Andruw Jones released

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.