See Ya, Ned! ... Unless...

Anybody want to trade professions? I’ll be a bean counter or a dentist or maybe even a real writer and you can write a TV pilot and have to deal with the egos and the bullshit.

Speaking of changing professions, according to the LA Times’ Bill Plaschke, (and me) Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti may be having to switch up his job title in the coming weeks. After an interview with owner Frank McCourt, Plaschke feels that Colletti has a rather tenuous hold on his job, depending on what he can arrange before the July 31st trading deadline. I’d like to believe this, but I’m dubious. My feeling has always been that winning is not McCourt’s priority and as bad and unlucky as Colletti has been (it’s as if he’s perfected the ideal mix of dog crap and mud) I don’t think McCourt really cares too much whether they win or not. Like I’ve been saying, I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks. My guess is the 100 – 120 million McCourt is shelling out for bad contracts is something he can afford and still turn a hefty profit. But when it comes to getting another two or three guys to win this thing, his profit shrinks too much for his comfort level. Word has it that the reason Colletti didn’t pull the trigger on a Sabathia deal was the money. This info was evidently leaked internally from someone in the Dodgers front office.

In Plaschke’s article today, he indicates that the core of youngsters – Kemp, Ethier, Loney – are showing some disrespect for the coaches who are trying to get them to improve. If this is true, this isn’t good. Apparently, they’re just not taking instruction well. You don’t have to expend your imagination to figure out that Kemp, Loney and Ethier are the chief culprits. Loney could be so damn good if he just stopped swinging at horrible pitches and Kemp could be so good if he just got an IQ about a hundred points higher. (baseball IQ, anyway) Ethier strikes me as having a touch of arrogance and tude. I think DeWitt and Martin are exempt from this type of criticism. They’re hard working gamers who listen to their coaches with bated breath. The others? Not so much. Remember when I discussed why these guys aren’t improving? That’s why. Torre, Larry Bowa, Mattingly, Honeycutt, Mota, Duncan have nothing to teach these guys. They’re too good. Ned, you have 20 days.

So, Park has an awful outing. He was due. Hong Chi Kuo has been a godsend. They actually came back last night from a 3 run deficit to tie the Fish. But Andruw Jones struck out yet again with the winning run in scoring position and Brian Falkenborg coughed up the game winner in the 11th to the great Hanley Ramirez. Why can’t we have a Hanley Ramirez? WHY, WHY, OH WHY, IS BRIAN FALKENBORG PITCHING IN THE BIG LEAGUES???? The Marlins are clearly a better team than the Dodgers and should win at least 3 of 4 in the series. Care to compare the bargain basement fish with the PRICEY Dodgers position by position? Let's do it. 1st base: Mike Jacobs vs. James Loney. Jacobs has some amazing pop, but his batting average sucks and he he’s not the fielder Loney is. I’ll take Loney. 2nd base. Dan Uggla vs. Jeff Kent. At this point in their careers, there’s no question. Hands down, Uggla. He’s great. Power, average. RBI’s, great glove. 3rd base; Jorge Cantu vs. Blake DeWitt or La Roche or Nomar. Cantu, hands down. Not a great glove, but hitting about .288 right now with a bunch of homers and RBIs. He’s always hit. Great acquisition for Florida. Shortstop. Please. Hanley Ramirez could be the best player in baseball at this point. Almost 50 RBI from the leadoff spot. A ton of HRs and he’s hitting better than .300. Amazing glove. Why can’t we have Hanley Ramirez? Left Field: Etheir/JuanPierre vs. Josh Willingham. No contest again. Willingham and superstardom are on a fast track toward a collision. The guy hits for power, for average and he’s a converted catcher and a smarter player. Centerfield: Cody Ross/Jacques Jones/Alfredo Amezaga vs. Andruw Jones. I’ll take any one of those guys over Andruw Jones right now. I'll take their moms over Andruw Jones right now. Especially Cody Ross whom the Dodgers let go for a song. He’s been great. Right field: Jeremy Hermida vs. Matt Kemp. Two similar players. Both very highly touted and neither one performing to their estimated capabilities. I'm leaning toward Hermida. Smarter with more pop. Catcher; Matt Treanor/John Baker vs. Russell Martin. No contest Martin in a heartbeat. Starting pitching: It’s close, but I’ll take Billingsley, Lowe, Kuroda, Park, Penny & Stults over Ricky Nolasco, Andrew Miller, Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson, Mark Hendrickson and this Volstad kid who’s going tonight. It’s close, though. Nolasco’s great, as it turns out. Bullpen: It’s a draw. I know lots of Dodger fans may think the combination of Kuo, Beimel, Broxton and Saito are better than the Marlins pen, but… they’re not. Remember we also have Corey Wade, Ramone Troncoso and Brian Falkenborg. And, unfortunately, Torre uses them. Bench: Luis Gonzales, Jones, Amezaga et al are simply better role players than the Dodgers have on the bench. Injuries have certainly hurt, but the Dodgers bench stinks badly. In short, everything combined, the Marlins are a much better ball club while being about 50 to 60 million bucks cheaper. Nice. Stults vs. Volstad in half an hour.