O-Dog's Cycle and other Early Season Thoughts

If you've been living under a rock for the past week or so, you missed some fun baseball courtesy of the Blue. We fast forward to Opening Day at the Ravine this past Monday, leaving behind the 4-3 opening road trip.

Home openers are always a lot of fun. Spring is usually in the air, and the atmosphere at the Stadium has a playoff vibe and feeling to it. So it came as no surprise that we saw two dominating performances by the Dodgers against the Hated Ones to the North that afternoon.

So where do we start? Chad Billingsley thoroughly dominated the Giants, pitching seven strong innings while striking out 11 hitters. Andre Ethier slugged two home runs and drove in four runs. And then there was the O-Dog. All Orlando Hudson did was do something no other Dodger had ever done at Dodger Stadium, and he did what no L.A. Dodger had done in 39 years. The O-Dog hit for the cycle. And it couldn't have been done by a more likeable guy.

Only one other L.A. Dodger had ever accomplished that feat. Wes Parker did it way back in 1970. But he did it on the road. Only one other player had ever done it Dodger Stadium, and that was Jim Fregosi for the Angels in 1964 when they shared the Stadium with the Dodgers while waiting for Anaheim Stadium to be built. And then the bew Dodger, Orlando Hudson, does it in his very first game as a Dodger at Dodger Stadium.

Oh, and the Dodgers won the game 11-1.

Two nights later, another Dodger pitcher pitched a masterpiece, again, against the Hated Ones to the North. Clayton Kershaw dominated the Giants for seven innings on Wednesday, giving up just one earned run on one hit while striking out 13 hitters. The bullpen would blow the 2-1 lead, and ultimtely cost Kershaw a win, but the offense rallied against the Giants pen and won on a basesloaded walk in the ninth inning.

When all was said an done after last night, the Dodgers had swept the Giants, and are now on a nice five game winning streak going back to two solid wins in Arizona over the weekend.

The offense has really done what was expected so far. Even with Manny slow to get out of the gate, primarily because he's been walked so often (Dodgers lead the league in walks so far), the offense is finding ways to score runs. They've only hit nine home runs as a team through the first 10 games, but they enter play today as third highest scoring team in the National League. And O-Dog, Matt Kemp and James Loney are tearing the cover off the ball.

What's even more impressive is even with Hiroki Kuroda on the DL, and James McDonald having been hammered in his first major league start last week in Arizona, and the pen having a couple of bad games, sans Jonathan Broxton, who's been perfect so far, the team is surprisingly leading the league in ERA. And a lot of that can be attributed to Billingsley and Kershaw's two starts, and getting two solid starts from Eric Stults, as well. Randy Wolf had a good start in Arizona last weekend, as well, after looking dreadful in San Diego last week.

Obviously, it's still too early to tell if the rotation is good enough to keep this up, and if the pen can get a little more consistency, but it's always a good sign when you get off to a good start like this. We know the offense will continue to put runs on the board, especially once Manny gets going, and he will, but the key to this team's success will be the pitching, and so far it hasn't disappointed.

And one last thing... What a great effort last night by Doug Meintkiewicz. With the game still close, and two runners on, Dougie M laced a double into the right field corner for two runs. At the end of the play at second base, Meintky slid head first into second base awkwardly, and appeared to hurt his left shoulder in the process. He rolled over and writhed in pain, but wound up staying in the game for one more hitter. He was then pulled for a pinch runner.

Today we learned he will be out three months as he will require surgery to repair what we learned was a dislocated shoulder.

All I can say is it's guys like him that help you win championships, and he will be a very important part of this team when he gets back in about three months. Get well soon, Dougie!

The Josh Beckett-Bobby Abreu Incident

Let me start by saying that I'm no "fan" of either player who was involved in the incident. To add to that, I'm not an Angels fan, and I'm also not a Red Sox fan. I personally don't like Josh Beckett either; I think he's a moron, a hot-head, and has the personality of a sheep. Having said that, before anyone gets their panties tied up in bunches after reading this, my comments below are merely my objective opinion as an outside observer on what I saw this past Sunday afternoon.

So, what do you do as a pitcher when you're playing a cat-and-mouse game with a runner on second base, and the hitter gets tired of waiting for a pitch to be made and suddenly asks for timeout at the last minute just as the pitcher begins his delivery? Here's a lesson for those of you who have never pitched in a baseball game: you continue your delivery and follow through, and hope the ball ends up in the catcher's glove. Don't stop.

That is something you are taught as a pitcher before you get to high school. Why? Because stopping in the middle of your delivery is dangerous and can cause serious injury to the pitcher. But here's where it gets tricky. As a pitcher, the element of surprise when you look up and see the umpire holding his arms out to indicate 'timeout' when he grants it to the hitter after you've already started your delivery can do funny things to the baseball. You really don't know where the ball is going to end up. No really, you don't, and that's from the element of surprise.

I can't begin to think how many times I've seen balls pitched in those situations where the ball never even gets to the catcher. I've seen balls thrown to the backstop. I've seen balls end up being thrown straight into the ground and bounce to the catcher. Heck, I've even seen a pitcher hurt himself because he did what he was taught not to do: he stopped, and tore his achilles tendon when his cleat got caught on the mound in his attempted to stop his follow-through.

So then why was Josh Beckett suspended for six games when he did exactly what he was supposed to do as a pitcher, but his thrown pitch almost decapitates Bobby Abreu, who didn't really have a lot of time to react, but was still standing in the batter's box when the pitch almost hit him? There were other things besides Abreu almost getting beaned in the head that transpired after the incident that warranted punishment, but that's not what this is about.

As a hitter, you're also taught before you ever get to high school, that if the home plate umpire grants you the timeout you've requested, to get out of the box. Umpires are taught to get out, as well. And I don't mean just back out or side-step one or two steps, I'm talking about completely clearing the home plate area, and quickly. The last thing you want to do as a pitcher in that situation is to accidently hit someone, and as a hitter and an umpire, you don't want to get hurt either. And unfortunately, that's exactly what almost happened.

I saw the play just after it happened, and watched it over, and over, and over again. There was no reason to think Beckett intentionally threw at Abreu's head. Really, does anyone think that had timeout not been called or had Abreu not asked for it, that Beckett was out there head-hunting at that moment? It was the first inning. There was no score. There was no incident prior to that in the game to suggest Beckett was even thinking about it, or that it was even warranted.

But for whatever reason, the Angels took exception to Beckett's pitch, and Major League Baseball bought into the Angels argument that Beckett was throwing at Abreu intentionally. Now Beckett has been suspended for six games because the umpire granted Abreu a late timeout. And it's obvious to me based on some of the things I've read on the internet that I'm in the minority who think the suspension is complete and utter garbage.

And what's funny about the whole thing, and I looked this up after reading Beckett's comments after learning of the suspension today, which he is rightfully appealing, is Beckett, who has hit quite a few hitters in his career, has actually never hit any hitter in the head before. In fact, there was nothing to prove that he has ever thrown at anyone's head either.

What's even funnier about this is two of the umpires are on record saying they think Beckett did the right thing by continuing his delivery and following through with it. And somehow Major League Baseball sees it otherwise.

The whole thing is a complete joke. To punish a guy for doing what he was supposed to do to avoid hurting himself, and then think he was throwing at the hitter intentionally is pure comedy.

More Baseball Sadness, and the Mets Home Opener

Just days after Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in an auto accident, baseball lost two more memorable figures.

Yesterday, longtime legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas collapsed in the broadcast booth while preparing for the Phillies game in Washington, and died of heart disease. He was 73.

Kalas, who was known for his signature "Outta here!" home run call, had been the Phillies play-by-play man since 1971. He also did voice-overs for NFL Films and also called NFL games on Westwood One Radio. Kalas, however, will forever be remembered for his home run calls, specifically his calls on Mike Schmidt home runs, where he would call out Schmidt's full name - Michael Jack Schmidt.

Kalas was inducted into the Broadcaster's Wing of Baseball's Hall of Fame in 2002. He is survived by his wife and three children, including Todd, who is a broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Later in the day, former All-Star pitcher Mark Fidrych, who gained notoriety for his antics on the pitching mound during his five years in the majors in the late 1970s, all with Detroit, was found dead on his farm in Massachusetts in an apparent accident while he was working on his truck. He was 54.

Fidrych, known as "The Bird" because of his resemblence to Sesame Street's Big Bird, was the AL's 1976 Rookie of the Year. Some of Fidrych's more popular antics was talking to the baseball, and himself, while on the mound, and grooming the mound between pitches.

Meanwhile, the Mets officially opened their new ballpark, Citi Field, on Monday night, to much criticism by Met fans, as heard on WFAN all afternoon, not to mention history being made to start the game, and losing the game in unusual fashion.

While the park looks fantastic from the outside, resembling old Ebbets Field, there were a ton of complaints about the park on the inside, such as sight line issues, including people unable to see parts of the field from their seats because the seats are at an odd angle, and some complaining they couldn't see any of the scoreboards in the park. Another popular complaint included people saying they couldn't see the ball on fly balls from their seats.

From watching the game on TV, the park, particularly the field, looks big from overhead, much in the same way PETCO Park in San Diego looks. It looks like a cross between PETCO and San Francisco's A&T Park, maybe with a hint of Citizens Bank Park in Philly or Great American Ballpark in Cincy, with large field dimensions. The park was already gaining some comparisons to being just another big concrete park, which doesn't bode well for the Mets as they just moved out of a noisy dump that was basically a big concrete cookie-cutter cylander block.

Maybe the Mets owners should have let architects design the park instead of trying to do it themselves. Way to go, Mets! You've got yourself an $800MM mess after just one game!

As for the game itself, the Padres' Jody Gerut christened the new park by hitting a lead-off homerun, the first time a lead-off hitter as ever opened a new park with a homerun. But the strangeness came when the Padres got what would prove to be the game-winning run on a balk by Mets reliever, Pedro Feliciano, in the sixth inning.

This is already starting to resemble 2007 and 2008 for the Mets, which bodes even worse for them and their fans than the early complaints about Citi Field. OKay, maybe not, but it's fun to make fun of stuff like this, isn't it?!

Angels Rookie Killed

Who would have guessed that just hours after pitching six scoreless innings in his season debut, just his fourth overall start in the Majors, that 22-year old rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart would be killed in a hit-and-run auto accident? Sadly, that's exactly what happened early this morning.

Adenhart was riding in a silver Mitsubishi with three others when a red a minivan apparently ran a red light at a Fullerton intersection at around 12:20am PT, and broadsided the Mitsubishi, sending it into a light pole, killing two in the car instantly, and sending two others to UC Irvine Medical Center, including Adenhart, where he would later die during surgery. A third vehicle waiting at the red light also suffered minor damage. The driver of that vehicle was not seriously injured.

The other hospitalized victim was last listed in critical condition at UC Irvine Medical Center. Jon Wilhite, who is expected to survive, played baseball at Cal State Fullerton from 2004 to 2008. The driver of the Mitsubishi was a female friend of Adenhart's who was a current student at Cal State Fullerton and was a cheerleader there in 2007 and 2008. Her mother said her daughter, 20-year old Courtney Stewart, and Adenhart had met about a year ago and were just friends.

Meanwhile, the driver of the minivan, Andrew Thomas Gallo. ran on foot but was captured a short time later and booked on three counts of murder, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run, and a felony DUI. Gallo's blood-alcohol level was well above the legal limit, according to authorities, and he was driving with a suspended license stemming from a previous felony drunk driving conviction.

Adenhart had just completed a strong start for the Angels in just their third game of the young season, scattering seven hits over six innings against the Oakland Athletics. The A's would eventually come from behind against the Angel bullpen and win the game, 6-4. After the game, Adenhart went about his business.

"I battled early and it felt good to get out of some jams," Adenhart said.

Adenhart's father, Jim, a retired Secret Service agent, had flown in from Maryland to attend the game at his son's wishes. Adenhart's agent, Scott Boras, spoke with both the pitcher and his father after the game about an hour before the crash would take place. Boras said that his client "was so elated... he felt like a major leaguer."

Adenhart's mother, Janet, arrived in Southern California from Maryland on this afternoon. Adenthart's parents were divorced.

News of Adenhart's death hit the Angels family very hard. Angels outfielder Torii Hunter was one of the first to hear of the tragedy.

"I'm in shock right now," he said. "He just pitched last night. It doesn't seem like this is happening. This is real life. This isn't about baseball. This is whole life, he had his whole life ahead of him. He was a great kid, he was funny, he was very popular in the clubhouse and off the field. People loved him."

The news also hit Boras especially hard. At a Thursday press conference, Boras broke down in tears as he talked about his client.

"To, I think, focus on his loss is not what we need to do here today, we need to focus on who Nick Adenhart was and his achievement. His parents really want to communicate to everyone that it's a very difficult moment, but it's also a very special moment because Nick was most accomplished and his life's goal was to be a major league baseball player and he certainly achieved that standard."

But it wasn't easy getting there. Adenhart was project a Top Five pick out of high school in 2004, but an elbow injury derailed him and he slipped to the fourteenth round, where the Angels selcted him in that year's draft. He would eventually undergo Tommy John surgery and would spend the bulk of his first four years as a pro in the Angels minor league system.

This is the second tragedy this week for the Angels. On Opening Day on Monday, two fans got into a fight in one of the stadium's stairwells, and a third fan came in from behind and struck one of the two fighting in the head. That fan fell to the ground and hit his head on the concrete and later died at a nearby hospital.

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One of the things that stands out to me throughout this entire ordeal is Boras' emotions at the news conference yesterday. We don't usually get to see the "human" side of Scott Boras, and it was refreshing to see someone who gets so much flak around the league for his antics as an agent, and the way he goes about his business, just abe a genuine human being.

We tend to forget two things: one, he's just doing his job, and he happens to be the best at it, and two, that he's human just like the rest of us. What he showed yesterday was a reminder of how close of a relationship the players have to their agents, and vice versa, and that agents are not just there to negotiate contracts for their clients, but they're also advisors in all aspects of a player's well-being including their personal lives, and they build a relationship on a personal level, as well.

Tom Cruise's portrayal as Jerry Maguire in the movie of the same name comes to mind.

And one last comment... to the sick SOB who decided to get bamboozled that night and then get behind the wheel, with a suspended license at that... I hope they throw the book at you and you spend the rest of your life getting ass-raped by Scott Peterson-types in prison until they put enough electricity through your pathetic soul to light up the entire country for at least an hour!

Opening Day Roster Is Set

UPDATE (8:47PM CT): The final cuts have now been made and much to my surprise, Ronald Belisario will make the team and take the final bullpen spot on the roster ahead of Tanyon Sturtze and Josh Lindblom. Lindblom is headed to AA-Chattanooga to work on being a starter. Ramon Troncoso has also made the team, as well.

Also making the team is Blake DeWitt, who the Dodgers apparently feel would act as a capable middle infield back-up. Juan Castro has been sent out to minor league camp and will re-assigned.

Still at issue, though, is the 40-man roster. The Dodgers have just one spot left on the 40-man for three guys (Belisario, Ohman, Meintkiewicz). Obviously this will work itself out over the next 20 hours or so.

And, forgot to mention earlier that James McDonald has officially been named the fifth starter and will start Friday night's game in Arizona.

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At least for the moment, it's set. Here's the official team release with the roster as of now. Keep in mind this will change between now and game time tomorrow.

Both Claudio Vargas and Delwyn Young are on the list, but both are expected to start the season on the DL. This will open up two spots, one for Will Ohman, who was told he won't have to go to Albuquerque to start the season, and another for Doug Meintkiewicz. With Ohman starting the season on the Big Club, Jeff Weaver, who many thought had made the club as the long-relief/spot-starter with a solid spring, will start the season in ABQ. The reason behind this move is the issue of the 40-man roster and making room on it for him, and any other non-roster invitee who should make the team. Also on the roster is Blake DeWitt, who appears to have beat out Juan Castro for the last bench spot.

In any case, Opening Day has all but arrived and the team is gearing up for the season with one last Spring Training hurrah up in San Francisco this afternoon. Four regulars did not make the trip up north inorder to get one last day of rest before the games begin: Manny, Raffy, O-Dog and Martin all stayed back in L.A. They will be in the lineup starting tomorrow.

Season Preview... Sort Of

With the season to officially get underway in just five days, I've been trying to brainstorm what the team might look like once the official 25-man rosters are due in to league offices after Saturday night's pre-season game at the Ravine against Milwaukee.

The line-up and defensive alignment are all but set. The bench is starting to take some shape, but a couple of guys are going to make Torre and his staff's decisions virtually impossible to leave them off the roster. The rotation is all but set, barring an official announcement on the fifth spot from Torre. And the pen, for the most part has taken some shape, as well. Having said all that, here's what we know so far:

The Line-up.

• Furcal, SS
• Hudson, 2B
• Manny, LF
• Ethier, RF
• Kemp, CF
• Loney, 1B
• Martin, C
• Blake, 3B

You can bet this line-up will produce a lot of runs, and some are saying that the addition of Manny makes this one of the deepest line-ups in the NL, with virtually no easy out from top to bottom. Are 900 runs too much to ask for from this bunch?

The Bench.

Only three guys are more-or-less shoe-ins to be bench players: Juan Pierre as the fourth outfielder, Mark Loretta as one of the infield utility guys, and Brad Ausmus as Martin's back-up.

The last two (or three?) spots are still up-for-grabs. Doug Mientkiewicz has made it virtually impossible for the team to leave him off the roster, although I think his roster spot would be better suited elsewhere with Loretta already set to be on the team. Juan Castro is another guy who is probably making the team as the back-up middle infielder, primarily because of his experience. But Chin-Lung Hu and Blake DeWitt, both likely headed back to Albuquerque so they can play everyday and not sit most of the time, have both had fantastic springs, making Torre's decision very difficult. My guess is Mientkiewicz and Castro make the roster of this bunch.

This means Jason Repko, unless they go six deep on the bench, and Xavier Paul, who had a solid spring, will be headed back to Albuquerque, as well. Delwyn Young is headed or the DL, again. Danny Ardoin, last year's back-up to Martin who didn't play much at all, has accepted his assignment to AAA and is headed to Albuquerque.

The Rotation.

The first four guys are set-in-stone locks.

• Billingsley
• Kuroda
• Kershaw
• Wolf

The fifth spot is still open for business. However, based on some of Torre's comments recently, it's all but certain James McDonald will get that nod, at least on Opening Day. But you get the feeling that the team wants to add another starting pitcher before Monday. There are options out there, however, aside from Pedro Martinez, who's asking price is too steep for the Dodgers, nothing stands out as anything the team would be really comfortable with or ready to jump on.

And what happens when Jason Schmidt is ready to come off the DL after his extended spring/rehab? All that will depend on both his and McDonald's performances, and whether or not the team adds another arm. My guess is unless Schmidt can prove he's willing to "let it all out" or "let it loose" with his fastball, he's staying in Albuquerque, or wherever he's sent until he can prove he's ready to come back.

What this all means, as well, is Eric Milton and Eric Stults won't be in the rotation, and neither will Claudio Vargas. Stults is headed back to Albuquerque.

The Bullpen.

• Broxton
• Wade
• Kuo
• Mota

Those four guys are the definites. After that, it becomes tricky.

Vargas is slated to start the season on the DL, meaning, Jeff Weaver, who has essentially pitched himself onto the team and into the bullpen, will be the long-reliever/spot-starter, taking Chan Ho Park's spot from last season. Just signed Will Ohman will start the season in Albuquerque on extended Spring Training, and then will join the team before April 14th, taking Joe Beimel's spot as the situational lefty. Ramon Troncoso is probably headed back to Albuquerque, leaving Eric Milton and Josh Lindblom.

Milton is likely the odd man out of all this, and what the Dodgers do with him is anyone's guess. Lindblom, a kid no one had really known much about until he was called up to Major League camp recently from Minor League camp, has pitched extremely well and has impressed the coaching staff enough that he'll likely make the team out of camp. Meanwhile, Shawn Estes has already accepted his reassignment and is headed to Albuquerque, as well.

The Bottom Line.

The offense will be the bread and butter of this team. With Manny anchoring the line-up, the offense will carry the load over the pitching, something not seen from a Dodger team since the early days of Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green. The rotation could use another arm, and the hope is that Martinez's asking price will come down enough for the Dodgers to jump on him. The bullpen is basically getting a complete make-over despite the fact the back three of the pen were with the team last season. Many, myself included, have the Dodgers winning the division, and if the pitching holds, and the rotation gets solid contributions from the middle guys, the Dodgers could do some serious damage in the post-season.

Oh-man, Lefty!

You're probably wondering what the heck the title of this post means. Very simple. The Blue have finally inked a legit lefty reliever specialist for the pen, and his name is Will Ohman. For all of the fun links and detals, chek out the MLBTR thread on the signing. An official press release from the team is also available for your pure reading enjoyment.

Broxton Gets Roughed Up

Last night I stumbled across the Dodgers Spring Training game against Seattle on my satellite dish. I found the game on the Mariners feed on FSN Northwest and figured I'd tune in for a bit. The Dodgers were ahead 3-2 in the 6th when I tuned in, and were up 6-4 when I decided it was late and turned the game off in the 8th inning. Little did I know what would transpire in the following inning would cause such a big stir among Dodger fans today.

Broxton came in and promptly gave up four runs and ultimately the game, and looked horrid at doing so. The uproar over one bad outing in a Spring Training game was pretty laughable. Already Dodger fans are expecting the worse from Broxton every time he pitches this year. Next thing you know, Dodger fans will be calling for his head for blowing a game in April!

Let's get one thing clear here: this was just one bad game. The guy hadn't pitched in a week because while on Team USA in the WBC, that idiot USA manager Davey Johnson didn't bother using one of his best relievers when he had opportunities to use him, and so Broxton just sat out there in the pen and became rusty. And I'm not the only one who saw it that way. Joe Torre is giving Broxton a pass because he hadn't pitched in a week. And the good folks over at Sons of Steve Garvey feel the same way, as well.

Obviously, many Dodger fans have one vision of Broxton: giving up the go-ahead three-run homerun to Matt Stairs in the 8th inning of Game 4 of the NLCS last season against Philly on a 3-1 fastball Stairs was looking for that pretty much turned the series around. And, as SoSG suggest, because we as Dodger fans have been spoiled the last six season by the likes of Eric Gagne and Takashi Saito closing out games, anything less than what they did will automatically be dubbed as a complete failure in the eyes of many Dodger fans when it comes to Broxton.

If you read between the lines of Ken Gunick's column on the Dodger pen woes this spring (link above), all hell is breaking lose in the pen, and this could be a concern come the regular season. And because of moronic articles such as that one, and because it is what the fans read and see, aside from maybe the Big Four-Letter Network or The Times, they believe what they read or is said in the media and go with it as their own opinion.

Having said that all that, as much as I do become a little nervous when I see Broxton warming up in the pen to come in and close out a game no matter what the lead or situation is, I'd still take him as my closer any day of the week over most of the other closers around the league. And as I've said in this very space in the past, giving him the closer's job outright will only be a confidence booster for the kid.

Let's lighten up a little on Broxton, folks! Last night was just one game... in Spring Training!

It's Been A While...

And for good reason. I'm not one who likes to keep tabs on what's really going on around Spring Training until it gets closer to the season, and so, for that reason, I've avoided posting too much on Spring Training stuff.

Having said all that, I think it's time to throw out some blurbs from the past few weeks...

Manny returned to the lineup today as a DH against the Angels (he went 0 for 3), his first game action in a week since coming up with tightness in his groin about 10 days ago. No word yet on when he'll be back in left field. He says he's running at about 60 to 70% right now. As long as you're at 100% by opening day, big guy...

Chad Billingsley and Mark Loretta both left today's game with minor groin injuries, as well. Both said they'd have stayed in the game had it been the regular season. Neither is expected to miss much action, if any at all. However, Billingsley will have some muscle tests done just to be sure.

Speaking of Billingsley, a funny story today from Tony Jackson... something you'd only see during Spring Training.

Shawn Estes was cut yesterday, given a choice, became angered, came to his senses, and was then re-assigned to minor league camp. He apparently still has a chance to make the team, perhaps as that left-handed situational reliever they've been looking for.

And, for whatever it's worth, James McDonald has emerged, again, as a strong candidate for the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation. Until his exceptional performance last Friday, he hasn't really looked all that good this spring, prompting the Dodgers to scramble for a feasible option for that elusive fifth spot. But after getting opinions from several coaches, McDonald decided to relax while pitching, instead of putting too much pressure on himself to do well, and the results were fantastic! Other candidates still include Claudio Vargas, Eric Milton, Eric Stults and... Josh Lindblom? He's a minor league kid who was promoted from minor league camp to the big league camp after razzling and dazzling coaches, teammates and opponents all spring. Remember Blake DeWitt last year?

Notice Jason Schmidt off the candidate's list? Yeah, I thought you would. He's not expected to be ready for the start of the season... again... and will probably start the season on the DL... again. However, that doesn't mean he won't pitch at all for the Dodgers this season, but we can only hope.

Also not on the list is Pedro Martinez. The Dodgers do have some interest in him, but only if his contract demands come way down. Petey is apparently looking for a contract similar to the one John Smoltz got from the Red Sox this winter (something in the neighborhood of one year, $5MM guaranteed with another $5MM in incentives). The asking price is too steep for the Dodgers, considering Pedro's recent history of injuries and his age.

The Blue have released Yhency Brazoban and his medical staff and supplies.

A random rumor has hit the world wide web in recent days that could send disgruntled (sound familiar?) outfielder Juan Pierre to the White Sox. The Chisox are in need of a lead-off hitting centerfielder, but the Dodgers would probably have to eat a chunk of what's left on his contract. However, there really was no reliable source for this rumor, and Pierre remains a Dodger, for now. Apparently an Andruw Jones-type deferral is not in the works for Pierre either. Darn.

And finally, the team has finally hired a play-by-play guy to do the 38 TV games that Vin Scully won't be doing. (In case you forgot, the Dodgers moved some people around in the broadcast booth and started looking for a new TV play-by-play guy after last season.) Eric Collins joins the staff, and will be doing the 38 road games against the Central and East division teams with Steve Lyons as the color guy. Charley Steiner and Rick Monday will be relegated to radio exclusively. Vin will do all home games and road games against West teams, and will be simulcast, as usual, for the first three innings on both radio and TV. Then Charley and Rick will take over the radio duties while Vin finishes up the TV broadcast. When Vin isn't around, Charley and Rick will do all of the radio games, while Collins and Lyons handle the TV side. Confused yet?

I think that's plenty for now. The roster is slowly starting to take some kind of shape, so in the next couple of days, once a few more guys are reassigned or designated, we'll try to break it all down.

Pre-Season Awards Picks

It's time to roll out some pre-season awards predictions. So, without further ado, the envelopes, please.

And the winner is...

NL MVP: Manny Ramirez, Dodgers. With a full season in Blue, Mannywood will wrap up his first MVP with astonishing numbers.
(Runner-up: Hanley Ramirez, Marlins.)

AL MVP: Evan Longoria, Rays. Because even with less than one full season under his belt, he is just that good, adn he will be a big reason the Rays will repeat last year's success.
(Runner-up: Matt Holliday, A's.)

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Mets. This time around, Santana gets the wins with a much improved pen behind him.
(Runner-up: Ricky Nolasco, Marlins.)

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays. Who else is there in the AL? Not to mention he's the second best pitcher in the game anyway.
(Runner-up: CC Sabathia, Yankees.)

NL Rookie: Colby Rasmus, Cardinals. Cameron Maybin appears to be the popular pick, but Rasmus is a step ahead of him in his readiness for the Bigs.
(Runner-up: Maybin, Marlins.)

AL Rookie: Matt Wieters, Orioles. Right now, there is nothing stopping Wieters from becoming the stud hitting catcher he's expected to be.
(Runner-up: David Price, Rays.)

NL Manager: Fredi Gonzalez, Marlins. Especially if the Fish stun baseball and win their division.
(Runner-up: Dusty Baker, Reds. Same reason.)

AL Manager: Trey Hillman, Royals. Same deal as above.
(Runner-up: Bob Geren, A's. Same reason again.)

2009 Season Preview

Now that all of the key free agents have signed, its time to roll out the division projections and winners for the 2009 season. Last season, I detailed each of the 30 teams and broke them down by division. This year, I'm bunching them all into one post, but with less detail. Lets take a look...

NL WEST

1. DODGERS - With no easy outs in a much-improved lineup, the Blue will lean heavily on the offense to carry the load over a rotation that boasts two young superstars-in-the-making.

2. D'BACKS - A solid one-two punch in the rotation will help, but the back end of the rotation is iffy, the bullpen has no clear-cut finisher, and there's still not a lot of consistency from the kids in the lineup... yet.

3. GIANTS - If they can stay afloat early, and get a middle-of-the-lineup power bat at the trade deadline, the Giants could sneak up on the Snakes, and maybe even the Dodgers, thanks in large part to their pitching.

4. ROCKIES - Trading away their top slugger/run producer, and losing their 'ace' for the season to injury leaves the Rox in a lot of uncertainty. Still, they have a pretty decent offense.

5. PADRES - The Friars lost 99 games last season, and 2009 figures to be no better. Even in a mediocre division, they have no chance, even after their failed attempt to trade their ace.

NL CENTRAL

1. CUBS - Losing a "gamer" hurts, but adding another helps. Only injuries will derail the Cubs.

2. CARDS - The offense will score runs, but the rotation is still iffy, and the bullpen wasn't improved with any clear-cut closer.

3. BREWERS - The Brew Crew's offense is as good as any, but losing two aces in one winter without replacing even just one of them will prove to be too much.

4. REDS - The rotation is as good as any if Harang rebounds from last year's mess, and the offense boasts some solid young players. The Reds are finally headed in the right direction.

5. ASTROS - With little change to an aging team with a depleted roation, the team is clearly headed in the wrong direction.

6. PIRATES - Signing two 19-year old pitchers from India who have never played competitively at any level doesn't bode well for a franchise already in utter disarray.

NL EAST

1. PHILLIES - Even with their star second baseman possibly shelved for two months, the World Champs are in still great shape to repeat.

2. METS - After two late-season collapses in as many seasons, they finally addressed its bullpen issues by signing a top-flight closer and trading for a reliable set-up guy; the middle-to-back of the rotation is still iffy, though.

3. MARLINS - The Fish boast one of the most underrated rotations in the league, and if all the pieces fall into place, this team could surprise and steal the division from the Phils or Mets.

4. BRAVES - They replaced an aging future Hall of Fame starting pitcher with two reliable and durable veteran starters, but with their superstar third baseman another year older, how much longer will he hold up and carry the offensive load?

5. NATIONALS - The offense is capable of scoring plenty of runs with its young core and off-season additions, but where's the pitching? It's no wonder the organization is in complete disarray; they still can't get things right.

AL WEST

1. ANGELS - Even with an impatient offense that's aging, and a bullpen that lost its premier closer and has been over-worked in recent years, the starting pitching should be enough to hold off Oakland. They won't win 100, but 92-94 is certainly possible.

2. A'S - If the young core in the rotation can improve on last year, the Athletics could push the Angels with its much-improved offense. Staying healthy would be nice, too.

3. RANGERS - It's the same old story deep in the heart of Texas, plenty of offense, but not enough pitching, although there are some solid young arms on the way.

4. MARINERS - Even with new faces in the front office and field management, the M's still have a lot of old issues in the lineup, the pen, and in the rotation.

AL CENTRAL

1. TWINS - Who needs a superstar 'ace' and an all-star center fielder when you have a bunch of consistent, reliable no-namers in the rotation, and a couple of kids, one with a funny name, in the outfield?

2. INDIANS - If their two big boppers can rebound, and their new closer can stay healthy, the Tribe have a chance.

3. ROYALS - KC showed signs of being ready to contend last year, and this is the year they finally step up. With a solid core of youngsters, they added a couple of quality veterans to the offense that should help.

4. WHITE SOX - Even after shedding some of its aging veterans, this team still looks old and slow. Their young kids will have to step up big if they want any chance of repeating.

5. TIGERS - The Motowners look even older and slower, and will need to avoid another bad start and crippling injuries to have any shot at matching last season's World Series expectations.

AL EAST

1. YANKEES - On paper, this is the best team in the league, with the best rotation, and the best offense. But with higher expectations after another off-season spending spree, they'll need their third baseman to get healthy, a quick start from their new first baseman, and their new ace to live up to the hype.

2. RED SOX - They didn't do much to couner the Yankees' off-season moves, but then again, they really didn't have to. If everyone stays healthy, a trip back to the ALCS is inevitable.

3. RAYS - They return just about everyone from their World Series team, added a veteran slugger to the lineup, and will add their ALCS hero full-time to a very solid and deep young rotation. If the pen stays healthy, they'll push the Yanks and Sox again.

4. BLUE JAYS - After losing one starter to a rival, and with two others out until mid-season and until 2010, respectively, and their offense in shambles, the Jays will have to rely on its ace, and that's not a good thing.

5. ORIOLES - These Birds are heading in the right direction as they continue to bring in more young prospects for the future. The offense is capable of scoring runs, but there's still a lot of work to be done with the pitching.

Manny Signs... Finally!

UPDATE (7:15 PM CT): Deal is now official. Manny has passed his physical and signed the contract. Here's the official press release from the Dodgers. Also, here are a few more Manny links for today, via MLBTR again, mostly just writer reactions, etc.

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The deal is basically the same one he was offered by the Dodgers last week: two years, $45MM ($25MM the first year in deferred compensation over 5 years with a player opt-out option after the first year).

I haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts on the deal today, but let's just say I'm glad it's over, and now we can focus on baseball... on the field.

Having said that, for a list of all the links from this morning regarding the deal, check out MLBTR and also the Dodgers official website, including this timeline of the negotiation process.

As for on the field stuff, Orlando Hudson woke up this morning with some soreness in his wrist, the same one he had surgery on last year, and was scratched from today's Cactus league game.. It doesn't appear to be serious, and he is expected to play tomorrow, or the next time Furcal plays, whenever that might be.

That's about it.

Manny, Dodgers Near Agreement

UPDATE (10:58 PM CT): Ok, I wanted to let the smoke clear before I rolled in with the updates, because when this story originally broke about three hours ago, it was a done deal, and the updates started flying in at record pace disputing the story. So this is what we know so far.

At about 7:30 PM CT, Yahoo's Tim Brown reported that the two sides had not spoken in three days, and that the Giants might find an opening to get involved. Then, about 30 minutes later, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reported that the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez had reach an agreement on a two-year, $45MM deal. ESPNEWS jumped in on this and was attempting to confirm the deal shortly after when Yahoo's Senior Editor Steve Henson emailed MLBTR that Brown had just spoken with both the Dodgers and Boras, and that no deal was in place.

Follwing so far?

ESPN.com then did some house-cleaning and back-tracking after posting on its website that a deal was in fact done. ESPN's Jayson Stark, as well as MLB.com's Ken Gurnick and Barry Bloom with a quote from Boras himself, chimed in with their reports. ESPNEWS then reported that Rojas' report was false, and that the two sides were only close to an agreement. ESPN.com then changed it's headline to note a deal is close (and not done) and removed Rojas as the story's author. Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal added his two cents, followed by Dylan Hernandez of the Times with another quote from Boras.

And what might be the most in-depth detailed report about where things stand now, Tony Jackson breaks it all down for us in his blog and confirms that Manny is headed to L.A. tonight as Rojas originally reported (Stark later confirmed on ESPNEWS that Manny did get on a plane) and will meet with Dodger officials first thing in the morning before possibly taking a physical and finalizing the deal. The Dodgers simply want to make sure Manny has his head on straight and is in a good frame of mind, so-to-speak, in light of what happened in Boston last year, and in light of how these negotiations transpired. They basically want a commitment to the Dodgers from Manny.

And for what it's worth, T.J. Simers of the Times spoke with Manny today before tonight's circus of events took place and Manny had this to say:

"I'm happy in L.A. I like my teammates and had a great time," said Ramirez. "The fans were so good to me; they treated me the best anywhere in my career. And now I think we're close [to a deal]. ... Tell everyone Mannywood is coming."

Bottom line? Manny should be signed, sealed and delivered sometime tomorrow. And the parameters are what has been reported: two-years, $45MM ($25MM in the first year guaranteed - not sure on whether or not there is any deferred compensation - with a player option opt-out after the first year).

Is this over yet???

What a circus this has been. Maybe after tomorrow we can concentrate on some baseball, and look forward to "Mannywood" in L.A.

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According to ESPNEWS and Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the deal would be two years, $45MM. No details yet.

My guess is the second year might be an opt-out option, and there's probably some deferred compensation involved as well. More as it becomes available......

Just To Clear Something Up

On Sunday night it was reported by Jon Heyman that the two sides may be just $1.5MM apart in negotiations between the Dodgers and Manny. However, this was actually before McCourt pulled the plug on the negotiations and basically said they would be starting from scratch with Scott Boras and Manny.

Yesterday, Heyman reported that there was growing speculation that in the process of restarting negotiations, the Dodgers next offer could be less than any of the previous three offers they had out for Manny, and this could in turn give the Giants (or another team?) an opportunity to sneak in and steal Manny away from the Dodgers.

I basically just wanted to clear up any confusion in the timeline of the most recent rumors/stories/reports regarding the Manny situation with the Dodgers.

In any case, you get the impression the Dodgers have really grown wary of Boras and his negotiation tactics and whatnot. At the same time, lowballing Manny now could be a dangerous move for the Blue. If I were both sides, 'compromise' is the best and easiest solution at this point.

All Quiet With Manny... Again...

And this time... literally... nothing to tell you! So with that, some other news...

Dodger prospect Ivan DeJesus, Jr suffered a broken left tibia this morning in a "B" game (I'm still not sure what a "B" game is) against Milwaukee and could miss the entire season. (Check out the video here.) Ouch! And to think this kid was on the Puerto Rican preliminary roster for the WBC (he didn't make the final cut) and could have been there this morning preparing to represent his native Puerto Rico instead of playing in the "B" game this morning. Obviously, the signing of Furcal becomes even bigger now.

That's about the gist of the news today. There was no actual Cactus League game today. Perhaps things will get back to "ab"normal tomorrow!

Back To Square One? Or Closer Than We Think?

A couple of new updates on the Manny front... one from Diamond Leung of the PE in the IE, and another from SI's Jon Heyman. (Both reports are basically one in the same - just two different sources.) In a nutshell though, Manny is asking Boras to 'compromise' with the Dodgers and to include "some deferred compensation." At this point, the two sides are roughly $1.5MM apart in negotiations with coming up with a compromise.

As I said earlier, you almost had to think Manny would have to become more vocal in the negotiations. Sounds like he wants this done and overwith as much as everyone else. Manny also made a statement through Boras, basically refuting the notion that Boras had been withholding the Dodger offers from him. So that settles that.

Hang tight. Maybe this is the end of the road...?

All's Quiet On The Manny Front

And in the words of Frank McCourt, negotiations will eventually resume "with a fresh start." In other words, there is no offer on the table from the Dodgers. And for the record, the Dodgers will not consider Scott Boras' counter-offer of two years, $45MM with no deferred payments.

Still, a lot of questions linger about how the negotiation process has transpired. For one, the Dodgers made each offer public. Each time an offer was made, the first thing the Dodgers did was take it to the media to get the information out there in public. But did they do it to keep the public informed, or was it something else?

According to one report, the Dodgers wanted to make sure Manny was fully aware of their offers. There is some suggestion, and suspicions, that based on the team's dealings with Boras in the past, he may not be notifying Manny of all the offers being made to him by the Dodgers. There is growing suspicion that Boras isn't necessarily negotiating on Manny's behalf, but rather for his own interests. McCourt didn't elaborate when he was asked about it, and Boras has not been heard from since yesterday. Obviously, we'll never know, so we can only make assumptions, which I am not at liberty to do.

Having said all that, there really is nothing new on the Manny front, but there is plenty of criticism and finger-pointing going around. And even once a deal is consumated, you can bet there will be plenty more to go around. But for the love of God, can we cut out the childish and immature shots at each other through the media, sit down like mature adults, and get this done and overwith, or simply move on from it? And, how about we get the player involved in the negotiations? You can bet that would speed things up and avoid any of the aforementioned suspicions.

In the meantime, all we can do is sit back and wait, and enjoy some Spring Training baseball. 'The Ranch' is officially open for business!

Boras Wants $55MM for Manny

Tony Jackson has the story here.

This is really getting ridiculous. Why on earth would the Dodgers give in to another $10MM in total salary when they're the only known team to have made any offers period? I'm baffled by Scott Boras, I really am.

Oh, and I have to share something else with anyone who might be reading this. This is actually very comical, amusing, laughable, whatever you want to call it. I left a comment on MLBTR a bit ago in today's Manny thread about how I didn't understand the Dodgers reasoning for deferring any money for Manny. I'll leave names out of this, but one certain Yankee fan responded to my comment by suggesting the Dodgers could just "cancel" Manny's contract after one year and not pay the remaining portion of the deferred money should he act up during the season. According to him, this would save the Dodgers from having to give Manny the remaining $15MM of the $25MM he's guaranteed.

I'll wait until you're done laughing.....

Ok. I'm done laughing my ass off, too. And on that note, more on Manny when it develops...

Who's To Blame? Who To Believe?

At first glance, it looked like you could ask this question: Why on earth would anyone turn down $45MM over two years? Sounds simple enough, right? Because that's exactly how it looked last night when it was learned that Scott Boras had rejected the latest offer for Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers.

Dodger owner Frank McCourt responded harshly by saying they weren't going to be bullied into negotiating against themselves, and gave Boras an ultimatum: Find the other 'serious offers' you so bluntly talked about in November, and we'll re-open negotiations with you.

Then this morning, we find out that the Dodgers wanted to defer much of their Wednesday offer for both the guaranteed first year, and the player-option second year. Ramirez was never going to get all $25MM in the first year of that contract, in the first year.

Boras responded with a letter to the media saying Ramirez was all set to accept the offer until they realized most of it would be deferred. The team was given a noon PT deadline to respond. That deadline has since come and gone, and we haven't heard anything, which leads me to believe they are still trying to iron out some kinks in the deal. Colletti said he's tried several times to reach Boras, to no avail, so what gives?

Well, here's what I don't get. What's the purpose of deferring the money? It's one thing if the situation was something like the Andruw Jones deal, where the team was just looking to get out from the contract and get rid of the player. But to ask a player you're trying to sign who could be the difference between a trip to the World Series and finishing around .500 to defer $15MM of a possible $25MM, makes no sense to me. The Dodgers claim the deferred money was always part of this, going back to the original two-year offer in November. But was it really? Seems kind of odd when this all just came to surface today.

Maybe it was McCourt's way of telling the fans should he wind up somewhere else, "Hey look, we tried very hard to sign the player." But as Tony Jackson said this morning, 'No Frank, you really didn't.'

Boras still claims there are other teams involved in the process. We know the Giants have publicly said they are monitoring the situation. But every other team that was rumored to have any interest in Manny shot down those rumors weeks ago. The Angels have already signed Bobby Abreu. The Mets supposedly have internal differences on whether they can actually make him an offer (GM Omar Minaya loves Manny, but ownership won't let it happen). The Yankees? Well they have a surplus of corner outfielders as it is, and plenty of options at DH. So who are the other teams?

I really think Boras is blowing smoke on this front, and I applaud the Dodgers for not taking the bait and bidding against themselves. But I also don't understand the purpose of asking Manny to defer so much money (unless you really can't afford to pay him $25MM all in one year).

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. One side or the other, or both, has to give up something, and right now, the most logical way to get this deal done is to compromise. It sounds to me like both sides are willing to do that, so let's get it done, and move on to more important things, like playing baseball.

Boras Rejects Offer For Manny

Here's the info from Dodger Thoughts. No personal thoughts at this time.

Dodgers Ink...

Not Manny. Not yet anyway. Obviously, I was way off in my prediction last night that Manny might be signed by mid-day today. But they did sign veteran first-baseman Doug Meintkiewicz and the Red Sox 2007 World Series-winning ball to minor league contracts and invited them both to camp. Official press release here.

Still no word on Manny, and Ned doesn't expect a response until tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Hated Ones to the North are basically in the same boat they were in before this week. They're really not getting involved in any kind of a bidding war, and as of today, claim they hadn't been asked to submit an offer for him. Giants President Larry Baer is still convinced Manny will re-sign with the Dodgers.

And in related news, check out this satirical blurb picked up by the Dodgers PR guy, Josh Rawitch, courtesy of The Onion. Pretty hilarious stuff!

So hang tight, enjoy your night, and hopefully there will be some news by morning.

Could This Be It?

UPDATE (7:00pm CT): Manny now has a new offer from the Dodgers. Details here from Tony Jackson... It's basically a revision of the original two-year, $45MM offer back in November. No agreement is expected tonight. Stay tuned as usual...

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You knew the end could be near, and it very well might be. A couple of updates have surfaced in the past hour or so, one from Ken Gurnick on the Dodgers official website, and a follow-up from Tony Jackson of the Daily News, each suggesting things might be finally coming to a closure. The first bit of coincidence before it was known why was when it was learned that Colletti left Arizona to skip the first Spring Training game against the Cubs today (which the Dodgers lost 5-3 after Ramon Troncoso gave up a go-ahead Grand Slam) to head back to L.A.

We have now learned that Colletti has been meeting with McCourt and Scott Boras. Gurnick called the meeting the most serious attempt to sign Ramirez to date in his report, and Tony Jackson went even further to say that from his vantage point, people around Dodger Stadium were acting strange, or not normal, and adds that it could be a long night. (Jackson confirmed the meeting moments later, saying that it was ongoing.)

So far, no details of what the possible contract might be. Two years plus? Three years? We'll know soon enough obviously. Stay tuned. I'm thinking this could happen in the next 12 to 18 hours.

Daily Manny Rumor Fun

These are becoming more frequent, and frankly, more wild, as the first Spring Training game nears tomorrow. I suppose in light of Ned saying this past weekend that conversation with Boras regarding Manny were more frequent and longer in duration, and Boras stating two weeks ago that he expected Manny to sign by the start of Spring Training games, you knew that would open the door for some interesting rumors to start making their rounds.

So no sooner than yesterday, Vic "The Brick" Jacobs suggested on Loose Cannons that the Blue would have Manny signed by the end of the week, and he even went as far as giving out contract details: "two-year fixed, third-year incentive-laced." That prompted the Dodgers to issue this denial through the media, basically saying "nothing had changed in the past 48 hours." The Daily News went as far as saying their wasn't any news to report.

Then today, two new rumors, beginning with this one. This second rumor today, was a bit more comical in how the rumor surfaced. Obviously, someone got a little carried away in the Dodgers ticket sales office, and while things may be progressing with Manny in recent days, nothing appears imminent, as confirmed here by the Daily News.

But you have to wonder if things are progressing more than we're being led to believe. The quotes by all parties involved in all of the reports above suggest that they have to be close to a deal. Obviously, even if a deal was done, nothing would be officially announced until Manny passed a physical.

By the way, there's even the possibility that McCourt Esq. could be headed to Florida to have a face-to-face sit-down with the man himself. This would obviously speed the process up. Personally though, despite all the denials from the Dodgers and Boras in the last two days, I'm with some people in thinking that Manny will be signed sometime this week. Just a hunch; just a gut feeling.

The O-Dog Is In

UPDATE (2:22PM CT): Here is Gurnick's new story confirming the agreement with O-Dog, with details of the deal included.

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UPDATE (2:16pm CT): Think this isn't done or not happening? Earlier today, it was reported that the Dodgers had begun talks with Orlando Cabrera as possibility at second base. Ken Gurnick's story, which was posted on the Dodger website earlier, has since been removed.

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UPDATE (2:08pm CT): A little bit more here from Tony Jackson of the Daily News. Check out the response from Ned and Kim Ng when PR guy Josh Rawitch asked them about the same XM report I heard...

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Just heard on MLB Home Plate on Sirius XM that the Blue have agreed to a one-year deal with Orlando Hudson. A physical is all that's pending. There's a blurb here on MLBTradeRumors.com. No other info was provided, but I can tell you this:

The Dodgers have just solidified their middle infield defense with this, and have added a nice #2 hitter to their line-up. Re-upping with Manny would make this look even better. Git 'er done, Ned!

The downside to all this? Two things... One, Blake DeWitt could be the odd man out (granted it would be for only one year) if they do re-sign Manny. (Without Manny, the Dodgers could shuffle Casey Blake to the outfield and put DeWitt at third. This scenario obviously still leaves Juan Pierre without a job.) And two, the Dodgers lose their #17 pick in this year's draft to Arizona because Hudson was a Type-A free agent.

Weekly Musings From Dodger Camp

Some of the latest musings and links from around Dodger Spring Training...

• Missed this one last week, but fortunately, Russell Martin is fine after an MRI revealed no serious problems with his ankle. Maybe the Dodgers knew something when they signed Brad Ausmus that they would still need Danny Ardoin. Thank God that MRI was negative!
• Juan Pierre wants to either start, or be traded... again. Mr. Torre says 'no dice!'
  
• Jason Schmidt is aiming to reclaim a spot in the rotation. Good luck!
• Former Dodger Brad Penny traded barbs with third base coach Larry Bowa. Penny took the first shot, with a couple of jabs at the team included, while Bowa responded (check out the Torre quip after Bowa's reaction... great line by Joe Cool!) without ever reading or hearing what Penny said about him, or the Dodgers. I've always loved how Bowa has a way with words!
• Mr. Colletti says the Blue can afford both Orlando Hudson and Manny Ramirez if they want them both; they are indeed talking and remain interested in O-Dog. I'm still not sure why they need him, but Blake DeWitt can not be thrilled about this.
• Just before the team was to go in front of a three-man arbitration panel with Andre Ethier to determine his 2009 contract, the two sides reached an agreement to avoid the process. Apparently, getting all dressed up in suits and ties for nothing, and having a side meeting out in the hallway was all it took to iron out a deal.

There are some minor Manny dabbles out there, as well...

• Manny told one Giant player that he will be a Giant.
• A rumor made its rounds suggesting the Hated Ones to the North and Scott Boras were planning to meet in San Francisco; it was false. Then word was they've only had some conversations. The Giants insist they're simply just monitoring the situation. Right.
• Today we learn there apparently was some sort of counteroffer made by Boras on behalf of Manny to the Dodgers at some point; obviously Team Colletti felt it was too unrealistic for them to consider. We do know they've only made the two offers, and the two sides do continue to chit-chat.
• Read into this one however you want, but the Dodgers have reserved an empty locker in the corner of their Spring Training clubhouse for Manny.

In other words, nothing new to report on the Manny circus...

Abreu & Dunn Sign - What's Next For Dodgers?

So, what does this all mean for the Blue? Well considering both Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu were fallback options for the Dodgers had they failed to sign Manny, who knows! But this much we do know: the Dodgers had better know what the hell they're doing because if they don't figure this all out, they could not only end up losing Manny, but Dunn and Abreu, as well. Think about this for a second here. The Dodgers could very well end up starting Juan Pierre in left field again, and this time there is no Andruw Jones to platoon him with (although in hindsight, is anyone upset about that part of this?!).

On Sunday, Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times spoke with Manny who said negotiations "were in the seventh inning." What we don't know is with whom. The Dodgers? Giants? Some other team who has already said 'No thanks' in regards to Manny? We know it won't be the Angels since Abreu just reached an agreement with them this morning, so McCourt and his brass don't have to worry about Arte Moreno and the Halos stealing their SoCal thunder. Then yesterday, the East Valley Tribune in Arizona reported that the Dodgers "could make a splash in the next 72 hours" and they went on to elaborate on Manny and possibly Orlando Hudson.

Is this all a preclude to what could happen in the next 48 hours now? Are the Dodgers really that close to signing Manny? This all just seems too coincidental for me to not believe. I think Abreu was more or less waiting for the right team to come along with a decent offer. One year and about $5MM isn't necessarily a decent offer considering he made $16MM last season with the Yankees and was looking for at least a three year deal. But the way this market has gone this winter, is anyone really surprised that Abreu had to settle for just one year? (I actually thought he would re-sign in New York a long time ago, but apparently there was no interest from the Yankees.)

Adam Dunn is a whole different bag of oranges. He, too, was waiting for the right deal and team to come around with a solid offer, and he did manage to get two years from Washington. But was that really the team he wanted to play for? About a month ago, it was said that Dunn was essentially waiting for the Dodgers to figure out the Manny thing because the Dodgers were at the top of his 'wish list' of teams he wanted to play for. Many believe the Dodgers would have been better off with Dunn over Manny, but of course, as I've said in this space before, I don't buy it. I'm in the minority.

So have the Dodgers and Ned Colletti lost their leverage with Manny? I think they have, but I also think they haven't. Hear me out here. The Dodgers are the only team to have made any known offers to him. Manny turned them both down. Manny wants four years; the Dodgers haven't gone any higher than two, and have no reason to at this point. Or do they? If the Giants are seriously involved, and are negotiating with Manny and Scott Boras, then there's obviously a good chance they'll find a way to come up with three years to meet Manny at the half-way mark between two and four years. But we all know damn well that the Dodgers will do whatever they have to prevent that from happening. This is where the three year deal from the Dodgers comes in. I've been saying all winter that a three year, $70MM deal will get this done.

The Dodgers played this very same game with Rafael Furcal, and it worked. The Braves came out of nowhere with a three year offer, something the Dodgers publically said they would not do. When the Braves did, the Dodgers were given one last opportunity to match or beat Atlanta's offer, and they did. Who's to say this can't happen with Manny? For all we know, the Giants might be the team Manny was referring to on Sunday when he said negotiations were in the seventh inning. The Dodgers could very well come to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning after the Giants make an offer, and come up with a walk-off and get this deal done.

Some people think now that Abreu and Dunn are spoken for, the Dodgers need Manny more than Manny needs the Dodgers, and these two signings could prompt the Dodgers to bid against themselves (assuming no other team is in negotiations with Manny - which I find hard to believe considering Manny's agent is Scott Boras), cave in, and offer a third year. But this much we know: the Dodgers have made it be known publicly, in recent days, as well, that they want Manny. No other team has been as vocal about it. At this point, in light of the reports, rumors, stories and events that have transpired over the last 72 hours, I can't imagine Manny is close to signing anywhere but with the Blue.

Add Another Veteran To The List

Ned the Great's at it again! This isn't a reunion, but more from the recycling bin. According to the Denver Post (since when do they cover Dodger news?), the Blue have inked veteran righty Eric Milton to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. He'll be in camp on Saturday when the other pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report.

And here's an interesting tidbit regarding the Dodgers from the East Valley Tribune in Arizona. They're reporting that the Dodgers "could make a big splash in the next 72 hours." The report suggests the Dodgers could have Manny signed, as well as Orlando Hudson, by the end of the day Friday. At first glance, the story didn't seem to have much merit, but MLBTR's Tim Dierkes says he received an email from the Tribune columnist who wrote the report citing a "pretty reliable source."

Stay tuned... this should get very interesting over the next few days as we head into Spring Training Saturday.

Another Reunion?

Add Jeff Weaver to the list of former Dodgers coming back on a minor league deal. Here's Ken Gurnick's story, with more info here from Tony Jackson. Weaver and his beach bleached-blonde hair are a longshot to not only crack the rotation, but to make the team. Next on Colletti's list: Darren Dreifort! By the way, Ned, how's Manny?

Oh, forgot to mention this from my neck of the woods. Andruw Jones has inked a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, with a chance to earn $1.5MM (including incentives) if he makes the team. The funniest part of this? The Dodgers get half of any guaranteed money he earns from the Rangers. Brilliant!

Manny!

No, he hasn't signed anywhere yet. But there's a lot of news and rumors out there today, even on a day like today where A-Rod is dominating the headlines.

In a nutshell, though, here's what you need to know about the Manny Daily Scoop. L.A. Times Dodger beat writer Dylan Hernandez apparently spoke with Manny himself today, and said Manny is still holding out for a four-year deal, something the Dodgers, or any other team, apparently, won't give him.

Also, the Giants say they're not holding out hope that they can sign Manny, and that it would take" a special set of circumstances" for the Giants to sign Manny. The Giants, obviously, continue to monitor the Manny saga nonetheless, and appear to the be the Dodgers only threat as far as where he will end up.

BUSTED!

That one word in the headline says it all. Alex Rodriguez, the pretty boy everyone thought couldn't have ever used steroids, and had played his entire career the right way, clean, reportedly tested positive in what was supposed to be a blanket, anonymous survey test in 2003.

Here's what we know based on today's report:

In 2003, when rampant steroid used in baseball had come to the forefront, the league was looking for ways to salvage the sport's image by implementing a testing program with stiff penalties for positive results. In order to determine this, the league tested each of the 1,198 players in the league at the time, anonymously, and if there was more than a 5% positive return, a testing program would be implemented the following year. The league and the player's union agreed that the names of any player's test who came back positive from this testing would be kept anonymous, with no penalties. Of the 1,198 players, 104 players tested positive, an 8% positive return, thus testing would be implemented the following season.

A year later, when the BALCO investigation began to take shape, federal investigators searched one of the California labs that was holding the samples and other viable information, with a search warrant. The warrant allowed them to seize information regarding 10 specific players as part of the BALCO investigation, and in the process, the list of the 104 players that failed that 2003 test was discovered. The original list was supposed to be sealed by a court order in California per MLB and the player's union agreement regarding the 2003 testing.

However, several sources told Sports Illustrated that one of those names on the list was in fact Alex Rodriguez. Those sources also claim that several players were tipped by the player's union's chief operating officer, Gene Orza, about unannounced, upcoming testing, a direct violation of the agreement between the players and the league. ESPN has confirmed all of this through one more source.

Now, I've never been a fan of Alex Rodriguez, but I've always believed in his talent as one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. I never really had any suspicions that he used, or was using, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The stories I read, and videos I saw of his work ethics told me he was genuine, and his achievements came naturally from raw talent. So to wake up this morning and see two text messages sent to my phone with breaking news alerts that A-Rod had failed a test back in 2003, was a surprise to say the least.

But here's what bothers me most about it. Before today, there was no evidence that A-Rod was using PEDs. (The only real link between A-Rod and steroids was in Jose Canseco's first book in 2005, Juiced, in which Canseco claims plenty of players were using steroids and PEDs anyway.) In 2007, his name never came up in the Mitchell Report. He probably figured that since it hadn't, he was probably in the clear, and could say and deny whatever he wanted, knowing that the results of this 2003 test were anonymous and couldn't possibly make their way out to the public because they were sealed by a court order in California. So, several days after the Mitchell Report came out, in an interview with Katie Couric of CBS News, she specifically asked him, "for the record," if he had ever used any steroids or any other PEDs, and he vehemently said "no" without any hesitation. And so, in light of today's report that he failed a test in 2003, he lied. To me, that holds more water in my pail than anything else.

I honestly really don't care that he took any PEDs, or even failed a test when there was no concrete testing for it, and steroids and PEDs hadn't been banned from the game yet. There were enough players using some kind of PEDs at the time that the playing field was leveled out anyway. (And I'm not talking about the 8% return mentioned above.) We already know based on information from the BALCO investigation when Barry Bonds supposedly started using. He was a great player, a great hitter for years before the suspicions came out. The same can be said for A-Rod, more or less. These are two great players who should not be punished in the court of public opinion for something when there were hundreds of players using PEDs. In my opinion, when the time comes, they both belong in the Hall of Fame.

But the fact is, and this is what irritates me more than anything, we now know he lied about it, and in the court of public opinion, that will hurt him more than anything else. Now, Alex Rodriguez will be labeled as a steroid user, and a liar. So the best thing A-Rod can do at this point to salvage what is now a tarnished image and reputation, as well a tarnished career, is to come out and publically apologize for lying in that TV interview with Katie Couric, and to admit he used steroids during his 2003 MVP season with Texas, and any other time, if in fact he did.

(A-Rod claimed in that inteview in 2007 that he had been tested "eight or nine times" and so far there's no evidence of any positive results. In fact, in 2005, when he and others were part of the WBC, every player was tested then, as well, but under international rules rather than MLB's rules. Any positive test would disallow a player from participating in the WBC. A-Rod played for Team USA in 2005.)

Earlier this morning, in light of the report, one of his former coaches, Larry Bowa, spoke on MLB Network about this, and about Alex: "Alex lets little things bother him. This is definitely not a a little thing, obviously. This is going to be weighing on his mind, how he's going to go about dealing with the media everyday, 'cause this is not just go on one day, this is gonna go on and on and on and on. It's not going to just end in Spring Training. It's going be an ongoing thing, and you got to be mentally tough, and hopefully Alex has gotten some mental toughness since he's gotten to New York 'cause he's gonna need it, and you know, he's a great kid. I'm concerned [how he's going to react to this] 'cause he's a sensitive kid."

Bowa couldn't be more right about A-Rod. All of that other stuff that's been going on with him, from cheating on his wife, to sleeping around with Madonna, takes a back seat to this. This just adds more fuel to the fire and his image. He isn't going to get away with keeping quiet, because if he does, it could be the worst damage he could do to himself and his reputation as a great baseball player, and this will no doubt drag on all season. Remember, he still plays in New York, the largest media market in the country, where the media is about as tough on anyone as any market in the country. And as Bowa added in his interview, he's going to have to face the media (and fans) in places like Boston, and the West Coast, where he will be crucified. Even in Texas and Seattle where he once played. A-Rod will not be able to run and hide from this. And he sure as hell won't be able to handle the backlash should he decide to deny it, or ignore it altogether.