Well, the trade deadline is now 13 days away and the trade rumors (read here also "wishful thinking") are beginning to pile up.
Honestly, I don't think the Dodgers should make any big trades at the moment. The Dodgers need perhaps two things: one more relief pitcher and one more starter. The problem here is that so does just about every other contender and there is not much stock on the shelves so to speak in either category at the moment.
The first rumor for the Dodgers has been relief pitch Octavio Dotel of Kansas City to the Dodgers. Now, first of all the Royals reportedly want either Matt Kemp or James Loney. Well, that pushes "wishful thinking" into the realm of delusional thinking. That kind of trade is not going to happen. Beyond that Dotel has been injured this year and is a free agent at the end of the year.
The Dodgers have a built in probable solution that costs them nothing. In Jacksonville (AA team), Jonathan Meloan has been really, really good. He's currently 5-2, 18 saves, 2.06 era, 65-18 strike out to walk ratio and about 20 more innings pitched than hits allowed. In a hitters league like that, these are impressive numbers. So, bring him up and let him learn the ropes setting up Broxton and Saito. A trade at this point does not seem in the Dodgers best interest.
Another rumor that surfaced today is Troy Glaus coming to the Dodgers from Toronto. Yes, the Dodgers have gotten little production at Third Base, so it depends on what Toronto wants. Since almost every inquiry to the Dodgers starts with Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw (probably one of the best minor league pitching prospects in all baseball), the answer should be no if they want either of these two. Loney and Either should also be off-limits.
This is really the only true position need that exists. Nomar, unless he's really injured and just not telling anyone, seems to have declined rapidly since mid-season last year and may be at the end of his productive career (and I don't see him staying around as a bench player or utility guy). The most perplexing things about Nomar is his lack of power and extra base hits. He's become essentially a singles hitter and I'm not really sure why. He's making good contact, but the ball isn't going anywhere. He's also not catching up with fastballs as in the past, pitchers are throwing 92-93 mph fastballs by him; but he's not really striking out at an alarming rate. He seems to play hard, seems to be in good shape, his fielding is OK; but for whatever reason he simply cannot hit anything but singles. It's too bad because he seems to a really good guy who really wants to help the team.
I'm not giving up on Wilson Betimet yet. He's probably going to be the regular third baseman pretty soon (if he isn't already). But...
The other rumor is that the Yankees are desperately trying to acquire Betimet from the Dodgers. Now of course as a Dodger fan I don't really want to help the Yankees too much (just enough so they get in the World Series so the Dodgers can beat them). The rumor is that they are offering Scott Proctor. Personally, I don't think that's a good enough deal for the Dodgers. Beimet has a lot of potential and is too young to give up on yet. Proctor is a 30 year old "organization player" below average stats and no particular upside. The Dodgers could bring one of several up from Las Vegas who would be comparable.
Finally, the play of James Loney has made the Mark Tiexeria rumors completely moot. I doubt the Dodgers were ever even serious about considering him.
I did read Keith Law's chat today and he suggested that the Dodgers could trade Mark Hendrickson to the Philadelphia 76er's. He and Brett Tomko could easily be traded but I'm not sure the Dodger's could get plane fare for either of them right now. They are both boat anchors and taking up roster spaces that the Dodgers should consider giving to someone else.
Well, we will see what new "rumors" turn up the rest of the week. I really wonder sometimes how many of these "rumors" are just stuff made up by baseball beat writers who need something to generate interest.
Posted by Narnia3 at July 18, 2007 7:04 PM | TrackBack