Andruw with a "uw"

Buy Kuroda, hold Kemp and Ethier, bring up Kershaw. Don't give up any decent prospects for a 3B if one can't be bought --OR give Kemp a smaller glove and make a third baseman out of him (call me crazy I know). Then we'd have Ethier and Kemp playing everday. Just a thought.

Brian,

I agree, put Ethier and Kemp at the corners and bench Pierre. How much do you gain if you trade one of these guys to make room for Jones? Maybe I can see trading Ethier but trading Kemp because you now have AJ for 2 years doesn't make sense to me unless it is his attitude. I know Pierre makes too much money to have him sit on the bench, but dollars aside I think he is the weakest of the Dodger's possible starting outfielders.

I agree, Hopefully Kuroda likes Saito so much that he'll accept the offer made by Colletti. Presumabily everything goes down smooth and there no last minute surprises by Mr. Greedy Boras, the outfileld is shaping out nicely. Move Pierre COMPLETELY out of the starting line up, let Kemp, Jones and Ethier patrol the outfield and I think that there is a legitimate shot for success in both areas, FIELDING AND HITTING. Perhaps allow Pierre to give a breather to Kemp or Ethier every now and then......NEVER AGAIN!!! in centerfield. Hey, how about pinch running!!! pretty expensive, but sometimes will be needed. I think that the chances of getting him traded are fairly slim. Unless we do what the Lakers used to do, pay a player to play somewhere else.

Although the signing makes Jones the highest paid player in our roster, the fact that is a short term deal, I believe that it will push Drew to get back to his old self and hit the expected 40+ homers. Sure the guy maybe an OLD 30 YR OLD, but dude, I 'll take him over JUANITO any day!!!!!

I am positively elated the Dodgers signed AJ. It shows they are interested in winning a pennant. It's only money. I agree with the above posters. How many runs are going to score because of Pierre's arm? Too many, if you ask me. Kemp and Ethier on the corners is a much better outfield. JP is pretty good offensively, but that is offset by giving away too many bases and/or runs to the opposition. If the Jones thing doesn't work out, at least we made an effort!

NOOooo! See my post from yesterday about Andruw Jones and you'll know why I am against this signing. Another fading veteran...another giant contract...

Hey guys: Juan Pierre is not going to be a bench player. Juan Pierre is not going to be traded either. You have to think like the other team. If you ask somebody for let's say, a quality starting pitcher, and you propose, "okay, we have too many outfielders. Do you want Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, or Juan Pierre?" Who do you think they're going to want? The answer is... NOT Juan Pierre.

Bah! I just don't like it. I see many inning ending double plays and strikeouts with men in scoring position on the horizon...

NOW...having said all that pessimistic nonsense... looking at the other side of the coin, I would be happy if the Dodgers can pull off a trade for Eric Bedard. Kemp and a prospect or two for Bedard would be a good move. And hey, BK/AK... does this surplus of outfielders now put the Dodgers back in the running for trading for Johan Santana?

LA Fans....you are known for coming late and leaving early....here's how to tell if Andruw Jones is batting if you are hoofing it toward the stadium (3rd inning), or, hoofing it toward your car (7th inning).....when you here 30,000 people simultaneously puke, you will know Andruw swung from his ass, again, missed again and nearly fell down, again. Or, in the even he does make contact, forever trying to pull the ball when every pitcher in the league knows to pitch the outer half and he rolls over one to the shortstop, the collective dismay of the crowd will be evident as your 18M/year star loafs his out of shape ass down to first.

This presents so many opportunities now ... it's time to move Kemp and whomever to acquire Bedard. In fact, the Dodgers need to send Kemp, Laroche, Kershaw and a bucket of balls (really anyone except Loney, Martin or Billingsly) to Baltimore for Bedard and Tejada. Sign the Japanese arm and we are set to make a legitimate run at a championship. Okay, I know that will never happen and probably presents other problems ... it's just great to see Ned make, what appears to be, a real solid move. I just hope we don't lose that momentum. The work is not done ... its just beginning.

I'm not doing backflips over the Andruw Jones signing, but it could work out. Giving him just a two-year deal should motivate him to turn things around for the next time he becomes a free agent at the ripe age of 32.

Now, I agree with most in that the Dodgers should NOT ship out Kemp. There was a rumor of Kemp and Broxton for Bedard, but what about if we sent Baltimore Ethier, Broxton and McDonald for Bedard? We keep another 30HR bat in the lineup and get a No. 1 starter. Though I don't think Colletti will do anything until he hears what Kuroda will do. If we acquired Bedard and then signed Kuroda, we'd have too many starters.

Miguel Tejada? MIGUEL TEJADA?!? Paul, sir, are you serious about your "solid" trade here? Trading Kemp, LaRoche and Kershaw to Baltimore for those two? I'll admit Eric Bedard is worth going after but Miguel Tejada is most definitely not worth any price he'll be asking for. Since his monster contract was inked he's been a giant waste of time and money for the O's and in the interest of NOT continuing the Dodgers' wonderful problem along those lines, I'd think it's in their best interest not to pursue him. In addition, TRADING KEMP, LAROCHE AND KERSHAW???? REALLY?? (And yes, the situation does warrant the ridiculous amount of question marks...) C'mon, man... If we want to contend not only this year but next year and the following year we can't trade away our prospects, our up-and-comers-- we've got to keep these guys in blue! They're going to be HUGE for us soon! In addition, does anyone know if we're looking into Dan Haren at all? I'm a fan of his stuff and would like to snatch him from the Yanks if possible.

Jones didn't deserve to be become the fifth highest paid player in baseball, but he definitely helps the Dodgers.
I believe with the coaching of Mattingly, P. air can walk 75 times a year. How many times during the year did you see him at bat with a three and one count, and then lunge across the plate to foul off ball four followed by a weak ground ball to the infield. Joe Torre will not put up with that lack of discipline. His job is to get on base. He may be the hardest guy in the league to strike out, but he is also the hardest guy in the league to walk. In his last year with the Cubs, he walked exactly twice during the month of September.
Eithier is a diamond in the rough. He has been poorly coached, benched after hitting 400 after the All-Star game and was batted eighth most of the year. Hardly a confidence builder.
Jim

Higgins -

Your FA list of "better" players includes a strikeout king with a low career BA (Dunn), older players (Manny, Abreu, Burrell, Guerrero) and a guy who will never reach FA (Guerrero). And the others will be more expensive and demand long contracts to boot. Give Colletti his due because this Jones contract is low risk, high reward potential.

Assists are not a good measure of fielding ability; Jones had as many as 20 in one year during his career but due to his developed reputation, there is no chance he'll have the opportunity to have that many again. Ichiro had only eight assists last year but no way I'll say Ethier is as good as Ichiro. Soriano had 22 assist last year but I'll never categorize him as a top defensive player. Jones has the range, instinct and arm that make him an all-star player; of course his bat also contributes.

Offensively, Jones had a bad year so expect him to bounce back, esp. with FA only two years away. An injury prevented him from swinging the bat properly, thus the swing 'n' sit last year, so he went for broke and struck out more often. Despite this 'drop,' it still makes him better than any Dodger last year. I envy your optimism if you think Kemp reaches Jones's career average of 30+ HRs next year.

For Pierre bashers, Juan does what he is paid to do: to get on base and steal. He can walk more, that's a given, but he's lived up to his contract so far. Yes, it is a lot of money but that was the market last year and the Dodgers were desperate. Pierre also provides a contingency as leadoff hitter after Furcal leaves in 2009. If Pierre made 2-3 million less/year than he does, there would be little bashing out there. Defensively, he's no surprise with his noodle arm. Maybe Colletti knew Pierre's move to LF was imminent when he signed him.

Jim,

I'm with you on Ethier. To me, he is the kind of guy (along with Martin) that you need to win championships. An unselfish player who is generally consistent both at the plate, on the basepaths, and in the field. All around, a solid player who you can expect a career full of .300/20-25/75-90 seasons from. Nothing spectacular, but very solid.

Furthermore, to anyone who wants to trade Ethier over Kemp: do you actually think Ethier's trade value is anywhere near Kemp's? I agree that Kemp has the far higher upside and definetley don't want to lose him, but as of right now, he is one of the most sought after prospects in the game. Who knows how he will turn out, but currently he is worth a ton on the trade market. Ethier, on the other hand, I doubt you would get even value for.

All in all, I like the Jones signing. 2 years is perfect. Even though last year was a bad year for him, dude hit 51 dingers in 2005. Let's just hope that we don't hear his name on the Mitchell report.