Official Los Angeles Dodgers Season Thread: NLCS vs Phillies

[frenchblue23]

I'm glad that they are finally doing something about Jones' fat butt wasting one of the 25 roster spots.

By Keith Law
Scouts Inc.

Andruw Jones, CF, Los Angeles Dodgers: I'm guessing both he and Juan Pierre will sail through waivers without anyone thinking about putting in a claim, as both are expensive and having horrible years. After they clear, Jones should be the player easier to trade; he has just one year left on his deal (as opposed to three for Pierre) and less money for the Dodgers to have to offer to remove him from their roster. I've also speculated that the Dodgers might outright Jones off their 40-man roster and assign him to Triple-A Las Vegas. It won't clear them of the financial responsibility, but it would free up the wasted spot on the 25-man roster. Jones has looked slow, tired and out of shape all season, but if the Dodgers eat more than half his salary, they might find a team willing to buy low and see whether he will put up a better contract year in 2009 than he did in '07.

 

[jbug88]

I really don't think we should get rid of Pierre.
What are the chances we are going to re-sign Manny? honestly? slim to none. I mean it could happen, but I wouldn't count on it.
we get rid of Pierre and Jones and then we are scrambling for that third outfield spot. Sorry, I'd rather have Pierre out there than Delwyn Young.

-J-

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by JBug88

I really don't think we should get rid of Pierre.
What are the chances we are going to re-sign Manny? honestly? slim to none. I mean it could happen, but I wouldn't count on it.
we get rid of Pierre and Jones and then we are scrambling for that third outfield spot. Sorry, I'd rather have Pierre out there than Delwyn Young.

-J-

I know it's probably too much to discuss a possible extension with Manny at this time, but they have to before making any drastic changes to theoutfield.

 

[frenchblue23]

P MAC...

Can we get an update?

 

[Los Angeles]

 

[bigmike23]

even if we dont resign manny im all for letting pierre kick rocks. he is lucky now that Furcal is out and we have no lead off hitter cause if furcal wasplaying pierre be warming that bench with jones

 

[frenchblue23]

Furcal

He's eying a September 1st return. If Dodgers are still in the race, I'm all for it, but they are out of it, he should just sit out for the season.

EDIT: Here's the article.....

Furcal hopes to return by Sept. 1

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, one month after undergoing back surgery for a bulging disk, was a pregame clubhouse visitor, indicating he was hopeful of returning when rosters expand Sept. 1, if not sooner.
"I feel a lot better than before," said Furcal, injured since May 6 after the best April of his career. "It doesn't bother me anymore."

Furcal has been undergoing physical therapy with API, the contracted clinic that specializes in sports rehab. He said he won't begin actual baseball activity for two weeks but has been working on stretching and strengthening that duplicate baseball motions.

"I don't want to come back and feel anything after I play awhile," Furcal said. "I want to get everything to feel all right, 100 percent. Back surgery is a bad thing and I don't want to rush."

However, the Dodgers' offense hasn't been the same without him at the top of the lineup. In addition, Furcal is eligible for free agency. He wants to show, and clubs need to see, that he is healthy before the free-agency season begins.

The Dodgers were 18-14 in games started by Furcal and are 36-41 without him.

"They say it's going well in Arizona," manager Joe Torre said. "For us to count on him would be wrong. But I've gotten the message, don't discount him coming back."

One of the first to greet Furcal was his newest teammate, Manny Ramirez.

"We never played on the same team, but Manny is one of the heroes in the Dominican," Furcal said. "We needed some guy like him."

 

[cl2423]

September 1st?! Thought Raffy would be out for the rest of the year. Sounds really good if Furcal can come back at that time anywhere close to 100%. Makes thislineup even more potent. And French, I really doubt that the Dodgers will be out of the race at the point, I have all the confidence that we will win the Westthis year.

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by CL2423

September 1st?! Thought Raffy would be out for the rest of the year. Sounds really good if Furcal can come back at that time anywhere close to 100%. Makes this lineup even more potent. And French, I really doubt that the Dodgers will be out of the race at the point, I have all the confidence that we will win the West this year.

I doubt that they would be out of the race too, as long as Manny keeps hitting them out, we are in a good position.

 

[oanonymous1o]

After recharging my batteries after a long, busy and amazing homestand, I will give my two cents.

I wish the Manny euphoria would have led us to a victory on Friday night. It was a long day, with Manny's press conference and all, him getting the gametying RBI or even a walk off would have been amazing. The two weekend games were,

, I haven't seen the stadium like that since the 2004 and 2006 playoffs. It was crazy. I am glad that Manny didn't accept CaseyBlake's offer to get "his favorite number, 30", since there would have been a lot of pissed off folks that purchased all the gear with #99 on it.

We have a tough stretch coming up, 29 games in 30 days starting tomorrow against the St. Louis Cardinals. Also, along with the still in contention Cardinals,we face the NL East leading Phillies eight times, and the Milwuakee Brewers. The schedule will be tougher than what the Snakes will be facing, they only playone team above .500 during the same stretch (Marlins).

I hope to have Furcal back, I really don't like Pierre in the lineup. Furcal brings more to the table and it also means an OF of Manny Ramirez (LF), MattKemp (CF) and Andre Ethier (RF). I know everyday is an adventure with Kemp in the outfield, but he has a better arm. Ethier isn't spectacular, but he issolid and consistent, he gets good at bats.

Ideally the lineup will look like this:

SS Furcal
CF Kemp
C Martin
LF Ramirez
1b Loney
RF Ethier
3b Blake
2b Kent

This month is going to make or break us. Hopefully Arizona keeps on struggling against lousy teams.

 

[am 1 fiend]

With the crazy weather the Mid-West is having right now (see last nights Cubs game) I will be surprised if tonights game gets played. Carpenter is pitchingtonight too

 

[jbug88]

to my fellow Dodger fans, not sure how many of you are up on Goldstar for tickets.
https://www.goldstar.com/join?p=F135828RP (and yes, that's a referral link. you don't have touse it, but I thank you ahead of time if you do)
This site has discount Clippers and Dodgers tickets every so often.
Decent seats too. I sat courtside at a Clippers opening night game alike 2 years ago for half price.
This is just an example of one of the Dodger deals they have right now
[table][tr][td]Title:[/td] [td]Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Venue:[/td] [td]Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA)[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Full Price:[/td] [td]$50.00 - $70.00[/td] [td] Our Price:[/td] [td]$27.00 - $37.00[/td] [/tr][/table]Tuesday, Aug. 12 @ 7:10pm
[table][tr][td]Preferred Field Box (Section 41-43)[/td] [td]$70.00[/td] [td]$37.00[/td] [td]$7.00[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Field Box (Section 4[/td] [td]$50.00[/td] [td]$27.00[/td] [td]$6.00[/td] [/tr][/table]so a $70 ticket is $44. not a bad deal.
That is the Biemel bobblehead night. (i'll be there that night, btw. Left field pavillion)
I think they have about 5 games right now for sale.
there are all kinds of thing on this site, not just sports. they have shows at the Pantages, so you can take lady friends, etc.

I got tickets (side orchestra) for the wife and I and a few friends for Les Miserables at the Pantages a few years ago.

-J-

 

[frenchblue23]

^^ I remember seeing tix on Goldstar for The Coliseum game back in March, and thought it wasn't legit, they had tix for $15 - $25, passed on it, thenregret it later when the coliseum game tickets were going for hundreds of dollars on ebay.

Pref. Field Box tickets for $44

Not bad at all.

I'll also be going on August 12 (My Birthday

)

 

[Los Angeles]

I hope they get to play a game tonight; although the footage from the Cubs game was

.

Current Weather:

97°F

Current:Cloudy
Wind: S at 0 mph
Humidity: 51%
Tue

99°F | 74°

The cloudy isn't a good look, the humidity

News & Notes:

[table][tr][td]
Life with Manny: Dodgers playing loose

Players say newest addition has taken pressure off them

By Michael Schwartz / MLB.com
[/td] [td]


[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][td]

With the spotlight focused squarely on Manny Ramirez (right), tension in the clubhouse has been eased. (AP)
[/td] [/tr][/table]
LOS ANGELES -- Manny Ramirez relaxed at his locker about two hours before Sunday's game, his Latin music blaring for all to hear while a host of new teammates stopped by to chat in both English and Spanish.
It didn't take long for Ramirez to make himself at home in Los Angeles' clubhouse with a spirit that has rejuvenated the Dodgers, about as long as it took for him to make an impact on the lineup.

"He's kind of brought a new life to our team," said All-Star catcher Russell Martin. "Everybody is kind of a little bit looser, having more fun, and we just know we're going to put runs on the board with him in the lineup."

Reports out of Boston said the Red Sox clubhouse became a better place with the subtraction of Ramirez, leading some to wonder if he would negatively affect the Los Angeles clubhouse, particularly with so many young, impressionable players.

Because of that, Dodgers manager Joe Torre said his biggest concern was how Ramirez might rub off on Los Angeles' prized youngsters, but pitcher Derek Lowe -- Ramirez's teammate for four seasons in Boston -- did not expect that to be an issue from the start.

"He's one of the easiest guys that I've ever known to get along with," Lowe said. "He's a superstar player, but he acts like he's 12. If you can't get along with him then shame on you. I knew this all along, having played with him for so many years, that his reputation and actually who he is couldn't be any farther apart, so it's been great."

Pitcher Chad Billingsley agreed the presence of Ramirez has added a spark to the team, knowing one of the best hitters in the game now wears Dodger Blue.

"When we added him, just L.A. and all the fans, and you just felt the excitement in the air," Billingsley said. "It gives us a spark. That's what it'll take to maybe get us deep into the playoffs, so obviously having him in the lineup changes how the opposing teams approach us. He just makes us better all around."

Martin and Matt Kemp expect to start seeing more fastballs hitting in front of Ramirez, with opposing pitchers leery of putting them on base before Los Angeles' new slugger steps to the dish. Therefore, Los Angeles' top-of-the-order hitters need to identify that likelihood and be more patient, Torre said.

As for Ramirez himself, despite being a 15-year veteran logging his first days of National League service time this weekend, he has needed no adjustment period to get used to his new league, which comes as no surprise to Torre.

After his first four-hit game of the season on Sunday, Ramirez is now batting .615 with two homers and five RBIs in 13 at-bats through three games as a member of the Dodgers.

"He's such a good hitter, and he's got such a basic approach to the game, through the middle," Torre said. "You can see where he hits the ball. That usually helps you offset the fact that you don't know these guys very well. He stays in the strike zone a long time."

Casey Blake, who had never suited up for a team that rallied around one star like this before the Ramirez trade, also played his entire nine-year career in the American League before his July 26 trade to Los Angeles.

Although he has not made quite the impact Ramirez has, Blake has also adjusted well to National League pitching, hitting .364 with four doubles in nine games. Blake said he has spoken to Ramirez about the task and both have handled it with ease thus far, wanting to impress their new fans while getting used to NL pitching.

James Loney, a young player who Torre has described as a bit goofy, likes having Ramirez in the clubhouse because he allows players to be themselves instead of feeling they need to act a certain way to conform to the peer pressure of the locker room.

Kemp also enjoys the spirit Ramirez brings to the team, celebrating with the former Boston star on Sunday after the young outfielder matched Ramirez with a homer of his own.

"He just likes to have fun," Kemp said. "He hit a home run, I hit a home run, so there was a little hype. This game is exciting. Having him on our team is great, and we're just having a lot of fun right now."

With the Dodgers already leading 8-3 in the ninth on Sunday, Pablo Ozuna punctuated Ramirez's opening weekend with a triple to dead center to score Ramirez, capped off by dramatically flying through the air like Superman, as Martin said, while diving into third, a play that symbolized the exuberance flowing through the club.

With over 52,000 fans packing Dodger Stadium and cheering Ramirez's every step these past three games, the last two of which the Dodgers won against the first-place D-backs to remain one game back in the NL West, the debut of 'Manny-mania' has been a smashing success thus far in Hollywood.

"Everybody's excited, everybody's playing hard, having fun, and that's what the game's all about," Martin said. "If you're having fun that means you're playing well and you're doing the right things.

"When you play loose that's when you play the best I feel, and when a team's loose and confident they're tough to beat."

Here are the NL players who might clear waivers this month, generally excluding injured players.
Dodgers: Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, Rafael Furcal, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Juan Pierre, Angel Berroa, Pablo Ozuna. I'm sure the Dodgers wouldn't mind unloading Jones or Pierre to clear up the outfield a bit.

Trading Greg Maddux to the Dodgers is still possible, though unlikely. There's also word that the Padres "tested the trade value" of Cla Meredith last week.


[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/08/freddy-garcia-t.html[/h1]

[h1]Freddy Garcia To Audition Today[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [August 5 at 9:35am CST]

Today's the big day...free agent Freddy Garcia will audition for teams in Miami. He's recovering from labrum surgery.

We've compiled reports over the past few months. Teams interested in Garcia at one point: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Tigers, Rays, Astros, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Twins, Indians, Mariners, and Royals. That's 16 of 30 teams, though the non-contenders may have dropped out.

Garcia's friend and former manager Ozzie Guillen doubted the pitcher's ability to contribute at the big league level this year. Garcia was upset by the comments.

 

[jbug88]

Has Jeff Kent said anything about Manny yet? he's such a grumpy old man, I wonder how he feels about all this youthful exuburence. remember, it was lastyear that he got all pissy with the youngsters, specifically Matt Kemp, because he thought everyone was too loose..

-J-

 

[oanonymous1o]

A healthy Brad Penny is better than getting Greg Maddux or Freddy Garcia. We don't need pitching, maybe a bullpen arm, but not a starter.

 

[cl2423]

^^Jeff Kent is a great player who will eventually be a hall of famer but that is definitely one thing I dislike of him. Hopefully, he doesn't say anythingnegative about Manny.

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by JBug88

Has Jeff Kent said anything about Manny yet? he's such a grumpy old man, I wonder how he feels about all this youthful exuburence. remember, it was last year that he got all pissy with the youngsters, specifically Matt Kemp, because he thought everyone was too loose..

-J-

I was just about to say the same thing....


We are seeing the players praise Manny, all except one, Jeff Kent.

Never seen him smile in the dugout, never seen him excited in the dugout, come on old man, you are playing a young kid's game, be happy.

 

[Los Angeles]

Jeff Kent ...loosen up buddy, ya damn cowboy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=AkryLHJVY0NloEAsgREc8UA5nYcB?gid=280803119

"I really appreciate Manny being here, but I don't think he's our savior," second baseman Jeff Kent said. "Everybody wants him to be-and, man, I hope he is. But we still have to pitch and we still have to play. Now that we're going to play with him, he'll make us better and we'll make him better."

Kent may have a better perspective on the situation than most because he played with Barry Bonds in San Francisco. And Kent is not yet ready to put Ramirez in that class.

"Barry was a home-run threat every at-bat," Kent said. "I mean, he hit 70 home runs in one year. Manny's not going to do that. … Hopefully, it'll just be easier for us to score runs than before when it was such a nail-puling issue for us."

 

[bigmike23]

Kent needs to shut his racist red neck *+# up

 

[jbug88]

Tommy Lasorda just "thanked"

me for going to the game the other day so I'll pass the savings onto my Dodger brethren.

Purchase Preferred Field Box tickets for just $30 (reg. $70) or Infield Reserve tickets for just $10 (reg. $2 for the August 11 game vs. Phillies & the August 15 game vs. Brewers. Save up to 60%!

This offer is available online only compliments of Macy's and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Simply enter "SHOP" underneath "Promotions and Special Offers" after clicking the next to the game you wish to attend.


-J-

 

[Los Angeles]

Hey Jbug is that purchasing tickets through Dodger.com?

If so, I'm getting some field box seats for the 15th of August, just waiting on some $.

Thanks!

 

[jbug88]

yeah, sorry dude.
through dodgers.com

-J-

 

[jpap348]

Originally Posted by JBug88


Tommy Lasorda just "thanked"

me for going to the game the other day so I'll pass the savings onto my Dodger brethren.

Purchase Preferred Field Box tickets for just $30 (reg. $70) or Infield Reserve tickets for just $10 (reg. $2 for the August 11 game vs. Phillies & the August 15 game vs. Brewers. Save up to 60%!

This offer is available online only compliments of Macy's and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Simply enter "SHOP" underneath "Promotions and Special Offers" after clicking the next to the game you wish to attend.

-J-


just ordered 2 tickets for the 15th, big thanks for that code Jbug

 

[Los Angeles]

Are there plenty more tickets on the 15th? (Field boxes)

I better get my damn check in time.