Friday, August 03, 2007 |
We Didn't Have To Wait Long: News Corp. Hates The Dodgers
With their hosting duties for the Bonds Circus over, the Dodgers will begin a key series with the Diamondbacks, who lead L.A. by a game in the NL West.There have been times — plenty of 'em — when Ned Colletti has annoyed me with his veteran fetishism, particularly with the Pierre signing. Nonetheless, there's virtue and there's virtue; is it any better to knuckle under to Scott Boras for Stephen Drew, currently hitting .241/.299/.378 in a hitter's park? As Alex Belth pointed out earlier, teams can scarcely afford to hide that kind of bad production out of their starting shortstop anymore, so unless he's injured, that $4M signing bonus looks a tad inflated, even by today's salary standards. If the Snakes had more money to spend, you can bet they'd be making more of Colletti's kind of mistakes.For the New York Sun's Tim Marchman, the series will be a baseball morality play. The Diamondbacks are a young team: Six regulars are 26 or younger, and no reliever older than 28 has recorded an out for them this season. And they're getting younger: Phenom Justin Upton, 19, made his big-league debut last night.
Mr. Marchman writes that the Diamondbacks are "a team built to win now and dominate in the future. Los Angeles, by contrast, is largely a team of bland veterans, which makes no sense. The team's farm system is rated right alongside Arizona's as one of the best in the game, and yet the Dodgers lard the lineup with the likes of Juan Pierre, Luis Gonzalez, and Nomar Garciaparra -- even when better, younger players are often available."
Given that contrast, Mr. Marchman knows whose side he's on -- and he won the Fix over by launching a pre-emptive strike on the New York Mets and their stubborn attachment to the profoundly useless Shawn Green.
"The world is not just, and rewards do not always descend on those who deserve them; audacity is often thwarted by cautious time-serving, and we can often do nothing about it," he writes. "In baseball, though, we can at least cheer on the deserving, and so if you have the time, try to catch this weekend's Arizona-Los Angeles series, and throw out a cheer or three for the Snakes."
Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers
They also aren't afraid to send a kid down if he's not hitting. Carlos Quentin was counted on this year - now he's in Tucson.
They've told Byrners to take a hike - watch the Dodgers sign him.
They've told Gonzalez to take a hike - watch the Dodgers sign him. never mind - they already did.
As for money to spend, the Dodgers didn't get it done with Luke Hovechar.
The Snakes did get it done with Max Sherzer.
The Dbacks are a better run team both in the front office and on the field, and their patience with Drew will pay off will pay off - Drew will be fine and they'll win the division this year. Tracy and Jackson are pulling their weight now too.
And watch AZ Chris Young - the guy is a STUD and one of the most impressive players i've seen this year - that was a steal from the White Sox.
Stephen received a lot of hype, but deservedly so. In no way have i ever heard him be accused of what JD was. The worst that can be said he had Boras as an advisor and tried to get the best deal, he did and signed (for quite less than Upton). He's still quite young and doesn't have great numbers right now, but he's still young --- and starting SS for the first place club.
And Tim? Besides being journeyman, i never heard any hype or anything bad. I realize he was a Dodger but what sins did he commit?
as for Gonzo, i can't say either way - i hear you saying "At least he's better than the Pierre signing!" and i reckonize that - would you say he's better than the Nomar signing?
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