And not because it’s one of the best movies of all time. Okay, not just because it’s one of the best movies of all time, but because it contains a valuable lesson within – besides the proper recipe for a “Cannonball”.

Look, I’m not blind to the obvious. Despite my pleas to not expose Delwyn Young to waivers on more than one occasion, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the Dodgers are going to keep just four outfielders, and give the last spot on the bench to Doug “Eyechart” Mientkiewicz, who along with Casey Blake would apparently serve as 5th and 6th outfielders. I don’t particularly have a problem with Eyechart per se; he’s an excellent defensive 1B and a decent hitter – he’s not without his uses. I just happen to think that he’s a poor fit on a club that already has a lefty-swinging 1B with a good glove in James Loney, but apparently the club doesn’t agree. Either way, while I still disagree, any question about whether Eyechart was making the club had to have been answered with this quote in the LA Daily News:

Mientkiewicz is hitting .300 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 18 spring games. He can play both left and right field, first base and to some extent third base. He also proved himself as a left-handed pinch-hitter with Pittsburgh last season. But Torre said the real intangible is his clubhouse presence.

“Having a little history with him and knowing what he does not only on the field but in the clubhouse, it’s certainly appealing,” said Torre, who managed Mientkiewicz with the New York Yankees in 2007 and against him when Mientkiewicz was a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

Uh oh, he’s not only a Torre guy, but we’ve now entered “intangibles” and “clubhouse presence” territory – fantastic! Isn’t that how we ended up with Tanyon Sturtze? I suppose that means welcome to the team, Dougie.

Anyway, back to Delwyn Young, who – as you must know by now – we’d hate to see cut, mostly because of his solid track record of hitting in the minors, and partially because you always want to see a guy who grew up a Dodger fan make the team. There’s no doubt he’d get claimed if he were exposed to waivers, so if he doesn’t make the team (and if they keep only 4 OF, he won’t – thanks, Juan!) there’s only one way to keep him around, and that’s to place him on the disabled list. Progress has already been made in that respect, as he already went in for an MRI on his surgically repaired elbow last week, and is scheduled to see a specialist today (from the same story above).

All of which brings us back to “Caddyshack”. I don’t doubt the severity of Young’s injury – after all, he did have surgery on it – but if you want to keep Delwyn in Dodger blue, you best hope that his elbow lands him on the DL, because if he’s not there, he’s in another uniform. That will at least buy a few weeks and perhaps a minor league rehab stint, and who knows what can happen in that time? Another player could get hurt, or the gods could smile upon us and Juan Pierre could get moved. Well, that’s not likely, but a man can dream, can’t he?

So let’s take a lesson from the great scene in ”Caddyshack” (awful quality, poorly edited clip on YouTube here) where Rodney Dangerfield’s Al Czervik, badly losing in a high stakes golf match, richochets a shot off his own arm, and sensing an opportunity, claims that it’s broken so that he can be replaced with the superior golfing of the caddy, Danny Noonan. Delwyn, this could be you! Someone call Dr. Beeper! Remember, your elbow hurts! You must be on the DL. 

On another topic, hey Shawn Estes – you must have been something before electricity. But apparently he’s trying to make fourteen dollars the hard way, now that he’s gone back to minor league camp to become a left-handed reliever, and Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at whether he’s got the chops to make it happen. Be warned, you will probably need to be the offspring of both a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist to wade through the numbers they put up, but here’s the upshot:

So, Estes as a LOOGY.  I’m not so sure.  He’s not someone you want to bring in with the bases jacked, that’s for sure.  Maybe long relief, but a situational specialist sounds like a stretch.

I’m pretty sure that we didn’t need advanced statistical review to know that Shawn Estes isn’t very good, but I like knowing that we have facts to back it up.