Last years spring question marks get answered

by meercatjohn on Feb 17, 2009 1:31 PM PST Comment 9 comments

As spring training starts I thought I'd take a look back and see how the questions we had last year last year were answered.

1. Who will be the 3rd baseman? The prospect who is ready to play everyday or the over the hill veteran with something to prove. I'm not as down on Nomar as the rest of you but LaRoche should be given the job with plenty of room to fail. - Neither won the job as injuries took them both out. Did LaRoche's injury effect him all season? We will find out this year as the Pirates give him plenty of at bats to find out what they have.

2. Who will play everyday in the outfield? Jones is a given in CF but everything else is up in the air. You have voted on what you think will happen, now we shall find out how Joe Torre manages. In the beginning Joe went with Pierre but by the end of the year he had figured out that Pierre was his 4th outfielder.

3. Who will win the utility spot? It would appear it is between Abreu, Hu, and Ramon Martinez. But they keep talking about Nomar as a super sub. No one seems to think he can do it but remember this is the same manager who played Betemit at 2nd and SS last year after everyone said Betemit could only play 3rd base. I'm not counting out Nomar as becoming the super sub and opening up a roster spot. Of course once Torre see's Kent play 2nd base he will probably opt to keep a defensive utility player. Abreu got hurt again. Hu won the job and then was terrible.

4. Will Schmidt by ready April 1st to take his spot in the rotation? If not, will there be competition between Loaiza and Kuo for the 5th spot? It is not out of the realm of possibility that all three could get hurt during spring training. Who then would be the next realistic option? Jason Johnson?Schmidt was a lost cause all year. Turns out wonder boy Kershaw was the 5th starter.

5. Who fills out the bullpen? Saito, Broxton, Beimel, and Proctor are the locks. Picking the final 2 or 3 slots will depend on if Schmidt is in the rotation. If he is then expect Loaiza and Kuo to take 2 of those slots. If not then one goes into the rotation and Seanez, Brazoban, Chan Ho, Hull, Myers, Koplov, Martin, and Stults can fight for the last two spots.Kuo became the go to guy and Chan Ho suprised everyone by winning the other job and doing it well for the most part. Cory Wade was wasn't even mentioned and also became a key part of the bullpen. Hull was traded, and most of the veterans mentioned were never used.

6. Will it be Repko or D Young to round out the outfield? D Young out of options won the job while Repko did nothing to improve his status in AAA.

7. Is Elbert back from his minor shoulder surgery?Yes, but he only pitching out of the bullpen. At times he seemed a long ways away from the man expected to be pitching with Billingsley by now. He got a cup of coffee in Sept but his control was unimpressive.

8. Is Morris able to regain his command and stuff after Tommy John?Not really, he was uninspiring and was traded along with LaRoche for Mannywood.

9. Can Greg Miller throw a strike once in a while?He could throw strikes but not as often as he threw balls. Another lost season for the man with the golden arm.

So those are the questions I asked last spring. Not very insightful in retrospect. Here are some of the questions I should have asked.

1. Could Jeff Kent provide enough offense for this team in his 40 year season? - No, injuries as expected did him in.

2. Would Andruw Jones bounce back from his sub par 2007 season - Uh, that was a big resounding no.

3. Would Hiroki Kuroda be worth his contract? After June/July it was not looking good, but he got a 2nd wind and had an excellent Aug/Sept and then was our best post season pitcher. I'd say Yes.

4. Would Kuo start or relieve and would his arm stay on? He really found his groove as the best setup man in baseball until his arm failed him in Sept. So Yes, and No.

5. Which Furcal would show up, the injury plagued one or the MVP of 2006? Sadly, both.

6. Would Clayton Kershaw be allowed to pitch in the major leagues? Yes, a resounding yes.

What questions do you hope to see answered in 2009?

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Comments

The Young Pitchers

Do Trancoso and McDonald have as much upside as I think they do? Is Cory Wade for real? Could he become a starter? Does Garrett Anderson have anything left? If so, might we want to take chance on him? Why is Juan Pierre not given any respect—-I know he’s a square peg in a suddenly round hole, but the guy is a ball player.—-so I don’t see the out and out hate. What does he do that people despise him so? So he’s not Manny and, Thank God, he’s not Android Jones. But, in his own way, I think he’s solid.

"It's a cookbook!"---The Twilight Zone

by Buck18 on Feb 17, 2009 2:15 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

re:

He simply has no power and all his skills are based on his batting average because he’s unable to take a walk so his OBP is below average. If he’s hitting 310 then he has some value but his OB has dropped from a high of .374 in 2004 to an average of about .328 since then and that won’t get it done for a starting left fielder. He’s a solid bench player because of his speed and the ability to play CF or LF but as a starter he would and has been one of the worse starting outfielders in the major leagues over the last four years. Even if you only value BA and not OB you can see that he’s not getting it done.

You can’t not get on base and have zero power to boot. Stealing bases is only a useful skill if you get on base enough to use it and then steal at a rate > 74%. He makes to many outs at the plate and on the bases. Outs are precious he gives to many of them away.

Anyway that is my view on Juan Pierre.

by meercatjohn on Feb 17, 2009 4:54 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Juanita

Does Juan Pierre bitch and moan about not getting to start over MANNY, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier when he is obviously the worst of the group?

Does Juan Pierre get traded?

Does Juan Pierre throw with his left arm despite being stronger with his right?

Does Juan Pierre have the worst contract in baseball despite being 100% healthy?

How does Juan Pierre live with himself knowing he could have hit a few home runs had he only taken steroids back in the day?

by Dusto_Magnifico on Feb 17, 2009 3:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

WGJ

I think one of the questions, harking back to the earlier post, is whether Loney joins his comrades in arms in continuing to develop toward the potential shown in 2006-7 and the 08 post-season.

by Bob Hendley on Feb 17, 2009 6:16 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

Questions

Will Loney breakout and become a key asset?
Will Dewitt show enough to become a cornerstone of the infield?
Can Raffy stay healthy?
Can Hu or Dejesus become a part of the core or are they destined to be traded off for little in return?
Can Billz avoid the consequences of the Verducci Effect?
Can the lefties (Kershaw and Wolf) be effective for full seasons?
Can Kuo ever remain healthy for a long stretch of time?
Will Cory Wade run out of pixie dust?
Can Troncoso/McDonald become the next young stud in the rotation or will lots of starts be made by Vargas/Milton/Estes types?
Is Schmidt finally healthy?
Will Manny sign with us and if he does will he be content and play up to his full ability?

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 17, 2009 7:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Answers

No, because it would take more than that for him to become a key asset (assuming key asset means, at a minimum, an above average player).
No.
Yes.
Yes, but Ned makes the latter more likely if they don’t “pop” within 30 or so PAs.
I doubt it. Hopefully he’ll get just enough play and won’t regress too much from overuse last year.
Yes, assuming “effective” is not given more meaning than it deserves.
Yes, though now in the BP that doesn’t matter as much.
I suspect he already has.
Yes, but, again, given Ned, the latter is more likely.
Yes.
Probably and if so, Yes.

by Paul Scott on Feb 17, 2009 8:33 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

re:

Now that we have the answers, I can we can fold the tents, no? Seriously, there are questions and then there are questions that are critical to whether the Dodgers will be successul this year. For example, I believe that the Dodgers could be succesful even if Loney doesn’t breakout or Dewiit becomes a cornerstone, whereas Rafi needs to be healthy, I think.

by Bob Hendley on Feb 18, 2009 11:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

re

Yes, but not only healthy but productive. He doesn’t have to be April 2008 Furcal but he has to at least be above average. So far when healthy he’s been dynamite, lets hope that trend continues.

by meercatjohn on Feb 18, 2009 11:58 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

re

Yes, as you, I belive Rafi healthy=productive. For me, the other critical questions are in regards to Billz, the lefties, and, of course, Manny. and I guess Kuo health as well.

by Bob Hendley on Feb 18, 2009 1:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs