Official 2009 LA Dodgers Roster Thread

[EVEN11323]

What kind of a lefty do the Dodgers need, a full 1 inning pitcher or a LOOGY?

[filihok]

LOOGY, I thing the pen is deep...though a full inning guy would be much better, obviously

[justanewguy]

The Dodger pen is always deep, but I like when it's as good as it was last season. Sadly, it won't be as good as it was last season, because they'll be working with even less.

Russ Springer would possibly be a nice addition, but he might get overpaid based on a few possibly fluke seasons that he's managed to post recently.

In '08 we had not one but two top tier lefties in the pen. In '09 we'll have only one. That scares me a little bit, especially since Kuo will play a far bigger role than he did in '08. Not to mention he's an injury risk.

In other news, it looks like the Dodgers are going to snag Wolf. I'd prefer Garland because he seems more of a sure thing to eat innings with league average performance, where Wolf seems like more of a sure thing to hurt himself in the process of posting league average performance. I'd actually prefer neither (fingers still crossed for Pettitte, a huge longshot at this point), but the market for SPs is less than desirable right now, and the Dodgers appear to have zero interest in Sheets. Either one is better than Vargas or Benson or Estes or McDonald or I guess Troncoso (but I don't see that happening) or whoever the hell else has a shot at taking the fourth and fifth starts of the regular season.

It would appear either Manny, Dunn or Abreu will be in the outfield with Kemp and Ethier come April. I'm starting to retract my Dunn mancrush and hope for Manny, and I think they can take that garbage division without Manny, maybe unless the Giants manage to get ahold of him. Who knows? This is the most retarded offseason I can remember seeing in baseball since I've been following the sport. The Yankees eating up all the top guys, a boatload of topflight guys still not committed to a team, Boras bending the Dodgers over with the help and ambiguity of their own f*cking rival team... UGH!

Often I wonder if I could deal with the Dodgers having a complete crap season and finishing under .500. After all, winning a playoff series felt like we had just won the WS, since I hadn't seen it happen since I was 4 feet tall or something like that. Maybe I'll be satisfied with a junk team. Maybe it will push them to load up in '09.

"Dodgers" and "load up" in an offseason. Funny concept.

[filihok]

David Wells is a possibility

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/0...on-mulder.html

[filihok]

The Dodger pen is always deep, but I like when it's as good as it was last season. Sadly, it won't be as good as it was last season, because they'll be working with even less.

Yeah, the bully was spectacular last year and it, even if we brought everyone back, would have a hard time performing to that level.

Replacing Saito will be...impossible. Though I trust JBrox.

Corey Wade was really good last year, and I don't think there's too much reason to think he'll be different this year. Other than people have seen him.

We also lose Biemel, who was solid last year, though not as spectacular as his ERA makes him look. If Elbert replaces him, Elbert has 10 times the stuff-just needs to learn to use it.

Troncoso-who may be trying out for a starting spot-could be really good.

We got lucky with the pen last year. Everyone played at or above their capabilities. It'd be nice if we could bottle that for this year.

Russ Springer would possibly be a nice addition, but he might get overpaid based on a few possibly fluke seasons that he's managed to post recently.

I agree...I don't see why everyone loves him so. I'd rather have him than Mota though.

In '08 we had not one but two top tier lefties in the pen. In '09 we'll have only one. That scares me a little bit, especially since Kuo will play a far bigger role than he did in '08. Not to mention he's an injury risk.

See Elbert and maybe Dennis Reyes. I agree I'd like a lefty as Kuo figures to be the set-up guy if his arm can take it. He seemed to work really good pitching 2-3 innings every 2-3 days last year. He's got stuff to spare.

In other news, it looks like the Dodgers are going to snag Wolf. I'd prefer Garland because he seems more of a sure thing to eat innings with league average performance, where Wolf seems like more of a sure thing to hurt himself in the process of posting league average performance. I'd actually prefer neither (fingers still crossed for Pettitte, a huge longshot at this point), but the market for SPs is less than desirable right now, and the Dodgers appear to have zero interest in Sheets. Either one is better than Vargas or Benson or Estes or McDonald or I guess Troncoso (but I don't see that happening) or whoever the hell else has a shot at taking the fourth and fifth starts of the regular season.

I'd prefer Garland too, but he's probably looking for a longer contract. Wolf probably comes for 1 or 2 years-with injury risk. Still, I'd rather have Pettitte.

I don't understand why we'd take Wolf for 2 years but don't seem to be in on Sheets.

We've GOT to sign another starter. I can't imagine we'd go with CBill, Kuroda, Kershaw, and ????. Much too young. Especially with Kershaw and CBill pitching the most innings of their careers last year.

[HoustonGM]

Guys!!! According to this man, Ausmus was like the best signing ever!!

This guy was all about the bottom line. The Los Angeles Dodgers showed again why they’re the National League’s smartest franchise.

The Dodgers appear to be on the cusp of doing something special, and now they’ve added Brad Ausmus.

I guess there’ll still be a season, but there doesn’t seem to be much point. The Dodgers will be in the playoffs, probably the World Series.

And I'll just ignore that this numbskull claims that Ausmus is the most valuable player in Astros history.

And I like this comment from BTF, which mirrors what I was saying in another thread about how these are the types of guys that think Jim Rice is a HOFer and Tim Raines isn't:

Here's what I don't get. These guys write all day long about the glories of things like defense, baserunning, hitting behind the runner, etc. All the "hidden" things that really matter to winning baseball games. Then, when it comes to awards like MVP and HOF, they merely look around for the guy with the most RBIs regardless of any other factor. I just don't get it.

[TheNamelessPoet]

heh gues she doens remember the HOFer that just left... oh and dont forget bagwell lol who may also acompany Biggio

[200tang]

I like this comment

according to what was reported, ausmus said he was going to do one of 2 things: 1) play baseball in southern california or 2) retire. i'm at the head of the line when it comes to bashing uncle d and the astros when they're penny-wise and pound foolish but how is brad signing with the dodgers "humiliating" to the astros?

"oh, timmy"!!

And then Richard Justice comes back with

[What was reported? I'm the media, brother. I do the reporting. It doesn't happen until I say it happens. See you at Nick's tomorrow?--Richard]

oh and this one is pretty cool too

RJ, you got this one wrong buddy. I don't see it as humiliating at all. His handling of pitchers was great but I can recall too many times where he was at the plate when the Astros needed him to come through, to extend an inning or bring someone around and he blew it. He was as poor offensively as he was great defensively. If there was such a thing as a designated catcher where he wouldn't be given at bats, then lavish him with praise. But I have vivid memories of him coming to bat and my thinking was, "Here is Ausmus for another whiff session." 80 percent of the time that is what happened, three swings and a miss or a dribbler ground ball out. Good guy, yes. Good dug out leader, yes. Smart guy, yes. Good catcher, yes. Great handler of pitchers, check. Complete player with ability to help Astros offensively, no. He needed to be a help at the plate and he was not. Sorry Rich. Hope you guys get to keep in touch. It sounds like you admire him. I won't miss the at bats.

[Will you miss the playoffs? You will? Next.--Richard]

That one may be better than the first. Is your team going to the playoffs? Nope? Then you are dumb!

[filihok]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/s...e=MLBHeadlines

Although there have been reports that Wolf is their preferred choice in that group, other sources refute that, saying the team has equal interest in all three starters—and plans to sign the pitcher who represents the best value in both dollars and years.

Not that it matters...apparently Brad Ausmus would make Carlos Silva into Walter Johnson

[HoustonGM]

Richard Justice is truly a douche bag.

[filihok]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...rtnerId=rss_la

"We're talking to a few teams, and there's a good chance we could have something in the next week or so," Landis said. "The Dodgers are one of those teams. Jon's from the area, grew up in Granada Hills and liked the Dodgers.

[filihok]

Richard Justice is truly a douche bag.

That's a pretty hateful thing to say about a man whom you probably have never met and have only read about his thoughts on baseball

Jeff Kent's on his retirement

[200tang]

I like the fact that his retirement is more focused on steroids, Barry and Manny.

[HoustonGM]

That's a pretty hateful thing to say about a man whom you probably have never met and have only read about his thoughts on baseball

It's mostly in jest.

[justanewguy]

David Wells is a possibility

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/0...on-mulder.html

No thanks.

I've been thinking, and I kind of wish the Dodgers had signed Bartolo Colon. His value is probably equal to Estes and Vargas combined. He'd be a guy that would almost certainly make the opening day roster, and could compete for the #5 spot, or be a sport starter and long relief man at the worst.

Colon and Kris Benson would be far better than Vargas and Estes. Mostly equal risk (a few more dollars, injury risk instead of continuation of sub-mediocrity risk), much higher reward, plus you're looking at 2 guys who used to have great stuff compared to 2 guys who were never that great.

Yeah, the bully was spectacular last year and it, even if we brought everyone back, would have a hard time performing to that level.

Replacing Saito will be...impossible. Though I trust JBrox.

I don't think Broxton will struggle at all, but I question his ability to replace Saito's value. I trust him too, but only because he can throw the ball a trillion miles an hour, and because he's got some nasty stuff.

I do question his consistency.

Corey Wade was really good last year, and I don't think there's too much reason to think he'll be different this year. Other than people have seen him.

We also lose Biemel, who was solid last year, though not as spectacular as his ERA makes him look. If Elbert replaces him, Elbert has 10 times the stuff-just needs to learn to use it.

Troncoso-who may be trying out for a starting spot-could be really good.

We got lucky with the pen last year. Everyone played at or above their capabilities. It'd be nice if we could bottle that for this year.

Wade will probably take a significant drop, but he'll still be good. The projections have him with an ERA in the mid 3s, with a fantastic KK/BB ratio.

I'd prefer to have held onto Beimel, and I can't imagine it would have been that costly. Beimel's ERA may have been an illusion last season, but it's perfectly in line with what he should have done. He was unusually poor (relatively speaking) against lefties last season, and unusually good against righties. Last season was kind of a fluke for him, but he was good nonetheless. I don't see him being replaced on the market.

I'm not going to start drooling over Troncoso, just like I don't want to start drooling over McDonald. But he's at least serviceable, which, for a #4 or worse pen guy, is as much as you can ask, especially considering his upside.

Last year was lucky, but there's no doubt it was a talented pen besides the luck. It will be interesting to see how the pen plays out from now until April. Who will end up setting up Broxton (it would have been VERY nice to have picked up Hoffman for this)? Will the Dodgers get a good lefty to serve as a more situational LOOGY guy so that Torre has a lot of freedom in using Kuo?

Mota sucks. I hope Ned has some inside info that none of us are privy to.

I'd prefer Garland too, but he's probably looking for a longer contract. Wolf probably comes for 1 or 2 years-with injury risk. Still, I'd rather have Pettitte.

I don't understand why we'd take Wolf for 2 years but don't seem to be in on Sheets.

We've GOT to sign another starter. I can't imagine we'd go with CBill, Kuroda, Kershaw, and ????. Much too young. Especially with Kershaw and CBill pitching the most innings of their careers last year.

Garland wants a longer contract, but I'd drop a longer contract on a proven 200+ innings guy who can give you league average or better numbers ANY DAY of the week. He's the perfect #4 or #5. Wolf is a huge risk, and probably won't give you numbers that are better than Garland's. If there's a time for Colletti to be careful about health when signing a player, this is the time. I like Wolf and I think he's probably got a higher upside, but I don't want the injury risk. Garland and Pettitte would be the perfect combination signing, especially considering how much money the Dodgers currently have under payroll. The depth would become phenomenal. You'd have CBill/Kuroda/Pettitte/Garland/Kershaw with McDonald, Vargas, Estes, Schmidt, Troncosco, and maybe Kris Benson as your depth. Not bad at all!

Guys!!! According to this man, Ausmus was like the best signing ever!!

And I'll just ignore that this numbskull claims that Ausmus is the most valuable player in Astros history.

I could barely get through the first few paragraphs of this article.

This is a terrible signing, though I'm hard pressed to offer up an alternative that's realistic. If VTek weren't a Type A (I've come around on this topic, I agree that taking a Type A would be an awful move, and I also think the "type" assignment for FAs needs to be overhauled), he'd be a no-brainer. It's getting scary that the Dodgers don't seem to care that much about who's backing up Martin. Ausmus isn't even close to league average hitting, and he's old.

Getting a league average catcher, through trade if necessary, would have been in the Dodgers' best interest. It would also provide a great deal of flexibility, as Martin could spend more time at 3B, while Blake and DeWitt could shift around more. The Dodgers currently have three more-than-capable 3Bs in those three, and should take advantage of Martin's and Blake's versatilities, and should find a way to get Martin time away from behind the plate as much as possible.

Would a guy like IRod have signed if you had told him he'd be guaranteed 40 starts a season?