The Trolley Dodger

I thought we were going to get past the Sunday trade deadline relatively unscathed with only a bittersweet goodbye to Rafael Furcal on his way to the Cardinals.

I saw his first at-bat last night, and while it was weird seeing him in red instead of blue, I have to echo one of the comments at Dodger Thoughts — I wish him well no matter what uniform he has on. He was one of my favorite Dodgers, and I’ll miss him.

Someone I’m missing in advance is AAA outfielder Trayvon Robinson, who was shipped off to Seattle in a complicated three-team affair yesterday. I watched Trayvon as far back as the Single-A 66ers. In fact, he played CF at the first 66ers Manny rehab game in 2009 we went to.

There have been cries of “Konerko!” and “Pedro!” about this trade, and I can understand why. However, I can’t get on the tar-and-feather-Ned-Colletti bandwagon just yet until we see what happens with who we got in return – there’s an old truism about trades not being gradeable until several years down the road. But whatever players these three turn out to be, I’m definitely worried about seeing Trayvon excelling in a Mariners uniform some day and none of these guys ever again.

• Tim Federowicz – catching prospect
• Stephen Fife – RHP
• Juan Rodriguez – RHP

There’s also Alex Castellanos, who came back from the Raffy trade.

Yes, I know. Yes, I understand this is completely not going to happen. Yes, I know the innumerable reasons why this could never take place. Yes, I realize it would require creating a rift in the space-time continuum (or at least doing some horse-trading in the MLB 2011 video game). I get all that.

But a man can dream.

2011 Dodgers (daydream edition)

Starting lineup

• SS Furcal (S)
• CF Kemp (R)
• RF Ethier (L)
• 1B Konerko (R)
• LF Werth (R)
• 3B Beltre (R)
• C Martin* (R)
• 2B Theriot (R)

* or C Santana (S) if Martin is done.

Bench

• C Barajas (R)
• IF Casey Blake (R)
• IF Jamey Carroll (R)
• OF Gibbons (L)
• OF Podsednik (L)

Starting Rotation

1. Cliff Lee (L)
2. Kershaw (L)
3. Billingsley (R)
4. Padilla (R)
5. Lilly (L)

Relief

• Closer: Broxton (R)
• Setup: Kuo (L)
• RP Jansen (R)
• RP Troncoso (R)
• Long Reliever (R)
• Reliever (L)
• Reliever (R)

“She might have been glad to confide all these things to someone. But how to speak about so elusive a malaise, one that keeps changing its shape like the clouds and its direction like the wind? She could find no words; and hence neither occasion nor courage came to hand.” — Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary.

Jon Weisman celebrates the 9th birthday of Dodger Thoughts with a thorough and thought-provoking post this morning, Trade Deadline Inception, covering some of the possibilities and pitfalls of the impending July 31st deadline. Jon isn’t alone, either, with various media and bloggy outlets speculating on the potentiality of disassembling one of the lineups with the best potential in the majors.

Whatever the whys and wherefores of their lackluster 2010 season, the Dodgers are currently six games back of the NL West-leading Padres. Coincidentally, they just (surreally) lost their sixth game in a row.

Trolley Dodger has been pretty silent so far this season, relative to previous years. Most of that had to do with “real-life” events and the all-powerful to-do list (not to mention a month-long World Cup distraction; more on this later), but it is also wrapped up in the malaise of 2010.

From the ill-timed divorce announcement on the eve of the NLCS last October, and subsequent series loss, it has been a struggle to keep up the enthusiasm. And while I have watched a number of games, I haven’t gone to any this year (except for the Kershaw game at Angel Stadium: oof), including missing the recent Blogger Night.

Again, real life has been a big culprit, but it has been a tough sell for my fragmented attention to invest in the Dodger labors. When an activity that is normally an escape from the depressing parts of existence becomes itself depressing…well, what is there to write about? Especially if you’re not one to tear down your favorite team for the sake of talking about something. There’s a surfeit of commenters online, not to mention talk show hosts and callers, who like nothing more than to kvetch 24/7 about the smallest Dodger problems, never mind the major issues — they don’t need any help from me.

So, going outside for a walk has been a great coping mechanism I’ve latched onto this year, and despite the crazy heat here in Inland SoCal I’m trying to keep it up. And oxygen+endorphins certainly help your day more than worrying about a bunch of sports stuff every waking moment. Besides, the old baseball attitude of “don’t get too high, and don’t get too low” certainly applies to fandom as well.

That said, I’m looking forward to what happens between now and the deadline, as well as seeing if the Dodgers can stage an improbable comeback in 2010.

History is merely a list of surprises. … It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again. Please write that down. — Kurt Vonnegut, Slapstick.

Welcome to the newest members of the Dodgers! With Jim Thome, we now have #12 and #15 on the all-time home run hitting list. We’d have to coax Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt out of retirement to get #13 and #14.

Jim Thome

Jon Garland

Ronnie Belliard

* Bad NPR pun best I could do on short notice. ;)

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]