Mailbag: Nomar To Third Base

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Today, Peter C. writes:

Grady Little has finally snapped and decided to put Nomar at third and James Loney at first base. What do you think the overall repercussions of this move will be?

• Nomar's injury likelihood increases drastically.
• The switch does not spark Nomar's bat.
• With the offensive decline, an $8.5MM salary for 2008, and a lengthy injury history, Nomar is untradeable except in a salary-for-salary type swap.  How about some kind of convoluted trade for Pat Burrell? 
• Should he stay, Nomar's presence will be an inconvenience, but he won't eat up too much playing time because of injuries.
• Loney fails to provide the power the Dodgers are looking for over the next several weeks. He may eventually become Mark Grace, but could disappoint in the short term. 
• Ned Colletti gives up on Loney and uses him in a deadline deal for Mark Teixeira.  I can't decide who else would go to Texas in this imagined deal.  Jonathan Meloan?  He's a reliever, though an impressive one.  I can't see even Colletti trading big-time pitching prospects like Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley.
• Kind of funny that as I was just finishing up this post, a reader passed along this rumor from Evan Grant.  Grant's trade proposals don't deviate too far from my Loney/Meloan package.  He actually suggests the Rangers package Eric Gagne with Teixeira in an attempt to pry away Kershaw.

Comments

[joeh]

Dodgers should get rid of him period. He's been awful since last years allstar break.

[zubes007]

Ned Colletti is a freaking abomination as a GM...if not for Logan White and Paul DePodesta, the Dodgers would be a 70-win team with no farm system, not a 90-win team with a good farm system.

[J.L.]

If he even thinks about trading Loney I'll become an Angels fan. Seriously, what a joke. The guy can't put together a decent team so he chucks one of our most promising young guys for a rental.

[J.L.]

Oh and that Evan Grant guy is an abomination. Sure, we'll just throw the whole farm at the Rangers. No problem! Why would the Dodgers want Gagne back, he had his chance to stay.

[jskohl]

Zubes, you hit it on the head! Ned Colletti is absolute GARBAGE as a GM.
Nomar is 0 for 14 in this series against Arizona, while Wilson Betemit and last nights hero Tony Abreu sat with their thumbs up their butt. Wilson Betemit may have a low Batting average, but his slugging percentage is much higher than Nomar's. What's it gonna take to keep Nomar outta the lineup?
Ned Colletti's re-signing of Nomar Garciaparra and the outrageous Juan Pierre signing are keeping this Dodger team down. Let me say one thing, it is a pleasure watching James Loney play.

[Spundin]

Ned looks like a disaster so far thats for sure.

Signings include Gonzo (blocking young guys who can easily platoon his output IMO)

Nomar for 2 years w/ no trade.

Pierre for way to long and to much

Schmidt is pretty much Darren Dreifort now.

If he was smart, he would have resigned Maddux and passed on Gonzo and Pierre (wouldn't block Kemp/Ethier).

Hell if the Dodgers didn't compete this season at that high of a level, they could have signed a bat into the lineup this coming offesason. The names are huge. Dunn, Hunter, Dye, Ichiro, Byrnes, Andrew Jones

[YouthofToday]

Colletti's off season signings:

Juan Pierre
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Schmidt

Total cost: 104.5 million, or by year
2007: 31
2008: 30
2009: 24.5
2010: 11.5
2011: 8.5

Is he in an extended interview to replace Cashman as Steinbrenner's GM with those contracts? Unreal...

[YouthofToday]

I spaced about the $7.5 in 2008 for Gonzo, yet at least it was a one year deal.

[jskohl]

It's true, Ned jumped the gun on Juan Pierre. I would rather have had Kenny Lofton on a one year deal, or platoon Matt Kemp, Brady Clark, Jason Rapko in center. There are too many good center fielders this off season. Why sign Pierre?
Speaking of Brady Clark, Ned traded Elmer Dessens to get him. Where's Brady Clark now?

[BobLoblaw]

The Dodgers are not in panic-mode, and Colletti isn't going to throw away his youngsters to get Texiera or Gagne. The Texas writers are dreaming right now. The Dodgers already have one of the deepest bullpens...there's no room for Gagne unless Saito breaks down. Why would the Dodgers give up the farm for Texiera when Loney is raking like he is?
Nomar is in the tank right now, but Colletti's not going to make a stupid move.

[J.L.]

In all honesty, as much as i hated the Gonzo signing, he's been decent for a year deal. Kemp looks like he wouldn't have done much better THIS year, and next year hopefully the spot is his. I honestly feel the Nomar resigning was a much much bigger mistake. Loney was ready last year. Now he's more than ready and he's proving it. If this pathetic GM could find some power elsewhere and stop hiring hasbeens to get the job done he would stop worrying about Loney's lack of power. I think Loney is an Adrian Gonzalez clone who is just starting to develop power a little later, I don't really see what's wrong with that. I have to believe the Dodgers would have won more games with Loney at 1st from day one. I guess I should hope the GM makes a couple more dumb moves so he gets the ax quickly.

[lih]

Kemp's batting over .400. Obviously, that won't hold up, but the difference in fielding ability is enormous, so I'd have to say the dodgers would be better off with Kemp starting. Gonzales is still a very solid hitter, but he should really be a DH at this point...As for Loney...I disagree with the Mark Grace comparison although I've heard it consistently. Mark Grace himself was saying Tuesday that he thought Loney would develop into a cleanup man. Not that I trust his word, but it took Mark almost 500 at bats to get to 7 HR and Loney is there with around 140. He also made it to the MLB at a younger age than Mark. I'm not saying he'll hit 30 consistently, but I think he'll be in the 25-30 range most years. Given the contract situations, I wouldn't trade Loney straight up for Texeira. Tex in the Ravine will not be equal to Tex in Arlington. Loney has shown the ability to quickly adjust. He's developed a good ability to hit secondary pitches since last year, and is also hitting more doubles than ever before so his power is still developing. Now, I'm a dodgers fan, so maybe I'm overrating him, but even if he turns out to be a 20 HR 45 double guy, that's better than Gracy. And I'm sure he won't become an annoying homer announcer when he retires.

[ColonelTom]

Anything that gets Loney into the everyday lineup is a good idea. Nomar will get hurt soon enough, and Betemit and Abreu will get back in the lineup. I'd suggest they have Nomar steal every time he gets on base, and Dodgers fans can root for him to tweak a hammy or something. :)