Sammy Stays

DBB,

“Does the new Saito contract make Broxton expendable for a deal involving a big bat?”

I don’t think so. We have an over-abundant amount of starters, but we need help in the bullpen. And considering our starters are 5-inning-queers, we need all the pen help we can get. I think Colletti and Little enjoyed having the 8th and 9th innings covered (although Little’s view is “slightly” skewed right now with the Manny thing looming over his head). Losing Brox would make the starters’ inability to go deep into games more of a glaring weakness.

It's official, the Princess signed with Boston:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb

and wow, lots happening:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AnkPxKo14jLBPBr_RhMBjgYRvLYF?slug=ys-mlbwmblog&prov=yhoo&type=lgns#madduxpadres

wow, this deal is genious compared to the Danys Baez deal.

wow, i thought we got ripped off at 5 years 55 mil. 5 years 70 million is a huge chunk of change. and to think we are saying this after he came off a his best/healthiest season ever.

Wow, that's awesome.

I think it's unrealistic to expect that Saito will have the same kind of success he had last season, but there's every reason to believe that he will still be an effective reliever, and hands-on favorite to be the most economical signing this offseason.

Now if Gagne stays true to his 'hometown discount' promise, the back of the Dodgers' bullpen might look pretty damned good next year.

SM4E,

That's very interesting to read that the Dodgers are still courting Gagne. Was that article published before Ned signed Saito? Does anyone think Gagne would settle into a platoon or an open competition with Saito and Broxton to be the Closer next season?

Tommy aside, does anyone else think that Adam Dunn would be a better trade target for the Dodgers than Manny? At last count, I think the Reds had like 21 relief pitchers on their roster, and therefore probably wouldn't demand Broxton in a trade. I'm not suggesting that Dunn has the same credentials as Manny. Dunn has that gawd-awful strikeout number, but he has more power and might be less disruptive in the clubhouse than Manny being Manny. At the very least, Adam Dunn is housebroken, and I can't say the same for Manny. . .

http://coloribus.com/admirror/contents/data/00247/big3.jpg

A report on Foxsports.com says the Red Sox are about to sign Lugie, the SHORTSTOP, for $36 million, 4 years.

The Princess, already $70 million for 5 years (actually about 500 games, total, huh?)

$51 million just for the right to negotiate with the anti-Christ for Matsusaka.

Again, just how much money do teams have? This is out of balance with the universe.

At 70 million guaranteed money...I guess it's Drew who's having the last laugh. Future injuries or not he's laughing all the way to the bank. At this point calling him princess; I don't think that really matters to him.

mike

This is the first time I've completely agreed with BK. "THIS IS A GOOD MOVE" Saito for $1 million?! Wow, Ned is definitely a magician. That really is a great start to getting the Dodger bullpen back on track. If they lost Saito, that would have been 2 steps back.

I heard we lost Maddux to SD for $10 million. Sorry to see him go. What were the Dodgers offering Maddux?? .. Anyone know?? Was it substantially less than $10 million? I thought he liked it in L.A. I can't believe we didn't get a hometown discount w/ him. It must have been BO-RAS again. Ned and he just can't seem to get along. It looks like we now have to pursue Schmidt really hard. Hope Ned can make it happen.

Awww, come on, no need to pick on me.

Though I will say that Dunn make Manny look like Andruw Jones in the field. Check the comparisons here (scroll down the link):
Dunn - http://tinyurl.com/y8lfud
Manny - http://tinyurl.com/qb1g

But I'm sure the Reds would settle for only two of Kemp/Ethier/Laroche/Loney crew plus a Penny/Tomko/Hendrickson.

Insanity aside, think Nomah would play outfield? So we can play Loney at first everyday?

Okay, I think it's fairly obvious that we PUNKED Saito. Dude only gets $1M guaranteed with incentives to make up to $1.3M. Okay, that's all gravy...UNTIL you consider backup catcher Mike Lieberthal will also be signing a contract for $1M. He has back and hip problems and he's not even signed yet! Are we already interviewing for Bill Mueller's replacement in the front office?

would still love to see a pen with a healthy Gagne, Saito & Broxton. With that core of game enders the pen would be the best in the game and all the starters would need is to be able to consitently go 6...given the other arms out there already, it would be very interesting to watch. Kind of like the season the Reds had that trio in the pen, I forget the year but Rob Dibble was one of them. That was about as solid a pen as ever assembled. They had a catchy name to..."Nasty Boys" or something?

DDB:

About Adam Dunn. RIght not I think it would be a toss up just throwing Kemp out there. I suspect Kemp is now way ready but he could be as effective overall. But, he is likely a big improvement with his glove over Dunn.

Interesting idea though as it would buy time for Kemp and the others to mature but not sure Dunn is worth a farmhand.

Dodger Azure Orbs:

Saito's signing doesn't make Broxton expendable, but it does signal the end of Gagne's Dodger career.

Broxton is a key cog for the Dodgers and their bullpen. Now that Gagne won't be back, he will spend 2007 repeating his role as an extremely effective 8th inning setup guy before inheriting the closer role from Saito in 2008.

Len

Makoto and Azure Orbs,

Sadly, Steve Hensen is reporting that Gagne is close to signing a one-year deal for $5M guaranteed with an undisclosed team that is not the Dodgers. I hope it is an American League team.

How can you do this, Eric? You just took the Dodgers for $18M over 2 years and in return you gave them 9 saves and 13 innings of work. Now you are selling out the team and us fans for a few million dollars more? (This is beginning to sound like a bad spaghetti western).

If this is true, let the high priest of the Cathedral that is Chavez Ravine be excommunicated from the Church of the Great Dodger in the Sky.

Len

anyone chime in on this if you wish.

dont it feels like the teams in baseball really HATE the dodgers? i mean why havent we heard about sensble deals going thru? i know the dodgers have great young propects but to trade some of them for a solid vet means that the whole damn farm will have to go as well.dont these teams know that we arent going to part with all of them? it almost seems like fans of the other teams are calling the shots (like us!) and requesting ridiculous deal packages. its just frustrating to know that other teams will make somewhat fair deals with each other but when the dodgers do it, the teams want everyone.
i wonder if ned and the front office possibly aggressive tactics is turning off many teams from being reasonable........

i also wonder if scott borASS is doing to the dodgers with his clients what ned is doing to him, which is ignoring him or getting them to jump ship?

ak/bk i smell a story here....

i also believe that saito-san's signing means that gagne could return. think about it, danys baez signed last year to back up gagne. i think this year saito signing could be to back up gagne in case of either a deal not being made because of the a-hole king borASS or gagne gets hurt again.

Brad Penny for Adam Dunn straight up. Throw in Tomko or Hendrickson if you have to.

It is going to be fun to read and monitor the Red Sox blog(s) for the next few years when Princess is being Princess and she and Manny are hanging out on the DL together. Lugo will probably lead off and play short so he will most likely keep his mouth shut and put up decent numbers. Epstein is a moron! If Ned deals with him, then he is an imbecile.

DBB,

Most of the stuff I've read seem to indicate that Gagne is gone next year. If I were GM for a day, I would still be actively pursuing the Canadian, but not for the 10 million a year that keeps popping up. Last season, the Dodgers lost a lot of games for the lack of a good 7th inning reliever. Beimel was pretty good towards at the tail end, but he is much more valuable as a lefty specialist/situational guy. The starting rotation is still going to be short on innings per start next season, so a deep 'pen is going to be a necessity.

Supposedly, the Texas Rangers are interested in giving up some pitching for Jason Repko, and the Dodgers are looking at Milwaukee's Kevin Mench, who was pretty good with Texas before he had a Lugo-like drought after being traded. It seems to me that the Manny talks are just about dead, and that besides Schmidt, the Dodgers are done talking about big names for the winter.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20061204-2016-bn04cruz.html

It looks like the Padres are busy constructing the 'Dodgers South' down there in San Diego.

"At the very least, Adam Dunn is housebroken, and I can't say the same for Manny".

That is a riot! I wonder if Dunn's agent can use that in future negotiations?
I would think a "housebroken" player could definitely get more money than one who's not, LOL!

Forget Mench and especially forget Dunn. Both are softball players who should be in the AL.

Just a thought:
Speaking of 'big power' and 'big strikeout' guys: With the signing of Wolf & probable signing of Lieberthal, could another SoCal Phillie be brought in to town? That Phillie being Dodger killer Pat Burrell. He has 30 homer, 100 rbi credentials and an impressive obp, even with those strikeouts, because he also walks a lot. The Phillies want another starting pitcher and need another catcher--so, without having to give up any of our prospects, we could land him for Toby Hall and a Penny, Tomko, or Hendrickson? (I'd expect to get more than just Burrell if Penny was the pitcher.) Burrell is a So. Cal native and the Phillies have expressed a desire to move him. He always kills the Dodgers and maybe a move home and out of the pressures of Philadelphia might cause him to produce even more than his normal numbers--which aren't bad. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a Vernon Wells or Andrew Jones, but, the price for those guys in talent and $$ would be hard to swallow. Burrell would come relatively cheap and would allow us to keep a Broxton, Kemp, Loney, etc.. and build with those "home grown" guys.

Jose Cruz Jr. to the Padres....I guess the Pennant goes through San Diego this year.

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1750240&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

Should have provided this link with the Pat Burrell post. I'm not necessarily campaigning for this move, but it's one I could see coming about the way things are working out for both the Dodgers and Phillies. I've heard no rumors of such a trade, just trying to anticipate what might happen.

when are the dodgers going to stop beaing so cheap? maybe a bigger stadium could help the dodgers land a big name

From the RedSox message board on the Boston Globe website:

Posted by soxheart on Dec-5 7:59 PM
Dont you hope JD Drew falls down a set of stairs and fails his physical. Theo Ive always kept faith in you but this time your way off. You might as well take your 70 mill and flush it down the toilet!!!!!!

The natives are already restless!!

The Wolf,

I don’t think that’s the case at all. You have to remember that it is common knowledge that the Dodgers have a stock pile of top-rated talent, so many teams are trying to get their hands on them. Especially with these prices skyrocketing, teams are going to start looking for young (cheap) talent. If the Dodgers are involved then they are VERY likely going to attempt to pry the Kemps and Loneys of the world away from us. After all, we are living in a material world and I am a material girl.

As far as the Manny thing, it’s very clear that Theo doesn’t want to move Manny. He’s just playing the fool just like Manny is; it’s a charade. At the end of the day Theo wants Manny back because he knows he’s not going to get equal value in return. Why? Because any sane GM will laugh at the asking price (see Ned). Still, playing the fool doesn’t mean that Theo isn’t inclined to test the waters. He asked Ned for a certain package. If Ned had been stupid enough to give him what he wants then more power to him. Again, Theo, like the rest of the league, knows that the Dodgers have some great young players. Why not roll the dice and see if you can get your hands on some of them?

Boras, if nothing else, is a business man. He has no loyalty to the teams, and quite frankly, he doesn’t owe them any loyalty at all. It’s a business and he’s just doing his job and he does it VERY well. He’s going to go where the money is. PERIOD. It doesn’t matter who the team is, so I don’t think he’s going to do anything just to spite someone. He planned the Drew thing perfectly by including that opt-out clause. You have to give Boras credit; I’m sure he knew that prices would go through the roof in a couple of years. Maddux? It’s simple; Ned doesn’t want to pay his asking price. Gagne? He’s full of crap about being loyal to the Dodgers. Again, he’s going to go where the money is, so if someone offers him more money then he’s gone.

Not many people are willing to do what Nomar and Wolf did.

As far as I know, I don’t think Ned has been involved in anything serious as far as trades are concerned. I’m sure Atlanta and Toronto are saying the same thing as Theo; “I want 2-3 of your top prospects”. But I don’t think it’s because they hate the Dodgers.

Considering the strikeouts, Dunn and Kemp are pretty similar. But Matt is younger, a much better fielder and has room to improve.

Dunn has not cut down on the strikeouts over the years. He does have great power, but is there room enough in this town for 2 Will Ferrells?

The Dodgers must sign Gagne. What are they thinking,he will make a come back you'll see. Broxton in the 7th, Saito the 8th and Gagne the 9th GAME OVER after the 6th!!!!!!!!!

The Deal is... NOT DUNN! His HR's would help but this guy strikes out at the plate, more than I do with the ladies at the bars. haha.

Wolf,

I think other teams use the Dodgers as leverage in bargaining with other teams. They make riduculous offers with the Dodgers in getting talks started and saying that there is interest from the Dodgers in hopes of creating a trade value for their player. If the Dodgers bite, then great but if not, it still created this perceived interest. I think Theo was doing that with Manny. He was looking to unload to SF. But I think SF thought it would be too much and that Barry Bonds would be a better, cheaper fit for 2007.

Now the Padre's need to hook up with Ricky Ledee.

I guess I am surprised that the Dodgers are not in the running for Gagne at 1 year/ 5 million.
Seems like a reasonable amount and if we match the offer, I would assume he would choose the Dodgers. If he comes back strong it is a steal and if he falters, it is not a great deal of money. Seems the risk versus reward on this one is pretty good.
10 million for Maddux seems a bit high.

The way things are going, Tomko and Hendrickson may actually have some value and we can unload them. Hard to believe.
Hopefully we can jettison Penny for something of worth now or in the future.

I don't want Dunn, the guy is a strike out machine. He is one of the league leaders in strikeouts every year. He is painful to watch. Plus he has an abysmal BA of .235. I know he hits homers but do we have to go for somebody that is that one dimensional.

Grumps,

I LOVE the reference to the 1990 Reds "NASTY BOYS" bullpen. Having a trio like Gagne/Broxton/Saito would be an undeniable strength for the '07 Dodgers, and would arguably be better than the Madres trio of Meredith/Leinbrink/Hoffman.

In fact, I have the perfect bullpen coach in mind for the '07 Dodgers. Her name is Janet, or actually, "it's Ms. Jackson, IF YOU'RE NASTY!!!!"

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002GFE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

DODGERS JUST LANDED SCHMIDT!!

3YRS - $47 MILLION

DAMN, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY!!

Here's the link on Schmidt....

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6242312

I don't believe Dunn is very high on any of our lists unless we can get him for a song. Like Tomko and a mid level prospect. Come July, Dunn's trade value could be very high and we could unload him if we are not happy with his performance and contribution to the team.
At least he is not a clubhouse distraction.

I like the way Ned is handling the situation. No deal is better than a bad deal. Nomar, Wolf, RM, Saito and potentially Lieberthal are all great signings. Pierre: TBD.
Toby Hall is a starter for someone else. Hopefully, we can get some value for him.
Hey, Lugo ends up getting us a draft pick. Another win for Ned!
Has anyone heard how Brazoban is recovering?
It would be nice to have Gagne back but I guess he is on the Boras (Show me the money) bandwagon.
I like the Luis Gonzalez possibility at the right price.
What a crazy free agency market!
I say let's keep our kids and stay away from this insanity (although Pierre kind of fits in that category.)
Lex

Dodgerskip,

I really don't see the difference between Pat Burrell and any other mediocre outfielder that is the subject of trade talks. Plus, there's got to be a good reason why the Phillies have been trying to move the guy for the better part of a year without finding any takers.

Looks like we got Schmidt!!!!

It's only 3 years, that's a plus when signing a 33 year old. Perhaps worth a little more per year. Hopefully we get a club option for a couple more years.
Now dump Penny and Tomko.

I think LoLo is really Ned Colletti, posting under the pseudonym LoLo.

Damn that was fast on the Schmidt news!!

Schmidt
Lowe
Wolf
Billz
Kuo
I can live with it. Fix the bullpen and we are in good shape.

another Schmidt link:

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061206&content_id=1752456&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

Penny and Hall for Burrell? Not a bad scenario.

Sorry Lolo--didn't see your post up there. But in case you missed it...We Got Schmidt!!!

Makoto

Again, I'm not saying that getting Burrell is the best move, but I could see it happening because of the surrounding circumstances. But, I would have to say Burrell is better defensively than both Mench & Dunn, has a better OBP, and has been pretty consistent putting up numbers. If it means keeping ALL our kids, it might make sense. (And he is a native which blends nicely with the Nomar, Wolf, Lieberthal theme we've got going--guys wanting to be Dodgers)

SM4E,

Time is money, my friend, HAHA!

dodgerskip,

No worries. Team effort here.