February 2009 Archives

There was a guy in the stands who walked by the press box and asked if anyone had seen Manny. That was pretty much the only time Manny's name was mentioned all day. Meanwhile, back at the Ranch -- I have been waiting to use that line ever since the Dodgers announced they were naming their new complex Camelback Ranch -- Frank McCourt and Ned Colletti spent the day in organizational meetings that had nothing to do with Manny. Ned said he did speak with Boras, characterized the discussion as ``cordial and informative,'' but other than that, there appears to be nothing new. ... As for the game, well, Juan Castro continued to do his darnedest to hit his way onto the opening-day roster, even though manager Joe Torre said before the game that Castro's track record as a good-glove-no-hit guy is such that he probably won't be evaluated on anything he does offensively in spring training. Castro went 3 for 3 with two doubls, two runs scored and an RBI. He is now batting .750 (6 for 8), with three doubles, in four games. ... Mitch Jones, who you probably won't see in Los Angeles at any point this season, hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and has now hit two home runs and driven in six runs in the past two games. ... Clayton Kershaw had a great first inning, then a rough second, giving up two runs on two hits. James McDonald and Scott Elbert, both of whom are in the mix for the fifth spot in the rotation, then combined to face the minimum over the next four innings, allowing only one hit while striking out four. ... Dodgers improve to 2-2. Camelback Ranch opener is tomorrow against the White Sox. Dodgers are the home team.

Attendance has been noticeably down through these first four days of Cactus League play -- it HAS to be the economy -- but, not surprisingly, Dodgers fans have been turning out, perhaps not in the overwhelming numbers the club expected for its first spring in Arizona but they have been turning out fairly well. A couple of innings ago, the PA guy here at Hi Corbett Field asked how many people were from Denver, then asked how many people were from Los Angeles. Although the loudest reaction came when he subsequently asked how many people were from Tucson, it was still notable that the Los Angeleses were much louder than the Denvers. And this is a two-hour drive from Glendale. The first game at the new complex is tomorrow against the White Sox.

I just said goodbye to Tracy Ringolsby, one of the true legends of the sportswriting biz and a guy who taught me almost everything I know about covering baseball back when I worked alongside him at the Rocky Mountain News. Tracy is hanging around here in Tucson tonight, then he'll get on a plane tomorrow and fly back home to Cheyenne, Wyo. No sense sticking around spring training when you don't have a newspaper to work for. The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and the place that basically launched my career (I spent five years there), published its final edition on Friday. Being stuck as I have been these past few days in all-Manny-all-the-time mode, it didn't really hit me until I arrived this morning at the Rockies' complex and saw Tracy. In a way, and by extension, this was a victory for OUR side, as the lone surviving Denver paper, the Denver Post, is owned by the same Dean Singleton who owns your good ol' Los Angeles Daily News. But on the other hand, it's a loss for the industry as a whole, and the inevitable folding of a handful of other newspapers in the coming months/years will be a big blow, as well. Perhaps I'm delusional, but I'm holding out a sliver of hope (the key word being sliver) that our industry will find some way to survive. But the more likely scenario is that a decade from now, newspapers will have gone the way of rotary-dial phones and push-button cash registers. It's funny, it doesn't seem that long ago that I was in journalism school back at the University of Arkansas, listening to tweed-jacket-and-bowtie wearing professors make us wide-eyed pupils feel self-important by talking about our future profession in such romantic terms -- the gatekeepers, the watchdogs, the Fourth Estate (never really figured out what that last one meant). Now, sadly, we may become as obsolete as those tweed jackets and bow ties. But I still love it, and I'm going to keep doing it as long as it's here to be done. ... By the way, shed no tears for Tracy. He is a multi-media star in Colorado and already has more than enough work lined up. If you want to shed tears, shed them for future generations, who will be blessed with increasingly superior technology but at the same time will probably never know the pleasure of sitting at the breakfast table or out on the front porch or on the porcelain throne or wherever and holding in their hands a big, bulky, cumbersome piece of newsprint that leaves ink stains all over their fingers and reading all about what happened the day before.

He had an X-ray that came back negative, which is good news, but he'll have an MRI on Monday to make sure. It's the same part of his groin that sidelined him last year, but no one seems especially concerned. ... DeWitt just made a beautiful play, going so far to his left as to cut across the bag, to retire the first Rockies hitter of the game, Eric Young Jr. So far, the kid looks like a natural. ... Torre says Doug Mientkiewicz probably will play for the first time in Monday's B game against the Brewers. There is no Cactus League game that day. Not for nothing, but can you really call a B game a B game if there is no A game? ... Speaking of Eric Young Jr., file this one in the ``you-know-you-are-getting-old-when'' department. The Eric Youngs mark the first time in my career I have covered games involving both ends of a father-son tandem. Big EY was the Rockies second baseman when I first started covering the Rox as a backup guy at the Rocky Mountain News in 1995. More on the dearly departed RMN in my next post, coming in a few minutes.

Remember baseball, that game played by nine guys on each side with a bat, ball and gloves? I'm not sure I ever even got around to posting here yesterday that the Dodgers lost 18-2 to the Seattle Mariners (it was 18-0 until Mitch Jones hit a two-run bomb in the ninth). Today, the boys are playing the Colorado Rockies down in Tucson, and they will get their first look at Blake DeWitt at shortstop in a game. If he can show that he is versatile enough to play enough positions that he can get enough at-bats, he'll have a chance to make the club even after the addition of Orlando Hudson. But the guess here is that for a young player who to a large degree is still developing, it's going to be really, really hard to get him enough at-bats in the big leagues as a utility guy to justify keeping him there. But what do I know?

I have been trying to come up with an analogy for this whole thing, and the best I could do was this: It's like a messy divorce, where the two parents are fighting over custody of their only child, each one believing they have the moral high ground and each one trying to paint the other as unfit -- but nobody ever stops and asks the kid what HE wants, which parent he wants to live with, etc. In this case, the kid is Manny Ramirez, and it would seem to me that this story has blown up over the past three days in a way that what MANNY wants has been all but ignored. It's all about what Frank McCourt and Scott Boras want, and they each seem to want to emerge from this thing victorious over the other. Meanwhile, the player, the guy who conceivably could make the Dodgers a 100-win team this year, continues to wait, 2,000 miles away, and spring training goes on without him. Opening day is now 37 days away.

And that, according to two well-placed sources with knowledge of the situation, is where the whole thing broke down. This sources also said Boras never openly objected to any proposal by the Dodgers of deferred money, which general manager Ned Colletti said earlier this morning has been part of all three of the formal contract offers the Dodgers have made to Ramirez this winter.

Here's the story, as I understand it:

At the end of Wednesday's meeting at Dodger Stadium, it was made clear to Boras that while there was no firm deadline, club officials expected to hear back from him in response to their two-year, $45 million offer, and that they only wanted to hear one of two possible answers: yes or no.
Instead, Boras came back to them with a counter proposal of increasing the offer to two years and $55 million, a deal that would carry an average annual value of $27.5 million -- the exact same AAV carried by the 10-year, $275 million contract of Alex Rodriguez, another Boras client. Because the deferred money would be deferred WITHOUT INTEREST, the extra $10 million would theoretically offset the absence of interest on the deferred money.
There is a precedent for money deferred without interest because of a portion of the one-year, $3.38 million contract free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson signed with the Dodgers last weekend is also largely deferred without interest.
Given that the Dodgers already believed they were offering $45 million MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM HAD OFFERED RAMIREZ, there was no way they were going to increase their offer by another $10 million. So the Dodgers pulled their offer, and there is presently NO OFFER ON THE TABLE. And the perception that the two sides have now agreed on the value of the deal, two years and $45 million, and are now only haggling on the amount of deferred money, is totally false, according to these sources.
The negotiations are presently at square one: meaning no offer on the table. Dodgers are still interested in signing the player and still interested in negotiating. But it doesn't look like this is headed for a quick resolution.

That's it. They just talked. Nothing new came out of it. Not sure whether they're going to talk again later today or not. ... Dodgers are getting killed by the Mariners. Shawn Estes, who is allegedly a candidate for the fifth spot in the rotation, gave up seven runs (five earned) on six hits in 1 1/3 innings. But the whole team looks bad. Couple of errors, a baserunning mistake by Matt Kemp, the obligatory popped-up bunt by Juan Pierre. You get the picture. Mariners leading 8-0, middle 5.

Here's the release:

CAMELBACK RANCH - GLENDALE - The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that the club will provide live video streams of 11 Spring Training games exclusively on dodgers.com. Starting on March 4, fans can watch games online free of charge against opponents including the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, a World Baseball Classic Asian Qualifying Team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Chicago Cubs (St. Patrick's Day).
In addition, the Dodgers will continue to post daily webisodes for fans, titled "Inside Dodgertown," on dodgers.com. The four-minute videos, available in the Video Corner area of the dodgers.com homepage, give fans highlights from the day's workouts and games and provide exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and commentary from Dodger players, coaches, and staff.
The Dodgers are playing their first Spring Training season from their new Cactus League home at Camelback Ranch - Glendale this year. The first-rate facility, which the Dodgers share with the Chicago White Sox, includes more than 118,000 square feet of Major and Minor League clubhouse space, 13 full baseball fields, and three half-fields. The site also features picturesque walking trails, landscaped grounds, two ponds, and a fully-stocked lake. The Dodgers will play a total of 15 home games at the ballpark, as well as two road games against the Chicago White Sox. Fans can purchase tickets to games at Camelback Ranch - Glendale at dodgers.com or by calling (480) 784-4444.
The complete live streaming video schedule of Dodger games follows:

DATE OPPONENT
March 4 vs. San Francisco
March 5 vs. Chicago White Sox
March 7 vs. Seattle
March 10 vs. Arizona
March 12 vs. WBC Asian Qualifier
March 13 vs. Texas
March 17 vs. Chicago Cubs
March 19 vs. Colorado Rockies
March 27 vs. Kansas City
March 29 vs. San Diego
March 30 vs. Oakland

And this is going back to the Dodgers' first offer last fall.
``Deferred comp (compensation) was part of the deal from the very beginning,'' Colletti said.
He added that was the case even with the one-year, $25 million offer the Dodgers made to Ramirez on Feb. 1.
``We didn't get into (specifics), but we said `with a deferred component.' We barely got the words out of our mouths before it was rejected.''
Colletti said he left Scott Boras two voicemail messages this morning and has yet to hear back from him. Colletti wouldn't acknowledge that there was a noon deadline.

Ned also said this:
``I have asked Scott many times to tell us where we are at, what we are bidding against, to tell us what we have to meet. We have yet to be told what the parameters are.''

On another note, Jason Schmidt got roughed up in the B game. Actually, it was more a matter of control. He threw 21 pitches, only 10 of which were strikes, and the inning was ended after a walk to Jermaine Dye because Schmidt had reached his pitch limit.

You have no doubt seen the numerous reports that are out there this morning that the Dodgers' two-year, $45 million offer to Manny Ramirez was largely deferred money. He would receive $10 million this year, with the other $15 million deferred, and $10 million NEXT year and the other $10 million deferred. If Manny had exercised the option year, he would have gotten $10 million in each of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and $5 million in 2013. And here is the kicker to the whole thing: BORAS/MANNY WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THE OFFER if it had actually been what we all originally reported it was, a straight $25 million this year, a straight $20 million for 2010, with an opt-out after the first year. Given all of that, it's no wonder they didn't take the deal. The wonder is that the Dodgers wasted their time making an offer that they HAD TO KNOW wouldn't be accepted. Why would they do that, you ask? Well, now Frank McCourt gets to say to his fan base, ``Hey, I tried.'' Well, no, Frank, you really didn't.

One aspect of this whole Manny fiasco that has been underreported is that the Dodgers' recent history with Scott Boras clients clearly is playing a role here. Just since Frank McCourt bought the team in February 2004, the list is long, and it doesn't even count the Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort contracts, which were signed long before Frank and Jamie ever came to town.

Adrian Beltre -- Following an MVP-caliber year for the Dodgers in 2004 (he finished second in voting), Beltre becomes a free agent. Dodgers believed they had a promise from Boras to give them a chance to match any offers from any other clubs. That chance to match never comes before Beltre signs a five-year $64 million offer with Seattle. By missing out on Beltre, the Dodgers have enough to money to sign another Boras-represented free agent in right fielder J.D. Drew. More on that later.

Eric Gagne -- Two years after winning the Cy Young Award by converting 55 of 55 save opportunities, and one year after taking the club to arbitration, losing and having to accept a $5 million salary for 2004 instead of $8 million, Gagne agrees to terms on a two-year, $19 million deal to avoid arbitration. Gagne blows out his elbow in 2005 and makes a grand total of 16 major-league appearances over the life of the contract.

Luke Hochevar -- The Dodgers' first-round draft pick in 2005, a pitcher from the University of Tennessee who is being advised by Boras, who is insisting on a signing bonus of at least $3 million. After almost three months of stalled negotiations, Hochevar abruptly dumps Boras, chooses another agent and agrees to a $2.98 million signing bonus. But before the Dodgers can get a scout to Knoxville with a contract for Hochevar to sign, Hochevar just as abruptly drops his new agent, returns to Boras and goes into hiding. He never signs with Dodgers, re-enters the draft the following year and signs a major-league deal with Kansas City for four years, $5.3 million.

J.D. Drew -- In giving him an ill-advised five-year, $55 million contract before the 2005 season, money the Dodgers never would have had to spend if they had re-signed Beltre, the Dodgers allow Boras to negotiate into the deal an opt-out clause after the second season. Drew misses most of 2005 with an injury, returns in 2006 to drive in 100 runs, then tells Orange County Register beat reporter Bill Plunkett at the end of that season that he has no plans to exercise the out clause. A month later, Boras informs the Dodgers that Drew WILL exercise the out clause. Drew eventually signs with Boston for five years, $70 million.

Andruw Jones -- A year after Drew's departure, the Dodgers sign Andruw Jones, another Boras client, to play center field. Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, agrees to a two-year, $36.2 million deal. Jones then showed up to spring training overweight and promptly hit .158 with three homers and 14 RBI and missed significant time following knee surgery. A few weeks ago, the Dodgers renegotiated the second year of the deal to defer most of the salary, then released Jones.

In fairness to Boras, not all of the Dodgers' dealings with his clients have gone so badly. Derek Lowe was their most reliable starting pitcher during the course of his four-year, $36 million contract, which expired after last year. Greg Maddux pitched well in each of his two abbreviated stints with the club. And of course, without acquiring Ramirez last July 31 (he was now a Boras client), the Dodgers probably wouldn't have turned around their season and gone all the way to the N.L. Championship Series. But my point here is that the Dodgers have been burned repeatedly in their dealings with Boras and his clients. Rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, that is playing a role in these ongoing Manny negotiations. If their track record with Boras clients hadn't been so spotty in recent years, it is entirely possible the club wouldn't be taking such a hard line in these negotiations. But you know the old saying about ifs and buts and candy and nuts.

Apparently, a man who is having trouble finding work in a down economy has decided, yet again and with the help of his ever-so-earnest agent, that playing baseball for a year for $25 million or two years for $45 million is somehow beneath him. Below is the release from the Dodgers, which includes a rather cryptic comment from Frank McCourt that seems to suggest that while this isn't over, it's over for now, and the next move will have to be made by the Boras/Ramirez party:

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers today received a letter from Scott Boras, the agent for Manny Ramirez, rejecting the offer that the club made yesterday. This rejection is the fourth by the agent in the club's attempts to sign Manny.
"We love Manny Ramirez," said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, "And we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those 'serious offers' from other clubs, we'll be happy to re-start the negotiations.
"Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer.
"So now, we start from scratch."

First, let's get this out of the way: Ned said after the game that he still hadn't heard from Boras. I told him we would all be waiting by the phone. He said, ``Have a nice evening.'' ... Dodgers pounded out 17 hits. I mentioned here earlier the performances of Randy Wolf and Russell Martin (who actually walked in his third PA, I had said he was hit by a pitch). There were several standout performances after the mass substitutions that took place in the middle innings. Xavier Paul, who played the whole game, went 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI. He also had seven putouts in right and center field on a really challenging day, with bright sunshine, no clouds and a lot of wind. Val Pascucci, who will be leaving for the WBC soon (Italy), went 2 for 2 with a home run. Jamie Hoffmann went 2 for 2 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Juan Castro went 2 for 2 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored and is now batting 1.000 (3 for 3) for the spring. And Chin-lung Hu slammed a three-run homer over the leftfield wall, what has to be one of the deepest leftfield walls in pro ball (it's 360 down the line, 430 to dead center).. ...Doug Mientkiewicz passed his physical and signed his minor-league deal. Not sure when he'll play his first game. ... Dodgers even their record at 1-1. At the Mariners tomorrow.

Randy Wolf pitched two perfect innings against the Giants today, and Russell Martin has a home run, a double and three RBI. He also was hit by a pitch, so reached base three times in three plate appearances before leaving the game after four innings. Dodgers leading the Giants 6-0, bottom 5

He wouldn't say whether this is the Dodgers' final offer. He did say Boras told him they would get back to the Dodgers in a day or two. He said yesterday's meeting was thrown together rapidly, that he was on his way to yesterday's game when he exchanged a series of text messages with Boras -- Ned was careful to say that he pulled over so he wasn't texting and driving. When the meeting was arranged -- Ned confirmed that HE requested the meeting, not Boras -- Ned turned the car around, headed to the airport, bought a ticket and caught a flight. ``I was in the double-digit Bs by then,'' he said, and if you fly Southwest at all, you know exactly what that means.

That's about all it was, though, according to what Baer told reporters here at Scottsdale Stadium earlier today. He also was asked about Boras' insistence that Manny will pay for himself in terms of ticket sales, merchandising, etc., and Baer said that might be the case if the economy weren't in the tank, but the fact that it obviously IS in the tank negates Boras' argument. That sounds an awful lot like a window closing.

They both suffered minor injuries in yesterday's game. Andre got hit by a batted ball on his left heel while taking fly balls in the outfield. Casey felt something in his groin while running in the outfield after he left the game. Neither is expected to miss more than a couple of days. ... By the way, I wrote here yesterday that Furcal and Hudson will play the next two games. Just to clarify, they'll play in tomorrow morning's B game, not the actual Cactus League game against the Mariners tomorrow afternoon. They WILL, however, play in today's Cactus League game with the Giants. ... Still nothing on Manny. I'm heading to Scottsdale and will check back in when I get there.

... I'll give you a hint, it's a guy who played a key role for the 2004 Red Sox as the team ended it's 86-year World Series title drought. But no, it's not Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers have agreed to terms with ... Doug Mientkiewicz, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. Did I get you excited? It's not official yet because he hasn't passed a physical, and I believe it's a minor-league deal. But he also might have a good chance of making the club to fill that role that Nomar Garciaparra filled last year. He is supposed to arrive in camp sometime today. He hit .277 in limited action (285 ABs) with the Pirates last year, but he also had a .374 on-base percentage and walked 44 times while striking out only 28 times.

It's 8:37 a.m. at Camelback Ranch, and it appears to be business as usual. Have yet to hear the words ``Manny Ramirez'' outside the media room. Everybody just going about their business. There are a few guys out in the pit with Maury Wills working on bunting. Bus doesn't leave for Scottsdale until 11, so the team will taking batting practice here first. If something happens Manny-wise, I'll get it up here as quickly as possible, so keep checking.

Not that Scott Boras is going to listen to ME. But I think I speak of all the beat hacks -- and a lot of people inside the Dodgers organization -- when I say this Manny Ramirez issue needs closure. I'm guessing you, the fans, are getting pretty tired of it, too. We have been following this story almost daily since the end of last season, and really, nothing has changed. Until today, or the past few days, or whenever this all started to come together, nothing had really changed on either side in all that time. That having been said, I do think that if this deal gets done, the Dodgers have a chance to be really, really good, especially if they can pick up another frontline starting pitcher along the way and especially if Jonathan Broxton comes through as the new closer. This lineup is going to be scary, with Furcal and Hudson at the top and probably a right-left-right-left look from three through seven. See you in the morning ... unless something happens sooner than that.

From what I understand, though, there WON'T be a deal tonight. The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed. Boras and Co. have taken it under advisement, and the club is expecting a response early tomorrow.

It is at Dodger Stadium, it does involve McCourt, Colletti, Boras and Boras assistant Mike Fiore, and it is ongoing. That's all we have for now.

Gurnick wrote earlier today that they are meeting, and I have been able to semi-confirm that, as well as semi-confirm the fact that said meeting is taking place at Dodger Stadium. What I can tell you, from my own observations, is that people are behaving strangely, or at least at odds with their normal behavior. This could be it, folks. Stay tuned. It might be a long evening.

The North Siders got their long-awaited revenge for last October's three-game Division Series sweep. OK, not really, but they did get a grand slam from Micah Hoffpauir off an ineffective Ramon Troncoso, who couldn't get his sinkerball working or keep his fastball down in a rough fifth inning that also included a costly error by Hector Luna. The Dodgers got two hits from James Loney, but no more than one by anybody else. Tony Abreu drove in a pair with a second-inning single, and Blake DeWitt drove in the Dodgers' other run with a fourth-inning single after Matt Kemp singled and stole second. ... The fifth-starter race is officially under way, but Rick Honeycutt said they're not doing a lot of evaluating this early in the spring. Claudio Vargas started, had a rough first inning, then breezed through the second. Eric Milton followed, had a rough third inning and then a rough fourth but somehow didn't give up a run. Dodgers fall to 0-1 for the spring. At the Giants tomorrow.

Steve Garvey's father, you may recall, was the Dodgers' spring-training bus driver, which led to Steve becoming the team's bat boy as a youngster before he grew up and became the Dodgers' star first baseman. Ken Gurnick had the story last night, along with some quotes from Steve Garvey about his dad. Here is the link:

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090224&content_id=3878560&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

Torre said he wants Furcal and Hudson playing together the next TWO games, because Saturday's game is in Tucson, and he doesn't want Furcal sitting on a bus that long because of his history of back problems. That's a fringe benefit for Hudson, who, because of the fact that Torre wants them playing together or sitting out together all spring, won't have to make any Tucson trips. Loretta will play 1B at the Giants today because Joe wants to get a look at him there as a possible sometime-replacement for Loney against a tough left-hander or if Loney needs a day off. Loretta has made 197 career appearances there, but only two last year.

Not sure yet who is going to fill in on the broadcast, but Josh Suchon and Ken Levine are both here, so guessing it's going to be one of them. ... Just a small note to that ticket-office employee who has become a national story this morning, although thankfully, ESPN was merciful enough to bleep out his name when playing that voicemail recording over and over and over again: this, too, shall pass.

Here is today's lineup
LF Pierre
C Ausmus
RF Ethier
1B Loney
3B Blake
CF Kemp
2B DeWitt
DH Young
SS Abreu

RHP Vargas

Only two of them, Jonathan Broxton (USA) and Russell Martin (Canada) are 40-man roster guys. The others are infielder Luis Maza (Venezuela), outfielder Val Pascucci (Italy) and catcher Kenley Jansen (Netherlands). Jansen, who is from Curacao and speaks, like, five languages, is the only one who isn't in big-league camp. These guys are all expected to leave on Sunday.

... I have discovered that the Dodgers' ticket-office employee who left that voice mail got a little overzealous. I don't want to mention the person's name or throw him under the bus, and Josh Rawitch tells me this person is actually one of the more conscientious employees in that department. But after playing the voicemail recording for Josh and having Josh make a phone call for me, I have learned that this employee's ``inside information'' was inaccurate. The Dodgers are not ``on the verge'' of signing Manny Ramirez. That isn't to say it won't happen tomorrow, this weekend or next month. But as of this moment, they don't appear to be closing in on any deal. But thanks, dodgersnation, for posting that on your web site. It certainly gave us something to get excited about, if only for a few minutes, on what has really been the first slow-news day of the spring. OK, back to whatever you were doing.

He will receive the Community Advocate's Award at a dinner on Saturday night. His son, longtime Dodgers employee and well-known radio traffic reporter Jorge Jarrin, will present the award, which I'm sure makes it even more special for Jaime, one of the truly classy people in the Dodgers organization and a member of the broadcasting wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Comedian Paul Rodriguez also will be honored with the society's Outstanding Role Model Award. Congratulations to both.

Want to work at Dodger Stadium this season? Here's how, in the form of an official press release from the club:

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers will hold a Job Fair this weekend to fill more than 500 seasonal opportunities with the club and its partners who operate at Dodger Stadium.
The fair takes place in the Stadium Club and third baseline suites starting at 10 a.m. and continues through 4 p.m. on February 28 and March 1. Among the positions available are ushers, security, maintenance, and food service positions with Levy Restaurants.
Starting at 9:30 a.m., prospective applicants can enter the Sunset Gate, where they will receive descriptions of the various positions available.
During the season, more than 3,000 people work game days at Dodger Stadium.
In addition to the Dodgers' event this weekend, Dodger Stadium will be the site for the 14th annual Community Job Fair, Saturday, March 14, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The event gives opportunities for interaction with various organizations within the public and private sector. Last year, approximately 4,000 participants from throughout Southern California met representatives from Bally total Fitness, Federal Express, Macy's, Coca-Cola, Sears, Primerica, University of Southern California, and the United States Secret Service.

As always, it's airs on KABC (790-AM). It will run weeknights from 6-7 Pacific, and tomorrow night's debut will feature Joe Torre at 6:30. On weekends, it will begin as soon as the postgame show ends and run for an hour on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays.

Russell Martin, Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson WON'T be making the bus trip to Mesa to play the Cubs. Torre said he wants to keep his new doubleplay combo together, so they'll either make trips together or stay back together, and tomorrow, they're staying back. He said Martin will catch a couple of games before leaving next week for the WBC, but Jonathan Broxton will pitch only once before he leaves for the WBC. ... At the Dodgers' request, both teams will use the DH in tomorrow's game even though it involves two N.L. clubs. ... The bus leaves the Dodgers' complex at 9:30 a.m., phx time, and the Dodgers will take batting practice at HoHoKam Park in Mesa because this is one of the longer trips of the spring -- actually THE longest of the non-Tucson trips. For the shorter trips, the team will take BP in Glendale and then bus over.

As today's abbreviated workout was finishing up, Joe Torre called the entire team together on one of the back fields and announced that everyone was going sprint from home plate to first base and then second base, one at a time, before heading back to the clubhouse. He told speedy newcomer Orlando Hudson, the veteran 2B who was signed last weekend to a one-year, $3.38 million contract, to ``show everyone how it's done.'' Hudson obliged, burning his way up the line, making a tight turn and then pulling into second as teammates cheered him on in the background. As Hudson arrived at second, he stopped and turned around, whereupon he saw the rest of the team walking off the field. And a good laugh was had by all.
``He got me,'' Hudson said a few minutes later in the clubhouse. ``That is the first time I had a joke played on me by a coach since I have been in the game. But it's good if it keeps everybody loose, because if you play this game tight, you won't have any success at all. I didn't expect that from Mr. Torre. The first voice I heard was Russell Martin saying, `That-a-boy O-Dawg!.' I turned around, and everybody was walking away. It was just a fun thing. It's all good.''

They're actually working in the media room this morning, and there is a clear sheet of masking film taped to the wall less than six inches from my laptop. There is still an endless parade of guys in hard hats and orange vests walking through on a regular basis, and the other day, a couple of guys set up a ladder in the clubhouse, a few feet from the lockers of Delwyn Young and Jason Repko, and did something in the ceiling. One of the guys climbed the ladder and pushed aside a ceiling tile, and the whole upper half of his body disappeared into the ceiling, all this while Dodgers players dressed and prepared for that morning's workout while apparently not even noticing that there was a ladder in the middle of the clubhouse and a torso-less pair of legs hanging down from the ceiling. We're actually leaving here in about five weeks, so it's hard to imagine they'll actually get the place finished at any point. To see it in its full glory, you'll probably have to wait until 2010. Right now, there are a lot of big, unpaved parking lots and several large pieces of Caterpillar construction parked all over the place.

The cortisone shot either didn't take or didn't hit the right spot. He had hoped to be pitching again within a week, but that now seems unlikely. We may NEVER see this guy in the majors again, the way things are going. And to think, there was a time when he was a decent major-league closer. ... By the way, Cory Wade and Hong-Chih Kuo played catch today. Both of them are doing well and should be back on regular programs in a few days.

OK, I'm giving you fair warning that this is going to give you a headache. I can't imagine what the conversation must have been like when Colletti and Ng were working these details out with O-Dawg's agent. But here it is:

$380,000 signing bonus, deferred without interest to a time not designated
$3 million base salary for 2009
$150,000 each for 150 and 175 plate appearances
$200,000 each for 200, 225, 250, 275 and 300 plate appearances
$250,000 each for 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, 550, 575 PAs
and then, there is this:
$10,000 for EVERY plate appearance from PA #576 through PA #632. That's 57 PAs for total of $570,000.
also, BEGINNING WITH 550 PAs, every one of these incentives, including that $570k, is deferred without interest to a time not designated. And the contract requires O-Dawg to donate $25,000 to the Dodgers Dream Foundation, something I'm sure he has no problem with because he is heavily involved in charity work to begin with, with a focus on the battle against autism.

Have you hit the Advil yet?

I haven't heard it, but from what I understand, what he reported was that he had heard the Manny Ramirez signing might get done this week. Well, yeah. It MIGHT get done this week. It also might NOT get done this week. It also might not get done AT ALL. So there you go. All we know at this point is the same thing we all reported on Sunday, that Ned Colletti told us he and Scott Boras had talked more about Manny in the previous seven days than they had in the previous few months. I did check with Ned against this morning, very briefly, and he said there was nothing new. I asked if things were moving backward, and he said, ``If things were moving backward, they wouldn't exist.'' I think he was being flippant. I have to believe there has been SOME progress. But there doesn't appear to be any breaking news at this point.

He threw 11 pitches, nine for strikes, and retired three (Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, Matt Kemp) of the four batters he faced. Casey Blake was the only guy to reach, pulling a first-pitch smash down the third-base line on which Luis Maza made a diving stop. He threw high to first, allowing Blake to reach, but in a regular-season game, it would have been scored a hit because fielder's are rarely penalized for a bad throw after taking away a sure hit with the glove. Anyway, Schmidt said he felt great, but he admitted that he'll never have a high-90s fastball. In the same breath, he said that shouldn't mean a dramatic change to the type of pitcher he is.
``I always tried to pitch like I was a finesse guy anyway, trying to mix it up all the time and trying to hit my spots. I'll try to take the same approach. The first time I had surgery in 2000, I started off at 85 (mph) ... and I was effective then. Some of my better games were when I had less velocity. I know I can do it. It's just a matter of getting my command.''
Schmidt admitted it will take a little while for that to happen, but he said he expects it to happen sometime during spring training.
By the way, Greg Miller had a rough inning because of a defensive miscue behind him, but other than that, he was around the plate. That was good to see. He's a great kid, and everyone is rooting for him.

Chad Billingsley will start against the Rockies on friday with Clayton Kershaw against Seattle on Sat. Hiroki Kuroda will start the first-ever Cactus League game at the new complex on Sunday against the White Sox. The Brewers have agreed to come over for a B game next Monday, when there is no Cactus League game scheduled.

And no, this does NOT mean he is the Dodgers' opening-day starter. He'll be followed against the Cubs by Eric Milton, Ramon Troncoso, Stephen Randolph, Nick DeBarr and Carmen Cali. Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubs. Randy Wolf will start on Thursday against the Giants, followed by Jeff Weaver, Eric Stults, Jonathan Broxton, Tanyon Sturtze, Edgar Martinez and Scott Strickland. ... By the way, Joe Torre said this morning that Blake DeWitt will get a lot of action at SS in Cactus League play, but it might not happen for a while because he'll be playing 2B until they are ready to put Orlando Hudson into some games at 2B. So while DeWitt's opening for a spot on the opening-day roster would seem to be closing quickly, it isn't all the way closed just yet.

The first intrasquad game is set for 12:15 today, with Jason Schmidt starting for the ``Koufax'' team and Jonathan Broxton going for the ``Drysdale'' team. No, Broxton isn't being converted into a starter. These guys are going to go, I believe, one inning apiece, maybe two at the most in the case of Schmidt. It's supposed to hit 86 degrees today. ... By the way, if you're coming over here for spring training, WATCH OUT FOR THE SPEED CAMERAS. They're all over Arizona, especially on the 101 Freeway near the complex, and several writers and Dodgers personnel have been nailed already this spring (not ME, of course, as I live here and know the perils). If you're going 11 mph above the speed limit, you'll get flashed and receive in the mail at your home in a few weeks a citation and a photo of the driver behind the wheel. There is a rumor going around that if you don't pay them, they just disappear and there is no record that you were ever caught speeding. But so far, that's an unconfirmed rumor, so don't take my word for it. What I do know is that there is one judge in town who automatically throws these tickets out on general principle, but if you live in L.A., you're not likely to want to come back to PHX to contest a speeding citation. Best advice I can give is that if you HAVE to speed -- and really, who among us doesn't? -- set your cruise control at 8-9 mph above the limit, and you should be safe.

OK, the first part of that isn't true. I myself didn't PERSONALLY go to the Professional Bull Riders event tonight at Jobing.com Arena, which is near the Dodgers' spring-training complex. But Colin Gunderson, Tommy Lasorda's personal assistant, went to it with Tommy and just called me from there. The second part of the headline isn't really true, either, but if a baseball game HAD broken out, it would have been a pretty good one. First off, there were at least three Hall of Famers there in Lasorda, Nolan Ryan and George Brett, who no doubt came down from nearby Surprise where their current employers, the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, respectively, share a complex. Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, Blake DeWitt and Scott Elbert also went along in Lasorda's party.

One of you asked for a detailed summary of what goes on each day, and I have to be honest, I usually devote most of my time during the workout to conversing with various members of the organization. But I did see them working on rundown plays on one field, and several of the pitchers threw live batting practice for the first time today. Tomorrow, there will be an intrasquad game, the first and probably last of the spring. A few days ago, I posted the names of all the pitchers who are expected to pitch in it. Joe Torre also said he is trying to arrange a B game, possibly with the White Sox, for a week from tomorrow because that is one of three scheduled off-days, and he doesn't feel the club needs an off-day that early in the spring.

Someone asked him about the economy and the way it has affected free agents, and he said that hopefully ``my man Obama'' will get the economy turned around soon. As for the wrist, he says it isn't affecting him at all anymore when he swings. Said he started swinging a bat in mid-December, and by late December, his swing felt completely natural. Also says he has no regrets about turning down a multi-year offer from the Snakes last season. Claims he was offered multi-year deals this winter by ``several other teams.'' And that he got married this winter but can't remember the exact date. Is any male who has ever been married can attest, he better look it up, and then commit it to memory.

Ned Colletti just told us he has had more conversations with Scott Boras about Manny Ramirez ``in the past seven days than in the past few months. The conversations are more frequent and longer.'' When asked what that means, Colletti said, ``The days are ticking off the calendar.'' He wouldn't say whether he considers it progress, but it sure sounds like they are getting closer to a deal -- not that ``closer'' in any way means ``close.'' ... Anyway, Hudson passed his physical, meaning the one-year deal has now been ratified. The base salary is actually $3 million, plus a $380,000 signing bonus. The incentives, which are all based on plate appearances, max out at $4.62 million, which means the most the contract can possibly be worth is $8 million. As for his health, he was examined by a hand/wrist specialist who consulted with the doctor who did the surgery last fall, and Hudson has been cleared to take part in all activities. ... If this team ends up with Hudson AND Manny, it could be an exciting summer, especially in the N.L. West.

He was here for the final portion of his physical exam, sporting a brick-red colored T-shirt that might have been mistaken for Diamondbacks attire until he turned around to reveal that it said South Carolina on the front. Because the signing still can't be announced until the results of that exam are complete, he told Josh Rawitch he wasn't comfortable talking to reporters until tomorrow morning. But we ARE expecting to get the announcement in an hour or so. There was some nervousness on the part of club officials, moreso than with the usual pre-signing physical, because O-Dawg, as all the cool people call him, is still in the final stages of recovery from the left-wrist surgery he had last fall. The surgery was to his glove hand, so it won't affect him defensively. He is a switch hitter, and the only real concern is whether he will be hindered when he hits left-handed. I'm told there is no chance that he will hit only right-handed while the wrist goes through the final stages of the healing process.

Told him to be patient and he would be kept updated throughout the spring as to where he'll fit in. However, Joe seemed to hint to us before the workout that coming off the bench in the major leagues isn't the best role for DeWitt.

``I think a lot will be decided by the end of spring training, after everything shakes out,'' Torre said. ``Orlando is good, and he seems to be recovered after he had a pretty serious (left-wrist) injury last year. I think we'll really have to evaluate how much work (DeWitt) will get. We're not going to dismiss him, obviously, because he has done too much for us. We know he is a big part of our future. As the spring goes on, I think we will have to evaluate what the best thing for him is. What is best for him is best for us. We want him to continue his progress.''

Joe also was asked about the possibility of DeWitt moving to third and Casey Blake to LF if the Dodgers don't sign Manny, and he basically dismissed it. Said it could certainly happen as part of late-inning double switches, but not on an everyday-starting-lineup basis. If it isn't Manny in LF, for now, it's still going to be Juan Pierre.

He stopped by today because he was in town to participate in Mark Grace's charity bowling tournament and he wanted to visit with some Dodgers people. While he clearly isn't ready to hang it up, clearly wants to play again and clearly wasn't telling us that he is ready to walk away, he DID seem resigned to the fact that in this economy, there isn't going to be much of a market for a 39-year-old guy who hit .130 last year. He wants to go into broadcasting and actually interviewed for a position with the MLB Network, but didn't wind up getting hired.
``This has been a tough offseason for a lot of people,'' Sweeney said. ``I don't want to make it just my issue. I have played 14 years, and it has been fun.''

No reason to doubt Ken Gurnick, the dean of Dodgers beat reporters and one of the best in the business. Dodgers are still denying that it's done, but again, this is about semantics. To their way of thinking, no deal is ``done'' until the physical has been passed. Clearly, this deal is done in principle. We even spoke with Blake DeWitt a few minutes ago about what it means for him. True to form, he handled it with class.

``I want to help us win a World Series,'' he said. ``However I can do that, I will be more than happy to. ... He is a great player. If somebody is going to get him, why not us? He is a good player who can help a team win, and that is what we are trying to do here.''

The question team officials will have to ask themselves now -- well, not now, but sometime during spring training -- is whether a player like DeWitt, a highly regarded prospect, is better off playing every day in Triple-A than sitting around in the majors.

XM Satellite radio is apparently reporting, as one of you posted in a comment on this blog. Dodgers VP Josh Rawitch says he also heard that XM was reporting it, so he ran it by Ned Colletti and Kim Ng and was told that they COULDN'T CONFIRM IT. The semantics there are very important, because they did NOT say NO. They merely said the couldn't confirm. I think you can make a strong assumption that means the deal is done pending a physical. So stay tuned.

And hopefully the last. Was standing in the middle of the clubhouse with Dodgers asst. PR director Joe Jareck when that thing went off, and boy, was it shrill. High-pitched, loud and earsplitting. You should have heard the hue and cry emanating from the shower room. It lasted 3 1/2 minutes. Things happen in a construction zone, and that's exactly what this still is. By the way, I found out this morning that what I thought was rust-colored paint on part of the outer facade of the Dodgers' executive offices isn't rust-colored paint at all. It's actual rust. Rusty steel beams. Someone thought that would contribute to the desert-like appearance of the place, apparently. Meanwhile, some steel-beam salesman has to be laughing his you-know-what off at the notion that he was actually able to unload the stuff on somebody. The finest spring-training facility in all the land? Quite possibly. Pleasing to the eye? Well, I'll let you make that call for yourself if you get a chance to get over here this spring.

They'll play 5 1/2 innings or until all these guys get their work in, whichever comes first. Guessing the game will take place on a back field, as the stadium probably won't be ready.

Jason Schmidt
Jonathan Broxton
Erick Threets
Greg Miller
Scott Elbert
Justin Orenduff
Jesus Castillo
Brent Leach
Victor Garate
Jacobo Meque

Not today they can't. With the exception of Hiroki Kuroda, who because of his shoulder issues last year is on a slightly different program as the other pitchers, not one Dodgers pitcher threw off the mound today. Rick Honeycutt said he and Stan Conte made the decision in tandem to give everyone the day off from throwing. The reason is that spring training is an extra week long this year because of the WBC. As long as I have been covering spring training, this is the first non-game day I can remember when half the team's pitchers didn't climb onto a row of pitching mounds and throw their bullpens all at the same time, side by side. Honeycutt also told me that because the exhibition games start earlier this year in relation to the start of camp -- there are only 11 workout days as opposed to the usual 13 or 14 -- pitchers probably won't throw live batting practice before they start pitching in games. ... By the way, this is shocking news, so brace yourself: Yhency Brazoban has been shut down due to shoulder inflammation, the same thing he battled last year. Bear in mind, he is on a minor-league contract now and probably has little shot of making the club anyway.

There was a salesman from a small bat company in the clubhouse this morning, and in addition to propping up several of his company's models against the edge of a table in the middle of the room, he also spread photos of about eight major-league clients along the top of the table. The last one on the far right: Matt Stairs, in full Phillies regalia. I happened to mention to the guy that it was Matt Stairs who basically ended the Dodgers' season with that monstrous two-run homer off Jonathan Broxton in Game 4 of the NLCS last year -- there was still a Game 5, but with the Dodgers having blown a two-run lead in the eighth inning and now trailing 3-1 in the Series, you basically knew it was over at that point. The sales guy claimed that his company's bats were the hardest in the business. If you were there at Dodger Stadium that night, you might believe him. Stairs' homer might have been the hardest-hit ball I saw all season last year, and one of the hardest I have EVER seen. As soon as the ball left his bat, the fellow scribe who was sitting next to me in the press box yelled, ``JESUS!!!''

This quote from Scott Boras allegedly appeared in USA Today regarding Manny Ramirez (I haven't actually SEEN a copy of today's USAT, but I found this quote on another web site called sohood.com, which credits it to USAT). Here, Scott comes up with a rather creative (and sugary-sweet) way of saying that Ramirez has been working out and is in great shape. He also seems to imply that the Dodgers can't be any good if they don't re-sign his client. He also says Manny is the ``face'' of the Dodgers, which is a little weird considering he was here two months and, for now, he isn't even a PART of the franchise.

Here's the quote:
``When you're that good of a cake, it takes little frosting. Manny is now the face of that franchise. So it comes down to a choice of winning or losing. Dodgers fans know what life was like without him, and they know what life was like with him. The truth of the matter is that he makes that much of a difference.''

It's a precautionary measure designed to avoid losing him for a long period of time, as the Dodgers did last year. You might recall, that probably would have wrecked their season if not for the Manny Ramirez trade. Furcal plays the game so hard and with such abandon that he is always at some risk of injury.
``We're going to keep an eye on him for sure,'' Torre said. ``We'll probably have to slip in a day off once in a while. ... Maybe once a week. It's going to be a feel thing. The big part is we're going to go off how Raffy feels, not if Raffy wants to play.''
The obvious follow-up question is whether he trusts Furcal to be honest about how he feels knowing that Furcal wants to play every game.
``I think we have to get a plan,'' Torre said. ``If later on we discover it may not be necessary, then all right, but I doubt that to be the case. Last year, when he was on the DL, he got teased a couple of times thinking he was feeling better. I think fo everybody involved, this is probably the safest thing to do. Is it necessary? I don't know that it's necessary, but it's probably what we're going to do.''
For the record, before we even talked to Joe about this, we all talked to Furcal this morning, which was when he first showed up at camp. Asked about staying healthy all year, he said this:
``I want to play 162 games and then 11 more for the championship.''

Fans are allowed to attend workout for free, and those workouts right now are starting at 10 a.m. every day. Joe Torre said he might push them up to 9 a.m. when the weather gets hotter, which is supposed to happen this week, but it still is pretty chilly around here in the early mornings. On game days, fans still are allowed to watch the workouts for free, but of course you'll have to have a ticket to get into the stadium, and I'm guessing there will be a parking charge, as well. This ability to watch workouts is fairly standard at all camps, but the Dodgers probably allow fans to get closer to the players than in any other camp, and you are separated from them only by a thin yellow rope that is monitored by a handful of security guards, most of whom seem to be comparatively friendly and respectful. Today's workout, the first full-squad workout of the spring, might be a little late getting started because there is a team meeting in the clubhouse, the traditional one that takes place before the first full-squad workout.

It doesn't sound too serious. It's actually a recurrence of the inflammation in his right shoulder that landed him on the DL last August, but this time, he caught it early and, most importantly, brought it to the attention of the medical staff early. Doesn't sound like it'll set him back much, if at all, in his preparations for the season. If he is healthy, he is pretty much a lock for a bullpen spot.

Not sure what changed, because the Dodgers had no interest in this guy earlier in the winter because of concerns about his offensive shortcomings, and defense at 2B didn't seem to be a major priority because they have Furcal at SS and Loney at 1B, both of whom are superb glove men who cover a lot of ground. But the Dodgers do have an open 40-man spot. Ned was quick to say that this doesn't mean the organization has doubts about Blake DeWitt's ability as an everyday second baseman. But Hudson does have three Gold Gloves, he has a decent (.346) career OBP and he has enough gap power that he hits a lot of doubles. It sounds like the Dodgers are pretty serious about him, and he is another of those still-unsigned free agents. We'll see.

HIs press secretary sent a statement to the White Sox, Obama's favorite team, saying he was declining their invitation to stop by while he is in town to promote the stimulus package. This is the best news of the day, even better than Ethier's settlement. And no, that has nothing to do with politics. George W. Bush showed up at games I covered on at least two occasions, and it was a pain in the derriere. I don't care if the President is a Democrat, a Republican or a Whig, I don't want to have to jump through a bunch of Secret Service hoops just to come to work -- and I ESPECIALLY don't want to do that on some humdrum spring-training workout day.

While Colletti was in the media room discussing the Ethier settlement, we asked him about Manny. Specifically, I asked him if the club has made any offers beyond the two we already know about, the two-year, $45 million one from October and the one-year, $25 million from a couple of weeks ago. He said no more offers had been made. Dylan Hernandez from the Times then asked, ``Has there been a counteroffer?'' and Ned said, ``Sort of.'' He wouldn't comment beyond that, but it's clear he was talking about a proposal that was so far out of the Dodgers' range as to be unrealistic. That's today's update.

He showed up in a suit, as did Ned Colletti. Everybody got all dressed up for nothing. But Andre admitted to being relieved.

``I guess the process is over. It was a little frustrating, the fact I think there could have been a result a little bit earlier. I think it took putting on suits and calling each other's bluff.''

Ethier said the sides actually got to the point of sitting across from each other at a table in the hearing room before they went out again to the hallway and came up with the agreement.

``Why wouldn't I be (satisfied)?'' he said. ``Being a two-plus player and being in my first year of arbitration, it's a pretty big accomplishment, and it's a great stepping stone for years to come.''

Specifically, three years to come. Because Ethier is a super-two, like Russell Martin, he will have FOUR winters of arbitration-eligibility instead of the usual three. That could be avoided, of course, if either of them signs a long-term contract at some point. But that's another discussion for another day.

That's actually not that big a dropoff. Russ started 138 games behind the plate last year and entered defensively in 11 others. Joe says the addition of veteran Brad Ausmus, who is one of the best in baseball at calling a game and can hit a little bit, if only a little bit, should afford him the ability to rest Martin more often. Joe also mentioned Martin's ability to play 3B, but even as he said it, Torre also seemed to dismiss it because of the present of Casey Blake. Martin made 11 appearances at 3B last year, but as best as I can recall, no more than one or two of them came after the Blake trade.

When told of Penny's comments about him this morning, Larry Bowa didn't even wait to find out what those comments were. He just went right into this beautiful little rant:

``You mean the same guy who was never on time, out of shape and has one complete game? He has more stuff to worry about in the A.L. East than me. He has to worry about getting people out. He was never on time, was out of shape and never helped the kids out. Put that on the (expletive) dot-com. Put it in the headline.''

Just to clarify, Brad has three career complete games. Larry might have been referring to the fact he had only ONE CG in his 4 1/2 seasons with the Dodgers, that a 2-1 duel with Pedro Martinez in which Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Mets. But Bowa's point is not lost, nevertheless.

Wait, there's more:

``He never watched the game (when he was on the DL). Jason Schmidt watched the games. Nomar Garciaparra watched the games. Mark Sweeney watched the games. You go right down the line, everybody who was on the DL watched the games. But not him. He was out of there.''

And finally, there was this:

``I'm in everybody's corner when they work. When they're lazy and don't work. I could give a (well, you get the picture).''

Joe Torre and Ned Colletti basically declined comment, but Joe did say something funny.

``I don't want to talk about that,'' he said. ``I'll write about that in my next book.''

Ned, who loves to wear cowboy boots, pointed out that Brad had promised to send him a couple of pairs but hasn't done so yet. Other than that, Ned had little to say.

To the best of my knowledge, Larry STILL doesn't know exactly what Brad said about him. We never got the chance to tell him.

That's a hair south of the midpoint -- a $100,000 hair, that is -- but he can get to the midpoint if he maxes out on his incentives, which are $25,000 each for 596 and 625 plate appearances and $50,000 for 650 PAs. If the 596 seems like a weird number, that's exactly how many PAs he had in 2008. What apparently opened the door for this was the fact two comparable players, St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick and Pittsburgh's Nate McLouth, settled within the past 24 hours. Ludwick got $3.7 million, and McLouth actually signed a three-year deal that has an average annual value of $4.3 million. It wouldn't be accurate to say Ethier's signing came at the last second. The sides actually postponed the hearing while they got a deal done in a hallway outside the hearing room. Ned Colletti estimates the agreement was reached between 10 and 10:15 this morning. The hearing had been scheduled for 9:30.

This is unconfirmed, but I'm pretty sure it's true: when the three-person arbitration panel makes its decision after Ethier's arbitration hearing this morning, that decision, which usually is made public the following day, will be sealed for a few days. Not even Andre or the club will know what it is. It won't be made public until after ALL of the pending arbitration hearings have taken place. The reason for this, apparently, is that there are several comparable players -- Arizona's Conor Jackson, Pittsburgh's Nate McLouth, Atlanta's Kelly Johnson -- awaiting hearings. Comparables are routinely used by one side or the other in hearings to make its case. But because there are so many this year, it would be unfair to Ethier, whose hearing is the first among those players, because there isn't a comparable hearing that either side can use in his case. But in any subsequent hearing, the sides would be able to use Ethier's result as a comparable. It shouldn't be too long, though. The hearings end this week, so we should know by early next week at the latest. For the umpteenth time, Ethier filed at $3.75 million, while the Dodgers filed at $2.65 million.

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports caught up with him yesterday in Red Sox camp. Said he was hurt all of last year and the Dodgers expected him to pitch anyway. It has been well-documented that the Dodgers thought he was being soft. Anyway, the big right-hander also says that Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa -- the only actual member of the Dodgers organization Penny mentions by name in this story -- used to talk about him behind his back to other players.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ari0lLWAsrSEVtoiuAabIXE5nYcB?slug=ti-grapefruitleaguenotes021609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Turns out he is funding other players' offseason training programs -- and not just any player, but Giants reliever Billy Sadler, the same guy who generated controversy by getting a little too excited and pumping his fists after striking out Manny with the bases loaded last year because some veteran players took offense at a rookie being so demonstrative. One of those unwritten baseball rules (and really, isn't there a reason why they're unwritten?)

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090215&content_id=3834052&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

I seem to get more reader email about him than any other Dodgers prospect, so I thought I would check in with him this morning. The amazing thing is that he has maintained a great, upbeat attitude and a sunny personality through all of the trials he has been through with his career these past few years. But he also is realistic. When I asked him about last year, he said, ``It was another pretty rough year.'' Indeed, he walked 63 batters in 53 2/3 innings at Las Vegas, plus hitting nine batters and throwing 12 wild pitches. The result was a 7.71 ERA in 48 relief appearances. Still, I had been told by De Jon Watson this winter -- and Greg confirmed it this morning -- that there were flashes when he seemed to have conquered his demons, and that's an encouraging sign. The other encouraging sign is that he went to the Instructional League last fall and felt he pitched well there. He is still on the 40-man roster, so the organization hasn't given up on him, and he hasn't given up on himself, either.
``You never really know,'' Miller said. ``I am definitely thankful that they have given me two, three, four and five opportunities. At the same time, there is always a chance the organization might say enough is enough.''
The good news is that he has learned to recognize one of his problems, which is that he tends to want to go too hard and too fast when he gets into trouble. He told me this morning that Vegas 3Bs Luis Maza and Terry Tiffee would often hold the ball for a few seconds after it was thrown in from the outfield just to give him some time to gather himself and calm down. So it sounds like he is on the right track. We should get a better read on the situation when the Cactus League starts up next week.

Joe Torre told us that in his morning session yesterday, but it fell through the cracks later on, and I forgot to mention it either in this blog or in today's paper. Joe didn't say it definitively, but he said those were the two who came to mind. He also said he is going to name an opening-day starter well in advance of opening day. Pay special attention to who starts the Cactus League opener on Feb. 25 against the Cubs. That is usually a pretty good indication of whom they're leaning toward. ... Supposed to be a little warmer (forecast high of 73) over at the construction site today, but it's going to cool off again tomorrow. Joe said he is going to continue holding workouts at 10 a.m. phx time, rather than the more traditional 9 a.m., at least until the weather warms up. ... By the way, Kuroda is supposed to throw his first bullpen today. You may recall he chose to play long toss two days ago rather than throwing off a mound.

Let it never be said that Ned Colletti isn't a proactive general manager. This morning, while the writers were holding their normal briefing with manager Joe Torre, Colletti walked over to the group and waited for a pause in the conversation. My original thought was that Colletti, himself a former sportswriter, might have some questions for Joe. Instead, Colletti simply looked at all of us and said:

``No. Nothing new. Haven't heard.''

He then turned and walked away. He was referring, of course, to the ongoing Manny Ramirez negotiations, which are more ongoing on some days than others. But now that we're all down here and have access every day, Ned knows he is going to be asked about this every day. It was a light moment that we all laughed about. But if it drags on much longer, we scribes are going to get as sick of asking the questions as Ned is of answering them.

While working on a video blog this morning with fellow Daily News staffer Brian Dohn and with the help of Dodgers VP/communications Josh Rawitch, we passed non-roster pitcher Valentino Pascucci looking confused at the end of the hallway, just inside the doors leading to the playing field. Josh asked him if he was looking for something. ``Just a place to play catch,'' Pascucci said. ``I guess we can't do it out there.'' One day, maybe they will be able to. ... Speaking of that video blog, it should be posted on the paper's web site in the next few days. It's a tour of the new complex, guided by your favorite correspondent (me). ... Day Two has been fairly uneventful, although several of the primary position players have arrived now, even though they aren't required to report until Wednesday. Casey Blake, Juan Pierre, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp are all here. Among the backups, Juan Castro and Delwyn Young are here.

He looks great, feels great and sounds great. He also said he would like to be in the starting rotation when the season starts ... and Joe Torre also said he would like the same thing.
``I would like to believe that,'' Torre said. ``I can't say for sure, because he hasn't competed for a while. But I hope he can be that guy because of his experience.''
Schmidt said he is treating this like any other spring training, just trying to get ready for the season.
``I just want to go out and pitch,'' he said. ``I want my kids to see me pitch. That is the biggest thing for me. I have a 5-year-old son who has never seem Dad throw before, and if he has, he doesn't remember it.''

Did that headline get your attention? It's nothing, really. Mr. J. Martin accidentally stepped on someone's foot one day this week (no details yet) and was having some pain in his left foot as a result, so he had the exam yesterday. It came back negative, and he is participating in drills as we speak. There IS one injury to note, however, Travis Schlichting, a pitching prospect who was added this winter to the 40-man roster, hurt his back when he stepped in some soft sand while throwing off a mound a few days ago. He is shut down for now. He had little chance of making the club anyway.

The new complex is really nice, but it's hard to imagine Frank McCourt's vision of the finest spring-training facility in all the land will come to fruition until 2010. Many of the roads and cart paths are still unpaved, and there is still construction going on everywhere. But the clubhouse looks great, the fields are well manicured, and the first workout is beginning as we speak. Torre meeting with the media in about 15 minutes. I'm heading out there now and will report back later today.

Forgot to mention this earlier. It now is set for 1 pm phx time. The official explanation is because it gives team execs time to set up their offices, as this will be the first day they are allowed on the site. My guess, though, is it probably has something to do with construction. it has been something of a scramble to get the place ready to turn over to the teams on time. But hey, what's another four hours?

This stuff didn't make the paper because of space, but Joe had some interesting comments on all that stuff. FYI, he said he hasn't yet spoken with A-Rod, but that he might at some point ONLY to find out how A-Rod is doing, not to browbeat him over taking steroids.

On the state of baseball:
``To me, the most important thing is regaining trust, and that isn't something that is going to happen overnight. We just have to work at it. It's going to take management and players doing everything we can to recover from this. The sad part is that so many of these things were supposed to be confidential.''

On the effect this will have on tainted players:
``That's where it's tough, because the problem never goes away. Every time you hit a home run, it's going to be, `I wonder why?' That is all part of getting the trust factor back.''

On the effect this will have on players' statistics:
``Baseball has always been proud of its past. It has never really changed, so all the records are pretty much the same. Now, there are going to be certain questions.''

On A-Rod going forward:
``I think it's going to be very difficult. Alex has a knack for really blocking things out when he goes onto the field. But he is a very proud individual, and he is proud of what he does on the baseball field. Especially early on, I think he will probably be feeling his way through it.''

On Yankees GM Brian Cashman's comment that he can't be sure A-Rod didn't use the stuff while with the Yankees:
``Anytime you open that can of worms, to speak in absolutes is dangerous.''

That's exactly what the Dodgers did today, holding a media session with Ned Colletti, Joe Torre and the coaches -- although Rick Honeycutt was the only one anyone bothered to interview -- in nearby Litchfield Park at the Wigwam Resort, a place about which one of my colleagues from another city said, ``It's so old, it was built when the Dead Sea was still sick.'' It wasn't terribly informative. Mostly it was national writers asking Joe about A-Rod and steroids. Joe's book never came up while I was in the room, but I and several of my colleagues left the room along with Ned and the coaches so we could grab them out in the hall.
What we learned from Ned was that the search for an additional veteran reliever -- a search that was believed to have been narrowed to free agents Dennys Reyes, Jamey Wright and Will Ohman -- has been placed on hold for now due to all negotiations being at an impasse.
``I think some of the (minor-league free-agent) signings we have had the last couple of weeks ... will give us numerous choices,'' he said. ``With the conversations we are having with major-league free-agent relievers, we are not prepared to go forward with that at this point.''
There also was some stuff about Manny, including the fact Joe actually spoke with him by phone this week, but there was nothing really interesting or new.
We also learned from Honeycutt that you can add Scott Elbert to the long list of guys who will begin spring training on a starter's program and compete for the fifth spot in the rotation, but as with several guys on that list, he still could end up in the bullpen if he doesn't end up in the minors.
Rick also said that while Jason Schmidt will begin camp on a scaled-back program that will eventually include some simulated games because he is still rehabbing, he'll have plenty of time to get in position to compete for the fifth spot; and that Chad Billingsley is sufficiently recovered from his broken left leg to begin camp on the same throwing program as everyone else, but that he'll initially be held back to some extent on fielding drills. Rick would NOT go so far as to name Billingsley -- or anyone else -- the opening-day starter.

First, the Dodgers' season-opening series at San Diego, which originally was a four-game set that later became a three-game series with an off-day on the second day, well, it's back to a four-game series again (so much for that off-day trip to Del Mar). The two teams will now play a 7:05 p.m. game on April 7. To offset the change, the three-game series at San Diego the final week of the season is now a TWO-game series, Sept. 29-30. Oct. 1 is now an off-day before the Dodgers host Colorado Oct. 2-4 to close out the regular season. What this means is that the Dodgers will have played SEVEN games, not six, by the time they play their home opener on April 13 against the Giants. More importantly, it means they'll need FIVE starting pitchers the first time through the rotation, something the scheduled usually allows them to avoid. As a colleague pointed out earlier today on the telephone, that could explain why there is this late push to add more guys to compete for the fifth spot (Shawn Estes, Eric Milton, etc.) ...

Secondly, it now appears that an arbitration hearing is all but inevitable for Andre Ethier. It is scheduled for Tuesday in Phoenix, and the sides haven't made much progress, if any. Once again, Ethier filed at $3.75 million, the Dodgers filed at $2.65 million. If it goes to a hearing, his salary will be one of those two figures, not a figure in between. This will be only the third arbitration hearing for the Dodgers in the years Kim Ng has been handling these things. The club won both of the previous ones, with relievers Eric Gagne in 2004 and Joe Beimel in 2007.

With Dodgers pitcher and catchers slated for physicals on Friday and the first workout planned for Saturday, the new complex still looks, at least from Camelback Road, like a construction site. There was a bulldozer parked just inside the fence over there today (not sure it was actually a bulldozer, I don't really know one piece of construction equipment from another). But there's no turning back now. This move to the Cactus League is about to become official. ... By the way, remember about 10 years ago when the Dodgers talked about building a new complex on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation before they ended up signing that 20-year lease with Vero Beach that they are now buying out of? I drove out there a couple of weeks ago, as I had some family in town and they wanted to check out the casino out there. Talk about a haul. Good thing the Dodgers didn't build out there, because that place is WAY out there, about 20 miles west of Scottsdale.

On another note, Ramona Shelburne forwarded me some leftover quotes from the Randy Wolf media session today. He addresses the fact that it took him almost the entire offseason to get signed:

``This offseason started with a lot of optimism and kind of went south, and that's kind of where the country was. You get to a certain point where you don't know what's going to happen, you don't know if you're going to find a job. ... I feel very fortunate that the Dodgers came on board and were aggressive at the end in trying to get me back.''

He'll compete for a bullpen spot in spring training, NOT for the fifth spot in the rotation. Weaver's most recent major-league relief appearance, you may recall, was a rather infamous one. It came in Game 4 of th 2003 World Series for the Yankees. He had pitched so poorly that season that Joe Torre hadn't used him in several weeks, and he wound up giving up a walkoff homer to Florida's Alex Gonzalez in extra innings, tying the Series at 2-2. The Yankees didn't win another game. What you also may recall is that he did come back from that debacle to become a pretty good starter for the Dodgers in 2004 and 2005 before falling on hard times later on. He didn't pitch in the majors last year. If he makes the club, he'll get a straight $500,000 base salary with no additional incentives. The Dodgers still would like to bolster their bullpen with one more veteran reliever. Among those high on their list are Dennys Reyes, Jamey Wright and Will Ohman. (Oh, man, they're looking at HIM?) Sorry, bad joke.

It,s a Casino Night event, and it will be in phx on March 14. Kemp's agent, former Dodgers reliever Dave Stewart, will co-host. I didn't realize this, but Matt has a younger brother, Carlton, who is autistic, and Matt has signed on as a celeb spokesman for TACA, an autism-related charity. This event will feature several other major-league ballplayers -- it comes at a convenient time, with hundreds of players in the phx area for spring training.

Just found out that the Dodgers get HALF of whatever he makes with the Rangers. So, if he maxes out on his incentives and receive a total salary of $1.5 million from Texas in 2009, the Dodgers will get $750,000 of that, meaning they would owe him about $2.76 million instead of the $3.5 million they owe him now.

If he makes the big-league club, he'll get a base salary of $500,000, with up to $1 million in additional incentives. Not sure how that affects the Dodgers. My understanding was that anything he makes with another club this year is subtracted from what the Dodgers owe him, which is slightly more than $3.5 million this year (and every year through 2014). But if that were true, it wouldn't make sense that the Rangers would offer him incentives, given that he was going to receive that money regardless. So I'm trying to find out how this all works. Here's the link to the Dallas Morning News story on the singing, which was posted on the paper's web site a couple of hours ago:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/020909dnsporangerslede.313893c.html

Also, thanks to the boys at the Associated Press, we now have the details of Randy Wolf's incentives: he'll get an additional $500k for each of 170, 180, 185, 190, 195 and 200 innings pitched, for a max. of $3 million. That's on top of his $5 million base, which is guaranteed.

Colletti didn't talk to Boras today. In talking with Colletti about the Wolf signing, I did ask whether there would come a time when the Dodgers will have to simply move on so that the uncertainty of whether Manny is coming back won't create too many other uncertainties, such as who will and who won't be in the everyday lineup. He said this:

``At some point in time, yes, but I'm not sure when that point in time will come yet. We signed Furcal, we signed Loretta, we signed Ausmus, we signed Casey Blake, we signed Wolf, and we signed Mota. We haven't been sitting and waiting for one player to sign. We have been active, and we have continued to put a club together. At some point in time, we have to come to a conclusion. But we're not there yet, and we're still open-minded.''

Like I said, really no update at all.

Dont' have the specifics on the incentives, but they're all based on innings pitched from 170 IP to 200 IP. He has to pitch 200 to reach $8 million, which is exactly what the Dodgers paid him in 2007 including signing bonus and option buyout.

Still don't have terms, but it's a one-year deal. Add him to your 40-man roster.

That's all I know so far, but at least that's something. It has all the usual makings of a deal that has been agreed upon in principle pending a physical exam.

No details yet. Still working on it. Sounds like it's pending a physical, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090206&content_id=3805106&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

Was just told that nothing of significance transpired up at Chavez Ravine today. I did learn today, however, from a source close to the Giants that they would be willing to go to two years with Manny Ramirez, although it likely would have to be at an average annual salary south of $20 million. If you believe that the Dodgers and Giants are the only teams left in this thing, then it would appear that Manny and Scott Boras are caught between a rock and a hard place. That is, if you consider one year at $25 million a rock and two years at maybe $18 each a hard place. These big-league ballplayers have it rough, don't they?

According to an Associated Press story, he was on a list of Bernard Madoff's clients that was made public yesterday. Here is a two-graf excerpt from the story, with a link to the full story below:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Actor Kevin Bacon. World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein.
All three have at least one thing in common: Their names appear on a list of several thousand clients who invested with Bernard Madoff. The list has been made public in a court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
The list emerged late Wednesday, shortly after a whistleblower in the case, Harry Markopolos, told House lawmakers at a hearing that he had discovered that additional funds had relayed investments to Madoff in Europe _ and that the managers of these "feeder" funds may have ignored signs of the massive fraud scheme.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jL6sh7Lnw5qtE8c0mpGdAd6V5jiQD965IVG01

Ned Colletti and Scott Boras spoke late today concerning Manny Ramirez. ``Restated the respective positions,'' Colletti said via text message. ``We agreed to continue to stay in touch these next few days.'' Several years ago, when Scott Boras and I were in the midst of a personal feud that went on for several days over my reporting on the breakdown of negotiations between the Dodgers and Luke Hochevar, their top draft pick of 2005 and a Boras client, I complained to Scott about his failure to return my calls, and he responded by saying, ``I'm a busy man.'' Well, that much is certainly true. And given that Scott is a busy man, he wouldn't waste time talking to the Dodgers over the next few days if he didn't think there was at least some chance of a deal getting done. One thing that now seems clear (and perhaps a bit sobering to Boras and Manny): the market for Manny now appears to have dwindled to the Dodgers and the Giants. The general managers of the Mets, Yankees and Nationals have all stated publicly over the past 48 hours that their clubs are NOT in pursuit of Manny.

Colletti also spoke today with Arn Tellem, the agent for Randy Wolf. But so far, nothing notable to report there, either.

That is what we have been told by the Dodgers. I will continue to monitor the situation tomorrow. Relax and enjoy another Manny-free evening.

Or at least that's what Boras told mlb.com. The Yankees let it be known yesterday that they aren't interested in signing Manny Ramirez, so the list of ``not-interesteds'' continues to pile up. It would seem that these talks with the Dodgers are nearing a breaking point. It's just a matter of which way that point will ultimately break.

By the way, below is a partial transcript from an interview Dodgers 3B coach Larry Bowa gave to the MLB Network's Greg Amsinger and Mitch Williams earlier today (it will air at 4 p.m. L.A. time). The first question is about Manny, and Bowa's response is dramatically different -- much tamer, to be specific -- than when he was asked the same question in a couple of other recent interviews in which he seemed to suggest that the Dodgers have to sign Manny to be competitive. This time, he is much more measured. You almost have to wonder if Bowa wasn't called on the carpet by upper management or ownership for those earlier remarks. He has never been one to pull his punches, but he seems to do exactly that here.

On whether or not the Dodgers should resign Manny:
``It's not my money. Mr. McCourt is the owner of the ballclub and I am sure they have their reasons why they wanna give him 1,2,3 whatever if they give him something. I do know that a 4 year contract in my opinion would be too much for Manny in the National League. American League is a different story. He is a DH. But when you get 37, 38 years old playing everyday in left field, it's tough to justify a 4 year contract even though he is a great hitter.''

On West Coast baseball versus East Coast baseball:
``"Well it's vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream. I mean the East Coast, there is a sense of urgency as soon as you walk down the tunnel to take the field. On a three game losing streak in Philadelphia, New York, you hear vendors on the street that are there early saying, 'LET'S GO! Kick it in!' I mean you better be prepared to play. On the West Coast, it's more laid back. They are great fans. There is no question they are great fans but there is more life and death on the East Coast. They love to compete, they love to win, and they don't like to listen to 'Well we should of done this.' Just do it. On the East Coast, just do it.'

On Joe Torre "breaking the code" in his new co-authored book:

"There is a code of ethics, but again I haven't read the book. Talking to people, I don't know if he went over the line... I look at it this way. When you have a clubhouse meeting, and the manager holds a clubhouse meeting, and at the end of the meeting the manager says, 'You know what guys. This is between us.' But how many times do you go out the next day and it says an unidentified player said this is what went on in the meeting. At least Joe put his name behind where as the unidentified player said 'Joe said this about the team or said that', I would rather that player just come out and say 'This is what went on in the meeting, and this is what Joe said.' You see that a lot but it's ok when the player makes a statement like that."

On Alex Rodriguez:

"Well first of all let me get one thing straight. Alex and myself are very good friends. Very good friends. I've probably worked with him more than anyone I've ever worked with in Spring Training because of his work ethic, his desire to be the best, he's always prepared, and it was a running joke to keep guys loose. When you play every day and you're in Spring Training, you're close to being with that ball club more than you are with your family. So we'd have a running thing going. If Alex had a bad night, I might go out and say 'Ok A-Rod, was it A-Fraud last night? Tonight it's gonna be A-Rod' and he says 'I gotcha' just to keep him loose. He'd walk in the clubhouse before a ball game and have to go by the coaches room and he'd go, 'Bow, A-Rod's here!' and I went 'Alright! Game on!' Then there was always some games when he had a bad day and would say, 'I don't know. Might of been A-Fraud' but he'd laugh... I can honestly say in the two years I was there I never heard a player call Alex 'A-Fraud'. I never heard that."

This is from today's edition of All Things Considered on NPR.

ROBERT SIEGEL: For twelve seasons from 1996 to 2007, Joe Torre managed the New York Yankees. When he took over, the team hadn't won a World Series in 18 years. They won the series in his first year, and then three more times plus two trips to the series that ended in defeat.
By Major League Baseball standards, a brilliant record. By the standards of the New York Yankees? A great start, but what happened in those other six years? What have you done for me lately? I speak as a recovering Yankee fan.
Joe Torre speaks now as the current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He and Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci tell the story of how he managed one of the greatest teams ever, and then one of the greatest assemblages of great players ever, two very different things, in the new book, "The Yankee Years." Joe Torre, welcome to the program.

JOE TORRE: Thank you Robert, it's great to be here.

SIEGEL: The news obliges me to start with Roger Clemens, greatest right handed pitcher of recent times, accused of lying about performance enhancing drugs. There's a story out that the syringes Clemens' trainer saved show traces of Clemens' DNA. What did you make of all the stories about steroid abuse and Human Growth Hormone, during the years when you were managing?

TORRE: The interesting part about the club house is the sanctity of the club house. I'm into trusting players and knowing what we have to accomplish, you know, let's go out there and play a game of baseball. I never witnessed anything that looked like it was something wrong. However I think we all have to share the blame here, because this thing is, was far more reaching than I ever thought it would be, and with Roger Clemens, just knowing the type of pitcher he was reminded me a lot of Bob Gibson, just that intensity, non stop, of course players are playing far longer than we ever did. I thought a big part of that was the mid 70s when they started, were able to use weight training and things like that, then all of sudden you realize how many people were all of sudden getting bigger. And it became a little scary.

SIEGEL: Throughout your book, two players emerge as representing different versions of being great baseball players. Derek Jeter, who you obviously adore and think the world of, and who is a selfless player and a winner; and Alex Rodriguez, who is a better hitter, for all I know, and you'd never say this, he could be a better shortstop in the field, too, than Derek Jeter. And yet a player who is mostly about Alex Rodriguez.

TORRE: But you know what Robert, I love him too. It was just tough, and continues to be tough, I'm assuming, just to have him relax. But he puts so much pressure on himself because he has enormous ability. He needs baseball in a way that I needed baseball years ago because, you know, I had very low self esteem. And when I was fortunate enough to be able to play baseball at a high level, I realized that what I did on the baseball field helped my self esteem. And when you need it that badly, you tend to get in your own way.

SIEGEL: But when you say you also love Alex, you also mention that he was a guy - A-Rod is how he's referred to in the headlines. A-Fraud among players is how he is referred to, someone resented in the locker room, not well liked.

TORRE: I don't know if it's a resentment in the locker room. He was a little different than the other guys I had. And the A-Fraud stuff was done in front of him, none of that stuff was behind his back. I think this has been a tough grind for him because of the expectations he has of himself.

SIEGEL: I want you to relay this story, which this would leave one to believe that the TV sitcom "The Office" is really a documentary of life in baseball. When you would be interviewed on the pre and post game shows on the Yankee cable system, and you figured out that actually, in a way, you were being set up by your bosses in those interviews. I want you just to relay that story.

TORRE: I was getting paid by the YES Network to do the pre and post game. In other words, Kim Jones who was doing the interviewing, and Suzyn Waldman at times, they got to ask the first few questions. Before the game, the same thing: they got to ask the first few questions. Well, it got to the point where we'd lose a game or lose two games, and it got to a point where I felt sorry for Kim Jones cause all of a sudden these questions came out of her mouth, you know, critical questions, why did you use this guy or why did you use that guy? It was very out of character for her. I figured out after a time that because I was being paid by the Yankees, they felt it was, in my opinion, they were looking to discredit me in some way by asking me what they perceived as tough questions. It bothered me, not that the questions, I couldn't answer the questions. It was just the reason they were doing it, and it just bothered the heck out of me, and after that season, I just said pay or no pay, I'm not doing it anymore. I still talk to the YES Network. But they were just part of the group that would come in and interview me. I just thought it was unnecessary.

SIEGEL: But you figured that [Brian] Cashman the general manager or these people are handing questions to the in-house interviewers saying make Torre look back in the post game show?

TORRE: Or, try to, ask him why he did this. It wasn't Cashman. I think it was above him and George, a time or two. George Steinbrenner, god bless him. He wanted to win every single game and wanted to win by 10 runs. There was a lot of criticism, which we exchanged all the time, but that wasn't an issue for me when he would do that with me. But there were some people that, for some reason, wanted me to appear uncomfortable.

SIEGEL: You remarked by the way that George Steinbrenner, to you, was always George. You addressed him as George.

TORRE: George and the boss, yea. Our relationship was good. He would yell at me and I would yell at him, it would never be in public. That's what I was proud of, we kept a lot of our stuff, under covers so to speak, and I think we had a mutual respect for each other that made this thing work.

SIEGEL: Does it make it any harder to manage the Dodgers, to be so powerfully identified by your last job, and to have people, like me, so interested in your last job?

TORRE: Well, it was tough for me, I never envisioned myself leaving the Yankees and going anywhere else to manage. The Dodgers, you know, they're one of those handful of organizations that you pay attention to. And when they expressed interest, I had a listen. And then I was just curious cause those last few years in New York were very tough on me, and I just was curious if I could have some fun again. However, there was a lot of pressure on me because even though I had a lot of World Series rings at this juncture, I still had to earn my keep and see if I could do it somewhere else. And it was very satisfying for me to - you know, it took a lot of time before the players felt comfortable and developed their personality. But it was a great deal of satisfaction for me to win there.

SIEGEL: Well, Joe Torre, thanks a lot for talking with us today.

TORRE: Thank you Robert

What Colletti didn't say was that it appears to be on life support at this point. But given that the one-year, $25 million deal was turned down so swiftly -- it was on the table for about 24 hours -- and given the fact that no other club really appears all that serious about signing Manny, you have to wonder what Scott Boras is thinking. Colletti did say that he and Boras were on the phone for about half an hour last night after Boras informed him Manny wouldn't take the deal, but that the discussion was more conversation than negotiation.
Colletti also seemed to say yes when asked whether the club's pursuit of Manny could drag on into spring training or perhaps even longer.
``We haven't set a deadline yet,'' Colletti said ``These situations can change in an instant.''
Colletti wouldn't say if or when he will turn his attention to other options, like Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu. Obviously, neither of those players is as attractive to the Dodgers as Manny. But with spring training now about 10 days away, you can't let Boras and Manny hold you up forever.

I have no other details, other than that Scott met with Ned Colletti late tonight and told him Manny wouldn't accept the Dodgers' one-year, $25 million offer. Not sure exactly what this means, but it wouldn't shock me if this is the end of it and the Dodgers simply move on. And if that happens, who knows where Manny will end up and when he will get there? More on this tomorrow, I'm sure.

This from a source who requested anonymity. It isn't a firm deadline, per se, contrary to what was reported earlier tonight on ESPN. But it also has been hinted to me -- not told to me in so many words, but hinted to me -- that this is akin to a final offer and that the Dodgers will ``move on'' if Ramirez turns up his nose at it.

This according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Ned Colletti confirmed that the offer was made last night, but he wouldn't confirm the length or the amount. Got a message in to Boras, but you know how that goes. Until (and if) I hear back from him, there is no word on whether he and Manny are receptive to such a deal. But it certainly appears, from the outside looking in, that they are running out of options if he wants to make it somewhere by the start of spring training.
``We are still trying to sign Manny, and we hope that this will make him happy,'' Colletti said.
The Dodgers' original offer to Manny, which was pulled off the table three months ago, was two years, $45 million with a club option for 2011. These are the only known offers to Ramirez by any major-league club since he filed for free agency last fall.