• Casey Barker

    Me too.  Oregon State and Stanford in their respective regional elimination games.  Stanford not looking too well against Pepperdine.

    • Anonymous

      Go Ducks!

      • Casey Barker

         At least OSU has the season-ending sweep.  I’d love to see an Oregon-Stanford championship series.

        • Anonymous

          And Ducks had it last year :)  Getting swept seemed to work out ok for the Ducks.  While it would have been nice to get a win or two, I’d rather get swept and be in the position we’re in now.

  • Casey Barker

    PAC-12 was really loaded baseball-wise this year.

  • Anonymous

    Every team goes through struggles at some point of the season. We are just having ours now

    • Anonymous

       If we read back through the posts since the beginning of the season, most folks said that it would happen.  Now that it has, panic seems to be setting in.  Jon’s topic may be short, but it is deadly accurate.

  • Anonymous

    Eovaldi’s numbers could be mistaken for Bills’ numbers. But the reaction would be different.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Pruett/1707390003 Terry Pruett

      The reaction SHOULD be different. Billingsley is a guy who some Dodger fans believe has “ace” stuff (he doesn’t, but still), and was counted on to be a solid number 2. Eovaldi is a youngster brought up from the minors to fill a gap. Eovaldi has given the Dodgers a chance to win each of his starts…that’s what you ask a number 4 or number 5 starter to do. So essentially, Billingsley cannot be judged the same way you judge Eovaldi. I have been saying for over a year that Billingsley is a number 4…a mediocre 4…so I’m not surprised, or disappointed. He is what he is…just another guy. However, the excitement with Eovaldi is in what he COULD be.

      • Anonymous

        I’m excited about Eovaldi. But I feel Bills is now a trading chip for a player who can hit. But who?

        • Anonymous

          I could see packaging Billingsley with Van Slyke or Sands and see if we could get a solid third baseman with some pop — perhaps 15-20 homers.   This current version of the Dodgers — minus Kemp and Mark Ellis for some time, and with some key players not contributing enough — will be hard-pressed to do well.

          • Anonymous

            2 replies:
            Do you realize how much Billingsley makes and for how long/
            could you suggest the name of such a third base-man?

          • Anonymous

            Here’s the complete list of third basemen who hit 15+ home runs last season:
             
            Reynolds, M BAL
            Beltre, A TEX
            Longoria, E TB
            Cabrera, M DET
            Trumbo, M LAA
            Ramirez, A CHC
            Sandoval, P SF
            Roberts, R ARI
            Jones, C ATL
            Youkilis, K BOS
            Rodriguez, A NYY
            Valencia, D MIN
            Wigginton, T COL

            For every one of them, either their own team wouldn’t trade them for Bills and SVS/Sands, or I wouldn’t want to trade Bills and SVS/Sands for them.  But it’s always fun to dream, isn’t it?  :)

        • Anonymous

          While he is one of few valuable assets we can offer, this is probably the worst time to try to trade Bills, seeing as how he is coming off a bad year and has had underwhelming results so far this season.

      • Anonymous

        During his 3 good years (2008-2010), Billingsley had FIP of ~3.4. That is an excellent FIP from a 4th starter. David Price had 3.4 FIP last season.

  • Anonymous

    Programming note for those who don’t subscribe to Prime Ticket (in L.A.) or MLB Extra Innings (nationwide): Three of the four Dodger games in Philadelphia will be cablecast nationally – Monday on ESPN, and Tuesday and Thursday on MLB Network.

  • Anonymous

    Jon will be happy to hear that fellow Stanford grad and 2011 first round pick Chris Reed has made it to AA Chattanooga.  I’m surprised he did so ahead of 2010 first round pick Zach Lee, who’s at A+ Rancho Cucamonga.

    • Anonymous

      Zach Lee just came back from 3 weeks on the DL with a strained groin. He started on Friday and was allowed to pitch 3 innings under the circumstances.
      Reed pitched 7 innings for Rancho on April 27, On May 4, he was assigned to Ogden, a team whose schedule doesn’t start until mid-June; thus, I have no idea if he was hurt, where he actually was, what he was doing. He rejoined the Rancho roster on May 22. On that May 22, he threw 42 pitches in a 3 inning start facing 14 indicating he might have been coming back from injury; On May 29, he started again and again was limited to 3 innings, this time only 10 faced as he gave up no hits but walked 1.
      I believed he was expected to start today but, as you say, was moved up. If, at the age of 22 with only 42 professional innings pitched, he is ready for AA I will be happily surprised. We will soon see how he is used; the AA team is missing one of their starters, namely Eovaldi.

      • Anonymous

        Thanks for the info.

        Everything I’ve read says that Lee has more potential, but as teammates at RC this year, most of Reed’s numbers are better than Lee’s (ERA 3.09 vs 4.78, WHIP 1.114 vs 1.269, K/9 9.8 vs 9.3, etc).

    • Anonymous

      Zach Lee is 20 years old.

      • Anonymous

        True.  (Reed is 22.)

  • http://twitter.com/GilbertAcevedo1 Gilbert

    Jon looks like hes not even trying anymore….

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    Mad Men chat: Lane, I heard your explanation, and nothing’s changed – I still can’t believe you didn’t just ask for the loan.

    • http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

      Yeah it was very moving and yet it always felt a little contrived and melodramatic from the start. In some ways this feels like a Col. Henry Blake moment, though I probably won’t resent it as much.  But again, the episode was great.

  • Anonymous

    I believed it. He’s a Brit. I loved the episode, with a capital L.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    It was a great episode, I just never liked from the start Lane setting himself for such a fall.

    • http://twitter.com/NormWeldon Norm Weldon

      Is Peggy gone from the show, as well as the agency?  No mention of her at all last night.

  • Anonymous

    I think he saw it as taking care of things, until it all went terribly wrong. This was his domain. But I see your point.

  • Anonymous

    I think Don Draper’s line “Happiness is what you have just before you realize you want more happiness” sums up many people’s feelings about the Dodgers this season.

    Or maybe it applies to Yankees fans.

    • http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

      I wonder if Don Mattingly will let me drive his car for a bit.

  • Anonymous

    ok everyone what is a realistic trade that envolves bills and or someone else and we get back a power hitting 1st or 3rd baseman

    • Anonymous

      Realistic, meaning that the other team would be willing to make the trade?  Include Kemp or Kershaw in the trade.  Realistic, meaning that both teams would be willing to make the trade?  Ain’t gonna happen.

    • Anonymous

      I don’t know if it will happen or not, but I’d consider Loney for Youkillus. That’s like giving them Loney and $6M. They have no use for Loney so they’d spin him off for anything. After deducting Loney’s salary, Youkillus would cost us $6M. But don’t do it, I don’t need any more bald-headed players….

      • Anonymous

        Loney has just about played himself into Late Inning Defensive Replacement mode. A contending AL team with suspect hands at1B may pull the trigger on Loney at the deadline, but getting much back is dreaming. Chowds need pitching and healthy OF’s. I have been and will be driving the trade for Youk bandwagon. Sands or SVS and a mid level pitcher for him right now.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713935344 Jason Ungar

        consider???  Loney straight up for Youklis, which won’t happen, is a steal for us..He is an on base machine and has averaged an OPS of .900 or better since
        2007..His .905 OPS in that span 
        ranks 10th among players with 2,800 plate appearances.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    Jared Harris reflects on Lane Price and Mad Men bit.ly/KadVdw

    • Anonymous

       Thanks. This is great. Still reflecting about the episode myself!

  • http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

    So both the draft and the Dodgers-Phillies game start at same time today. Fun for ADD sports enthusiasts!

    Some of the names we could hear Dodgers drafting first today: 
    Cory Seager, 3b, Northwest Cabarrus HS, Concord, N.C. [might be a signability worry]
     D.J. Davis, of, Stone HS, Wiggins, Miss.
    Ty Hensley, rhp, Santa Fe HS, Edmond, Okla.
    [not the Clemson guy I don’t think]
    Joey Gallo, 3b/rhp, Bishop Gorman HS, Las VegasOr more h.s. pitchers like Smoral, Travieso, Sims, or Watson (fitting the usual Logan White profile). In baseball, team needs to go best player available, because it takes a few years to develop most draftees anyway, no need to draft directly for need. 

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7PNAFNXM7T73BGEJ4GML6UCTC4 scottF

      No pitchers, please position players.  We need hitters.

  • Brent Daniel

    Thanks for the reality check. I’ve been thinking of late that the slump is closer to what I expected of this team at the start of the year than what I expected in, say, Mid May. No matter how good they actually are, they are better off than I would have expected, so cruising into, say, Second Place would still be an upgrade over expectations.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Pruett/1707390003 Terry Pruett

    Unless the Dodgers are willing to part with something of value (and no, James Loney does not constitute value in any way, shape, or form), they will be unable to pick up an impact bat. What do they have to trade?

    1. Minor league pitching (Zach Lee, Chris Reed, et al)
    2. Exactly 1 tradeable MLB starting pitcher that we would possible WANT to trade (Eovaldi…2 if you count the late Chad Billingsley)
    3. Young bullpen arms (Jansen, Guerra, Lindblom)

    And that’s it. There ain’t no more….unless you consider Capuano and Lilly to be tradeable…and they shouldn’t be, because they won’t bring the same value TO us as they provide FOR us. In reading here and on other blogs, nobody ever wants to trade a young kid. Well…if we don’t, there will be no impact bat this year. And…maybe that’s ok. Maybe we just bite the bullet and waith for the off season and free agency. But you have to give something to get something.

  • Casey Barker

    Do you think we’ll see the Dodgers spend more in the draft under the new ownership, like Kansas City has over the past few years?.

    • Anonymous

      Like all teams, the Dodgers are subject to the new restrictions placed by MLB on salaries.  This will help some teams, hurt others, especially those who were planning to spend more on the draft (IOW the Dodgers).  So the Dodgers may spend more, but not as much as they would have spent without those restrictions.  (The Dodgers were actually already spending a fair amount, such as for Zach Lee.)

      • Casey Barker

         After seeing Alex White yesterday, I started counting all of the players that the Dodgers drafted out of high school and who now appear for other teams.  That’s what prompted my question.

        I hope the Dodgers are able to continue signing top flight guys away from college like they did with Zach Lee.

  • Anonymous

    Roster news: Rivera activated, Tolleson called up, Guerra to the 15-day DL, Guerrier from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL, Van Slyke optioned to ABQ.

    • Anonymous

      Good to see Tolleson get his shot.  Van Slyke had a couple nice moments, but didn’t look fully ready to me.  What is Guerra’s injury?

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713935344 Jason Ungar

        right knee inflammation

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Pruett/1707390003 Terry Pruett

      We finally get to see Tolleson.

  • Anonymous

    Capuano….
    …
    Career ERA – 4.26
    2012 ERA – 2.5
    …
    Buy low….sell high…..
    “Bye Chris….thanks so much for everything…here’s a gift basket…”
    ( I do like him… but, the Dodgers need to cash in on a good investment )

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    NPUT