Dodgers sign O. Hudson

Dodgers sign O. Hudson

I got home last night from a weekend of camping and checked my e-mail and got one from the Dodgers website with the news they signed Hudson on Saturday. When I read this I was first excited cause it is just another piece that will make the "boys in blue" that much tougher even with or without Man-Ram in the lineup. But then the initial enjoyment wore off because it just clicked what is gonna happen with DeWitt. Don't get me wrong I love the signing of Hudson cause he will add more veteren leadership to the club house and be a great guy to mentor DeWitt. He will also fill a hole in the Dodgers lineup that in my opinion has been missing since Raffy's initial contract with the Dodgers. That hole is someone to hit #2 in the lineup, whose hitting style fits that spot. The Dodgers have tried a lot of different guys in that spot including many of the young nucleus of the team and Juan Pierre with very mixed results. I think Hudson will be perfect for this. He has some pop, hits for a nice average, knocks in a good amount of runners, can steal bases, and gets on base. In the national league he has numbers of .295/11 hr/ 57 rbi's/ 11 steals/ .370 obs. Putting this ability in front of the rest of the young Dodgers with or without Manny will help, cause the "O-Dog" has already been through this kind of setting in Arizona and all the young talent that surrounded him there. The one thing that is different between Arizona and Los Angeles is that the young Dodgers overall have hit better then the young DBacks did except for maybe in the power catagory and the DBacks had a lot of success in his time there. So, I am hoping for the same kind of success with the young guys.

Now back to DeWitt. I am a lifelong Dodger fan and really liked the way this kid played last year. He is a such a professional even with the demotion back to the minors last season and then being recalled up and having to change positions with 2 months to go in the season. It never seemed to change the way he played and you never heard or read reports of him causing a ruckus. Plus, out all the of the young Dodger hitters he did a great job of working the count and seeing the most pitches from every pitcher in his at-bats and not trying to do too much and put the ball in play even before Man-Ram arrived. I honestly think he has earned his shot at being the starter this year but I know Dodgernation could not pass this deal up. I am hoping he doesn't get sent back down to Triple A or traded. I have read a couple of reports that state DeWitt might be sent down just so he can play every day and not just sit on the bench or play sparingly. Honestly in my opinion I would like to see the Dodgers keep DeWitt and Young up on the Major League roster and send down Abreu and Hu. Another report I have read said the Dodgers also plan to work DeWitt out at short which I think is another good idea. I think it is a good idea just so he can be more adept and have experience all over the diamond. Plus if DeWitt is at Triple A how is he gonna learn from Hudson so I would rather see Dewitt who in his rookie year had numbers similar to Hudson's national league career except for his average stay up and be tutored by the "O-Dog". Both DeWitt and Young have earned the right to play with the big boys and all Hu has done is struggle offensively and Abreu is still coming back from injury and see them toughen up at Triple A and really earn their right to be with the big boys.

Manny
Now onto Manny, I also have read the reports that the talks have heated up even more this last week. That is good and bad and both for the same reason, that this dilemma is gonna end soon. I also just heard a report on ESPN Sportcenter this morning from a Dodgers beat writer for the LA Times that Manny wants to sign with the Dodgers and be in spring training before their first spring training game which is wednesday. What seems to be the hold up is the years and not the money. If I was McCourt and company I would give him 3 years/70 million with possible an option for a 4th year totally 85-90 million. Especially when I went to look at what tickets are gonna cost this year at Dodger Stadium and the prices have skyrocketed. The LF Bleacher was $8 last year and they are charging $15 almost double and the Top Deck was $4 and now going for $12 for season tickets comparison. Now the McCourts need to step up and give the fans what they want after an off season of not going after much in Non-Dodger Free Agents and what we want is Manny Ramirez and bring Mannywood back to Hollywood and the New Dodgertown. When the Manny deal gets done I would like to see the Dodgers bat him 4th in the lineup with Ethier staying infront of him and batting 3rd with the hope that he has as many years as Manny is gonna be here like the last two months of the 2008 regular season. Our lineup could look something like this:

1) Furcal
2) Hudson
3) Ethier
4) Ramirez
5) Martin
6) Kemp
7) Loney
8) Blake
9) Pitcher's Spot

I think you could move around any of the guys in the 5-8 spot to get the right combination but the 1st 4 should stay put. With our lineup like this we would have 8 guys who could hit 10 hrs or more each and almost all of them near a .300 average. That would be as scary as any lineup in the Majors including the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Mets, and the other "elite clubs". It would leave pitching as possibly the only part to worry about which would be something we haven't had to do in a really long time in LA where pitching has been our priority for almost the last decade.

So much for my 1st post of many more to come and it being short. Hope those who read enjoy it.