Ugh.

I would rather not focus on the soft underbelly of Jonathan Broxton for a moment, and instead focus on a far more ominous and disconcerting perception. I use the word perception because memory is far more sustaining than numbers.

For as long as I can actually recall since 2000, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been a roughly .500 team that, on more occasions than not, have simply underachieved. The method of their mediocrity changes from season to season, but it is simply ubiquitous.

As I have said more than once, you could take every player from the world championship team of the prior year, trade them all to the Dodgers and they will end up being a .500 team, then go 0 and out in the post.

It doesn't matter who the owner is, what the GM does, who is managing and coaching, and of course who is ultimately playing on the field. .500 is the name of the game, baby. Remember Al Davis: "Just Win Baby!". The Dodgers motto is "Five Hundred Baby!". Or "we aren't as good as we think we are".

It boggles the mind, this extraordinary consistency in hitting the middling middle. It is what I like to call the thermostat of mediocrity. It regulates the Dodgers and if they get to far ahead of that location, then the team will compensate in any way they can to return to this safe and secure silly little place. Losing is really not what the Dodgers do. They win roughly half of their games, and lose the other half. They neither win NOR lose.

They IDLE.

There is some sense to this. Winning disturbs the "Fan Experience" (as I have mentioned time and again). It requires people to actually follow the game, hence not being automatized into consumerism. I find it rather hilarious that the rest of the baseball country wonders why the Dodger fans rarely vote for players in the All Star Game, unless prompted to by a major campaign from the front office. Get with it folks. The game of baseball is totally secondary to the Dodger organization. It is irrelevant whether they win or lose. What matters most of all is the perception of stability and the coffers swelling to gargantuan proportions so that Frank and Jamie can enjoy another Southern California hacienda.

Wake up LA.

There is no doubt that the lack of offense is putting a strain on the pitching staff by allowing very little room for error. It would be nice to go into the late innings on occasion with a lead of more than a run or two.

I find it inconceivable that one third into the season these players have so few HRs:

Loney = 5
Martin = 4
Kemp = 3
Ethier = 4
Jones = 2

For the younger players I think it's just a matter of time before they begin to pick it up on the power side. Anyone think that Matt Kemp is likely to hit 9 HRs in a full season? Last year in 292 ABs he hit 10, this year it's 3 in 186 ABs. If anything, I would expect his numbers to improve, not decline. As for Jones, even in his bad year he hit 26. All we can do is hope that his knee was the cause of his power outage this year, and that he will begin to generate better numbers when he returns.

If anything I think this team has a lot more power than we've seen demonstrated thus far. This is a young team, and maybe power is something that will bust loose all of a sudden once the players reach a certain comfort level. Hopefully it's this year, with the emphasis on the sooner rather than the later. Perhaps they'll warm up with the weather in July.

I really think we have to be patient with this team, and believe that with increased playing time the young players will begin to assert themselves, and generate considerably more power. And it certainly wouldn't hurt if we get back a healthy Furcal. We lost quite a few close games in the last week, and I have to believe he could have a made difference in at least two three of them.

On the subject of Furcal, Tony Jackson reported in his blog that he, Dylan Hernandez and Diamond Leung spoke with Colletti yesterday at Shea, and that the latter told them "he might be getting close to acquiring a veteran utility infielder who could better plug the gap while Furcal is out, or if Furcal is out again later in the season." He didn't offer any insight into who that player might be, or what the cost would be. Anyone have any ideas?

Yesterday's loss was clearly pretty annoying as it was a repeat of the last 2 games in Chicago - excellent starting pitching with no offense and very poor relief pitching. In many ways, the back end of the bullpen has actually been the biggest diappointment of the season.

The last 2 years, it felt like the Dodgers were playing a 7 inning game. If we got to the 8th inning with a 1 or 2 run lead, Broxton and Saito were almost automatic in holding that lead.

This year, they have not. According to my count, the Dodgers have gone to the 8th inning with a 1 or 2 run lead 6 times this year. They have blown that lead in 5 of the 6 - Broxton twice and Saito 3 times. They did manage to win 1 of the blown games - beating Colorado in extra innings after Saito couldn't hold them in the 9th, but a 2-4 recod when leading by 1 or 2 going to the 8th will not "get it done".

"Ugh" is definitely a great way of putting it. I can't help but watch and just wait for them to screw up, and hope that the other team screws up worse (like Friday's Mets game).

Obviously they need Furcal back, but the youngsters of Ethier, Kemp, and Loney need to start picking it up as well. If not, then they'll just be an average team... again.

I'll be at tonight's game in Shea (I live in New York), but you still won't see me raising my hand that they'll score more than a couple to support Kuroda. Who knows, maybe the Mets will just beat themselves tonight, which they're pretty good at.

uclart47, I totally agree about Torre's precise execution with pitchers... which is why I was shocked he left Broxton in after the home run yesterday. I thought it was really clear that Broxton simply didn't have it yesterday, but Torre left him in there just long enough to give NY the lead. Very uncharacteristic of Torre, in my opinion.

Dodger Tony and christopher marc, I highly encourage you to express your frustration with boycotts or allegiance-switching. Go right ahead. That's the only power you have over any company. Make no mistake, baseball is a business; it always has been and always will be. I am of the opinion that this ownership group is spending lots of money and if nothing else, avoiding rash moves, and so I am totally accepting of the product on the field. Hence, I will continue to buy. But I fully support your right to pass on purchasing what you perceive to be an unsatisfactory product.

I wish I had that discipline with Fox broadcasts. I usually end up muting those assclown announcers. Hard to avoid the idiot-animation though. I absolutely detest the Fox national broadcasts. Almost ruins the playoffs for me too...

"Ugh" lee.
At this point I've become surprised when they win. Though yesterdays collapse was a bit unexpected. But I'm learning, lol.
I could care less about where the D'Backs are in the standings. You are not going to win the division with an 81 and 81 record, much less the wild card.

How is Kemp going to hit HRs when he can't make contact with the ball much of the time? How many more runs would the dodgers have scored if they could just MAKE CONTACT with the ball? How many times did we see where even a out could score a run and instead, strike three...
Are these guys trying to hit HRs every at bat? The starting pitchers have enough pressure without this going on.

Get the job done, boys!

I suspect that the Dodgers and Colletti are referring to Morgan Ensberg, who was unconditionally released from the Crankies earlier today. I may be wrong, but that was the first thought that struck me.

Anybody else?

Aaron-

How about a report? Looks like things went swimmingly!

At least the other 40 or so thousand had a good time, right?

BK

Dodger55- we were happy when Jones got signed, we were upset when we found out he was pregnant.

Morgan Ensburg... isn't he the "Super Size Me" guy... will we ever learn.

Package,

I didn't know DeWitt's name? How did you come to that conclusion? Guess you can read my mind. I can't speak for what anyone else knew, but it may be that I was one of the few people who did know DeWitt's name (I apologize to anyone on this blog who also knew his name). In fact, I've known about him since he was drafted by the Dodgers as a supplemental first round pick in 2004, right after they chose Scott Elbert in the first round. If memory serves me correct, he was considered by some to be the best pure high school hitter in that draft. Clearly you must have had a momentary lapse in your memory, and forgot that I'm the guy who regularly reads Baseball America. In fact, as I sit here writing this I have next to me the 2008 draft preview issue of Baseball America. In case you're unaware, the draft will open this coming Thursday at 2pm eastern time. I also have next to me a copy of the 2008 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which rates the farm systems of every major league team, and the top 30 prospects in each organization. I wonder how many of those names you know?

I don't mind your disagreeing with me, that's your right, and I respect it. But, when you report what I say, please do it accurately. Yes, I did say that I thought players like Ethier, Kemp, Loney, and Martin would hit for more power this year. And I still think they are capable of hitting 20 HRs or more. These are young players, and it may be that their development will require more time than you have the patience for. You may also recall that I once suggested that this could turn out to be development year. Suffice it to say, that suggestion did not enhance my popularity. It may be that the young players will begin to pick it up as the year progresses, and come the second half of the season we might see a different team. The more the youngsters play, the more comfortable they are likely to get. With increased comfort usually comes increased confidence, which often results in better performance. If the players have the talent, it will emerge in time. With all that said, let's get clear one thing. I seriously doubt if I ever said that Loney was going to hit .331 and Kemp was going to hit .342. I do, however, feel that they are both capable of hitting .300+. Kemp is hitting at that level, and Loney got off to a solid start with his 15 game hitting streak to begin the season, and is currently in the midst of a slump. But surely you remember last year when Loney slumped in August, and then followed it up by hitting 9 homeruns and driving in 32 runs in September. Loney has power, and at some point I believe it will emerge more consistently. You apparently do not. Kemp has been hitting a lot of hard ground balls and line drives for hits. Sooner or later I believe he will begin to drive and lift the ball a lot more consistently than he is now. Kemp has 3 HRs with one-third of the season completed. I find it inconceivable, given the power he has demonstrated in the past, he will hit only 9 if he plays the full season. Coming into this year Matt Kemp had 17 HRs in 446 major league ABs. That's not even a full season. With increased maturity and experience I expect his power numbers to climb significantly. Same for Loney, who came into this season with 19 HRs in 446 major league ABs. Russell Martin hit 19 HRs last year, but is on a pace to hit only about 12 this year. I guess he got weaker over the winter.

Maybe the Dodgers could have traded for a proven veteran power hitter during the winter. However, to do so would have meant parting with multiple young players. The bat most frequently mentioned was that of Miguel Cabrera, currently hitting .279 with 8 HR and 33 RBI. Kemp has 29 RBI and Loney has 31. Not much of a difference. But I guess a slow start for Cabrera is more acceptable than it is for Dodger players. DeWitt (the guy you say I never heard of) has 29 RBI and a .303 average (before today's game). And Cabrera was such a success at 3B that the Tigers decided to move him to 1B. Wait a minute, didn't the Dodgers acquire a veteran power bat named Andruw Jones? Since it didn't cost us any players (those of the young variety), and was only a two year deal, I felt that it was a good move. And I still feel it could turn out OK. Despite his poor year in 2007, Jones did manage to hit 26 HRs with 94 RBI. Given that his back (right) foot has been collapsing all year, perhaps there is some truth in the notion that Jones' right knee injury has something to do with it. I know, I know, you have no patience, so I guess we just have to write Jones off. I'm not convinced that he will bounce back, but I'm willing to wait and see (besides, what other choice is there?). Of course, we can all put on our 20-20 hindsight glasses and criticize the Dodgers for not having pursued Mr. Fukudome. Then again, how many of us ever saw him play?

You wrote that "I know you keep up with the youth extremely well and know what the writing are but I think that it might be a good idea to give the vets a second look." First off, if you knew that I kept up with the youth, why did you assume I didn't know DeWitt's name? Secondly, what vets do you suggest get a second look? Not Jeff Kent, he's already playing regularly (when his 40 year old body isn't hurt) and carrying the offense with his .244 average, 5 HRs, and 24 RBI. Maybe Nomar should be playing everyday in place of DeWitt or Loney (sorry, he's on the 60 day DL). Perhaps we should replace Loney with Mark Sweeney. Better yet, Terry Tiffee. And while we're at it, let's get Russell Martin out of the lineup, and replace him with Danny Ardoin. Pierre is hitting .281 with his usual gaudy power numbers. Please tell me, what veterans should be getting a "second look?"

Accept the fact that this is a young team in the process of going through growing pains. But you would probably rather be a Mets fan rooting for the oldest team in the NL. Furthermore, they have a depleted farm system, thanks in large part to the Santana trade. I'd rather look past the present, and trust in the upside of our younger players. But that doesn't mean I have no use for veterans. If Furcal returns healthy, he's my shortstop for this year (next year is another matter, and I'll leave it to the Dodgers to decide on the long term condition of his back). If Orlando Hudson doesn't re-sign with the D-Backs, and is a free agent next winter, I would have no problem with the Dodgers signing him. And that despite the fact that I still like Hu, and have hopes for Tony Abreu, who recently had surgery for a torn labrum in his hip (guess he wasn't imagining the pain in his groin).

Disagree with me all you want. Call me an idiot if you like. But please, do not tell me what I know and don't know, and if you're going to criticize my words, make sure you're accurate.

Maybe they should trade Colleti and FAJ, HU, Schmidt, and Corroded for a player who can hit the ball. This team is sad!!! If it's not pitching it's the hitting.............What is going on???
It's not Joe Torre's fault I put it all on the GM. He handed him a crap list and expects Joe to pull a miracle out of his butt!!! As the old country boys in Virginia say "you can't make chiken salad out of chicken poop"
NED...... GET ANOTHER JOB!!! YOU STINK AS A GM!!!!

Brooklyn Dodger
I apoligize for the DeWitt comment. You of all people surely knew his name. I should have said that I was sure that even you would not have known that DeWitt would have the success he has had so far. So DeWitt should not be figured in to your path of using youngsters to acheive success this year, as I am sure you did not expect him to develop this quickly, so your comment about replacing DeWitt with Nomar is just a feeble attemp to claim credit for DeWitt as a youngster. Also, I am talking about this year not years down the road. Do you think 20 years is enough patience? By taking another look at the vets, I was refering to the vets in all of the major leagues, not just the Dodgers. Please tell me what player moves were made that upgraded the Dodgers over the off season. Just in case you forgot, the Dodgers came in 4th. Your idea of just staying with the youth is not working so far. By the way, you did say that you expected Kemp to do better than .342. As far as Hu is concerned, he really is tearing up the league in hitting, is he? If that is all you expect for the future, I don't think the Dodgers will ever win. I feel that the team needs a good mix of both youngsters and vets. Right now there is not enough quality vets on the team.

Package