Season Previews: Los Angeles Dodgers

With Spring Training well underway, it's time for one of our favorite things in all the world: Season Previews. Five years ago, they began as a semi-serious analysis and ended up as half-assed haiku. We're just gonna go with what we know. Continuing our preview of the National League West, here are the 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw won
The NL Cy Young last year
Totally called it

Chad, Chris and Nathan
Harang was signed this winter
Ted Lilly is old

Thirty-four saves for
Javy Guerra - he will close
Elbert's a lefty

James Loney at first
Across from Juan Uribe
Ellis at the plate

Sellers is short stop
The other Ellis named Mark
DPs at second

Andre Ethier
Juan Rivera and Matt Kemp
Make up the outfield

Bryan Stow Making Positive Progress Since Attack, Speaks with NBC in First Interview

Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was brutally beaten on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium by a couple of psychopath rival "fans" is making slow but positive progress in a rehabilitation center nearly nine months later.

Take this into serious consideration: Stow being able to write his own name last month was considered a huge stride in his recovery. That's the degree of severity we're talking about here. Really think about that. Now imagine your father, brother, or best friend in that situation. Is a baseball game that important to you? Hell no. Just thinking about it angers and disgusts me. But seeing the hope in Stow's eyes and the progress he's made overshadows that and beats it by a mile.

A paramedic and single father of two young girls, Stow was interviewed for the first time Friday exclusively by NBC Bay Area since he suffered the traumatic brain injury on March 31. This man made a living by saving others' lives, so seeing him in this state is hard to watch and incredibly heart-breaking, but realizing what a strong and determined fighter he is gives hope and promise to this terrible story.

Los Angeles Dodgers Get Busy, Sign Aaron Harang and Trade Dana Eveland

The Los Angeles Dodgers have filled out their rotation at the winter meetings action in Dallas today, signing Aaron Harang to a two-year contract worth $12 million with a 2014 option.

The 33-year-old right-hander joins a solid rotation that already includes National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly and Chris Capuano, whose two-year contract of $10 million was signed just last week.

Harang was pretty good last season, going 14-7 with a career-low 3.64 ERA in 28 starts with the San Diego Padres, his hometown team. General manager Ned Colletti is pleased with the signing and says it gives the Dodgers "a veteran arm in the rotation." Funny... I was under the impression Lilly was about as veteran as you can get these days.

The Dodgers also traded lefty Dana Eveland to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a couple of minor leaguers: left-hander Jarret Martin and outfielder Tyler Henson.

An 18th round pick with the Orioles in the 2009 draft, Martin was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA in 31 games with Single-A Delmarva last season, so he sucks, but Henson batted .247 with three home runs and 36 RBI with Triple-A Norfolk in 2011. So there's that.

[MLB]

Clayton Kershaw Wins National League Cy Young Award

Clayton Kershaw is the proud recipient of the 2011 National League Cy Young Award. We all saw this coming.

The 23-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander and his disgusting curveball received 27 of the 32 possible first-place votes from the BBWAA to earn the honor. He snagged the pitching Triple Crown by leading the NL with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts and tying Ian Kennedy for most wins with a 21-5 record. Not bad.

Kershaw, whose previous best for victories was a meager 13, crushed it during the final two months of the season, going 8-0 with a 0.96 ERA over his final nine starts. He was was 5-0 against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, but even more impressive was his 4-0 mark with a ridiculous 0.30 ERA in head-to-head matchups with 2008 and 2009 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Especially badass at Dodger Stadium, he went 12-1 with the lowest home ERA in the big leagues at 1.69.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are About to Make Matt Kemp Rich as Hell

Matt Kemp and the Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of a ginormous deal that would keep him with the team over the next eight seasons for $160 million.

This would mark the richest contract in the Dodgers' long history, making the All-Star center fielder one of the highest-paid players in the game. LA wooed right-hander Kevin Brown away from the San Diego Padres for a record $105 million, seven-year contract back in 1998, but we all know how that worked out... Awesome for Kevin.

Kemp, 27, led the National League with 39 home runs and 126 RBI to end the 2011 season. Sadly, he finished with the third-best batting average at .324 behind NL batting champion Jose Reyes and second-best hitter Ryan Braun to let the Triple Crown slip away.

Apparently, the two sides are still working on some finishing touches. While the Dodgers declined to comment, Kemp had this to say regarding his sweet new deal:

“We’ve still got a little bit more to go, little more things to work out. Hopefully I’ll be a Dodger for years to come.”

[ESPN]

Jose Reyes Wins NL Batting Title, Leaves Game Early

Jose Reyes is your 2011 National League Batting Champion.

The New York Mets shortstop hit a bunt single in the bottom of the first inning of his team's 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday, and promptly removed himself from the game to a chorus of boos in order to keep his 2-point lead over Ryan Braun in the NL batting race intact.

Braun, who would have either had to go 3-for-3 or 3-for-4 to edge Reyes, ended up with an 0-for-4 night instead during his Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nice try pal, but we still totally love you. Besides, at least your team is going to the playoffs. Matt Kemp was vying for the batting title as well as the NL Triple Crown a little bit ago, but he totally blew it.

Anyway, I'm not too impressed with Reyes' leaving the game early just to call himself the batting champ. Something seems super lame about that. Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson (who apparently is a bit testy on Twitter) thinks so as well:

Clayton Kershaw Wants the NL Cy Young Award

Clayton Kershaw has made quite a compelling case for the National League Cy Young Award.

Winning his 21st game of the season Sunday with a 6-2 Los Angeles Dodgers victory over the San Diego Padres, the lefty all but clinched the NL pitching Triple Crown. He leads the league with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts, with just 54 walks on the season and a 21-5 record, tied with Ian Kennedy for wins. What a badass.

Manny Seeks Reinstatement After Ban from Winter Ball

Manny Ramirez will not be allowed to play winter ball over in the Dominican Republic this offseason.

The reason? Mr. Cheaterpants never did serve a suspension, nor did he contest his positive drug test earlier this year. And with Major League Baseball's agreement with the Dominican League, they have all the power to stop him.

This according to a person speaking anonymously since the news hasn't been announced publicly: The Cibao Eagles, a Dominican winter league team Ramirez played with in 1993-94, claimed this week he was expected to start training with the club soon. However, MLB and the Players Association have decided he's ineligible.

Barry Bonds Has a Heart of Gold

Like many bloggers and baseball fans who enjoy the purity of the sport, we've been pretty hard on Barry Bonds in the past. Okay, really hard on him.

However, with the news of the Home Run King donating enough money to the family of Bryan Stow -- the paramedic and single father who was brutally beaten outside Dodger Stadium on March 31 at the Home Opener against their rival San Francisco Giants -- for his young children to attend college, we've had a change of heart. In fact, we're blown away.

Also, Giants ace Tim Lincecum withdrew $25,000 from his personal bank account and donated it to the Stow family fund to help with their outrageous medical bills. That also impresses us greatly.

This story brought tears to our eyes. Thank you Barry, Big Time Timmy Jim, and the rest of the Giants organization for being generous, loving human beings during one of the darkest times of this family's life.

[NBC Bay Area]

Andre Ethier is a Naughty Boy

Major League Baseball is "looking into" the obscene gestures made by Andre Ethier during batting practice on Monday. Lame.

Seriously, I've seen a lot more obscene things than a ballplayer flipping the bird. If he gets fined for this hot photograph, I'm going to write a long post about how fucking stupid and old Bud Selig is.

Read Ethier's scripted apology here.

Hat Tip for the pic goes straight to The Big Lead.

[Hardball Talk]

Andre Ethier's Hit Streak Intact but at a Standstill

We talked a little bit about Andre Ethier's impressive hitting streak on Tuesday, even though we were a little reluctant to considering the luck we've had when opening our big mouths in the past.

The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was scratched from Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs (which his team ended up losing 5-1) with a sore left elbow. Although he made it clear that he was willing to sacrifice his streak for one pinch-hit late in the game, he never even got the chance since Carlos Zambrano was being so unhittable.

We've always like Ethier. In fact, we were a little irritated back in the summer of 2009 when Manny Ramirez came back from his first steroid-related suspension and Ethier was thrown back on the bench like some sort of worthless replacement, even though he was ten times the player Manny was that season and stepped up huge during those 50 games.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Someone better call 9-1-1. Andre Ethier is on fire.

Usually, we don't get serious about hitting streaks until they reach 25 games. In fact, the last time we were this excited about a string of games with one hit after another was when we jinxed Scott Rolen during his 25-game streak back in July of 2009. That number is about where most streaks go to die.

Season's Greetings: Happy Opening Day!

We are firm believers that Opening Day should be considered a National Holiday. In fact, I'm surprised no President has gotten on that yet. However, to us it's more of a religious holiday chock-full of tradition, passion, and pure, unadulterated anticipation leading up to it.

We are as excited as a child on Christmas morning.

We are not going to work today. Our only mission is to watch baseball and enjoy every second. If only we had six televisions... God bless MLB Network.

Chad Billingsley Gets Extension from Dodgers

Chad Billingsley and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a four-year contract worth roughly $41.3 million.

The 26-year-old righty, who avoided arbitration at the beginning of the year with a temporary one-year contract, will see an additional $35 million over the final three seasons of his existing deal. Not bad.

Billingsley will be the second pitcher in the Dodgers rotation behind Clayton Kershaw, making his season debut Friday evening against the San Francisco Giants.

Over 160 career games, Billingsley is 59-41 with a 3.55 ERA. More impressive: he's made at least 31 starts and tossed at a minimum 191.2 innings in each of the past three seasons. Workhorse!

Maybe he'll use that determination and longevity to get the Dodger Blue back into the postseason.

[Los Angeles Times]

We Thought Garret Anderson Retired Already

After 17 seasons in the game, Garret Anderson is hanging up his glove. Funny, we totally thought he retired already.

The 38-year-old left fielder broke into the majors back in 1994 and ended up compiling more than 2,500 hits, 287 home runs, and a career batting average of .293. He also enjoyed a World Series title with the Los Angeles Angels in 2002 and three All-Star selections.

Anderson spent his first 15 big league seasons with the Halos before joining the Atlanta Braves in 2009 and the cross-town Dodgers last season, in which he batted .181 with two homers and 12 RBI in 80 games.

Yep... it was time to call it quits. The old schooler had this to say Tuesday in a team press release:

"It is with mixed emotions that I have decided to retire from baseball. It was truly a privilege to play this wonderful game and for that I want to thank several individuals."

Happy trails, Gary.

[Big League Stew]

Season Previews: Los Angeles Dodgers

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training camps next week, it's time for one of our favorite things in all the world: Season Previews. Four years ago, they began as a semi-serious analysis and ended up as half-assed haiku. We're just gonna go with what we know. Moving right along with our preview of the National League West, here are the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fashion designer
Alyssa Milano is
A huge Dodgers fan

We love Vin Scully
Mannywood moved to Tampa
Russell Martin's gone

Clayton Kershaw and
Billingsley are the one-two
Punch the Dodgers need

Matt Guerrier is new
Padilla's the odd man out
Ted Lilly is old

Andre Ethier!
We've always liked Jon Garland
Rafael Furcal!

Just ridiculous:
Hiroki Kuroda makes
Fifteen million bucks?

Dodgers, Angels and Braves Tie Up Loose Ends

The Los Angeles Dodgers have given Tony Gwynn, Jr. a one-year deal worth $675,000.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who played for the San Diego Padres last season, became a free agent when his Hall of Fame father's former team failed to offer him a 2011 contract.

He's not all bad, though. Gwynn, a career .276 pinch hitter, swiped a career-high 17 bases in 21 attempts over 117 games with the Padres last year.

Juan Uribe Leaves Giants for Rival Dodgers

Juan Uribe has done the unthinkable.

The second baseman finalized a three-year, $21 million deal Tuesday with his old team's most hated rival: the Los Angeles Dodgers. Uribe was offered arbitration to the tune of $20 million over three years last week by the San Francisco Giants, but it wasn't enough to keep their Championship team in tact.

Happy 70th Birthday Joe Torre

Happy 70th birthday, Joe Torre. Here are some things that happened the year you were born:

The New York Yankees finished third in the American League

The Brooklyn Dodgers finished second in the National League

Adam Wainwright: Perfect at Home

Adam Wainwright pitched six solid innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday for a 2-0 St. Louis Cardinals victory to improve to an incredible 10-0 with a 1.31 ERA at home.

The All-Star right-hander, who is 14-5 on the year with a 2.02 ERA, has allowed just one earned run over his last 29.1 innings pitched. Saturday night, he surrendered five hits and struck out three batters for his fourth straight victory and sixth of his last seven. Also, he's managed 19 scoreless innings in a row.