Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Masahiro Tanaka

In case you missed it: Steiner to emcee ceremony honoring Wyman

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By Jon Weisman

I don’t know about you, but Spring Training feels like it’s sprinting toward us.

On to today’s links …

  • Dodger broadcaster Charley Steiner will emcee the 2014 Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductions luncheon Sunday in Bel Air. Honorees include indispensable Dodger historical figure Roz Wyman, the Los Angeles City Councilwoman who was instrumental in bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and longtime Dodger publicist Toby Zwikel. (A tribute video for Wyman from last year, narrated by Steiner, appears above.)
  • Whatever happens with Masahiro Tanaka, you can’t say the neogiations haven’t been unique, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Olney adds some background information about agent of the moment Casey Close, while Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest attempts to put Tanaka’s Japanese statistics in an MLB context.
  • Orel Hershiser’s contract situation post-1988 was not all that different from Clayton Kershaw’s post-2013. Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. researches the comparison.
  • Ken Burns is doing a documentary on Jackie Robinson scheduled to air on PBS next year, notes Lisa De Moraes of Deadline. Meanwhile, Mike Oz posts a letter from Robinson to King at Big League Stew.
  • Speaking of documentaries, the Sundance Film Festival introduced “The Battered Bastards of Baseball,” a project about the independent Portland Mavericks. Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere has more.
  • Kenny Landreaux was among those offering guidance to young people on Martin Luther King Day at the Compton Urban Youth Academy, writes Lyle Spencer of MLB.com. “I’m trying to teach these kids how to handle adversity and deal with any situation in life,” Landreaux said.
  • SABR Day is coming Saturday, and Emma Amaya writes about it at Dodger Blue World.
  • What have our neighbors to the south been up to this winter? Jay Jaffe of SI.com gives the Padres’ offseason a C+.
  • Hundreds paid tribute Monday at the funeral of Michael Weiner, the head of the MLB Players’ Association, including former Dodgers Chris Capuano and Craig Counsell.
  • If you think the Dodger Stadium field is being transformed with this week’s hockey extravaganza, just remember it has only been two years since motocross took over the ballpark. (Mark Langill provided the pic below.)

Motocross

In case you missed it: Martin Luther King Day

MLK

By Jon Weisman

On a day to pay special attention to our better selves …

  • Evan Bladh has more connecting Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King at Opinion of Kingman’s Performance.
  • Maya Angelou, Berry Gordy and Jim Brown will be the honorees at the May 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon, “one of the events surrounding the Civil Rights Game that pay tribute to people who fight for equal rights,” The Associated Press reports.
  • Forget about asking whether Clayton Kershaw is the next Sandy Koufax. Now folks like Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (via Gammons Daily) are trying to identify the next Kershaw.
  • Potential bench options on the open market are outlined by Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
  • The new manager of the Dodgers’ Single-A team in Great Lakes, Bill Haselman, is profiled by Harold Uhlman of Think Blue L.A.
  • Masahiro Tanaka is scouted by Ben Badler of Baseball America, while David Schoenfield of ESPN.com offers his own appraisal. The deadline for Tanaka to sign a Major League contract is Friday.
  • Former Dodger farmhand Carlos Santana is working on a potential move to third base from catcher for Cleveland. D.J. Short of Hardball Talk has more.
  • Another former Dodger, Joe Beimel, has signed a minor-league deal with Seattle, tweets Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, adding that scouts say Beimel’s velocity is finally up since May 2012 Tommy John surgery.  Bill Baer of Hardball Talk notes that Beimel, 37 in April, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011.
  • Former MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn was wrong “about basically everything,” says the headline of Emma Span’s piece for Old Time Family Baseball. (Rob Neyer offers his own take at Baseball Nation.)

Notes: Miguel Rojas to contend for playing time at second base

By Jon Weisman

In addition to discussing Don Mattingly and Yasiel Puig, Ned Colletti touched upon several other aspects of the Dodgers in his conversation with reporters today.

  • Colletti’s priorities now for 2014 are to fine-tune the club, including another infielder off the bench that would give the club more versatility, and making sure the team is healthy. “I talk to our medical people every other day to see where we are at,” he said.
  • Miguel Rojas will get “a good look” during Spring Training for playing time at second base, thanks to his defensive wizardry. Rojas had a .303 on-base percentage and .307 slugging with Double-A Chattanooga last year, but Colletti calls him an “excellent defensive player.”
  • Alexander Guerrero is still leading the pack of contenders at second base, but Colletti said “we still have questions.” The Dodgers are taking a conservative approach with Guerrero and the hamstring issues he dealt with this winter.
  • Caution is also the byword with Matt Kemp, but the outfielder has had his walking boot off for the better part of four weeks now and is beginning to hit.
  • Josh Beckett should be ready to go for Spring Training, but Scott Elbert and Chad Billingsley remain targeted for midseason. Elbert could come sooner than Billingsley, thanks to being a reliever.
  • Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez have generated nothing but positive medical reports. No lingering issues.
  • Colletti is eager to see what Rule 5 draft-day acquisition Seth Rosin can bring. “Again, some of what we do is to continue to build the depth you need for a season.”
  • Preliminary conversations with the agent of Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka have taken place. Colletti described it as a “feeling-out process.”
  • Infielder-turned-reliever Pedro Baez, essentially following the path of Kenley Jansen, “still has some things he’s got to learn, but he’s a very interesting talent.”

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