SB Nation - Wade LeBlanc

Padres GM Towers comments on Heath Bell's fitness level, Wade LeBlanc's cutter and Colorado's home grown talent

jbox — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:20:38 -0000

XX Sports Radio: Kevin Towers Interview (MP3) with Darren Smith

Edgar Gonzalez had a similar injury with his shoulder popping out and back in during college. He said it took him a few days to feel better.
In the final 10 games, the Padres are trying to keep momentum going into the off season. The Padres have only lost 3 series in the last 2 months. They want to perform well against the division leaders. Towers wants to continue to evaluate the young guys. The players never give up and are playing hard. Towers thought Nick Hundley's drive was going to drop last night, "We very easily we could have one that ball game."
Colorado is pretty good. It's great that the players are all home grown. When they played in Petco, every single guy came through their system. Offensively they are one of the better teams in the NL, Philadelphia and St. Louis are also good. "Offensively they are very, very good."
Everth Cabrera still does things to help the Padres win games. Cabrera talked to Towers about wanting to play winter ball. Towers thinks he needs a break.
Wade LeBlanc has developed a cutter, which works against right handed hitters. He needs fastball command to be successful. He has a Trevor Hoffman like change up, but the only way it will work is if he develops his fastball. Towers saw great things from him in college. His velocity has dropped though. After a bad few outings, sometimes you want to give up on them but they battle back and you have to be patient.
Towers says Heath Bell will keep getting the opportunity to make saves. "He certainly hasn't had the success in September that he's had in the last 5 months." Towers thinks the work load has robbed him of some of his velocity.
Darren Smith wonders if Heath Bell's physical size and fitness level has caused him problems. Towers says Bell does a lot of Wii conditioning in the off season and that "his big strong lower half" makes him successful. He doesn't do a lot of running, but he rides the exercise bike and elliptical. The Padres don't have a Wii in the club house.
Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel is going to continue to evaluate the front office and baseball operations.'
"The way we've played in the last 6 weeks, I'm kind of enjoying watching these guys play. Hopefully we finish strong."

Padres Anagrams

jbox — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:29:12 -0000

Dex was just showing me this website that figures out an anagram for your name. I decided to do it for each of the Padres. Surprisingly in some cases the anagram actually describes the person. It's remarkable!

NAME	ANAGRAM
Jeff Moorad	MAJOR OF FED
Tom Garfinkel	GNATLIKE FORM
Kevin Towers	I'VE NETWORKS
Paul DePodesta	UP PLEASED TOAD
Grady Fuson	FURY GONADS
Bud Black	BALD BUCK
Heath Bell	HELL! BATHE
Greg Burke	KRUGER BEG
Kevin Correia	CROAKIER VEIN
Sean Gallagher	HAS LARGE ANGEL
Luke Gregerson	OK GREENER SLUG
Mat Latos	AM TOTALS
Wade LeBlanc	CLEAN BAWLED
Edward Mujica	DRAW MAD JUICE
Luis Perdomo	I'M PROUD LOSE
Aaron Poreda	POOR AND AREA
Cesar Ramos	OR MASSACRE
Clayton Richard	A CONTRARY CHILD
Adam Russell	SMALL AS RUDE
Tim Stauffer	MATURE STIFF
Joe Thatcher	HA! REJECT HOT
Ryan Webb	BRAWN BYE
Eliezer Alfonzo	RAZZLE OF ONE LIE
Henry Blanco	LYNCH ON BEAR
Nick Hundley	UNKINDLY CHE
Everth Cabrera	BRAVER CHEATER
David Eckstein	KINDEST ADVICE
Adrian Gonzalez	DAZZLING ON AREA
Edgar Gonzalez	NAG DAZZLE OGRE
Kevin Kouzmanoff	KNAVE FUNK IF ZOOM
Luis Rodriguez	GURU IDOLIZERS
Oscar Salazar	ALAS! CZAR OR AS
Anthony Gwynn Junior	JOY! NOW HURTING NANNY
Chase Headley	ELSE HEADACHY
Drew Macias	A WEIRD SCAM
Will Venable	WELL! EVIL BAN
Gaslamp Ball	SMALL BAG PAL

Giants Lose the Game, Series

Grant — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:48:12 -0000

by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Adrian Gonzalez admires the flight of the Giants' season as it sails far, far away.

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Dropping two of three to the worst team in the division at home. Scoring five combined runs off Kevin Correia and Wade LeBlanc. Wasting your time. We're not in this thing.

The same post-Coors disclaimer applies: if you want to get technical, we're still in this thing. Maybe Colorado will lose three straight at the same time the Giants win three straight. And then we'll have hope again.

Because, really, I'm just geeked about watching Joel Piniero throw a complete game, 77-pitch shutout against Randy Winn, Eugenio Velez, Bengie Molina, and Edgar Renteria in the only playoff game at home this season. That's why I'm living and dying with the team. I just can't wait to watch this team against some real competition.

In five years, most of us will have mostly positive memories of this season. It was the season we weren't expecting, the season that was worth watching. That's because we're stupid. Really, really stupid.

And of course, the reason that the Giants lost this game was a failed bunt. THE LITTLE THINGS omg! Forget that even with runners on second and third with one out, a Velez strikeout and Sanchez popout wouldn't have done anything. Forget that the team was offensively inept for the rest of the game. The Giants can't execute THE LITTLE THINGS.

Screw it. I'm so not watching the game tomorrow. That's a promise. I'll probably come back on Friday, but there's no way I"m watching any baseball tomorrow.

Dodgers Offense Draws A LeBlanc

Eric Stephen — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:28:38 -0000

by Chris Carlson - AP

There are a lot of people frustrated with the Dodger offense right now.

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The Padres scored two early runs off Clayton Kershaw, and that proved to be enough as the Dodger offense was dormant against the, umm, crafty Wade LeBlanc. The Dodgers were feeble at the plate against the soft-tossing lefty, and lost 2-0.

The Dodgers were hitless in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The one positive was that we finally got to see Jim Thome pinch hit, and he delivered a single into the gap in right center field in the eighth inning with one out. Matt Kemp was on first, and had thoughts of trying to score, but he was held up at the last minute by Larry Bowa. It was probably the right call, but given the state of the offense recently he might as well have tried it.

Kershaw has a 2.75 ERA over his last nine starts, yet has no wins to show for it. The Dodgers are amazingly 1-8 in those games.

Since the 17-run outburst against Milwaukee, the Dodger offense has averaged 3.66 runs per game over their last 29 games.

But, the beauty of baseball is that there is almost always a game tomorrow to make you forget about today. Tomorrow night, Randy Wolf battles rookie Mat Latos in game two against the Padres.

WP - Wade LeBlanc (1-1): 6 IP, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts

LP - Clayton Kershaw (8-8): 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

Sv - Heath Bell (34): 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout

Box Score

Padres demoralize the Dodgers 2-0

Dex — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:13:29 -0000

Oh, what's that, Dodgers? Oh it's just the Padres? Anybody could sweep the Nationals?

I'm not really sure how Wade LeBlanc managed to do what he did today, but I'm going to say that he did it on purpose. Wade going 6 strong and handing it off to a solid bullpen including a 4 out save by Heath Bell. Good game all around.

Padres have won 8 out of the last 10. Let's finish strong, boys! Who all's going up to LA to snicker at the Dodgers while they get beat by a last place team? Not me. But i figure someone else might.

Final - 9.4.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R
San Diego Padres	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Los Angeles Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Complete Coverage >

Dodgers Welcome Padres To Town

Eric Stephen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:12:56 -0000

by Gus Ruelas - AP

Clayton Kershaw has put together a very nice first full season in 2009.

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Clayton Kershaw has made 25 starts at Dodger Stadium in his career. He has allowed more than three runs in a game only once, and that was last June against Cleveland. This season, Kershaw has a 2.00 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 14 starts at home. Yet he is only 3-3 wearing the home whites, yet another reason why wins aren't the best stat to evaluate starting pitchers. Kershaw has three no-decisions this year when he allowed no runs over seven or more innings, the most such games in baseball. Two of those games came at home.

Wade LeBlanc was called up last week by the Padres, and boy are the Dodgers happy to see him. LeBlanc has made seven big league starts, and three have come against the Dodgers. In those three games, LeBlanc has lasted just a total of 12.2 innings, allowing 13 runs on 20 hits (including four home runs) and nine walks. Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune profiled LeBlanc and his many trips to and from Triple A Portland, contrasting him with fellow 2006 draftee Kershaw:

"And [Kershaw]'s got a lot better stuff than I have," LeBlanc said. "It is a struggle (to stick), but the guys who get past that are the ones who have the long careers. The easy part is getting there. The hard part is staying."

Courtesy of the Dodger game notes, Andre Ethier has more RBI against the NL West (45) than he has against all other teams combined (43).

The Dodgers are 9-4 against the Padres this season, including 5-1 at Dodger Stadium.

**********

Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.

Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies.

Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.

Game Time: 7:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket

Baseball Reference Preview

Garland Fits Right In For Dodgers

Eric Stephen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:22:33 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Welcome to the Dodgers, Jon Garland.

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Tonight was a night for Dodger newcomers, as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 4-2 in the series finale at Dodger Stadium. Jon Garland welcomed himself quite nicely into the Dodger rotation tonight, throwing well over his seven innings, and fellow newcomer Ronnie Belliard drove in single runs in three separate innings, leading the Dodgers to victory.

Garland struggled early, allowing five hits and a walk by the third inning. In that frame, Stephen Drew hit a home run to right center field, a ball that hit off the top of the wall after nearly being caught by a leaping Matt Kemp, giving Arizona an early 2-1 lead. Ryan Roberts followed with a single, and Garland appeared to be on the ropes. However, Garland regrouped and retired the final 14 batters he faced. Garland induced 12 ground ball outs, a great sign from someone that doesn't strikeout many hitters.

However, tonight Garland did strikeout hitters! Garland, who hasn't struck out more than 4.8 batters per nine innings since 2003, fanned six Diamondbacks tonight, one shy of his season high. Since the beginning of June, Garland has pitched at least six innings in 17 of 18 starts.

Garland became the 21st Dodger pitcher to collect a win this season, extending the club record. The 2002 Padres hold the major league record with 23 different pitchers collecting a win.

Belliard had run-scoring singles in the second and fourth innings, and added a fielder's choice RBI in the sixth to pad the lead to 4-2. With the bases loaded and one out, Belliard grounded to third baseman Mark Reynolds in what looked like a possible inning ending double play. However, a great takeout slide at second base by James Loney (who also added two hits) coupled with good hustle out of the box allowed Belliard to beat the throw to first, allowing Manny Ramirez to score from third.

Manny also had a towering home run to dead center in the fourth inning, to go along with a nice line drive out to right field later in the game, perhaps assuaging those looking to pour dirt on his grave.

A win on a day with losses by the Rockies, Giants, and Cardinals makes today a good day for the Dodgers.

In San Bernardino tonight, three San Jose Giants combined to no-hit the Dodgers' Class A affiliate, the Inland Empire 66ers in their final home game of the season.

The Dodgers welcome the Padres to town for the weekend. Tomorrow's game features Clayton Kershaw pitching against Wade LeBlanc.

WP - Jon Garland (9-11): 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

LP - Billy Buckner (2-6): 6 IP, 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Sv - Jonathan Broxton (31): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts

Box Score

2009 Trade Deadline Preview: San Diego Padres

Brendan Scolari — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:18:40 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

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Buyers or sellers?

The Padres are in the cellar of the NL West, 24 games behind the first place Dodgers. At 37-58, they are obviously sellers. The problem for the Padres is that some of their most tradeable players are hurt, making them difficult if not impossible to deal. But the Padres are trying to add prospects in the hopes that they can build a contender some time in the next few years.

Short-term need

Hmm, where to start... The Padres have needs all over the diamond. With the trade of Scott Hairston and collapse of Brian Giles, Adrian Gonzalez is the only player who needs to stay on the field. Tony Gwynn Jr. has done a fine job too but whether he can keep that up remains to be seen. The same goes for the pitching staff, where only Jake Peavy and Heath Bell are good contributers. Peavy has about a 50-50 chance of not pitching again this year so he won't be included in any trades. Chris Young hasn't been able to stay healthy either of the last two years, and wasn't any good this year even when he was. Basically, the Padres just need more good players anywhere they can get them.

Long-term need

For the long term the Padres are in nearly the same position as they are in the short term. They've got a young bat in Kyle Blanks testing the water in the big leagues, but they still need better players at nearly every position other than first base. The Padres have quite a few young outfielders and they should eventually be able to piece together a decent outfield. But the infield leaves something to be desired and the Padres still don't have any pitching depth at all. When Kevin Correia is your third best starter you know you're in trouble. Adding more upside arms should eventually help the Padres pitching-wise and the offense will eventually get better provided some of the young players develop.

Big leaguers on the market?

Injuries to Peavy and Young should keep them in San Diego for at least the rest of the year. The team has already traded away Cla Meridith and Scott Hairston in seperate deals, so they don't have a lot of role players left ot trade. Moving Hairston at least got the Padres some nice young players from the A's. There have been rumors about an Adrian Gonzalez trade, but don't expect that to happen unless the Padres are absolutely blown away by an offer. Gonzalez is under contract through 2011 for very cheap and is the face of the franchise so the Padres have little reason to trade him. The only other player who would bring back a hefty return is Heath Bell, but the Padres have sounded reluctant to trade him as well.

Minor league strength

The minor league system has been rather thin for years now, and that (coupled with the payroll) has really been the downfall of the organization. The outfielders has quite a few prospects (especially if Blanks has to move there); guys like Jaff Decker, Cedric Hunter, and Kellen Kulbacki could be starters there in a few years. Coupled with Tony Gwynn Jr. and Chase Headley, they have lots of depth there.

They also have some pitching depth in the minors, but the problem is that most of them aren't going to be impact arms. Guys like Will Inman and Wade Leblanc are supposed to fill out the back of a major league rotation, not be some of your best pitching prospects. One player who could make a difference is Mat Latos, who was dominating in the minor leagues this season, going 8-1 with a 1.37 ERA in 72.1 innings across two levels.

The good news for Padres fans is that the team has begun committing more to drafting and signing high-quality amateur players. They drafted Donovan Tate with their first pick in 2009, considered by many to be the best high-schooler in the country. They also showed that they have become more committed to spending money on more expensive talent in the last year. Previously they were very frugal in this department, so this new committment could be a ray of hope that the organization is finally focusing on developing it's own players. Given the team's payroll, there may not be any other way.

Take on short-term money to win?

The Padres have the second lowest payroll in the majors (ahead of only the Marlins), they laugh at the idea of taking on payroll. They will be looking to shed expensive contracts wherever possible.

For more coverage of the Padres, check out Gaslamp Ball.

36-35, Game Notes

Jeff — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:46:31 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

"I have legs?"

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With the way Don Wakamatsu's talking, it's beginning to look like Brandon Morrow is here to stay. Which - I can't get over how quickly everybody seemed to change their minds on this. Morrow was ticketed for AAA. The story was everywhere. There were quotes from everyone from the coaches to the front office to Morrow himself acknowledging the plan. And then it never happened, and the whole idea just kind of got swept under the rug. Every additional start he makes up here makes it that much less likely that he ever goes back to the minors. So now I guess we have to live with this. If Brandon Morrow goes on to have a successful career, it'll be a testament to how raw talent can overcome even the craziest development process. And if he doesn't, then we'll be left to wonder what if.

But anyway, as long as he's here, we might as well talk about him as a Major Leaguer. And while it's hard to gauge his progress when he's going up against the Padres, he did make it up to a season-high 87 pitches while throwing 66% strikes and his last fastball at 95.1mph, which is something. I didn't think he started very well. He fell behind four of the first five batters he faced, and his first couple breaking balls missed the mark badly. His battle against Kouzmanoff was a lousy one, and he couldn't have put his 3-2 heater in a worse location. But then he settled in and started to look better. I liked his fifth inning at bat against Everth Cabrera in particular. After falling behind 2-0 on fastballs, a mound meeting calmed him down and he threw three straight tough sliders to get the punchout. Not a lot of righties trust their slider that much behind in the count against a lefty, but whether by design or by necessity since his changeup isn't very good, Morrow made it work. All in all, he probably wanted to get through more than five innings, but considering everything he's been through and how he's looked, tonight was all right. Would've liked to see him throw more offspeed stuff, but this is what happens when you try to develop a guy in the Majors. We'll look for more progress his next time out. That one'll come against an actual lineup.

Along the way, Morrow turned in the easiest double play I've ever seen. With a man on first, Tony Gwynn tried to lay down a bunt, but he popped it up towards the first base side of the infield. Continuing along the natural path of his follow-through, Morrow jogged to his left to make the catch and then sprinted to first to beat Cabrera back to the bag. I don't know how many 1-unassisted double plays have been turned in the history of baseball, but it doesn't get any simpler. Most double plays require at least one throw, and even the unassisted ones usually require someone to catch a line drive. All Morrow had to do on this one was catch a bunt and run in a straight line. Of all balls ever hit into play, this one might've been the most impossible to screw up, and it was worth twice as many outs as normal.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, third base umpire Angel Hernandez rung up Griffey on a 2-2 check swing. Problem #1: Griffey didn't go around. Problem #2: Hernandez' gesture was shamefully emphatic. When faced with this sort of situation, most umpires either make the safe sign or indifferently raise their fist. Hernandez threw an animated haymaker and yelled something. Randy Marsh had to follow Griffey back to the dugout to make sure nothing escalated between Hernandez and the guy Hernandez basically told to go fuck himself. I wonder, though, what Marsh was really thinking, because at some point you have to get tired of covering for the same umpires over and over again. People have been complaining about Angel Hernandez trying to put himself in the spotlight ever since he first started umpiring, and it's only a matter of time before somebody loses control. I look forward to that happening.

Mark Grant, first inning: "Junior's put on some lb's."

Josh Geer fell behind 14 of the 27 Mariner batters he faced tonight. His pitch distribution after falling behind in the count? 19 fastballs, 9 sliders, 20 changeups. That's less than 40% fastballs after falling behind. Why? Because the M's aren't a sufficiently disciplined team to make opposing pitchers give them pitches to hit. I'm not going to criticize their productivity tonight, since they put up a line of .344/.400/.594, but it's interesting to see how people go to work against this lineup. They don't give it a lot of respect.

Ronny Cedeno's single tonight was his first hit since June 7th. It was a grounder through the 5-6 hole. I absolutely love the fact that he has a fierce-looking tattoo on his arm. He's ruining fierce-looking tattoos for everybody. Although I suppose I shouldn't give him too much of a hard time tonight since he did such a phenomenal job of tracking down that Scott Hairston pop-up in the sixth. His route wasn't perfect, but pop-ups behind the bag aren't easy to follow when you turn your back to home plate, and Cedeno made a hell of a catch. I wonder if tonight's effort might give him a little bit of confidence. He's going to need it, since he might be looking at sustained playing time now that...

...Yuniesky Betancourt is out with a pulled hamstring. As if Zduriencik wasn't anxious enough to find a shortstop before. Yuni overall has been the least valuable member of the team, but I'll be honest with you - this was a bad time for him to get hurt, because he's finally been showing some improvement. Not only has his effort in the field been markedly improved, but since coming back from his stint on the bench, he's put up an OSwing% of 26.8% and a ZSwing% of 68.0%. Compare that 2.5 ratio to his 1.8 ratio in May and 1.7 ratio in April. I don't know if that's real or an anomaly, but to the naked eye, it seemed as if Yuni had taken Wakamatsu's lectures to heart, and so to interrupt his progress with a potentially serious injury doesn't do us much good. I mean, yeah, I'd welcome a new long-term shortstop with open arms, but I'd like to find out if there's any salvaging the old piece of crap we already had. I hope he's not out for too long. The good news is that his hamstring injury didn't appear nearly as dramatic as Willie's.

Two things are true about Edward Mujica: he pitches in every game the Padres play, and I never notice that he pitched until I look at the box score later on.

Mike Adams was absolutely perfect in his showdown with Branyan in the seventh. Started him off with a slider on the low-inside corner, then pounded him with a couple low-inside fastballs. Three low-inside pitches, three called strikes. The last two were a little off the plate, but when you hit your spots with that kind of precision, the ump is usually going to give you the benefit of the doubt. That was an annoying but wonderfully executed at bat.

Mike Sweeney was one of the guys who helped carry Yuniesky Betancourt off the field and towards the tunnel. Do players usually do that? I feel like players don't usually do that. I'm having a lot of trouble seeing how the front office could DFA this guy. This is a guy who carries injured players off the field and babysits for other players on the road when they want a night on the town. He hasn't hit very well, but I guarantee you he's beloved by pretty much every single person in the clubhouse, and there's no way any of the players would understand his being let go. The front office probably couldn't be happier that Griffey is starting to produce, but the Sweeney situation is almost equally delicate.

On the San Diego broadcast, they ran a promo with David Eckstein encouraging fans to come out to the ballpark on July 4th for a game and free beach towels. I can't tell if I'm supposed to work for a joke here, or if the image is already funny enough on its own.

The same goes for Ronny Cedeno's pep talk with Aardsma in the ninth.

Jarrod Washburn and Wade LeBlanc in a 1:40 matinee. Ever wonder what Jamie Moyer would look like without the special little something that makes Jamie Moyer Jamie Moyer? Tune in to find out!

Know Your Foe: Who is James McDonald?

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:30:07 -0000

"It is time for the 2009 World Series. The NL West champions send out their young stud to the mound, a 25-year-old right-hander who brings an intimidating swagger to the mound despite his gangly 6' 4" 200-pound frame. The young gun whips a 95mph fastball past the hitter with ease, then drops a knee-buckling curve perfectly through the zone. It is apparent this kid has top-of-the-rotation potential for years to come."

Rockies fans are certainly hoping the above scenario applies to Ubaldo Jimenez this fall. However, it could just as easily be James McDonald of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

James McDonald

#52 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-5

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Oct 19, 1984

The lanky right-hander from Long Beach was an 11th round draft pick in 2002 of the Dodgers. Arm trouble facilitated his transition to the outfield for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. McDonald was atrocious with the bat, as he could hardly manage a .600 OPS as he toiled in rookie ball in both seasons. He retook the mound in rookie ball once again 2005 at age 20 and began his ascent.

McDonald moved up a level per year until 2008, performing exceedingly well at each. He never had an ERA over 4, or a WHIP over 1.30. Complete minor league stats.

The Long Beach product completed his ascent with an impressive major league debut on September 17, 2008 against the Pirates and completed the regular season with six innings pitched. He also tossed 5.1 scoreless innings in the NLDS vs. Philadelphia. But Eric Stephen from TrueBlueLA points out that McDonald was pitching in minimal leveraged situations in regular season and called his playoff outings "mop-up" duty.

McDonald, on his postseason debut: "It wasn't nervousness - it was excitement. This is where I wanted to be. This is where I expected to be."

Scouting Report

McDonald may have a similar wiry frame to Jimenez, but his approach is altogether different. In fact, his repertoire more resembles Brandon Hynick.

Ed Price at Baseball America reported that McDonald had the best control and best changeup in the Dodgers' organization even before his breakout year in 2008. He waslisted as the No. 2 starter in the ~~2012~~ 2011 projection. McDonald also boasts a plus 12-6 curve.

TrueBlueLA's Eric Stephen weighs in:

"I think James McDonald will be a very good starter, but alas it seems he is destined, at least to start 2009, to be in the bullpen. I don't really agree with the move, because I think he is the best option to be the club's 5th starter. Wherever he pitches in 2009, I expect McDonald to excel."

I personally agree with the allocation of JMcD in the bullpen. His top two pitches are his curveball and changeup. Adding a third plus pitch to that makes him devastating out of the bullpen. Reports are that he has added 4-5mph to his fastball while working out of the pen, so now his "weakest" pitch is a fastball that can touch 96mph. A pitcher with three plus pitches and exceptional control spells DOOM for offenses late in the game.

The Dodgers' current setup man for closer Jonathan Broxton is Hong-Chih Kuo. McDonald has the talent to step into that setup role by season's end if Kuo falters or is injured.

If you're interested in more, check out Kensai's analysis at Fire Ned Colletti Now.

Projections

You won't get anything from the projections at fangraphs. Marcel projects far too few innings. Oliver and Bill James don't even bother to chime in. CHONE has him listed as a starter. TrueBlueLA has no finite projections.

Verdict: Don't put too much stock into McDonald's success thus far at the major league level - all were mop up duty. The guy was in AA at this point last year and aas a predominant minor league starter, he may need to adjust to life in the bullpen.

With that said, you don't get a "young" player with three plus pitches and very good control all that often. His control will help avoid the rookie meltdown. Don't be surprised if Joe Torre turns to him in higher leverage situations quite soon.

Arizona (3-2)

AZ Snakepit voted on the biggest threat to the D-Backs divisonal hopes in 2009. The Rockies got just 2% of the vote, and even got outvoted by Slumdog Millionaire.

Tony Pena

#56 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 09, 1982

Signed RHP Tony Pena Saturday to a 1-year $430k contract. Pena pitched in 72 games in relief for Arizona in 2008, recording three saves and a 4.33 ERA. Also signed in the past week are pitchers Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby, who each signed one-year deals near the league minimum.

R HP Juan Cruz signed with Kansas City Saturday on a 2-year, $5.5million contract. The 30-year-old led NL relievers in K/IP in 2008. The signing did not involve a sign-and-trade deal, so Arizona will receive compensation for the Type A-free agent, a week after obtaining Los Angeles' 17th overall pick in compensation for Orlando Hudson.

Rox Girl reports that the Diamondbacks have odor issues.

Hasty Haiku:

The Diamondbacks stink

Pen loses Cruz, keeps Pena

Have many high picks

Los Angeles (2-3)

The soap opera courtship between Manny Ramirez, Scott Boras, Frank McCourt and Ned Colletti continues, with still no contract. They are reportedly less than $2million apart. . I'll leave it at that.

The news spring training home of the Dodgers (and Tucson deserting White Sox) Camelback Ranch opened yesterday.

via www.latimes.com

Agreed to terms with six players for 2009 on Saturday. They are Blake DeWitt, Scott Elbert, Victor Garate, Matt Kemp, Lucas May and James McDonald.

Eric Stephen at TrueBlueLA rated the projected double play combos in the NL West. Barmes/Tulowitzki came up last offensively, but first defensively.

Signed IF Doug Mientkiewicz to a minor league contract. Mientkiewicz could fill in on the bench.

Hasty Haiku:

Signed Doug Mientkiewicz

Desert Camelback opens

Manny still unsigned

San Diego (2-1-2)

Signed 29 pre-arbitration players to one-year contracts Friday. Those notable include Cla Meredith, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Cha Seung Baek, Wade LeBlanc and Chase Headley.

Blogger Lyle Spencer dreams up a scenario of trading Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez for 10 players.

Jake Peavy reportedly sang "Go Cubs Go" in a Las Vegas bar in December. Naturally he denies this. Yet he still could be a Cub by May.

Brian Giles

#24 / Right Field / San Diego Padres

Height: 5-10

Weight: 205

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jan 20, 1971

Evidence that nothing is going right in San Diego: OF Brian Giles is being sued for $10million by his former fiance, Cheri Olvera, citing his physical abuse led to a miscarriage. From the article: "Giles has denied the allegations and has countersued, accusing her of striking him, pulling his hair, slapping him, kicking him and hitting him with a car." Giles was charged with domestic violence for Olvera at a bar in 2006.

Hasty Haiku:

Giles has misplaced punch

Peavy thinks he is a Cub

Cellar forthcoming

San Francisco (2-3)

Signed LHP Jonathan Sanchez to a one-year $455k contract.

The Giants acted quickly in free agency, adding Edgar Renteria and Jeremy Affeldt at the dawn of free agency. Despite seeing the market plummet for other free agents, they don't regret the quick contracts.

Edgar Renteria

#16 / Short Stop / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 07, 1975

Tim Dierkes at MLBtraderumors.com reviews the Giants' offseason.

Grant at McCovey Chronicles is in love with Tim Lincecum, as evidenced by his recent projection.

Hasty Haiku:

Edgar's contract bad

Dierkes claims super offseason

Grant loves Lincecum