Okay, Dodger fans — show of hands — who thinks the offense will be a problem this year?

Nobody? That’s what I thought.

Show of hands — how about the pitching?

Whoa, whoa! Really? You all think the pitching is going to be a problem? Why is that?

Is it because our Opening Day starter in Hiroki Kuroda had a sub-.500 record last season? Ah, but how quickly one forgets the lack of offense that plagued him and the Dodgers the entire season. ‘Roki still amassed an ERA of 3.73 on the season and proved to be a warrior in the postseason.

What about the presumed staff ace in Chad Billingsley? You’re probably still worried about the leg injury. I don’t blame you. But he looked more than solid in the exhibition game against Milwaukee. Besides, he claims to be 100-percent. He is still young, so its not as if he will be declining from his 3.14 ERA last season. All Billingsley needs to work on is being economical with his pitches and the question will not be if he can win, but if he is beatable at all.

Kershaw — “He’s got a bad case of the yips,” said a few contemporaries of mine. Yeah? The numbers last year really showed his ineffectiveness, didn’t they? He may not have the pinpoint control of Greg Maddux, but that’s not necessarily the formula for success — well, not the ONLY formula. Vin Scully said it best. Kershaw is “effectively wild.” Think Rick Vaughn from the “Major League” series. You know the 96 mph fastball is coming at you, but where? It could be right over the plate or it could be coming literally right at you. Throw in the Zito-esque curveball and young Clayton is quite a force on the mound.

Upset about the Randy Wolf experiment? Realize he is a fourth starter, not your staff ace. I would gladly take 12 wins and an ERA around four from my fourth starter and that’s exactly what Wolf will bring.

James McDonald — who? One of the few bright spots in the NLCS for the Dodgers (up there with Manny Ramirez and the infamous Shane Victorino incident), McDonald breezed through his postseason relief appearances without giving up a single run. Not that he will become the next Orel Hershiser (the scoreless streak), but a Rookie of the Year wouldn’t be out of the question for the fomer minor league pitcher of the year.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed by Sports Illustrated and ESPN that Manny Ramirez is flying to Los Angeles to meet with Frank McCourt face-to-face tomorrow.

There is still no formal agreement in place, but numerous sources have reported that the two sides have agreed on the general parameters of a two-year $45 million contract.

Not to mention this little quotable from the man himself:

“Tell everyone Mannywood is coming.”

Boras and Colletti can deny all they please until the agreement is final, but there is no hiding it. “Mannywood” is back!

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Ladies and gentlemen, it’s over.

Or so it seems.

ESPN broke the news late Tuesday afternoon that the Dodgers and free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez have finally agreed to a two-year pact valued at $45 million.

This, of course, comes a week following Ramirez’s rejection of a comparable contract offer followed by a media battle between Scott Boras and Frank McCourt.

However, Yahoo’s Tim Brown reported that Boras and Ned Colletti did speak today, but no contract was signed nor any real progress made at all.

Only in a negotiation involving Manny and the Dodgers could the final resolution involve so much drama, but we will keep you posted and let you know if and when the deal becomes official.

For the past three years, the Dodgers have had the misfortune to watch Orlando Hudson excell for the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks, but today, the tides have turned as the Dodgers agreed to terms with the second baseman on a one-year contract. Hudson will make a guaranteed $3.4 million plus another possible $4.6 million in incentives.

The Dodgers and their fans already know what Hudson brings to the table: he is a defensive wizard, an offensive catalyst at the top of the lineup and a strong clubhouse leader — but is he worth it?

But despite his numerous positive attributes, the Dodgers paid a lofty price when they signed the second baseman as they must now forfeit their first round draft pick in June to Arizona. Also, Hudson’s characteristics as a player — low to marginal power, average speed, plus defense — sound very comparable to Blake DeWitt’s. The addition of Hudson impedes the growth process of the Dodgers’ young infielder, forcing the organization to either place him in Triple-A, a level that he is clearly beyond, or on the bench where he would be seldom used.

One player Hudson will not pose a threat to is Manny Ramirez. The addition of Hudson does not by any means put the Dodgers out of the running to re-sign the slugging left fielder who carried them into October last season. If anything, it helps their chances as they sealed one more hole and now have one less priority. The Dodgers still have plenty of free cash and Manny still only has his same two suitors.

Overall, the Hudson deal is a quality move by Ned Colletti and company. At a low salary and with capable backup behind him, he is certainly low-risk, and with big-game potential and clubhouse intangibles, he is high-reward as well.

Russell Martin and Jonathan Broxton have agreed to terms on new contracts for the 2009 season. Martin set the record for a signing by a catcher as he agreed on a $3.9 million deal. Broxton was signed for $1.825 million.

The Dodgers will have to head to salary arbitration with one player as they were unable to come to terms on a deal with Andre Ethier. The hearing for Ethier and the Dodgers will happen next month.

Good morning everyone, I just have a short update today as I was over reading at mlbtraderumors that Jason Repko’s agent has been asking the Los Angeles Dodgers for a trade the past two seasons. I guess Repko feels that he should be getting more playing time at the major leage level and the Dodgers aren’t a team that can give it to him.

I find it funny that this comes out when the Dodgers just signed Repko for $500,000 for the 09 season.

Don’t forget that Dodgers Spring Training tickets are also on sale right now.

Good news for all the Dodgers fans out there! After testing out the free agent market, shortstop Rafael Furcal has decided to sign a new contract and stay with the Los Angles Dogers. Furcal needs to still take and pass a physical before the contract can be signed but everything points to him being back with the Dodgers.

The contract will be for three years at $30 million dollars and a vesting option for a fourth year. The deal is very similar to what was being reported by our Braves Blog when the Braves offered him a contact.

As long as Furcal can stay healthy, it is a good signing for the team. However, if he gets injured like last season watch out for all the people thinking “Why did we bring this guy back?”

Dodgers Blog

The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with Casey Blake and Mark Loretta on Tuesday. Blake has agreed to a three-year deal worth slightly more than $17.1 million while Loretta has agreed on a one-year, $1.25 million deal.

Blake turned down a two year deal from the Minnesota Twins that would have been worth $14 million. He feels that the Dodgers have a better chance to make it to the World Series and elected to come back to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are still hoping to re-sign Rafael Furcal but they will have to beat other teams on the market for his services.

Dodgers Blog

Hey Dodgers fans, been a while since we last blogged but we have some exciting news regarding the Los Angeles Dodgers and Manny Ramirez. It is being reported that Dodgers management has made a contract offer to Ramirez for $25 million per year. Right now it is uncertain if the offer is for two or three years but no matter how you look at it, that is a boat load of money!

Ramirez, acquired from Boston on July 31, is coming off a $160 million, eight-year contract he signed with the Red Sox before the 2001 season.

Now we will have to sit back and see what Manny chooses to do. Hopefully he will take the contract offer from the Dodgers and help them get back to the playoffs.

Dodgers Baseball

It was a crazy ride through the 2008 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they had their ups and downs but made into the playoffs even advanced to the NLCS. On Wednesday night, the season came to an abrumpt end however as Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies won game five by the score of 5-1.

The Dodgers offense struggled the entire night against Hamels. Three errors by Rafael Furcal sure didn’t help either. The only offense on the night was as solo home run by Manny Ramirez when he went yard in the sixth inning. The game could have been different except everytime Manny came up to bat, no one was on base. He has to have runners our there for the home runs and singles to really matter.

Blake DeWitt had a terrible game and series at the plate. He twice grounded into double plays that killed rallies.

Starting pitcher Chad Billingsley struggled from the get go. He only lasted 2 2/3 innings as he was charged with four hits and three runs. He walked three batters and also gave up solo home run. Jimmy Rollins took him deep in the first inning and things only got worse from there.

Greg Maddux also gave up two runs in relief. However, those three errors we mentioned before by Furcal really hurt Maddux so it wasn’t all his fault.

So now we head into the off season wondering what management will do with Ramirez and Furcal. Will Ramirez except a 2-3 year deal? I really doubt it but time will tell. What do you think?

It was a tough loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night as they dropped game four of the NLCS by the score of 7-5. Heading into the eighth inning, the Dodgers had a 5-3 lead and things looked like they would be evening up the series with the Philadelphia Phillies at two games each. However, the Phillies had other ideas as they hit two two-run home runs in the inning to take the lead and go on and win the game by the score of 7-5.

Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton each gave up a home run in the eighth inning as they pretty much blew the game for the team. Wade ended up getting the loss in the game.

Starting pitcher Derrek Lowe pitched ok but wasn’t as good as he usually is. Lowe tossed five innings and gave up six hits and two runs while striking out four batters. He allowed two first inning runs and then settled down after that.

Clayton Kershaw and Hong-Chih Kuo were both charged with giving up a run as well. Kershaw’s run actally came on a Chan Ho Park wild pitch in the sixth inning.

Four different Dodgers had one rbi each for the offense. Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, Russell Martin, and James Loney each provided an rbi. The offense did enough in the game to pull out the win, the bullpen just didn’t do their job to secure the victory.

The two teams will be off on Tuesday and then pick things back up on Wednesday for game five of the series. This is a must win for the Dodgers as they have to win to send the series back to Philly. It will be tough as they will be going against Cole Hamels while they will counter with Chad Billingsley.

Dodgers Blog