Bleedin' Dodger Blue

Blog Moved!

2011-05-23T22:27:00.002-05:00

If you're coming here for the first time, I've moved the blog over to MLBlogs via WordPress.

I'm hoping it's a permanent move, but knowing me, it might be temporary. Ha!

So enjoy the new blog...

Really, Frank?!

2011-04-21T16:05:00.006-05:00

McCourt says he is in compliance with baseball guidelines regarding the finances.

And he doesn't understand Selig's actions.

So borrowing $30MM from the previous owner to make payroll is in compliance?

Alrighty then.

And new Vice Chairman Soboroff is defending the schmuck.

Great.

Meanwhile, the rumored list of potentials to take over the reigns is growing by the minute.

Torre's been mentioned. So has Lasorda.

Former Assistant GM Kim Ng and former owner Peter O'Malley have been mentioned too.

Other names mentioned in passing: Dennis Gilbert, Stan Kasten, John McHale and Corey Busch.

BREAKING: McCourt On His Way Out?

2011-04-20T16:28:00.006-05:00

UPDATED (6:25 CT): Word now is the McCourts are being investigated by the IRS.

This story just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

And better!

**********

MLB has seized control of the team in light of it's financial situation.

Bud Selig announced he will appoint someone at MLB to oversee the mess.

Joe Torre anyone?!

Enjoy your life post-Dodgers, Frank, you poor schmuck...

And good riddance to you!

Glad I Missed the 9th Inning Last Night

2011-04-20T11:19:00.002-05:00

Or maybe I wish I had seen it after watching the Kings debacle.

I've Settled the Debate

2011-04-19T14:45:00.003-05:00

I'm keeping the blog here.

For now.

Again.

**********

Dodgers have hired local business leader Steve Soboroff as their Vice Chairman.

Read about his hire and what his job duties and goals will be here.

A Few Tidbits...

2011-04-18T22:08:00.005-05:00

The Jerry Sands Era has begun. He was called up today and got his first start in LF and a double in his first Major League at-bat. For what it's worth, he's the first young prospect in recent years since Ned Colletti took over to ask about being a leader. And he's been compared to Matt Holliday with insane power and great plate discipline. That's good, right?

Meanwhile, Matt Kemp continues to tear the cover off the ball. After hitting a walk-off two-run home run yesterday while going 3 for 4, he started the day leading all Major League hitters with a whopping .474 avg. He got an RBI hit in his first at-bat tonight.

On the flip side, before his two-run single in his first at-bat tonight, James Loney was hitting a whopping .150 with an OPS of .391. No, that's not a typo. His OPS is that much lower than Kemp's avg. (Make that two hits tonight.)

And our old friend Manny Ramirez decided to suddenly retire last week. Why? Because he chickened out and refused to serve a 100-game suspension that was looming. Yep, that's right. He failed yet another drug test. Manny's Fertility Drug Supply is now open for business!

(Sands just hit a sac fly for his first Major League RBI. 4-0 Dodgers over the Braves in the third inning.)

And finally, you have to wonder how much longer Frank McCourt can tolerate the drama and negative publicity surrounding his franchise.

Back on Opening Day, two drunk Dodger fans decided to take matters into their own hands and beat the living bazookas out of an innocent Giant fan in the parking lot after the game. The fan is currently in critical condition in a medically-induced coma with head trauma at USC Medical Center. The suspects are still at-large. And the security at the stadium? Well, wherever it was that day, it has since been revamped with the hiring of former LAPD Chief William Bratton. Police presence and security has been beefed up. Will it be enough though?

McCourt also had to recently borrow $30M from FOX (yes, those guys again) just to be able to pay the players their first paycheck this year. You'd think Bud Selig and MLB would have stepped in by now and taken over this mess.

And it looks like the fans are now finally taking a stand too. They've finally had enough and they're showing their frustrations with the team's play, in particular the dreadful offense sans Kemp and Andre Ethier, and with McCourt by staying away from the park. Attendance has finally taken a hit at the Ravine.

One can only hope McCourt, Colletti and Selig all take notice.

Debating...

2011-04-14T21:24:00.005-05:00

Keep the blog here at Blogger?

Or move it to the "revamped" MLBlogs site, now powered by WordPress?

Decisions, decisions...

Oh and I'll blog about baseball again here soon.

Hang tight!

That Time of Year Again!

2011-03-30T19:37:00.007-05:00

Time for some fearless predictions for the 2011 season, so without further ado...

NL West: Giants, Rockies*, Dodgers, Padres, D-backs

NL Central: Reds, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, Astros

NL East: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Mets

AL West: Rangers, A's, Angels, Mariners

AL Central: Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Indians

AL East: Red Sox, Rays*, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles

WS: Giants over Red Sox

* Wild Card

NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Phillies

NL Rookie: Freddie Freeman, Braves

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Mariners

AL Rookie: Jeremy Hellickson, Rays

NL All-Stars: C - Buster Posey, Giants; 1B - Albert Pujols, Cardinals; Chase Utley, Phillies; SS - Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies; 3B - Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals; OF - Ryan Braun, Brewers; Matt Kemp, Dodgers; Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies; SP - Roy Halladay, Phillies

AL All-Stars: C - Joe Mauer; 1B - Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox; 2B - Robinson Cano, Yankees; SS - Derek Jeter, Yankees; 3B - Adrian Beltre, Rangers; OF - Carl Crawford, Red Sox; Josh Hamilton, Rangers; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners; SP - Felix Hernandez, Mariners

Catching Up, Again

2011-03-28T20:27:00.001-05:00

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for Opening Day on Thursday!

A lot has happened in past five or six weeks since Spring Training started.

So let's catch up, just a little.

Jon Garland, Vicente Padilla, Casey Blake and Dioner Navarro all appear to be DL-bound to start the season.

There goes the rotation depth, for now, anyway.

Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda are the starters.

Aaron Miles, Ivan De Jesus and Mike MacDougal are all but set to have made the team.

Lance Cormier (out of options) was asked to accept a Minor League assignment but refused.

Barring any last minute changes, Cormier will be granted his release before Opening Day, paving the way for Scott Elbert to make the team.

Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Matt Guerrier, Kenley Jansen and Blake Hawksworth are the other relievers.

Ron Mahay was granted his release yesterday.

De Jesus will get most of the playing time at second with Juan Uribe at third with Blake out.

James Loney and Rafael Furcal are the other infield starters with Jamey Carroll joining Miles as a utility infielder.

Still no word on who the everyday, or at the very least, Opening Day, left fielder will be.

Marcus Thames, Jay Gibbons, Tony Gwynn and Xavier Paul will all split time in the outfield with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier holding down the center and right field gigs.

Hector Gimenez (out of options) will be the back-up catcher over A.J. Ellis with Navarro disabled.

Billingsley agreed to a three-year extension today, buying out the last of his arby years.

And last but not least, Dodger Hall-of-Fame great Duke Snider passed away last month. Snider played 16 of his 18 season with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and L.A. from 1947 to 1962. During that span, he belted a franchise-best 389 home runs with 1,271 RBI and was a member of the 1955 and 1959 championship teams. Snider was 84.

Stockpiling Players...

2011-02-07T18:15:00.007-06:00

Who probably won't make the team to Minor League deals.

Mike MacDougal
Ron Mahay
Aaron Miles

Hey, at least the Yankees beat them to Eric Chavez.

And Hong-Chih Kuo avoided arbitration. Only James Loney remains without a contract.

Meanwhile, Michael Young wants out of Texas, but he's never played for the Giants or Red Sox, so don't expect Colletti to find a way to trade for him.

Pitchers and catchers report in 10 days. Spring is in the air!

Well That Was Quick

2011-01-25T15:11:00.002-06:00

Hope Mike Napoli never unpacked his bags once he got to Canada. Less than a week later, he's on the move again. This time to Texas, to the Rangers, for reliever Frank Francisco.

I assume he'll platoon at first base with lefty-hitting Mitch Moreland, so long as they don't re-sign Vlad Guerrero.

Together Again

2011-01-23T21:26:00.006-06:00

In Tampa. Both get one-year dealies, Manny to DH and Damon to play left.

Now, if the Rays somehow sign Kevin Millar out of unofficial retirement, they'd nearly have an 'Idiots' reunion of sorts!

L.A.'s other team also made a splash, picking up 32-year old outfielder Vernon Wells and the four years and $86MM left on his contract from Toronto for catcher/first baseman/DH Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera.

Can you say D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N for the Angels? I can. Because that's what this deal reeks of from here.

I'm honestly glad the Blue weren't this desperate to fill their left field hole. Good riddance, Halos!

It's Pronounced "Tims"

2011-01-17T20:20:00.005-06:00

But it's spelled Thames. And his first name is Marcus. And he's your new righty-hitting left-fielder to platoon with Jay Gibbons. Unless Tony Gwynn, Jr. hits in Spring Training. Then Gwynn is your center-fielder. And Matt Kemp is your right-fielder. And Andre Ethier is your left-fielder.

Still with me? Good, because neither am I.

Thames will get a one-year deal. And so will Gabe Kapler, of the minor league variety, with an invitation to Spring Training.

Sad State of Affairs for the Blue

2011-01-17T14:31:00.003-06:00

When Fox and Frank McCourt have joined forces together, you know it spells trouble for the Dodgers.

T.J. Simers breaks it all down for us, and things don't look pretty.

Tragedy Strikes Dodger Family

2011-01-09T21:51:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, a 22-year old lunatic in Tucson, AZ opened fire and attempted to gun down Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during a "meet-and-greet" with constituents at a local grocery store. Giffords was shot point blank in the head, but survived, underwent surgery, and is in critical condition. The lunatic didn't stop there. He continued his shooting rampage and in the process killed six people and wounded more than a dozen others.

Among those who were killed were John Roll, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, and a nine-year old girl, Christina Green. She was the daughter of Dodger scout John Green, and granddaughter of former Major League pitcher and manager Dallas Green.

Her life started and ended both with tragedy. She was born on September 11, 2001.

My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved, and I pray for speedy recoveries for all those who survived this horrific incident.

As for the lunatic, may God have mercy on your soul.

Frank's Spreadin' the News... Again

2011-01-08T11:43:00.003-06:00

Read about it here.

Someone Found a New Home

2011-01-08T11:08:00.005-06:00

Former Dodger hot corner stud Adrian Beltre just landed an insane six-year deal (five guaranteed) with the Texas Rangers this week, dispatching incumbent third baseman Michael Young to a first base/DH role. Gotta give credit where credit is due. Super-agent Scott Boras has done it again.

The losers in all of this? Vladimir Guerrero, and the Angels. Guerrero was the Rangers DH last season. He will now have to look for a new team, though he shouldn't have any problems there. And the Angels lose out on yet another top free agent they coveted. Could there be a reunion of sorts in the making for Vladdy and the Angels?

As for the Dodgers, this has nothing to do with them. However, they are expected to give former A's third baseman Eric Chavez a chance to work out for them. If he proves he's healthy enough, he could get a minor league deal with that so-called spring training invite, and possibly work his way into a platoon role at third base with the Beard, Casey Blake.

The Dodgers Will Go As Far As...

2011-01-03T16:08:00.004-06:00

Tim Redding takes them!

Another minor league contract with the infamous spring training invitation attached to it handed out today by The Great Colletti.

Wait a Minute... How Did I Miss This?

2010-12-31T13:20:00.003-06:00

Chin-lung Hu was traded to the Mets on Monday for Minor League pitcher Michael Antonini.

This is huge! This changes the face of the franchise. This might very well put them over the top finally.

Or not.

Ok, you may return back to your regularly scheduled programming. As you were...

A Day Late But...

2010-12-20T22:13:00.008-06:00

Zach Greinke was finally traded. And no, it wasn't to the Dodgers, though reports say they were deeply involved in talks with Kansas City to the point they apparently brought a third team into the mix... until they ran out of time. Greinke was eventually traded to Milwaukee in the middle of the night early Sunday morning.

The return wasn't as good as I would have imagined, but the Royals did fairly well in getting two solid young kids from the Brewers in Lorenzo Cain and Alicedes Escobar.

Back to the Dodgers. I'm not sure how exactly a trade for Greinke would have worked for them. First, they already have six starters. Four of them just signed on as free agents (three were with the team at the end of the season). Greinke is owed about $13M each of the next two seasons, and the Blue would have had to unload salary (hence getting a third team involved?) to be able to fit that contract within the payroll budget. (It stands at roughly $110M now for 2011.) Plus, of the other two starters, Chad Billingsley would be the one starter they probably would have had to move to free up a spot in the rotation for Greinke. But even then, the logistics wouldn't have really added up.

So, Greinke wound up in Milwaukee. And this after he refused to waive his no-trade clause to go to Washington, who had a deal in place with the Royals for the righty. The Yankees and Rangers, among others, were also said to be interested, but neither team was apparently in deep enough talks with KC for Greinke's services.

In the end, Greinke joins a rotation that already has Yovani Gallardo, recently-acquired Shaun Marcum and Randy Wolf. And there's talk they might even be in on free agent Carl Pavano, too. Either way, you could make the argument that the Brewers now boast one of the top four rotations in the National League, behind Philadelphia (Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels), San Francisco (Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Zito) and the Dodgers (Kershaw, Billingsley, Lilly, Kuroda, Garland, Padilla). And with their lineup that includes Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Cory Hart and Chris McGehee, the Brewers have quickly made themselves serious contenders in the N.L. Central again and could battle the Phillies for best overall team in the N.L.

Let the fun begin already!

**********

Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to lose out on left field options as players they have interest in continue to find other homes. Bill Hall recently signed with Houston to play second base. Austin Kearns returned to Cleveland today. And now rumor has it the Angels covet Scott Podsednik. (Frankly, they can have him!) So where might that leave the Dodgers?

Well they've been linked in recent days to Marcus Thames, though he's not very good defensively, and the Hairston Brothers, Scott and Jerry, Jr. And for whatever it's worth, neither of them should be everyday players either.

So, dare I say or ask this? Why not just bring back Manny for another year?! Ha!

Baseball Loses a Legend

2010-12-16T22:00:00.004-06:00

Hall of Fame Indians pitcher Bob Feller passed away last night after battling various illnesses. Feller was a 266-game winner in 18 seasons with the Indians from 1936 to 1956, and was a 20-game winner six times in that span. He finished his long career with a 3.25 ERA. Feller also spent three years battling the front lines during World War II from 1942-1944. He was 92.

Winter Meetings Round-up and Thensome...

2010-12-15T15:44:00.011-06:00

Let me just start off by saying the Winter Meetings this year were more or less no different than any other in recent years past: a whirlwind of rumors coming from every which direction of the hotel where the meetings were being held. There were several surprises, such as the aforementioned Jayson Werth signing with Washington, and there were a couple of obvious singings, such as Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter re-upping with the Yankees.

Two of the biggest surprises of the meetings though, without a doubt, involved the Red Sox. They had already lost free agent catcher Victor Martinez to Detroit, and it all but appeared as if they were going to lost third baseman Adrian Beltre to another team, as well. So it was no surprise that they needed to make a big splash and replace at least one of those bats. And having already been linked in the past couple of years to Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, it came as no surprise, really, that they finally acquired him for three minor leaguers to start the meetings. But they didn't stop there. A few days later, they ended the meetings in stunning fashion when they reached an agreement with free agent outfielder Carl Crawford on a monster seven-year deal. Crawford had been linked to the Angels and Yankees, so him ending up in Boston comes as a bit of surprise.

Another team that was busy at the meetings was the White Sox, who added free agent slugger Adam Dunn to their arsenal before re-signing free agents Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski. Dunn, who got a four-year deal, had been coveted by several teams, and it was almost certain he would sign with a National League team because he wanted to play in the field. But even with the very likelihood that Konerko, who got a new three-year deal, was going to be re-signed to playfirst base again, Dunn chose the A.L.'s White Sox, to be their DH.

Some other notable transactions during the meetings:

First baseman Carlos Pena signed a one-year deal with the Cubs
Starting pitcher Shawn Marcum was traded from Toronto to the Brewers
The Orioles acquired third baseman Mark Reynolds from Arizona and shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Twins, and also re-signed free agent pitcher Koji Uehara
The D-backs signed closer J.J. Putz and infielder Melvin Mora
Infielder Ty Wigginton got a two-year deal from the Rockies

The biggest surprise of the entire off-season, however, came just two nights ago, four days after the Winter Meetings ended.

It had been quite obvious for weeks that the Cliff Lee sweepstakes were going to come down to two teams: the Texas Rangers, with whom Lee pitched for after being acquired from Seattle in June and then led to the World Series, and the Yankees, a team with a lot of money to spend. For four days during the meetings, we heard all the rumors of the offers he received from both clubs. Then it was reported over the weekend that there was a mystery team that was suddenly involved, though speculation was Lee was leaning towards returning to Texas. The rumors even went as far as suggesting there never even being a "mystery team" involved at all, that maybe it was just a ploy by Lee's agent to get the Rangers or Yankees to up their offers and maybe get into a bidding war. But neither budged, and boy, were a lot of us all wrong!

Cliff Lee stunned the baseball world when reports surfaced late Monday night that he was returning to Philadelphia to pitch for the team he helped lead to the World Series in 2009. He essentially took less money from Philly so he could play where he wanted to play. And it wasn't that he didn't like Texas or didn't want to go back to the Rangers, because he made it clear how much he loved it there. Nor was it because he didn't want to pitch in New York or because Yankee fans were unruly to Lee's wife during a Rangers visit to Yankee Stadium during the season. It was just simply that he really loved pitching in Philadelphia, and his heart was set on going back there.

Now here's where this all gets even more crazy. Lee will be joining a rotation that already includes this year's N.L. Cy Young Award winner, Roy Halladay, who pitched a perfect game during the season, and then pitched a no-hitter in his first ever post-season start this year, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but this has to arguably be one of the greatest starting rotations ever assembled. And that includes the comparisons to the 1954 Indians rotation, the 1969-1971 Orioles rotations, and the mid-1990's Braves rotation which included three future Hall of Famers in Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. And keep in mind, even though the Phillies lost Werth to a division rival, they still have a very strong lineup with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez.

I guess it wouldn't be too far off to predict a Red Sox-Phillies 2011 World Series right now, would it?! Well, we'll see. Everyone still has to play 162 games first, and then two of the eight playoff teams have to win seven more post-season games to get to the World Series. And who knows, one of them could be the Dodgers!

Speaking of the Blue, they were no strangers at the meetings and thereafter either, keeping busy themselves, as well, and moreso than usual.

First, they re-signed starting pitcher Vicente Padilla to a one-year deal. Padilla will be a "utility pitcher" for the Dodgers in 2011, doing some spot-starting, long-relieving, closing, whatever it is they need him to do. His versatility and willingness to be that "utility" pitcher was attractive to the Dodgers.

The Blue then signed free agent outfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., who was non-tendered by the Padres, to a one-year deal. He too, will be a utility player for the Dodgers, in the outfield. They also signed a former Dodger, catcher Dioner Navarro, non-tendered by the Rays, to duke it out with A.J. Ellis for the right to platoon with Rod Barajas, though I can't imagine Ellis beating out Navarro. The signing all but ended Russell Martin's tenure with the Dodgers, who eventually signed a one-year deal today with the Yankees to be their primary catcher.

If you remember, with Martin already in the Dodgers system, then-General Manager Paul Depodesta acquired Navarro from the Yankees via the Diamondbacks prior to the 2005 season as part of a three-team trade that sent Shawn Green to Arizona and Randy Johnson from Arizona to the Yankees. Dodger scouts loved Martin, but Depodesta liked Navarro and his upside and he was eventually called up from Triple-A in the middle of the '05 season. He then started the 2006 season as the starting catcher ahead of Martin, but got hurt early in the season. Martin was called up to take his spot and did so well he was given the starting the job even after Navarro recovered from his injury. Navarro was eventually traded by current GM Ned Colletti in the middle of the 2006 season near the trade deadline to Tampa Bay along with Jae Wong Seo and eventually Justin Ruggiero in exchange for Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson.

Today the team beefed up its bullpen by coming to an agreement with free agent reliever Matt Guerrier on a three-year deal. Guerrier pitched for the Twins the past six seasons.

And with all that, the off-season is still young! Top free agents such as Beltre, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Rafael Soriano, Derrek Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Manny Ramirez, and Vladimir Guerrero are still available. (Hideki Matsui signed a one-year deal today with Oakland.) And the Dodgers are still trying to lock up one more outfielder, and they've narrowed their search down to four reported finalists: Scott Podsednik, Bill Hall, Austin Kearns and Lastings Milledge.

And believe it or not, Christmas is still more than one week away! Still plenty of Christmas gifts to be handed in the form of free agents.

Dodgers Stay Busy

2010-12-05T15:35:00.005-06:00

The Winter Meetings haven't even started yet but the Dodgers continue to stay busy. Very busy. Here's a run-down of what's transpired over the last couple of weeks since the team re-signed Hiroki Kuroda:

The Dodgers finally announced their coaching staff for 2011, bringing back former Dodger great Davey Lopes as their new first base coach. Lopes was part of the great Dodger infield of the mid- to late-70s and early-80's that included Steve Garvey, Bill Russell and Ron Cey. Also joining new manager Don Mattingly's staff is former Royals manager Trey Hillman as bench coach, former Dodger Tim Wallach as the third base coach, former Dodger pinch-hitting specialist Dave Hansen as hitting instructor, and carry-overs Jeff Pentland, promoted from hitting instructor to primary hitting coach, Rick Honeycutt as pitching coach, Ken Howell as bullpen coach and Manny Mota as assistant coach.
One day after Thanksgiving, the Dodgers reached a deal with free agent pitcher Jon Garland and signed him to a one-year deal worth $5M plus incentives with a vesting option for $8M for 2012 based on pitching 190 innings in 2011. Garland will slide into the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation, which now looks as good and as deep as any in the majors. He pitched briefly for the Dodgers at the end of the 2009 season when they acquired him from Arizona at the waiver trade deadline at the end of August.
Three days later, the Dodgers "stole" World Series hero Juan Uribe away from the Giants, and inked him to a three-year, $21M deal to take over the everyday second base duties. While the years and money might be a bit much, the Dodgers were vying for Uribe's services with several other teams, including the Giants, so they stepped up to get the deal done. This has to be a double-whammy for the Giants and their fans. Uribe solidifies the middle-infield defense and gives them a little more power in the middle of the lineup. He'll likely slide over to third base in 2012 after Casey Blake's current three-year contract expires after this coming season.
As a result of the Uribe signing, the Dodgers turned around and traded incumbent second baseman Ryan Theriot to St. Louis for reliever Blake Hawksworth. Theriot was a non-tender candidate for the Dodgers, so the Dodgers did well getting something in return for him.
The Dodgers then did non-tender three players, including reliever George Sherrill and catcher Russell Martin. The Sherrill move came as no surprise, but non-tendering Martin came as a bit of a surprise for a number of reasons, and yet it didn't for several reasons, as well. Martin will be just 28 at the start of next season, but he's regressed steadily over the past three seasons since 2007, in large part because he's probably fatigued from having caught the most games in the majors during that span. He was due a hefty pay raise through arbitration and the Dodgers had some reservations about him receiving a raise. To complicate matters, Martin had a freak hip injury last season that ended his season when he landed awkwardly on home plate trying to score on a base hit. There were concerns he might have torn his labrum but fortunately it was just a fracture. Still, the Dodgers had every reason to be hesitant. They tried to iron out a deal with him, and the Martin camp made an offer of $5M plus $1M in incentives, but the Dodgers were only willing to go as high as $4.2M plus the $1M, just $120k more than $4.04M the Dodgers would have had to pay Martin had they gone to arbitration with him and won. In other words, they haggled over a measly (by baseball standards) $800k. They also attempted to trade him, and six teams showed an interest in Martin to a point where the Dodgers almost sent him to the Yankees for catcher Francisco Cervelli. But eventually that fell through, and the Dodgers opted to non-tender Martin, making him a free agent. The Dodgers still want Martin back in the fold, but in a different role. They'd like him to platoon behind the plate, and play some third base, second base and left field. The interest is mutual, and they continue to talk. But now the Dodgers have competition from those same six teams who called them about a possible trade before they non-tendered him.
In light of the whole Martin thing, the Dodgers protected themselves, and turned around and re-signed another catcher, Rod Barajas, to a one-year, $3.25M deal. That's a lot for an aging 35-year old catcher who really only had two good weeks all last year, both coming after he was sent to the Dodgers from the Mets in late August after making just $500k from the Mets last season. I'm not sure that really justifies a raise, but the Dodgers wanted to make sure they were covered at the position. And if the Dodgers are able to re-sign Martin, as well, he and Barajas would platoon behind the plate, making Barajas' contract look even worse being that he would be just a part-time player. You would think, despite his regression the last three years and his hip injury last year, that Martin at 28 is more deserving of a $5M deal compared to a 35-year old catcher getting a $2.75M raise based on two weeks.

This gets us caught up and brings us to the Winter Meetings, which officially get underway tomorrow. The Dodgers still have a little work to do, such as solidifying the catching situation, finding a suitable right-handed platoon partner for Jay Gibbons in left field (Matt Diaz comes to mind, though bringing back Adrian Beltre to play third base again and moving Casey Blake to left to platoon with Gibbons sounds juicier!) and filling out the bullpen. They had been rumored to be interested in free agent Jesse Crain.

Stay tuned. More to come as the Winter Meetings get closer (though apparently they already have started tonight as former Dodger outfielder Jayson Werth has signed a seven-year, $126M deal with the Washington Nationals).

Kuroda-san Back in the Fold

2010-11-16T23:51:00.004-06:00

The Dodgers have re-signed starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal reportedly worth $12MM. With the signing, the rotation is starting take shape, and four of the five slots are now filled. How they fill the fifth slot remains to be seen, but there are several options.

The Dodgers could simply re-sign Vicente Padilla to a low-based, one-year deal, or sign one of other the second- or third-tiered starting pitchers on the free agent list. Or they could also dangle first baseman James Loney as trade bait, and deal him for a starting pitcher, then sign one of the many available free agent first basemen with a little more power than Loney. Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Derrek Lee come to mind.

Finding another power bat remains a priority for the Dodgers.

As for Kuroda, he had arguably his best and healthiest season in Blue in 2010, and the Dodgers are hoping he can repeat it in 2011. He will rejoin Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly in the rotation.

Free Agent Frenzy

2010-11-07T20:28:00.005-06:00

Frenzy might not be the right word to describe the Dodgers approach as the free agent period begins today, but they certainly have a lot of holes to fill, need upgrades around the diamond, and need help anywhere else they can get it.

The Dodgers have a couple of problems or issues facing them as they try to "rebuild" (for lack of a better word) a team that fell flat on its own self this past season. One, the free agent market is relatively thin this year. There really are only about five free agents worth splurging on, and the Dodgers simply can not afford to get into any kind of bidding war for any of them, despite their claim that their 2011 payroll will go up from their $95MM+ payroll at the end of the 2010 season. And two, the divorce proceedings of owner Frank McCourt and his estranged wife, Jamie, will probably slow things down early on until a judge decides before December what happens to the McCourts, and ultimately, the Dodgers.

That said, filling out the roster for next season won't be easy for General Manager Ned Colletti, but there are a few ideas that do make sense for the Dodgers. So, without getting into too much detail, below is a breakdown of five ideas the Dodgers should consider.

1. The Dodgers re-signed Ted Lilly a couple of weeks ago, leaving themselves still with two openings in the rotation. There are several decent pitchers on the market that the Dodgers can turn to to fill the back-end of the rotation without splurging. Two of these pitchers are their own free agents, Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla. Kuroda will be 36 and has had some injury concerns the last two seasons. There's no telling what his intentions are, whether its staying in the U.S. or going back to Japan, but if he's willing to stay and take a nice paycut from the $15MM+ he made over the last three season's, he's probably a safe bet. Padilla, on the other hand, is slightly younger, though he does come with some minor injury concerns like most pitchers and also some anger issues when things don't go his way. But when everything is right with Padilla, he has some of the best stuff in the game. He would come cheaper than Kuroda, thus making him the best fit of the two. Outside the organization, Jake Westbrook might be the best option. He's past his own elbow injuries and, if he, too, is willing to sign for less years, would be a solid pickup. Jorge de La Rosa would be another solid option, as well.

2. The bullpen became a disaster in the second half this past season, so much so, Jonathan Broxton was removed as the team's closer. This caused a domino effect and the Dodgers were forced to rely on Hong-Chih Kuo, even though they couldn't use him everyday, and Kenley Jansen, a converted catcher just a year ago, to close. Bringing in a legitimate closer such as Rafael Soriano, and adding bullpen depth such as Joaquin Benoit or Grant Balfour would ease the load on the rest of the bullpen, and Broxton could go back to being a successful setup guy without the added pressures of closing.

3. The Dodgers must upgrade behind the plate. Russell Martin has regressed each of the last three seasons both offensively and defensively after his breakout rookie season in 2006 and his follow-up in 2007. His hip injury last season is probably a concern, as well. Re-signing Rod Barajas to essentially replace Martin wouldn't make much sense either because of his age (35). That said, their best bet would be to non-tender or trade Martin, bring in either Miguel Olivo or John Buck, and re-sign Barajas to back them up. All three catchers have some decent power, and are above adequate defensively, easily making them upgrades over Martin and A.J. Ellis.

4. Ryan Theriot just doesn't cut it at second base. The Dodgers could just non-tender him and give the job to Jamey Carroll, but then you lose your one blue chip super-utility role player. They should non-tender Theriot regardless, who provides little-to-no offense at all and whose defense is below average, and snag Juan Uribe away from the Giants. Uribe is only 30 and has power, and he's above adequate defensively. His on-base percentage isn't anything to write home about, but then again, neither is Theriot's. Uribe's power and defense would be well worth the risk. This could be a huge steal if the Dodgers could sign him away from the Giants for a year or two at about $4 or $5MM per.

5. It's time Casey Blake became a platoon player. Blake's offense has declined in each of his seasons with the Dodgers since he was acquired mid-way through the 2008 season. At 36, his defense at third base has also declined, though it was never more than average to begin with. With the re-signing of Jay Gibbons last week, and the fact Blake can play the outfield, a possible platoon situation with Blake and Gibbons could be suitable for the Dodgers in left field, or the two could just become the primary left-handed and right-handed bats off the bench. Either way, this would open up third base for the Dodgers to bring back Adrian Beltre for the next three years. Sure we've been down this road before, but Beltre is still a proven top defensive third baseman, even seven years since he last played for the Dodgers, and his bat is still well above average, especially by comparison to Blake. On the flip side, with his big year in Boston this past season, and the fact he's a Scott Boras client, this one might be the furthest from ever coming to fruition.

The Dodgers do have other options besides those mentioned above. They could always dangle James Loney (and/or Russell Martin) for a middle-to-back-end-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, especially if they manage to sign just one free agent starting pitcher to fill out the rotation. Loney, while he's arguably one of the best defensive first basemen in the league, has shown little-to-no power development in his bat, making him one of the least productive first basemen in the league. Should they go this route and trade Loney, they could sacrifice defense for offense and try to land Adam Dunn or Paul Konerko to replace him, though Dunn might be too costly and both are probably better suited as a DH at this point in their careers. Derrek Lee, who can play the position and might still have a couple of years left in his bat, as well, even at his age, might be a more logical and less expensive fit.

As for the overall top free agents, you can all but count out the Dodgers when it comes to Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth. Each of those players will command top dollar, and the Dodgers simply can not get into bidding wars with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels or even the Rangers.

Hopefully the Dodgers have a decent game plan in mind, at the very least similar to the one provided here. Anything less than this would be a wasted off-season, and a potentially disastrous 2011 for the Dodgers and new manager Don Mattingly.

Early Off-Season News

2010-11-04T20:26:00.005-05:00

With the off-season in full swing here, the Dodgers made a couple of personnel moves to gear up for 2011. On Tuesday, they picked up their half of a mutual option with outfielder Scott Podsednik, whom they acquired at the trade deadline from the Royals. However, Podsednik today declined his half and became a free agent.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers did sign outfielder Jay Gibbons to a one-year deal worth about $400k plus incentives. Gibbons, who appeared in a Major League game in 2010 for the first time in three years, will serve as the Dodgers primary left-handed bat off the bench, at the very least. He has a chance, depending on other moves made by the team before Opening Day, to earn additional playing time in left field in a platoon role, possibly with current third baseman, Casey Blake.

If that happens, expect the Dodgers to possibly pursue former Dodger Adrian Beltre to fill the hole at third base, though he could be out of their price range. Another possibility could be the Dodgers putting first baseman James Loney on the trade market for pitching, and then trying to lure free agent Adam Dunn to L.A. to play first base.

As for the coaching staff, still no official word on who the coaches will be, but former Dodgers Dave Hansen and Davey Lopes have emerged as possible candidates to round out the staff. Hansen could be coupled with Mike Pentland as one of two hitting coaches, and Lopes, who was most recently the Phillies first base coach, could fill the same role with the Dodgers.

And finally, a sad day in baseball today as former Reds and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson passed away due to complications from dementia. Anderson was placed in hospice care as early as yesterday for dementia.

During his illustrious career as a Major League manager, Anderson led the Reds to World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and the Tigers to the 1984 title. He also served as a color commentator for the Angels in recent years. Anderson was 76.

My condolences go out to the Anderson family, as well as the Reds, Tigers and Angels' organizations.

'Til 2011...

2010-11-01T22:12:00.004-05:00

The 2010 baseball season has come to an official end, and as a Dodger fan, I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us Dodger fans when it pains me to say that the Hated Ones to the North, the San Francisco Giants, are the 2010 World Champions. They defeated the Texas Rangers in five games with a 3-1 win tonight in Game 5.

For the Giants, it's their first title since 1954, when they were still the New York Giants. The didn't move to San Francisco until after the 1957 season, the same year the Dodgers moved to L.A. from Brooklyn.The Dodgers have won five times since the move, while the Giants had won their five prior to the move before tonight.

The Giants basically out-pitched the Rangers, and Tim Lincecum beat Cliff Lee twice in the series, something most people thought would not happen even just once. The Rangers lone win in the series came in Game 3 when they won 4-2 in Arlington.

Edgar Renteria was named series MVP after entering tonight's game with a .429 series avg, and then hitting the game-winning, World Series-clinching three-run homerun in the seventh inning off Lee. The homerun was Renteria's second such game-/World Series-clinching hit. He had the walk-off single in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins against the Cleveland Indians.

As much as it pains me to say this, I'm a good sport, so I'll say it anyway... Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants and all of their fans.

Coaching Staff Coming Into Place?

2010-10-25T22:18:00.003-05:00

Becoming a new manager has its responsibilities. One of them is building a coaching staff. And with the departure of Joe Torre as manager at the end of this past season, several of his coaches left with him, leaving new manager Don Mattingly with the task of rebuilding the staff.

In recent weeks, we learned that Larry Bowa (third base coach), Mariano Duncan (first base coach) and Bob Schafer (bench coach) would not return to the Dodgers next season. And with Mattingly vacating his role as hitting coach once he was named the manager, that left at least four open spots on the staff. Only Rick Honeycutt and Ken Howell were said to either be definitely coming back, or at least considering it. Howell eventually agreed to return as the team's bullpen coach.

Over the weekend we learned that former Royals manager Trey Hillman was a leading candidate to become the bench coach, and today it was announced that Honeycutt accepted the invitation to return as the team's pitching coach. We also learned today that Tim Wallach, who was the Triple-A manager for the Dodgers in Albuquerque this past season and was a candidate to replace Torre as well as a handful of the other managerial openings around the league and interviewed for the job in Milwaukee, is not a finalist for the Brewers job. Wallach had already been told he would be part of next year's staff if he wasn't hired by any of the other teams looking for a new manager. Because the Dodgers didn't want the process of naming their new staff to linger, and with the unexpected large number of managerial openings around the league, the Dodgers asked Wallach to limit his options and to make himself available to only half of those teams. Thus, last week he did not interview for the job in Toronto, but did for Milwaukee. Word is now he will be the team's third base coach next season.

All that's left to be determined is the team's hitting coach and first base coach. Mike Pentland and Chili Davis are the leading candidates for the hitting coach, though my guess is Pentland is the favorite based on his experience at the Major League level in that capacity in recent years. Davis has been all but out baseball since he retired after the 1999 season. There's still no word or idea on who the first base coach might be.

Also, assistant GM Logan White is no longer a candidate to become the Mets new GM, and for now, he remains with the Dodgers in his current role. Whew, great news!

World Series Set

2010-10-24T13:11:00.003-05:00

The Texas Rangers are headed to the World Series for the first time in franchise history after defeating the defending champion New York Yankees 6-1 on Friday night in Arlington to win the ALCS four games to two. They will be joined by the San Francisco Giants who stunned the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 last night in Philadelphia to win the NLCS four games to two.

The Giants are making their first appearance in the World Series since 2002 when they lost in seven games to the then-Anaheim Angels. The Giants have not won a World Series since 1954, when they were still in New York.

That all said, as a Dodger fan living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I think it's pretty obvious who I'm rooting for: Go Rangers!

My prediction: Rangers in six. I can't see the Giants beating Cliff Lee the way he's pitching.

Game one is Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Lilly Re-Ups with Dodgers

2010-10-19T16:06:00.000-05:00

Ted Lilly, who was acquired at the non-waiver trade deadline from the Cubs, has officially re-signed with the Dodgers for three years after he passed his physical this morning. Lilly will earn $33MM over the three years, and has a full no-trade clause for the first two. He probably could have made more had he tested the free agency market but he instead chose to sign early.

With the signing, the Dodgers now have three-fifths of their 2011 rotation in place with Lilly, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers intend to try to bring back Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla, but for much less.

What?! Really?!

2010-10-06T21:11:00.001-05:00

UPDATE (10:10 CT): Yankees have taken the lead on the Twins 6-4 in the seventh inning after a Mark Teixeira two-run dinger.

**********

Wow! What an opening act!

Roy Halladay pitched just the second post-season no-hitter ever tonight in his first ever post-season start. Halladay pitched a perfect game earlier in the season, as well.

Insane!

Phils take a 1-0 NLDS series lead over the Reds.

Rangers also won their first playoff game since 1996 today and took a 1-0 ALDS series lead on the Rays.

And the Twins currently lead the Yankees 3-0 through five innings of their ALDS Game 1 matchup.

Braves and Giants get underway tomorrow in San Francisco.

Post-Season Set

2010-10-03T22:19:00.003-05:00

The Padres nearly pulled it off, but in the end, the Giants were too much and avoided a three-game sweep at home with a 3-0 win today at AT&T Park. With the win, the Giants clinched the NL West title, and coupled with Atlanta's win earlier in the day over the Phillies, the Braves earned the Wild Card and the Padres were sent home for the winter.

A Padres loss also avoided a three-team tie and two extra regular season "playoff" games for one of the two West contenders. Had the Padres won today with the Braves having already won, they would have hosted the Giants in a one-game playoff on Monday for the NL West crown, with the loser having to play Atlanta on Tuesday for the Wild Card.

Meanwhile, the Phillies, who have the best record in baseball, will host Cincinnati in one NLDS best-of-five matchup, while the Giants will host the Braves in the other.

In the AL, the Yankees lost two of three over the weekend in Boston, and with Tampa Bay winning two of three in Kansas City, the Rays wound up winning the East outright by one game, with the Yankees settling for the Wild Card. The Rays will host Texas in one ALDS matchup with the Yankees traveling to Minneapolis to play the Twins in the other.

Three More Clinch

2010-09-28T22:45:00.002-05:00

Cincinnati (their first playoff berth in 15 years), Tampa Bay and the Yankees have now all clinched playoff berths.

The NL West and Wild Card are still up for grabs, though you can eliminate the Rockies from contention for all intents and purposes. As of right now, The Braves hold a ½ game lead on the Padres, who are losing at home to the Cubs, and the Giants, who are winning at home against Arizona, lead the West by one game.

The four teams in the AL are set now. All that's left to be determined is who gets the AL East crown and who ends up as the Wild Card, as well the AL's best record.

To be determined at a ballpark near you by Sunday.

Post-Season Primer, sans the Dodgers

2010-09-27T22:23:00.004-05:00

With less than a week left in the regular season, the post-season is quickly shaping up and taking form. Here's what we do know as of this post right now...

The Dodgers are out.

In the NL, the Phillies are in as the East champs again, and the Reds can clinch their division tomorrow with a win or Cards loss. The West is still up for grabs with the Giants, Padres and Rockies all still alive, though the Rockies took a big hit after their loss to the Dodgers tonight. The Giants lead is currently at ½ game over the Padres, and five over the Rockies. The Wild Card is still up for grabs, as well, with the aforementioned West trio and the Braves all still scrambling. Atlanta currently has a ½ game lead on the Padres, and a four game lead on the Rockies.

The AL is all but set as far as which teams are in. The Twins and Rangers have clinched their divisions, and the Yankees and Rays are still duking it out to determine the East and the Wild Card, though neither has officially clinched anything yet. The Red Sox are still mathematically alive as well, though they'll need a miracle at this point.

There's also a battle going on in the AL for best record, as the Ray, Yankees and Twins are all within a game of each other. The Rays currently hold the best record in the AL, followed by the Yankees at ½ game back and the Twins one game behind, while the Phillies have the overall best record in all of MLB. Teams with the best records in their respective leagues get home field in the LCS.

And for whatever it's worth, I'm sticking with my Tampa over Philly prediction from April...

Stay tuned!

A Tale of Two Halves... an Off-Season Primer

2010-09-26T20:13:00.005-05:00

Back on June 9th, the Dodgers were 36-24, sitting in first place one-half game up on the Padres. They started the season with a 25-8 record within the division. They're 10-23 within the division since then. My how things have changed.

The Dodgers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention this past week and currently sit in fourth place in the NL West at 75-81, 13 games back of the first place Giants.

You could make the argument that the season went south the weekend the Yankees were in town to play the Dodgers during interleague play in late June. That Sunday night, June 27th, the Dodgers held a four-run ninth inning lead with Jonathan Broxton on the mound, and Broxton promptly gave up the lead, the game, and the win when the Yankees scored four runs off him. The Yankees would eventually add two more in the 10th for an 8-6 win, and Broxton and the Dodgers were never the same since.

The bullpen has been a big problem for the Dodgers since that night. Before that, the starting pitching seemed to be the issue, but that quickly turned around when it became evident that the pen was the becoming the problem. It never really situated itself, even after Broxton was pulled from his roll as the team's closer after a series of blown saves in some key moments and games.

The offense has been another major issue for the Dodgers, and not just recently. The team started off looking good offensively, but quickly hit the tailspins by mid-May when Andre Ethier went down with a broken finger, and Manny Ramirez wound up disabled three different times before he was eventually shipped out to Chicago in a waiver claim at the end of August.

The Dodgers have a number of issues to deal with heading into the off-season when it comes to the on-the-field stuff. Several players will become free agents, including three-fifths of what became the regular starting rotation after Ted Lilly was acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline at the end of July. The offense/lineup could use an upgrade at at least half of the positions. And of course, the bullpen needs to be fixed.

In the rotation, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley have etched themselves as mainstays. But Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla will all become free agents, and chances are the Dodgers will let Kuroda and Padilla walk while trying to retain Lilly. Outside of Cliff Lee, the free agent list for starting pitching doesn't really look to be all that strong, which makes me think the Dodgers will continue to do what they've been doing the past several off-seasons: take flyers on mid-level, over-the-hill, washed-up has-beens, and hope a couple of them stick.

As for the offense, where to start? Andre Ethier appears to be the only sure-thing right now. Matt Kemp, who has all the potential in the world, hasn't been the same since his one-week tear in late April, and his defensive abilities in center-field are being questioned by many. There's a gapping hole now in left field with Manny gone, and there's really only two viable options on the free agent market to replace him. One is likely going to command top dollar, and will likely get it from either the Yankees or maybe even the Angels, and the other is a Scott Boras client, and we all know about the Boras-Ned Colletti relationship. For now, it looks like Jay Gibbons will be brought back, at the very least to be the primary lefty-handed power bat off the bench.

The infield is a mess, as well. James Loney has been as consistent as ever for the Dodgers both offensively and defensively, but he possesses very little power for a first baseman. For whatever reason, his power hasn't developed much and my guess is the team is very concerned about it. Ryan Theriot was brought in as part of the Ted Lilly deal for Blake DeWitt, and while he's been adequate, he hasn't been tearing the cover off the ball. If anything, he's a natural second baseman defensively, but he isn't hitting. Raffy Furcal is as good as they come at shortstop, when he's healthy, which isn't very often. He spent more time on the disabled list again this season which has to be of concern for the Dodgers considering what they're paying him. And Casey Blake continues to regress at third as his age is finally catching up to him, while Russell Martin continues to regress behind the plate in spite of his age.

The bullpen is a whole other can of worms. Will Broxton ever regain his form? Will he ever get that Yankee monkey off his back? Can Hong-Chih Kuo pitch often enough to be the everyday closer? Is Kenley Jensen even ready for the role? And what about the rest of the bullpen? Ramon Troncoso? Ronald Belisario? George Sherrill? Even Jeff Weaver. My guess is the Dodgers will explore the free agent market to revamp the pen, including at the very back end at closer. Rafael Soriano, for one, will be available.

The biggest off-season concern, however, has to be the McCourts divorce proceedings. Frank McCourt says it will be business as usual this off-season, which means the Dodgers will be active in the free agent market again, but at what cost? Sure the team will have nearly $40MM coming off the books after this season, but can the Dodgers really spend money to fix this mess?

The scary part is this is more or less the same team that went to the NLCS each of the past two seasons, but for some reason they just didn't have it this year. And instead of Joe Torre coming back for one more year as it had been talked about going back to last season, he's stepping down instead and Don Mattingly will assume the task of putting all the pieces back together once Colletti and the rest of front office figure out who to bring in either via free agency or through trades.

The off-season should be an interesting one. There's no question the Dodgers have a lot of work to do and it will be rather interesting to see really how much the McCourt divorce affects Ned Colletti's ability to revamp and fix this team.

A Lost Season

2010-09-22T22:47:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official. The Dodgers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after last night's loss to the Padres. We can now put 2010 behind us and start looking ahead to 2011.

Oh, and a Happy 83rd Birthday goes out to Tommy Lasorda. My Dad also would have been 83 years young today, so Happy Birthday to you, as well, Dad!

BREAKING: Mattingly to Replace Torre After Season

2010-09-17T14:10:00.008-05:00

The L.A. Times is reporting that Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly will replace Joe Torre as the team's skipper after the season. An official announcement is expected before tonight's game against the Colorado Rockies at the Ravine.

There had been speculation for several years that Mattingly was being groomed to be Torre's replacement, going as far back to their days together in New York with the Yankees. In the last year or so, there had been talk of Torre possibly being extended for one more season beyond his current three-year contract. In recent weeks and days, Torre was said to have come to a decision on his future with the Dodgers, and as early as yesterday, it was reported that Torre had told his wife and Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti of his decision.

Earlier in the day, Mattingly's son Preston, a minor-leaguer in the Dodgers organization, tweeted that "big news" was coming later today in regards to his Dad.

Tim Wallach, the Dodgers Triple-A manager at Albuquerque, was a candidate to replace Torre, as well.

More to come...

O'Malley Speaks

2010-09-16T20:41:00.006-05:00

Two days ago we learned that Commisioner Bud Selig and MLB officials were mulling options on whether or not to intervene in the McCourts divorce proceedings and ask Frank McCourt to sell the team. Today, former Dodger owner Peter O'Malley broke his silence and is now pleading with McCourt to sell.

O'Malley was quoted in the L.A. Times today saying "the current ownership has lost all credibility thoughout the city." He also suggested that local investors be brought in to repair the damage done by the McCourts.

In a nutshell, O'Malley simply echoed my sentiments from two days ago.

Just sell, Frank!

Dodger Divorce News... or Not?

2010-09-14T22:40:00.005-05:00

I promised about 10 months ago that I would refrain from posting much at all about the McCourts divorce proceedings. There's already a website just for that.

But I found this article tonight posted by Bill Shaikin over at the L.A. Times noting that Commissioner Bud Selig and the league are looking at their options to possibly intervene and ask Frank McCourt to either sell the team, settle with estranged-wife Jamie or bring investors from outside the family into the ownership.

Former Commissioner Fay Vincent says such a move could be an "economic risk" despite the league's concerns over the public displays surrounding the divorce and the potential lasting affects to the league and to the team.

The trial is expected to end on September 30th, but the judge has up to 90 days to rule, and with appeals and other legal actions expected, it could take up to three years before all the dust is settled on the franchise's ownership.

My two cents? Just sell, Frank. Put the team up for sale. There's no place in baseball for this mess you and Jamie have created since day one. You've always preached accountability, so be accountable for this mess you've created and for the good of the city, the fans, and the team, sell.

In Case You Missed It...

2010-08-31T20:57:00.003-05:00

Mannywood is over. He was shipped to the South Side of Chicago yesterday in a straight-up waiver claim by the White Sox. They will assume what's left on his contract for the rest of the season.

Good riddance!

Honestly, just a ho-hum move by the Dodgers. The season is more or less a waste at this point, and he was going to walk after the season as a free agent anyway. At his age, he was bound for the AL as a DH in the off-season. His nagging leg injuries just don't allow him to play in the field anymore.

In other news, the battle of the McCourts hit the courtroom yesterday in L.A. At stake? Ownership of the Dodgers. Will it be Frank? Or Jamie? Or someone else? Only time will tell.

Dodger Divorce has the breakdown from the first two days of the trial, and everything else in between.

All-Stars

2010-07-04T14:52:00.003-05:00

Your 2010 Dodger All-Stars have been named.

Andre Ethier was voted in by the fans as a starter, while Jonathan Broxton was selected by his peers to partake in this year's Summer Classic down in Anaheim.

Both players are having solid seasons. Ethier, who was a Triple Crown candidate before he went on the disabled list about seven weeks ago when he was hitting .396 with 11 home runs, has struggled some since his return roughly five weeks ago. His averaged fell below .320 earlier this week but he's turned it back in recent days and is now hitting a robust .321, good for second in the National League.

Meanwhile, Broxton, despite his rough outing last week against the Yankees, is having another stellar season as the team's closer. He owns a solid 2.08 ERA with 16 saves, and his strikeout rates are out of this world! Broxton currently has 50 strikeouts to go with just seven walks in just 34.2 innings pitched.

Surprisingly, Rafael Furcal was left off the roster with his NL-leading .338 average among shortstops, and .884 OPS, which is third among NL shortstops behind only Hanley Ramirez, who was voted in as a starter, and Troy Tulowitzki, who was selected by his peers but won't play because of an injury. Furcal should have earned a nod but was instead passed up for Jose Reyes (.277/.741) and Omar Infante (.311/.721).

Slow Going

2010-07-03T13:48:00.002-05:00

My apologies things have been so slow in my blog world of late. Life, you know?! Anyway, just checking in as to not let this space run completely dry. Lots going on and to talk about since the Opening Day debacle in Pitt. I promise to get some literature up here very soon, perhaps this weekend! Until then...

What Can We Expect in 2010?

2010-04-05T16:42:00.006-05:00

Baseball can be a funny game. The unexpected can happen at any given moment in any given game. Every year there's always a few surprises that take us back.

This year should be no different.

Trying to predict who will win each division, or the wild cards, or the League Championship Series, or even the MVP or Cy Youngs is always a crapshoot. You just never know.

So with that said, a few days late, it's time to roll out my predictions for the just commenced season.

I always start with the National League because, well, I'm a National League fan. Always have been, always will be.

The past two seasons have practically been mirror images of each other in the NL. The Dodgers have won the West the last two seasons while the Phillies have won the East the past two years. The Cards won the Central last year after the Cubs dominated the year before. And the Rockies won last year's Wild Card after the Brewers won the year before.

The Phils then beat the wild card winner both years in the post-season while the Dodgers swept the Central champs both years before losing to the Phils in the LCS 4-1.

This year shouldn't be much different from last.

The Dodgers have a very potent lineup, as do the Rockies, and both teams have solid young hurlers to anchor the rotation. The Dodger pen is always one of the best in baseball but the difference this year from last is the lack of depth in the Dodger rotation. Having said that, the Rockies should edge out the Wild Card-winning Dodgers for the division.

In the Central, the Cards are the team to beat, but if the Cubs can avoid the injury bug and stay healthy, they will give the Cards a run in the Central. And keep an eye on the Reds as a sleeper.

In the East, the Phillies are far and away the best team in the NL once again. And they only got better when they added former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay to the mix. Barring any major injuries to any key players, the Phils should outlast the Braves and Marlins.

The American League is a whole different animal from the NL.

The AL East is arguably the best division in baseball. Three of baseball's top five teams hail from the East. Last season, the Yankees not only dominated the division which also included the Wild Card team in the Red Sox, but they dominated the entire league, parading through the playoffs and beating up a very good Phillies team for the franchise's 27th title.

But even as the Yanks reloaded after losing several key players, 2010 won't be easy for the Bronx Bombers. That's because the Red Sox have also reloaded, including adding John Lackey to the rotation, and the Rays finally have a legitimate closer to compliment a solid rotation and bullpen. All that said, the Rays and the Wild Card-winning Yankees should prevail in a three-team East dogfight.

The Central is the most interesting. The defending champs needed 163 games last season to win the division, and they lost their closer to Tommy John surgery. But they added two players in Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy that should be key in keeping them atop the division. The White Sox have the best rotation in the division but have some question marks offensively, as do the Tigers. Either way, all three teams have a chance, but the Twins balanced and consistent lineup and rotation should prevail.

Out West, the Angels have dominated the division, more or less, since 2002. But with the emergence of the Rangers young pitching last season, and the Mariners retooling atop their rotation and lineup, the division is as wide open as ever. The Angels lost several key players and really only replaced one of them. And the Mariners added two key pieces, but they still lack middle-of-the-lineup power and offense. Having said that, in the end, the Rangers will be left standing as division winners.

When all is said and done, only one team will be left standing as 2010 World Series winners. This year, because of their balance and consistency in their lineup and rotation, that team will be the Tampa Bay Rays, edging out the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

It would also be kind of hard and foolish to bet against last year's MVP and Cy Young winners in both leagues to win again in 2010, though, again, anything can happen. Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer should be the favorites to repeat for MVP in their respective leagues. Troy Tulwitzki will give Pujols a battle in the NL, while Evan Longoria will push Mauer in the AL. NL newcomer Halladay will edge out two-time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and Rockies hurler Ubaldo Jimenez, while Zack Greinke should repeat in the AL. Atlanta's Jason Heyward is the early favorite for NL Rookie of the Year with Baltimore's Brian Matusz the favorite in the AL.

Until November...

Ugly Start to New Season

2010-04-05T16:24:00.004-05:00

That was definitely ugly, and hopefully there won't be many games like today. And it's probably a good thing it was only the first game of 162. Final score: Pirates 11, Dodgers 5.

But after watching today's game, several things became clear to me. One, it's going to be a long season pitching-wise. Vicente Padilla seemed to be pitching from behind all afternoon. He pitched himself into a mess that resulted in a bases-clearing double by Ryan Church off Ramon Ortiz, who replaced Padilla during a five-run Pirate fifth. George Sherrill didn't look very sharp either, as he failed to keep the game within reach and failed to get out of the eighth, giving up three runs in the process.

The offense appears like it's going to be just fine. The lineup is well-balanced. They pounded out 11 hits today as Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt all had multiple hits today. Both Manny and Kemp each had two RBI today, as well.

They're not going to get the big hit every time but if today was any indication, they won't go down without a fight. They won't go down until the final out is recorded, which has been very indicative of this team for the past two seasons.

And lastly, Blake DeWitt looks like he's still not very comfortable at second base. He didn't commit any errors, but on one pop fly over his head, he appeared to get turned around and looked rather confused in doing so. That tells me he's still not very comfortable out there. I suppose it's a good thing the kid can hit, and the fact there are two pretty solid guys to back him up defensively in Ronnie Belliard and Jamey Carroll.

Day off tomorrow. Right back at it on Wednesday night.

Some Tidbits from the Ravine

2010-04-02T17:51:00.004-05:00

The Dodgers have returned to Southern California for three exhibition games in the area before heading out on the road to start the season, with Opening Day Monday in Pittsburgh. After a 6-3 loss last night at the Stadium to the Indians, they head down to Anaheim tonight to face the Angels at Angel Stadium, and then the two teams head back to the Dodger Stadium for an afternoon match-up tomorrow.

The roster is much more clearer today as we approach Monday. First, Joe Torre named Charlie Haeger the Dodgers fifth starter, and Blake DeWitt has been named the starting second baseman. Russell Martin has declared himself ready to go, so barring any last minute changes, it looks like he will be ready for Opening Day from his groin injury. The team also released longtime prospect Jason Repko two days ago.

As of right now, the Dodgers 25-man roster will probably look something like this on Monday:

Starting eight: Martin, James Loney, DeWitt, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Manny, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier.

Bench: Brad Ausmus, Garrett Anderson, Jamey Carroll, Ronnie Belliard, Nick Green, Reed Johnson.

Rotation: Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Vicente Padilla, Haeger.

Bullpen: Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso, Jeff Weaver, Carlos Monasterios, Ramon Ortiz.

Hong-Chih Kuo will start the season on the DL and Ronald Belisario is on the "Restricted List" and will likely start the season on extended Spring Training in the minors.

Stults on the Move?

2010-03-30T11:03:00.004-05:00

It's possible. According to Dylan Hernandez of the Times, Ned Colletti was quoted just moments ago that the Dodgers "have something going with [Eric Stults]." Colletti declined to elaborate on the details, but we do know that Stults has been scratched from his scheduled start today.

Stults is out of options but there has been some interest in him from teams in Japan.

This might also mean the Dodgers have probably already decided on Ramon Ortiz as their fifth starter to start the season.

Stay tuned.

Items from the Ranch

2010-03-27T14:35:00.003-05:00

The inevitable has arrived. We now have an idea who that primary left-handed bat off the bench will be in 2010. His name is Garrett Anderson.

This all became more clearer after the Dodgers informed Doug Meintkiewicz on Friday that he would not make the Opening Day roster. Meintkiewicz, who still wants to play in the Majors, then left camp after talking with Ned Colletti to weigh his options.

Both players were hitting the ball well this Spring, but the Dodgers have apparently opted to go with Anderson, who was signed a Minor League deal two weeks into Spring Training.

Also getting a roster spot on Opening Day will be Ronnie Belliard, who finally got his weight down to 208. That essentially guaranteed his $850K contract for the 2010 season.

Depending on who starts the season at second base, and even that's still up in the air despite Blake DeWitt's offensive prowess this Spring, the bench will probably consist of two of the three among Belliard, DeWitt and Jamey Carroll, with one of them getting the Opening Day nod, Anderson, Reed Johnson and either Brad Ausmus or A.J. Ellis, depending on Russell Martin's status.

The Blue are also set to move forward without Ronald Belisario, who still has not reported to camp due to visa issues in his native Venezuela. And with Hong-Chih Kuo all but expected to start the season on the DL with elbow issues, the bullpen and fifth rotation spot are still uncertain.

We know the front four rotation guys are Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla, who just named the Opening Day starter for April 5th in Pittsburgh (which means Kershw will get the home opener the following week), and the back end of the bullpen is Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill and Ramon Troncoso. Beyond those seven guys, the pitching staff is still undetermined.

The Two Ortizes, Russ and Ramon, Carlos Monasterios, Jeff Weaver, Josh Lindblom, Eric Stults and Charlie Haeger are still options to sort out the final five spots on the pitching staff. And there's also still a possibility the Dodgers might go out of the organization and sign just-released Chad Gaudin, who was last seen on the Yankees. Ramon Ortiz appears, at the very least, to be the in-house front-runner at the moment.

So obviously, there's still a lot at stake here, and with only about a week left before the season opener, Colletti, Joe Torre and the rest of the coaching staff have a lot of decisions to make.

More on Gagne, Torre, Martin

2010-03-22T19:22:00.004-05:00

As it turns out, Eric Gagne asked for his release, and it was granted. Gagne apparently decided he didn't want to be in the minors and exercised the opt-out clause in his contract.

As for Joe Torre, he suspended all talks for an extension until after the season, saying he didn't want it to become a distraction for the team. He insists he still wants to manage the team another year after this.

And Russell Martin's batting practice session was cut short today after he was knocked down once and plunked twice by minor league pitcher Tom Corcoran. Martin was heard to have shouted a couple of obscenities as he entered the hallway outside the clubhouse after being shut down, but laughed about it later while he was getting treatment in the training room. Corcoran, on the other hand, appeared to have been rattled after knocking down Martin, which could have led to his controls problems that resulted in plunking Martin twice thereafter.

Angel Berroa, signed in the off-season to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, was released today. However, the Yankees returned Jamie Hoffmann, whom they selected in the Rule 5 Draft from the Dodgers in December, back to the Dodgers. However, Hoffmann could find his way back to New York in a deal with the Dodgers involving either Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre. This would allow the Yankees to send Hoffmann to the minors with out the Rule 5 thing attached to it.

Game Over... Again

2010-03-21T23:51:00.002-05:00

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but the Dodgers have decided to release their former closer and 2003 Cy Young Winner, Eric Gagne. Gagne didn't look very sharp in Major League camp and was demoted last week to Minor League camp to get more game innings. Unfortunately, it appears he didn't fare any better there, and the Dodgers felt the best thing to do was to sever all ties with him.

Gagne hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2008 while with Milwaukee, and it all but appears that unless another team decides to take a flyer on him, his career is likely over.

Couple More News Bits

2010-03-21T18:32:00.003-05:00

Dodgers Minor League instructor and former Dodger player Lenny Harris is stable after undergoing an emergency quadruple heart bypass surgery on Saturday. Harris complained of chest and arm pain on Friday, and while he did not suffer a heart attack, doctors went ahead with the surgery to unblock four arteries, including one that was 95% blocked.

Twins and catcher Joe Mauer have agreed on an 8-yr, $184MM extension. Mauer, the reigning A.L. MVP and two-time batting champ, was in the final year of his current contract. He would have been a highly sought-after free agent next winter. Twins owner Jim Pohlad, who took over the team in January 2009 after his father, Carl, passed away, vowed that the Twins would be more active when it came to free agency, especially in light of the team moving into a brand new ballpark this season, Target Field.

Catching Up in Dodgertown

2010-03-21T14:38:00.003-05:00

When we last spoke about a week or so ago, half of the Spring Training roster was halfway around the world playing an exhibition series against a Taiwanese All-Star team, Blake DeWitt was making noise to be named the team's starting second baseman, Garrett Anderson was working out at first base, a beardless Casey Blake was out with a ribcage injury, and Don Mattingly admitted the Dodgers have made "overtures" about him becoming Joe Torre's heir apparent.

Since then, the roster has been cut in size as Opening Day nears, DeWitt still hasn't been officially named the starting second baseman, Anderson is still working out at first base, Blake has returned from his minor ribcage deal, and Mattingly has returned to his current role as hitting coach.

As for the roster cuts, Eric Gagne and Scott Elbert were reassigned to minor league camp. The Dodgers want Gagne to continue to pitch and get some innings under his belt in games, something they can't give him in Major League camp right now. There is still mutual interest from both sides for Gagne to get a shot at the big club again, but Gagne has an out clause in his contract that he can exercise if he's not on the Major League roster by a certain date. It seems at this point that Gagne won't be exercising it.

Cory Wade, who made a plea to get his old job back from 2008 as the club's primary set-up guy, will be out approximately three months after undergoing shoulder surgery. Wade struggled early last year that he was sent back out to Albuquerque, and was eventually sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, Garrett Anderson continues to workout at first base. The back-up job and primary lefty bat off the bench is now down to Anderson and Doug Meintkiewicz as Brian Giles called it a career last week and retired due to his nagging injuries. All indications are the Anderson-Meitnkiewicz battle will go down to the wire.

And don't look now, but Ramon Ortiz - yes, that Ramon Ortiz - is making a case to be the team's fifth starter out of Spring Training. Even if he does make it, there's no guarantees he'll be the long-term solution there as the season goes on. But for now, he's become the leading candidate, or, at the very least, the best option. With both Eric Stults and Charlie Haeger out of options, the Dodgers have some decisions to make as far as the fifth rotation spot is concerned.

No longer a candidate for any roster spot is James McDonald, who was also optioned to the minors. McDonald has struggled immensely this spring, and his 20.25 ERA was enough for the Dodgers to send him down. His demotion came just days after the team said he would be headed to the bullpen.

Rule-5 pick Carlos Monasterios is quickly gaining momentum to be included on the bullpen staff. As of right now, the only guarantees in the pen are Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill and Ramon Troncoso. But with Hong-Chih Kuo still sidelined with a sore elbow after he was scratched from his start in his native Taiwan, and with Ronald Belisario still having visa issues and not in camp yet, an opportunity has opened up for Monasterios, and he hasn't disappointed. Monasterios has pitched well in eight Spring Training innings, and the Dodgers like the fact he has the ability to strike people out, as his K/9 IP ratio in the minor leagues last season proves. Unless someone else steps up to be the sixth inning guy out of the pen, there's no reason Monasterios won't be given first crack at it.

Though Russell Martin still won't be ready for Opening Day after he pulled his groin earlier in the spring, he's making progress and is ahead of schedule on his rehab, etc. There are still plenty of people blaming the injury on the 25 pounds of added bulk Martin added to his frame in the off-season, but Martin assures us that is far from the case. Either way, Martin is progressing nicely and he should be ready to go by mid-April.

Off the field, Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully is back in the booth today after falling in his home the other day getting out of bed and hitting his head. The 82-year old was taken to the hospital as a precaution for observation, but was released the following day. He's on the air right now doing the Dodgers-Indians game from The Ranch.

And finally, Giles wasn't the only player of note retiring last week. Former Dodger and L.A. native Nomar Garciaparra called it a career, as well. Nomar, who was a free agent after spending last season with Oakland, signed a one-day contract with the Red Sox and then retired because of nagging injuries.

Nomar certainly left Dodger fans with plenty of excitement as he hit the game-winning walk-off homer in the 10th of the "4+1" game. And had it not been for the rash of injuries over the past five or six seasons, Nomar could have finished his career as one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived. He was certainly well on his way to that. He finished his career with a .313/.361/.521 line with 229 home runs, 927 runs scored and two A.L. batting titles with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000. Nomar was also the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 1997.

A Few More Spring Training Tidbits

2010-03-10T19:04:00.005-06:00

I'm usually one who tries to stay on top of things when it comes to the Dodgers, especially during the season (Spring Training included). For whatever reason, I've been slacking, and throwing a bunch of posts into one big post, such as this one. In any case, a few notes from the past few days to get caught up.

First, it appears more and more likely that Blake DeWitt will be given the everyday second base gig to start the season. Defensively, he could still use some more seasoning, but his offense is probably what's already getting him the nod over Ronnie Belliard. As for Jamey Carroll, I doubt the team ever considered him a serious candidate for the everyday job, although he'll likely get some starts against lefties periodically. Carroll was brought in to be the super-utility guy anyway. Either way, good news for DeWitt fans. This also probably means Belliard is a longshot to make the team.

Meanwhile, still no word on beardless Casey Blake, who was pulled early from Monday's game because of a strain in the ribcage area. He opted against an MRI, so it appears as if the strain is nothing serious, though he was given the last two games off. My guess is if this had been the regular season, he would probably be back in the lineup by now.

It also appears that the Dodgers are doing whatever they can to keep Garrett Anderson over Brian Giles and Doug Meintkiewicz. Anderson has been working out the past few days at first base, and given that he's probably the healthiest of the three, he probably has the best chance of the three to make the team. On the flip side, Anderson has never played first base in his 16 years in the Majors, so we'll see how this all turns out as we get closer to Opening Day. Anderson still has not appeared in a Spring Training game.

About half of the team is currently en route to Taiwan for a weekend exhibition "goodwill" series with a Taiwanese All-Star team. Among those making the trip are Taiwan-born Hong-Chih Kuo and Chin-Lung Hu, as well as Manny, and manager Joe Torre. As for Kuo, he will get the starting nod in the series finale after Charlie Haeger was scratched from the split-squad to Taiwan due to some sort of hip injury.

Meanwhile, with Torre on his way to Taiwan to manage that split-squad, hitting coach Don Mattingly was left behind to manage the split-squad in Arizona for five games. And there might be more to it than we think.

When Joe Torre was hired to manage the Dodgers before the 2008 season, he brought along a couple of his buddies with him from New York. Mattingly was one of them. It was said in New York that when Torre hired Mattingly to be the hitting coach there, it was done with the idea of grooming Mattingly to eventually be the heir apparent when Torre retired. But Torre never got that chance in New York, and he was eventually not offered a new contract after the 2007 season, thus making him a "free agent." The Yankees eventually hired Joe Girardi as their manager even after interviewing Mattingly.

In all actuality, nothing really changed when Torre was hired by the Dodgers and he brought Mattingly along with him. The same speculation has been made for the past two-plus years with the Dodgers. This past off-season, Mattingly interviewed for the vacant manager's job in Cleveland, but eventually withdrew himself as a candidate and then opted against interviewing for the same vacant job in Washington. And the reasons are pretty obvious.

Today, Mattingly finally confirmed that the Dodgers have made "overtures" to him about being the heir apparent to Torre whenever he steps down as the Dodger manager. Torre has one year left on his contract with the Dodgers but he's stated that he wants to manage beyond this season, and the Dodgers say they want him to manage the team until he decides to retire. So whenever that happens, I think we can expect that Mattingly will in fact be the next Dodger manager.

As for today's game, an interesting rarity involving Andre Ethier took place against the D-backs. Here's what happened, as explained by MLB.com's Doug Miller.

And finally, a sad day yesterday in Dodgertown and the baseball world as former Dodger outfield great Willie Davis passed away. Davis was an integral part of the Dodgers success during the 1960s as he manned centerfield for the Dodgers for 13 seasons beginning in 1961. In 1969, he hit in a Dodger record 31 straight games, and finished his career with a .279 average and 2,561 hits. Davis also had short stays in Montreal, St. Louis, Texas and San Diego before calling it quits after playing for the Angels in 1979. Davis was 69 years old.

A Few Spring Training Notes

2010-03-07T14:14:00.006-06:00

First, Russell Martin will miss 4-6 weeks after an MRI revealed a strained hamstring area. This means Martin could miss Opening Day. In the interim, A.J. Ellis takes over as the starting catcher.

Garret Anderson, who nearly retired last week before the Dodgers came calling, says he'll need about a week before he'll be ready for any kind of game action. Anderson is competing with Brian Giles and Doug Meintkiewicz for a potential bench role as the primary left-handed bat off the bench. I say potential because yesterday Joe Torre hinted at the possibility of going without a left on the bench this year. (Good luck with that, Joe. You'll put the Dodgers at a huge disadvantage when teams start throwing all their right-handed relievers at you and you've got no one to counter with.)

Eric Gagne, battling with a handful of others for a spot on the roster out of Spring Training, didn't look very sharp in his Spring debut yesterday against the White Sox. Gagne gave up two runs on three hits in an inning pitched. He'll likely have to start the season at AAA-Albuquerque before getting a crack at the Bigs again. He's clearly got a long ways to go.

The Dodgers have split the first two games of the Spring so far. On Friday, they beat the White Sox 8-3 at The Ranch. Vicente Padilla, Reed Johnson and Jamey Carroll had solid days. However, the White Sox returned the favor yesterday, beating the Blue 8-4. Gagne, Jeff Weaver and James McDonald all struggled on the bump for the Dodgers.

Manny appears to be in mid-season form. In five plate appearances, he's 4-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in two games.

Dodgers are in Mesa today taking on the Cubs.

Spring Training Has Arrived

2010-03-03T22:24:00.006-06:00

It's been a relatively quiet past two weeks for the Dodgers.

Oh, yeah, sure, Manny had something to say. And then he had something to say again.

But did he really tell us anything the first time that we didn't already know? Not really.

And was he just having fun with us when he changed courses the second time around? You betcha.

And of course, the media ran with it both times.

Ah, it's that time of year again.

The warm air; the sunny Arizona and Florida skies. The green grass. The muffled sounds of a 95-mph fastball hitting a catcher's mitt. The hallowed sound of a bat cracking on impact with another 95-mph fastball.

Ah yes, life is finally back to normal.

The Blue have taken refuge at The Ranch for the next four weeks. They have their official Spring Training opener this Friday against their "Ranchmates," the White Sox. A home-and-home series, so-to-speak. One team is the home team on Friday, and the other on Saturday.

And with that, as the Dodgers continue to figure out who will be their fifth starter, or who will be their everyday second baseman, or who will round out the bench, and the bullpen, they quietly keep adding to their collection of veterans coming in on minor league contracts with Spring Training invitations.

Today's addition: Garret Anderson.

Anderson played for a number of years with the cross-town Angels, and then bolted for Atlanta before last season as a free agent. So of course, G.A., as he was so popularly known as down in the O.C., finding a home in Dodger Blue can only sting a little when it comes to Halo fans down I-5.

Of course, there's also no guarantees Anderson even makes the team. He's competing with Brian Giles and Doug Meintkiewicz to be the left-handed bat off the bench. And, as it's been said here before, unless by some miracle chance the Blue go with 11 pitchers out of Spring Training instead of the recent customary 12, Meintkiewicz would seem to have the inside track to serve as not only the primary lefty bat off the bench, but also as James Loney's back-up. That would all but eliminate any chance of the Dodgers carrying five outfielders.

But then again, with the health questions of Giles and Meintkiewicz, Anderson might be the only sure thing among the three.

You can't really even fault Ned Colletti for at least trying. He knows most of these guys he's brought in have little-to-no chance of panning out. So naturally, the plan is to bring in as many of these guys as possible anyway, throw them out there in Spring Training, hope one or two of them pan out (my votes go to Anderson, Ronnie Belliard, Jeff Weaver and Eric Gagne, for nostalgia purposes), and then take the credit for it later in the year when he's labeled a genius for pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

Ah, the joys of Spring Training.

Game Over Revisted?

2010-02-18T21:35:00.007-06:00

Eric Gagne is back in Dodger Blue. Four years after he threw his last pitch for the Dodgers, Gagne and the Dodgers have reached an agreement to bring the former Cy Young winner back to L.A. Gagne will sign a minor league deal worth $500K with an invitation to Spring Training, which officially gets underway Saturday at The Ranch when pitchers and catchers officially report. Should Gagne make the team, he could earn an additional $500K in performance incentives, and would likely be the sixth inning reliever for the Blue, although I doubt he makes the team based on his recent ineffectiveness.

We all remember how Gagne electrified Dodger Stadium crowds from 2002 to 2004 with his ninth inning dominance. During that span, Gagne had a whopping 152 saves, including a Major League record 84 straight over a two-year span, to go along with ERAs of 1.97, 1.20 and 2.14. In his five seasons as the team's closer from 2002 to 2006, his strikeout ratios were among the best in baseball with his strikeouts per 9 IP ratio ranging between 12.5 and 15.0. His strikeouts to walk ratio was even more impressive as he posted ratios between 5.18 and 7.33 between 2002 and 2005.

Gagne won the N.L. Cy Young Award in 2003, but injuries in 2005 and 2006 limited him to just 16 total games even though he was a perfect 9 for 9 in save opportunities in those last two seasons. Prior to 2002, Gagne struggled to get his groove in the Dodger rotation after making his Major League debut in 1999.

Gagne signed with Texas as a free agent before the 2007 season and pitched well enough that Boston acquired him mid-season for the stretch-run. He struggled mightily with the Red Sox but would end up being part of Boston's 2007 World Series Championship team. He then pitched for Milwaukee in 2008, continuing to struggle before spending last season with a Canadian independent team. He didn't fare much better there either.

Gagne's name showed up in the Mitchell Report in 2007, and many have attributed his injuries and sudden down fall in 2007 and 2008 to possible steroid use, though no hard evidence suggested he ever used.

Here's hoping he proves me wrong and does make the team!

Frank McCourt Interview

2010-02-09T15:00:00.005-06:00

Jon Weisman recently sat down with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt for a one-on-one interview. In it, McCourt discussed a number of things surrounding the state of the team, including personnel moves, arbitration, player development, the budget, and his perception and belief in himself and the decisions he makes.

Great column and interview. It's long, but well worth the read.

Obviously some people will still disagree with half of what McCourt says, whether he's telling us everything or not, but Weisman did a fantastic job asking questions that many of us as fans are concerned about when it comes to the Dodgers.

And I think Weisman hits the hammer on the nail when he says this:

Of course, what McCourt believes about himself ultimately isn't relevant. What's relevant is whether the Dodgers organization will thrive going forward. And I'm going to go this far: This team will live or die on its judgment – on the judgment of McCourt and the people he employs – rather than on McCourt's finances. His bank account, despite what most people have concluded this offseason, is not destroying the team.

I'm an objective person, and I truly believe, as Weisman notes, that the demise of this team going forward is going to be based on the development of players and other personnel decisions rather than how much they can spend or save based on the payroll budget. I'm a true believer in spending for the right reasons, and spending wisely, and not spending just for the sake of spending. To me, it seems that the Dodgers are, at the very least, trying to make decisions for baseball reasons, and not necessarily for budgetary purposes, at least this off-season.

Stealing Headlines on Super Bowl Sunday?

2010-02-07T13:07:00.008-06:00

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. Now it just seems like all the Dodgers are doing is signing random players to minor-league deals and hope something sticks after they've been thrown at a wall.

The latest victim is Brian Giles, four years too late.

Giles almost became Ned Colletti's very first signing as the Dodgers' GM in the spring of 2006 when Giles opted to return to San Diego at the last minute. Because of that, Colletti wound up signing Rafael Furcal instead.

Now Colletti and Giles have come full circle.

Giles will likely compete to be a fifth outfielder. But because of the Dodgers recent history of carrying 12 pitchers out of Spring Training, the chances of Giles making the team as such is virtually remote and non-existent. He's never played first base either so the chances of him seriously challenging Doug Meintkiewicz for the back-up there is slim to none, as well.

The Dodgers need a legitimate power left-handed bat off the bench. Meintkiewicz doesn't have any power, and Giles left his in Pittsburgh.

So why was Giles signed?

Beats me.

And I'm sure Reed Johnson's wondering the same thing.

*****

We can also officially say farewell and bon voyage to Orlando Hudson, who signed up with Minnesota late this past week for one year and about $5MM.

I'm particularly disturbed by how the Dodgers shunned him at the end of last season and virtually let him walk without even picking up a phone and saying, "Hey Orlando, we loves ya!"

Send us a postcard from the Twin Cities, O-Dog! You are a true pro!

And Yet Another...

2010-02-02T20:06:00.002-06:00

And this one's a familiar face. Jeff Weaver is returning to the Blue on a minor league deal rather than a Major League deal because of roster restrictions on the 40-man roster. He should make the team out of Spring Training as the long-man/spot-starter out of the bullpen once they figure out the 40-man roster dilemma.

Also, Guillermo Mota has jumped shipped and signed a minor league deal with the Hated Ones to the North.

Another Signing

2010-02-02T17:21:00.001-06:00

And another outfielder. This time it's Alfredo Amezaga to a minor league deal.

Reed Between the Lines: Johnson Signs

2010-02-01T20:31:00.011-06:00

He gets a one-year deal to serve as the Blue's fourth outfielder and his signing all but assures three things:

Doug Meintkiewicz will make the team as the only left-hander off the bench.
Ronnie Belliard will be the team's everyday second baseman.
Blake DeWitt will not make the team, and will start the season in Triple-A, again.

All this is made possible by the simple fact the Dodgers generally go with a 12-man pitching staff rather than 11. This means the Dodgers will likely go with five bench players rather than six.

Jamey Carroll is the super-utility guy, and recently re-signed Brad Ausmus is Russell Martin's back-up. Johnson is the fourth outfielder, and either Nick Green, Angel Berroa or Chin-Lung Hu will be the back-up middle infielder. All of these players are right-handed hitters, leaving the team with just one bench spot left and just one guy at this point to be the primary lefty off the bench: Meintkiewicz.

With most pitchers being predominantly right-handers, this leaves the Dodgers with a predicament, unless they plan on going with just 11 pitchers instead. Or, they could perhaps still sign yet another outfielder such as Garret Anderson or Brian Giles, unless they go with Xavier Paul, all left hand hitters. Anderson or Giles could conceivably be brought in as a back-up first baseman, as well, though between them they've only played one career game at the position making this scenario highly unlikely.

Don't get me wrong, I love Meintkiewicz as a player, but he simply has no power in his bat, and that's what the team sorely needs.

Any way you slice it though, the Dodgers have an interesting problem on hand, and only time will tell how they decide to shape out the remainder of the roster.

Will McCourt Sell After Divorce is Settled?

2010-01-27T20:33:00.002-06:00

I stumbled across this blog post over at Dodger Divorce a little bit ago, which prompted me to this blog post at Circling the Bases from earlier today.

Make of it whatever you please, but for whatever it's worth, we really didn't learn anything new today as far as the Dodgers response to refute Circling the Bases's report is concerned. We already knew the Dodgers weren't for sale. They can't be for sale anyway, as Dodger Divorce explains. Not yet. Not right now.

Busy Blue

2010-01-26T16:03:00.004-06:00

A day after Mark Loretta retired from the game of baseball after 15 seasons, his last one with the Dodgers this past season, the Blue were busy filling a hole in the infield and filling out their bench, bringing back two of their own free agents, re-signing infielder Ronnie Belliard and catcher Brad Ausmus.

Both players get one-year deals in the $825K to $850K range. Belliard will likely get the bulk of the playing time at second base, though he can play anywhere on the infield. He can earn an additional $250K in incentives based on plate appearances. Ausmus will back-up starter Russell Martin for the second straight season. His deal includes a $1MM mutual option for 2011 with a $150K buyout.

With the addition of Jamey Carroll earlier in the off-season, as well Angel Berroa, and now Belliard re-signing, the team has some nice infield depth. This doesn't bode too well for Blake DeWitt, though he'll fight hard for a job in Spring Training.

The addition of Ausmus also means A.J. Ellis will be headed back to Triple-A Albuquerque for another season.

Rangers Sold to Group that Includes Nolan Ryan

2010-01-23T20:59:00.004-06:00

Word out of Arlington/Dallas tonight is the sale of the Texas Rangers from Tom Hicks to a group that includes current Team President and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan has been finalized. The group to purchase the Rangers is headed by attorney Chuck Greenberg. The agreement now goes to MLB for review by the ownership committee and approval from 75 percent of the club owners. MLB is expected to approve the transaction once the deal is approved by the lending groups that hold the debt on Hicks's group.

Trouble in Paradise Already for Giants?

2010-01-23T14:23:00.005-06:00

This just makes me smile. As a Dodger fan, nothing is more rewarding than to see and read about stuff like this when it comes to the Giants. And nothing is more rewarding to see Giants fans restless and squirm over their team's inability to fix something so simple.

Kudos to Jon Weisman over at Dodger Thoughts for picking up on this.

Is Ng's Gender a Hurdle For Her?

2010-01-23T13:51:00.004-06:00

Kim Ng has been with the Dodgers for nine years. She's the most recognizable female executive in baseball, let alone the most recognizable Assistant GM in baseball. But has her gender prevented her from making the leap to a higher position in baseball? If you ask people around the league, the answer is no.

ESPN Los Angeles' Tony Jackson has the story. Check it out. A very good read.

Padilla Returning

2010-01-21T13:19:00.005-06:00

UPDATE (2:08PM CT): The deal is now official. It's a one year gig for $5.025MM ($4MM base and $1MM in incentives).

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He's agreed to a one year deal with the Blue, with a base salary somewhere between $4MM and $5.025MM, depending who you ask.

This should be interesting and fun. A whole year of Padilla. While I thought he was a solid addition for the stretch run last season, I'm not too keen on the idea of Padilla over a full season. I suppose only time will tell, but for now, despite the low-base salary he's getting, I'm not too thrilled with this signing. If Joe Torre can keep this guy straight mentally, the sky's the limit for Padilla. If he goes Carlos Zambrano on someone, I'll be the first to tell the world, "I told you so."

Dodgers Avoid Arbitration with Remaining Six

2010-01-19T12:53:00.006-06:00

Andre Ethier and Jonathan Broxton both get two-year deals, while Russell Martin, Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill and James Loney all ink one-year deals. Here's the story.

The Dodgers now have everyone signed for 2010 and will not have to go through the arbitration hearings with any of their players. Martin, Kuo, Sherill, Loney, Jason Repko and Chad Billingsley will go through the arbitration process again in a year.

Selig Says Changes Are A'Coming

2010-01-18T19:09:00.003-06:00

Last Thursday at the annual Owners' Meetings, Bud Selig met with his newly formed 14-man committee and acknowledged that changes are coming to baseball in the very near future. Now what we don't know is what those changes are but according to Joe Torre and Mike Scioscia, two of the 14 members, the topics that were discussed were plentiful.

So what kind of changes might we see? Expansion of first round LDS playoff series to seven games? Fewer off days between playoff games? The elimination of the designated hitter? Expansion of instant replay? How about league expansion?

I'm all for each of the above suggestions. Obviously, they each have their own drawbacks and hurdles to jump for any of them to come to fruition. But at the same time, there are very good reasons to implement each of them.

Expanding the LDS to seven games means playing more games in November. But it also gives teams with the better records a better chance of advancing past the first round. Condensing the post-season schedule means the networks lose out on possible revenue, but the need for extra off days goes back to the why you don't want to expand the first round and be playing into November, where the weather becomes a bigger factor, especially on the east coast and in colder winter climates.

Eliminating the designated hitter would be a major obstacle with the players union as it could affect players careers. But is it really needed? Has the designated hitter really helped over the long haul?

The instant replay system is fine as it is and really shouldn't be tinkered with. It's enough that it's even in the game as it is.

Expanding the league is probably the longest of long shots here, and probably not even on the agenda for discussion with the committee, but for fun, let's play around with this idea.

I would be all for it for a number of reasons. By adding two more teams and realigning the leagues into four four-team divisions, you could eliminate the Wild Card, expand the LDS to seven games while cutting out off days in the post-season, and possibly even shorten the season back down to 154 games. I had given this some thought some months ago and think I might have come up with a realignment system that could work.

The National League could look like this:

West: Arizona, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco

Central: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis

South: Florida, Houston, Oklahoma City (Expansion Team 1), Tampa Bay

East: Atlanta, NY Mets, Philly, Washington

The American League could look like this:

West: LA Angels, Oakland, Portland (Expansion Team 2), Seattle

Central: Colorado, Kansas City, Minnesota, Texas

North: Chicago Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee

East: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Toronto

In this format, the divisions would keep most of the old rivalries intact. To make it work, Milwaukee would have to move back to the American League and Colorado and Tampa Bay would have to switch places so that they fit geographically in a suitable division. I don't think any of those franchises would be opposed to it.

As for the expansion teams, I came up with four viable cities/regions that could support a Major League team, and then eliminated two. Portland, Oregon is the largest city in the country without a team. They've been candidates in the past for expansion, as well as relocation, so it would only seem logical to add Portland. The next most populous city without a team is Sacramento, but I think it's still too close in proximity to the Bay Area. The Giants and A's would have a big problem with adding a team there. That leaves the last two cities/regions that I came up with being Oklahoma City and the Carolinas. I think Oklahoma City would be more receptive to having a Major League team than the Carolinas would, so they would get the nod here.

We really have no idea what's on the menu and what changes could be coming. The whole expansion thing by adding two teams is extremely far-fetched in that I highly doubt Selig or the owners would ever go for it, but I really like the idea of it for the reasons I mentioned above. It seems to me that some of the other ideas probably have a better chance of becoming a reality than league expansion, and if I had to put money down on what changes I think are coming, I'd put it down on either expanding the LDS to seven games or cutting back the number of off days during the playoffs. Or both.

The Hall of Fame Voting Process

2010-01-18T16:20:00.008-06:00

I don't have a vote on the baseball Hall of Fame, and my opinion will probably be met with a grain of salt from anyone who has earned the right to have a vote. But I have a problem with those who have a vote and waste it for certain reasons. I also have a problem with how certain guys who don't belong in the Hall of Fame are being voted in.

Last week, Andre Dawson was finally elected into the Hall of Fame by the baseball writers. Now, I have nothing personal against Dawson, and I thought he had a solid career. But as I watched him play growing up and look at his stats now, I never thought of then or think of now Andre Dawson as a Hall-of-Famer. His stats don't scream Hall of Fame to me. Andre Dawson was a very good player. He was not a great player.

I have very high expectations for players who should be in the Hall. The Hall of Fame in my eyes is supposed to be for the elite. It's supposed to recognize those players who had great careers, players who impacted the game in a way that no other player ever did. It's supposed to be for players who dominated the game during their careers. Andre Dawson just doesn't fall into that category for me.

Two players who were on the ballot this year, one for the very first time, should have been no-brainers. Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven. But for some reason, a few of the writers elected not to vote for these players. Some of the reasons why some writers aren't voting for certain players is pretty laughable.

One writer suggested he turned in a blank ballot because he didn't think any of the players on this year's ballot deserved to be in the Hall. That's certainly his opinion, but the facts suggest otherwise. A couple of others didn't vote for any of the first timers on the ballot because they don't think any player should ever get in the Hall on their first try. And some writers didn't vote for certain players because they still hold grudges and are punishing players for their actions when they were already punished by the league.

Now, to say none of the players deserved to be in the Hall is crock of bull. Bert Blyleven's stats speak for themselves. And to have put up the kind of numbers he did (287-250 record, 3,700+ strikeouts, 3.31 career ERA) on such bad teams throughout his career says a lot. If those aren't Hall of Fame numbers then I don't know what is.

This whole thing about writers punishing a player eligible for the first time is pretty comical. I mean, really, good luck explaining why, in 2013, you didn't vote for Greg Maddux in his first year, or in 2014, why you didn't vote for Randy Johnson in his first year. Well, it's pretty much the same thing with Roberto Alomar. Which leads me to my next argument.

Alomar was punished by the league when he spit on the umpire. The league suspended him for 10 games. So why are the writers punishing him, as well? One thing has nothing to do with the other. It's the same thing with the steroid users, at least those who tested positive and were suspended or those who openly admitted they used steroids. Or worst yet, players who have been linked to steroids but have never been suspended or have never tested positive that we know of.

Barry Bonds was never suspended, and for all we know, has never tested positive for steroids. (That's not to say he used something else, such as HGH, that can't be detected through a urine sample. But that's a whole other issue itself.) Yet, when his time comes for the Hall of Fame, the writers are going to shun him because of his ties to BALCO. (If the writers' argument for not voting for him is because he was a regular arrogant prick, then that's entirely different because Bonds was an arrogant prick to a lot of people, the writers included.) Bonds did nothing but put up Hall of Fame numbers with or without using anything. He was putting up Hall of Fame numbers long before the BALCO thing ever surfaced.

Mark McGwire is another example. Sure, he hurt his chances in the eyes of the writers when he refused to talk about his use of steroids at the Congressional Hearings in 2005, and he probably hurt his chances even more last week when he admitted to using steroids the latter part of his career. And also hurting his chances, which should be the real argument for keeping him out of the Hall is the fact, outside of the 583 home runs, he was essentially just that: a home run hitter. He was a below average hitter overall, with just a .263 career average. He was very good defensively at first base. He didn't have a great arm. And he couldn't run. But every other eligible hitter with at least 500 home runs is in the Hall.

Same goes for Roger Clemens. I'm not going to sit here and come up with reasons why he should or shouldn't be in the Hall. Steroids or not, his numbers more than speak for themselves. So do his seven Cy Young Awards, which the writers vote on. So for any writer who voted for him to win those seven Cy Young Awards, or who voted for Barry Bonds to win his five MVPs, and then doesn't vote them into the Hall, they're hypocrites.

And what's even more sad is the fact the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee is already making a stand against these players who are tied to, have admitted to, or tested positive for using some kind of performance enhancing drug. Well I got news for them, as well. Some of them are hypocrites, too. Especially if they don't allow some of these players into the Hall if the writers don't. Because it's no secret that about 50 of them already in the Hall shouldn't be there based on any of my arguments above or because some of them have decided to label the steroid/performance enhancing drug users as "cheaters."

They're not the cheaters. The cheaters are the hypocrites already in the Hall refusing to let the steroid users in even though they themselves cheated in some way, shape or form throughout their careers. And I'm talking about Gaylord Perry and Joe Morgan, two of the most outspoken Hall of Famers.

Jose Offerman Punches Ump

2010-01-18T16:10:00.002-06:00

Former Dodger Jose Offerman, managing in the Dominican Winter Leagues, punched an umpire during an argument over the weekend.

Now I don't speak fluent Spanish, nor do I understand a lot of it, but the announcers covering this game seem to be so nonchalant about the punch it almost makes one laugh at this. The punch itself doesn't seem to have much on it, and yet the umpire still took a fall as if he just got slugged by Mike Tyson. One has to wonder what the umpire might've said to Offerman that prompted him to sucker-punch the umpire.

And here we all thought Milton Bradley had some real anger management issues.

Kemp, Billingsley Avoid Arbitration

2010-01-15T22:04:00.000-06:00

Here's the story from dodgers.com.

Kemp's deal is a two-year deal that buys out his first two arbitration years. He's the first arbitration-eligible Dodger ever to get a multi-year deal.

McGwire Admits to Using Steroids

2010-01-12T19:57:00.003-06:00

And in other news, today is January 12, 2010.

The Blue Ink Five to Minors Deals

2010-01-12T19:30:00.004-06:00

Since late last week, the Dodgers have inked five players to minor league deals and invited them all to Major League camp in Spring Training. The two most notable of the bunch is local boy and former Giants hurler Russ Ortiz and former Mets and Red Sox backup infielder Nick Green.

Now, before anyone gets their panties all tied up in bunches, it should be noted that there is virtually no chance that Ortiz will be a major factor with the Dodgers this coming season. In fact, his chances of even making the team are so remote, the Dodgers are reportedly efforting to find a way to sign Joel Pineiro despite their supposed payroll limitations brought on in light of the McCourts divorce proceedings. They're supposedly still interested in bringing back Vicente Padilla or Jon Garland.

Green actually has a shot at making the team as a backup to Rafael Furcal, but he will be challenged by recently signed Angel Berroa, and Argenis Reyes, one of the other three signed this weekend.

It should also be noted that the Dodgers still have just one second baseman on the current Major League roster in recently signed free agent Jamey Carroll. Carroll was supposedly brought in to be a utility guy, and I would guess the Dodgers still want him for that purpose to maximize his versatility. That said, you can almost bet they are looking at alternatives to fill the vacancy left behind by the still-unsigned Orlando Hudson and Ronnie Belliard. It doesn't appear the Dodgers are all too comfortable with the idea of Blake DeWitt defensively at second base in any capacity. And if the Dodgers are serious about returning to the post-season and playing further than the NLCS, they will almost certainly have to find a viable replacement for Hudson and Belliard offensively.

Looking Back on the 2000s

2010-01-03T16:18:00.005-06:00

As we move into a new decade, it's always fun to reflect on the previous 10 years on some of the bests of the best. That said, we look back on the 2000s.

While there were no Kirk Gibson-like World Series heroics over the last 10 years, the Dodgers certainly entertained us with some memorable games and "moments." Here are my top five games/moments of the decade in reverse order:

5. Manny's Pinch-Hit Slam on Manny Bobblehead Night against Pirates.

4. Shawn Green Makes History While Hitting Four Home Runs in Milwaukee.

3. Mark Loretta Walk-off Beats Matt Holliday and Cards.

2. Steve Finley's Walk-off Slam Against Giants Gives Dodgers Division and Eliminates Giants.

1. Dodgers Hit Four Consecutive Solo Home Runs in 9th to Tie Padres and then Win on Nomar Walk-off Homer in 10th (and Take Over First-Place).

Every Dodger fan remembers each of these games. It's hard to really put them into any particular order, but just on the basis of importance and remembrance, that's the order I came up with.

I was lucky enough to be in attendance for Steve Finley's walk-off slam. And I would have to say that was by far the loudest I've ever heard Dodger Stadium, and it was by far the longest on-field celebration I've ever been a part of as a fan. And to me, it was the biggest game I've seen in person just on the simple fact that it not only clinched a playoff berth for the Dodgers, but it was also against the hated Giants.

The Dodgers also had a number of players don Dodger Blue over the last 10 years. Looking back, there were some great performances by a number of them at each position. Here are my top Dodgers of the decade by position:

Starting Pitcher: Derek Lowe. Never missed a start in four years with the Dodgers.

Closer: Eric Gagne. Arguably the three greatest consecutive seasons ever by a closer.

Catcher: Paul LoDuca. Was the heart and soul of the clubhouse until being traded in 2004.

First Base: Eric Karros. Became the all-time L.A. Dodger home run hitter.

Second Base: Jeff Kent. Greatest hitting second baseman in team history.

Third Base: Adrian Beltre. Solidified revolving door at position for six solid seasons.

Shortstop: Rafael Furcal. Most consistent player at position since Bill Russell.

Left Field: Manny Ramirez. Revitalized franchise in his first two months with team.

Center Field: Matt Kemp. Is well on his way to becoming one of the best at his position.

Right Field: Shawn Green. Led the offense in his five years with the team.

Halladay-Lee Blockbuster Update

2009-12-15T16:56:00.005-06:00

After the whirlwind surrounding yesterday's deal, and trying to figure out how this trade worked and who was going where, we finally have better idea today.

Here's the gist of it all. One big blockbuster trade was really two "companion" trades.

The Phillies shipped Cliff Lee to the Mariners for three minor leaguers: Phillipe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and Juan Ramirez
The Phillies acquired Roy Halladay, and signed him to a three-year extension with a vesting option through 2014, in exchange for three Phillies prospects: Kyle Drabek, Michael Tayler and Travis D'Arnaud

All in all, the Mariners and Jays did very well in this. The Mariners don't have a very good farm system to begin with, so they didn't give up a whole lot for Lee. The Jays got two of Philly's top prospects for Halladay. Now, the Phillies didn't do horribly bad in this because they got one of the best pitchers in the game out of this, but my feeling is they gave up a little too much for Halladay. But it is what it is, and I think all three teams are pretty happy with this.

If you want the most detailed updates and breakdown of the trade, MLBTR has it all.

Mr. Pierre Goes to Chicago

2009-12-15T10:51:00.009-06:00

To the White Sox, that is.

It was really only a matter of time before a deal would be consummated, as it had been known since last off-season that Juan Pierre wanted out of L.A. so he could play everyday elsewhere. This morning, they finally unloaded him to the White Sox in exchange for two infamous players-to-be-named later, most likely pitchers, and cash.

Whom those players are remains to be seen but we do know this: the Dodgers are off the hook for just a little under half of what's left of his contract. He has two years, $18.5MM left. That means Dodgers will pay roughly $10.5MM of that while the White Sox will be responsible for $3MM in 2010 and $5MM in 2011.

Could this $8MM savings be used to lure a starting pitcher on the free agent market? Only time will tell.

It would be nice to know who the Dodgers will get back in return but I think they did well on this deal just on the simple fact they were able to unload Pierre and managed to get another team to send them cash to help pay for almost half of what's left of his contract. They also did well just on the fact they're also getting two players out of it. And if they ever pan, out, that's just extra gravy on the potatoes. But until we know whom they get in return, and how well Pierre performs in Chicago, it's too early to say who the winner and loser of this deal really is.

On the Dodgers side, the departure of Pierre means that Xavier Paul will become the fourth outfielder. But for the White Sox, this gives Pierre a chance for more playing time again. They have Alex Rios in right and Carlos Quentin in left. They signed Andruw Jones to a contact several weeks ago, but his role is probably undetermined, so you would have to assume Pierre would become the centerfielder in Chicago.

As for Pierre and the Dodgers. I was never a big fan of signing Pierre in the first place because it seemed like it was a desperation move on Ned Colletti's part at the time of the signing. They had missed out on several other key free agent outfielders at the time, most notably Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez, and his signing also meant one of the other outfielders, Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp, would be benched or thrown into a platoon role because Luis Gonzalez was was just signed to play left field. And looking ahead to the following season, they knew guys like Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones, whom they eventually signed anyway, would be available. They could have just re-signed Kenny Lofton to another one-year deal as stop-gap until they signed Jones and Gonzalez came off the books. Jones never panned out and they eventually traded for Manny Ramirez during the 2008 season, leaving the Dodgers with an expensive bench player in Pierre. But even before the Jones deal, you had to think, and I did, that he would have been a better option than signing Pierre to that ridiculous five-year, $44MM contract.

You can't really fault Pierre though. He never complained when his role was diminished; he busted his tail off whenever he did play. But as Jon Weisman points out here, Pierre's 2009 season, as good as it was for a fourth outfielder, was a fluke. The numbers he put up as a fourth outfielder were too good to be true. They were far better than anything he'd put up in the last four seasons, three of which he was a regular, and it still didn't come close to the "off" season Manny had in 2009. In other words, Pierre has never had a season as good as Manny's "off" year last season. And, to finish reiterating Weisman's point, in his words, "No amount of hustle or intangibles can make up the difference in quality between Pierre and Ramirez." I couldn't have said it any better myself.

So, the logjam in the outfield that was created when the Dodgers irresponsibly signed Pierre before the 2007 season is finally a distant memory. And any way you want to slice it, the deal is a good one for the Dodgers.

Busy Baseball Day

2009-12-14T17:10:00.006-06:00

And the day ain't over yet!

Three big potential deals are close to be completed, so let's get right to it.

First, on the free agent front, John Lackey reached an agreement with the Red Sox on a five year, $85MM deal. This deal is pending a physical, which Lackey apparently took today.

Lackey should fit in very nicely in the middle of the BoSox's rotation, giving some much needed depth they were lacking (no pun intended) the last two seasons. Could this deal be a precursor to another big deal that could net them a big bat? Maybe Clay Buccholz for a hitter? Adrian Gonzalez? We'll find out soon enough.

While the Angels appeared to have all but lost one player, it looks like they're gaining another. The Halos are nearing a deal with DH Hideki Matsui on what would be a one-year deal for roughly $6.5MM.

But the big deal of the day is a blockbuster three-way trade that involves two Cy Young Award winners. Toronto has agreed in principle to send Roy Halladay to the Phillies, and then send Cliff Lee, whom they acquired in July, to Seattle. What hasn't been confirmed is whom Toronto is getting in all this. But speculation is both Seattle and Philly would send a total of four players, including Phillies prospect Michael Taylor, and at least two Mariners prospects to the Jays.

Halladay has reportedly agreed to an extension with the Phillies.

Whew! Get all that?!

Seems to me the Phillies are giving up quite a bit for Halladay, considering they're also signing him to an extension. It doesn't seem like the Jays are getting much from either team for Halladay. And so, to me, if the deal goes down as reported, the Mariners are the obvious clear-cut winner in this deal, even if they only get Lee for one year.

Halladay is no doubt a beast on the mound, and his numbers should only improve in the N.L. However, does he make the Phillies that much better if they're giving up Lee in the deal? I don't think so. But he still makes them at least the early favorites to repeat in the N.L. The Braves might be their biggest divisional threat heading into the season.

Add Lee in Seattle with Felix Hernandez, and you have arguably the best 1-2 punch in the A.L. And if they add a bat with a little pop to the middle of their lineup, they'll become the clear-cut favorites in the A.L. West. Heck, they might very well be the favorites now, considering the Angels just lost Lackey from their rotation, lost out on Halladay, and lost Chone Figgins to these same Mariners.

And let's not forget, the Rangers got slightly better, as well, trading Kevin Millwood and replacing him with Rich Harden in the rotation. If their young hurlers can improve on 2009, they'll be right there in the mix, as well.

Should be an interesting season in the A.L. in 2010.

A Minor Deal

2009-12-12T20:22:00.003-06:00

The Blue signed free agent pitcher Josh Towers to a Minor League deal today. Towers pitched for the Yankees and Nationals Triple-A affiliates, and made two appearances for the Yankees in 2009.

Non-Tenders

2009-12-12T19:20:00.007-06:00

Update (10:00pm CT): Scratch Navarro off the non-tender candidates list. He signed a deal tonight with the Rays. Also, Wang has officially been non-tendered by the Yankees.

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Earlier, we mentioned that the Dodgers will be tendering contracts to all nine of their arbitration-eligible players before tonights midnight ET deadline. But there could be some players non-tendered by other teams who could be of interest to the Dodgers. And with a little over three and a half hours from said deadline, several teams have already announced they won't be tendering contracts to some of their players.

Of note as far as the Dodgers are concerned, the Braves have non-tendered second baseman Kelly Johnson. Johnson lost his starting job last season when he struggled early on and often and was eventually replaced by Martin Prado. While he hasn't been very consistent, he does possess some power for a second baseman as noted by his 16 and 12 home runs respectively in 2007 and 2008. Could he be a solution for the Dodgers at second base? Perhaps, but how much better are his career numbers compared to Blake DeWitt? Not much. And if the Dodgers do find a need for Johnson, maybe a DeWitt-Johnson platoon is in line.

Chien-Ming Wang has also been non-tendered by the Yankees (unofficially; the Yankees have yet to confirm it), essentially making him a free agent. He had solid 2006 and 2007 season winning 19 games both seasons with an ERA in the upper three's, and was on his way to another stellar season in 2008 before a freak base-running injury ended his season, but he was dreadful in 2009. Wang had major problems finding the strike zone whenever he did pitch in 2009, and when he did, he was hit hard, and scored upon frequently.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Wang, but the Dodgers no doubt need rotation depth. His 1-6 record and 9.64 ERA in 2009 might be a tad mis-leading and maybe a change of scenery could do him some good.

I was just about to mention another pitcher who could be traded or non-tendered before tonight's deadline, but San Diego's Kevin Correia just re-upped with the Padres as I was typing this out. He probably would have been a better fit than Wang, in my opinion, but maybe the Dodgers will take a look at Wang either way.

Yesterday, when MLB Trade Rumors posted a list of non-tender candidates, I saw former Dodger catcher Dioner Navarro on the list as a candidate to be non-tendered by the Rays. Could there be a Dodger reunion in store? There's no telling as the Dodgers seem to be content with Russell Martin as the everyday catcher. And I would think Navarro would prefer to play everyday than sit and back-up the guy who essentially replaced him 2006 after he got hurt, and eventually demoted. Both players struggled offensively last season. Just a thought.

Rule 5 Draft

2009-12-10T17:01:00.004-06:00

First, here's a rundown of today's Rule 5 Draft on the final day of the Winter Meetings in Indy as it pertains to the Dodgers, courtesy of Dodger Thoughts. In a nutshell, the Dodgers lost Jamie Hoffmann to the Yankees but picked up two pitchers in deals with the Rays and Mets. They lost another player in the minor league portion of the draft.

Jon Weisman does a nice job of explaining how the Rule 5 Draft works in the post.

The Blue also announced they will tender contracts to all nine of their arbitration-eligible players. That includes Jason Repko, who some thought would be non-tendered.

Last Day at the Meetings

2009-12-10T16:08:00.001-06:00

Only a couple of more signings of note from the Winter Meetings...

The Astros have signed third baseman Pedro Feliz to a one-year deal.
They've also agreed to a deal with reliever Brandon Lyon for three-years and $15MM.

More Signings and Trades from the Winter Meetings

2009-12-09T23:56:00.002-06:00

In what could be another odd move, the Red Sox are on the verge of shipping third baseman Mike Lowell to the Rangers in exchange for catcher Max Ramirez. Lowell is owed roughly $12MM in 2010, the final year of his current deal. The teams are still haggling over money as the Rangers can't afford his salary. The Red Sox are going to have to send a boatload of cash in this deal to the Rangers to offset Lowell's salary. The deal could still fall apart because of Lowell's hip and thumb problems. Stay tuned.
The Braves are set to send reliever Rafael Soriano, who accepted arbitration as a free agent on Monday but agreed to allow the Braves to trade him before June, to the Rays in exchange for Jesse Chavez, a reliever whom the Rays got from the Pirates for Akinori Iwamura last month.
Former A's and Cubs hurler Rich Harden has reportedly agreed to a $6.5MM deal with the Rangers. The deal includes performance incentives up to $3.5MM for 2010, and includes a mutual $11MM option for 2011, or a $1MM buyout. I hadn't mentioned this one yet until because the deal isn't official, but it's pretty much done pending a phyiscal. I'm pretty surprised the Dodgers didn't jump on him at this rate.
The Brewers have inked free agent reliever LaTroy Hawkins, formerly with Houston, to a two-year, $7.5MM deal. Seriously?
Bobby Crosby has signed a one-year deal with the Pirates. Fun!
Peter Gammons reports the Astros have acquired reliever Matt Lindstrom from the Marlins.
In a surprise move, the Rangers have traded starting pitcher Kevin Millwood to the Orioles in exchange for reliever Chris Ray. Here's the official release. A head-scratcher for the O's in my opinion. This was obviously a precursor to the Rangers signing Rich Harden later in the day.

Some Off-the-Field News...

2009-12-09T14:12:00.007-06:00

I apologetically forgot to mention these...

First, directly relating to the Dodgers, Ned Colletti will now report directly to team president Dennis Mannion. Mannion had been head of business operations, which will now be consolidated with baseball operations, and the two will act as one.
Also somewhat related to the Dodgers, the Kings are holding Dodger Night at Staples Center this Saturday, December 12th, against the Dallas Stars. Former Dodger Eric Karros will be on hand to sign autographs and will be part of the ceremonial puck drop before the game. I assume other Dodger legends will be part of this night, as well a couple of current players. Andre Ethier is highlighted on the ad in the link above, so perhaps he'll be part of this night? The Kings will also be giving away free limited-edition T-shirts with the Kings Crown logo in Dodger Blue with the purchase of tickets to this game. Cool!
Yesterday, ESPN's Peter Gammons announced he was leaving the network to join MLB.com, MLB Network and NESN. Solid move on both sides.

Wolf Headed to the Brew Crew

2009-12-09T12:31:00.010-06:00

Here are all the links you need.

Randy Wolf's deal with the Brewers is for three years and just under $30MM, with a club option for a fourth year. Yikes!

I know he earned the deal with a stellar season with the Dodgers this past season, but three years seems like a lot for a him, especially in that ballpark. But I guess that's what happens when you follow up a solid season heading into free agency and you wind up ranked as the second or third best starting pitcher option among free agents.

I'm also still baffled as to why the Dodgers didn't offer this guy arbitration. Everyone knew he would get a multi-year deal after his solid performance this year and the Dodgers were only willing to do one-year to retain he services.

Bye bye, draft picks.

**********

Some other signings and tidbits...

Andy Pettitte, who was the other pitcher ranked second or third among starting pitchers on the free agent market (granted he didn't really make himself available to anyone but one team), has re-upped with the Yankees for another year at roughly $11.75MM. Shocker.

The Chone Figgins-to-Seattle Mariners deal became official yesterday, as well. Figgins agreed to a four-year deal late last week for roughly $36MM, with a fifth-year option, but the deal was hinged on whether or not Adrian Beltre accepted or declined the M's offer for arbitration. On Monday, Beltre, a Scott Boras client, officially declined before the deadline to make that decision.

So where does this leave Beltre? He'd be a perfect fit in Minnesota, I think.

Another former Dodger pitcher has found a new home. Brad Penny has moved on and signed with St. Louis. Penny's deal is for one-year, $7.5MM and with another $1.5MM in incentives (if he reaches 204 IP). Good luck with his two-cent head, Cards!

In a head-scratcher of a deal, the Nationals have signed former MVP catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year deal for roughly $6MM. Say what?!

Winter Meetings Hot Stove

2009-12-09T12:05:00.004-06:00

I promised myself I would avoid posting every little Dodger rumor that flew across the rumor mill since there's already a site that covers that for us fans. Having said that, there might be a little three-team ditty brewing out there in Indy involving the Blue that caught my attention.

While there are no specifics available, it seems pretty obvious to me that the Dodgers are intent on trying to please Juan Pierre and finding him an everyday job he so desires with another team. That team right now could be Detroit. And in light of yesterday's other three-team barter that will eventually send Curtis Granderson from the Tigers to the Bronx once physicals are passed, it seems that the Motor City Cats could use another veteran outfielder.

But the Dodgers need pitching, and while the Tigers seem to have a couple of "bad" contracts among their starters to exchange for Pierre's similarly "bad" contract (he's still owed roughly $18.5MM over the next two years), Detroit is content with their pitching and would prefer to move 1B/3B/DH extraordinaire Carlos Guillen instead, someone the Dodgers don't need. So Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is searching for a third team to get the Dodgers their starting pitcher they so covet.

And for the record, nothing is imminent. There's no "talk" as far as who that third team is, or could be, if this ever comes to fruition. But since three-team swaps seem to be the way to go these days, it would seem to me that if the Dodgers are ever to move Pierre, this would seem to be the most logical route to get something done.

Dodgers Ink Reliever Justin Miller

2009-12-04T18:27:00.006-06:00

Not that Justin Miller needs to be inked any more. His body is littered with tattoos, so much so that he has to wear long sleeves to cover his arms whenever he pitches.

But that's not the kind of ink we're talking about here. The Dodgers today signed the reliever to a Minor League deal and invited him to Spring Training.

If he makes the team, the Dodgers will even provide him with his very own personal on-site tattoo artist!

61*

2009-12-01T15:24:00.004-06:00

Not that an announcement was ever needed for this, legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will return for his 61st season as the voice of the Dodgers in 2010. Scully will continue to broadcast all home games, as well as road games west of Colorado, including any interleague road games against AL West teams. He will also continue his current routine of broadcasting all nine innings on television, with the first three innings simulcasted on radio.

*No asterisk needed.

No Arbitration for Dodger Free Agents

2009-12-01T15:18:00.004-06:00

The Times' Dylan Hernandez tweets that according to Dodger PR guy Josh Rawitch, none of their free agents were offered arbitration ahead of tonight's deadline to offer it. MLBTR has some insight.

Phils Agree with Castro

2009-11-24T15:25:00.003-06:00

The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the Phillies have agreed to terms with Dodger free agent utility infielder Juan Castro on a one-year deal with a club option for 2011. Terms are not available, and the deal is still pending the completion of a physical. Castro is expected to have the same role in Philly in 2009 as he did with the Dodgers this past season, replacing free agent Eric Bruntlett.

Earlier today, it was reported that the Dodgers were one of two teams in the hunt for Castro's services.

Three Times a Charm for King Albert

2009-11-24T15:14:00.005-06:00

As anticipated and expected, St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols was the named the unanimous N.L. MVP today for the third time in five years, raking in all 32 first place votes. This is also his second straight MVP award. Pujols won his first in 2005.

Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder finished a distant second through fourth in the voting, respectively. Dodger outfielder Andre Ethier, who led the Majors with six walk-off hits, four of which were home runs, earned two second place votes and 24 overall, good for sixth overall in the balloting. Matt Kemp earned enough votes (12, none higher than fourth place) to finish 10th overall in the voting.

Mauer Wins A.L. MVP

2009-11-23T18:23:00.006-06:00

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer was the near-unanimous winner of the A.L. MVP Award today, earning 27 of the 28 first place votes. Detroit's Miguel Cabrera got the other first place vote (why?!?), and finished fourth in the overall voting, behind Mauer and New York's Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter.

Mauer finished the season with a league-high .365 avg, the highest ever by a catcher. He also had league-highs in OBP at .444 and slugging at .587, the first player to lead the league in all three categories since George Brett in 1980. He is just the second catcher in the last 33 years to win the award (Texas' Ivan Rodriguez in 1999), and fifth Twins player overall.

The overall numbers Mauer put up were unprecedented by a catcher since Mike Piazza's 1997 season with the Dodgers .

Halladay a "Long-Shot"

2009-11-23T17:58:00.006-06:00

Ned Colletti noted what some of us were already thinking, that subtracting from the current rotation won't improve it. That essentially means that Chad Billingsley won't be moved for Roy Halladay, or probably any another pitcher. And it probably means that the Dodgers acquiring Halladay is highly unlikely.

Having said all that, my thinking is the Dodgers will simply try to do what they did last off-season, and that is filling the back end of the rotation with inexpensive signings. Last year they signed Randy Wolf to a cheap one-year deal after Derek Lowe left as a free agent. They also signed a handful of veterans to minor league deals, and eventually picked up Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland late in the season.

They could attempt to bring back two of those three out of Wolf, Garland and Padilla, although Wolf will likely command more of a two- or three-year deal this winter after is stellar season with the Dodgers, or they could look further into the free agent pool at guys like Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, Pedro Martinez, and/or Ben Sheets. All of these guys could probably be had at bargain rates.

Randy Johnson might be a nice fit at the back end of the rotation as well, provided he doesn't retire. The Dodgers nearly signed him last winter when he signed in San Francisco instead, and the Dodgers eventually signed Wolf, so there might be some level of interest there again.

Obviously, the Dodgers want to find a way to improve their rotation, and they'll look at any and all trade options, as well, just so long as it doesn't include Billingsley.

Roy Halladay Talk

2009-11-21T11:57:00.011-06:00

Two days ago, we learned through USA Today's Bob Nightingale that the Dodgers were focusing on acquiring Toronto's Roy Halladay. Then last night, Yahoo's Tim Brown tweeted that the Dodgers and Blue Jays were "discussing" Halladay. Although nothing is imminent (and no details of who could go the other way for Halladay were mentioned), the idea is intriguing as the Dodgers feel they need a top-of-the-rotation "ace."

One would have to think, as Nightingale suggested and others have already assumed, that Chad Billingsley would have to be part of any Halladay deal. The intriguing part of all this is the Dodgers would get a legitimate "ace" out of it despite the fact they have a two possible "aces" in the making as it is.

Clayton Kershaw is well on his way to greatness, there's no arguments there. We've seen flashes of it already. But one has to wonder if Billingsley's minor inconsistencies over the past two seasons has the Dodgers growing weary of waiting for him to put it all together into a full, consistent season. Billingsley is only 24, so if he were to be included in any possible Halladay trade, you would have to wonder why the Dodgers would give up on him so quickly. There's still a lot of room for improvement and growth here with him.

I, for one, think the Dodgers would be doing themselves more harm than not by including Billingsley in any deal, even for Halladay. While we already know Halladay is indeed a great pitcher, Billingsley has shown through the number of quality starts he's made over the past two seasons, in particular through the first three and a half months of 2009, his ability to give the Dodgers effective and quality starts and innings. It was really only in the last two plus months, in large part likely due to a minor hamstring injury in early August, that some of his starts were getting away from him earlier in games. (And while I haven't gone out of my way to look up all of the actual numbers, if I'm not mistaken, from memory, as far as quality starts go, Halladay wasn't much better over the last two months of the season as Billingsley.)

So are those six, seven, or eight "bad" starts going to be the standard by which the Dodgers, the media, and fans alike, feel they should move Billingsley for Halladay? It seems to me that too many people are focusing too much on Billingsley's negatives, including his two horrid starts in the 2008 NLCS against Philly, rather than the positives of the second half of 2008 and the bulk of 2009, which far outweigh the negatives during that time.

On the flip side, Halladay is 32. If anything, you know what you're getting and what you'll get from him in his starts. But let's take this one step further. Adding Halladay while subtracting Billingsley doesn't really help their cause if you really dig into it and think about it. You still have an issue of depth at the back end of the rotation, and does Halladay going on 33 really make you that much better than Billingsley going on 25? Sure, the idea of Halladay anchoring the rotation next season sounds juicy, but at what cost?

In any case, the Dodgers would probably want a window of opportunity to ink Halladay to an extension before completing any trade. If they're able to do that, two or three years should be the max as he'd be in his mid-30s by then, with really, no room for improvement. And let's hope if they do get a deal done, that it doesn't involve Billingsley, or any other starting pitcher.

Bottom line, when it comes to any possible trade that might include the pitchers, this is all just pure speculation on my part at this point. But the facts do speak for themselves.

"Mitch Kramer" Edges Out Two Cards for N.L. Cy

2009-11-19T18:47:00.008-06:00

That's Dazed and Confused look-a-like Tim Lincecum of the Giants edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.

Lincecum won his second straight N.L. Cy Young Award today, beating the pair of St. Louis starters by the slimmest of margins. Only 10 total points separated Lincecum from Carpenter and Wainwright in the voting. Lincecum actually had fewer first place votes than Carpenter or Wainwright, becoming just the second winner to not finish with the most first place votes. He also became the first pitcher ever to win the award in each of his first two seasons in the Majors.

Lincecum only won 15 games for the third place Giants, but he had a solid 2.48 ERA and struck out a league-high 261 hitters. His 15 wins is the lowest win total ever for starter by a Cy Young Award winner. Kansas City's Zack Greinke won the A.L. award just two days ago for the last place Royals with just 16 wins.

In comparing the stats of the top three finalists, Wainwright led the league in wins with 19, and Carpenter led the league with a 2.24 ERA. But it was Lincecum's dominance in strikeouts and in some of the other statistical categories such as K/9 IP and K/BB ratios that won over the voters.

Lincecum was actually better this year than he was last year as far as the numbers are concerned. He posted a lower ERA, a higher ERA+, a much lower WHIP, a much lower BAA, and a much higher K/BB ratio in 2009 than he did in 2008, all in just about the same number of innings pitched. His strikeout totals were just about the same from 2008 to 2009, and he posted an almost identical K/9 IP ratio both seasons. The only real difference that favored 2008 to 2009 were the wins (18 to 15).

And while I personally didn't say it here because I was pretty sure that the voters would see the lack of wins as a reason to give the honor to either Carpenter or Wainwright, I do think the voters got it right. And if they were going to vote for Greinke even though he only won 16 games but dominated the league in just about every other major statistical category, it would have almost been hypocritical of them if they also didn't vote for Lincecum.

But they did. And they got it right.

Two Former Dodgers Win Manager of the Year Awards

2009-11-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

Former Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia, now in his 10th season as manager of the cross-town rival Angels, and former Dodger manager Jim Tracy, about to begin his first full season as manager of the division rival Rockies, were named the A.L. and N.L. Managers of the Year, respectively, today.

Scioscia led the Angels to their third straight division title and a trip to the ALCS, and kept the clubhouse from emotional turmoil after the unexpected accidental death of pitcher Nick Adenhart very early in the season. This is Scioscia's second time winning the award. He won back in 2002 when he guided the Angels to their first ever World Series title.

Tracy turned the Rockies around after former manager Clint Hurdle was fired in May after an 18-28 start. The Rockies went 74-42 under Tracy and reached the post-season as the N.L. Wild Card this season. After Tracy was honored today, he was rewarded further by the Rockies with a three-year contract extension.

Dodger skipper Joe Torre finished third in the N.L. voting behind Tracy and Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa.

Cy Greinke!

2009-11-17T16:04:00.001-06:00

Just as I had predicted, and deservedly so.

Royals pitcher Zack Greinke garnered 25 of 28 first place votes en route to the A.L. Cy Young Award today. Greinke finished the season with just 16 wins, but he had an astoundingly impressive 2.16 ERA. He also racked up 242 strikeouts and finished with a K/BB ratio of almost 5.00, and a K/9 IP of 9.50.

There's been some discussion that the Yankees' C.C. Sabathia should have won because he posted more wins (19), a pretty solid 3.37 ERA, and 197 strikeouts while pitching in the league's toughest division on a team that won 103 games. Seattle's Felix Hernandez and Detroit's Justin Verlander also had 19 wins each, but none could match Greinke's impressive ERA. Hernandez's 2.49 ERA was second to Greinke.

My argument against Sabathia is he didn't have to face the league's toughest lineup: his own. And while his 3.37 ERA is pretty darn good, and Greinke never did face the Yankees once this season, Greinke's 2.16 ERA is still that much more impressive.

And keep this in mind, as well. Greinke came within two outs in his last start of the season from finishing with an ERA below 2.00.

Hernandez finished a distant second in the voting, with Verlander, Sabathia and Toronto's Roy Halladay rounding out the voting.

The N.L. Cy Young Award winner will be announced Thursday.

Coghlan, Bailey win ROYs

2009-11-16T14:28:00.005-06:00

Florida's Chris Coghlan and Oakland's Andrew Bailey were named the recipients of the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award in their respective leagues today.

Coghlan finished the 2009 campaign with a .321 average and 84 runs scored for the Marlins. He also added six home runs and 47 RBI. Bailey finished with a 1.84 ERA while saving 26 games for the Athletics.

Bailey seemed to be a clear-cut choice in the A.L. as none of the other candidates stood out at the end of the season. Elvis Andrus struggled at the plate for Texas, and Rick Porcello had a rather high era of 4.00 with a 1.34 WHIP for Detroit.

Bailey's teammate Brett Anderson would have been the best choice in my opinion.

The National League was a tighter race at the top, with Philly's J.A. Happ finishing second behind Coghlan. Happ was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA, a 145 ERA+ and finished with 110 strikeouts in 35 games, starting in the bullpen before finishing the season in the rotation. Atlanta's Tommy Hanson finished a distant third behind Coghlan and Happ.

Personally, I felt Happ should have won in the N.L. over Coghlan, and even over Hanson. Happ put up nearly identical numbers as Hanson while pitching for a playoff team and doing it in one of the premiere hitter's parks in the league. Not to downplay Hanson's achievements of putting up the same numbers in 13 less games and 40 less innings, but Happ's numbers just stood out as more impressive.

Kemp, Ethier Earn Silver Slugger Awards

2009-11-12T19:52:00.003-06:00

Both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier earned the honors as the best hitters at their position by league managers and coaches. It is the first Silver Slugger for both players. For Kemp, the award comes a day after he earned his first Gold Glove award. He also becomes the first Dodger since Russell Martin in 2007 to earn both awards, and he and Ethier become the first pair to win a Silver Slugger in the same season since Mike Piazza and Eric Karros in 1995. They're the first Dodger outfield pair to ever win it in the same season.

Kemp, Hudson win Gold Gloves

2009-11-11T14:08:00.001-06:00

Mentioned late last night that Orlando Hudson was one of the winners. Also mentioned that Matt Kemp, along with two others (James Loney and Casey Blake) could win them, as well. I was 33.33% correct. Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Zimmerman took home first base and third base honors, respectively.

This is Hudson's fourth Gold Glove and Kemp's first.

O-Dog a Gold Glove Winner?

2009-11-10T23:08:00.003-06:00

AOL FanHouse's Jeff Fletcher tweets that Orlando Hudson is expected to be named the N.L.'s Gold Glove winner at second base tomorrow. The list hasn't even been announced but apparently Fletcher learned tonight that O-Dog was one of the award winners. If true, this would be Hudson's fourth career Gold Glove award.

Other Dodgers who could win Gold Gloves tomorrow include James Loney at first base, Casey Blake at third, and Matt Kemp in the outfield.