*** OFFICIAL *** Dee Gordon appreciation thread

[Dan Druff]

5-for-6 today with 3 SB.

He now is hitting .357 with 19 SB (that's on pace for 99). He has only been caught stealing twice.

His defense has improved.

He is getting all kinds of infield hits, bunt hits, and seemingly moving to 2nd and 3rd every time he gets on base.

He stunk it up in 2012 and 2013 after exciting everyone at the end of 2011.

Now I think Dee Gordon is here to stay, and will become one of the beloved leadoff hitters of our time.

Alex Guerrero is going to have to wait.

Yasiel Puig also tearing it up at the moment, and Adrian Gonzalez has hit for big power in the first month of the season.

Dodgers bullpen has been unexpectedly bad, and they have had to do without Clayton Kershaw (who is coming back within days), but Gordon and Puig have really been on fire lately.

When Mike Morse stops hitting home runs every game, the Giants are going to go back in the toilet, and the Rockies are going to retreat back to .500 or worse very soon.

[Dan Druff]

Joc Pederson is hitting like .390 with 7 HR in just 27 games in the minors, so far.

In case you're wondering, he's an outfielder, and is only 21.

Dodgers already have 4 outfielders.

They need to trade Ethier and Crawford, eat a shitload of contract (or find a team rich and dumb enough to take them without eating much contract), and promote Pederson. That will leave an OF of Puig, Kemp, and Pederson. Van Slyke will be the 4th outfielder, and honestly I think he hits well enough now to be a starter on many teams anyway.

Combine that OF with Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Hanley Ramirez, and a surprisingly productive Juan Uribe, this will be an explosive offense even if the catcher's position doesn't hit much.

But really, it's time to ship out Ethier and Crawford, and bring up Pederson.

[Sanlmar]

The Dodgers have an interesting line up. But as always their apparent success always needs to be filtered through the prism of the slap nut division they play in.

Any Dodger fan needs to familiarize themselves with the MLB RPI - relative power index. A bit of perspective will result. Settle down.

RPI for collegiate baseball is heavily used for college World Series tournament selection where teams who play in different conference are compared - especially warm weather vs cold weather teams.

Despite the Yankees being in first AL East. Red Sox have a higher RPI than Yankees.

Learn it. Know it. Bet on it.

[son of lockman]

Could be another Maury Wills there hopefully.

You know Maury Wills played in the minor leagues for 9 years before he made the majors.