Your SoSG Thanksgiving Turkey: Drew McCourt Attempts To Bend Laws of Time and Space

In honor of Thanksgiving, we at Sons of Steve Garvey want to show you the latest marketing mistake of bumbling Drew McCourt, son of Frank McCourt and nepotistically placed "Vice President of Business Development" of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Little Drew was also the "Director of Marketing" when he oversaw the stadium giveaway of a fleece blanket commemorating the Dodgers' six championships--then proceeded to stitch the wrong World Championship years into ~40,000 blankets (see 4/27/05).

So what other turkeys did Drew McCourt leave in his Marketing wake? Witness the 2006-2007 Dodgers team calendar, given away at the beginning of the season and sponsored by Panda Express. Here's the cover:

Now that we're at the end of 2007 and on the last page, I'm faced with the smiling mug of deposed Dodgers manager Grady Little:

But wait, Grady isn't even the biggest turkey associated with this calendar! Witness yet another breach in the time-space continuum, as Drew McCourt ends November on a Friday, and starts December on a Sunday:

What do we do with that Saturday, November 31st, Drew? Or is this just your way of getting an extra day of partying for New Year's Eve (now on a Tuesday, but just for you, Drew!). I realize printing team calendars may be tricky sometimes, but this just goes to show you: When Dodger Stadium marketing goes horribly awry, there's usually a turkey named Drew McCourt close by.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Apparently the Guy in the Fat Suit Has an Attitude Problem

From Robothal:

The Marlins first showed heavy interest in [Matt] Kemp last spring, but at that time the Dodgers deemed him untouchable. It remains to be seen whether the availability of Cabrera — combined with questions about Kemp's attitude — will lead the Dodgers to alter their stance.

See the guy in the fat suit? The one playing along with this year's rookie hazing? "A potential 30-homer, 30-stolen base man," says Robothal, but also trade bait because of his "attitude."

Meanwhile, the San Jose Mercury News had this to say about the Dodgers' most tenured veteran, Jeff Kent:

[Rookie hazing] doesn't always work out well. Jeff Kent got a reputation as a spoilsport in the early 1990s when he didn't play along with the New York Mets' prank.

Kent is currently deciding whether the Dodgers should pay him $9 million next year.

I'm sick of hearing of supposed reasons why the Dodgers should get rid of Kemp. Of course he has flaws, but the Marlins want him because he's good, young and cheap.

Come to think of it, that's why we want him too.

Dodgers Searching for More "Type-A" Players in Taiwan?

The Dodgers are looking to extend their Asia spring training trip in March 2008 by playing games not only in China, but also a quick stop to play ball in Taiwan. Details haven't been made available, but I suppose since the Dodgers are already up a 16-hour flight, why not skip by Taipei as well and look for the next Chin-Lung Hu or Hong-Chih Kuo?

Immediately after the games on March 15-16 at the 12,000-seat Olympic baseball facility, the Dodgers are eyeing another pair of exhibition games in neighboring Taiwan on March 18-19, confirmed Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's president and chief operating officer.

"That's what they're looking at," said DuPuy, as two days of uneventful owners meetings wound down on Thursday morning.

The thing is, it won't be against the Padres, who are already planning on returning to Arizona to continue Spring Training immediately after their second exhibition game in Beijing, but against a still-to-be determined squad of Taiwanese nationals. [...]

Jamie McCourt, the Dodgers president and vice chairman, declined to comment on Thursday about the projected excursion. [...]

Beijing will host the Summer Olympics from next Aug. 8-24, and is staging what may be the final baseball medal competition of the summer games in two small ballparks outside the city. Demonstration games were already played there this past summer and the exhibition games between the Dodgers and Padres are slated for the larger of the two facilities, which holds 12,000 people. [...]

The delay in making that announcement has nothing to do at this point with MLB, DuPuy said, since the Padres, Dodgers and players union are all in agreement about going.

"It's getting the permits from the [Chinese] government," he said on Wednesday. "It's an administrative process and we want to be very sensitive to the needs and the protocols of the Chinese government. It's the first time we've ever done this and they're very busy with it being their Olympic year. They've been very supportive of it and we're hopeful of getting it done."

It may be too much to expect Frank McCourt to be cognizant of world events, given he's too busy figuring out how to justify another price increase through the Joe Torre signing. However, even a cursory read of world news would have highlighted that China and Taiwan aren't exactly on great terms right now, what with the smaller island country again taking steps toward asserting its independence from the larger mainland China government. So, if the MLB permits to (mainland) China haven't yet been issued, that Dodgers Taiwan trip may not have been something you'd want to publicize just yet.

Not to mention the fact that all this foreign travel gives a kick to the crotch of Vero Beach, which appears to be getting at best a split-squad visit this spring, in the Dodgers' final visit to Florida. No confirmation, as of yet, of the rumor that Juan Pierre is the only player currently named to the Florida split squad.

Graphs Gone Wild

It may look like a mess, but the 2007 Dodgers' "Performance/Salary Map" presented below is teeming with brilliant insight. So please bear with me (click on graph to enlarge):

Here are the basics of what's going on above:

• The on-field performance* and annual salary** of each player on the 2007 Dodgers*** is plotted along the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively.
• Blue is for hitters, red for pitchers.
• The players' 2004 performance/salary is marked by the small dot.
• The players' 2007 performance/salary is represented by the larger circle.
• If a player was not in the majors in 2004, he has only the circle, not the dot
• The size of the circle corresponds to the age of the player.
• The players' 3-Year Trendline (2004 to 2007) is marked by the arrow connecting the dot and the circle.

*Measured by OPS for hitters and ERA for pitchers.
**From USA Today.
***Only players with at least 400 AB's or 80 IP's in 2007 are included, with Saito (64.1 IP) the only exception.

So what does this tell us? Well let's first look at the four primary quadrants, which players fall into each, and what it all means:

• Upper-right quadrant (Stars) - This represents players who are paid well and perform accordingly. Jeff Kent and Brad Penny are the only players who fall into this category.
• Lower-right quadrant (Bargains) - These guys have a relatively low salary yet put up strong numbers. Not surprisingly, all the players here in their 1st or 2nd year (Saito, Martin, Broxton, Ethier) and thus can still be gotten cheaply.
• Lower-left quadrant (Role Players) - This quadrant is where 2nd-tier players with 2nd-tier salaries land. And sure enough, the two players in this category (Hendrickson and Tomko) personify 2nd tier.
• Upper-left quadrant (Busts) - These guys signed handsome contracts yet aren't getting it done on the field. Sadly, this is also the most crowded quadrant on the Dodgers' Map, with Nomar, Wolf, Lowe, Furcal, and Pierre elbowing for position.

Even more can be culled from noting the direction in which the players' 3-Year Trendlines are pointing. Again, there are roughly four categories:

• Up and to the Right (Approaching Prime) - Presumably players approaching or in their prime who show on-field improvement and receive a corresponding improvement in salary. Lowe and Penny are the two Dodgers in this category.
• Down and to the Left (Past Prime) - Theoretically, a trendline in this direction would represent a player past their prime - i.e., one who is showing a decline in both output and salary. Gonzo and Nomar are the two Dodgers in this category, so I guess we can get rid of the word 'theoretically' above.
• Down and to the Right (Players Getting Screwed by Their Ballclubs) - These players are getting a raw deal salary-wise from their team, as they are being paid less over the years despite putting up better numbers. Shockingly, there were no Dodgers in this group.
• Up and to the Left (Players Screwing Their Ballclubs) - Players who have managed to get larger contracts from their current ballclub despite performance decreases. Alas, this is where the plurality of the '07 Dodgers fall, with Pierre, Furcal, Hendrickson, Wolf, and Tomko. Yikes.

So I guess it doesn't bode well that both least desirable quadrant and the least-desirable Trendline category have the most Dodgers. But I guess since I'm too lazy to create Performance/Salary Maps for other clubs for comparison purposes, I can't make any hard conclusions. But to put things in some perspective, let's see where A-Rod's would appear on this Map:

(click on graph to enlarge)

So A-Rod's performance and salary are literally "off-the-chart". That, my friends, is the brilliant insight I promised at the top.

Welcome Back, Rob Flippo!

Josh Rawitch says the Dodgers are expecting back bullpen catcher Rob Flippo. Who is Rob Flippo? Well, you can read his official Dodger biography here, but the reason he's beloved by this Dodger fan is because about ten years ago I was watching a Chan Ho Park bullpen session and Rob tossed me the ball afterward. I was too stunned to say thank you then, so I'm saying it now: Thank you, Rob Flippo!

2008 Coaching Staff Announced

From Inside the Dodgers:

In a short while, we'll be sending out the release on our coaching staff for next season. In addition to Bowa and Mattingly, Mariano Duncan will return as the first base coach, Rick Honeycutt returns as the pitching coach and Ken Howell will be promoted from Triple-A to serve as the bullpen coach. Bob Schaefer, who was the bench coach for Oakland last season, will take over that role for the Dodgers and Joe Torre next season.

So long, Rich Donnelly! Thanks for the memories!

A-Rod Off the Market

Report: A-Rod, Yankees agree on outline of $275 million, 10-year contract (AP/ESPN.com)

Don't lose your head, Ned.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Bonds indicted on federal charges of perjury...

Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

Barry Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction charges (AP/ESPN.com)

Read the indictment! (.pdf)

I Just Changed My Mind About Miguel Cabrera

Keep the kids!

To hear Ken Rosenthal say it, Alex Rodriguez negotiating with the Yankees is huge loss of face for Scott Boras. From "Boras finally tastes a bit of humiliation":

From the furor over A-Rod opting out during Game 4 of the World Series to Boras' inability to establish the benchmark he wanted, it has been anything but the agent's finest hour....

For once Boras appears to have misread the market. For once, A-Rod didn't appear to act as his puppet. For once, the final, jaw-dropping tally will tell only part of the story.

Buster Olney at ESPN.com seems to agree:

Rodriguez is going to get the largest contract ever in sports, when the I's are dotted and the T's crossed. He'll survive. But Boras' reputation as a savvy negotiator will not. He somehow managed to badly overplay the perfect hand.

Yet I have a hard time believing the most savvy agent in baseball—maybe all of professional sports—has lost control of his star client. Some are suggesting that Boras was complicit in A-Rod's plans. From Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports:

Meantime, what has been portrayed as an end-around on agent Scott Boras – Rodriguez contacted the Steinbrenners through a third party, believed to be Mitch Modell of "Gotta go to Mo's" sporting goods fame, and initiated Round 2 of negotiations – might actually have been strategic and not a breaking of ranks.

According to those close to the situation, the Yankees did not attempt to bar Boras from future negotiations and, despite appearances, Boras maintains a civil and professional relationship with his client. Indeed, witnesses said Boras was in Miami meeting with Rodriguez for the past several days and was to dine with Rodriguez on Wednesday night.

So when A-Rod signs with the Yankees—and don't hand him any humanitarian awards yet, as he will still sign the largest contract in baseball history and Boras will still receive his commission—how will it affect the Dodgers?

Of course, A-Rod's disappearance from the free agent market will increase Miguel Cabrera's worth to the Marlins. A while back I favored Cabrera over Rodriguez, mainly due to Cabrera's youth. But if acquiring Cabrera costs the Dodgers too many of those seemingly untouchable names—Kemp, Loney, Billingsley, Kershaw—reportedly requested by Florida, it won't be worth it. I don't want to see this team eviscerated.

So if Ned Colletti keeps his head, we get to keep the kids. Then it seems the youngster in jeopardy of being traded is Andre Ethier, as the hopefully exorbitant asking price for Cabrera will make Ned look toward free agent center fielders (Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand), moving Juan Pierre to left and keeping Kemp in right. (We all know it's Pierre who should be jettisoned, but we also know that ain't gonna happen.)

Jeff Kent will start the season at second base, and I expect Ned and Joe Torre to start Nomar at third. Andy LaRoche will start the season in Las Vegas as James Loney did this year, ostensibly to allow him to play every day. Maybe there will be a free agent pitcher signed as well, but with farts like Luis Gonzalez and Shea Hillenbrand gone and with Uncle Joe steering the craft, maybe we can concentrate on baseball next year instead of clubhouse politics.

UPDATE:

As usual, Jon Weisman puts it better than I do.

illustration by Laura Cornell/Kids Off the Couch

Dodgers @ Coliseum March 29; JD Drew To Be Fed To Lions

The Dodgers will play an exhibition game versus the Boston Red Sox on March 29, 2008 at the Los Angeles Coliseum:

According to a Dodgers spokesman, the March 29 game will be played at the Dodgers' original Los Angeles home as part of the franchise's 50th anniversary in the Southland.

The Coliseum, which is now home to USC football, will reflect the irregular baseball configuration that drove pitchers and hitters crazy when it was the temporary home for the club from 1958-61 while Dodger Stadium was being built.

Bring out the lions! "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???"

UPDATE: Oh, that Coliseum. Oops.

photo: artchive.com

Mets: Bye Bye, Captain Red Ass

This Day in Dodger Pornstache History: Before there was Jeff kent, there was Paul Lo Duca.

From Robothal:

Paul Lo Duca appears out as the Mets' catcher, likely to be replaced by a tandem of Ramon Castro and Yorvit Torrealba, major-league sources say.

The Mets are expected to re-sign Castro on Wednesday, probably to a two-year deal. They also are pursuing Torrealba, another free agent, but not to be a 120-game starter....

The Mets' plan is a stunning repudiation of Lo Duca, a free agent who turns 35 in April. While some Mets pitchers liked throwing to Lo Duca, club officials were not as enamored with his game-calling and overall play.

Lo Duca's .311 on-base percentage last season was the lowest of his career as a regular. He also struggled with opposing base stealers, throwing out only 17 of 89.

UPDATE:

Torrealba's agent says he will sign with the Mets.

UPDATE:

Not so fast! Mets break off talks with free-agent catcher Torrealba (ESPN.com)

Boston Three Party? Not Yet...

One thing Boston-haters can take solace in is that in spite of their current dominance, they technically are no closer towards achieving the ultimate sports accomplishment: the Metro-iple Crown.

What is the Metro-iple Crown? It's more than an awkward attempt at combining two words - it's winning the Superbowl, NBA Championship, and World Series in the same calendar year. And while the Patriots and Celtics seem very capable of following the Red Sox to championship glory, you can thank your lucky stars (literally) that the Sox' victory was part of the 2007 calendar year, and a Patriots and/or Celtics championship would be in 2008. So even if Brady and KG do their part, the Sox would have to repeat to consummate the Metro-iple Crown - something no metropolitan area has ever accomplished.

This led me to do a little research about what city has come the closest. Below is my breakdown of the 6 most impressive almosts since the inception of the Superbowl in 1967:

#6 - Los Angeles, 1988 (NBA Champion, MLB Champion). Four months before Kirk Gibson's HR, James Worthy put up 36 Points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to vanquish the Bad Boys. While capturing two of the three crowns is impressive, the fact that Los Angeles fielded two teams in all three sports made the feat somewhat less impressive.

#5 - Bay Area, 1989 (NFL Champion, MLB Champion, MLB Runner-up). The year after SoCal's Metro-iple Crown attempt, NoCal gave it their best shot. At the time I hated the 49ers, A's, and the Giants, yet all three made it to their respective championship games. The 49ers won Superbowl XXIII in the John Candy game, and the A's swept the Giants in the Earthquake Series.

#4 - New York, 1969 (NFL Champion, MLB Champion, belated NBA Champion). Although New York also has two pro franchises in each of the major sports, what made their attempt particularly impressive is that they indeed won all three championships - they just needed a few extra months. Joe Namath made good on his Superbowl guarantee in January of 1969, the Mets beat the O's that October, and the Knicks won the NBA Championship in May the following year.

#3 - Baltimore, 1971 (NFL Champion, NBA Runner-up, MLB Runner-Up). I don't really know anything about Baltimore's sports teams in 1971 (I guess they had an NBA team?), but I saw they did pretty good. Bonus points for being a smaller city.

#2 - Boston, 1986 (NBA Champion, NFL Runner-up, MLB Runner-up). The world might remember 1986 for Bill Buckner, but overall Boston's pro teams had an incredible 1986. Not only did the Red Sox make it to the World Series, but the Patriots made it to the Superbowl and the Celtics made it to the NBA Championship (the Sox and Patriots lost to the Mets and Bears, respectively, while the Celtics swept the Rockets).

#1 - Pittsburgh, 1979 (NFL Champion, MLB Champion). The Steel Curtain beat Dallas 35-31 in the Superbowl XIII, and nine months later the Pirates edged the Orioles in 7 games. Pittsburgh gets bonus points for being only the 24th largest US city at the time. And given that they don't have an NBA team, their pro teams were basically a perfect 2-for-2 (in case you haven't noticed, NHL doesn't count).

Worth Reading: The Dodgers' International Signings (Or Lack Thereof)

An excellent article about international signings from Dodger Thoughts poster CanuckDodger:

When the Dodgers' scouting czar Logan White engaged in an online chat at Dodgers.com on June 12, he was asked, "Are the Dodgers looking to sign any top flight Latin American players?" White replied, "Absolutely." At that time, the next signing period for international amateur players was only a few weeks away. The window to sign Latin talent opened on July 2, and on July 7 Dominican Today quoted White as saying, "We're aggressive. We're going to spend money. The word is out the Dodgers are a player, baby." The problem with what Dominican Today quoted White as saying - aside from the fact that in 2007 the word "baby," used the way White used it, shouldn't be heard from or attributed to anyone who isn't a character in a rerun of Kojak - is that the Dodgers ended up being anything but a "player" in the market for Latin American talent. Again.

Read more....

ESPN Gets Its Sports Mixed Up

But come on, it's an honest mistake. I mean, it's not like ESPN claims to be the worldwide leader in sports or anything.

Banner ad from their website reads "GET INSIDE ACCESS TO THE 2007 COLLEGE BASKETBALL KICKOFF!":

Don't they call it a "tip-off" in basketball? I thought a kicked ball stopped play. I'm sure Hummer is quite impressed to see its ad dollars are being well-spent.

Miami: The Anti-Boston

Boston's pro sports dominance has been well documented as of late...allow me to document Miami's:

In short, Boston is good at everything, Miami sucks at everything. When all is said and done, we will see if the average win percentage of Boston's three pro teams (currently 86.4%) will eclipse the average loss percentage of Miami's three (85.4%).

MLBTR: McCourt Could Get Involved in A-Rod Talks

From MLB Trade Rumors:

I recently watched an ESPN video (top right corner) where Keith Law said he didn't see Colletti patching things up to cut a deal with Scott Boras. If the Dodgers are to sign A-Rod it might have to be Dodgers owner Frank McCourt taking care of things.

No matter what your position is on acquiring A-Rod, how troubling is that paragraph? If Ned is still pissed off at Boras over the J.D. Drew fiasco, he should use that chip in future negotiations rather than limit the team's options by refusing to deal with the agent representing such a significant portion of available free agents.

And imagining McCourt dealing directly with Boras conjures thoughts of Tom Hicks and $252 million deals. (Although McCourt somehow slipped a highly-leveraged purchase of the Dodger franchise past MLB; maybe he's got some tricks left).

MLBTR also offers this nugget:

A couple of vets would like to re-join the Dodgers in David Wells and Luis Gonzalez.

Well, a couple of Dodger fans would like to tell Gonzo to go [Rule 1 violation] yourself.

UPDATE:

At least Colletti and Boras are on speaking terms. From Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times:

Colletti spoke briefly with Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, on the final day of the general managers meetings last week.

"Hi Scott." "Hi Ned."

Gold Glover Russell Martin Wins Silver Slugger; Bronze Plaque in Future?

From "Seven first-timers win Silver Sluggers New class of talented players joins baseball's hitting elite" by Matthew Leach at MLB.com:

If you got the feeling while watching baseball this year that a new class of exciting hitters was emerging, well, you were right. And confirmation came once again on Friday, when seven first-time winners brought home Silver Slugger Awards.

First baseman Prince Fielder of the Brewers and shortstop Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies, two of the top candidates for National League Most Valuable Player honors, each picked up their first Silver Slugger, along with Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco, Diamondbacks pitcher Micah Owings, Devil Rays first baseman Carlos Pena and Mets third baseman David Wright....

The Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners were chosen by Major League coaches and managers, who voted for the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position in both the American and National Leagues in 2007. Selections are based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, as well as the coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value. Managers and coaches were not allowed to vote for players on their own team.

UPDATE:

From Josh Rawitch at Inside the Dodgers:

Our congratulations go out to [Martin] and to all of the people in the Dodger organization (past and present) who have helped make him who he is today - from the scout who signed him, Clarence Johns, to those in player development and scouting on his way up the ladder (Jon Debus, Terry Collins, Steve Yeager, Kim Ng, Logan White, Chris Haydock), to his minor league managers (Luis Salazar, Dann Bilardello, Travis Barbary, Scott Little, John Shoemaker, Jerry Royster).

Also, click on the link to read about Dodger scout Lon Joyce winning this year's Distinguished Scouts Award.

Your Daily Boston Illustrated Update

Yep, Boston just got its fourth consecutive Sports Illustrated cover, the latest of which compliments the Patriots' win over the previously undefeated Colts last weekend. And inside SI, in the "Leading Off" section, the editors even acknowledged what we told you on Monday of this week: that Boston's sporting world riches are really getting annoying.

So rather than show you yet another Boston Illustrated cover, SoSG is going to take the opportunity to smile upon Boston, for a non-sports reason no less. Cool sign found in a Boston dog park:

I Wonder If Juan Pierre Is Named in the Mitchell Report

Report: 11 players named in Mitchell's steroids probe (ESPN.com)