Dodgers Notes From Friday's Game 6/18/2010

Boston 10, Dodgers 6

Ronnie Belliard appears to be having a conniption.

Box Score.

• Carlos Monasterios went 4 innings (6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 HR Allowed, 72 pitches - 45 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB [1 IBB], 1 HR Allowed, 1 WP, 1 Hit Batter.
• Garret Anderson hit his 2nd HR of the season. I would still cut him. NOW.
• Matt Kemp (Triple, Single), Russell Martin (Single, BB), and Ronnie Belliard (Double, BB) each reached base twice.
• The offense struck out 9 times, drew just 2 walks, and had 4 extra-base hits.
• In his return to Boston, Manny Ramirez singled in 5 plate appearances as the DH.
• Former Dodgers Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew hit HRs.
• Nick Green signed with the Blue Jays.

Manny learned this next move from Clayton Kershaw:

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Hall Of Famer Roger Clemens shares his thoughts:

[Photos via AP and Getty Images]

A Retrospect: Ramon Ortiz and Nick Green No Longer Dodgers

The baseball gods surely healed the Dodgers of some of what ailed them:



This is how I felt when I heard the wonderful news they had been DFA'd.

A little late (a lot late), but eh, the vigor with which I post this is still the same as when I heard the oh so glorious news that these gentlemen had been DFA'd.

What took Joe Torre and Ned Colletti so long? Green is useless on this team (and any other), while Ortiz is a veteran, and was a San Francisco Giant. Those two traits all but guarantee you a job and a semi-long to long stint with the Dodgers nowadays.

For what it's worth, Justin Miller is likely to not be much better, if better at all. And hey, what do you know, he's a veteran AND a former Giant.

Set for life I tell ya, set for life.

Dodgers Notes From Friday's Game 5/28/2010

Dodgers 5, Colorado 4

Box Score.

• Carols Carlos (someone wasn't paying attention, eh?) Monasterios, the temporary 5th starter, went 5 solid innings (4 Runs [2 ER], 5 Hits, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 1 Hit Batter, 1 WP, 68 pitches - 42 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 4 IP, 0 Runs, 1 Hit, 8 K, 2 BB [1 IBB], 1 Hit Batter.
• Matt Kemp hit his 10th HR, a bomb to just right of dead center, and Manny Ramirez added his 3rd HR.
• Reed Johnson was the only Dodger to reach base more than once, with a single and HBP.
• Rafael Furcal, aside from Monasterios, was the only starter to not reach base safely.
  
• The offense, with no extra-base hits in 3 of its last 4 games, had 4 extra-base hits tonight. The offense struck out just 3 times while drawing just 2 walks.
• Scott Elbert was recalled from AAA. Nick Green was designated for assignment. The useless veterans are falling quickly now. I'm sure it pains Torre and Colletti to their very cores. But for the rest of us: HOOOOOOORAYYYYYYY!!! Better watch out Garret Anderson: you should be next.
  

Blake DeWitt Could Be Heading To The Minors

When Rafael Furcal returns, we could very well see Blake DeWitt sent down to AAA, instead of the obvious choice of Nick Green. Don't believe me? Here are Joe Torre's words, which obviously carry a lot of weight:

"Got Green, who came up, or DeWitt, who has an option," Torre said. "DeWitt's done ... well, no question, just a matter of what road do you want to take in the immediate future? ... Please don't take the ball and run with this on this one."

Well Joe, if you don't want people taking the ball and running with it, don't float an entirely idiotic, ridiculously stupid idea out into the media firestorm that would obviously follow. Who cares if we lose Nick Green? I mean really, Nick Green? The same Nick Green who is 31 years old; has no upside; no room for growth; is a horrid offensive player; nothing special defensively at second base, where he would almost certainly see most of his playing time with Furcal back and DeWitt sent down (career UZR/150 of 0.9 at 2B); and has .307 career OBP? This Nick Green is worth keeping? Color me dumbfounded and utterly shocked.

Shocked that Nick Green is considered valuable, not shocked that it's the Dodgers that see value in keeping Nick Green, in keeping this type of over-the-hill, never good to begin with player, over a younger player with significantly more upside, who also happens to be playing significantly better now to begin with.

Blake DeWitt is young, can play 2 positions (third base especially well), and has potential, upside, and room to grow. Entering Saturday's game (in which he had a 2-run triple), he had a .359 OBP, and hasn't even been hitting the ball as well as we know he's capable of.

Nick Green is horrible, plain and simple. This isn't even a decision. Green's demotion, which could result in him returning to AAA if he clears waivers, or his loss if another team claims him, should be a matter of when, not if. It should be an unquestioned inevitability.

I'm going to give the Dodgers the benefit of the doubt and say that when Furcal returns, Green will be DFA'd and DeWitt will stay. But if Green is kept over DeWitt, the pattern of awful decisions by the Dodgers will have continued, in perhaps previously unseen idiocy.

Dodgers Notes From Friday's Game 5/21/2010

Dodgers 4, Detroit 1

Box Score.

• Chad Billingsley went 7 fantastic innings (1 ER, 4 Hits, 5 K, 2 BB, 105 pitches - 66 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 2 IP, 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB.
• Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 9th, striking out the side. He has 27 Ks and 2 BB on the season in 17.2 innings.
• Manny Ramirez returned to the lineup from his toe injury.
• Reed Johnson (Double, 2 Singles, BB) reached base 4 times, while Casey Blake (BB, HBP) and Nick Green (Single, HBP) each reached base twice.
• Russell Martin, Blake DeWitt, and James Loney had the night off, with Loney coming in as a defensive replacement.
• The offense struck out 4 times, walked 3 times, and had 2 extra-base hits.

Manny Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, and George Sherrill News

George Sherrill is hard at work to correct his troubles. Too bad being mediocre your entire career isn't correctable, especially at 33 years of age. Can we just send him away and take Josh Bell back? Pretty please? We'll even throw in Ramon Ortiz!

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Manny Ramirez will be activated for Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies.

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The team hopes Rafael Furcal can return next week. Please, spare us anymore of Jamey Carroll and his horrid, awful, gargantuanly shitty range. And dear god, not Nick Green!

Carroll's range is so bad I had to make up the word gargantuanly. At least I think it's not a real word. Oh well, that's why English is not the field I chose to major in.

Dodgers Notes From Tuesday's Game 5/4/2010

Milwaukee 11, Dodgers 6

Box Score.

• Clayton Kershaw got rocked. On the bright side, 3 of the 4 outs he recorded were strikeouts.
• Bullpen: 7.2 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 WP. 3 Relievers.
• James Loney hit his 2nd HR, and both have come at home. He had all of one at home in 2009.
• Matt Kemp doubled, singled, and walked. He's reached base 8 times in his last 13 plate appearances. 
• Nick Green sucks. At least Chin-lung Hu plays a mean shortstop.

Rafael Furcal, Dodger Rotation Updates

John Ely gets himself another start, this one coming this Thursday.

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Rafael Furcal will apparently hit the DL after all, and unfortunately, it's looking more and more likely it won't be Chin-lung Hu, excellent defender, taking his spot. Instead, Nick Green, awful defender, will get the call. Neither can hit a lick, but Green is a veteran! Oooh, veterans, so sexy and productive.

That last line is a direct quote from Joe Torre and Ned Colletti. At least I imagine that's what they would say.

Dodgers Sign 3 More To Minor League Deals

Ned Colletti signed Nick Green, Scott Dohmann, and Argenis Reyes to minor league deals on Monday. Each player has also been invited to Spring Training.

Green, 31, has 1108 plate appearances over 5 seasons spent with Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the Yankees, Seattle, and Boston. Over that time, he has amassed an amazingly putrid line of .239/.307/.352/.660, with an OBP of .303 in 2009. Yes, that's a worse 2009 OBP and a worse career OBP than noted base-clogger Juan Pierre. Green is coming off of back surgery, and could conceivably not even be ready by Spring Training or the start of the 2010 regular season. If he is ready, I would imagine he will basically be handed the backup shortstop job, what with his veterany status and inability to hit, something the Dodgers seem to find especially tantalizing from their bench players.

There is nothing, quite frankly, that Nick Green does that Chin-lung Hu, aged 26 when the season begins anew, can't do. Not to mention the higher upside The Hu (copyright KempKershaw - trust me, no need to look into this any further) presents. Apparently the Dodgers are anti-Hu. Are you anti-Hu? I'm certainly not, and as Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness points out, Hu is the superior player, and is not coming off of back surgery, and is not behind schedule from the aforementioned back surgery. If either of these two gentlemen see significant time in 2010, there's a problem. But if that did happen, wouldn't you want the younger, higher upside player playing? I would. Especially since Nick Green, baseball backup, sucks.


Dohmann, 31 and a relief pitcher, has made 164 appearances over 5 seasons with Colorado, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay. He has a career WHIP of 1.6, a K/9 IP mark of 8.7, and has walked 5/9 IP. He has a 5.04 career FIP.


Reyes, a 27-year-old middle infielder, has 139 career plate appearances, all with the Mets between 2008 and 2009. His career line stands at .205/.246/.228/.475, with an OPS+ of 27. His 2009 OPS+ , over 18 plate appearances, was -22.


Chin-lung Hu should have the backup shortstop gig unless he physically can't play. Physically can't play, you know who that reminds me of? Nick Green. And I don't mean because he's a 31-year-old who just had back surgery and is behind schedule; I mean it because Nick Green is an atrocious player who can barely produce a .300 OBP. Seriously, a .303 on-base percentage in 2009? A career .307 OBP?

Christ, that's epically horrendous.

Lame.