Monday, January 16, 2006
Dodgers - The Canadian Will Always Be There
In doing this, the Dodgers department bureau of redundancy and repetition department has yielded a team that now has 2 leadoff men (Furcal and Lofton), 2 closers (Baez and Gagne), and a bajillion shortstops (Furcal, Izturis, Garciaparra, Robles, Lowe). On the upside, the Dodgers also have a 5 man rotation for the first time since, well, I don't know. And they don't have to depend on Hee Seop Choi to play first.
Some reports have suggested that LA might be without franchise-maker Eric Gagne by the start of the 2007 season. These reports were believed to be filed by British intelligence sources because first of all, the British have cricket, not baseball, and if Frank McCourt does that you will be able to hear crickets chirp at Dodger stadium. Secondly, the Los Angeles Times reveals that it is Baez who will be more likely to leave.
"If you ask me what I want to do, I want to be a closer," Baez said Sunday.
"Now I've got to see what kind of situation we have. I'm not too happy about
that situation, to be a setup man again when I've been a closer the last couple
years."He made it clear it's nothing personal. He admires Gagne's work. And he
won't make waves."I know [Gagne] has been hurt, but he's very, very good," Baez
said. "We're going to work together and we'll see what happens. They know I can
close games. But I'm fine, and whatever the situation is, I'll be ready to go
into games. . . ."
Baez, too, is looking ahead. He made it clear he wouldn't sign an extension
with the Dodgers unless he would be the closer in 2007."I'll pitch one more
year, then I'll be a free agent and everyone in both leagues will know I can be
a closer," he said.
Isn't that nice. They're going to work together. But only for one year. Baez has been in Tampa Bay for two years after being with the Indians for three. If the Dodgers pull of a title (and offer him a little more money) he just might change his mind to continue as the setup man and "other closer." In considering Baez compared to Gagne, you don't have to be a Paul DePodesta sabermetric dork to figure out that 160 for 166 is better than 102 for 126, or how that means that Baez has four times as many blown saves in his career than Gagne despite 40 fewer oppurtunities. Which doesn't mean Baez is bad; rather, it just means that he's Gagne's setup man.
Personally, I'm of the theory that a team should basically have 6 or 7 starters and 3 closers, with maybe a left handed specialist just to screw someone up sometime. You can use a starter as a long reliever without screwing up your rotation, and still give everyone plenty of rest. Or by having a couple extra days rest the pitchers can actually make it to the 8th inning. Even having two teams of setup man-closer would be good in letting them get rest, especially for very streaky teams.
Given his pattern of moves this offseason, though, this trade and creation of a 2-inning sequence of lights-out suggest that Colletti was being quite earnest when he said, "I can't sit around and wait; I want the Dodgers to win now." But I think this move is made for Grady Little more than anyone. Although Scott Williamson had proven effective in the 2003 postseason, the Red Sox did not really have a legitimate setup man - closer sequence. Through 2001 they had Derek Lowe, and in 2002 they had Urbina, but nobody in 2003. The point being that Grady Little had good reason to leave Pedro Martinez in - he was more confident in Pedro than his bullpen. By getting an extra closer and not keeping the guy who's the most durable starting pitcher, the Dodgers are insuring against Grady's weakness.
The Dodgers are determined to make this year "next year" since last year sucked.
Labels: Dodgers
