Dodgers Arrive In Taiwan; Belisario Not There, Either
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 11:30 AM PST
in Game Previews
174 comments
Dodgers (1-3-1) at Royals (4-2)
12:05pm, Surprise Stadium, Surprise, AZ
As the crowded Dodger non-roster invitee list gets a little less crowded with the retirement of Brian Giles (per Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times)...
The Dodgers arrived in Taiwan this morning, and begin their three-game series early Friday morning, at 2:37am. Here are a few shots from their welcoming press conference (both courtesy of Jon SooHoo / LA Dodgers):
The Los Angeles Dodgers, including Manager Joe Torre, Pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo and infielders James Loney and Chin-lung Hu, address the crowd at their welcoming press conference in Taiwan
James Loney addresses the crowd at the Dodgers’ welcoming press conference in Taiwan
In other news, Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy translated a report from Venezuelan newspaper El Universal on Ronald Belisario:
Belisario has missed three dates with the U.S. embassy for paperwork, which is the reason he has yet to report to Camelback Ranch.
The benefit of the doubt is slowly slipping away from Belisario's grasp.
Earlier this offseason, there were reports that the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League were interested in Eric Stults. Per NPB Tracker, that interest is apparently gone, given the relatively high cost of a potential transaction:
Sanspo said that Lotte gave up on him because his salary + transfer fee would be over $1m
(Here's a Babelfish translated versionof that link.) Stults is currently battling for the fifth starter spot in the Dodger rotation and, because he is out of options, is likely to get a longer look than pitchers with options, like Scott Elbert or James McDonald.
Here are the lineups, the order of which hopefully will stay the same today:
| Dodgers | Royals | |||
| SS | Furcal | LF | Podsednik | |
| DH | Johnson | C | Kendall | |
| RF | Ethier | RF | DeJesus | |
| CF | Kemp | 1B | Butler | |
| 3B | Blake | CF | Ankiel | |
| 2B | DeWitt | DH | Guillen | |
| 1B | Mientkiewicz | 3B | Fields | |
| C | Ausmus | SS | Betancourt | |
| LF | Repko | 2B | Bloomquist | |
| P | McDonald | P | Meche | |
After McDonald, scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers are Russ Ortiz, Ramon Troncoso, Travis Schlichting, Javy Guerra, and Armando Zerpa.
Minor Leaguers on the Dodgers' roster today are Dee Gordon, Brandon Watson, Andrew "Adam" Lambo, Kyle "Sticks" Russell, Jaime Pedroza, Brian Cavazos-Galvez, and Austin Yount (son of Robin).
Among the scheduled pitchers today for Royals are Aaron Crow, Edgar Osuna, and former Dodgers Matt Herges and Joakim Soria.
Among Royals we won't see today are Mike Moustakas, David Lough, Danny Duffy, Derrick Robinson, Ernesto Mejia, Mario Lisson, and Steven Lerud, as they were assigned to minor league camp.
Tomorrow, scheduled to play at Camelback Ranch against the Reds, Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start, followed by Carlos Monasterios, Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Luis Ayala, and Brent Leach. Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman is among the Reds scheduled to pitch in that game.
No TV today (tomorrow is on Prime Ticket), but you can listen online here.
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Really?
Why do you say that? I can tell nothing from that picture.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:41 PM PST up reply actions
I was going
by the arm close to the vest vs all the others with extended arms. I was really just kidding. I am no body language expert at all. :)
And they sound much better than they might normally
after Levine yesterday. ;-)
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Gil Meche
Candidate for Pitcher Most Likely to Regress award?
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Hah Yes
I forgot 2009 happened, as he probably would like to as well.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Maybe there's a link or two to it by now, a few tweets perhaps
BTW – better career, Brian Giles or Bobby Abreu?
by bhsportsguy on Mar 11, 2010 12:13 PM PST up reply actions
Good question
first instinct is Abreu, but it needs investigation.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 12:16 PM PST up reply actions
Hmmmmm.....
He was a unique presence in the clubhouse, with his complete body tan and shave job, but he came off likable, happy and at peace with his situation.
This is a player who hit 287 home runs in his career and drove in over 1,000 runs. He was a career .291 hitter with a remarkable .502 on-base percentage.
If this is true, I would have to say Giles had the better career.
.502 OB%
gotta love that. Bloggers aren’t what they used to be.
by meercatjohn on Mar 11, 2010 12:30 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Apparently sarcasm also retired
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 12:18 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Dodgers are in Taipei I hear
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
by underdog on Mar 11, 2010 12:30 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Love this part of the order, for name reasons
3B Blake
2B DeWitt
Blake started the 2nd with a single
.400 OBP, .502 Slugging Pct
Still pretty good numbers, Abreu is a hair below those numbers and since he is going to play at least a few more years, those numbers are likely to go down.
Interesting question
I would have picked Abreu but BP translated EQA has Giles at .312 and Abreu at .309. Add in the value of Giles defense over Abreu and it looks like Giles.
by meercatjohn on Mar 11, 2010 12:29 PM PST up reply actions
BPro has their WARP3 very, very close:
Giles 57.6
Abreu 57.1
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 12:32 PM PST up reply actions
Two incredibly close talents
with the differences being that Bobby had a better running game while Giles played a better D. Other then that great on base guys with solid power who did it year in and year out.
by meercatjohn on Mar 11, 2010 12:34 PM PST up reply actions
Both have played in some pretty nice hitters parks, but Giles did suffer Petco from the last half of his age 32 season onwards.
MLB Network’s John Hart traded Giles from Cleveland straight-up for middle-reliever / occasional closer Ricardo Rincon. Funny, Giles seems like a gritty, grinding, gamer than Hart would love.
Dodger rule 5 draftee Carlos Monasterios was one of the minor-leaguers the Phillies received when they traded Abreu to the Yankees.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:40 PM PST up reply actions
In the less-scientific corner, career similarity scores
Giles:
1. Reggie Smith (925)
2. Bob Johnson (922)
3. Fred Lynn (919)
4. Shawn Green (910)
5. Bobby Bonilla (901)
6. Scott Rolen (900)
7. Dante Bichette (900)
8. Carlos Lee (897)
9. Magglio Ordonez (895)
10. Tim Salmon (890)
Abreu:
1. Bob Johnson (899)
2. Bernie Williams (895)
3. Will Clark (886)
4. Brian Giles (883)
5. Paul O’Neill (881)
6. Ellis Burks (879)
7. Reggie Smith (871)
8. Shawn Green (866)
9. Edgar Martinez (862)
10. John Olerud (861)
“Indian” Bob Johnson came up in our comments the other day.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:36 PM PST up reply actions
PVL-driven run!
Blake + Minky + Ausmus!
Now let’s see if Old Man Repko can join in. ;-)
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Nope
REPKOFAIL
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
A few more AAA
years under his belt and he’ll come through.
by meercatjohn on Mar 11, 2010 12:31 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
by then he'll be ready for
AAARP
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Strike em out throw em out double play!
Nice McDonald!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
First K of spring for JMac?
I wonder what his velocity is at this second game….
by Michael White on Mar 11, 2010 12:41 PM PST up reply actions
It didn’t look like he was throwing hard in the TV last Saturday.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:42 PM PST up reply actions
Per the guns at the stadium, it was only 88.
by Michael White on Mar 11, 2010 12:42 PM PST up reply actions
Thanks – I didn’t catch that at the time.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:43 PM PST up reply actions
Royals announcer said
90, 91 a couple of times today if I recall… getting better
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Hard to have much
velocity in a TV unless you have one of those 60 foot models.
by meercatjohn on Mar 11, 2010 12:43 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I have a 60 foot 6 inch model.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Mar 11, 2010 12:45 PM PST up reply actions
Been wanting to say this for months
SQUEE-thier!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Gameday shows it well beyond the deepest part of center field.
Wonder how far it traveled.
I’m just catching up on the blog today. The Merlin Olson news is sad. Coupled with 3 Dog, that’s two local sports icons from my boyhood removed in just a couple days time. Like Phil, I really loved the Rams teams of that era.
Lamar Lundy died a couple years ago – given all the health problems he had, it was surprising he lived that long – so it is Deacon Jones and Rosey Grier that remain from the Fearsome Foursome.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
That Venezuelan newspaper article on Belisario
also mentions the DUI as an issue. From Google translate:
Belisario, who is in his hometown of Maracay awaiting a new appointment at the embassy, has also struggled over the incident in which he was involved last year in Los Angeles, where police stopped him for driving under the influence of alcohol.Remember, Belisario is not trying to come in from some place like Japan or even the Dominican Republic. Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela (and their imported Cuban advisors) is probably not the most favored nation in the state department these days, so someone from that country who also has an arrest record in the US, I can see getting additional scrutiny from the US government agencies.
“That has complicated matters, because they (the Americans) are very strict with these legal issues,” said the source familiar with the pitcher, who was released last year major league career.
However, given those additional possibilities for complication, missing scheduled appointments with the embassy is all the more egregious on Belisario’s part, if all this is accurate.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I still put alot of the blame on the agent
that is his job to take care of his client. Earn your % buddy. Could be that Beliario is as dumb as Pedro and needs hand holding.
Especially, too, since if you watched that Withrow video the other day, the Dodgers have a person dedicated to helping players with visa issues, documentation, etc. I would imagine they did everything they could to lay out a timeline for Belisario
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 1:07 PM PST up reply actions
Agreed
Belisario’s agent, according to Steve Dilbeck who quoted him, is Paul Kinzer, the guy Frank Wren thought he had a deal with for Furcal, before Arm Tellem got involved.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Oh dear...
When Scott Pod scores a homer, you know you’re not having a good day on the mound…
Does McDonald's fast ball
move very much? I don’t get to see the Dodgers as often as I would like so I would like to know what you guys think. It always seemed to me that he threw it around 94, but it had little to no movement. Pretty straight and flat. Thanks guys.
It might have some rise action to it. BTW, late last year after McDonald was essentially a reliever for most of the season, his fastballs were touching 97, that was in the third inning of work…
by Michael White on Mar 11, 2010 1:15 PM PST up reply actions
I know he has a big arm. I love that dude. Just wish he could put it all together as a starter. He was a blessing out of the pen last year. Thanks man.
by keithc13 on Mar 11, 2010 1:20 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Why couldn't it have been Russ Ortiz
giving up those 3 runs? Siiigh… (Ortiz in to pitch now.)
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Talking up Dee Gordon!
(Who is now in the game)
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Kyle Russell batting 2nd this inning!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Buster Olney has a nice personal childhood story about Willie Davis in his blog. The full blog is for ESPN insiders, but the Davis part is available to all in full.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Anyone think Ned will trade for Andy Sonnanstine if he doesn’t like the options when ST closes? Remember, he’s buddies with Friedman.
have you seen their other phenom
jeremy hellickson?? 2.2 innings 1 hit 6 Ks 0 Walks so far…
and they will not have an open rotation spot for him although he clearly deserves one
4.55 SO/BB ratio, About to be 23 years old, excellent WHIP…
by Julio Nievas on Mar 11, 2010 2:03 PM PST up reply actions
last year in AAA?
he was unhittable…
yet the rays with their abundance of pitching will not have a spot rotation spot for him probably… thats why they might trade one of their starters
also
the rays got like 7 pitchers for 5 spots in the rotation…
price davis neimin garza shields sonnanstine and hellickson… and they got some other SP that are almost ready
HOME RUN!
for the CHIN!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
No, Webcast only
via MLB audio
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
It takes guts to do that in ST. He is a gritty announcer.
by keithc13 on Mar 11, 2010 1:50 PM PST via mobile up reply actions 2 recs
Fox fails geography regarding Dodger trip
Click to see larger image. Insert your own “all looking alike” joke here.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
tomorrows prime ticket game??
who will pitch? and will we get to see the prospects like gordon and russell in those games???
wow that would be really cool
Do people read what the actual post or skip to the comments? :) See second to last paragraph
Tomorrow, scheduled to play at Camelback Ranch against the Reds, Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start, followed by Carlos Monasterios, Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Luis Ayala, and Brent Leach. Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman is among the Reds scheduled to pitch in that game.
As to the players
My assumption is that some will play especially the middle infielders and outfielders because lack of NRIs and regulars still playing half games.
i just skip to the commments
i think i should read the posts first from now on though
by matthewmafa on Mar 11, 2010 2:03 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
one time... the lakers blog silver screen and roll
WARNED ME…..
for not reading the article and asking a question in the comments about the headline….
the headline was morrisons last day is thursday….
and i said MORRISON is getting traded???
and the guy gave me a warning !
Sorry if it seems I am singling you out
But Eric, Phil, Dave and Mike do a great job of keeping everyone up to date so it behooves readers to peruse the posts because if something is already out there, chances are, they have already noted it somewhere.
yup
imma try to read the posts from now on…
So...
“imma try to read the posts, but the comments are the best of all-time!!!” ???
:)
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 2:12 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I remember when Eric, Phil, Dave and Mike were
just commenters – they were very good at that, I wonder what happened to them
Nope
Dodgers have 4 more games on MLB Network:
Mar 17: White Sox
Mar 26: Royals
Mar 30: at Rockies
Apr 3: Angels (at Dodger Stadium)
All but the Rockies game are already televised (either PT or KCAL)
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 2:10 PM PST up reply actions
keithc
hangs his head in disgust. I don’t ever by extra innings, so my thing is to follow the game online and wait for the alloted time to expire on prime ticket and watch the end. Lame way to work…..i need to buck up and buy extra innings
This is just for the spring though. Extra Innings doesn’t apply to spring training.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 2:29 PM PST up reply actions
Quirky stat
Chone Figgins has three more walks today, giving him seven this spring. He is 0 for 9, yet has a .438 OBP :)
Lambo batting!
And the Royals announcer knew his name was Andrew. Has been reading his bio and such, which is cool.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Lambo walks!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
And Dee Gordon
now batting. Gee, this is fun, for a totally meaningless game.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Gordon grounds out
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
i thought he has plus plus plus sppeeed
why the f didnt he beat out that grounder…
His Warp Speed option was turned off today?
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
it was probably hard hit grounder
and then the ump made a bad call.. gordon was probably safe… but he ran so fast the umpire could not see him
From Tony Jackson, on Gordon’s groundout:
Dee Gordon almost beat out a routine bouncer to second base just now. Got him by half a step. That kid can fly.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 2:56 PM PST up reply actions
Does this mean
you’ll be using At-Bat to follow all the Royals home games?
matt kemp will take the 100 mph lefty phenom aroldis chapman DEEEP tomorrow
DEEP … like 500 feet homer deep matt kemp power plus ball coming 100 mph will equal a long homerun
Casey Blake
Did not want to say that Manny went to Taiwan for the cash. Or at least did not want to say anything derogatory.
A little more on Belisario
from Tony Jackson:
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said he has been given no indication of when Belisario might show up or why he has missed the appointments.
“You would think that when you have the opportunity to make a living throwing a baseball, and the opportunity presents itself to pitch in the big leagues, support your family and build a career, that would be something you would pursue to the fullest,’’ Colletti said.
Colletti reiterated his stance that the Dodgers are moving on without Belisario for now.
“I can’t worry about things that I have zero control over or people I have zero control over,‘’ Colletti said. "If he shows, he shows. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.’’
Colletti said he isn’t considering releasing Belisario — a move that would allow him to become a free agent and possibly sign with another club — but that the Dodgers could place Belisario on the restricted list, which would remove him from the 40-man roster but keep him under club control.
Pumpkinhead
My alma mater does a good job explaining Belisario’s situation right now
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 3:04 PM PST up reply actions
how are they paid for spring training?
I want the guy on my team but I hope this b——-t is costing him financially somehow.
if the reason for this is truly missing “3 appointments” then he is either stupid or arrogant or both (to a degree beyond my comprehension)
by lchristmas on Mar 12, 2010 6:22 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Oh no! Kyle Russell strikes out!
There it is… His career’s all over!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
He is going to need bombs in 5 or 6 consecutive AB’s to redeem himself. No one to blame but yourself Sticks.
by keithc13 on Mar 11, 2010 3:07 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
what did he strike out on?
swinging?
curve? in the dirt? i wonder how the guy strikes out 200 times in the minors? takes to many pitches like adam dunn or just completly misses the pitch like mark reynolds
I’d like to point out that the Dodgers remain undefeated since the ending of the Brian giles era. Good riddence!
2009-10 Kings Hockey: Delivering Milk Steaks from the Meat Train at an arena near you!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Mar 11, 2010 3:29 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Also, undefeated since we shipped the dead weight to Taiwan! :)
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 4:00 PM PST up reply actions
Giles Gone
I know you already covered it above but I’ve been at work traveling so couldn’t respond.
In watching Giles yesterday at batting practice it was clear that things weren’t right with the world. Timing was way off. Perhaps it was because I was staring at his tanned bulged muscles that put him over the edge? I knew I should have asked for his autograph. Of course, it could have been the fact that he saw Anderson swing the bat a few times depositing the ball at or near the fence with most every stroke. I think Garrett was behind the batting cage heckling, “Ain’t a batter, ain’t a batter, SWIIING!” Just Kidding. Good luck Giles. Now you’re going to have to sign a minor league deal with the Padres for a day so you can retire properly.
He should sign with the Mets so he can team up with Ollie Perez and Jason Bay. I recommend the Mets also sign Ricardo Rincon, too.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 11, 2010 4:24 PM PST up reply actions
To pass out in your neighborhoods
That is if your neighborhood is in Venezuela
by RawhideBlue on Mar 11, 2010 4:56 PM PST reply actions 3 recs
I am
thinking about printing it off and posting it in my neighborhood. I do not live in Venezuela but it would be funny…..
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego
|
76 | 56 | .575 | 0 | Lost 7 |
|
San Francisco
|
74 | 60 | .552 | 3 | Won 2 |
|
Colorado
|
69 | 63 | .522 | 7 | Lost 2 |
|
Los Angeles
|
68 | 66 | .507 | 9 | Lost 2 |
|
Arizona
|
55 | 79 | .410 | 22 | Won 3 |
(updated 9.2.2010 at 3:17 AM PDT)
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
