A-Rod Not the Answer to Dodgers' Third Base Woes

by Kevin Zeni

With the recent struggles and benchings of Alex Rodriguez through the first two rounds of the American League playoffs, reporters have began to speculate that Yankees GM Brian Cashman will (if he hasn't already) look to move the disgruntled superstar during the offseason and attempt to find a more suitable third base option.

While the most prominent internet rumor names the Miami Marlins as the Yankees' most likely trade partner for A-Rod, there has also been wide speculation that the Dodgers, having already shown a propensity for spending money on big-name stars, would take a gamble on the slugger to possibly fill their third base hole, which has existed since Adrian Beltre left the team following the 2004 season.

As I'm sure you've gathered from the title of this posting, I am vehemently against the Dodgers potentially making such a move. While part of my feelings towards this topic are personal, statistics and health records will also support my arguments, which are as follows:

1) I have personally disliked and held absolutely no respect for A-Rod, following his shameful ball-slapping display against the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS. Such a move portrayed him as a cheater, even before his admittance as a steroid user.

2) Having been a steroid user, Rodriguez's body is more prone to break down in his advanced (by baseball terms) age of 37. After suffering through hip ailments the past two seasons, the Yankees have had to be gentle with A-Rod's use, giving him days "off" as the DH to preserve his body, a luxury the Dodgers will not have.

3) Rodriguez makes WAY too much money to add on to an already inflated Dodgers payroll. Alex is slated to make $114 million dollars over the five years remaining on his contract. While it is very likely that the Yankees will eat a substantial portion of his contract, the prospects the Dodgers would have to part with to facilitate such a deal would not be worth the risk.

4) The Dodgers have already suffered through an experience involving an aging superstar steroid user and got burned in the long run. The fans of Los Angeles enjoyed the early successes of Manny Ramirez, but after a run of steroid-use suspensions, quickly soured on him. Ned Colletti would be wise to learn from that mistake, especially since Manny came in with a much higher success rate in clutch situations than A-Rod.

5) I hate his stupid pouty face that he makes whenever things don't go his way.

6) His power numbers (home runs and RBIs) and batting average have decreased each of the last two seasons, and, as mentioned earlier, he lacks an ability to hit in the clutch to make up for those declining numbers. While incumbent Dodgers third baseman Luis Cruz may not be able to put up better numbers than A-Rod over an entire season, he has shown an ability to step up when he is most needed in clutch, late game situations.

So please Dodgers, don't make the mistake of adding Alex Rodriguez to next year's team. Trading for him will only end with pain and agony, which Yankees fans can tell you isn't worth the name recognition he brings to your team.

Just When you Think the NFL Can't Get Any More Petty...

by Kevin Zeni

Much has been said about the NFL and their ongoing feud with their regular officials and the New Orleans Saints players involved in the "Bounty-Gate" scandal, but now their rules and regulations are just getting petty.

Over the past couple of days, it has been reported that NFL officials have told San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith that he is no longer allowed to wear his lucky San Francisco Giants cap during press conferences.

Smith has been wearing the cap after each of his team's wins sine the middle of last season, but is now being told that he will face a fine of $15,000 every time he wears any non-NFL sponsored apparel during the 90-minute window before and after games.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL have already taken enough flack over the offseason over much more serious situations, so is it really necessary to make a big deal out of what hat a quarterback wears at a news conference? Hell, in the NBA playoffs we had guys wearing glasses with no lenses and shirts two sizes too small, but nobody tried to fine them for such ridiculousness.

These players are grown men (though they may not always act that way) and should be able to dress however they feel is appropriate for a news conference, especially if the team has no problems with it.

Click here for NBC Sports Hardball Talk's full detailed story.

Dodgers & Red Sox Complete Historic Post-Deadline Trade

by Kevin Zeni

Had the Dodgers completed the season having only acquired relievers Brandon League and Randy Choate, outfielder Shane Victorino, shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and starter Joe Blanton, that alone would have been a huge haul for a streaky team with playoff aspirations. However, what began to transpire on Friday very well may give the Dodgers the best lineup in the National League, while also supplying a veteran, playoff-tested arm to a rotation that just lost Chad Billingsley to an elbow injury last night.

After claiming first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and starting pitcher Josh Beckett off waivers from the Red Sox, the workings of a major trade began to unfold. By Friday afternoon, the news began to break that the Dodgers and Red Sox had agreed in principle to send Gonzo, Beckett, left fielder Carl Crawford, and utility infielder Nick Punto to Los Angeles in exchange for first baseman James Loney, minor league pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. and outfielder Jerry Sands.

Complicating the trade was the matter of Crawford's no-trade clause, which included the Dodgers, and Beckett's 10-and-5 rights, which give him authority to decline being traded. (Note: 10-and-5 refers to a player that has been in the majors for 10 years, with the last five being with his current team.) On the Dodgers' side of things, De La Rosa was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays, while he was put on the waiver wire, therefore, he had to be pulled back and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he will remain until he is eligible to head to Boston as the "player to be named later." That being said, all obstacles had been cleared up by Saturday morning, allowing the deal to move forward.

For the Red Sox, this trade is essentially a salary dump, with the team agreeing to pay only $14 million of the approximately $270 million dollars of current and future salaries the Dodgers are taking on. On the field, Loney gives Boston an immediate option to replace Gonzalez at first until the offseason, while Sands and De Jesus give the team sorely-needed middle infield and outfield depth and De La Rosa and Webster, the Dodgers' second-ranked prospect, give the Sox a pair of high-quality, young arms to add to their starting rotation in the next year or two.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez finally gives Los Angeles a power-hitting, slick-fielding first baseman to replace the struggling Loney, a battle-tested starter in Beckett, who will likely slide into Billingsley's rotation spot until he is healthy, a potentially top-tier left fielder and top of the order bat in Crawford, who will sit out the rest of this season after having Tommy John surgery on his left throwing arm, and a dependable utility infielder in Punto, who will fill the role of Jerry Hairston Jr., who is out for the remainder of the season after undergoing hip surgery.

While I would have liked to not have to take on Crawford and his behemoth contract, he could prove to be a good option in left field next year, with Shane Victorino becoming a free agent at season's end. In any case, he would at least keep the position warm until Yasiel Puig shows that he is ready to make the jump up from the minors.

At the end of the day, this move shows that new Dodgers ownership is not afraid to take on massive amounts of salary if it means they have a better chance of bringing the World Series trophy back to Los Angeles.

Clemens Returning to the Mound Saturday Night

by Kevin Zeni

With his perjury trial having ended a few months ago, former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens has thrust his name back into the spotlight with the breaking news that he will be returning to the mound in a pitching performance in his native Texas.

No, the former All-Star fire-baller will not be suiting up for the Astros, Rangers, nor one of their minor league affiliates, but rather for the independent Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League.

The 50-year-old reportedly impressed current Skeeters special adviser and former Houston Astros general manager Tal Smith in a workout earlier today, leading to his signing to a pitching staff that already features former major leaguers in Scott Kazmir, Jason Lane and Tim Redding.

It is expected that Clemens will suit up for the Skeeters Friday night and make his first, and possibly only, on-field appearance for the team on Saturday.

It will be interesting to see how Clemens performs this weekend, since a good outing may lead a major league team to take a chance on him for the stretch run to the playoffs. However, I believe that this is more a publicity stunt staged by both the Skeeters and Clemens himself to make their brand more relevant in the sporting world.

Click here to read the Sugar Land Skeeters' official press release.

Dwight Howard Mega-Trade Breakdown

by Kevin Zeni

The Dwight Howard drama in Orlando is finally, mercifully over, with the much-vilified big man being sent to the Los Angeles Lakers in a complicated four-team trade. Rather than taking up paragraph after paragraph attempting to describe who went where as clearly as possible, I made it easy for my readers by developing the following visual breakdown:



 
As most of my followers are in or have ties to Los Angeles, I'll start with how the Lake Show came out in this deal first. For starters, a healthy Dwight Howard offers a dramatic upgrade defensively and is a more reliable contributor on a nightly basis than Andrew Bynum had been with the team. While Bynum may have a better offensive skill set, Howard won't be counted upon as much for his offense, as the Lakers will also have Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, and Steve Nash to handle the bulk of the scoring. Christian Eyenga is a nice developmental small forward, but wouldn't have won a spot on the team out of camp, while Josh McRoberts's backup forward role can be filled by the incoming Earl Clark. The addition of Chris Duhon, also gives the Lakers a good backup point guard option to compete against Steve Blake.

For the 76ers, they lose an All-Star and Olympic-quality player in Andre Iguodala, but with Evan Turner already in place and Jason Richardson arriving in the trade, reasonable replacements are in place. Meanwhile, the addition of Bynum, who lives just an hour away and will likely remain with the Sixers long-term, offers a dramatic upgrade over Nikola Vucevic and the other centers the team had in place. With this team likely becoming a perennial contender in the East, Moe Harkless and a future first-round pick were an easy throw-in to bring in a potential face of the franchise in Bynum.

As far as Denver is concerned, they bring in a great defender and dependable scorer in Iguodala by dealing from positions of depth with Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington. The Nuggets have one of the deepest teams in the league and both Afflalo and Harrington had down years last season, thus making them more expendable.

Finally, the Magic rid themselves of the Howard headache and clear the bad contract of Richardson off their books, while receiving a large group of solid players looking to prove themselves on what will most certainly be a bad team looking to earn a high lottery pick next offseason. With the 76ers, Lakers, and Nuggets all being playoff teams, it's highly unlikely the future first-round picks they will be receiving will ever be high on the draft board, so it will take some clever drafting or trading of the picks by new GM Rob Hennigan to turn them into a potential franchise type player.

Unless Hennigan has something left up his sleeve, it appears that Orlando is the only loser in this trade, with the Lakers, Sixers, and Nuggets all receiving at least one piece that pushes them closer to a championship.