A Dunn Deal?
Filed under: Dodger Hitting, Dodgers Offseason, Manny Ramirez
Is it time to say goodbye to Man-Ram and hello to Adam Dunn? The more I think about this, the more I like the move. While it’s impossible to argue with the production, excitement and enthusiasm that Manny brought to the Dodgers last season, he comes with a certain amount of baggage. Like Terrell Owens, this tiger is not going to change his stripes. Sure, the Dodgers could sign Manny to a three-year, big money deal. But it’s not the money that’s the issue, it’s his attitude in the last year of his contract. Manny was truly a cancer for the Red Sox before they traded him, and Ramirez was clearly on his best behavior while in LA. But would this be the case in the last year of his contract here in LA? Which Manny would show up?
Adam Dunn is consistency to Manny Ramirez’s excitement. The guy hits 40 HRs practically every year, which is more than anyone since Beltre in 2004 (thanks ESPN.com). He’s going to come (relatively) cheap, potentially opening the door to additional pitching help this off season. Plus, Colletti doesn’t want to be left at the alter in late-January with no replacement for Ramirez if Manny walks to another team.
So all things being equal, I’d of course take Manny in a heartbeat. But given the realities of baseball, I’ll take Adam Dunn. Something tells me Frank McCourt will too.
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A Fracture for Billingsley’s Leg (and Psyche)
Ouch. Chad Billingsley slipped on an icy step on Saturday, fracturing his fibula. Bills is supposed to be good to go by Spring Training. I’m actually a little more worried about how he handles this mentally. Chad’s a big guy at 6′ 10″ and he uses that left leg to push off during his throwing motion. He’ll need complete confidence to get by this, as well as his performance in the playoffs. Hard to believe Billingsley is the veteran of this Dodgers rotation…
Manny Offer Is In; Penny Gone
Filed under: Andre Ethier, Brad Penny, Dodger Trade Rumors, Manny Ramirez, Ned Colletti, Trade Rumors, dodgers pitching, pitching
So Ned reportedly made a play for Manny, but it surely is a two-year deal for $55 million. A nice move, but does anyone seriously think Manny is going to take that? Not with Boras as his agent! Good thing the Dodgers cleared some salary by buying out Penny’s contract for $2 million (not a pretty penny! sorry, couldn’t help myself…) as they’ll need that for either Ramirez or Sabathia.
On a related note, Blue Notes had an interesting post relating to comments from Steve Henson at Yahoo! Sports on the Padres’ asking price for Jake Peavy:
The Dodgers would be long shots because the Padres are loathe to help their intra-divisional neighbors to the north. It would take Clayton Kershaw or Jonathan Broxton, plus DeWitt and Ethier, just to pique the Padres’ interest.
JUST TO PIQUE THEIR INTEREST!!! Whatever…could you seriously imagine playing the Pad’s and seeing Kershaw on the mound with DeWitt and Eithier behind him? Unbelievable.
The Legend of Joe Beimel as Told By a 2nd Grader
TroyFromWestVirginia is back, and this time he is spreading the Gospel of Joe Beimel according to TroyFromWestVirginia via his daughter’s second grade class.
The video below sums it all up - Troy takes us through the assignment, reads the statement his daughter will present, and highlights the Joe Beimel Bobblehead “show and tell” that will be forthcoming.
He adds that his daughter will proclaim that The Legend of Joe Beimel is an “internet phoenomenon” and share some details about how Joe stumbled across the series of videos.
At the end, Joe mentions that his daughter will bring up Beimel’s free agency and the fact that he may not be back. Watch at about the 6:45 mark - I think you can see a tear forming in Troy’s eye at that point.
It’s 7:51 long, but pretty entertaining nonetheless.
The Brad Penny Key Club Fight Incident
What happens in the offseason stays in the offseason, right? Not if someone takes a video of it and sells it to TMZ!
TMZ is reporting that Dodger pitcher Brad Penny is spending his offseason attempting to hurt that multi million-dollar right hand of his in bar brawls. On Monday, October 27th, Penny and his pals were partying it up at the Key Club in Hollywood. Apparently, a scuffle ensued over a girl and Penny got involved.
Looks like it was an isolated incident and everyone walked away OK, but in our litigious society, who knows what might come of this - just ask Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs…