I Know Which Reader Isn't Getting Downsized

A big camion de cariño to the wise and beautiful Karina for taking the SoSG 2010 campaign to the next level — by creating SoSG propaganda!

Beautiful stuff, Karina!

Actual Baseball News

Good morning! Here are a few noteworthy items for you to peruse before we hit the campaign trail:

• Remember when we said season-ticket sales were lagging? Uh, actually, now it's quite the opposite. Dodger Season Ticket Sales hold steady (True Blue LA)
• Joe Torre has a spring in his step! Dodgers still a natural fit for Torre (Tony Jackson, ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• An Eric Gagne reunion with the Dodgers? It could happen...technically. Late Wed. Hot Stove Notes (HotStove.com)
• "Andruw Jones is said to be in the best shape he's been in for a decade." That shape? A big round circle. (Jon Heyman, SI.com)
• Okay, this isn't really news: Let the predictions begin! (Note item #6.) Predictions and playoff projections for 2010 (Dayn Perry, FOXSports.com)

Pineiro Comes To Los Angeles!

...however, it's not with the Dodgers...

Free-agent right-hander Joel Pineiro agreed Wednesday to a $16 million, two-year contract with the Angels, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney.

Pineiro is due to take a physical Thursday.

Pineiro, 31, pitched a career-high 214 innings over 32 games last season, with a 15-12 record and 3.49 ERA for the National League Central champion St. Louis Cardinals. He has an 87-79 record with a 4.39 ERA in 10 major league seasons that also included a stint with the Red Sox.

He joins a rotation that includes holdovers Jered Weaver (16-8), Joe Saunders (16-7), Scott Kazmir (10-9) and Ervin Santana (8-8).

The Mets and Dodgers were teams that were also believed to have interest in Pineiro.

So the Angels lose John Lackey and gain Pineiro. We lose Randy Wolf and have gained....hello? Ned, are you there?

Vote Cora!

BREAKING NEWS: Vin Scully Is My Homeboy Endorses Sax for SoSG 2010

Here comes the campaign's first endorsement! Which of course, can only mean that the mudslinging isn't far behind...

Less than one half-hour ago, ROBERTO from Vin Scully Is My Homeboy threw his weight behind Sax's campaign for re-election. Roberto, author of his truly excellent blog (and keeper of my secret identity) deserves heaps of praise for his wisdom, intelligence, courage (as well as strength, dexterity, constitution, and charisma), and truly appreciate the gesture of support. Thank you!

Clearly, my strategy to hit the campaign trail three months ago, and shake some hands and kiss some babies, has paid off. Roberto, I hope to see you in person again soon!

Top 5 Reasons To Keep Cora

5. I went to more games than any of my "brothers" last year (I think). Below is a shot of me helping a friend find his seat at the stadium.

4. Now that the Dodgers don't have a proven second baseman, I could get traded from the Mets and do dual time on the diamond and on the blog. And I would devote more time on the blog because seriously how much time do I REALLY spend on the playing field. Look at my INTENSITY.

3. My 18-pitch, 13-minute-56-second, 14-consecutive-foul-ball, one-home-run at bat ranks up there with Gibby's homer, Koufax's perfect game, and Fernandomania (ok, well maybe not, but come on, I have only 35 homers in my career).

2. What other son has a mug shot?

And the number one reason to keep Alex Cora...

1. You can't spell ALex without the LA!!!

So don't vote for me, or wait, vote for me to stay...or vote for others to leave...crap, what the hell are the rules again?

Road Trip!

From a Dodgers press release:

Dodgers to play Spring Training game at Cashman Field in Las Vegas

The Dodgers announced today that the club will play a Spring Training game against the Cincinnati Reds at Cashman Field in Las Vegas on March 31 as part of their 32-game exhibition schedule. [...]

The game on March 31 will feature a split-squad of Dodgers playing a night contest in Las Vegas, while the rest of the team will take on the San Francisco Giants at Camelback Ranch - Glendale in an afternoon Cactus League contest.

I wonder if the casinos are taking any action on this game. Because nothing says high-stakes sports gambling like spring training!

Orel's Sexy Bribe of the Day

We got some complaints that yesterday's sexy bribes weren't Dodger-related.

(Number of actual complaints: zero.)
Well, that's easily fixed.
(Easy as ABCDD!)

And in the interest of equal opportunity:

Don't forget the Pirates come to down April 29 to May 2!

The Psychological Price of Arbitration

The Dodgers pulled some late-inning hustle to reach agreements with their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, signing deals with Jonathan Broxton and Andre Ethier for two years, and one-year deals with Russell Martin, James Loney, George Sherrill, and Hong-Chih Kuo. Coupled with the news earlier this month that Matt Kemp and Chad Billingsley also signed agreements with the Dodgers (two years and one year, respectively), and Jason Repko was signed ages ago, the Dodgers avoided arbitration with all nine players whose salary fates would have been left to an independent panel.

All of them got a big step up in salary, most notably Kemp (jumping from $467K in 2009 to $4M in 2010 and almost $7M in 2011), Billingsley ($475K in 2009 to $3.85M in 2010), and Loney ($437K in 2009 to $3.1M in 2011). Broxton's two-year deal for $11M total is also notable (he earned $1.825M in 2009). Sherrill and Martin got pay increases of $1-2M each, Hong-Chih Kuo doubled his salary to come in around the $1M level, and Repko treaded water at $500K plus some performance bonuses. (Thanks to Eric Stephen over at TBLA and Cot's Baseball Contracts for the data.)

No player got more than two years. Neither Broxton nor Ethier got the salary levels which they submitted to arbitration for their first year, but surpassed that level for their second year. So I have to think that most of these nine players are pretty happy, considering the general ranges of the salary increases, the job and income security (particularly amidst a precarious financial situation with ownership), and the prospect of keeping together a core group of talent with playoff experience and (IMHO) unrealized potential.

Ownership has to be happy, given the short duration of the deals and the relatively conservative salary increases. Management has to be happy that they're getting some continuity and stability. Dodger fans are happy that we'll be seeing most of the players we've watched grow up and take our team to October baseball.

Vin Scully is happy he doesn't have to learn a set of new names. The guy who sews the letters on the backs of jerseys is happy that we're retaining players like Kemp and Kuo rather than going after Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Bill Plaschke is happy he gets to recycle his "Chad Billingsley Is Not An Ace" article at least two, maybe three, more times next year. In fact, the only person around the Dodgers who might not be happy right now is Jamie McCourt, because she can't get her morning swim in anymore.

So this huge aura of happiness surrounds the Dodgers, which is great. Meanwhile, a second-tier team up north gives word that they can't reach agreement with their star player, who has just submitted a request for the largest salary ever awarded in arbitration. And that Lincecum's $13M ask is a country-mile apart from the $8M team offer. And that if the teams don't settle, this goes off to an arbitration panel next month to pick one of the offers, without the prospect of compromise.

I haven't been able to find anything on the psychological impact of the arbitration process (in fact, if you search, you end up finding horrific tales of employment arbitration contracts like the second story here, or ridiculous term papers like this which are peppered with scholarly phrases like "So why does salary arbitration take the rap for all the problems in modern day baseball?" (emphasis mine)). But I have to think that the alternative of not reaching agreement with the players has to sow bad seeds of resentment either way.

If Lincecum wins, the franchise is (in theory) pissed, skyrocketing Lincecum a lot closer to Barry Zito salary levels (and even ahead of the questionable contract given to Aaron Rowand (5 years / $60M)). If Lincecum loses, one has to think that the two-time Cy Young Award winner feels grossly underpaid (who would be earning $10M less than Zito in 2010), and takes that frustration to work each day.

In fact, Lincecum may be dissatisfied even with his $13M offer in the first place; Keith Law over at ESPN.com (no link; insider only) wrote, "I'd like to see the arbitration brief that argues that Lincecum, a first-time-eligible, super-two free agent with two Cy Young Awards, should be paid less than Ryan Howard was as a first-time-eligible free agent with one MVP award. Not just less -- $2 million less. If anything, Lincecum's agents underfiled; his case was unprecedented and a number of $15-18 million would have been defensible." McCovey Chronicles breathed a sigh of relief that Timmah's offer wasn't in the $25M range that some had expected.

The San Jose Mercury News speculated that the $13M offer reflects that Lincecum's agent, Rick Thurman, expects the case will go to a hearing. Or perhaps this is all part of the big dance for Lincecum, who is seeking a long-term contract extension anyway (and would give the Giants the change to avoid three more arbitration opportunities with Lincecum). Irrespective, his future, long-term and immediate, with the Giants remains unresolved. And this could fester for another month.

From a comparative perspective, Ryan Howard got his (current record) $10M ask awarded by arbitration in 2008; he then finished second in the MVP race despite posting the lowest offensive numbers (BA, SLG, OPS) since his rookie year. The Phillies avoided arbitration with Howard next year, (he had asked $18M, the Phillies offered $14M) by signing him to a three-year, $54M deal and preventing salary negotiations from happening again until 2012. And in 2009 he posted much more solid numbers than in 2008. Coincidence?

I understand that the arbitration process is designed to avoid this very standoff; it is structured to encourage teams to reach agreement and settle (which happens the majority of the time), rather than duke it out in front of the panel. But I wonder if the intangible detriment of not reaching agreement--or even getting to this stage in the first place and letting wide monetary gaps in expectations become a public referendum--breeds a discontent with the player, the team, and the fans. Is there a psychological cost to not resolving uncertainty, particularly with your team's best player?

But that's the Giants' cross to bear for now. We Dodgers, and Dodgers fans, went nine-for-nine and have every reason to be settled and happy. Right?

Dodger Minor Leaguers Brave Elements, Reptiles to Honor MLK

Ivan DeJesus and Dee Gordon during the 25th annual Kingdom Day Parade on Monday.

Trayvon Robinson is a perfect gentleman.

Ethan Martin and a big snake. Because when you think MLK, you think boa constrictors.

photos by Larry Goren/Dodgers

Pete Carroll - A New Benny Hill?

As part of SoSG's non-Bruin contingency, I'm still licking my wounds from a downright assy season (for USC). And thinking Pete, like OJ Mayo and Mr. Kim Kardashian, got out while the getting was good. But before he ran out of Dodge, he left this for us...

Pete Carroll's Trip to Seattle Delayed from Rob Riggle

SoSG Campaign 2010: The Great Debate (Part 1)

A quorum of the Sons have agreed to participate in a debate, where YOU the SoSG readers get to pick the questions! Rules of the debate are as follows:

• 1. SoSG readers have until the end of day today, January 20, to submit your questions by posting them as a comment for this post (alternatively, for those of you who prefer a more discreet channel, you can email your questions to us at the address on the sidebar);
• 2. I will compile the list of questions (which may be edited due to space constraints, appropriateness, etc.; all decisions are final), and then publish the list of questions (not to exceed 20 in total) in a separate post which will run on Thursday, January 21;
• 3. Sons will then have until the end of Thursday to post their own responses to the questions.

Unlike in a real debate, there is no time limit constraining the Son when answering the questions. On top of that, unlike in a real debate, members of the audience (the readers) can chip in real-time with their comments (positive and negative).

Chaos is bound to ensue. Let's see how it goes! Post your questions for the Sons, SoSG readers!

Dodgers More Efficient Than Mets

...and that's about the only good news when it comes to "bang for your back" in the past decade. Tom Verducci of SI.com has written a pretty fascinating article in which he measures and ranks the financial efficacy of MLB's thirty teams, from 2000 to 2009.

In a nutshell, the Dodgers spent a total of a billion dollars (behind only the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox) but didn't make the World Series once — making them the fourth least efficient team of the decade (ahead of only the Cubs, Orioles and Mets).

Want to feel better? Then thank goodness for Schadenfreude! Verducci writes:

How badly run are the Mets? Think about this: the Mets played in a World Series and still were the least efficient team in baseball. They spent $737.5 million more than Florida and won four more games than the Marlins.

With the sour aftertaste of the Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt signings in our mouths, the scary thing is that it's not clear if the Dodgers' trend of inefficiency is waning. True, the front office has been efficient in avoiding arbitration this year, but is that out of discipline or necessity?

Keep Sax A Son!

I'm still awaiting a response from James Carville, Karl Rove, and David Plouffe on whether they'd be interested in providing some pro-bono consulting services guiding me on how to run my campaign to be retained on SoSG staff for 2010. Surprisingly, none of them has returned my email yet.

So, let me start with some early campaign thoughts on why I believe should remain a Son (and these points are unfiltered by any campaign manager or publicity agent):

• I've illustrated one of my posts by hand.
• I promise that, if re-elected, I will put Coca-Cola in the water fountains.
• I'm not as direct as Orel (nice work, btw!), but still supportive of the general cause.
• I'm clairvoyant.
• And as for our blog's dire financial situation? All I can say is, if Woody had gone to the police, this would never have happened.

More exciting news from the campaign trail tomorrow!

NL West Catches Catcher Fever

• Dodgers: Russell Martin signs a one-year, $5.05 million contract
• Dodgers: sign J.D. Closser to a minor-league deal with a spring training invite
• Giants: re-sign Bengie Molina to a one-year, $4.5 million deal. Molina reportedly turned down more money from the Mets to stay with the Giants. Buster who?
• Rockies: sign Paul Lo Duca to a minor-league contract. Last we heard of Paulie, he was telling us what it's like to be on a steroid list. Now he may be reunited with NL West Manager of the Year Jim Tracy.

...And One for the Ladies

I would have used a picture of myself, but didn't want to embarrass Mr. Bond here. You know how it is.

Let the Bribery Begin

Who loves you? Take a good look at the name at the bottom of this post. Hello? Are you even reading this?

"Super Two" Confusion

From Dylan Hernandez at The Fabulous Forum:

The two-year deal Matt Kemp recently signed with the Dodgers could be worth as much as $11.25 million.

Kemp is slated to earn $4 million this year and $6.95 million next season. His 2011 base salary can increase by as much as $300,000 if he hits certain benchmarks for plate appearances in 2010.

If Kemp makes 600 plate appearances this year, he would increase his salary next year by $50,000. If he makes 650, he would earn another $100,000, and if he makes 675, yet another $150,000.

And from Ken Gurnick's Twitter feed:

Andre Ethier's two-year deal with the Dodgers is for a base guarantee of $15.25 million plus incentives.

Ethier's base salary for the next two years is worth $4.3 million more than Kemp's. However, Ethier is a "Super Two" player, meaning "He's ahead of Kemp on the salary arbitration curve," as Jon Weisman puts it. (Remember, Ethier was eligible for arbitration last year.)

Even though some may argue Kemp is the better all-around player, Ethier benefits from being a more experienced player (and socking a lot of dingers). At least this is how I'm reading it. Someone please correct me if I'm totally off base (hey, a baseball reference!).

UPDATE: Some nifty analysis from Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:

It is a bit weird since Ethier was a Super Two, so he gets 4 years of arb instead of 3, but he’s still behind Markakis in terms of service time. The $17m for Markakis was for his 5th & 6th years (his final two arb years), whereas Ethier technically is getting paid for his 4th & 5th years, although it’s really in between (his 4.5 and 5.5 years, if you will). So Ethier is almost jumping a half a service class up with his deal.

Dodgers Looking at Sheets 'n' Things

The Dodgers are reportedly watching the recently rehabbed Ben Sheets today, but according to MLBTR, they're not alone:

Here's a list of teams that will be on hand this week to see for themselves.

• Nationals
• Diamondbacks
• Cubs (by the way, we're not on board with the rumor that Sheets is "all but signed" by them)
• Rangers
• Cardinals
• Blue Jays
• Dodgers
• Brewers
• Mets
• Don't rule out the Yankees, Orioles or Mariners.
• The Angels will not be there this Tuesday.

Sheets claims to feel " 'refreshed' and 'fantastic,' " but the number of teams bidding for his services will be the true test of his health. And if the Dodgers end up signing Sheets, SoSG will post about it. Be sure to click on the "Ben Sheets" label to learn Sheets' thread count.

Four More Sign; Ethier Double-Dips

Report: Andre Ethier to sign two-year deal (Dodger Thoughts)

Reports: Loney, Kuo, Sherrill avoid arbitration (Dodger Thoughts)

If you were wondering what the Dodgers were saving their money for — or, indeed, if there was money left to save — here's your answer. The team's award-winning outfielders will be intact for the next two seasons, while Ned Colletti has been busy wrapping up pre-arbitration negotiations before agents start submitting their salary figures today. Two Dodgers are still eligible for arbitration: Russell Martin and Jonathan Broxton. That sound you hear is Kim Ng sharpening her adamantium claws*.

UPDATE: According to Dylan Hernandez, "The Dodgers have agreed to deals with all of their arbitration-eligible players." Here's what we know:

• James Loney: $3.1 million
• Hong-Chih Kuo: $950,000 (plus $150,000 in appearance-based incentives)
• George Sherrill: $4.5 million (plus $150,000 in appearance-based incentives)
• Andre Ethier: two years, $15.25 million plus incentives
• Russell Martin $5.05 million
• Jonathan Broxton: two years, $11 million

Meanwhile, Kim Ng sulks in a corner.

*Yes, I'm aware we made this joke last year.