The Hot Stove League is heating up already. I get a sneakin' suspicion that just about every decent pitcher or bat will be linked in one way or another to Southern California, either through the Dodgers or Angels. In this case, it's Aramis Ramirez, who at 28 is now one of the prime FAs on the market. 35-homer power, .300 hitter, good glove. Signing him would theoretically bump Andy LaRoche and/or Wilson Betemit out of a position. You guys all know how I feel about trading prospects for proven commodities, and that's what this would do. If Ramirez fits in the budget, go get him.

This year's World Series will likely show people the value of finding a way — any way — into the playoffs. The Cards were probably the best 83-win team in a long time. (Injuries and a weak back end of the rotation made it hard to win consistently. Once guys got healthy, they were better, and then they were able to only throw their three best starters. How the bullpen resurrected itself, I have no idea.) But they were still pretty weak, especially heading into the postseason. Yet they put it together, got hot and won. It was a long shot, but it happened.

There's no reason a similar thing couldn't have happened to the Dodgers. In a sport like baseball, where one hot starter or a pair of hot bats (Yadier Molina?) can carry a team, if you can get in to the playoffs, strange things can happen. I'm curious as to how often we'll hear teams reference the '06 Cards at the deadline next season. Just trying to make that move that gets them into the final eight.

—BK

My fiance calls him "the homeless guy" because of the scraggly hair and unusually thin build, but he was nails in the playoffs.

And that noise you heard was the entire Detroit metropolitan area screaming, "Jeff F'in Weaver?" at the same time.

—BK

This would be pretty freakin' cool to watch. And how stoked was this family? You sit down to watch a bunch of boring home movies and you end up snagging a collector's item? Not to revisit Lyons-gate, but talk about your "finding a wallet" moment. As for Larsen, his whole life feels like he's spotting billfolds left and right.

Philosophy 101 Question: You attend this game and witness Don Larsen literally make history, but against your team. Can you put aside your Dodger loyalty enough to appreciate the poetry of his performance (not to mention your good fortune of witnessing it live)? Or does the fact that it came at the expense of the Blue leave the experience permanently sullied?

—AK

On the odd chance you've been polishing your resume in hopes of landing the gig as Director of Player Development for the Dodgers, stop. You blew your opportunity. The Blue have hired Cali native De Jon Watson, formerly director of scouting for the Indians. I'd be lying if I said I knew much about him (OK, anything), but given the solid young players Cleveland has produced recently, this might be a good thing.

Click below for the press release, courtesy of the Dodgers.

—BK

Of Steve Lyons and WalletGate, here's a link to a lengthy interview with the now former Fox broadcaster. And just for kicks, an interview done during happier times.

—BK

Good news for anybody who feels that, while 1994 was a great year for film ("Pulp Fiction," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Ed Wood," "Quiz Show," "Speed," "Forrest Gump," "Hoop Dreams," among others), it was a decidedly lousy year for baseball. But in rather under the radar fashion, Bud Selig has orchestrated an agreement between players and owners that, save 11th hour complications, should keep things humming until 2011. And ahead of schedule, no less. If such positivity remains possible in baseball, maybe there's still hope Ned Colletti and Odalis Perez can mend fences for a return stint in L.A.

OK, there are limits to the trickledown effects of peace accords. But either way, nice to see a potential mess avoided for the time being.

—AK

OK, I might not be the best guy to do this. Why? The following have been my predictions for each matchup throughout the postseason:

Division Series
Cards vs. Padres - Padres in four.
Mets vs. Dodgers - Dodgers in five.
Yankees vs. Tigers - Yankees in four (or five. I don't remember... either way, I was wrong.).
Twins vs. A's - Twins in five.

LCS
Cardinals vs. Mets - Mets in six.
Tigers vs. A's - Tigers in seven.

So I got one series right, and even there, I totally miscalculated on how competitive it would be. So with that in mind, here's my breakdown on the World Series. If you're interested, I have some stock picks too.

Anthony Raglani has torn up the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox. (Get your caps here!) But he isn't the only Dodgers farmhand playing and playing well, though for guys like Blake DeWitt (no relation to Joyce, far as I know), it's been a struggle. Taiwanese shortstop Chin-Lung Hu has had a rough go as well. But that hasn't kept him from keeping a AFL journal. Send him an e-mail to keep his spirits high.

In other news, Jason Repko's injury-riddled season is now an injury-riddled offseason. He'll spend the next couple weeks in a walking boot after undergoing a procedure to the plantar fascia on his left foot.

—BK

Why do I say that?  Because he's apparently been on double secret probation for a while. 

In fairness to Lyons, I can relate to some of his difficulties.  As a writer, I know first hand the challenge of walking the line between funny observations and hurt feelings.  With very few exceptions, humor of any kind places somebody at the butt end of a joke.  That's just the structure of your standard zinger.  In the meantime, we've evolved into an ultra-sensitive society with the ability to find offense in even the smallest of "digs" (I mean, we're warning broadcasters not to poke fun at last names anymore?).  Thus, Lyons, who's clearly been hired as "the wacky voice in the booth," has to find that balance between "witty" and "safe" while working in the moment off the top of his head.  Not easy.  I've had to tell many, many, many a reader on this and the Lakers Blog, "Dude, I was just kidding, and you know I was just kidding, so there's no need to take offense."  And that's with the luxury of being able to edit myself before posting.  I can't imagine how many times I would have piss someone off without a filter.

On the flip side, while I believe Lyons' explanation of "wallet-gate," he's been in this boat before, so he's gotta recognize when rough water could be approaching.  For example, references of any kind to heritage?  Even innocuous ones?  In 11 out of 10 cases, best left untouched.  And he of all people would know that after the incident involving Shawn Green (where, for what it's worth, I do think he crossed a line, even though I imagine his intentions weren't malicious by any stretch).  You can only claim obliviousness so many times before it's apparent you're just not looking in the first place.      

Again, I do feel for Lyons, because I don't think he was ever out to hurt anyone, but it's up to him to negotiate that fine line.  Or quit broadcasting and go into stand up comedy, since he's a legitimately funny guy and audiences nursing 2 drink minimum rum and Cokes at nine bucks a pop will find Lyons' words the least offensive aspect of the evening.

AK    

Over the first season of Blue Notes, it became very clear that the Dodgers are blessed with a vast number of passionate die hard fans.  But here's a question.  For those of you who are die hards, when you actually die, would you like to meet the afterlife in one of these?   Bleed Blue, Decompose Blue.  That's the spirit!

Question 2: In the spirit of all those Tommy Lasorda ads where he encourages fans of teams that have been eliminated to continue watching the playoffs (I particularly like the one where he coaxes the Cubs fan out of the tree), are you guys still into it?  I mean, Game 7 tonight in New York?  A potential Cinderella vs. Cinderella World Series in Detroit against St. Louis?   The big bad Mets against the upstart Tigers if things don't go my way? 

Are you still watching, or did you quickly switch into football/Lakers/Clippers/etc. mode once the Blue were swept?

BK