Saw in the ol' Blue Notes inbox that Joe Torre will be a guest on the inaugural airing of "Conversations with Michael Eisner" on CNBC.  Two airings, the first at 6 pm PST (that's right now), and another at 9. 

Enjoy!

BK

I can't imagine when members of the '86 Dodgers look back at a disappointing 73 win season, this clip does much to take the sting away.  But I'm willing to bet it provided some serious entertainment for the current squad, who had a chance to watch it during Sunday's clubhouse meeting.

Serious thanks to reader Brian for sending this along. 

BK

And not in an "influential 80's band" kinda way.  The casa is stuffed because there's a lot of players on a talented Dodger squad jockeying for just a few spots.  One of them upstarts is the youngster Matt Kemp, who's been coming on string during this early February baseball.  His improvement could theoretically come at the expense of Andre Ethier, although the hope is that the duo can squeeze the best out of each other.  Such would mirror the attitude of Nomar Garciaparra, who ain't itching to get left for dead just quite yet, but nonetheless doesn't see Andy LaRoche as his Lex Luthor.  Still, it's easy to claim "we're all in this kumbaya boat together," but as last year's finish showed, dudes can get mighty sensitive when it comes to cut PT.  Such potential dilemmas are just one reason Joe Torre clocks big dollars on either coast, even as he's feeling out the new situation.

Oscar themed highlights from Sunday's Spring Training Notes, courtesy of Dodgers PR:

TINSELTOWN TUSSLE: The Dodgers held their first intrasquad game this afternoon and even though it only lasted five innings, Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti and new Dodger Manger Joe Torre were able to begin their “official” evaluation of the 2008 Dodgers. The contest, which pitted “Team Koufax” against “Team Drysdale” featured a triple by outfielder Matt Kemp, three hits from outfielder John Lindsey, and RBI double by A.J. Ellis, and a two-run double by John-Ford Griffin. Dodger shortstop Chin-lung Hu also had two hits. On the mound, Mike Myers, Tanyon Sturtze, Eric Hull, Mike Koplove, Greg Jones, Fernando De La Cruz, and Brian Shackelford all tossed scoreless innings.   

GONE BABY GONE: Dodger non-roster invitee John Lindsey crushed the ball in each of his at-bats this afternoon, going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI, and two runs scored. Although most haven’t had a chance to watch the 245-lb. first baseman, his numbers at both Double and Triple-A last season should make this performance come as no surprise. Lindsey led all Dodger minor leaguers with a combined 30 home runs and 121 RBI last year, while also hitting .317. The Missouri native was named the Dodgers’ Minor League Player of the Month for July, when he batted .337 (32-for-95) with nine homers, 39 RBI and a .716 slugging percentage during the month for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. Lindsey is in his 14th year in professional baseball, but has never made the Major Leagues after stints in the Colorado, Seattle, and Florida Organizations.    

NO STARTING FOR OLD MAN: Dodger left-hander Mike Myers started the intrasquad game this afternoon and fanned Tony Abreu and James Loney in his only inning of work. It has been quite some time since the 38-year old has seen his name penciled in as the starter. Myers has appeared in 883 big league games, which is 22nd all-time, and none as a starter. He did make 80 starts in the minor leagues in 127 games, but the last time he started a contest was in 1994.

And there you have it.  We're still about a week away from the creation of real news... but we're getting there.   In the meantime,  we'll post what we get.  On a side note, Lindsey, who is, I believe 31 years old and a career minor leaguer, is the sort of guy you root for.  That said, he's a major long shot to make the team.

BK

ESPN's Outside the Lines takes a look (video style!) at Dodgertown, as part of the look at (presumably) L.A.'s last preseason there.  While I've written before that the move is a long time in coming, it's worth remembering how significant a role it played in baseball history.  And for those of you who missed the E-Ticket on the venerable Spring Training site... here you go.

BK

As the Rolling Stones famously told us, we all need someone we can lean on.   Thus, it's a happy sight in Dodger country to see folks teaming up to help bring the best out of the Dodger roster.  There's Blue base running legend Maury Wills giving pointers to Matt Kemp, which will hopefully prevent this speeding locomotive from going off the rails as often as in '07.  New hurler Hiroki Kuroda has plenty of know how when it comes to the craft of baseball, but he's not much on the American game or culture.  Cue Takashi Saito, who's showing his buddy the ropes and rustling up authentic vittles to help ease the transition.   Yet one more reason for Joe Torre to be highly impressed with his '08 Mariano. 

As for Derek Lowe, the partnership is with a familiar ally.  Himself.  He's out to become his best asset, whether by remaining healthy or just playing some ball and not worrying about what the future will bring.  Some similar self reliance might help these gents with the proving ground they're looking to conquer.

The folks at Baseball Prospectus do a lot of numbers crunching, including yearly projections for every player in the league (PECOTA, the eggheads call it). BP's Jim Baker broke down the numbers for players with no MLB experience, and among that crowd no pitcher rated with a higher PECOTA than Dodgers' FA righty Hiroki Kuroda.  While obviously such an honor doesn't actually mean anything for the Blue until Kuroda actually hits the hill, it's still nice to see.  After all, last year's winner of the "no MLB experience" projection category was Daisuke Matsuzaka.  That turned out pretty well for Boston.  But along with the kudos for Kuroda, Baker has another nugget that should make fans smile, given how good the pitching in the NL West is this year:

"Starting Pitcher: Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers, 23.3 Projected VORP. As it was last year, the starting pitcher with the best PECOTA is a Japanese import, albeit a less-heralded one than Daisuke Matsuzaka was. Adding Kuroda gives the Dodgers something that no other team in the National League has: four starting pitchers with a PECOTA-projected VORP over 20.0. True, they’re all scores in the low 20s, but it beats the alternative. Chad Billingsley is highest at 23.7, followed by Kuroda; Derek Lowe is next at 21.0, followed closely by Brad Penny at 20.9. A healthier Jason Schmidt would certainly project that high as well. Only one other team has four equally promising starters in their stable, that being Boston with Josh Beckett (44.6), Daisuke Matsuzaka (34.9), Clay Buchholz (22.8), and Curt Schilling (20.2), although Buchholz is behind John Lester and Tim Wakefield on the depth chart."

Like the weather, the preseason forecasts aren't always right, but like the weather, it's better to see projections of sunshine than rain.

BK

It's not exactly a terrible problem for Joe Torre, the notion of having options plenty at his fingertips.  But it does require some decision making on his part.  For example, how to set the outfield.  It's a given that newbie Andruw Jones will start in center, but will his newest protege be awarded the full time spot in right?  Should Matt Kemp beat out Andre Ethier for that role, it would be Ethier vs. Juan Pierre for the other corner of the outfield (and in this case, the fans have been casting their votes since last season).  And, as always, there's that pesky hot corner case of Garciaparra v. LaRoche.  Phil Gurnee of SportsHubLA.com believes it's time for youth to be served. 

Were Torre to follow that lead, what would he do with Mr. Mia Hamm, one asks?  Garciaparra has thrown out a semi-serious idea.  In tribute to his baseball idol "B.Bunny," Nomar says he's down for some emergency work at the 2 spot.  Which could theoretically help his skip out a touch, since he'll undoubtedly have to force himself to play Russell Martin at a more "Posada-ish" rate.  As for John Lindsey, he's not likely to cause Joe Torre any sleepless nights in regards to first base.  But after years feeling like Kevin Costner, he's just happy for some time in Vero.

Clearly the frontrunner for the third base gig is an open question, because even the guys writing about it can't quite figure it out.  Maybe the job is Nomar's to lose, maybe Andy LaRoche has the inside track (he's been getting a lot of reps defensively with the other starters... but Joe Torre says not to read much into that).  Maybe Nomar is better suited to bench duty?  Maybe not.  One guy willing to do about anything to stick with the big club is Delwyn Young, who has taken his infielder's glove out of storage in an effort to add a little more versatility to his resume. 

Meanwhile, maybe we all jumped the gun with this whole, "Final Tribute to Dodgertown!" theme.  The Blue aren't happy with the folks in Glendale and some of the plans for the new facility there.  While it's likely a lot of legalese and posturing, at least in theory, the Blue left the door open to exploring other options if things don't pan out the way they'd like.

For Andrew Jones and Rafael Furcal, former Braves phenoms and incredibly close friends, it's good to be back together, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.  For Rudy Seanez, if he's not back this year, he may not be back at all. 

It's easy to understand why some might think Gary Sheffield is kind of a jerk.  But here's something Shef says we can all agree on: Scotty Boras is a bad man.   

With news that Tommy Lasorda will manage the Dodgers in Vero while Joe Torre's Goodwill Blue make the jaunt to Beijing, it appears the folks at SI have gotten a little nostalgic for the early days Mr. Pasta.  That would explain the reprinting of this article from March of 1977.  Remember, there was once a day when the changing of managers was a rare thing for the franchise.

How ST will play out, given the split squads, long trips, and multiple home fields is just one of the many questions on the minds of fans and writers alike.  There's always a lot of noise, but finding solid lessons can be tougher. 

BK