Roy Halladay

Payroll will likely play a big role in whether the Dodgers can land Haladay or any other top-tier pitcher this winter. There are lots of players eligible for salary arbitration this off-season, and this will likely cause the Dodgers 2010 payroll to swell beyond $100 million – a figure even higher than 2009. Even if the Dodgers can scrape together the right combination of talent for a trade, they would have to deal with Halladay’s $15.75 million salary in 2010 – a formidable figure to be sure.

Halladay has been a target of the Dodgers throughout the 2009 season. He finished fifth in the Cy Young voting with 11 third-place votes. Halladay went17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and 208 strikeouts and was the starting AL pitcher in the 2009 All-Star Game.

The Chicago Cubs have also indicated they are currently in talks with the Jays regarding Halladay. The Yankees have said they are monitoring the Halladay situation but aren’t taking any direct action in the talks.

Vin Scully

Fans are overjoyed at the news (see examples here). Many, like me, grew up listening to Vin on the radio and bringing the game to life in our minds. Now that I live in Arizona I relish getting back to the radio feed and catching up on the action while monitoring the GameTrax. Vin Scully’s ability to help bring the users in to the intracacies of the game using nothing more than his gentle voice is truly remarkable and something I feel privileged to be able to enjoy again for the 2010 season.

Thanks, Vin – hopefully the Dodgers will get you a world series berth as a thank-you gift.

Lineup
Los Angeles Dodgers
Lineup AVG AB HITS HR RBI
Rafael Furcal SS .368 19 7 0 3
Ronnie Belliard 2B .316 19 6 0 1
Andre Ethier RF .450 20 9 2 5
Manny Ramirez LF .227 22 5 1 4
Matt Kemp CF .217 23 5 1 2
James Loney 1B .316 19 6 1 1
Casey Blake 3B .211 19 4 0 1
Russell Martin C .267 15 4 0 2
Hiroki Kuroda P .000 0 0 0 0

Starting pitcher Wins Losses Winning % Innings pitched ERA
Hiroki Kuroda P 0 0 .000 0 .00

Philadelphia Phillies
Lineup AVG AB HITS HR RBI
Jimmy Rollins SS .214 28 6 0 0
Shane Victorino CF .308 26 8 1 1
Chase Utley 2B .318 22 7 1 1
Ryan Howard 1B .409 22 9 1 9
Jayson Werth RF .250 20 5 2 4
Raul Ibanez LF .300 20 6 1 8
Pedro Feliz 3B .150 20 3 0 0
Carlos Ruiz C .389 18 7 1 6
Cliff Lee P .200 5 1 0 0

Starting pitcher Wins Losses Winning % Innings pitched ERA
Cliff Lee P 1 0 1.000 16.1 1.10

I was reading the Wall Street Journal this morning and there was an excellent article on the division series there posted by Darren Everson and Hannah Karp. The writers did some good research on what often happens in these early games of the playoffs. Here are some interesting stats from the WSJ:

– In recent years, the team with the better record has prevailed only 48% of the time
– Teams with 100+ wins in a season have escaped the division series only 10 out of the last 19 times

The move to a five game series in 1995 to accommodate more playoff teams certainly has its detractors, including the Dodgers’ own Russell Martin. “It sucks,” says Martin, who remembers the sweep by the Mets in 2006. “It was so quick. It was just like a glimpse of being in the playoffs.”

Obviously, there is more to it than just statistics and a short series. For example, two of the Dodgers starting pitchers, Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw, lack any playoff experience whatsoever. Does the shorter series really impact them more than their lack of postseason experience? Not likely, given that both would likely only see one outing in either scenario given the prevalence of shorter series. Also, the “day game” factor is often blamed as there are considerably more games while the sun is up in order to accommodate TV schedules. Should baseball players be equally comfortable playing in the day and in the evening? Absolutely. Does the pressure to win combined with environmental issues like time and frequency of games also play a role? definitely.

Perhaps the Dodgers should be wary of the Cardinals given their superior record in the regular season and the fact that they are now seen as the underdog by many handicappers and sports analysts. One thing is for sure – this is going to be an exciting series. I have my thoughts on what it will take to win but will save those musings for another post…

Rookie pitcher Wade Leblanc and the NL West basement dwelling Padres got one off the Dodgers last night. LeBlanc himself looked pretty strong, giving up only two hits in six innings pitched while the Padres offense got up 2-0 early in the game which turned out to be enough to hand the Dodgers a loss.

Kershaw looked OK overall, but racked up a lot of pitches early, needing 27 to get out of both the first and second innings.

Jim Thome finally got a chance to pinch hit for the Dodgers and managed a single in the 8th inning. The Dodger faithful are clearly glad he’s on board as they gave him a standing “O” as he headed to the plate.

The Padres (60-76) have won four in a row and 8 of their last 10 games after previously losing 8 of 11. Padres skipper Bud Black is clearly focused on racking up as many wins as possible despite not being playoff bound. “Even though we’re not headed toward the playoffs, the other team is playing with high intensity – and we’re going to match that intensity…It’s also important to play in these types of games against teams that are possibly headed to the playoffs, because it gives you the experience.”

Hopefully Dodger stalwart Randy Wolf will change things tonight as the Dodgers hit the field at 7:10 PM.

Haeger was around during Spring Training and went to AAA Albuquerque where he quickly amassed a record of 11-6 in 22 starts with a 3.55 ERA with 3.61 BB/9 and 6.41 K/9 in 144.2 innings. That got the Dodgers interest piqued but Haeger’s history left a lot of people cautious.

Haeger was drafted in the 2001 amateur draft and struggled in the Rookie league and even left baseball altogether to take his chances as a professional golfer.

Fast forward to 2004- Charlie returns as a knuckeballer and started to show some promise but remained in the minors with admirable stats but a few control problems.

Today, Haeger mixed his low-speed fastball with a knuckeball that continuously hung over the plate (err…after about 4 innings). Eric Karros was commenting how impressed he was with Haeger’s consistency midway through the game during the FOX Sports telecast. Take a look at some of the film from the game…he’s definitely shaky at the beginning but you can see the knuckleball confusing the Cubs. Then, about the 4th inning or so, the ball just starts consistently hanging and dropping- leaving several Cubs hitters totally bewildered.

With his win today (his first with the Dodgers), Haeger looks like a nice addition to the starting rotation with a 1.93 ERA (albeit with only 14 innings pitched). If he can keep his control, the Dodgers may have found their answer to their injury problems.

“Anytime that I can consistently throw strikes with it, I’m going to keep throwing it,” Haeger said. “I’m going to live and die by the knuckleball; that’s what I do.”

Unfortunately, Matt Kemp and Manny Ramirez have made that a difficult task to achieve. After Kemp’s three-run double in the first game of the series to help the Dodgers grab the win, someone got a little upset…and promptly got pwned by a female Dodger fan!

Certainly the lack of offense as of late is a concern – after all, the Dodgers have been inconsistent at the plate as of yet. However, the team can get hits when it needs them (remember Ethier’s recent heroics) – they just seem to need them more often.

Which brings us to the pitching woes – highlighted primarily by the starting roster and the high usage of the closers. Chad Billingsley’s nagging injury has caused the Dodgers to lean on their three remaining major-league starters while also calling up minor leaguer Eric Stults (who has had flashes of brilliance but is by no means rock-solid reliable). Kershaw has been doing his part to get as manny innings in the books as possible but opposing teams are getting their offense to work early and often in many cases.

Even Torre is concerned and recognizes the impact that pulling his starters in the first several innings is having on his relievers. “There is no question you’re pushing the envelope (on the bullpen) when you have to go get your starter in the fifth inning or before,” Torre said. “Because it’s really stretching the rubber band.”

Mota and Troncoso have appeared quite fallable as of late, and give up a combined 5 runs on Sunday in the top of the 9th. It’s no wonder that Joe Torre called an all-team meeting following the game on Sunday night to try and right the ship.

All of this has the trade rumors flying right now. John Smoltz and Vincente Padilla are the two most likely candidates – both have been designated for assignment by their respective teams and Smoltz is likely a “person of interest” for Joe Torre given his veteran status and Torre’s challenges with unproven minor league pitchers as of late. Assuming Stults were to stay up for Billingsley and cover any unforseen injuries to the starters between now and September, Torre would likely want someone who was tested and proven for the fifth starting spot.

We’ll keep an eye on things but expect Smoltz to be in the mix for the Dodgers…

We decided to “take the plunge” and launch the 3rd iteration of our site. Here are a couple of the enhancements we’ve made:

1. Featured Content

– based on popular stories and relevant pieces, this area will have elements that rotate weekly and generally offer a wide range of topics.

2. Widgets

– these include live scoring updates courtesy of ESPN, favorite Dodger products at Amazon, and other new things coming soon.

3. Dodger Store

– here you’ll find our recommendations on everything from great Dodger books to apparel to videos. We’ll continuously update this with great gift ideas for the Dodger fan in your life.

Let us know what else you’d like to see and we’ll work to get it included!