Welcome to the Blue, Ryan Webb and Brian Ward!

The Dodgers front office never seems to take a day off.  Today is the first break between games of the season, so the head honchos decide to take the time off to complete a trade.  This afternoon they announced a deal that has the Dodgers sending a couple of minor leaguers to the Orioles for a Major League relief pitcher, a minor league catcher and a Rule 4 Draft Pick. 

Per a Dodger press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the acquisition of a Rule 4 competitive balance round B draft pick (No. 74), right-handed pitcher Ryan Webb and minor league catcher Brian Ward from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league catcher Chris O’Brien and minor league pitcher Ben Rowen. Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman made the announcement.

Webb was 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA in 51 relief appearances for Baltimore last season and has appeared in 317 career games (all in relief) for the Padres (2009-10), Marlins (2011-13) and Orioles (2014). The 29-year-old Florida native was originally selected by the Oakland A’s in the fourth round of the 2004 player draft. He will be added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.

Ward, a Santa Monica native, appeared in 65 games (60 behind the plate) for Triple-A Norfolk last season, hitting .227 with two homers and 20 RBI.

As for the draft pick we got, the Dodgers are stocked and ready to do some major damage later this year.

With the acquisition of the Orioles’ Rule 4 competitive balance pick, the Dodgers now hold four of the first 74 picks (No. 24, No. 35, No. 67 and No. 74) in the upcoming June player draft.

Webb has one year remaining in his two year contract, and it will pay him $2.75Mil.  He is a right handed sinkerball pitcher who gets a lot of groundballs, so he'll fit right in with our revamped middle infield.  Webb will be placed on the 40-man roster (there was space already available for him), and we should expect a corresponding move on the active roster for him to join the Dodgers in Arizona.  Either a reliever (likely with options like Baez or Yimi Garcia) or a bench player (like Darwin Barney) will be sent to AAA.

BTW, Eric Stephen at True Blue LA notes that he is third on the all time list of relievers with the most career relief appearances without a save.

Brian Ward was born in Santa Monica and went to Marina High School in Huntington Beach.  He is thought of as a defensive specialist who has yet to show anything with the bat.  BTW, in 2012 he incurred a 50 game suspension for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program a second time.  It was not for using a PED.

In celebration of Webb and Ward's arrival to the club I made the above fantasy cards for them.  For Webb I grabbed a photo taken during photo day last year by Kevin C. Cox/Getty (found at Zimbio) and the 1972 Topps Baseball card design.  For Ward I grabbed a 2012 photo day photo taken by Tony Firriolo/MLB Photos and the 1972 Topps Baseball card design.

Below is Webb's career statistics, via Baseball-Reference:


Below is Ward's career statistics, via Baseball-Reference:

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Dodger Escapades on Twitter - Ping Pong, Kike Hernandez and the McCarthy's

Twitter has become the avenue of choice for ballplayers who want to communicate directly with fans.  For the most part, we find out about special events a player wants to highlight, but sometimes we get more that that.  Sometimes, we get an inside glimpse at what makes them tick.

For Dodger followers, there are a handful of frequent users who ably navigate the twitter wilderness to show us their personality, and this post highlights some recent exchanges I thought worth noting. 

As you know, it has become a spring tradition at Camelback Ranch to host a ping pong tournament, and according to Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider that tradition continues in earnest. 

(Ping Pong bracket, photo via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider)

Yesterday saw the first games played on the table, and I am sad to report that the first doubles pair to walk away disappointed was the pairing of catcher Chris O'Brien and pitching prospect Zach Lee.  They lost out to Scott Van Slyke and pitching prospect Ryan Buchter, and let's just say that Van Slyke was more than happy to gloat on twitter.  Check out the exchange below.

(twitter capture)

It's funny that O'Brien basically blames his ping pong teammate Zach Lee for the loss.

In other news, Kike Hernandez has proven to be a fun Dodger to follow on twitter.  This morning he shared a pic of himself within a strange looking contraption.  As one of the newest Dodgers, who may see some time on the diamond in Los Angeles this season, he spent a moment with @MLBTheShow to photograph his face.

Getting my head scanned so that virtual Kike looks exactly like the real Kike on @MLBTheShow!! pic.twitter.com/xvyD5k5wAD
— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) March 3, 2015

Brandon McCarthy has proven to be a great addition for Dodger followers.  Not just because he has some nice tools that could help the Dodgers in their quest to a championship, but because when paired with his equally loquacious wife has become a must follow on twitter.

In an exchange this morning we see true love in action.

@BMcCarthy32 son of a bitch
— Amanda McCarthy (@Mrs_McCarthy32) March 3, 2015

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Gabe Kapler is Ready to Help the Dodgers

Gabe Kapler, the recently hired Director of Player Development for the Dodgers (check out my past story welcoming him to the team, here), is just starting to make his mark on the team.  He'll be tasked with assisting our young farmhands as they rise up the ladder with an eye towards Los Angeles, and one of his goals will be to preach the gospel of healthy living and consistent work in the gym.

As evidenced through a twitter exchange on New Year eve, Kapler is clearly ready to get to work.  Check out the exchange between Joc Pederson and Gabe Kapler below.

(twitter)

You gotta love that Kapler is ready to lend a hand, and it's even better to see that Pederson is ready to listen. 

BTW, this entire exchange had my brain thinking about a certain meme.  Check out my creation below.

UPDATE:  I thought I'd add the following article written by Gabe Kapler on his website in early December.  Via Gabe Kapler on his personal website Kaplifestyle, "Working Smart: Speed and Power."  Gabe suggest that endurance training makes no sense for Baseball players.

While my mentor was correct that strengthening the heart muscle is good for us as human beings, he was off with his assessment that the training makes sense for baseball players. The longest distance we will ever run on a baseball field is 360 feet, perhaps a few more if we factor in angles on the rare inside the park home run. As an outfielder, if I’m manning center field and run from gap to gap, north or south or a combo of the two, my distance will never be longer than 100 feet in any direction. If I was a cross country runner training for a 5 mile race, would I train by sprinting 35 yard blasts? Of course not. So, as baseball players, why do we seek out training that’s actually breaking us down?

Endurance training has also been shown to decrease muscle fiber size, muscle strength, and muscle power, all of which are detrimental to a baseball athlete (4).

Instead, we should be optimizing for speed and power in short bursts.

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Blog Kiosk: 9/3/2014 - Dodger Links - Kershaw the Great and Pederson Gets his First Hit

Nothing Clayton Kershaw does should surprise you anymore.  He is a master on the mound, and is unquestionably the best pitcher in Baseball.  Last night he was sharp in eight innings, giving up three hits, striking out eight and allowed just a single run (on a home run by Bryce Harper).  Kershaw now leads the league with 17 wins.

The Dodgers offense knocked out eleven hits and scored four runs.  AGon drove in the first run of the evening with an infield single in the fifth inning, then a subsequent throwing error scored another run on the same play.  A couple innings later Juan Uribe slammed a two-run home run.

Of note, Joc Pederson started his first Major League game of his career and recorded his first hit on a Texas Leaguer to centerfield.  Check out my post from last night titled "Chronicles of Joc" for a complete rundown on his day, here. BTW, the photo above was taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodogers 2014.  Go here to see more photos of his from yesterday; including pics of Little League Star Mo'ne Davis.

On the 4 to 1 win the Dodgers maintain their 2.0 game lead over the Giants.  Now, below are some links to check out.

• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Mo’ne Davis lights up Dodger Stadium."  He shares a bunch of pics and videos of the young hurler.
• ICYMI: The Dodgers called up Erisbel Arruebarrena, Carlos Frias and Miguel Rojas as a part of their September roster expansion.  BTW, Frias is expected to start this afternoon's game.
• Watch Buster Olney's interview with Clayton Kershaw at ESPN, here.
• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Andres Santiago, Chris O'Brien win Southern League weekly honors."
• Ron Shah at FanGraphs shares a scouting report on Julio Urias and wonders, "Is Julio Urias Ready For The Big Leagues?"  No... Come one now! 
• Via Brian Macpherson at the Providence Journal, "Money can't buy success for MLB teams anymore." 

But more than at any time in the last decade, the relationship between payroll and wins is almost nonexistent. Teams that once could acquire the game’s best players through the depth of their pocketbooks now find themselves with diminishing opportunities to spend their money in ways that will help them win games.

• Denard Span of the Nationals explains his two home runs against the Dodgers on Monday, via the DC Sports Blog-The Washington Post.

“Last night, I did eat Roscoe’s chicken and waffles,” Span said. “I think that might have helped a little bit tonight.”

Roscoe's!  The elixir of the Gods!

• Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors takes a look the "2015 Free Agent Power Rankings."  Is there anybody there you would like to see in Dodger Blue next year?
• Via Tom Bartsch at Sports Collectors Digest, "Catching Up With Cardboard Pioneer Sy Berger."  Berger was the top dog at Topps during the golden years of Baseball card production.
• The Los Angeles Kings just released their promotional schedule for the upcoming season.  Check it out here.  BTW, Dodger Night will on Tuesday, November 18th.  Other must attend games include replica Stanley Cup ring night on Thursday, October 16th and Opening Night, Wednesday, October 8th, to watch the Sharks sulk as we raise our Stanley Cup Banner!  I am sad to report that there will be no bobbleheads.  Boo!

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