Pedro Martinez - MLB.com

So I’m watching the baseball classic today, the Dominican Republic versus the Netherlands. The game was pretty good, but at that point it was early and the Netherlands were winning. It was fun to watch the game because you could recognize every player on the Dominican squad because they have so many players in the big leagues.

What caught my attention though was when Pedro Martinez came in. They were talking about how he was using the World Baseball Classic to audition for major league teams. The announcers said there were a handful of teams looking at him, but one of them point blank said he thought Pedro would end up with the Dodgers.

I kind of stared blankly at the screen. Did I hear that right? I didn’t even know we were watching him. The Dodgers do need pitching, but Pedro?

Apparently he wants to play for a championship team in the National League to go with his championship in the American League.

The more I thought about it, this could work if the money was right. Colletti loves bringing in big name vets to get the fans in the park, and yet those who have won at the Big Show. Pedro would fit and might possibly make Dodgerfans feel better that he was traded away for Delino DeShields.

Truth be known I think he’s an injury risk, but he looked good today for 3 innings. He had speed, he was mixing it up, and he held them scoreless. Who knows it may be closer than we think. You throw Pedro in the mix, and you’ve got an unexpected, decent pitching staff. Obviously with Manny and Pedro, you could have a really high caliber team.

We’ll see, but it was one rumor worth stewing on.

Dave Roberts from SFGiants.com - Eric Risbert - AP

So the Giants released Dave Roberts today.  The Giants decided that with his injuries slowing him down, and young guys already showing promise that it was best to just eat his 6.5 million dollar salary this year. (See article here)

I offer a salute to Dave Roberts because I always liked him as a player.  He was by far my favorite player on the Dodgers when he played for them.  He played like I always loved to; with speed.  He would get on the bases and mess with the pitchers just like I used to try and do.  He always had a great success rate swiping bags and I didn’t think anyone other than Brett Butler could lay down a drag bunt from the left side like Dave Roberts could.

I was truly distraught when Paul DePodesta cleaned house that year and traded Dave Roberts away.  Dave always had one achilles heal and that was injuries.  When he played, he could field and run, but it always seemed like he couldn’t ever avoid injuries long enough to get up to speed for a long period of time.  He was horrible for me as a fantasy player.  Yeah, he could get SBs for you, but you never knew when he would play, so you never knew to play him.  Even worse if you left him in all the time, you lost points from other guys because he would suddenly be scratched from the lineup.

Even though he was traded away the fact that he went to the Red Sox that year was sweet justice.  No matter what anyone says, I believe that if Dave Roberts doesn’t steal that bag in the Championship Series, that they don’t eventually go on to win the World Series.  That was the spark.  That was the make it or break it play.  The moneyball Red Sox suddenly had to depend on speed and they traded for him just for that purpose.  Everyone watching that game knew he was sent in to steal a bag.  Everyone knew he was going.  Every viewer, every player on the other team, and especially the catcher.  That’s what I loved about that scene.  It was the best against the best.  Speed versus the catcher’s strong arm.  The catcher was tipped off, he just had to throw him out.  The best part was he couldn’t.  Dave was fast enough to steal the bag and the momentum just kept rising.  The Red Sox tied it and the rest is history.  (Here’s a cool article re-living that moment in Red Sox history.)

Dave Roberts went on to play for the Padres and Giants, but I never minded and always respected him.  When he’s one of your favorite players (and called one of the nicest guys in baseball), it really doesn’t matter what team he played on.

I have a good hunch someone will give him another chance next year, probably just for the off the bench hit or stolen base.  If they do, you bet I’ll still root for him.

Thanks for the memories Dave and happy trails.  It was great seeing you locally and someday I’ll teach my son to steal bags and mess with pitchers just like you did.

Manny Ramirez - ESPN.com - Gary A. Vasquez/US Presswire

Ahh, so happy days are here again. Manny is officially a Dodger, and there was collective deep breath taken by all Dodgerfans. He is legit. He’s here for at least a year, and according to interviews he wants to be here. The signing of Manny was kind of like the weather here today in the Bay Area. Stormy at first, but sunny this afternoon. The ride was rough, but everything is bright now.

Let me be the first to say I was wrong. I was wrong here on this blog stating that he would get 4 years and that he had the last leverage. It ends up both had the leverage. Manny wanted to play and saw that the money was good given the economical circumstances. Frank McCourt saw his beautiful new Spring Training home not sell out on the first game and heard everyone ask about Manny. He knew what he had to do.

I wanted to pass on to all Dodgerfans this link to Jayson Stark’s article on ESPN.com. This was by far the best article I read today regarding the Manny signing. I seriously wonder how many articles were written about Manny in the last two days (I saw at least 20-30 just on 4 websites). This truly was the news of the off-season. Everyone was interested, and everyone had their opinions. The best part of this article was the story of how Frank McCourt really wanted to make sure Manny was ready to be a leader both on the team, as well as in the community. That is very cool that he wanted Manny to give 1 Mil to the Dodgers charity. From a tax point of view it’s good for Manny and for a just good thing for the community, it’s a great thing. It sounds like Manny did want to be a Dodger and hopefully he’ll be one even longer than this year.

I do give Frank McCourt credit. He came out looking good in all this. He didn’t overpay, he held his respect with Boras, he held out for the fans, and he is looking out for the Dodgers. I really think he will be remembered kindly in the future. What other owner of late has done so much for the fans in terms of spending, a new spring training facility and fixing up Dodger stadium? He has invested wisely and I think the fans will continue to respect him for it.

Here’s the other reason I was wrong. I had no idea on the power of Manny. I did, but I didn’t, even in myself. I thought the Dodgers could live without him at one point, but he brings too much. He brings hope. He brings flavor. He brings a bat. Suddenly the Dodgers are favorites and they have one of the best players in all of baseball on their team. It’s been a long time since that was the case going into the new season. The pitching is soft, but with Manny, there is hope and confidence.  You watch, the tickets are already starting to come in for the McCourts.

The best part of the day? My conversation with a Giant’s fan this afternoon. We were talking about Manny and what a difference he will make, and he ended by saying, “We should have signed Manny.” That’s the sweet part of this living up here. The Giants lost Manny to the Dodgers. It wasn’t ever a real possibility for them, but to most Giant fans, there was the hope of a slugger. They lost that hope today and it went to the Dodgers. Once again, the fans up here know the Dodgers got the better player, and now have the better team. Happy days are here again.

Hey Ned and Frank, next time your up here, let me know.  I’ll buy you a beer.  Thanks for seeing this one through…and making sure I don’t have to change my banner image above!

Manny Ramirez from the SF Chronicle - 2/27/09

So I’m starting to notice that the San Francisco Chronicle puts out some cool pictures in the newspaper that aren’t available on-line…at least specific to Manny Ramirez.  This picture came out on Friday, just after the Dodgers and Giants played their first spring training game together (See last post).  I like this picture because it kind of sums of what is going on with Manny.  He is bigger than life at this point, and the game seems really small in comparison.

This whole Manny situation up here in SF is comical to me.  The Giants fans are salivating that the Dodgers can’t sign him, but that the Giants are in a perfect position to jump in and grab him.  Note to Giants fans – the Giants have yet to make him an offer.  If it took the Dodgers 4 times with nothing, how long it will take you when we all know he would rather play in LA?  I just really see the fans hoping he will come, but it doesn’t seem realistic.  Manny truly is still all over the talk shows and broadcasts up here, and now more than ever since it seems the Dodgers can’t get it done.

What’s going on with Manny and Scott Boras is a classic case of bad negotiations.  I guess you could say it is good negotiations in that both are holding to their wants, but it’s bad because the deal isn’t getting done.  They are fighting a public battle and both trying to keep respect even though they don’t respect each other.  The LA Times has done a fantastic job keeping the fans in the loop.  Apparently it comes down to deferred money versus actual money.

I honestly think the Dodgers lost major money last year.  I bet with the stadium fixes, and less people coming to the ballpark initially, that Frank McCourt took a hit.  True he went after his mansions, but I wonder if that was more a matter of housing prices falling rather than bringing in lots of money. His goal is to defer, defer, defer this year, so it makes sense that he wants to really come out in the plus next year to make up for this year.  Call it a hunch, but it would make sense.

The worst part for us fans is that what are we really getting with Manny at this point?  He is now a rental for 1 year until he can opt out to try and get a better contract.  Once he opts out, we get to go through this whole circus all over again next year.  Obviously Scott Boras and Frank McCourt aren’t getting along, so what is going to change? My concern is do the Dodgers really want a player who only half way wants to be there?  What a joke to the Dodgers as an organization.  Of course we want him, but how awkward will it be?

How do the Dodgers fix this?  Keep their word and hold strong.  Either hold to deferment and say no to Scott’s offer with a new one, or let Manny go.  I told you in a previous post that Manny had the leverage, but right now the Dodgers do as the only real taker for 2 years.  If they keep showing that time is running out for a good deal, then Manny will have to jump on board.  I saw a great post to an SF Chronicle article that recommended the Dodgers lower their offer by $500,000 a day until they reach the league minimum.  Not a bad idea.

Here’s an interesting idea for a blog post (Maybe I’ll have to ask Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness or Jon Weisman to do this one), how many of Scott Boras’ clients have actually been on teams that won the World Series?  Obviously Manny did it in Boston, but really, how many have rings?  What I’m really getting at is if Scott’s clients just bring in revenue, or if they can really get it done?  I have a hunch that less than half have won because if you pay their big money, you take away money from filling in a good team around them.   Who knows?  I’d love to hear comments on that one.

Randy Wolf (The New Dodgers Ace) from Dodgers.com

So the Dodgers played the Giants today in Arizona.  It was the first Dodgers/Giants “Regular Spring Training” game as part of the cactus league.  In the spirit of David Letterman, here are the top 10 things I learned:

10.  Man it’s good to have baseball again.  It’s been too long thinking about Manny (even though he came up again and again in the game) and not listening to the crack of the bat.

9.  Who’s playing center field now?  I listened to Jon MIller (Giant’s radio station) and even he had trouble naming all the new players switching in and out of the game.  Got to love spring training where most of the names are new and you never know who just subbed in.

8.  Jon Miller interviewed Henry Schulman (Writer for the San Francisco Chronicle) during the broadcast and I liked what he had to say.  He was talking about the rivalry and that even though this was a nothing game that the fans still get into it.  He was saying that he could really see it in the players too that there was a greater energy going into the game.  There is something deeper to this rivalry, and I hope it never leaves.  I really like that the players get into it too.

7.  The Dodgers can finally hit Sergio Romo.  (See previous post)  They lit him up today.

6.  Delwyn Young needs to take more fly balls.

5.  Jonathan Broxton still has me worried as a closer…unless they just sit him when he plays the Giants.  They just continue to light him up.  He got out of the inning, but not without a run, and not without striking fear as to how bad the Giants may beat him later this year.

4.  Randy Wolf may be well worth his asking price.  Who knew he could become the ace!?

3.  Russell Martin is still a stud.  Here’s hoping he can hit the second half, but he is definitely still my current favorite.

2.  Never heard of Valentino Pascucci before today, but I hope we keep hearing about him.  He launched a homerun, and he has the coolest name of any Dodger in years.

1.  The Dodgers are still better than the Giants and proved it by the final score.  Ahh, I love living in this area when the Dodgers are obviously better and every Giants fan knows it.

Too bad it isn’t a 3 game series…