Monday, May 19, 2008 |
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Congratulations Jon Weisman On Your New Book (So Hurry Up And Finish It!)
Well, when it comes out anyway, 100 Things Dodger Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. I had an e-mail conversation with Jon a month ago or so on this topic when he was all coy and stuff, so it's not like something like this was a big surprise, but I can't wait to see this.Charlie Steiner Makes A Scary Yet Brilliant Point
I have hitherto used this space to slag on Dodgers broadcaster Charlie Steiner, mainly for his incomprehensible inability to assemble the syllables in the right order on the Spanish surname Encarnacion. Nevertheless, he has since done a few things to endear himself to me in the ensuing time, and one of them is his entertaining XM radio talk show, Baseball Beat. This latter consists primarily of interviews with sports journalists who cover the various teams; today, his interviewee was Yankees and Mets beat writer Bob Klapisch of the Bergen County Record and ESPN.Steiner and Klapisch today discussed the state of the Yankees, who have made simultaneous and large bets on veterans (who are too often injured to play, viz. Jorge Posada and A-Rod, possibly Andy Pettitte later in the year) and on the kids as well (as any Angels follower can tell you, Ervin Santana's development has not been wine and roses, and neither has Ian Kennedy's or Phil Hughes'). At the end of this point, Steiner asked a question that occurred to me could have a direct impact on the Dodgers, namely, and this is a paraphrase, "Is Brian Cashman's relationship at a point with the Yankees like Joe Torre, where both sides want out of the marriage?" Klapisch allowed as how that was a very good analogy, because the Yanks aren't winning, and Cashman placed his bet on retaining the services of Kennedy and Hughes rather than using them as bargaining chips for Johan Santana.
Just how does this affect the Dodgers? Well, who will be the biggest name available in the GM market if, say, the Dodgers conclude the season with a losing record and Frank McCourt decides to give Colletti the axe?
Roster Notes
- From today's UTK:
Brad Penny (0 DXL)
The Dodgers have had to juggle their rotation, pitching a sore Derek Lowe on short rest to cover for Penny. A sore forearm is the official diagnosis, but there's plenty of speculation that Penny is dealing with a recurrence of the shoulder issues that he's had in the past. There's no evidence to support this besides whispers; a quick look at the data from his last few starts offers no support for it. Joe Torre didn't seem too concerned when asked, and Penny is slotted into a Monday start against the Reds. Assuming he makes the start, this is just one of those issues where a guy needs an extra day. Penny will bear some watching in the short-term, but it will be more interesting to watch people backpedal from their baseless chatter. - Also: it turns out that the Padres' Jake Peavy will miss his next start (later today); Will is "cautiously optimistic that this is a one- or two-start problem".
- Howie Kendrick is still at least a week away. Please, not to the All-Star break with this nonsense.
- Rafael Furcal might be back as early as Friday.
- Nomar Garciaparra's recovery from a strained left calf has stalled.
- Esteban Loiaza should make his first rehab start for Inland Empire tonight.
- Dustin Moseley will make at least one more rehab start for Rancho before returning to the big club. Five runs in 4.1 innings, Dustin?
- The Mariners optioned catcher Jeff Clement back to AAA Tacoma. 56 plate appearances and he deserves that?
- Perennial hero Michael Barrett is on his way back to the Padres, though he may require about 10-15 rehab games because of the time he missed in spring training.
Labels: angels, dodgers, injuries, mariners, padres
The Mariners are a staid baseball organization; although they don't entirely dismiss advanced quantitative methods, they aren't very comfortable with that type of analysis in baseball operations. When there's a variance between "squat" and "quant" (as Bavasi has phrased it) they almost always go with "squat". Which is a big reason why the Mariners perform like squat.
Even after the wreckage of this season, I can't see the Mariners ownership deciding their overall operating approach has been eclipsed by modern analysis and it's now time to drink extract of Beane and flush the organization. Which means Cashman is exactly the type of GM the Mariners' ownership would go for.
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