Tag: Los Angeles Dodgers (Page 11 of 30)

      Dodgers acquire Garland, Thome for stretch run

      September 1, 2009 /

      On the same day that the Giants signed starter Brad Penny and the Rockies added starter Jose Contreras, the Dodgers one-upped their division rivals by acquiring starter Jon Garland from the Diamondbacks and slugger Jim Thome from the White Sox.

      From MLB.com:

      In return, the White Sox will receive Minor League infielder Justin Fuller. The D-backs will receive a player to be named, who, according to several Dodgers, will be Tony Abreu, but Abreu needs to first clear waivers. Abreu once was considered a top infield prospect, but his progress was stalled by three years of injuries.

      The right-handed Garland, 29, moves into a rotation that has struggled to find a fifth starter all season and has been further weakened by the loss of Hiroki Kuroda, who was hit on the head by a line drive. Garland is expected to take the place of knuckleball specialist Charlie Haeger, with Vicente Padilla holding the spot for Kuroda, who could return to the rotation as soon as Sunday.

      Thome, 12th on the all-time list with 564 career home runs, will give the Dodgers the left-handed threat that Matt Stairs provides the Phillies, who beat the Dodgers with a home run off the bench in the playoffs last year.

      Coupled with their addition of Ronnie Belliard over the weekend, the Dodgers have set themselves up for a World Series run with these two moves. After the Rockies got within two games of the division lead in the NL West last week, L.A. clearly isn’t taking any chances as they head into the final month of the season. These moves fortify the back of the rotation, their bench, and their overall position depth.

      MLB

      Dodgers acquire Ronnie Belliard from Nationals

      August 30, 2009 /

      Belliard

      Teams are continuing to make transactions left and right as we head into the final 30 games of the MLB regular season. We’ve seen all the contending clubs trying to solidify their lineups, whether that means cutting busts or taking a chance. It’s been both successful (Matt Holiday and the Cardinals) and a let down (Alex Rios and the White Sox). Though not as huge a story as other recent pickups, earlier today the Dodgers acquired utility man Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals in exchange for prospect Luis Garcia and a player to be named.

      “He gives us some offense,” manager Joe Torre said. “He can play around the infield, probably all positions but shortstop. It gives me the ability to spell these guys. He gives us a little more depth with experience coming off the bench.”

      Belliard started at second base for St. Louis during its 2006 World Series championship, batting .240 with four RBIs during the playoffs. The Dodgers will have to make a roster move to open a spot for him on Monday.

      “It’s a compliment,” Belliard said, after the Cardinals beat the Nationals 2-1 in St. Louis to complete a three-game sweep. “Now I have a chance to win another one. I helped the Cardinals in 2006 witih my defense and some lucky hits that I got in the playoffs. Hopefully I can do that in LA. That’s why they traded for me.”

      Nice confidence there, Ronnie. I’m sure that’s exactly what Joe Torre wants to hear when he calls on you to pinch-hit during the NLCS. “Hopefully I’ll get a lucky hit.” Belliard has shown he can be a capable player, recently batting .290 with the Nationals in 2007. He’s been a starter for most of his career, which has included time with the Brewers, Rockies, Indians, Cardinals, and Nationals. However, the Dodgers will primarily use him to give Orlando Hudson and Casey Blake some rest.

      With Belliard’s acquisition, the Dodgers will need to send somebody down to make room on the roster. Unfortunately for Juan Castro, all signs point to him, despite his solid play.

      MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      August 29, 2009 /

      Pennant races this season are not quite as exciting as last season, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have a few good races in September. The power rankings this week have not changed much, but the Rockies and Rangers swapped places. The Rays, who were on the cusp of cracking the Top 10, traded Scott Kazmir to the Angels yesterday, making us all scratch our heads and wonder if they are conceding the race.

      1. New York Yankees (80-48)—The first team to 80 victories is officially in cruise control. The question is, can they carry it over into the postseason? Because we all know how you-know-who performs in October.

      2. Los Angeles Angels (76-51)—If newly acquired Scott Kazmir stays healthy, this scrappy Angels team could be wearing new jewelry. Then again, October has been none to kind to them recently as well.

      3. St. Louis Cardinals (75-55)—The Cardinals now have a 9 game lead on the woe-as-me Cubs. The good franchises always add the right parts when they are in a pennant race, and Matt Holliday and John Smoltz are those guys for the Redbirds.

      4. Philadelphia Phillies (74-52)—The Phils may have given the slightest ray of hope to the Marlins and Braves, but then they remembered that they were the world champs.

      5. Los Angeles Dodgers (76-53)—Their lead over the Rockies shrunk to 2 games this past week. It’s now back to 4, but this NL West race is not going to be a landslide as everyone thought. In fact, it’s now a 3-team race.

      6. Boston Red Sox (74-54)—Don’t think the Sox can’t still catch the Yankees. If not, they should be able to hang on to the wild card, and adding Billy Wagner certainly doesn’t hurt their chances.

      7. Colorado Rockies (72-57)—The wild card is not what these Rockies have in mind, and they just keep right on winning and closing the gap.

      8. Texas Rangers (71-56)—Slipping in the power rankings and slipping in their quest for a wild card berth.

      9. San Francisco Giants (70-59)—Got a big lift from Lincecum last night against the Rockies, but Giants need to sweep this weekend if they want to remain in contention.

      10. Detroit Tigers (68-59)—T-men hanging tough, but watch out for the surging Twins, is all I’m sayin’.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      MLB power rankings

      August 22, 2009 /

      We’re just six weeks away from the end of the regular season in baseball. Races are maybe tighter than they have ever been as a whole in each division, so let’s have another look at the power rankings. This week and going forward, we’ll only look at the top 10 instead of top 5 and bottom 5.

      1. New York Yankees (77-45)—They’ve won 8 of 10 and show no signs of slowing down. And 20 runs against the Red Sox? Are you kidding me?

      2. Los Angeles Angels (73-47)—Looks like we’re heading for an east-west ALCS.

      3. St. Louis Cardinals (70-54)—John Smoltz isn’t likely to make an impact, but the Holliday trade already took care of that. This team is on fire.

      4. Philadelphia Phillies (69-50)—Seriously, can Cliff Lee be pitching any better? Even Pedro has gotten into the act, and the rest of the NL has to be afraid of the defending champs.

      5. Los Angeles Dodgers (73-50)—.474 ball in August (9-10) isn’t going to get it done. Not only are the Dodgers slipping in the power rankings, they’re now just 4.5 games up on the Rockies.

      6. Boston Red Sox (69-52)—And they thought they had the Yankees’ number. Not this year, unless they make a huge surge in September.

      7. Texas Rangers (68-53)—A mediocre August, but still keeping pace with the Red Sox for wild card.

      8. Colorado Rockies (68-54)—Forget the wild card, the Rockies have a legitimate shot at the NL West crown.

      9. San Francisco Giants (67-55)—With their pitching staff, they are never out of any race.

      10. Detroit Tigers (65-56)—The Tampa Bay Rays have a slightly better record, but Tigers get the nod because, well, they’re in first place and the Rays are in third in that ridiculous AL East.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      MLB Power Rankings—Top 5 and Bottom 5

      August 15, 2009 /

      It’s getting down to pennant race times and there are some incredibly tight races and a lot of teams that are at least in contention. Here we’ll take a look at who we think the Top 5 teams are right now and who the Bottom 5 are as well.

      Top 5

      1. New York Yankees (73-43)—Not only did the Yankees sweep the rival Red Sox last weekend and make quite a statement, they’ve won 10 of 11 and are 22-6 (.786) since the all-star break. That is just scorching.

      2. Los Angeles Angels (68-45)—You have to feel for the surging Rangers and even the Mariners, because neither one is going to catch this fundamentally sound team. If Mike Scioscia isn’t the best manager in baseball, he’s surely the most underrated.

      3. St. Louis Cardinals (65-52)—The Cards grabbed Matt Holliday before anyone else could and he’s batting .493 with a slugging percentage of .813 in his first 75 at-bats with St. Louis. Pujols/Holliday has got to be the most fearsome 3-4 tandem in baseball.

      4. Los Angeles Dodgers (69-47)—The Dodgers hung on without Manny for a few months, and then cooled off when he returned. They’ve lost 7 of 11 but still lead their division by 5 games and are 32-14 against NL West opponents.

      5. Philadelphia Phillies (65-48)—Suddenly with Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, and Jimmy Rollins finally finding his stroke, the defending champs are poised to make another run deep into October and possibly November.

      Bottom 5

      1. Washington Nationals (41-75)—They recently won eight in a row but still trail the Phillies by 25.5 games and the fourth place Mets by 13.5. So yeah, they’re still the worst team in baseball.

      2. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-69)—The Pirates actually looked half decent early in the season, but they did what they always do in July—made a whole bunch of trades and pretty much surrendered the season as well as the next three seasons, as they’ve lost 11 of their last 13 games.

      3. Kansas City Royals (45-70)—Remember the Royals were 14-12 and everyone started talking about this team being decent for the first time in two-plus decades? We remember, but then they remembered that they were the Royals.

      4. Baltimore Orioles (48-67)—This team has some great young players like Adam Jones and Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis, but playing in that division is almost unfair.

      5. Cleveland Indians (49-66)—Once again, the Indians have disappointed and started selling off players. Cliff Lee, like CC Sabathia last year, is the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and the Tribe also dumped popular catcher Victor Martinez and infielder Ryan Garko. Next year sure has a familiar ring on Lake Erie.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

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