The future: A synopsis

Posted on by

Operating on the assumption that the current lineup can score at least two runs on a given night, and the promise of the earth continuing to rotate on its axis, I still have hopes for the occasional Dodger victory between now and the return of Mark Ellis, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

  • Anonymous

    Sounds like the Yankees had a bad day as well.

  • Anonymous

    Appropriate shot of the Iberian peninsula given today’s match.

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

    Farewell, Don Grady.

    This one really makes me feel old. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/don.wanlass Don Wanlass

      From My Three Sons?

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

         Yes

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

    RT @CSNBaggs: AP telling us the Dodgers’ equipment truck just broke down on the 101 freeway. After they were shut out in three games. Seriously.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Bartholomew/1467188022 Bob Bartholomew

    From the AP game story: ”Wednesday marked the 32nd anniversary of Jerry Reuss’ no-hitter for the Dodgers against the Giants at Candlestick Park.”

    • Anonymous

      Ah memories. I believe Ron Cey made a diving stop toward the line and Billy Russell made a stop deep in the whole to maintain the no hitter.

      • http://twitter.com/madbeatboy Rob Carnachan

        I believe that an error by Russell was the only thing that prevented Reuss from pitching a perfect game.

        • Anonymous

          Wow! I didn’t realize it was that close to a perfect game. I do remember the two defensive stops, the jubilee on the mound, and my dad and uncle drinking all night long to celebrate :)

  • Anonymous

    Is Mattingly pulling names out of a hat

    • Anonymous

      no, but who is writing your witty comments?

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

       What do you mean by Herrera batting cleanup?

  • Anonymous

    On Monday the Dodgers will host the 4th annual Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium.
    On Star Wars Night, fans that purchase a special ticket package available at www.dodgers.com/starwars will get a ticket to the Star Wars section in the Coca-Cola All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion and a limited edition Dodgers and Star Wars themed T-shirt, and in-seat visits from Star Wars characters.

    In other words, there’s no danger of any women attending Monday’s game. 

    • Anonymous

      Or Dodger offense, ugh.

    • foul tip

       This could be a good thing if the Dodgers swap their bats for light sabres.  Worth a shot…

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately, as much as this may be heresy to some on this board, a fair portion of the current condition lies on the shoulders of Logan White. As much as I despise Colletti and the absolutely horrible job he has done in the free agent market, the fact that we have zero position players ready to make an impact from our minor league system rests on the drafts of White and his insistence to draft pitching every year in the first round for what seems like the last decade. You simply cannot win by drafting as lop-sided as we have and not have it eventually come back to bite you- think the 1980′s San Diego Chargers and their “we don’t need no stinkin’ defense” attitude. Colletti, of course, only exacerbated the situation by signing such hitting superstars as Pierre, Jones, Uribe, etc. with what little money McCourt would give him to play with, but the fact that we have zero in the way of minor league position players who can hit is White’s fault.

    • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

      yea some sanity in the ned dead horse bashing. he’s on a part of it. he’s had lots of help.

    • Anonymous

      I’m not ready to bash the guy who drafted Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw.  Or signed Carlos Santana, only to see him traded away for Casey Blake.  

      • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

        maybe you should talk to the dodgers top medical guy who told ned that schmidt(sp) was good to go for sure. that guys say he’s still haunted by it. and i remember people pretty darn excited about andruuuiu Jones. that contract was hilarious but i read few detractors at the time.

        • Anonymous

          I don’t think anyone could have predicted Jones’ decline

          • Anonymous

            I think he had already declined, the judgement was weather he would bounce back.

          • Anonymous

            Certainly his rapid drop in basic skills

          • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

            well john if that’s true why does ned get bashed constantly for it?

        • Anonymous

          You mean the top medical guy Colletti brought with him from SF?

      • Anonymous

             And as I stated, I’m not giving Colletti a pass by any means- the problem is, as you pointed out, the only hitter White has brought in was Kemp.  He’s been in charge of scouting and drafting since 2002, and besides Kemp, we have Loney as the other hitter his drafts have provided (the jury is still out on AJ Ellis and how he’ll perform from start to finish- once again, it might have been different if Colletti hadn’t blocked him with every reject catcher he could find to offer a contract to). Pitching alone doesn’t win anything of importance- ask the Phillies.

        • Anonymous

          I was actually thinking today that things couldn’t be worse, and then I thought, what if Rod had accepted Ned’s contract offer.

        • Anonymous

          Don’t forget the immortal Blake DeWitt, he who has been DFA’d by the Cubs.

          • Anonymous

            you are correct but just for completeness DeWitt passed through waivers and is at AAA in the Cubs system; I do believe Andrew was talking about good hitters though, I wasn’t even sure R. Martin qualified on those grounds

        • Anonymous

          There is also Russell Martin unless you meant only current Dodgers

      • Anonymous

        Santana <<<<<< Playoffs in 2008 and 2009.

    • Anonymous

      But isn’t talent, talent, and that’s how Logan should be judged?  Don’t we have a slew of arms in the minors that could be used to acquire postion player if we wanted to go that route?  With this strategy isn’t it Coletti’s job to bring in the bats and use what we have wisely? (i.e., not McDonald for a couple weeks of Dotel).

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

         exactly.

        • Anonymous

          Ex Zach Lee?

      • Anonymous

        What slew of arms in the minors? Our pitching depth isn’t all that impressive. 

    • http://twitter.com/madbeatboy Rob Carnachan

      Well, they also keep drafting pitching.  Why, I have no idea.  The Dodgers need impact offensive players, not pitchers.

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

    Holy cow, Eugenio Velez just homered against Albuquerque. My day is complete.
     http://atmilb.com/OzooFE (via @TopesWriter) 

  • Anonymous

    I thought to myself, ‘what is the worst that could happen today, we lose (or get shut out) again. I was wrong

  • Anonymous

    “The future: A synposis”, by Jon Weimsan.  :)

  • http://twitter.com/nrmnbates Eric Enders

    Regarding the previous post, I believe it’s actually the first time since 1966 that a team shut out the Dodgers three times in a row. That’s when the Orioles did it in the World Series.

    So, you know, that should make us feel better. Or something.

  • Adam Luther

    Last season Kershaw stopped something like 10 losing streaks (without much run support if I recall). This season I believe he’s 0-3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/2012-schedule-scores.shtml

  • Anonymous

    I was having just a run of the mill bad day until Eric Enders reminded me of the 1966 World Series.  

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, wasn’t that the way to top off the day.

  • Anonymous

    We’ll smash that silly asteriod to pieces!

  • http://dodgers88.wordpress.com/ Thomas

    Call me crazy but I think Scott Van Slyke and Jerry Sands could be providing the power if we’d just call them up instead of the deluge of middle IF’s we keep promoting.

    • Anonymous

      We kept promoting middle infielders because our middle IF was (and is) hurt.

    • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

      ok you’re crazy. apparently you didn’t their at bats when they were here last.

  • http://dodgers88.wordpress.com/ Thomas

    My bad I guess Castellanos is an OF.  #retractstatement!

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

    aside from Manny and I guess Ethier if you want to count them, has Ned ever acquired via trade or FA a hitter with a real solid on base percentage? it seems like even his success aren’t guys like that. You guys talk at times about how Ned has been handicapped by McCourt (But no one said that about Depodesta as an excuse) finance wise but it seems he just dosen’t target guys like that.

    –
    Also above regarding Logan White and arms. Get used to it, Kasten has already come out with his mantra: “Grow the Arms, Buy the Bats”

    • Anonymous

      That’s at worst a meaningless platitude, at worst utterly incorrect. Pitching is fungible. Every pitcher plays the same position: pitcher. Not to mention NL teams are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to buying premium bats because of the DH. Pitching and hitting are at least neutral when it comes to developmental priority, but given the Dodgers’ park and league, it’s clear we should be favoring bats–except for the fact that our scouting director’s strength is pitching.

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

        I am not saying I agree with him or disagree actually…Just saying what he said. But isn’t it a number game though? meaning there are way more hitters that you can find that can hit pretty good vs number of pitchers who can really be frontline?

        • Anonymous

          I’m not fuming at you, Jason. I saw that kasten quote before and it just made me despair for the future of this club. The first two things he does, sign Ethier to an albatross contract and make a statement that shows he’s no more than a bag of cliches.

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

            Oh I know!! I was just like don’t shoot the messenger :) I agree with you. I’d like to see a nice mixture and because as you said before, were in pitchers parks out here..I also believe that a good or bad offense can really effect pitchers more so than the other way around.

          • Casey Barker

            No, pitchers have steeper decline curves and generally start decining earlier than hitters. 

          • Anonymous

            I beg to differ. Though they lose velocity early and fast, pitchers don’t follow the same irresistible “curve” as do the hitters because there are actually things they can do to try to remain effective. A pitcher can add a pitch, or change his approach, or whatever, whereas a hitter can only try to hit better.

          • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

            disagree with the premise that you think you know for sure.

          • Casey Barker

            Not a premise.  Careful statistical comparisons have shown this to be true.  See for example:

            http://www.philbirnbaum.com/aging2.pdf

          • Casey Barker

            The response below shows why Stan Kasten and Logan White like to draft good high-school pitchers.

        • http://twitter.com/madbeatboy Rob Carnachan

          I’m not sure what the ratio is, but it is clear that the one thing the Dodgers DON’T need is more pitching.  The team ERA is in the low 3s, which is absurdly good — especially when most people consider a team ERA of around 4.00 to be solid and championship worthy.  The reason the Dodgers have fallen from the 2008-2009 NLCS level of play is the offense.

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

             I totally agree.

      • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

        The dodgers should be favoring the best players available. the number of minor leaguers that have any import on the major league team is miniscule. go for the best available.

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

          agreed

    • http://twitter.com/madbeatboy Rob Carnachan

      I agree that Ned hasn’t really targeted high-OBP players.  That was one of the things that DePo did right.  That 2006 Dodger team, which was DePo’s by and large, is the only Dodger club since 1962 to score over 800 runs.  The high team OBP was a big part of that because that club didn’t have a ton of power (although compared to this year’s club, it was positively Ruthian).  Ned seems to think that a guy like Dee Gordon can be a great leadoff man.  But that is because he overrates speed, when the more valuable characteristics in a leadoff man are pitch selectivity (making opposing pitchers throw a TON of pitches), OBP, contact, and even power.  Speed is about fifth on the list.  It’s like he thinks this is the 1960s and the old speed, defense and pitching equation is enough to win.  Well, it’s not.  You have to score runs — in bunches.

      • Anonymous

        I honestly don’t think anyone truly believes Dee Gordon is anything at this point. They just run him out there because we have no alternatives and it makes no difference where he hits. It is sad, but this season can’t last forever.

        • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

          everyone in baseball pretty much believes it Tiensy.

      • http://veryolddodgerfan.blogspot.com/ veryolddodgerfan

        mattingly bats gordon leadoff not Ned.

        • Anonymous

          >> mattingly bats gordon leadoff not Ned.
          .
          Well, the way this team is hitting, maybe Mattingly should be batting Ned leadoff.  :)

          • foul tip

             The way this team is hitting, Mattingly should look into revising the old player-manger position.  ;-])

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Felton-Suthon/1592090085 Felton Suthon

        Dodgers were #3 in OBP in the NL and #8 SLG in the NL in April
        Dodgers were #1 in OBP in the NL and #7 SLG in the NL in May even as Matt Kemp’s OPS declined from 1.383 in April to 0.672 in May
        Dodgers are #13 in OBP in the NL and #16 SLG in the NL in June

  • Anonymous

    Earlier I wrote questioning why Herrera was batting cleanup yesterday. Sorry, I didn’t realize when checking the box score that he went in for the injured Ethier. My bad!

    • KT

      he battered 3rd though

  • Anonymous

    Commenting on an earlier topic…
    .
    >> Clayton Kershaw reached Double-A 14 months after being drafted. (He had the advantage of pitching in Rookie ball the year he was picked.) Zach Lee, who was drafted in June 2010 and began his pro career in April 2011, has been promoted to Double-A.
    .
    Not to be outdone, Chris Reed was drafted in June 2011, and pitched in his first game for Chattanooga on June 4 of this year.  :) (In his four appearances there, each consisting of three innings, he allowed walks but no hits in the first two, and hits but no walks in the second two.)

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

    NPUT