The Trolley Dodger

What if the rumored Adrian Gonzalez/Heath Bell to the Dodgers trade was only Part 1? What if Part 2 is the Blue Jays wanting Broxton as part of a Roy Halladay deal? Might explain the George Sherrill deal as a backup plan. Or flipping Bell to Toronto in a 3-team deal?

Yikes. This last hour of the trade deadline is always nerve-wracking.

UPDATE: Well, much ado about nothing, as usual. :) Barring some August waiver-wire deals, this is it.

Let’s say you’re the GM of the non-existent MLB franchise Poughkeepsie Pachyderms. In this alternate universe, you have a 24-year-old Roy Halladay and a 21-year-old Cliff Lee at the top of your pitching rotation, with three serviceable pitchers in the other spots. The Pachyderms have these two aces under contract for five years at cheap prices. They are already good, and they will only improve. Virtually everyone who has scouted the pair raves about where they are at for their ages, not to mention their amazing potential.

Why in the name of all that is holy would you trade either of these young guns to get a 31-year-old pitcher who will cost you over $10 million a year? Oh, and he’s only yours for one full season and part of another, with no guarantees he’ll stick around after that.

The Dodgers are in that position right now with Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw. Why would we trade either one of our aces, both of whom will otherwise be in Dodger Blue (and cheap) for years?

They are both good right now, whether you go by stats or by observation. They both will likely be great by next year.

Yes, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are awesome pitchers. It would be killer to have either one of them in Dodger Blue. But if getting one of them costs us Bills or Clayton, the price is too high. Why trade for one or two years’ worth of increased chances for the World Series when we could have five years’ (or more!) worth of increased chances?

Doesn’t make sense to me, and I’ll bet it doesn’t make sense to Dodger management either.

Now Roy or Cliff plus Bills and Kershaw as the 1-3?

Heh heh heh. [evil laugh]

Jon over at Dodger Thoughts posted a handy guide to the Dodgers’ pitching situation 2004-2009, showing that the current staff is not as iffy as it might seem.

Still, you can never have too much pitching depth. With that in mind, I’d like to echo others’ suggestion for one more Dodger pre-season move* — let us undo the great wrong perpetrated upon us and sign Pedro Martinez.

And with our long national nightmare at last at an end, just think of the Pedro/Manny reunion!

Unfortunately, it looks like Nomar won’t be in on the fun. More on this later.

* What’s up with re-signing Joe Beimel?

Negotiations between the Twins and free agent Eric Gagne have reportedly broken down after nearly coming together on a one-year, $3-million deal.

Also reportedly, the Dodgers want to pick up some more bullpen help after their first two priorities — Manny and a starting pitcher — are taken care of.

If you’re Ned Colletti, do you bring Gagne back as a middle reliever?

Does Gagne have any value to the Dodgers?

Would he even come back?

Too much baggage?

Update: So much for that idea…

An MRI recently revealed that Gagne has labrum and rotator cuff damage in his pitching shoulder. He was given the option of having an injection and trying physical rehab, or undergoing surgery.

Either way, Gagne was not going to be able to make the Brewers’ roster this spring. He signed a minor-league deal that guaranteed him a $1.5 million salary if added to the roster by March 26. That deadline became moot when Gagne was unable to pitch in a game.

Update 2: …or maybe not

With the bullpen being the Dodgers’ greatest question mark, who should make an appearance at Camelback Ranch on Friday but the team’s greatest reliever of all time, Eric Gagne.

Gagne, the 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner and three-time All-Star, said it’s not “Game Over” for him just yet.