WWWD

M2d · #1 07-31-2004, 04:51 PM

What would Walter (O'Malley) Do?

as a Dodger fan, I'm so pissed right now, I can hardly think straight. you trade away the best set up man in the league (Mota) and the heart and soul of your first place team (Loduca) for a .500 pitcher, a underpowered first baseman and a chance (unfullfilled, it seems) at an over the hill starter (the Unit's still good, but he's way past his prime) and Steve Finley.

Now, DePodesta claims that the Florida trade was stand alone, but even my mother knows that he did it to set himself up for Johnson. Now they're not getting him. Add in the fact that they did it with the inkling that they could get Charles Johnson to catch, but that they didn't have that deal nailed down, and you have a major fiasco in blue.
Bring back the O'malleys. please. Hell, even Fox looks good now.

Boris · #2 07-31-2004, 05:39 PM

sorry bro. DePodesta got abused. There are many billy beane proteges but there is only one billy beane.

ThaSaltCracka · #3 07-31-2004, 05:48 PM

well they got finley today, so thats not bad. Penny is acutally a pretty good pitcher, not Johnson good, but good nonetheless.

M2d · #4 07-31-2004, 06:02 PM

is Finley confirmed? I was looking and didn't see it. I'd still rather have LoDuca, though, and I think I'd prefer the status quo even to them getting Johnson.

M2d · #5 07-31-2004, 06:03 PM

y'all want him back?

ThaSaltCracka · #6 07-31-2004, 06:13 PM

yeah, saw it on ESPN.com, its confirmed.

andyfox · #7 07-31-2004, 07:11 PM

Gone are Mota, Lo Duca, Encarnacion, Roberts and Martin. In are Penny, Choi, Finley and Mayne.

Strange goings-on for a 1st place team.

M2d · #8 07-31-2004, 07:54 PM

I think Boris may have touched on a good point. I'm thinking that DePodesta pulled the trigger here just to make a move. Probably fallout from having worked under Billy Bean(e)(forget which one has the "e" at the end of the name).
The Dodgers were in a nice groove and ahead in the division. They were getting good starts from some unlikely sources (thanks to LoDuca calling a good game?), had better team chemistry than anytime in the past decade (Loduca was a team leader), and a shut the door and turn out the lights relief staff (mostly Gagne, but you can't discount what Mota did to set it all up). Now? adios muchachos.

The real bad thing for us Dodger fans is that the traditional Dodger cry of "wait till next year" won't even apply to us. Not only does this move not improve the team (makes 'em weaker, to me, but what do I know?), but it destroys a core that they've been building and takes away a team leader who was still relatively young.
Maybe they got an agreement from the rest of the NL west that Choi will never see a pitch that breaks. that might make it better.

Now I hear that Charles Johnson nixed the trade to LA. blech

andyfox · #9 08-01-2004, 01:07 AM

Hard to believe they're going to go with Mayne and Ross as their catching staff, but I guess they will.

When the Dodgers went from having Piazza to having Charles Johnson to having Todd Hundley, I said it was the only time a team had a catcher hit .360, then traded for a catcher who hit .260, then traded him for a catcher that hit .160.

M2d · #10 08-01-2004, 02:34 AM

at the time, I liked the original Johnson move. Not that I liked giving up Piazza, but I thought that CJ was a heck of a backstop and that any offense he gave you was just a bonus. He was, at the time, as good a defensive catcher as there was in the game, bar none (even pudge). Hard to believe this is the same franchise that set the record for longevity for an infield lineup.