Done deal

"According to a source familiar with the trade, the Dodgers will pay “a small portion” of the approximately $2.25 million owed Maddux over the season’s final month-and-a-half. In return, the Padres will choose at least one player from a list of five or six, none on the Dodgers’ major-league roster."

According to Yahoo, at least on minor leaguer will go.

so the question is: who's on the list?

It would not surprise me at all if Ned did not realize the leverage he had here. We did not have to give up much at all. Maddux said he would only waive the no-trade clause if he went to a contender on the West Coast. SF, Colorado and Seattle were never contenders. Oakland could have been, but made it clear in late June they were sellers this year. So that leaves us, Anaheim, and Arizona, and neither the Holies nor the Snakes are truly in need of starting pitching. So.... the Padres were pretty much stuck dealing with us. And Stults/Johnson is certainly a viable option. Hence, Ned did not need to give up much of anything. I really, really, really hope he realized this very obvious fact.

But the bigger concern to my mind is: why is McCourt so adamantly opposed to going over the luxury tax barrier? ($119 mil). We are the only major market team not to do so, and you can't tell me that the Blue is not a huge cash cow. Win or lose, the Dodgers make buckets every year--we are probably the 5th most profitable franchise after the Yanks, Sox (now, and only cuz they win... a lot), Cubs and Mets. And those teams go right over the luxury tax line without a second thought--especially when they think it's the difference between playoffs and not...

Anyhow, it happened, and in avoiding additional payroll that list of names is probably a decent one.

Cost aside, adding Maddux is a big maybe in my book. I think he will probably give us 2 or 3 quality starts, 2 or 3 average games, and 2 or 3 sub-par to very-bad outings. But is that better than what we could have gotten from Stults or Johnson? Big maybe.

The only other positive I can draw is that Maddux is in fact one of the smartest pitchers in the game (you have to be when your fastball tops out in the low 80's), and I like him as an additional pitching coach.

If one of those names on the list ends up producing against us in the next few years and we DON'T win the Serious this year, then this trade ain't so great.

Benzo:

Maddux isn't the new Honeycutt. He's the new Haircutt.

I just hope the mighty REPKO is not on that list. By the way, on that subject, why don't we have the mighty REPKO pitch? We would not need Maddox.

If REPKO is on that list i will follow the Messiah.