Some Blue Anecdotes For The Day

Trevor Hoffman in Dodger Blue? It could happen, as early as today. AC/DC's "Hells Bells" could be ringing through Dodger Stadium next year as the Dodgers have offered the all-time saves leader a one-year deal worth somewhere over $4MM with an option for 2010. Could be a nice steal from the little Hated Ones to the south. The race for Glenn's brother, a former Dodger in his own right, is down to the Dodgers and the Brew Crew, and who wants to close for a team where a mid-game sausage race is the best entertainment on the field?

I'm not so sure Hoffman is a necessity, but the lack of progress with the two headed-monster (Scott Boras and Manny Ramirez) has prompted the Blue to shift their attention on other needs, which I thought might be looking for another $46MM mansion for the McCourts.

The starting pitching still needs to be addressed, and my guess is the signing of the great Claudio Vargas might just give them some hope that the even greater Victor Zambrano could follow suit. Even better is the notion that Ned Beatty is showing more and more interest in the great gascan, Jon Garland. Perhaps a Fernando return?

Speaking of Fernando-mania making a return to Chavez Ravine, Dennys Reyes, who once won the Fernando look-a-like contest in his first stint with the Dodgers in the early 90s, could be making an encore this year in La-La Land. And scaredy cat Guillermo Mota, who once ran so fast from the mound to the clubhouse in spring training after he took Mike Piazza's manhood away from him, is garnering some interest from the Dodgers, as well. So, what is this, a reunion year in L.A.?

In any case, I will miss Angel Berroa's on-field magic tricks next year, with his ol' hide-a-groundball-in-the-jersey trick. Berroa has since signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, which means Derek Jeter better be able to come with some card tricks of his own or his job could be in jeopardy.

Also gone from the Blue, and probably thrilled, is Scott Proctor, who finally escapes Joe Torre. Proctor can probably take Dr. Frank Jobe off his cell phone's speed dial now.

Good news! The Hated Ones to the north can't afford Manny! We can scratch another team off Boras's "Try to Get This Team Involved to Drive This Player's Price Up" list.



More to come...

Off-Season In Full Swing

It's been quite a while (five weeks) since I last posted anything so I figured now would be as good a time as any to update this.

In the last five weeks a lot has transpired in Dodger land. Below are some links of the latest. I'll try to keep this in chronological order as much as possible, with the most recent occurances at the bottom.

• On November 20th, the Dodgers announced the name of their new spring training facility in Glendale, AZ, to be shared with the Chicago White Sox. The new state-of-the-art facility will be known as "Camelback Ranch."
• On December 1st, the Dodgers offered arbitration to three of its 14 free agents. Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Casey Blake were all offered arbitration by the Dodgers. What this meant was should any of them had accepted arbitration by the deadline a week later, they would have essentially become signed players by the Dodgers, and would go through the usual arbitration process. However, all three declined just before the deadline on December 8th, thus meaning should any of them sign with another club, the Dodgers would receive compensation draft picks from the team that signs them.
• On the first day of the 2008 Winter Meetings in Las Vegas on December 8th, four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux officially announced his retirement. Maddux, who pitched two short stints with the Dodgers in 2006 and 2008, finished his 23-year Hall of Fame career with 355 wins, 3,371 strikeouts, and a 3.16 ERA. Maddux pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Dodgers and San Diego Padres, and won a Major League record 18 Gold Gloves, all of them between 1990 and this past season with the Padres and Dodgers. Maddux is sure to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible in 2013.
  
• On December 9th, the Dodgers agreed to terms with one of their own free agents. Third baseman Casey Blake agreed to a three-year deal with an option for 2012. The signing means Blake DeWitt will stay at second base.
• The following day, the Dodgers signed veteran utility infielder Mark Loretta to a one-year deal. The versatile Southern California native replaces Nomar Garciaparra, who is contemplating retirement for health reasons.
• And this past Friday, December 12th, the Dodgers non-tendered five players who were arbitration eligible, effectively making them free agents. Takashi Saito, Angel Berroa, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban and minor league pitcher Mario Alvarez were not offered contracts by the Dodgers for the 2009 season. Each of them, for various reasons, could have received hefty pay raises through the arbitration process. Each of the non-tenders can still negotiate a contract with the Dodgers, and some, if not all, could be back next season. Four other players who are eligible for arbitration were tendered contracts. Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton and Jason Repko will return in 2009.
• As far as other news goes, the Dodgers are patiently waiting on Manny Ramirez, and should know tomorrow afternoon whether ot not they will retain the services of shortstop Rafael Furcal. Furcal is mulling offers from three teams including the Dodgers, and his agent expects him to make a decision by tomorrow afternoon.

As more news breaks, I'll post what I can here. In the meantime, to stay up-to-date on your own on all the latest rumors surrounding Major League Baseball, check out MLBTradeRumors.com!!

Still no home runs for Bonds. Still stuck on 754. Hendrickson did a great job last night keep him off balance, and keeping the game close. After losing the first game, Dodgers finally became the first home team to win a game between the two teams this year. Thanks to Furcal and Pierre for the win. They both had clutch bunt hits that made it all the way to Omar Vizquel at shortstop, and Omar's throw to get Pierre was late and got away from Aurilia at first, allowing Furcal to get to third. Pierre then stole second, and after Martin popped out, Gonzo sliced a hit inside third that scored both Furcal and Pierre to tie the game. Then Nomar put it away with his 5th home run of the year. Saito got the side out in order and the Dodgers walked away with a win. Proctor came in and made his Dodger debut (he never played for them before he was traded four years ago to the Yanks in the Robin Ventura deal). He made one pitch and Martin threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the seventh. A slow paced game that turned into a fun game to watch.

Meanwhile, great game in San Diego, too. Chris Young stole a grand slam away from the Padres with a web gem in the middle of the game. Then, up 5-1 in the bottom of the ninth with Jose Valverde on the hill, the Padres rallied for four runs capped off by a Milton Bradley home run. Game went to extras and Arizona scored four in the 11th capped off by a Chad Tracy three-run pinch-hit home run. Arizona won to remain one game up on the Dodgers in the NL West, but the Dodger remain even in the loss column.

Finale tonight between Dodgers and Giants. Zito vs. Tomko. Could be a slugfest with those two going. No official word on whether Bonds is playing or not, but Giants manager Bochy suggested last night if Bonds is feeling good, he'll be in there. We shall see. ESPN is picking up the game again, but hopefully I'll be lucky enough to be able to catch Vin Scully on FSN Prime tonight. (I was lucky enough to get stuck with Chris Berman and Joe Morgan, or Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow on the Giants broadcast on Extra Innings since the game was carried by KCAL in L.A.)

Betemit Traded to Yanks

UPDATE (6:51 pm CDT): Now official. Winner here? Pick 'em. Dodgers needed to upgrade their pitching somehow and hopefully this will persuade Grady to stop using Roberto Hernandez, or use him less. Proctor's had a decent season (2-5, ERA around 3.80, ERA+ at 113) and it should only improve slightly in the N.L. Proctor should help the Dodgers at least for 2007. He's arbitration eligible for the first time after this season, so barring any health concerns due to work overload, he should be a nice addition for the long haul. Betemit was being seldomly used, and the Dodgers are obviously looking to Andy LaRoche to eventually take over at third for Nomar.

The talks between the Dodgers and A's for Joe Blanton broke down at some point last night but were rekindled this afternoon prior to the deadline. The Dodgers apparently made an offer of LaRoche, minor league shortstop Hu, and Jon Meloan for Blanton, but Oakland GM Billy Beane apparently felt Meloan wasn't close enough to Major League ready, or he felt he wasn't getting enough for Blanton. Or there just simply wasn't enough time to try to mix and match and get the right players for Oakland.

Personally I would have loved to had seen the Dodgers make a statement that they were serious about improving the rotation and serious about winning not only this year, but for years to come, as Blanton is in the same boat as Proctor contract-wise, but they apparently figured it was either Garland, Blanton or nothing. I just hope Penny and D-Lowe are healthy enough to continue their solid seasons without further aggravating their injuries, because after Billingsley, the rotation is very beatable. Who knows when Wolf will be back, too.

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ESPNEWS is reporting the rumored deal to send Wilson Betemit to the Yankees for Scott Proctor has been agreed to in principle. More to come...

Deadline Drama

Late report from ESPN.com tonight says the Dodgers and A's are in serious discussions tonight that could bring starting pitcher Joe Blanton to L.A. Problem is he could come costly. Oakland wants three front line prospects for him and two of the names being tossed around are Andy LaRoche and Jonathan Meloan. Blanton could really help bolster the rotation, though, and not just for the rest of this season, but for years to come. Blanton is just 26, is making just $380,000 and will be arbitration eligible for the first time this winter. That said, he'd be under the team's control for the next three seasons. As it says in the ESPN.com report, it's very rare for teams to give up on very good, young and cheap starting pitching, which might explain why Billy Beane might be asking for a lot in return. But I say, if you can get it done without giving up some of the obvious players (Kemp, Loney, Broxton, Martin, Billingsley, etc), then get it done. I'd really hate to see LaRoche go in a deal like this but this one has the potential to have a bigger positive impact on the team and it could be better one than the Brad Penny trade two years ago.

The other rumor involving the Dodgers flying around was Wilson Betemit to the Yankees for reliever Scott Proctor, whom the Dodgers traded to the Yankees in the Robin Ventura deadline deal a couple of years ago.

Was going to breakdown some of the trade rumors going around but several trades took place today already with less than 17 hours until tomorrow's trade deadline. The big one is Mark Teixeira and a pitcher going to Atlanta for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and three others. The trade, which will likely be announced tomorrow, is pending the players passing physicals. Kyle Lohse was traded to Philadelphia for a relief pitcher, and the Twins traded 2B Luis Castillo to the Mets for two minor leaguers. Nice deal for Omar Minaya and the Mets.

One possible trade was supposedly being held up by another. Octavio Dotel was all set to go from Kansas City to Atlanta for Kyle Davies, but the Braves are waiting for the Teixeira trade to finalize. Dotel may still end up somewhere else other than Atlanta by the deadline.

More to come. Stay tuned...