It's Friday evening and the trade deadline (well it's sort of a deadline anyway) is next Tuesday. The Dodgers seem to be at the center of every rumor right now, so let's take a look at some.
Now it is clear that the Dodgers will potentially need some pitching help. It appears that neither Lowe nor Penny will miss a start, so that's a good thing. Billlingsley has quietly begun his major league career going 14 and 3 (since he was called up last year) and has pitched a couple of very good games recently. The Dodgers need all three to stay healthy and pitch well. Penny is well on his way to the Cy Young Award and Lowe is usually better in the second half of the season. The key trade factor is how Randy Wolf looks when he comes off the DL. While Tomko has pitched a couple of OK games I'm not convinced (we'll see how he does in Denver tonight). Mark Hendrickson is just too unpredictable. One start he looks like a batting practice pitcher and the next he looks OK. But even when he's OK there is nothing convincing about him.
The problem in terms of trading, there do not appear to be any starters available that are any better than what the Dodgers have, unless the White Sox are going to let John Garland go (which I doubt).
In terms of relief pitching, Broxton and Saito are key. Without them pitching well, the Dodgers are not going far in the playoffs or in the division. Saito looked fine yesterday, but people forget that he is 38 years old, and the Dodgers have to be careful of running him out two or three days in a row until the stretch run and playoffs. Beimel is a situational guy, not a real holder for the 6th and 7th innings. Roberto Hernandez was not impressive at Las Vegas and has not been impressive thusfar with the Dodgers. Eric Hull, who was just called up, could be the guy. It was reported that Dodger GM Ned Coletti has been to Las Vegas to watch Jonathon Meloan (who was just promoted from AA Jacksonville where he was having a great season). My guess is that the Dodgers will bring Meloan up any day (Hernandez will be traded, demoted or released). D J Holton and Eric Stulz are starters and so far haven't shown that they are adapting to long relief. I think I'd rather see Stulz start than Mark Hendrickson though.
To the rumors:
Main Rumor: Octavio Dotel from Kansas City. Dotel, age 33 and coming off a stint on the DL, when pitching well is a front line setup guy/closer. He will probably command a 3yr $18million contract. He's a free agent at the end of the year. I don't see KC paying that kind of money for that kind of player right now. They want front line prospects. The rumor is the Dodgers sending AAA shortstop Chin Lung Hu for Dotel. That trade makes sense for both teams. The Dodgers are set at SS with Furcal and have other infield prospects as well. Hu is probably going to be a better major league second baseman, but KC needs just about one of everything in their rebuilding process.
Next: Mark Teixeria from Texas. This one should be about completely dead now. Texas wants too much and the Dodgers have James Loney who I think will be one of the top two or three first basemen in the majors in a couple of years and certainly will be a gold glove winner on a regular basis.
Also: Joe Kennedy from Oakland. Left handed pitchers are handy to have. But he's 3-9, 4.42 ERA and most importantly MORE WALKS THAN STRIKEOUTS! The Dodgers have better minor league options than this. I think Billy Beane just wants revenge for getting taken in the Milton Bradley for Andre Either trade.
Reportedly: The Dodgers have been looking at three relief pitchers from the Pirates. However, Pittsburgh's bullpen is one of the reasons that they are at the bottom of the NL. Like Joe Kennedy, the Dodgers have better and cheaper options in their own system.
Unless a front line starter somehow became available (not a rental to the end of the year), I think the Dodgers should still stand pat. Now, if Wolf is ineffective (or Lowe or Penny are more injured than it appears) that changes things a bit, but again, the starters reportedly available are not all that impressive. They would be better off perhaps rushing Clayton Kershaw a little and seeing what happens than to give up a prospect for one of the Matt Morris' of the world.
Suggestions for the Dodgers down the stretch: Bring up Andy LaRoche and let him play third base, especially if they trade Wilson Betimet. They have to make Russell Martin take a little more time off. He needs to be healthy and rested for the stretch run. Give up on Mark Hendrickson. Trade him, release him, do something. He's not an answer for any of the pitching issues. Here's a suggestion: send Betimet, Hendrickson, Tomko and maybe a AA catching prospect and another prospect to the Yankees for Philip Hughes.
Well, we can dream, can't we?
PS: While I would just as soon have the Yankees in the World Series so the Dodgers could beat them, that doesn't seem likely. So the next best thing might be to beat the Angels. Well, for the Angels to get into the World Series, they would be well advised to win on two of the rumors: Getting Teixeria from Texas so they could get some offensive production from firstbase (and provide some cover for Vlad) and they should really try to get Piazza from Oakland as a DH. That would give them the offense they will need to beat Boston and Detroit.
Posted by Narnia3 at July 27, 2007 3:56 PM | TrackBack