yerfatma, its not about Izzy's fielding , its that he is either the 3rd best hitting SS or the 3rd best hitting 2B on the current 40 man roster. Jeff Kent at 2B is a liability. Having watched the Dodgers all last season, I take issue with this statement. Kent wasn't a liability on the field, or in the box. Lets not forget that his arrival ended the "Alex Cora Era". Its nice to have a 2B who can defend and hit. The 1B platoon worked out rather well and was "fiscally responsible" to boot. With Izzy out and no other sensible options the Blue will audition Choi at first for the first 3 months and hopefully we'll find out whether his struggles stem from Tracy's micro-managing line-ups or not. IF Choi works out, I wouldn't be surprised to see Izzy headed out of town for additional pieces down the stretch. IF Choi doesn't work out, Izzy moves to 2B, Kent moves to 1B. Valentin was serviceable for the first few weeks that he played at 3B, but then he missed most of the year with a knee injury, returning to play LF at the end of the season. Not exactly a strong sample size to go on. Not that he was the answer at 3B, his signing was and is a stop gap while we wait for the kids on the farm to show up in late '06 or '07. The Dodgers are in far greater need of starting pitching and a slugging OF or 3B.
I agree that I would take the hitting/fielding combo Kent brings any day of the week. Having watched nearly ewvery game he played during his entire tenure in SF I can't see how you would take issue with him being called a defensive liability, but to each their own. IF Choi doesn't work out, Izzy moves to 2B, Kent moves to 1B. Can Hee Sop see the ball? I have never seen a player hit 7-8 HRs in a week who looks so clueless at the plate. "Izzy" is out until midseason and will have a hard time showing he is healthy enough to warrent any trade consideration, so playing at 2B might be an option, at least against lefties. Kent has made it very clear that he will not play 1B everyday as he is concered it will effect his team's chance to win...I mean Hall of Fame chances. Hopefully he can avoid washing his truck this offseason. we'll find out whether his struggles stem from Tracy's micro-managing line-ups or not. Maybe you missed the memo, but Tracy was fired the day after the season. The Dodgers are in far greater need of starting pitching and a slugging OF or 3B. Pitching is really the least of their problems. A little production from the outfield and corner infield positions would go a long way for them. JD Drew healthy should help, if ever healthy that is.
Maybe you missed the memo, but Tracy was fired the day after the season. Right, so next year's performance would provide a good control to compare against last year's.
Might have been clearer if I'd opted for stemmed. But I think the point is made. My larger point is that infield defense wasn't the Dodgers downfall, their micro-managed offense was. Izturis is ideally your #8 hitter and not your lead-off man. The same could be said of Robles. The fact that guys like Mike Edwards and Phillips were playing instead of Antonio Perez or Choi is 2 notches below mentally retarded. And pitching is a problem when Brad Penny is your #1 and Jeff Weaver can be considered your #2 (though Tracy did him no favors by leaving him in an inning or 2 too long). Or when your groundball pitchers are giving up home runs. If Edwin Jackson pitched to expectations, if D. Lowe started pitching from the opposite side of the rubber in ST, if OP wasn't out of commission most of the year, if Gagne doesn't try and force himself to pitch in ST (and ultimately injuring himself from over-compensating), if Billingsley or any of the other kids were ready to come up at the end of the season. Then, maybe, I would agree that pitching wasn't an issue.
That goddamn reading comprehension gets me again. I hate it when my teachers prove to be right ten years too late. The current pitching situation is definately not up to Dodger standards, but it is still better than most teams. The bullpen figures to be strong again, with or without Gagne, although a healthy Gagne to close things out would make a huge difference. The rotation has some question marks, but when you look at the pitchers available (now that Burnett has signed with Toronto) there is not much chance reasonably upgrade, whereas an outfielder or corner infielder that can be put in the middle of the lineup is attainable.
