SB Nation - Brad Ausmus

Mannion Expands Role With Dodgers

Eric Stephen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:45:46 -0000

Day one of the winter meetings hasn't brought much news regarding the Dodgers, other than speculation and rumors, which can be fun. However, the Dodgers did announce today that team president Dennis Mannion will now oversee baseball operations in addition to his current duties running the daily business side of the franchise.

From the Dodgers:

To date, Mannion has had responsibility for business operations, including marketing, sponsorships, finance, ticket sales, human resources, communications and legal affairs. In his new role, Mannion will also oversee General Manager Ned Colletti, who manages the team’s baseball operations.

Mannion is one of the most tenured executives in professional sports. He first joined the Dodgers in 2007 following 27 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Baltimore Ravens.

"Dennis is a seasoned sports executive who has done a great job since arriving at the Dodgers," said Dodger Owner Frank McCourt. "He has already begun integrating baseball operations with the rest of the organization, and today’s announcement formalizes that transition."

I did have the good fortune to meet Mannion during my tour of Camelback Ranch this spring, and even though it was a passing meeting outside the club's offices, Mannion did go out of his way to elicit the opinion of us Dodger bloggers and seemed genuinely interested in our thoughts. I have no idea how that will affect his ability to run a franchise, but he did seem to have a presence, if that counts for anything.

Colletti praised the move, saying, "I have long believed that both sides of the operation will function better as one - both understanding the challenges each has and working together to celebrate the triumphs as one group. This move acknowledges that and I embrace it wholeheartedly." But then again, what else would Colletti say in a team press release?

Who knows what effect this move will have on the Dodgers? It will probably be minimal on the baseball side, but time will tell.

**********

OK, so there is a little bit of news. The Dodgers announced a few things via Twitter:

The Dodgers are "not shopping" George Sherrill
Scott Elbert and Josh Lindblom are being groomed for starting pitching roles, whereas James McDonald is "more flexible."
Brad Ausmus is leaning toward returning for 2010, and Colletti has been in contact with him all winter

Dodger Roster Breakdown

Eric Stephen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:15:09 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

One Type B free agent greets a Type A free agent on the mound

View full size photo »

There will be plenty of time this offseason for moves, but here's an overview of the current Dodger 40-man roster. There are 43 players currently on the 40-man roster, including four on the 60-day disabled list. That will change quickly after the World Series as players file for free agency. I have split them into a few groups:

Free Agents (13+1)

Type A*: Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf

Type B*: Ronnie Belliard, Guillermo Mota, Vicente Padilla, Will Ohman**

Others: Jim Thome, Brad Ausmus, Jason Schmidt, Mark Loretta, Juan Castro, Eric Milton, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jeff Weaver

*Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts has done a great job of figuring out the Elias Rankings, and has posted them at MLB Trade Rumors. In order to receive compensation for Type A or Type B free agents, the club must offer them arbitration. Type A free agents net a first round pick from the team that signs them, provided the pick isn't in the top 15, in addition to a supplemental pick in between the first and second rounds.

If a team signs more than one Type A free agent, the players are ranked by their Elias ranking, they give up picks in the lower rounds as well. For instance, the Yankees last year gave up their first three picks for signing C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett, all Type A free agents. Type B free agents net only a supplemental pick.

There is always the risk that a player will accept arbitration (like Darren Oliver did with the Angels last season). If he does, the maximum salary cut a player can take is 20%, so for Guillermo Mota, for instance, the least he would make in arbitration in 2010 would be $1.88 million (80% of his $2.35 million 2009 salary). In the case of Hudson and Wolf, they had low base salaries so this isn't an issue, but there is still quite a risk because they are still likely to command a high salary in arbitration.

**I'm counting Will Ohman in this exercise, even though he is no longer on the 40-man since his option was bought out last week, but the Dodgers, however unlikely, can still offer Ohman arbitration if they so choose.

What should happen: Offer arbitration to Hudson, Wolf, and Belliard only

Options (2)

Manny Ramirez has a $20 million player option for 2010. He has until November 10 to accept or decline this option.
Jon Garland has a $10 million mutual option for 2010. If the Dodgers decline, his buyout is $2.5 million; if Garland declines, his buyout is $1 million. As a condition of Garland's acquisition, the Diamondbacks will pay either buyout if the option is not exercised. Even if either side opts out, Garland is a Type B free agent, and the Dodgers could offer him arbitration if they so choose.

What should happen: Manny comes back, Dodgers let Arizona pay Garland $2.5m to walk away, don't offer Garland arbitration

Arbitration Eligible (9)

Player	Service Time	2009 Base Salary
George Sherrill	4.147	$2,750,000
Jonathan Broxton	4.020	$1,825,000
Andre Ethier	3.153	$3,100,000
Russell Martin	3.150	$3,900,000
Hong-Chih Kuo	3.114	$437,000
Chad Billingsley	3.110	$475,000
Matt Kemp	3.049	$467,000
James Loney	3.012	$465,000
Jason Repko	3.067	$500,000

Look for: Repko to get non-tendered

Under Contract (4)

Player	2009 Salary	2010 Salary
Rafael Furcal	$10,500,000	$8,500,000
Juan Pierre	$10,000,000	$10,000,000
Casey Blake	$5,250,000	$6,000,000
Hiroki Kuroda	$10,000,000	$13,000,000

Under Team Control (15)

Player	Service Time	2009 Base Salary
Ramon Troncoso	1.119	$401,000
Clayton Kershaw	1.105	$404,000
Cory Wade	1.096	$402,500
Eric Stults	1.072	$402,000
Blake DeWitt	1.048	$405,000
James McDonald	1.004	$400,750
Ronald Belisario	1.000	$400,000
Chin-Lung Hu	0.153	$401,000
Xavier Paul	0.151	$400,000
Charlie Haeger	0.125	$400,000
Scott Elbert	0.097	$400,000
Brent Leach	0.090	$400,000
A.J. Ellis	0.081	$400,000
Travis Schlichting	0.055	$400,000
Lucas May	0.000	------

Here are some important dates to remember for the offseason:

Day After World Series Ends: begins 15-day period for eligible players to file for free agency

November 20: Date reserve lists must be set (adding players to 40-man roster for purposes of Rule 5 draft)

December 1: Last date to offer arbitration to free agents to receive compensation

December 10: Rule 5 draft

December 12: Deadline to tender contracts to players under team control or pre-free agency arbitration-eligible players

It will be a long offseason, but the hot stove is always interesting.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:27:09 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun celebrate Fielder's two appearances in The Hardball Times' postseason awards.

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Some things to read while frosting your zombie.

The Brewers are expected to hold a press conference later today to officially introduce Rick Peterson as their new pitching coach (FanShot). I'll give the Brewers at least this much credit: I'm still not sure how I feel about the move, but at least they acknowledged a problem and made one.

The Hardball Times has Part 2 of their 2009 awards up, this time focusing on the hitters, and Prince Fielder is acknowledged as both a champion of the three true outcomes and a runner up for the NL's Best Player Award.

Meanwhile, it's tough to find a pitcher who was less consequential in 2009 than Chris Smith. Smith had the third lowest average leverage in FanGraphs' list of 2009's top mop-up relievers.

At least Smith was pretty good in that role, though: Brew City Sports is down to four competitors in their tournament to determine who sucked the most in theirs.

At the moment he's probably the most likely candidate to open next season at third base, but The Junkball Blues makes the case for trading Casey McGehee this winter, and I still think that would be the best decision.

The Nashville Sounds' website has a look back at Josh Butler's unlikely season. In just a matter of months, Butler went from repeating Brevard County to earning a surprise September callup from the Brewers, and now is continuing to pitch in the AFL this fall.

Beyond the Box Score has a look back at the 2009 NL Central, and what went right and wrong for the Brewers and their divisional rivals.

There's only one transaction note to pass along today:

Mariners: Kenji Johjima has decided to forfeit the remaining years on his contract with the Mariners and return to Japan.

Speaking of catchers, The Crawfish Boxes noted a story glorifying the "game calling ability" and other unquantifiable attributes frequently attached to Brad Ausmus. At least Ausmus has a sense of humor about his offensive abilities, though:

Ausmus is hitting .293 this year. When asked to explain why he is hitting so much better this season, the Ivy League educated Ausmus replies, "Small Sample Size."

It's mean, but I'll admit I laughed when I learned Stubhub accidentally sent an ad for playoff tickets to Cub fans. Apparently the ad was unintentionally sent to fans of several teams, including the Mets.

Yesterday I mentioned a blog post from minor leaguer Garrett Broshuis, detailing some of the financial challenges minor leaguers face while trying to earn their way to the minor leaguers. Today he details what he'd like teams to do about it, and I think his requests seem pretty reasonable.

I've brought it up before, but I'll mention it again because I've got a new great read on it: Aaron Gleeman has a link to a story on the 35th anniversary of Tommy John's ligament replacement surgery.

Apparently I missed the story when it was unveiled in June (I was in the middle of wedding/honeymoon/move month), but Seamheads has a nice look at a monument built to honor the original Milwaukee Brewers, who spent one season playing at the corner of Lloyd and 16th St. before moving to St. Louis to become the Browns, and eventually the Baltimore Orioles. On this day in 1901, seven players, including future Hall of Famer Jesse Burkett, left the Cardinals to join the Browns, who went 78-58 in their first year in St. Louis, finishing second in the American League.

And, of course, on this day in 1982 the Cardinals came from behind to beat the Brewers, 6-3, in Game 7 of the World Series.

That's all I have for you today, unless you wanted to read a joke about Yankees fans or hear about Joe Posnanski's rough day.

Drink up.

Dodgers, Cardinals Set Rosters for NLDS

Eric Stephen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:31:23 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Emperor Palpatine takes questions before tonight's game

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NLDS: Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Game 1	Tonight	Dodger Stadium	6:37pm
Game 2	Thu	Dodger Stadium	3:07pm
Game 3	Sat	Busch Stadium	3:07pm
Game 4*	Sun	Busch Stadium	TBD
Game 5*	Oct 13	Dodger Stadium	TBD
*if necessary		All times Pacific
All games televised on TBS

The Dodgers and Cardinals have announced their roster for the division series.

Dodgers

Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Brad Ausmus

Infielders (7): James Loney, Ronnie Belliard, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Orlando Hudson, Juan Castro, Mark Loretta

Outfielders (4): Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre

Pinch Hitters (1): Jim Thome

Starting Pitchers (4): Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Vicente Padilla, Chad Billingsley

Relievers (7): Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ronald Belisario, Ramon Troncoso, Jon Garland, Jeff Weaver

Cardinals

Catchers (2): Yadier Molina, Jason LaRue

Infielders (7): Albert Pujols, Skip Schumaker, Julio Lugo, Brendan Ryan, Mark DeRosa, Troy Glaus, Old Friend Joe Thurston

Outfielders (4): Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus, Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel

Starting Pitchers (4): Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro, one of John Smoltz or Kyle Lohse

Relievers (8): Ryan Franklin, Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte, Trever Miller, Dennys Reyes, Blake Hawksworth, Mitchell Boggs, one of Smoltz or Lohse

The Dodgers starting rotation will be Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Vicente Padilla, and Chad Billingsley, in that order.

The Cardinals will counter with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Pineiro for the first three games. Either John Smoltz or Kyle Lohse, who will both be available in the bullpen tonight, will start game four on Sunday.

Wednesday Morning Astros, etc. Round Up

DyingQuail — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:15:27 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Just make that sign brick red and black/gold and we're golden.

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It takes two separate links to make this a real story as I approach the midnight hour. First, Ed Wade informed the Chronicle that the Astros were exercising their part of Brian Moehler's 2010 option. Then, just before 9PM, Brian McTaggart tweeted that he had talked to Moehler and that Moehler also intends to to pick up his part of the option. So yes, 2010 will see more Brian Moehler—rest easy. Also awesome to note (not really), the Astros 2010 Hotstove Season begins with Brian Moehler's option being picked up.
This link is really about the the Astros managerial search, but what I am caught up on is the BS that Drayton McLane is trying to pass off in this quote:

"I think there will be a lot of good candidates," he said. "Houston is one of the best five or six teams in baseball, the fourth-biggest city in baseball and has some of the best attendance in baseball. I feel there will be strong candidates because we're a major city and have one of the best baseball fields. Our organization, in the 17 years I've owned the team, has the fifth-best record in all of baseball."

nothing

The Unofficial Scorer breaks down the Astros highs and lows and than places our dismal season in context.

*******The next three stories are from the Wall Street Journal simply because they're the only newspaper that has a reader-app for Blackberry.********

First up, some interesting current player, former player, manager, league owner, etc. reactions about how the division series impact baseball. Mr. Brad Ausmus gets quoted in reference to the 1998 model Astros.
Not the greatest effort at to proving a point, but perhaps one of the best mainstream treatments of the controversy over clutch hitting I've come across.
Tangentially related, but PECOTA creator and now political stat guru extraordinaire, Nate Silver made headlines this week. Having run into Nate at a bar in New York this summer, I'm glad he's getting national recognition for the work he does at fivethirtyeight.com because hearing the passion he brings to that project straight from the horses mouth was inspiring.

Dodgers Season In Thirds

Eric Stephen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:40:13 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre watches baseball practice in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. The Dodgers face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the National League division series Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Now that the regular season is over, here's a look at the Dodger season in thirds.

Here's an overview of the team numbers:

	W-L	Pythag Rec	Runs For	Runs Allowed	BA/OBP/SLG	ERA
Games 1-54	36-18	35-19	295 (5.46/gm)	208 (3.85/gm)	.285/.367/.414	3.75
Games 55-108	30-24	30-24	244 (4.52/gm)	214 (3.96/gm)	.272/.340/.418	3.45
Games 109-162	29-25	33-21	241 (4.46/gm)	189 (3.50/gm)	.253/.330/.402	3.03

The offense took a dip in the final 54 games, but the pitching was outstanding.

Here is a look at individual seasons in thirds, position by position:

Catcher
Russell Martin
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	47	46	173	23	46	9	0	0	20	29	7/3	.266/.377/.318	.695
2nd 54	50	47	172	22	46	4	0	3	13	24	1/3	.267/.373/.343	.716
3rd 54	46	43	160	18	34	6	0	4	20	16	3/0	.213/.298/.325	.623

Brad Ausmus
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	11	8	35	6	11	1	0	0	3	2	1/0	.314/.368/.343	.711
2nd 54	12	9	32	3	11	3	0	1	4	2	0/0	.344/.400/.531	.931
3rd 54	13	10	28	0	6	0	0	0	2	1	0/0	.214/.241/.214	.456

A.J. Ellis
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
2nd 54	3	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000
3rd 54	5	1	6	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.167/.167/.167	.333

Infield
James Loney
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	54	51	208	24	59	12	0	2	41	22	3/1	.284/.348/.370	.718
2nd 54	53	51	198	27	59	9	2	5	27	23	3/1	.298/.371/.439	.810
3rd 54	51	45	170	22	44	4	0	6	22	25	1/1	.259/.352/.388	.740

Orlando Hudson
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	54	54	216	39	71	17	2	3	32	32	4/0	.329/.410/.468	.878
2nd 54	50	48	195	22	49	11	2	4	21	10	2/0	.251/.299/.390	.688
3rd 54	45	41	140	13	36	7	2	2	9	20	2/1	.257/.350/.379	.729

Rafael Furcal
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	46	42	189	27	47	8	0	1	11	18	3/3	.249/.314/.307	.621
2nd 54	54	50	216	33	61	10	3	5	21	23	3/1	.282/.350/.426	.776
3rd 54	50	49	208	32	57	10	2	3	15	20	6/2	.274/.339/.385	.724

Casey Blake
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	49	44	164	27	49	12	1	9	34	18	0/0	.299/.374/.549	.922
2nd 54	53	50	195	32	54	11	3	3	27	25	2/4	.277/.353/.410	.763
3rd 54	37	37	126	25	33	2	2	6	18	20	1/0	.262/.367/.452	.819

Mark Loretta
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	38	10	59	11	17	3	0	0	10	11	0/0	.288/.408/.339	.747
2nd 54	38	11	69	5	13	3	0	0	10	6	0/0	.188/.253/.232	.485
3rd 54	31	11	53	3	12	2	0	0	5	3	1/1	.226/.259/.264	.523

Juan Castro
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	19	12	44	12	15	2	0	1	7	5	0/0	.341/.400/.455	.855
2nd 54	17	10	38	2	11	1	0	0	2	1	0/0	.289/.308/.316	.623
3rd 54	21	7	30	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	.167/.167/.200	.367

Blake DeWitt
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	9	3	17	1	3	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.176/.222/.176	.399
2nd 54	14	0	15	1	2	1	0	1	1	1	0/0	.133/.188/.400	.588
3rd 54	8	3	17	2	5	2	0	1	3	1	0/0	.294/.316/.588	.904

Doug Mientkiewicz
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	7	0	5	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	0/0	.400/.400/.600	1.000
3rd 54	13	1	13	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	0/0	.308/.400/.308	.708

Ronnie Belliard
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	24	19	77	13	27	7	0	5	17	6	1/0	.351/.398/.636	1.034

Chin-Lung Hu
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	5	1	5	2	2	1	0	0	2	0	0/0	.400/.333/.600	.933

Tony Abreu
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	6	2	8	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	0/1	.250/.455/.250	.705

Outfield
Andre Ethier
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	52	49	188	31	49	12	0	7	31	27	3/0	.261/.363/.436	.799
2nd 54	54	52	212	34	60	13	1	15	38	23	2/3	.283/.357/.566	.923
3rd 54	54	49	196	27	53	17	2	9	37	22	1/1	.270/.362/.515	.877

Matt Kemp
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	53	51	200	33	62	9	4	6	30	21	12/2	.310/.377/.485	.862
2nd 54	53	53	200	30	66	7	2	9	39	19	10/2	.330/.387/.520	.907
3rd 54	54	49	206	34	52	9	1	11	32	12	12/4	.252/.293/.466	.759

Manny Ramirez
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	27	27	92	22	32	9	0	6	20	26	0/0	.348/.492/.641	1.133
2nd 54	28	25	96	14	26	7	1	6	20	12	0/0	.271/.369/.552	.921
3rd 54	49	47	164	26	44	8	1	7	23	33	0/1	.268/.400/.457	.857

Juan Pierre
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	46	30	140	27	53	10	3	0	21	13	11/4	.379/.439/.493	.932
2nd 54	50	31	147	15	37	5	1	0	4	7	12/5	.252/.308/.299	.607
3rd 54	49	15	93	15	27	1	4	0	6	7	7/3	.290/.343/.387	.730
Jason Repko
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	13	1	13	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	0/0	.308/.400/.308	.708

Jamie Hoffmann
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	9	3	17	2	3	2	0	1	7	0	0/0	.176/.158/.471	.628
2nd 54	5	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.200/.200/.200	.400

Xavier Paul
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	11	2	14	3	3	1	0	1	1	2	0/1	.214/.313/.500	.813

Mitch Jones
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
2nd 54	8	3	13	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	.308/.400/.385	.785

Pinch Hitters
Jim Thome
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	17	0	17	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	0/0	.235/.235/.235	.471

Starting Pitchers
Randy Wolf
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	12	12	3-1	75.2	64	30	27	22	58	3.21	1.137
2nd 54	11	11	2-5	64.1	62	28	27	17	48	3.78	1.228
3rd 54	11	11	6-1	74.1	52	23	23	19	54	2.78	0.955

Clayton Kershaw
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	10	10	3-3	56.0	40	27	27	32	55	4.34	1.286
2nd 54	12	12	5-3	68.2	47	14	13	39	68	1.70	1.252
3rd 54	9	8	0-2	46.1	32	14	13	20	62	2.53	1.122

Chad Billingsley
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	11	11	6-3	74.0	58	25	23	32	76	2.80	1.216
2nd 54	12	12	5-3	69.2	63	40	38	31	64	4.91	1.349
3rd 54	10	9	1-5	52.2	52	29	27	23	39	4.61	1.424

Hiroki Kuroda
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	2	2	1-1	10.2	7	3	3	4	8	2.53	1.031
2nd 54	12	11	3-4	66.1	69	38	35	12	52	4.75	1.221
3rd 54	7	7	4-2	40.1	34	18	11	8	27	2.45	1.041

Eric Stults
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	9	9	4-2	45.0	46	24	24	25	30	4.80	1.578
3rd 54	1	1	0-1	5.0	5	3	3	1	3	5.40	1.200

Vicente Padilla
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	8	7	4-0	39.1	36	15	14	12	38	3.20	1.220

Jon Garland
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	6	6	3-2	36.1	37	16	11	9	26	2.72	1.266

Charlie Haeger
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	6	3	1-1	19.0	13	7	7	4	7	3.32	0.895

Eric Milton
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	3	3	2-0	14.1	15	5	5	5	10	3.14	1.395
2nd 54	2	2	0-1	9.1	15	7	5	1	10	4.82	1.714

Jason Schmidt
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	4	4	2-2	17.2	16	12	11	12	8	5.60	1.585

Relievers
Jonathan Broxton
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	23	5-0	12	26.0	8	4	4	10	41	1.38	0.692
2nd 54	23	2-0	12	22.2	17	11	11	11	33	4.37	1.235
3rd 54	27	0-2	12	27.1	19	9	7	8	40	2.30	0.988

George Sherrill
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	3	0-0	--	2.1	0	0	0	1	5	0.00	0.429
3rd 54	27	1-0	1	25.1	19	2	2	10	17	0.71	1.145

Hong-Chih Kuo
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	7	0-0	--	5.1	5	4	4	4	4	6.75	1.688
2nd 54	5	0-0	--	4.2	0	0	0	2	6	0.00	0.429
3rd 54	23	1-0	--	20.0	16	6	6	7	22	2.70	1.150

Ramon Troncoso
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	21	1-0	3	33.1	31	7	7	10	22	1.89	1.230
2nd 54	30	3-0	2	31.1	30	11	7	12	18	2.01	1.340
3rd 54	22	1-4	1	18.0	22	12	11	12	15	5.60	1.889

Ronald Belisario
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	26	1-2	--	31.1	22	10	8	15	30	2.30	1.181
2nd 54	17	0-1	--	17.0	15	5	5	5	16	2.65	1.176
3rd 54	26	0-3	--	22.1	15	6	3	9	18	1.21	1.075

Guillermo Mota
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	20	2-1	--	20.2	26	15	15	12	10	6.53	1.839
2nd 54	28	1-1	--	32.1	15	3	3	6	18	0.84	0.649
3rd 54	13	0-2	--	12.1	12	7	7	6	11	5.11	1.459

Jeff Weaver
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	9	3	3-1	26.2	29	12	12	15	18	4.05	1.650
2nd 54	10	2	2-3	30.1	33	16	14	10	24	4.15	1.418
3rd 54	9	2	1-0	22.0	25	6	6	8	22	2.45	1.500

James McDonald
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	10	4	1-1	18.2	17	14	14	16	9	6.75	1.768
2nd 54	15	0	2-1	20.2	17	9	5	6	14	2.18	1.113
3rd 54	20	0	2-3	23.2	26	11	9	12	31	3.42	1.606

Scott Elbert
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	3	1-0	--	6.1	10	5	5	1	6	7.11	1.737
2nd 54	4	0-0	--	7.2	3	1	1	2	7	1.17	0.652
3rd 54	12	1-0	--	5.2	6	5	5	4	8	7.94	1.765

Brent Leach
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	13	1-0	--	8.0	7	5	5	4	10	5.62	1.375
2nd 54	25	1-0	--	12.1	9	8	8	8	9	5.84	1.378

Cory Wade
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	18	0-3	--	18.2	19	10	10	9	13	4.82	1.500
2nd 54	9	2-0	--	9.0	9	7	7	1	5	7.00	1.111

Will Ohman
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	21	1-0	1	12.1	12	8	8	8	7	5.84	1.622

Claudio Vargas
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	8	0-0	--	11.0	7	2	2	4	10	1.64	1.000

Travis Schlichting
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	2	0-0	--	2.2	1	2	1	5	2	3.38	2.250

Mark Loretta
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	1	0-0	--	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.000

The Dodgers & Their Postseason Roster

Eric Stephen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:24 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Will Doug Mientkiewicz be on the active roster come Wednesday?

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The rosters for the division series don't need to be turned in until 10am on Wednesday, but here's a look at the likely Dodger NLDS active roster. Keep in mind, this is what I think the Dodgers will do, not necessarily what I would want them to do.

NLDS: Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Game 1	Wed	Dodger Stadium	6:37pm
Game 2	Thu	Dodger Stadium	likely 3:07pm
Game 3	Sat	Busch Stadium	3:07pm
Game 4*	Sun	Busch Stadium	TBD
Game 5*	Oct 13	Dodger Stadium	TBD
*if necessary		All times Pacific
All games televised on TBS

First, the locks:

Catchers (2)
Russell Martin, Brad Ausmus

Infielders (7)
James Loney, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard, Juan Castro, Mark Loretta

Outfielders (4)
Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre

Starting Pitchers (2)
Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw

Relief Pitchers (5)
Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ronald Belisario, Ramon Troncoso

That leaves five spots:

Lefty Pinch-Hitter (1)
Jim Thome has struggled as a pinch hitter, both this season and in his career. He has four singles in 17 at-bats as a Dodger. He can't run, because he's slow and because he has a bad foot. He can't play first base, because of chronic back problems. Yet I believe he will make the roster over Doug Mientkiewicz, simply because Thome represents the threat of power, something lacking on the Dodger bench. Mientkiewicz would be a fine choice for a spot, especially if his shoulder is healed enough to play first base if needed, and in fact I would take him over Loretta, but I don't think that will happen.

Starting Pitchers (2)
Three guys are fighting for two spots, to start games three and four. Joe Torre hasn't officially named his starters for those games yet, but based on other comments he has made, I believe Chad Billingsley will start game three as long as he gets through his simulated game today in Arizona without any problems. That leaves Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland fighting for the other two spots. Padilla has pitched better of late, but over the course of the season, they were pretty similar pitchers (4.46 FIP for Padilla, 4.48 for Garland). I believe Padilla will be the choice to start Sunday in St. Louis.

Relief Pitchers (2)
I think Garland gets the nod as the long man in the pen, leaving Jeff Weaver out in the cold. That leaves one more bullpen spot, which I think will go to James McDonald, over Guillermo Mota and Scott Elbert. McDonald had a good season as a reliever, after a shaky start in the rotation, posting a 2.72 ERA and a 3.41 FIP from the bullpen. Over the last two months, McDonald has passed Mota on the depth chart, even when Mota was fully healthy. The other viable option is Elbert, because the Cardinals struggle so much against left-handed pitchers. However, the Cardinals really only have three lefty batters: Skip Schumaker, Colby Rasmus, and Rick Ankiel. Their struggles with southpaws are largely due to their right handers failing to hit them (hitting .244/.328/.392), and I don't think Torre would use Elbert to face a righty, regardless of how they hit lefties. If the Dodgers were facing the Phillies, Elbert would have been more likely to make the roster, simply because they have more left handed batters Elbert could face in a LOOGY situation.

That's my prediction for the NLDS roster. What's yours?

Padilla, Dodgers End Season On High Note

Eric Stephen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:08:41 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Might Vicente Padilla start on successive Sundays?

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The Dodgers continued their weekend celebration, ending their season with a 5-3 win over the Rockies to close out their 2009 regular season. Vicente Padilla pitched five strong innings, racking up 10 strikeouts along the way, perhaps emerging as the favorite to take one of the two yet unnamed playoff starts for next weekend in St. Louis.

The Dodgers end the regular season with a 95-67 record, their best seasonal mark since 1985. Let's hope this playoff match-up with St. Louis ends better than that one. The Dodgers' 50 wins at home were their most since the 1991 squad went 54-27 at Dodger Stadium.

The fans at Dodger Stadium were a loud bunch from the first pitch, still buzzing from a thrilling division clincher Saturday night. The Dodgers obliged with four runs in the first inning, a good start to the managerial career of Brad Ausmus.

One cool thing at the stadium today was that Matt Kemp, Casey Blake, Orlando Hudson, and Andre Ethier -- the four regulars in the starting lineup -- were removed in different innings after taking the field, allowing the home crowd to shower them with well-deserved ovations.

Brad Ausmus also inserted himself in the game in the eighth inning, pinch running for Jim Thome, perhaps making him the first manager/runner in Dodger history. Ausmus explained his managerial move:

I am the second least fast guy in the stadium besides Thome; maybe Loretta, but somebody had to pinch run, so I figured I'd get myself out of the way.

Hudson ended the season with 631 plate appearances, falling just one plate appearance short of collecting all of his myriad of incentive bonuses. In addition to his $3.38 million base salary, Hudson collected $4.61 million in incentives, pushing his salary to $7.99 million on the season. Hudson got his career high 35th double.

Juan Pierre stole two bases, giving him exactly 30 steals on the season, the ninth straight season he has hit that mark.

Catcher A.J. Ellis got his first major league hit and run batted in with a first-inning single.

Padilla pitched very well, earning his fourth win as a Dodger. Nine of his first 11 outs were recorded via strikeout, and he ended with 10 in five innings. Since joining the Dodgers, Padilla has a 3.20 ERA, a 3.12 FIP, and has struck out 38 batters in 39.1 innings.

The Dodgers struck out 17 Rockies on the day, their most in a nine-inning game this season. The Dodgers also struck out 17 Rockies in a 13-inning game on June 29, and struck out 20 Reds in 12 innings on August 30.

The Dodgers won the season series with Colorado, winning 14 of 18 games against the Rockies. The Dodgers won all six series played between the two clubs this season, including a pair of sweeps. The Dodgers finished the year 46-26 against the NL West, their best mark within the division since the 1974 club that went 63-27 against the west.

The Dodgers open up their divisional series with the Cardinals on Wednesday at 6:37pm Pacific time. Rosters for the divisional series must be decided by Wednesday at 10am.

WP - Vicente Padilla (12-6): 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 10 strikeouts

LP - Jason Marquis (15-13): 4 IP, 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Sv - Ramon Troncoso (6): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Box Score

Game 162 Is Here

Eric Stephen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:41:41 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Ramon Troncoso shows Clayton Kershaw the only acceptable way to consume Budweiser.

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The regular season finale is finally here. I expect there to be a lot of regulars resting on both sides today. Vicente Padilla will face Jason Marquis.

Brad Ausmus is the Dodger manager for today's game.

With a win, the Dodgers would have 50 home wins, their best record at Dodger Stadium since 1991.

Here is a list of all National League West division winners since 1969:

Team	Div Titles
Dodgers	11
Reds	8
Giants	6
Braves	5
Padres	5
Diamondbacks	4
Astros	2

Dodger lineup:

Pierre LF
Hudson 2B
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Blake 3B
Mientkiewicz 1B
Hu SS
Ellis C
Padilla P

**********

Here are some notes from Joe Torre's pregame meeting with the media:

Despite going to the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, Torre still cherishes each one. "I get emotional because so many people care," he said, "and all the support I've had from friends and people within the game." Torre received numerous congratulatory or pre-celebratory calls and texts in the last week, but two that stood out were a call from John Wooden this morning, and a text from Spike Lee a few days ago.
The Torre tradition of letting one of his players manage the final game, if inconsequential, started when Torre managed the Mets. Former catcher John Stearns used to constantly complain about his spot in the lineup, and one year Torre decided to let Stearns have the reigns for the season's final game. During the game, Stearns asked Torre for advice on something, and Torre replied with a smile, "Don't bother me," reminding Stearns that Torre had the day off, and that managing wasn't as easy as it looked.
One year with the Yankees, Ruben Sierra was the final day manager, and he liked to imitate Torre's walk to the mound. Torre said he doesn't expect Ausmus to argue any calls today.
The Dodgers will hold a closed workout tomorrow, along with numerous meetings with advance scouts in preparation of the Cardinals series. The club will also workout Tuesday at roughly the same time of their game on Wednesday.
The game times for the NLDS haven't yet been announced, and they might not be announced until as late as Tuesday. If the Tigers and Twins have a one-game playoff for the AL Central, it will be Tuesday, and the Yankees, with the best AL record, get to choose which first round schedule they want (one has game one Wednesday, the other Thursday). The Yankees don't have to choose until one hour after their opponent has been decided.
Randy Wolf will start game one against the Cardinals, followed by Clayton Kershaw in game two.
Chad Billingsley will pitch a simulated game Monday at the team's spring training complex in Glendale, Arizona. Torre said Billingsley will throw "five, six, or seven innings." Nothing has been announced yet, but Billingsley is in line to start game three in St. Louis, on four days rest.

Game Time: 1:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket, TBS

Baseball Reference Preview

A Great Night At Dodger Stadium

Eric Stephen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:11:53 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

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What a great night it was last night at Chavez Ravine. Thanks to everyone who came for True Blue LA night, a game when it was scheduled we thought would have no real meaning. It was a pleasure meeting those of you I hadn't yet met, and it was great to see old friends as well.

Steps number two and three on the 2009 Dodger checklist is now complete.

2009 Dodgers Checklist
	Make The Playoffs
	Win National League West
	Best Record in the NL
	Win NLDS
	Win NL Pennant
	Win World Series

I'm here at the stadium this morning, covering the game. It is Joe Torre tradition on the final game of the season to let his players manage the game if it doesn't matter in the standings. As soon as I find out who the manager and pitching coach are for today, I will pass that along to you. My guess is Mark Loretta and Brad Ausmus.

There are a few reporters from Philadelphia here, no doubt getting some advance stories for their first round playoff opponent, which is now the Rockies. I haven't seen any reporters from St. Louis just yet.

Here are some photos from last night:

It was Star Wars night as well:

Jonathan Broxton closed out the ninth with ease

After the flyout to Andre Ethier to end it, the scoreboard told the story

Then it was celebration time

more celebrating

after the players went into the locker room, they came back out for more celebrating

Ethier made the rounds with fans

Ned Colletti got doused with champagne (is that a dour-looking Scott Boras behind him?)

Clayton Kershaw does not know what its like to not win the NL West

Then it was Beast Mode time for Juan Pierre

The Rockies took the long walk home (or at least to the team bus)

Just in case you forgot who the Dodgers play next

Phil took some more pictures, and he will post them soon. Again, thanks for everyone for coming to the game, and thanks for contributing here and making this a great site to follow the NL West champs.