Dodger Spring Training: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

We're a few days into Spring Training now so I thought it might be an opportune time to take a look at how our Boys In Blue seem to be fairing in the opening days of training camp in scenic Glendale, Arizona...

The Good

     Ethier avoids arbitration

           Arbitration is always a tricky thing for a fan.  On the one hand, you'd like to see your team not get financially raped but if the player has it coming to him, you don't want to see him get hosed either.  But the real hard thing with arbitration is the feelings it created.  The team feels the player wasn't worth what he wants and that he's being unreasonable in his demands.  The player feels the team doesn't respect his contributions.  No matter how the hearing results - and the Dodgers haven't lost one since Kim Ng took over on that front - bitter feelings seem to always remain.  So, I was very happy to hear that the Dodgers avoided going to arbitration with any players this year with a last-second deal with Andre Ethier.  And when I say "last-second," I mean it as apparently the deal was signed in the hallway outside the hearing.   Hopefully both sides can put it behind them and get down to business.

The Bad

      The Dodgers' Starting Pitching Woes

           Despite some good news on the Jason Schmidt front - it appears he may actually be ready to take the #5 slot in the rotation for the start of the season - this area of the team is a definite weakness and an area to be quite concerned with.  With the departure of Brad Penny and more specifically, Derek Lowe, over the past few months, the Dodgers faced a situation where they really could have used more than Randy Wolf.  The current rotation looks like Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Clayton Kershaw, Randy Wolf, and Jason Schmidt - which on paper should be solid at worst.  Buuuuuuut... well, Billingsley is coming off a broken leg in the off-season... Kuroda's still talking about shoulder tightness... Kershaw's just a kid... Wolf is Wolf... and Schmidt hasn't pitched in ages.  There's a ton of rookies and journeyman jostling to make the team as well but it's obviously a problem spot.  I'm optimistic but very realistic at the same time.

The Ugly

     Brad Penny vs Larry Bowa:  Let's Get It On!

           And not in a sexy Marvin Gaye kind of way either.  Penny fired the first shot earlier this week by going on to the Boston media about how happy he was to be out of LA since apparently he felt we wanted him to pitch hurt last season.  He also called out Larry Bowa for talking shit about him to other players behind his back.  Bowa retaliated by questioning his heart, his work ethic, his stamina, his loyalty and a few other things.  It was really quite the fiery reply so there's obviously some bad blood there.  In the end though, it never turns out well when a player blasts his former team.  To his new team, he already looks like an ungrateful whiner with questionable team spirit.  To his old team, they feel betrayed [especially the fans] for the support they gave him all along.  It's all part of modern sports though so what can you really say?

Maybe I'll make this a weekly thing throughout the spring.

Anyone like that idea?

Top Five Friday: Google Reader

Fresh off a BIG win in Game 2 of Lakers/Spurs, I can't think of a single thing that I want to write about - especially in Top Five form.

Let's pay a little tribute to the Google Reader section of the site and present:

The Top Five Headlines In My Google Reader News (off to your right) And My Thoughts On Them!

5. FSN to carry "Affliction: Banned" preliminary card
Pretty nice deal for Affliction, as they try to get some eyeballs on their first show. However, with the amount of talent they've got on the show, they really need to get eyeballs on their PPV. There's absolutely no way they make any money on the first show. The goal is to build strong word-of-mouth so that future shows can be less stacked but still draw viewers because of good buzz. It's an interesting plan - probably not one that will work but interesting nonetheless. Oh, and I think the "Banned" name is clever as Affliction has been banned as a clothing sponsor for all EXC and UFC fighters. That's a tough one for them as Affliction has been sponsoring fighters for ages. I'm curious to see the PPV though and depending on price point, I might shell it out - or since it's taking place about twenty minutes from "the crib," maybe I'll go see it in person.

4. Brock Lesnar's UFC fight with Mark Coleman is off
The UFC has been absolutely snakebit recently when it comes to fight scheduling. The London show is cursed to no end as I've never seen so much card juggling as I have with that event. Lesnar losing the high profile fight in his hometown is a bit of a blow but as usual, it comes down to who the replacement will be. Offhand, I can't think of a heavyweight in the UFC that would draw as much interest as Coleman did. I suppose Dana could drag Tank in for Lesnar to slap around but after running down Kimbo and EXC lately, that'd be a tough one to do. Keep an eye on this one because Brock needs something high profile to keep his name in the spotlight.

3. Christian Bale signs on for an entire Terminator trilogy
Talk about being Mr. Franchise. The entire Batman saga on your shoulders and now the future of the Terminator franchise as well? Whew. I hope Mr. Bale's been working out lately. This, of course, is the Terminator series that will actually take place in the future with the human resistance fighting the machines - the story everyone has wanted to see since the very first flick. It could be very, very cool... or it could be Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions levels of suck. I'm one of the few who dug the direction they went with Terminator 3 so I've got my fingers crossed for this series as well. Besides, Bale wouldn't sign on to an entire trilogy unless it looked golden right? Right?

2. Next Spider-Man movie[s?] coming soon
Is anyone really excited about this after seeing Spider-Man 3? Me neither. Next!

1. KERSHAW IS COMING... maybe
The Dodger blogs/boards were abuzz all day today with the news that projected future Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw was pulled from his start in Jacksonville last night after one inning. The early buzz was that he might pitch on Tuesday or perhaps even tomorrow night. The late buzz is that he will be called up tomorrow to make his first big league start on Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals - a decision that will surely send tickets to that game flying out the window. I'm already debating getting in on that after pretty much deciding to spend the weekend at home to avoid paying over $4 a gallon in gas. We shall see.

Until next time...

You Tryin' To Say Jesus Christ Can't Hit A Curveball?

Here's a brief rundown on the news out of Dodgertown as we get closer and closer to Opening Day:

** Clayton Kershaw makes headlines
You've seen them... you know you have. Hyping up Kershaw's killer curveball now known throughout baseball as "Public Enemy No. 1" Thankfully, it appears that Joe Torre has the good sense to let the kid stew in the minors a little longer before bringing him up to the big leagues. But just to whet your appetite, take a look at this hammer...



Lawd have mercy.

** Who's on third?
Nomar's wrist is still sore. LaRoche is out to 6 to 8 weeks. Abreu has an injured ass [completely and totally serious.] They've got Hu taking grounders at third. They've got Young taking grounders at third. And every friggin' baseball rumor site has Dodgers trade rumors for third-baggers. Personally, I let Hu or Young do it. Nomar should be ready soon enough. LaRoche will be back before you know it. I know, I know... they don't like either of those options anyways but I don't like any of the trade options. So, unless Coletti is about bust out a Mitch Kupchak, hold your ground and keep your cards close.

** Tommy being Tommy
The newsbirds were all excited because Tommy stormed the field during his first exhibition game he was coaching today. It gives me a chuckle but it's just Tommy being Tommy. He wouldn't know any other way. I did find his protests over having to stick to pitch counts kinda funny though. They quoted him as saying, "You want to be the guy to tell Koufax he's done? The pen's got it? Get the hell off my mound?" I'd rather tell Koufax than Drysdale but... yeah, I'm glad they've got Tommy doing pitch counts. I'm also glad Tommy's still using small ball to show some people how it's done. Apparently he put a hit and run in motion with Pierre on first, sending him from first to third where he scored on a GDP. Much better than playing station to station and waiting for the 3-run homer.

** 5th starter
Loaiza inched closer to getting that spot with a nice outing over the weekend. As well as Chan Ho has pitched, I still say he's got no shot unless Loaiza implodes over the next couple weeks. He's simply making too much money to get passed up for a NRI.

** Brad Penny pinch hit
Hehe... good shit. Apparently with half the team leaving for China tomorrow, they didn't leave enough hitters for Tommy so in a potential run-scoring situation today, he sent up Penny to take some hacks. Didn't pay off but I fondly remember the days of Fernando pinch hitting and Orel pinch-running for the Blue Crew... or as we call them, "the good ol' days."

Let's Make It A Dodger Day

On a day when the Dodgers came from behind to score seven runs in the ninth to beat the Red Sox [in a lowly exhibition game at which point no players expected to make the clubs' rosters were playing], let's take a look at five pieces of news to ponder as we get closer to the season start.

1) Clayton Kershaw making a push for the roster
If you're not familiar with Clayton Kershaw, he's the best pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization and one of the best in the entire sport. Most expected the 19-year old to start the season at Single or Double A but... well... he got a couple innings of work in the big league camp the other day. Dodger All-Star catcher Russell Martin was asked if he thought Kershaw might make the opening day roster for the big club and had this to say, "I wouldn't be surprised. For the first time in a big league game -- wow. He's got just a heavy, heavy fastball and an easy delivery. He's very deceptive. His curveball, it just drops off the table. I think it's the best curveball I've ever caught, to be honest. He keeps the ball down. You can see he's a tremendous competitor, giving up a home run to the first batter, getting into a bases-loaded jam and bearing down to strike out two guys to get out of it. It's just how easy he throws. He's mechanically sound. I don't think he needs to learn anything mechanically. He looks polished. He wasn't holding anything back, he was just going after it. He's only 19. Man, that's impressive. A left-hander throwing 97 with a power curve, that's pretty unique. And he's got a changeup, but he only used it once. He didn't really need it. They couldn't get the bat head out, so why help them? I heard a lot of things about the guy, but I like to make my own opinion. A lot of young guys get called up early and have done well. Hopefully, he can be one of those guys."

Lots of key phrases in there to be excited about if you're a Dodger fan. Things like lefty, 97 MPH fastball, "best curveball I've ever caught." But at the end of the day, the kid is only nineteen and barring a major crisis where we need him ASAP, I'd rather let him spend another season in the minors.

2) Jeff Kent hurt
Kent's got a strained hammy and is out of action for a week. One of the hazards of having a veteran second baseman. He should be alright soon but I'd expect we'll see a few more twinges and tweaks from Kent this season. I hope we have a reliable backup ready.

3) Delwyn Young sparkling at second
And speaking of our backup at 2B, Young was kinda shoved into duty there last week as the Dodgers search for a roster spot for him. He's out of options so they either have to keep him or lose him so with his impressive bat in his ML stint last season, they're going to do their best to keep him. A former 2B who was converted to the OF because of bad defense, he's grabbed nothing but praise for his defense over the past couple weeks. With Abreu hurting as well, Young may be a lock for that backup 2B spot when the season starts.

4) The battle for the fifth spot
So, we already talked about Kershaw but the surprise of the spring so far is the performance of Chan Ho Park. Once thought a major longshot to make the rotation, he has thrown four perfect innings so far this spring and was named the starter for the first China game. If he does well there, the Dodgers may have to give him a serious, serious look... but I still say Loaiza would have to completely shit the bed to lose the spot as he's got the most money invested in him.

5) 115,000?
The Dodgers are looking to set the World Record for largest crowd to attend a baseball game at the Coliseum against the Sox. They added 25,000 standing room seats to attempt it. Whew. All I can think about is how bad traffic will be getting out of the ghetto on that lovely spring night.