After months of getting his hair did (--->) and eating sushi, Manbone will finally make his first appearance since his suspension as an Albuquerque Isotope--the Dodgers' triple A affiliate. Amid speculation that Manny would be making an appearance in Albuquerque, the club "sold almost 7,000 tickets [Friday], compared to a typical pre-game reserved sales in the hundreds for a midweek series in June". Can you say Mannyquerque?With only nine games left on his suspension, the Big Club sits 8 games ahead of the Giants (who are, surprisingly, 6 games over .500). LA's other Zen Master now faces some tough decisions. Does he:
A) Take Pierre out of his everyday role despite his incredible production? I really hope not. This would put a struggling Furcal in the leadoff spot and completely change the dynamic of a lineup that has been very productive over the past 41 games.
B) Move Pierre back to center, Kemp to right, and Ethier to the bench. Personally, I think this is our best option. Pierre has about as much arm strength as an adolescent Chad Pennington, but what he brings to the Dodgers offensively outweighs what he takes away in the field.
C) Trade Pierre. I'm not sure what we could get for him, but if the Dogs can land some fresh arms for the bullpen, it might be worth it. Torre's "excessive" use of Troncoso and Belasario has been well documented, and perhaps the Dogs could get some hurlers to help ease their burden. More arms now means fresher arms come October.
I only wish we were in the AL.
DB
these are all very good points and i think you nailed it with option B being the best. tho what about trading kemp? is that super dumb? what if we can get a stud arm in return? xavier paul is hitting 340-something in AAA. and the other 2 outfielders are putting up hot stats, too. i got love for kemp, but he's not putting up the power numbers we all expect, and his value on the market might be more than his value to us. im curious if keeping him is the best move.
ReplyDeletetrading kemp is super dumb. Here's the deal: Kemp, loney, either are not only the future, they are super CHEAP right now. Manny is gone next year, Pierre is making 14 mill or so. This is the highest trade value he will ever have, remember, up until May, Pierre's contract was challenging Dreifort and Schimdt's contract as worst ever for the dodgers. I love the Juanster, he is the table setter. But the reality is, we have barely any power as is. Taking Either, our leading homerun hitter and putting him on the bench doesnt work for me. Got to be use our head over our hearts (because in my heart i say fuck manny and stick with pierre) and trade Pierre for a pitcher. There are my two cents.
ReplyDeleteput juan on the bench
ReplyDeletestart him once or twice a week when there are decent matchups or to keep everyone fresh
pierre has been excellent, but our offensive has not been as "explosive" as everyone says it is. actually, it is struggling pretty big time. the dodgers are averaging 3.38 runs/game in june. not good
pierre will pinch hit and pinch run and spot start and then we will either trade him in the offseason, or not resign manny and go with our current manny-less lineup next yr and use the cash to get another arm and some pen help. juan is a massive liability in the outfield and we are just fine without him in the lineup.
kemp is the man. he doesn't even realize how good he is going to be, and is already awesome and showing gold gloves skills in center. ethier always hits well with manny around and fits the lineup with manny very well. if pierre were a shortstop, he'd fit right in. but he isn't. too bad.
i heard we might trade for jarred washburn, who would be a nice addition for an october run. he would be owed about 5 million for the rest of the season, but that is the money manny saved mccourt by taking estrogen
i didnt mean not resign manny, i meant manny might opt out...my bad
ReplyDeletehmmmm, you all make good arguments. max may have convinced me that trading pierre is the way to go. i think we at least have to shop him. he makes 10 mil next year and 8.5 in 2011. after arbitration, kemp will make 3.5 and then 5. Ethier will make 5 and then 7 (according to http://www.truebluela.com/2009/1/14/720656/dodger-payroll). furthermore, martin's salary gets almost doubled, billingsley goes from 400K to 4 mil, and broxton goes from 1.8 to 4. i havent done the math, but i think this means we're in for some payroll issues next year. does this press the issue on Dave's option C? Maybe. Or maybe we could trade Pierre in the offseason.
ReplyDelete