Extra! Extra! (11.29)

Rob, I think Petco's size will be much more of a defensive problem for Manny than an offensive one. LF in Petco is a lot of ground to cover, especially compared to Fenway, where everything he didn't catch would bounce off the Monster and right back towards him. The only parks that where he can play a passable LF is Fenway, AT&T, and Minute Maid.

What's up with John Heyman saying that the Dodgers have a 'stack of talented relievers'? As far as I know, Colletti hasn't added any relievers yet, and no one from last year's bullpen besides Saito, Broxton, and Beimel were any good.

Mike Lieberthal for $1 million? And he's willing to play backup? That's a steal, regardless of what kind of physical shape he is in. The guy has been the second best offensive catcher in the major leagues over the past decade, he isn't a butcher behind the plate, and he's one of the better guys in baseball. Even if he only plays one game next season, his presence can only help this team.

Now if only some younger players in their prime start to catch the 'I'm a SoCal native who wants to go home' attitude...

Loney, Kemp and Broxton for Manny? hahahaha. Just remember these are the guys that wanted Kemp + scrub for 1 month of the Druggie Drunk Fat *ss. I swear, the Red Sox management just hates the Dodgers.

bmurph,

I too find the asking price for 'Manny being Manny' a bit outrageous. It's kind of comical, but then again if I were Ned Colletti I would be slightly insulted. I hope that Ned gave Epstein an equally insulting counter offer (let's see, how about a sign and trade, Lugo for Manny, straight up!).

It is amazing that Boston is going to pay the Princess 15mil a year to play soft and sit with the slightest ailment, yet they can't wait to get rid of Manny who, despite his antics, can mash with the best of them. I would bet my life that Drew won't play out the lenght of his contract there. They are going to hate this guy so much, and he'll have earned every bit of it.

yo bmurph, nail on the head, man. the red sux really do hate the dodgers. i guess they're mad at us for hee sop choi!! id bet epstein and borASS are buddies and come up with these stupid offers to the dodgers so they could laugh it up. assholes. i would be shocked if gagne goes there too. ill agree with jim rome and say that i wish man ram would come here. he might play weak defense but that guy is all offense!! i think he acts a ass in boston because he just dont like it out there. some cali sun and he'll be right as rain. id bet on it.

-just say no to borASS!

the city of boston is going eat princess crybaby up out there. especially for what he is getting to play out there. i cant wait for next year to see THAT!! good times are-a-comin'!!

Hey, THE WOLF is back!

Dude, some pitcher the Dodgers just signed stole your name.

What's up with all this news about the Dodgers in the race to sign Lugo? I thought we had enough of this guy last season.

What's funny is the fact that even though Lugo was adamant about being a regular SS last season, his value actually went up a lot when the Dodgers started playing him out of position every day. Of the teams that want to sign him, only the Red Sox are in need of a SS. Everyone else wants him to play 2B or in the OF. The Cubs want to pay him big bucks to play CF! All I know is, Lugo's agent better send Grady Little one hell of a gift basket this Christmas.

Lolo, I just hope the trend continues, since the LA area pumps out about 50% of the country's best baseball talent.

MAK

The Lugo thing has got me beffuddled too. One day the Dodgers were thrilled to be rid of him (and let's face it there was no room for a 6,7,8? million dollar a year utility infielder on the team)and in the last few days now they are talking about trying to sign him--what??? I've got three theories. 1. They really don't want him, they want a draft pick for him when he signs with someone else. And, in order to get a compensation pick, I believe you have to offer aribitration or make some effort to retain the player (maybe AK/BK can help with the specifics of this). 2. Along the same lines as the first, maybe they know that San Fran or Boston or Chicago will do whatever it takes to sign him. I know the Giants have talked about him for second base. In fact, the Padres are in need of a second baseman and a lead-off hitter. So, maybe Ned is showing interest in order to drive his price up so that his competitors both in the Division, and competitors for other free agents (that he DOES want to sign)have to spend more money for him and consequently have less money to spend on other players. 3. Maybe Ned knows that if he can sign Lugo, he would be a valuable piece in a package deal for another player. So, for example, if Ned approached a team like the Blue Jays and asked what it would take to get Vernon Wells and they said a middle infielder, a starting pitcher, and a top prospect. Well, the last two we have, but we don't have a middle infielder to give up. So, you either work a 3 team deal, or you try to sign a middle infielder and then you have your package.
All these are totally hypothetical, but somewhere in there has to be the truth because there is no way we would want to resign him to pinch hit & spot start--not after his attitude & production for us last year. And we know that he wouldn't sign with us to do that anyway. If anyone out there has another theory, I'm all ears.

Theo's been dealing with Boras so much, he's trying to negotiate like him. Anchor high, real high. Unfortunately for Theo, he doesn't have any leverage. Theo is playing hardball without a helmet. Knucklehead is gonna get beamed.

SM4E,
You're right. Ned should anchor low.. even lower than Lugo straight up for Manny. I like "a player to be named later" for Manny... (basically a throw in player)

I seriously doubt anyone is going to remember Guzman or who he was traded for...the guy did nothing but mope around when he didn't get his way. And given the fact he never saw a ball he couldn't swing at do not bode well for him having any form of meaningful career.

Face it he was traded because he was not coming close to doing anything he was asked to do...

Just to clarify something someone asked earlier- the Dodgers won't get picks for Drew. Contractually, they weren't allowed to offer him arbitration if he opted out, so that's basically that. No arbitration, no picks. That's how Colletti explained it today (by the way, there will be plenty from N.C. tomorrow, as well as some Pierre and Wolf--- teaser alert!).

BK

Dean, why should anyone really be mad at Colletti?

Let's take a look at all the minor leaguers and young players that he dealt away last season:

Dec. 13: Antonio Perez in a deal for Andre Ethier

Jan. 4: Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll for Jae Seo and Hamulack

Jan. 14: Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany for Baez and Carter

Mar. 31: Jarod Plummer for Wilson Valdez (who was with the 51's all last season)

Apr. 24: Cody Ross for a PTBN (Ben Kozlowski)

Jun. 27: Dioner Navarro and Seo for Hendrickson, Hall

Jul. 23: Sandy Alomar for B.J. LaMura (this time added young talent)

Jul. 25: Blake Johnson and Julio Pimentel to get rid of Odalis Perez.

Jul. 28: Baez and Willy Aybar for Betemit

Jul. 31: Joel Guzman and Jorge Pedroza for Lugo

Aug. 31: Jhonny Nunez for Marlon Anderson

Now, no one will deny that some of the trades above were pretty dumb in hindsight, did the Dodgers really lose so much in the way of great young talent? The loss of Duaner Sanchez and Cody Ross were the only two that the Dodgers could really use today, and of the rest, only Guzman and Navarro have any chance of becoming solid major leaguers. Ethier more than makes up for A. Perez, and Betemit makes up for Aybar. Two low level minor leaguers were a small price to pay to unload our friend Odalis, and you can't really fault Colletti for dealing for Marlon Anderson, who was so clutch down the stretch last season.

Ned's short track record is certainly far from perfect, and he may have given up lots of minor leaguers for duds, but the important thing is that he and his staff were able to identify a core group of players that had a really good chance of making an impact in the major leagues and kept them. Judging by that track record, it seems like they did an outstanding job.

Maybe a few years down the line, if the KC Royals led by Johnson and Pimentel beat the Washington Nationals in the WS despite some game 7 heroics on the part of Jhonny Nunez, I will have a different perspective on things, but until that day, I see no reason why anyone should criticize Colletti for his overall performance since taking control of the Dodgers' front office.

As for the JD thing, I think Colletti would have prepared for the loss had Drew given any sort of indication that he was on his way out. From what has been said, it appears that the opposite was true, and that Drew had given a strong indication that he would remain with the team for the remainder of his contract. Instead, Boras and Drew laid low and waited until the 11th hour to jump ship. Should Colletti have been more on guard? Possibly. Should he be blamed for being naive? Not so much, I think.

Regardless of the specifics of each deal Colletti has made thus far, the important thing is to realize that he has created a good atmosphere in the Dodgers clubhouse, one that apparently has a pretty good reputation around the league, considering the players who have recently expressed a desire to play in LA. In less than a year, he's turned the Dodgers franchise back into a respectable product, and that counts for a lot more than a couple of bad trades.