Thursday, January 07, 2010

Dodgers' Lack of 4 / 5 Starters Not Lost On Olney

Old news to us Dodgers fans, but Buster Olney points out that the Dodgers need a couple more starters, stat (insider only):

1. Dodgers, No. 4 and No. 5 starters. If the season started today, L.A.'s rotation would be Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and … well, they are looking for help. They've got some young internal candidates, but continue to hang in the conversations for veterans. The perception of some agents is that the Dodgers -- who are in nickel-counting mode because of the impending divorce of the McCourts -- want to wait until they wade through their mass of arbitration cases and get a clearer picture of exactly how many pennies they can spend on starting pitching.

In fact this is the "biggest hole" Olney mentions that needs filling, across all MLB teams. That makes me feel a lot better, indeed. But if you believe ESPN's Rumor Central that oft-mentioned Dodger target Joel Pineiro is "...believed to be looking for three years at a salary right around what the Milwaukee Brewers gave Randy Wolf, which is more than $9 million per season," you've gotta guess that Pineiro isn't a reasonable option.

Dylan Hernadez at the LAT says the Dodgers are interested in Noah Lowry, who hasn't pitched since 2007 and has had two surgeries in 2008 alone. Eric Stephen over at TBLA invokes biblical references to underline the apocalyptic (okay, maybe not that bad, but still) implications of chasing a pitcher "who isn't very good." Hey, it's not like the Dodgers don't have a track record of doing this, anyway.

I regret losing Randy Wolf more and more each day. Maybe we can use a three-man rotation all season long?

26 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

Off topic:

Tweet from Tommy Lasorda:

"I'm in Pasadena for lunch. Half of the cars are full of Texas fans and the other half of the cars are full of Alabama fans."

That's it. I'm leaving work and going home to Pasadena. I have my suspicions about where he's lunching.

Alex Cora said...

Lowry = Schmidt 2.0

Fred's Brim said...

DB, the Pizza Hut on N Lake Ave?

Jason said...

Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda and pray for rain!

In all seriousness, I'm still holding out hope that James McDonald steps up during the spring to grab a spot in the rotation. If he can get his walk rate down to closer to his minor league line he should do just fine as a #4/5 starter.

And there's always Charlie Haeger. Maybe someone can convince Frank that Charlie is actually Tim Wakefield since, you know, all knuckleballers look alike. With Frank's love of all things Boston, Charlie would be a lock.

As long as Ned doesn't shell out any 3+ year contracts on your generic high-risk/below-average-reward pitcher, I'll file this offseason away as a disaster averted.

Steve Sax said...

DB, when you come across Tommy eating carloads full of Texas and Alabama fans, let us know the location of the mass carnage.

Orel said...

McDonald to be used as a reliever?

Fred's Brim said...

i'm with you, Jason. McDonald/Elbert/Haeger going out there a couple times a week can't be any worse than the stiffs (Schmidt/Weaver/Vargas/Haeger) we trotted out there last year. McDonald and Elbert at least have upside.

Jason said...

Limiting McDonald to a middle-relief role is about as intelligent as penciling Matt Kemp in as your #8 hitter each day. Who would be dumb enough to do that? Oh, wait...

Paul said...

What is Kirk Rueter not available?

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

I'd like one more guy in there that has been starting on a consistent basis. J-Mac and Elbert haven't had a full season of starting in who knows how long. I'm okay with one of them starting in the five spot. I'd just feel more comfortable with someone a little more dependable.

Josh S. said...

Tommy's gotta be at Burger Continental. The combination of pigeons at your feet and the intoxicating smell of dishwater is impossible to
resist.

Eric Stephen said...

Josh S,

Tommy is at Burger Continental. Good call.

http://twitpic.com/x3qcf

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

This BCS Championship certainly is good for tourism.

Kyle Baker said...

I saw Tommy's tweet when I was beer shopping at the Von's right around the corner from Burger Continental, but by the time I could walk around there he had already finished eating everything that wasn't nailed down and had left. Missed him by *that much*

Kyle Baker said...

You're not kidding, MLASF. Oh, and it's 75 degrees here while it's in the 20s in AL.

Just saw that Big Shot Rob Horry was at the Fanfest outside the Rose Bowl. Horry for THREE!!!!

Josh S. said...

Whoa. Score one for me.

And while I was mocking the place a bit, I do love their food.

Kyle Baker said...

I live stumbling distance from Burger Continental. hAve for 11 going on 12 yrs. How many times have I eaten there? MAYBE twice.

rbnlaw said...

Burger Continental is where my credit card lost it's virginity about 25 years ago. They had a salad bar. Novel concept back then.

On the Tommy front, my wife and daughter saw him just this past Sunday shopping at the Henry's Farmers' Market in Fullerton. The daughter who used to work there says he and Jo would come in at least once a week. On an unrelated note: Carl Karcher used to shop at the Vons around the corner from my house. OC is elderly celebrity central.

Starter 4 or 5? I vote for Sammy Haeger and whomever can find the strike zone with regularity. Still think the Dodgers owe Stults another shot after sacrificing his thumb.

StolenMonkey86 said...

I'd be happy with Chien-Ming Wang.

Kyle Baker said...

Heh...you'd be happy with Wang.

Steve Sax said...

Well, there you have it. No crazy comeback for Texas--Alabama just iced it in the fourth quarter.

Kyle Baker said...

SEC SEC SEC!!!!

Kyle Baker said...

Right now on MLB Network: Wired for Sound

MLB players mic'd up...hilarious. Of course they went straight for O-Dog for the most talkative player around. Challenged him to go 30 seconds without talking.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

I too am a fan of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Steve Sax said...

Dusty, you drinking straight from the triple-SEC bottle there?

Fred's Brim said...

Duke has Bama coming in next season - gonna have to head down for that one!