Two Former Dodgers Win Manager of the Year Awards

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.

Free Agency Filings, and More!

With the World Series officially behind us, the off-season has officially begun, and today was the first day for potential free agents to start filing. Players have 15 days to file and teams have an exclusive window to negotiate with their players before they can begin talking and negotiating with other teams. As far as the Dodgers go, six players have officially filed for free agency today.

• Ronnie Belliard
• Orlando Hudson
• Doug Mientkiewicz
• Jon Garland
• Randy Wolf
• Eric Milton

Also filing today was Angels pitcher John Lackey.

Earlier today, the Angels re-upped outfielder Bobby Abreu for two more years with an option for 2013, and the White Sox inked Mark Kotsay to a one-year deal.

One trade that was reported as done this afternoon is apparently not official yet. The trade would send Mark Teahen from the Royals to the White Sox in exchange for infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields. Perhaps this gets done tomorrow.

Another trade did get done later this afternoon when the Red Sox acquired outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins in exchange for two minor league pitchers, Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez. There was a ton of questioning as for the Red Sox motives for acquiring Hermida but Red Sox GM said tonight that he couldn't pass up the deal because they got the promising young outfielder for a very reasonable price.

The Braves and pitcher Tim Hudson are closing in on a three-year extension, pending an MRI.

Former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was finally named the Rangers new hitting coach this morning.

And finally, tonight's story of the day belongs to the Giants' Tim Lincecum, who was busted for possession of marijuana after a routine traffic stop in Washington state. The possession charge is considered to only be a misdemeanor, and charges are expected to be dropped since it's Lincecum's first offense, and he is cooperating with authorities. He'll likely have to pay a small fine of a couple hundred dollars.

Big Series in the Mile High City

And Dodger Thoughts' Jon Wesiman breaks it all down for us.

Obviously the Dodgers have very little room for error heading into this series starting tomorrow night. Back on June 3rd, the Dodgers lead the Rockies by 15½ games in the standings. With a sweep of the Blue this week, they'll be dead even atop the standings heading into the final month of the season. If they pull it off and win the division, says Weisman, the Rockies would make history.

The Dodgers lead the season series so far, 10-2, including 2-1 against them with Jim Tracy atop the helm since he replace Clint Hurdle back in May. But things are obviously a lot different now. The Blue have struggled in recent weeks, primarily this month, while the Rockies have the best record in baseball since that June 3rd date.

And if you by any chance missed the Rockies-Giants game tonight, you missed what might be the best game of the season. Weisman breaks that one down, as well, and how the last few games might affect the Rockies pitching staff in the Dodger series.

All good reads.

As for tomorrow night's opener, Clayton Kershaw takes the hill for the Dodgers against Jason Hammel. Both pitchers are 8-7, but the glaring difference is Kershaw's 2.96 ERA and 147 K's to Hammel's 4.54 ERA and 87 K's.

An Old Friend In New Places

Just in: Clint Hurdle has been dismissed by the Rockies as manager and he's been replaced by former Dodger manager Jim Tracy. Tracy was the Rockies bench coach this season under Hurdle.

Also, Hiroki Kuroda is expected to return to the Dodger rotation on Monday to face the D-backs. More on this later.

As we speak, the Dodgers are now locked in a 1-1 tie in Chicago with the Cubs. Matt Kemp hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the 7th inning, but the Cubs came right back in the bottom half as former Dodger backup catcher Koyie Hill took Chad Billingsley's first pitch of the inning deep for the equalizer. The Cubs now have the bases loaded with one out...