Andruw Jones out?

I think it's pretty obvious that these two things(FAJ out & Manny in) are hand in hand! Here's regarding FAJ:
Dodgers Rework Andruw Jones Deal
FRIDAY, 7:51pm: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Major League Player's Association has approved the contract agreement, which will defer Jones' remaining salary. According to an industry source, Jones will either be traded or released before the start of spring training and perhaps sometime this month.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/dodgers-working.html

And there's Manny..
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Friday
3:33pm: The Chronicle's Henry Schulman doesn't have anything new on the KPIX report yet. But he's heard that the Dodgers offered Manny $60MM over three years at some point and were turned down.
If this rumor is true, Ned is trying to free up some more money for Manny? How much more is Boras asking, we'll see?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/giants-manny-ru.html
If Ned can mastermind getting rid of FAJ and bring back Manny, I'd have to nominate Ned for GM of the year! And I'll grow a mustache!!

Yeeeeeeeeehawwwwwwwwww.....Smirky Face Jones is gone!!!!

Now, get rid of Juan Please Be Gone and the Dodgers could finish in last place and I would still consider it a successful season.

Wow, what news!! I can't wait to find out what sorry team picks him up and gives him a shot this year. I am in Norcal and strapped a bit with the economy but I will surely be at Dodger Stadium when my buddy FAJ comes back so I can be a historic part of the loudest boos ever rained down on an opposing player!!!! Yippee!!

If he came back as a Giant, I would cheer him!

if jones is traded, does that mean the new team picks up his entire contract including the differed payments?

I need to get this out of my system:
IS ANYONE ELSE CONCERNED AT THE HUGE AMOUNT OF STARTING AND RELIEF PITCHING WE HAVE LET GO THIS OFFSEASON, AND THE RESULTING COMPLETE LACK OF DEPTH IN THE PITCHING STAFF??
I understand we have had success plugging "reclamation projects" into the #5 spot in the rotation, and i'm OK with that. But you can't fill out your entire bullpen and back end of the rotation with these types. We are putting WAYY to much on the shoulders of young guys like Billingsly, Kershaw, McDonald and Broxton, who will inevitably have some rough patches as they develop into Major League ballplayers. Even with Manny (please please please) this team could be headed for 3rd (or even 4th) place without some pitching upgrades.
Lowe. Park. Beimel. Saito. Tell me we win the division without these guys contributions last year? (we don't).
Tell me who is going to match their production? (mcdonald? schmidt? claudio f'ing vargas? cmon lets be real)

Why not take a gamble on Ben Sheets???

(and i still think both sides should swallow their pride and bring D Lowe back. won't happen, but should have never gotten to this point).

jeesz even Garland would settle things a little bit.

With young starters and question marks in the rotation, our bullpen will need to be huge this year. We've lost too much depth for this to be the case. The pressure will be huge on Bills and Kershaw to carry this staff and throw major innings. Love these guys, but its alot to ask for such young pitchers.

I keep convincing myself that the rest of the teams in the division aren't that much better off. But with that rotation SF can't be ignored if they grab a big bat. Arizona will be in the thick. Colorodo could be more Jekyll than Hyde, you never know with those guys. Thankfully I'm confident that San Diego will be in the basement.....but its terrifying to me that right now the Blue could be anywhere from a division champ to a 4th place team.

Anyone interested in Dodger contracts. Take a gander at the following:

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/los-angeles-dodgers.html

Mike I lived in Syracuse for 20 years. Now in East Greenbush which is a suburb of Albany. I grew up in El Segundo, CA. Why I am still in NY is one of my lifes greatest mysteries I will head back out west after my youngest leaves the nest. But it is good you have company in NY. When I go out wearing my Dodger hat someone always has something to say. Much less going to Shea for that 1 weekend a year to see my boys in blue. Think its in the first week of July this year, hope to see you there!

Valmont,

Comparing James McDonald to Edwin Jackson is like comparing apples to oranges. Jackson was a thrower, McDonald is a pitcher.

McDonald lived up to his billing in his brief appearances for the Dodgers. He threw low to mid-90's heat, and displayed the excellent curve and change he was reputed to have. The curve and change are the products of extremely large hands, and very long fingers. On several occasions I saw McDonald throw a mid-90's fastball followed by a mid-70's change. A 20 mph difference in those two pitches is huge. Furthermore, he exhibited poise and had a presence on the mound.

Clearly McDonald needs to prove himself over time. And judging his stuff in short stints doesn't prove that he can hold it for 6-7 innings or more in a starting role. In fact, I've read that Torre was so impressed with his performances out of the bullpen at the end of the year, that he might prefer to use him there in 2009.

The loss of a first round draft pick is actually significant for the Dodgers, since they have the 17th overall pick in 2009. The playoffs have nothing to do with draft order, which is based on a team's regular season record. For example, the Mets did not make the playoffs, but had a better regular season record than the Dodgers. Even if they had not signed K-Rod and kept their first round pick, they would have picked AFTER the Dodgers. In fact, if the Mets should end up signing Lowe, the Dodgers would likely only receive a 2nd round pick (plus a supplemental), since Lowe is likely rated below K-Rod by the rating system used by MLB.

I'm not in favor of signing what would be a high priced free agent pitcher with a significant injury history, at the cost of a relatively high first round pick. Besides, haven't the Dodgers had enough bad luck with injury prone free agent pitchers (do Schmidt and Dreifort ring a bell?). There are other more cost effective pitchers on the market that would not require the Dodgers to surrender a valuable draft pick.

The backloading of Furcal's contract, and the deferring of a large piece of Jones' money, are indications that the Dodgers are attempting to push as much money into the future as possible. I suspect this is by design for the time when the Dodgers become free to establish a regional network, and open the modernized Dodger Stadium. It appears that they are attempting to keep their payroll as low as possible in 2009 so as to free up money for Manny, or perhaps someone else.

Sorry if this is short-sighted, but who cares about fricking draft picks right now? We were one round (3 wins) from the World Series. Sign Manny. Sign Sheets if you can, if not, then another good alternative. Throw money at Saito or Trevor Hoffman for all I care to shore up the pen. If we win a World Series next year, I'll worry about lack of a 1st round draft pick at this time next year.

Has Jeff Kent made any announcement about retiring or is he hoping to get picked up by an AL team? And what about Nomar? Has he made any declaration? Seems Boras has said DLowe wants 4 years at $16 mil per. That scares me he's looking for $30 mil 4 years for Manny. Do the gnats have this amount of dough?

Renegotiating FAJ's contract to create short-term payroll flexibility is a great move by the Blue. Whether the Dodgers release him or trade him, it is a net positive for the team to not give FAJ any at bats next year, and remove his negative presence from the team. I doubt that any team will trade for FAJ since his skills have seriously eroded, and the Dodgers have signaled that they will release him if no trade partner is found. An interested team can simply wait for him to be released, and then offer him a contract at the major league minimum.

Brooklyn- As always a very thorough and thoughtful post. While I agree that draft picks are important, and help the team build for the future, I disagree that the Dodgers should make giving up a draft pick the major hurdle to signing a FA this year. As both Valmont and VA have pointed out we were very close last year to making the World Series, we need to add another front-line starting pitcher, and we may be able to bring players in at a discount based on the current market conditions. The Dodgers scouting staff can always augment their draft with signings of foreign born players if there is a desire in the organization to compensate for a lost #1 pick. Based on the current payroll numbers, it looks like there is budget flexibility for adding some foreign born players this year to the farm system.

The Dodgers should seriously pursue Sheets if he is cleared by their medical staff, and they are able to sign him to a short term deal. A 2 or 3 year deal with performance incentives to pay Sheets as a #1 starter if he performs as one, would be a good deal for the Blue.