True Blue LA Opening Day 25 Man Roster Contest

Preferably within a week or so. Because people picking a roster late in ST will have an advantage over those picking soon.

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Mitchell
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Paul, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Tim Redding
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Mahay, Cormier, Elbert, Schlichting

that has a point total over 41 points.

They will win my pair of my regular season tickets (with a game and date to be worked out later).

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Outfield – Gibbons, Thames, Kemp, Ethier, Gwynn
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Kuo, Broxton, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Elbert, Troncoso

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Elbert, Jansen
Bench (2 more) Castro, Paul (they decide not to trade him)

Bonus points! (that I’m making up): Ely is first call up

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles, Mitchell, DeJesus
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro, Gimenez
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn, Paul, Kaplar
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Elbert, Jansen, Mahay, Cormier, Troncoso

Locks: Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Barajas, Navarro, Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn, Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland, Broxton, Guerrier, Hawksworth (20)

Bubble: Jansen, Castro, Mahay, (3)

Long Shot: Weaver (1)

Not on the List: Bonderman (1)

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Elbert, Jansen, Mayhay
Bench (2 more) Mitchell, Paul

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Paul, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Mahay, Hawksworth, Troncoso, Jansen

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports is high on Matt Kemp this year:

"I’m definitely happy," he said. "I just know that all the coaches here want to win. We’re all working hard. Just going around the bases with Lopes, seeing how he interacts with everybody, he’s positive. Mattingly has always been positive. I like the atmosphere that’s going on. "Donnie B’s got a little swagger. You’d see him when he was on first base, playing for the Yankees, up to bat, he had swag. Anybody that got swag, man, he can be my homeboy."

Dylan Hernandez expands on Padilla, including a funny line about Donnie Two Times:

"This came back when he started to increase his velocity the other day," Colletti said. "So rather than go through this all season long and wander back and forth, back and forth, this was the best course of action." With Padilla slated to be a reliever, his rehabilitation process presumably will not be as lengthy as it would be if he were a starter. If not for Colletti, the situation likely would have been portrayed far differently in this space, as rookie manager Don Mattingly’s evasive responses earlier created confusion. In his morning briefing with reporters, Mattingly showed he had a long way to go before anyone started calling him Donnie Press Conference.

Tony Jackson has more on Padilla too:

Padilla, a free agent last winter, passed a physical examination before the Dodgers re-signed him to an incentive-laden, one-year contract with a $2 million base salary. Colletti said Padilla also reported early to spring training and has been throwing off a mound for about three weeks.

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Castro
Catcher – Barajas, Molina
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Tron, Jansen, Mahay, Weaver

Catchers (2): Barajas, Navarro
Infield (6): Loney, Uribe, Blake, Furcal, Carroll, Miles
Outfield (5): Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Thames, Gwynn
Starters (5): Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Relievers (7): Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Mahay, Elbert, Weaver

glad I added him at the last minute to the long shot list.

Check out the new MLB Network commercial

Catchers: Barajas, Ellis
Infield: Loney, Uribe, Blake, Furcal, Carroll, Mitchell
Outfield: Kemp, Ethier, Gibbons, Thames, Gwynn
Starters: Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Relievers: Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Elbert, Mayhay, Hawksworth, Troncoso

Catchers: Bajaras, Navarro
Infield: Loney, Jamey, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Mitchell
Outfield: Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Thames, Gwynn
Starters: Kershaw, Billz, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Relievers: Brox, Kuo, Guerriererererer, Hawks, Elbert, Jensen, Troncoso

Catchers (2): Barajas, Navarro
Infield (6): Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Carroll, Blake, Miles
Outfield (5): Ethier, Kemp, Gwynn, Thames, Gibbons
Starters (5): Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Relievers (7): Broxton, Kuo, Jansen, Guerrier, Elbert, Mahay, Hawksworth

Barajas, Ellis
Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Gwynn, Coco Crisp*
Kershaw, Billingsley, Lilly, Kuroda, Ely
Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Jansen, Mahay, Hawksworth, Troncoso

Catcher: Barajas, Navarro
Infield: Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Outfield: Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gwynn, Jose Guillen (ruhroh)
Rotation: Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen: Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Elbert, Jansen, Monasterios

John Lindsey had a calf cramp today and missed the team workout, per Gurnick.

Adjust your opening day rosters accordingly.

In both the Tony Jackson article linked above and the AP story on Padilla’s injury, the following sentence appears, though not as a quote from Mattingly or Colletti:

At the moment, there are two vacancies in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Actually, upon further review, it appears both stories have the same final four paragraphs.

So we are going to Chicago and Minnesota for interleague. Not looking forward to seeing Dunn, Konerko, Quentin, etc.

I think this is old news, but I had forgotten…Royce Clayton is playing Miguel Tejada in the Moneyball movie.

gets players to stop sliding head first I’ll be a happy camper.

Jerry Sloan on the Deron Williams trade

Sloan, reached Wednesday morning at his second home in Illinois, was aware of the trade but didn’t want to say much.

‘’I have no reaction to what the Jazz are doing. We wish him well,’’ Sloan said of Williams. ‘’We wish the Jazz well. Good luck to Deron.’’

Sloan then said he had to ‘’go rake some leaves right now.’’

(empasis mine)

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Blake, Carroll, Castro, Mitchell
Outfield – Gibbons, Thames, Kemp, Ethier, Gwynn
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Ely
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Mahay, Elbert

Furcal and Garland both start on the DL.

Catcher (2) – Barajas, Navarro
Infield (6) – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Castro (!)
Outfield (5) – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Paul, Gwynn
Rotation (5) – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen (7) – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Mahay, Jensen, Monesterios

6 Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, DeJesus
2 Catcher – Navarro, Ellis
5 Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Gwynn, Paul
5 Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
7 Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Elbert, Hawksworth, Jansen, Troncoso

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Elbert, Jansen, Mahay

including words of encouragement from Tim Kirkjian:
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-thoughts/post/_/id/11123/sound-bites?

Infield (6) – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Mitchell
Catcher (2) – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield (5) – Ethier, Kemp, Paul, Gwynn, Jr., Thames
Rotation (5) – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen (7) – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Elbert, Troncoso

I may be the last one to this party, but I didn’t know that Loney had a twitter account (@jamesloney_7) and Matt Kemp is not on the official MLB list. Kemp hasn’t tweeted in a year, so that part makes sense at least. Loney is the only Dodger on that list.

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles 6
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro 2
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Thames, Gwynn 5
SP – Kershaw, Billingsley, Lilly, Kuroda, Garland 5
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Mayhay, Schlichting 7

is not that the woman’s 3 year habit of ordering pizza saved her life, but that an 82 year old woman could eat Dominoes every day for three years and still be alive.

This contest is bringing people out of the woodwork, good thing Michael volunteered to add up the entrants.

Turns out my boss is friends with one of the Price Waterhouse Partners who handle the envelopes at the Academy Awards. Nicest person he has ever met in all the time he’s done this is not an actor but a professional athlete who at one time was the very best at what he did, and was not humble about it.

Infield – Loney, Castro, Uribe, Furcal, Blake
Catcher – Barajas, Navaro
Outfield – Kemp, Ethier, Thames, Gwynn, Ibanez
Rotation – Bills, Kershaw, Lily, Kuroda, Garland
Pen – Schlicting, Hawksworth, Broxton, Kuo, Tronc, Monestary, Ely, Belasario

the worst Spring Training ever?
Inevitable they lose Pujols
Lose their best pitcher
Left Fielder has one ball to many
Tony LaRusso is still their manager

Infield: Loney, Uribe, Blake, Carroll, Castro, Miles
Outfield: Ethier, Kemp, Gwynn, Paul, Sands
Catcher: Gimenez, Ellis
Rotation: Kershaw, Billingsley, Ely, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen: Broxton, Guerrier, Jansen, Mahay, Weaver, Elbert, Monasterios

of course this prediction is only based off of trying to hit a few 5 pointers.

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Castro
Catcher – Barajas, Navarro
Outfield – Ethier , Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lily, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Elbert, Mahay

Lot of Elbert sightings

Barajas / Navarro seem set in stone

No injuries to Loney, Uribe, Andre, Kemp, Clayton, Billz, Kuroda

Kuo is surprisingly expected to make it through the spring unscathed for just about all of you

Infield – Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Catcher – Barajas, Ellis
Outfield – Ethier, Kemp, Thames, Gibbons, Gwynn
Rotation – Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Bullpen – Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Weaver, Mahay

for the Dodgers

at Angels: Hiroki Kuroda
at Giants: Tim Redding

Both threw a bullpen session today, along with Monk and Dos De La Rosa.

Kershaw threw live BP, as did Hawk, Giggles, Tron, Cormier & Mac The Ninth

It was fun while it lasted

Catchers: Bajaras, Navarro
Infield: Loney, Uribe, Furcal, Blake, Carroll, Miles
Outfield: Ethier, Kemp, Gibbons, Thames, Gwynn
Starters: Kershaw, Billz, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland
Relievers: Broxton, Kuo, Guerrier, Hawksworth, Jansen, Troncoso, Mahay

SI:

21. Ken Macha, Milwaukee Brewers
Hit his one career homer and the last of his three career triples in the same game, the nightcap of a 1980 Expos-Giants doubleheader. What’s interesting, at least to me, is that Johnnie LeMaster — who, bless his soul, is one of the worst hitters in baseball history to get 3,500 plate appearances (lifetime 60 OPS+) — ALSO hit a triple and homer in that game.

If all that happened in Stratomatic, and Macha and LeMaster both homered and tripled in the same game, you would throw away the game and scream that it wasn’t realistic.

Awesome.

Jonny Gomes walked into the Cincinnati Reds spring training clubhouse early Wednesday morning singing at the top of his warbly voice.

The melody was not recognizable, but the words were plaintive: "Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone," he sang joyously.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/entries/2011/02/23/reds_on_alert_over_loss_of_wai.html?cxtype=feedbot