Yes, I like to count my chickens before they hatch, but I'm bored and the news have been slow... Rosters have expanded now, but they go back to 25 for the playoffs... lets move the obvious spots locked: AJ, Gonzo, MEllis, Hanley, Uribe, Puig, Ethier, Crawford, CK, Greinke, Ryu, Nolasco, Paco, Beli, Jansen, Howell, FedEx... those are the locks... 17 spots, 8 to go here are some other semi-lock, but guys I'm sure they could left out if something happens: Punto, Skip, Hariston, Withrow, Wilson... that's 5 more... 3 to go... guys for the other 3 spots: Kemp, Dee, SVS, Young, Cappy, League, Marmol given that the rotation turns to 4 man and that there are more off days between games, I would guess they go with 11 pitchers and 14 position players... We could say that one of those spots will go to Kemp (if healthy) and the other probably to League as they need that 11th arm... NOW, here's where it gets tricky... we all know that SVS has the power, Dee the speed, and Young the crappy "gamer/veteran" crap... to me, we already have the veteran part covered with Hairston and Skip, so it gets down to power vs speed... who can provide more value? SVS with a close game HR or Dee stealing a bag late in the game an doing a Dave Roberts impersonation? personally I would keep one of Skip/Punto out and get both SVS and Dee in, but that wont happen, so under that, I say they should go with Dee... opinions
my opinion is that you were bored... but... this is a great post!! with your summary however I must disagree. Dee is a runner but his fielding and his hitting are both atrocious = Pass SVS has key power that doesn't show often enough... but when it does it wins games = Keep I'd waste Hairston and still only keep one of the Skip/Punto and then keep Young because of the 'crappy' though excellent history Young has at being a clutch hitter when you need clutch hitting... something neither Skip nor Punto seem to deliver Which leaves the $64 question of Kemp... He can't run... his recent hitting is sub .100... his rehab is postponed by yet another hamstring injury (don't these guys EVER stretch?)... and ... his 2008/2009 playoff BA was only .226 anyways... Not to mention that his lazy low effort dugout persona is not aligned with the current crew which definitely tightened up with his departure... ... so I'll attract the wrath of DSP Dodger loyalists and say we let him rest/heal until next season.
I'll say Kemp gets one spot, and another P gets another to give us 11, either Cap or League. Between Dee, SVS and MY, I'd take SVS, I bet they take Young.
keep punto - he has a lot of value because of his ability to play 2b/3b/ss and has already gotten some big hits withrow - no brainer imo svs - yes. nowhere near as good as kemp at his best, but a much better option than where kemp currently is young - valuable not just as a leader, but can play 1b/3b pass dee - he may be fast but he's still not a good baserunner. bad leads, bad jumps, poor (baserunning) routes hairston - i love jerry's leadership, but he's not worthy of a roster spot kemp - no way. his minor league 0-18 stint proved he's still not mlb ready, and his subsequent camelback trip proved he's still not healthy undecided skip - torn on this one wilson - i just don't know cappy/volquez - pick your poison league/marmol - same here^
Skip is definitely going to be on the roster, I don't think he's up for debate as much as we might want him to be
This is how it will probably go down C - AJ, FedEx 1b - Gonzo, Young 2b - Mark Ellis, Skip ss - Hanley, Punto 3b - Uribe OF - CC, Ethier, Puig, Kemp SP - Kersh, Grienke, Nolasco, Ryu BP - League, Withrow, Howell, Wilson, Belli, Paco, Kenley Those 24 are very likely on the roster, barring injury. As OP said, #25 seems to be up in the air. I'm thinking its more likely Gordon, and here's why. We have a lot of guys who can hit already, but not many basestealers. Keep in mind, assuming Kemp is back, which seems likely from Mattingley's quote yesterday, we're going to have one of our well paid OFs on the bench each game. Chances are if we need a 'power' bat to pinch hit, it's going to be Kemp (or whichever OF is sitting that day), not SVS. Say what you want about Kemp, but the reality is they're going to use him if they can, especially over SVS. So rostering SVS would be redundant.
Nor should he be..Jared should have a crack at his 3rd ring..Dudes a gamer and has been contributing all year. If he gets left off the roster along with punto you loose depth, WS experience and chemistry...Wait can you buy chemistry?
I bet League isn't on the postseason roster. I think the trust Marmol more and if Volquez can be used as a 5th starter in September and Capuano is healthy, I'm hoping they try Capuano as a LOOGY/Long man, and I'd rather have him in there given the deathly lefties the Braves/Reds/Pirates have. And I agree about the power bat thing. If Kemp is healthy, we don't take SVS since his bat would be useless with one of Ethier/Kemp on the bench. So the bench would probably be: FedEx, Skip, Punto, Kemp, Young, are locks if all healthy and that last one.... Idk. I guess it goes down to SVS/Dee/Hairston. Or that last spot could go to an extra reliever? If it goes down to a hitter, I'd say Dee gets that last spot.
hahaha Jerry IMO, is more of a guy better for the regular season than the postseason. His versatility is great for the regular season but in the postseason, but you don't need a bench full of versatility in the postseason. he isn't going to get any starts and as far as pinch hitting opps, he'd be below Kemp, MYoung, Skip (vs. righties) and maybe Punto vs. lefties. He'll still get his ring if we win, but yeah they need to be strategic on who they put on that roster and I think putting him on the roster would be kind of repetitive. His WS experience is great, but we have tons of guys with postseason experience and 1) whats more important is talent and 2) We need our guys to create their own postseason experience, just like the Phillies/Giants did.
I take Dee over Hariston. Dee wont see any time in the field with Hanley and Punto. He wont even hit. But his speed is key in a late inning tight game when you need to put a runner in scoring position. You saw what Hamilton did for Cinci last series. We have the same weapon and we need to use it. Hariston is useless with Young on the roster. The real question I think is Kemp vs SVS.
If Kemp actually does come back healthy, there's no way Donnie doesn't put him in the post season line up.
na..not stupid..but if you go to games you know his name is jared cuz of the jumbo tron trivia question..in my house my wife and 2 boys always call him Jared..or Skippy shoo. Love raising my kids in a dodger house!!
Oh man, I've yet to catch that. Been to 6 games this year (My record is 1-5.... so yikes) but never saw that. strange lol
Hairston is easily the odd man out in my opinion. It's not even a question. His purpose was to spell guys against lefties, and play 3B, OF, 1B, etc. He hasn't even served that purpose in the regular season. Young can back up 3rd and 1st, Punto can back up 3rd, SS, 2b, and Shumaker can back up 2B and OF. Plenty of depth when you know the starters are gonna be in there every game. With plenty of outfielders and plenty of infield depth, no need for Hairston...especially in the post season. Give SVS a roster spot. If Kemp's healthy, he'll be on there too. I'd try to take Dee as a pinch runner if the stars align. But there just might not be enough room...making the thread title pretty dead on. If Kemp is healthy, it's gonna be a choice between Dee and SVS. Kershaw-Zack-Nolasco-Ryu Kenley-Paco-Withrow-Belli-Howell-Wilson-Capuano (11 pitchers) AJ--Fed Ex Crawford--SVS Ethier--Kemp Puig Gonzo Hanley--Punto Uribe--Young Mark--Shumaker PR Dee (15 position players) That's 26. So, you make your cuts from that group imo. If Kemp isn't ready, it makes it fairly simple. But Hairston, League, Vasquez and Marmol aren't even in the conversation...unless you wanna give League, Vasquez or Marmol Capuano's spot.