Spring Training has been going along pretty ho-hum this year.  A few new recruits, still not enough pitching, but definitely without the Manny drama of last year….until two days ago.

I read Ken Gurnick’s article (click here) where Manny said that this will be his last year in L.A.  That really wasn’t a surprise, but it was the timing that surprised me.

It kind of hit me like a really good steak that you had at a restaurant, but now it’s been in the refrigerator a few too many days and you’re wondering if it’s still good.  It could be just as good as when you first tasted it, or it could be so bad that you have to throw it out.  Either way, it leaves you a little queasy even before you take a bite.

That’s how I feel with Manny.  The thing with Manny is that even though he comes across as a goofball, Manny is a very smart man.  He is all about calculating his money along with being a very good baseball player.  If he says something, it is only because he and his agents have already determined what to say and when to say it.  The fact that he made it known that this is his last year in his first statement of the spring is concerning.

I work with people who have given notice that they are retiring at the end of the year.  Yes, they get the job done, but if they hit something difficult, they usually don’t do as good of work, because they know it doesn’t matter and they are gone in a few months.

Why wouldn’t it be different for Manny?  He already has a guaranteed 20 million dollars, and we all know he has a history of dogging it.  If he is injured, or could get injured and then damage his ability to play next year, why wouldn’t he shut it down.  That would truly hurt the Dodgers.

One Giant’s fan did set me straight though.  He stated that if this truly is Manny’s last year in blue, then he has just given notice to other teams.  If he wants to play next year and get a good contract (both of which I believe to be true), then he has to put on a show this year.  This could truly help the Dodgers.

Either way, I’m queasy.  It may turn out fine, but why not say, “I’m just going to take this year one day at a time, and then decide at the end of the year.”  If he makes up his mind before then, fine, but why declare it in your first press conference of the year?

In either case, Ned Colletti already better be thinking about who will replace him in left field.  At the soonest, next year we will need another big bat.

What do you think?  Is he setting himself up to dog it, or put up good numbers for a big, new contract?

Tags: Manny Ramirez, Ned Colletti

Special Code: PGYG83M3DHGY

I struggled with how to title this post. Now that I’ve written it, it reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book “Go Dog Go,” but hopefully I’ll still get my point across.  

Like other Dodger fans, I’ve watched as the Dodgers have let most of this off-season pass.  No offense to Jaime Carroll, but unless he’s going to pitch, he wasn’t what people were expecting. 

What’s caught my attention in the blogs, articles and general opinions (mine included) is that the Dodgers really aren’t doing anything behind the scenes because of the divorce.  It seems that all money is on hold, and therefore, the Dodgers are just looking for cheap bargains.

Many thanks to www.mlbtraderumors.com, because they had a nice little post to help show me different (click here).  Hold tight Dodger fans – it seems that things are still brewing.  Here’s the summary:

• The Dodgers made an earnest attempt to land Roy Halladay prior to the blockbuster deal that shipped him to Philadelphia.  According to sources, the Blue Jays would have preferred L.A. as a trading partner, but of course, it wasn’t really up to them.  Ultimately, it didn’t matter how much the Dodgers could give Toronto or potentially give Doc in an extension, the Phillies were at the top of his list. The Dodgers made an earnest attempt to land Roy Halladay prior to the blockbuster deal that shipped him to Philadelphia.  According to sources, the Blue Jays would have preferred L.A. as a trading partner, but of course, it wasn’t really up to them.  Ultimately, it didn’t matter how much the Dodgers could give Toronto or potentially give Doc in an extension, the Phillies were at the top of his list.

What this confirmed is that good ol’ Ned is still working.  No one knows who’s really calling the shots for the Dodgers at the top, but at least we know Crazy Ned Colletti is still on the phones.  This is the same guy who got Manny Ramirez for nothing, and continues to turn out of date pitchers into work horses again.  He’s not perfect (no need to bring up certain names), and he definitely didn’t get Halladay but at least we can know he’s not sitting at a desk doing nothing due to money restraints.  

We all know the Dodgers need another pitcher and I’m sure he knows it better than anyone, but he’s trying.  When it comes down to it, getting the player is what people remember, so it is a fine line, but I know he’s working the channels.  Last year, no one thought the pitching would even be decent, but it lasted to the playoffs.  This year, he knows he has to get over the hump.

Like every Dodgerfan, I’m rooting for Crazy Colletti to pull something out of his hat, or at least be smarter than all the rest of us. 

Like the Dr. Seuss book…Go Colletti Go and then Go Around Again!

Special Code: PGYG83M3DHGY

Tags: Jaime Carroll, Ned Colletti, Roy Halladay

Malachi 2:16   “I hate Divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel….

I won’t always be quoting scripture, but in this case, it just seems appropriate.  If God hates divorce, it’s no wonder we cringe everytime we hear about it.  As always, it’s the kids who seem to get hurt the worst.

If you haven’t heard about the divorce between Frank and Jaime McCourt, the owner’s of the Dodgers, you’ve been out of the country for the last 2 months.  Even then, you may have heard about it.  For some reason, those two decided to make this a very public split, and thanks to the media, most fans are pretty informed, and yet biased based on which story they heard first.

At this point it’s really a he-said, she-said battle, and now no one will every know the real truth because both sides are giving “no comment,” and “taking the high road.” 

Here’s a quick synopsis of what we do know and then I’ll dig deeper. 

• First stories of the divorce.
• Frank fires his wife who is currently #2 of the Dodgers for such reasons as insabordination.
• He then also blames the firing on her having a fling in France with a separate Dodger Employee.
• Jaime McCourt claims she really has control of the team and wants to be re-instated.
• The legal courts side with Frank, and she’s still out of a job.

Now, it’s just sloppy.

I credit TJ Simers of the LA Times for a very good interview with Jaime McCourt (Click Here).  He says it straight, but he did a great job trying to give the facts.  As always, there’s two sides.  The part that still makes me shake my head is that she says, she never cheated until the marriage was over…now the divorce wasn’t finalized, but obviously in her mind, the marriage was over, so she could move on.  With all the fervor that Frank McCourt dragged her through the mud of the details…he obviously disagreed with the quickness of her choice, given their 29 and 10/12’s months of marriage.

All right, so we the kids..aka the fans, are dragged through all this, really wondering what will happen to the team and what happened to the good old days of one family ownership who really cared about the team.  Actually, let’s be straight, the true fans are just wondering if there will still be enough money in the kitty to get two good starting pitchers so that the Dodgers can actually get to the World Series.  We care about the people involved…but given that divorce is common in America, the want is to move on and focus again on baseball.  

Ok – so here’s where I want to dig deeper.  I think divorce is tragic and as mentioned by Jaime McCourt, I do think their kids are getting the shaft on this whole thing.  What I keep thinking about is where it started?  There are pictures of a much more happy couple when the Dodgers were first purchased.  Somehow between then and now, the marriage fell apart. 

Based on TJ’s article, it seems that there was some difference of opinion on direction of the Dodgers, all real estate and money, versus taking care of the community and the fans.  Even more, look at when things finally fell apart.  It would appear the worst happened this last baseball season.  Of course divorce doesn’t happen over night, so things have built up to this, but still things obviously accelerated this year.

Here’s some ideas, keep in mind purely speculation.  First – money.  As often in divorces, money plays into it.  We know the Dodgers felt the pinch last year, so perhaps the mount of debt played into many discussions.  Similarly, if Frank was caught up in this and not taking care of his wife, or not on the same page with her, then perhaps things eroded more quickly.

But here’s another question – how much did Manny play into this?  (If Manny reads this please know I mean no disrespect), but it’s an interesting question.  Manny divided Dodger fans, let alone the owners.  Everyone knows Frank McCourt and Scott Boras didn’t get along, but Manny won.  Frank held out in some ways, but Manny got his money.  If the couple wasn’t united on this, that’s a major blow. 

Then, oh yes, then, Manny gets busted.  The timing is just before things really went down hill with the McCourts.  I’m sure it wasn’t the main thing, but if they were divided on it, no you have a real riff.  There’s less money coming in and there’s the decision on how to discipline him or what to do with Mannywood..  Frank eats his decision and so does she with the public, and you have a potential final straw.

Did Manny cause the divorce?  I’m sure not, but the timing of the circumstances does make me wonder.

My sincere condolances to the McCourts on this trial.  I do hope they can resolve and take care of their kids.  Not only their real ones, but the fans who want things put back together for the team.

So what do you think?  What do you think contributed to the last straw?  I’m curious on your thoughts.

Tags: Frank McCourt, Jaime McCourt, Manny Ramirez

I was gone this week at a training in San Diego, and thankfully, the Dodgers just kept on rolling.  Two from the Phillies is pretty good.  The offense is still strong…but the pitching is still suspect.  Even without Manny, they will need to solve pitching.

Apparently Manny stopped by to apologize to the team the other day.  I’m glad Frank McCourt made him do it.  Manny screwed up.  Living in secrets only leads to more assumptions.  At least the players could see how he reacted and make their decision on their own on his sincerity.  From the reports he was definitely sincere.  I don’t agree with what he did, but I think this is more of a baseball problem now than just a Manny problem.  Baseball has turned its head to this for a long time, so Manny is just another one in the crowd. You can throw him under the bus, which people have done, but baseball hasn’t.  The fan money coming in is still too strong for superstars.  Until there are lifetime bans, or at least 3-5 year bans, this will continue and more will fall.

I personally believe that Manny really does regret how this has affected the fans in L.A.  Despite the off-season contract hold-out, I believe he really wanted to be in L.A., and wants to say here for a little bit.  I’ve read a lot of articles for this site, and I have been able to read between the lines.  He is definitely disappointed he got caught more than anything, but Manny does live for being the hero everyone loves.   He was the hero in L.A., and he now knows how much people did adore him…before.  He will be loved again, but he knows not in the same way.  A lot of fans have crossed to the other side.  Who knows how much damage he did to his body, but the damage will be forever done in the minds of the fans.

On a side note, I had a Giants fan tell me the other day that the best part of Manny being caught is that he is still in my picture at the top of this website.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that now.  I love that picture, but it is kind of silly to have that picture up there when he is suspended.  What do you think?  Change the picture, or leave it?  Leave your comment below.  If anyone has a picture of Pierre from SF, I’ll definitely consider that.  He’s on-fire right now.

Tags: Frank McCourt, Juan Pierre, Manny Ramirez

Dodger games on TV are a premium up here, so I was pretty excited about today’s exhibition game between the Dodgers and Giants.  It’s funny though, I forgot that it was the day before Opening Day, therefore most of the regulars are on the bench…including Manny.

It’s an interesting game though because you got to see the depth or lack of depth of the Dodgers lineup this year.  Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, Brad Ausmus, Blake DeWitt – all decent players but all the bench guys for this coming year.

What caught my attention though were the starters who were in there – James McDonald, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and James Loney.  Obviously, there isn’t a back up for every spot, so you have to keep some regulars.

Here’s where my thoughts turned to concern.  Let’s think worst case scenario this year.  If Manny, Kemp or Eithier go down, Pierre is the everyday.  If two go down, it becomes a different question.

If Blake, Furcal, or Hudson go down, then you have Blake DeWitt or Mark Loretta.  Similarly, Martin goes down, then Ausmus.

Here’s the one that I couldn’t answer though.  What happens if Loney goes down?  I’m convinced the guy will win the batting title some day and he doesn’t seem prone to injury, but you never know what will happen.  I guess Casey Blake could go over there, but who else?  Mientkiewicz is an easy answer if he makes the team, but that hasn’t been decided yet.

I’m sure the Dodgers top brass have thought through this scenario, but it isn’t really obvious. 

Well, back to the game.  McDonald looks a little shaky.  Pierre is running like always.  Ethier doesn’t seem quite right yet, but Loney looks solid.  Bengie Molina and Randy Winn continue to be Dodger killers.

Let the Season begin!

Tags: Andre Ethier, Bengie Molina, Blake DeWitt, Brad Ausmus, Casey Blake, Doug Mientkiewicz, James Loney, James McDonald, Juan Pierre, Manny Ramirez, Mark Loretta, Matt Kemp, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Randy Winn, Russell Martin