LOL Red Sox

[Pitty]

[Villain]

Can Ethier play centerf-- ok I'll stop

Then you might as well have given the largest contract in Braves history to Tony Gwynn Jr. or Drew Stubbs if you wanted a fast defensive outfielder who can't hit. I know those can be so hard to find.

Oh yeah, I just remembered that money is in issue in Atlanta

[MVPete]

The Dodgers are fucking terrible, you can continue stuffing your face with Doyer dogs and all the other bullshit that you are reading from w/e Dodger homer's club site you visit but they stink. Apparently Mattingly is on the hot seat according to Rosenthal which is fucking sad, because they had a good thing going before they changed owners and started throwing money at anyone who's been to an All Star game in the last decade.

[NAHSTE]

Then you might as well have given the largest contract in Braves history to Tony Gwynn Jr. or Drew Stubbs if you wanted a fast defensive outfielder who can't hit. I know those can be so hard to find.

Sounds like a lot when you put it that way, but 15 million per isn't a lot of money. That's 3 WAR per year, which is well within his capabilities. And there's 4.75 years left on the deal so let's avoid rushing to judgment 1/20 of the way through.

He's been terrible offensively so far, but he's a young CF with power and speed. That has value in general terms. 31 year old corner outfielders who can't run, field or hit lefties on the other hand ...

[Primetime]

If Andre Ethier's contract meant that I could have Justin Upton on the cheap and under team control for another 3 years, I'd celebrate it.

[NAHSTE]

If Andre Ethier's contract meant that I could have Justin Upton on the cheap and under team control for another 3 years, I'd celebrate it.

There's also Matt Kemp, which fWAR has as being less valuable than BJ so far.

[Villain]

The Dodgers are fucking terrible, you can continue stuffing your face with Doyer dogs and all the other bullshit that you are reading from w/e Dodger homer's club site you visit but they stink. Apparently Mattingly is on the hot seat according to Rosenthal which is fucking sad, because they had a good thing going before they changed owners and started throwing money at anyone who's been to an All Star game in the last decade.

Of course they're bad. In my opinion, Mattingly is fine and it's Colletti that should go.

Still doesn't change the point at hand, which is that I'd rather have Andre Ethier than BJ Upton. Ethier's contract is definitely worse, but I think he's better than BJ and I know that Ethier's contract isn't an issue since the team's TV rights alone are more than their massive payroll. Can't say the same about the Braves and BJ Upton's deal.

[Villain]

If Andre Ethier's contract meant that I could have Justin Upton on the cheap and under team control for another 3 years, I'd celebrate it.

Justin Upton is a fantastic player and the Braves made an awesome trade to get him. Not sure what that has to do with his brother and Andre, though.

[Villain]

There's also Matt Kemp, which fWAR has as being less valuable than BJ so far.

[Primetime]

There's also Matt Kemp, which fWAR has as being less valuable than BJ so far.

Justin Upton is a fantastic player and the Braves made an awesome trade to get him. Not sure what that has to do with his brother and Andre, though.

BJ adds value because it helped his brother to the team. What's not to understand?

[Villain]

I already addressed that point. See: Drew Stubbs and Tony Gwynn Jr. Fast and good at defense from a centerfielder. Whoop-de-doo. Talking offensive production here.

BJ adds value because it helped his brother to the team. What's not to understand?

Justin came by trade, not free agent. Do you really think he vetoes that trade if BJ isn't there?

[MVPete]

Of course they're bad. In my opinion, Mattingly is fine and it's Colletti that should go.

Still doesn't change the point at hand, which is that I'd rather have Andre Ethier than BJ Upton. Ethier's contract is definitely worse, but I think he's better than BJ and I know that Ethier's contract isn't an issue since the team's TV rights alone are more than their massive payroll. Can't say the same about the Braves and BJ Upton's deal.

Who the fuck cares if you'd rather have Ethier or BJ Upton, I'd like to think we are smarter around here than to create alternate universes where we can choose which player we'd rather have and discuss the teams and their rosters as they are instead. Also pointing out that the Dodgers have unlimited funds is a shitty answer when other's question the contracts of the players currently on the roster, whether they have enough money to burn or not it's still wasted money. You don't want to get into the habit of not making smart financial decisions because it can backfire and turn into a dumpster fire like the Dodgers are currently experiencing.

Going forward I think the Dodgers still turn this around somewhat and finish around .500, I just don't think they'll be able to get everyone on the field long enough to do anything more than that. They have too many guys with injury problems(Matt Kemp is probably still not 100%), not enough starting pitching, not a good enough pen, and no depth what so ever.

[NAHSTE]

I already addressed that point. See: Drew Stubbs and Tony Gwynn Jr. Fast and good at defense from a centerfielder. Whoop-de-doo. Talking offensive production here.

But that's only half the equation. BJ has been a +6 fielder and provided roughly neutral (-0.1 WAR) value. And that's with being an absolute corpse at the plate.

Justin came by trade, not free agent. Do you really think he vetoes that trade if BJ isn't there?

Their agent only came up with the idea to add Seattle to Justin's no-trade list after BJ signed with Atlanta, funnily enough. The parents no longer wanted one playing on the west coast and one on the east coast.

[Villain]

Who the fuck cares if you'd rather have Ethier or BJ Upton, I'd like to think we are smarter around here than to create alternate universes where we can choose which player we'd rather have and discuss the teams and their rosters as they are instead. Also pointing out that the Dodgers have unlimited funds is a shitty answer when other's question the contracts of the players currently on the roster, whether they have enough money to burn or not it's still wasted money. You don't want to get into the habit of not making smart financial decisions because it can backfire and turn into a dumpster fire like the Dodgers are currently experiencing.

If I wanted to discuss the team as a whole, I'd be doing it in the Doyers thread that I made. It's hardly a waste of time on a deserted forum like this one to compare the bad contracts of two outfielders.

I'm merely having fun revisiting a claim I made a little while back. Oh the humanity!

At no point did I claim that the Dodgers are better run or better as a whole than the Braves. I think the Braves are doing great things and that, on the whole, they're doing things the right way. BJ Upton's signing was a counter to what we've seen from the Braves organization, which is why his contract - which wouldn't be a sneeze if he were on the Dodgers right now - is the largest they've ever given out.

Obviously this is very early and it's not like he doesn't have time to improve - the Braves did the smart thing by buying the years in which most players are considered to be in their prime (roughly 28-32 by my opinion). Ethier is also doing very poorly and even his lacking offensive numbers are dwarfing BJ's. The Braves broke from tradition in signing BJ and the early signs are that of a disaster.

Going forward I think the Dodgers still turn this around somewhat and finish around .500, I just don't think they'll be able to get everyone on the field long enough to do anything more than that. They have too many guys with injury problems(Matt Kemp is probably still not 100%), not enough starting pitching, not a good enough pen, and no depth what so ever.

The state of the Dodgers is ugly right now. 2nd worst run production in the NL, but even the bullpen - which is the scapegoat of the day - doesn't have the worst ERA in the NL West. That title goes to the 1st Place San Francisco Giants. There's still three-quarters of the season for the Giants to fall on their face and the Dodgers slugging to heat up.

Since I'm bored at work, I'll go ahead at evaluate the entirety of the Dodgers in the Doyers thread and you can give me shit and have fun cherry picking my optimism and homerism this afternoon.

[MVPete]

"From Rotoworld, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday that the club has discussed calling up prospect outfielders Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson.
Very interesting. However, while the Dodgers are struggling to score runs, it's hard to see a great fit for playing time as long as Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Carl Crawford are healthy. Puig, 22, is batting .314/.385/.579 with six homers and a .964 OPS through 32 games this season with Double-A Chattanooga. Pederson has been even better, batting .327/.400/.554 with eight homers, 13 stolen bases and a .954 OPS."

Good for Mattingly, I think you'll see Van Slyke platoon with Ethier for awhile before they call these 2 guys up though.