I like Yasiel Puig. I like him a lot, actually. I even ranked him as the top prospect in the Dodgers system for 2013.

However, if you follow me on Twitter, most of what I tweet about him is sort of dismissive. That’s not because I’m not excited about him, but rather because he seems to make people incredibly stupid.

For example, look at the tweets just from the last couple of days replying to Dylan Hernandez when he mentions Puig, and you can find shit like this:

@dylanohernandez bench Kemp and put Puig in

— Ryan Perez(@WreckItRyan) April 7, 2013

@dylanohernandez if only we had an outfield spot or two occupied by sorry ass players (Etheir/Kemp) where Puig could be plugged in to.

— Herbie Verstinks (@HerbieVerstinks) April 7, 2013

Bench Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier after six games in 2013! Sounds like a rational plan!

@dylanohernandez Can he play an infield position?

— Julio Ojeda (@Julio_SportsFan) April 7, 2013

@dylanohernandez try 3B for Puig.

— Monstarr (@rancimo) April 7, 2013

“Can he play positions in the major leagues that he’s never played before and never trained for?!”

I mean … what?

Hanley Ramirez is athletic and talented and has played shortstop in the MLB and MILB forever … and he’s still widely known by most everybody as a horrid defender. Fans can’t stand to watch his slow turns at second base or Dee Gordon throwing the ball away, but Puig? Well shit, he could do it, right? WHY NOT?! How hard could shortstop or third base be?

Ugh.

I would legitimately sooner try Adrian Gonzalez at third. It’s far less dumb.

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But those are just four examples and it doesn’t mean anything, right? Yeah, I wish. Feel free to Twitter search for him or just read the replies to mainstream writers whenever his name is brought up. You’ll be amazed by how insane some of the stuff is.

Look, all prospects have promise, and, more than most, I get the excitement. But the Dodgers have had guys who jumped levels and showed flashes of an elite future before, most recently Rubby De La Rosa, but they have never generated anywhere near this type of excitement/delusion.

So while Puig will likely produce in the majors, and he has star upside, what is it exactly about him that makes people lose their goddamn minds? Seriously though, as a meme, it’s entertaining, but people are getting serious about it and I have to implore you to please stop before anything short of a stellar MLB debut/Hall Of Fame career leads to people incessantly booing him … as if he was Kemp after an 0-4 outing in 2013 even after back-to-back .900+ OPS seasons.

Now that rosters have expanded, let the speculation on who gets the September call begin!

Pump the brakes a bit though, because unfortunately for the people who wish to see young players show their stuff: 1) the 40-man roster is full 2) guys on the 60-day DL are due to return 3) um … the team just traded away all of the top prospects that were close to contributing.

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One of the primary issues is that Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands are still on the Dodgers 40-man roster, so it creates a bit of a mess in terms of roster spots. This is especially true because Ted Lilly (maybe) and Dee Gordon are set to return, which means guys will have to get designated just to fit them in. Perhaps Chad Billingsley, Kenley Jansen, or Scott Elbert could be placed on the 60-day DL, but that creates more holes, not less.

Either way, guys like Adam Kennedy, Juan Uribe, Matt Angle, Elian Herrera, and Stephen Fife might not want to get too comfortable on the 40-man, depending on what direction the team decides on. However, due to the roster crunch, those hoping for players not on the 40-man roster to get called — like John Ely, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Bobby Abreu — might be left disappointed.

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Among those who I feel could help the team immediately are Tim Federowicz, Javy Guerra, Josh Wall, and Alex Castellanos. I already went over the reasons Guerra could contribute, as I believed sending him down to begin with was foolish. Wall, despite just an average year at AAA, has the raw stuff catch fire and help stabilize a suddenly shaky bullpen. Federowicz is not as good a hitter as his .296/.371/.465/.836 line in AAA would indicate, but he’s a good defender and is an upgrade over Matt Treanor right now. Castellanos could provide right-handed thump off the bench, as his .338/.431/.610/1.041 line in AAA would somewhat indicate. I’d rather see him get a chance than continue to run Juan Rivera out there, that’s for sure.

Other possibilities on the 40-man are Scott Van Slyke and Fife. Van Slyke could do much the same as Castellanos, but I have less confidence in his bat. Still, he can hardly be a worse pinch hitting option than Uribe or Kennedy or Nick Punto. I’m not sure Fife would fit in the bullpen, but if he’s not going to get designated then he could be called up to use as a long man.

Ely, Gwynn, and Abreu could all help, but I have to think they’re long shots due to the roster crunch reasons I mentioned earlier. Personally, I would have no problem designating about a half dozen players, but the team has somehow managed to resist doing that all year, so I don’t see why they would start now. With that said, if a starter goes down with injury, Ely deserves a chance after putting up a 3.20 ERA in 168.2 innings with solid peripherals in that league. Gwynn has put up a .304/.400/.393/.793 line at AAA and I really feel like he has to be added to the 40-man and called up somehow, if for no other reason than to pinch run. If Abreu’s healthy, he could probably do what Shane Victorino is producing in left right now sans the defense, so he could be a useful bench guy.

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Assuming Billingsley, Jansen, and Elbert return from injury, and that Gordon will be back but not Lilly, I would call on Federowicz, Guerra, Wall, Castellanos, Van Slyke, Gwynn, and Abreu while designating Uribe, Angle, and Herrera.

Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Even though he’s away from home right now, I think Mike Petriello comes away from the trade with the right approach.

So how am I feeling about it today? I think Gonzalez is going to be an incredible fit in LA, especially considering that reports of his demise in Boston seem overblown (he was outstanding last year and has been very good for much of this year after a slow start) and that he never seemed to want to leave Southern California in the first place. It’s a high price to pay, but if he is what we think he is – and don’t forget, there was little available in the first base market next year, so if you’re spending money, this is how you do it – and the team becomes a consistent contender, I think it’ll be a price we can live with.

And if not? The next decade could get ugly, fast. For now, I’m cautiously optimistic, but mainly excited for the rest of the season.

I’m the same. Hopeful, but wary for reasons that I believe are legitimate. Far too many Dodgers fans pretending this is highway robbery in our favor, in my opinion.

Dodger Thoughts: Jon Weisman invokes Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields.

The chances of De La Rosa becoming one of the greatest pitchers of all time might be slim, but De La Rosa doesn’t have to become the second Pedro to represent a major loss for the Dodgers. He could just be really good, while Gonzalez apes DeShields’ decline.

Like I said, I’m hungry for a World Series title, and I’m not saying the risk of trading De La Rosa won’t be worth it. Don’t misunderstand me: The Dodgers need a player like Gonzalez, who boosts them at their weakest position. I even believe that a move back to his Southern California roots and away from the Red Sox maelstrom could revitalize him.

All I’m saying is, short of Clayton Kershaw, the trade of any other pitcher besides De La Rosa would have left me more comfortable.

Not sure I agree with the people flipping out on him, especially if the Dodgers can’t upgrade their rotation significantly in the coming years. However, I think Adrian Gonzalez is a far better player and Rubby De La Rosa, while one of my favorites, won’t get to ace level.

Sports Illustrated: Jay Jaffe acknowledges the risk and the reward, saying that if nothing else it makes the season compelling.

All in all, it’s a dizzying deal that could affect not only the outcome of this year’s NL playoff races, but also could turn the Dodgers into the NL West’s powerhouse for years to come, with an enviable middle of the order starring Kemp, Gonzalez, Ramirez and Ethier. Or it could blow up in the team’s collective face, saddling the Dodgers with unproductive players signed to long-term deals, and hampering their roster flexibility much as it did these Red Sox.

Given their surrender of two top young arms, and the massive savings — and saving face — that the deal offered Boston, the Dodgers should have come away with far more than $12 million in salary discounts. That they didn’t puts virtually all of the risk on them, but it makes for a compellingly aggressive play in a playoff race that remains wide open.

True Blue LA: Eric Stephen notes that the team is headed for the luxury tax.

Dodgers Now: Stan Kasten says they aren’t maxed out yet though.

If the Dodgers can add $260 million to their payroll in one trade — and close to a half-billion dollars in four months — is there a limit to their spending?

“Somewhere, I suppose,” Chairman Mark Walter said Saturday.

And where might that limit be?

“I haven’t found it yet,” President Stan Kasten said. “I’ll let you know when we get there.”

Not sure how much of that is rhetoric, but I think we’ll see in the 2013 off-season.

FanGraphs: Dave Cameron thinks it doesn’t make sense from a baseball perspective but that it might make sense if the Dodgers make a deep run into the playoffs due to financials.

From a purely baseball standpoint, this investment doesn’t make sense. Gonzalez isn’t valuable enough to make him worth taking on the albatross contracts of Crawford and Beckett, and the Dodgers almost certainly could have gotten a better bang for their buck in free agency this winter. However, making moves this winter won’t get people interested in the Dodgers in the same way that a deep playoff run this year will.

I’m getting a lot of similar comments on Twitter, so I know this isn’t a rare opinion, but I have to wonder how legitimate the train of thought is. Dodgers fans show up regardless of how the team is doing, and the only reason attendance plummeted last year was because of a fan boycott of Frank McCourt. Even with all the turmoil, they were sixth in attendance last year, and this year they’re already back up to third. As such, I don’t buy the argument that they needed to do this during the season to make the playoffs otherwise fans wouldn’t come back and they wouldn’t make money. If the tens of millions from potential playoff revenue is going to make or break a team with billions of dollars looming, then there are bigger problems here.

Also, I don’t buy that this is to create buzz for a media deal. We’re all speculating, but logically I don’t see why cable companies, who negotiate deals like this all the time, would be swayed off their valuation due to a small sample size and not take into account the big 15-to-25 year picture. It’s already rumored to be in the $8 billion range, so how much higher could it go? Maybe they are that dumb, I dunno, but it seems iffy to assume so.

There’s no getting around the fact that the Dodgers likely just paid $20 for a gallon of milk. Given the prices everyone else is paying for milk, that seems pretty silly. If you happen to have lots of $20 bills and no milk, however, and there’s only one guy selling milk in your immediate vicinity, maybe you just complain about price gouging and hand over the $20. Depending on just how many $20s the Dodgers ownership has, this might not end up being quite as nuts as it looks on the surface.

Or, maybe I’m just over-thinking all of this, and the Dodgers just made a horrible, horrible trade. I’m honestly not sure.

Maybe, but I can’t see this trade destroying the team down the road. It might make for an inferior roster, but as long as they continue to spend, the team will be competitive. I’d just rather have to go through as little big money decline phases as possible.

ESPN: Buster Olney names his winners and losers … with the Dodgers on both.

Winners: The Dodgers of 2012

They are markedly better today than they were before this deal. Adrian Gonzalez is perfect for their lineup, their lineup balance, their defense and their ballpark, and he knows the division from his many years with the Padres. Beckett might be energized, and he gets to shift out of one of the best-hitting divisions to one of the worst.

Winners: Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten and the rest of the Dodgers’ ownership group

In less than four months, these owners have managed to completely rebrand the franchise, and, even if the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs this year, they’ve set themselves up for a major bounce forward in attendance and interest and team success in 2013. The city might throw them a parade even if they don’t win the World Series because, ding-dong, the Frank McCourt era is over.

Losers: The Dodgers of 2017

The team’s stunning spending spree feels good today, but Los Angeles has set itself up to have a roster loaded with aging stars in about five years — Matt Kemp, Gonzalez, Crawford and Andre Ethier all have contracts that run through that season. By then, the Dodgers’ farm system should be replenished, and the club’s ownership should have the resources to pave over that type of problem in the way the Yankees have — and, in any event, Dodgers fans won’t have to worry about that for a while.

ESPN: Keith Law takes a good now and bad later approach as well.

This deal could end up looking good for both sides, better for the Dodgers in the very short term but much better for the Red Sox in the long term. Boston enters this winter with a new financial lease on life, freeing the Sox up to spend in a weak free-agent market or perhaps to take on a large contract someone else would like to move (Cliff Lee? Justin Upton?).

They’re also looking at a pretty interesting group of position-player prospects racing up the system, led by Xander Bogaerts, who has improved his defense at shortstop this year and might defy earlier expectations and stay at the position. That potential for an inexpensive core should help Boston avoid a similar tangle of large contracts in the near future, just at a point when the Dodgers are facing a financial quagmire and roster crunch of their own.

Baseball executives are chiming in on the trade, basically questioning what the Dodgers are doing.

Rival exec on #Dodgers: “If you had $250M to spend, is this how you’d do it?”

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 25, 2012

Rival execs are wondering why LADs didn’t simply say to BOS: We’ll take your bad contracts, but we’re not giving you any prospects of note.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 25, 2012

NL exec view:”The Dodgers so wanted Gonzalez they took Crawford and Beckett’s money and traded two great arms to get him.”

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) August 25, 2012

While I don’t necessarily disagree with their assessment, one has to wonder how much of this is legit and how much of this is just being jealous.

The Dodgers finalized a trade today that will send Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Jerry Sands, James Loney, and Ivan De Jesus to the Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, and Cash.

I gave my initial reaction to the deal yesterday, but after an in-depth analysis, did anything change?

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Adrian Gonzalez

The Dodgers are paying ~$130 million for six years and a month of his services. Accounting for inflation over the course of the contract, every win will come out to ~$5 million, so the Dodgers are paying for about 26 WAR or 4.2 WAR per year.

Will he be worth it? I’m quite confident he will be, despite issues that others have concerns about.

In 2011 with the Red Sox, he hit .338/.410/.548/.957, posting a ~6.5 WAR season. He got off to a slow start in 2012, however, and thus only has a .300/.343/.469/.812 line. However, he has come on of late, and he projects to finish the year on a .301/.369/.504/.873 tear, so I don’t think he’s at the start of a precipitous decline. The primary concern is that his career 10.7 BB% has dipped to 5.9%, and it will need to rebound for him to live up to his usual standard. With that said, his batting projection puts his OPS around .860 or so, which presumes a gain in walk rate.

His fielding has never been in doubt, as he is a plus defender across all advanced metrics and I don’t think anybody would argue with it. He does lack foot speed though, which is why his baserunning total comes in low.

That’s not to say there’s minimal risk though, which makes sense, since he wouldn’t have been let go otherwise. He’s in his age-30 season right now, and aging curves tell us that he’s likely to regress over the course of his contract, as the mid-30s are generally the danger area. On the upside, I don’t see a reason to be concerned about injuries, as he has never played in less than 156 games in a full season.

Factoring everything above, A-Gon comes out to about a 5 WAR player, and he figures to be worth around 27 WAR after accounting for age regression. While he won’t be providing much surplus value beyond what he’s being paid by the Dodgers, he should be well worth the acquisition, especially considering the barren first base market and the lack of internal options. The A-Gon part of this deal is cause of excitement.

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Carl Crawford

The Dodgers are paying ~$105 million for five years and a month of his services. Accounting for inflation over the course of the contract, every win will come out to ~$5 million, so the Dodgers are paying for about 21 WAR or 4.1 WAR per year.

Unlike A-Gon, where I have trouble seeing how he’s not worth it, I have trouble seeing how Crawford will even get anywhere close to worth it.

For the past two seasons, Crawford has been … uh … a mess. He’s been worth a total of around 0.5 WAR, which needless to say doesn’t bode well for his 4.1 WAR goal. Even if you completely believe that his skills are intact, his body throws a sizable wrench into the equation to say the least, and it doesn’t help then that he may miss a few months of next season. He was projected to post a .283/.323/.446/.769 line for the rest of 2012, which is quite generous since his actual line has been .260/.292/.419/.711 for 2011 and 2012. For the projection, I put him around a .780 OPS, which is almost what he posted in his last few years with the Rays.

On the basepaths, despite his basestealing ability, he’s never been a plus baserunner, but he does clock in on the positive side of the ledger due to his speed. His defense will probably generate the biggest debate, as it was once a plus tool, but it has since regressed to average at best across the advanced metrics due to injury or whatever else. Personally though, I think he should benefit from the bigger spaces in Dodger Stadium, so he should return to form. However, it would be dishonest to just grant him plus status after two clear years of regression, so I made him just good instead of elite.

Like Gonzalez, Crawford is in his age-30 season and will regress over the course of his contract, including the dreaded mid-30s. Unlike Gonzalez, there’s ample reason to worry about Crawford’s health, and his projected playing time reflects that, clocking in at ~550 plate appearances.

Factoring everything above, Crawford comes out to about a 2.9 WAR player, and he figures to be worth around 12 WAR after accounting for age regression.

So he should be worth a bit more than half his contract, and when that contract totals in excess of $100 million that burns quite a bit. Unlike at first base, the options in the outfield, either short-term or long-term, to get better value were plentiful. Therefore, I can’t see how anybody would be excited about taking him on. The “he’s better than Juan Rivera” argument only works for this year because the Dodgers would have options in the offseason, and since Crawford won’t be playing this year there’s really no defense for this. I’m assuming a lot in his favor as it is, and if he’s right he should be a decent player for the team until late in the deal, but he certainly won’t be worth what the Dodgers are paying him unless lighting strikes.

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Josh Beckett

The Dodgers are paying ~$35 million for two years and a month of his services. Accounting for inflation over the course of the contract, every win will come out to ~$4.75 million, so the Dodgers are paying for about 7.5 WAR or 3.5 WAR per year.

I’m actually more confident that Crawford will make meaningful contributions than Beckett for reasons that go beyond statistics, so needless to say, I’m skeptical about him earning his keep.

In 2012, Beckett has a 5.23 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 4.39 xFIP, and 4.28 SIERA. That’s about the profile of Bud Norris of the Astros at the moment … if Norris was set to make $16 million annually.

The reason I only mention 2012 is this report by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus:

Goldstein says that Beckett’s 70 fastball has turned into a 55/60. His once-biting curve has lost a similar amount of stuff: Goldstein reports that he would be “leery” of putting a 60 rating on it and might call it a 50-plus. His cutter, he explains, is at best a 40. Given how often he throws it, the cutter could be something of an Achilles’ heel for Beckett going forward.

Goldstein is not terribly optimistic about Beckett’s performance going forward and grades him as a no. 4 or no. 5 starter going forward.

That scouting report is backed by fastball velocity that has dropped from 93.8 MPH for his career to 91.6 MPH, and a strikeout rate that has gone from a career 22.2% to 17.2%. I’m not sure how anybody could reasonably expect him to bounce back to 4-5 WAR levels with that profile.

Like Gonzalez and Crawford, Beckett isn’t young. He’s in his age-32 season, is showing signs of decline, and is under contract into his mid-30s. There’s reason to worry about injury too, as he missed significant time (60-day DL) two years ago with a back strain and was placed on the DL for shoulder inflammation this year. Since he’ll likely only get to ~160 innings this year, I think giving him ~175 is generous enough.

Factoring everything above, Beckett comes out to about a 2.1 WAR player, and he figures to be worth around 4 WAR after accounting for age regression.

Like Crawford, he projects to be worth a bit more than half what he’s being paid, but it burns a lot less because it’s only a two year commitment after 2012. Of course, there’s opportunity cost here as well, because there’s always bargain options that can provide 1.5 to 2.5 WAR for a lot less than what Beckett will be paid, as Chris Capuano and the likes have proven. I suppose there’s upside hidden deep in Beckett’s profile in that maybe he regains his stuff, but I can’t bet on it due to his age. Besides, both his numbers and the scouting match each other, and that’s usually a recipe for accuracy. Hope for the best, but I wouldn’t expect anything better than a #4 starter.

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Nick Punto

The Dodgers are paying ~$2 million for one year and a month of his services. Accounting for inflation over the course of the contract, every win will come out to ~$4.5 million, so the Dodgers are paying for about 0.5 WAR or 0.4 WAR per year.

Don’t think I need a table for this one, as it’s purely to give the Dodgers a utility guy, I believe. Punto is at .200/.301/.272/.573 for 2012 and is projected to hit .229/.327/.271/.598 the rest of the way, which matches his age profile and career hitting ability. He’s above average on the bases and can play second, third, and short, where he grades out as a plus defender at every position.

His value on the bench is contingent on the Dodgers finding guys that can hit because he’s purely a defensive replacement or a spot starter. Still, he’s a solid utility guy because of his defense and versatility. He’ll be serviceable, which is all he’s being paid for, so it should be fine.

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Rubby De La Rosa

As a starter last year, he posted a 3.71 ERA/3.87 FIP/3.55 xFIP/3.85 SIERA with a 23.6 K% and a 12.2 BB% before succumbing to Tommy John surgery. After rehabbing for a year, he’s back and so is the velocity, so it seems the only thing lost was a year of development. Regardless, he has plus velocity and two potential swing-and-miss off-speed pitches in the change and slider. He’s rotation quality right now, and with command improvement, I don’t see why he couldn’t be a #2 or #3 rotation option.

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Allen Webster

After being demoted to the bullpen early in 2012, he may now be every bit the prospect that Rubby or Zach Lee is for the reasons Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus details here:

“It’s all there,” said a National League scout who was taken off his coverage to see the team. “When everything is going, he has three average-to-plus pitches and knows what to do with them.” The scout noted that Webster’s game has matured, as well. “He knows he has a really good—and potentially special—changeup, but he’s not over-relying on it anymore,” the scout explained. “It’s like he finally figured out that setting that pitch up with 92-94 mph heat is the best way to go about it, and his curveball has improved as well. He used to get over the ball and it wouldn’t finish, but now it’s breaking through the zone much better.”

His ceiling seems to be in the #2 range as well, with #3 to #4 a more likely destination. He should test the waters at the MLB level this year, and could be ready in 2013.

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Jerry Sands

For his career, his line at AAA Albuquerque is .291/.363/.557/.921 … but it’s Albuquerque. Still, I like his chances of becoming a major league contributor, though I’m not sure he’ll be worthy of holding down a left field spot for a team like the Red Sox. There’s a shot he becomes a regular, but I see him as more of a platoon guy or temporary starter as opposed to a long-term fit there.

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Ivan De Jesus

A .301/.354/.416/.770 line at Albuquerque paired with his .231/.282/.277/.559 career line with the Dodgers doesn’t bode well for him. Furthermore, while he can play second, short, and third, he’s only above average at second, so I’m not sure he even fits as a utility guy.

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James Loney

He’s been worth 0 to -1 WAR this season while making $6.5 million and he’s a free agent to be. Bye.

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So the Dodgers are paying ~$272 million to get the four mentioned players from the Red Sox, and the Red Sox will be kicking in about ~$12 million back to the Dodgers. So the team is paying for ~55 WAR of production, but is getting about ~43 WAR in value (~$212 million). As such, just by taking on the contracts alone, they figure to be looking at a surplus value around -$50 million. Then factor in the two top prospects, one solid prospect, a fringe prospect, and the corpse of James Loney, and you’re looking at quite a deficit to overcome, especially if any of them develop and hit their ceilings.

On the other hand, this undoubtedly makes the Dodgers better in the short-term, perhaps by as much as 7 or 8 wins in 2013. It should solidify the squad as a playoff favorite for this year and the next two years, perhaps even longer than that, depending on the decline phases of Crawford/Gonzalez.

While I understand that fans are excited by the prospects of that immediate improvement, I just have to wonder whether the Dodgers couldn’t do better if given ~$260 million to spend and the prospect package in question. Of the players received, only Adrian Gonzalez really fills a hole that couldn’t have been addressed in either 2013 or 2014. Then there’s the potential problems with payroll flexibility and the luxury tax that I’ve mentioned before. Also, as you can see through Jay Jaffe‘s work here, they’re really hemmed up in the short-term payroll-wise, and they now have $90 million sewn up in four players through 2017, which unfortunately doesn’t even include Clayton Kershaw yet.

As such, fans should surely enjoy the ride this year and in the immediate future, but it’s easy to justify significant concern over the long-term future of the roster, as all the risk in this deal is being taken by the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto, and Cash from the Red Sox for Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Jerry Sands, James Loney, and Ivan De Jesus, according to Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports.

Source confirms @gordonedes report: #Dodgers “close” to obtaining Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto. @mlbonfox

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 24, 2012

Source: #Dodgers have agreed to send Allen Webster, James Loney, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus, and Rubby De La Rosa to #RedSox. @mlbonfox

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 24, 2012

Source: If #Dodgers – #RedSox blockbuster occurs — and it is “close” — Boston would send some cash to LA. @mlbonfox

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 24, 2012

I’ll have a more detailed update on this trade later on tomorrow, but as of right now, I’m floored, honestly.

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My first impression though is to say that the trade isn’t for the better of the Dodgers overall. Yes, it makes them a better team immediately, but they likely now have limited financial flexibility for years to come. Ironically, that’s the reason the Red Sox did this deal to begin with.

Before calling me an idiot and asking me what the significance of that payroll worry is because the Dodgers now have money, maybe read this first on the Dodgers payroll and the luxury tax.

Additionally, the Dodgers are sending two top prospects to the Red Sox, both of which could contribute soon, in Rubby and Webster. Sands is certainly not a regular at this point, but he’s ready to try now, and he could develop into one. De Jesus could be a decent utility guy and Loney is whatever.

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The contract obligations the Dodgers are assuming total in excess of $250 million AFTER this year is over, and the team is giving up two of their best prospects and another solid one, so unless the cash coming back is significant, then this probably leaves the team better off in the short-term but worse off in the long-term.

Surely this drastically makes the team better now, but it also sets the Dodgers up to have an old, injury prone, and expensive roster going forward. I sure hope the Dodgers win now, because if they don’t, it could get ugly in a hurry.

So Rubby De La Rosa is back with the Dodgers a little over a year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he certainly deserves every bit of the promotion. In the minors, he allowed 0 runs in 12 innings while striking out 12 and walking 3. More importantly, he was sitting in the mid-90s and touching the upper register when needed.

The part I find puzzling though is that the team optioned Javy Guerra to make room for him. I realize that it was either him or Shawn Tolleson, because they were the two that had options and rosters expand in 10 days, but I still find the logic confusing.

With the rest of the bullpen (sans Kenley Jansen) struggling of late, Guerra has put up 11.1 innings of scoreless relief with 13 strikeouts in his last nine appearances. The last time he allowed a run was July 26th. Similarly, Tolleson hasn’t allowed a run since July 22nd.

The predictable defense for demoting either of them is “well they have options”. Which is fine, but if we’re going with the philosophy that the Shane Victorino/Joe Blanton/Brandon League trades were worth it even if they only total a half win improvement because “it’s a dead heat”, then how logical is it to demote your hottest relievers in a bullpen that’s currently struggling to stay afloat?

Some of you know that I’ve followed and have been a fan of Rubby since he showed velocity in the complex leagues as a prospect, but there’s no guarantee he’s going to be lights out either. Point being, if you’re going to justify trading away assets for the most marginal of gains in the context of 2012, then that same attitude should apply to these roster moves as well, especially when there’s considerable dead weight on the roster that nobody would miss.

Man, I’m never going two weeks between these posts again. Anyway, most of the Dodger minor-league affiliates were mediocre the last two weeks. The Ogden Raptors scored the most runs this week with 83, thanks to Jeremy Rathjen, Corey Seager and Eric Smith. They also gave up the most runs this week at 94.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (7-8)

Runs Scored: 81
Runs Allowed: 69

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jerry Sands – OF/1B
July 30: Jerry Sands – OF/1B

Sands has been one of the hottest hitters in the minor leagues for the past couple weeks. For the week of July 23, he went 12-for-34 (.353) with three home runs, 11 RBI, a double, and five runs scored. He earned the Pacific Coast League Player Of The Week, as Sands hit two grand slams in the second game of the July 29 doubleheader. For the week of July 30, he went 11-for-25 (.440) with three home runs, 10 RBI, and three runs scored. His hot hitting earned him a call-up to Los Angeles.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: John Ely – RHP
July 30:  Josh Wall – RHP

Ely had a couple solid outings for the Isotopes: 13 1/3 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. He has a 3.42 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 9.2 K/9 on the season. Wall made three appearances last week and saved two games for the Isotopes: 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (7-6)

Runs Scored: 65
Runs Allowed: 54

Players Of The Week

July 23: Rafael Ynoa – 2B
July 30: J.T. Wise – 1B

Ynoa won his fourth award of the season, but his numbers were less than impressive: 5-for-20 (.250) with two doubles, two RBI, and seven walks. The Lookouts were one-hit twice and no-hit once in the week of July 23, so that accounts for the poor offensive week. Wise had a much better week: 10-for-23 (.435) with a home run, 10 RBI, three doubles, six runs scored, and seven walks.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Zach Lee – RHP
July 30: Matt Magill – RHP

Lee had a nice outing on July 27 to earn just his second award of the season: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K. He hasn’t fared well in Double-A thus far, but he is just 20 years old. Next season will be the true test of his prospect status. Magill had one of his best outings of the season despite giving up three runs: 7 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. This is Magill’s fourth honor of the year.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (6-6)

Runs Scored: 81
Runs Allowed: 75

Players Of The Week

July 23: Leon Landry – OF
July 30: Bobby Coyle – OF & Joc Pederson – OF

Landry had a fantastic week before being traded to Seattle with Logan Bawcom for Brandon League: 14-for-30 (.467) with two home runs, five (!) triples, a double, six RBI, and nine runs scored. That performance earned him California League Player Of The Week honors. He finishes his Quake career with a .328/.358/.559 triple slash with eight home runs, 51 RBI, 26 doubles, 15 triples, 63 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases. The next week, Coyle and Pederson carried the Quakes offense. Coyle went 10-for-25 (.400), with a home run, double, triple, and four RBI. Pederson didn’t get many hits, but he walked a bunch: 5-for-20 (.250) with a home run, double, triple, five RBI, eight runs scored, nine walks, and three stolen bases.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Rubby De La Rosa – RHP
July 30: Andres Santiago – RHP

Well, well, well, Mr. De La Rosa, so nice to see you. De La Rosa made his season debut with the Quakes and showed no ill effects from his Tommy John surgery: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K. He also had a fine performance in his second appearance, but it was cut short because of discomfort in his groin (thankfully it wasn’t his elbow). Santiago had a great outing for the Quakes — and it’d be his last at the level because he was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K. Santiago has taken the award four of the last five weeks and has won it five times overall this season.

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Great Lakes Loons (3-10)

Runs Scored: 58
Runs Allowed: 78

Players Of The Week

July 23: Pratt Maynard – C
July 30: O’Koyea Dickson – 1B/DH

Maynard, who started the season in a terrible slump, has picked it up of late. For the week of July 23, he went 6-for-20 (.300) with three doubles, two RBI, and three walks. Dickson has been mired in a slump for most of the second half, but he had a nice week: 8-for-26 (.308) with three home runs, five RBI, and three runs scored.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Duke Von Schamann – RHP
July 30: Greg Wilborn – LHP

The Dodgers might have found themselves a gem in Von Schamann, who earns his third award of the season — all since being promoted to Great Lakes. He had his best outing of the season so far during the week of July 23: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. He doesn’t strike guys out, but he gets them out. He’ll have to miss more bats as he moves up the ladder, but it’s hard to argue with what he’s doing at the moment. Wilborn had a nice week for the Loons in the following period: 11 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 12 K. Wilborn has been all around the minors this season, and he’s not a prospect at this point.

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Ogden Raptors (7-6)

Runs Scored: 83
Runs Allowed: 94

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jeremy Rathjen – OF
July 30: Corey Seager – SS

Rathjen, who fell in the draft because of injury concerns, continues to mash for the Raptors. For the week of July 23, he went 10-for-21 (.476) with three RBI, seven runs scored, and eight walks. Seager hit his first professional home runs last week, as he went 8-for-24 (.333) with three home runs, nine RBI, five runs scored, and seven walks. Jesus Valdez (.346, four home runs) and Eric Smith (.455, 10 walks) were the runners-up.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Ross Stripling – RHP
July 30: Owen Jones – RHP

Stripling is having no problems with the Pioneer League, but the Dodgers are limiting his innings. He had a short but effective outing: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. Jones, the Dodgers 19th-round draft pick in 2012, had a solid week coming out of the bullpen for the Raptors: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

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Arizona League Dodgers (3-6)

Runs Scored: 47
Runs Allowed: 54

Players Of The Week

July 23: Cory Embree – OF
July 30: Yasiel Puig – OF

Embree had a modest week for the AZL Dodgers: 5-for-12 (.417) with a double, four RBI, and three walks. Puig, making his professional debut, went 5-for-16 (.313) with two home runs, five RBI, two triples, and four runs scored.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Jonathan Martinez – RHP
July 30: Zachary Bird – RHP

Martinez had a fantastic outing on July 24: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K. The 18-year-old is having a lot of success in the Arizona League and is someone to keep an eye on going forward. Bird, the Dodgers ninth-round pick this year, had the best outing of his young career: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (3-7)

Runs Scored: 48
Runs Allowed: 61

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jeffry Rojas – SS
July 30: Melvin Santana – 2B

Rojas only played three games, but he made them count by going 6-for-10 (.600) with a double and an RBI. Santana, making his fourth appearance on this list, went 6-for-17 (.353) with a home run, a double, four RBI, three runs scored, and two stolen bases.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Jose Agusto Diaz – RHP
July 30: Wascar Teodo – RHP

Diaz, 21, earned his first award of the season by throwing six quality innings on July 27: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Teodo did just a little better than Diaz this past week: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K. The 18-year-old is throwing well for the DSL Dodgers.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports, the Dodgers have traded Nate Eovaldi and Scott McGough to the Marlins for Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate.

BLOCKBUSTER: Hanley Ramirez & Randy Choate to #Dodgers, Nathan Eovaldi & Scott McGough to #Marlins, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 25, 2012

I’ll have complete analysis (with all the nerdy stuff) in the morning, but for now, my gut reaction is that it makes sense for both teams.

Regardless of what position he ends up playing, Hanley figures to be a gigantic improvement over the unholy combination of Juan Uribe, Dee Gordon, Adam Kennedy, Elian Herrera, and Luis Cruz. The production the Dodgers are getting from both 3B and SS is just terrible, and it’s not like they were playing quality defense either, so Hanley’s questionable glove shouldn’t burn the team too often.

While I am admittedly excited by the gigantic upside of this deal if Hanley figures it out again, it’s not without risk. After all, there’s a reason the Marlins let him walk with 2 1/2 years of team control remaining.

First of all, Hanley is signed through 2014 and is still owed $31 million over the next two years, including whatever he’s still owed in 2012. Additionally, his batting line has been woeful (by his standards) since 2010, clocking in at .245/.328/.405/.732. Plus, as I mentioned, he’s not a good defender, regardless of where he plays, and there are very real concerns about his motivation and happiness. Normally I would dismiss this as media inflated crap due to him under-performing, but then I consider that his hand got infected because he forgot to take his antibiotics, and you start to wonder.

Choate, the other half of this deal on the Marlins side, also makes sense for the Dodgers. Lefties are batting .150/.200/.183/.383 (yes, really) off him in 2012, and while there’s nothing wrong with Scott Elbert, he’s actually effective against righties much more than lefties in 2012.

—–

For the Marlins, Eovaldi should be a solid rotation contributor, though I think his upside still lies as a #3 because his off-speed stuff lags behind his fastball. From the Dodgers perspective though, they have a ton of arms in the system, and with both Rubby De La Rosa and Ted Lilly due back soon, plus a potential trade for Ryan Dempster/Matt Garza, Nate was an understandably expendable piece. It wouldn’t shock me if the Dodgers lose this trade in terms of surplus value in the end, but I think the deal makes sense, regardless.

Who is McGough though, right? I wrote about him back in February and nothing much has changed yet. I still think he can be a MLB contributor in the bullpen, but he’s not going to be an elite guy and the Dodgers have a ton of arms, so his inclusion isn’t all that important to me.

—–

Overall, I feel the deal makes sense for both sides. The two teams want to go in different directions, and with the free agent market dwindling for the Dodgers, they could afford to absorb salary in exchange for upgrades/upside beyond 2012, and they did exactly that. Meanwhile, the Marlins cleared a contract and a headache off their slate and got solid cost-controlled pieces in return, at least one of which can contribute to the team immediately.

With yet another curiously timed injury to a bullpen arm, this time Matt Guerrier, the Dodgers have managed to avoid making a bullpen decision for at least 15 more days.

Dodgers reliever Matt Guerrier, signed in part to be the bullpen workhorse, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday because of right elbow flexor tendinitis.

Guerrier had an MRI, which revealed no issues with the ligament that leads to Tommy John surgery. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection, will rest for several days, then begin tossing.

The Dodgers called up left-hander Michael Antonini from Triple-A Albuquerque to replace Guerrier in the bullpen.

Michael Antonini was called up from AAA to replace Guerrier for a spell until Todd Coffey returns.

While this game can continue on for a bit, the Dodgers are going to have to cut somebody loose eventually. Especially with Ronald Belisario on the way back.

Troubled Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario will start a Minor League rehab assignment next week and is eligible to return from a 25-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy on May 4.

Belisario, however, is out of options and the Dodgers must decide if he’s ready to help the club on that date. If not, they cannot send him to the Minor Leagues unless he clears waivers, but he could be taken by another club.

With both Belisario and Guerrier due to return, that leaves the team with Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Guerrier, Scott Elbert, Belisario, Coffey, Mike MacDougal, Jamey Wright, and Josh Lindblom.

Out of that group, two guys have to go, because the Dodgers have a weak bench as it is, and carrying 13 pitchers is just asinine (if they do decide on that, I’ll be sure to have something to say about it).

One has to figure that Guerra, Jansen, Guerrier (big contract), Elbert (only lefty), and Belisario (otherwise why go through the headache?) are going to stick around. So that leaves Coffey, MacDougal, Wright, and Lindblom to battle it out for two spots. Unless Lindblom is struggling by then, he should be kept, which sets up tough decisions on two veteran relievers that were guaranteed contracts. And that situation doesn’t even account for Shawn Tolleson in AA, Josh Wall in AAA, and Michael Antonini in AAA. Much less the likes of Nate Eovaldi as a potential contributor and Rubby De La Rosa in a few months.

At some point, a significant decision is going to have to be made, so the Dodgers are only delaying the inevitable.

Whatever the case may be, I just hope the decision is made based on what’s best for the team and not because the GM decided that the best course of action was to go 12 to 14 deep in the bullpen and neglect depth (or starters) at three or four positions.

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that Clayton Kershaw will throw a bullpen session on Friday after getting his original bullpen session postponed due a sore back on Wednesday. Additionally, Mike MacDougal postponed a bullpen session due to a back injury.

Ah, Spring Training!

—–

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers have claimed Matt Angle off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles and moved Rubby De La Rosa to the 60-day disabled list.

My question? Why him?

He’s a 25-year-old outfielder that hit .177/.293/.266/.559 in the majors last year, and only .271/.347/.344/.692 in the minors. Plus, Ned Colletti signed enough outfielders to have five or six of them on the roster, and all the Dodgers have in the minors is potential reserve outfielders.

Confusing.

—–

Don Mattingly thinks Chad Billingsley can do much better, which isn’t surprising given his 2011, but the mechanics part off the story is interesting.

“I think there’s more there,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Honey [pitching coach Rick Honeycutt] thinks there’s more there. I think Chad thinks there’s more there. That’s the thing we want to help him with, just to get a little better.”

According to Honeycutt, scouting director Logan White provided video of Billingsley pitching in high school, when he dominated Ohio preps, leading to his first-round selection by the Dodgers. Back then, he kept his foot under his body as he lifted his lead leg. In recent years, he kicks out the foot before shifting his body weight from right leg to left. He worked during the winter on regaining his high school form.

“I’m trying to keep my foot closer and that allows me to be more consistent in my rhythm and timing,” Billingsley said. “We looked at some video and noticed that it was different from a few years ago. It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but a little adjustment can make a difference.

“It’s not really about confidence. My confidence is fine. It’s more like when you’re pitching or hitting and it doesn’t feel effortless. There are times when I feel I have to force my body to get into position and I have to work at it. I fight myself, kind of. We all try to throw the fastball down and away. For me, to do that, I feel like I’m throwing across my body and it leads to cutting the ball.”

Would love to have that video of him in high school so I can compare, but it’s still something worth monitoring.

Enjoyed how he threw in that part about his confidence just so that people can get off that schtick for once.

Clayton Kershaw is injured! Everybody panic!

Dodgers Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw missed his first bullpen session of Spring Training on Wednesday as a precautionary measure due to mild back tightness.

Oh, it’s just back tightness.

Speaking of injuries, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Rubby De La Rosa is progressing quickly.

Rubby De La Rosa is a pitcher, not a doctor, but he’s declared his Tommy John elbow reconstruction a success and predicts a return this season “after the All-Star break.”

“It’s unbelievable, perfect,” said De La Rosa, whose meteoric rise to the Major Leagues last year was derailed by one bad pitch that tore his ulnar collateral ligament. “I’m going to be a lot better. No doubt I’ll be 100 percent.”

De La Rosa, six months into recovery, said he hasn’t had any setbacks and is throwing 90 feet on flat ground with a target of April to be throwing off a mound. He said he feels healthy enough to air it out, but the training staff has him reined in to throw easy.

“I have to wait,” he said. “I want to be healthy. Sometimes I want to throw hard.”

Can’t wait to see how he performs upon returning. I’m guessing it’ll be out of the pen initially.

As Ronald Belisario‘s world turns, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times has an update that involves cocaine.

Back with the Dodgers after a yearlong absence, reliever Ronald Belisario said Wednesday that he was prevented from entering the United States last year because he tested positive for cocaine.

The positive drug test also resulted in a 25-game suspension issued by Major League Baseball that Belisario will serve at the start of the upcoming season.

Standing in front of his locker before the pitchers and catchers’ first workout of the spring, Belisario said he didn’t have a cocaine problem and that he had ingested the drug only once.

“I don’t have a problem with any drugs,” he said.

The failed drug test was the latest incident in a series of personal setbacks that have derailed the 29-year-old right-hander’s once-promising career. In 2010, his last season with the Dodgers, Belisario left the team for more than a month to receive treatment in a substance-abuse program.

Belisario didn’t offer specifics about the treatment he received other than saying it wasn’t for cocaine abuse.

“That’s in the past,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Only did cocaine once and was in the substance abuse program for a different issue that he doesn’t want to talk about. Wonderful, sounds legit. Maybe he should have checked himself into a top private drug rehab in Los Angeles, CA instead.

—–

Could Andre Ethier platoon with Jerry Sands against lefties? Don Mattingly leads us to believe in the possibility.

“Jerry was really good against lefties last year, but we’ve got to be able to get him x number of at-bats. I hate the thought of saying that we’ll platoon guys, but the numbers say (James) Loney and (Andre) Ethier weren’t good against lefties. We’ll mix and match.”

So who tells Ethier about this and how big of a fit does he throw?

Naturally though, it’s the correct move.

—–

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus reported on Twitter that the Dodgers signed Brent Leach, who was once a prospect in the Dodgers system before he left to Japan.

Lefties galore.

MSTI: Mike Petriello asks how good Matt Kemp‘s contract looks in light of other long term deals. Pretty awesome, I’d say.

Grantland: Bill James goes through the best pitcher duels of 2011 and the Dodgers land on the list 10 times.

3. July 20, 2011, Dodgers at San Francisco, Clayton Kershaw against Tim Lincecum

5. September 9, 2011, Dodgers in San Francisco again, Kershaw and Lincecum rematch

23. June 26, Angels at Dodger Stadium, Jered Weaver against Clayton Kershaw

31. August 2, Dodgers in San Diego, Mat Latos against Hiroki Kuroda

32. March 31 (season opener), San Francisco in Los Angeles, Lincecum against Kershaw

35. June 8, Dodgers in Philadelphia, Hiroki Kuroda against Cole Hamels

36. July 9, Dodgers in San Diego, Rubby de la Rosa against Aaron Harang

42. June 19, Houston in L.A., Bud Norris against Hiroki Kuroda

60. September 14, Arizona in L.A., Daniel Hudson against Clayton Kershaw

82. July 8, San Diego in Los Angeles, Mat Latos against Chad Billingsley

No surprise to see Clayton Kershaw there five times. Hiroki Kuroda being there three times goes to show how effective he was and how the team gave him no support. Interesting cameos by both Rubby De La Rosa and Chad Billingsley in games that I didn’t remember.

Minor League Ball: John Sickels has the Dodgers farm system ranked in the bottom third.

22) Los Angeles Dodgers: Some intriguing pitching depth, much of it fairly close to the majors, but not much hitting.

Not sure if I agree or not yet, but my instinct is to concur.

—–

ESPN: Jayson Stark relays the thoughts of one executive who thinks the Dodgers are going to be huge spenders next off-season.

As Buster Olney has mentioned recently, if Hamels does reach free agency, the Dodgers will be perfectly positioned to make it worth his while. It’s amazing, in fact, how much other teams fear the Dodgers’ potential spending power once their new owner is in place. Remember, L.A. has only TWO players on the roster signed beyond 2013 — Matt Kemp and Chad Billingsley.

“Next year this time,” said an exec of one team, “the Dodgers will be THE team calling up every marquee free agent. They’re going to have serious money. They’ll be the Yankees West. They can just look at that free-agent list and cherry-pick whoever they want. And why would anyone not want to go there? They’ll be the sleeping giant in free agency next year.”

Makes sense.

ESPN: Andre Ethier doesn’t understand why the Dodgers can’t be signing Prince Fielder.

The ownership limbo seemingly affected the Dodgers’ ability to deal in free agency this offseason, with general manager Ned Colletti saying earlier this month the team was essentially done with its offseason acquisitions because “we’re at our payroll.” So when news broke Tuesday of the Detroit Tigers nearing a deal with marquee free agent Prince Fielder, it wasn’t lost on Ethier.

“Why can’t the Dodgers be doing that? Look at the markets those two teams are, and the stability you see through the front office and the team being able to operate … on the level it should be,” he said, adding, “you don’t try to think of it too much as a player, but obviously if you’re not going after the big fish like other teams are, like our partners are down there to the south of us, the Angels [who acquired Albert Pujols], it’s tough to go out there and keep competing year after year if you’re not going out there and making your team better every year. “I think that’s the situation we’ve been in. Obviously it’s going to get better from here on out because of the sell and getting new people in there.”

Oops.

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Dodgers Now: Patrick Soon Shiong, the richest man in Los Angeles, will not bid on the Dodgers, but may join a bid.

The richest man in Los Angeles has not bid for the Dodgers.

However, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong could join the Dodgers sweepstakes soon — not by bidding on his own, but by joining one of the groups already in the running to buy the team. Soon-Shiong has met with several prospective bidders, and he had dinner recently with outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

If he links up with the Magic Johnson group, this could get good.

CBS Sports: Jon Heyman said on Twitter that Steven Cohen is the biggest threat to win the Dodgers. Ugh.

I recapped all the Dodgers bidders here, so go find out why I don’t want him.

Around this time of year, there will be a ton of extraneous crap meaning absolutely nothing flung around, primarily because there’s little actual substance to write about and people are just so excited about getting baseball back.

The “Best Shape Of My Life” stories are well known, but this “Winter Development Camp” the Los Angeles Dodgers run has been getting a lot of play recently for reasons unknown to me because it reveals absolutely nothing of value.

One thing that did catch my attention recently though is Rubby De La Rosa‘s progress back from Tommy John surgery, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Rubby De La Rosa pulled up the protective sleeve covering his right elbow, revealing a six-inch scar.

“It’s beautiful, huh?” he said.

De La Rosa, who had a 3.71 earned-run average as a 22-year-old rookie starter last season, said he is confident he will regain the 100-mph fastball he had before he underwent Tommy John surgery in August.

De La Rosa is throwing on flat ground from 60 feet. He said he expects to be throwing bullpen sessions by the end of March and pitch in a game in early July.

De La Rosa said he intends to return as a starter. But pointing to how De La Rosa probably wouldn’t be ready to start in a major league game until September, General Manager Ned Colletti said that if De La Rosa pitches for the Dodgers next season, it would probably be as a reliever.

“Long-range, he’s a starting pitcher, no doubt,” Colletti said.

1) It’s positive that he’ll be back throwing in July and that his progress seems to be on schedule.

2) He sounds upbeat about his recovery.

3) I was honestly worrying about his future role after the injury and I’m glad to know they think of him as a starter.

Perhaps it’s a bit much to read into a simple update, but Rubby De La Rosa is truly one of the few young Dodgers who projects as a potential impact player, so his ability to bounce back from this injury and get back to his old self will be well worth following for the duration of 2012.

I was about to take a nap today when I saw that MLB Trade Rumors had picked Jason Kubel to sign with the Dodgers. I made my way to FanGraphs to see if I could make a post basically laughing at Ned Colletti repeating his past mistakes of bringing in a veteran outfielder to block a talented youngster.

On my way there though, I saw two articles on FanGraphs about Yu Darvish and decided to click-through to see what they thought, because I love to get their take on things.

Well in an article called “Darvish Is Not Daisuke” by Eno Sarris, I was amused at the first justification for why they aren’t comparable.

The first difference might seem irrelevant at first: Darvish is not only Japanese — he’s also half Iranian. The reason this is relevant is not that Iranian people are better at baseball. The point is that Darvish would be the tallest pitcher to make the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball. At 6-foot-5, he’s five inches taller than Matsuzaka. The average Iranian male is 5-foot-8.6 and the average Japanese male is 5-foot-7.8 (American males are 5-foot-9.2 on average), so it might have taken a little genetic help to produce a Japanese pitcher this tall. Darvish is also 220 pounds, but could have the frame to add more. He added 20 pounds this year.

Regardless of how it was intended, the passage absolutely reads as if it were meant to say, “Good thing Yu Darvish is mixed so he can be tall and throw hard unlike the rest of the Japanese pitchers because LOL AZNS ARE SHORT LOL“.

Honestly, I wasn’t offended by this or anything, but I just found it hilarious how nonchalantly ethnic/racial genetic differences were thrown into the mix as if it were legitimate and relevant analysis.

I generally don’t use this site to complain about stereotypes or racism, because I honestly can’t be fucked enough to care, but I do enjoy calling it out when I see it. Hell, if for no other reason than because it entertains me to no end.

Overall, I’m used to this type of shit as it happens so commonly with Asians and Asian Americans because nobody honestly gives a shit about offending us, but it did give me pause and ended up turning my face into this:

Regardless, it’s quite the interesting direction for FanGraphs to go, and I anxiously await future articles analyzing Asian baseball players. I would like to start:

“Daisuke Matsuzaka’s inability to control the strike zone doomed him in America, as his slanted eyes prevented him from seeing the strike zone with the same clarity as pitchers of other races. I’m not saying it matters FOR SURE, but it’s unfortunate that he lost the genetic lottery by being born Japanese, or he might have been born with bigger eyes and have better control. Genetically speaking. Genetics.”

Feel free to contribute examples of your own, as I’m sure there are many ways to analyze players using ethnic and racial genetic differences.

—–

All jokes aside, what does the passage even statistically tell you?

The average Iranian male is 0.8 inches taller than the average Japanese male (assuming that’s true), so Yu Darvish being mixed Iranian-Japanese probably affected his chances of being a 6’5″ outlier enough to make it a lead point on why he’s not similar to Daisuke Matsuzaka?

Commenters on the article are predictably defending the passage and are saying that the critics are missing the point, but isn’t the article itself hilariously missing the point when the passage serves absolutely no purpose since it provides no evidence that has any statistical value whatsoever?

Like I understand if it was proven that Iranians have a statistically significant amount of people who are taller than 6’4″ when compared with the Japanese, but I struggle to see a point in mentioning an average difference of less than an inch.

—

All I’m saying is that if the article had stated Hiroki Kuroda was more likely than Rubby De La Rosa to stay out of trouble off the field and succeed in pressure situations because Japanese score higher on IQ tests than Dominicans, I doubt it gets pushed.

—

Kei Igawa Portrait

Clayton Kershaw

Was there anyone else to begin this review with? Just 23-years-old and consistently underrated and overlooked by the mainstream media entering 2011, Clayton Kershaw silenced all of his remaining critics with one of the best seasons for a pitcher in recent memory, Dodger or otherwise.

Consistent from start to finish, Clayton improved in every respect from his fantastic 2010. First and foremost, he cut a walk and a half off of his 2010 mark, and has seen a three-year improvement in that area of his game (4.79/3.57/2.08 BB per nine). He set career highs in tERA (2.52), FIP (2.47), and SIERA (2.81); induced more ground balls than last season (40.1%/43.2%), while giving up less fly balls (42.1%/38.6%); and continued to master the craft of creating weak contact. With his already amazing ability to get hitters to swing and miss, Kershaw also generated more infield popups, in 13.3% of his opponents’ plate appearances to be exact. An infield popup serves the same purpose as a strikeout, as no runner who may be on-base will advance, and it does in fact speak to his skill at creating weak contact, a point that can’t be emphasized enough.

Kershaw, who has seen a four-year incline in his WAR (1.4/4.1/4.7/6.8), struck out 9.57 per nine innings pitched, and combined with his limiting of free passes, saw his K/BB ratio leap up to over four and a half and his WHIP reach a new low of 0.977. Keeping hitters off-balance with a four pitch repertoire that features a fastball, slider, change, and Public Enemy Number One, Clayton is in line to finish first or second in the Cy Young voting.

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Considering that he’s young, has had tremendous success already, and captured the pitching Triple Crown in 2011 (two of which are meaningless categories, though that of course does not diminish his dominance this season), he’ll be in line for a lengthy raise as he hits arbitration for the first time.

With the season he just had, proving conclusively that he could control his walks and be a workhorse at the same time, as he made 33 starts and surpassed the 200 IP mark for the second consecutive season, the Dodgers would be wise to sign him long-term. They would have been wise to do that prior to this campaign, of course, but better late than never.

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley entered 2011 on the heels of his best season as a pro, one in which he posted a career best 3.18 tERA and a FIP of 3.08, another professional low for the righty. He had washed away the complaints of many that he lacked the intestinal fortitude and mental stability to pitch successfully, deep into games, and in high-pressure situations (though, of course, we know that those claims never carried any water to begin with). His performance earned him a new multi-year, big money contract, and the Dodgers entered the season with one of the premier one-two punches on the mound in either league.

Unfortunately for Chad and the Dodgers, 2011 proved to not be another step forward for Chad. His numbers fell across the board, as he missed fewer bats, allowed more free passes, and saw his home run rate nearly double as his BABIP remained steady with his 2010 mark. While there were undoubtedly games where he was singled to death, as it was put by one Dodger blogger, Bills simply did not perform as well as he is clearly capable of. His tERA, FIP, and SIERA all increased from their 2010 resting places (4.18, 3.83, and 4.26 in 2011, respectively), but most troubling of all were his strikeout and walk ratios. He whiffed a full season low 7.28 opposing batters per nine while walking a full season high of over four per nine.

Bills struggles resulted in a WAR cut in half from the previous year (2.1, down from 4.5) and questions about his mechanics and health. Still shy of his 28th birthday, Billingsley has every chance to rebound, and much like his poor second half of 2009 led to his best professional season, said rebound in 2012 would not be the least surprising to me. In fact, I’ll call it right now, as I fully expect Chad to be productive as Kershaw’s running mate next season, provided he is in fact healthy.

Hiroki Kuroda

Hiroki Kuroda, in perhaps his final season as a Dodger, was once again solid, though he followed Billingsley in having a down year from 2010. His WAR fell from 4.1 to 2.4, his K/9 IP dipped down to 7.17, and he allowed a whopping 24 long balls in over 200 IP.

Again though, at the progressing age of 36 and as a third starter, Hiroki was not the issue. His 4.22 tERA left much to be desired, but his FIP was 3.78 and his SIERA checked in at 3.66, and as always, his control was impeccable (2.18 BB per nine, and a K/BB ratio of over three and a quarter). 13.1% of plate appearances ended in an infield popup, though he induced far fewer ground balls than in 2010 (51.1%/43.2%).

Should this in fact be his last season in Los Angeles, Kuroda departs with a career FIP of 3.55, over three strikeouts for every walk issued, and 12.2 WAR over four seasons. All in all, a very good big league career for the Japanese import, and Kuroda’s consistency will be missed.

Ted Lilly

After coming over from Chicago at the deadline in 2010, Ted Lilly was signed to a ridiculous three year, $33 million dollar deal by Ned Colletti to be a fourth starter. And quite predictably, he flopped in a major way for most of the season. Competing with Matt Kemp to be the second Dodger to go 30/30 in 2011, Lilly couldn’t help himself in allowing home runs and stolen bases at a seemingly record pace. The lefty threw just under 200 innings and allowed 28 home runs and 35 stolen bases, with 4.24 tERA and a FIP of 4.21.

The 35-year-old did end strong, holding opponents to a .169/.250/.293/.543 line over the final two months of the season (though it should be noted he benefited immensely from a .208 BABIP).

Dodger fans have to hope and pray he can be half the man he was from August on, as he still has two years and $22.5 million remaining on his contract, will most likely be the third starter in 2012, and has a full no-trade clause for this upcoming campaign.

Rubby De La Rosa/Nathan Eovaldi

Rubby De La Rosa made his major league debut on May 24th, and would throw 60 and two-thirds innings over 10 starts and three relief appearances before succumbing to Tommy John surgery. The young righty was impressive in his limited exposure, whiffing 60 against 31 walks and displaying a nice collection of four pitches. Out for anywhere from 10 months to over a year, the Dodgers will be without his electric arm as he works his way back to the starting rotation.

With some major league experience and success, excellent swing and miss ability, and a strong minor league track record, if he rebounds from the arm injury, the Dodgers have a potential gem and fixture in the rotation for years to come, as he held opponents to a .225/.306/.364/.670 line with 33 Ks in 35 IP over his final six trips to the hill.

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Nathan Eovaldi replaced De La Rosa in the rotation before being moved to the pen as the season wound down and he reached his innings cap. Eovaldi posted a 4.35 FIP, but struck out just under six per nine while walking just over five per nine. Whether he settles into the rotation or the pen, Nate will need to refine his control and bump his strikeout numbers back up to what they were at a handful of minor league stops, including an 8.65 mark in AA prior to his call-up.

Minor League Strength

The starting rotation is a definite organizational strength for the Blue Crew. Along with young arms we’ve seen, like De La Rosa and Eovaldi, the Dodgers also boast minor league stud Zach Lee, as well as Garrett Gould, Allen Webster, Ralston Cash, 2011 draftee Chris Reed, and even the consistently frustrating Chris Withrow.

The Dodgers have shown the ability to draft and develop starters in abundance, an excellent quality and a testament to the work of Logan White, De Jon Watson, and their respective staffs.