Orlando Hudson - Alex Gallardo - LA Times

Who needs the Giants this week when the Dodgers are playing the A’s! I had to hunt a little to find the A’s channel (Channel 89 up here), but once finding it, it was a pleasure to watch the boys in blue the last two nights.

The didn’t win two nights ago, but they pulled it out last night. Even though they lost two nights ago, this is a GOOD Dodger team. I am just really impressed with how scrappy they are. They are very much like the Angels in 2002 against the Giants. They don’t hit the long ball, but they are always getting hits, and always on base.

The other part is their defense.  The Dodgers turned 4 double plays last night.  Blake is having a Gold Glove year, and then with Furcal, Hudson and Loney, they have a great defense up the middle. 

I heard a great quote from F.P. Santangelo, an announcer for the A’s. He was saying that sometimes there are just good teams who know they are going to win. They don’t know how they will do it, but they know they are going to win. He said the Dodgers are very much that team right now.

I couldn’t agree more. It seems like they win a lot of games in the 8th and 9th innings, which is exactly what you need to go far in the playoffs. They get the runs when they need to, and they do what they have to do.

I have to admit it was fun to see Nomar Garciaparra play last night. He even drove in a run. I always liked him and was glad to see him as a Dodger. Too bad his body keeps breaking down on him because he was fun to watch.

The Dodgers play the Angels this weekend, and the writers are already saying that this weekend may be an indicator of the playoffs.(See Yahoo article here).  This article gives the advantage to the Angels because of their pitching, but I’m not sold.  The Dodgers just seem to find a way.  The Angels have figured out how to win again, so it will definitely be a battle.  I’m predicting the Angels will easily re-claim first place by the All-Star break.  They had a lot of injuries, but you knew Mike Scioscia’s club wouldn’t be down that long.

Coming this weekend, another Spy Game post.  Let’s just say the Angels swept the floor with the Giants this week.

Saito from L.A. Times - Allen J. Schaben

So Takashi Saito signed with the Red Sox this last week, ending his time as a Dodger.  I don’t quite know why this happened.  Saito was a stud.  He had elbow problems last year, but when he was on – he was lights out.  He was different than Gagne, but in some ways he was better.  Gagne was all about the drama and the look.  Saito was all about just getting it done.  Gagne always had guys on base to make it interesting, Saito just struck them out.  He was surgically accurate, and he gave Dodger fans great peace when he came in.

I’ve wrote previously that I want to one of his last games in SF last year, and it was reassuring to see him back and close the door.  He ended up not being fully ready for the playoffs, but even Giant’s fans knew he was good.  I have a friend who is a big Giant’s fan and Saito was always his Fantasy Baseball closer because he knew how good he was.

This whole thing is a little confusing.  It appears like the Dodgers just let him walk away.  I’m trying to read inbetween the lines, and the Dodgers seem to be on a trend.  Cut older, injury prone players.  Kent, Nomar, Penny, Saito.  All guys who had injuries, and who the Dodgers think will have more.  The fact that the Red Sox picked up Saito and Penny is real interesting.  They wouldn’t just pick up guys they thought would be injured, but they did only sign them to 1 yr deals.

The real problem with this is that now Broxton is the default closer.  Broxton is a great setup guy, but he hasn’t shown he’s Saito material yet.   This is especially true against the Giant’s last year.  They lit him up at the end of the season.  He is a hard thrower, but he can be hit and they usually hit it far.  The Dodgers lost Hoffman and thought Saito would call them back, and he didn’t.  I still think they need a real closer or else the bullpen won’t be near as strong as last year.

Mark Loretta from mlb.com

Casey Blake from mlb.com

Rafael Furcal from MLB.com

So it’s been a little while since a post since I was traveling.  I took my family down to So. Cal to see the family for Christmas.  We drove down the coast on the way down and then through the valley on the way up.  My kids Grandpa and Grandma had over 1′ of snow in Crestline, so it was great fun to play in the snow.  I knew I was getting close to L.A. when I saw a Dodgers license plate holder in Ventura at a gas station.  I just don’t see enough of those up here.

So since I last posted, the Dodgers signed Mark Loretta, Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal.

First – Loretta.  It’s a nice pick up.  Nothing against him – he’s been a good ball player for a while.  Hopefully off the bench he can hit in a pinch and help the team.  I still think Garciaparra off the bench could be better option, but I bet he still wants to play consistently, and not just off the bench.  Honestly Nomar, you should consider off the bench until you can get rid of the reputation that your legs give out too fast, then go for the full time contract again.

Second – Blake.  I love Casey Blake.  He got mixed reviews in L.A., but he’s a solid player.  2 years would have been better, but at least there is a solid 3rd baseman for 3 years.  He’s not going to be A-rod, but he did great for the Dodgers this last year at times, especially with clutch hits.  He is streaky…but he’s always been that way.  He will be solid.

Finally – Furcal.  There were lots of stories around, but the thing I love is that he wanted to be a Dodger.  It’s obvious he wanted to go to the Dodgers, but wanted a minimum price.  The Braves gave the prices, so he was considering them.   Then the Dodgers realized they would rather have him than anybody else, so they met the price.  Furcal got the team and price he wanted, and the deal was done.  Since he wants to be there, he should be fine.  I’m betting his work in the winter league really influenced this, since his body seems to be back intact…pun intended.

In all three cases – the Dodgers are really re-creating the team from last year.  Now if they can just get some pitching and then Manny – they will be good to go.  The focus has been on Manny, but the Dodgers really need a #1 horse.  Actually they need a #1 and #2 in case one of the other guys goes down.  I’m starting to wonder if they think Jason Schmidt will pitch this year as they didn’t go as hard after C.C. as I thought they would.  We’ll see.  At least they are working on the holes.

So my last post on Arbitration was a classic case of being the bay area and being disconnected from L.A. I took Rafael Furcal not getting Arbitration as a potential good thing….according to the L.A. Times I’m a little off. I also finally got the L.A. Times RSS feed on the News page fixed, so hopefully this won’t happen again.

Anyways, here’s the link to the L.A. Times article.

Basically, they didn’t offer arbitration because he played so little last year (not a Type A or B free agent), and they don’t want to pay him more than last year.  Fair from the Dodgers point of you, but if he really can get a 4 year deal from the A’s, then he’s probably gone.  It may change, but it does seem that Coletti really favors the short contracts. 

It will be an intereting off-season, because the team may look very different next year without Furcal, Manny, Kent, Nomar, Penny and Lowe.  The team always makes a splash, but they may end up with more holes again.