This is all starting to seem similar to some of the things Kasten did with the Nats and if so we are golden.
8:43pm: Ruben Amaro didn't confirm or deny the reports of the Dodgers' claim on Lee to the media (including MLB.com's Paul Hagen) but said "It's irrelevant. [Lee] is not going anywhere." http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Oh well.
I got to thinking about this free agent class, and who I would like to fill the 3 glaring holes in the lineup. So here it is, in order of preference at each position: 1B: Adam LaRoche (Mutual option, probably won't be available) That's really it at 1B. 3B: Kevin Youkilis, if cheap. RF/LF: Here we have plenty of options. Micheal Bourn, Melky Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, Nick Swisher or BJ Upton. SP: Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum So while the OF spot should be filled with a quality player through free agency, the others might have to be through trade or from within. FYI, I have Hamilton so low because of the contract it would likely take and I feel Bourn and Cabrera fit the bill of that top of the order hitter we need.
exactly. what is it these guys were trying to do. find out if anyone had the balls? seems stupid if they didn't want anything to happen.
Any Phils player that thinks Amaro would not trade them is an idiot. Amara would trade his mother for a leadoff hitter. Look what they did to Howard by not calling him up until a late age to save money. Look what he did to CLIFF LEE the first time. If his players really believe he has loyalty, they are naive and deserve their fate.
Most players are put on waivers "just because". Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw could have very well been put on waivers.
condensed version... West Notes: DodgersBy Zach Links [August 4 at 10:35am CST]Last night, Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley held the Cubs to four hits over seven innings en route to the club's 6-1 victory at home. With Cliff Lee reportedly off the market and Ted Lilly perhaps out for the season, Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that the Dodgers will have to bank on more solid pitching out of the 28-year-old. Here's more... After trading for Joe Blanton and putting a claim in on Lee, the Dodgers continue to show that money is no object, writes Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports. GM Ned Colletti seems to be happy with his newly-found flexibility, but it seems unlikely that the Phillies will part with Lee.
is this guy Walter the anti-Mcmcdouche or what? good times ahead!:woot: DODGERS REPORTNot the Phillie expected, but Blanton fills a needAugust, 3, 2012 | 3:23 PM PTBy Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLosAngeles.comOK, so Joe Blanton isn't Cliff Lee. But he's also not Stephen Fife or one of the other kids from Triple-A Albuquerque the Dodgers would have been using as a fifth starter until Ted Lilly is healthy, whenever that might be.Blanton is what he always has been: solid, if not spectacular. But for the Dodgers' purposes, he's a nice upgrade who should help add depth and dimension to a rotation that has been a little wobbly of late.After missing out on Ryan Dempster at the deadline, the Dodgers' brass was insistent it wasn't done dealing. In fact, when I caught up with him on the field Tuesday afternoon, new controlling owner Mark Walter openly hinted at that idea."Do you really ever want to say we did enough?" Walter said. "That's not an attitude I really want a lot of around here. I guess if the entire All-Star team is on your team, you could feel like you had enough. But I don't want to think that way. That's now how you want to look at it."I think we are a very competitive team now. But you can always get better."Walter has been an interesting guy to get to know in the three months he has owned the Dodgers. Before we met, I'd been told he was a quiet guy from Chicago who would mostly remain behind the scenes and let team president Stan Kasten and co-owner Magic Johnson do the talking. His role was to put up the cash, then authorize Kasten to spend it.That's mostly what he has done. Except he actually has been a whole lot more visible that anticipated. Walter has been at the stadium quite a bit, and when he's there, he's often down on the field or in the clubhouse before games. He's not shy, either.When I joked with him about how much money he had spent in the past few weeks, he laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess I have."He described the trade deadline as something of a roller coaster ride, said he was hanging on every phone call from Kasten or GM Ned Colletti and wasn't doing much to conceal some disappointment he felt at not being able to do even more.In other words, Walter is invested -- and not just financially.What does that have to do with Blanton, Lee or any other trades the Dodgers might make this month? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. The Dodgers' new owner isn't going to be a silent partner in all this. He's into it, Mark Cuban style.As he said himself, "Do you really ever want to say we did enough? That's not an attitude I really want a lot of around here."
If he cleared waivers they could make a trade with anyone including but not limited to the Diamond Backs. Someone who they could truly negotiate with or even have multiple teams involved. The Dodgers had the balls to say bring it on knowing the could be stuck with his full contract. Those are the balls most expected no team to have. Our boys in the front office are not playing. They have a ton of insurance money and special tax deductions and they are bringing it on.