The Spring Training Thread

THINKBLUE · Feb 11, 2013

eitherethier said: ↑

I'll admit, I'd like to keep Uribe on the team to see if McGwire can do anything for him

If he has a bad spring I would release him. I know spring stats don't mean anything but he doesn't have any leverage.
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Really? He's gotta be hiding SOMETHING in that gut.

irish · Feb 12, 2013

THINKBLUE said: ↑

Really? He's gotta be hiding SOMETHING in that gut.
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maybe he's a marsupial...

blueplatespecial · Feb 12, 2013

First look at Greinke, Ryu on mound comes Wednesday
Amid growing excitement, pitchers and catchers due at spring camp today
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 2/12/2013 3:00 P.M. ET

GLENDALE, Ariz. –- Led by ace Clayton Kershaw, every pitcher and catcher was accounted for Tuesday on reporting day for the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch Glendale. Among the position players who already checked in were rehabbing outfielders Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford.

The first battery workout at Camelback Ranch-Glendale will be Wednesday. Position players report Friday, with the first full-squad workout scheduled for Saturday.

With their immense payroll and flashy new signings, there were already cautionary comments coming from the clubhouse.

"I've been through this," pitcher Josh Beckett said of the big-name acquisitions, referring to his time with the Boston Red Sox. "Baseball is not played on paper. We've got to work hard in Spring Training. A lot of things are going to happen throughout the year you can't foresee. Depth becomes a big part of it."

As a starting pitcher, Beckett and the Dodgers' depth are part of what catcher A.J. Ellis calls the elephant in the room -- eight starting pitchers, five starting jobs.

After spending $200 million for winter rotation upgrades Zack Greinke and Korean sensation Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Dodgers open camp with eight well-paid starting pitchers -- Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Chad Billingsley, Beckett, Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang and Ted Lilly.

Combined, they will earn $90 million in 2013, although at least one of them figures to earn his pay elsewhere via trade once the health of Billingsley (torn elbow ligament) and Lilly (shoulder surgery) is established.

Billingsley said he believes the elbow injury is behind him and he's ready to go at full speed. Lilly said he, too, is confident he will be ready for a typical workload once games start.

With Kershaw confident that last year's hip impingement is no longer an issue, the only other question with him is how massive his contract extension will be. General manager Ned Colletti has hinted that talks will begin soon, but "quietly."

Speaking of contract extensions, manager Don Mattingly doesn't have one, which will be another spring storyline. Unlike last Spring Training, when the team fought the distractions of a bankruptcy auction to find a new owner, this camp opens with high expectations and the pressure that goes with them.

Along with his future, Mattingly will have plenty of baseball issues on his plate. The obvious one will be the handling of Capuano, Harang and Lilly, all members of last year's rotation, all seemingly squeezed out of roles with the arrivals of Beckett, Greinke and Ryu.

The bullpen appears nearly as loaded, with Brandon League locked up for three years and $22.5 million to close, backed up by Kenley Jansen coming off heart surgery, Ronald Belisario arriving early again and J.P. Howell coming in with Scott Elbert out indefinitely following a second elbow operation.

Javy Guerra, the closer for part of 2012, is on the rebound after collarbone surgery, while Matt Guerrier is determined to prove in the final year of his contract that he's healed from a strained flexor tendon in his forearm. Youngsters Paco Rodriguez, Stephen Fife and Josh Wall could all be headed back to the Minor Leagues.

Rick Honeycutt returns for his eighth season as pitching coach, but there's been an offseason tweak with the naming of bullpen coach Ken Howell as assistant pitching coach, and the promotion of Double-A pitching coach Chuck Crim to bullpen coach.

Catching, an unknown last year with Ellis getting his first starting chance, is settled with Ellis' emergence as a player and a leader. Now the question is whether rookie Tim Federowicz is ready to be a big league backup.

When the position players report, the Dodgers will get their first measured look at all of the high-priced pieces acquired last year, most notably Crawford, who is coming off Tommy John surgery and a sour experience in Boston after signing a $142 million contract.

His health, and that of Kemp's surgically repaired left shoulder, will go a long way in determining the potency of the revamped offense, although neither is expected to be 100 percent at the start of camp, with the hope they will be at the start of the season.
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There's also a video on the link:
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/n...0210&content_id=41522186&vkey=news_la&c_id=la

VRP · Feb 12, 2013

It'd be annoying to be Capuano or Harang right now, have to show up to Dodgers camp only to wait to be traded/turned into a RP. Moreso Cap because he's actually not that bad.

THINKBLUE · Feb 12, 2013

Crawford looks like he's lost weight and toned up. Pic on Dodgers twitter/Instagram.

irish · Feb 12, 2013

THINKBLUE said: ↑

Crawford looks like he's lost weight and toned up. Pic on Dodgers twitter/Instagram.
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blueplatespecial · Feb 12, 2013

I've got mlb Dodger video bookmarked. I'm hoping they capture some of the action over the next couple of days. In other STs, they would play the days events in the evenings.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?tcid=mm_la_vid&c_id=la

chris · Feb 12, 2013

They didn't even mention Chad in the dodgers rotation plan on espn lol

Dodgers99 · Feb 12, 2013

chrisdodgers said: ↑

They didn't even mention Chad in the dodgers rotation plan on espn lol
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I think everybody knows he is gonna need surgery at some point this season.

chris · Feb 12, 2013

Dodgers99 said: ↑

I think everybody knows he is gonna need surgery at some point this season.
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Well then why keep saying he's fine? Give him the fucking surgery. IMO I think he'll be fine and pitch well for us but that's just going off what they're saying

irish · Feb 12, 2013

Dodgers on Baseball Tonight, tonight...

2/12: Dodgers in Glendale
Ravech, Kurkjian, Schilling, Sutcliffe

http://espn.go.com/mlb/baseballtonight

doyerfan · Feb 12, 2013

Lilly, when asked if he'd move to the bullpen:

"I would do that. I want to be a part of what's going on here first and foremost," Lilly said. "I feel like I'm capable of being a successful starter, but I have to be ready for whatever. The objective is still the same, get the hitter out."
Lilly went a step further, saying he would rather pitch in the bullpen with the Dodgers than start somewhere else.
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Pretty cool to me... I mean, he might have little choice, but still cool.

irish · Feb 12, 2013

doyerfan said: ↑

Lilly, when asked if he'd move to the bullpen:

"I would do that. I want to be a part of what's going on here first and foremost," Lilly said. "I feel like I'm capable of being a successful starter, but I have to be ready for whatever. The objective is still the same, get the hitter out."
Lilly went a step further, saying he would rather pitch in the bullpen with the Dodgers than start somewhere else.
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Pretty cool to me... I mean, he might have little choice, but still cool.
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agreed, very cool

BlueMouse · Feb 12, 2013

Nice to hear Theodore is a team player. And we could use a LOOGY.

THINKBLUE · Feb 12, 2013

I actually like Schilling as an analyst undefined

THINKBLUE · Feb 12, 2013

Why do all my animations turn into "undefined"?

irish · Feb 12, 2013

THINKBLUE said: ↑

Why do all my animations turn into "undefined"?
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my guess would be they're not defined

THINKBLUE · Feb 12, 2013

Irish said: ↑

my guess would be they're not defined
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But I click right on them in the smilie section

irish · Feb 12, 2013

THINKBLUE said: ↑

But I click right on them in the smilie section
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that's weird
did you switch browsers or settings?

doyerfan · Feb 12, 2013

One of the ESPN guys said that they talked with Kemp and that he went through 50 different lineup scenarios lol, just like us!

He said his favorite was with Hanley leading off.

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The Spring Training Thread

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The Spring Training Thread

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