Adios, Chris Mihm

Chris Mihm, originally uploaded by Vaguely Artistic.

Mike Bresnahan is reporting that the Lakers have dumped back-up Center Chris Mihm on the Grizzlies to save some luxury tax dollars:

The Lakers took another bite out of their bench, sending Chris Mihm to the Memphis Grizzlies for a very conditional second-round draft pick in 2013, a move that saves the team another $2.5 million in luxury taxes.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said he hoped Mihm could find more minutes in Memphis and alluded to the need to decrease in-house tax ramifications.

I always liked Mihm. Like Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones, he one of those rare Lakers who played their best on teams that were going nowhere. Those guys always have a warm spot in my heart.

It is a sign of the times that Mihm was dispatched to save $2.5 million in luxury tax dollars. He certainly didn't help matter by getting punchy with DJ Mbenga in practice. Mbenga gives the Lakers similar productivity for about a third the money. If one of them had to go, then it was not going to be Mbenga.

Back to the Future

Rose & Lasorda 1985, originally uploaded by hunter...

It is amazing what a couple small changes make.

Brandon Isleib of Hardball Times has applied the modern divisional alignment and unbalanced schedule to estimate play-off teams for the 1982-93 seasons (h/t 3DoC). The results are pretty interesting in that I would have rather seen these seasons than the actual ones:

• The Dodgers acquire three additional NL West titles during the Tommy Lasorda era in '82, '90 and '91.
• The '82 Dodgers were the last to feature my boyhood hero, Steve Garvey, and the first to feature face of the Dodgers in the '80s, Steve Sax. In other words, it was a bridge between two eras. That season would have been the middle year of three straight Division Titles, while swapping one generation of players for the next.
• In contrast, the '90 Dodgers were a mess. The second best hitter on that team was the fragile Kal Daniels. A broken down Kirk Gibson was patrolling Center Field. However, a young Ramon Martinez managed to win 2o games with Mike Scioscia behind the plate. That would have been just enough to narrowly edge a Giants team that had gone to the World Series a year earlier.
• The '91 Dodgers were the first to feature Darryl Strawberry. It was the last season before his addictions started to take its toll on Straw. The rotation was awesome with Ramon, Tim Belcher, Mike Morgan and the Bulldog. The first round would have matched the Dodgers with the first of the great Atlanta Braves teams.
• The other N.L. play-off bracket would have been a good vs. evil contest pitting Tony Gwynn and the Padres against Barry Bonds and the Pirates.
  

Welcome O-Dawg

Orlando Hudson Adrian Gonzalez, originally uploaded by SD Dirk.

Apparently, Orlando Hudson is now a Dodger:

Reporting from Phoenix -- Orlando Hudson, a three-time Gold Glove second baseman, has agreed to terms with the Dodgers on a one-year contract, according to baseball sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti declined to confirm or deny that an agreement had been reached. Hudson's agent, Greg Genske, didn't return a phone message.

If Uncle Ned has actually pulled this off, then it is actually a pretty good move. Hudson may no longer be a Gold Glover, but he is a huge upgrade over Jeff Kent. According to UZR, Hudson cost the D'Backs 6.2 runs with his glove in '08, while Kent cost the Dodgers 12.9 runs. That is a swing of over a game. '08 was easily the career worst for Hudson, who saved 18.7 per season on his career. That is a potential swing of six games on defense.

Oh, and he is an upgrade on the offensive end as well. Hudson produced a .305/.367/.450, when compared to Kent and his .280/.327/.418. This is a clear upgrade over what the Dodgers were getting at that position last season.

The problem is that this move blocks Blake DeWitt. DeWitt was slotted for Second Base because the Dodgers decided to move him off Third to allow them to keep The Human Statue. That returns us to the central concern: what exactly is the plan here?

If the Dodgers want to win by being good defensive team, then why did they let their two of their top three pitchers leave and replace them with a single journeyman?

Conversely, if the Dodgers want to win by scoring a bunch of runs, then why is the best Right-Handed bat of his Generation still waiting around?

If the Dodgers want to build around youth, then why block one of their better young guys in favor of a 35-year-old with a career OPS+ of 105?

Conversely, if the Dodgers want to be Steinbrenner-esque team of proven veterans, then why were they not bidding on every pitcher in the market?

Update 1:

The S.O.S.G. think this might be a move designed to provide a fig leaf to cover Manny's exit.

Update 2:

Kensai at F.N.C. breaks down the math on the O-Dog vs. DeWitt and it almost makes me hope the S.O.S.G. guys are right.

Update 3:

Keith Law sketches out the concerns regarding losing a draft pick for Hudson.

The Problem with the Conservative Movement

Kenmore movie theater, Flatbush, Brooklyn, originally uploaded by Betty Blade.

The National Review recently published a list that of what it dubs the "25 Best Conservative Movies" (ht- Hilzoy). If want to know why the GOP is in the political wilderness, then you would be hard-pressed to find a better primer. You see, in several cases the films selected hold viewpoints that strongly oppose one another and each point of view is described as being a strong contrast with Liberalism. For a movement that makes frequent claims to being based upon unchanging verities, there seems to be scant consensus as to what those might be.

Consider:

2. The Incredibles (2004): ... A family of superheroes — Mr. Incredible, his wife Elastigirl, and their children — are living an anonymous life in the suburbs, thanks to a society that doesn’t appreciate their unique talents. Then it comes to need them. In one scene, son Dash, a super-speedy runner, wants to try out for track. Mom claims it wouldn’t be fair. “Dad says our powers make us special!” Dash objects. “Everyone is special,” Mom demurs, to which Dash mutters, “Which means nobody is.”

Compared to:

20. Gattaca (1997): In this science-fiction drama, Vincent (Ethan Hawke) can’t become an astronaut because he’s genetically unenhanced. So he purchases the identity of a disabled athlete (Jude Law), with calamitous results. The movie is a cautionary tale about the progressive fantasy of a eugenically correct world ...

In "Gattaca", the disabled athlete became that way after attempting suicide driven (in large part) by the guilt caused by doing what Dash proposes to do in "The Incredibles". In fact, the entire point of "Gattaca" is that privileges derived from birth are corrosive to society. "The Incredibles" argues that society should not get in the way of people with innate gifts. There is some truth in both positions, but that is not the point being made by the folks at NRO.

The list is full of equally bizarre pairings. There is a film that celebrates the traditions of the educated elite in "Metropolitan" and a film that mocks the actual ideas of those same people in "Forest Gump". There is a film that argues that invasion of privacy to deter terrorism is regrettable, but essential in "The Dark Knight". There is also a film that argues that invasion of privacy to deter terrorism is tantamount to fascism in "Brazil".

The only "value" that is consistent throughout is the embrace of war and the firm rejection of the perspective of "the enemy". This sadly consistent with recent statements by Rush Limbaugh that he would rather see our economy in ruins than Barack Obama proved right.

Adam Dunn to the Nationals

Adam Dunn swings, originally uploaded by Chris Creamer.

Damn. Buster Olney is reporting that my preferred solution in Left Field is headed to our Nation's Capital:

The deal is worth $20 million, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney is reporting. It could be announced as early as Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Dunn, 29, hit .236 with 40 home runs and 100 RBIs with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds last season.

All things being equal, it would be great to have Manny. That said, his contract demands are brutal when compared to other power-hitting corner outfielders. While it is clear that a motivated Manny Ramirez is better than Adam Dunn, he is also eight years older and wants five times as much money. That seems excessive when you compare them head-to-head.

• Dunn in 2008 hit .236/.386/.513 for an OPS+ of 129.
  
• Manny in 2008 hit .332/.430/.601 for an OPS+ of 164.

Manny might well be twice as valuable as Dunn is, but he certainly is not five times as valuable. Suddenly, the opening offer of two-years at $45 million seems pretty reasonable.

Tommy isn't a big fan of the science

Hardly a shock, but anything Tommy Lasorda makes me laugh.

Lakers dump Radmanovic

DSC00920.JPG, originally uploaded by Bridget Samuels.

A few months ago, I was staying what was apparently the Laker team hotel in New Orleans. The lobby was crawling with Laker players and coaches. I happened to sit down at lunch at a table next to Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar and Vladimir Radmanovic. The conversation was remarkably dense basketball speak. It seemed that Odom and Walton were trying to instruct Farmar on the principles of the Triangle Offense. Meanwhile, Radmanovic seemed to be wearing his headphones.

That is about as good a summary of the Vlad Radmanovic era with the Lakers as any. His head just never seemed to be in the game. The guy was as lights-out a shooter as you could imagine, but he just seemed to drift around until someone passed him the ball. The offense flowed noticeably more poorly when he was on the floor and his defense was scarcely his calling card. He was also the worst Laker when paired with Kobe Bryant.

That said, Radmanovic is assuredly a better player than the guy for whom he was traded. He is +91 on the season, which contrasts favorably with Adam Morrison who is a -88 by the same metric. So, why are the Lakers trading a for an inferior player? Here is my reasoning:

• As FB+G points out, there is a clear financial reason. Saving $13 million in luxury tax is not a trivial thing.
  
• It also clears up the rotations at the 3. Walton starts and stabilizes the offense with his passing. Trevor Ariza is the defensive ace, forcing turn-overs and pushing the pace. When the Lakers need shooting, Kobe moves to Small Forward and Sasha Vujacic plays in the back court.
• Morrison is an expiring contract in '09 when half the NBA is looking to clear cap space. It is hard to say what that might be worth in trade a year from now.
• Finally, Morrison is a better fit for the Lakers with Andrew Bynum injured. With Bynum out, Pau Gasol is the starting center and Odom returns to the starting line-up at Power Forward. Bynum, Odom and Gasol have split all but 31 minutes at those two positions for the Lakers this season. To keep Gasol and Odom fresh for the play-offs, someone needs to absorb a big percentage of Bynum's 29 minutes per game for the next eight weeks. Radmanovic was horrible at the 4 with a -10.5 net points per 48 minutes (or -6.3 per 29 minutes) at the position, while that is where Morrison has played best with only a -5.5 by the same metric (or -3.3 per 29 minutes).
  

Simply put, Morrison is both cheaper and better at doing what the Lakers currently need than Radmanovic. This appears to be an extremely shrewd deal by Mitch.

A Fraud

A Fraud, originally uploaded by SoxyLady.

This does it.

Alex Rodriguez is officially the most disappointing baseball player of his generation and maybe ever. A-Rod started his career in a nearly ideal situation. The '95 Mariners were the first division winner in team history. Seattle is an above average pro sports town. A good team in a good town with a blank slate is about the best possible spot to forge a Hall of Fame career. If he had put up 3,000+ hits and 500+ HRs in Mariners uniform, then he would have been the face of that franchise decades after he retired. The team was good enough during his tenure that a few deep runs in the post-season were nearly assured. Guys like Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken and Mike Schmidt occupy a uniquely beloved place in the hearts of baseball fans, because there isn't any debate about what cap they should wear in the Hall-of-Fame.

However, A-Rod did not want that.

At first, it seemed like A-Rod would do what Barry Bonds did and play for the team he rooted for as a boy. Had that happened, it is very likely that A-Rod would have acquired the same "hometown hero" status that Bonds enjoys in the bay area. Every fan base in baseball might have hated A-Rod, but they would have cheered him in Queens. It would not have been a bad outcome and it seemed inevitable until his contract demands turned off the Mets. At that point, A-Rod a major mistake and accepted a monster contract from the Texas Rangers.

It is hard to judge A-Rod too harshly for that error. I think that most people would have a very hard time turning down a quarter of a billion dollars in exchange for doing something didn't really hurt anything other than your reputation. That said, A-Rod would forever be tainted by signing that deal. It was not just the money, since no one ever talks about all the dollars Manny Ramirez took from Boston that same year. Rather, it was that the '00 Rangers were a bad, aging team that had little hope of immediate improvement. There is no way to look at that deal and no believe that A-Rod went to Dallas exclusively for the money. After that decision, Alex Rodriguez would never be a beloved figure. The best he could hope for is respected.

Well, that and absurdly rich.

The next decision that A-Rod made pushed respect a lot further away, since being traded to the '04 Yankees placed him on a dynasty in its decline phase. No matter what the individual merits of a player, it is really hard to respect guys that turn up during the decline phase. I think less of Gary Payton and Karl Malone for their time with the Lakers. No one speaks of Barry Switzer nearly as fondly as they do Jimmy Johnson. It stinks to be the high-profile new guy on a team that just stopped being great. That trade moved the upside for A-Rod from "respected" to "under-rated". Maybe he could have expected a Hank Aaron type finale in which the gaudy career statistics finally force everyone to admit that he was a great player after all.

The steroids taint removes that faint hope.