Totally don't understand these boneheaded deals.
Number one, the Dodgers are HOT, and they go ahead and mess with their chemistry by trading away their clubhouse leader, LoDuca.
More importantly: they had two of the best players at their position, in positions at which it is hard to find quality players, and they gave them up for virtually nothing. After Pudge, Piazza, and MAYBE Victor Martinez and maybe Posada (questionable), LoDuca is the best offensive catcher in the game...and it's not easy to find a good hitting catcher.
Guillermo Mota's ERA was somewhere around 1.80, and the Dodgers were 45-0 in games in which they led after 7 until tonight...in large part because of Mota's stellar setup work in the 8th. Who else has a comparable, rock solid setup guy? Maybe Gordon on the Yanks. Maybe. But other than that, Mota's best in the league.
And who did they get for those two stellar stars? Brad Penny -- a pitcher of some potential but a guy who's been hurt and has never been great consistently, and Hee Seop Choi, and abject failure in his rookie season who broke out strong this year, is now only hitting in the .270s, and who is absolutely not guaranteed to hit anywhere near that in the future: he hit a whopping .218 last year and .180 the year before. Even Dodgers hit better than that.
And for good measure, they threw away Juan Encarnacion too!
I really, truly do not understand what the Dodgers did. They hurt themselves more than any other team. Usually, when bona fide stars get traded for no-names, the pain is lessened for the fans by emphasizing that the no-names are 'prospects' -- a loaded term, but one that means the potential IS there for future stardom.
But to trade away one of the best hitting catchers and the best setup man and a decent outfirelder...for two highly unaccomplished players who HAVE been in the majors?
I really don't get it.
Number one, the Dodgers are HOT, and they go ahead and mess with their chemistry by trading away their clubhouse leader, LoDuca.
More importantly: they had two of the best players at their position, in positions at which it is hard to find quality players, and they gave them up for virtually nothing. After Pudge, Piazza, and MAYBE Victor Martinez and maybe Posada (questionable), LoDuca is the best offensive catcher in the game...and it's not easy to find a good hitting catcher.
Guillermo Mota's ERA was somewhere around 1.80, and the Dodgers were 45-0 in games in which they led after 7 until tonight...in large part because of Mota's stellar setup work in the 8th. Who else has a comparable, rock solid setup guy? Maybe Gordon on the Yanks. Maybe. But other than that, Mota's best in the league.
And who did they get for those two stellar stars? Brad Penny -- a pitcher of some potential but a guy who's been hurt and has never been great consistently, and Hee Seop Choi, and abject failure in his rookie season who broke out strong this year, is now only hitting in the .270s, and who is absolutely not guaranteed to hit anywhere near that in the future: he hit a whopping .218 last year and .180 the year before. Even Dodgers hit better than that.
And for good measure, they threw away Juan Encarnacion too!
I really, truly do not understand what the Dodgers did. They hurt themselves more than any other team. Usually, when bona fide stars get traded for no-names, the pain is lessened for the fans by emphasizing that the no-names are 'prospects' -- a loaded term, but one that means the potential IS there for future stardom.
But to trade away one of the best hitting catchers and the best setup man and a decent outfirelder...for two highly unaccomplished players who HAVE been in the majors?
I really don't get it.
