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One Way to Take Care of Business
Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp celebrate a run. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
I don’t want to beat a dead horse. Frankly, I don’t want to beat any horses. I do, however, feel a deep need to perform my civic duty and illuminate some additional reasons for the swift and generous resigning of Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp to long term contracts.
As I mentioned in my post here last week, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are at the point in their respective careers where the Dodgers need to make a decision about them. Their sample sizes are large enough, their track records are strong enough and their trajectories are clear enough. This was all made so painfully apparent as the NL MVP voting came in today.
Both Kemp and Ethier finished in the top 15 places for the NL MVP. Kemp finished in 7th place while Ethier finished in 13th. This isn’t a potato sack race and there aren’t going to be ribbons handed out to all participants. That isn’t to say these rankings aren’t incredibly poignant evidence of what the Dodgers have.
I'll put it bluntly: If your name is on this list, every team in the league wants you on their roster.
The list of players Kemp was perceived stronger than is staggering. He placed ahead of Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun, Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. The list of players he finished behind is equally staggering as it includes Albert Pujols, Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez.
In fairness, the list is not perfect. Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter have added value being pitchers. They are lower on this list only because they only get to play every fifth day. That said, every single player on this list would command top dollar on the free agent market. It reads like a shopping list for the Yankees.
For anyone still not sure what I am getting at, it's simple: Kemp and Ethier are among the league’s elite.
I think fans that have trouble seeing that are still jaded by the steroid days where it was common to hit 40 home runs and drive in 120 runs. Ballplayers with Kemp and Ethier's skill sets are now few and far between. To have them both is a spoil of riches. It's why the Dodgers are frequenting the NLCS (albeit not winning it). It's also why there was a large contingency of Dodger Nation that wouldn't have minded if Manny Ramirez declined his player option to return to left field next year.
My how times have changed.
Truthfully, the debate really isn’t about if Kemp and Ethier are better or worse than the other players on that MVP list. The debate is about whether the Dodgers have a shot at upgrading either center or right field. The only other true outfielder on this list is Ryan Braun and he’s in left field for good reason (his hands are actually bricks with fingers).
There was a time not long ago where the Dodgers couldn’t find a power bat to save their lives. There was a time they could not score runs. There was a time the front office would have given an arm and a leg for a Matt Kemp or an Andre Ethier.
Now we have those ballplayers under our control. The question is simple. What are we going to do with them?
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Must.
Keep.
Them.
Still, you refuse to admit there's a Manny affect.
I wouldn't, and I know the Dodgers are cheap enough not to, give long term contracts to Kemp or Ethier until they have to.
Both are good players, but both have benefited since Manny came to town. And that's not just because of better pitches, but because both had had to prove themselves worthy of playing time.
Juan Pierre is an excellent example. He wasn't worth the money the Dodgers were paying him until Manny got caught using female hormones. Then Pierre had to prove himself and he excelled.
Kemp and Ethier have had to prove themselves.
Beltre had to prove himself in his contract year with the Dodgers. Mariners have been paying for that chump for years now.
Manny affect= Daivid Ortiz. He sucked in Minnesota and Boston got him CHEAP. Put him in a line up protected by Manny, a proven hitter, and you get Big Papi.
Take Manny away... Ortiz sucked in 2009. Conincidence? Maybe it was the drugs. Or maybe there is a Manny affect. Because then I can talk about Jeff Kent who was not doing too good in 08 before Manny came along.
And let's not forget baseball clubs are clubs. Things go on that we don't know.
Gagne, remember how the Dodgers were nver eager to resign him but did so because of fans. Then let him walk. STEROIDS. A player with skill set few and far between.
Lo Duca, it seemed like the Dodger nation was going to burn down the nation and decapitate DePodesta... Steroids. Another player with skill set few and far between.
But there numbers looked great, and writres like Plashce and Simers were in love too.
The numbers are inflated, or are at least under the suspicion of being inflated.
You pay a steep price if you over pay in baseball. Dodgers have been handicapped by bad contracts in the past to Darren Dreifort, Kevin Brown, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, and even Eric Gagne who collected $24mill over 2 years to sit his ass on the DL.
Ethier & Kemp brought in the tickets sells not Manny, especially after the steroids abuse proved he can't hit without them. After the 2010 season Manny will be bye bye and the two young guns will be on top of they game. Why have one marketable player (Manny) vs two (Either & Kemp). The Dodgers problem will be if a high dollar team courts either one of them.
I certainly understand where you are coming from, but Manny missed 50 games, then underperformed for the final stretch. Kemp and Ethier did it all year. Ethier led the league in walk off hits.
Maybe last season (2008) there was some need to perform for playing time, but safe to say this year Pierre was on the bench from just about the beginning (hence him asking for a trade). Kemp and Ethier carried the team.
Frankly, Manny is gone after 2010. If we don't resign them now while we have them under control, we'll quickly have a pedestrian outfield of Repkos, Xavier Pauls and [insert slow veteran here].
Zack, I am with you.
For the Dodger to have any king of sucess in the future they need to hold on tight to the likes of Ethier, Kemp, Kershaw and even Dewitt.
If I'm not mistaken, MLB rules are 6 years of service before you become an unrestricted free agent. Kempt and Ethier have 3.
Why commit to them long term and eat up salary dollars that can be used to pick up a mid season bat or arm.
The Brewers gave Braun an 8 year $45M extension last season. With their numbers, Ethier and Kemp are worth as much, if not more, but that's $90M between the two.
Unless the long term deal the Dodgers can get Ethier & Kemp at is similar to Braun's (he makes $1M next yr the 3rd yr of the contract) it would be a bad idea.
Overall, and I think I've figured out the McCourt's, I think the Dodgers will offer arbitration until they no longer can and avoid a long term deal as much as possible.