Category Archives: rumors

It’s That Time of Year Again

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A quick warning: as July approaches and the summer trading season begins in earnest, it’s important to remember that 99% of what you hear will be lies or worse.  MLBtraderumors illustrates why perfectly:

One general manager told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that “it’s becoming pretty clear” that the Dodgers won’t be able to add pitching at the trade deadline. But Ed Price of AOL FanHouse heard from an MLB source that the Dodgers are scouting starters “aggressively” in preparation for possible trades.

So be prepared, because you’ll hear that the Dodgers are in on Cliff Lee, definitely not in on Cliff Lee, probably not going to sign Zach Lee, but absolutely will be trading for Bruce Lee, Lee Marvin, and Lee Harvey Oswalt, all before trading Frank McCourt for Frank McCourt. And that’s just what you’ll hear from “reputable” writers. Strap in… it’ll be a fun ride.

Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

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rottino.jpgAnyone predict that Vinny Rottino would be the big Dodger acquisition of the day? Anyone? After a day full of rumors both predictable (Roy Halladay!) and much much less (Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell? What would the Padres have wanted, the Dodgers’ top 15 prospects, the corpse of Jackie Robinson, and the right to carve “Beat LA” onto the moon?) the deadline passed without the Dodgers adding anyone to the major league roster, other than yesterday’s deal for George Sherrill. I must admit that I’m a little conflicted.

On one hand, guys like Clayton Kershaw, Scott Elbert, James McDonald, and Andrew Lambo are still in the organization, and that’s definitely a good thing. But on the other, you just feel like this is the year that it’s finally time to go for it. Whether that meant a starter like Halladay or Jarrod Washburn or the idea of getting Bell to go with Sherrill and create an unholy bullpen, you wanted to see them do something.

So yeah, I’m disappointed. But in the same breath, I’m also happy, because Ned Colletti didn’t get desperate and go make a deal when the right deal just wasn’t there. Toronto’s demands for Halladay were well-known to be unreasonable, and I really feel that if the Dodgers had anted up for Halladay, it would have cost so much that we wouldn’t have been all that thrilled about it.

So what are we left with? This has still been the best team in baseball to this point, and the addition of Sherrill does improve an already-impressive bullpen. The questions about the rotation remain, but really, short of paying an absurd ransom for Halladay, what was to be done? Washburn’s terribly overrated, and considering how incredibly happy Seattle fans were with the trade, it’s hard to say that he’d have been the right choice for the Dodgers.

Going forward, don’t worry about the offense; it’s just a slump. Don’t worry about the bullpen; rumors of its demise have been great exagerrated, with the addition of Sherrill and return of Ronald Belisario. The starters? Yeah, there’s some cause for concern, but the sky is hardly falling.

And remember! This is important – the fact that the corpse of Jason Schmidt is going tonight against Atlanta’s Tommy Hanson, one of the brightest young stars in baseball, is just bad timing. The Dodgers ARE making the playoffs, and Schmidt is NOT pitching in October. Remember that when he’s down 8-0 in the 2nd inning tonight.

Hear the Silence So Loud

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Hey! There’s six days left until the trading deadline. The most exciting time of the year, right? Except… feels like something is missing, doesn’t it? Sure, there’s talk about the Dodgers possibly going after Roy Halladay (ain’t gonna happen!), and there’s some word about relievers (which probably will happen), but it’s just not the same as in years past.

Just look at some of the ridiculousness we had to deal with in 2008. You had he-said/she-said over C.C. Sabathia, Tracy Ringolsby whining that the Dodgers were upstaged by the Angels’ deal for Mark Teixeira, and the endless rumors about absurd asking prices for Jack Wilson. In case you’ve forgotten how much fun the whole Pittsburgh rumor mill was, take small children out of the room and look back:

The Pirates envision a long-term outfield that would include Kemp and Nate McLouth, who was selected to his first All-Star Game on Sunday, on the corners, flanking center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates’ top prospect, who is playing at Class AAA Indianapolis.

FOR JACK WILSON. If your nose has stopped bleeding, just remember that we went through this same thing in 2007, when we were told to trade Loney, Kershaw, and Ethier for Teixeira.

But this year? Hell, even MLBtraderumors hasn’t tagged a rumor under “Dodgers” for nearly 30 hours, at least as of this writing. Other than Steve Phillips – who I try to ignore, because it’s not nice to make fun of the “specially-abled” – wanting to trade Kershaw for Halladay, there’s not even been a whole lot of stupid ideas to refute. It’s in large part due to LA’s top prospects graduating from “prospect” status, to be sure, and it’s not neccessarily a bad thing. It’s just a different feeling around this team at this time of year, is all.

(Okay, when you’re a blogger always on the lookout for good material, it might be a little bit of a bad thing. I look forward to seeing some hack come out with an idea for trading Kershaw and Andrew Lambo for Carl Pavano tomorrow.)

You Should Have to Pass a Test to Have a Blog

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(Before we get started, fair is fair. We bash Bill Plaschke relentlessly around here, which is only because he’s generally the worst columnist in sports. So on the rare occasion that he actually says something I agree with, I feel obligated to point it out. Check out Plaschke’s response to the Jamie McCourt firestorm, because believe it or not, he’s right on. Due to this, I fully expect that the earth will collide with Mars by the end of the year.)

Usually I don’t address trade rumors from other blogs, because they’re not so much “rumors” as some ridiculous idea thought up by someone with no connection to the team whatsoever. Yet today we’re going to bend that rule a bit for two reasons – one, because the blog we’re about to discuss seems to have some professional writers (radio hosts and ESPN.com writers) and two, because some things are simply so idiotic that they must be addressed. To let things like what you’re about to see go by without comment would yankeefansnearly be as much of a mistake on my part as theirs, because if you don’t roll up that newspaper and lightly bat the puppy on the nose while saying “no”, how will they ever learn? Besides, it’s the slowest time of the year, so I’ll take what I can get.

It is with this in mind that I bring you the New York Baseball Digest, also known as “the Worst Baseball Blog ever”. In particular, their post about what the Yankees should do about Andy Pettitte, which is relevant here due to the recent “Pettitte to Dodgers” rumors we’ve heard. After some discussion about whether the Yankees should offer Pettitte arbitration or not, we get to this:

I personally feel the Yankees do not need Pettitte, that he is on the decline and doesn’t have the same bite on his reknowned cut fastball. The Yankees are interested in Sabathia and Lowe because they were dominant #1starters down the stretch, helping their teams into the playoffs. But, Pettitte was the exact opposite of Sabthia and Lowe, was terrible down the stretch, fashioning a 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA in his final 11 starts. So, if you were Brain Cashman, the reason you like Sabtahia and Lowe should be the reason you DON’T LIKE Pettitte – he was terrible when it counted most.

Other than the fact that a supposed media professional should be able to go better than 1-3 on spelling “Sabathia” right (and let’s not even get into “Brain” Cashman), this backs up what I said the other day about signing Pettitte – that’s he’s done, cooked, and not worth anywhere near the money he’ll command. Yankee fans, judging from what I’ve read and heard, seem to agree. He’s at the end of the rope. Which is why this next paragraph will make you throw yourself into the highway:

The Yankees do not want to give Pettitte similar money as last year, knowing he is on the decline and is, at best in 2009, going to be a fifth starter. But, the Yankees need to offer arbitration, and hope that the Dodgers’ need for a veteran starter is too much and they offer Pettitte a two year deal for good money. But, if Pettitte does accept arbitration, seek to trade him and possibly Johnny Damon (because LA could also use a leadoff hitter) to the Dodgers for a young player or two. I like Matt Kemp and James McDonald straight up.

Matt Kemp and James McDonald straight up for Andy Pettitte and Johnny Damon, is it? I bet you do like that. Because who wouldn’t like trading two expensive guys in their mid 30s for two future stars making the minimum that are under 25? No, forget the fact that Matt Kemp is better than Johnny Damon right now (2008 leadoff stats: Kemp .305/.360/.492 vs Damon .305/.376/.468, not to mention Kemp’s rocket arm vs. Damon’s Pierre arm), and forget the fact that McDonald is likely going to be better than Pettitte in 2009, because it’s not like McDonald was dominating the Phillies in the NLCS while Pettitte was imploding down the stretch. None of that matters! Because it’d help the Yankees! Hey, while you’re at it, why not trade Hideki Matsui for Russell Martin? Kei Igawa for Chad Billingsley?

You know, usually I feel that Dodger fans’ particular disgust of Red Sox and Yankee fans is a bit overblown. But why is always the Yankee fans and their blogs that come up with these ridiculous ideas that have no consideration for why the other team would possibly make such a deal?

So we salute you, New York Baseball Digest. Your idiocy has provided me with a morning of entertainment intermingled with occasional thoughts of how we can bombard your server to get your site offline, if only to spare the rest of us from your ridiculous, underthought, poisonous trade “ideas”.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg

I Guess I’ve Got No Choice

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Sweet merciful crap! The rumors! My god, the rumors. You know, usually I look forward to this time of year so much, because what’s more fun than the Hot Stove League? Wondering what big name will don the Dodger blue for the first time, trying to figure out how all the puzzle pieces will fit together for the next year. It’s wonderful.

Until the 400th time you hear some two-bit reporter come up with a non-sourced rumor that only benefits his hometown team and somehow gains legs, that is. I’ve heard some people complain that the Dodgers have somehow been dragging their feet in not making any moves yet, but I just don’t see it. We all know that the big-time free agents always wait as long as possible before signing, and other than that the only moves have really been the Giants signing Jeremy Affeldt and the Marlins making a few salary dumps.

Anyway, things have really been coming to a head the last few days, despite the fact that we all know nothing is going to happen until at least the December 1 arbitration deadline and likely not until the December 8 winter meetings, so I figure it’s time to check into some of these.

* Good god, Jack Wilson again? Via MLBtraderumors, FOXsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Dodgers are interested in trading for Pirates SS Jack Wilson, but that the price (Chin-Lung Hu, Delwyn Young, and a third player) was deemed too high. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Wilson rumors floating around, and at least this is a little more palatable than when we’d heard Matt Kemp was involved over the summer. But come on, three players for Jack Wilson? He’s known to be a good defender and a below-average bat. Which sounds like, oh, I don’t know… Chin-Lung Hu? I don’t think that Hu’s going to get a shot to be the Opening Day shortstop, but if we’re going to have a good field/no hit guy there, I think I’d rather the guy who’s not getting paid $7.25 million in 2009, is especially atrocious in Dodger Stadium (.558 OPS), and is costing several young players to acquire. At least Hu’s got some upside. PASS.

* Wait, Andy Pettitte? Also from Ken Rosenthal, Andy Pettitte has apparently spoken with Joe Torre about a reunion in Los Angeles. If true, this is a tough call. On one hand, he’ll be 37 next year, is coming off the worst year of his career (plus a 5.35 ERA in the second half) and after having made $16 million in each of the last three years, is unlikely to want to take much of a pay cut. On the other hand… actually, I don’t think there is another hand. I wouldn’t mind giving him a shot at a more reasonable price, but if he wants $16 million or anything close to it? I’d rather have Eric Stults. Somehow I feel Torre would disagree with me. PASS.

* Okay, Ken, I see you, you can stop making a scene. Clearly just trying to get my attention, Rosenthal seems to have the Dodgers in on just about everyone, so let’s finish with him right here. He’s also suggesting that the Dodgers A) should sign Trevor Hoffman and B) could be interested in acquiring Mike Lowell. Though I disagree that Jonathan Broxton needs to be “protected” or somehow can’t be trusted, I’m not against signing Hoffman at the right price. He might be 41, but he still bested his career WHIP last year. If the price is right? Why not. As for Lowell, he’s 35, injured, and owed $25 million. Just because he’s old, busted, expensive and a Red Sox doesn’t mean that he has to end up with the Dodgers. Oh… right. Of course it does. OKAY and PASS.

* I agree with T.J. Simers?! I hate it when this happens, but at least this time it’s just joining together to acknowledge that Bill Plaschke is awful.

I GO away and Plaschke immediately makes the case again not to bring back Manny Ramirez, while suggesting the Dodgers trade for Jake Peavy, Adrian Beltre and “count on the kids.”

Sounds like I’m not the only one in need of some time off.

* Come on Giants! I know the “Edgar Renteria signs with Giants” rumors were proven false (so far), but a man can still have a rooting interest. What could be better than your hated rival, supposedly in a rebuilding stage, committing $18 million and a draft pick to sign an over-the-hill shortstop? Renteria to the Giants! Feel the holiday spirit – if you believe in it hard enough, it can happen!

* And those other guys? Right, CC, Manny, and Furcal. Look, I think we all know the deal with these three. CC’s got an enormous offer on the table from the Yankees, but hasn’t accepted it yet. Manny got an expensive but short-term offer from the Dodgers, which was quickly rejected while Scott Boras tries to get someone to literally sign their souls over to him. Furcal… well, don’t keep your hopes up. By the time you read this, he might have signed with the Giants or A’s, but more likely he’s not going anywhere for a few weeks. Unfortunately, it does seem that where he does end up, it won’t be in Los Angeles – not when he’s (apparently) receiving four year offers. After all the injuries we watched him suffer through in his three year deal, don’t expect the Dodgers to beat that this time.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg