Im happy with the Cub trade but what about the Dodgers? Why would you trade like this. Theyre giving away the heart and soul of the team and theyre not getting much back. I just dont know why they would do these things. Its weird.
I think the Dodgers did well in the Florida trade.
They got rid of Juan Encarnacion and his .289 OBP. He stinks and he's overrated. An OBP that low is a huge hole in the lineup.
They sold high on C Paul Lo Duca, who's off to another great start, but we've seen that before. From 2001-2003, Lo Duca has been a .323/.380/.489 hitter before the All-Star break, but slumps to .252/.306/.374 after the All-Star break. Of course, they were hoping to get Charles Johnson from the Rockies, and that fell through, so that's unfortunate. Still, if Lo Duca slumped to his previous 3-year second-half averages, he would have been a drain on the lineup.
Finally, losing Guillermo Mota is a loss. He's a good setup guy. But his peripheral numbers have dropped from last year (K/9 IP, K/BB).
On the receiving end, Hee Seop Choi is undervalued because he has a .270 batting average, but his OBP is .388 and he's slugging .495. That's a good, young hitter with a big upside. Brad Penny is having his best season. I'm concerned about Penny's health, but he's put up good numbers this year.
Roger Angell: I was talking with Bob Gibson and I said: 'Are you always this competitive?' He said: 'Oh, I think so. I got a three-year old daughter, and I've played about 500 games of tic-tac-toe with her and she hasn't beat me yet.'
I think the Dodgers put the cart before the horse and could cost themselves a playoff spot in the process. DePodesta's inexperience might prove very costly here.
Had all the pieces fallen into place, they would have been in great shape. But the Charles Johnson deal fell through, and they couldn't swing the swap to get Unit. Thus, we're left with them receiving an okay upgrade at SP with Penny (that's if he finds his velocity, which is down from early in the year). But they lose a premier setup man in Mota, a catcher who provided great leadership in Lo Duca and don't have anything in place to replace either guy. While Choi is a slight upgrade from Encarnacion, they take a hit defensively. Green is no longer an especially good defender in RF.
That leaves it all up to Finley. If the old pro has a good final two months, LA still has a good chance to be a post season squad. If he struggles, the Dodgers are in trouble.
I agree that not getting Charles Johnson was a big hit to the DePodesta plan. But, if Lo Duca stinks it up in the 2nd-half like he's done for the last 3 years, I don't care how much "great leadership" he can provide.
Choi is a huge upgrade in the lineup over Encarnacion:
Choi: .271/.389/.496, .885 OPS
Encarnacion: .234/.288/.415, .703 OPS
That OPS-difference is like Hank Blalock (.888) versus David Eckstein (.708).
Choi is also a better-fielding 1B than Shawn Green, so that's a defensive upgrade. Green compared to Encarnacion on defense is probably a downgrade.
I think the Dodgers will come up with a catcher, maybe getting someone who slips through waivers. If not, that's a problem.
As for setup man, losing Mota is a hit. But getting Penny will allow them to put Wilson Alvarez back in the pen. Dreifort looks like he'll be the setup guy (which didn't work too well versus the Padres tonight). And Duaner Sanchez hasn't been too bad this year (3.42 ERA).
I think the Dodgers are still the favorites to win the NL West. The Giants didn't do much of anything except for trading away one of their few effective relievers (Felix Rodriguez). And the Padres only added a pinch-hitter, Dave Hansen, and traded away one of their starters, Ismael Valdez (who has, admittedly, pitched like crap, despite his 9-6 record (5.53 ERA).
Roger Angell: I was talking with Bob Gibson and I said: 'Are you always this competitive?' He said: 'Oh, I think so. I got a three-year old daughter, and I've played about 500 games of tic-tac-toe with her and she hasn't beat me yet.'
I dont love or hate the trade really for the above reasons. But Charles Johnson sucks. he hit .216 when he was with LA in 1998. His currently terrible numbers at from COORS. Hell I might be able to hit there. I'm glad they didn't get him. Ross is ok so is Mayne. If they can swings someone off waivers that would be great. But anyone is better than Johson.
Choi hasn't hit lefties much, but he hasn't been given much of a chance either. With former managers Dusty Baker and Jack McKeon, Choi didn't get the opportunity to face many lefties.
Maybe if he gets more at-bats against lefties, he'll learn to hit them better. At least they should give him more of a chance than Dusty or Jack did. If he proves he can't hit lefties, the Dodgers will have to find a platoon partner.
As for Charles Johnson, he had a huge home/road split in 2003 but he's been nearly the same hitter home/away this season:
Roger Angell: I was talking with Bob Gibson and I said: 'Are you always this competitive?' He said: 'Oh, I think so. I got a three-year old daughter, and I've played about 500 games of tic-tac-toe with her and she hasn't beat me yet.'
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by Hey » Sat Jul 31, 2004 8:21 pm 
