Joc Pederson's hour fast approaching? By Mark Saxon | ESPNLosAngeles.com July, 12, 2014 LOS ANGELES -- Scott Van Slyke is not the reason the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 6-3 to the San Diego Padres on Friday night. He might not even be in the top five most culpable Dodgers. The ball Chase Headley hit that glanced off the webbing of Van Slyke's glove as he leaped to attempt a catch near the center-field wall might have wound up as an RBI double with half of the center fielders in baseball trying to catch it. Van Slyke turned his head to find the wall, but that's pretty basic self-preservation. Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images Pederson is hitting well at AAA, but the Dodgers need the stability he could bring on defense more than anything. "That's a tough play," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "That ball's crushed. I thought it would have been an incredible play." Said pitcher Dan Haren: "I'm not going to make excuses. I've got to be better. Scott made a great effort on that ball." Fair enough, but it's indicative of the Dodgers' current plight that the man who didn't catch it is a 6-foot-5 former first baseman who might be -- in fact, is, according to Mattingly's most recent lineups -- the team's best option in center field at the moment. The Dodgers decided nearly two months ago that Matt Kemp, running on a surgically repaired ankle, is no longer a center fielder. They apparently decided not long ago that 32-year-old Andre Ethier, with practically no power left in his bat and average speed in his legs, isn't good enough to play center every day. So, what, they're going to keep running Van Slyke out there every day until he really does get exposed? Look around the major leagues. Do you see a lot of guys built like Van Slyke playing center field? The storyline is so old, it's more a punch line than an observation: The last thing the Dodgers need is another outfielder. They have one, Carl Crawford, who is being paid more than $20 million to come off the bench and pinch hit or play a couple of innings of defense these days. But it's becoming more evident by the day: The first thing the Dodgers need is an outfielder. They need a true center fielder and that center fielder is Joc Pederson. They need Pederson not because he is batting .324 and has a 1.016 OPS for Triple-A Albuquerque. You can discount those numbers at whatever rate you want because of the thin air of New Mexico, or you can throw them out entirely if you like. They need Pederson because of his fresh, 22-year-old legs, his agility and the fact he has been playing the position his entire career. They need him to catch the ball. Whatever he produces at the plate is gravy. To call up Pederson, of course, is to turn a four-outfielder logjam into a five-outfielder logjam with all sorts of potential for strife. Then, you'd be guaranteed that a couple of the highest-paid outfielders in baseball are riding the bench every night. But these things are fixable. The trading deadline is rapidly approaching. A source indicated that the Boston Red Sox had some interest in Kemp last season. While Boston, sinking in the standings, wouldn't appear to be the most natural trade partner this season, the fact that a smart front office the year they won the World Series considered Kemp worthy of exploring tells you there is interest in Kemp despite his injury woes. The Seattle Mariners have gotten a whopping four home runs from their left fielders this season. After another brilliant outing by Felix Hernandez on Friday night, Seattle has a 1 1/2-game lead for the American League's second wild-card spot. If they don't at least explore the possibility of trading for Kemp -- who could provide a little right-handed protection for Robinson Cano -- they're just not trying hard enough. This presumes, of course, that the Dodgers would discuss eating a sizable portion of the $107 million left on Kemp's contract after this season. Even if the Dodgers can't find the right trade partner in the next couple of months (Kemp could easily get through waivers with that contract), they might just have to live with an uncomfortable clubhouse for a while to have a more comfortable pitching staff, one that knows it can allow some deep fly balls to center field that won't cost it games. The Dodgers could easily thrive with Kemp or Crawford in left, Puig in right and Pederson in center, with Ethier playing sporadically or pinch hitting. Van Slyke becomes a backup first baseman in that scenario. Adrian Gonzalez, 32, is batting .250, after all. They could bat Pederson seventh or eighth and tell him not to worry about his offense. Just catch the ball and do his best. That might be selling him short, of course. Mattingly loves Pederson's swing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have compared it to those of Carlos Gonzalez and Cano. They don't need Pederson to be their savior. They're in perfectly good shape as is to qualify for the playoffs. They need Pederson because having him playing center field gives them their best team, and isn't that the point? __
the fact that SVS isn't built to play CF was THE absolute 1st thing that crossed my mind when DBB put him there. the shit just looks stupid in itself. he's a decent athlete for his size, but no..just no. i know they want his bat to play and all that, but no. not CF.
Colletti unlikely to trade top prospects for 'elite pitcher' Dodgers GM is open-minded, but Deadline deal for Price-type may not be in cards By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 7/12/2014 9:44 P.M. ET LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers, as usual, are on the prowl for pitching help with the July 31 Trade Deadline approaching. But general manager Ned Colletti indicated on Saturday he still intends to keep the organization's top prospects. Colletti didn't mention them by name, but it's no secret the jewels of the farm system are outfielder Joc Pederson, infielder Corey Seager and left-handed pitcher Julio Urias. "I'm open-minded, but based on what I know of who can be acquired, I don't see us doing anything that's going to tear apart the farm system," he said. So Colletti doesn't expect to be dealing for an "elite pitcher" -- in other words, the Rays' David Price or the Phillies' Cole Hamels. "Any elite pitcher will come at this time with a lot of prospect ability attached, probably more so than I'd like to part with," he said. "We need to get Hanley [Ramirez] on track health-wise. If we get [Chone Figgins] and [Justin] Turner back and not lose anybody, pitching is where we have to be careful. Unless you've got young players ready to pitch in a race, everybody's in the same boat, some worse off than we are." A year ago, Colletti's key acquisition was starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco, who picked up the slack after Chad Billingsley had Tommy John surgery. Colletti said that the volume of calls from other clubs has tailed off recently. He believes there just aren't as many teams committed to selling, especially with the second Wild Card berth encouraging clubs to hang in there. While the focus has been on the bullpen, Colletti acknowledged that the starting rotation is showing cracks. Josh Beckett is on the disabled list with a hip impingement and Dan Haren is slumping. Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. __
Ned/DBB lip service, through and through. And, as evident in another thread, Ned seems to have no plans to strengthen this substantial weakness in the team...along with CF, catching and ss aren't even mentioned. Pitching...Haren is a chink in the armor, his HR quirk is ever growing and ever alarming. HR dan and his meatballs might make history....who knows? and what I see from Ryu and Beckett (injury that could be devastating) we are all of a sudden, looking very, very vulnerable. On multiple fronts. Only substantial individual talents are keeping us where we are, IMO. I don't know if that lasts all season, although possible , I guess. You can't blame SVS, or any other 1bman or corner OF that goes out there and looks clumsy and a bit inept. This is the Ned/DBB team assembled, They all knew about KKemp's surgically repaired ankle way-y-y beforehand, and did nothing about it. Just put all the eggs in Dee's basket, and just because he flies, doesn't mean he's a CF either, obviously. But he sure can play 2b. Same old bullshit story as always from Ned, no matter who the manager is. Am I the only one whose tired of this over-rated shill ? And meanwhile , we goof on the Giants, who have those two recent WS Championships tucked away in their pockets forever. No matter how we try to make excuses for it...or dilute what they've done...forever. Fuck this guy...if he got Alanna Rizzo, then buy him a Ford pickup for doing so, and send him and his underachieving ass out the door ASAP.
I'm ready for Joc, but I'm a little concerned about his K rate in AAA right now. He's on a pace that would put him at 200 Ks for a 160 game season, and this is against AAA pitching. But then again, he can't be worse than Ethier.
sure kemp has a bit of cache still but every night interested teams watch him whiffing on balls off the corner it drops you hope as a baseball fan that guys can get hot again but w kemp and eithier it appears the best is over for good can't have giant holes like that in your lineup going into a playoffs these guys can't square up shit let alone hit in the clutch like the idea of letting joc hit low in the order w less pressure and maybe he strikes out a bit but how much worse can it be?
I'm ALMOST with Back2back with Guerrero called up at second, and Dee slotting into center scenario. I STILL don't think Dee Gordon is as quite as good as he's played this half, and if he has the skillset to add more positions as a super-utility guy, I say we go for it. His range in center would be absolutely fucking amazing, and as someone said Joc's K rate, and hitting against lefties is something that I would rather he irons out in the minors. We don't want a 'platoon' Ethier scenario 2.0, do we? It seems a fucked up idea changing your all-star second baseman midway through the season to a position he's rarely played. But as a natural athlete, I think Dee can make the switch better than Joc could transition to the majors this year. But yeah, not going to happen, and a little silly TBH.
Does anyone have any articles or scouting reports of Dee at center? I keep hearing this as an option but I just don't see it.
Even though I believe Joc can help this club, I don't like starting his clock yet. I'd rather bring up ole one ear and see if he can hit ML pitching.
Seems like a lot of pressure to put on this kid if he comes up fom AAA. Who knows if he can handle it? And if he doesn't hit, it will be just another boring edition to a lineup that basically sucks IMO. if we led the NL in BA or RISP, or whatever it is, scoring the amount of runs we did against SD had to take care of that and put us where we deserve to be...somewhere down the line.
For what it's worth, Joc's hitting about .300 against lefties this year (.340 vs righties) so he's progressing in that department.
1. Buy MLB The Show '14. 2. Create player named Joc Pederson. 3. Get drafted by Dodgers (I believe you can choose which team you're drafted by if they still have the '13 mechanic). 4. Play really well in Road to the Show. 5. Make the Show. 6. Tada!
5.5. Get traded to the Cardinals because the game mechanics show you're blocked by 4 "superstar" outfielders. 5.75. Cry.
I remember my player I created got drafted by the Giants three times. I just kept going to college and re-creating until I got drafted by a team I didnt hate.
