The quote found in the title basically sums up Don Mattingly‘s logic when he was asked about Andre Ethier‘s struggles against lefties, as reported by Eric Stephen of True Blue LA.

Part of the struggles for Ethier have been against left-handed pitchers, against whom Ethier is hitting .218/.282/.315 this season. But don’t expect Mattingly to pinch hit for Ethier in late-game situations any time soon.

“He’s one of our guys. It’s like pinch hitting for Matt if he struggled against righties. It’s the way it is. If we fall with Matt, we fall,” Mattingly said. “We’ll fall with Andre, unless I have an option that says, ‘I’ve got to do this.’ But most of the time I don’t have that option.”

What about the right-handed Jerry Sands, who is hitting .362 with 13 home runs in 44 games since July 1 in Triple A? It doesn’t sound like he would be much of an option either.

“As we get into September we’ll have a few extra guys, we’ll be able to do some things. Every team is going to have guys who are options,” Mattingly said. “If they were tremendous options they wouldn’t be in Triple A.”

I’m not going to pretend I know more about Jerry Sands than Mattingly or the Dodgers organization. I don’t. They surely have inside information on all their players. However, one just has to call bullshit on this specific bit of logic, don’t we?

Ethier has a .218/.282/.315/.597 line against lefties in 2012 and is .238/.298/.351/.650 against them for his career. Juan Uribe, over the last TWO YEARS, has a .196/.260/.287/.546 line. He is currently 0-for-August.

So to say that Sands wouldn’t be a better option for the team at some point … it’s just ridiculous.

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1) Replacement options in AAA have already proven that they can hit better than the level of the players up for replacement.

2) If they can’t prove anything at AAA and thus can’t get a call to the MLB, then where are they supposed to prove themselves?

3) There are never better options stuck at AAA than in the MLB? A.J. Ellis says hi to Rod Barajas. Paul LoDuca sends his wishes to Charles Johnson. Ad nauseam.

4) Having greater knowledge doesn’t always mean it’s right, nor does it mean it’s free of bias.

5) It doesn’t have anything to do with contracts and egos? Just performance? That’s why Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier had playing time stolen by Juan Pierre, Luis Gonzalez, and Andruw Jones, right? I believe the organization.

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Just terrible, seriously. Please find a better excuse or something, because I hate to believe that’s the actual line of thinking.

Rah rah rah, let’s trade everything to win now but let typical backwards thinking get in the way of making moves that would actually help the team do so when it comes to roster construction.

Awesome.

Bill Shaikin‘s latest article for the Los Angeles Times brings the welcome news that Frank McCourt has to get the fuck out by April 30th and that bids will be taken starting January 13th. However, it also brings the news that McCourt will retain the parking lots around the stadium and will have final say on the new owner.

Frank McCourt must divest himself of the Dodgers and their stadium by April 30 but has sole authority to decide whether he keeps or sells the parking lots surrounding the stadium, according to the terms of his sale agreement with Major League Baseball.

Initial bids for the team are due by Jan. 13.

The reason for him retaining the parking lots is that they are held by a different McCourt company and MLB doesn’t want to risk further litigation. Understandably, they don’t want this process to drag out any long than it already has and I think a lot of Dodger fans would agree with that.

However, while I want McCourt out as fast as possible just like anybody else, I’d rather just be completely rid of him and suffer a bit longer as opposed to potentially have to watch that grinning shit develop the land around Dodger Stadium and continue to make millions off fans.

On the sunny side of things, I suppose he then truly would be the Parking Lot Attendant.

MLB and the Dodgers declared certain specific sale procedures as confidential, although people familiar with the process have said McCourt and not the league will select the winning bidder.

Is it just me or does this bother anybody else…a lot?

Sort of like hiring Andruw Jones as the team dietician or something.