Category Archives: Randy Wolf

Dodgers of the Decade: Left-Handed Starter

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I have to say, I’m impressed. I would have thought that Andre Ethier’s 2009 heroics would have won him more votes, but Shawn Green crushed him 79% to 18% (with just 3% for J.D. Drew. So we now have our complete lineup of the decade…

Dodgers of the Decade team:
C: Russell Martin (68%)
1B: James Loney (62%)
2B: Jeff Kent (88%)
3B: Adrian Beltre (80%)
SS: Rafael Furcal (87%)
LF: Gary Sheffield (62%)
CF: Matt Kemp (94%)
RF: Shawn Green (79%)

…and now we’re moving on to pitchers, and rather than go through an entire staff we’re going to pick five arms - top lefty & righty starters, top lefty & righty relievers (non-closers), and top closer. The threshold for the starters is going to be 50 starts – so let’s say sorry right off the bat to guys like Omar Daal, David Wells, and Carlos Perez.

Left-Handed Starter

Odalis Perez (120 starts, 2002-06)
Dodger stats: 45-40, 3.94 ERA, 102 ERA+, .715 OPS against
WAR: 4.5

Kaz Ishii (86 starts, 2002-04)
Dodger stats: 36-25, 4.30 ERA, 92 ERA+, .754 OPS against
WAR: 0.5

Randy Wolf (52 starts, 2007, 2009)
Dodger stats: 20-13, 3.72 ERA, 110 ERA+, .695 OPS against
WAR: 3.3

Clayton Kershaw (51 starts, 2008-09)
Dodger stats: 13-13, 3.36 ERA, 120 ERA+, .656 OPS against
WAR: 5.4

Top three seasons
4.2 WAR Perez, 2002
4.2 WAR Kershaw, 2009
3.4 WAR Perez, 2004

Remember, this is “Dodger of the Decade”, not “who’s the best right now” or “who will be the best”, because obviously Kershaw would crush that. You can still vote for him if you want, of course, just make sure it’s for the right reasons.

Top lefty starter of the decade?

[polldaddy poll=2441869]

It’s Time to Jump Ship, Right?

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I… am…  almost literally without words. We were already horrified at the idea that Orlando Hudson wouldn’t be offered arbitration, but it just got worse (via Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times):

The Dodgers aren’t offering arbitration to any of their free agents, according to team spokesman Josh Rawitch.

I’m sitting here trying to think of a way to accurately describe just how floored I am at the decision not to offer Randy Wolf arbitration – in addition to Hudson, of course – and I just can’t find the words, at least in a fashion that’s not a never-ending string of expletives.

Randy Wolf is almost universally regarded as the second-best starting pitcher in the free agent market behind John Lackey. So what if he accepted? He’d get what, $8m or so in arbitration? There’s not a team in baseball that wouldn’t fall all over themselves to give him that for one year, knowing that there’s no doubt that some team is going to sign him to a multi-year deal once he’s free. Like Hudson, there was no chance that Wolf was accepting anyway.

But no. The razor-thin chance of having to spend any money at all means that the Dodgers are now out four draft picks (two firsts, most likely) that they could have picked up for nothing. Nothing. You wonder why people complain that the farm system isn’t what it once was? This is exactly why; it’s because the smart baseball people are having their hands tied by the utter jokes that are the absolutely worthless McCourts.

So while you could have offered arbitration and had a 5% chance that your second base hole is filled and a 1% chance that you get a quality starting pitcher back at rates FAR below market value, and a 98% chance you walk away with four top picks, you get nothing at all.

I know it seems odd to say this in December after two crushing NLCS losses in a row, but this is one of the darkest days I can remember as a Dodger fan. I have absolutely zero faith in the jackasses running this team going forward (and for once, I’m not talking about Ned Colletti, because I think we all realize that his hands have been tied on this), and that’s just not how you should feel with a great young core who’ve been steps away from the World Series twice in a row.

I envy Royals fans right now. At least they never had hope.

NLCS Game 4: Just Look at These Two

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Who do you feel more confident in? The Jedi Warrior with the full power of the Force:

wolfstarwars

Or this fat kid who does hand puppets with his eyes closed?

blantonhandpuppet

Yeah, me too. But Randy? Stay away from Pedro Feliz, would you? (3 homers and an 1.140 OPS lifetime.)

The official blog has the lineup, and it’s noteworthy mostly because Casey Blake’s been bumped all the way down to 8th (something to do with his 1-21 career line against Blanton, I’d think), with Matt Kemp back up to 2nd.

Wait, What?!

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An update to “Kershaw starts Game 1” from earlier, also from the official blog: (actually, it was from the official Facebook page – hey, MSTI has a Facebook page, hint hint)

UPDATE:

Rotation will be Kershaw, Padilla, Kuroda, Wolf

Wow. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Hiroki Kuroda takes Chad Billingsley’s spot, and that’s an argument for another day. But Vicente Padilla in Game 2? Randy Wolf bumped all the way down to Game 4?! What is that about?

I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for that; I just can’t think of what it might be. With all of the issues the Phillies have against left-handed starters, why wouldn’t you want to use Kershaw and Wolf in Games 1, 2, 5, and 6?

Plus, I get how good Padilla’s been as a Dodger. I do, and I have no problem with him getting a start. But is he really our second best pitcher? I can’t wait to see what Torre’s reasons are behind this.

Hey, No Pressure, Kid

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87toppsclaytonkershawFrom the official blog:

Kershaw to start Game 1
He’ll take the mound tomorrow to open up. Game 2 starter still TBA.

Well, then. I guess there’s no more screwing around about who our “ace” is, eh? Very interesting decision, though. Not only does it put a ton of pressure on Kershaw – which honestly, doesn’t bother me all that much – but it does set him up to pitch Game 5 in Philadelphia, rather than Game 6 in Los Angeles. Kershaw’s been more effective at keeping runs off the board at home this year (1.83 ERA vs 3.81 ERA), though I suppose the underlying thought is that you don’t want to chance losing a series without having your best pitcher throw twice. The home/road split isn’t really as bad as it looks, either – his WHIP, K/9, and BB/9 rates are almost identical.

I think the real question, though, is the “Game 2 starter still TBA” line. How could that possibly not be Randy Wolf? Are you really going to go with Vicente Padilla or Hiroki Kuroda? No chance.