DODGERS: Offseason Thread

Did Living legend have conceit beyond control? This PJ guy thinks he is a shining light in the darkness...haven't you ever seen his dead shit on the other one? The guy's ego is off the hook. You'll see...

 

Praise Jesus shut up you idiot

 

Oh man I'd murder Praise Jesus for Votto

 

The more I think about it, the more it seems like one of us decided to be a douchebag and make Living Legend just to piss us all off. Lol.

Anyway, the Reds would be stupid NOT to trade Votto at the deadline this year. No strong first basemen on the free agent market next year so you know someone will overpay (hopefully that's us).

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they move him next off-season after exhausting extension talks go nowhere.

 

IF Praise Jesus continues to get on my nerves....I say...ban him.

 

Well we're screwed then.

 

Look, I got a Pm from someone on psd suggesting this place. If you don't want me here I will leave.

 

If you received a PM from someone, then you understand the game and can hold a decent conversation. Simply act like it. We disagree on here but we are also cordial. Basically, do not be a douche until we get to know you and your humor. I am not sure if you have noticed but we kinda police ourselves. We are tight knit and not prone to welcome outsiders. It is what it is. Again, if you are a Dodger fan who understands the game and can hold a decent conversation without resorting to petty bullshit--welcome. If not, gtfo. Not personal, just the way it is.

 

I was going to avoid this but meh, I have five minutes to make someone look stupid.

Ned has been horrid. Your examples are a tiny sample size and problematic. Ned was called in on the Manny situation by Theo when he could not find a suitor that had major league ready players that the Pirates liked. He got very lucky.

I will give him Dre'. He was persistent and waited for his name to be added to the list given by Beane. However, he DID NOT trade him when he should have. Had he traded him at the deadline a year ago, we would have received a haul for him.

Raffy was a decent signing at best. He was way overpaid but that seems the only way we could acquire him.

Let me illustrate Ned's incompetence....take 3rd base and catcher...

Remember that Beltre guy? He created a hole at 3rd because Depo did not want to negotiate. Ned was after Blake for 2 seasons and was able to acquire him for Meloan and 2 million. However, instead of the 2 million, he traded a power hitting minor league catcher because he believed that Martin would last forever. Guess what happened? Martin hurt with no real backup. We then spend on Barajas who does well but we still have a hole. We spend again on Matt Traenor because we still have a hole. We trade away Robinson in a crazy ass deal because we still have a hole. Because Blake had no backup, we signed Uribe for 21 fucking million dollars over 3 years...because we had a hole. Here is the HILARIOUS part, Martin can play 3rd--it is where he started. Just on walks alone is he better than Uribe. Shall I continue? Should I move on to outfielders and no name pitchers? Oswalt is on the market and we are not sniffing. Yes, props to Ned to trying to grab Fielder and walking away when the price was far too high but c'mon...my four year-old would have walked away. Ned has not been a great GM. He has been average to below average. He does not think things through and rarely has a plan in mind. This is a guy who KNEW that Schmidt was hurt and signed him to that contract.

 

The A's hope Adrian Cardenas clears waivers so they can retain him, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Cardenas was designated for assignment earlier today.

The Pros

• Offensively, Baseball America says he “makes consistent hard contact” and “has an innate understanding of how pitchers are trying to attack him … Cardenas has a fluid, effortless swing, and sprays the ball all over the field.”
• The stats back up the scouting report. Cardenas has a career 12.6% strikeout rate (11.5% in Triple-A) and 9.3% walk rate (8.2% in Triple-A), both of which are above-average. He’s a .303 hitter in the minors (.290 at Triple-A) with a .368 OBP (.349 at Triple-A).
• A second baseman by trade, Cardenas also has plenty of experience at shortstop and third base. He also spent a fair amount of time in left field last season. Versatility is always a plus.
• Since he was added to the 40-man roster after the 2010 season and spent all of last year in the minors, Cardenas has two minor league options remaining. He has never spent a day in the big leagues, so he has zero service time and is under team control for another six years.

The Cons

• Cardenas as no power whatsoever. I’m talking a career .110 ISO in the minors and .097 in Triple-A. The five homers he hit in 2011 were his most since hitting five in 2008. His career high is nine dingers back in 2007.
• He’s also a poor base stealer, going just 27-for-48 (56.3%) in 392 games above Single-A. So offensively, the only thing you can count on Cardenas to do is put the ball in play and draw walks. I can’t even guarantee he’ll hit it out of the infield.
• Unfortunately, all that defensive versatility just means Cardenas will be shaky at more than one position. Baseball America said his “speed, quickness, and range are all fringy,” and his outfield routes “aren’t perfect [but] he catches what he gets to and has an average arm.” They project him as a “line drive hitting utility man.”

A top 100 prospect as recently as 2009 (ranked 74th), Cardenas spent all of 2011 at Triple-A after splitting both 2009 and 2010 between Double and Triple-A. He seems to have gone backwards a bit since the trade, playing fewer and fewer games on the middle infield each season. A powerless corner infielder/outfielder without at least solid base stealing or defensive skills isn’t exactly the most valuable player in the world, so it’s not clear if he passes the “better than Ramiro” test. At least Pena is a very good defender at all infield positions, even if he can’t hit a lick and only has one minor league option remaining
Cardenas is worth having in the organization because he has some prospect shine left and is an upgrade over the Reegie Corona and Doug Bernier types, but I don’t think he’s a guy worth carrying on the 40-man roster if it can be avoided. That makes him a candidate for my favorite underutilized trick, the ol’ waiver claim-then-DFA. The idea is that you claim the player to get him in the organization, then immediately remove him from the 40-man roster. Since the Yankees have such a low waiver priority, any player they claim will likely go untouched the second time through waivers. That make sense? Cardenas could be useful but he’s not as good as I thought he was coming into this post.

Adrian Cardenas, acquired by the A's in the trade that sent Joe Blanton to Philadelphia, is still just 23 years old. In fact, Cardenas is actually younger than his competitor for the A's future second base job, Jemile Weeks.
Cardenas is showing his versatility this season in Sacramento, receiving playing time at second base, third base and even the outfield.
It is likely that Cardenas would be the first Rivercat called up by Oakland if the need minor league reinforcements arises.
He is off to a blazing start in Sacramento this season, batting .348 with 11 RBI in the team's first 22 games.

Body Type – Not a big guy…somewhat stocky
Scouting Report
Cardenas’ main strength is his ability to hit for average. He’s got wonderful hand-eye coordination that allows him to consistently square up on balls. Good bat control allows him to pepper line drives to all fields. It’s easy to envision him being an above .300 career average hitter.
However, after his promotion to Triple-A Sacramento, it looked like he wasn’t seeing the ball particularly well. His timing looked off and he wasn’t consistently squaring up on balls. His approach remained the same, but he wasn’t making the same kind of contact. Many of the line drives he hit in Double-A became ground balls and as result, his average fell off significantly.
His patience at the plate is solid, but he’s not a walk machine and his power hasn’t really developed much over the past couple years. He’s sorta stagnated a bit. There are a couple reasons for this…
1. Cardenas isn’t a projectable or real physical player…he is what he is
2. Cardenas has more contact oriented approach and you don’t see him drive balls too often
3. Cardenas’ swing doesn’t incorporate much of his lower body. He takes a small stride forward, while moving the torso simultaneously back to create plenty of torque. He then uses his quick-twitch muscles in his forearms to accelerate the bat with minimal load. Because his swing doesn’t really incorporate his lower body and relies more on his upper body to generate power, he doesn’t have better than gap power.
Now, the biggest reason for my lower rating of Cardenas is the recent news that Oakland will move Cardenas off of second base to third. Cardenas has more value as an offensive oriented second baseman. He gets lost in the shuffle of the big bats at third base with the move. Using the chart whipped up by Kevin Goldstein to show what this move means for Cardenas offensively…
POS – Bad | Average | Good | Elite
2b – .702 | .762 | .820 | .862

3b – .718 | .805 | .902 | .958
So Cardenas has an upside of a “good” second baseman with the move to third base puts upside to around the level of an average third baseman, which doesn’t sound too great to me.
Best Case Outcome – Above average second baseman or average third baseman
More Likely Outcome – Slightly better than average second baseman or a below average everyday third baseman

Grab this bitch right now. A's fucked up. This kid could be a stud.

 

James has only hit like that once in his career (his rookie year). It was a fluke.