The result is a bunch of newcomers for LA.  In place of Kemp, the Dodgers brought up leftfielder Jerry Sands, who in 2011 over 61 games in LA batted .253 with 4 HR and 26 RBI (he also struck out 55 times). In Uribe’s place came young Elian Herrera, a 27 year old rookie infielder who per Rotoworld, is hitting .358, including a .381 on-base percentage and nine stolen bases so far….but over the past three seasons, the kid has swiped at least 30 bases.

Of course, Kemp and Uribe join Juan Rivera and Jerry Hairston, Jr. on the DL.

This also creates issues at third base and center field for Don Mattingly, although center looks ok with Gwynn as a solid option with experience and Ethier also a likely play (Andre got the start tonight).  Third base appears to be an even bigger Pandora’s Box than it was befor,e with the less than exciting options of Herrera, Justin Sellers and Adam Kennedy – none of which are hitting above .167 so far this year.

Now all the Dodgers have to do is find a way to survive the next two weeks and hopefully hang on to that six game lead in the NL West and hopefully the best record in baseball.

Update: I added the obligatory “celeb” shot of Jerry Sands with “The Voice” season 2 winner Jermaine Paul from before Saturday’s game.

Photo Credit: Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

So this is pretty cool: the Dodgers are hosting their second “Public Batting Practice” tomorrow night from 5-8 p.m.  James Loney and Matt Kemp will be on hand, as well as “several of the team’s top prospects” (no specifics given right now).  So if you’ve ever had a desire to throw a nasty curve like Clayton Kershaw, run like Juan Pierre or go deep like Manny, then this is your event!

…but it ain’t cheap!  $500 per person gets you through the turnstiles, but honestly, this does sound really cool.  Additional bells and whistles include: live batting practice on the field, indoor batting practice in the batting cages, pitching practice in the bullpens, opportunity to play the field and shag fly balls, behind-the-scenes locker room and clubhouse tours, OPEN BAR, the chance to see your name and image on DodgerVision and a handful of other things.  I imagine it will be something like this first-person account  from Erin at Robots Took My Medicine of the Dodgers’ holiday party for season ticket holders.

 The Dodgers are expecting 200 people to show up tomorrow.  I’m pretty interested to see if they really get that many given the current economy.

Maybe Ned can use this opportunity as a chance to scout for that elusive power hitter the Dodgers need!  At the very least they should spend the $100,000 in  expected revenue on Manny’s deal…that should buy us about a week of his services, right?

For more info or to buy tickets, visit www.dodgers.com/underthelights. 

At the very least, you would hope the Dodgers would package 1-2 of their high-profile younger players/prospects together for two of the following three holes: a #1 starter, a big bat and a quality shortstop. But trading Kemp for an average (albeit solid) shortstop, is just wrong. Hopefully this is just a rumor, but time will tell. You just never know with Ned.

If you believe Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, that is indeed the case.  According to Ken’s article, the Dodgers might actually pull the trigger on dealing one of the kids for a proven hitter, ala Jason Bay, Magglio Ordonez or Matt  Holliday.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and have had a change of heart: I think the Dodgers should consider trading one (1) of their younger players.  I would have a bunch of conditions attached, of course, with the first being that Matt Kemp is off the table.  The guy is a future All-Star and he wants to be a Dodger.  I’d prefer to deal Loney or LaRoche, and could be convinced to move Ethier if the price was right.  The problem is the guy making the deals.  I simply don’t trust Ned to bring us back someone who isn’t on the downside of their career or a rent-a-player.  No, this needs to be a move that helps us win now, but also is piece that allows us to build for the future.

From Dejan Kovacevic (the Pirates’ beat writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):

If any team offers the Pirates premier prospects for what they feel is fair value, from what I gather, they will not hesitate to move. Who takes over at shortstop or any other position would be secondary. The goal, as they often lay out, is to win a championship, and that only happens with a lot of high-end talent. That is not the current situation.

Matt and Yorvit go at it in Denver

TroyFromWestVirginia “ridin’ the pine” as Matt Kemp

Kemp beat out San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand, who hit .478 with two home runs; San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez, who batted .385 with 4 HRs; and Pittsburgh’s Xavier Nady, who hit .450 with 7 RBIs. While Matt may not have led the NL with the best batting average, his all-around performance was really remarkable.

Kemp’s average over the past week was a respectable .407 and delivered four doubles during that time. Hed led the National League with 11 RBIs and also stole a league-best six bases and tied an NL-week best with 11 hits. Did I mention that he hit safely in all six games, and recorded four multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games last week?

Glad to see Kemp is getting his due and staying in the Dodgers starting rotation consistently now! Keep it up Matty!

1. The Home Plate Umpire loses consciousness after being hit by a pitch.
Dodger pitcher Brad Penny inadvertantly hit home plate umpire Kerwin Danley in the jaw with an errant pitch and Danley slumped down on the ground, losing consciousness for a time. The game was stopped for 18 minutes while Danley was driven off the field in an ambulance to a local hospital. Upon arrival, he was said to be conscious and coherent. The entire staff of Dodgerfan.net hopes the 10-year umpire is OK.

2. Mark Redman gives up 10 runs in the first inning!
Redman earned the honor of being only the 6th pitcher since 1969 to give up 10 runs in an inning. Here’s the breakdown:

Batters: 13
Runs: 10
Hits: 6
Pitches: 45
Runs with 2 outs: 9

Even more surprising,

Redman stayed in the game at the conclusion of the inning

(apparently the Rockies figured they had nothing to lose) and the guy throws 5 more complete innings without giving up another run! He also only faced another 17 batters after facing 13 in the first inning.

3. Matt Kemp hit a Grand Slam Home Run on his way to delivering 5 (yes FIVE) RBIs for the Blue in the first inning alone!

Nice work Dodgers – not sure if Redman is our good luck charm or not but it seems my 18-month old could have lit him up tonight if he’d been put in the batters box.

Here’s my solution:
1.) START KEMP!
2.) Bench Jones for 2-3 games for some serious work on his swing.
3.) Get Jones some help with his blase attitude.
4.) Start Pierre for Jones (for now).
5.) Let the fans know what the plan is!
5.) Get Jones back into the lineup on a permanent basis with Kemp and Ethier and use Pierre as a spot starter and a pinch-hit specialist.

I really think the problem is that the fans (and players) don’t really know what’s going on, so every day that goes by with another questionable roster move makes fans feel even more like pulling their hair out.