In what I’m sure was sheer coincidence, it was revealed that Coffey had been dealing with knee trouble.

After the game Don Mattingly said Todd Coffey has been getting treatment on his knee

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 14, 2012

Truly amazing that it didn’t seem to affect his full bore sprint from the pen.

Todd Coffey to the 15-day DL (right knee inflammation) to make room for Ted Lilly

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 14, 2012

Basically, this move was made because they wanted to keep both Josh Lindblom and Jamey Wright. Still though, it’s amazing to me that they’d rather put Coffey on the DL than designate Wright, especially considering Lindblom is basically their seventh inning guy at this juncture.

—–

Besides laughing at people going insane over his blown save, Kenley Jansen‘s velocity was a hot topic.

Eric Stephen of True Blue LA got a quote from Don Mattingly saying that the problem may be mechanical again, but he’s not overly concerned.

Jansen’s velocity was also down, throwing between 89-91 MPH, hitting 92 on two pitches. But Mattingly didn’t sound worried.

“Kenley’s different. There have been times early on where he gets tentative or gets off kilter, and the ball doesn’t come out the same way. We’ll continue to pay attention to his mechanics. The ninth is different than the eighth, so we’ll pay attention to that too,” Mattingly said. “As long as Kenley is not hurt, then we’re not concerned.”

Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles got a quote from Jansen revealing that he’s been under the weather a bit, and he also talked to Rick Honeycutt, who echoed Mattingly’s lack of concern.

Jansen has been battling a mild case of flu in recent days, which could have accounted for the velocity drop.

“I’ve been battling the flu, but that’s not an excuse at all,” Jansen said. “You still have to make good pitches and keep us in the game and try to help the team win. That is what it’s all about.”

Both manager Don Mattingly and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt noticed the slight dropoff, but neither seemed alarmed by it. Honeycutt said it might have been due to the cold weather or illness.

Actually, sickness could explain it, though seeing is believing.

—–

Jayson Stark of ESPN has a piece on the new ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it warns that those expecting them to spend big may be sorely disappointed, primarily because that’s not Stan Kasten‘s style.

So do people within the industry see this man suddenly turning into a spend-a-holic who starts firing nine- and 10-year deals at whoever wants to take them? Heck, no.

“That’s not Stan Kasten’s M.O,” said one veteran agent. “I’m sure they’ll be a franchise that makes moves. But I’m also sure that when Stan makes decisions, it won’t be like the kind of decisions Mike Illitch makes.”

“When it looks like a sure thing, it ain’t,” said another prominent agent. “Look at the Nationals. Ted Lerner has more money than God, and look how long it took him to start handing out big contracts. And did he hand them out while Stan was there? No. It happened after he left. So I know everyone anticipates him spending wildly now. But I’m not so sure.”

So what can we learn from that history? Nobody in baseball has a better feel for that than Kasten’s longtime general manager in Atlanta, John Schuerholz.

“It’s fair to say this group is out to re-establish the great Dodger brand,” Schuerholz told Rumblings. “But how that translates into making decisions to spend big money on big-name free agents, I don’t think that’s automatic.”

Now would Schuerholz be surprised to see the Kasten/Magic Dodgers chasing the most ballyhooed free agents in the game? No, he “wouldn’t be surprised to see them do that,” he said.

“But I don’t think they’ll do it every day,” Schuerholz said. “I don’t think they’ll do it all the time. What I’m sure they’ll do is what Stan has always tried to do — build a rock-solid organization and build it largely around homegrown talent. And at the same time, I’m sure he won’t shy away from the right free agent. But I underline the word, ‘right.’”

“I don’t think Stan rolls the dice at anything,” Schuerholz said. “I don’t think he’s ever rolled the dice. Stan analyzes. He relies on his experience and his instincts … and he makes an analytical decision about what’s the right thing to do for the franchise.”

Analyzing?

This … this … this sounds wonderful.

I wish I was joking.

Dodgers outfielder Alfredo Silverio, who is in camp but has not participated in any Spring Training drills, will be sidelined indefinitely with aftereffects from a January auto accident in his native Dominican Republic.

The most serious of his injuries is a concussion, which still has him woozy. He also suffered bruises to his neck, elbow and shoulder.

What caused the injuries? Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles says he drove off the road.

In short, the kid is lucky. From talking to various people (still haven’t been able to talk to Silverio), this is what I have been able to cull: the accident happened on a stretch of road called Curva de la Muerte, which translates to Curve of Death. Apparently, he was going about 60 mph and lost control, the car going off the road and flipping several times. He temporarily lost consciousness, and the car was demolished.

Maybe it was just a regular curve on a regular road, but it reminds me of those driving shows that give me nightmares about tumbling down a mountain.

Going 60 mph on something called the “Curve Of Death” though? Yeah, sounds like a wonderful idea.

Silverio’s seriously lucky he’s not dead, so here’s hoping for a quick recovery, but it’s not that simple.

“There isn’t even a timeline right now,” Mattingly said. “He’s still having the concussion symptoms. Nowadays, nobody messes with that. It’s definitely good to get him with our [medical] people, get him in our hands and start the [rehab] process. This way, we can keep an eye on him and monitor what he’s doing.

The concussion symptoms are by far the most worrying thing. Bones and muscles will heal, but the brain? Could be a day or end a career.

—–

In related terrible news, Angelo Songco had a rod inserted into his leg.

Anyway, another highly regarded prospect, outfielder-first baseman Angelo Songco, is expected to miss the next two to three months after having a rod inserted into his lower right leg. Songco was hit by a pitch late last season at high Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he hit .313 with 48 doubles, 29 homers, 114 RBI and a .367 on-base percentage, causing a stress fracture he was able to play through for the rest of the season. But when he started feeling intensified pain in the leg a few weeks ago, he was sent for an X-ray that showed it had turned into a full-blown fracture.

Not a wonderful start.

Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles took a look at the mechanical changes that Chad Billingsley has been making.

It is along those lines that Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley is attempting a change to his mechanics this spring. It is a small thing, really, but the hope is that over time, it will make a big difference in Billingsley’s results.

“I’m just working hard at smoothing out my leg kick,” Billingsley says. “When my foot gets out away from my body like that, my timing has to be just right.”

After throwing his second bullpen session of spring training last week, Billingsley spent several minutes talking with Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, who at one point could be observed manually adjusting Billingsley’s front foot in midair while Billingsley stood frozen at the apex of his delivery.

Everybody has been trying to make this out to be a minor adjustment, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true for everybody.

I’ve had teammates and students who have tried to eliminate a flick of the ankle or cuffing a ball, and to say it was difficult for them would be an understatement.

Simply put, breaking a habit can be extremely hard, and it can affect you mentally for a while until you feel comfortable because you’re thinking more about the habit you’re trying to break than trying to pitch.

Eliminating a part of his leg motion that he’s been doing for years now is a significant adjustment to go through.

This is what spring training is for, obviously, to iron out little things. But this is a fairly big change for Billingsley, who is trying to stop kicking his front leg out during his delivery — which often results in his body getting ahead of his arm and sometimes allows gravity and momentum to affect his motion — and start keeping that leg underneath his body.

“I don’t know if it’s major,” Billingsley said. “I’m just working hard at smoothing out my leg kick. When my foot gets out away from my body like that, my timing has to be just right. If it’s not, then I start drifting toward the third-base side and stepping across my body when I deliver the pitch.”

And that results in the pitch being off line, maybe no more than an inch or so — but in the big leagues, that can be the difference in a game. Billingsley is hoping this adjustment will allow him to stay on line more often, giving him a little more margin for error with the rest of his delivery because his timing will be right and his momentum won’t cause him to fall off to one side of the mound.

“You can’t be perfect all the time, even though that is what you strive for,” Billingsley said. “There are going to be times when I’m still going to be too quick (with his body). But this should allow me to be more consistent.”

Great quotes gathered by Tony.

Billingsley’s lower half has always been an issue, mechanically. I explored the leg kick itself previously and now it’s his from the knee down.

—–

Don Mattingly likes what he sees in Juan Uribe!

…

Just like he did last year.

With third baseman Juan Uribe headed to San Francisco for a Monday civil trial, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Sunday he wasn’t worried if Uribe missed a day or two of practice because “I thought he looked good” when he reported Friday.

And how did Mattingly think Uribe looked a year ago, prior to the worst season of his life?

“Yeah, he seemed good last year, too.”

Great.

Mattingly also admits Andre Ethier has always been sort of a dick.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he wasn’t alarmed over the terse and tense interview right fielder Andre Ethier gave Saturday in his first day in camp.

“He seems like himself, really,” said Mattingly. “That’s Dre. He always wants to do well. He’s always angry. That’s him, that’s the way he plays on the field. Off the field, he’s one of the easiest guys to get along with. He’s a pleasant guy. Some guys play with an edge that they have to have to play. Then there’s Rickey [Henderson]; he was happy-go-lucky, talking to people in the stands and tearing it up.”

This was off the field though.

Just saying.

Seriously?

Seriously, according to Tony Jackson of ESPN.

Reports on Ronald Belisario are basically like Sasquatch rumors at this point, with a bundle of people saying “No really, I saw it” and others responding with “I want to see evidence”.

Is this real life?

I honestly didn’t know this was a thing outside of a few Twitter re-tweets from Tony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles.

As usual, Jon Weisman from Dodger Thoughts was on point talking about Los Angeles Dodgers fans criticizing Hiroki Kuroda for his decision to sign with the New York Yankees.

This is a pretty bizarre loyalty test, where you’re required to make a sacrifice for a team that, the minute you make the sacrifice, is no longer your team. I don’t know where the idea that he owed the Dodgers something comes from.

Trading Kuroda for prospects would have helped the Dodgers. So would Kuroda and all his teammates playing for free. It doesn’t mean they’re lesser people for choosing not to do so. It doesn’t mean that Kuroda didn’t have valid reasons for staying.

Those of you who are employed – would you accept a sudden and immediate transfer to a completely different company, across the country, even when you didn’t want to go, only because it would help the company you were previously working for?

Even putting that aside though, the odd part about any criticism directed towards him is that Kuroda didn’t do anything particularly disloyal.

And this is coming from a guy who wanted him to go at the trade deadline so the Dodgers could get prospects.

By all accounts, he seemed to have wanted to remain a Dodger, but Ned Colletti opted for a gaggle of two-year contracts for average veterans instead, thus leaving no room for Kuroda in the budget. At that point, it wasn’t so much about loyalty anymore, it became a question of whether Kuroda was willing to take 5-6 million less (or if he even had a real offer from the Dodgers at all) to play for a mess of an organization on a team that probably wouldn’t contend with a GM that already clearly choose other players over him.

At that point, staying with the Dodgers was not only completely irrational, but borderline insulting as well.

Hard to expect a professional athlete to tolerate all of that when you or me wouldn’t.

Credit: The LFP

Los Angeles Times: I covered the adventures of James Loney before, but according to the California Highway Patrol, his night was even more ridiculous than TMZ reported.

Loney sideswiped three cars on the 101 Freeway in Sherman Oaks, stopped in the fast lane, passed out, then awakened and tried to flee the scene, only to crash again, said Leland Tang, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

Alrighty then.

In all seriousness, it does seem like it could get significantly worse, as the tests haven’t come back yet.

Tang said officers extracted a blood sample to test for drugs and alcohol but that the test results were not yet available. The city attorney’s office is investigating the incident and deciding whether to file criminal charges.

Could end up being quite bad.

ESPN: Then again, James Loney explained to Tony Jackson how it’s just all a big misunderstanding.

—–

Dodger Thoughts: Thank god Jon Weisman decided to break down the TV rights ruling because I was starting to get a headache trying to keep up with Bill Shaikin on Twitter.

—–

Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Mike Petriello breaks down the Los Angeles Dodgers interest in Daniel Murphy.

Dodger Thoughts: Apparently Hideki Matsui is on the Dodgers radar as well.

—–

True Blue LA: Eric Stephen helps everybody catch up with the Dodgers off-season moves.