMZ?
Big News.
What then, you might ask, is this post about? Well, a small bit of Dodger news was reported today and I'm jumping all over it for two reasons. One: Guilt for not posting anything for about three and a half weeks. Two: I'm starving for any kind of Dodger news. I keep checking Dodger news sites and blogs just hoping for some sign of a pulse in this team's offseason.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that pulse was found today!
The Dodgers have signed ... RUSS ORTIZ!
HUZZAH! HUZZAH! ...
Wait a second. Russ Ortiz? RUSS ORTIZ?! WHAT?! WHY?!
Look, normally I'm a sucker for these stupid "Local Boy Comes Home to Pitch for Dodgers" stories, but even I can't get behind this one.
Russ Ortiz? Russ Ortiz who's last "just above average" year was 2004? Russ Ortiz who's has been dreadful in every following year (and I mean dreadful, ERAs: 6.89, 8.14, 5.51, 5.57)?
Russ Ortiz, seen here being slightly above-average.
Oh, and the Dodgers signed Michael Restovich, too, which immediately places him 7th on the Dodger outfielder depth chart, behind Jamie Hoffmann, who's on another team.
