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Clayton Kershaw Contract Crowdsourcing

Clayton Kershaw has his salary arbitration hearing reportedly scheduled for 12 days from today, on Valentine's Day. He is seeking a $10 million salary for 2012, while the Dodgers are seeking to pay him $6.5 million. There is plenty of time between now and then for the two sides to come together on an agreement, whether it be for a one-year or a multi-year pact.

My question to you is two-fold:

1) What will Clayton Kershaw's salary be in 2012 (if you think he will sign a multi-year deal, you can include the signing bonus as part of his 2012 salary)

2) What date will the Kershaw contract become official (if you think Kershaw and the Dodgers will go through with the arbitration case, guess February 14)

Please enter your guesses in the comments, for example:

$10 million
February 14

My guess: Kershaw will sign a one-year, $8.5 million contract on February 8.

0 recs  |  525 comments

Comments

$8.8 million
Feb 10th
One year

Presented without comment, made all small for those at work

Andre has one of those for the both of them.

$7M this year, $15M in 2013, plus a half-million to go to support causes in Africa. Feb 7.

I don't think the Dodgers

can argue the midpoint on this one. They would lose in arbitration which gives Clayton more leverage, thus I am going with
$9M
Feb 13.

10 million

Feburary 14th

There’s no real incentive for Kershaw to sign a two or three year deal and I can’t see the Dodgers ponying up a real contract right now.

So are you saying that Kershaw sees the inside of the room?

February 10, 3-year at $9 million on average yearly.

How much in 2012?

Even the simplest of rules are impossible to follow.

8 mil this year, 9.5 next two years.

why would he do that? He will easily eclipse 10 million next year and close to 15 the next.

Meh. I've rethought.

Feb. 10, 2-year at 10 million this year, 10.5 next

You aren’t really familiar with this arbitration thing, are you?

Gah for real now

One year 9.75 million.

1 year contract:
8.25 million plus a 500k signing bonus on february 10

I just think it would be wiser to avoid having to pay him $20 million any time soon.

So you are saying find a way to stop time?

it makes perfect sense!

No just sign him to a multi-year deal for a bit under what he’s asking and avoid arbitration for the time being

if he's asking for 10 this year there's absolutely no way he'd take under that the next 3 seasons

But I just really shouldn’t have even responded with this answer.

I think you all overbid

I’ll say $1

Way to waste your bid

She wins if we’re going Price is Right on this and Kershaw loses arb.

$8.5 million
February 11th

$10 million in arbitration. Then the new owners back the truck of money up to his house next year.

$8.75M signed Feb 7.

Long term extension signed sometime in August.

Submitted for the approval of TBLA, Tom Brady playing catcher at Serra High School


He was drafted by the Expos in 1995.

NOT APPROVED

can a mod please delete?

seriously, why did he go play baseball then dammit. He plays baseball, Raiders win SB in tuck bowl year. Maybe.

if you're looking for more conspiracy-ness

Serra High also produced Barry Bonds. Think about it.

Any all time great Basketball Players to complete the trifecta?

No, but Lynn Swann (and Gregg Jefferies) went there.

and John Robinson!

good old catholic schools, producing world class athletes

Que Serra, Serra.

Only men at this school?? No wonder they turned out well, needed something to release frustration as teenage boys.

oh wait, the creator of High School Musical went there, which in turn, led me to Vanessa Hudgens…. ok, were good now.

Serra, De La Salle, St. John Bosco. All three are all boys, all three have top level football programs. Discuss.

Mater Dei also has a great program. The boys-ness isn’t the reason.

probably just all the money

Either that, or Jesus, per Tim Tebow.

I went to college with some Mater Dei students. Boy did they know how to party . . .

Servite > Loyola > St. John Bosco

Bosco has come on lately, but Servite and Loyola are the standard in LA county all-boys schools.

right, Bosco’s only on my mind cause they had California’s best WR on signing day, and he chose Cal over USC and UCLA #GoBears

Oaks Christian has been a player at or near this level for the past half dozen or so years.

But not all boys of course.

Lutheran school, right? Lutherans got money, but not catholic money. Catholic churches be trippin.

this is business and sports talk

not religion talk, btw

Oaks Christian campus

puts the Cal States to shame.

Sorry

Servite is in Orange County. I should’ve said CIF Southern/City Section, but I’m glad you all got my point.

Servite travelling fans the most annoying?

Would have just hurt more when the Rams beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl.

Raiders lose in Pittsburgh that year, baby

I can’ answer for M White but some of us mods like Tom Brady

One of my favorite QBs

I kinda like the players who have a chip on their shoulder from being a backup more than 10 years ago, lol.

I've grown to appreciate him

By nature, I’m anti-Boston, but I can’t help but like Brady. When ESPN ran that piece about draft day, I damn near teared up with him when he and his dad shared their draft day experience.

Plus, he’s got a super wife. International supermodel aside, she has a strong religious, family-first background, and has even accepted Brady’s son with Bridget Moynihan as one of her own.

Don’t forget Brady wasn’t even the popular QB when he was at Michigan, as Drew Henson was Michigan’s golden boy.

They didnt have color in 1995?

Josie uncolorized it.

have you opened a newspaper lately ; )

No one has. That’s why it’s a dying industry.

Kids these days don’t want to read day old news in an inconvenient format. Hell in a handbasket I say.

there’s just something to the tactile nature of a paper though. And browsing, no one browses anymore. The term browser is a total misnomer

I have a lot of memories awkwardly trying to fold a newspaper without messing it up for anyone else.

My favorite quote from my Morgan Stanley days was this big shot came into our office where young well-dressed salesmen sat with their Wall Street Journals and coffee mugs, trying to look super-serious. He said, “You do realize you’re reading yesterday’s news, right?”

They barely had electricity

Where is Scott Cousins when you need him?

no wonder he's a qb

way to set up to not take a hit.

5 yr $75mm contract signed Feb 13th

With $7mm being paid in 2012.

And I think this train has left the station (too team-friendly) :)

that’s now two things referenced today that only I (and maybe Phil) have done in the past month (read a newspaper, ride a train)

Nope

I read a newspaper every day, I’ll have you know. And I rode a train just a tad bit over a month ago.

I rode a train yesterday.

Not that we would right now but I agree 100%.

My guess

They will announce a deal avoiding arbitration on the day of the hearing, February 14. The deal will be for 8.25 million.

$8 million
February 13

(Part of larger 7 year/$128m contract)

That wouldn’t really be a great contract for the Dodgers.

my math (don't expect much here)

2012—8m
2013—14m
2014—20m

2015-2018—25m per

= $142m over 7 years

Because of the team risk and player security, I’m deducting $2m in salary per year.

142-14 = $128

10 Million
Feb 14th

Arenas got the Kobe treatment on his knees, in that case, I say we should add him.

he’s still crazy

after all these years.

Perhaps he’s building a bridge over troubled water.

He would play well if he could (el condor pasa).

He looked pretty good the other day when he was playing with me and Julio down by the schoolyard

Must be 50 ways to respond to this.

Unfortunately one of them would get Chris talking about Mayweather-Pacquiao again.

speaking of Mayweather-Pacquiao, Pac Mans peeps now claim its Mayweather that did the ducking, as Pac man agreed to a 45-55 split, and the drug testing. Each fighter was going to get 50 million minimum, November is now the target date to make this fight.

I’m sorry, guys.

A man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

wow people still watch boxing?

yeah I do, sometimes. I try to get into UFC, but everytime I watch a fight, it ends in 30 seconds, or they lay on the ground for 3 rounds.

as opposed to boxing where they hug each other for 15 rounds. If I want to see a fight I will go to a Kings game

Not when its mexican fighters…. but yeah I hear ya… hockey fight works too.

I’m a huge boxing fan. The “hugging” trope is similar to the baseball is boring noise. When you know a sport, you find drama in the non events too

I guarantee the main event on Saturday will be insane.

I’ll be doing the bar thing on Saturday rather than buying the PPV.

Who ya got?

I’m taking Condit in the upset

I’ve lost a lot of money betting against Nick Diaz and I plan to continue that on Saturday.

I hate Diaz and Condit is a local boy, so I’m cheering for Condit.

That said, Diaz will probably win and I’ll hate him even more.

How much is a UFC PPV anyways?

This one’s $45, another $10 for HD.

I seem to remember paying $65 for one in HD before.

Dam, I was thinking like 30 maybe… Isnt there a PPV every month? maybe 2 a month? You gotta be rich to follow UFC… or just not order it I guess, they have free replays?

13 PPVs in 2012. I go to a bar to watch them or we all gather at someone’s house.

They don’t have free replays.

And they pretty much have a card on cable every week now, either on FX or Fuel TV. Its insane how many cards they have, I think something like 40 this year.

UFC Reloaded runs old PPVs on Fuel. This week they are running Penn vs. Diaz and last week it was Silva vs. Okami.

Yeah, but I think he meant if they show it a week after like they do for boxing PPVs on HBO and Showtime.

Penn vs. Diaz was a hell of a fight, though the rest of the card was pretty bad IIRC.

yeah I have a few friends that do the bar thing, but sounds like you have to show up pretty early to get a good seat or table, which then seems like you would end up spending equal if not more then ordering the PPV at home and buying a 12 pack. But maybe not.

ah, probably not if you take it easy.

Definitely a different feel at the bar. I was at a bar for the Henderson-Rua fight and it was one of the most insane atmospheres I can remember.

The Lesnar-Overeem fight was just kind of sad, though.

And there is a place here in ABQ that doesn’t have a cover. So if you go there and have few drinks and dinner, it is just a little more expensive than going out for the night.

Does everybody at the bar just root for Team Jackson fighters?

I remember a lot of people cheering for Koscheck against St. Pierre and a lot of Tito fans against Rashad. But usually, yeah, all things being equal they go for the local guys.

Condit actually grew up in Albuquerque and is apparently a super nice guy so everyone cheers for him.

How much

if it isn’t fake?

Now that you said that Diaz is getting flying kneed in the first 45 seconds.

I would love that so much.

Same here

Who do you got?

I would go with Diaz, Nelson, Koscheck, Jorgensen and Starks on the main card.

I have Herman because I really know nothing about either guy but other than that I have the same picks as you.

Really not feeling good about the Jorgensen pick though.

I don’t know anything about Starks, but I figure they’re bringing him along as a prospect and Herman is his first step up into the second-tier of UFC competition.

I haven’t seen much of Barao, but Jorgensen is one of my favorite fighters.

Barao looked like an absolute beast against Pickett, and Pickett took Jorgensen to the limit. 27 fight win streak is huge but he’s never faced any wrestler of note. All things being equal I take the wrestler but I can easily see Barao out striking him and finishing quick.

Also I thought Ed Herman was Dave Herman so I might switch my pick.

I thought you were talking about Julio Ceaser Chavez Jr vs Marco Antonio Rubio on HBO.

wait there is a fighter named Marco Rubio? I hope he gets his ass kicked so bad the politician feels it.

haha, yeah, I never heard of him either, but he is Mexican, so I think the fight should be good, plus it isnt PPV, so that works. I want to see JCC jr vs Canelo though.

On his knees?

Usually it is bent over a chair.

Fellow Laker fan, why do you make jokes of our chosen one?

No one is off-limits to my barbs.

E-Jax

To the Nats

Wow

A one-year deal.

As someone who thought C.J. Wilson’s contract would double that of Edwin Jackson, even I didn’t think Jackson would only get a one-year deal.

Everyone wants to trade for Edwin but no one wants to pay for Edwin.

Double Wow, perfect setup to bring EJax home next season.

We won't have room for him when we sign hamels and cain

Wish we had him for 1 year

Can probably trade for him in June.

I wanted him from the start

I wish Ned would have waited…ugh

Heyman is predicting

1 year 8 -12 M

Eh, would’ve liked having Jackson, but it seems to me Ned had orders to get his shopping done early.

Edwin Jackson or 2 years of Harang/Capang? Shit.

I never thought he would have to settle for a one year deal, but i guess the perception of him still dominates. Still nice to see him continue his quest to play for every MLB team before his career is over.

7 teams

wow, is he a horrible teammate in the clubhouse or anything?

People still see that upside when he was 20 they trade for him, thinking he’s undervalued, then they discover he’s just a mediocre pitcher, and they give him to the next team that thinks he has upside.

I think he's an above average pitcher

with the chance to be good, but maybe im just like that next team.

3 war is mediocre?

Close enough.

Really the issue is that he gets traded to a team that’s barely in contention one year, then they drop out of contention and are looking to sell, and Edwin Jackson is good enough that someone would want him for a stretch run, but not so good you’d care about losing him.

It’s like Octavio Dotel is good enough that you could always use him, but not so good you care if he’s gone.

Close enough, come on, give credit where it's due

3 WAR is an above average pitcher, and he’s still young enough to do better.

For instance, by my estimations that would make him the 3rd best pitcher in our rotation next year if everything works out the way I think it will (Bills back to his good level), and Lilly, Capuano, or Harang may not even be close to that.

Not to mention that he’ll throw 200 innings, which means that you put him in the rotation and don’t worry about maybe having to put a Monasterios out there halfway through the season.

Really don’t see how semantics matters in what I’m saying but fine. Point is Edwin Jackson is good enough to help but not good enough that you wouldn’t dump him.

It's not semantics, you're saying he is mediocre when he's clearly a good deal better than that.

It’s semantics when whether or not Jackson crosses some threshold from mediocre to above average the main point still stands.

If that's how you feel then I'm just going to stop talking about this

You feel he’s worse than he is, I don’t agree in the slightest. Like I said, he’d be our 3rd best SP, with the chance to be our 2nd best.

If that’s how you feel then I’m just going to stop talking about this

Life lessons

Seriously. Someday, Bobby, you’ll be married, and you’ll get into an argument with your wife about something, and you’ll be about to make your next point, when the thought will strike you that you don’t really give a rat’s ass. You will then say, “OK, dear.”

The sooner you learn to realize that you don’t really give a rat’s ass, the happier your life will be.

Look at me. I don’t give a rat’s ass about anything anymore, and I’m fuckin’ ecstatic.

He’s going to have to learn the hard way, like Kris Humpries did.

There is certainly a “rat’s ass” joke to be made here, but goddam if I can find it.

I was like that in my longest relationship already

That may have been the problem, lol

Clearly, this means

that Bobby just needs to tell Reg, “OK, dear.”

I didn’t mean it in an i’m taking my ball and going home type of way, just that there’s no point because it will just become a greinke-hamels-cain debate

im not really sure, but E jax gives me the feeling of a guy that you would regret giving a multi year deal to. I can just see him falling apart after that, like a D Willis.

I'm willing to concede his floor is mediocre

With his ceiling being a good bit higher.

When you look at each trade individually, they all make sense. Tampa didnt want to pay him, Detroit got a similar pitcher making less, DBacks didnt want to pay him and got a great return, White Sox weren’t going to re-sing him so they traded him.

I would argue that he is much more than mediocre because of his ability to eat up innings combined with solid performance, but Reg is basically right in why hes played for so many teams.

Good fit. I wish him well.

Heyman is saying E-Jax to the Nats so that gives them

Espinoa
Werth
Zimmerman
Morse
LaRoche
Ramos
Bernadina
Desmond

Strasberg
Gio
E-Jax
Zimmerman
Lannan

With the potential to effectively replace LaRoche with Bryce Harper as early as mid season. NL East gonna own.

That is a good addition for them.

How many Boras players do they have? Some guy is on twitter is calling them the Washington Borases, and said …Mike Prada: “We’re live from Scott Boras Stadium on Boras Street for Game 1 of the series between the Washington Borases and Philadephia Phillies.”

Seven if you count Rendon and Harper.

NL East gonna own (the Mets)

Mets will be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs before they even step on the field for their first game!

reminds me of a Family Guy joke

is that the show with the talking baby?

yessir

They might be better than us :)

Super Bowl Press Conference: Guess who's about to speak

Madonna?

Ding ding ding!

seriously?

LOL

yup, apparently it takes phalanx of tv cameras to defeat Madonna

She just wants to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, is that so wrong?

I used to like her early stuff, “Borderline”…
but once she got off with that
“Papa, Don’t Preach” phase, I tuned out.

“Like a prayer” is probably my favorite

I’d rather watch her screw Aslan

Speaking of that. Have you got “hooked” up yet?

if you mean, have I opened a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue since I landed in Bombay

the answer is yes

No, we mean: have you opened two bottles of Johnny Walker Blue.

Is that made in India?

OK, this one made me laugh.

People from India sure do love it… When I worked at a Longs Drugs, they were the main ones asking for Johnnie Walker, buying cases of it.

I thought she was hot rolling around on the ground in the Burning up video

I was quoting a movie

but on the ground, when she still had that baby fat

Madonna’s bra?

What if at a key moment in the halftime show her, her uniform bursts open and, uh, oops!, her bosoms come flying out?

Janet Jackson, been there, done that.

wrong answer man, correct answer is You think there are men in this country who ain’t seen your bosoms? I guess im just in a League of my own right now…. ok, nevermind.

That used to be everyone’s playground.

The body of evidence suggests so

You think there are men in this country that aint seen her bosoms?

Shit, I was gonna guess nolander.

Also, a baseball thing

The Caribbean Series is being broadcast on ESPN3, but only in espanol.

I remember watching the Caribbean series every night at this bar in Merida Venezuela. Was so much fun as I was so starved for baseball. What I remember most was Eric Aybar making a crucial error. Franklin Gutierez playing amazing D in CF, and Mariano Duncan looking like he was a really good manager. Literally looking like it. Aesthetically managerial.

they used to show it on MLBN

I remember a 40 something year-old Vinny Casilla owning

Yes, they ask her football questions
Andrew Siciliano
Madonna says if she had a Gronkowski-like ankle sprain she would: "Take an anti-inflamatory and get my butt out there.

"

Did they ask how she would feel if she was a black quarterback?

Only the President gets that question

If there were any concerns
NFL Network
“There will be no wardrobe malfunctions. Promise.” -Madonna #SB46

But is she speaking in a faux-British accent?

She isn’t Josie…

is she signing new songs, or old songs?

She will be lecturing on religion in a low voice.

thank god, everybody already say it back when it challenged gravity, no need to see it how that it has given up the fight

9 million February 8

I am with many who have chosen 9million to me it sounds right

$8.75MM, one-year deal signed on February 9th. 7-year, $147MM deal signed next offseason. #optimism

$8.5 million on 2/13

Performance bonuses:

250 K for top 3 Cy finish
500 K for Cy win

Has this winter been stranger then past one’s? Seems so to me.

Very bizarre

Every time I look around, it’s in my face.

damn, I was hoping to get the OMC reference
I think a few things are clear

TV money or more specifically RSN money is playing a huge role in how team’s act (there are thoughts that Washington will get a chance to renegotiate their deal in the next year). The Yankees and Red Sox are trying to get below the luxury tax penalty.

Also, at least some teams were willing to deal top prospects.

when I look around and see the leaves are brown, this winter has a hazy shade.

That’s an easy bit to say, but if your hopes should pass away it’s simply pretend that you can build them again.

I looked around for my possibilities. I was so hard to plaese.

I been Mick Jaggered, silver daggered.
Andy Warhol, won’t you please come home?
I been mothered, fathered, aunt and uncled
Roy Halleed and Art Garfunkled.
I just discovered somebody’s tapped my phone.

Tangled in the fallen vines,
Pickin’ up the punch lines,
I’ve just been fakin’ it,
Not really makin’ it.

Is that Hootie? ;0

Every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock ‘n roll,
Grabs the mike to tell us he’ll die before he’s sold,
But I believe in this and it’s been tested by research,
He, who fucks nuns, will later join the church

I’m a ‘Citizens For Boysenberry Jam’ fan

Does NetFlix carry BBC content?

I’m particularly interested in the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy mini-series with Alec Guiness.

They have Doctor Who and Sherlock, so probably have a lot of other BBC content.

I think you can get the DVD

It didn’t come up on my search on my Iphone Netflix app.

is spaced bbc?

cause they got spaced

Netflix has it but DVD only, not streaming.

Something is wrong

That’s not the way I want it

Well, you work for the MPAA

YOU fix it!

OK, I WILL!

I appreciate that, because I would actually like to stream that as well.

BTW

though I am not sure, I think those other shows (Sherlock for sure) are part of a PBS agreement not BBC.

Downton Abbey

is another one that is through PBS

That's one

I need to catch up on also

PBS Website has Downton Abbey, but only S2

They had Season 1

up just before Season 2 started. Free doesn’t last forever

wasn’t complain, just statin’ a fact

The series was made a long time ago – 1970s. 1979. Do they stream things like that?

And another thing

I understand Scammy, Scummy Twitter bots following you for no apparent reason.

But why do I get Linked-in requests from people who don’t seem to be known by me or are connected to anyone else I’m connected to?

I got one at my work email on monday

I’d never gotten one before

it’s 3:15AM here

yeah, first night

It’s always a party when Joe’s around.

Just so you know

it is 10 hours ahead of us.

Wait India

is 10.5 hours ahead.

keep counting

oops

14.5

minus 1

13.5 now

12.5 when in DST

Only one time zone and it’s offset? Russia has 11 time zones. (That’s ridiculous. It’s not even funny.)

size matters

India is still pretty big.

7th largest country in the world.

big countries are few

I believe China also only has one time zone. Only one time zone at my house too. Dinner time!

If that is true

and Russia has nine zones, then time changes as you go north over there.

Groovy

Humma beat me to it. I was going to say, In Russia, time changes you!

One time zone to bind them, one time zone to rule them

What time is it in China?

Whatever time we tell you it is!

State Capitalism rules, democracies are messy

In China, the time tells YOU!

BRAVO

I was trying to get there, but just don’t have it in me right now

about a 1/3 of the US total, but longer than wide. You can fly coast to coast in well under 3 hours

No idea if this is accurate.

no business in that area that looks like wisconsin

everything else pretty close

India inspired my idea of one time zone for US, we move 1.5 hours, east coasters move 1.5 hours and we have a single time. Screw the farmers

I’d rather do that with the farmers daughters, but to each their own.

Portuguese diary daughters ftw

India is much further east

Will Bride accept that?

or west

And never the twain shall meet.

It does meet – in India. But you’d be 24 hours apart. One of you could gain a day on the other. Repeat that enough times and one of you will be young again. or vice versa.

yet lightyears behind

Judges?

Oh, man, Marty, you got screwed. Bride is the judge today. She rejects your entry, as light years measure distance, not time. Your only hope now is to make an energetic claim that time and distance are the same thing. I will leave you to it.

ok

then light sabers behind

Bride is frowning at you.

Dude, it is a frown I know well.

I've seen that frown

It’s a natural force

I would rather be streets ahead

Time is just the measure of distance ………

between the big hand and the little hand!

the apartment I am staying at, to be fair, would be looked at as a dump from the street. Yet is palatial inside, with gleaming marble everywhere

definitely not a book by its cover kind of place

Today I'm not too keen

on offshore developers.

Ha!

neither am I, I am here on an ass-kicking mission

Oh, man, you are like Dennis Farina in Get Shorty, flying so fuckin far just to kick an ass, and really pissed off about it.

that would be funny, except I will look more and more like him as I get older

a world away and you’ve made me cry

Don’t feel bad. I look like Johnny Dickshot.

I don’t know and will not search

Search it (safely) on baseball-reference.com

I don't think I laughed more then once

in the 30 minutes of get shorty I wached

I thought

Gene Hackman was brilliant

Of course he often is.

I don't think I made it past

the first scene with him in it.

go the distance

wait, he isn’t in that movie

Loved that movie from beginning to end

Miami, they can keep it

or some shit like that

killed me

$10 Million

why not just sign Kershaw with the money that might have gone to Prince?

Because

long term contracts for pitchers are generally a bad idea?

the simple is often the true

Obviously

Just sign with some of that money then. Don’t know what an acceptable long term contract for a 22-23 year old Cy Young award winner looks like, but whatever it is, just do it.

Oh

Ok long term bad…. Got it.

Unless it’s not. Most long term contracts for elite pitchers go great.

Paying Barry Zito or Mike Hampton like they’re elite pitchers is when things go horribly wrong.

How will CJ Wilson's contract look in 3 years

like a horse that’s been rode hard and put away wet

Maybe its bad when you still own the guy for 3 more seasons. I might wait until after 2 of them, make sure his arm is still attached, and then do a long term deal if I can. I’d like to know the possible savings by doing a long term now, over a long term in 2 years from now.

In honor of our coming softball game

I am waking up in 3.5 hours to go the gym

What? Why?

Nevermind….

Do they have cricket batting cages there?

yes!

they shoot tennis balls which bounce like a cricket bowler. I had them raise the machine and throw me fastballs, which were not fast. I wielded the cricket bat like a baseball bat to the horror of all on lookers

they thought I was satan

Well, that was probably because of the horns

No, it was the tail.

both these should be have a color

inventing a new language?

It is interesting how my thoughts on what I’m going to say but my fingers pay little attention

Sometime when I look at what I’ve typed I feel like a bad needle on a 33

You’re going to have to explain that to the kids here.

not if they had good parenting:)

is that like one of those 8 tracks? :)

See what I have to live with?

I was watching a cricket match in England and someone summed up cricket for me.

“It gets exciting now because they’re running out of time so they try to score runs”

I’ve explained cricket before: it is a game designed by, played by, announced by, and watched by the extremely hung over.

If HJ is awake, he can retell the story

but I believe last year when India won the Cricket World Cup, it put whatever happens in the US for any championship to shame (in a good way not in a riotous way)

I am down to hear that story.

Dogs and Cats kissing in the streets

One man even ate beef

The dead rose and wept dusty tears and ascended in peace

for 3 days our productivity at work suffered and only me and our clients cared

I remember when Michael Schur (creator of Parks and Rec and the guy who plays Mose on The Office) and Nate DiMeo (who is some dude with a podcast, apparently) wrote about watching cricket.

Either Satan or someone who will score a lot of 6’s in 20-Twenty cricket before getting out. Unless you get out first ball, of course.

$8.2M
Feb. 14

You and I have chosen the same date and we are $50,000 apart.

The short -statured stick together.

8,499,999.99

Feb 14th

$8,500,000.01
Feb 14th

you're the guy on the price is right everyone hates! :)

That “Champion” in your tag should command you more respect.

It's nice to see someone that respects the title :)

haha

I didn’t go to the state legislature today, but up in Santa Fe, this guy is there.

Extremely controversial figure — beloved by many and hated by many. I knew nothing about him until about a week ago.

we all did what we could do
my conscience doesn’t bother me
does your conscience bother you
tell the truth

Sweet home New-oo Mexico

I heard the state song of New Mexico for the first time the other day. It’s like 6 minutes long.

That’s all I remember.

So not that Enchanting?

Movie time - this is what I watched on the way over

50/50 – but I told you that, made me all snotty and teary and shit

The Guard – enjoyed it!

Drive – eh, was entertaining on a plane

30 minutes or less – terrible, just terrible, yet I laughed out loud at least 5 or 6 times.

I finally watched the last hour of kiss kiss bang bang

I enoyed it

That movie is awesome

Val Kilmer and Robert Downy Jr are seriously great in that movie

The Guard was enjoyable

did the airplane version include the language?

yes, thankfully

up in the front, the movies contain nudity and language

which made The Reader a little uncomfortable when the flight attendant is filling your glass while you are looking at Kate’s bush

No big deal, no bush, just a merkin.

Keith Law’s prospect lists will be out next Thursday.

Safe to say Carlos Triunfel will no longer be on it.

Peyton & Fitz having lunch

this week. An excellent potential duo for sure.

I’m no football guru, but Fitz is one insane athlete/talent.

Indeed

Sucks for him that he’s had garbage QBs for years. With someone legit (ala Warner) he’s sick.

Kotchman

To the Indians

no stats to back this up

But it seems like the Indians are one of the teams with the widest spread of possible wins this year. They could win the division or suck.

That’s reasonable. Rockies probably in that same boat this year.

aren’t we? I could see arguments for last to first

I don’t think our spread is as big. We pretty much know what we are getting, with perhaps Dee Gordon and James Loney being the outliers on that statement.

Maybe you know what you are getting.
I have no clue
Which Andre is going to show up, the good OB no power guy or the guy who will command a 15 Million dollar deal next year
Which Jim/James will show up
Which Uribe will show up
Will Matt revert all the way back to eh even year or only regress a tad
Will Rivera be the next Jose Cruz Junior or continue to hit enough to matter
Will Sands build on Sept on fade into AAA
Will Javy keep building on his success
Can Elbert handle the Kuo role

Other then Kershaw I don’t have a real clue as to what to expect.

Not to mention Bills

and I’m not convinced Cap and Harang will completely suck. I’ll hate paying them 8 million next year almost no matter what, but I think they could have positive contributions this year

Also add in the bad first half/good second half 2011. Who knows?

yeah why cant we continue where we left off after the 2nd half of last season?? Maybe we’ll start off hot. Every year there are surprise teams is seems like, hopefully Dodgers will be one this year. Is it impossible to be within 5 games by July? Then make the moves to get over the hump.

Ellis/Loney/Ellis/Gordon/Uribe

The infield alone makes me bearish on 2012.

im not even sure what to expect from Kershaw and Kemp, except that im pretty sure they’ll do well, but how well? Better then last season, same as last season, worse then last season, I just dont know.

both will likely be a little worse than last season.

I think Clayton wins his 2nd Cy Young.

I don’t think Matt Kemp will be in top 10 in the MVP vote.

ouch, so you think he’ll have a considerable drop off?? I was hoping for 40 HRs this year.

I still can’t believe he outpitched Halladay. That alone is an amazing accomplishment.

You are not alone.

Works well with their sign nothing but ground ball pitchers strategy. Anyone know how Kipnis and Chisenhall are defensively?

Kipnis

Indians Prospect Insider Scouting Report said this prior to the 2010 season:

The Indians are confident he has the footwork, hands, and comfort level with turning double plays. He doesn’t have the natural actions of an infielder and he certainly needs lots of work with coaching and reps at second base, but the feeling is he can be at least an average defender there.

Chisenhall is no Hannahan

Derek Lowe, Andy LaRoche, Julio Lugo. Indians will be one interesting team to follow this spring.

Chisenhall

from minorleagueball.com piece from the summer:

On defense, he features a solid third base arm and enough range for the position. He won’t win gold gloves, but he won’t be a liability, and his reliability has steadily improved with experience.

Softball Tournament – on one hand it is a bummer we don’t get to play Dodger Thoughts since we are not scheduled to meet them, but on the other hand we get to root for them during our break time since we never play at the same time.

I'm sure this could be answered if I go check the schedule

But is it 3 for sure games, then a championship game?

Yes

it could be answered that way. My short answer is that no, that is not correct

That way is better for me

because I’m clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer :P

thanks

We could sure use a Tailgator Headmaster for the one hour breaks between games. We can’t bring any food INTO the stadium so most players simply eat in the parking lot.

I will try to get out there

Have some stuff in South Bay in the morning to get to.

We should all go over to Alhambra area for dinner after we get knocked out. Well, at least that is where I am going. :)

I’m just coming to see if any of you are real. I have a sneaky feeling that you are all TBLA blogbots.

I hate to break it to you

Everyone else thinks that you aren’t real

`

3 for sure but you will need to win six to win the championship

its going to be a long long day for TBLA then

We will all hate each other by the time that day is done

So did the A's in the 70s ;)

Would only take 5 for us to win it. Not planning on being a 3-6 seed. :)

HAHA!

I hope there’s a mercy rule, too. We have to save our pitchers for the playoffs.

I do hope we get to meet up since that means we both got beyond the first round.

BTW

Did we ever determine if we have ONE pitcher?

Two people on the roster signed up as being able to pitch (James, Mary). Would be nice to have a good female pitcher.

Whoever wins will be the team who has the most experienced softball players (best pitcher). Our best players are hardball guys who will probably blow chunks against a good softball pitcher for the first few at bats.

After Gary's first at bat in the softball game in october (?) he did really well with the bat

;)

Yes, but he won’t be facing a pitcher who simply pitches so you can hit, they will be hitting the top of the arc as much as they can while still thowing strikes. I’ve seen hard ball players struggle for a while against good softball pitchers, eventually they figure it and we have plenty of time. I’m hoping the first game is easy, I expect Roberto to have put together an excellent team for our 3rd game.

Not only can a good pitcher hit the top of the arc but some can curve the ball, throw a knuckle ball and retreat towards 2nd base after pitching to become a 5th infielder. The really good ones can.

As Ken Boswell said on a scorching day in Chicago in July, 1968, when he knew he wasn’t starting:
“Ya gotta love the game to be out there today.”
“LETS SEE SOME HUSTLE!”

Your 10AM game on Fenway is right after ours on Fenway. Your 12PM game at Dodger Stadium is right after our 11AM game at Dodger Stadium. I will try to replace all my divots out at SS for Joe.

HJ is my Centerfielder

No CF in slow pitch, unless you are going to the rover. I thought HJ was SS and Gary 3B.

You know what I mean, no need to get anal on me. We have plenty of SS, HJ is a strong outfielder.

You’re cracking at the seems.

It seams that way

Where’s Josie when you need her?

I’m working on my swing, orders from the manager

Is Phil the manager?

I hope he is a lou pinella type manager. I expect bases to be thrown and dirt to be kicked!

My goal for the day is to arrive at that godawful time without having died trying to get there. From there I hope to not pull any muscles.

Just bring a cardboard cut out of yourself, plop it in the dugout during the game(s) then just go hang out at the bar and get shitfaced.

I’ll save you a seat at the bar.

i like that you are taking charge and being the manager

As it should be. It was ordained wasn’t it. And a meerkat shall lead them? Something like that.

Meerkats are only good for leading into tunnels and we all know how that ends. With everyone being gassed.

wait, so are you the meercat guy too?

No, completely different tool

they’re cousins, or half-brothers, I can never remember

One's the evil twin of the other

it’s a tool all right.

I dont know, now that I think of it, I cant recall seeing both of you at the same time. Seems like when you arent here for days, he is, and vice versa. Plus his name is meercatjohn, yet people call him Phil I think…. and meercat is a mod, yet I dont see his name down below in the boss section.

AND he is also a Clipper fan, come on now, what are the odds of that?

Who knew that being a Clipper fan would be the ultimate clue

so why the 2 names, if I may ask?

You’re almost there, Father Dowling.

Meercat is actually someone none of us really know

More of a legend than a man, really…

I've been trying to put the pieces together too

What was Michael White’s old handle (here and on Baseball Toaster DT)? David Young used to be El Lay Dave, right? Kensai is Chad Moriyama? Phil Gurnee is Meercat… really?!

I remember seeing these handles on the old DT and maybe even DodgerDugout.

I would not be surprised if Dodger Bobble does not forfeit the first game since it starts right at 08:00.

Mercenaries available around July 31

a) Name them;
b) Name the price in Dodger prospects

A. Miguel Cabrerra
B. All of them

Carlos Lee — Withrow, Silverio? Depends a lot on how much salary Astros eat.
Edwin Jackson — who cares :)

That’s too much talent for a bench bat.

So your scenario includes Loney dominating and Sands playing well?

Assumed you wanted Lee for LF

Never really thought about getting rid of Loney. But I guess that could work.

fuck no, we need Loney for playoffs, Loney rakes in the playoffs.

Carlos Lee is back to being a productive bat, just not the stud he was 6 years ago

we are buyers in this exercise, no?

Yes, buyers

on assumption new owner will have $$$

I think the easiest is David Wright – I’d give up Eovaldi, Erickson, someone else who is tearing it up in A ball.

Love this

We will probably have to give up ZLee tho.

I don’t see the #1 prospect on the team being the price for a 1/2 season rental on a guy who has been struggling for awhile now. Doesn’t he have a team option for 2013 that he can void if traded?

OTOH, 3B are a somewhat scarce commodity. I was thinking Phil might be too high, but he may be (w)right.

But around the league, ZLee is only a 45-50 caliber prospect. And competing with other interested clubs might force the issue.

Lee might be to far away, Eovaldi could be ready now for them.

Heard that Nate Dogg might get sent to Albuquerque instead of AA. That’ll hurt his value amirite?

The nickname “Nate Dogg” will hurt his value.

I disagree. I’m sure all 30 teams already have well formed opinions on Eovaldi and all they will care about is how he looks, not what his stats are. They all know Albuquerque is the moon.

Right, which is why Trayvon only yielded Fed and some more fodder, despite blowing up.

we had gone a long time without discussing trayvon

He is thought of with complete disdain at USSMariner. He’s a non-entity. And they have shit for talent (on the offensive side at least).

He “yielded” a starting defensive catcher much like Steve Yeager.

He is more like Gilberto Reyes than he is like Yeager.

He seems exactly like Yeager. A defensive first catcher who will struggle for average but hit a home run every once in a while.

That seems exactly like Gilberto Reyes.

it all rests on his slider
That's the ranking, btw

on the scouting “scale” or whatever.

I meant NOT on the scouting scale but the ranking of Top 50 prospects.

s/the #1 prospect on the team/a top 50 MLB prospect/
and I’ll stand by statement.

How many likely contenders have a shithole 3B situation like the Dodgers do?

Angels
Tigers
Probably the Braves this year
Polanco is no longer anything much
Rockies

angels have 2 guys who can competently play 3rd

but wright would likely be an upgrade over izzy and that other guy.
lol tigers

Trumbo is going to 3rd apparently

Plus they have Macier/Ayber/Callaspo/Kendrick who will be playing the combos of 3B/2B/SS, so they may not have the room.

macier and callaspo can be dumped

hell they could flip them for propsects to include in a wright deal. Wright is better then they are. Trumbo isn’t going to be a full time 3rd baseman.

Kendrick is 2nd
Aybar is SS

Don’t mix them into the whole infield thing.

They have an injury prone Maicer at 3rd. Callaspo is Callaspo and David Wright would be a huge upgrade.

you know

I’m not convinced Wright is better then callaspo. He probably is, but I could see Callaspo outplaying him next year.

not a chance IMO

Care for a wager :)

he did it last year

so sure

Wright only played 102 games

Your soul is mine! Or like a drink at a bar or something.

What stat do you want to go off of, fWAR, bWAR, wOBA?

we can average fwar and bwar or something
I suppose that could work

I think i’ve made like 4 bets now but the ones I can remember are yours now and Hummas with .715+ OPS for booribe.

3 war

its happening

or was it 2?

fuck it, make it 9

Im not arguing he would be a huge upgrade

I’m just saying they have a full infield, too many 1b/dh’s, and a super high payroll already.

I’m bearish on the Rockies for some unidentifiable reason. (Jim Tracy)

Angels have lots of bats to make up for that, besides Albert is playing 3B when Kendrys returns. ;-)

Mets won’t trade him within division?

Dbacks, Tigers?, Phillies, Angels…

I think with a year under his belt Lee will up his prospect status during 2012

By the end of the season he will be a top 20 prospect, possibly top 15.

I think he may be crazy

but he just may be the lunatic we’re looking for

I was fearing this, but I knew it would happen.

You started the fire.

It was always burning since the world’s been turnin’

I think they have a young catcher who is not too bad, not sure though. For 2 months of wright, I could see a package with Eo, Gould/Silverio, and possibly Santana if he’s doing well.

This assumes Wright doesn’t continue his descent to mediocrity right?

This year was the only year he wasn't a good player

His defense has blown, but even 2011 he was an above average bat (especially for 3B), the years before his bat was still really good.

I am worried about his health decline going forward and I think his best years are behind him already.

We aren’t signing him to a long term deal simply renting him just in case we are really in a pennant race.

Yes, but if he is putting up a sub .750 OPS with shitty defense at mid-season, I would not want to give up much for him.

Most definitely

He’s not a 7.5 WAR player at all. But a 3.5-5 WAR player, definitely a good possibility.

This is not real world

This is not my beautiful house.

a) Andre Ethier, the old starting pitchers we signed to one-year deals, Josh Bard
b) N/A

A) David Wright
B) Jerry Sands/Nate Eovaldi, Alex Santana, Webster? Honestly I am just guessing.

I am just guessing.

Uhhh, not like the rest of us know exactly what we are doing

you're all experts, don't patronize me!

Looking at the 2013 FAs, most of the good ones are on contenders (Napoli, Hamilton). Wright is the obvious pick for me.

4 year 50 million contract

10 mil this year 2012 , 12 mil in 2013, 13 mil in 2014, 15 mil in 2015

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