Will McCourt Sell After Divorce is Settled?

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

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

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?

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Blue Ink Five to Minors Deals

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

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.