Questions for a Saturday morning
Just a few Q's kicking around in the ol' noggin':
As Buster Olney points out, there are a lot of names left on the free-agent rolls as the new year gets into gear. Not all are appealing, but many are. There's still plenty of time to build a better mousetrap at Chavez Ravine for the '09 season. That said, in no particular order:
- Are the Dodgers better off now than they were at the end of last season anywhere on the diamond? Lineup? Bullpen? Starting rotation?
- Do you worry at all that when the Manny Sweepstakes are all said and done, if Ramirez doesn't get the contract he wants that he'll be mopey, instantly looking for his next deal?
- While the Giants have improved, every other team in the division has regressed. Does 86 wins get it done in the West next season?
- If that's the case, should the Dodgers be trying to build a team that can win 95?
- Is the biggest need in the rotation or starting lineup? I'm worried the former will be tougher to fill.
- Are you comfortable with Jonathan Broxton in the ninth?
- Is there a point where the Dodgers should "spend" some of the capital they've built up in young players?
- If Manny signs in L.A. for a reasonable deal, will fans call Ned Colletti and the McCourts smart or lucky?
- On the economy and priorities, are you holding off to see the results of this winter before making ticket purchases for the spring?
BK
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1. no
2. yes
3. most likely
4. yes
5. rotation
6. not entirely
7. give it another year at least
8. lucky
9. usually buy tickets during the season, not before. we'll see. def more games in the upper deck.
Posted by: johnnie b. baker | January 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM
1. I am satisfied with the line up (sign manny dammit), but really concerned about all of our pitching. Also, I feel that we should sign Nomar. Would love to have him in the dugout.
2. I am worried that the Dodgers are gonna mess up with Manny, so yes, a bit anxiety on that one. His ass is crazy enough to just retire if he doesn't get what he wants.
3. We need to get it together and win 100 games. Period.
4. Yes.
5. Rotation! Everyone (especially my father) are always stating that the dodgers have the best pitching in the farm system, etc. I feel like we have a bunch of chokers. We need people that play balls to the walls (that goes for lineup too).
6. No, see above.
7. Don't understand. Trade them? No way.
8. Neither. Rich a-holes.
9. Yes, to some extent. Never can afford season tickets. But, I would like to see some big hitters in the lineup. We are LA. We should be kicking ass every season.
Posted by: Stephanie | January 10, 2009 at 01:03 PM
1. At this point, the team is clearly worse off in all areas.
2. As time marches on, yes I am increasing concerned about Manny moping. I think the Dodgers need a face-saving gimmick for Manny if he signs a two-year deal. Ned, Joe should talk personally with Manny prior to signing to gauge Manny unhappiness, if any.
3. 86 wins, ???
4. The Dodger should attempt to build a team capable of playing at the highest levels. Over 20 years, the Dodgers have set their sights only at the West, or so it seems to me. Post season record shows: 5 wins, 16 losses.
5. I agree with you. Starting pitching is the key.
6. No, I am not excited about Broxton closing. He makes me nervous!
7. Definitely! The point is now. Package Broxton and Kemp for Peavy. There is no guarantee that any of the 24-26 year olds will develop any more than what you see now. Many players at this age stay the same or actually decline in what looked to be the start of a promising career. Talent means 3 things: mental, power, and mechanics. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone sees talent and its potential differently.
8. I think Ned will be called smart and rightly so for not bidding against himself.
9. Living on the east coast, I try to catch the boys in Philadelphia or NY.
Posted by: Joe the Plumber | January 10, 2009 at 01:13 PM
1. No
2. Possibly...it depends on if his beef is with the years or the amount.
3. Hell, 76 may get it done...
4. The Dodgers should be trying to build the best team that they can build and quit crying poor mouth when a Dodger Dog costs $25 bucks!
5. The rotation is the bigger need...the young guys in the lineup can play, they proved that last year. Just sign a power hitter and we should be okay...
6. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Broxton any inning...
7. The only way they should give up any of their young players is if they get some proven commodities with some of their best years in front of them. (Peavy)
8. Both...
9. I live on the east coast, so it's not really an issue for me...
Posted by: Matt Clark | January 10, 2009 at 02:57 PM
1.Absolutely not! No #1SP, this concerns me alot considering that there aren't any #1SP in the market, corner outfielder(Manny)!!
2.No, Manny knows he can't pull off what he did in Bean Town again. That situation hurt him too bad during FA right now and he can't do it again in 2-3 yrs when he hits his late 30's or early 40's!
3.Seems like it will do to win the division, small ball NL West! No really power threats except Manny??
4.Of course! Build a team to win as many games as possible, but don't forget the penny pinching parking lot attendant!
5.I'd have to say pitching! At this point with no #1SP in the rotation, it's not looking good.
6.No, he hasn't shown the consistency to be a closer! He is going to take a while to develop into a closer.
7.No, unless they have the numbers to deserve it.
8.The Blue have been tremendously "LUCKY" with the whole Manny situation!
9.If the team looks unimpressive, which so far it looks like, YES. But Manny can really change that outlook! If there's a will, there's a way!!
Posted by: Matsuda | January 10, 2009 at 03:05 PM
This is a good point that I was thinking about earlier--it seemed, going into this offseason, that our best-case scenario would be retaining all our FAs. We had so many holes and the odds of being able to even find equivalent players to plug those holes was going to be hard--finding better players was going to be nigh impossible.
So far, the team has done better plugging the holes than I thought they would--retaining Furcal and Blake are good moves, and they are in prime position to keep Manny. They've dropped the ball with pitching, though.
A lot of fans are complaining without looking at the reality of the situation. Everybody wants the team to go out and get a #1 pitcher as if they grow on trees. The realistic options are taking a chance on Sheets or Mulder, signing past-their-prime guys like Pedro, or giving up Billingsley, Kershaw, and two prospects for Peavy (Brox and Kemp aren't gonna do it, guys--SD wants starting pitching in return, and lots of it). While it's true that other teams may wind up trying to dump high-priced #1 pitchers during the season, the fact is that we still need to win games in April and May.
Here is how I'd proceed:
*Sign Sheets to a 2 yr deal for $25M guaranteed, plus 3rd year option, and hope he stays healthy (maybe fire Conte to increase the odds).
*Sign Manny for 2 yrs at $50M guaranteed, plus a 3rd year at $15M base guaranteed with performance based incentives that could bring it to $30M, 3rd year vesting based on plate appearances in the 2nd year, and a 4th year with the exact same terms as the3rd year (this way, the team is protected from Manny falling apart and Manny has incentive to play hard).
*Sign at least one veteran middle reliever (proably Reyes) for cheap, and use our kids to fill the rest.
*Fill the 5th rotation spot from within, hopefully with McDonald but if he's not ready, then probably Stultz.
*Trade Juan Pierre for one or two young pitchers to stock the farm system, eating some contract if necessary. Use Repko as the fourth outfielder.
Of course, McCourt still won't take my calls...
Posted by: Valmont | January 10, 2009 at 04:05 PM
Pitching wins Championships!
Posted by: DonD | January 10, 2009 at 04:59 PM
1. No and by a lot in every aspect.
2. i am worried about about Manny being Manny.
3. The NL west will be tough, though not the top conference, we don't have the pitching to match the Gnts, Dbags or even the Rox.
4. They should have a philosophy on building a franchise and stick to it. Either develop youth, in which case pay a preminum in dollars for vets to fill gaps, or collect players available along the way, in which case they need to get the best value for the team out of EACH trade.
5. Starting Pitching will be the only thing to keep us in games.
6. why not. He might not see a save situation all year with our pen in the shambles it is in right now.
7. If the kids are our future the only capital they should spend is $$$$, but becuase they have already traded away future stars, why not trade every kid for a 45-year-old-lack-of-defense-player to play every position.
8. fans will still hate flanders and McCheap, but the majority of the public will see it as a victory for the blue.
9. The economy never dictates how I spend my non-essential cash, but this organization is keeping me from it.
Posted by: SteelMohawk | January 11, 2009 at 06:06 AM
1. Better off? No, not anywhere.
2. Manny being Crabby? Absolutely.
3. The Rockies will be better than you think; they still have a nucleus of good young players and some decent pitching. 90 wins will win the division.
4. The Dodgers should be trying to build a team that will win games. You can't predict how many exactly. But the team as currently assembled will lose more games than it will win, even if they do sign Manny.
5. The biggest pitching need is starters. They're not going to replace Broxton, Kuo is solid, and Wade is only going to get better. You can always find a lefty specialist or a mop up man. You can't always find a lights out starter.
6. Broxton at closer is going to add 10 Ls to the season record. No, I'm not comfortable with that.
7. The point where the Dodgers should "spend" some of their young players is where it meets Jake Peavy.
8. If Manny does sign, real fans will call Flanders stupid for giving such a sourpuss such a longterm deal at age 37.
9. It's not the economy, it's the lousy team. I'm holding off on ticket purchases until I see a team that can beat the Pirates. But I will go to spring training to see the new site and to watch rising young stars. I'm not paying $90 for a face towel, though.
Posted by: SaMo | January 11, 2009 at 08:06 AM
Not better off?
2008 payroll: $118,588,536
2009 payroll: (so far) $71,000,000
Now we can finally afford a big free agent like...
Manny Ramirez.
Posted by: Thomas Shea | January 11, 2009 at 10:50 AM
The Dodgers are currently not better off in any facet of the game. They need a SP (Wolf), two RPs (Cruz & Reyes), Manny in LF and maybe even Nomar on the bench. Then they would have a set line-up that would score runs, a five-man rotation with potential (Billz, Kuroda, Kershaw, Wolf & McDonald/Schmidt), a bullpen with depth L/R & a bench. The Vargas/Estes signings seem like minor league insurance arms to go along with Stults, nothing more. The Cruz signing would cost them a 1st round draft pick, I think, but he might be able to give Broxton a run for his money at closer. The organization certainly has the money to do all of the above, that's for sure. And depending how the season develops, a run at a real #1 starter about to enter free agency wouldn't be out of the question.
Posted by: HMAlbert | January 12, 2009 at 04:50 AM
The lineup will be awesome if we sign Manny as it will be the same as we had for postseason play. If the young players hit last year we were in the world series.
Pitching is a big hole, Lowe was our only consistent post-season starter and that wasn't enough. It isn't possible to improve this all at once so it shouldn't be tried. But we need to start the process. Broxton is a set-up man, so we still need a closer.
Manny, no worries. LA is right for him, plus we have our secret weapon, Tommy Lasorda. Why anticipate trouble from one particular player when it can come from anywhere? Treat your players well and hope for the best, and don't worry about it.
Posted by: Dodger Dude | January 12, 2009 at 10:40 AM
1 - Not better overall, but they did get Furcal back, hopefully will get a backup catcher they trust to play and rest Martin, and Loney, Kemp, Ethier and DeWitt will continue to improve. But without Manny, or any other big bat, they are far from where they were at the end of last year.
2 - No, make him a fair offer, if he accepts it, he'll be fine.
3/4 - I think it will take a few more to win the division, the Giants are one big bat away from contending with that rotation. But win as many as you can, unless you're satisfied just winning the division and then losing in the playoffs to teams that can win 95 games.
5 - Rotation is biggest need. Bills has a broken leg, too much youth to rely on. Not much left, Sheets is no more of a health risk than Wolf, but with more upside. I'd go hard after him.
6 - Broxton is fine
7 - Start playing the season and especially if you have Manny, start looking at trading Kemp or Ethier or some top prospects for a top pitcher.
8 - Colletti and McCourt will never get proper credit, but it's better to be ridiculed and win, then ridiculed and lose.
9 - I live near Dallas, so June 12-14 are circled when the Dodgers visit the Rangers this year. But I'm waiting to buy my tickets. It's the Rangers, not like they'll sell out or anything.
Posted by: neoncactus | January 13, 2009 at 08:22 AM