Buying or Selling?
As the Dodgers stumble back to the west coast, there are starting to be rumblings about whether they should give up on 2005 and start auctioning off parts and play for 2006. I’m of two minds.
The first says why bother dismantling a team that plays in such a crappy division that a slightly better than .500 record might win it? Why not go get a frontline pitcher who could make the difference between them and the Padres and start building around that guy (hint: Barry Zito!).
The other says “An opportunity to get rid of Jeff Weaver? Woo hoo!” That might even help them win this year.
I doubt the Dodgers will sell off parts because a) they don’t have many players anybody wants, and b) doing so would be an admission that Paul DePodesta has screwed up this team big time. The Dodgers had a nucleus of talented young players who played well together as a team, and he broke them up to bring in Brad Penny and Hee Seop Choi. He let Dave Roberts get away for nothing, and let go of Jose Lima, last year’s victory leader, without so much as a phone call.
Shawn Green, whose hefty contract seemed to be burning a hole in DePodesta’s pocket, was shipped off to Arizona, even though the Dodgers continue to pay him $7 million a year to beat them. Green was hardly an all-star, and not living up to the contract the Dodgers foolishly signed with him. But he played hard every day, be it right field or first base, and he had the lovely habit of tossing his batting gloves to kids in the stands every time he hit a homer.
In his place, DePodesta has signed J.D. Drew, who has the personality of a rosin bag. A god-fearing rosin bag, mind you. He was supposed to be the big bat in the middle of the order that would make everybody forget the Dodgers had let Adrian Beltre go. And while Beltre has struggled in Seattle, so too has Drew here in Los Angeles.
Here are two sets of statistics. One belongs to Shawn Green, the other to J.D. Drew. Can you tell which is which?
G: 69 AB: 257 H: 71 K: 47 HR: 9 RBI: 37 OBP: .334 AVG: 276
G: 64 AB: 230 H: 64 K: 46 HR: 12 RBI: 31 OBP: .394 AVG: .278
In fact, over their careers, their stats are remarkably similar. Green has played twice as many games, and has approximately twice as many homers, RBIS, and hits. Green’s lifetime batting average is .282, or four points lower than Drew’s.
In short, if DePodesta so badly wanted a guy who hits like Shawn Green, why didn’t he just keep Shawn Green?
Meanwhile, Paul Lo Duca is hitting .285 with the Marlins, with an on-base percentage of .341. Jason Phillips is hitting .262 with an OBP of .314. He was a nice pickup, since the price of getting him was essentially nothing (Kaz Ishii). But if the Dodgers hadn’t traded Lo Duca in the first place, there would be no need for Jason Phillips.
I didn’t like the Lo Duca trade at the time, and I still wish we could take a Mulligan on it. Can you imagine Hee Seop Choi screwing up bunt coverage for some other team? I sure can. Maybe that's a trade the Dodgers can make at the deadlin: Choi and Penny for LoDuca and Encarnacion. Somehow, I think the Marlins will pass.
The first says why bother dismantling a team that plays in such a crappy division that a slightly better than .500 record might win it? Why not go get a frontline pitcher who could make the difference between them and the Padres and start building around that guy (hint: Barry Zito!).
The other says “An opportunity to get rid of Jeff Weaver? Woo hoo!” That might even help them win this year.
I doubt the Dodgers will sell off parts because a) they don’t have many players anybody wants, and b) doing so would be an admission that Paul DePodesta has screwed up this team big time. The Dodgers had a nucleus of talented young players who played well together as a team, and he broke them up to bring in Brad Penny and Hee Seop Choi. He let Dave Roberts get away for nothing, and let go of Jose Lima, last year’s victory leader, without so much as a phone call.
Shawn Green, whose hefty contract seemed to be burning a hole in DePodesta’s pocket, was shipped off to Arizona, even though the Dodgers continue to pay him $7 million a year to beat them. Green was hardly an all-star, and not living up to the contract the Dodgers foolishly signed with him. But he played hard every day, be it right field or first base, and he had the lovely habit of tossing his batting gloves to kids in the stands every time he hit a homer.
In his place, DePodesta has signed J.D. Drew, who has the personality of a rosin bag. A god-fearing rosin bag, mind you. He was supposed to be the big bat in the middle of the order that would make everybody forget the Dodgers had let Adrian Beltre go. And while Beltre has struggled in Seattle, so too has Drew here in Los Angeles.
Here are two sets of statistics. One belongs to Shawn Green, the other to J.D. Drew. Can you tell which is which?
G: 69 AB: 257 H: 71 K: 47 HR: 9 RBI: 37 OBP: .334 AVG: 276
G: 64 AB: 230 H: 64 K: 46 HR: 12 RBI: 31 OBP: .394 AVG: .278
In fact, over their careers, their stats are remarkably similar. Green has played twice as many games, and has approximately twice as many homers, RBIS, and hits. Green’s lifetime batting average is .282, or four points lower than Drew’s.
In short, if DePodesta so badly wanted a guy who hits like Shawn Green, why didn’t he just keep Shawn Green?
Meanwhile, Paul Lo Duca is hitting .285 with the Marlins, with an on-base percentage of .341. Jason Phillips is hitting .262 with an OBP of .314. He was a nice pickup, since the price of getting him was essentially nothing (Kaz Ishii). But if the Dodgers hadn’t traded Lo Duca in the first place, there would be no need for Jason Phillips.
I didn’t like the Lo Duca trade at the time, and I still wish we could take a Mulligan on it. Can you imagine Hee Seop Choi screwing up bunt coverage for some other team? I sure can. Maybe that's a trade the Dodgers can make at the deadlin: Choi and Penny for LoDuca and Encarnacion. Somehow, I think the Marlins will pass.
posted by John Rosenthal @ 12:48 PM
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