Last night, the Dodgers saw a glimpse of what the newly-acquired Josh Beckett might be capable of when he turned in 6.2 strong innings of work on the way to a 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks. Ned Colletti & Co. will be hoping to see more of the same as they look to make their playoff push. Here's more out of Los Angeles and other notes out of the NL West..
- Other clubs are convinced that the blockbuster deal which brought Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers took them out of the Josh Hamilton sweepstakes, writes Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The other usual suspects, like the Red Sox and Yankees, are unlikely to be in on the outfielder as well, which makes it hard to predict where he might end up. One AL exec guesses that a mid-market team will come out of the woodwork to sign Hamilton.
- Rockies slugger Jason Giambi has no plans to retire and hopes to continue playing in 2013, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. "I would to love to play if I can get a job," Giambi said. "That's kind of up to everybody else. If I have an opportunity, I would love to play."
- Pricey Cuban import Yasiel Puig isn't particularly concerned about how long it might take him to reach the major leagues, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. If he proves worthy of starting, it may be hard for the Dodgers to find a spot for him as they have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford under contract through at least 2017. The Dodgers signed Puig to a seven-year, $42MM contract back in June.
It’s Yasiel, not Yasel.
Yasel Pig?
Yep 1 great start lets all talk about Beckett like he’s the Beckett from 2007 again. I’m SO glad we got rid of his bum (explitive) just wish it would have come sooner.
Would love the Tigers to sign Giambi as a pinch hitter in 2013. We have none.
Does anyone else see the Braves as a threat to sign Hamilton? They’ll be clearing quite a good amount of money this year with Chipper retiring and Derek Lowe off the books. I think the Braves see Martin Prado as their future 3rd baseman and Hamilton would slot in nicely in left there. The Braves might prefer righty hitters given their current lineup but if the spot is open I wouldn’t put it past them. This team will be lacking a definite superstar with Chipper’s retirement and McCann simply hasn’t eclipsed such a level.
Pittsburgh Pirates will sign Hamilton
i dont think they need a DH
Puig has been on a role in the minors who could be in the big leagues very soon
Why would Puig care? He got his big pay day….guys that get drafted from US have to work 6 years to see a deal like that. Thank god they fixed the system.
File this under “Good Problems to Have.” The odds of Ethier and Crawford in particular remaining healthy all that time, in addition to the odds that Puig probably needs another year of seasoning and maturing, and it’s not the worst problem in the world.
I guess it’s a great problem to have am sure something will be worked out. I guess I would find a way to trade Ethier since he has a tough time hitting leftys.
Yup, Puig gives the Dodgers future OF depth in case of injury.
Also, flexibility to maybe flip Ethier or Crawford when Puig is ready to play in the big leagues.
To change the subject…. Blanton is probably the worst pitcher in the world. Sticking him in the rotation is about the craziest thing ever….there is no upside to this and by the time they figure it out it will be too late!
Heya.. Little info for ya.. Every now and then there are players that need a change of scenery to extend their career and especially.. Pitchers that MUST go to the NL when their stuff loses it’s bite.. Javy Vazquez, Derek lowe, Ted Lilly.. Beckett is another have been thinking for some time would improve in the NL and matsuzaka is another.
if beckett is successful, it will be because he learns to command his pitches better now that he’s lost significant velocity. as awful as the boston media is, it wasn’t their fault that beckett struggled. he’ll tell you that himself
i have always been and still am a beckett fan. he has never catered to the media and the same people who hate him now loved him for that when he was pitching well. that shouldn’t matter, but boston needed scapegoats and beckett was an easy target
he still wants to win and he’ll have a shot to do that in LA. if there is such a thing as a big game pitcher, beckett fits the mold
Beckett was a reason that clubhouse was horrible to begin with. He has a lousy attitude, a horrible work ethic, and declining stuff. When his performance slipped, he started pointing fingers. He’s a cancer, and as soon as the Dodgers fall out of it he will be the first to start pointing fingers. The guy still pitches like he throws 95+, but he’s throwing 89-91 with limited movement. He’s not the pitcher he was a few years ago, not even close. Neither Beckett nor Blanton solve the Dodgers biggest shortcoming, which is reliable SP.
And Crawford is done as an elite player. His legs, which have always been his greatest asset, are a mess. He’s probably lost at least a step, so the Dodgers are now paying a guy with slightly above average speed as if he’s a 30HR guy. Dodger stadium will swallow any flyballs he hits, and he’s never been a power source, anyway. At this point, Victorino is the better player, but is on the outside looking in because of what they are paying Crawford.
I think its the media in Boston and New York that send these pitchers out of the AL East and thrive elsewhere.
can you give us fans a quick run-down of manly reasons TO be allowed to dislike a ballplayer over? the community thanks you ahead of time, sir.
If you really believe this, I’d suggest you take a look at the aggregate batting and pitching stats for the two leagues over a period of years and tell me what you find. To give you a little hint, because I’ve already gone through this exercise, is that the DL makes far less difference than you might expect.
When, and if. We can’t claim to know much about Puig when even the Dodgers still don’t know much about him, beyond his reputation in Cuba.
You should start by reading what I actually wrote.
The AL is consistently 5-7% better offensively (since 2002 the AL has been 99-100 wRC+ and the NL has been 93-94 wRC+ – and I can only assume that if you could break it down by division you would see a considerably more significant difference in the AL East), and while that can’t necessarily all be attributed to the DH, that’s not an insignificant difference in offensive production (it’s about the difference between facing Shin-Soo Choo, and Josh Hamilton or Matt Kemp).
Of course it depends on the stats you consider to be the most representative but I have found differences to be in the low single digits. Certainly not enough for a pitcher to revive a failing career, as we hear so often as though it was obviously true. I remember when it was widely predicted here that Huroki Kuroda would be eaten alive in the ALE because he could not possibly be as good as he looked in the NLW.
I think the problem was probably equal parts Beckett and Lackey. Lackey seemed to think he had “arrived” with his big contract and wanted to be treated like a superstar. That contract was a mistake from the beginning, they never should have signed him.
The point of my response was precisely as it was stated.
Taking on Crawford was obviously the price of getting Gonzalez. With Kemp and Ethier in the outfield and Ramirez and Gonzalez in the infield, the Dodgers don’t need Crawford to be a superstar. If you hadn’t noticed, Juan Rivera was our starting LFer for most of the season. It shouldn’t be difficult for Crawford to match Rivera’s production.