Dodger Musings
I am beginning to wonder if Neddy Colletti is still thinks he's under contract to the Giants. Over the weekend he gave a contract to a 40 year-old player who can neither field nor hit. Now, he's traded not one, but two bonafide major leaguers for a AA prospect. Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez go to Oakland for Andre Ethier. Yes Bradley has problems, both physical and personality, but he can hit and he can field. Perez can hit. Ethier was Player of the Year in the Texas League, and also won the TL's equivalent of the Lady Byng Trophy, which I suppose means he's not a "troublemaker." Doesn't necessarily mean he'll ever be as good a player as Milton, either. I hope I'm proven wrong. At least one A's fan likes the deal. I would, too. From their perspective, I'd think it looks like a steal.
Another thing about the deal that is disturbing is that Colletti's been quoted that the reason he made the deal is that he talked to everyone involved, and decided there was no way to repair the situation. Well... Not quite everyone. It seems the first time he ever spoke to Bradley was to tell him to pack his things. That's pretty low.
It would be nice if a Dodger GM would actually address some of the team's actual problem areas. Rafael Furcal is a nice pickup, but we already had shortstops in abundance. What we need are a #1 pitcher and another outfielder (especially now that Colletti has painted himself in the corner of having to depend on fragile JD Drew to play a full season in centerfield), and then we need to figure out who is going to play where in the infield.
Oddly enough, that's almost exactly where we were last year, except that we also needed a catcher. That took another six months, but at least Navarro managed to save DePo's hide in that respect. Russell Martin should be ready come mid-season (adios, Sandy Alomar), and he should be even better than Navarro, so I'm confident there. As far as the infield goes, one of DePo's failings last year was that he never found an answer for third base. Perez and Saenz could hit, but couldn't field. Nakamura was brilliant defensively, but couldn't hit. Valentin couldn't hit or field. Aybar looked promising, but has no power. I think he'd be better playing second, although I don't know how he'd do defensively. There are rumors that the plan is to move Kent to first when Izturis comes back, but I'd rather see Izturis traded for someone more useful. Right now it seems likely that the team will start out Aybar at third, Kent at second, and a Choi/Saenz platoon at first. Bringing in Izturis to play second knocks the slugging percentage down a lot.
Nomar is still available, and would be nice as a short term solution at third.
Edited to add: And now comes news that the Dodgers have signed Bill Mueller to a two year deal, which would seem to take care of third. Which brings up the question, wither Aybar?
Another thing about the deal that is disturbing is that Colletti's been quoted that the reason he made the deal is that he talked to everyone involved, and decided there was no way to repair the situation. Well... Not quite everyone. It seems the first time he ever spoke to Bradley was to tell him to pack his things. That's pretty low.
It would be nice if a Dodger GM would actually address some of the team's actual problem areas. Rafael Furcal is a nice pickup, but we already had shortstops in abundance. What we need are a #1 pitcher and another outfielder (especially now that Colletti has painted himself in the corner of having to depend on fragile JD Drew to play a full season in centerfield), and then we need to figure out who is going to play where in the infield.
Oddly enough, that's almost exactly where we were last year, except that we also needed a catcher. That took another six months, but at least Navarro managed to save DePo's hide in that respect. Russell Martin should be ready come mid-season (adios, Sandy Alomar), and he should be even better than Navarro, so I'm confident there. As far as the infield goes, one of DePo's failings last year was that he never found an answer for third base. Perez and Saenz could hit, but couldn't field. Nakamura was brilliant defensively, but couldn't hit. Valentin couldn't hit or field. Aybar looked promising, but has no power. I think he'd be better playing second, although I don't know how he'd do defensively. There are rumors that the plan is to move Kent to first when Izturis comes back, but I'd rather see Izturis traded for someone more useful. Right now it seems likely that the team will start out Aybar at third, Kent at second, and a Choi/Saenz platoon at first. Bringing in Izturis to play second knocks the slugging percentage down a lot.
Nomar is still available, and would be nice as a short term solution at third.
Edited to add: And now comes news that the Dodgers have signed Bill Mueller to a two year deal, which would seem to take care of third. Which brings up the question, wither Aybar?