The Red Sox Top 15 will be up later, right now I have something that just set me off that I saw on Sportscenter (had no choice, was at the Gym and it was either that or reruns of ER. And I hate ER.)
Steve Phillips was asked for his recommandations to the Dodgers on how he would make their team a World Series contender. After hearing him talk, I quickly wondered what reality he was talking about.
Here are Phillips' takes, more or less, and my own, in full unedited glory.
Step 1 – Trade for Miguel Cabrera or Sign Alex Rodriguez
First off, I will credit Phillips with correctly identifying the Dodgers' need for power in the lineup. However, this is the wrong way to go with it. If you take Phillips’ later assumptions into account, it’s going to have to be Rodriguez or nothing, as the Marlins currently are assembling a list of players that they are targeting from different organizations that they would want in return for the potential Hall of Fame hopeful. One of those is almost certainly going to be Clayton Kershaw, a young lefty that is going to be as good as Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.
Kershaw would have to be sent back in any deal that for Cabrera, that's a given. It was Kershaw that was a sticking point in the Dodgers' failed negotiations this past summer for Mark Teixeira.
As for A-Rod, he'll cost nothing but money, but it'll be a WHOLE LOT of money.
My Solution - Why Not Settle With What you have in house? The Dodgers have a perfectly good third base prospect in Andy LaRoche, who has hit the batting line of .295/.525/.901 in the minors and has averaged 18 Homers and 61 RBIs in an average of 90 games per season. Why not give him a full season to prove that he can hit? He's a lot cheaper than Rodriguez or Cabrera and would give a power boost to the lineup as well.
And if you must get rid of LaRoche, go after a cheaper first baseman to save some money for what is about to come next. The Rangers would be happ to give up Hank Blalock straight up for LaRoche. The Pirates would be willing to give up Freddy Sanchez if it meant getting LaRoche.
The only possible way of getting Cabrera might be asking the Marlins if they'd be receptive to a deal of a paid for Juan Pierre (solving their centerfield issue), LaRoche (solving third while improving the infield defense) and including Andre Ethier and Jonathan Broxton. That woudl be the only way I could see a deal for Cabrera working, though I would prefer to just use LaRoche.
Step 2 – Sign Andruw Jones, Aaron Rowand, or Torii Hunter to play centerfield and move Juan Pierre to left
Yikes. Here's another bad idea.
Pierre is a terrible outfielder and has a weak arm as well. He's probably one of the worst contracts signed in the Ned Colletti era.
Philips said that acquriing one of the three centerfielders mentioned above would not only improve the offense, but also improve the defense as well.
Here's an idea, which would work with Philips' plan and would still have the desired effect.
Trade Pierre for whoever you can get, preferrably a reliever or a swingman to help the pen and the rotation if necessary. Second, play Etheir (provided he's not traded, of course) in left, and play Matt Kemp, a blossoming young monster, in right. If you get Andruw Jones, which would work, in center, congradulations. You just improved the outfield defense and upgraded the offense to boot.
Step 3 – Trade For Johan Santana
Ooookay, where to start.
Provided you haven't already traded Kershaw, going after Santana creates more problems than it does solve any.
First off, you would immediately open a hole in right field, as it would likely require a package of Kershaw, Kemp and LaRoche to get Santana, even if you do get him to agree to a contract extension.
Guess what, you just opened a hole in right and third base.
You could play Ethier at right, but I like his bat better in left field. And it would make the necessary the addition of a Rodriguez and a Andruw Jones in order to fill those holes, leaving you with a much more expensive roster which wasn't necessary in the first place.
The Dodgers could enter next season by making only one foray into the free agent market and that would be it:
Starting Lineup
Furcal (SS)
Martin (C)
Kent (2B)
Loney (1B)
Kemp (RF)
Jones (CF) - Brought In Via Free Agency
LaRoche (3B)
Ethier (LF)
Rotation
Penny (RHP)
Lowe (RHP)
Billingsley (RHP)
Schmidt (RHP)
Wolf (RHP) - Brought Back
Contracts Traded For Bullpen Help - Pierre (CF) to Marlins For Kevin Gregg (RHP), Nomar Garciaparra (1B) To Texas For Akinori Otsuka (RHP)
And there you have it. I'm done. That team I just put together should win 88 games, maybe 90 if the team stays healthy and the youngsters develop. There was no need to go spend foolishly on several players that may not have been worth it. That's the reason why you have a farm system. So you can eventually have young, cheaper, higher upside pieces to build around and eventually contend with.
And all without having to mortgage my best pieces in the farm and to keep the payroll more or less reasonable in the long run.
I'm beginning to understand why Phillips was tossed out so quickly by the Mets.
Morisato
It maybe incorrect of me to say this . But Phillips is to baseball. What Paris Hilton is to Nuclear Physics. What he knows about the sport could be written on the back of a first class stamp.
Dare one say it but he and Paris may well definately share intelligence quotient factor ?
And that's saying a lot.
If the Marlins do let go of Cabrera that team no longer stands a chance of competing in the NL East.
But what galls me even more is that in Loria you may well have be one of the wealthiest owners in the whole of major league baseball. And that bast*rd just won't put his friggin' hands in his wallet and pull out a #### of cash.
As for A-Rod it'll be Boras who'll end up dictating where he goes in the end.
It's no longer about success for him and as always it's just been about the money.
All this bulls*it about him wanting to play for a successful franchise no longer holds water. He'll always go to the highest bidder.
tophatal
Last edited by tophatal on November 6th at 2:42 PM.
From where I sit, it could work. Now if it were just so easy to fix a certain local team (but that ain't gonna happen til either the Dodgers or the Angels take BB back).
Hey Sleepless, long time no see. And yes, it could work, but I'm not sure it's worth it long term to do it and give up the farm to do so.
Tophatal: Loria could afford to bump up payroll, but he refuses to and instead wants taxpayers to subsidize a stadium for him. He needs to have the franchise taken away from him. I'll give him a mullighan for Montreal, but not for Florida.
Morisato
Loria like this fellow owners of baseball franchises in Florida. They aren't in the game to be competitive anymore. They're reaping ill gotten gains by feasting off the money that's still willingly given to them by MLB. In terms of the tax revenue sharing money they receive each season. And we wonder why as such there's still a perceived imbalance in the sport ?
It's because of owners like Loria and Sternberg.
And Selig and the hierarchy of the sport aren't necessarily concerned by it.
i think that was too long and drug out. They need to trade for cabrera and sign andruw jones. Cabrera may be slow but he is far better than anything the dodgers have in minor leauges. If you are trying to win a world series you go with a proven young hitter over some who hasnt hit 300 in the big leauges. They have the pitching to dominate a 5 or 7 game series and with cabrera and jones should be more than enough offense. not to mention a 10 time gold glove winner. Torre will have a veteran in the outfield and people that can catch the ball
How else are you going to find out if LaRoche can play if you don't give him the shot. This whole business of "going after the guy who's done it before" is idiotic. I'd be down with signing Jones and getting rid of Pierre, but giving up the farm for Cabrera, who is looking like he's eating his way to being a DH is insane.
And if you don't go with a proven young hitter over someone that hasn't done it in the big leagues, consider this:
The Red Sox could have brought back Mark Loretta to play second. Instead they went with Dustin Pedroia, who, according to you, hadn't done it before.
How is that looking?
The problem is that you might very well be right, as the Dodgers are going down a dangerous path with Torre as their manager and if they give in to their manager's desires of playing proven veterns, all of the hard work in the farm will be gone for ####
Tophatal: The fact that Loria is pocketing the MLB Money is a crime. I agree with a writer that recently said that there needs to be verification that the money is being spent, whether it is in player development or on the occassional free agent. Loria and Bill Pohlad, the owner from the Twins, need to get their collective franchises taken away and given to someone other than them. As much as MLB may hate to hear it, maybe a Mark Cuban type owner is needed. I know for sure he'd at least invest that $30 million into the team. Can you imagine if the Pirates actually invested that $30 million per into the draft? God, that team would be turned around quick. And he wouldn't care about bidding for free agents or extending his young talent. He'd keep his stars and bring in the occasional outsider that fit his philosophy. Why the hell isn't baseball bringing him in? Because he's not an insider, a member of Selig's inner circle. And unfortunately, that's how it's going to stay as long as Selig is in office.
On a side note, can you image if Bill Pohlad actually put in money into the Twins? Can you imagine how scary that team would be?
Morisato
Both you and I know that's never bound to happen. MLB is so badly ran that they're in complete denial to say that the game is need of an overhaul as to the way operate. It's encumbent upon them now to force the issue with these so called owners. Afterall they've paid a fee as to operate that franchise ans are bound the rules and bye-laws of MLB. But with Selig at the helm that'll never happen. He's just not alert or impartial enough to deal with the issue practically.
Check out my latest post titled I's Got's Mine's Whose Got's Your's ? Let me know what you think as to the merits of the piece ?
I'm a long time Texas Rangers fan who has come to love baseball as a whole. I recently began this blog as a way for me to showcase my opinions, provide some analysis, and hopefully entertain those who happen to stumble upon my little soapbox online. I'll toss in an NFL, College, or NBA nugget every now and then. Enjoy the posts everyone, and yes, getting a little love in a Deadspin post was probably the highlight of the year, blogwise.
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