The Diamond Fan

This year once again, the Dodgers (ostensibly a large-market team) stumble into the All Star breat with a losing record.  Only by dint of playing in the NL West, where the other franchises are proving equally inept, do they even have a whiff of a chance of making the playoffs.  Why is it that one of the game’s richest and most storied franchises, playing in one of the largest markets and with resources that would be the envy of any team outside of New York and Boston, has failed to make the World Series in twenty years and have won only one playoff game in that span. Why?

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the front office is totally incompetent.  This year one need look no farther than the outfiled, where Andruw Jones is getting paid just shy of $15 million and Juan Pierre is making $9 million.  Two players whose productivity is equivalent to a late-inning defensive replacement and a fourth outfielder/pince runner, respectively.  $24 million.  There goes your laarge market competitive advantage right there, squandered.  Throw in another $15 million on a pitcher who hasn’t pitched all season and may never pitch again (Jason Schmidt) and $9 million on a formerly great shortstop who had his best season eight years ago (Garciaparra) and you’ve pretty much matched the entire payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays, who would be 9 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the standings right now.  All for essentially zero contribution.  Pretty much sums it up, right there.  Even a highly productive farm system (which the Dodgers DO have, thank God) can’t dig you out of that big a hole.

You could just chalk it up to a bit of bad luck, but the Dodgers have been making these kinds of stupid decisions for years.  Remember Darren Dreifort, and how everyone was looking forward to how the Dodgers would be able to spend that money once it was freed up?  well, now we know: throw it away again on another set of washed-up (or never were) veterans.  Heck you can take it all the way beack to Dave Goltz, who in 1980 the Dodgers made one of the highest paid free agents in history up until that time , only to see him go 9-19 over the next three years pitching for some decent ballclubs.

Add in the fact that they can’t even recognize who ther five best starting pitchers are, and it’s a miracle that Joe Torre and the kids have managed to win as much as they have.

All one can do is hope they don’t totally lose their mind and trade away part of the future (Kemp, Eithier, LaRoche, etc) for yet another retread who will help make it look like “we’re trying to win this year” when all they are trying to do is keep the turnstiles humming until the wheels come off in September.

Play-the-kids! It’s the only way you’re going to make this playoffs this year, next year, or any other year, unless and until you get somebody in the front office that can actually evaluate major league talent.

With the rosters set for the All Star Game, my selections fared pretty well.  Nine of my picks were voted in as starters by the fans, and of the eight who didn’t, all but one were selected as reserves on the team.  The lone outlier was Hideki Matsui at DH, who was passed over by the fans in favor of David Ortiz, and in favor of Milton Bradley for the reserve spot.  Overall, not bad.  That’s the closest I’ve ever come to having my selections all chosen to play in the game.

Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-Experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks by Zach Hample

I had fun reading this book. Hample writes in a lighthearted, accessible style and does a good job of explaining the basics of baseball. It is not, however, for the “deeply serious geeks” as the subtitle claims. Anyone who follows baseball even halfway closely will already know 95% of what he talks about. Still, as I said it is a fun read, and there are a few tidbits here for more serious fans.

This is a very good book for anyone who doesn’t know much about or understand baseball. If you are a baseball fans and know someone in that unfortunate predicament, this little book would make a great gift. It is not as good the more erudite classic 1950s book, How to Watch a Baseball Game by Fred Schwed, to which it is very similar. It is a worthy successor to it, though, and the more contemporary treatment Hample gives the topic makes it more appropriate for most current-generation readers.

Having already posted my American League ballot, it is now time to turn to the Senior Circuit.

First Base: Lance Berkman, HOU
It is tempting to go with Albert Pujols here, but Berkman is near the top of the league’s first basemen in nearly every hitting category, tops in average and stolen bases.  His fine season deserves All Star recognition.

Second Base: Chase Utley, PHI
Recent slump notwishstanding, his monster start makes him the obvious choice.  Dan Uggla is creeping up on him, though, and should get picked as a backup.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, FLA
The league is very deep at this position, with Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Miguel Tejeda, Ryan Theriot, and Jimmy Rollins all being All Star worthy.  I give Ramirez the edge due to his having the best combination of speed and power.

Third Base: Chipper Jones, ATL
He has dipped below .400, and his tendency to be injury prone has begun to assert itself, but Chipper is definitely having the best season, with apolgies to Aramis Ramirez and David Wright.

Catcher: Russell Martin, LAD
It is splitting hairs to chose between Martin and Brian McCann here. but since I am a Dodgers fan i will indulge myself and go with my guy Martin.  Selection can also be justified based on his better speed numbers.  Benji Molina of the Giants and Geovanny Soto of the Cubs are having fine seasons and deserve consideration as well.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL ; Ryan Ludwick, STL ; Nate McLouth, PIT
Who knew?  At the beginning of the season I would have said you were crazy if you had told me that this would be the best outfield for the NL All Stars, but here they are, all worthy choices.  All three have higher OPS than any of the three leading vote getters (Griffey, Fukudome, Soriano). They also have higher R2 (runs + RBI) numbers, and I think they are just better overall this season.  The only reason to vote for Griffey would be a “lifetime achievement” type thing, and I don’t think that is what starting in the All Star game should be about.  Cubs fans must be stuffing the ballot box for the other two.

With the closing of voting for the All Star game less than two weeks away, it’s time for me to mark my ballot and do what little I can to send the best players to Yankee Stadium. Here are my choices for the American League:

First Base: Justin Morneau (MIN)
This is a fairly weak position in the AL this season. Jason Giambi has 17 home runs and a very respectable .394 OBP. but the rest of his numbers are so-so. Kevin Youkilis and Morneau have similar stats overall, but Morneau’s big edge in RBI gives him the edge in my mind.

Second Base: Ian Kinsler (TEX)
Howie Kendrick’s injury took him out of the running. Brian Roberts has the speed, but Kinsler’s SB total is just two less (18 as opposed to 20), and the rest of his numbers are clearly superior. He gets the nod over Roberts, Dustin Pedroia, and Placido Polanco.

Shortstop: Michael Young (TEX)
Orlando Cabrera is probably playing the best right now, but his slow start drags him down. Youg tops Jeter in just about every statistical category, and plays better defense to boot.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
Joe Crede is having a great season in Chicago, and Miguel Cabrera is pretty good too, but A-Rod is clearly the best third baseman in the game today, and once again having an All Star caliber season.

Catcher: Joe Mauer (MIN)
The big names at this position are having down years either due to injury or advancing age, leaving this spot open for rising star Mauer. AJ Pierzynski and Dionner Navarro are having fine seasons for winning teams, but Mauer’s impressive .420 OBP swings me toward him.

Outfield: Josh Hamilton (TEX), Manny Ramirez (BOS), Grady Sizemore (CLE)
I hate to keep putting Rangers players in here, but hey, when they are the best at their respective positions, you’ve gotta do it. Hamilton is having an unreal MVP type season. Manny is having a typical Manny season, and Grady Sizemore is a great offensive catalyst for the Indians.

DH: Hideki Matsui (NYY)
Big Papi is on the shelf, and while Aubrey Huff has better power numbers, Matsui’s high average and high OBP and hitting in the middle of that potent Yankees lineup makes me put him ahead.

So there it is: three Rangers, two Twins, two Yankees, and one each from the Red Sox and Indians.

I’ll do the National League in another post within a few days.