Jason Schmidt - Yahoo.com

I’ve really been watching up here to see if there were any stories on Jason Schmidt making his return. The Giants seem brilliant to let him go and let the Dodgers pay him a lot of money for him to be injured. Obviously the Giants had a hunch and they were absolutely right.  Ironically, I guess it is old news up here, because there just aren’t a lot of articles on him.

Jason’s first two games were not good, then he had a great third game. For a second it seemed that the Dodgers wouldn’t need more starting pitching because Jason was ready….

Well that was until tonight. He didn’t make it through 4 innings and he gave up 4 runs. Not a great line.

The Dodgers have a interesting decision here. Do you keep him pitching while healthy to eat up innings, or do you demote him or let him go. For over 10 million a year, it’s hard to just demote him if he is healthy. At the same time, it doesn’t seem like he has great stuff. The experiment can work as long as the Dodgers keep the lead in the West, but if that starts slipping, every game counts.

It is like he is in Spring Training in terms of innings, so if he is healthy, they have to let him see if he can hit a rhythm…but with a short leash.  Good thing they got another reliever at the trade deadline…they’ re going to need George Sherrill until Schmidt figures it out.

If you didn’t see that my last post included discounts to next weeks Dodgers/Giants series, click here.  30% off is a great deal.

What do you think – keep Schmidt pitching?

George Sherrill - SI.com - From Associated Press

What a week for the Dodgers and baseball. I love this time of year because the trade deadline is just exciting. Nothing more to it. There is a hard deadline you can see coming and you always hope your team goes out and gets a star to help you make the playoffs. This year was no different, especially with Roy Halladay being the the star prize.

Now, I really didn’t know a lot about George Sherrill. I know he is well respected, and he brings a veteran presence to the bullpen. He certainly showed his stuff in his first game striking out the side. He certainly isn’t Roy Halladay though.

I really thought the Dodgers were going to get both Sherrill and Halladay. I still think the Dodgers need more starting pitching, so that is a huge question mark. This is especially true now that the Phillies got more pitching and the Cardinals got more bats. We’ll see. Truth be known the Dodgers aren’t killing with offense right now, so that needs to come around too to help the pitching.

Here’s a few more other random things from the week:

• Manny and David Ortiz were again linked to steroids. Funny how Manny said nothing, but Ortiz reacted with shock.  I just found an article that stated that the Union alerted Ortiz and Manny years ago about the test.  I guess David Ortiz forgot about that…
• The Dodgers certainly didn’t roll over the Cardinals this week.  That could be a problem in the playoffs.
• Saw Russell Martin essentially derail the Dodgers today against the Braves with errors. He is strong with the pitching staff, but he just doesn’t seem to have everything he did a few years ago.
• I was watching the game today and noticed that Andre Ethier is on fire again in front of Manny. I wonder if it is really seeing better pitching, or Andre just being stoked to have the chance to hit because Manny will probably drive him in.

Coming next, the Spy Game for this week.  The Dodgers didn’t do a lot this year, but the Giants certainly proved they are going for it this year.

What do you think – do you like Sherrill?  Are the Dodgers still short on starting pitching?

Matt Cain - AP - Ben Margot

With the All-Star Game this week, there isn’t a lot to report specific to the Giants.  Tim Lincecum started the All-Star game and was roughed up.  Having said that, there was a little buzz at the end of the week as the Giants played the Pirates.  “Played” is the key word.  I should better say “lost” to the Pirates.  They lost in extra innings, and then got beat again yesterday.  The “concern” has been the sudden loss of the Giants offense against a last place team.  Before the All-Star game their offense seemed to be in high gear.  Aaron Rowand was leading off, Pablo Sandoval was hitting third and hitting jacks, and Edgar Renteria was hitting 5 or 6 and starting to get back to form.  They were doing so well that they were in the top wild card spot and their was rumors of extending the deals of Brian Sabean the GM and Bruce Bochy the manager.

Now after the All-Star game and the loss of the offense, there’s the silence of hoping it is just an anomoly, rather than a real trend.  The truth is everyone’s guess, so we’ll see.  Matt Cain goes today, to try and take one win in the series.

Most Giants fans I talk to don’t think they will make any major moves before the trade deadline.  Apparently the new owner wants to build for the future and everyone knows this team has already exceeded expectations.  Even more, they will have more money at the end of this year, so they can wait.  I still don’t think the Giants have enough to get deep into the playoffs, but maybe that isn’t the goal.  Even just to make the playoffs excites the fans.  Until next week…

Got a great e-mail from Travelzoo announcing cheap Dodger tickets for the Dodgers/Giants games at AT&T park April 27-29. It’s a Monday through Wednesday night series, but these tickets are hard to beat.

Read the e-mail below and then follow the link to order tickets.

The Travelzoo Shows & Events desk presents this offer early
> for Travelzoo VIPs:
>
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>
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> – View Reserve Seats … $18 (reg. $24)
> – Lower Box Seats … $28 (reg. $42)
>
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>
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> http://www.travelzoo.com/Newsflash.ashx?572062-9626688

I’m hoping to go to the Monday game – these are great deals.

Manny Ramirez from the San Francisco Chronicle - Jed Jacobsohn Getty Images

The Giants and Dodgers went up the hill to catch Manny Ramirez.  The Giants and Dodgers came tumbling down and Manny came smiling after…

So this whole discussion of Manny with the Dodgers or Giants is hilarious.  It’s all people talk about here in San Francisco, but no one really knows what’s going on.  (Do you ever wonder if the GM’s and Scott Boras laugh at all us peons trying to figure them out?)

Good article in the Chronicle on what people think up here on him.  44% say he should come, but at a short contract.  Sound like anyone we know in LA?

Funny post by Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness.  It really is weird how some people are “convinced” that there has been an offer, where there are others who are “convinced” that nothing is going down.

Either way – if all the newspapers and nightly news shows are covering it up here, something’s going down. Mark my word Dodger fans – the Giant’s are in this game. They would love to steal Manny and Boras would love to show Colletti how bad he felt the Dodgers first offer was.  At the same time, Boras wants top dollar, so he won’t have any problem with the Giant’s entering the ring only so the Dodgers can win the fight.

I found this video by a senior sports writer for the SF Chronicle, and I think he’s got it right.  He’s thinks the Giant’s are listening, but no offers yet.  He has a real interesting ending.  I’ll give you a hint…it’s good for the Blue.