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The Dodgers are playing about as well as you'd expect from a team that devotes three of its lineup spots to Jamey Carroll, Ryan Theriot and Scott Podsednik — and it's not like any of the other guys are Albert Pujols or Adrian Gonzalez. They are in fourth place, eight games behind the Padres, and their fading playoff chances are not much better than nil. ESPN's Buster Olney is already speculating on the discard market for Manny Ramirez, if he even comes back from his rehab workouts in Arizona. Rafael Furcal is hurting again. And now, catcher Russell Martin has gone on the disabled list for the first time in his career and it might be a truly seriously baseball injury. Dodger Thoughts' Jon Weisman already worried this week that we might be in the final days of Vin Scully, and now voices the fear that Martin's days in L.A. might be over.
The Dodgers placed Russell Martin on the disabled list for the first time in his career, because of a torn labrum in his right hip... I asked baseball injury expert Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus about this. His response: "If the acetabular labrum is torn, this is devastating for the Dodgers. In the short term, Martin would be done for the season. We don't really have good comparables for this - as far as I know, no catchers have had the procedures."[skip]
Given the millions Martin could expect to earn if the Dodgers retain him for next season, I'm wondering if Martin has played his last game in a Dodger uniform.
The other dark cloud for the Dodgers is that basically none of their current weak spots, or the additional openings that will occur over the winter, can be filled with championship-caliber players from within the organization.
Also: The LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus looks at Frank McCourt's track record in business.
* Nice game tonight though: Dodgers 9, Padres 0, on a Vicente Padilla two-hitter. He took a no-no into the 7th inning.