Tonight's game

Tonight's weather

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I have to say, Tim Salmon could be one of the better stories in baseball this year. At least, I'm rooting for him to be.

We know all about the Dodger outfield, but that Angel outfield isn't exactly the youngest or healthiest in baseball, either. Come to think of it, all four three-or-more-worded California teams are tender in the grass.

Anyway ...

Welcome home, team.

SB Nation, home of Tyler Bleszinski's renowned Athletics Nation site, has finally filled its Dodger gap. It's True Blue L.A., and it's run by Michael Nicks. Having read his first post, he looks like my kind of guy. (His level of detail in describing the Dodger fan experience includes mention of "the 20-foot stainless steel trough.") So give Nicks a glance ... looks like our online reading list might have just gotten even more overwhelming.

This list was made through my research and some help from our studio audience. Stories are from The Associated Press or MLB.com unless otherwise indicated:

An MRI on Dodger shortstop and leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal revealed an "anular strain," according to Tony Jackson of the Daily News. Jackson indicates that the Dodgers don't know when Furcal will play again - it could be as soon as two days, or he could go on the disabled list.

Jackson added that having played in Wednesday's exhibition, Dioner Navarro is on track to be on the active roster, despite this other Jackson article indicating otherwise.

Update: From Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus:

Everything's connected. Rafael Furcal has been rehabbing from "minor" knee surgery and was behind schedule. Whether his gait changed or he rushed back, he's now dealing with a disc problem in his lower back. Called an "annular strain," the injury is minor, unpredictable, and the first sign of degenerative disc disease. Furcal's pain tolerance and response to treatment will determine when he returns, though this is definitely an injury that will need to be watched and managed for the rest of the year, and beyond that, for the rest of his career. Back injuries are perhaps the most unpredictable injuries to baseball players. This is definitely a major concern for the Dodgers.

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General Manager Ned Colletti said Kent is "crystal clear" about perhaps moving to first base eventually. However, the Dodgers have no short-term or long-range plans to move him.

- Steve Henson in the Times

(So what is the more surprising contract decision from Wednesday: the Dodgers extending Kent, or American Idol extending Paula Abdul?)

Henson also noted that minor league pitcher Kurt Ainsworth will need surgery that will sideline him until August or later.

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In the latest from his periodic series of highlights from his father's long sportswriting career, Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts gives us the end of the famous Sandy Koufax/Don Drysdale holdout. Forty years ago today, the Dodgers ceased negotiations.

FINAL OFFER REFUSED
Dodgers Give Up on Big 2
By GEORGE LEDERER
VERO BEACH, Fla. - There's no business like show business left for Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

"There is no sense in negotiating further."

A day later, Koufax and Drysdale returned.

'THE GREAT HOLDUP' ENDS
Sandy, Big D Sign for ONE Year
By GEORGE LEDERER
VERO BEACH, Fla. - Twenty-four hours ago, 32 and 53 equalled 86 "Outsville," as the saying goes.

That's baseball biz!

I love George Lederer's leads (or ledes, if you must).

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I am scheduled to talk about the National League West today on AOL Sports Bloggers Live at 9:05 a.m. in a show that will also include Tyler Blexzinski from Athletics Nation and former All-Star Will Clark. You can listen live or via podcast, I'm told.

Jeff Kent has hit 20 or more home runs in nine consecutive seasons and was the best second baseman in the National League last season. But at age 38, most - if not all - figured that after this season, he would give way to the Dodger youth movement.

Instead, the Dodgers announced in a press release today that they have extended Kent's contract through 2007 with an option for 2008. (The implication was that this was a team option, though it's not immediately clear. Dollar figures were not yet disclosed.)

"I'm very happy with the direction the team is going and I'm looking forward to finishing my career in a Dodger uniform," Kent said in the release.

It's possible that Kent is one of those guys, like Roger Clemens, who is going to be performing at a high level past his 40th birthday. Nonetheless, the move comes as a shock, with the combination of age and recent wrist surgery raising questions about whether this would be the year Kent finally tails off, let alone 2007 or 2008.

Kent has a long way to go before he goes from boon to burden - his EQA last year was .306. (It's funny that 13 months ago everyone worried about his defense because he was replacing Alex Cora, but no one brings that up anymore.) So perhaps my fears for this season are fairly unfounded. Still, it seems like a strange time to extend the commitment. I imagine that this is in part to try to keep the prickly player a little more content for the coming 162 games, along with a true belief on Dodger general manager Ned Colletti's part that Kent is far from done.

On a different note, this definitely raises more questions about the future of Cesar Izturis and Willy Aybar in the organization. With Bill Mueller and Andy LaRoche at third base, Rafael Furcal at shortstop, Kent at second base and James Loney (and possibly Nomar Garciaparra) at first base from now through 2007, there isn't a place for both Izturis and Aybar, if either. Even if Kent were to move to first base in 2007, only one spot opens up.

It's interesting that this move comes on the day that Furcal suffered back spasms (and faces the unfortunate timing of a cross-country flight almost immediately thereafter). It underscores the fragility of the team and how an infield like this probably can't have too much depth. Neither Kent nor Furcal are the type you would call injury-riddled, but it's within the realm of possibility that for at least a couple weeks this summer you could see Izturis and/or Aybar subbing in. So even though a trade of at least one infielder seems in order, it's not automatic.

Ultimately, if Dodger owner Frank McCourt has the money to spend, there's no harm in locking up Kent, who really is a great player. I don't think Aybar is going to be better than Kent in the next two seasons. The extension caught me off guard, but maybe that says more about me than the extension. I don't think it means that the Dodgers will bury their bigger-name prospects, like La Roche, Loney and Joel Guzman. But Colletti definitely seems ready to stick with name players until they drop.

Update: Contract details from Ken Gurnick at MLB.com ...

Kent, who will earn $9.4 million this year -- the last of a two-year contract -- will receive a base salary of $9 million in 2007 with a $2 million signing bonus and plate-appearance incentives that could reach $750,000.

Kent's 2008 salary vests at $9 million if he has 550 plate appearances in 2007, and the Dodgers hold an option at $7 million with a buyout of $500,000. With the plate-appearance escalators and buyout, the deal could max out at $22.35 million for the two seasons or be worth a minimum of $11.5 million for one season.

Update 2: The Dodgers have released Brian Meadows and told Aaron Sele he will not be on the Opening Day roster, according to Dodger public relations director Josh Rawitch. Sele has the option of going to AAA Las Vegas or asking for his release.

Update 3: The Dodgers have changed their mind on left-handed reliever Tim Hamulack, Rawitch said. The team recalled Hamulack from the minors this morning, only two days after they optioned him. The bullpen still isn't set in stone, but now it looks like it might be a seven-man group: Eric Gagne, Danys Baez, Lance Carter, Hong-Chih Kuo, Franquelis Osoria, Yhency Brazoban and Hamulack. One can deduce that the Dodgers decided to go with two short relievers (including a second lefty) instead of a potential long man like Sele.

This also spells trouble for infielder Oscar Robles being in Los Angeles on Monday, but again, let's wait and see. There's still time for the Dodgers to option a reliever and keep Robles if Furcal is looking tender, or if Little remains concerned about having a short bench.

I still hate to go into the season with only one left-handed bat on the bench against right-handed pitchers. Here are the 2005 on-base percentages of the Dodger bench against righties: (Note - small sample sizes in many cases.)

.340 Ledee
.319 Martinez
.317 Saenz
.283 Repko
.280 Alomar
(.332 Robles)

(.335 Choi)

Update 4: Dioner Navarro is in the starting lineup today, for the first time since injuring his hamstring more than a week ago.

Update 5: Ah. Jason Repko may now have to head to Las Vegas to make room for Robles, updates Gurnick.

Here are some quotes from Sele and Meadows:

"I signed to compete for the fifth starter job, then they traded for Jae Seo," said Sele. "All I could do after that was compete. I feel I threw the ball well. Maybe I caught the attention of another team."

"I had one real bad outing and that was pretty much it," said Meadows, a seven-year veteran. "I've done this job for years and seem to have done good in the past. They just didn't see me pitching for this team."

Update 6, count 'em, 6: Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus had this item about Dodger outfield prospect Matt Kemp:

People love Matt Kemp's athleticism and potential, as well as his .306/.349/.569 season at Vero Beach last year. But something about him scares the hell out of me. Vero Beach is the Florida State League's hitting paradise, and Kemp's home/road splits look like two completely different players.

(Split) AB HR AVG SLG
Home 219 22 .361 .749
Away 199 5 .246 .372

Is Vero Beach a hitter's paradise? I wasn't aware. In any case, that is one gigantic split for Kemp.

Lucky No. 7: According to The Associated Press, Kent actually said, "It's not about the money."

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Today's Game

Dodger prospect Joel Guzman will start the season in AAA Las Vegas along with Willy Aybar, public relations director Josh Rawitch announced this morning. (Update: Here's Ken Gurnick's MLB.com story, which notes that Guzman is expected to play a little first and third base to make himself a call-up candidate if a need arises there.)

The Dodgers still need to make a decision on the final spots on their roster, with such players as out-of-options outfielder Cody Ross awaiting their fate.

Hong-Chih Kuo has won the Jim and Dearie Mulvey Award as top rookie at Dodgertown.

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In this National League West preview, Jim Street of MLB.com became one of the few mainstream writers I've seen this spring question whether the Dodgers have enough power to win this year.

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MLB Gameday link for today's Dodger game

Last year at this time, the Dodgers were enough of a mystery to me that I cautiously predicted at The Hardball Times they would win between 80 and 100 games - and I was still wrong. This year at THT, I was even less bold, or more boldless, as I discussed the state of the team heading into the 2006 season.

After a 2005 season as joyful as the courtroom of Kramer vs. Kramer, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a family again. The general manager likes the manager. The manager likes the players. The owner likes the owner.

Oh, the Dodgers might still be dysfunctional, but if so, it'll be in new and different ways! If they stumble, they will stumble as one.

And in the end, success might make friends with harmony. The Dodgers are the choice of several prognosticators to win the achy National League Western Division. If that is to happen, though, it will all depend on the answers to the following questions…

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The major consequence of the news that Ramon Martinez has made the Dodgers as a backup (as Steve Henson of the Times reports), is that in a typical game against right-handed pitchers, four members of the Dodger bench will be right-handed: Sandy Alomar Jr., Olmedo Saenz, Jason Repko and Martinez.

If the Dodgers follow through with plans to keep a six-man bench, the other two bats would be Ricky Ledee and most likely Oscar Robles.

That is just not a lot of punch.

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Rob McMillin of 6-4-2 points us to this Arizona Republic story about Mike Nixon, the former Dodger farmhand who has turned in his catcher's mask to become a 22-year-old freshman safety at Arizona State.

Nixon advanced quickly enough through the Dodger system, going from Rookie ball to AAA in four years, so even though he only OPSed a .579 in Las Vegas, reinforcing that he would not surpass Dioner Navarro or Russell Martin on the depth chart, it's not like his career had hit a dead end. So it must have been an itch for football that really pushed him out.

According to Jeff Metcalfe's article in the Republic, Nixon threw for a state record 8,091 yards in high school, but the Sun Devils need him more on defense.

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Update: Just thinking out loud about the righty-lefty imbalance on the bench. Is the committment to the right-handed Martinez a sign that Jose Cruz, Jr. could be headed for the bench and Joel Guzman for the starting lineup? We haven't heard much about Guzman as a left field starter lately, so probably not. But perhaps that kind of move remains something that will happen soon after the season starts, rather than late.

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Update 2: Bullpen news early this morning from Ken Gurnick at MLB.com

Spring Trainingesque optimism surrounds former Dodger infielder Antonio Perez, now with Milton Bradley in Oakland. Joe Roderick of the Contra Costa Times reports.

Evaulations of Perez's fielding in general are all over the map. Just because he's looking better this month doesn't mean he will be better or good. On the other hand, the article makes the point that Perez made five errors in 35 games at third base last season as if that's something awful - but that only works out to about 23 errors over 162 games. Considering his sproadic experience at the position, that's not so bad.

One thing you can know at this point is whether a player is willing to come out and practice, and by this account, Perez is.

Perez reportedly gained a rep in L.A. as a player with a poor attitude.

"I helped him to use his feet and use his hands," Washington said. "Once you use the feet, the hands work, and with all of that comes confidence. His feet were too close together and he didn't have his hands in the middle of his body.

Perez may never be a star, but it seems most likely that he'll continue to be a valuable reserve at a minimum.

Former Dodger pitcher Jerry Reuss, whose broadcasting work I enjoyed when he provided commentary on Angel games years back, has been hired to do 37 Dodger games on radio this season, team chief marketing officer Tagg Romney announced.

Reuss will essentially fill the role held last year by Al Downing and work road games outside of the National League West when Vin Scully is staying home and Charlie Steiner and Steve Lyons do television. In those situations, Rick Monday will handle radio play-by-play.

Monday and Reuss were teammates on the Dodgers' 1981 World Series champions. Twenty-five years from now, which ex-Dodgers will be broadcasting the games? (He asks, fearing the answer ...)

The Dodgers have waived first baseman Hee-Seop Choi and Boston has claimed him, according to Dodger public relations director Josh Rawitch. Updates to follow.

Update: Ken Gurnick's story on MLB.com.

Update 2: Boston general manager Theo Epstein is quoted in the Associated Press story:

"We have liked Choi for a long time and view this as an opportunity to acquire him when his value is down a bit," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. "We like his power, his patience and his hands at first base. Choi provides depth for us at first base and in a way third base as well, considering Kevin Youkilis' ability to play both positions."

"We'll see how our roster shakes out, but Choi does have minor league options if we want him to get every day at-bats in Triple-A for a period of time," Epstein said.

Epstein recognizes that despite some criticism of Choi's range, he has defensive value.

Much will be made of how many teams passed on the chance to claim Choi on waivers. That doesn't do much for me but extend the mystery of how a 27-year-old with above-average hitting ability (107 career adjusted OPS, when the league average is 100) could be so devalued.

To so many people, it never mattered to Choi how often he did things right. With Choi, somehow, the numbers didn't mean anything. His home runs didn't count - even though most of his home runs with the Dodgers came in close games. His walks were a sign of weakness. Healthier and less expensive, he flat-out outhit Nomar Garciaparra the past two seasons when park and league factors are accounted for, both in cumulative stats and rate stats, but only a minority was willing to even consider what that might mean.

Perhaps most difficult to comprehend were the chants of "Hee Seop Choi" at the ballpark. They were heard throughout the season. Could they have possibly sustained themselves if they weren't greeted frequently enough with the reward of Choi reaching base? Believe me, the current generation of Dodger fans is not a patient bunch.

Acquired cheaply for the first time in his career, perhaps Choi will no longer struggle with the wind of favorites he replaced harsh against his face.

Dodger Thoughts reader Jibin Park (those of you who patrol the comments know him as "coachjpark") is offering some free tickets in the right-field pavilion to the Wednesday, April 5 Dodgers-Braves game.

Park is offering the tickets as a way of marketing himself as a financial advisor, but the only requirement to get them is to sign in at his website and actually attend the game. Click the link to get more information. It would be nice to support a reader's efforts, it could be a nice chance for many readers to meet, and it's free!

I'm TiVoing the UCLA-Gonzaga game to watch late, but if anyone wants to chat about it, feel free to do so in this thread.

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Hi. Wow.

Seventeen years ago, I saw the Cardinal come back from a 21-4 deficit to beat Sean Elliott, Kenny Lofton and Arizona, 82-74. Tonight, I saw a similar comeback, with an even greater finish: UCLA scoring the game's final 11 points and taking its first lead of the game with just seconds remaining to beat Gonzaga, 73-71.

For the first time all season, I watched a basketball game from start to finish (thanks to TiVo). With work and the kids, I save my big TV sports time for baseball season. But I just had a hunch about this game, and I never let go of it, even when UCLA fell behind 17-5, even when the Bruins trailed 37-20.

As it happens, watching the entire CBS broadcast in my offline cocoon would have been worth it just to see the end of the West Virginia-Texas game, in which the two teams traded game-winning three-point baskets in the final five seconds. But I have to say I found the finish to the UCLA game so exciting, I'm actually shaking - and UCLA's not even my school (though it's my mom's). I never root for with any passion for UCLA anymore until Stanford is out of the picture, and most of the past 10 years, the Cardinal's season has gone longer than the Bruins. But tonight, it was like I was a kid again, living and dying with UCLA the way I did in the 1970s.

The first college basketball game I can remember was John Wooden's last - the 10th title victory - and when my Dad told me he was being replaced by a man named Gene Bartow, I pictured the oddity of the only Gene I knew at the time - Gene Rayburn of Match Game - guiding Marques Johnson in the coming years. But from 1975 until I left for Stanford in 1985, I lived and died with UCLA basketball, hoping I might get to experience a whole season like everyone else in Pauley Pavilion had. I watched them find Indiana an impossible foe to conquer in the 1976 Final Four, and could feel how strange a turn of events it was. I remember the shock as the countdown to a 100-game home winning streak was short-circuited at 98 with something like a 45-point performance against Oregon or Oregon State. I cried when they lost a second round tournament game under Bartow or Gary Cunningham to, I think, Idaho State. I remember big battles with Ray Meyer and Digger Phelps; I remember villainous Danny Ainge with some bitterness. The Bruins once mattered to me that much. So it was kind of a nostalgia trip to spend two hours with them mattering again, even if it wasn't quite as profound.

I mean this objectively, not as a cheerleader, and I certainly don't say it to brag, but rather to explain why I stuck around with this game when I could have fast-forwarded. I never thought UCLA was out of it tonight. I figured at some point the Bruins would realize they weren't Loyola Marymount and would stop shooting three-pointers five seconds into their possessions. As it turned out, it took point guard Jordan Farmar forever to get a clue. But as far as I can tell, this has been UCLA's story most of the season - both in football and basketball, oddly (although they played it to extremes tonight) - lousy first half, great second half. They never got down by 20, so they always had a chance.

I thought the waving off of Darren Collison's basket at 71-66, when he appeared to score while being fouled l might be the dagger - especially after Collison went away from the free throw line empty - if the Bruins couldn't make a stop on the next play. But they withstood it. They withstood it all.

Back when Gonzaga was a Cinderella, the Zags once took out Stanford in the second round, so I can't shed too many tears for them. But tears are being shed - and the first to do so was their All-American Adam Morrison, who was crying with three seconds left and the game still in doubt. I don't fault him for the emotion - I was just so surprised by it. Usually, players are wound so tightly and so full of faith, they don't let that kind of pain out until after the buzzer. And then, when the game was over, Morrison crumpled to the ground - and it was peculiar how long it took for someone to come to his side. I gather from the Times today that he has a love-him-or-hate-him personality, but I figured his teammates and coaches would be with him right away. May have just been one of those things; maybe someone found him the second the cameras cut away. (I read now from the Associated Press recap that UCLA's "(Ryan) Hollins and (Arron) Afflalo went to help up Morrison, who was spread on the floor at midcourt. (Gonzaga coach Mark) Few then came to hug the crying Morrison."

Morrison did give it his all. He may have gotten away with a pushoff or two, but he was a player. At one point, broadcaster Gus Johnson said Morrison had a "quiet" 24 points, and I was stunned at how inaccurate the statement was. After making sure his teammates could get involved in the scoring at the outset, every one of his points seemed meaningful - helping to bury the Bruins early and holding them off late. His four-point play after UCLA cut the 17-point Gonzaga lead to 46-40 was the play of the game until the finish.

But now Morrison is gone, J.J. Redick is gone, and the Bruins are still playing. Every one of the potential three remaining victories for UCLA will be gravy, but gravy is a fun incentive. I'll be rooting for them. (I can only hope that the Bruin fans will return the favor if Stanford's slide from March Madness can be reversed.)

Tomorrow, back to baseball.

If you care to chat about the UCLA-Gonzaga game, go to this thread.

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Update (up top, for a change): Outfielder Andre Ethier and reliever Takashi Saito are the latest roster cuts, Dodger public relations director Josh Rawitch announced today. Rawitch also passed along this advisory:

The PR department issued a moratorium this week to Dodger beat writers on using "Status Kuo" when referring to Hong-Chih Kuo in their stories. It was pointed out that earlier this week, Kenny Lofton asked Kuo what the name of the player was that he had been hanging out with, referring to the minor league shortstop, Chin-lung Hu, who had played a couple games in big league camp. Kuo responded, "Hu," and Lofton replied, "The guy you've been hanging out with." Again, Kuo said, "Hu" and they went back and forth several times before outfielder Matt Kemp realized what was happening and cleared up the confusion. To all this, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register had this to say: "Seo what?"

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J.D. Drew loves L.A., and not in the sardonic Randy Newman way, according to Plunkett:

Drew said he never saw the opt-out clause as leverage to get a more lucrative contract after two years. It was a hedge against the uncertainty of moving to a new part of the country and a team he was unfamiliar with, Drew said.

"I'm happy here," Drew said. "We have a home in Pasadena that we really like with new friends that we've made. We had some question marks coming to L.A. - going to a big city on the other side of the country. But we love it."

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Dioner Navarro is likely to start the season on the disabled list, according to Ken Gurnick's MLB.com notebook Wednesday. In that event, Sandy Alomar, Jr. would get the Opening Day start, easing Russell Martin to take the bulk of the starts while Navarro heals and than undertakes a minor league rehab assignment.

Also, the left wrist of out-of-options outfielder Cody Ross was hit by a pitch Wednesday, which will either cause or tempt the Dodgers to stash him on the disabled list while they sort out their bench. No word on whether Jayson Werth had any advice.

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Can anyone who has been to a high school academic decathlon tell me if they are the least bit telegenic?

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Update 2: According to Baseball Prospectus, Bill Mueller is expected (on offense) to be the fourth-worst regular third baseman in the NL ... but the second-best in the NL West.

Bottom 5 2006 NL Starting Third Basemen, by PECOTA Projected VORP

Vinny Castilla, SDN, 10.7
Pedro Feliz, SFN, 11.0
Corey Koskie, MIL, 13.9
Garrett Atkins, COL, 15.2
Bill Mueller, LAN, 21.5

The dream of becoming a major league broadcaster - without the cachet of a big-league career behind you - is the subject of my latest piece at SI.com. For the story, I interviewed Russ Langer, announcer for the Dodgers' AAA team in Las Vegas, and Robert Portnoy, who will be taking the mike this season in the Dodgers' former AAA city, Albuquerque.

And it goes a little something like this ...

A few million kids sit in front of a few million TV sets on a dusty summer's day and dream of becoming big league ballplayers. They're leaping up against the walls of their rooms and robbing imaginary hitters of home runs, 50,000 fans roaring in their heads and Vin Scully rhapsodizing in amazement.

A few million more kids dream of something else. They hear the call of the announcer marveling at the great catch -- but the voice is their own. Their fantasy is to become big league broadcasters, to funnel the frenzy that has fed generations.

It's the second group that has the craziest dream. ...

Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith of Baseball Analysts invited me and Geoff Young of the San Diego Padre blog Ducksnorts to discuss the coming season in the National League West. In the end, despite my reservations, I couldn't find any team I felt had a better shot of winning the thing than the Dodgers - but the consensus was that it would be another mediocre year for all five teams.

(Previously: NL West preview at SI.com)

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Meanwhile, the Register, Daily News, Times and Press-Enterprise all conduct an unintentional roundtable of their own regarding the one-inning limit (four outs tops) that Grady Little has announced for Dodger closer Eric Gagne. Aside from my usual disappointment in consigning the team's best reliever to pitch only in that specific inning instead of the inning he might be most needed, I have to wonder why the Dodgers would measure Gagne's workload by innings instead of pitches.

Are you telling me that if Gagne comes into the ninth inning of a tie game at Dodger Stadium (when a save opportunity no longer becomes available) and rips through the opposition in five pitches, you would take him out if the game goes to the 10th? I want Little to be as flexible about bullpen usage as he has appeared to be toward considering different people for the roster.

Anyway, Bill Plunkett of the Register offers this.

Little said he could see himself using Gagne for more than an inning "later in the year" after Gagne has had time to regain arm strength.

Ugueth Urbina had 40 saves for the 2002 Red Sox. That season, Little used Urbina for more than an inning three times in 61 appearances, on consecutive days 16 times and three consecutive days three times.

(Previously: "No Proof That Mota Trade Hurt Gagne", where we learned that despite the common belief, Gagne's workload did not increase after Guillermo Mota was traded in 2004. Remember, Gagne's problems in 2005 apparently grew out of him altering his mechanics to compensate for a fluke knee injury.)

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Little had this funny comment about Joel Guzman in Tony Jackson's Daily News article:

"I'm a little disappointed in (Joel) Guzman. When we put him in to pinch hit in the eighth or ninth inning and he's the tying run, we're not looking for a base hit to right. I thought he was going to hit one up on that (clubhouse) roof (in left). I just had a vision in my head."

- Dodgers manager Grady Little speaking tongue-in-cheek about the 6-foot-6, 252-pound Guzman, who has monstrous power but poked a harmless single into right field with a runner on and the Dodgers down by two in the eighth inning

Apparently pleased with Joel Guzman's outfield play and noting his infield experience, Dodger manager Grady Little is considering Guzman for the spot on the 25-man roster tentatively held by Ramon Martinez, according to Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

Little originally said if Guzman doesn't play every day in the big leagues, he would play every day in the Minor Leagues. Little backed a bit off that position on Monday, even though it would be highly unusual for a top prospect jumping from Double-A.

"It's sticky. There are very few people who think he can't help our club, but is it the best thing for him?" said Little. "He's done a great job adjusting to the outfield, making all the plays, and I'm confident he can do other things defensively, like shortstop and first and third base. In left field, he looks like Dave Winfield."

I'm sure you're thinking what I'm thinking - that no doubt Guzman is better than Martinez right now, but that it might harm Guzman's long-term development if he plays sporadically and doesn't get enough at-bats. But it is worth asking, does a player develop more from 500 at-bats against AAA pitching or 250 at-bats against the best in the U.S. (albeit not the world)? I'm not sure that an apprenticeship is such a bad idea.

Update: As several commenters discuss below, the kicker is Guzman's underdeveloped plate discipline. Where can he best learn balls and strikes? As I replied:

Let's put it this way - if he's going to be overwhelmed in the bigs, than keep him in AAA. If he's going to be challenged, let him apprentice. It's the difference between being overwhelmed and being challenged that I'm trying to suss out.

If he makes outs and he has no idea why, that's no good. If he makes outs that he can learn from, that's another thing.

I don't mind seeing Guzman starting the season in Las Vegas. The thing that does worry me is if he starts the season as the Opening Day left fielder in Los Angeles, goes 1-for 20 and the town starts ripping everyone in sight.

So all in all, in the real world, the safe move is to start Guzman in Las Vegas and wait for him to overwhelm the pitching in AAA. There are other options to supplant Ramon Martinez in the short term. And maybe it won't be a long wait.

Update 2: Jason Repko has "made the team," Steve Henson reports Grady Little saying in the Times. That means four out of six spots on the Dodger bench are taken: Olmedo Saenz, Ricky Ledee, Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Repko.

Battling for the final two spots: Guzman, Martinez, Oscar Robles, Hee Seop Choi, Willy Aybar (who got some kind words from Little in Henson's article), Cody Ross and Andre Ethier. Robles might be the favorite to take one slot, while Guzman, Martinez, Aybar and Choi vie for the other. Repko has probably taken the right-handed-hitting Ross' chance, and Ethier makes sense to start in AAA.

Update 3: The Dodgers must decide by March 29 if they want Martinez on their Opening Day roster, or give him a five-day window to find another major league employer, reports Gurnick in his latest piece.

Martinez will earn $700,000 if the Dodgers keep him; the implication is that this contract becomes guaranteed by March 29 if neither party does anything to stop it. Of course, Martinez could explore his options from March 29 through April 2 and still end up a Dodger, but one assumes that the Dodgers would be prepared to move on without him in that scenario.

If you were waiting for baseball season to arrive to buy The Best of Dodger Thoughts, wait no more.

For only $25, including shipping, you can own this 325-page historical resource and collector's item - featuring the top selections from this website since its creation - with sections on:

No one in the projected Dodger starting lineup is free from health worries, according to Will Carroll in his Team Health Report on the Dodgers at Baseball Prospectus. The starting pitching fares better, with Derek Lowe, Brett Tomko and Jae Seo getting the all-clear - which is not to say they can't get hurt, but that there's nothing immediate to worry about.

Speaking more generally about the team, Carroll writes the following:

There are a couple intertwined theories that will come to bear on the Dodgers this season. The first -and most obvious - concerns the rebound effect. If the injuries last season were actually just bad luck, then some significant natural correction might come this season. The data for injuries doesn't show this, though. Teams that have bad luck might not have as much bad luck the following year, but they don't often travel to the opposite end of the DL days chart. They go where their medical staff takes them; in this case, the Dodgers are better than average.

The final theory is that player risk is completely individual, especially given the amount of turnover. 2005 has little to do with 2006 in total, though there are certainly overlaps. Adding players like Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Mueller, and Rafael Furcal doesn't necessarily reduce injury risk overall, but making them wear Dodger blue is neither an inherent positive or negative.

In a sense, for all the Dodger owners, general managers, managers and players put on trial by the media and the fans in recent years, the medical and training staff has mostly escaped much more than whistles about how injuries always seem to be more serious than the team wants you to beileve (Cesar Izturis, now looking at a May return from Tommy John surgery, perhaps might prove an exception.) Once again, the trainers might only be able to be as good as the crippled hand they've been dealt. The question is, with vulnerable players parading through the training room, will we ever know how good (or not-so-good) they really are?

It's the first televised Dodger game of the year with Vin Scully: 10 a.m. on Channel 9 in Los Angeles. Enjoy.

* * *

Jae Seo pitched five shutout innings in Korea's World Baseball Classic loss to Japan on Saturday night. Earlier, Odalis Perez took the loss for the Dominican Republic against Cuba despite allowing three infield grounders and nothing else. Two of the grounders managed to become hits, and the third one drove in a run to break a 0-0 tie.

In any event, the two pitchers will soon be back in Dodgertown.

... so we show respect. Manny Mota changed Jason Repko's batting stance in September, according to Tony Jackson of the Daily News, and the dividends seemed tangible, giving credence to the notion that Repko might really be better than he showed most of 2005.

"His stance was so closed (before) that he was dropping his head," Mota said. "That was causing him to get under the pitches too much. I wanted him to try to stay on top more."

Baseball America spends some time at Dodgertown today, with Chris Kline writing up his interview with Dodger vice president of scouting and player development Roy Smith as well as offering a few notes on some of the team's less heralded prospects.

Here's Smith on Edwin Jackson and pitching in Las Vegas:

You have to make your pitches and you have to be aggressive in that league. You're going to give up some home runs and sometimes the scores are going to be sometimes a little higher. But there are places to pitch in that league. You can't use it as an excuse. I don't know if that was the reason that explains Edwin Jackson. He was a converted guy who didn't have a lot of experience. And when you hit a bump in the road and there are high expectations, it's magnified. This kid's still a young kid and the story has yet to be written on him. We didn't trade him with the idea, 'Hey, he's a flop;' we got value for him and I think it was a good baseball trade.

You have to take into account when you're evaluating guys out there that they're in an environment that's tough to pitch in. We don't use that as an excuse in the organization. It's not like the next level's going to be easier because you're not in Vegas. You have to be aggressive and you can't beat yourself. If you develop that mindset, you're benefiting from the tough conditions because it's even more reinforced that you can't walk people. And that's what we're drumming into our guys.

And, Smith on first baseman Cory Dunlap, who played at Vero Beach last season (and whom Kline writes is closer to 260 pounds than his listed weight of 205:

Cory can hit, but he has to get in shape. ... I was with Walter in Pittsburgh, and he's one of the nicest kids in the world--one of my favorites. But you can't play at 300 pounds. You can't. There's a reason why he's bounced around. You just can't do it.

But with Cory, we have hopes with him. We're contracted with API (Athletes Performance Institute) and we've had them talk to him about nutrition and having a consistent approach with his diet. We're going to do our best to get the most out of this kid, because we think he can hit. We're going to try to show him that we care. He just has to get in better shape.

In other news from Baseball America, Jim Callis writes that "I can't come up with a farm system that had as many highly regarded position players as Arizona has right now. If the Diamondbacks can come up with some pitching, they should be battling the Dodgers for National League West supremacy for years to come."

Callis also predicted that Joel Guzman will be in the Dodger lineup before the All-Star break.

* * *

Here's a billboard from the Dodgers' new marketing campaign. The "Think Big, Think Blue" slogan isn't bad - it encourages you to dream without making any promises. My favorite part of the billboard is the atmospheric look of the sky, the change of pace from a lazy summer day. This year, something's brewing.

One could quibble with the inclusion of Grauman's Chinese Theater, but perhaps the most amusing part of the billboard is the inclusion of Jeff Kent, whom by some accounts you couldn't get anywhere near a ballgame he wasn't playing in.

Anyway, I'm rooting for the upcoming TV campaign to have some of this stir-the-pot feeling.

You might have an easier time today picking the NCAA men's basketball Final Four than the exact composition of the Dodger bullpen. In any event, here's a look at the many relievers who still have a shot at making the Opening Day roster - but be forewarned, I sort of feel like I'm leading the cattle drive through the rain in City Slickers in trying to make a coherent evaluation.

Locks (3)
Eric Gagne, RHP: So far, so good. No physical complaints. Update: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com provides this bit of news:

Gagne apparently has a body type inclined to produce significant scar tissue, which has translated into requiring more time to recover between appearances this spring. It is believed the elbow sprain he suffered last spring caused the formation of scar tissue that entrapped a nerve in his elbow, requiring last June's season-ending surgery.

"For sure, I won't do two innings," he said. "There's no reason with the bullpen we have. If I have to during the season, I'll do it, but later in the season."

Danys Baez, RHP: In the words of Hank Hill, "Yep."

Lance Carter, RHP: If the Dodgers care to define roles this precisely, Carter is making a move to grab the seventh-inning setup role from Yhency Brazoban.

Most Likely to Succeed (2)
Yhency Brazoban, RHP: He was the No. 3 reliever entering Spring Training, so he'd have to fall quite a ways to fall off the roster. Yes, an Edwin Jackson 2004-2005 quality is starting to emerge with Brazoban, a feeling (perhaps only temporary, we can hope) that he is more shaky than sensational. But the odds remain that the Dodgers will give him a chance to prove otherwise in April.

Tim Hamulack, LHP: It's a tossup at this point for the lefthanders, but I'm giving the slight edge to the Ned Colletti acquisition.

And for the Final Spot(s), It Could Be ...
Hong-Chih Kuo, LHP: Mr. Upside - get him while he's healthy.

Franquelis Osoria, RHP: Hasn't really ever done anything wrong. Look to him if Brazoban veers toward collapse.

D.J. Houlton, RHP: He could still win a swingman role, though he'll have to show consistency.

Kelly Wunsch, LHP: More experienced than many of his competitors but working without a net.

Jonathan Broxton, RHP: Still only 21 - and in some people's minds still prone to bad innings - Broxton may simmer in Las Vegas while the team defers to the more proven veterans. (You can decide what they're proven to do.)

Takashi Saito, RHP: Dodger manager Grady Little has said nice things about Saito more than once, but he still has longshot written all over him.

Aaron Sele, RHP: Here's the deal with Sele. Right now, there's no movement to have Chad Billingsley appear in the majors this April. So Sele and Houlton are battling to be the first backup for the starting rotation. To that end, the Dodgers would probably prefer they were both starting in the minors. Despite his headlines this spring, it's hard to believe that the Dodgers want Sele for any other reason than injury insurance. So the question is mostly whether Sele decides life is too short to bum around the Pacific Coast League at age 35.

Joe Beimel, LHP: A year ago, he might well have made the team. This year, there may be too many alternatives.

Essentially, though, there are 10 guys still competing for the final three spots in the bullpen.

Dodger Thoughts reader Michael Popek owns a bookstore 20 minutes from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, so you can imagine he sees a lot of fun baseball history on a regular basis. Popek was kind enough to pass along this Lyle Spencer article from the 1981 Dodger Yearbook, entitled "'High Five': Trademark of the Dodgers".

The article tells the tale of the orignal high five between Dodger outfielders Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker, pinpointing it as coming after Baker's grand slam in Game 2 of the 1977 National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers and their fans are ecstatic as Baker tours the bases behind his three teammates, but the ultimate expression of the moment doesn't come until Dusty approaches the dugout.

"That's right," Dusty Baker says, smiling handsomely with the recollection of the magic moment. "That was it. The first 'High Five.' "

Bob Timmermann of The Griddle told me in an e-mail that Baker took the high five very seriously.

"The high five was a big deal in a 1982 brawl between the Dodgers and Padres," Timmermann said. "Dusty Baker felt that the Padres weren't accomplished enough to high five each other on the field and he started a brawl with Padres second baseman Juan Bonilla.

"There were numerous stories about it in 1982. It was in the game story, and Scott Ostler devoted a whole column to high-fiving and the ethics behind it."

By this time - in fact, by the time Spencer's article was written, Burke was out of the big leagues - so it's not clear what inspired him to raise his arm in the air instead of doing the conventional 1970s low five. His absence from the team and Spencer's article (as far as being quoted) is unremarked upon, but knowing that Burke is one of the few baseball players in history to later divulge that he was homosexual, it's hard not to notice that Spencer described Burke as "the man who brought the 'High Five' out of the closet."

Remembering Burke, who died of AIDS in 1995, normally makes me sad, so it's a nice change to think of him keeping his teammates loose and laughing in the clubhouse.

Previously on Dodger Thoughts ...
"A High Five to the High Five"
"Baseball Cards, Gimme Five, and Freddie 'Boom-Boom' Washington"

And at Bronx Banter ...
"A Small, Good Thing"

George: What does she need? Maybe there's something that she needs.
Jerry: I think I heard her say something about a bench.

- Seinfeld, "The Deal"

Fairly or unfairly, people complained that former Dodger general manager Paul DePodesta did not prepare for the cataclysm of injuries that befell the team - that his spare tires were mostly flat. But it's worth looking to see if Ned Colletti has done much better with his bench, especially considering that his starting lineup will also feature players of questionable durability.

The assured returnees from the 2005 bench are Ricky Ledee and Olmedo Saenz. Joining them could be as many as three other holdovers, brought to you by the letter "R": Jason Repko, Oscar Robles and Cody Ross.

In addition, Sandy Alomar Jr. replaces Paul Bako - an exchange probably not worth analyzing, although it's worth noting that backup catcher wasn't a problem for the Dodgers last year.

Two other possible newcomers to the bench are:

Assuming 14 position player spots on the 25-man roster, here's a non-pitching update of last month's assessment of the Dodger roster:

Locks (11)
Starting Lineup (8): Dioner Navarro, Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent, Rafael Furcal, Bill Mueller, J.D. Drew, Kenny Lofton, Jose Cruz, Jr.
Bench (3): Ricky Ledee, Olmedo Saenz, Sandy Alomar Jr.

Most Likely to Succeed (3):
Ramon Martinez, IF - General manager Ned Colletti's pet has polished his apple in Spring Training, OPS-ing over 1.000. Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me three times ...

Jason Repko, OF: Similar story, incumbent version. Repko plays all three outfield positions, is a right-handed bat in a lefty-dominated outfield, scans as "Likeable" on the department store register and has had a great March (until the past few days).

Oscar Robles, IF: Until Izturis gets back, Robles will win out for having held his own this month (.825 OPS). He wears his .250 batting average the way Tony Randall proudly donned his ascot on "The Odd Couple."

Still in the Running (3)
Andre Ethier, OF: Definitely has made a positive impression. He's the right Repkoian age for a promotion, and the Dodgers might not mind having something tangible to show for the Milton Bradley trade on Opening Day. The 25th man decision could come down to Ethier vs. Robles. Certainly, Ethier is in line for the inevitable post-injury callup.

Joel Guzman, OF: His spring has been an adulterated success. He's not perfect in the outfield or at the plate - one walk, seven strikeouts in 29 plate appearances - but he has done decently (.845 OPS) and shown a good attitude toward his position change. The Ned Colletti/Grady Little Dodgers don't seem like the kind to put a guy like this in the spotlight right away, so expect they'll let him chase a few fly balls in Las Vegas for a while.

Cody Ross, OF: Out of options, Ross has put up a valiant effort with three March home runs. The Dodgers could decide to let Ethier and Guzman play full-time in the minors, stash or dump Robles and give Ross a second chance following his disappointing 2005 as a 25th man - then quickly dispose of him and his connection to former Dodger general manager Paul DePodesta should Ross not take advantage.

Back up the Dumptruck (1)
Hee Seop Choi, 1B: Probably needed to bat .500 in the World Baseball Classic to hold his spot. Instead, he's 3 for 14. There doesn't appear to be a significant voice left in the organization that wouldn't prefer anyone at first base but him. Despite Nomar Garciaparra's 3 for 23, no-walk March so far, only an injury would appear to be able to save Choi now. (In fact, James Loney's decent play may have rendered Choi completely irrelevant to the team's eyes.)

To the Minors, With Love (7+)
Tony Abreu, IF: Guzman's conversion from shortstop to the outfield has the domino effect of helping keep playing time available in Las Vegas for the young second baseman.

Willy Aybar, IF: Aybar's quiet spring - broken only today by a two-run, extra-inning home run - while the so-called proven veterans have shone, will send him back to the minors. Worth noting, however: a team-high six walks.

Matt Kemp, OF: Made a great first impression on the new leadership - though perhaps you'll be shocked to learn he's only 4 for 28 in March with no walks - but he could rise quickly.

Andy LaRoche, 3B: Had that big six-RBI inning in the first week; otherwise not much production so far. Of course, he was never expected to do anything but start in Las Vegas.

James Loney, 1B: As hinted at earlier, he may have succeeded in establishing himself not as a backup on the 25-man roster, but more importantly, as the primary starter should Garciaparra go down. On the other hand, Cesar Izturis' rapid recovery from injury could awaken the dormant plans to move Jeff Kent to first base.

Russell Martin, C: Has outperformed Navarro this spring, but the Dodgers aren't getting carried away - yet.

Delwyn Young, OF: The other former infielder has three singles in 25 plate appearances in exhibition play, confirming his ticket to AAA.

Fodder (1+)
Chris Truby, 1B-3B: Unlike Martinez, he is stuck in this category like flies on taffy.

Disabled List (2):
Cesar Izturis, Jayson Werth

If you'd like, fill out an NCAA men's hoop bracket at ESPN.com and join the "Dodger Thoughts" group I've set up there.

Also, for those of you who were offline this weekend, be sure to catch up on the most recent Dodger Thoughts posts:

Showtime May Revive Hee Seop Choi
Selerickson
Best Dodger Quote of 2006

As reported by Jerry Crowe in the Times ... Joel Guzman, on his move to left field:

"I kind of like it. I'm not loving it, like McDonald's."

It grows among us.

With due credit and the most sincere apologies to all concerned, as appropriate ...

Showtime May Revive Hee Seop Choi

by Mark Dawidziak, Plain Dealer Television Critic and Jon Weisman, Dodger Thoughts

Now here's an arresting rumor that could turn into a terrific development. Although Showtime executives say no deal is yet in place, it is being reported that the premium cable channel is giving new life to Hee Seop Choi.

The Dodgers were poised to drop the critically acclaimed but poorly rated first baseman last month. Even before then, there was speculation that Showtime, ABC or maybe even the Dodgers' sister cable channel, FX, would pick up Hee Seop Choi.

But Showtime has remained the strongest contender, actively pursing negotiations. About a year ago, Showtime's entertainment president, Robert Greenblatt, was asked which first baseman he'd most like to have.

"My answer was 'Hee Seop Choi,' " Greenblatt told TV critics and sportswriters in January. "I always thought he was probably a better fit on a cable network than on the Dodgers. And, you know, I think he really does fit in with a lot of the things that we're doing ... and if only a small fraction of the loyal audience that follows the Dodgers came to Showtime, he would be one of our highest-rated ballplayers."

Reports published Tuesday have Showtime giving a 162-game order for the wacky Choi of Chun-Nam, South Korea. That probably would translate into two Showtime seasons. "Nothing has changed since Robert Greenblatt spoke to the critics in January," said Stuart Zakim, Showtime's vice president for corporate public relations.

Update:

"You'd better believe Liza Minnelli is keeping an eye on the reports swirling around that Showtime is making a deal to pick up the Dodgers' acclaimed Hee Seop Choi for 162 new episodes," write Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith.

"Oh, I hope they do. He is so good!" cries Minnelli, who's demonstrated just how hilarious she can be in her recurring role as Lucille Two, the non-roster infielder on the Emmy-winning, yet ratings-deprived Dodgers.

Frank McCourt trashed former Dodger general manager Paul DePodesta pretty good in an interview published by Ken Gurnick today on MLB.com.

McCourt said there was a difference between hiring DePodesta one month into his ownership and Colletti after two years.

"The most important point is that I knew what I wanted. We learn from experience, and I feel I learned immensely from the two years I've owned the club. That's what growth is. It's what players go through. You look at failures you have to overcome to become a champion. We all have bumps in the road - it's how we deal with them. You have to be willing to admit it and fix it."

The blindness with which McCourt fails to grant others the same learning curve he grants himself, and the gracelessness with which he withholds praise for the good done by those he has fired, never ceases to astonish me.

No, the 2004 division title was only partly DePodesta's - but so will it be for a 2006 title if it comes under Ned Colletti.

Update: Rob McMillin explores this in greater detail at 6-4-2.

The hangover from last season went away quickly: The Dodgers sold their 2 millionth ticket for 2006 on Thursday. That's the fastest they have reached that milestone in 12 years, according to the team's public relations department. Considering that their regular season can hardly go worse than 2005 did, the Dodgers already seem assured of matching last year's National League-leading attendance figure of 3,603,646.

Aiding the Dodgers' efforts to enhance their presence through good times and bad is Thursday's launch of a Spanish-language website, Losdodgers.com. From the press release:

Losdodgers.com will feature original content from local and national columnists as well as translated stories from the club's English-language website, dodgers.com. The new portal will also feature first-person articles from Spanish-speaking members of the Dodger organization, live web chats, Internet polls, blogs, a regularly updated community section, ticket information, biographies on the club's Spanish-language radio broadcasters and an A-Z guide for Dodger Stadium, among numerous other areas of interest.

According to leading market research firm Scarborough Research, the Dodgers have increased their Latino audience significantly over the past four years – it has grown from 32 percent in 2001 to more than 42 percent in 2005.

* * *

Two outfielders are on the day-to-day list now: Andre Ethier and Kenny Lofton. Yes, if you're able-bodied and can catch a fly ball, you'll see some action this season.

Wow, the rapprochement between Jim Tracy and Paul DePodesta knows no bounds, huh?

From The Associated Press, via Baseball Think Factory:

For the past five years, no team in the National League has been less patient at the plate than the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tracy pushed patience at the plate while with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has made it a priority in the early part of spring training. During batting practice, he applauds when he sees a hitter taking a pitch out of the zone. During games, he is at the top step to congratulate anyone displaying his preferred approach.

Can a trade of Hee Seop Choi to Pittsburgh be far behind?

I really don't mean this to be snide - I know some will take it that way - but I am starting to expect to read that it was Jim Tracy who invented the vaccine for polio.

Barry Bonds hit 613 home runs in his career, including 73 in 2001, before baseball prohibited steroids and began testing at the start of 2003. His performance was as permissable, however much some may want to say it was immoral, as stealing signs.

So for this period of his career, as much as I may deplore what he did, Bonds was not a cheater. J.A. Adande of the Times covered this ground this morning, capturing for the most part what I had been thinking.

Baseball let Bonds do what he pleased - failed to nip it in the Bud, so to speak - and baseball has to live with it. Bonds was a joyrider, but baseball is what let him - and others - run amok.

You can't rewrite all the history you want. You can't erase all the bad because it feels wrong. The best you can do is learn.

Barry Bonds is part of history. Baseball is a game with runs, hits and errors, and he represents all three. Let his deserved presence in the Hall of Fame be a lesson to baseball. It wasn't just Bonds. Baseball took steroids.

* * *

On a happier note in the Times, just as I proposed last week - I had nothing else to do with it - Bob Timmermann made Morning Briefing.

Bob Timmerman, a contributor to the DodgerThoughts website, heard an interesting exchange between ESPN basketball announcers Lou Canellis and Bucky Waters on Saturday. It came during the Atlanta Sun Conference tournament championship game between two Nashville, Tenn., schools. Belmont defeated Lipscomb, 74-69, in overtime.

Said Waters: "Actually, Belmont is a Southern Baptist school that prohibits dancing."

* * *

The history and future of Jerry West as the iconic NBA logo is detailed in a freelance piece by David Davis at FOXSports.com.

"I found the original photograph in the archives of Sport Magazine (where Schaap later worked as editor in chief)," (designer Alan) Siegel said. "It was an action shot of Jerry West dribbling down the court from one of the Lakers' games. I sketched it, cleaned it up a bit and stylized it. I streamlined the tracing I made — (and) slimmed it down a little bit — so it would work in all applications." ...

Siegel said that he had no ulterior motive for selecting the photograph of West and that his main consideration was the image's aesthetics. Jerry West, however, was no ordinary player. ...

There is talk that the NBA would consider changing the logo.

Does the present logo represent today's brand of the NBA? If not, should the NBA retire it and bring in a sub?

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks that the logo works fine, but he says the league needs to improve its marketing efforts. "(The logo) represents the NBA, but it's how you enable the brand that matters, not the logo itself," he said. "It's a much more competitive environment (today), and we've got to work harder at it. Unless we have a good marketing program, the logo is irrelevant."

Thanks to L.A. Observed for the story link.

* * *

Finally, I have a new column up at SI.com on the World Baseball Classic. While the WBC seems to be generating interest, it only appears to be doing so in places where baseball is already popular, such as the U.S., the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Given that the mission of the WBC is to expand baseball's audience around the world beyond its existing hot spots, I've proposed some changes to the format, so that the game has a better chance of growing new roots.

Eric Gagne "made his first appearance since last June and needed only five pitches to get through the fifth inning," wrote Roch Kubatko in a live-blog for the Baltimore Sun of today's 9-3 Dodger victory over the Orioles. "He topped out at 91 mph and struck out Nick Markakis," Kubatko added.

As for Dodger starting pitcher Chad Billingsley, the results were mixed.

"He reached 94 mph on a scout's radar gun, and shattered (Val) Majewski's bat on an infield single in the third," Kubatko wrote. "But he also hung a curveball on (Melvin) Mora's single that proceeded a Nick Markakis walk and (Napoleon) Calzado's drive into the right-center field gap. He left with one out in the third."

The Dodgers got home runs from today Sandy Alomar, Jr., Cody Ross, Joel Guzman and Bill Mueller and a triple from Matt Kemp.

Update: Hmm. In the boxscore, Gagne has no strikeouts. He has two groundouts and a flyout. The Associated Press provides the following:

"I felt perfect on the mound," said Gagne, who worked the fourth inning. "I threw all fastballs. I hoped to get to throw some more but the hitters were swinging at the first pitch. But if I have to choose five pitches or 15, I'll take five every day."

... Gagne is expected to pitch Saturday in Viera against the Washington Nationals. He said he is continuing to work on his changeup, curve and slider in bullpen sessions and will work them into game situations as the spring progresses.

In other news from AP, Andre Ethier, injured Tuesday, was scheduled for an MRI, and Edwin Bellorin, Eric Langill, Eric Stults and Jon Weber were sent to minor league camp.

Billingsley's final line: 2 1/3 innings, six hits, three runs, two walks, no strikeouts. Jeff Kent, in his Spring debut after offseason right wrist surgery, had two hits.

Update 2: More quotes from Gagne, courtesy of Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

"I felt great," said Gagne, who was clocked at a high of 92 mph. "I'm pain free. I feel comfortable with my mechanics. I'll add a couple more miles per hour. I was focusing on strikes, keeping the ball down and controlling my emotions. I was excited. It's good to go out there and see how hitters react."

"I'm mainly trying to get my rhythm back," he said. "I missed a couple spots and that's why they hit the ball pretty hard. I can tell when I miss, because they hit the ball pretty hard. If I throw 91 or 92 [mph] and I bounce back, I'm fine with that. The ball was coming out of my hand crisp."

Gurnick added that young pitcher Jose Diaz will be sidelined for a week with elbow tenderness, but Yhency Brazoban is scheduled to pitch his first inning Thursday.

Dodger outfield prospect Andre Ethier jammed his shoulder in a first-inning dive during the Dodgers' 3-1 exhibition victory over St. Louis today, according to The Associated Press. Dodger manager Grady Little had hope that the injury was not "very serious."

No immediate word yet on how Joel Guzman did in his left field debut, though we at least know from the boxscore he wasn't charged with any errors. I'd mention how some Dodgers did at the plate, but it's already making me uncomfortable that people are putting too much weight into exhibition statistics, particularly now when players are just getting loose.

Update: Guzman done did swell, writes Faran Fagen of MLB.com.

Guzman was tested in the first inning on a shallow fly ball, which he tracked down and caught one-handed with the sun in his eyes. Later in the game, he snared a line drive that sliced toward the left-field line with a backhand grab.

"You can't ask for too much tougher conditions," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "The sun was right in his face, and the wind was blowing. And he handled all the plays he was supposed to."

Sports Illustrated is publishing an excerpt of what it calls "the most detailed and damning condemnation that (Barry) Bonds, formerly a sleek five-tool player, built himself into a hulking, record-setting home run hitter at an advanced baseball age with a cornucopia of elaborate, illegally-administered chemicals." The excerpt is from the upcoming book, Game of Shadows, by San Francisco Chronicle writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.

An excerpt from the excerpt:

BALCO tracked Bonds' usage with doping calendars and folders -- detailing drugs, quantities, intervals and Bonds' testosterone levels -- that wound up in the hands of federal agents upon their Sept. 3, 2003 raid of the Burlingame, Calif., business.

When informed about the book this morning and asked if he was concerned about it, Bonds told a group of reporters gathered around his locker, "Nope. I won't even look at it [the book]. For what? I won't even look at it. There's no need to." He then walked away.

Bonds, of course, isn't the only name linked with steroids. Just the biggest.

* * *

In related news, Major League Baseball "will start selling approved supplements to players in an effort to prevent positive drug tests," according to The Associated Press.

Today is Jeff Kent's 38th birthday. Last season, Kent defied age and a tougher home hitting environment to post better offensive statistics with the Dodgers than he had shown in his previous two seasons with Houston.

Year	G	H	2B	HR	BB	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	EQA	VORP
2003	130	150	39	22	39	.351	.509	.860	118	.286	45.7
2004	145	156	34	27	49	.348	.531	.879	124	.289	55.2
2005	149	160	36	29	72	.377	.512	.889	136	.307	60.5

Generally speaking, because of the breakdown of the Dodger lineup, more was asked from Kent in 2005, and he delivered. His counting stats mostly improved, and even though his slugging percentage fell from 2004, his overall rate statistics improved once adjusted for park factors. (Kent hammered the ball on the road in 2005, OPSing .939, but also held his own at Dodger Stadium with an .839 OPS.)

Kent's rise in walks and on-base percentage might be explained in part by him being pitched around. But if you buy the theory that he had fewer good pitches to hit, it makes his increase in home runs even more impressive.

Few expected Kent to surpass his 2004 statistics in his first season with the Dodgers. Even fewer should expect him to surpass either his 2004 or 2005 numbers in the coming year. Unless Kent can defy the age odds again – somewhat in the style of his former dance partner, Barry Bonds - others in Los Angeles will have to make up Kent's delayed but inevitable decline.

Sources: ESPN.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball Prospectus

The Dodgers played 20 innings of baseball in two split-squad games today, scored one run and allowed one run.

Marlins 1, Dodgers 1 (10 1/2 innings)

Nationals 0, Dodgers 0 (9 1/2 innings)

Cody Ross homered and doubled for the Dodgers' main offensive production. Greg Miller allowed the Florida run. Aaron Sele continued his assault on reality with 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Marlins, while Brad Penny faced the minimum over three innings against Washington. Jonathan Broxton also pitched a shutout inning to bring his Spring ERA into the finite (36.00).

Most news outlets painted a rosy picture of Odalis Perez after his three-inning, one-hit outing Sunday, but Allison Ann Otto of the Press-Enterprise found unhappiness:

Odalis Perez planted himself at a table in the Dodgers clubhouse Sunday morning, slapped the tabletop and began venting in Spanish to shortstop Cesar Izturis.

"I was mad," Perez said after throwing three innings of one-hit ball in a 16-2 win over a New York Mets split-squad team. "But at the same time, I have to stay with it. It's tough, but this is the team I belong to." ...

What's important is that despite his mixed feelings, Perez knows how he must protect his arm.

Perez, who is slated to be the Dodgers' No. 3 starter this year, said he would monitor himself today for soreness and that the personal trainer he hired this winter would accompany him to Orlando.

"But if I'm not OK, I'm not going to rush myself," Perez said. "I understand you're going to represent your country. But at the same time, it's only a tournament. And you have to understand there are six months ahead in the season."

There may be nothing to worry about. Brad Penny, who faced 10 batters on Thursday, will be making his second Spring Training appearance today on three days rest.

Jonathan Broxton and D.J. Houlton combined to allow nine straight batters to reach base from the end of Friday's game to the start of today's game; seven scored. That's called "gettin' loose."

In other tidbits:

Worst Dodger Thoughts headline ever ... anyway, here I was thinking that Joel Guzman could still be a backup shortstop, completely forgetting that Nomar Garciaparra could do it. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com passed along the reminder:

Little said he was not planning to have Garciaparra switch back to shortstop if Rafael Furcal is not ready for Opening Day, but didn't completely rule it out.

"If the time comes and he's the best option, we'll adjust our thinking," Little said, although he also praised the play of Oscar Robles, who had six assists at shortstop.

Of course, the subtext of this is the lingering doubt about Furcal's health.

* * *

Once and future Dodgers Chan Ho Park and Jae Seo combined for 6 2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts in Korea's 2-0 victory over Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic lidlifter. Hee Seop Choi added a double.

Al Downing, who was a Dodger game commentator on radio last season, is not returning in 2006, Dodgers public relations director Josh Rawitch confirmed today. He will remain with the team's Speakers Bureau.

With Charlie Steiner and Steve Lyons handling some World Baseball Championships action this month, Downing's departure gives the Dodgers extra reason to try out some new voices behind the mike. Perhaps the most surprising for you will be Tom Goodwin, who passed through Dodger Stadium in both home and away uniforms but always seemed to do better with the aways. Hiring the fast, light-hitting Goodwin would certainly fit with general manager Ned Colletti's ostensible desire to make the team quicker ...

Also guesting will be former Dodgers Steve Yeager (currently a minor league coach) and Jerry Reuss (whom I enjoyed when he was an Angel color man) and KFWB's A Martinez, while minor league broadcasters Russ Langer (Las Vegas) and Brian Petrotta (Vero Beach) will do some substitute play-by-play.

* * *

The Dodgers' 3-2 exhibition victory today will please the masses, especially with Nomar Garciaparra making two outstanding plays at first base, according to The Associated Press. In addition, Matt Kemp had an outfield assist and Kelly Wunsch began his comeback from 2005-ending injury with a scoreless ninth inning.

Less impressive was the Dodgers managing no earned runs on four hits with no walks. But on Exhibition Opening Day, you could argue that only the good is relevant - the bad can be worked on. Unless the good was just, you know, luck.

Aaron Sele had two scoreless innings - a good news/bad news scenario along the lines of if infielder Ramon Martinez had gone 3 for 3. As much as you might want to believe in miracles, good performances by players whose careers are over on paper (yes, on paper) can only confuse matters.

Ah, what the heck does it all matter? We're playing ball - that's what matters.

With Jose Cruz, Jr. (along with Ricky Ledee) headed off to the World Baseball Championships, otherwise known as Grady Little's "You Do the Math" zone, the starting left field job has become rookie Joel Guzman's to lose. And while it's true that Guzman may still misplace it at the outset of 2006, it's fun to think about what might happen if he puts it in the vault.

Not only does the Dodger starting lineup become that much more interesting to watch, but the bench becomes stronger with Cruz (or Kenny Lofton, on his days off) joining it.

If the Dodgers were truly Strat-o-Matic players, they would let Guzman also serve as a backup/double-switch shortstop and first baseman, thus providing even more flexibility - although the team seems pretty determined to end Guzman's shortstop playing days immediately.

What's important to keep in mind is that just because Guzman might not be ready to start in April doesn't mean he's a failure - it just means he isn't ready. But it's fun to think of what it would mean if he were.

* * *

Bill Plaschke's Times column today on Derek Lowe's actions of July 2, in a nutshell:

He didn't want to be there.

He didn't want to be there.

He didn't want to be there.

In a startling contrast, however, Plaschke refrains from wielding the judgmental stick the way he did last week with Sasha Cohen, who had the temerity to be nervous at age 21 about winning a gold medal. Plaschke's conclusion, that butterflies meant that Cohen did not want to go for gold, was as much of a stumble off the ice as Cohen made on the ice.

This week, athletes are allowed to be human. I'm not sure what prompted the change - perhaps Lowe's checkout moment wasn't in the championship round, so it was all okay - but I like the change.

* * *

The oxymoronically official exhibition opener is today! Brad Penny, Aaron Sele, Lance Carter, Kelly Wunsch, Tim Hamulack and Danys Baez are scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers in Vero Beach against the Braves at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

And fresh over the Associated Press wires, Eric Gagne will be away from camp for a few days for personal reasons. Grady Little said that Gagne "feels great" and will pitch next week, but Little did not go into specifics about Gagne's departure.

Update: "Family reasons" are cited as the cause for Bob Welch's departure from Class A Ogden as pitching coach - for the entire season.

Update 2: My boss at SI.com, Jacob Luft, has a short bit on Dodger catcher Dioner Navarro which begins thusly:

Dioner Navarro has the baseball cards of two players on top of his locker: Pudge Rodriguez and Jason Phillips. Can you guess which one he put there and which one is the product of a practical joke?

Update 3: Former Times sportswriter and assistant sports editor Randy Harvey will replace Bill Dwyre as Sports Editor. (Thanks to Kevin Roderick at L.A. Observed for passing on the news.) Harvey spent more than two decades at the Times in a previous stint. He will start in April; Dwyre will remain on staff, perhaps as a writer.

I always knew this day would come, except that I had expected the announcement to name Dwyre lieutenant Dave Morgan. But Morgan recently left the Times for Yahoo!.

By the way, I should have said more about the recent passing of Otis Chandler. Just haven't had the time to find a meaningful perspective. L.A. Observed covered it very well.