Big winners even when losing

Sorry, but Ned doesn't deserve credit for anything other than finding players who didn't cost any money.

The Dodgerrs were a .500 team without Blake and Ramirez; they're a 7-games-over .500 team with those guys. That doesn't win pennants unless you play in a crappy division. The best thing that can be said about Flanders is that he's not Brian Sabean, Kevin Towers, or the guys running Colorado and Arizona. Those guys really suck.

Torre is no genius either, but you do have to give the guy credit for making the best of this team.

The team he was given out of the gate included Brad Penny as its #1 starter, Rafael Furcal as its leadoff hitter and shortstop, Andruw Jones as its center fielder and #4 hitter, and Takashi Saito as its closer.

All four of those guys spent significant time on the DL, sucked, or both. If strength is up the middle, then the Dodgers were like a barbell without a bar, a house without a chimney, a circle without a center, or a pizza without one of those plastic disks to prevent the top from sagging and getting cheese stuck to it so that when you open the box, half the mozzarella is smushed onto the cardboard.

But I digress.

Not without some prodding from people who have both two eyes and a brain, Torre pieced together a lineup out of the vast stores of talent the Dodgers had on their bench or minor league system and put out a product that was a little better than .500, or good enough to win the division. Does that make him NL manager of the year? Not in my book. It’s what he was paid to do. The Dodgers were supposed to compete, and they competed. Other teams had injuries and they didn’t compete. Torre hasn’t done any more than Jim Tracy or Grady Little did in their tenure here.

If Torre wins manager of the year, it will be for the same reason the Dodgers won this division: default. Ned Yost got fired two weeks ago, Wille Randolph got fired halfway through the season, Jerry Manuel hasn’t made the Mets a whole lot better than Randolph did, Charlie Manuel and Lou Piniella were both expected to win. So who’s the great manager in all of this? There isn’t one. Joe will probably get it simply because he’s a good guy and the media loves him. If only they could decide the World Series.

Ahh, Cashman. Another mental giant.

Kei Igawa

Carl Pavano

Johnny Damon

Jason Giambi for seven years.

Paid $300 million for A-Rod even though nobody else could afford him.

Wouldn't trade Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy for Johan Santana, because those guys are the future of the organization.

Yeah, he'd be great for the Dodgers. I can just see it now. Kemp, Ethier, and Billz for Robinson Cano and Darrel Rasner.

Cahsman can't do anything without money, and Frank isn't going to spend like the Yankees. The only guy I want running the Dodgers is Logan White.

I'm an agnostic on Cashman, but I would think it's hard for anybody to be a general manager under an owner named Steinbrenner.

I am a life-long Dodger fan having watched Sandy Koufax pitch a 1-0 complete game victory and was in the outfield stands when Kirk Gibson hit his one-legged home run. I have always supported trades for great players and development of young talent but I am not a fan of outrageous multi-million dollar salaries, gauranteed, for playing a game. I realize that everything, especially entertainment, works on the premise of "whatever the market will bear", translation being "whatever we can squeeze out of each person, fan or not, while sounding like it's not our fault for charging outlandish prices."

Manny Rameriz was a great addition this year but at what point are the fans going to take control of player salaries? We have always had the power but our fickle support and shelling out of hundreds of dollars for one game so a player can work 9 months of a year, work under the best conditions, have everything payed for, a WorkComp system second to none, make extra money selling anything with their name scratched on it, and make money promoting products they may or may not use, and all this while people are losing their homes and the unemployment rate in California is 7.7%. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe the state of the economy is because of ahtletes' salaries but there has to be a time and a place when enough is enough. The oil companies squeeze every last penny out of us, the mortgage companies have shown their true colors in regards to emptying our wallets and we have allowed team owners to spend recklessly knowing that they will simply pass the cost onto us. Even if you don't go to games you are still charged premium prices for products with an athlete's name on it even though the product is no better than lower priced items. The athlete uses the excuse that they have a short career span and are only trying to take care of their family. They demand millions of dollars for one year but want multi-year contracts that are gauranteed so they can get paid for sitting at home. Most Americans don't make as much in their entire career as these athletes make in one year plus the average American can't walk into any restaurant, bar, or entertainment venue for free. The athlete demands the high, ridiculous salary and royal treatment. I was hoping that each time a sport went on strike the American public would wise up and boycott the games until some sanity was injected into the salary system. The team owner raises prices saying he is only trying to put a competitive team on the field and expects us to bear the cost. The athlete arrives in town expecting our full support up until the time he receives a better offer somewhere else. Off he runs to his next super contract while we pay for the rest of his old one while also paying for his replacement.

Manny Rameriz is not worth 20 plus million dollars a year; no player is worth that much especially when considered side by side with many other jobs. I think they should have a system of A, B, and C rated players with each level receiving a specific base salary and the player has the opportunity to earn more through performance. I know all the pitfalls and how do you rate some of the intangibles but how is it being done now? Oh, you had one good statistical year once in your career so here's millions of dollars on the off chance that you might have another good one. Enough is enough. It is a small part overall but it is one that the fans have the opportunity to control unlike the price of gas. Don't go to see the games and avoid products endorsed by athletes until it becomes more fair. Team owners and athletes should be a part of our economic situation and not apart from it becasue we throw money at them we can't afford, money needed for our families' security.