Let's Get Physical!

“word is that J.D. Drew's physical may not have come out clean”

Word is the tests showed that Princess didn’t have any “Y” chromosomes in her body. The doctor was appalled when he discovered that she was sporting “one of each” down there, thus making her a hermaphrodite.

I wonder if this is a ploy by Boston to get out of the contract. Reality might have set in and they were saying to themselves “maybe it’s not such a good idea to give JD all this money for five years”. Boston might be trying to make a big deal out something minor.

Then again, JD is made out of toothpicks and paper-mache, so who knows what they found.

As The Skipper mentioned, I too will laugh my a*s off if they end up offering a 2 year 10 million deal with incentives. And if he doesn’t end up signing with Boston this is certainly going to kill any chance of getting a more lucrative contract. I guess those are the chances you take when you leave $33 million in guaranteed money on the table. SUCKA!!

LoLo:

I am sure it's nothing a squirt or two of massengale couldn't fix...

Sweet, Sweet, Poetic Justice! There Is Still Justice In The World! Praise The Lord! HaHaHa

Maybe The Doctors Found Out That Her Highness Is Pregnant! There Is Speculation That Either Grady Little Or Julio Luggie Is The Baby Daddy! Someone Call Maury Povich!

Could Be BorAss Or Depo As Well. What A BadAss Show That Would Be! HaHaHa

I saw in this mornings paper, Daryl Ward signed with someone for 1.1 million. The guy couldn't even make it as a reserve in L.A.
MLB must be printing it's own money!

I understand famed lawyer, Gloria Allred, is going to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Princess.
Gloria claims that it was unfair to require a physical for J.D. during that time of the month.

Dodgerdog,

That was genius. Kudos.

AK

Dodgerdog,

Good Lord!! That was CLASSIC!!!

Andy B.,

Strangely enough, the team that signed Ward is the team that probably is printing its own money this offseason, the Chicago Cubs.

Wouldn't that be something!!! The three clients Borat had his mate Theo sign all turn into flops. Lugo, Drew and D. Maz},,,lol

dodgerdog:

it's getting BRUTAL in here...classic...just classic!!

Noting like a heavy flow moment to void a contract...

Daryl Ward is still alive? Or was he just not cutting it in the Mexican Leagues?

All this JD Drew bashing is unfair. He was perfectly healthy when he entered the examination room. It was the harsh physical contact from there which caused problems. The stethoscope was abnormally icy and caused frostbite on contact. The reflex hammer bruised muscle tissue and crushed tiny bones. We can only shudder to think of what resulted from the personal probing... although there are reports he was seen smoking a cigarette afterwards and has sent flowers to the team physician....

Lord only knows the trauma induced by Drs. Jelly Finger and Turnyer Headankoff.

Maybe Drew sneezed and tore some internal organs...yup, that must of been what happened

Michael,

That was damn funny. I can see the doctor hitting Princess' leg with the reflex hammer and shattering her knee-cap. Then Drew crawling on the floor and yelling like Rick James, "What am I going to do about my legs, Charlie Murphy??"

In other news this morning, the ChiSox just shelled out $3.65 mil over 2 years to sign Toby "I'm a Starter" Hall to be A.J. Buttinski's backup. Wonder if they have good room service at the Chicago Ritz Carlton?

Alex Rios' name is coming up as a trade possibility for Penney. What do you think?

Report on ESPN.com says that the Red Sox want a 2nd opinion about the Princess' shoulder. It is scheduled for Monday. Rumor has it that she injured the shoulder while slinking in to a new, tight dress.

He'll sign anyway, but there will be some contract changes in all likelihood. Don't you love that she hasn't even played there yet and already there are problems?

FISH- WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT??? I'D TAKE THAT DEAL
IN A HEARTBEAT. NICE LOOKING YOUNG PLAYER.

StarG,

Here's the article:

http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=228&p=2&c=601667

I don't know if I'm in favor of that deal. I'd rather have an over stocked pitching corp, than an overcrowded outfield

alex rios is fantastic. kinda cold second half last season. but awesome first half. where was this?

Read it on Buster Olney on ESPN site. Jays feel that they are deep in the OF, and after commiting to Wells, Rios might be available. I don't know enough about him.

Fish Guy:

Alex Rios for Penny? I would say no. Look at the price of starting pitching in today's market. Penny has huge value compared to Rios. While Rios looks to be a player with potential and now expendable with the long term deal for Vwells, that is not a deal I would pull the trigger on. The Dodgers have plenty of guys just like Rios already he does not fill any holes.

Of course perhaps there is something special about Rios we peons don't know? Still to me Penny is worth more pitching in the 3-hole then Rios would be riding pine or as yet another outfielder on a team loaded with average guys and young guys with potential.

btw, another concern I would have about Rios is he is recovering from a staph infection. Depending on how bad an infection it was he might never be the same player as before the infection.

Judging from him playing only 128 games last season, it was a pretty bad infection. Staph infections can alter a person's life permanently. Some people never fully recover. I think that condition would concern me the most and would really want far more then a typical pre-trade physical. Lots of pab work and strength/endurance tests.

dodgerdog:

it is funny (as in funny haha) that princess is already having problems based on her fragile condition. And as usual she has yet to play a single pitch of a single inning.

Her throwing arm was an absolute piece of crap the end of last year. Maybe that is the reason, she is a slow healer...

something just crossed my mind. If she has a problem with her contract and LOSES money based on the deal she had with the Dodgers, that might have a big impact on player trusting the anti-christ as their agent. I suspect that players are very twitchy about their agents making mistakes. And they should be.

Potentially this might be the beginning of the end of the Boras era. If I was a player I don't think I would have faith that he was acting in my best interest should it turn our he cost Drew MILLIONS in guaranteed money.

Maybe this is why Colletti decided not to bother with the tampering thing. He might have known that her shoulder is shot and will never be any good again.

To Drew's credit he has turned what would have been a very short and mediocre career in baseball, even just 10 years ago, into at least around what, $40 million bucks. Awwww, poor leetle thing might have to start feed "Schotzy" regular dawg food if things don't get better...

I just can't get the idea of trading Penny out of my head. I know I don't care for how he has performed as a Dodger since they traded for him. But somehow I have begun to think that keeping him make the Dodgers rotation one of the top 3 or 4 rotations in at least the NL.

I am starting to think that trading him weakens the team overall. With him in the rotation right now I feel the Dodgers are almost a lock to win the west. Given the fact they can trade him anytime to my gut I feel, unless he is simply impossible to work with, he needs to stay.

Championships are indeed won with pitching and defense. I do realize the odds of winning w/o a true power guy. And the Dodgers must aquire a true clean-up hitter to have any real chance to get to the series. But I just am shying away from the idea they trade Penny for anything but a top of the line bat.

Who knows Kemp may have learned to hit El Curveball in the off-season or at least the fine art of teg-war.

But for now I say the Dodgers need to be blown away by a deal to even consider trading Penny for the time being.

STARGAZIN:

I dunno if you found it but being as I am in an OCD mood tonight, here is a link to some info about the Jay's potentially trading Rios:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2006/12/alex_rios_on_th.html

They say he is a 5-tool kinda guy. Then again so was "El Canyon" and that worked out well for the Dodgers didn't it? hehehehe...

Why do people contantly talk about how many tools a guy has? I mean it's that too personal? Besides I have enough trouble being one-tool guy... :D

I would keep Penny for now. Pitching is at a premium. If he pitches well during the Spring and 1st half, he will be very valuable at the trade deadline. Perhaps as the 3 or 4 starter he will improve.

I have not been a fan of Bad Penny. His attitude, his lack of physical fitness and his collapse after the all star break last year have all contributed to my evaluation. A #1 starter needs to lead, and he failed, miserably.

As I recall, in the September 4 game series vs. the Padres, he was the 4th game starter. The Padres led the series 2-1 and the Dodgers needed that last game just to hold their spot in fighting for the division lead. Penny gave up 4 runs in the first. Most of us remember that game for something else....the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns and Nomar's game winner. Thanks, Brad.

However, maybe as a #3 starter, his psyche will handle it better. Look at the rotation. Schmidt (hard stuff), Lowe (sinkers), Penny (hard stuff), Wolf (lefty-always a plus unless it is Timberrrr), Billingsley (hard stuff, with sink).

Pretty decent staff, lots of variety. That doesn't even include Kuo. Though still lacking the big bat, the lineup seems solid, will score runs. I'm optimistic.

Why would we trade Penny for Rios? Dude put up Ethier-like numbers last year. Why do we want another Ethier when we don't even have a spot for him? Besides, you want to trade Penny for THAT?

Let's just play the season with what we have (unless we have a letigimate shot at landing a Jones-type player).

JIMMY- DIDN'T WE AGREE HE HAD TO GO????????????

DBB- THX FOR THE LINK. BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY THE DREW STORY. WHICH WAS ACTUALLY MOST ENJOYABLE READING.

THX GRUMPY- GOOD STUFF THERE. I GUESS THE VALUE OF
PENNY IS THE REAL STORY HERE. STARTING PITCHING IS
VERY VALUABLE. WHAT WILL WE HAVE IN PENNY,
FIRST HALF 2006 PENNY OR SECOND HALF??????????
HIS ATTITUDE AND SECOND HALF NON PERFORMANCE MAKE
ME VERY EAGER TO TRADE HIM WHILE HE STILL HAS VALUE.
I'D TAKE A GOOD BAT BOY AND BULLPEN CATCHER.
PLUS I WANT TO SEE KUO IN THE ROTATION.

BAD PENNY. HEADS OR TAILS- HE HAS TO GO.

NED PICKED UP GONZO AS INSURANCE. THE BEST HE COULD
DO AT THE TIME. BUT IF WE CAN UPGRADE WITH A WONDERFUL YOUNG PLAYER. HECK YES. GONZO HIT .235
WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION LAST YEAR AND WAS
2-29 AT DODGER STADIUM. IF WE UPGRADED AND HE BECAME
INSURANCE ON THE BENCH- NO PROBLEM.

BAD PENNY-GET RID OF IT. GET RID OF IT NOW.

OK HOP YOUR YOUR TIME MACHINE. MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT EVERYTIME
PENNY WENT TO THE MOUND IN THE SECOND HALF OF LAST
SEASON. AUTOMATIC LOSS. ALMOST AS BAD AS SENDING TOMKO OUT THERE IN RELIEF. REMEMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

LOLO- WHATS WRONG WITH EITHER NUMBERS????
THEY'RE BOTH YOUNG AND GETTING BETTER. ALL WE GOT
IS UPSIDE WITH THESE PLAYERS. PLUS THE GUY CAN PLAY
CENTERFIELD. IF KEMP IS READY TO GO NEXT YEAR-
TRADE PIERE AND YOU HAVE AN OUTFIELD OF RIOS,
EITHER AND KEMP. PLUS YOU GET RID OF THE CANCEROUS
LARDASS KNOWN AS BAD PENNY.

Grumpy:

"El Canyon" - that's funny!!!

Maybe we could get Rios for Bombko or Timber.

STARGAZIN,
YES HE NEEDS TO GO BUT FOR THE RIGHT PLAYER.
I THINK RIOS IS NO BETTER THAN ETHIER AND WITH THE EXORBITANT PRICE FOR PITCHING THESE DAYS, IF PENNY WINS 15 GAMES FROM THE 3 HOLE IT WOULD BE A BARGAIN. PLUS, IN JULY HE COULD GET US THE BAT WE NEED.
ANDRUW JONES OR TORI HUNTER POSSIBLY.
KEEPING HIM FOR THE TIME BEING PUTS US IN A POSITION OF STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY.
SOMETHING PENNY SHOULD BE WORKING ON AS WE SPEAK.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE DREW DEAL FALL THRU.
ALTHOUGH, THE BOSOX WILL TRUELY BE SORRY IF THEY SIGN DREW, AND THEY DESERVE IT. BA***RDS!
EITHER WAY, WE WIN! LOL!!!

Ned doesnt even need to read this (which i hope he does/ if he doesnt he should) to know that trading Penny for Rios would be a terrible move. (I really hope no moves get made) Penny is a pain in the ass, but he is not of the allen iverson/T.O. not capable of playing with variety. Only working one out of every five days is the way it is and the way it will stay. Kudos to everything that was said about Rios just being Ethier-- all very true. I still like Kuo number 5-- he was so good.

I GUESS THE BOTTON LINE IS, I'VE LOST FAITH IN
PENNY WHILE SOME OF YOU HAVE NOT.

EVAN-IF KUO IS YOUR NO.5, WHO IS OUT. BILLZ????

NED'S OPINION OF PENNY IS OBVIOUS SINCE HE IS SHOPPING HIM A ROUND, HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE.
(SEE PREVIOUS THREAD IN REGARD TO PENNY AND THE
CARDS)
AND I AGREE.

WOW- YOU GUYS ARE HARD ON ETHIER. I HAPPEN TO THINK HE'S A VERY GOOD PLAYER WITH A LOT OF UPSIDE.
"JUST ANOTHER ETHIER"???

RIOS 17 HOMERS ETHIER 11 HOMERS
RIOS 82 RBIS EITHER 55 RBIS
RIOS 15 SBS EITHER 5 SBS

I agree about Ethier completely, i was only echoeing Lolo. They are pretty similar except Ethier, i think, is 5 years younger. I would not Rios because we have Ethier. I don't know about Billz to be honest. I think he need to develop more, despite his flashes of brilliance. I think he starts out the year as the number 5, but if he is struggling i wouldn't hesitate it making the five spot a rotation with Kuo and Billz. I am definately in the camp of people who envision Billz being the ace and star of the future-- easily for the next 13 years, Maddux/Glavine style. I just don't know if he is there, because, after all, he is so young. As for right now, i think you just need to go with the hot hand in the 5 spot, and definately hold onto Penny until the break.
And also, i think we should all be speculative when it comes to the reporting on ESPN and other such publications. For instance, Ned shopping Penny to the Cards. All of the GM's says everyone talks about everything and every possible possibility-- who is ESPN to say Penny was being "shopped". If anything Ned was receiving offers from the Cards...

Rios is an interesting guy. One of those dudes everyone has been waiting for for a while now. Had a huge opening to the season, then was knocked up with some bizarre staph infection I think and was terrible in the second half.

He's still young (26 in a couple months) and could just be coming into his own... or maybe he's a Travis Lee type that people wait on forever. I wonder if the Blue could end up getting more for Penny, given the market for pitching (in a world where Ted Lilly makes $10m per, Penny has value). But Rios is a guy that would fit into the Dodgers' ethic- young, upside, lots of skill.

BK

Stargazin,

By 'just another Ethier', everyone is pointing to the fact that the Dodgers don't need another contact hitting, bat-for-average type of OF. There's nothing wrong with Ethier or Rios, but with guys like Nomar, Gonzo and, Martin, Betemit, and Ethier (all solid offensive threats, but lacking legitimate HR power), the need is a big impact bat, not another gap hitter.

In theory, I wouldn't mind a trade for Alex Rios, but if the Dodgers are going to give up Penny, they had better receive a bunch of other players in return.

As for Penny himself, I would really like to see him pitch as the #3 starter. Since he will be matched up against weaker opposing pitchers, he should receive much more run support and feel much less pressure. Penny disappeared in the second half last year not because he broke down physically, but because he lost focus after his all-star start and couldn't regain it in time. He has nasty stuff, but not the mentality of an ace, so he may thrive in the middle of the order.

BK,

Rios was "knocked up with some staph infection". Are you sure you're not talking about the Princess and a yeast infection?

EVAN- RIOS 26 IN FEB. ETHIER 25 IN MARCH.
DON'T MIND ME, I'M JUST IN A BAD MOOD AFTER LAST
NIGHTS LAKER LOSS. PLUS I'M DONE WITH PENNY.
BK- THX FOR YOUR INPUT.

I'm the biggest Penny hater on here. The guy is just a cancer in my opinion. However, he is the biggest bargaining chip the Dodgers have. Pitching is/will be a premium come Spring training time. We not need to get desperate and make a trade now. We can do that trade in March if we wanted to. Lets see if the market doesn't start heating up for pitchers and some real proven talent starts being offered for Penny. WORST CASE SCENARIO: We are stuck with Penny. At least he has potential to change his stinking attitude... maybe with some early hitting and runs and wins, he will come to think team. Here's to hoping.

Stargazin,

I didn’t mean that as a diss on Ethier at all. I think Ethier is a very solid player who is only going to get better. But he’s not the type of player we are in need of. What we need is a power hitter. And when I said Rios is” Ethier-like” I meant that he’s not the power hitter we are looking for. If we’re going to trade Penny it needs to be for the power hitter we’re seeking.

Besides, acquiring Rios would overcrowd our outfield. Where would Rios play? He can’t replace Gonzo. He’s not going to replace Pierre. And what’s the sense in replacing Ethier with an "Ethier"?

Stargazin,

Rob made a good point. Just because Ned wants to move Penny it doesn’t mean that he should get desperate and trade him away for nothing, or something that doesn’t meet our needs. I too am very disappointed in Penny, and would prefer to see him traded for something that makes us a more complete team. But Rios is certainly not that type of player, in my opinion.

Wasn't there some kind of a small staph 'epidemic' in the Toronto lockerroom last season, or am I thinking of a different club?

im pretty sure rios had 12 hr at the allstar break..around the time he got the staph infection. i think hes a good young player. but i agree penny is worth more. i wonder if they would take tomko and the tall one. doubtful, but hey.

I'm so happy today. I just found the blog again. I thought there was no dodger blog since the season was over. Almost feel like finding your missing family.

Anyways, when I hard JD opted out of his contract I imagine Lolo jumping for joy.

I was disappointed when Wells signed the 126M contract. Hopefully, we can throw Penny & one of our young guy for a big bat.

Well, that's it. I'm off to read all of the old post.

Nice how the first comment I see is a sexist, class-less rant. Great Dodger analysis here.

Might want to consider filtering a few of these out. I'll try back again when the season starts.

Makoto,

Since we're talking about Toronto here, I think everyone is mistaken by the "staph" infection. It was probably SARS or Rick Moranis Disease. . .

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/images/pics/strangebrew.jpg

SOK- DID YOU BUY THE WIFE A CAR YET???????
WELCOME BACK.

JASON- GOING THRU LIFE W/OUT A SENSE OF HUMOR HAS
GOT BE BE A DRAG.

JOE- I GUESS THATS MY PROBLEM . I THINK HE'S
WORTHLESS.

OK GUYS. YOU WIN. YOU'RE WAY SMARTER THAN ME.
ESPECIALLY THAT LOLO GUY. REPLACE ETHIER W/ ETHIER.
GIMME A BREAK.

FROM NOW ON I'M LEAVING THE TRADING TO LOLO
CAUSE HE'S SO SMART.LOL. REPLACE ETHIER W/ETHIER.LOL

GOLLY GEE. REPLACE ETHIER W/ETHIER. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OT THAT. GOLLY GEE.

K-BROS- IF I EVER EXPRESS AN OPINION ON A POTENTIAL TRADE AGAIN- JUST BLOCK IT PLEASE. THX.

ETHIER=RIOS AND RIOS =ETHIER. SO SIMPLE EVEN A
CAVEMAN WOULD UNDERSTAND. DAH.

Looks like the someone has a case of the "Mundays".

stragazin,

You're taking that last Laker loss very hard. HAHA!

STARGAZIN:

quick turn on channel 42 it's that chick giving herself a b***t exam...again.

STARGAZIN:

thank you for calling, juST a momenT.

Stargazin,
I like Ethier. I'll make that trade. Ethier for Ethier straight up, ok?

here is one to ponder

...apparently Ichiro is not gonna re-sign in Seattle. Now that may be the posturing of negotiation, but if it is true as the Dodger GM would you consider a deal involving Penny for Ichiro?

What is the Mariners waved Beltre at them as part of a package? Would you include a prospect for him and whatever the whole deal would entail?

GRUMP- NO COMMENT ON THE ICHIRO TRADE ON THE GROUNDS
I MIGHT INCRIMINATE MYSELF( PLUS OPEN MYSELF TO UNDUE CRITICISM ). PLUS LOLO WILL SAY HE'S JUST
ANOTHER ETHIER.LOL.

Ichiro & Beltre? Great, another leadoff hitter with little power and a used-to-be-a-power-hitter-but-now-I-can't-take-steroids-so-I-suck. Both of their gloves would be nice, but I'd rather have Betemit or LaRoche at 3rd. We'd get more power from either one of them. Ichiro's great, but our outfield is already REALLY crowded. Besides, what Ichiro said was that if the Mariners don't get serious about winning then he'd rather play somewhere else. He puts butts in the seats, so the Mariners won't trade him. But if they don't finish top 2 in the AL West this year, he'll leave as a free agent.

GRUMP- NICE TRY BUT YOU'RE NOT SUCKING ME BACK IN ,
JUST SO LOLO CAN SLAP ME DOWN AGAIN.LOL.

YES, I WAS INVOLVED WITH THE INDIANS TRADING RHODE ISLAND FOR THOSE BEADS. I STILL THINK IT WAS AN OK DEAL FOR THE INDIANS.

Sorry to see Jason Werth sign on with the Phillies..He was finally healthy..not sure why we didn't bring him to spring training?..anyone?

Kate,

I don’t know what the circumstances were involving Werth. The best Werth could have hoped for was the 4th outfielder, so maybe he wanted a better situation. Then again, I have no idea what the Phillies offered him in terms of money and playing time.

I like Werth. I think he had the potential of being a very good player had he stayed healthy. And given our need for power I would have given him a chance. After all, even if Werth accepted arbitration, how hard could it be to win considering he didn’t even play last year? And even if the Dodgers had lost, how money could he had possibly gotten (not much, in my opinion)? Then again, Werth might not had wanted to go to arbitration, which might have been what Ned offered him.

I wish Werth the best of luck. I liked the kid, and he never did anything to indicate he was a bad teammate. He certainly did well when he played, so hopefully his injury woes are behind him.

Good morning Dodger Dogs: Please got to mlb.com and look at the hot stove report 12/28/2006, which coincidently is highlighted in blue, and click on "Zito to Giants". And of course remember who told you to "watch the ticker" first. See you in October, in our rearview mirror. Happy New Years.
Your beloved GIANTS fan.