So with one game in, the Dodgers look locked in. Good front end pitching. Good, timely hitting, and good bullpen work. Works for me.

Of course, they were against the Padres…but Jake Peavy isn’t a push over. I still think the Dodgers should go after him. I don’t want to give up the farm, but he should be good for a long time.

I couldn’t get to San Diego yesterday, but a buddy did, and here’s a picture. He said that even though the game was in San Diego that the crowd was 50% Dodger fans and 50% Padre fans. Petco Park set a single game attendance record last night at 45,496. Pretty cool that it came through the help of all those Dodger fans.

Dodgers at Petco - Opening Day

My buddy had a fun story that can only come from being there. He said that during batting practice that Manny was barely hitting the ball…that he just didn’t seem right. On the other hand, he said James Loney was ripping the ball all over the park. Sure enough, Manny didn’t have a big night, but Loney did. That didn’t surprise me because when I watched the game on Sunday, Loney was spraying the ball all over the park and just made it seem easy. He’s got some good confidence after the playoffs and he could continue to do great things. I don’t know if he wins the batting title this year, but I still think it will happen at some point.

My friend did mention that if Adrian Gonzalez’s ball was 10′ to the other side, that the Dodgers would have been losing 4-3 at one point. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

Tonight – the Dodgers are playing again, and are ahead 2-1 in the 6th.

On the other front, the Giants did win their opener, but Lincecum got knocked around a lot (lasted only 3 innings). Not too surprising though. If you had 50,000 people cheering when you received your Cy Young award…it might be a little tough to concentrate. It is good to know though that he can be beat. The Giants scored 10 runs tonight, but that won’t be consistent.

Go Blue.

So all the talk is Manny and the fact that the Dodgers made an offer just less than A-Rods.  Depending on which article you read, it was a good offer or a bad offer…and I just heard one that said the Dodgers lost ground with thieir offer to even the Blue Jays…even though the Jays can’t talk to Manny until the 14th?  How can you lose ground if you’re still the only offer for 8 days?  Not sure.

Anyway, I loved Manny and for pete’s sake – he’s the lead picture to this website.  Having said that, I give a 40% chance of the Dodgers signing him.  The Dodgers don’t want a long deal, and I think some team will make it happen.  Now, I don’t know that Manny is a good fit for the Blue Jays or Yankees compared to the Dodgers, but he obviously wants the biggest pay off.

The thing that catches my attention are the other players “available.”  If the Dodgers truly want to replace their left fielder, they should go after Holliday.  The guy is a stud and will be for a long time.  The other guy is Peavy.  I know the Dodgers want C.C., but he will get big money and there is a good chance the Dodgers will be outbid.  I don’t want the Padres to gain from the Dodgers, but Peavy consistently beat the Dodgers and would be a great gain at a lower price than Sabathia.  We’ll see.

I do think the Dodgers have to go hard after Furcal.  He is a liability, but he was a huge spark, even in the playoffs.  It’s interesting, if the Dodgers strike out this winter, they will have a very different team next year.  Very different.  I love the GM meetings because the rumors go crazy.  It’s fun to join the buzz.