Anyone think Colletti will take a player in the draft?

And I think we all need to agree to call Diaz by his nickname, Jumbo. Helps with the multiple Jose Diaz's problem

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On the manager front, Lou Piniella and Jim Fregosi continue to be considered the front-runners on new general manager Ned Colletti's short list, although the club would not confirm contact was made with either.

Colletti headed to Florida on Thursday to attend the weekend wedding of former boss and San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean, but Piniella and Fregosi both live in Florida.

But when it comes to unprotected pitchers, the list is pretty long. The first column is lefties, the second is righties:

Mike Megrew
Carlos Alvarez
Eric Stults
Luis Gonzalez
Matt Merricks
Jonathan Figueroa
Ryan Ketchner
Glenn Bott
Marshal Looney

Brian Pilkington
Eric Hull
Jarod Plummer
William Juarez
Danny Muegge
Zach Hammes
Brandon Weeden
Steve Nelson

Mike Megrew is the best prospect on the list above, but I think the Dodgers are confident that his missing most of the 2005 season after Tommy John surgery, coupled with the fact that he is a finesse rather than a power pitcher who has yet to reach Double A, will keep other teams away from him.

The pitcher we are most likely to lose is Carlos Alvarez. Left-handed, throws hard, has a good curve and change-up. An MLB team could easily use him as a situational lefty in the big leagues in 2006 without being hurt by it. Ricardo Rincon is his upside long-term. He doesn't quite break into the Dodgers' Top 30 prospects, but he would be prized in a lot of other teams' farm systems, and I would definitely have protected him over Edwards on the 40-man roster, I can tell you that.

Stan from Tacoma

I'm sure Lou Piniella would love managing the Dodgers. They would remind him of Tampa Bay. Except with a nicer stadium.

Stan from Tacoma

This is the type of move that I fear Colletti making. That, and letting Werth, Bradley, and Choi go for nothing, and them hitting 70 HR's next year combined.

Is anyone less attached to the team after the hiring? I'm actually more detached now, than two days ago.

Depressing day to be an LA sports fan, aside from USC.

The Kings beat Vancouver.

Now this would be a bad day:

From the LA Times prep football recaps:

Venice 37, L.A. Jordan 34
There were plenty of big plays when Venice met Los Angeles Jordan in the first round of the City Section Championship Division playoffs Thursday night at Venice, but one small mistake defined the outcome.

Jordan quarterback Jerry Jackson spiked the ball on fourth down at the Venice 11-yard line with 14 seconds left in the game, giving the ball back to Venice, which held on for a 37-34 victory.

I know I can look it up all those stats on the website myself, but what I really need is a big data file where a computer program can look them up for itself using the same player ID codes from the log files.

It seems like this should be pretty simple and I just must be missing something somewhere.

I guess I'll breathe easier once all those players have signed with other teams. Although Nomar wouldnt be bad as a stop gap.

Between general managers, the Dodgers have aggressively pursued free-agent outfielder Brian Giles, according to Giles' agent. Joe Bick said he'd had "numerous conversations" with Ng and Smith but would not characterize the Dodgers' chances of signing the 34-year-old native of El Cajon, Calif.

"The one thing that has remained consistent in that period is their interest in Brian," Bick said. He also said that although Giles has enjoyed playing near home, in San Diego, "to the best of my knowledge, it's not going to be the deciding factor. We haven't ruled out a number of the other markets."
Doesn't sound like Giles is coming here.

This helps a lot, thanks.

looks like i am on the same page as Ng and roy smith.

Colletti also allowed for the possibility that Logan White, the club's scouting director extraordinaire, might not be too far off in his belief that at least some of the Dodgers' coveted prospects - most of whom spent 2005 at Double-A Jacksonville - are ready for prime time.

The Dodgers are desperate for a power-hitting third baseman, and Andy LaRoche combined for 30 homers at Single-A Vero Beach and Jacksonville this year. They are just as desperate for a reliable first baseman, and James Loney swatted 11 homers and 31 doubles at Jacksonville while at times playing dazzling defense.

Even if such prospects are deemed too raw in 2006, they figure to stay in-house.

"We won't be afraid to trade young players if we know the exact quality and caliber of the player we're getting back," Colletti said. "But I also know if a young player has special ability, heart, determination and the ability to learn and adjust, we won't be moving him."

White said no such overtures were made to him, but Colletti's repeated, glowing references to White and the farm system he has built made it clear that White - arguably the most valuable and indispensable member of the Dodgers' front office the past four years - is safe

excuse while i say..... damn right he better be saft Flanders. White should never leave. logan white should be given %1 of the dodgers ownership.

it should be excuse ME and at the end, it should read "be given 1% ownership of the dodgers.

okay off to bed.

Too bad he didn't start saying this stuff earlier. Maybe all them writers were trying to "hide" the good news while DePo was at the helm. I guess that's conspiracy theory #184. Though it's 2:05 in the morning. That's my excuse too.

I get the feeling that Logan White really takes pride in his picks and wants the kids to succeed as Dodgers. I hope and expect him to do everything he can to make sure they stay Dodgers or we make good trades with them.

"Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti, moving quickly in his search for a manager, is scheduled to interview Jim Fregosi on Saturday and Terry Collins on Sunday, both in the Tampa, Fla., area, and was expected to speak to Lou Piniella as well."

God--Fregosi and Collins! They're both recycled crap. Could there be more uninspired choices. I have been defending Colleti the last few days, but if he hires either one of these clowns, he deserves everything he gets.

I joked about Colleti's thanking all those 1980's era people--Dallas Green, Jim Frey, etc.--during his press conference. Now i know why--apparently Colleti doesn't know anyone who entered baseball after 1980. I guess he avoided all those character-less stat geeks! Why not just bring back Lasorda so we can stop pretending about who is really running the show!

I am sorry to rant, but I had some hope that maybe, accidentally, we would get things right with Colleti. Now, i fear that everything negative that everyone has been saying on this site about him is true.

He managed all or parts of 15 seasons with four different teams--and had 5 winning seasons! And he'll be 64 when the season opens. As i said, bring back Lasorda--at least he has a winning record, and he's not that much older than Fregs--can i call him "Fregs?"

And about the Clayton comment, it says he was contacted before Colletti, so maybe Ng shouldn't have become GM. Or maybe she was trying to force Arizona to pay more for him (It'd be great if he got a Neifi deal from them)

And personally, the Giles part really didn't lead me to believe we won't get him, and possibly the opposite, that we're aggressively pursuing him. By the end of the day, our location is probably a huge factor whether or not his agent thinks so

Regarding Megew, the Dodgers probably believe like in the case of Kuo, that his injury will prevent him from being picked up.