Coming off of a 2009 season full of late-game heroics, 2010 and beyond appeared to hold great promise offensively for Andre Ethier. However, a pinkie injury in ’10 followed by a knee injury last season – along with any existing offensive flaws and limitations that remained – threw a wrench in his plans. Limited to 139 and 135 games over ... Read More »
This is one of the few pieces in this 2012 Season Preview that I’m going to truly enjoy penning. How could I not find joy in recapping one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, one of the handful of players on the Los Angeles Dodgers who has a ton of promise, and the man who should have won the ... Read More »
When you’re a team full of over-the-hill or never-were veterans, a team that is offensively-challenged to the umpteenth degree beyond your dominating center fielder, and a team that has a broke owner, playing your top offensive prospect who doesn’t make a lot of money and has the most upside of any of your left field candidates is the obvious and ... Read More »
Heading into 2012, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have a new face manning the shortstop position. With Rafael Furcal traded away in 2011 and Jamey Carroll off to the Minnesota Twins, Dee Gordon will take the reins and look to utilize his speed, range, and strong arm. One of the team’s top prospects heading into 2011, Gordon got a chance ... Read More »
I am fairly certain that everyone outside of Ned Colletti dreads the notion of Juan Uribe playing any amount of games or innings in Dodger blue this season that exceeds one. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Dodger brass is counting on. Uribe enters 2012 as the starting third baseman following one of the worst seasons in recent memory, and with ... Read More »
35 in June. Hasn’t played more than 132 games since 2007. Absolutely abysmal with the bat. Ladies and gentlemen, your starting second baseman in 2012, Mark Ellis. Signed to a ludicrous two-year deal for over $8 million in the offseason, Ellis comes to Los Angeles with the reputation of a good glove and “veteran bat”. The first of those things ... Read More »
“A Tale of Two James Loneys” would be a great title for a novella, and it’s also the most apt description of Loney’s 2011 season. Manning first in what was another season of “James Loney will finally hit for power and win a Gold Glove” vs. “James Loney will continue to under-perform, and by God we can do better”, Loney ... Read More »
Baseball America recently released the list of each team’s international spending for 2011, and it should come as no shock that the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t make a ton of noise. However, not only are they dead last, but they’re dead last by a lot. Baseball America has compiled estimates of each team’s international amateur signing bonus expenditures in 2011, ... Read More »
When the list of Hall Of Fame catchers in Los Angeles Dodgers history is taken into consideration – Roy Campanella & Mike Piazza (not to mention the good showings of Russell Martin & Paul LoDuca) – the recent state of the backstop position in Los Angeles becomes even more depressing. The future in Carlos Santana gets shipped out, a declining ... Read More »
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com wrote what was essentially a rebuttal to Mike Petriello‘s article about batting A.J. Ellis second in the order. Catcher A.J. Ellis is aware of the Internet chatter suggesting he might make the best No. 2 hitter in the Dodgers’ batting order, but he thinks he’s a better fit at No. 8, which is where he’s expected ... Read More »
Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times wrote yesterday that if the Los Angeles Dodgers are confident that Andre Ethier will return to form, they should extend him before the 2012 season begins. If the Dodgers believe in Andre Ethier, if they are confident he will rebound and have a successful 2012 season, they need to sign him to a ... Read More »
With the Los Angeles Dodgers in the news for the impending bidding war over the ownership of the team, I thought this would be as appropriate a time as ever to run through the publicly declared bidders, as the deadline for submission has come and gone. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times breaks down the specifics of the bidding ... Read More »
I realize this is hardly the most original topic in the world, especially considering I’ve recapped every move along the way, but seeing it spelled out for me struck a chord. 21. Los Angeles Dodgers Los Angeles had to make a decision on Matt Kemp, and after trade rumors surrounding the should-have-been-MVP, it signed him to an eight-year, $160 million ... Read More »
Much maligned reliever Ronald Belisario has been granted a visa and will be with the Dodgers for Spring Training reports Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Reliever Ronald Belisario, who missed last season because he was unable to gain entry into the United States, has been granted a visa and is expected to be in camp for the start ... Read More »
MLB and the MLBPA recently agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that will ensure labor peace through 2016. In light of the recent troubles of the NBA and NFL, this seems like a welcome change of pace. However, with this CBA comes a lot of changes to the MLB, and I don’t think all of them are positive. So ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting