DODGERS acquire CHASE UTLEY

Even if one is disappointed, I think that if they try hard enough or they skim through all these posts, that they can come up with a list of reasons for why this move was made. I mean you and I just talked about the chemistry that Utley and Rollins share. There's one reason. If you need results and you need them fast because of an injury to a key piece like Kendrick, getting a guy who's shared the middle infield with your starting SS for just about his entire career should be among your top options. Instant chemistry at positions that require it can help when you're in a position where there's no time to waste and that's what they face being that the calendar is about to turn to September.

Even if Utley only starts for 2 or 3 weeks...all of those games are important and like 96 said, Kike can go back to being the super-utility guy that he is and excels at being. Some get caught up in all the excitement of Kike playing well and forget that this is his 1st post season chase, that he's 23yrs old, and while he can play almost every position he's not a proven everyday player at any one of them. doyerfan kept it as simple as saying Utley is an upgrade over Callaspo. That works too. He also mentioned that the reliever market sucks right now, so do they go out and add more bum fodder for us to chew on or do they wait until September and bring some guys up to help the pen?

Now, I realize that those particular reasons probably don't stack up to just hating a player's guts, so add 2-3 more reasons and maybe that'll balance it out. Or maybe not. Doesn't really matter either way. Utley's on board. He just needs to perform. The contract doesn't state " everyone must love you ", even though Utley will have his share of fanfare being that he grew up in Long Beach and played at UCLA. Like it or not, this is a homecoming for him.

 

That's right...I don't have to love the guy. Odd that his contract doesn't mention me.
And what's wrong with the chemistry between Jroll in a and Kike or whoever ?
That's the reason why they got him...for chemistry? OK. Great move then...
And searching the posts, as you suggest, doesn't bring any clarity as to why he was a priority...none at all.
And yeah, I know he's a LAD now, so I hope he's great...but your point about him being an instant solution...there's no time to fiddle faddle around, etc., is well taken. But is it ANY MORE important than at least trying to fix a BP with 20 blown saves?? After the two abominations Johnson and Avilan?
And let's face it...no matter what this FO has done, you are behind them as if they are the geniuses they are touted to be.
I don't think so...they fuck up constantly, just like everyone else does. If they put together a winner, I'll be the first to mention you were right...but until then...

 

I don't believe there's anything wrong with the chemistry between Rollins and Kike, but that's also not the point. The point was in there, but I think you missed it.

Is his addition more important than adding bullpen arms? I don't think so, but what bullpen arms are you talking about? Johnson and Avilan serve as 2 really good examples of where the the bullpen market is in terms of guys that are available.

We can play the " who's biased against or behind the FO game " all day, but you've also been pretty clear with your stance as well in regards to both them and your pure hatred for Utley. I don't think you want any clarity...you have to be open to it to receive it.

 

Then, as geniuses,be creative and use what you' be got in a more productive way. Develope relationships with other GMs that are a source for players who perform up to ML standards. If you can't, then don't make deals that suck and hurts us, as they did.
I also don't recognize you as a source of clarity, in fact far from it. You blindly support the FO in everything they do, and for me, that is murkiness, not clarity.
I resent the attempted life lessons from you, And would suggest this end before it always winds up in a place it always seems to with you, name calling and insults, over things like a person's age. Or writing one word 50 times.
Thanks for your input; I just don't think that everything you write is unerringly correct at all...certainly not to the degree you do. It's always a case of "I'm righter than you are".
So you are then.

 

The best team money could buy







In 2009

 

You don't think they have relationships with other GMs? You don't think they're exhausting options? They're paying for how many guys to play for other teams? Remember when Grandal started out slow and the panic that spread? Allowing the deadline trades to settle in would be wise.

Also, no, you don't have to use me a source for clarity...nor do you. That's why I said to skim through these posts. There are enough people explaining/discussing the move. You have a right to be close-minded and/or biased, but plenty of people have chimed in on the trade and you're still acting as if you're clueless.

However, now you're on with the attitude, the cop outs, and all that extracurricular stuff that draws attention away from the topic. No one's giving you life lessons. We're talking about baseball.

 

Looking at what we gave up, this trade makes me more angry. We take him for potentially 2 months, pay his salary and give them two prospects? Wow... To me it doesn't matter who the prospects are but rather the fact we gave them a prospect, much less two!

Ned would be KILLED for this trade.

I just hope it pays dividends, but in all honesty, I'd rather have Kike play.

 

It's true...Ned would be killed.
I know Ned got crucified ( I might have been the worst offender, too). for what he did ,but the twin genii of Zarhadi and Friedman make just as many bonehead moves it seems.
Not that this trade will turn out that way, but I don't see this as a "turn around what's wrong with team " fixer-upper.
All the 'I know everything about BB' individuals aside, if we FINALLY win one, I guess those guys or guy were right. Whenever, if ever, that is.
So far, nothing.

 

BTW, Bluezoo, I don't resent you for thinking that I blindly back the FO. They're a damn good, well accomplished front office, so you thinking that I back them isn't an insult. However, for accuracy's sake I've said time and time again that my complaint with the FO is that they didn't sign Andrew Miller in the off-season, so to say that I blindly back them isn't accurate. They've spent so much money to get rid of guys, and are paying so many players to play elsewhere, that IMO they could've and should've added Miller to the bullpen in the winter. But bad as you're making them out to be, you do think that Kike Hernandez could handle 2B everyday and they brought him in, so they can't be that bad, right?

Some others still harp on the McCarthy signing. That never bothered me all that much because McCarthy wasn't signed to be our #3. McCarthy's signing didn't stop them from putting up big money for Olivera, Yadier Alvarez and company nor did McCarthy's signing hinder them in sending so much money with Kemp and others to push trades through. So that signing hasn't hurt their ability to spend or take on salary in any way and that should've been the only concern being that we had our top 3 starters intact at that point. They paid what they had to to gain his services is the way I see it. But we should have Andrew Miller right now and I think we would have him if Friedman weren't the MacGyver of building bullpens. I think his experiment could've waited.

 

Pretty much.

And in regards to bullpen options I imagine that Pablo Fernandez will be one of the guys called up in September. They gave him 8M back when they also signed Olivera and Fernandez was a reliever in Cuba's pro league.

Lots of complaints about the pen and rightfully so, but they were semi-proactive in signing a pretty good Cuban reliever back in March, so it doesn't officially go down as a " deadline bullpen acquisition "...it also doesn't have to. Just hopefully he's ready when they call on him. They've been putting innings on his arm as a starter, so we shall see. Perhaps add Frias, Bolsinger, and Urias to that mix as well.

 

Silver lining

 

What are you talking about?
Dude threw a No Hitter in Little League and High School.

 

The pen is blowing games so it's at the front of everyone's minds is my guess. Maybe I'm making excuses for fan's now, though, right?

Other reasons for the trade...

*Giants don't get Utley's hot bat. They were in on him. ( You covered that just now)

*As a result, now Joc can get rest and/or sit against the tough lefties since Kike is back behind him ( Joc has to learn to hit tough lefties, but right now reg-season wins are more important than Joc's growth vs. lefties )

*Utley's gonna make the bench even better when Kendrick gets back and make them a better team in the late innings

Combined with my earlier post that included your take, that's like 5 or 6 reasons to make the move. Not a great move, but one that could help on a lot of fronts.

 

We made a trade that will improve the teams chance of winning every night, gave up a couple of "meh" prospects and people are pissed? Yeah the bullpen sucks, but this deal doesn't mean the team can't still make a trade for a reliever. GM's don't do these trades and say "well that's all I'm going to do now". We just replaced Alberto Callaspo for Chase Utley, you take that chance 11 times out of 10. People must forget that we are in the waiver trade deadline period, good relievers are claimed the second they are open on the market. The Giants are going to claim every single solid reliever that gets to them as they are chasing us and know what our weakness was. It looked like the FO had addressed the bullpen woes somewhat at the deadline, but instead both players have fallen flat on their faces. My guess is, they see what is going on and are going to do whatever they can to address that issue. In the meantime, they made a great trade that bolsters our bench, yay.

 

Utley has arrived, will be available tomorrow they're saying

 

FWIW, the prospects were not anything that were going to make a difference with us anytime soon. Maybe Sweeney but it's a limited profile.