OFFICIAL 2009 DODGERS SEASON THREAD : Season Over. Congratulations Phillies.

[bigmike23]

its going to suck having brox as are closer

 

[div1lbc]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

its going to suck having brox as are closer

Yeah it will. I can already see him blowing a bunch of saves.

 

[sinser13]

I feel like im going to have a heart attack every time he's out there pitching.

 

[cincoseisdos]

Why would it suck though? He's getting NO burn in the WBC, he needs to get those pitches out of the way, he needs to settle into the role.

03/17/09 8:50 PM ET
[h1]Pedro talk persists in Dodgers camp[/h1] [h2]Speculation increases the longer LA goes without fifth starter[/h2]
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com

PHOENIX -- Before one of the Dominican Republic's recent World Baseball Classic games, Pedro Martinez told Tom Lasorda he wanted to finish his career where it started, with the Dodgers.
"That's what he said," said Lasorda, Martinez's former manager. "I don't know, it was just conversation."

The longer the Dodgers go without a clear-cut No. 5 starter, the more conversation about Martinez occurs.

Manny Ramirez said he called Martinez on Sunday morning after hearing media reports that Martinez might be coming to the Dodgers.

"He said he has two options," said Ramirez. "I don't know what he's going to do. He has to do what's best for him."

The two options most often speculated are the Dodgers, his original team, and the Mets, his most recent team. The Mets have said they won't sign him. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti left the door open slightly when he said "a lot of things would have to fall into place."

Foremost, presumably, is the pitcher's asking price, which is more along the lines of a Cy Young winner (which he was, three times) than a fifth starter (which he would be for the Dodgers).

Martinez, who has earned $146 million in his career, reportedly wants a contract similar to the one another former Cy Young winner, John Smoltz, received from Boston -- $5.5 million guaranteed with nearly another $5 million if he stays healthy.

The Dodgers are believed willing to pay Martinez more along the lines of a fifth starter, with a modest guarantee plus incentives. They are concerned about his three years of health problems. They've seen in the Classic games that Martinez has added a slurve to his repertoire of pitches and he has command around the plate, but his fastball only occasionally sneaks past 90 mph.

It was good enough against The Netherlands. How it plays at age 37 in the National League is the question, especially after he went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA with the Mets last year.

Even Pedro's older brother, Ramon, isn't sure where he'll land. Ramon started working with the Dodgers' Minor League pitchers Tuesday.

"He said he would like to come back," said Ramon, a former 20-game winner for the Dodgers. "He would be very good with the young pitchers."

The Dodgers are counting on so many young pitchers this year -- Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo and Cory Wade -- that they would prefer the fifth starter have a few more lines of service time on the back of his baseball card.

So far, though, the Dodgers aren't much closer to finding a fifth starter from the in-house candidates than they were when camp opened, as manager Joe Torre conceded Tuesday. Other than three scoreless innings from Eric Stults in a Saturday "B" game, a flurry of recent outings really hasn't narrowed the field of contenders because nobody has pitched well enough to take the job.

"It's not crunch time yet," Torre said. "We still have a lot of bodies here, and we're trying to find out roles. There's a lot of guys sensing decisions have to be made."

Torre declined to even name the candidates, although from what he's said in the past, they are: lukewarm favorite Eric Milton, Claudio Vargas, Shawn Estes and Stults.

Torre said he's most familiar with Milton, who was a Yankees Minor Leaguer under Torre and has the experience.

"I have firsthand knowledge about his makeup," Torre said. "You want somebody you feel keeps his wits about him. I don't think Eric is the kind of pitcher who beats himself and gets overwhelmed by the situation."

Jason Schmidt won't be ready by the start of the season for a starter's job, Torre said, and he needs too much time to loosen up to be considered for a bullpen job. Jeff Weaver is now considered only for relief.

Rookie James McDonald, once considered likely for a relief job and possibly a starter, now is in jeopardy of not even making the club. He's been slow to make in-game adjustments when he struggles this spring, and the thinking is that McDonald needs to pitch regularly to improve. The erratic usage of a middle reliever might hinder his advancement. He allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings Tuesday and has a 7.71 ERA.
"Do we question his ability? No," Torre said of McDonald before Tuesday's game. "We have to question, is he going to get enough work to have him make sense? We think highly of him, and he showed in the postseason he can handle the heat."

 

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by Div1LBC

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

its going to suck having brox as are closer

Yeah it will. I can already see him blowing a bunch of saves.

I for one, am not a Broxton supporter in the closer role. I just don't think he has it in his blood - to be the clutch lights out, pitcher we need to closeout games.

I hope this offseason and pitching for the WBC (although, I don't think he's pitched much) has helped him mature. He presses too much once he gives upa hit or a walk, and the whole world can see it, and when the world see's it ... Broxton feels it .... when Broxton feels it - it's no good.

We all know this dude has an amazing 99MPH fastball, but as we've seen that fastball can only get you so far - if he's not changing speedsdramatically, GOOD hitters can catch up to his heaters as seen from last year.

He's just one of those players that thrive in a specific role and that's the setup man ... I'm hoping big things from the Big Ox.


Btw, Pedro Update:

TUESDAY, 9:35pm: Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle talked to Astros GM Ed Wade, who said the team has had "zero discussions" on the Pedro front. Martinez is not close to signing with the Astros. De Jesus Ortiz was also able to determine in talking to owner Drayton McLane that he is not selling the team or firing, hiring, or signing anyone. The press conference also has nothing to do with steroids. MLB.com's Alyson Footer also confirmed that the Astros are not close to an agreement with Pedro.

 

[frenchblue23]

Another false rumor by mlbtraderumors.com

 

[mr jordan04]

Pedro is gonna have to bring his asking price a little lower and the dodgers are gonna have to show real interest. They're both gonna have to meet halfwaysomewhere.

 

[sinser13]

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez spoke to Pedro and learned that the pitcher is down to two options (MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reporting). SI.com's Jon Heyman wrote Monday that the Mets and Dodgers seem to be the likely possibilities.

 

[amarusgear]

anyways,

this morning i was struggling trying to find my dodger tickets maybe for like 2 hours, then i remembered i cleaned out all this paperwork i had in my closet, i went outside and dug deep in the trash bins and there was my envelope with all my dodger ticket
Lucky, I had that happen to me before. But I always tend to remember a couple weeks later.

We need to sign Pedro ala Boston signings, low guaranteed contract with many incentives.


http://

 

[Los Angeles]

^it's the worst feeling ever

but yeah, manny is tryna bring him on board

Update: Beimel gone!

[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/03/nationals-beimel-agree-to-terms.html[/h1]

[h1]Nationals Ink Joe Beimel, Cut Shawn Hill[/h1]
By Drew Silva [March 18 at 2:55pm CST]

According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals have agreed to terms with Joe Beimel on a one-year, $2MM deal. In a corresponding move, the Nats released starter Shawn Hill.


Will Ohman

Kuroda is getting the nod!

Joe Torre told us this morning, just as he headed out the door to play golf on the team's final off-day of the spring. It wasn't an off-day for Chad Billingsley, as he pitched five innings in a minor-league intrasquad game. He gave up three runs on five hits, including a two-run homer to Dodgers infield prospect Austin Gallagher, but he threw a spring-high 76 pitches and said afterward he felt great and had a chance to work on a lot of things. He threw a TON of changeups.
As for the rotation, it sounds like Kuroda's playoff performance, and the fact he really is a veteran even though he technically was a rookie last year, played a big factor here. He'll start the April 6 opener at San Diego. And Billingsley, who was the regular-season ace and led the team with 16 wins, will start the third game in San Diego on April 8 -- and more importantly, he now gets to start the home opener against the Giants on April 13.
Randy Wolf will pitch Game 2 on April 7, Clayton Kershaw Game 4 on April 9, also at San Diego. The fifth starter is yet to be determined.

well deserved, kuroda has looked solid this spring.

on another note, our whole pitching staff is very suspect

 

[p mac one]

Ya'll spoiled

We've had one of the best closers in baseball for the past like 5 years.

Either way you slice it, we have two young relievers who throw really hard from both sides. We should be ok at the back end of the bullpen if Kuo stayshealthy.

Remember this, Broxton's job just got a lot easier. A set-up man's job is a lot harder than the closer in most occasions because they are often reliedon to come in with runners on base, and get the best hitters out. Broxton is going to come in more often with the bases empty, and often times he won'teven face the middle of an order.

Broxton and Kuo are as good of a young duo as youre gonna find, especially with Wade being right there. Sure they're gonna have growing pains, andthey're going to be magnified by the situations they happen in, but we'll be ok.

 

[jpap348]

These came in today:

 

[Los Angeles]

whatta balla

 

[cincoseisdos]

Originally Posted by jpap348

These came in today:

15 game pack?

 

[amarusgear]

Now thats sexy!

 

[jpap348]

Originally Posted by CincoSeisDos

Originally Posted by jpap348

These came in today:

15 game pack?

yup, plus 10 game bonus

 

[cincoseisdos]

sweet

gold glove or silver slugger?

 

[jpap348]

^Silver Slugger

 

[jakecuevas]

^ 25 games??

how did you score that??

 

[cincoseisdos]

Originally Posted by jpap348

^Silver Slugger

If you don't mind me asking, why did you opt for this instead of the GG?
I went with the GG in order to get mostly weekend games, plus the bobblehead tickets are nice.

^ 25 games??

how did you score that??

it's a 15 game plan, after you have an option to purchase an additional 10 games for dumb cheap

 

[jpap348]

Originally Posted by CincoSeisDos

Originally Posted by jpap348

^Silver Slugger

If you don't mind me asking, why did you opt for this instead of the GG?
I went with the GG in order to get mostly weekend games, plus the bobblehead tickets are nice.

^ 25 games??

how did you score that??

it's a 15 game plan, after you have an option to purchase an additional 10 games for dumb cheap



Thursday/Sunday games just worked better for me and my friend. I'm mad I don't get the Manny bobble head night though

 

[son of troy]

Mariners @ the Ravine June 27th

 

[in yo nostril]

why are tickets for this WBC so expensive. place is gonna be like half full this weekend

 

[cincoseisdos]

I myself was questioning that, 3 weeks after I bought mine

They really are pricing themselves out of filling the park, tickets 25% less wouldve done the trick, but they're setting these prices with blinders on...

 

[Los Angeles]

i was thinkin the same thing lookin at the prices on craigslist.