Staying Tuned

It's hard to come to terms with the 2007 Dodgers at this point. They're not out of it yet. But with their starting pitching still very much a patchwork project, it's hard to feel optimistic. It's almost a numb feeling.

While I do believe that this team can make the playoffs and do some damage in October, it would require a series submiracles conspiring to a larger one. Like a Voltron of miracles, if you will:
+ Chad Billingsley becoming a quality start machine
+ Nomar re-entering the line up and hitting .325 and OPSing .9 0r more
+ Grady Little not pitching Roberto Hernandez ever again
+ A clear winner emerging out of the David Wells-Eric Stults (and now, Esteban Loaiza) depth chart battle, and not by default
+ The Dodgers winning meaningful games against the Padres in September

So with the race between the Padres and Diamondbacks heating up, the Dodgers are nothing more than a dark horse right now. And the cachet that comes with being considered "dangerous" aside, I would much rather be a protagonist than being the lava pit that some other team tries to avoid.

Plan B

Show off.

Jermaine O'neal has requested to be traded to the Lakers.

It's funny, while the KG deal was still on the table in the conversation in the realm of possibility, no Laker fan wanted anything to do with Jermaine O'neal. He's damn good, yes. But the consensus was he's no KG, and that it would take both Lamar and Bynum to land him. It would be a lateral move.

And I agree with that line of reasoning. But now that Jermaine has done what KG apparently would not -- asking specifically and publicly to be traded to the Lakers -- the Lakers suddenly have some leverage. And everyone knows about the power of the lever: you can ram it straight up some team's ass and steal their all star power forward (Word for word from my freshman physics book). And that would seem to be quite a bit more than just a lateral move.

But the most interesting pasrt is, if this deal goes down, the Lakers may very well be better off than if they somehow pulled off the Garnett deal. It's clear that Garnett is a better player than Jermaine but is he a full Lamar Odom's worth better? I think not. Take a look at this rotation:

Starting Five:
Derek Fisher
Kobe Bryant
Lamar Odom
Jermaine O'neal
Chris Mihm

and off the bench:
Luke Walton
Maurice Evans
Jordan Farmar
Ronny Turiaf
Vladimir Radmanovich

That team would compete in the west. And keeping Lamar is the key. He's talented, versatile, and as he showed this past year while sucking it up and playing out the season with a bum shoulder, he's tough as nails. By adding a bonafide 2nd scorer to play along side Kobe, you relieve Lamar of the pressure to carry a siginificant offensive load from night to night. And that would leave him free to do what he does best: set up teammates, exploit mismatches (which should be plentiful if he's back at his natural position, small forward), and be an all around x-factor. And one final note, having Lamar at the SF spot would also mean Luke coming off the bench, a role that suits him well in that he can help steady the second string with his playmaking ability and knowledge of the triangle.

And that's all well and good but, of course, nothing is done yet. I guess we'll have to keep holding our breath.