I think that's the most reassuring thing I've read all off-season! We'll see if it holds sway, but nice to read that perspective anyway, and from all the way in Boston. I've said it all off-season, sign another pitcher (or make a relatively minor deal for one), and go with what you have.

I had a dream last night (I swear) in which I was playing baseball (and was terrible in the outfield) and felt more sympathetic for Juan Pierre. But then also in that dream (not on my team) Pierre hurt himself and was out for the year and I felt both very happy, and a little sad for him. Why I was dreaming this I have no idea. I need better dreams. (There was another one with Cate Blanchett that I won't tell you about.)

Rough translation of McCourt:
"So, take that, Ned! And feel free to go to Cabo or something. Whatever. Just don't get on the phone and give away Kemp because he didn't kiss Jeff Kent's rear. Torre - not a stupid trade - is the solution. Got that?"
Of course, that's assuming McCourt was quoted accurately, was not experimenting with various elements of his medicine chest and was, in fact, McCourt (wonder if the reporter got I.D.?)... In any case, to the extent McCourt is capable of sticking to a plan for more than 30 seconds, I'm stoked by what I just read.

I feel this new sense of relaxation after reading that almost. I can get behind that. Finally a commitment to our young talent.

2 Very funny.

I certainly find McCourt's take on the clubhouse surprising, because in a way, it undermines the importance of the Torre hire.

If this can be believed, this is fantastic news. Like MC writes, a feeling of relaxation. It would be nice to have complete understanding that the young players will not be dealt.

I'm sort of surprised they didn't come out publicly earlier regarding them. Why not just state to the public, these players are off limits. I think it benefits the young player (which should benefit the team), and at least for some of the fan base (the rational ones anyway) it benefits them as well. Haven't the Yankees done this with Chamberlain and Hughes?

Doing so simply tells the rest of the baseball world that you are smart enough not to trade them away. How would that be a bad thing?

4 How so? He seems to be saying that the problems in the clubhouse last year should not take place this year because of Joe Torre.

How does that undermine the importance of the hiring? By all accounts, that was the single biggest reason for bringing him in. I don't think he was broght to LA for his in-game strategies.

By stating the kids are off limits it calms the nerves but also potentially increase their perceived value.

I think bringing Torre in also has PR implications. It gives them a screen from the media for keeping the young players. Clubhouse issues with the kids? Torre will handle them. Youth not living up to their potential? Torre and his crack coaching team will mold them and make them better.

At least I hope so.

Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that the Red Sox can get Johan Santana for only 2 of Lester, Ellsbury, and Buchholz? OK so the Sox want Ellsbury who is a good player with very little big league experience this year and Clay Buchholz who threw a no-hitter and arguably is one of the best (if not the best) pitcher in the minors this year.

But why are the Dodgers asked for Kemp, Kershaw, and LaRoche in order to make a deal? How is a 19yr old lefty with staggering minor league numbers and K/rate who pitched in AA at the end of the year not comparable to Buchholz? Then there is the matter of Kemp and LaRoche vs. Ellsbury. I would rather have those 2 by far. In fact I would rather have Kemp than Ellsbury.

I don't understand why the Dodgers price for everything is so high when our 2nd rate talent is comparable to the best that another orginization has as their #1's

Why can't the LA Times ever do pieces like this? vr, Xei

9 I would think they would wanna trade him to the NL as well if possible to save a little face.

9. I agree, the only think I can think of is that Kershaw is further away from the big leagues than Buccholz. I would think it would be in the Twins best interest not to trade a pitcher like Santana to an AL powerhouse if at all avoidable.
vr, Xei

If the Brewers want bullpen help, lets do a Manny Parra for Meloan + Beimel swap.

Good article, but the part that concerns me a little is this quote:

"We made the biggest move we needed to make in signing Joe. I don't anticipate any nonsense in that clubhouse. He gives us instant credibility and we're thrilled to have him."

Is Frank more concerned with "credibility" and the appearance of an effort to win, rather than winning a world series...NOW? In my opinion, he needs to be worried more about urgency and winning ANYTHING for this city sooner rather than later, rather than just "credibility."

13 Are they shopping Bill Hall?

9

This assumes that everything we read is accurate. Maybe the Twins have asked the Sox for all three but no one has bothered to correct the story.

Maybe the Twins have only asked for two of our three but Ned isn't correcting the story because he really doesn't want Cabrera but wants the fans to think he does.

Santana - I think whatever players we would have to give them coupled with a $125-150 million extension (assuming those stories are correct) is a huge risk, even for a HOF pitcher. I'd rather trade less and spend less for an Ian Snell, leaving us more trade chips and $ to swing other deals/sign other FA this year or next.

Give Andruw 3 years, pay someone to take JP, trade Hu and Meloan/Elbert for Snell and start 2008 with

Furcal
Martin
Loney
Kemp
Jones
Kent
Ethier
LaRoche

Penny
Lowe
Billz
Snell
Schmidt/Loaiza

9- I think it's because the Dodger "prospects" have in some ways already proven themselves in the majors, and have somewhat big names. It makes the other GM look good if he is able to pull known commodoties.

13 I've been thinking Broxton for Corey Hart for a while now. Doug Melvin's player evaluation skills don't impress me all that much and they're desperate for bullpen help.

I'd rather the Dodgers stand pat in the rotation ... Loaiza, while I'm not ecstatic about the acquisition, can still be an effective No. 5. And we still have guys to bring up for emergency starts.

For me, it's Andruw or bust this offseason. I'd rather not trust Coletti to swing a trade in our favor.

16 The pay someone to take JP part is the catch. I wonder what kind of value Ned has worked up for Delwyn Young if any at all. Who knows maybe some package of Delwyn, Hu/Abreu and Meloan gets us a decent arm.

20

Sometimes I wonder if we have a jaundiced view of what some of the rest of the GM's think of JP's skill set, based on the overwhelmingly negative views held about him at DT.

It only takes one GM with a hole in CF to decide that JP might work out. Yes, we'd probably have to pay half his salary, but to a small market team, needing a leadoff man and a fleet footed, hard-working, base-stealing, great clubhouse influence..................

Like I said, it only takes one GM.

18 How did you come to that conclusion on Doug Melvin's player evaluation skills?

Beimel, Meloan, Pierre + cash for Hart?

Wow. Let's review my weekend: Hokies beat arch rivals. Auburn beats arch rivals. McCourt says good things. LAT'ed. Plug from Jon. Clearly a satellite is about to fall on my house to balance things out.

has there been any pub on if Percival wants more than a one year deal?

Don't forget LSU losing. I have to admit that was great to watch.

23

Ned: I'll give you Beimel, Meloan, Pierre and $20 mil for Hart.

Doug: I don't want Pierre. Take him out of the deal and it's a go

Ned: You have to take Pierre

Doug: No

Ned: OK, Beimel, Meloan, Pierre, $20 mil, Kemp, Loney and Martin, but you have to take Pierre

22 He goes after some bad players fairly often. The Linebrink trade was pretty bad, as was the Estrada deal. His strengths are mainly on the player development side of things.

24
For balance in the universe, I offer the following: LSU lost, our house escrow just got put off by 30 days, and my mother-in-law just told us that she is staying through the new year. That was my weekend.

Sounds like your house is safe.

You guys watch a lot of TV; Can anyone explain what happened to me last night? I have Dish Satellite. About 7 PM I turned the TV on and "From Here To Eternity" was just coming on and I decided to watch it. I didn't notice what channel it was but most of what I watch is on TCM so that is probably where it was. At 8 PM the TV changed channels to something I had previously scheduled to record (DVR). I quickly decided I'd rather continue watching the movie and 'killed' the recording. I go back (?) to TCM and it is in the middle of another movie. I go up and down the whole channel list, twice, and "From Here To Eternity" isn't showing on any channel! What happened? I wasn't drinking....

I hate to rain on the parade, but I don't see a lot of evidence in the article that McCourt thinks the clubhouse problems were overblown. He's never directly quoted as saying anything resembling that.

I'm surprised that nobody has yet pointed out that the following line is 100% nonsense:

"When he took control of the franchise, the Dodgers didn't have much in their farm system; now they have some of the best young talent in the game"

When McCourt took control of the Dodgers, the farm system already included James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Andy LaRoche, Chin-Lung Hu, Tony Abreu, and James McDonald.

Oh, and, uh, that other guy. Russell Martin.

Folks, what are your thoughts on Bill Hall, Manny Parra, and Carlos Villenueva, give the LA-BrewCrew rumors?

29 Sorry, but thanks.

30
Maybe you were watching an East coast feed or some other time zone and you could no longer find the channel.

Or the channel had some kind of issue.

31 *I'm surprised that nobody has yet pointed out that the following line is 100% nonsense:

"When he took control of the franchise, the Dodgers didn't have much in their farm system; now they have some of the best young talent in the game"*

Hey, if it helps McCourt's ego to rewrite history this way, what's the problem? The net result is, he's protective of these players and wants to take credit if they succeed.

Sometimes I imagine Ned has the opposite reaction, thinking he can't put his stamp on this team if all he does is let draftees of the Evans and DePo years rise to the top.

33 Bill Hall, in my estimation, is useful only as a utility player, not as a regular. At any position he plays, he's far below average either offensively (third base), defensively (shortstop), or both (center field).

Villanueva's a serviceable enough pitcher but not someone you would want to bother trading useful players for.

30 I'm guessing you had paused "From Here to Eternity" at some point and were watching it on a delay, and since you weren't recording it, the accumulated portion was lost when you changed channels.

30 You probably weren't watching the movie live, but had it paused for a while and were watching a recording on your DVR. Then when you switch stations you lose the recording because you hadn't actually set it to record. DVRs record the station you're on as long as your don't change the channel so you can rewind or pause.

36 A super utility guy would be great for the Dodgers so that works.

His value is also pretty dependent on if he slugs .500 instead of .420.

35 - McCourt didn't write the article.

36 A utility player that hits 35 HR with 63 BB?

38 Is there any explanation for his 2007, which was significantly worse than is '05 and '06 seasons?

Keith Law said in one of his chats that he expects Hall to bounce back this year.

42 I thought I was so smug picking him up for my fantasy team last year. My dear lord he was awful.

Hall could be a good buy low candidate. On offense, he is kinda like a poor man's Andruw Jones.

41- Didn't he spend much of the season hurt?

The only thing that really stands out on Fangraphs for Bill Hall is his infield fly balls pct, at 11% in 2007. As a matter of fact, it was in that range for 2002-2004, but it dropped to 6-7% in 2005-2006.

43 - My best move was trading Youkilis for Howard in early May. I forget the other players involved, but who cares.

47 Why on Earth would anyone do that?

41 - Blame the hitting coach? Hall was 25 in 2005 when his OPS+ first jumped over 100, but dropped this year. Jim Skaalen was named Brewers hitting coach after the 2006 season, while the Brewers had the same hitting coach from 2003-2006.

47 - actually, I think it was mid to late may. But remember, by June 1:

.353/.430/.557 - Youkilis
.217/.381/.483 - Ryan Howard

Youk also had more homers than Howard then, 14 to 9

31 - "McCourt feels media reports of the Dodgers' clubhouse being a mess were greatly overblown. There might have been a youth-vs.-veterans feud after a few choice words by veterans Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez, but for McCourt, the worst part was, "we kept waiting for our talent to get us through the tough times and it never kicked in. When that happens, frustration sets in ..."

Media overdid coverage of the clubhouse. Vets cited for causing disruption. Losing happened because talent, though it was there, couldn't rally out of the slump. Frustration followed losing.

The streak is over!!!

Raiders beat an AFC West opponent.

31
"When he took control of the franchise, the Dodgers didn't have much in their farm system; now they have some of the best young talent in the game"

It is often not the inventor but the person that finds a great use for the invention that makes a difference. If McCourt makes great use of James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Andy LaRoche, Chin-Lung Hu, Tony Abreu, and James McDonald he will have served Dodgers fans for a long time.

yay raiders. Unfortunately I feel they just lost their shot at drafting Glenn Dorsey. Long should be a great consolation prize to start over Clemons. Or do you take Long the OT? I don't think you in essense trade Fargas, Bush, and one of the above three for McFadden.

55
Never had a shot at Dorsey. He will go number 1 to Miami. I think we are going to be in the range where we are looking at players like McFadden and Campbell.

Raiders Win! Raiders win! It's been so long I've forgot what that feels like. Now if we could just win two superbowl's poor Al Davis could finally retire!

14 - win now at all costs or build a legitimate contender that can sustain success? Issues of "credibility" are things that are actually needed to do the second. Sure you can go build a team of mercenaries to win a championship one year, but that's not a successful long term strategy.

Credibility can mean a lot of things, too. Credibility among major leaguers, making it more likely that top level free agents (or guys with 10/5 rights) are more willing to come to the Dodgers. Credibility among fans, meaning more tickets sold because people can get to know players and identify with the team. Credibility among other front offices, making it less likely that teams are going to try and snooker the Dodgers in a deal. Credibility among agents... I could go on, but I'll leave it there. The Dodgers, lest we forget are a business, and as a business owner, McCourt has to be concerned about things like "credibility".

So, anyone think Oklahoma is still 10 points better than the now #1 Missouri Tigers?

I really hope Missouri and West Virginia win out to save us from another Ohio State blow out loss.

I'm having a hard time reconciling those who believe this interview reveals good thought processes from Frank McCourt when the following also appears in it:

McCourt feels media reports of the Dodgers' clubhouse being a mess were greatly overblown. There might have been a youth-vs.-veterans feud after a few choice words by veterans Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez, but for McCourt, the worst part was, "we kept waiting for our talent to get us through the tough times and it never kicked in. When that happens, frustration sets in, and we just couldn't get ourselves out of that."

"[W]e kept waiting for our talent to get us through the tough times" sounds an awful lot like he thought Ned had hitherto done a good job in the 2006/7 offseason, that is, that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the processes that arrived at this season's roster. McCourt isn't known for his introspection, and this interview confirms that.

Leaving aside my hatred for Al Davis and my fury at their treacherous treatment of my hometown, I find it quaint that the Raiders still have such loyal fans. What's it based on? Nostalgia? Despite parity, the Raiders are now firmly ensconced in the lower rungs of the NFL and (based on Davis' latest comments that he won't resign til he wins "two more Super Bowls") won't even begin to progress until the Lord takes him.

Arizona, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami would love to have fans with the Raider Nation's devotion. For those teams, the formula of "not being good, ever" doesn't work nearly so well.

61 A nostalgia factor like Jim Plunkett?
Where's the Snake?
Get LaMonica in here!
Madden, Madden, get Madden on the phone!
When did Al totally lose it, baby?

61
I will always root for the same teams.

62 Right, but that was all sooooo long ago. The tradition has to connect to something in the present. In the Raiders' case, I see nothing other than Davis, who is not only revolting but completely out of touch with what winning football is about now.

so many of these rumors completely hinge on what we're doing with Pierre. This has been discussed ad nauseum, but if Pierre is (somehow) dealt then it really opens us up to a lot of different options. Jones? Just put Young there? Trade partner?

In the meantime, if these rumors are out there, I would hope the Dodgers take a long look at the Brewers top pitching prospects to see if we could pry one for Beimel or (gulp) Broxton.

60 sounds an awful lot like he thought Ned had hitherto done a good job in the 2006/7 offseason, that is, that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the processes that arrived at this season's roster.

I didn't get that at all. I read it as, the team at one point had the best record in baseball, and led the NL West for a good portion of the season. The team had to have "some" talent to have acheived that. Neither Arizona or Colorado ran away and hid in the playoff race, so talent comparisons to those two are also plausible.

Did the Dodgers have weaknesses? Of course they did. But it certainly wasn't a stretch to beleive they could have won the division with the team they had, were they to have played better.

52 We Kept waiting for runs to be scored in August.
Gonzo kept leaving runners in scoring position.
Grady kept having pitchers go to bat late in the game with runners in scoring position, to only record an out, and then be lifted a few pitches latter.
Constant lineup juggling.
Few runs scored, few wins recorded.
Many found this very frustrating.

64 I feel that you see my point completely.

Since the McCourts view the world through the prism of their bottom line,Frank's willingness to go for the kids is understandable;

After all, he can get increasing production from, but pay less than market rate salaries for upcoming players like Martin,Loney and Kemp for years. That's why he won't let Ned trade the farm for rent a players like Cabrera, or Santana.

He should at least make a run for Andruw Jones, but the Boras factor will scare Ned off.

4 I see it as Joe being placed on a very, very high pedestal.

10 Why can't the LA Times ever do pieces like this? vr, Xei

Probably because the LA Times is not a favorite newspaper of The Parking Lot Attendant or Frank's Old Lady. And may not be for as long as it employs T.J. Simers.

10 That also was my initial reaction.

If the Dodgers don't make any big moves, I wonder if the local media will come down on them for not doing enough...

71 Great Observation.
However, this column has alot of other good content and is presented in a way that we rarely see in the Times. I signed up for the Globe immediatedly.

73-

They might, but it's pretty clear that most of the local media has no idea what they're talking about. They love the big names like Cabrera and Santana, but don't think of how it would effect the team long term.

75 Don't worry, they won't effect the long term. The long term will happen with or without Cabrera or Santana.

gpellamjr! affect, not effect!

73

I'll bet anyone a case of Presidente that if the Angels get Cabrera, the local press will drool over how the Angels showed they are "serious about winning" and juxtapose it against the Dodgers, who "came up empty handed" and haven't improved a fourth-place club.

78-

I'm not taking that bet.

Funny that it's reassuring when the man in charge speaks with a shred of logic and doesn't come off like a buffoon. You'd expect more from someone granted stewardship of what should be a crown-jewel franchise. I'd rather hear him talk about a fanatical devotion to excellence at all levels and less concern over "credibility." It's too much to ask, but I'd love an owner who is committed to intelligent process. The PR will take care of itself if there's dedication to being smart and thorough. Kraft of the Patriots is that way. So are Henry and Lucchino of the Red Sox. The McCourts seem to still be finding their way. I don't sense clarity of process or purpose. I don't see great leadership. But to some extent, they appear to have learned from some mistakes.

69 Great Observation!
The seats are full, the beer is flowing, the parking lot is full, and the money is flowing in!
Add a pitcher now as insurance for the rotation, wait and see how Schmidt and Loaiza really come around.
May till Trading deadline make changes if necessary/possible.
We did have the best record in baseball at the All-Star break!
Resign myself to JP in Left, for now.
As a businessman, with this scenario, would you plunk down Ten$ of Million$ on a steroid generation player like Jones?
Especially when you have all of this young outfield talent running around?
Jones, career .263 hitter with alot of strike outs.

78

That will happen only IF we have another horrible year, something I doubt will happen plus we're on to the Plaschke's & Simers of the world to "play that game" in other words we know better.

Actually, it's not just the local press that would depict the Dodgers as losing out to the Angels if Cabrera goes to Anaheim. Rosenthal has been been banging those drums, even said something to the effect that the Dodgers would be embarrassed or humiliated by their crosstown rivals.

What a bunch of rubbish. The Dodgers need to concern themselves only with intelligent process. With their resources, if they are smart and thorough and creative, the Angels will not be an obstacle.

83 Miggy to SF as mentioned in the above article?

84

Unless they plan on trading Lincecum, I don't know if they have the package to get Cabrera.

Cain is only one year away from arbitration, I don't know if the Marlins would want him.

83-

It reminds me a lot of what Theo Epstein said a couple years ago. He talked about he wasn't concerned with what the Yankees do, he's concerned with putting together a team that's going to win 90-100 games without deal with one upping the other guys.

Stick Nomar on the bench, try like heck to trade Pierre, and stick with that.

83 Pitching, Intelligent Process.

Lowe's contract expires 2008?
Penny's contract expires 2009?
Schmidt's contract expires 2009?

Other contracts:

Nomar 2008
Kent 2008 (if we see him)
Furcal 2009
JP 2011 (Big Gulp!)

81

My case for offering Jones $20 million for one year or $36 million for two and thinking very hard about offering him a mutual option for a third year at $18 million:

1) Good bet to hit 20-40 home runs more than last year's CF.

2) Good bet to return good defense at premium position, thereby bolstering the pitching staff and taking pressure of young corner OFs Kemp and Ethier. Though he isn't the great defender he used to be, Jones was rated the best CF in 2007 by the Fielding Bible.

3) Fair bet to outproduce the average NL center fielder in both defense and offense (as measure by onbase plus slug).

4) Under a short contract, he's got a ton of extra incentive to get in shape and produce. If has a solid year, he'd have extraordinary leverage on a FA market that won't have as many CFs as it does this year.

5) (Very small perk) You don't have to give up a draft pick to sign him and could get two draft picks for him if he has a typical Andruw Jones season or seasons and departs as a FA.

6) Dodgers have nothing coming up their farm system in CF.

My hope is that Furcal is selling Jones on the Dodgers.

As for the Steroid Era concerns, yes, it would be wise to do due diligence in anticipation of the Mitchell report. Nothing would surprise me there. But l