Not Quite Like Kissing Your Sister, But...

To start, a few fundamental pillars of my belief system:

1. Teams should, when possible and within reason, give fans a chance at the postseason, or failing that, make their team as good as it can be.

2. Teams can't be afraid to trade prospects on the chance that they turn into good players. That'll happen periodically, but there's a reason they're called prospects.

3. Overpaying isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as it serves a purpose and doesn't crush the long term outlook (still, it should be minimized).

4. P.R. trades (for example, moving guys so at least the team can say, "Hey, at least we did something.") are generally a bad idea.

With that in mind, I can confidently say I understand the theory behind what the Dodgers did today. They play in a division weaker than Rafael Palmiero's steroids alibi, and though they deserve to be out of the race, they're not. They have a serious need for pitching and like most teams, can use another bat. More than that, the entire National League is so weak it can be argued that any team playing well entering the playoffs — and by definition that would include the Dodgers, who need to kick butt just to get there — has an opportunity to qualify for (and be crushed in) the World Series. So I get all that. But I can't say I'm all that excited about the deals.

Dodgers Acquire Maddux and Lugo from Cubs and Devil Rays

The official press statement from the Dodgers front office. We tried getting into the conference call with Ned Coletti, but the lines was full. Apparently, four slots alone were taken up by writers from some rag called the L.A. Times. Glory hogs. But we'll keep an eye out when the audio is posted on the Dodgers website and let you know.
—AK

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Greg Maddux and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs for infielder Cesar Izturis and infielder Julio Lugo from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for minor leaguers Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza, according to Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti.

“Greg is one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game,” said Colletti. “What he can bring to this team goes beyond his ability on the mound. We expect him to solidify our rotation and serve as a strong influence in the clubhouse.

“Julio is a solid infielder both offensively and defensively and will help strengthen us up the middle. He also adds more speed to our lineup.”

Maddux, 40, is a four-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star. His 327 career victories are second among active pitchers behind Roger Clemens and rank 12^th on the all-time victory list in Major League history. He has won 15 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, including 13 consecutive from 1990-2002 and back-to-back awards in 2004-05. Maddux has led the league in victories three times and ERA four times.

In 22 games (21 starts) this season, the right-hander is 9-11 with a 4.69, tying him for the ninth-most victories in the league. He recently surpassed Bob Gibson on the all-time strikeout list, as his 3,133 rank 12^th in big league history and third among active pitchers behind Clemens and Randy Johnson.

Maddux has appeared in the postseason 11 times, including nine consecutive years with the Braves from 1995-2003. He has twice helped Atlanta to the World Series, winning the championship in 1995. In 31 career playoff games, Maddux has a 3.22 ERA, including a 2.09 ERA in five World Series starts.

From 1988-2004, he won 15 or more games each year, surpassing Cy Young (15 from 1891-1905) for the most consecutive 15-win seasons (17) in Major League history. His next victory will give him 19 consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins, equaling Young’s mark set from 1891-1909.

Maddux’s brother, Mike, played for the Dodgers in 1990 and 1999, making the duo the ninth pair of siblings in franchise history, joining Con and Ed Daily, Jim and Mickey Hughes, Ramon and Pedro Martinez, Dave and Steve Sax, Larry and Norm Sherry, Chris and Johnny Van Cuyk, Lloyd and Paul Waner and Zack and Mack Wheat.

Lugo, 30, is batting .308 with 12 homers and 27 RBI and 18 stolen bases for Tampa Bay this season. In 2004-05, he averaged 158 games played and a .286 mark with 66 RBI and 30 stolen bases.  In eight Major League seasons, he has a .279 career average with 68 homers, 326 RBI and 133 stolen bases.

Lugo set career highs in homers with 15 in 2003 and RBI with 75 in 2004. He swiped a career-high 39 stolen bases in 2005, which ranked fifth in the American League. He ranked sixth in the AL with 41 doubles in 2004. In 2005, Lugo led all Major League shortstops in batting average, doubles, triples, RBI and stolen bases. The Dominican Republic native was raised in Brooklyn, where he attended Fort Hamilton High School.

Izturis, 26, was batting .252 with one homer and 12 RBI in 32 games for the Dodgers following Tommy John surgery last season. The 2004 Gold Glove Award winner has played six seasons in the Major Leagues, including the last five with the Dodgers.

Guzman, 22, is batting .297 with 11 homers and 55 RBI this season for Triple-A Las Vegas. He appeared in eight games for the Dodgers this season and batted .211 (4-for-19) with three RBI.

Pedroza, 22, batted .281 with 21 homers and 75 RBI in 89 games for Single-A Columbus before a promotion earlier this month to Single-A Vero Beach. In 13 games with the Vero Beach Dodgers, he was batting .154 (6-for-39) with three homers and nine RBI.

Extra! Extra! (7.31)

A week ago, every team in baseball was hoping for a crack at the Dodgers. So what does that say about the Nationals?

Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of their visitors from D.C. on Sunday afternoon, regaining some much needed momentum and moving themselves within five games of first place San Diego in the West. As for the wild card, they've got five games to make up on Cincinnati...where the Blue will begin a three-game set starting tomorrow.

You want intrigue? We deliver. On Sunday, it looked like the Dodgers were ready to do anything they could to lose. They wasted leadoff doubles, including two by newly acquired 3B Wilson Betemit, and balked runners home (in reality, the latter was fairly entertaining for anyone not named Mark Hendrickson).

The old Dodgers of say, five days ago would have folded like an accordion. But these are the new Blue: indestructible, determined and clutch. Jose Cruz Jr.'s game tying, pinch-hit homer in the seventh was one of three Dodger solo shots; then James Loney and Cesar Izturis won it in the ninth. They've got a long way to go, but for the first time in a while, the Dodgers have reason to feel optimistic. The box score, meanwhile, shows an inelegant-but-effective-enough start from Hendrickson, and solid bullpen work.

They Say The Third Time Designates "Charmed" Status

And playing by those rules, the Dodgers have officially reached Alyssa Milano/Holly Marie Combs/Shannen Doherty/Rose McGowan territory, depending on which was your favorite witch. (As for the players poll results, Milano's obviously a landslide winner.)

Today's 4-3 win over the Nats marked the team's third straight victory (the first series sweep in eons), three more than Mark Hendrickson seems destined to ever get while donning a Dodger uni. I'm totally convinced I'll notch a "W" next to my name before the lanky lefty breaks through (which says something, considering how buried I am on that pitching staff. Then again, Grady Little used to regularly warm me up in the pen before giving Odalis the call, so I guess you never know.). But like a couple Hendrickson non-win outings, he didn't particularly hurt himself while on the hill. Although he came seriously close on a rather bizarre balk, falling ass over tea kettle when his cleat got caught on the mound. Luckily, as Little pointed out, "just his feelings were hurt."

Actually, were it not for the run scored off the mishap, Hendrickson's pride would have been just ducky. "I would have laughed it off," Hendrickson shrugged. And even if Hendrickson never finds it hilarious, Toby Hall plans on laughing enough for both of them in a couple days, if not sooner. I'll give Hendrickson this much. I'm not sure John Ritter in his "Three's Company" prime could have pulled off such a sweet pratfall. But the overall result lingered more on the starter's mind, content with the team's "W," but not thrilled with his own performance. "Did you see how many walks I had today?" Reminded that he got himself out of a jam after walking the bases loaded, Hendrickson wasn't impressed. "I'm gonna battle," he reminded the reporter. "It's just one of things, that's not how I pitch...I kind of got a little pissed off at myself."

Somebody Check the D.J.

Sorry about the late pregame. Ned Colletti was made available to talk a little trade deadline, so that threw a wrench in the typin'. I'll try to get some of that up today, but I'll offer this as an appetizer: Don't expect big movement. Colletti said he had one deal that still has some life to it and another on life support, but neither sounded groundbreaking in nature. Granted, Colletti was speaking in terms so vague he might as well have been speaking Russian. Stay tuned.

So while we were all gathered in the dugout with Grady Little this morning for today's media information extravaganza, the stadium P.A. was playing U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." I asked Little if that was a good or bad omen. "Who's request is this?" he asked. "They didn't get that CD out of my car."

Little's rotation, while likely heavy on country, doesn't come exclusively from Nashville. "It depends on what we can find at the pawn shop. You ever buy CDs and DVDs at the pawn shop? You get great deals, man. You can get all kinds of movies at a pawn shop. Check it out sometime."

Little said during his last visit he walked off with a big stack of entertainment options for around $30, so he's got a point. Of course, anyone who frequents the pawn shop knows in-kind trading is key. A little jersey bartering could make removing his wallet unnecessary. "About two weeks ago, the price was going down on that. One week. They'd make me pay them to take it. Timing is a factor," he said.

Before that diversion into Grady's shopping habits, he told us that Nomar would probably be ready for Tuesday's game in Cincinnati, Wednesday at the latest. Or, maybe it'll be Aug. 9, when he's eligible to come off the 15-day DL for his sprained knee. As we mentioned in the last post, he's officially going on the shelf.

Remember That Stuff About Nomar Not Going on the DL?

Well, I lied. Or rather, they lied. To make room for Wilson Betemit, Nomar Garciaparra was placed in the 15-day DL for his bum knee, retroactive to July 25. By my math (for the love of all things holy, double check it), that makes him eligible to come off on Aug. 9.

—BK

Something's Afoot

James Loney and Wilson Betemit are both in the Dodgers starting lineup today, which means a roster move has to be made. Again, Little says he's waiting for the Bat Phone to ring, but it could simply be a matter of designating someone on the current roster (Ledee?  Cruz?).

As for the DL, the only likely candidate would be Nomar, but again Little said they think he'll be ready to play Tuesday in Cincinnati, or failing that, on Wednesday. One thing looks fairly certain — today's transaction won't include Bobby Abreu.

More to come in the full pregame report.

—BK

Extra! Extra! (7.30)

It's odd these days to see the words "winning," "streak," and "Dodgers" within screaming distance of each other, but that's the case after yesterday's 7-5 win over the Nationals marked consecutive wins.

Starter Derek Lowe's "W" tally bumped itself up to eight, but the outing wasn't as smooth as the end results might infer. The righty's been struggling for quite some time and this outing actually featured plenty of the same. Lowe surrendered four runs (and just as many stolen bases) in the  opening two innings, a mess that required 85 pitches to create.

But Lowe eventually centered himself and blanked the Nats through the fifth, becoming more a victim of the sun's heat than the heat of Washington's bats. A glass equally half-full and empty for Lowe, but a win's a win. In the meantime, the dude catching Lowe's pitches had a nice day at the office. Russell Martin knocked in a quartet of RBIs, including the one that permanently put the squad over. He and good bud Andre Ethier (another RBI man) presumably had fun reading the box score, although the names destined to enter it for the remainder of '06 is up in the air for the next 24 hours. With any luck, one of the people sticking around or entering the mix will be a leader.

Mar-teen!

For the first few innings of Saturday's 7-5 win over the Nationals, it looked like L.A.'s strategy to keep yesterday's momentum alive was to have today's game last literally forever.  I'm telling you, this sucker moved slower than Star Jones through the buffet line at Sizzler.  To call what starters Derek Lowe and Mike O'Connor were doing on the mound "laboring" would make actual labor fly by like spring break in comparison.  After Felipe Lopez singled on a slow roller and stole second (a recurring theme for the day), Lowe struck out Ryan Zimmerman before Nick Johnson deposited a hanger over the center field wall.  2-0 Nats. 

In the second, Lowe allowed two more runs, this time on four hits.  By the end of the inning, his pitch count was higher than fans at a Phish concert.  Fortunately for the Dodgers, he'd settle down, mowing through the fourth and fifth before leaving for a pinch hitter.  Even more fortunate for the Blue was the performance of O'Connor, who snotted on the lead he was spotted by allowing four Dodger runs in the home half of the first, including two homers.  First a Rafael Furcal shot to lead off the game, then a two-run bomb from Russell Martin.

A Series Dedicated to the Sports Medicine Industry

You think the Dodgers are banged up?  Try the Nationals.  They've got eleven guys on the DL, and have lost a grand total of 1,069 games due to injury.  More than enough to lead the Major Leagues, and plenty to make the Dodgers- sitting third in MLB at 768 games lost (heads up, Atlanta, we're comin' after ya' for #2!) look like the picture of health.  But while it's nice to know that your M.A.S.H. unit isn't the biggest in baseball, the Dodgers, with Jeff Kent disabled, Willy Aybar gone, Nomar nursing and injury, and new Blue Wilson Betemit not yet in town, could use another hand on deck for Saturday afternoon's game.  (Segue alert!)