Category Archives: Dee Gordon

Is Dee Gordon Ready? Yasiel Puig Sure Isn’t

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gordon_sanfran_2013-05-04It isn’t the first time that Chad Moriyama pumps out an idea before I can get around to it, and it won’t be the last. Dee Gordon is absolutely everything we thought he would be, and I mean as both a positive and a negative. He’s showing patience. He’s making mistakes on the basepaths. He’s scoring runs that potentially no other player in the game could manage. He’s getting to balls; he’s bobbling balls. He’s everything, and he’s nothing.

Chad goes into this in great detail, complete with GIFs, and it’s more than worth your time to read through. I couldn’t agree more with his conclusion:

Flaws and all, fans understandably tend to side with Dee because of the “wow” moments he brings to the table, stuff that guys with less raw talent simply can’t even fathom doing. Dee is made for mind-blowing bursts of speed and flair that lead to extreme excitement, but he often follows that with the lulls of fundamental inadequacy and lack of baseball skills, which is the part people tend to gloss over too easily.

My point? For all that highs and lows so far, his WAR on the year is 0. There’s probably not much more fitting a grade than that.

Now, since he’s getting time at short rather than the decidedly sub-replacement Justin Sellers & Luis Cruz, perhaps that’s good enough. (And forgive me for actually using WAR at this ridiculously early point in the season, but it’s merely part of the larger point.) But I really do think Chad is dead-on there. When Gordon makes a jaw-dropping play that no one else can do, that’s the highlight you remember; that’s what sticks with you when you wonder why he’s not treated as a star. That’s always going to stand out over the bobbled ball that costs a double play and may not even lead directly to a run, but it shouldn’t; baseball doesn’t work that way.

So far, so good for Gordon, because even being a replacement-level player is a big upgrade over the mess we saw last year, and I can’t lie that the fan in me loves watching the great things he can do. Still, if he’s going to prove that he deserves to stick around and possibly even shift Hanley Ramirez to third at some point, the boring, unexciting everyday skills have to improve.

******

As for the other player — not you, Scott Van Slyke — that fans have been demanding to see? I’ve been saying all along that Yasiel Puig isn’t ready, and today we have further evidence. Bill Shaikin alerted us the other day that Puig tossed his bat after getting called out on strikes, and I hardly have to remind you that bat-tossing has been an ongoing issue for him.

Shaikin came upon that report based on a tweet from Mike Newman of FanGraphs and the excellent RotoScouting.com — subscribe now, because he’s based near Chattanooga and sees & reports on tons of Lookouts games — and Newman’s been kind enough to provide video of yet another Puig incident.

I know that many people say, “so what? As long as he’s hitting, that’s all that matters.” But it’s really not. These continued antics will either lead to a fastball to the teeth or him getting ejected 40% of the time, and trust me when I say that the front office is keenly aware of this kind of behavior. (He’s also in a bit of a slump, hitting .205/.271/.455 over his last ten games.) As we’ve discussed, “being ready” isn’t just about hitting the curveball.

I Guess We Have to Talk About Dee Gordon and Second Base

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dee_gordon_2012_aprilA little over two weeks ago, I took some time to look at the seemingly never-ending chorus of voices demanding the Dodgers call up Dee Gordon to replace the struggling left-side pair of Justin Sellers and Luis Cruz.

At the time, I argued, it didn’t make sense, because 11 decent games of hitting in Triple-A weren’t nearly enough to overcome the defensive downgrade he’d be from the incumbent duo, or to prove that he’d suddenly learned how to hit after a dreadful half-season in 2012. After being rushed to the big leagues in 2011 and missing the second half of 2012 due to injury, what Gordon really needed was daily playing time in the minors. So far, that’s what he’s received, and the early returns have been promising.

But what I didn’t discuss at the time is whether Gordon should be moved off of shortstop, and perhaps I should have. It’s a question I’ve been getting often for as long as I can remember — even more than “hey, bring up Yasiel Puig, idiots!” — posed by those who are absolutely certain Gordon will never hack it as a shortstop and should immediately be moved to second.

I usually wave that off as a dumb idea, but now it’s unavoidably out in the open:

For the last two days, Gordon has been taking pregame grounders for the Albuquerque Isotopes at second base.

This is not because second baseman Mark Ellis is more seriously hurt than the Dodgers are letting on and are prepping Gordon as some emergency fill-in. It is apparently a more long-term consideration.

And anyone who watched Gordon struggle at shortstop for the Dodgers last season will understand that thought.

Though I respect Steve Dilbeck, who wrote this for the Los Angeles Times, I have to take issue with this on a few levels. This appears to be based entirely on the fact that Gordon apparently took a few pregame grounders but little more, because we’ve heard no indication of this elsewhere. But this one report has now taken on a life of its own, appearing at NBC’s Hardball Talk, CSN Chicago, and every fantasy site you can think of — again, entirely on what seems to be some mere pregame work. If pregame fielding positions were indicative of an impending switch, Russell Martin would have been a full-time shortstop years ago. Half the pitchers in baseball would be center fielders.

But this really goes back to a larger issue, which is that a report like this seems so easy to believe because so many people want to believe it. I can’ t even tell you the number of people who have hit me up on Twitter over the past two years insisting that Gordon absolutely must be a second baseman, assuming that he’ll instantly be better at the less demanding position that requires a shorter throw.

Yet it’s rarely ever that simple to just assume that. The simple fact is that a good second baseman is inherently less valuable than a good shortstop, so to move him right now seems like a quick way to diminish whatever value he has left. Gordon’s two biggest strengths in the field are his speed and his strong arm, each of which would be less valuable at second. If the decision is made at some point that Gordon can’t handle shortstop, then by all means move him, but it certainly seems premature to say that at this point.

Besides, can you even say off the top of your head whether the majority of Gordon’s errors have come on fielding the ball or on throws? I bet you can’t. I know I can’t without looking it up, and I’m sure most calling for this move can’t either. It would seem like important information, if the main push here is “it’s a shorter throw!”

Beyond whether it makes sense defensively is what it would mean for Gordon’s game as a whole. Remember, Gordon’s problems last year weren’t just on defense; it’s not like we were watching Albert Pujols attempt to play shortstop. If he doesn’t learn how to hit — and he’s been slumping over the last week, hitting .200/.360/.200 (he somehow walked four times last night) — then it’s really not going to matter where plays in the field. I can’t imagine that burdening him with learning a new position at the same time he needs to become a major league quality hitter is the most efficient way to turn him into an asset.

The other argument I hear is that the status of the big league club calls for the move, since Hanley Ramirez is now healthy and in Gordon’s way at shortstop, and Mark Ellis is banged-up at second base. But even that doesn’t hold water for me. Ellis is probably headed to the disabled list later today, but the hesitation to move him there indicates that his injury isn’t as serious as we’d originally feared. Since Gordon has still yet to play a single inning at second, it’s hard to think that he’d even be an option before Ellis returned. Even if he was, there’s no cause to play Gordon over Ellis at second on either side of the ball — again, I can’t believe this is even a conversation — and as much as I’d like to see Ramirez moved off of shortstop, there seems little indication the Dodgers plan to try to push him to third during the season. It’s not as if Gordon is really blocked long-term, either; Ramirez is only signed through next season and it’s not at all hard to see him shifting over the winter.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Gordon taking balls at second, and it probably won’t be the last. Someday, maybe that will be the path to take. For right now, it seems foolish to give up on him as a shortstop or think that he’s suddenly an option at the highest level at a new position. I just can’t see it either being a good idea or one that’s really going to happen.

Why Not Dee Gordon? This is Why

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Photo via Malingering on Flickr. Hey, that's a good nickname for Juan Uribe.

Photo via Malingering on Flickr.

Luis Cruz is hitting .111/.132/.111 in 39 plate appearances. Justin Sellers is hitting .176/.263/.265 in 38 plate appearances, and neither Juan Uribe nor Jerry Hairston (two hits apiece in a combined 30 plate appearances) are doing much to offer evidence that they’re the answer either. The left side of the Dodger infield in Hanley Ramirez‘ absence is an absolute mess, and while Matt Kemp is hardly absolved of responsibility, it’s pretty clear where the main fault in the leaky Dodger offensive attack lies these days.

Down at Triple-A Albuquerque, Dee Gordon is hitting .319/.385/.468 with eight steals in nine attempts for the Isotopes. I think you can see where this is headed.

Yes, if there’s one constant cry I’m hearing from fans via various forms of social communication these days — perhaps as much or more as “when will Yasiel Puig get recalled?” — it’s “Dee Gordon looks great, they should bring him up! It can’t hurt, right?”

Dodger fans love Gordon. They just flat-out love him, and it’s not hard to see why. When he’s playing well, he’s among the most exciting players in the game thanks to his electric speed. He’s the type of player who “plays the game the right way,” excelling with small-ball skills and outworking much larger and physically gifted players to get where he is. It’s difficult for fans to relate to a specimen who’s 235 pounds of sculpted muscle; at a listed 5’11″, 160 pounds, Gordon looks a whole lot more like the rest of us than do the Kemps of the world.

If you’re thinking that sounds exactly like Juan Pierre, well, it does. In an outfield that often included Kemp, Andre Ethier, & Manny Ramirez, Pierre was without question the least talented, yet for years we heard nothing but emotionally insistent claims that Pierre “deserved” to play because of how he played the game — here’s an entire post on that from February of 2010, for example. It mattered not that Pierre, save for a few short weeks when Ramirez was suspended, was rarely a productive player.

Back to Gordon, fans love the idea of him, and it’s not unfair to be feeling that way, I suppose. Every additional weak Cruz pop-up offers further evidence that he’s the player who struggled for 12 years, rather than the one who succeeded for two months last year, and no one had expectations for Sellers. Something has to be done, and Gordon represents something.

But while part of being a fan is having that kind of emotional response, there’s a lot of logic missing there. Defense, for example. Gordon wasn’t just one of the worst offensive shortstops in the game last year, he was one of the least steady defenders. Despite the offensive struggles, the Dodgers are a game over .500 right now mainly because the run prevention has been so great — only Atlanta has a lower ERA — and while that’s partially because the rotation has been so good, it’s also because the defense has been solid. Only two clubs have a better defensive ranking at third base right now, and (despite Sellers’ hiccup on April 2), only three are better at shortstop.

If you’re just dying to point out that defensive metrics at this early stage in the season are the height of small sample size unreliability, I wouldn’t argue with that — you’d be right. But these rankings more than pass the smell test and merely serve to accompany what our eyes are telling us rather than to make the point themselves. We may be seeing nothing on offense from the left side, but at least the defense has been there. That’s not something I’m prepared to say about Gordon, not after a 2012 that was half atrocious and half on the disabled list, and only 11 games so far in 2013.

The fact that it’s been only 11 games factors in on offense, too. Yes, Gordon hitting .319 looks wonderful. But due to the small samples here, that’s up from .286 yesterday morning and .120 when he woke up on Friday morning. To say, “he’s all fixed now, hitting .319,” well, it’s just not accurate.

I still have confidence in Gordon’s growth as a player; as I’ve long said, I think he was rushed to the bigs in 2011 before he was ready. I don’t consider it at all out of the question that later this summer, he could be sharing the left side with Ramirez. But 11 Triple-A games is hardly enough to tell you anything about anything, and we’ve made this mistake with Gordon before. It might be his time in Los Angeles again one day, but for right now, no matter how bad Sellers & Cruz are scuffling, it’s not.

The Dodgers Say Goodbye to Camelback Ranch… and Yasiel Puig & Dee Gordon, Too

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So those questions we had about the Dodgers earlier this afternoon? We’re starting to get some answers already.

Where to start? Mercifully, Yasiel Puig has been shipped off to Double-A Chattanooga. Argue all you like about whether .526/.508/.842 should have been enough to keep him in the bigs — you know my thoughts on the subject — but it was time to end the uncertainty. Tonight is the last home game for the Dodgers in Arizona, and decisions need to be made. From this perspective, this is the correct call for all the reasons we’ve been over so many times. With Carl Crawford on track to be ready for the season (he’s again leading off in left field tonight), the only right answer was to let Puig play every day in the minors. If that delays his free agency, all the better.

Rockies
Dodgers
CF
 Young
LF
Crawford
2B
 Brignac
2B
M.Ellis
LF
 Gonzalez
CF
Kemp
1B
 Cuddyer
1B
Gonzalez
RF
Colvin
RF
Ethier
3B
 Arenado
SS
Cruz
C
 Hernandez
3B
Uribe
SS
 Herrera
C
A.Ellis
P
Garland
P
Harang

Speaking of uncertainty, not that there really was any, Dee Gordon was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque at the same time. There were those who thought that Gordon might get a shot at shortstop after Hanley Ramirez was injured, but it never really seemed likely; after all, opening or not, Gordon still has much to prove. More, perhaps, than even Luis Cruz does. He’ll head to the Isotopes and play every day at shortstop, surrounded by massive uncertainty in the rest of the Triple-A infield.

Finally, we know now a bit more about the starting rotation. Chad Billingsley will miss his first start because of the bruised finger he’s been fighting for the last week, and that lines up Hyun-Jin Ryu & Josh Beckett to follow Clayton Kershaw in the opening series against the Giants. After an off-day on April 4, Zack Greinke is expected to make his debut in the opener of the Pirates series on April 5.

It’s not yet been announced, but because Billingsley is pitching in a minor league game later this week and not for the big club, it’s almost certain that he’ll begin the year on the disabled list. Because it can be backdated, he may only miss the one start rather than a full two weeks of April; either way, that will buy Ned Colletti at least a few days longer to deal with his starting pitching surplus.

Tonight’s game against Colorado and ex-Dodger Jon Garland, again the final at Camelback Ranch of the spring, is available both on KCAL and as MLB.tv’s free game of the day.

Projecting the Dodgers’ Minor-League Rosters: Double-A & Triple-A

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Editor’s note: Chris Jackson rounds off the minor league roster projections with Chattanooga & Albuquerque. Also, don’t forget to enter the Opening Day roster contest — open through 9pm PT tonight!

Van Slyke is one of nine outfielders who will vie for an Isotopes roster spot this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Isotopes)

Scott Van Slyke is one of nine outfielders who will vie for an Isotopes roster spot this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Isotopes)

Chattanooga Lookouts (Double-A Southern League)

Starting rotation: Onelki Garcia, Zach Lee, Aaron Miller, Rob Rasmussen, Chris Reed

All prospects, all the time, in east Tennessee this year! Garcia has the most pure stuff, but the least experience. Lee and Reed will hope their potential matches the results this season. Miller will have to fight to keep his starting spot after a middling season. Rasmussen will get some attention as the new guy in the organization.

Bulllpen: Geison Aguasviva, Steve Ames, Kelvin De La Cruz, Eric Eadington, Jordan Roberts, Andres Santiago, Chris Withrow

That is a lot of lefties, but it is hard to figure out where else to put them. De la Cruz is not a LOOGY and will give them a second long reliever to go with Santiago, who could start if Miller struggles. Aguasviva could fight his way to Albuquerque. Roberts is 27, so if he can’t stick here, his time with the Dodgers may be done. Ames and Eadington figure to share the closing job, though Withrow could see saves, too, now that the Dodgers have committed to him as a reliever. Just missed: Javier Solano

Catchers: Gorman Erickson, Christopher O’Brien

Erickson will be looking for some redemption after a lousy 2012. O’Brien was decent enough at Rancho to merit the promotion.

Infielders: 1B–J.T. Wise, 2B–Rafael Ynoa, SS–Alexis Aguilar, 3B–C.J. Retherford, UTIL–Joe Becker, Omar Luna

Wise and Ynoa have played well enough to earn promotions, but they are blocked at Albuquerque barring some trades. Aguilar is the pick I am least confident in; it could be a half-dozen other guys. In other words, please, Dodgers, sign some random Cuban defector shortstop to spare the poor fans in Chattanooga watching a guy with a career .662 OPS. Retherford had a big year at Rancho, but struggled with the Lookouts, so he will return here. Luna and Becker didn’t play a lot of shortstop last year, but they sure could this year. Just missed: Chris Jacobs 1B, Elevys Gonzalez 3B/2B, Miguel Rojas 2B/SS

Outfielders: LF–Yasiel Puig, CF–Joc Pederson, RF–Blake Smith, OF–Nick Buss, Bobby Coyle

Puig and Pederson are premium prospects. They both figure to play all three outfield spots here. Smith deserves to move up, and he certainly could, but for now I have him starting with the Lookouts. Buss and the talented but oft-injured Coyle return. Just missed: Kyle Russell

Final analysis: If some of the pitchers can translate their potential into results, then this team could be the favorite to win the Southern League. The rotation is six-deep and strong, while the bullpen is strong from both sides of the mound. The outfield should carry the offense, with shortstop being the only real concern on the infield. The Lookouts should be fun to watch this season.

Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A Pacific Coast League)

Starting rotation: Fabio Castro, Stephen Fife, Matt Magill, Matt Palmer, Mario Santiago

Magill is the legit prospect here. Fife returns and will be the first called up in the event of an injury to a starter in L.A. Palmer can chew up innings, but that is it. Castro was terrible last year with the A’s organization and might not last long in Albuquerque. Santiago is a gamble, with the Dodgers/Isotopes hoping he can carry over the success he found in Korea last year with the SK Wyverns.

Bullpen: Michael Antonini, Blake Johnson, Hector Nelo, Red Patterson, Paco Rodriguez, Cole St. Clair, Shawn Tolleson, Josh Wall

Antonini’s health is in question, so he might not crack this group. Rodriguez and Tolleson both deserve to pitch in the Majors, but I have Javy Guerra and Ted Lilly taking the last two spots. Johnson and St. Clair return in the long relief roles. Wall should close again. Patterson moves up, but it could easily be Ames instead. Nelo, a minor-league Rule 5 pick, gets the nod over the plethora of Triple-A vets signed this off-season. I am also betting that the veteran trio of Kevin Gregg, Mark Lowe, and Peter Moylan will opt out at the end of the spring. Just missed: Juan Abreu, Victor Garate, Gregory Infante, Wilmin Rodriguez, Luis Vasquez

Catchers: Jesus Flores, Matt Wallach

Flores could easily be subbed out for Federowicz if the Dodgers opt to have the prospect play every day and the veteran back up A.J. Ellis. Consider them interchangeable. Wallach has never hit, but he plays good defense and seems like a safe bet to the backup. Just missed: Eliezer Alfonzo, Wilkin Castillo, Ramon Castro

Infielders: 1B–Nick Evans, 2B–Elian Herrera, SS–Dee Gordon, 3B–Dallas McPherson, UTIL–Rusty Ryal, Justin Sellers

Evans always earned rave reviews for his defense, which could be a big help for Gordon’s wild throws (remember how Mark Teixeira made Derek Jeter look better back in 2009?). While it can be speculated that Gordon could or should be in the Majors, until he proves otherwise, I have him here. Sellers is another guy most people are counting out, but the Dodgers have not dumped him yet, even after his arrest in Sacramento. Herrera can, and likely will, play everywhere, but he should play almost every day. McPherson will DH against AL teams, since his back is unlikely to hold up for 144 games. Ryal gets the nod because the Isotopes need the left-handed bat. Just missed: Alfredo Amezaga UTIL, Brian Barden 3B, Ozzie Martinez SS

Outfielders: LF–Scott Van Slyke, CF–Tony Gwynn Jr., RF–Alex Castellanos, OF–Jeremy Moore

Unless Castellanos returns to the infield, this outfield is tough to figure out. Both he, Moore and Van Slyke are all right-handed hitters, so it would make a lot of sense for someone like Smith (who hits left-handed) to move up from Chattanooga. Unless the Isotopes only carry seven relievers (which, fat chance), it won’t happen unless the Dodgers move Van Slyke in a trade. Moore gets that backup spot because he can play all three positions and because the Dodgers obviously think very highly of him as he was the only free agent to participate in their prospect minicamp last month. Just missed: Matt Angle, Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Final analysis: This team does not look as talented as last year’s playoff squad, at least on paper. The rotation looks awfully suspect behind Fife and Magill. The bullpen could be good, at least. The lineup lacks left-handed bats, but should be able to score enough runs to keep games interesting. If the Dodgers can’t find any additional starting pitchers, however, it could be a long summer of 12-10 scores in Albuquerque, which this reporter is not very interested in watching anymore.