Some stuff

[os1971]

Well if they trade Kershaw, LaRoche, Hu and Abreu or DeWitt, they have only traded depth and haven't effected the major league club any. Kershaw is going be blocked, LaRoche is Nomar's backup, Hu is the heir to Furcal, but they still have another good SS prospect. Abreu is blocked by Kent and is redundant with Young and DeWitt. The Dodgers have ridiculous depth to pull this off if they really wanted to go for it. They signed Andruw Jones, so why not go all the way and get Bedard instead of a 4th starter that may be your worst pitcher on the squad. The Dodgers have to decide if they are going to make a run or not...

I agree with what you said. I just don't see them dealing Kemp or Loney considering their offensive situation. Nomar was horrible (offensively) last year. They were really down on Furcal and Pierre as well. I'm not sure they are comfortable with Laroche yet though. If we get Kershaw I think we need to look at some of those secondary players. I just don't see Kemp/Kershaw or Loney/Kershaw coming back. Kershaw/Laroche or Kershaw/Hu and some secondary players maybe. Perhaps Ethier in the mix.

[Lucky Jim]

If they traded Kemp Kershaw and Hu they are not likely to be giving up 8 WARP in the next year. Only Kemp would even be on their 25 man roster next year.

I'm not talking about next year, Gord. I'm talking about over the course of their contracts, really. But also over the next two years.

You're right, Hu may not be up, and Kershaw may not be up either. But Laroche is likely to be. Further, year 3, 4, 5, etc. (when these guys will be cheap and potentially dominant) are no doubt being accounted for by the LA brass.

[davearm]

Bedard 2006 gamelog

As of June 21, Bedard's ERA stood at 5.09 after his 16th start -- essentially 1/2 of a season.

[GoOs3]

Bedard has durability concerns, that's it....Nothing major since the TJ surgery though.

Anyone questioning his ability and his place amongst the best pitchers in baseball is clearly not paying attention.

Amen. I'm starting to wonder if the skeptics even watched the man pitch last year. He was completely dominant, save 2 or 3 starts. And in a majority of his losses or no-decisions, he gave up 2 runs or less.

I think some are letting the team performance cloud their view of Bedard. You all do realize he would have walked away with the Cy Young if he didn't get hurt don't you? It was his to lose, and his body failed him. So durability I would agree... but performance and where he stands in today's game... he is one of the best pitching today - bar none.

[Sports Guy]

I question the offensive issues of the Dodgers....I think they just need to watch some of their young guys get older and more mature.

Really, the Dodgers should be in good shape all around but they do have injury concerns in their staff...Penny has always had injury woes and Schmidt has his issues.

Maybe, just maybe, they are concerned by this???(just speculating here)

[Lucky Jim]

Bedard 2006 gamelog

As of June 21, Bedard's ERA stood at 5.09 after his 16th start -- essentially 1/2 of a season.

Fair enough. His bad May obviously hurt his overall numbers. So, do you think that having two bad months in the past two years is enough to make him not "top of the line'?

I agree fully about durability concerns, by the way. It's why I wouldn't have gone higher than 4/52-55 in my contract offer if I were MacPhail.

That said, he's been absolutely fantastic since June 21st of last year. Undeniably.

[RShack]

What seems to get lost in all of this is that what the Dodgers need more than anything is more offense. They've got pitching.

Sure more is always better, but nevertheless, it becomes counterproductive to trade for Bedard if the lineup will be weakened (thinking specifically of Kemp).

That's why I figured Torre was hollering to get both Bedard and Miggi, to go along with Andruw. I figured Joe was suggesting that they wait 'til next year to worry about what happens 3-years-from-now, that they should worry about that *after* he gets them to the WS. Maybe not, but that's how I thought Joe would see things. That's a big part of why I was surprised when they balked while waiting for the Japanese pitcher. (AM didn't balk, he moved Miggi lickety-split as soon as that happened.)

After all dust settles, do you think we'll ever know exactly what happened?

[davearm]

Fair enough. His bad May obviously hurt his overall numbers. So, do you think that having two bad months in the past two years is enough to make him not "top of the line'?

I agree fully about durability concerns, by the way. It's why I wouldn't have gone higher than 4/52-55 in my contract offer if I were MacPhail.

That said, he's been absolutely fantastic since June 21st of last year. Undeniably.

What I think is the O's are wise to be selling high.

[SteveA]

I question the offensive issues of the Dodgers....I think they just need to watch some of their young guys get older and more mature.

Really, the Dodgers should be in good shape all around but they do have injury concerns in their staff...Penny has always had injury woes and Schmidt has his issues.

Maybe, just maybe, they are concerned by this???(just speculating here)

Schmidt won't be ready to start the season.

Lowe is a year older and not a dominant pitcher.

Billingsley is young and unproven.

And if anyone can be said to have had a career year that they are unlikely to repeat, it's Penny.

Their rotation is darn good, don't get me wrong. But there are a few cracks in the foundation.

[Sports Guy]

Bedard 2006 gamelog

As of June 21, Bedard's ERA stood at 5.09 after his 16th start -- essentially 1/2 of a season.

Again, in a small sample size, a few bad starts can distort things and that is exactly what happened here.

If that is your argument, it is extremely weak.

And you it was essentially half the season...Is it half way through or essentially half way through?

I mean, after his next start, Bedard had a 4.72 ERA(through 79 games) And after his start on July 8, it was 4.28...That was the 89th game....That is an 8 game difference from the "real midway point", the same 8 game difference you are using.

See, stats can be manipulated the other way too.

[srh523]

Dave,

Who is a better pitcher? Bedard? Beckett?

[El Gordo]

The latter but you have them keeping Kemp and Loney in both situations.

The Dodgers are weaker offensively than they are in the pitching department. Even if they eat salary on Pierre and Furcal, they will save more money by playing Kemp and Hu at the ML minimum and get better overall production. So, better to keep those two (Hu/Kemp) than to deal them.

That being said, I believe the Dodgers highly covet Bedard. I'd say Kershaw could be had, but I doubt its Kershaw and Loney or Kershaw and Kemp. I just don't see it happening. Hope I'm wrong, but don't see it going down that way.

Typo again, meant to exclude kKemp in the latter, sorry. My point is simply as they are set up now they plan to platoon Kemp and Ethier. So we are talking about exchanging Kemp for Bedard. In terms of their needs, Bedard is a bigger upgrade than Kemp as a platoon player, is a loss. Hu and Kershaw don't figure to be staters next season if even on the 25 man roster.

[RShack]

But you know all this. You're just trying to stir up trouble because that's what you do. You troll under the guise of objectivity. And you've been doing it for years, here. Don't get me wrong, you bring a lot of good stuff to the table. But this is the least attractive part of your presence. It's just plain tacky.

Well, I have no way to know what davearm may or may not be up to, but you don't have to be a troll to say that this year was Bedard's peak. Back when everybody was debating whether or not AM should try to trade him, there were tons of people who were saying exactly that, or at least things pretty close to that. People were saying stuff like that left and right. Don't you think so? These days, we all like to think of him as Superman who the Dodgers should pay through the nose for. But that's not what everybody was saying before. Me, personally, I think he's special. But not everybody around here used to think that.

[Sports Guy]

Dave,

Who is a better pitcher? Bedard? Beckett?

Just name another pitcher and compare them to Bedard and the other pitcher is definitely better.

Marquis or Bedard? Definitely Marquis!

[GoOs3]

Dave,

Who is a better pitcher? Bedard? Beckett?

Here we go...