(Photo by Tony Gutierrez, AP)
Most people who have been reading my posts or opinions on SOSG and TrueBlueLA know about how critical I have been on James Loney's offensive contribution, especially when the Dodgers did not make a push to get Victor Martinez or any other power-hitting first baseman. My main argument for getting some like Martinez is that the Dodgers lineup didn't need any more contact hitters. Instead, they would benefit more from someone who had pretty good power numbers, either with hitting homers or from slugging. Loney was a one-bag type of hitters, but had a pretty decent year, until the trade deadline.
Since the trade deadline, Loney has not had the best numbers: 15 for 71 (.211), 9 BB, 0 HR, 8 RBIs through today's game. Bad month but not terrible, right? If you take away the first three games of the month when he had 3 multi-hit games in a row, his numbers are as bad as it gets: 8 for 57 (.140), 0 HR, 3 RBIs in the past 17 games.
Tonight, he went 0 for 5, the only Dodgers position player without a base-hit. Also, he made a critical error in the bottom of the 10th that pretty much dashed all hopes of a victory.
I know I have been too critical on Loney, but why can't I be? I mean he is no Andruw Jones, right? The way he has been playing recently, he is Jones sans the expensive price tag. He did hit that grand slam last season in the playoffs and probably is hitting the worst slump of his young career. However, sometimes I still wonder how good would this team be if we had Martinez, Adrian Gonzalez, or even Adam Dunn batting behind Manny.
Sorry Loney, losing some games make the fans a little critical of you. I have been calling you Garbage Man from my seat in Field Box 53 every time you fail to drive in a run or get a base-hit. Please prove me wrong soon.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Garbage Man
Posted by Ken at 10:03 PM
Labels: Adam Dunn, Adrian Gonzalez, James Loney, Victor Martinez
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7 comments:
The problem is not/was not trading Loney, but who else would have had to go in the deal. Probably Russell Martin (automatic no) or a lot of young pitchers.
The Dodgers made a mistake by not signing Dunn in the offseason.
As of today Dunn's numbers are:
.283/33/89 with an OPS of 990
his power numbers are on par with his previous years, and now his batting average is receiving a spike this season.
despite striking out a ton, he still draws tons of walks.
wouldnt u want Dunn to back up Manny?
Kemp, Ethier, Manny, Dunn all in the middle of the lineup?
I'd love to have Dunn, but management didn't feel there was a spot for him unless they couldn't sign Manny.
Always been a Dunn fan (I've got his jersey), and I'd take him in a heartbeat over Loney, but I almost certainly would have signed Manny for 2 years over Dunn for 2.
But think about how the Dodgers have spent their money in the past few years. Andruw Jones, Schmidt, Pierre, Furcal.
Dunn would have been worth it for his asking price. When your purpose is to win now, Dunn would have been an awesome choice to reinforce a club lacking a lot of power.
I assume management thought Loney would be between 15-20 HR by season's end.
Seriously, how could they even expect that? Dunn would have had something like 30-40.
Sure, you could have expected Martin to have 10-15, hopefully 15-20.
I think the Dodgers are waiting for another farm product to replace Loney at 1B eventually. Who knows, it might be soon.
Because they're the Dodgers, and Colletti and Torre and McCourt are idiots.
I expect Russell or Cesares (I wonder if I spelled that right) or Lambo will replace James unless he finds power real soon.
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