Standing pat. What if we... We are in a quandary. I could see where Ned is shaking his head. Due to our terrible farm and our, we are in the unenviable position of having to give up far too much for what might amount to a 2 month rental that MAY help us make the playoffs. Think about it. We are not guaranteed a shot here. Yes, Kemp and Ethier will help. Yes, we should start scoring more runs. But, we are decimated with pitching injuries and do not have the backup necessary for a good run--at the moment. Of course, Bills could be fine. He MAY just miss one start. But, where is Lilly? I hate to say it but Captain EO has been figured out by the league. His two pitch repertoire is plain to see at this point. Unfortunately, his second pitch has been off as well the last few. Think about our backups. Who is waiting in the wings? De La Rosa is a few months out--if that. Wright scares me on a good day. Fife? Perhaps, but what do you see happening when he arrives? The point is: it looks like we really need a pitcher now. Currently, our staff looks like this: Kershaw/Bills/Capuano/Harang/Eovaldi Look at it closely. Kershaw has been not so Cy Young like as of late. I think he will turn it around when the leg heals completely. Bills has been the same Bills. Up and Down. However, on the DL does not even put him in the fight. Capuano has been a God-send and he should at least pitch decently for the rest of the season. Harang is Harang. I wonder what I will see every time he goes to the mound. If he is not coughing up 4, I am usually okay with it. He is what he is. Eovaldi was fucking brilliant and we failed to score for him. Now, he cannot seem to get hitters out. And, where is Lilly? Put it all together and we are in need of two pitchers right now. And here it the thing: EVERY TEAM KNOWS IT. They know our farm is a joke. They know that no one on the 40 man roster is coming the rescue. We either promote or we trade. Only two options. As curious as I am about Webster and Lee, I am not sure this is when I want to see them. Need: Staring pitcher x 2. Thank God for Kemp and Ethier because let's be honest. the rest are not exactly players to count on. I admit that I have a bit of a man-crush on Mark Ellis because he does seem to make things happen. I will also admit that I want to tattoo AJ Ellis walking across my back. Unfortunately, not so much lately. He has been quite human. Perhaps, he will regain form and walk at an astronomical rate again--but maybe not. He has been a blessing but he has also been playing above his head. Yes, I know he has always had a great OBP but I have been less than enthralled with his receiving this year. I am not AJ bashing, I am simply saying what is. Then we have our corners. Uribe has been horrid. Beyond horrid. Beyond beyond horrid. He makes our lineup worse by being in it. I would SERIOUSLY rather have Bills or Kershaw hit in his place. At least they can both get down a bunt. I am tired of defending Loney. I am. This whole "finding his swing" thing is a played-out tune. He will surge at some point and then revert. I am tired of waiting for it. Maybe he gives us a repeat of last year's second half but I am not counting on it. Short? Dee is awesome. When he doing it the right way. It seemed he was making strides and then he got hurt. Welcome to the 2012 Dodgers. Stan Conte should be unemployed in my opinion. I know he did not make Dee slide into 3rd but he still sucks old monkey balls. Either way, he is a hole for another 4 weeks at least. So, in essence, we have no one to leadoff. Two over-age powerless left fielders (one of whom can play first), a first baseman who has changed his name into double play, a third baseman who cannot hit for power---or average...., and a second baseman who is lucky to have both legs. Did I miss anything? So what if we move Rivera to 1st? We have almost solved that issue but there is still the issue of his not being a great hitter. Abreu is good at times. Others---yeah. Offensive Needs: Two hitters at LEAST. Total Needs: One SP (one could argue two), Two hitters. THREE PLAYERS. Think about that. We need to replace 25 percent of our every day lineup. We need to add at least 20 percent to our starting pitching staff. Possibly, 40 percent. Can we acquire this much through trade in two weeks without losing our asses? Seriously. Sure, there is Hamels. But, what would he require. Lee and more without question. Is Lee worth Hamels. Yes. Because Hamels is what you want Lee to be. However, is Dempster worth Lee? Is Greinke? Should we wait for FA? But, where do the hitters come from? What do they cost? I think the addition of Hamels does solidify our rotation for NOW. Hamels/Kershaw/Capuano would be sick in the playoffs. BUT, we have to score. Adding a Willingham or Cuddyer would help. But, we need one more hitter. A guy who can make plays consistently and even without power can provide offense. I am not sure where that is going to come from. Can we make it with the team we currently have?
Absolutely not. You know other teams are going to be making trades to get better. Including the Giants. If the Dodgers stick with what they have they will not be in the playoff hunt. There are just too many things wrong with this team as is. You can't even count on Kershaw to be a sure win whenever he pitches like you could last season. It's painfully obvious only Kemp and Ethier can get it done. Forget the rest. Kemp is going to be getting games off like he did today so that means more games his bat will be absent. One more hitter will be a great help but still won't be the answer to all of our prayers. That would be a start in the right direction, however.
That's why a Headley type is what you really want. He's young, cheap, under team control for 2 more years, plays a position we have a black hole at.... That allows you in the off season to say, "hey. We have a foundation of Kemp-Ethier-Headley. Another year of Mark Ellis, and AJ. We'll see about Dee. Now we can look at making a 1-2 free agent splash with a Hamilton-Hamels type situation." Trade for a Headley now, make splashes in FA to really separate us in the off season. When I get home, I will read the whole SDF post.
I wouldn't trade for Hamels. Seems pointless when we're in the drivers seat to get him anyway if we just wait a few months. I'd trade for a guy like Dempster or Headley or Hart, but I wouldn't want Hamels or Greinke.
I want to try to win this year. All you have to do is get to the postseason, the hot teams win it all. This team has shown they can beat anyone at anytime when they play right. I'm not going to use 1 bad month full of injuries to gauge what this team is capable of. We had the best record in baseball for most of the first half. We can be that good again with health and a couple additions. The giants caught us and couldn't pull away. They have weakness' also. This fear of Colletti trading away people just seems so unwarranted at this time. Maybe if we had untouchables to trade away...maybe then yeah. He did hold on to the best guys we've had and they now play for the Dodgers. Santana was the one that got away, but we had Russ Martin then. None of us thought he'd turn into shit overnight. The others all sucked after all. JMac had his chances with us and blew it. No need to cry on our mound again. That guy that went to Seattle last year...what was his name again? You all wanted Ned dead for him...and I cannot remember his name. Dee gordon's buddy...whatever. We have some deadweight that should be replaced by better players. Hopefully other teams will give us a reasonable trade and we can improve. I'd rather watch the rest of the season with hope and have fun with it then giving up now. What is the point of watching baseball if we aren't trying to win it all. We have new ownership that can fix many issues with FA. Some clean what little we have left in the farm and start the process of centender building right fucking now.
I get your point and agree to some extent. I actually think Hamel's will be taking this deal that is being talked about. Rumor is it is for 6 years and 23ish a year. Pretty much what he would be seeking. On the other hand, Texas is enamored with him and they have been known to offer extensions at a very nice price. They seem to be playing to win EVERY year. My point, I guess, is if the Phils are willing to trade him, I would ask that they allow us to talk to him about an extension before we balk at price.
There's no way new ownership can justify standing pat in our current position. Just no way. They have to make moves and we have no farm system. If you are worried about us trading away good young talent, you can check your worries at the door - it's impossible. If we are the only ones seriously interested in a Headley or Hamels then it's a possibility, but anyone can outbid us with prospects. I think it's more likely we eat money: Dempster, Aramis Ramirez, and Morneau type trades are eminent.
I absolutely agree yet I put nothing past these disingenuous, self-serving pricks Don't be surprised if they play the "deal didn't come along/we weren't going to mortgage our future" card come 7/31
I actually would be surprised. Not saying these aren't disingenuous, self-serving pricks - but they are under the microscope to prove they are the "anti-McCourts". They will make a move for PR purposes, even if it's a bad baseball move.
Facts are facts our farm is devoid of head turning no doubt about it specs to get us the player we desire. I don't care who the GM is, it's going to take a miracle or a Pau Gasol type steal.
The Pau deal was certainly not a steal. The grizz got back Marc Gasol and because of the deal they were able to get Zach Randolph. I agree with the overall statement though, we simply don't have the specs to get what we want. If we do get a player we want it is going to basically gut what's left of our pitiful farm.
