Another Blake steals Withrow's Thunder
by Phil Gurnee on Apr 9, 2010 6:00 AM PDT
in Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Report
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PrintThe Dodgers are loaded with Blakes with Casey Blake, Blake DeWitt, and Jamey Blake Carroll so why should it surprise anyone that another Blake stole the show on opening night.
Maybe because this Blake had one of the worse debut seasons ever for a round two pick in history? When you are a 21 year old College player drafted in the 2nd round you are expected to dominate in the Rookie League not hit .212 and slug .308. This Blake was so bad that it was simply assumed he would return to the mound, and give up the idea he was an outfielder. Our best prospect hounds were dismissive when Baseball America had the temerity to still include him in their top 25.
Not so fast my feathered friends. Blake Smith may have taken the long route but on Thursday Night he arrived with a bang.
1st ab - Two Run Home Run
2nd ab - Reaches on fielding error
3rd ab - Lead off Double
4th ab - Two Run Single
5th ab - Double driving in one run
5th ab - Single
Final line - 6 at bats, on base six times, drove in five runs, two doubles, home run, two singles. 10 Total bases, last year he had 32 total bases in over 100 at bats. I had heard the Dodgers signed Blake, and had him become an outfielder based on a prodigious power display he put on at Dodger Stadium when they were checking out players last spring before the draft. It was nice to see that player show up in 2010 on opening day. Hopefully there is more to come.
As we started our first Minor League Game Thread for opening day most eyes were focused on top prospects Chris Withrow and Dee Gordon. WIthrow threatened to put a wet blanket on our good mood by pulling a Padilla when he gave up two runs on three hits. The hits were line drives and the outs were line drives. Whatever was the problem in the first inning once it was over Withrow put the hammer down and was masterful from that point on. Over his final five innings he gave up no runs, no hits, one walk , and four strikeouts. That would be six innings, which kind of shocks us given how few innings our major league starters have gone so far this year. Dee Gordon did not fare as well going 0 - 4. During Gordon's 1st at bat the radio announcer noted that the outfield was playing him like a little leaguer. Meaning they had no respect for his power or lack thereof. The interesting outfield had a good game. Scott Van Slyke drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th with his 2nd double of the game and finished with three runs batted in. Lambo was on base three times with a single and two walks. Trayvon Robinson had two hits and a stolen base. Javy Guerra capped off the night with a hitles and walkless 9th to pick up the save. Important for Javy is the fact he did not walk anyone.
The second big game of interest was James McDonald making the start for the Isotopes. James acquitted himself well going five solid inning. Only misstep was a solo home run by Justin Smoak one of the top hitting prospects in the league. Of minor interest was how the lineup was going to look. Hu played SS, DeJesus played 2nd, Russ Mitchell played 3rd as I suspected he might. It will be curious if they flip flop Hu/DeJesus or keep it like this.
The Inland Empire 66ers have Kyle Russell on the team and he did not disappoint with a home run, double, and walk in his five plate appearances. Cole Saint Clair saved the game with two innings of hitless ball.
Hard to beat an opening day where all four affiliates win.
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Bonjour
Nice to see Kyle hit a HR… I hope he can smash 40 HR and drove in 125 RBI with less L (around 140 K)
Allez les Bleus!!!! Ici c'est Paris!!!! Go Blue
Thank you
Links to all four box scores. Just what I was looking for this morning. Print them out, put them under an important looking paper on a clipboard. Viola! [take note, young Tripon]
I hope Phil can recap these minor league fames all year
"I love the Tour de Pise", "I love La Joconde", "I love French Culture", "I love Gastronomie Francaise", "Hey, Obama I wanna to kick your ass", "OMG, they are a lot of Viets, everybody get down", "I do my Yoga" and "I love la France"... and she spits... By Louise Bourgoin (my avatar) in Sarah Palin :D
Nice to see McDonald’s 0 walks and decent strike percentage. He wasn’t close to having any semblance of that type of control this spring.
I would like to point out
that I had ranked Blake Smith #20 in my prospect countdown, so I hadn’t given up on him at all.
He smashed yesterday
Really put a smile on my face. I hope that trend continues and moves up the latter this season.
Yes, I meant to give props to you for that
but my focus got sidetracked when I started writing about the other games and forgot to go back and write about the fact you were the only one I know besides BA who had not already given up on him.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Coolguy_88888888
send me an email. I tried your email and you did not respond.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Now we can see if Gordon can hit with advanced pitchers…
I think it will be a breakout year for Lambo (his game was great last night)
"I love the Tour de Pise", "I love La Joconde", "I love French Culture", "I love Gastronomie Francaise", "Hey, Obama I wanna to kick your ass", "OMG, they are a lot of Viets, everybody get down", "I do my Yoga" and "I love la France"... and she spits... By Louise Bourgoin (my avatar) in Sarah Palin :D
Gordon
He had plenty of XBH in the tough Midwest League, so I don’t know why the players treated him like a joke last night.
Can you speak to the quality of the defense in the midwest league? I would think sideshow defense and lack of throwing arms contribute (with Gordon’s speed obviously) to the XBHs. I also recall that Gordon had a ton of infield singles; those will also go down as advanced infielders have stronger arms and better range. The reports suggest that Gordon is still really small, so I’m not sure how many of the XBH’s were no-doubter doubles off the wall.
Just speculating….
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions
Van Slyke
Lots of positives last night, but I’m real interested in Van Slyke’s reemergence. He came back from nowhere last year to put up solid numbers, and seeing him perform in AA from the start is a great sign [despite his age]. Maybe he can be our sleeper this year. AA hitters Gordon, Lambo, Trayvo, May, & Van Slyke don’t make me forget about the Jacksonville Five, but there’s definitely some intrigue there. Suddently, our organizational outfield depth is looking like a strength, and that’s not mentioning all the A ballers who homered for us during spring training!
Just a reminder
with the season starting, the front page will be dominated with pre/post game reviews, along with the game threads. Look to the fanposts for Xeifranks daily simulations, and the minor league updates.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
These are the daily links we will be using as soon as they are available
http://firstinning.com/daily/la
http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/dodgers-recap.html
http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/milb-recap.html
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I’m struggling to think of a guy that might get traded at the deadline in a blockbuster. Oswalt has been mentioned but I don’t see the Astros letting him go. Not their philosophy.
Any others?
Maybe not a blockbuster
but Tall Chris Young will likely end up being a very useful piece down the stretch for someone.
Lots of first basemen mentioned. AGon has the best chance to get dealt, but man, it will have to be a haul.
+1
that’s probably the biggest name i can think of.
I think the Brewers will stay in contention until the end so Fielder probably stays.
I dont want to see Withrow dominating the Dodgers for the next 5 years in that uniform. No way.
by delias man on Apr 9, 2010 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
don't worry
a lot of our prospects are going to breakout this year :)
Webster, Martin, Miller, Russell, Lambo, Van Slyke, Robinson.
I see all of them stepping it up or maintaining production.
Yep
Loney, DeJesus, pick two of E.Martin/Eovaldi/Gould/Webster/Miller… Would that get it done?
You won't get AGon
For anything less than Withrow or Gordon as the centerpiece, and likely both of them + others would be the starting point of the discussions. Loney would likely end up tossed in, but I doubt he has alot of value right now.
No team is going to send their two best prospects, plus two or three other guys. Maybe one grade A, and three or four B/C’s
Like I said
Start of the discussions. Never said thats where it’d end up.
As for “no team would ever”… the Dodgers have traded similarly for far less, what makes you think they wouldn’t?
Just recent history. The economics of the game have changed since the last time the Dodgers traded a #1 prospect. . (I’m not counting Santana because he wasn’t our #1, or really on any prospect list radar until after the trade)
I can’t think of any recent trades where a team has sent their top two.
White Sox sent Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos to OAK for Nick Swisher. I believe those were their top 2.
Forgot about Bedard
That one stands out for sure, but also seems like it sort of taught a lesson to GM’s.
Haren deal
and then the Holliday Deal
They didn’t send their top two but they sent their top one along with a bonafide major league closer.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Totally disagree with this
“(I’m not counting Santana because he wasn’t our #1, or really on any prospect list radar until after the trade)”
He wasn’t our #1, but he was a known commodity in prospect circles. Much more so than Josh Bell, who really blossomed after leaving us.
How do you figure?
He wasn’t on anyone’s top 20 prior to 2007 or even 2008. It wasn’t midway through 2008 when he tore it up, got noticed and was subsequently traded. At the time he was probably considered by most as our 3rd best position prospect (behind Lambo and DeJesus).
His “known commodity” status only occurred once he was traded. As happens to all Dodgers prospects – they aren’t a prospect until they get traded to another team.
Well
I knew who he was: a switch-hitting catching prospect with power, patience, and high-average potential. With prospects, I’m more of a tools guy than numbers guy, and Santana possessed all those tools at the time of the trade. Now, he could have just as easily turned into a Willy Aybar or Joel Guzman, but the fact he was a catcher made him highly valued at the time of the trade. It’s all subjective, of course, but he had certainly broken out in a big way at the time of the trade. At the time of his trade, he might’ve been our top prospect. I realize it all came together for him rather quickly, but it came together while he was our property.
That is revisionist history
and you can tell by the TBLA archives that we were talking about Santana in 2007.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I’m sure people on TBLA, mentioned him, but anyone in the top 50 team’s prospects can get mentioned on that team’s blog. I don’t think he was discussed much in prospect circles prior to midway through ’08.
If you mean revisionist history with a negative connotation, I think you’re being a little harsh since I simply laid out the facts.
By the time he was traded
he was being discussed in prospect circles. The man was outhitting Pablo Sandoval as a switch hitting catcher. He may have been more of a secret when the season started even though BA did have him in their top 30 but by July 1st anyone paying attention knew who he was.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Carlos Pena seems like a good bet to get dealt. Actually, I think AGon is a good fit for TB since they have the prospects and could probably get a couple of good ones for Pena.
I agree they are a good fit
one team who could easily fill the Padre buckets without taking a major hit to their system. They wouldnt’ get Jennings but they could get Brignac/Hellickson and some other piece.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
When you calculate Javy Guerra's FIP after yesterday
using the standard FIP formula, he has a FIP of -0.80. I didn’t know it was possible to have a negative FIP!
Trade Talk
When doing it try to figure out the needs of the team. We are not players for AGon unless a three way way is involved in which Loney goes somewhere else. They have a great prospect in Kyle Banks. As someone else said TB is the best match for AGon. We don’t match up with SD, I would expect zero action on that front.
Houston is loaded with possible trading partners but they never trade their great veterans for prospects. Will that change this year?
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/houston-astros.html
Oswalt, Carlos Lee, Berkman are all possibilities but are any of them fits for us.
Oswalt would certainly fit the bill for our rotation but can Ned fit him into our payroll? You’d hope so but then is he worth that 15-16 Million per year over the next two years? Vintage Oswalt the answer is yes, but he’s not what he was. As much as I liked Oswalt if the price is Withrow I’m passing. If the price could be Elbert/McDonald/??? I’m probably buying.
Berkman has a 15 Mill option for 2011. He hasn’t played the outfield since 2007 so he’s got to come as a 1st baseman. Would you trade Loney for Berkman? I would, would Houston? I doubt it.
Carlos Lee could be our LF going forward but what a salary. Given his salary I would not expect the prospect price to be very steep. He is to expensive a commodity if Houston is not in a pennant race but I don’t see a fit for us. We already have a DH playing LF we don’t need another.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
For some reason, I think Houston is going to be trading veterans this summer, unlike years past. I just think that come June they are going to be fighting Pittsburgh to stay out of last place and they have nothing coming up to help them out. I tend to think that Oswalt will be on the block and we will be players for him.
carlos lee DNW
out of shape 30 somethings who were bad fielders in their primes are generally not what you want to add
berkman can hit but can he stay healthy? I don’t want him either.
houston is in bad, bad shape, saw them against SF and they are just not talented
by lchristmas on Apr 9, 2010 11:01 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
The only position I could see the Dodgers trying to upgrade on offense is 1B, but not if Loney has anything to say about it. The obvious choices out there at 1B are Agon, Berkman, Pena, possibly Derek Lee, in my dreams Joey Votto, Prince Fielder, and that may be about it. I wouldn’t mind Berkman or Pena, because neither should be TOO much to get, but everyone else will be too much to trade for IMO. If Fielder can be had without giving up anyone on the MLB roster, Withrow, and Gordon, I’d be for doing it, but that wouldn’t be possible.
We will not be players for Prince Fielder
If the Brewers can’t afford him neither can we. Until further notice we are a $100 Million payroll team.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
How far is El Caballo's ranch from Arlington?
I don’t see Lee wanting to head out west. Didn’t Texas sign Vlad on a one-year deal? I could see the Rangers trying to play the two off each other in FA to get a DH at a good price.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Horrible Trade?
Would you do this trade in fantasy?
I trade: Pablo Sandoval and Shin-Soo Choo
I get: Chipper Jones, Edwin Jackson, and Jayson Werth
I have Gordon Beckham to be my everyday 3B and my power is lacking in the OF
by robotmadeofnails on Apr 9, 2010 11:06 AM PDT reply actions
How much does Jackson figure to add to your pitching? If he’s a big boost to your pitching staff it might be worth it. If your pitching is already pretty solid I would pass.
Pitching
My SP is:
Lincecum, Kerhsaw, Jurrgens, and for fun Braden…so Jackson might be just a nostalgic pickup
by robotmadeofnails on Apr 9, 2010 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions
While Chipper is hurt now and who knows if he can stay healthy I think that Werth is an upgrade over Choo and Jackson might be a good pitcher this year. I say that it is too early though to make a trade like that.
My biggest
hold up on this is how early it is. It just seems too early in the season for this big of a trade.
My OF is:
Choo
Ellsbury
Victorino
Kubel
Morgan
and Hawpe for the bench
by robotmadeofnails on Apr 9, 2010 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions
I’m relying on power from:
Fielder, Hill, Sandoval and Bartlett in the iF
by robotmadeofnails on Apr 9, 2010 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions
With your pitching already looking pretty good and it still being early I would pass on this but who could always try to revive it a little later in a like a month or so when you can get a better chance of seeing what your team really needs.
Thanks, that is what my gut is telling me. Too soon for something like this.
by robotmadeofnails on Apr 9, 2010 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions
We won’t get to face Andrew Miller this series; he’s in AAA. Not only that, but he’s on the DL with a sprained ankle.
Miller is a poster boy for the argument against giving major league contracts to draftees.
Moral of the story, don’t give major league contracts to draftees. And if you do and they suck, make sure you trade them for one of the best young hitting corner infielders in baseball.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Unless for some reason the Dodgers didn’t like Miller and took Lincecum once Kershaw was off the board.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 11:24 AM PDT up reply actions
Exactly
so Logan got lucky in that draft otherwise we’d have looked incredibly silly.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
That should be on a pamphlet somewhere :)
by Eric Stephen on Apr 9, 2010 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions
he's also a poster boy
that not all highly touted prospects work out. Even the top ten guys. That draft is littered with disasters given the bonus money they got when they were drafted.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
haha speaking of draft talk
my co worker just found this and email it to me…..oops
http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/679353.html
What do you mean by oops? You seemed to be pretty right on in your analysis as time has gone on (unless I missed something.) It’s not like you declared Withrow will be a bust or anything.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions
We had no chance on Price
he was going to go to college but it does show how good Logan White is at recognizing High School pitching talent.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Ned's mid-season giveaways and McCourt's cash hoarding must stop
We need a year of not trading any worthwhile prospects within a couple of years of graduation. Re-stock and fill needs in 2011,2012
This market seems to be overvaluing young, cheap players so perhaps just one good prospect and some ‘b" types plus CASH yields the one piece we might need.
Strong farm system+strong team for several years
With Manny, Kuroda and Padilla gone, we have a great opportunity to get younger with in-house guys at LF (maybe, or a S-Term LF) and SP and use the savings to lock up the Kemp, Ethier, Billz types…Kemp, Ethier especially since we aren’t deep at OF in the system
Kuroda
With him being a free agent after the year, what are the chances we go after him again? Also what kind of contract would he be looking for? I can’t imagine it would be similar to this current contract, but I also don’t think he would go down below about 8 million a year.
That sounds about right
I think a lot depends on how will Kuroda does and how well the likes of Elbert, McDonald and Haeger do in 2010.
vr, Xei
For some reason
Kuroda strikes me as the kind of person that might retire and stay home in Japan with his family rather than play in the U.S. for 2/15, or 1/7.5. If he has a good year, maybe the Ned special would make both sides happier – does 1 year at 13 or so make sense? Slightly more than he averaged on the current 3-year deal.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I would never give him 1/13M. Maybe 1/8M, with incentives to make 10 or so. We will probably need one more year as a bridge before it’s mostly a homegrown front four.
I wonder if he is interested in 1/8-10. That might be an offer he can refuse.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I totally agree
I don’t think he’ll play with a pay cut but he isn’t worth the raise. I like the guy, but it might be time to move on.
To me, that’s one of the stories of the season. I can see both outcomes, really.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 9, 2010 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions
He gets signed for one more year. That’ll give the Dodgers the rotation of Kuroda, Billingsley, Kershaw, and two young stallions in Withrow, Elbert, McDonald, and Lindblom.
If the Dodgers don’t allow new blood in the starting rotation next year with Billingsley being a 6 year player, and Kershaw in his 4th year, they’re never going to do it and instead will sign FA Starting pitchers to patch up the holes.
His career BABIP is .281
.284 in ‘08, .277 last season. I hope he’s not in for a nasty regression this year.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Loved this stat
from today’s game notes:
Ausmus also tied Shawn Green yesterday for the all-time Jewish record for regular season games played (1,951), according to JewishMajorLeaguers.org., a not-for-profit organization that "documents American Jews in America’s Game."
Andrew Brackman
After being on the 60-day DL for all of 2008, 2007 draftee and signee of a MLB contract with the Yankees, Brackman continues his quest to make the Yankees in his FSL stop (as a 24 year old pitcher, he spent all of his recovery year in 2009 in the Low-A league), he’ll have one more option after this season.
This story will counteract the repulsion after reading your story
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
This is one person who is a student/athlete.
Also shows you how anyone can make an impression is someone’s life.
Marlins lineup
Coghlan LF
Maybin CF
Hanley SS
Cantu 3B
Uggla 2B
Baker C
Ross RF
Sanchez 1B
Volstad P
From the unverified Peter Gammons Twitter account:
It will be interesting in 10 ten years who is better—Strasburg or Kershaw, separsted in age by 4 months. I say Kershaw has more wins
Easy to have fewer walks when your career is done after four years.
[ducks]
by Eric Stephen on Apr 9, 2010 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Game preview is up
http://www.truebluela.com/2010/4/9/1412342/dodgers-ready-for-another-home
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
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