Tag: LATimes

Six Current Los Angeles Players Damaged by Dodgers Management

At the beginning of the 2010 season, hopes and dreams in Dodgertown were filled with very high expectations.

Not only did the Los Angeles Dodgers expect to return to the playoffs, but many thought that this could also be the year that the Blue Crew would return to the World Series for the first time in over 20 years.

However, with just over one-quarter of the season remaining, Los Angeles has been on a turbulent roller coaster ride and finds itself in an almost impossible position to even make a run at the wild card spot in the playoffs.

Critics around baseball seem to argue that the dozens of injuries throughout the course of the season were keys to the demise of the Dodgers in 2010. However, one of the crucial ingredients to a triumphant squad is the team’s ability to overcome injuries. Looking back at past World Series champions, roster depth was among the critical elements of success.

Besides the speculation as to whether manager Joe Torre will return for yet another season, the torrid divorce proceedings between team owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie have also been credited for the poor play of the Boys in Blue. Yet logically these factors should by no means have an effect on the way the players perform on the field.

Some players just have substandard seasons—plain and simple. But it’s more than coincidental that at least a half-dozen Dodgers players have seen a downward spiral during the 2010 campaign.

One area that has slipped under the radar of being blamed for the lackluster play of Los Angeles is the coaching—most specifically the pitching and the batting coaching specialists.

The following frames show six Dodgers who have been negatively affected by their own management, as well as offer commentary on how each player’s season has been damaged.

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Dodgers Win 2011 World Series: A What If? Timeline

The Los Angeles Dodgers are fading fast, and are already eying the San Francisco Giants with a fleeting hope of making a remarkable comeback and a wild-card berth.

Realistically, the Dodgers are most likely turning their focus to 2011, and the uncertainty that lies on the horizon.

It is becoming more possible that the McCourts, Frank and Jamie, will be ordered to sell the team while they can’t settle marital differences. A new owner would likely provide some financial stability.

Several Dodgers will be free agents at the end of the 2010 season, including James Loney, Hiroki Kuroda, Manny Ramirez, and Vicente Padilla.

In addition to the potential loss of key players, the Dodgers will still be paying estranged outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones.

With all the turmoil of under-performing players along with injuries and soap-opera drama in the front office, there is a brighter outlook for devoted fans…

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Five Other MLB Teams Left for Dead

With Major League Baseball now 48 hours removed from the non-waiver trade deadline, we look back at teams that either made a move that didn’t help them enough or teams that didn’t make a move that should have.

We’ll go through six different teams who will be left out of the playoff races strictly because they didn’t do enough to help their team down the stretch.

With all the rumors and all the talk going on from the start of Saturday morning all the way through the absolute insanity of the final hour, it showed us who was serious about making a run this year and who just didn’t do enough to get them back into their divisional race.

There are several races still up for grabs, and while there were a few teams that didn’t need to do anything to keep themselves in the race, or even overcome the divisional leader, there were teams that made moves that didn’t quite help them enough.

Here’s my list of six teams that either didn’t help themselves enough or didn’t help themselves at all.

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MLB Trade Rumors: 10 Rumors the Los Angeles Dodgers Should Consider

The Los Angeles Dodgers head into next week’s trade deadline looking to add a piece that will vault them back into serious contention in the National League West.

Entering Thursday’s action, the Dodgers find themselves six games back of the first place San Diego Padres having lost seven of their last 10 games.

That is a bad recipe for a team that entered the season with loftier expectations. However, the Dodgers are also in a tricky situation.

A heated divorce between owner Frank McCourt and his wife has left the team very much cash strapped without the ability to add a big money player. That leaves the Dodgers looking for good deals that will not incur much of a financial commitment.

But there are deals out there? Or will the Dodgers be forced to take on salary with the hope of making a charge over the last eight weeks of the season?

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Los Angeles Dodgers Midterm Report Card: Pitching Evaluations

With the official halfway point of the season having already passed on July 4, the Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves amidst another tight race in the always competitive NL West division.

At the 81-game mark, the Dodgers were sitting in second place, trailing the surprising San Diego Padres by 3.5 games; however, the journey thus far hasn’t been easy.

The entire Los Angeles squad has been plagued by injuries during the first half of the season, and the pitching staff has been hit especially hard.

The Dodgers marched a total of 19 different pitchers to the mound before the halfway mark—an indicator of both adjustments made for injury and poor-quality pitching.

The total number of pitchers used already this season is just six players shy of a full 25-man Major League roster.

In this initial installment of evaluations, all of the pitchers who have appeared during the season thus far will be evaluated and graded. In the second and final installment, all of the position players will be put under the microscope.

The following frames highlight each of the 19 pitchers who have taken the hill so far this season and show a letter grade and commentary for each player.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Hot Stove: Examining the Trade Possibilities

It’s almost impossible to explain the true essence of the authentic Los Angeles Dodgers fan. The average baseball follower around the league has a stereotypical opinion about a genuine Dodger supporter, but that average follower doesn’t understand at all. True Dodger fans get hooked; there’s a clean-cut, majestic wholesomeness about them. They Think Blue, Bleed Blue, and they’ll talk until they’re Blue in the face.

All that being said, that same Dodger enthusiast is impatient. Successful performance is a must. Good results are required; and they are required now.

The truth is, that at this moment, the Los Angeles Dodgers are an average baseball team. Injuries have plagued the squad for the entire first half of the season, and every time it seems like the Blue Crew is developing that much needed chemistry, another player falls victim to the disabled list.

Yet they still remain in contention. Every season, the baseball sages preach that if a team is within five games of the divisional leader at the All-Star break, that team can make a legitimate run at the title.

However, one glaring statistic that stings the morale of the Dodger fanatic is the fact that since 1990, only five National League teams have not appeared in a World Series; and the Los Angeles Dodgers are among those teams.

Many think by adding a high quality starter to the Dodger pitching staff, Los Angeles will not only return to the NCLS, but also have a realistic chance of claiming their first World Series title since 1988.

Dodgers’ general manager Ned Colletti has indeed confirmed that he has been in contact with numerous teams willing to deal pitchers, though it is unknown exactly what type of pitcher Colletti is targeting.

The following slides illustrate ten of the many possible players Los Angeles may target before the July 31 trade deadline.

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The 10 Hottest Women to Throw the First Pitch at Dodger Stadium

Dodger Stadium, the third oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, is renowned for its rich heritage, the world class playing surface, the picturesque skyline, and is home to the most popular concession food in baseball, the Dodger Dog.

It was built in the mid-1950s by team president Walter O’Malley, and is one of the few remaining stadiums in the Major Leagues without a corporate sponsored name.

Such icons as Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Tommy Lasorda, Walter Alston, Roy Campanella, and Jim Gilliam live eternally with their uniform numbers mounted below the pavilion roofs behind the outfield fence.

Besides the renowned legacy and top caliber play on the diamond, the club offers many other forms of entertainment and recreation for the Dodger faithful.

The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game; and what’s a better way to start a ballgame than having a widely known, gorgeous hottie chuck in the first ball?

The following frames show—in order—the 10 hottest women ever to grace the mound at Dodger Stadium and begin the game by throwing out the first pitch.

It’s also worth mentioning that in the endless hours of research it took in putting together this slideshow, it is not known if Alyssa Milano, one of the biggest die-hard Dodger junkies around, has ever thrown out a first pitch in Los Angeles.

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Chad Billingsley Out as Injuries Continue to Hinder Dodgers Pitching Staff

Just when it seemed as if things were getting brighter for the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff, the team was dealt another blow on Tuesday afternoon, when they announced that Chad Billingsley would be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a groin injury.

According to team reports, Billingsley suffered the injury sometime during his start in Friday’s 10-1 loss against the Los Angeles Angels.

The results of an MRI revealed nothing, but Billingsley still showed signs of strain in a throwing session on Tuesday. Dodgers manager Joe Torre quickly determined that the disabled list would be a wise precaution.

“It’s [a groin injury], the one you can predict the least, because you can warm up, you can have a simulated game, but until you get on the mound and push off in a regular game, you’re never sure,” Torre said. “So we’re going to take the safe route.”

Depending on the exact nature of the injury, groin problems can be very serious; the best medicine, in most cases, is just plain rest.

After Friday’s defeat to the Angels, Billingsley’s season record was 6-4 with a 4.34 earned run average. His next scheduled start was set for the series finale on Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds.

John Ely (3-3, 3.38 ERA) will be moved up in the rotation to start in Billingsley’s place, while Carlos Monasterios will start on Friday to fill the void in the rotation.

Monasterios (3-1, 2.98 ERA) assumed he was headed to the bullpen with the return of starter Vicente Padilla, who is scheduled to pitch Saturday at Boston.

Padilla’s start will mark only his fifth of the season and his first since going on the DL with a wrist injury in late April.

Critics around the majors are already saying that this is an “injury of convenience” for the Dodgers, because otherwise, Los Angeles would have been forced to reassign someone on the roster to make room for Padilla.

Many thought the player likely for re-assignment was Justin Miller, who has no options left on his contract. Miller was 0-0 with a 3.48 ERA in seven appearances and 10.1 innings pitched for the Dodgers this season.

It was doubtful that Miller would have cleared waivers. Several teams already showed interest in Miller as middle relievers are at a premium this time of the year for many squads throughout MLB.

Middle relief is plentiful for the Dodgers right now, both on the big league roster and throughout the farm system.

However, questions are still circulating in Dodgerland about acquiring another starter, but any trade talks being made in the front office are unknown at this time.

Dodgers owner and chairman Frank McCourt is still insisting that money is not a factor in the daily operation of the baseball club.

Whether or not Los Angeles will make any moves in terms of obtaining a starting pitcher before the trade deadline on July 31 remains to be seen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Kiko Calero Call-Up Likely for Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed veteran right-handed pitcher Kiko Calero to a minor league contracton Friday, but his call-up to the Major League roster can be expected, possibly in the next week.

Following being swept for the first time at Chavez Ravine by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, concerns are once again rising regarding Dodgers pitching. In the three games this weekend, the Dodgers’ pitching staff surrendered 20 runs while the offense could only produce eight runs.

The key to the recent Dodgers success prior to the “Freeway Series” was the ability of the bullpen to relieve excellent efforts from the starting pitching.

In the month of June, the Dodgers are 7-5 while scoring just 43 runs in those 12 games, an average of 3.58 runs per game. If you remove an offensive outburst against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, June 7, in which the Dodgers scored 12 runs, that average drops to 2.58 RPG.

The key pitching that has fueled the Dodgers’ winning record in June has suddenly turned to a weakness as the pitching staff has struggled.

Calero can add experience and depth to a bullpen desperately needing stability; an issue that has plagued them all season. Thus far in his brief work at Triple-A Albuquerque, Calero has two shutout innings while allowing just one hit, with a .143 opponent’s batting average.

Make no mistake: The Dodgers signed Calero with the intention of adding him to the major league bullpen, and if the current pitchers on the roster continue to struggle, it won’t be long until Calero makes his debut in Dodger Blue.

It appears as though every time the pitching staff struggles, the offense picks up the slack, and when the offense lapses, the pitching staff proves invaluable. The Dodgers are just a game out of first place and hold the second best record in the National League.

Perhaps just a few small pieces are missing to solidify a playoff-type roster, and perhaps Calero is one of those small pieces. Dodger fans will most likely know in a few short weeks.

 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Cliff Lee vs. Roy Oswalt: Who Would be the Better Dodger?

Just under 50 games in to the 2010 season, the first word of potential trade brewings has surfaced for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to the Dodgers’ website, the team has inquired about pitchers Roy Oswalt of the Houston Astros and Cliff Lee of the Seattle Mariners. Although both teams responded with a “No, for now” it doesn’t necessarily mean the door can’t be opened later.

But which pitcher would make a better fit in Tinsel Town? Perhaps the pitcher with the ability to eat up innings or simply keep the Dodgers in the game long enough for the offense to solidify a victory. If not that, at the very least keep hitters from sending the ball to left field.

On the slides to follow will be a break down of Roy Oswalt’s attributes and Cliff Lee’s skills, respectively. Along with statistics will be an inside look at each player, and how they might fare in Los Angeles.

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