Tagged: Ted Lilly

Off-Season Update #1

I’d like to pretend that this season didn’t happen and that our rivals didn’t win the World Series… *closes eyes* ….Okay, I guess that didn’t work as well as I hoped. *cough* Congrats *cough* to the World Champs *mumble mumble, cough, sniff* yeah!

Enough of that! It is now officially the off-season and we’re all very sad that there is no baseball to watch! I’m counting down the days until spring training to visit Camelback and watch my boys do what they do best, which is play some ball! However, the Dodgers concern isn’t with spring training just yet. What is of biggest concern to our ball club is the roster. We have a lot of players who are eligible for free agency this year, some players who are up for raises through arbitration, player options and freed up salary for next year. I will break down the Dodgers’ options. A lot of moves need to be made if we’re looking to win a World Series in the next decade (which we should be!)

Already Signed

Ted Lilly- After his stellar performance last year since moving to the club that he’s dreamed of playing for since childhood, it was only proper to re-sign the California native. He’s signed to a 3-year $33 million dollar deal. Along with Kershaw & Billingsley, he is the only certainty we have in our rotation.

Jay Gibbons- Signed a 1-year contract for $650,000. Provides middle of the line-up run support and possible left-fielder position.

Not Returning

Scott Podsednik- Declined his 2011 option, which would have landed him $2 million.

Possible Free Agents

Hiroki Kuroda- Was struggling in the beginning, but came into his own during the second-half. Possibly the veteran pitcher Ned will sign.

Vicente Padilla- Pitched a hell of a season before getting injured before the playoff push. Possible veteran pitcher to be signed, but being prone to injuries may make it unlikely. I would like to see him come back. I mean, if he could keep up with CC in the NYY series, why not?

Rod Barajas- Insurance behind the plate seeing as Russell Martin finds himself on the injury list. Ned mentioned he wanted to sign him before the club lost exclusive negotiation rights.

Reed Johnson, Jeff Weaver- Doesn’t seem like Dodgers are yes or no about these two. Don’t add or take away from the team. I say let them go and get better pitchers!

Trade Possibilities

Loney- Had a second half slump. Overall, he has a general lack of power. Defensively, he’s a gem, but we desperately need the offense!

Kuroda vs Padilla

Kuroda will cost us $15 mil and Padilla will cost us $5 mil

Defensive/Offensive Needs

Left fielder- Can be filled by Gibbons or another player to have 4 OF

Infielders- 1st base power, 2nd base is locked down by Carroll since Theriot hit a slump, 3rd base power. Casey Blake isn’t cutting it. I’m not fearing the beard here.

Catching- Rod City seems to be working, we’ll see how he does in training if he’s signed.

Pitching- Veteran starter and veteran reliever needed to round out the bullpen. Broxton needs major work.

Money Available

$10 million is freed up from last year’s payroll

Names Being Mentioned (Pulled these from other blogs, articles, and even fan comments)

  • Prince Fielder
  • Adrian Gonzalez
  • Dan Uggla
  • Ivan De Jesus
  • Adam Dunn

Personally, I think we need all need to take one for the team and develop our farm system. LA is NOT going to win a world series with short-term fixes. Look at what the Giants have done. They are all Farm Boys! Sorry to say it, but we’re not buying our way to a World Series. We are not the Yankees. Way too much money has already been spent and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere, but I’d like to hear some of your thoughts.

Figured I’d bring back the “Wait ’til next year” motto that Dem Brooklyn Bums adopted. However, for us, it may be YEARS from now. We need to re-build this franchise. It means building from the bottom up. Strong foundation. Working with our prospects (instead of trading them away). We’re going to be ridiculed for having crappy everything regardless. So, I say we take another 3 or 4 crappy years and come back with a team that rivals this year’s Giants and last year’s Yankees. What do you say? 

Dem Bums T-Shirt

Dem Bums

 

Also, don’t forget to vote for Kuo, Belliard, & Dodgers Ballboy in the TYIB awards!

 

Until next time, think blue!

Lily

Weekend Update

As you may or may not know, school started for me this past Monday. For those who have never been through nursing school, it’s a lot of work and takes up a lot of your time. I will apologize in advance for those that read my blog. I will try my hardest to update at least 3x/week, if not, more. I’m in my 2nd year and it’s going to get tougher and I progress. However, for those that follow me on Twitter, I update that a lot more as I’m watching the games. If you’re not following me, go ahead and do that so we can chat it up there: Follow Me!

News as of today. Vin Scully will return to call the 2011 home games and NL West away games! Most people believed he would retire. I’m just happy we get him for one more year. Summed up, we are extremely lucky to have him as the voice of our Dodgers. Personally, I love his opening, “Hello, and a very pleasant evening, where ever you may be.” What’s yours?

Secondly, Dodgers acquired catcher Rod Barajas from the Mets for cash. I didn’t realize what an asset Russell was catching until he went down. Stealers are 18-for-18 with Ausmus and Ellis behind the plate. They’re also a combined 8-for-56 at-bats. I hope the fans realize what he brings to us defensively. I know I was a pessimist about him regarding his low AVG. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Matt Kemp Bobblehead night: No sell-out crowd. That may be due to a lot of reasons: McCourts, economy, Kemp’s offensive slump, Rihanna? No, just kidding. I know I will support my team, win or lose. The team finally gave us a win. Actually, a 6-0 shutout. Kershaw pitched a solid 7 innings while Jansen was brought in and taken out in the blink of an eye. Thankfully and much to my surprise, both Sherrill & Broxton pitched 1-2-3 innings. Maybe the boos from the crowd have gotten to them? I actually have stopped booing them. I’m not sure if that does more harm than good. I just hope the bullpen continues to pitch how they did that night.

 

8/17/10Thursday vs. Rockies: Got free tickets to this game. Took my niece and Actually_Ashley joined us. I swear, I think my niece might be a bigger Dodger fan than I am now! She can give you the line-up if you simply ask her, “Nana, who’s playing right now?” “Mah Camp, Jeems Toney, Ondre Etier, Afal Fucal, Faffy!” lol Dodgers win 2-0 thanks to Reed Johnson’s 2-run surprise blast to LFP. Lilly pitched a hell of a game. He gave the Rockies a 9-inning shutout. He is now 4-0 as a Dodger. I think that he feels comfortable in Dodger Blue. It’s what he’s been wanting since he was a kid and he now is in his zone. It’s happened many times before when a pitcher or player gets traded when they’re in a slump and they bounce back and catch fire with their new team (think: Padilla, Maddux, DeWitt). I’m excited to see more from him.

Nana

Nana1.JPGKemp signing: I was honestly disappointed that Raffy canceled the signing, but since I haven’t gotten to meet Kemp, I decided to still attend. I arrived at Verizon Wireless store at 5am. I believe they were probably about 20 people ahead of me. Thanks to the unorganized manner the store handled the signing, We ended up having 50-80 people in front of us. It was a circus out there. A lot of fans were very angry. To top it off, we were all in the sun for hours. They tried to make up for their lack of planning by offering free water. Let’s just say, I didn’t want your water or your mugs, or your beach balls. I wanted shade and I wanted organization. Next time, I know I’ll need to get there earlier. I finally met Roberto from Vin Scully is my Homeboy. Wasn’t much of a happy meeting since we were all sleepy and hot haha. Next time we’ll take a picture! I got a BP ball signed. Manny from Dodger Fever was one of the ones who came with me. While waiting in line, we contemplated over what we would tell Kemp. I believe I went with, “Good job getting wood on the ball again, Matt.” Manny said, “Let’s start a winning streak.” Kemp replied with, “That’s the plan!” Kemp signed Manny’s bobblehead (of which I picked up for him!) I let Kemp use my pen to sign my ball 🙂 I came back with a farmer’s tan, but all in all, I’d say it was worth it because I got to spend time with good friends. Below are pictures (we weren’t allowed to snap any pictures of Matt while in the store):

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line2.JPG

 

kempball.JPGAnd for now, that is all. Until, next time, Viva Los Dodgers!  

Trade Deadline Madness!

With all the drama of “the Divorce” and having a Russian Scientist on the Dodgers’ payroll, most of us were uncertain of what kind of moves would be (or even could be) made before the deadline. Once again, Coletti surprised us with three moves that brought us a variety of players. We got an IF, OF, RHP (Reliever), and LHP (Starter). Please welcome your new Dodgers for the latter half of the 2010 season:

Podsenik.jpg
Lilly.jpg
Theriot.jpg
Dotel.jpg

 

Scott Podsenik
.309 AVG, 5 HR, 45 RBI, 47 Runs, 31 SB

Ted Lilly
3-8 W-L, 3.69 ERA, 89 Strikes, 29 Walks

Ryan “The Riot” Theriot
.284 AVG, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 45 Runs, 16 SB

Octavio Dotel
2-2 W-L, 4.28 ERA, 41 relief innings with Pirates

 

What we lost:

DeWitt.jpg

Blake DeWitt
.270 AVG, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 29 Runs, 2 SB

5 Minor leaguers & James McDonald

 

I waited a couple of hours after the deadline was over to see if anything else had come up. Of course, I’m a little upset that they gave up an IF for an IF. We needed pitching. We had a 2B in DeWitt, but we also had a better utility in Carroll who could have covered the entire field (Bugs Bunny-style) including 2B. However, I could be mad and upset (which I let out all my frustrations to the Twitter community as the trade deadline updates were being released), but I figure, Ned Coletti is working with what little (and we mean little) resources he has available to him. DeWitt, I’m going to miss you, that’s for sure, but if these moves get us closer to playoff contention, good luck in Chicago! You’ll be welcomed back anytime, that’s a fact!

Currently, Dodgers are holding tight to a 1-0 league over their Bay Area long-time rivals, the SF Giants. They’re in DESPERATE need of this win after dropping 2/3 in SD and first of three in SF. Let’s go Dodgers!

Also, check out http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/ as she is a featured blog on http://mlblogs.com ! Gotta love all the Dodger Blue love MLB is showing us 🙂

Lily

Arriba Los Doyers!