If there is god, AZ will trade Shawn Green to LA for Milton Bradley and Broxton.

God, J.D Drew is a great player. If he could just stay healthy...

Ah, remember the days when Edwin Jackson and Joel Hanrahan were supposed to lead the Dodgers to many world series apperances? Those were good times.

Easy to see LA's biggest problem, their two best players are only projected for 112 and 110 games played.

I know the Dodgers don't even have a manager yet, but I'll take the under on Choi's PA#.

Ouch, Kent falls off a cliff in these projections.

I suspect that Choi gets 0 PA as a Dodger next year. He's clearly not targeted as the starter (Colletti has said that the team needs to fill "the hole at first base," or words to that effect), and he doesn't seem like the kind of guy the Dodgers would want to keep on the bench. He's not flexible, not fast, and not scrappy (i.e., not white). Plus he stank as a PH last year.

Could make a nice platoon fit for some team in need of a first baseman.

Does the projection take into account that Drew had a broken wrist?
They usually tend to sap power and increase K rates.
If not, the projection is on the lower side me thinks.

Yeah, ZIPS really hates Jeff Kent.

Dan,

I don't see a projection for Greg Miller, is that because he only pitched about 20 or so innings last year?

Didn't realize you had to be white in order to achieve scrappiness. All these years I thought every Major Leaguer who ever put on a Uniform deserved to get there due to their unrivaled talent. You know, hand eye coordination and what not. But now I have to consider a new argument. Some simply make it because they're white! I find this more insulting than most people since my baseball "career" is mercifully washed out, and you know, if I deserved any more entitlements due to my skin color, it sure is news to me. Never occured to me. I didn't make it cause I didn't have the talent, happening to be a pale Irish men didn't exactly help me out. It is probably a throw away comment that you meant nothing by Sweet, but I'd like to believe the best man plays, and find it overly demeaning to the sport we all love if this weren't the case.

mw,

It wasn't exactly a "throw away comment," although in retrospect I should have put quotation marks around the word "scrappy." I didn't mean to imply that certain players "simply make it because they're white"; I don't think that's true. I do think, though, that white players comprise the majority -- and perhaps the totality -- of players who have a public reputation as being "scrappy," "gritty," or "blue-collar," all characteristics that the Dodgers might look for in a bench player. I try to keep an open mind, though, so I'd be interested to hear of counterexamples -- non-white players who are routinely described in this way.

As for the "best man" always playing, tell that to Choi after he got replaced by Jason Phillips. Or ask any Cubs rookie. These decisions aren't motivated by race; they're stupidity-driven.

I don't see a projection for Greg Miller, is that because he only pitched about 20 or so innings last year?

Miller has 22 2/3 innings above rookie ball in the last 2 years - I just don't think a statistical projection drawn off his miniscule record will be very insightful here. I try not to project players with very limited record unless one absolutely has to (Huston Street before '05, Craig Hansen now). Even those two had more to go off of.

Actually, scrappy comes from those players' tendencies to take the scraps from the clubhouse spread home to their dogs.

David Eckstein has the fattest dog in the world.

Some people don't know the difference between prescriptive and descriptive, I guess, and some of them are cruising the internet looking for racism. Amazing.

Look my bad for putting a different opinion out there. If you read what I said, you would clearly see I wasn't singling Sweet or anything he said out like he was a bad guy or something. I just disagreed with his thoughts and put mine out there. If you want to think that's what Internet crusading is defined now in this present time, a differing view on something, it's in a real sorry state, or maybe perceptions are.


BTW Sweet, your response definitely holds water. The majority of players defined as scrappy most definitely are white. Using this dynamic in your whole Choi arguement, however, probably threw me off of your real point.

Jason Phillips is terrible.

I didn't take offense, mw, and I hope I didn't give any. I understand your point.

I know it's all been said before, but I still need to vent. It is simply unbelievably frustrating that Choi is not seen as a decent player. He is projected to have the 3rd-highest OPS on the team, and it's not like this would be unexpected as the projection is basically his career OPS. Obviously he's not a great or maybe even good hitter for a 1B, but in what world is Choi a problem you need to fix? There are bigger fish to fry if you are looking for problems on the Dodgers.

Coletti better not start signing a bunch of 37-year old veterans with playoff-experience-magick or I am going to be very frustrated.

First off, Martin and Navarro should split time 50/50, perhaps even alternating each game. Choi is an awesome player and very underrated; I think he is not liked because he is Korean. Phillips should be traded for anything the Dodgers can get, or simply be released.

BTW Sweet, your response definitely holds water. The majority of players defined as scrappy most definitely are white. Using this dynamic in your whole Choi arguement, however, probably threw me off of your real point.

While in general this is correct, I think being one of "Dusty's boys" or the equivalent is the same thing. Guys like Macias, Neifi, Harris, and Dunston are clearly not white, and they've all got that elusive intangible that gets them more PT and roster space than their talent alone merits.

First off, Martin and Navarro should split time 50/50, perhaps even alternating each game.

I disagree. I want Martin to spend at least a few more months in the minors, for three reasons. First, he's only been catching a few seasons, and a bit more full time experience under Yeager's tutelage would be beneficial. Secondly, Navarro should play regularly also, so that the Dodgers can see whether the couple of months at the end of the season was a fluke or not. Thirdly, if Martin spends the full season in the majors then he and Navarro would be eligible for free agency at the same time, which strikes me as poor roster management, when there are developmental reasons anyway for that to be avoided.