If I Were GM...

Famous last words. With the deadline approaching and the rumor mill starting to produce I thought I'd have a little fun. Anyways, this is just for fun and not meant to be taken at all seriously. Not that anyone besides myself takes this blog seriously to begin with.

So I guess I need some sort of philosophy to set a paradigm from which to run things. Nah, I don't like the words paradigm and philosophy. I'll be complicated and inconsistent like most people. I'll just take a look at things position by position.

Catcher
This position is so filled. I think either Vasgersian or McCarver quoted Mike Matheney as saying Martin is the next great catcher. There are tons of other quotes about how good Martin is but it's beyond an open secret now so I'll lay off. Any minor leaguers playing catcher with any caliber of the prospect label on them have to be thought of as trading chips. Right now there aren't any though.

First Base
I probably have a little more faith than others about Loney. I totally believe the power is there. Perhaps I like him a little better because I saw him hitting at Vegas in '06 where he was just a monster. I don't know. But I do know is that as a GM I'd find it extremely hard to opening up first base to someone more established because I think that Loney could be the same or better at first base than anyone not named Pujols or Cabrera. Cory Dunlap is a first baseman/DH type that is a chip I'd readily trade because he is an AL type of a player and first base is full. Dunlap also has more question marks than Loney about his power and his weight/health. What about Nomar? It's unfortunate as he's a great guy but I'd have to let him go as there's nowhere to play him and he wouldn't be willing to be a utility infielder. I'd trade Nomar and cover his salary for the rest of the year to the Angels for Terry Evans. Nomar could be the replacement for Shae Hillenbrand that wouldn't mouth off at management.

Second Base
Jeff Kent can't play or live forever. You have to treat each year like it could be his last. He could voluntarily retire or fall off a cliff in terms of production at any time. He's botching routine plays on defense, is a walking wounded member of the team more, and has seemingly lost the power stroke that makes him the premium second baseman that is going to put him into the hall. That said he can still hit if not for as much power and the blue doesn't seem to have anyone that can come right in and excel at the position in the minors.

Tony Abreu to me seems more like a utility guy. I could be wrong on him, but I wouldn't trust him with the job full time. Abreu is a stereotypical Dominican hitter in that he swings at just about anything. He has speed but his hitting style unless he takes his game to a whole new level makes it difficult for him to get on base enough to take good advantage of it, kind of like Juan Pierre.

If Kent definitively let it be known to the McCourts this year would be his last I would have the owners, Little, and myself all sit down with Rafael Furcal and ask him how he'd feel with being moved off short and onto second full time. If he was willing he'd be moved there and Ching Hung Lu would get a long look in spring training as a shortstop. If not there would be an effort to move Furcal for a package of a young pitcher, a second baseman, and perhaps a young outfield prospect. There is currently a huge market for shortstops. Nobody available as a free agent stacks up with Furcal. The Red Sox because of their over wheeling and dealing need a shortstop after signing Julio Lugo. I'd insist on center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, and either Lester or Hansen. Furcal is good and maybe he can finally shore up that position for them. No, I don't want Mike Lowell for third, Julio Lugo at second, or Coco Crisp for center. Skip to the outfield if you want to see the possible replacement for second base if Furcal is traded.

Shortstop
Shortstop is pretty shored up. The blue have Rafael Furcal and an up-and-coming shortstop in prospect Chin-Lung Hu. As a GM I'm going to give this defensive wizard who has just now started to hit a chance because I'd rather trade Rafael Furcal as stated above to shore up center field and pitching while finally giving the Red Sox the elite all around-shortstop they've always kept trading away while simultaneously trying to trade for. Like I said above though if he's willing to play second I'd be happy to keep him.

Third Base
I'm not sure if Betemit is the answer at third. I think he probably only has 3-4 good years in him. I think he's shown enough that I'd stick with him. I wouldn't be interested in going through the circus of what will be the free agent market around Alex Rodriguez. Maybe I'd bid if I was certain the Giants or any other NL west team seemed to be seriously in the hunt for him, but only to drive up his price so that the Giants will remain one superstar and a decent rotation surrounded by old guys. The market for third baseman just kind of sucks. Betemit has the upside to give good production for cheap without having to make a 180 million dollar investment in a guy who keeps his teams from winning championships. I wouldn't want a repeat of the Kevin Brown era where one guy had all these perks and the rest of the team were probably a little bit resentful.

Outfield
Kemp and Ethier would become full time players. Ethier wouldn't be untouchable though. Pierre would be moved. Ellsbury would get a long look at center field if Furcal is traded with Ethier going back to left and Kemp manning right. Delwyn young would be tried out as a fourth outfielder. He probably wouldn't work out well but it probably won't be many at-bats.

Bavasi might need a new center fielder if Ichiro decides to go to a real team in free agency and Pierre is the kind of player Bavasi would like. I'd Offer Seattle LaRoche, Pierre, and Tomko or Hendrickson and Dunlap for Jose Lopez and Ryan Feierabend. I'd assign Feierabend to Jacksonville so he actually has a chance to develop.

Seattle would have an heir apparent at third base should they want to induce Beltre to improve his production via competition or move him out of frustration. They get their replacement of their franchise player via another speedy guy. They also get more versatility with Dunlap if they want to move Sexson to DH and move Jose Vidro back to the infield. The blue would get an iffy candidate to play second base long term. The .obp is troubling but the emerging pop is tempting.

If Washington is willing to pay out more cash to upgrade CF they might want Pierre. It's not hard to upgrade from Nook Logan. I'd ask for Emillano Fruto (I like this guy as a reliever) and Joel Hanrahan (shoulda never let him go as a minor league free agent) back. I'd throw in Houlton to be nice and since Hanrahan will take over Houlton's role.

The Cubs, Reds, Braves, Cards, Rangers and Twins could also be landing spots for Pierre but they seem more remote than Seattle and Washington seem to me.

Bench
Tony Abreu has proved he can fill in with defensive stability. Hopefully he improves on the plate discipline. I think he makes Ramon Martinez obsolete. I'd rather use Wilson Valdez. Delwyn Young deserves his shot and then I would visit the scrap heap for a veteran outfielder pinch hitter. I'm going to assume pinch hitter extrodinairre who might be falling off a cliff is going to call it a career.

Starting Pitching

Penny and Billingsley seem like locks.

I'd excercise the 9 mil option on Wolf. Tomko's option would so be declined. I might excercise the option to trade him to some team that could use him like the Nationals, Pirates, Cardinals, or any other pitching starved team but I wouldn't put too much effort into it before giving up and just cutting him loose. Strong showings by Elbert and/or Kershaw could make Wolf or Schmidt (probably untradeable anyways) expendable towards the deadline next season.

I'd offer Lowe up to 6 years 85 million and hope he wants to retire a dodger. I think he's a good bet to pitch well for another 6 years because of the lack of mileage on his arm, his durability, and his lack of arm trouble during his career. The contract is so ridiculously long for a pitcher his age but you never know with a Boras bidding war.

I'm guessing Schmidt has about a 50/50 chance of not ever pitching again. I wouldn't count on him at all and any innings he is able to pitch are just kind of gravy. A combination of Kuo, Hanrahan, Stults, and Hendrickson based on performance would get the rest of the starts.

Relief Pitching

I'd hope Saito doesn't want to retire and double his pay to 2 million. I would go up to 4 million one year deal and if he wants more I'd have to sadly let him go be a mercenary. Broxton would either be the closer or set up man depending on what Saito decides he's worth. I'd want to retain Tsao but wouldn't count on more than 50 innings out of him due to his arm troubles. I'd keep Joe Beimel. I'd have Jonathan Meloan called up. I'm going to assume Seanez retires but if not I'd let him walk. Stults and Hanrahan would be long relievers and spot starters.

Lineups
Ellsbury cf Ellsbury cf
Martin c Hu ss
Loney 1b Martin c
Kemp rf Kemp rf
Betemit 3b Loney 1b
Ethier lf Betemit 3b
Hu ss Ethier lf
Lopez 2b Lopez 2b

Bench
Tony Abreu utility infielder
Wilson Valdez utility infielder
Delwyn Young 4'th or 5'th outfielder/pinch hitter
Some free agent veteran 4'th or 5'th outfielder/pinch hitter
Mike Lieberthal backup catcher

Rotation
Penny
Lowe
Billingsley
Wolf
Schmidt/Kuo/Hanrahan/Stults and maybe Kershaw or Elbert

Bullpen
Saito
Broxton
Tsao/Fruto
Meloan
Beimel

My focus was pitching and defense. That's how the smart baseball guys that built the stadium focused on and what the dodgers have usually won with. I tried to improve the defense at most positions. I especially like that new infield defense. This team probably still lacks 30+ home run power from any one player. The offense really rides on Loney, Kemp and Betemit becoming guys pitchers come to fear. Another key is Ellsbury really being the on base machine he's advertised as. Otherwise all we have to lead off is Hu who may not be able to repeat his plate success and isn't that fast. Lopez will probably never get on base enough to ever justify hitting high in the order.