6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

The McCourts now will await the ruling of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon, who will decide the validity of a marital agreement that would provide Frank with sole ownership of the Dodgers. Jamie has asked Gordon to throw out that agreement, which could leave the ownership of the team in dispute for several years. Gordon has until Dec. 28 to rule.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts

// posted by Rob @ 3:41 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: cardinals, dodgers, hot stove, trades, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 1:11 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, hot stove, rumors, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 11:49 AM link  //  0 comments

• Not the most momentous signing you'll see this offseason, but I still view it as a net positive in the you-can-never-have-too-much-pitching department: Jon Garland will return to the Dodgers on a one-year, $5M deal. The deal also contains an $8M automatically vesting option that kicks in if he hits 190 innings pitched in 2011.
• Hiroki Kuroda will likewise return, which is probably good news because he was really about the third- or fourth-best free agent pitcher available on the open market.
• The Dodgers signed ex-Oakland, ex-Toronto pitcher Dana Eveland to a split deal with terms as of yet unannounced.
• Three Dodgers were not offered arbitration at the deadline: Scott Podsednik, Rod Barajas, and Vicente Padilla.
• Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger signed with Seattle, ending his failed experiment with the Dodgers.
• Davey Lopes' return to the Dodgers headlines the finalization of the 2011 coaching staff: besides Lopes (first base coach), the team will have bench coach Trey Hillman, third base coach Tim Wallach, and hitting instructor Dave Hansen. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and hitting coach Jeff Pentland return in their respective roles.
• The McCourt divorce is official, but negotiations continue on what exactly that means. The mediator in the case has called in Bingham McCutcheon, the authors of the original MPA, perhaps as a way to save themselves from a potentially very costly settlement.

Labels: coaches, dodgers, transactions

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Labels: astros

// posted by Rob @ 5:07 PM link  //  1 comments

• Belated: Buster Posey (NL) and Neftali Feliz (AL) won their leagues' respective Rookie of the Year awards.
• Manager of the Year awards went to Ron Gardenhire (AL) and Bud Black (NL), the first time I can remember when both awards went to managers whose teams did not make it to the World Series.

Labels: awards, giants, managers, padres, rangers, twins

// posted by Rob @ 2:25 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: athletics, hot stove, rumors

// posted by Rob @ 1:10 PM link  //  0 comments

Update: The Times says the deal is rumored to be worth $12M for one year.

Update 2: $4M of the deal is deferred, with $4M to be paid out as a signing bonus in 2012 and 2013.

The Dodgers also completed the Octavio Dotel trade by selecting OF Anthony Jackson, a 26-year-old who has never played above AA. He spent the last two years in AA Tulsa, amassing a .236/.327/.310 line. So the Dodgers effectively turned Andrew Lambo and James McDonald into about a month and a half rental of Dotel, cash, and Jackson. Nice going, Ned.

Labels: dodgers, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 6:13 PM link  //  0 comments

It's weird when these things happen. When Ernie Harwell died, it didn't mean much to me. When Harry Kalas died, it didn't mean much to me. Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Chick Hearn, and so on - their deaths didn't stop me in my place. News of Dave's passing did. I lost my grandfather a few weeks ago and Dave's passing doesn't affect me in the same way, but it does still feel like a death in the family, just because it resonates so strongly within a tight group of people. People from Los Angeles or Denver or Kansas City won't feel about this the way that we do, and we shouldn't expect them to, but many of them understand. Most fans understand that, while another team's long-time announcer may not mean much to them, they mean the world to the listeners at home. There's a bond that forms, and it stirs this strong, fierce devotion.

It's a devotion that, in many ways, may be even stronger than one's devotion to a team. When a team is good, you're all about it, and you're brimming with enthusiasm. When a team is lousy, though, one becomes objective, and critical. That objectivity and criticism isn't there with announcers like Dave. Not nearly to the same degree. I think we were all aware of some of Dave's flaws in his later years, but none of us thought worse of him because of them, the way we think worse of the M's for some of their drawbacks. I know, myself, while there's no statistical measure of narrator quality, I'd argue until I was blue in the face that Dave was the best there ever was.

Labels: broadcasters, mariners, obituaries

// posted by Rob @ 7:57 AM link  //  1 comments

Additionally, Steve Soliz has been promoted from bullpen catcher to bullpen coach and Adam Nevala will become the head medical trainer. The team fired trainer Ned Bergert, who had been with the team for 36 years, last month along with several scouts

Labels: angels, coaches, front office

// posted by Rob @ 4:19 PM link  //  0 comments

Catcher: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
First base: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
Second base: Brandon Phillips, Reds
Third base: Scott Rolen, Reds
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
Outfield: Michael Bourn, Astros
Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
Outfield: Shane Victorino, Phillies
Pitcher: Bronson Arroyo, Reds

Derek Jeter denied a National League Gold Glove award - http://bit.ly/bLv9sR

Labels: awards, gold gloves

// posted by Rob @ 12:42 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: angels, front office

// posted by Rob @ 2:04 PM link  //  0 comments

55 years from now, they'll deliver the Gold Gloves annually to Derek Jeter's nursing home.

Update: No links to the AL Gold Gloves list just yet, but Chad Moriyama of Memories of Kevin Malone forwarded a recent Baseball Prospectus story on Jeter in which we learn that, with the assistance of some error analysis, Derek Jeter is about "20 to 30 runs" worse, per annum, than the average shortstop. I, for one, am looking forward to just how overpaid he ends up.

Update 2: Okay, finally:

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins
First base: Mark Teixeira, Yankees
Second base: Robinson Cano, Yankees
Third base: Evan Longoria, Rays
Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Yankees
Outfield: Carl Crawford, Rays
Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
Outfield: Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners
Pitcher: Mark Buehrle, White Sox

...no one on the 10-member panel that votes on the Fielding Bible Awards even gave Jeter as much as a 10th-place vote. (To be fair, they did vote on players in both leagues all at once -- instead of by league as the Gold Gloves do.)

As one of baseball's most cherished honors, the Gold Glove deserves a better selection process. It deserves voters who see the candidates more often and watch them more closely, and it deserves voters who are more open to newer ways of looking at defense.

Winning a Gold Glove is like becoming the ruler of a banana republic. Once you're in, you're in for life, or until you're toppled by an armed uprising.

Labels: awards, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 12:38 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: hot stove, rumors, yankees

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Labels: broadcasters

// posted by Rob @ 3:40 PM link  //  3 comments

Labels: ex-dodgers, front office, hot stove, mets

// posted by Rob @ 12:02 PM link  //  0 comments

• Ron Washington and the Rangers are in extension talks. I'm not sure if this is a good thing; some observers noted Washington was outmanaged by Bruce Bochy, which isn't a great mark.

  Update: Ron Washington has signed a two-year deal with Texas, according to Maury Brown.

• Jay Jaffe has an excellent review of the Yankees' surprisingly perilous financial situation; it might not be possible for them to retain Jeter, Pettitte, and make a run at Cliff Lee, too.
• Jay Gibbons will return to the Dodgers on a one-year deal, according to Dylan Hernandez. The deal is apparently worth $400k with incentives.
• Robothal says that Scott Podsednik declined his 2011 option with the Dodgers, but both sides remain in discussions.
• The Yankees have announced they have no plans to pursue either of Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth. This would make Crawford more amenable to the Angels, but his perilously low OBP is still a concern, especially at an age when he should be peaking.
• Sparky Anderson, who helmed the Reds and Tigers through some of their best seasons, passed away at age 76, from complications of dementia.
• Update 7:12 PM: The Giants bought out the balance of Edgar Rentaria's contract instead of exercising his 2011 option. The 2010 World Series MVP had an injury-plagued year, and is considering retirement. Via David Pinto.

Labels: dodgers, hot stove, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 12:42 PM link  //  6 comments

Labels: hot stove, rangers, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 2:42 PM link  //  0 comments

Also — perhaps not unexpectedly — Tim Wallach is no longer in the running for the Brewers' managerial job, and will return to the Dodgers in some capacity, most likely the team's third base coach.

Update: Looks like Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke has been tapped to run the Brewers.

Update 2: The Padres exercised Adrian Gonzalez' 2011 option for $5M. He'll be a free agent in 2012.

Update 3: Prescience:

So, having thrown open Logan White's horn of plenty in the pursuit of the one whale you might want to harpoon, and in face of the likelihood that [Brewers GM Doug] Melvin laughed off my offer [for Prince Fielder], you can ratchet down expectations and try trading Loney and Theriot to the Orioles for Luke Scott. Scott will be another arbitration case, so this isn't about saving money, but about making sure you're not putzing around with Xavier Paul or Garret Anderson or Scott Podsednik or the like in left field in 2011.

Update 5: The numbers are in, and the 2010 World Series is tied for the lowest ratings ever — with the 2008 Rays/Phillies World Series.

Labels: coaches, dodgers, hot stove, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 11:35 AM link  //  0 comments

Naw. It's just a crazy game. So, congratulations, truly, to the San Francisco Giants, who in 2010 erased years of futility, and perhaps more to my taste, will finally be able to do something about that atavistic level of Dodger fan who whips out the empty San Francisco World Series Trophy case at every opportunity. Frank McCourt seems to be a sort of penance for that already, and the burden now is just that much heavier. On the other hand, the knuckle-draggers in Baghdad by the Bay rioted almost immediately after the win. It even got instant work on teh Twitter and Foursquare:

"Nothing on MSNBC.com, FoxNews.com, CNN.com, or BBCNews.com about the #SFRiot. However, it is on Twitter and Foursquare, and it has a mayor," complained David Lowe via Twitter just after 1 a.m.

How many days do pitchers and catchers report in?

ESPN Box

Labels: giants, postseason, rangers, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 8:18 AM link  //  1 comments