That Time of Year Again!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WS: Giants over Red Sox

* Wild Card

NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Phillies

NL Rookie: Freddie Freeman, Braves

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Mariners

AL Rookie: Jeremy Hellickson, Rays

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

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

Catching Up, Again

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

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

So let's catch up, just a little.

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

There goes the rotation depth, for now, anyway.

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

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

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

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

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

Ron Mahay was granted his release yesterday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stockpiling Players...

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

• Mike MacDougal
• Ron Mahay
• Aaron Miles

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

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

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

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

Well That Was Quick

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

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

Together Again

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

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

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

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

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

It's Pronounced "Tims"

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

Still with me? Good, because neither am I.

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

Sad State of Affairs for the Blue

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

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

Tragedy Strikes Dodger Family

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

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

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

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

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

Frank's Spreadin' the News... Again

Read about it here.

Someone Found a New Home

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

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

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

The Dodgers Will Go As Far As...

Tim Redding takes them!

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

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

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

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

Or not.

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

A Day Late But...

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

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

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

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

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

Let the fun begin already!

**********

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

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

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

Baseball Loses a Legend

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

Winter Meetings Round-up and Thensome...

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

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

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

Some other notable transactions during the meetings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers Stay Busy

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

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

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

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

Kuroda-san Back in the Fold

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

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

Finding another power bat remains a priority for the Dodgers.

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

Free Agent Frenzy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early Off-Season News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Til 2011...

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

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

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

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

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

Coaching Staff Coming Into Place?

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

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

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

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

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

World Series Set

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

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

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

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

Game one is Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Lilly Re-Ups with Dodgers

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

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

What?! Really?!

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

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Wow! What an opening act!

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

Insane!

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

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

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

Braves and Giants get underway tomorrow in San Francisco.

Post-Season Set

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

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

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

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

Three More Clinch

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

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

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

To be determined at a ballpark near you by Sunday.

Post-Season Primer, sans the Dodgers

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

The Dodgers are out.

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Lost Season

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

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

BREAKING: Mattingly to Replace Torre After Season

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

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

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

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

More to come...