damnit. what is an extra 400k whe we spend millions on crappy players?

Wow, that bites.

in response to the person commenting on the Plaschke article in the last post--

Aug 14'th 2006 Dodger Record:
63-56

Aug 14'th 2007 Dodger Record:
60-59

worst losing streak for '06
Dodgers: 8 games ending with 7.5 games back 7-26. They turned around and flew up to first place in the division.

Dodgers are just a week removed from its worst losing streak so far this season. They are also just a winning streak away from being back at the top of the division.

I think burying the dodgers right now is a little bit premature.

my semi rambling argument is here
http://altdodgerthinking.blogspot.com/

That will buy two more PR flacks and a whole ton of Mrs. Fields' chocolate chip. Great news all around.

Blair not getting signed is what bites just to be clear. Not trying to crumble cookies over anyone's head.

Management has become totaly inept this year. Why draft Blair when you KNOW it will take at least a mill to get him signed. Honestly, 1.1 mil is a good deal for both sides. TJ, do you know what the dodgers' final offer was and why on earth they couldn't meet 1.1 million? Does it have anything to do with MLB commish's office?

Exactly what npurcell said. Using the 5th round pick on Blair should have predicated on the idea that it would cost about the $1.1 million Tony mentions. If the Dodgers were never willing to meet a price around one million, they should have drafted a true fifth round prospect instead.

Hasn't this season demonstrated to Colletti/McCourt just how valuable pitching is? Isn't the difference in the negotiation a couple hundred K at best - McCourt clears that much profit from one night's parking! Asinine. Idiotic.

I trust Logan White, period

Luckily, Gonzo's contract is up in 6 weeks as is Bombko's. I've long hoped for Pierre to be placed on waivers to see if any, repeat any, deals mature. We're stuck with Nomar unfortunately (signed through next year).

Jeff Kent's mutual option for '08 is more dependant on him wanting to return than our interest in him. He has said it would take a "real exciting" season for him not to retire. Though he's a defensive liability and his health causes some concerns, I think he is an asset. He's ranked 6th in HR and 6th in RBIs among all mlb second baseman..not bad for 40. Wishing for our HR deficient team to lose our #1 guy in that category is plain stupid. Gonzo and Nomar play at power positions where big numbers are expected. Placing all the blame on him at 2b where any offense is a blessing isn't fair. Kent never was a legitimate cleanup hitter-more a 5 or 6 guy. We need a legitimate cleanup hitter-period.

We won't sign Arod or Hunter( McCourt has his eyes on a $30 Million ski lodge in aspen). He's looking at this team like a business-$$$ first, fans second. He'll pay enough to put a decent team on the field so we won't complain too much. He won't give the extra $$$ to top-notch free agents to make us a title threat. He's makin' out like a bandit on our dime.

To answer npurcell's question, yes, it has a LOT to do with the commish's office. Not enough teams were willing to risk Selig's wrath by going too far over slot. The more teams that do it, the less the fallout is going to be for each one that does.

what exactly is the fallout? Because I see teams like the Angels, Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox go over slot ALL THE FREAKING TIME and nothing happens to them. Its ridiculous to know that the Dodgers are losing out on talent because of third party source dictating what players are worth when there are teams that directly ignore those limitations.

Nate said it all above, but I also wonder if the Dodgers even realize how many of their fans are more educated these days about drafts and signings, and know of the Kyle Blair situation. In other words, this looks like a failure, with some negative PR attached to it, but they may think no one cares that much.

And maybe we wouldn't if the team was driving towards a pennant. I know it seems like we're making too big a deal out of this, but the team keeps losing guys like this who end up coming back in the draft later and hitting it big. Sometimes, like with David Price, there's nothing you can do because they dead set on going to college, but Blair seemed genuinely interested. $1.1 is nothing compared to what the team's wasted on veterans this year, imho, or compared to what the Tigers just spent on Porcello.

As mentioned above, I also trust Logan White's judgment. But whose to say he agreed with the decision? I don't think Logan White controls the purse strings. It's entirely possible that he wanted to sign Blair for whatever it would take, and was simply overruled.