Can Ethier or Pierre play third?

I hope they give the time to DeWitt - even if it doesn't pan out immediately, it's great experience for a kid I hadn't even heard of until this spring and none of the guys available are guys I'd want to trade anyone for.

LaRoche is unproven, Garciaparra can't stay healthy and is probably half the player he used to be (before they started testing for steroids) - why not a kid like DeWitt to start the year.

You buy some time that way and if either LaRoche or Garciaparra aren't cutting it by the all-star break you make a move.

I fully agree. I think Garciaparra's time may be up.

Wow I never connected Nomar to the steroids thing but who knows anymore. I can't believe we are this close to opening day and we still don't have a legitimate 3rd baseman. This is getting frikin' rediculous. Come on Frank what the hell is going on here. Step up to the plate Man. You bought the LA DODGERS. We deserve better than this crap! All you can eat FAT and pretty seats don't cut it for us true Blue Fans.Why even bother driving to YOUR stadium when we are gonna get a dose of Mediocrity.This is starting to smell really bad. I work really hard for my money and the last time I took my family to the park it cost two hundred bucks for a non eventfull LOSS ! The best city in the world and we haven't won squat since 1988. This is totaly unacceptable. By the way what does Andre have to do to get the OF spot , part the red sea maybe? I don't want to here a bunch of hog wash about injuries. We all know Nomar is feeble and The roach doesn't seem much better. This SUCKS. Yeah I know you'll sell tickets to all the jerks that don't really give a crap about baseball but is that what this game has come to? I'm still a proud Dodger fan but my patience along with just about everybody I know is growing weaker by the day. I remember going to the stadium with my folks and seeing Garvey, Cey, Lopes, & Russell. Now I wanna take MY kids and they don't even want to go. WOW!!

Sadly it appears that Tony Abreu is made out of porcelin and does not posses the work ethic to work himself back into shape. His bat always seemed a little flat to me anyway. I would probably bet UNDER on Abrue playing 50 games more than AK this season!

I am with Socal Spider on this. I'd rather let Dewitt, Abreu or Hu take a shot at proving themselves at third than having the Blue go out and pick up a too expensive stop gap player like Brandon Inge, Wes Helms or Joe Crede. Especially if Ethier is the starter in left, the Dodgers will have enough offensive firepower to get by a third baseman who is not expected to carry too much of a load.

Didn't we already have the "Pierre at Second" arguement? I believe our conclusion there was that he didn't have the arm for it... how would 3rd be better?

It isn't fair implying that Nomar used steroids. He has never been linked in any way to the illegal drug. If there is some evidence I am not aware of, please share.

Either could play third I was in CF and then put on 3rd when are regular went down and the only is time to react but still no errors. If they don't do that they could put kent at 3rd and hu at 2nd

who is AK?

Why isn't Hu getting consideration at third? Is there something I'm missing, some legitimate reason he can't play there?

I totally agree with many of my fellow TRUE BLUE DODGER FANS commenting on this blog. Seriously, what in God's name is going on with this once proud top-shelf organization? Let's be honest... Colletti does not get it...it appears he is the wrong man for the job! Let me ignite this fire by tossing these logs. 1) The Pierre-factor deserves no further conversation because he does not give you the best chance to win! The GM's Pride should determine playing time. End of story! 2) Unfortunately, Garciaparra has aged too quickly and LaRoche is clearly another Mr. Glass. Nonetheless, the solution is not trading prospects because the organization has viable alternative from within (ex. Hu at third) 3)The Schmitt reality is a deep wound that clearly demonstrates Colletti's incompetence as a manager. Everyone knows that throwing money at a problem does not work. 4) Remember the moves of 2006 & 2007...signing Gonzo, letting Robles go, keeping Olmedo Saenz "The Rally-Killer", the panic of 07 when Drew opted out, the resigning of Graciaparra, claiming Loiaza, courting Torre while Grady was still manager, signing Bennet who was named in the "Mitchell Report" and countless other things.

I am sorry, but my patience is gone. I bleed Dodger blue like many of us who bother to read this blog and others in hope that the City can get a championship. If you accept my rant, you will agree that Colletti and the McCourts have demonstrated poor judgment and have committed rookie mistakes. Ned, my dear Ned, now is the time to salvage the situation by taking into consideration all the details. Honestly, the way things are going, we should not be complaining that the Angels of Anaheim claim to be from Los Angeles.

I saw DeWitt play his games down in Vero, and he is NOT ready to play 3rd base in the majors. He alone let 3 runs score in 1 game, but being too slow to even make a move towards a few balls that were hit by the line. A major league 3rd baseman makes those plays without much effort. The defense will definetly suffer I believe with him in there. He is Double A at best to start, then maybe Triple A mid season. This years team worries me, and I feel we will have to wait until 2009. They do NOT know how to win & injuries are already mounting.

Eric B .
Traditionally, you want your third baseman to have some power, and Hu has next to none. He has spent his career as a middle infielder and is destined to be one in the bigs so that's why he's not a great option there for more than a few games. If you ask Abbott or Costello, though, they'll tell you that 'Hu should be on first'.

Dodgerskip,

"Traditionally, you want your third baseman to have some power, and Hu has next to none."

He's not a huge power threat, but Hu does have some power. Last year he hit a total of 16 HR (2 with the Dodgers, 8 with Las Vegas, and 6 with Jacksonville).

BK,

I'm not sure if you were actually being serious. But, if you were, the answer is NO, Ethier and Pierre CANNOT play 3B. They're both lefthanded.

Repko can also play 3rd, but they will probably pick up some slacker for about 8 mill

Dodgerskip:

I hear what you're saying about what third basemen are traditionally "supposed" to be. But right now the Dodgers have a second baseman (a traditionally "light hitting" position) who's good for 20 homers a year, CF has been upgraded from nothing to about 20-30 homers, plus Kemp, Loney and Ethier are ready to emerge as bashers. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of power at other key positions.

Meanwhile, I wouldn't say Hu has no power at all. It's more modest power, in the Furcal mode. However, he's healthy, consistent, great defensively, and can hit for average. This seems a better option to me than DeWitt (too young), Martinez (too old), or Abreu (too hurt). Especially since it's only for a couple weeks at the most, during which time he might be able to prove what he's got at the MLB level.

Basically, Hu seems like a better Plan C right now than anyone else currently in Blue.

The Dodgers don't need a third baseman with power just to play for two weeks. They need a guy who won't lose the game for them by making errors. I say why not give Hu orDeWitt a chance? They can't be any worse than the collection of losers that have played there since we let Beltre get away. The guy they're replacing, LaRochiaparra, didn't have much power either. Third base was going ot be a question mark all season long even inf LaRochiaparra didn't get hurt; I don't see much difference now that both are on the shelf.

As for roids, I don't see how you can say a broken bone has anything to do with PEDs. Yeah, the guy gets hurt, but lots of guys get hurt. Kevin Brown got hurt all the time.

The Dodgers have an option at third base that really should be explored. Jeff Cirillo, who played in the NLCS for the Diamondbacks last season, is available and by all accounts is ready to start the season.

Go to SABR and check out his defensive skills at third. He's among the best that ever played the position.

And he remains a threat at the plate.

The Dodgers would benefit from having him in the lineup.