Posts tagged AndreEthier at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

We're five full days deep in baseball and there's been a lot of action. In order to make the proper roster moves and know what to look for when you begin trade negotiations, it helps to understand the perceived value shifts that happen each week. So that's when we bust out the complex algorithms and determine who's up and who's down.

Ben Sheets -- Sheets looked great against the Cubs, engaging in a pitcher's duel against Carlos Zambrano, and even pitching post-rain delay; actually looking sharper. Sheets has a legitimate shot at the Cy Young and is a number one fantasy ace if he can avoid the injuries that have plagued him in the past.

Or, alternately: blahblahblahblah If he can stay healthy blahblahblahblah. I actually love Sheets but objectively he has to be considered a sell high, especially if he pieces together a few more of these starts. And considering Ned Yost seems unconcerned about his injury history.
Rich Harden -- See above.
Brian Bannister -- He absolutely shut down the Tigers. He won't overpower anyone but he's smart as hell and will get wins with nice ratios this season.

Apparently, Joe Torre is trying Andre Ethier out at first base. Ethier is cool with this, and I have to imagine that Juan Pierre is pretty cool with it too, since he would get additional playing time and/or starts in left field as a result. Not that Ethier is expected to displace James Loney at all (unless one of them can play third) but Torre is claiming that it would give him a lot of "roster flexibility". Hmm. I imagine it has nothing to do with Ned Colletti putting the screws down on Pierre getting playing time.

Congestion in the outfield is also a reason for the experiment.

'Especially when you have the four outfielders and you have somebody that does something else, it gives you another opportunity to get [everyone] at-bats,' Torre said. 'It's not something we're planning on doing that will be a regular scheduled thing.'

For whatever it's worth, Ethier told the Times he took "grounders" when he was at Los Angeles' double-A team in Oklahoma but that he had not actually played the position since he was at Arizona State. So at least he's got some experience, if not practice.

But scheduling it regularly would be silly, so it's nice to know that's not happening. And while I still stand adamantly by the fact that Ethier is vastly better than Pierre in most aspects of the game, it certainly does not hurt to have someone that can step in for Loney should he get hurt. Or you know, Nomar Garciaparra doesn't get healthy enough to play the backup.

In a victory for rational thought and statistical based analysis, a.k.a. common sense, Joe Torre announced that Andre Ethier, and not Juan Pierre, would be starting in left field for the Dodgers come Opening Day (which is .... tomorrow, he said giddily rubbing his hands together). Torre had claimed he might not know who was starting until Monday, but he was kind enough to drop the bomb, gently we hope because his tiny little frame is quite fragile, on Pierre this evening.

'I just feel I want to start that way and see,' said Torre. '[Ethier] had an outstanding spring. Sometimes you don't make enough of Spring Training, sometimes you make too much of it. I'm curious. I want to see more. He's had a number of home runs, he's hit off left-handers and right-handers.'

Torre said the 30-year-old Pierre, in the second year of a five-year, $44 million contract, was disappointed.

'He's a professional,' Torre said of Pierre, who was displaced from center field by the signing of Andruw Jones. 'Before it's all said and done, he'll be contributing. I wouldn't want anybody on the bench accepting of it.'

And that's very true. Pierre will most certainly be contributing. But, as the contract numbers above indicate, it will be in one of the more expensive pinch running roles in the history of baseball. Fortunately, man, is he fast. And goshdarn, doesn't he play the game the right way!

Seriously though, if Torre had gone with Pierre over the a) better, b) younger, c) more prone to clogging up the bases player in Ethier, it would have been quite the ominous early season sign for the Dodgers. You hate to pay a guy 44 million bones and not play him, but that's not as bad as letting strong potential rot on the bench behind inferior talent.

I can't tell if a lack of sleep is just taking hold and everything on television is funny or not, but I actually snickered pretty heavily when I watched this video, via Blue Notes, that is an Easton commercial called "Hardball Made Easy". This is lesson number 36, called "Blocking the Plate", and there's some sweet montage/intro music to kick off the video plus some quasi-funny names for stances to block the plate. But the real humor comes about two minutes in, when Matt Kemp charges the plate, although I'd recommend watching the whole thing to really get the feel for it.



What? Until Joe Torre figures out that Juan Pierre stinks (ETD Monday) this is all the Dodger outfield news you're gonna get.

The Red Sox and Athletics are kicking off the 2008 baseball season even as we speak -- you better be reading the live blog -- but for the rest of the major leagues it's still spring training. Just a few more days to figure things out, assess talent, send players up or down in the system, and finally, mercifully bench Juan Pierre. Wait, that doesn't sound right (via BBTF):

Juan Pierre sat in the clubhouse before Monday's game, appearing to stare glumly into space. Nearby, a lineup card was posted without his name on it for the second time in five days.

"I'm not talking," he said quietly.

"He's not fine," Torre confirmed. "He wants to play. He doesn't like not playing, and I understand that. I'm sensitive to it, but I'm trying to find out as much as I can."

What's Juan so upset about? It's not as if Torre's benched him for the beginning of the season -- he's merely trying to "see what he has" in Andre Ethier. Joe, let me save you the trouble: In Ethier, you have someone better at baseball than Juan Pierre in nearly every single way. Play the man. Play him. Please.

Oh, and if Pierre reacts this way during a spring training bench, who knows what's going to happen in May when the Dodgers finally just eat his contract. He and Jeff Kent are going to form a "The Kids Aren't Winners" PAC or something. At 3 a.m., who do you want in left field? Someone inferior with experience, that's who!

The Los Angeles Dodgers went out and overpaid picked up Andruw Jones following his worst year in Atlanta and he will absolutely be starting in center field for the Dodgers come Opening Day. This makes sense. Jones is the best option they have available for the spot. He's also -- in theory -- the best hitting outfielder they have and, well, you get the point. Druw is going to play. Joe Torre's decision on how to fill the remaining two slots in left and right field is coming down to three players though: Juan Pierre, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

'They've all shown enough to warrant playing every day,' said Torre. 'It's something I'll fiddle with and rotate. There's always the danger in doing that, as much as you get to keep everybody involved, you don't want to take away from someone who won't be as good when he doesn't get the at-bats.'

At least now we get to find out what kind of managerial acumen Torre has when his lineup isn't already completely stacked. The fact of the matter is that Pierre is not good. The arguments for playing him are his speed and defense. His speed is null and void because he doesn't get on base enough to make it worthwhile -- what are 64 stolen bases worth when you can't score more than 100 runs, really?. And his defense -- I'm willing to just concede the point that he might be good for the sake of moving along, even though his arm makes Johnny Damon look like Wilie Mays -- isn't worth the offensive sacrifice that failing to use Kemp or Ethier would be.

HT: Blue Notes

102. Reality Bites

First aired: 9/26/1994
Production Code: 60063

Will loses points as a role model for Nicky while visiting an ever-positive kiddie hero who brings joy to youngsters but not to Will. Does the hero live up to Will standards?

Alternate versions of today's Dodgers Dugout include one about Jeff Kent leaving to be a part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, one about Tommy Lasorda running out onto the field and getting thrown to the ground head-over-ass by Pedro Martinez, and one where Joe Torre and Orel Hershiser have dramatically different ideas about what constitutes a "Baseball Boogie."

The NL West wing of Spring Dugz comes to a close, after the jump.

Yes, I probably should have attached a "breaking news" tag to that headline, considering it's so shocking. It has been widely acknowledged that one of the Dodgers' first priorities for the Winter was to upgrade at center field and move Juan Pierre over to left. GM Ned Colletti said that he is gauging the interest of a few top free agents at the position:

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti acknowledged Friday that he is looking at free agents Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones and Aaron Rowand as potential upgrades in center field.

Colletti described his pursuits of the three players as being in their initial stages.

"We're curious to know what their interest level is in playing here and what it's going to take to get them here," Colletti said. "They're all accomplished in their own way. They all bring something to the table."

Colletti also added that bringing in a free agent outfielder to play center would give the Dodgers more flexibility to make a trade. Such a move would make Matt Kemp and/or Andre Ethier expendable, and there's no question that Kemp would draw interest from several other teams. Rowand seems the most interested in the Dodgers, but he might also be the least attractive of the three aforementioned center fielders. It seems like Colletti is trying to put the pieces in place to make a run at Miguel Cabrera, and at the least, upgrade the talent in his outfield.

I've heard of some ballplayers not signing autographs for adults, simply because they're more likely to turn around and sell the autograph on eBay the next day. Andre Ethier, though, has a different criteria: he just won't sign for women. Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue, who is admittedly disgruntled following Ethier's home run last night (it "just barely made the first row of seats and was definitely wind-aided"), recounts a story told to him by a friend:

Then Martin signed a few more, so Ethier did, too -- but only for the men waiting, not for Jenna's mom, who was the only woman around. She asked him, "Aren't you going to sign for me?"

His response will stun you. He said, "I already have five girlfriends, I don't want another one." She responded, "I don't want to be your girlfriend, I just want your autograph." But Ethier continued: "I'm just a Southwestern kind of guy, I like to rope my women in." (He's a native of Phoenix, Arizona.)

Honestly, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what that actually means -- all I can figure out is that it's pretty rude and probably not the type of thing the Dodgers want him caught saying while in uniform. (The story ends well enough -- the woman ended up having some random guy get the card signed for her, though why she still wanted the autograph is beyond me at this point.

The almost inevitable finally occurred, as the Giants and Dodgers found themselves to be trade partners for the first time since 1985. San Francisco dealt Mark Sweeney to LA for cash or a player to be named later. This is a significant deal, but not because of what Sweeney brings to the table. To me, it carries more significance because it shows that the bitter rivals are willing to work with each other, and more specifically, that the Giants are willing to help out the Dodgers in the midst of a playoff push. This was to be somewhat expected considering Dodgers GM Ned Colletti used to be the Giants assistant GM.

Some people will argue that Mark Sweeney will be a valuable player down the stretch for LA. With 155 career pinch-hits, he ranks 2nd all-time in the category to Lenny Harris. But I don't feel that Sweeney is a better bat off the bench for the Dodgers than say a Delwyn Young, Andre Ethier, or a few of the other players who may be on the bench in a key spot. In my eyes, this is not a significant move because of who it is, but rather, because of what it is.

In his brief time as the Dodgers GM, Ned Colletti has already shown he is unafraid of pulling the trigger on a trade. Last year, Ned dealt for Greg Maddux who provided a playoff boost down the stretch. This year, the Dodgers could use a power bat and an extra starter, and Colletti doesn't seem like a man who will back down from a deal:

"I'm not afraid of trading a young player," Colletti said. "We would give up kids this year if it was going to be a defining player, and a player we'd have for a little while."

The young players we could be talking about include anyone from Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andy LaRoche, Andre Ethier, and Tony Abreu, to Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, and several other pitchers in the minor leagues. Mark Buehrle has been a popular rumor lately, as have Adam Dunn and Troy Glaus in the past. I even said earlier that Matt Morris could be a hot commodity, and while I doubt Brian Sabean's willingness to help out the Dodgers, he does have a strong relationship with his former assistant, Ned Colletti. So that might be a possibility.

The problem isn't so much about getting a defining player in a trade, so much as it is the second condition Colletti mentions -- getting a player they'd have for a little while. I guess that means cross rent-a-player off the Dodgers' list, that is, unless they're not giving up one of their top guys like Kemp, Broxton, or Billingsley. Regardless, given Colletti's recent history, it's safe to say the Dodgers will be players in the July trade market.

It was only yesterday that we talked about Matt Capps taking Salomon Torres' job as the Pittsburgh Pirates closer. Though manager Jim Tracy insisted it wasn't a demotion for Torres and had nothing to do with his four blown saves, most Pirate fans (and most baseball fans in general) suspected otherwise. It looked like a good idea when Capps made his closing debut last night by collecting three outs with five pitches to close out a 3-1 Pirate win over the Dodgers. The inherent flaw in Tracy's plan, however, was that the rest of the Pirate bullpen is so bad that the erratic Torres still remained as set-up man for the Pirates.

You see where this is headed. Torres came into today's Pirates-Dodgers tilt with a 4-2 lead and bases loaded in seventh inning with two outs. He gave up an infield single in seventh to let the Dodgers close the deficit to 4-3, then served up a two-run homer to Andre Ethier in the eighth to give the margin needed for their 5-4 win. The Dodgers bullpen showed the Pirates how to actually hold a lead, despite closer Takashi Saito leaving in the ninth inning with an undisclosed injury (former Pirate Joe Beimel collected the save).

So how bad is the Pirates' pen right now? Besides Capps, Torres and his 5 blown saves and 4.50 ERA. He's got a decent WHIP (1.15), but that was mostly collected in games that were out of reach. Damaso Marte has been effective this year, but mostly only against left-handed batters. Jonah Bayliss, Josh Sharpless, John Grabow, and Tony Armas are all mostly useless as relievers. Usually ERAs aren't a great indicator of reliever performance. In this case, Bayliss, Sharpless, Grabow, and Armas all have ERAs over 5.00 (and most well over). That is an excellent indicator of how well they've pitched this year. None of the few leads that the Pirates can manage to achieve are currently safe.

Previously at the Fanhouse
Matt Capps Is the Pirates' New Closer

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Because the minor leaguer feels he's ready for the majors, as do the Dodgers, but they still sent him down to Triple A to start the season. Loney's gripe is that he won the Triple A Pacific Coast League batting title last year with a .380 average, and followed it up by hitting .414 during Spring Training, good for second highest on the club. Despite those stellar numbers, the Dodgers elected to keep Matt Kemp on the Opening Day roster as their final outfielder, along with Brady Clark, Andre Ethier, Luis Gonzalez, and Juan Pierre, because Kemp offered another right-handed bat. Loney's camp was fairly diplomatic in suggesting the Dodgers trade him:

"He didn't demand it. He suggested it as an option," said Joe Urbon, Loney's agent. "He was the best hitter in the Minor Leagues last year and they re-signed Nomar Garciaparra for two years. If James only gets to the Major Leagues when Nomar gets hurt, he could be sitting around until 2009. No one wants to be a Dodger more than James. But he's disappointed and frustrated. As he said, he can't help the [Dodgers] in Las Vegas."

Loney responded to being sent to Las Vegas by crushing a 440 bomb in the first pitch he saw of Thursday's Opening Night for the minor-league club, as if he were out to stick it to the Dodgers' front office. In defense of Loney, the man has nothing left to prove, and he could be up in the bigs trying to help the club instead of Gonzalez, Kemp, or Ethier. In defense of the Dodgers, the 440 foot home run is exactly the reason extra time in the minors could be helpful. Despite being a batting champ, Loney only hit eight home runs last year, and has just 35 career home runs in nearly 2,000 minor league at-bats.

Hopefully Loney can work on his power numbers, while maintaining his high batting average, as he awaits his opportunity to shine in the Major Leagues, be it with the Dodgers or another team.