Wrapping Up The Blue

I was there to witness the carnage and the garbage. Along with all the celebs in my Donal Fehr seats, I went to my first game all year and witnessed the Blue play like crap and their season end. It was an awful series. And from those five games, what did we learn about our 2008 NLDS Champion Los Angeles Dodgers? What was wrong with their club? What do they need to do for the upcoming season?

During the NLCS, all their weaknesses were exploited by the wiley, opportunistic Phillies. The Dodgers became the Cubs, in other words. Without taking anything away from Phillie, who were clearly the better ball club, these are the things that were brought to light: Torre’s weakness as a field strategist was perhaps the most glaring. He should have removed Lowe much sooner in Game 1 and Billingsley much sooner in Game 2. Then there was his inexplicable decision to remove a breezing Derek Lowe – his ace – with only a 1 run lead n the 6th inning of Game 4. I’m still confused by it. You don’t remove your ace when he’s breezing in a Championship series that you happen to be trailing with only a 1 run lead. Also, he made some other odd choices. Why let Hong Chi Kuo bunt with 2 men on base and only one out in the 7th with only a 2 run lead in Game 4, if you’re just going to take him out after giving up a lead off single in the 8th? Why would you take Kuo out after giving up one cheap single to Ryan Howard? Just because he’s a lefty or because he looked “different” warming up that inning? He should not have burned all his lefties in Game 4. He should’ve gone to James McDonald in Game 4 instead of Park. And, yes, in spite of Kershaw being a lefty against a lefty lineup, instead of Kershaw. He should not have started Kemp in Game 2 or Game 3. Juan Pierre was his man. He didn’t start him until Game 4. He should’ve started Kent against the lefty, Cole Hamels, not Blake DeWitt in Game 5. And why does he insist on batting Russell Martin so high in the order?

Chad Billingsley was Bad Billingsley. The kid just fell apart in so many ways, one has to wonder about his fortitude and his ability to perform in the post season, should the Dodgers ever make it back. He should be their ace next year unless the Dodgers pick up a frontline starter like Sabathia or Peavy.

Young Blake DeWitt, aside form his huge 3 run triple in Game 3 and a few sac flies and fielders choice RBI’s was beyond horrid. However, I think he’ll improve and I think they have a solid ballplayer in him.

James Loney was actually very impressive in the Playoffs, but he sure can’t hit a fastball up an in and he has a weird demeanor out there. I’m actually not as crazy about him as I once was. He has warning track power for the most part and hits into many DP’s. Hopefully, he’ll improve on his power numbers next year, unless they get Mark Teixeira, which is doubtful.

In spite of his 80 or so RBI’s, Matt Kemp was a huge disappointment. His swing is horrible and he proved himself to be a sporadic singles hitter with no idea whatsoever at the plate. He has a great arm in the outfield, but, in spite of his youth, I don’t see him getting any smarter any time soon. Trading him for Jake Peavy in the off season may not be the worst decision the Dodgers have ever made.

Andre Ethier came back to earth a full week and a half before the Playoffs. When all is said and done, we still don’t know for sure what kind of player Andre will become. Hopefully, he’ll become more like the Andre that was hitting in front of Manny in September.

I think we have a better idea, however, what kind of player Russell Martin is and will likely continue to be – an overrated one. The wild pitch he allowed on a Chan Ho Park breaking ball in Game 4 was terrible. A good catcher surrounds that ball and keeps it from getting by. That happens to Martin all the time. In spite of last year’s Gold Glove (had to be a mistake) he actually makes me miss Mike Piazza’s defense. He’s a questionable pitch caller and he can’t throw out a base stealer to save his life. He does block the plate well when a runner is coming home, but so what? Though extremely streaky, Martin is not a very good hitter. He has some power but not enough, and he’s easily fooled by a good change of speed and anything on the outer part of the plate. He hits way too many grounders to short and grounds into way too many DP’s. His insistence on playing every day ultimately hurts the team. Let’s bring up Santana. Oh wait, we traded him for Casey Blake.

Rafael Furcal’s performance in Game 5 was like a trip to the circus. In fact, his post season in general, was not great. But he sure made a damn good first impression in April before his back problems started and you gotta give the guy credit for working hard enough to come back for the last week of the season and the Playoffs. He’s a weird fielder – one of the better shortstops I’ve seen, but he still makes a lot of errors. You gotta re-sign him unless young Ivan Dejesus is the next Hanley Ramirez or Jose Reyes or unless you can get your hands on Hanley Ramirez or Jose Reyes.

Casey Blake played well, but not well enough to make us forget we could’ve had Miguel Cabrera. He’s a lunger, strikes out a ton and has no power to the right side. Very solid defensively. He’s likely just a rental who played 2 months in Dodger Blue and will opt to sign elsewhere. They need a third baseman or a second baseman, depending on where they want to play DeWitt. Jeff Kent’s playing days are over… I think. Nomar is done as a Dodger and may be done for good. Too fragile to be anything but a utility guy or pinch hitter and not enough pop to DH.

Jonathan Broxton has 5 months to develop the skills to be a closer. Frankly, I just don’t see it happening. Saito’s days as a Dodger may be over. They need a closer. No reason not to hang onto Beimel. Unless they plan to make him a starter, or unless he becomes more comfortable in his nebulous relief role, they should let Chan Ho go. Their bullpen needs a lot of work.

They MUST replace Derek Lowe who will surely leave as a free agent, likely to his hometown Tigers. That means C.C. Sabathia must be a Dodger, and if not him, it’s gotta be Sheets, Burnett, or Peavy, and it really should be 2 of those guys. They need a better starting staff. Hiroki Kuroda is tough to figure out, but I think he’s a better pitcher than his overall record. Bring him back. He’s got balls. I like that. Greg Maddux should retire and wait for the Hall to call. Let Brad Penny go. James McDonald and Clayton Kershaw could both be the real deal, but they still have much to prove. And to count on the return of Jason Schmidt would be the definition of insanity.

Their bench is also going to need improving with the departure of the old vets like Kent and Nomar. Pierre wants to be traded and rightly so. My hope is to never have to look at Andruw Jones in a Dodger uniform again. I have a feeling I’m not going to get what I want.

Manny MUST be a Dodger. The Dodgers had, in their midst for 2 short months, the greatest right handed hitter I have ever seen. Free agency stumping or not, this guy is too valuable to the organization to lose to the Yanks, Cubs or Mets. Make an offer of 4 years at 84 million, and be prepared to offer 5 years at 110 million. If you lose Manny, you’d better be making a deal for Albert Pujols or Evan Longoria or both. I realize there’s a limit to how much and how long a deal you can give a 36 year old outfielder who’s defensive skills are questionable, but this is a special player and the Dodgers are no Red Sox. They just don’t have enough offense to compete without Manny.

And so, that’s it. The best team in the NL didn’t win. No, not the Dodgers. The Cubs. Hate to burst your bubble, but the best team in the league isn’t necessarily the team that makes it to the Fall Classic. The Cubs were far and away the best team in the NL in ’08, but they went cold at the worst possible time against a Dodger team that was flying high. The Phillies are a great team – far more balanced than our Blue, and they should lose to either Boston or Tampa Bay in the World Series who are both better teams, but anything can happen. All in all, it’s been a strange, but great season. It all depends on McCourt and Manny in the fall and winter.