Some people asked why I put so much blind faith into Stu & the NDRO, but after the Trade Deadline and Trade Flurry of this past month...it's obvious why I did. I may be assuming, but I think that the most hated man in LA right now is Andy Friedman. How can you honestly dupe a GM to trade for aging players who have little-to-no future value for them 3 seperate times before he figures it out.
I thought the old saying was "Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me." Who should we shame now? Dodgers ownership because Ned is singlehandedly throwing his future away(both in prospect and job terms) by depleting his Farm System with stupid trades that make Ned's Mentor, Brian Sabean, blush. You told fans that you weren't going to give up the future to contend now, but now you're looking like a bold-faced liar.
Beyond the Boxscore nailed this trade down to basically the 3 letters that every Dodger fan is saying and posting on message boards everywhere....
WTF???
Doing research for this trade, it makes it even worse for the Dodgers.
Joel Guzman is probably the last positional prospect that I ever thought we'd get from the Dodgers in any trade, yet Ned is under the impression that 2 months of Lugo is worth 6 years of Guzman. Guzman doesn't always show why he's so highly touted because of an oft-"ho-hum" attitude, but he's not a spoiled brat or a rage-filled madman. He's 21 and his immense size probably could cause Dukes to crap in his diaper. The funny thing about Guzman is, with all the gripes about his overall game(lack of a true position, plate discipline or power at such a hitter friendly park), he's still one of the most highly touted prospects in all of the minors leagues. Yet he's only half the package that we got for 2 months of Julio Lugo.
Thinking back at my "Fool me" comment, this trade appears that we may have fooled Colletti in this trade twice. In addition to Guzman, we also got Sergio Pedroza. Pedroza, for the most part, fits the bill of all other positional players we got in trades this year with the above average OBP numbers. However, Pedroza is a totally different thing......this guy can rake. Pedroza was a pretty good overall hitter for Cal State Fullerton, hitting 16 HRs for the Titans in 2005. When the Dodgers signed him, he didn't stop the HR barrage...he hit 16 in the minors as well. So combined, Pedroza hit 32 HRs in 2005. He went back to his old form this year, hitting a combined 25 HRs in Low and High A leagues. Now, the Rays picked him up and sent him where power hitters thrive...the Advanced A California League. If Pedroza finds his bat(Only 4 HRs in 38 Vero Beach ABs) in the home stretch of the Minor League stretch and manages to hit 15 HRs, he'd have 40 HRs for the season. 40 HRs for a guy who turned 22 in February.....just wow-inspiring that we scouted the Dodgers so well that we turned up a gem of a hitter. It was already hard enough for Cali league pitchers to get through the Oaks line-up of hitters, now substitute David Cardona with Sergio Pedroza and it's gonna be a fun August for the Oaks. Pedroza's only flaw as a prospect is his total lack of any positive defensive projectability, but with him joining the AL...the DH card works to our advantage as long as he continues to mash.
What I laugh at the most looking at this trade, is what is going to happen with Lugo when Kent and Nomar return from the DL? Where's he gonna fit? How are you going to keep his bat out of the line-up when you gave up 2 good/decent prospects for him? You're basically giving us 2 prospects for free, unless you can get Lugo to sign a long-term deal. Now, with 3 trades in the last 3 days before the deadline....Colletti is under the impression(keyword: "Impression") that the Dodgers will make up ground and contend for a play-off spot. If he doesn't, he'll be run out of town by Dodger fans....or should be. Paul DePodesta built the Dodgers up and now it appears that Ned is pissing it all away. How ironic, seeing that DePo got rescued from unemployment by NL West-leading San Diego and their braintrust of GMs(Alderrson, Towers and DePo). Enjoy the show, DePo....a young Ivy Leaguer is getting revenge on the Dodgers.
Simon says....you got owned Ned, you got OWNED.