Rosenthal: several teams show interest in Smoltz

[realmofotalk]

The Cardinals, Dodgers, Mets and Mariners are among the teams that have expressed preliminary interest in free-agent right-hander John Smoltz, according to a major-league source.

Smoltz, 42, is open to starting or relieving, and some teams have inquired about him as a closer, the source said. The Astros, Rangers and Orioles also have shown interest in the 22-year veteran.

The Dodgers represent a potentially intriguing fit — the team wants to add veteran starting pitching as it braces for the potential losses of free-agent left-hander Randy Wolf and right-handers Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland.

The concept of Maddux and Smoltz finishing their careers in a Dodger uniform just isn't what I once imagined it would be. Maybe there's hope that we can sign Lincecum when he's 40 and his fastball hits 88 mph, tops...yay us.

[missionhockey21]

I actually think Smoltz would fare nicely in Los Angeles next season, if he pitched less than 170 innings. The ballpark is a good fit, the league is a good fit, and Smoltz showed that he still can still find strike three. But it would need to be a signing where there is a suitable replacement waiting should he explode like he did in Boston.

[realmofotalk]

The problem is there is a very short list of teams outside of Boston that have a suitable replacement as a backup plan. James McDonald didn't fare so well when he opened last season in the rotation.

[love_that_reefer]

Dodgers need serious options for starting pitching and don't find Smoltz to be that right now. Can't see an AL team being what Smoltz wants so I can see a possible return to St. Louis or possibly going to a team like Marlins or some small market team with a chance.

[missionhockey21]

Smoltz is a good option for a NL team that doesn't need him, very similar to what reef is saying. Put him 5th and hope that he has another season left in him, if not, eh, no biggie. I do think for him to be his most effective a CL role for a smaller market team might allow him to post some pretty nice stats and be quite useful. Smoltz coming in 8th or 9th to close out a game in the NL could get it done still I believe (hell, I still believe he would have a pretty good season in the NL as a starter with limited innings.)

[realmofotalk]

Ha! Good luck with all five of your starters going wire-to-wire in the season. I don't care which team it is. As I've said several times before, there will always be a revolving door in the rotation. I can only recall the last time that a team didn't have that problem was the 1998 Braves with Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Neagle, and Millwood.

Edit: I suppose my point is: If you sign Smoltz as your 5th SP, you do in fact "need him" and on the contrary, it's not really okay for him to flop because every game matters.

[love_that_reefer]

I can only recall the last time that a team didn't have that problem was the 1998 Braves with Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Neagle, and Millwood.

The '08 Rays were damn close.

[missionhockey21]

Ha! Good luck with all five of your starters going wire-to-wire in the season. I don't care which team it is. As I've said several times before, there will always be a revolving door in the rotation. I can only recall the last time that a team didn't have that problem was the 1998 Braves with Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Neagle, and Millwood.

Edit: I suppose my point is: If you sign Smoltz as your 5th SP, you do in fact "need him" and on the contrary, it's not really okay for him to flop because every game matters.

mofo, your team, the Dodgers during your lifetime are near godlike versus my Reds. If anyone should know the tentative nature of the five man rotation, its a Reds fan after enduring rotations of Hamilton, Jose Rijo, Jimmy Haynes and etc.

What I speak of is strictly mentality and team depth. Of course every game matters and Smoltz isn't allowed to flop. But if a team is strong and has its expectations checked at the door, the disappointment is not nearly as great as it would be for others. If a team brought in Smoltz and put a good, but not quite yet ready arm in the pen to get him used to MLB batters, that is quite a different situation to replace Smoltz than one where a team's next best option is AAAA arms. That is my point simply.

[HollywoodLeo]

I believe the 2003 Mariners were the last team to go through the entire season on only 5 starting pitchers.

[realmofotalk]

mofo, your team, the Dodgers during your lifetime are near godlike versus my Reds. If anyone should know the tentative nature of the five man rotation, its a Reds fan after enduring rotations of Hamilton, Jose Rijo, Jimmy Haynes and etc.

What I speak of is strictly mentality and team depth. Of course every game matters and Smoltz isn't allowed to flop. But if a team is strong and has its expectations checked at the door, the disappointment is not nearly as great as it would be for others. If a team brought in Smoltz and put a good, but not quite yet ready arm in the pen to get him used to MLB batters, that is quite a different situation to replace Smoltz than one where a team's next best option is AAAA arms. That is my point simply.

I understand your point about different expectations in different sceneries. But you never know whether that "good but not quite yet ready arm in the pen" will be ready. More often than not, the moment that the kid does figure out how to pitch in the bigs for good won't be in time to pull the shitty stopgap veteran from the rotation.

[love_that_reefer]

Dodgers need to be focusing on Roy Halladay and nothing else IMO. They have the pieces to get him and he would dominate in the NL West.

[realmofotalk]

They don't have pieces in the minor leagues to get him. Nor the cash for a long-term contract. God damn McCourts.

[realmofotalk]

Right, I can't take it despite opening up myself via game threads to give DirtyKash the freedom to laugh at all of the Dodgers' bullpen failures in this forum all season long.

P.S. It's annoying how you keep referring to me in the third person in a one-on-one conversation in the same manner that you would quote Carol Slezak and call her a dumb ***** or whatever and get people to agree with you just because she can't speak for herself here. I mean, really, are you doing this to get your brother here to reply "I agree with Leo"?

[missionhockey21]

I understand your point about different expectations in different sceneries. But you never know whether that "good but not quite yet ready arm in the pen" will be ready. More often than not, the moment that the kid does figure out how to pitch in the bigs for good won't be in time to pull the shitty stopgap veteran from the rotation.

Totally right there, I can agree on that.

They don't have pieces in the minor leagues to get him. Nor the cash for a long-term contract. God damn McCourts.

[realmofotalk]

Dodgers need to be focusing on Roy Halladay and nothing else IMO. They have the pieces to get him and he would dominate in the NL West.

Just to reiterate we didn't have the pieces to get Halladay. Colletti flat out said he didn't have "a Kyle Drabek" to offer, even though he insists Anthopolous was the GM who he shared the most conversations with during the winter meetings. I'm not ruling out that it was a half-assed effort, but like I said, the first part is true. Not much they could have done about it since Kershaw was selected several picks ahead of Drabek in the same draft. NedCo also claims he tried to get in on the Cliff Lee end of the deal, but the Mariners' prospect (Phillippe Aumont) just stood out.

It just didn't help that McDonald and Elbert sucked at the major league level.