I give AJ a ton of props for his play in the playoffs after that abysmal regular season. But who would we be if we overreacted over a couple of postseason games and threw out the entire regular season? ESPN? Sign Martin.
Zaidi has talked about how backup catchers can have a more important impact over the course of a season then you'd think and Friedman repedeatly payed Jose Molina solid money for his framing, which is something AJ is terrible at So Friedman probably doesn't want AJ as his starter and Zaidi probably would rather have AJ as a backup rather then Butera. I said it before but I would be surprised if AJ is our starter in 2015, which is cool.
Funny, the same people who criticize people who don't want Martin and keeping AJ as the starter are justifying it the same that I am; don't judge it by the past. Martin had a GREAT year last year, no doubt, But in terms of OPS, it was by and far his best since 2007. Over the time period 2009-2013, Martin's OPS was .702, last year it was .832. Don't get me wrong, I think that is very, very good for a catcher. Couple that with his defense and he is a top 5 catcher in the league. I want him if that is where things would stop. But, the guy was a bitch when he was here. I don't think you guys remember how much of a prick he became and how annoying he was. There were reasons we were happy when he left. I'm not saying people can't change or that he hasn't, but let's also not forget why and how much we hated him; there were reasons. One of my biggest things, however, is that AJ has only had two and a quarter true years in the Majors when he has been healthy and that was 2011-2013. During that span, Ellis' OPS was .741. Add to this that he knows the staff really, really well, is CK's best friend and is an absolute team first guy and I don't think you can just write him off. 4/5 of our starters know him and vice versa, 3 of the 5 will be in at least their 3rd year with him; don't discount that at all. Last year was an off-year for him and he was clearly battling through injury. Couple this with the fact that a Russell will get between a 4-5 year deal, he will be 32 before the season starts and will demand close to $15M per year and I just say no, not worth it. I don't want Martin and will take a gamble on AJ. If that fails, trust the FO to make a trade, they are, I think you'd agree, the best FO in the Majors and could likely pull off a great trade. Just my two cents.
Nah, we'd be the Ned Colletti ran Dodgers. Putting Pedro Baez and Scott Elbert into playoff games. Giving Brian Wilson a 2-year contract after 16IP in 2 years.
So if you think he can change, why don't you want him back? I get that you're still mad about some of the things he did, but you said it yourself, he could have changed. So what's the problem with bringing him back?
Number of years, thinking AJ can be as good as he was the previous couple of years (plus the intangibles I mentioned), last year being an exception for Martin and not the rule (offensive-wise), the money and him being 37 years old in the last year of the contract (assuming it is a five year deal).
I agree with you on the point of years. But I still think we need to do something about our catching position, and I don't think AJ is the answer. We need to improve, and there's no one else.
and therein lies the problem of course martin is asking for the moon and stars, he has the leverage of being the only good catcher in an extremely thin market he/his agents would be fools to seek anything less, especially initially i'm really puzzled as to what our FO guys will do, if anything... and not just on martin, everyone
Russell doesn't run like a cripple and can handle his defensive duties. NZ doesn't know what the hell he likes.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis hit just .191/.323/.254 last season, and the Dodgers’ new saber-friendly front office will likely place a high value on free agent Russell Martin, particularly given his work behind the plate. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/sherman-on-dodgers-johan-santana.html
Contradicts the above http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/artic...arhan-zaidi-gives-aj-ellis-vote-of-confidence
AJ stays so Jeannie can flop in Wrigley. And Kershaw is kept happy. Kersh and the staff outside Zohan's office. :mob:
Having intangibles like AJ is a great thing to have as a bench player. If it's not resulting in on field production, then it just doesn't make sense to start a guy no matter how great of a guy he is. On the bench and playing often it's necessary though. It's not like AJ would never play, he could get plenty of starts (think of how many times we had to watch Butera fuck up a game) I just really doubt AJs intangibles would be diminished in a bench role. It's not like being #2 on the depth chart means you're never heard from in the entirety of a season. We just can't afford to hope AJ gets better offensively and defensively and stays healthy, cause plan B and C in Butera and FedEx is pathetic
and Martin's probably gonna catch around 110 regular season games on average over the next few years, so there's still potential for Ellis to get plenty of starts. the perfect plan would be to have Ellis back Martin up for the next couple years and then give way to Leon as the backup ( hopefully the kid keeps progressing)..then transition Ellis into a bench coach role and maybe manager at some point.
this and it applies in almost any profession if you can't perform job well/up to expectations, then you're probably dead man walking
