January 2009 Archives

That should give the sides plenty of time to reach an agreement and avoid a hearing, but you never know. And from what I can gather so far, it doesn't sound like the two sides are anywhere close to an agreement at this point. In case you missed it, Ethier is seeking $3.75 million, while the team filed at $2.65 million. He is the Dodgers' only pending arbitration case.

My colleague Ken Gurnick appears to have broken that story on dodgers.com, which you can read at the link below. Russell has several middle names, one of which is his mother's maiden name, Jeanson, and he has decided to put that initial on the back of his uniform this season as a tribute to her.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090129&content_id=3784288&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

... but there is more fallout from Joe Torre's book, The Yankee Years, which won't even be released for another four days. Joe will appear tonight on Larry King Live -- ``author Joe Torre,'' is what it said when I scrolled down the Cox Cable grid to CNN, scrolled over to Larry King's time slot and hit the ``info'' button. And David Wells, who pitched for Torre for several seasons in New York and also pitched for the Dodgers for a brief time in 2007, had some scathing words for his former skipper during an interview with Michael Kay on New York's ESPN radio affiliate. This is what the Boomer ir reported to have said, as I didn't personally hear the interview:

``If you weren't Joe's boy, he could care less about you. He ran his tight ship the way he wanted to. Don't get me wrong; he's not a bad manager. I just thought he was a bad individual because of the fact he didn't treat everybody the same. He had his boys, and certain guys could do certain things and he wouldn't let other guys do other things.''

Also, the Dodgers have released information on this year's Winter Caravan, which begins tomorrow. You can find at here:

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090130&content_id=3786146&vkey=pr_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

What a strange (and at times fascinating) offseason this has been, thanks largely to the sagging economy. All the movement that traditionally takes place in the fall is only now beginning, less than three weeks before the start of spring training. There are reports out there, including one on SI.com, that the Dodgers are close to a deal with Randy Wolf. But the lefty himself told foxsports.com that he is unaware of any agreeement. Here are a couple of quotes:

"This has been the oddest offseason I've ever been a part of," said Wolf, who was a free agent the past two winters as well. "I don't know where I stand with any team.

"I've had multiple deals offered and taken off the table, offers made and then reduced. I will have no idea where I stand until there's a pen and paper in front of me and I sign my name. Until then, I just feel a deal can be taken away or reduced at any time."

The thing is, Wolf is hardly unique in this situation. Even Manny Ramirez, who was thought at the beginning of the winter to be THE big ticket of this year's free-agent market, is still out there. By the way, I'm starting to read comments from Scott Boras on the web suggesting that the market for Manny is heating up and the he is now negotiating with other clubs, but he won't say who those clubs are. I could be wrong on this, but the fact he won't indentify them leads me to believe they don't exist. Sounds like a ploy to wake up the Dodgers. But when it comes to this matter, I think they're about as awake as they're going to get. We'll see who blinks first.

... a great column in today's sports section by Ramona Shelburne, who spoke with Clayton Kershaw at the Dodgers' winter development program and later caught up with his girlfriend, Ellen Melson. Sort of humanizes a kid whose arrival Dodgers fans anxiously awaited almost from the moment he was drafted in the first round in 2006, and reminds us that as mature-beyond-his-years as he appears to be when he is pitching, he is still a 20-year-old away from the field. Here's the link:

http://www.dailynews.com/sportscolumnists/ci_11561060

There is an excerpt now posted on SI.com, at the following link:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/01/26/torre.verducci/index.html

The two most interesting things from this excerpt are:

1) Torre considers 2007, his final season with the Yankees, as ``the worst year of my professional life.''

2) Torre's claim that Brian Cashman ``betrayed'' him, which was reported in the New York papers yesterday, apparently stems from this: shortly before Torre met in Tampa with Cashman and six other club officials, including owner George Steinbrenner -- a meeting that ended Torre's tenure as manager when he wouldn't accept a one-year offer -- Torre offered a creative proposal to Cashman of a two-year contract, with the stipulation that if Torre were fired DURING the first season, he would be paid in full for the second year, but that if he were fired AFTER the first season, he would receive only a smaller buyout of the second year. Well, Torre found out after the meeting in Tampa that Cashman had never passed on the proposal to the club officials. Hence, the ``betrayal,'' although that specific word doesn't appear in this excerpt.

Also, Torre is lined up to appear on Larry King Live this Friday night.

He passed his physical, which is no small feat for a guy who is going to turn 40 in April(as a proud quadragenarian myself, I can attest to that). The deal, once again, is one year, $1 million, with up to $350k in incentives. Still not sure what they are, but given the number of games Russell Martin will catch, I'm going to guess it's going to be tough for Ausmus to reach any of them. Here is the release from the team:

LOS ANGELES - The National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers today agreed to terms with catcher Brad Ausmus on a one-year contract. General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.
Ausmus is a three-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, earning the honor for National League catchers while with Houston in 2001, 2002, and 2006. He ranks ninth in Major League history among catchers with 1,887 games and 1,720 starts. Among active catchers with at least 600 games played, the 39-year-old is tied for third with Bengie Molina with a .994 career fielding percentage behind Mike Redmond (.996) and A.J. Pierzynski (.995). Ausmus also ranks second in big league history with 12,486 putouts as a catcher, trailing only Ivan Rodriguez (13,124). He has thrown out 30.7 percent of potential base stealers (383 of 1,246) in 16 Major League seasons.
Ausmus has played 10 of his 16 big league seasons with the Astros, including the last eight in a row. He was Houston's Opening Day catcher for nine of those seasons, including each of the last six campaigns. The Dartmouth University alum, who makes his off-season home in Del Mar, CA, is Houston's all-time leader for catchers with 1,243 games and 1,119 starts. He had started at least 100 games at catcher for 11 straight seasons until starting 62 behind the plate in 2008.
Ausmus has played in five postseasons, including one World Series appearance in 2005 with Houston. He was an American League All-Star with Detroit in 1999, when he started 121 games, threw out 32 of 91 potential base stealers (35.2 percent), and established career highs with a .275 batting average, nine home runs, and 54 RBI.
In 1,914 games during his career, Ausmus is batting .251 with 79 homers and 596 RBI with San Diego (1993-96), Detroit (1996, 1999-2000), and Houston (1997-98, 2001-08). He batted .218 with three homers and 24 RBI in 81 games with the Astros in 2008.
Ausmus was the recipient of the 2006 Darryl Kile Award presented by the Houston chapter of the BBWAA, which is given annually to the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros player who best exemplifies Kile's traits of "a good teammate, a great friend, a fine father and a humble man."
The Connecticut-born Ausmus was selected by the Yankees in the 48th round of the 1987 First-Year Player Draft.

I spoke today with a source close to Joe Torre, who said the book was an ``honest'' account of what transpired in New York. But the source basically echoed what Tom Verducci said in his SI.com interview, that it isn't nearly as much of a hit job on the Yankees as it is being made out to be in the New York tabloids. I also heard from TWO sources today, both of them close to Torre, that almost everyone who appears in the book was contacted by either Torre or Verducci to give them a heads-up on what was written about them, and that none of those people took exception to any of it.

But it sounds like much ado about nothing. There were stories in this morning's New York Daily News and New York Post indicating that the book, called The Yankee Years, which is due to be released on Feb. 3, is a tell-all book in which Joe Torre cuts loose on the Yankees organization, including general manager Brian Cashman and third baseman Alex Rodriguez. But the book was actually written by Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated (based on several interviews with Torre). In an interview with SI.com, Verducci says the book is NOT a Torre rip job on the Yankees. To its credit, the N.Y. Post already has posted excerpts from that interview, including the following quote from Verducci that seems to exonerate Torre:

"Anybody who knows Joe, especially during his time in New York, knows he's a very honest man and he is very honest in the pages of this book. People also know Joe Torre doesn't go around ripping people and he doesn't do that in the pages of this book. There is a lot of information in this book over a tremendous period of baseball history. It's been reported out by me as well as informed by Torre's own insights into that period."

One thing you can be sure of: sales of the book certainly won't be hurt by the stories that came out today -- whether those stories are accurate or not.

All indications are that Jon Garland is still out of their price range. More importantly, all indications are that Randy Wolf is still WITHIN their price range. Thanks to Brooklyn Dodger for posting that foxsports.com link to my earlier post. Turns out Randy never turned down a three-year, $29.5 million offer from the Astros, but that the offer was actually pulled by the Astros for financial reasons, apparently just before the lefty was about to accept it. Sounds to me like this is the guy the Dodgers are going to end up with, and I'm guessing it's going to heat up in the next few days.

The lights have been on all day and all evening at the new spring-training complex, at the stadium and both of the lighted practice fields. This is the first time I have ever seen them on, so I'm sure they burning in, a standard procedure with new stadium lights. I'm sure to the people in the houses across the street from mine, the ones whose rear windows directly face the complex, it's quite an annoyance, as those lights are really bright. From here, though, it's just a comforting reminder that spring training is right around the corner. Dodgers pitchers and catchers report in 20 days. ... By the way, there is a report on mlb.com that suggests things might be heating up between the Dodgers and Jon Garland. Last time I checked, the Dodgers hadn't head from Randy Wolf's people in several days, so the team might have run out of patience and decided to look elsewhere. More on this in the days to come, obviously.

There are widespread reports out there on the web that seem to indicate the sides are close to an agreement on a one- or two-year contract. While that certainly could happen, and while Wolf is believed to be at the top of the Dodgers' list in their search for a starting pitchers, they apparently are NOT CLOSE to an agreement at this point. A well-placed source just told me that the sides haven't even talked in almost a week. But my guess is they will talk soon.

Jeff Kent said he knew he would retire when he signed a two-year contract extension with the Dodgers. It was apparently so known, that his wife and friends threw a surprise retirement party for him at the end of the season in San Francisco, something that never came out. Dana Kent said her husband was very emtional then, too.

Jeff Kent, who might be the most stoic man in baseball, was more emotional than we've ever seen him. This was a good thing for Kent, his fans and certainly former teammates. Kent was never one to show his emotions publicly, but he did so today. He started crying before he even spoke. He started to cry during a video tribute the Dodgers made and spent most of the second half of the video with his head in his hands. General manager Ned Colletti was there, as was Don Newcombe, Dodgers minor league players, former teammate Jose Vizcaino, his agent Jeff Klein, his wife Dana and their four children, trainers, staff, etc. It was a packed house, and Kent certainly gave people a good show. He was genuine. Kent, 40, retired from baseball looking most human.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that it's for $1 million. It's pending a physical exam. More when I have more.

I would be remiss if I didn't also point out one other thing about Jeff Kent and his Hall of Fame career: his best years came at a time came in an era when many of the game's brightest stars are now suspected of having used performance-enhancing substances, and it should be pointed out that Jeff Kent NEVER CAME UNDER ANY SUSPICION WHATSOEVER. So, as prickly as he might have been at times, he certainly deserves credit for the fact that he appears to have done it right and done it fairly, without succumbing to the temptations that so many others of his era succumbed to.

He'll do it tomorrow at 11:30 at Dodger Stadium. I guess that's the down side to my move to PHX, I won't be able to be there to experience his charming personality for one last time. Give him credit, though, he kept this decision under wraps for the most part until now -- although you have to wonder if he would be retiring if any team out there had any actual interest in signing him. Also, give him credit for this: while he didn't always do it with class, at least he did it, putting together one of the most impressive careers by any second baseman in the game's history, and he will undoubtedly be rewarded for that with a spot in the Hall of Fame -- to which, ironically, he will be elected in a few years by those same writers that he so openly loathed.

This is the opening paragraph of a release sent out by the Dodgers 20 minutes ago:

Future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, baseball's all-time leading home run hitter as a second baseman, will formally announce his retirement from baseball tomorrow at Dodger Stadium. Kent spent 17 years in the Major Leagues, tying for 20th on baseball's all-time list with 560 doubles, while ranking 47th with 1,518 RBI and 62nd with 377 home runs. His 351 career home runs as a second baseman are 74 more than Ryne Sandberg. Kent played the final four seasons of his career with the Dodgers, batting .291 with 122 doubles, 75 home runs, and 311 RBI. He ranks eighth in club history in batting average (minimum 1,800 AB), while also placing among franchise leaders with 73 home runs as a second baseman (third) and 497 games played at second base (fifth).

He is seeking $3.75 million, while the club is offering $2.65 million. Hearing date probably will be scheduled later this week, with that hearing to take place between Feb. 1 and Feb. 21. MLB has gotten really secretive over the past couple of years about the times and dates of those hearings, but my guess is this will be settled before it ever gets to that point. The Dodgers have had only two actual hearings (Eric Gagne in 2004, Joe Beimel in 2007) since assistant GM Kim Ng has been handling these things, and the club won both of them. Just a reminder, if it goes to a hearing, the arbitration panel (usually three people) must choose between the club's figure and the player's figure, with no wiggle room in between. But before it gets to a hearing, the sides still can negotiate a settlement somewhere in between, and the midway point in this case is, if my math is correct, $3.2 million. Ethier hit .305 with 38 doubles, 20 homers and 77 RBI, a good year by any measure. But $3.2 is still a pretty good raise for a guy who made $424,500 last year.

In addition to his $1.825 million base, he'll get $50k for each of 45, 50, 55 and 60 games finished, which if he maxes out would make it a $2.025 million salary for this season. If you assume he is going to be the closer (a safe assumption at this point) and you assume the Dodgers are going to be a pretty good team (a less safe assumption, but a good probability), the first two or three of those will be pretty reachable for Brox. If both he and the Dodgers have a GREAT year, he'll likely reach all four. Just talked to his agent, who says the deal was fair for both sides.

This could be a sign he is zeroing in on the Dodgers, who are believed to have been zeroing in on him for a few days now. The lefty reportedly was offered a one-year deal with two option years, this according to the Arizona Republic. He also reportedly turned down a three-year, $28.5 million offer from Houston earlier. And while it's tough to imagine the Dodgers guaranteeing him three years, the thought of pitching in his hometown presumably would be appealing enough for Wolf to cut them some slack. I get the sense he'll be in the Dodgers' rotation this season, maybe in the fourth spot.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2009/01/19/20090119dbackswolf0120.html

Broxton signed for $1.825 million plus incentives (trying to run those down), Martin for $3.9 million. Ethier still unsigned.

The Dodgers won't be hit too hard by the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Each of the 16 participating nations released a 45-man provisional roster on Monday -- those rosters will be cut to 28 by Feb. 24 -- and Broxton (USA) and Martin (Canada) were the only frontline Dodgers players who appeared on any of them.
Also appearing were two non-roster invitees to big-league spring training in pitcher Brian Mazone and outfielder Valentino Pascucci, both of whom showed up on Italy's provisional roster, as well as top shortstop prospect Ivan De Jesus Jr. (Puerto Rico) and minor-league catcher Kenley Jansen (Netherlands).

USC athletic director and former Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett was today's guest speaker as the second week of the Dodgers' annual winter development program for top prospects got under way at Dodger Stadium.
``He was outstanding,'' said Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who has developed a close friendship with Garrett over the years. ``Having grown up in L.A. and followed the Dodgers since he was a young kid, and with what he has helped establish at USC, he was one of the most poignant speakers we have had in the two years we have had the program. His message was about teamwork, mental toughness and the ingredients you need to be successful at a high level.''

It is $500k, with $87,500 in incentives based on plate appearances. He gets $12,500 for 100 PAs and $25k each for 150, 250 and 350 PAs. Those might be hard to reach considering he still has an option and isn't a lock to make the roster. It probably depends on the Dodgers not re-signing Manny and not signing any other veteran OFs. Interestingly, the incentives on this deal are identical to the incentives from the deal he signed last year when he was arbitration-eligible for the first time. He didn't reach any of them because he spent most of the year in the minors. So the only difference is the base is $12,500 more than it was last year.

Smart move on his part, as it wouldn't have been in his best interest to take the club to a hearing considering he had a whopping 20 plate appearances in the big leagues last season. He gets a very modest raise of $12,500 in base salary, which is now $500k, which I believe he gets whether he is in the majors or the minors. There are also some plate-appearance bonuses that max out at $87,500 or $90,000 depending on which report you believe. I'm trying to run that down now. The other three eligibles, Broxton, Martin and Ethier, exchange arbitration numbers with the club tomorrow if they don't sign today.

Since all appears eerily quiet on the Dodgers' front -- although I am anticipating it's going to be a very busy week, what with arbitration figures exchanged and possibly a couple of other things -- I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to pass on my sincere congratulations to Camille Johnston, the Dodgers' former VP/communications. You might have already heard, but she has been named director of communications for incoming first lady Michelle Obama, a job she presumably will begin on Tuesday. You may recall that Camille formerly served in the same capacity for Tipper Gore for a time during the Clinton years, which is why T.J. Simers over at the Times would always refer to her in print as ``the Tipper Gore lady.'' Camille left the Dodgers a little more than a year ago, although like so many others during the McCourt era, it is more likely that she was pushed aside. Camille is a loyal Democrat to the end, and I miss the spirited (and usually friendly) political debates she and I used to engage in from opposite ends of the spectrum. Mostly, though, I just miss having her around all the time. She is a great friend and a great person, and I'm glad to see she has landed on her feet.

This comes as no surprise, of course. It's a sad end to a sad chapter in Dodgers' history, but it was a short chapter, nevertheless. Frank McCourt did confirm after today's tour/photo op at the new spring-training complex that team officials did discuss the possibility of trying to void the contract sometime last season -- he wouldn't say when, but it was obvious he was talking about mid-summer -- but that the decision was made not to proceed. McCourt denied that the decision not to proceed was based on the fact the club would have stood very little chance of emerging victorious in such a matter against the all-powerful players' union. He said the decision was instead based on not wanting to create a distraction for the team. ``We want to stay focused on winning a championship,'' McCourt said.

Turns out it's not 750k in incentives. It's 75k in incentives FOUR TIMES, which means a max. of 300k. He gets 75k for each of 30, 40, 50 and 60 games finished, which means the whole thing is probably moot because unless Broxton and Kuo both suffer season-ending injuries, there is very little chance that Guillermo Mota is going to finish 30 games. Then again, if a pitcher pitches the bottom of the eighth inning of a game on the road, and the home team wins that game without the bottom of the ninth being played, then that pitcher does get credit for a game finished.

It's $2.35 million, with another $750k in incentives which would take it to $3.1 million. Still not sure how those incentives break down, but hoping to find out.

Still trying to run down the financial terms. Here is the release:

LOS ANGELES - The National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that they have agreed to terms with right-handed reliever Guillermo Mota on a one-year contract. General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.
"Guillermo is a power arm that can stabilize the back of our bullpen," Colletti said. "He's had plenty of success in L.A. before and we look forward to seeing that again."
Mota appeared in 58 games for the Milwaukee Brewers last season, helping the team to its first division championship since 1982. The native of the Dominican Republic went 5-6 with one save and a 4.11 ERA (26 ER/57.0 IP) with 50 strikeouts for Milwaukee and also appeared in two Division series contests against Philadelphia.
The right-hander began his career in Montreal and appeared in 133 games for the Expos from 1999-2001, before being traded to the Dodgers in March of 2002. Mota then matured into one of Eric Gagné's primary set up men over the next two seasons and went 7-6 with a 2.60 ERA (66 ER/228.2 IP) in 171 games for Los Angeles from 2002-04.
In 2003, Mota enjoyed a dominating campaign, going 6-3 with one save and a 1.97 ERA (23 ER/105.0 IP) in 76 games. Batters hit just .206 against him that season and Mota established career highs in wins, games, innings pitched, and strikeouts (99).
In 2004, Mota had a record of 8-4 with a 2.14 ERA when he was traded to the Florida Marlins in July with Paul Lo Duca and Juan Encarnacion in exchange for Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi, and Bill Murphy.
After spending parts of two seasons with the Marlins, Mota was dealt again, this time with Josh Beckett to the Boston Red Sox for among others, Hanley Ramirez. Before Mota had settled in Boston, he was traded to Cleveland in January of 2006 and then shipped to the New York Mets that August.
Mota stabilized the Mets' bullpen down the September stretch, allowing just two runs in 18 innings pitched and earning a spot on their postseason roster, where he appeared in seven games against the Dodgers and Cardinals in the 2006 NLDS and NLCS.
Since 2003, Mota has averaged 62 appearances per season and in his career, the set-up man is 33-35 with eight saves and a 3.97 ERA in 548 games.

They can be purchased at www.worldbaseballclassic.com beginning that morning. As you know, the final rounds will be held at Dodger Stadium March 21 and 23.

He will NOT undergo a physical exam today, and it isn't clear when he will, although I would bet it's going to be tomorrow. So don't expect a formal announcement of the signing today. Once he passes, the Dodgers will undoubtedly make an announcement fairly quickly, because the deal is done pending a physical. As previously reported, it's a one-year contract.

It's reportedly a four-year, $60 million deal, which vastly exceeds the four-year, $36 million he just completed with the Dodgers. He'll undergo a physical exam on Wednesday, with the contract becoming official if he passes. Here's the story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/13/braves_lowe.html

This according to several media reports. It is, as expected, a one-year deal, and it is pending a physical exam. He'll fit primarily into a seventh-inning role, which is a step down from setting up for Eric Gagne as he so capably did for the Dodgers a few years ago. As of right now, the pecking order is Broxton in the ninth, Kuo and sometimes Wade in the eighth and Mota in the seventh. But that's just a rough template that could change on a nightly basis depending on the situation.

No, not for an old-timers game. They are the latest additions to the minor-league coaching staff. Wallach will manage at Triple-A Alburquerque, a post that was vacated when Lorenzo Bundy accepted a position with the D-backs as big-league first-base job. Stubbs, who was a minor-league coach or manager with the Braves for the past 12 years, will be the hitting coach for high Single-A Inland Empire. ... Check tomorrow's paper for a story on the new spring-training facility and how it's shaping up. I took a tour of the place today and even took some pictures (no, the newspaper business hasn't gotten so lean that beat writers have to shoot their own photos, I VOLUNTEERED to do it), so I believe someone is posting those on the web site, as well. By the way, single-game tickets for spring training go on sale Saturday at 9 a.m. California time, and they aren't all $90. In fact, you can't even GET the $90 seats (those are only sold on a full season plan). You CAN, however, get an $8 ticket if you want to sit on the outfield berm, and you can even get a SEAT to a game for as little as $18 (baseline reserved). You can buy them through Ticketmaster, which you can link to through dodgers.com.

He signed a one-year, major-league contract, which foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports will carry a base salary of somewhere between $1.5 million and $2.5 million and could end up paying him more than $7 million if he maxes out on his incentives. Dodgers were open to re-signing him after they non-tendered him last month to avoid going to arbitration, but given that there were serious questions about the health of his right elbow, they weren't about to give him anything close to this much money.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9058832/Red-Sox-sign-free-agent-reliever-Saito-

This is from the Times web site. This guy was a frontline starting pitcher a decade or so ago, when he was with the Giants. Has fallen on hard times in recent years, but he won 15 games for Colorado as recently as 2004. Spent the past two seasons with the Padres. He'll have a decent shot of making the club.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/dodgers-sign-es.html

The Dodgers closer is one of 22 players presently on that roster, which will be finalized as a provisional roster of 45 players by next week. Doesn't mean he is going to actually pitch in the WBC. But it does mean he is under strong consideration.

OK, so after a nice, 18-day vacation to celebrate the holidays, I'm officially back at the grindstone today, exactly 35 days before Dodgers pitchers and catchers are due to report to spring training on Feb. 13. Based on the number of stories generated by countless media outlets over the past couple of weeks, the Dodgers seemed pretty busy. But as crazy as it must have been in the front office, it didn't yield much in the way or results, at least no so far. The Dodgers signed Claudio Vargas to a one-year deal and a bunch of other guys, including Juan Castro, to minor-league contracts. Other than that, the Dodgers:

-- didn't sign Trevor Hoffman, to whom they made an offer but who wound up in Milwaukee
-- didn't sign Manny Ramirez, although it is beginning to seem inevitable that they will
-- didn't sign or acquire a front-of-the-rotation starter

In light of all that inactivity, it's fair to predict that these final five weeks before camp will be busy ones for Ned Colletti and crew -- and for those of us responsible for chronicling it.