Deviation in Dodger Direction

For the first time in 8 years, the Dodgers seem to be making the right moves. Since dismembering a respectable team built around Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green, the Dodgers were stuck in a cycle of questionable and disappointing signings. They brought in the ever-underachieving Jeromy Burnitz. They took a chance on two talented but injury-prone players, Milton Bradley and J.D. Drew. They wheelchaired in two has-beens clearly on the decline, Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra. They grossly overpaid Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre. They took a swing at a no-longer-on-steroids-and-thus-no-longer-effective Luis Gonzalez. And who can forget the most recent blunder, Andruw Jones. Andruw Jones...what more needs to be said? These mind-numbing acquisitions would result in almost a decade of the Blue Crew struggling just to make the post-season.

For some reason, this year is different. With a handful of young talent keeping the Dodgers neck and neck with the Diamondbacks for the NL West lead, Ned Colletti seems to have realized that a few safe additions might just push the Dodgers over the edge.

With youngster Blake DeWitt slightly lagging in big-league development, Colletti took a gamble on Casey Blake (not really a gamble, Blake is a solid bet for 20 home runs and 80 RBI every year). Then came the surprise acquisition of Manny Ramirez, who's slugging .746 in 17 games thus far with the Dodgers LOL (LOL = laughing out loud), really a no-risk no-brainer for Colletti when you consider that Manny is in the last year of his contract, and that Boston, not LA, will be responsible for the majority of Manny's remaining salary this year. Even with the Arizona acquisition of Adam Dunn, the Dodgers seemed poised to take over the NL West.

But Colletti still wasn't satisfied. In fact, he was determined to make the Dodgers 4 sizes better ('sizes,' in this sense, is spelled Cy's). Deviating away from the time-tested (time-tested for failure) strategy of gambling on injury-prone stars, Colletti decided to invest in a tank. I use the word tank reluctantly, because even tanks experience more technical and mechanical problems than Greg Maddux. In his 23-year career (let me write that out for those of you who may have misread that: TWENTY-THREE YEARS) and 22 years as a full-time starter, Maddux has notched less than 30 starts just twice, and has not ONCE notched less than 20 starts.

Even at age 43, Greg Maddux gets the job done. In his last 5 starts before coming back to the Dodgers, Maddux is 3-1 with 4 quality starts, and a 17:1 K:BB ratio. In his prime, Maddux was the greatest. At age 43, Maddux is still better than most. If only for this year, the Dodgers are destined for glory.

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In LA, no one cares about your past

Its a beautiful sight, to see someone who has had such a troubled past-- filled with bickering with the boss, loneliness at the workplace, built up frustration letting itself be realized in a shoving match--be welcomed in his new home. It's great to see people able to let go of who they were, and develop in a loving environment who they will become.

If this is any preview of what is to come, then Manny Ramirez will love L.A. It already loves him, that's for sure.

In his latest outing as the Dodgers beat the division leading Arizona Diamondbacks 9-3, Manny went 4-5 with 3 RBIs and a solo HR. Since the trade, Manny has hit 8-13 with 5 RBIs. Outrageous numbers.

Put those numbers together with the fact that the Dodgers only have to pay the $1 million trade bonus, and you've got yourself the luckiest team this side of the Mississippi. (Don't ask me what the luckiest team east of the Mississippi is, I just wanted to use that phrase for once.)

More love for Dodger's fans. Brad Penny is rehabbing and has been throwing 96mph fastballs.

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Taking Shots at Manny

It's no secret that Boston has been growing ever more uncomfortable with Manny Ramirez. But most of them had been keeping quiet because either

1. they didn't want to run into him, and get shoved to the floor like Jack McCormick did
2. they were trying to be nice because he still had a .400 on base percentage

Now, that Manny has left Boston, and the AL, it seems like Boston just can't stop ragging on him.
Curt Schilling and Boston Herald writer Gerry Callahan take turns giving blows.

Curt on Manny:

"At the end of the day you're taking the field with a guy who doesn't want to play with you, doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to ... obviously effort-wise is just not there and that's disheartening and disappointing," Schilling said during his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI's Dennis and Callahan program.

(Hit the link for more)

Callahan:

Well, you can say goodbye to the bad guy now. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Maybe Jason Bay will not be quite the cleanup hitter that Ramirez was (then again, maybe he will be), but we know this much before he even takes the field for the Red Sox: He is a better fielder, a better baserunner, a better teammate, a better person.

He probably won’t fake a knee injury, or slap a teammate, or throw a 64-year-old man to the ground because he couldn’t make tickets magically appear. He won’t give the manager ulcers or spit in the owners’ eye or treat the paying customers like suckers.

In a way, Ramirez represents the worst of professional sports - a man who is idolized because he has one, God-given physical skill. Some fans who would boo a player for popping up with the bases loaded had no problem cheering Ramirez days after he assaulted Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick, a terrific gentleman who is almost 30 years older than the slugger.

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BREAKING NEWS IN BASEBALL, Manny Heads to La-La Land

• THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS HAVE ACQUIRED FUTURE HALL-OF-FAME SLUGGER MANNY RAMIREZ IN A 3-WAY DEAL WITH THE RED SOX AND PIRATES. HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN:

1. Dodgers get: Manny Ramirez
2. Red Sox get: Jason Bay
3. Pirates get: Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris (prospect), Brandon Moss (prospect), Craig Hansen (prospect)
   

• THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX HAVE ACQUIRED FUTURE HALL-OF-FAME SLUGGER KEN GRIFFEY JR. FROM THE CINCINNATI REDS. HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN:

1. White Sox get: Ken Griffey Jr.
2. Reds get: Nick Masset, Danny Richar (prospect)

Analysis to follow soon.

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