Dodgers release Andruw Jones, and other happy items

what a gloriously bright BLUE day this is!!!!!!!!
FINALLY, FAJ is gone 4-ever!!!!!!!!!!............haven't felt this giddy since the tragic melting of the wicked old witch (scene from Wiz of Oz)...........
and Ramon T. rumored to be moving to rotation -- could be a really good move, sorta a Eric Gagne' move, in reverse (and both righties wear/wore uniform #38 -- coincidence???)

Good move to jettison FAJ early. No sense bringing him into camp and hoping against hope.

The Bill Shaikin article seems to support what I have posted before which is the Dodgers cutting payroll now so that they can afford to keep the young neucleus together down the road. Not sure what this means for signing Manny.

As far as RT being a starter, has he done it in the minors? He looked young and promising in the pen and the Dodgers sure need the arms, but if he had been groomed as a starter in the minors, then let's see what he brings to the table. In my opinion, both MacDonald and Stults have proved their worth and right now stand to be the 4th and 5th starters (a healthy Schmidt possibly replacing Stults).

Have you guys been watching the MLB Network? I've been in baseball geek heaven ever since it came on. On their "Hot Stove" show they have a demonstration segment everyday in which the analysts/former players and various guests do great, extended breakdowns of various aspects of the game.

Anyway, a couple days ago they did a long bit on Andruw Jones and his struggles. While Harold Reynolds moderated, Barry Larkin showed before-and-after tapes of his at bats, and swung a bat himself to illustrate the changes and the various holes in Jones' swing. (There are several, of course.) This was followed by Al Leiter giving the pitcher's point of view, talking about the thought process and pitch sequence that can pick apart FAJ. While we've all piled on Jones for being out of shape, the situation is actually a lot more complicated than that -- a complex cocktail of sore knees, bad mechanics, poor mental approach, and pitchers who can locate a breaking ball.

Long story short (too late!) -- good riddance to bad rubbish.

Now, a rotation of ???/Billingsley/Kuroda/Kershaw/Troncoso? Surprisingly, I could get behind that, especially if the question marks are filled by someone like Jon Garland.

As frustrating as it is to look at the starting rotation for '09 right now, I am trying to remind myself that if we can hold on to the core of Martin, Kemp, Loney and Ethier--and if Furcal is 100% healthy--then we have an excellent nucleus of offensive talent for the next 5 years.

we seem to be trying to stock-pile a bunch of back of the roatation types. we need an ace. we need manny. get it done already. spring training is only a month away!

i would love to see us sign sheets to an incentive-laden deal. if he's healthy, he's an ace and we would pay him accordingly. if he gets hurt, we don't get hurt too much. can't be worse than all the money ned's been throwing away to all these over-the-hill veterans that are not addressing our glaring problems.

from today's shaikin article -

Said Martin: "Who wants to build barriers? That's why they tore down the Berlin Wall."

- god i love this kid

I'm not opposed to signing Petite for one year, but his second-half numbers last season scare me.
I actually don't really understand why signing Sheets is such a "risk." Seems to me that the worst-case scenario is that Sheets gets hurt and winds up on the DL, and McCourt is out some $. Then we (the team and the fans) are no worse off than we are at this very moment.
Think about it--the Schmidt signing really isn't that horrible, because he just sat on the DL. His signing didn't hurt the team the way that Andruw did (or even Brett Tomko, among others) who hurt the team because they DIDN'T get hurt--they just played terrible. I WISH they'd just been on the DL the whole time. If Sheets is healthy, he'll play well. If he's not healthy, he won't play at all. Where's the risk to the team?
Back to Petite--he might stay healthy, but based on his second half last year I'm not sure he'll play well. I'd rather give a pitcher $12M to sit on the DL than to pitch terribly every 5th day.

Valmont--the idea of risk there is that if you spend the money and it doesn't result in positive on-field performance, then that's money you could have spent elsewhere for better performance. Of course, if you're not spending it at all in the first place...

"Dodger" Mark--that's not the sort of allegation that should be taken lightly. In the post-Mitchell Report era, I truly believe that most pros are sufficiently scared of getting caught. In retrospect, it's not that surprising that a 29-year old LoDuca making his debut was juicing. At 29, he had already peaked and knew he wasn't going to make it to The Show on his own abilities... so he juiced to get rich in an era where there were no consequences for doing so.

Martin debuted at 24, and is now playing in a big-'roid-consequence era. Since he still hasn't hit his athletic peak and was already good enough to start that young, I don't see why he would juice. I also think that once again, you are trying to get a rise out of us actual fans. If so, I guess you succeeded in this case.

Gus2327--I've wondered the same thing myself, and read bits of rumors that the FO looked into the idea. I honestly think Jones was injured when he signed the contract, but doctors didn't locate the knee injury and he was signed anyway. I would think that legally he would be responsible for informing his employer of a pre-existing condition, but I also think that if McCheap had a legal leg to stand on there, he would have found it.

Kamenetzky Nation: I would like to say to those that notice the themes of my posts that all of my talk about what the dodgers should do and the cap they should put on Manny-spending were predicated on the idea that our '09 payroll would be the same as our '08 payroll ($120 million, right below the luxury tax threshold). It now appears that is not the case, that we are in the midst of an unprecedented salary-slash, and I am right there with the rest of you in my disdain for the McCourts.

I still think it makes good business sense to not give in to Borass and insist on paying Manny what he is truly worth (one is worth what the market will bear), and I also continue to believe that we will eventually sign Manny once we win the staring contest with Borass... but I'm really disappointed that we are not putting up the money necessary to compete as we should be able to in '09. So that's my mea culpa for those with whom I've argued Blue spending. I will start saying "McCheap" now too.

hollywood dodger mark-- Andruw jones' problems are far worse than his weight could produce. He can't hit anything but a straight fast ball in the middle of the plate. He is done, bet on it.

MkCheap...sorry that is to much of a sight to McDonald's..so I too will write McCheap. Andruw is gone, so let's give Manny 4 years before the Giants will, and thereby win the West for the next 2-3 years.

Did not Manny perform enough to warrant adding an extra year? Further, who is going to teach the young guys to hit and win?

We some him carry the Dodgers into the Playoffs. Look at the numbers the number 3 hitter would post batting in front of Manny! He even made the broken down Jeff Kent look good.

It is sad that Arte Moreno did not buy the Dodgers. When he identified he made a mistake with a center fielder, he went and got an even better one in Hunter.

Did you know Tommy Lasorda looks a lot like former president Bill Clinton?

http://morehardball.blogspot.com/2009/01/twins-other-than-minnesota.html

Admittedly, I know little about contract disputes and the power of the player's union where they're involved. That said, if it specifically states something to the effect of players being required to be in top physical condition in their contracts, why then DIDN't the McCourts try to void his contract? It seems that using the excuse that the union woulda fought it is only making us fans suffer. Why not make he who is responsible do the suffering. It would therefore also seem that the McCourts are content to let we the fans suffer, rather than fight for we who are now required to pay Jones' severance...

mccourts are ruining baseball i still cant believe he actually wants me to drive to Arizona and pay 90 bucks to go watch an exhibition game and you dont even know whos playing the opening day starters or the AAA team and no money what so ever is going into next years payroll i know you guys down the yankees but come on what would you rather see them do spend money on there team or put it in there own pockets like mccourt is doing i cant belive no one is coming out and saying that he is ruining baseball for making us pay to not even watch a good product on the field we are a big market one of the biggest markets in baseball and why because of us the FANS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!