Kuzul

Now that catcher Victor Martinez is gone, where do Red Sox fans turn?

Who is going to be behind the plate next season. Will it be Varitek, Saltalamacchia….Kevin Cash?

These (okay, so hopefully not Kevin Cash) are all possible choices for the Red Sox in 2011. One thing has to be said, though: the market is incredibly short for catchers. If you want a grade A catcher, he’s got to come up through the farm system, plain and simple.

I humbly present five possible catching scenarios that could happen for the ’11 Sox.

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Among his dozens of cluttered notepads and hundreds of files containing scouting reports of players across Major League Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has the beginnings of an Opening Day roster plan stirring in the back of his mind.

Since the moment Colletti and team owner Frank McCourt announced a potential increased payroll budget for 2011, fans throughout Dodgertown have been imagining both the best and worst possible scenarios for the upcoming season.

Names such as Cliff Lee, Adam Dunn, Carl Crawford, Victor Martinez and Jayson Werth have been the talk of Tinseltown, yet with several minor tweaks and a few key additions, the Dodgers may not need to break the bank or sell the farm to once again emerge as contenders in the NL West.

On paper, the Boys in Blue weren’t as bad as their 2010 record suggested. However, problems with ownership, hostility within the coaching staff, and turmoil in the clubhouse created a negative chemistry which led to one of the more disappointing seasons in recent Dodgers history.

Colletti and new Los Angeles skipper Don Mattingly have been carefully assembling a coaching staff with all of the team’s best interests in mind, and with the proper bonding and a bit of luck, the Dodgers may create the exact type of locker room atmosphere which the squad desperately needs.

Of course, there are literally thousands of roster possibilities for next year, and a number of MLB experts and analysts are already tossing around names of players who may be taking the field at Chavez Ravine on Opening Day.

The following slides highlight seven bold predictions for the Dodgers’ Opening Day squad, offer a brief commentary for each and suggest a starting lineup against the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants on April 1.

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Unless something dramatic occurs at the McCourt divorce trial, it’s very safe to say that Frank McCourt will maintain control of the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into 2011. Even if Jamie finds herself on the winning end of Judge Scott Gordon’s decision, it’s quite possible that the appeals process could take up to several years, which would leave Frank in control indefinitely.

With Frank as chairman, the budget structure is likely to be similar to what the Dodgers utilized this year. It could be slightly less if Frank intends to make some type of an effort to reverse the overwhelming debt that he and his wife have brought onto the club over the past five years.

In the offseason, General Manager Ned Colletti will be faced with a number of very difficult decisions. Outside of the number of players who are eligible for arbitration, it’s conceivable that Colletti may be willing to deal several players to address numerous needs if the team does indeed have any shot at improving.

The trade market this winter may be difficult for Los Angeles, as a handful of Dodgers players may have seen their trade values drop as a result of poor performances in 2010. Colletti will be the chief orchestrator of putting together the squad for next year, and it will be no easy task considering the free-agent market is about the slimmest it’s been in recent past. If there’s no value in potential trades, the free-agent market could be the best option to improve, but payroll dollars will need to be freed up first to make any big market acquisitions possible.

In order to create the dollars to spend, the Dodgers will need to say farewell to at least a few players, whether it be by non-tendering a player, trading a player, or losing in arbitration.

The following slides show seven players Los Angeles may decide to move before the beginning of next year, and explain why these particular moves would be beneficial for the Dodgers moving forward.  

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Preface: This article is not just the best players at each position, no matter the circumstances (payroll, player preferences, owners, etc). The criteria used for the article includes all of the before mentioned attributes and they are factored in to each position.

The 2010 season is over for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Faithful fans are still watching, but the Boys in Blue are really only mathematically in it, not realistically.

As such, many are already looking forward to next season, and what could be for the Dodgers under certain circumstances.

Here are the optimal choices at each position, given payroll expenses and availability. For the sake of structure, only 2011 free agents are considered, although free agents with potential options in their contract are included.

According to mlbtraderumors.com, the Dodgers will still owe $15 million in deferred payments to former outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones.

The Dodgers will have $40 million to play with right out of the gate, but they’ll have Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla to resign, and both are expected to ask for higher salaries.

“Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Jonathan Broxton, and Matt Kemp account for the raises.  More increases will be due to arbitration-eligibles: Chad Billingsley, James Loney, and Hong-Chih Kuoenter their second year, Russell Martin his third, and George Sherrill his fourth.”

Sherill will most likely be non-tendered as well due to his poor performance and high $5 million salary. 

When all is said and done, the Dodgers will have a payroll around $100 million-$120 million, with about a $35 million-$50 million allowance.

Of course, all this depends on the status of the divorce between Frank and Jamie McCourt.

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As the Dodgers’ season appears to be slowly fading into a dismal abyss of disappointments and shortcomings, a welcomed break to the negativity is…well…the hot significant others of current and former Dodgers. 

While the Dodgers may be in disarray, one thing they have going for them is gorgeous women by their side cheering them up. Check out these shots of Dodgers wives, girlfriends, and ex’s past and present.

Also check out my article of The Top 10 Hottest Celebs in Dodger Blue of The Last Decade

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Due to the financial disarray created by the McCourt divorce, Russell Martin may be growing too expensive for the Los Angeles Dodgers to retain beyond this season, and the Boston Red Sox could try to “make a run” at the All-Star catcher, according to NESN analyst Peter Gammons.

While the Dodgers have indicated they are willing to spend at this year’s trade deadline, their sincerity and ability must be questioned due to the financial gridlock caused by ownership’s protracted divorce proceedings.

Arbitration-eligible again at the conclusion of the 2010 campaign, Martin looks to receive a significant raise should he wish to take his talents before an arbitration panel. If the Dodgers wish to avoid that uncomfortable scenario, they will need to make a substantial offer of their own in advance of that. Gammons and others question whether they have the resources to do so.

Connecting the dots between Martin’s potential availability and the Red Sox’ need for a strong offensive and defensive presence behind the plate, Gammons has suggested Boston as a likely fit for Martin, perhaps before the trade deadline, perhaps in the offseason.

With Victor Martinez set to hit the market as a Type-A free agent, the Red Sox could very well wish to offer him arbitration, collect their compensation picks for a very strong 2011 draft class, and make a deal for Martin.

Los Angeles is currently 5.5 games back in the National League West, and firmly in third place in both the divisional and wild card races.

Martin is hitting a career worst .246 with an anemic .678 OPS. At the same time, the Red Sox are really in need of a solid defensive presence behind the plate, and the Gold Glover has thrown out 25 of 62 would-be base stealers this season. For his career, Martin has thrown out 32 percent, so he seems to be improving in that category.

Acquiring Martin doesn’t automatically mean the Red Sox would part with Martinez, who has produced excellent offensive numbers in Boston, but it would certainly mean that he’d be shifted to another role with the team, possibly playing first to Kevin Youkilis’s third.

If you’d like to know as soon as Peter’s Red Sox articles have posted, you can follow him on Twitter at BoSoxUpdate.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What happened to Russell Martin?

It was only three seasons ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ catcher was taking the baseball world by storm. H e had made his first National League All-Star team, and won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards— all in the same year.

2007 turned out to be his signature season— Martin appeared in 151 games, batted .293, jacked 19 homeruns, drove home 87 runners, had a slugging percentage of .469, and even stole 21 bases.

He was developing a reputation of having a cannon for an arm, and would-be base stealers around the league feared him— he threw out 41 total runners that year, which calculated to a nearly 34 percent caught stealing percentage.

Martin was named to another All-Star team in 2008, and although he posted very productive numbers, had a slight drop-off from 2007. His .280 batting average, 13 HR, 69 RBI and .396 slugging percentage were still among the league leaders for catchers.

His most startling statistic for 2008 was that he appeared in 155 games. That’s right, 155 games.

Prior to the 2009 campaign, Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Jr. (yes, that’s his birth name) added the initial “J” to the back of his jersey on his uniform. It was a gesture to honor his mother, Suzanne, whose maiden name is Jeanson.

The change on his uniform didn’t spark any additional production. In fact, 2009 saw the catcher’s output decrease.

He batted only .250 for the year, while recording only seven homeruns and 53 RBI. His .329 slugging percentage was a drop-off of 67 percentage points from 2008, and a full 140 points from 2007. He did, nonetheless, appear in 143 total games. 2009 turned out to be his most unproductive season in the majors, by far.

At the halfway point of the 2010 season, Martin is currently batting .246 with four HR and 19 runs batted in, and it is clear his numbers are continuing to decline.

Defensively, Martin already has eight errors this year, which surpasses the total of seven that he had for the entire 2009 season.

So what’s the reason for the atrophy?

Is it because he added a letter to his jersey? Probably not.

Although he hasn’t put up nearly the same types of numbers since the uniform change, the primary explanation for his decline is the fact that he is entirely overused behind the dish.

His 151 games played in 2007, 155 in 2008, and 143 in 2009 are unprecedented for a catcher in Major League baseball today. And keep in mind, although he did have a handful of pinch-hitting appearances, most of these games were played behind the plate.

Whether it’s the fault of management for overplaying Martin, the fault of the farm system for not having a suitable catcher to cover for him, or whether it’s something that was completely overlooked altogether— is total speculation.

The irony is that in 2002, the year Russell Martin was taken in the 17th round of the amateur draft, he was signed as a third baseman. It wasn’t until a year later that a scout saw him playing catcher in Rookie League for the Gulf Coast Dodgers that his career began to soar behind the dish.

However, up until now, the Dodgers haven’t really experimented with Martin playing any other positions in the field.

The biggest challenge that the Dodgers’ managers and coaches currently face is trying to find a way to reverse the decline.

On the flip side, despite it seeming like he’s been around forever, Martin is only 27 years-old, and one would reason that all of the wear and tear of playing catcher shouldn’t have caught up to him just yet.

Perhaps a change of scenery would resurrect his young career. Maybe a move to the American League where he could double-up as a designated hitter could spark his production, and also provide the rest he needs to recover from the laborious duty behind the plate.

Considering the Dodgers’ current financial situation, and the types of numbers that he’s putting up now, Los Angeles may decide to choose to non-tender him when his contract expires at the end of this season.

If that’s indeed the case, it would make much more sense to trade him now, while he still has value and could bring in a very profitable return.

According to the Elias Rankings, which are compiled at the end of every Major League season, Martin is a type A player, and is still ranked third best among all the catchers in the National League.

However, if he continues his current production pace in 2010, coupled with his declined performance in 2009, those rankings and values will certainly drop. It may be much more sensible for the Dodgers to deal him now while he still has positive worth.

Maybe a new uniform is the answer— a different team’s uniform.

Or perhaps if he removed the letter “J” from the back of his jersey, he would revert to tearing the hide off of the ball like he did in 2007 and 2008.

Sometimes superstition and mystical energy work in funny ways. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Dodger Stadium has always been the perfect venue for celebrities to make public appearances while cheering on the Boys in Blue from Tinsel Town.

This is a compilation of the hottest bodies to wear the hottest uniform in Major League Baseball, men and women.

There is no shortage of famous people to add to the list of appearances at Chavez Ravine, so this list is debatable and suggestions are welcome!

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