Rivera, Coffey, And The Treanors Depart

Occasional surprising HRs.

A big presence...for 19.1 innings prior to Tommy John surgery.

A great athlete alongside a perfectly congenial spouse.

The Dodgers declined options on three players as well as a beautiful olympian / spokesperson yesterday:

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers declined team options on three players Monday, saving them nearly $7 million for their 2013 payroll.

The Dodgers declined options on Juan Rivera, who would have earned $4 million next season, reliever Todd Coffey, who was set to earn $2.5 million, and backup catcher Matt Treanor, who would have earned $950,000. To buy out all three contracts will cost the Dodgers $950,000.

Of the three, Rivera had the most prominent role, starting 110 games last season -- mostly in left field and at first base. But he batted just .244 and grounded into 15 double plays. He had little role once the Dodgers acquired Shane Victorino and Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers think Carl Crawford can return from elbow surgery by April to man left field.

We're all counting on you, Carl.

photos: Rivera: Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America; Coffey: Getty Images; Treanors: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire

Post-Game 155 Thread: Where Have These Dodgers Been All September?

DODGERS 8, PADRES 2

Matt Kemp, 4-for-5 with 4 RBI and a HR (his 20th). Adrian Gonzalez, 2-for-5 with 2 RBI. Hanley Ramirez, 2-for-5 with 1 RBI. THIS is how we expected our 3-4-5 hitters to perform all month. And now, it's too little too late, but it's still good enough to leave a hopeful taste for 2013.

Even Juan Rivera even got a HR. Nick Punto, in the two-hole, went 3-for-5 with 4 runs (he reached in the sixth on a FC). The only frustrated Dodger today (besides Juan Uribe, who ran out of mayonnaise at the spread) was Elian Herrera, who went 0-for-5 with 2 Ks as the leadoff hitter. But the Dodgers scored early and often, and at least maintained a tragic number of 4 pending the Cardinals' outcome (they are currently down 2-0 @ Houston in the bottom of the sixth).

Post-Game 146 Thread: Luis Cruz = Dodgers' 2012 MVP

DODGERS 4, CARDINALS 3

For eight innings, it was the same old shit. The Dodgers scratched out two runs, the second on Mark Ellis' solo home run to start the third. They proceeded to get zero hits from their next eighteen batters.

But then three things happened:

1. Matt Kemp never gave up. He turned in another 0-for-4 performance at the plate, with three Ks. But when Yadier Molina led off the ninth with a double that Kemp misjudged, crashing into and — phew — safely bouncing off the padded Dodger Stadium outfield wall, Kemp kept his head. Yadi got greedy, trying to take third with his stumpy catcher legs, and Kemp gunned him down like some badass in a Coen Brothers movie.

2. CRUUUUUUUUUZ. In the bottom of the ninth, with the Dodgers down one and down to their last out, Andre Ethier singled. Dee Gordon ran for him and promptly stole second off Molina, making up for his ninth-inning CS in Thursday's Game 1 loss. Luis Cruz, the most dependable bat in a sea of multi-million-dollar contracts, smacked a full-count double to tie the game up. We'll say it: Luis Cruz is the Dodgers' MVP this year.

3. Juan Rivera? Really? Don Mattingly put Elian Herrera in to run for Cruz, and Juan Rivera lofted one juuuuust over Daniel Descalso's outstretched arm to score Herrera FTW.

Dodgers are actually tied for the second wild card spot. Unfortunately Clayton Kershaw isn't going tomorrow — but that won't stop us from watching.

The Evil Of Two Lessers

So I'm reading the recap of last night's game from ESPN's Mark Saxon:

The Bad: [...]

Juan, two ... Mattingly must fret about it even before he calls Juan Rivera's name as a pinch hitter: the double play. It has been the bane of Rivera's career since he broke his leg playing winter ball in Venezuela five years ago. Predictably, after Hanley Ramirez led off the 11th inning with a single, Rivera came up and hit one sharply to the shortstop for an easy rally-killing double play. It was the 13th GDP of Rivera's season, a high number considering he has yet to have his 300th at-bat.

Rivera is weak sauce, no doubt. But the sad thing is, James Loney is weaker. Rivera's OWAR is -0.9, but Loney's is -1.4 (the lowest on the Dodger team, even worse than festering sore Juan Uribe). Heading into last night's game, Rivera had 12 GIDPs with 281 PAs, or 23.4 PAs/GIDP; Loney's 16 GIDPs this year (a team high) give him a PA/GIDP ratio of a much worse 21.6.

And isn't it pathetic that I'm sitting here having to calculate PA/GIDP in the first goddamn place. Or that this, Loney or Rivera, is Mattingly's choice to begin with. You guys covering 1B are both lame.

Post-Game 120 Thread: Barved

BRAVES 4, DODGERS 3 (11)

Don Mattingly got killed on Twitter tonight. With the Dodgers leading 3-1 in the eighth inning, he pulled Chris Capuano, who had given up consecutive bloop singles. After Ronald Belisario gave up an RBI, Mattingly kept Beli in to face Jason Heyward, who's hitting .228 against lefties. Tie game.

Then in the top of the tenth, Shane Victorino bunted with Elian Herrera on first, eventually taking the bat out of the hands of Matt Kemp, who was intentionally walked. Did Mattingly call for the bunt? Hard to tell, but sometimes you're going to lose no matter what: Donnie batted Juan Rivera for James Loney in the eleventh, and Rivera — surprise! — hit into a double play.

Overshadowed by the road misery was Capuano's great start and Andre Ethier's two-run homer in the sixth. Dodgers are 5-3 on the current road trip; Giants are killing the Padres, so hello again, second place.

Post-Game 113 Thread: Motivated Rivera Homers

Clayton Kershaw: 6.1 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 7 K.

Juan Rivera homers.

DODGERS 5, MARLINS 2

Clayton Kershaw wasn't dominant but pitched himself out of trouble all game. Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez totaled three RBIs, but minor-leaguer Juan Rivera did most of the damage with a two-out, two-run home run in the sixth inning. It's a decent start to this road trip!

Mattingly Anoints Eric Stephen Dodger Brainiac

This just kicks so much ass. From T.J. Simers' latest column in the LA Times:

MATTINGLY LIKES to joke that truebluela.com's Eric Stephen knows more about the Dodgers than anyone else in the media.

"Go ahead, Eric," I tell him after Mattingly speaks highly of Stephen again, "ask him about some minor leaguer."

"All right, I'll ask about Juan Rivera," says Stephen, while asking Mattingly how he can stay with someone playing so poorly.

Ouch!

The obvious answer: What's his other choice, playing James Loney? But then Rivera was actually hitting below the Loney line before Wednesday.

"I think you should pay attention to what Eric has to say," says Mattingly, Stephen pronouncing Rivera as disappointing as Loney. "But everything Eric is saying is up to this point."

And Mattingly apparently thinks things will change, so it's too early to say whether Stephen knows more than the media and Mattingly as well.

And how about the quick Eric Stephen wit with the Juan Rivera line? Well played, very well played. Congrats!

Pulse Check: Dodgers GIDP

As of this morning, James Loney ranks ninth in the National League for number of GIDPs, with nine. To be fair, Loney has more IBBs (6) than anyone else in the top ten. He also has the third-fewest XBH of anyone in top 10 GIDPers.

Juan Rivera and A.J. Ellis are tied for 15th on the GIDP list, with seven.

Post-Game 69 Thread: Ho, Milone

A's 4, DODGERS 1

Tommy Milone owned the weak Dodger bats tonight, finishing with a complete-game three-hitter. At one point Milone retired 14 straight, and the Dodgers only scored because A's right fielder Josh Reddick couldn't hold on to Juan Uribe's shallow liner in the second inning, allowing Juan Rivera to score. That was Nate Eovaldi's token run to play with for the night.

Time of game: a brisk 2:21, so at least it was over quick. The Angels are handling the Giants, so it looks like the Dodgers' lead will stay at 4.5 games. And, as NicJ points out, "Well on the bright side we don't get a 'best record in baseball' tweet after this loss."

Post-Game 63 Thread: Rivera Deep; Trout'n Dry

DODGERS 5, ANGELS 2

It was looking like another one of those sad interleague rivalry evenings, with the Dodgers' offense appearing impotent (Bobby Abreu, Adam Kennedy, Juan Uribe, and Tony Gwynn in the 5-though-8 holes went a combined 0-for-13), and the Angels just mustering enough to skate to a 2-1 lead with two out and two on in the bottom of the eighth.

Enter Andre Ethier, who followed up a non-descript afternoon with a game-tying single to right, scoring Dee Gordon from second. The next batter was Juan Rivera, and he smoked one to left to score A.J. Ellis and Ethier, putting the Dodgers up 5-2 and icing the game. Kenley Jansen came in to pitch the ninth (2 Ks).

Mike Trout of the Angels, who killed us last night, went 0-for-4 with 4 LOB--allowing me to write this PGT headline. Thanks, Mike!

Post-Game 55 Thread: Pap Smear

DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 3

The Dodgers busted out for three runs against Phillies starter Vance Worley in the first two innings tonight thanks to RBI-singles by Juan Rivera, Bobby Abreu and Dee Gordon. But the Phillies answered in the third with an RBI-single followed by a two-run home run by Placido Polanco off Clayton Kershaw.

It was tied 3-3 in the ninth when the Phillies brought in their closer, Jonathan Papelbon. No problem. Gordon hit a triple — his first of the year! — and Elian Herrera singled him in. Ronald Belisario gets the win and Kenley Jansen gets the save. BillingsLee tomorrow!

AP photo

Mixed Dodgers DL News

Two stories from dodgers.com. You pick which news item merits which mask expression.

Rivera could return for series in Philadelphia. Dodgers start a four-game series there Monday.

Uribe taking BP, on track for rehab assignment. ETA for minor-league games, "next week sometime".

Post-Game 32 Thread: Urine Splatters Home Run

DODGERS 7, ROCKIES 3

Juan Uribe Prepares for Tonight's Game

We're all speechless on a night that Juan "Urine" Uribe actually went yard. Clearly his new pre-game routine has paid off.

Chris Capuano pitched another effective game to move to 5-0, and the Dodger bats were out in force tonight against Old Man Moyer to the point where one almost felt sorry for him. James Loney had a solid night at the plate, but Andre Ethier did much of the damage, going 3-4 with a HR. With Juan Rivera out for the long haul with a hamstring and Jerry Hairston, Jr. only faring a bit better on the injury front, the offense looked to a patchwork of veterans to get the job done and they did.

Sure were a lot of people involved with the game whose names begin with the letter "J".

SoSG win streak now at 9-0. Pressure is on for those of us attending tomorrow night's matchup!

(h/t SoSG Stubbs for finding the top image)

Random Notes

It's a lot nicer to go into an off-day with a series victory. Over the Giants. And Tim Lincecum. Yeah, I feel a lot better than I did going into the last off-day. (There are no NL West teams in action today, however, which sucks. You mean I have to do WORK???!!!)

• Steven Cohen, the hedge fund manager who resembles a sith lord, was rebuffed in his bid to buy the Dodgers. Now Cohen is looking at the San Diego Padres as a potential buy. And they're tired of being strung around along! Yep, nothing like taking potential owners, who could infuse new cash into a franchise, and pissing all over them before the process even gets rolling. (SD Union Tribune)
• Scott Van Slyke's great debut last night does have some related downside; Juan Rivera is on the 15-day DL. And the pundits on the radio say that it's worse than that. (Dodgers.com)
• Meanwhile, Jerry Hairston's hammy isn't improving, either. (Dodgers.com)
• Oh, and in the article linked above? AJellis needs a rest, too. (Matt Treanor, guy with bug eyes, gets the start Friday night vs the Rockies.) But why show a picture of buggy eyes, when we can show a picture of Misty May Treanor?

(Holy smokes, those eyes are kind of buggy, too.)

Post-Game 30 Thread: Urine Problems

GIANTS 2, DODGERS 1

Look, one can blame Andre Ethier, who grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth with the bases loaded and one out (Giants manager Bruce Bochy IBBd Matt Kemp and brought in Javy Lopez to foil Ethier). Ethier (1-for-4, 5 LOB) did GIDP twice tonight, to be fair.

But the real downer was Juan "Urine" Uribe, who came up in the seventh with men on first and second and no one out and a rally beginning (what else would you call consecutive leadoff singles from Juan Rivera and James Loney, for pete's sake). And Urine sacrifice bunted into a double play (Rivera out at third, Urine out at first). Unbelievable. How does one bunt into a first-and-third DP? Is that even possible? Apparently, so. Oh, and Uribe came up as the last batter in the ninth and grounded to short to end his 0-for-4 disastrous night. Urine problems, indeed.

The score was 2-1 after two innings but didn't progress from there, thanks to settling down from loss-earning Clayton Kershaw (8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, but one bad two-run HR) as well as the Giants' win-earning Ryan Vogelsong (7.1 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). Dodgers go to the rubber match tomorrow. Hopefully, Jerry Hairston has healed.

Post-Game 29 Thread: Open The Floodgates

DODGERS 9, GIANTS 1

Well, that was what the doctor ordered. Following a depressing 2-4 road trip, the Dodgers rolled back into Dodger Stadium facing the arch-rival Giants, and take the game, 9-1.

Not that it was that close at the beginning. The Dodgers had a 1-0 lead until the sixth inning; a Matt Kemp error led to a Giants run and a tie game (Dee Gordon also had a pair of errors in the game). The Dodgers got two more in the bottom of the sixth off an A.J. Ellis double to the right field corner, followed by a Tony Gwynn single and error on a squeeze play which scored Juan Uribe (who walked to reach base; Uribe was 0-for-4 so don't get excited).

But what really opened the floodgates was the eighth inning, when the Dodgers, leading 4-1 (and having walked into the bottom of the eighth off a sweet defensive play by birthday boy James Loney), batted around on Steve Edlefsen and Travis Blackley, allowing the first six batters to reach before the first out was registered (Juan Rivera, who grounded to short but scored a run). When Adam Kennedy, who singled to right (scoring one) and came around to score, gets a hit off you (Kennedy raised his average to .148 with his PH performance tonight), you know the beatdown was on.

Oh yeah, and the pitching. Ted Lilly improved to 4-0 and went six innings, keeping the Giants in check (1 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks); Ronald Belisario, Josh Lindblom, and even Scott Elbert had scoreless innings of relief. Consider the Giants stir-fried in our wok; Sons stretch our undefeated streak to 7-0 8-0.

Post-Game 28 Thread: Dodgers Did Not Have Mad Hits Today

CUBS 4, DODGERS 3 (11)

Dodgers didn't have nearly enough hits today (Cubs doubled us up with 12), even with Juan Rivera's two-run homer in the third inning. Javy Guerra blew a save opportunity in the ninth and the game went to extras with a succession of mediocre to poor relief pitchers, which eventually yielded a rancho ardiendoed, no-out walk to David DeJesus. Maybe our offense was too scared of hitting and wounding one of the many seagulls in the outfield. Or maybe - and I could be off here - not having 2012 MVP Matt Kemp in the lineup was the problem.

On a day we saw Kemp start on the bench, we also saw Jerry Hairston, Jr. come up with a similar hamstring issue as he tried to leg out a single early on. Still awaiting news on the severity of the injury and word is that Justin Sellers will be recalled immediately if the JHa Kid has to spend much time out. Dodgers lose two of three with the Cubs, after having lost two of three with the Rockies, and now head home for an important series with the Gnats.

We'd be remiss if we didn't send a special shoutout to the Los Angeles Kings and all our loyal SoSG readers who are big Kings fans on the occasion of team's sweep of the St. Louis Blues to move to the NHL Western Conference Finals. Go Kings Go!

Images: (1) bobsbaseballmuseum.com; (2) 500homeruns.net 

Traveling in Style

The Dodgers deplane in Houston yesterday afternoon.

photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

Post-Game 2 Thread: Chad in Charge

DODGERS 6, PADRES 0

Yeah, so about those spring training stats.... Chad Billingsley was magnificent, even if he was facing the lowly Padres (if a team can be called lowly after two games, it's the Padres). TT went 8 1/3, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 (!). Andre Ethier started his campaign for a long-term contract, lighting up the lefty Cory Luebke for a double, a triple and four (!) RBIs. Matt Kemp chipped in with two hits, a ribbie and stolen base #1, and Juan Rivera had the other RBI.

The only downsides? Dee Gordon struck out two more times and Juan Uribe was Juan Uribe. (In other words, he went 0 for 4.)

5:35 p.m. start tomorrow — join us as the Dodgers look to guarantee a series win!

AP photo

Juan More Time

We're only days removed from the World Series and already Ned Colletti is chasing his beloved veterany goodness. From "Rivera appears headed back to Dodgers" by Ken Gurnick at Dodgers.com:

The Dodgers have reached a tentative agreement with free-agent outfielder Juan Rivera on a one-year contract with a 2013 option for approximately $4 million guaranteed, according to a baseball source.

Rivera was acquired at the All-Star break from the Toronto Blue Jays virtually for free and became the run producer the Dodgers have looking for since Manny Ramirez went wrong.

Rivera drove in 46 runs in 62 games, although he hit .274 with only five home runs in 219 at-bats and a .739 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). The nine-year veteran had a career-high 25 home runs for the Angels in 2009 before being dealt to Toronto in the Vernon Wells trade. He just finished up a three-year, $12.75 million contract.

At least it's only a one-year deal for the 33-year-old Rivera. Wonder if he'll start in left field or platoon at first base.

photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images