March 2009 Archives

This devolved in the late innings into a really bad game that lasted three hours, 29 minutes, so I won't bore you with too many of the gory details except to say that if the Dodgers hadn't scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth to break the tie, it wouldn't have gone beyond nine innings because the Dodgers were out of pitchers. The Dodgers now have five more games to get through THE ENTIRE SPRING without a single tie. Anyway on to the more important things. ... Joe Torre came as close as ever after the game to saying James McDonald is the fifth starter.
``He really hasn't done anything wrong for me,'' Torre said.
He then made it a point to point out that he wasn't officially NAMING McDonald the fifth starter.
``I haven't made that commitment yet.''
James had a rough first inning, but settled in from there and pretty well dominated until he gave up a leadoff homer to Mark Reynolds in the fifth. He'll start on Sunday against the Giants, then presumably will be stretched out enough to start against these same D-backs in phx on April 10, the fifth game of the regular season.
Will Ohman had a rough debut for the Dodgers, giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, a lefty no less (it was Chad Tracy). Ohman also walked Conor Jackson, allowed a stolen base that wasn't even close and threw a wild pitch. But he struck out Miguel Montero to end the inning. He won't pitch tomorrow against the Giants, but he said he will pitch in back-to-back games sometime before the Dodgers' season opener on Monday.
Finally, Blake DeWitt and Chin-lung Hu continue to make it very difficult for Dodgers officials to send them to the minors, even if that probably is where they are both headed. Hu went 2 for 5 today with a pair of singles to raise his average to .280, and this was AFTER Torre said before the game that Hu has been ``the star of spring training'' based on how far he has come since last season. DeWitt went 3 for 5 with a double and a two-run homer and is now hitting .299. The burning question for both of them is whether their development will be hurt by playing part time, something Torre says clearly happened with Hu last year.
Also, Andre Ethier went 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Dodgers improve to 15-18. At the Giants tomorrow, then they break camp and head home for three at Dodger Stadium. Your humble correspondent will be L.A.-bound, as well, for the first time since the day after the boys lost to the Phillies last October. See you there.

I just received an advance copy of the Dodgers story from this year's Sports Illustrated baseball preview issue. I have copy-and-pasted it below.

Reason to Celebrate- By Jon Heyman

Ever since Manny Ramirez declared, "I'm baaaaack," following the club's most celebrated spring holdout since Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held out in 1966, the Dodgers haven't been able to keep Ramirez away from Camelback Ranch, the team's new spring training home in Glendale, Ariz. The superstar, who signed a two-year, $45 million deal (with an opt-out clause after this season) three weeks into camp, would arrive at the ballpark at 6:30 each morning to run with strength-and-conditioning coach Brendon Huttman before heading to the batting cage. "He's like a big kid, and he loves to play baseball," says centerfielder Matt Kemp, "and that's kind of rubbed off on [the rest of] us."

A slugging savant who won two World Series titles with the Red Sox, Ramirez is equally remembered in Boston as an erratic malcontent. But one team's cancer, it turns out, can be another's cure.

Not that Ramirez doesn't still stir up anxiety. Even unflappable manager Joe Torre was looking oddly concerned in the days before Manny re‑signed. "We couldn't win without him," one Dodger said shortly after the signing. "Everyone in here knows that."

To bring Ramirez back, Dodgers G.M. Ned Colletti says he negotiated with agent Scott Boras for 141 straight days, holidays included. But now that he's got his man, the L.A. lineup is as good as any in the National League one though eight. It looks a lot like the one that reached the NLCS last season, except upbeat second baseman Orlando Hudson (maybe the steal of the winter's free-agent signings at one‑year, $3.4 million guaranteed) replaces the dour Jeff Kent, who retired.

Ramirez won't duplicate the otherworldly .396 (.410 including postseason) he hit after coming over to the NL on July 31, but the Dodgers' quartet of emerging, under‑27 stars--first baseman James Loney, outfielders Andre Ethier and Kemp, and catcher Russell Martin--should all improve with Manny anchoring the middle of the lineup. Los Angeles was 54-54 at the time of the swap, but it averaged nearly half a home run more and four tenths of a run a game more after Ramirez arrived. "I don't think we were lacking confidence, but it gives you a little extra confidence knowing you have Manny on your side," says Ethier.

Now the biggest concern for Dodgers officials is the pitching staff. It led the league in ERA last year but over the winter lost key starter Derek Lowe and much of its bullpen (Takashi Saito, Chan Ho Park, Joe Beimel and Scott Proctor). Even with the free-agent signing of serviceable, if injury-prone, veteran Randy Wolf, one L.A. official says, "We need another starter."

The continued development of 21-year-old lefthanded phenom Clayton Kershaw would help. Kershaw, who throws 95 mph with a plus breaking ball, was hit or miss in early spring, according to one Dodgers official, but he finished strong. "He looks like he's ready to take the next step," a rival G.M. says.

The bullpen has no such immediate reinforcement. Jonathan Broxton, the new full‑time closer, was 14 of 17 in save opportunities after Saito went down with an elbow injury last year, but he looked better as a setup man. Replacing him in that role is lefty Hong‑Chih Kuo, who has filthy stuff (96 strikeouts in 80 innings and a 2.14 ERA) but is brittle (two Tommy John surgeries already at age 27). The front office is counting on strong-armed youngsters James McDonald and Cory Wade to fill the void left by the many pen departures. "We knew we'd have to address the pitching, and we addressed it somewhat," Colletti says. "But we're a young, inexperienced staff."

The young pitchers should benefit from a tight defense that's especially strong up the middle, with returning shortstop Rafael Furcal, plus Hudson and Martin. (The athletic Kemp is still a work in progress in center.) But L.A.'s main goal is to beat up teams up with its bats, and while that's an unusual plan in a division of spacious ballparks, including Dodger Stadium, it may work. With Ramirez back to help that talented quartet of young position players, the Dodgers are the class of a division that has no lineup to match theirs.

He could all but wrap up the fifth starter's spot with a strong outing against the Snakes this afternoon. Joe Torre said he'll go 60-65 pitches. He still isn't really stretched out the way you would like a starter to be at the end of camp, but he'll get one more start on Sunday at San Francisco. ... Torre said definitively this morning that while the roster won't be set for a few more days, we can safely assume there will be only four outfielders, including the three starters and Juan Pierre. That means Jason Repko and Xavier Paul are headed to the minors and Delwyn Young is headed for the DL. ... We all met Will Ohman this morning. Seems like a really good guy. He is slated to pitch in today's game, although as a situational lefty, he might only face a hitter or two. He lives in Mesa, not far from the Cubs' spring-training facility, and he said the worst part about being an unsigned free agent for the entire winter and for a big chunk of spring training was seeing other players who lived near home coming home from spring-training games while he was still waiting to be signed. ... Going to be a light day tomorrow before the team breaks camp tomorrow night. No morning workouts. Just at 11:30 bus to Scottsdale for tomorrow's game with the Giants.

If he arrives in time, he'll make tomorrow's trip to Tucson and pitch in that game.

The boys are really limping to the finish over here. They have lost four in a row, scoring a total of 10 runs in the process. There wasn't much to report from today's game other than Clayton Kershaw getting rocked. No one seemed too concerned about. Torre said he was overthrowing, which -- and this is just a guess on my part, no one actually said this -- might have had something to do with the fact the A's version of Kershaw, highly touted, 21-year-old lefty Brett Anderson, was also pitching. He and Kershaw apparently know each other from Texas. They might have been trying to impress each other, because they each gave up three runs in the first inning. Anderson settled in from there, but Kershaw didn't settle in until the third because he gave up four more in the second. That was basically the game. ... Rafael Furcal went 2 for 4 with a single and a double. ... James Loney had two singles in three at-bats. ... Jonathan Broxton had a good inning, pitching around a one-out double by Chris Denorfia. ... Guillermo Mota set down all three batters he faced in the seventh without a ball leaving the infield. This guy has had an excellent spring and has now retired the past seven batters he has faced, striking out seven of them. ... Ronald Belisario, the guy who showed up late to camp because of visa problems, pitched the eighth and ninth and retired six of the seven batters he faced, with only Daric Barton reaching on an error by O-Dog. Belisario was sent to the minor-league side a long time ago, but he has nasty stuff, so remember his name. ... Dodgers fall to 14-18. At the Diamondbacks tomorrow.

It's a minor-league deal with major-league terms. What that means, in essence, is that the Dodgers found a way to send him down to Albuquerque for a few days so he can make up for missing almost all of spring training before they call him up. They have to call him up by April 14 or he can opt out. But they WILL call him up by April 14. He'll get $1.35 million plus incentives based on appearances -- although the $1.35 million will be slightly prorated for the two weeks he spends in the minors, during which he'll receive a prorated share of $13,000/month. There also is a $2.2 million club option for 2010, with a $200,000 buyout. ... Also, Shawn Estes has agreed, at least for now, to start the season in Albuquerque as well. So the Dodgers will begin the season without a situational lefty in their bullpen, but only for the first eight days.

Don't have particulars, but trying to run it all down now. Not sure what this means for Shawn Estes, but will find that out as well.

We finally got a chance to speak with him for the first time since he broke his leg in that B game with the Brewers back on March 2. He was in a great mood and said he has been told he has a chance to return just after the All-Star break. They put a rod in his leg that will stay there permanently. Just as we suspected, he said he was caught in a moment of indecision between sliding and coming in standing up. He also said he didn't see an on-deck hitter telling him whether to slide or not. Joe Torre told us at the time that Juan Pierre, the on-deck hitter, was yelling for DeJesus to slide. But apparently DeJesus didn't see him or couldn't hear him. The usual procedure is for the on-deck hitter to stand directly behind the plate, on a line with the third-base line, so he is in full view of the hitter. Anyway, we asked DeJesus how he was feeling emotionally.
``Better,'' he said. ``The first two weeks, I was a little bit down. But now, I'm feeling better because everything is going well. I know people said I would be out the whole season, but that was wrong. I think I'll be back to doing baseball stuff by May and then be back on the field (in games) after the All-Star break.''
He also said he doesn't think the missed time will set back his development at all.
DeJesus will be on the field just before game time to receive, for the second year in a row, the Dodgers' Minor League Player of the Year award for last season. James McDonald will get Pitcher of the Year, and catching prospect Tony Delmonico, last year's sixth-round draft pick, will get the Rookie of the Year award.

No sooner had I posted that item about Martin having the flu and being a possible scratch than he became a definite scratch.

He took ground balls in the main stadium this morning and is expected to get back into Cactus League action either Wednesday against the Giants in Scottsdale or Thursday night against the Angels at Dodger Stadium. But he might go to the minor-league side even sooner than that to get some ABs, so his groin injury apparently has pretty much healed. ... By the way, Russell Martin has the flu. He is still in today's lineup for now, but that is subject to change. ... With the team in Arizona for the first time, there is no team flight back to Los Angeles when camp breaks. Basically, most of the players want to drive their cars to L.A., so they're on their own as far as getting there. They'll go in waves. For instance, Matt Kemp and James Loney will make the trip to Tucson tomorrow, and as a reward for putting themselves through that, they'll be allowed to drive to L.A. from there after leaving the game, so they'll be long gone by the time the Dodgers play the Giants in Scottsdale the following day.

He's pitching in a minor-league game today so they can stretch him out to three innings in anticipation of using him as a long man out of the bullpen or possibly giving him a spot start now and then. But he clearly has this team made as a reliever, even though no one has come out and actually said it yet.
``He has been pretty consistent for me, without telling you he is on the club,'' Joe Torre said this morning. ``I think doing what we're doing today (is telling). Normally, you want to see somebody pitch against big-league clubs, but this is more of a physical thing. I would like to see him stretch it out.''
Weaver's minor-league deal, which surprisingly didn't include an out clause if he didn't make the team, does include a clause stating that he will receive a base salary of $500,000 if he makes the club, with no additional incentives.
Meanwhile, Torre reiterated this morning that Jason Schmidt and Delwyn Young likely will begin the season on the disabled list. But it looks like Claudio Vargas will be ready to go. He shut himself down with elbow pain three days ago, but Stan Conte said an MRI showed nothing more serious than inflammation and that Vargas feels much better today. He was expected to play catch on the back fields during today's workout.

After a few days off, I'm returning to the beat today. Thanks for Ramona Shelburne for so capably filling in while I was away. This is the fun week of spring training for those of us who follow it on a daily basis -- although it isn't that much fun for the handful of players who inevitably will be cut later this week, as the opening-day roster is expected to be finalized by late Saturday night. Three more days in AZ, then back to Los Angeles for a handful of exhibitions starting Thurs. night. The opener is one week from today. Hard to believe.

As impressive as Josh Lindblom has been this spring, it sounded an awful lot like he'd start the season in the minors, then be looked at as a midseason call-up.

``I still put him in the category of Kershaw,'' Joe Torre said, referencing the Dodgers' handling of Clayton Kershaw last season.

Coincidentally or not, Clayton and Josh have become best buds in camp this year. They just met in January, but seem to have hit it off. Obviously, there are quite a few similarities...

It's going to take more than accusations from former players to make
Tommy Lasorda doubt Mike Piazza.

The former Dodgers catcher was one of a handful of players singled
out as a steroid-user in a new book by Sports Illustrated columnist
Jeff Pearlman. But when told of the accusations Sunday, Tommy Lasorda
rushed to his defense.

``I don't believe that at all,'' Lasorda said. ``He worked so hard. I
saw him in the weight room working out all the time. Whatever (is in
the book) is hearsay. I just don't believe it. He comes from a family
that's full of good people.

``I wouldn't comment on it if I didn't feel strongly about it. He has
too much to lose. And he's such a nice young man. He goes to church,
he's got a nice family. I know him. I know what kind of man he is and
I just don't believe it.''

Piazza, a 12-time All Star generally regarded as a certain
Hall-of-Famer who holds the record for most home runs as a catcher
(396), was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft
partly as a favor to Lasorda, who is godfather to one of Piazza's
brothers.

Pearlman quotes former major-league first baseman Reggie Jefferson
and another anonymous player in his book, ``The Rocket that fell to
Earth.''

In the book, Jefferson says, ``He's a guy who did it, and everybody
knows it. It's amazing how all these names, like Roger Clemens, are
brought up, yet Mike Piazza goes untouched."

Another anonymous player is quoted as saying, ``There was nothing
more obvious than Mike on steroids. Everyone talked about it, everyone
knew it.''

There is no scientific proof, nor did Piazza comment or confirm
anything. Lasorda said he was saddened to hear of the accusations.

``This is a guy that should be in the Hall of Fame. He's out-homered
every catcher that's in there,'' Lasorda said. ``I just don't believe
it. Mike Piazza? No way. He worked too hard. I saw him.''

Though spring training stats are notoriously hard to evaluate, the Dodgers team ERA (6.24) this spring is 27th among the 30 major league teams. Of course two of the teams below them in the rankings -- Arizona (6.44, 28th) and San Diego (7.00, 30th) are in the NL West. Colorado (6.14 ERA) is 26th.

I was told that Jason Schmidt hit 90 mph on three occasions in the first inning. Most of his pitches were between 87-90 mph in the first inning. After that they weren't 90 but they weren't that far off either.

Here's what Schmidt had to say afterwards:

Q: Physically how did you feel today?

A: I felt good, but wildness has been a factor for a while. It's not always pretty but I figure out a little bit more each time out. You've just got to go through it.

Q: How concerned are you about your velocity?
A: Velocity is the last thing on my mind. I'm just trying to let the ball go and harness what I have. But throwing strikes is the most important thing.

Q: Can you be effective without being a power pitcher?
A: I've done both over the years. I don't think it's a problem. You just have to throw strikes. You can't be a power pitcher in the big leagues if you don't throw strikes. I'd much rather blow it by 'em, that'd be much easier. But I've been down both roads. I had shoulder surgery back in 2000 and I threw 86-90 the whole year and went 13-7 and had a really good year. In '05 I came into camp and I'd lost all my velocity. It took me half the season to figure out what to do with it, but I won 12 or 13 games that year.

Q: You seem upbeat?
A: My arm feels good. I just need to throw strikes. I need more strength, and more command. I'm doing everything different so it's going to take a while to get the muscle memory.

Sorry, forgot to blog this earlier.

Chad Billingsley threw about 65 pitches in a simulated game this morning, mostly against Casey Blake and Danny Ardoin, and said he felt ``great'' afterwards.

That's great news for the Dodgers, who were worried his groin injury could affect his availability to start the season.

``He threw all his pitches and had absolutely no hesitation,'' Joe Torre said. ``It's not a game yet, but I feel a lot better watching him today he didn't look like he was favoring anything he said he felt great and he worked hard.''

Jason Schmidt's day with one out in the third inning. It was a real mixed bag. He'd struck out four batters (GOOD) but walked three (BAD) and gave up three runs (NOT SO GOOD). He also gave up a couple of extra base hits, an indication that the pitch didn't do what he intended it to do. On the strikeouts though, he looked really sharp.

Casey Blake is back with the team today after his wife gave birth to the couple's fourth child around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

It's a boy!

Casey said he just kind of liked the name because not many kids have that name today. And, he's a big fan of George Strait.

Here's the good part for all you women readers out there. Like a good husband, Casey said he spent the night in the hospital with his wife after his son was born.

No, not that Edgar Martinez. The great American League DH.

This Edgar Martinez was in camp as a 27-year old right handed pitcher.

Jason Schmidt is on the mound in today's game against the Pads. A little bit of a surprise because we'd been told Eric Stults was going to be throwing today. Instead he's throwing in a minor league game over in Peoria. That doesn't mean he's been sent down though. Basically with a week to go in spring training, the Dodgers wanted both of them to get some time and this was essentially Schmidt's last opportunity to throw against major league hitters.

And, for the first time this spring, the Dodgers have their entire starting lineup on the field. It's been close the last two days, but Casey Blake was gone while his wife was was giving birth to their fourth child.

Joe Torre said today that Delwyn Young had a cortisone shot into his elbow today and possibly will open the season on the disabled list.

The Dodgers worked out left-handed relief pitcher Will Ohman on a back field at Camelback Ranch this morning.

Ohman went 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA for the Braves last year, appearing in 83 games and pitching 58 2/3 innings with 53 strikeouts and 22 walks. Before that, he spent five seasons with the Cubs.

Ohman would be vying for the situational-lefty job out of the pen that Erick Threets and Brian Mazone are competing for.

The team is still in talks with his representatives.

UPDATE: Here's what Joe Torre had to say about it.

``We're interested. He's been throwing,'' Joe Torre said. ``Ned's talking to his representative to figure out if it's going to work. It's a tough time in spring training to come in and say you're ready. He showed me he's been throwing, it didn't take him long to get loose and there's a certain element of sharpness too that you'd like to have.

``Just where we are in spring training ... but what we saw today was the quality of the stuff even though you can see he hasn't been pitching in games, as far as his command.

The Dodgers have had extended discussions about utility infielder Blake DeWitt in recent days, debating whether their promising youngster is better served starting the season in Triple-A and playing regularly, or staying up with the major-league club as a back-up infielder.

If he were to stay with the Dodgers, he'd likely play a lot of shortstop when Rafael Fucal is given days off. DeWitt said he's very comfortable playing the position, having grown up as a shortstop, but Torre indicated the club thought Juan Castro and Chin-lung Hu were better defensively. That doesn't mean DeWitt is out of the running though.

``I think he can hold his own there,'' Torre said.

But when Torre projects what the 23-year old DeWitt can become if he continues to develop, he sees him like Boston third baseman Mike Lowell.

``The kid has such a tremendous make-up,'' Torre said. ``He's still in the development stage. And it's not easy to ask a young kid to come in and swing off the bench.''

Joe Torre saw a lot of Manny Ramirez from the opposite dugout as manager of the Yankees. Now that he's seen him up close, and how he goes about the business of being one of the best hitters in baseball, he's got even more respect for him.

``He's kind of a throwback,'' Torre said. ``It's very refreshing to me, and it's really fun to watch. ...There's a good reason people don't understand Manny, because they really aren't around him. You really have to see him on a day to day basis to appreciate how serious he is.

``But there's that ESPN b-roll stuff where he's rolling over, cutting off a ball he's not supposed to. ...But he's so serious about what he does, even in his preparation.''

Torre said the most impressive thing about Ramirez' approach at the plate is how globally he thinks about it. Setting pitchers up early in the game for a more critical at-bat later, figuring out which pitch he can hit squarely and how best to beat each pitcher he faces.

``Hitters now-a-days, as opposed to what he does, they're more concerned about swing,'' Torre said. ``He's concerned about he's going to get this guy. ...You know it surprises the hell out of me if he strikes out. He's got such good coverage and anticipation.''

Not a huge surprise here, but the Dodgers today sent pitcher Scott Elbert down to minor league camp.

``He just needs to pitch more,'' Joe Torre said. ``But there's a lot in there.''

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the top of the third on singles by Blake DeWitt and Rafael Furcal and a walk by Orlando Hudson, bringing up Manny Ramirez with one out. The split White Sox-Dodgers crowd here at the spitting camel ranch got on its feet, half booing loudly, half cheering wildly.

The kind of moment Manny lives for right? And after ripping crisp singles in his last four at-bats, it looked like White Sox starter Gavin Floyd was in some trouble.

Instead, Floyd got Ramirez to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, shattering his bat in the process, and running his broken-bat count to three in just three innings of work. Earlier he shattered two of Andre Ethier's bats.

Joe Torre shared the good news with us this morning. Casey Blake's wife gave birth to a baby boy around 10 p.m. Friday night, the couple's third child.

Blake is expected back in camp on Sunday.

So far, so good in terms of the attendance figures at Camelback Ranch versus Dodgertown.

The Dodgers are averaging 9,298 fans here in their inaugural season at CBR, which is exactly five fans more than the largest crowd ever to attend a game at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach. That crowd, not surprisingly, came in a 2008 affair with the Red Sox.

The highest spring season average at Holman came in 1991 when the team averaged 6,504 fans.

With Joe Torre confirming that Manny Ramirez will bat third in the Dodgers lineup, who is the best hitter to protect him?

Hey, in case you missed it. One of my favorite guest columnists over at dodgers.com, Sarah D. Morris has a smart column on the Dodgers upgraded bench.

Joe Torre confirmed today what's become pretty obvious in the last few days, that Manny Ramirez will bat third in the Dodgers' lineup and Andre Ethier will follow him.

Things brings up two pretty big questions: Can Ethier protect him? And how badly will Ethier miss hitting in front of him?

Here's what Joe Torre had to say about Ethier's ability to protect ManRam:

``A lot of it is going to depend on the guys hitting in front of him. If they get on base there's no protection involved,'' Torre said. ``If there's nobody on base, it doesn't matter whose hitting behind him. That's why the top two guys are very important for us.''

Non-roster invitee Doug Mientkiewicz is making a strong push to be on the opening day roster.

Mientkiewicz is hitting .300 with 11 RBI and two homers in his 18 spring training games. He can play both left and right field, first base and to some extent third base. He also proved himself as a left-handed pinch hitter with the Pirates last season.

``Doug's certainly got our attention,'' Joe Torre said after Mientkiewicz drove in the Dodgers' only run in a 4-1 loss to the Royals Friday afternoon at Camelback Ranch. ``He came in with absolutely no promise other than getting some at-bats.

``I told him, `If somebody else sees you and you and you get an opportunity to play someplace else that's fine.' But he just won't let up. As Yogi (Berra) would say, he's trying to make himself necessary.''

If he makes the team, three things will immediately happen: 1. Everyone covering the team will have to learn to spell his name without looking it up every time 2. Delwyn Young likely won't and 3. I won't be able to stop thinking how much he looks like that guy who played Luke on the Gilmore Girls.

I couldn't find a great picture of Doug to show the resemblance, but trust me, when you see him in person it's uncanny. Doug on the left, actor Scott Patterson ``Luke Danes'' on the right.

I caught up with Delwyn Young this morning and he seemed to be upbeat despite the circumstances.

He hyperextended his elbow on a swing last week, had an MRI on Tuesday that came back negative, and is scheduled to meet with a specialist on Saturday to see what exactly is wrong.

Young didn't seem all that worried about it though. Or, the very real possibility that he could be playing his last few days with the Dodgers. Young is out of minor-league options and it's looking like the club is leaning toward carrying only four outfielders.

``You just take things day to day. You can't think about it,'' he said.

Joe Torre acknowledged the situation after Friday's game, when asked how the final roster spots were taking shape

``A lot of it depends on Delwyn,'' Torre said. ``He's on the shelf right now, and we don't know if he's going to be ready to start the season or not. So that would open another spot.''

Manny Ramirez went 3 for 3 today, all off Royals starter Gil Meche who has some filthy stuff working for him in his seven innings of work today. The only other hit Meche allowed was an infield single to pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. All three of Ramirez' hits were sharp singles up the middle.

Afterwards, he joked with Dodgers' manager Joe Torre that he'd ``lost his power.''

``They threw me good pitches in the middle so I went that way,'' Ramirez said. ``They said, `Oh if he's going to keep hitting singles, let's pitch to him. Let's be scared of Ethier or something.' ''

Torre mentioned before and after the game that he'd settled on batting Ramirez third in the Dodgers' lineup this year, with Rafael Furcal first and Orlando Hudson second. Andre Ethier is looking like the clean-up hitter right now, but that could change depending on the pitching match-ups, Torre said.

Chad Billingsley (right groin) finished up a short bullpen session Friday morning and said it went well. He threw about 30 pitches off the mound and said he plans to throw about 90 pitches on Sunday morning in a simulated game against minor league hitters.

``I could've thrown yesterday but they just wanted to give me an extra day,'' Billingsley said. ``It went well. I just eased into it and it felt like a normal bullpen session.''

Billingsley said he's been doing cardio on the bike this week and was scheduled to do a pool session this afternoon.

Chad Billingsley (groin) did not throw his scheduled bullpen session on Thursday, but will throw in a simulated game on Sunday instead of making his scheduled start.

Torre said that was more because pitching coach Rick Honeycutt wanted to monitor the bullpen session, and Honeycutt was in Tucson for the game against the Rockies, than a new setback with his injury. Billingsley is now supposed to throw a bullpen session today.

LHP Eric Stults will start on Sunday, followed by promising youngster Josh Lindblom.

Claudio Vargas, who was roughed up for four runs in one inning on Wednesday, experienced elbow discomfort on Thursday, but Torre said it was due to a change in the way he was gripping his slider, than related to his past elbow injury.

Eric Milton's audition for the fifth starter's role didn't go nearly as well as James McDonald's. Milton was roughed up for six earned runs in 2 2/3rds innings pitched Thursday against the Rockies. Five of the seven hits he allowed were extra base hits, though it should be noted that two of the hits seemed to be affected by the wind. Either way it wasn't a great outing.

James McDonald pitched three scoreless innings against the Rockies, bouncing back after an erratic start to finish with a nice stat line: 3.0 innings, 2 H, 2 BBs, 1 HBP, 0 runs, 3 Ks

Scott Elbert is in here in the fourth inning with the Dodgers leading 5-0. The big blows came off the bats of Blake DeWitt and Xavier Paul in the top of the third. DeWitt plated two runs with a double to right field, XPaul picked up the other three with a triple to right.

James McDonald walked two, hit one and struck out the side in the first inning. In other words, none of the first six batters put the ball in play.

It's going to be a strange game for sure. The wind here at Hi Corbett Stadium in Tucson is blowing like crazy so every fly ball tends to drift towards the left field line. Curveballs, as you might imagine, don't always do what they are intended to do.

Chad Billingsley (groin) didn't throw his scheduled bullpen session today, but the new plan is to have him throw on Friday and then throw to hitters in a simulated game on Sunday.

No word yet on who'll pitch for the big club on Sunday in Billingsley's stead, but I'd guess it'll depend on how well the two fifth-starter candidates throw today. Joe Torre has been raving about young Josh Lindblom in recent days and might be just curious enough to throw him out there for a start. We'll see.

We just got word that pitcher Claudio Vargas is experiencing some elbow discomfort. Not clear yet how serious it is, but it sounded kind of minor.

No word on whether that affected his performance Wednesday when he gave up four runs in one inning of work, including two home runs. But I'd say it's fair to surmise it didn't help.

Just stopped by the Camelback Ranch to check in on Chad Billingsley. He did not throw his bullpen session Thursday, which means that the training staff didn't think it was a good idea just yet to test his right groin, which forced him to leave Monday's game after two innings.

That means his status for Sunday's game is now in question

Starting Lineup:

75 Xavier Paul (L) RF

12 Brad Ausmus C

7 James Loney (L) 1B

27 Matt Kemp CF

33 Blake DeWitt (L) 3B

17 Jason Repko LF

60 Chin-lung Hu SS

14 Juan Castro* 2B

52 James McDonald (L) RHP

As you'll notice, Manny Ramirez is not on the trip. Not a surprise here and nothing to read into it. It's about a two hour bus ride from Phoenix to Tucson, so a lot of the regulars aren't making this trip.

Matt Kemp made it back to town after going to Los Angeles to get new contact lenses on Tuesday and Joe Torre joked, ``Matt thought I was going to put him right back in (Wednesday), but I told him I was saving him for the special trip (Thursday).''

Speaking of which, I better hit the road. It's a long drive down there.

Manny Ramirez played three innings in left field in the Dodgers loss to the Brewers Wednesday, his first time in the field since feeling tightness in his left hamstring.

At the plate he was solid for the second straight day, going 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored. After the game he said, ``I don't worry about the plate, I worry about my leg.''

Ramirez said he felt fine after testing his leg by playing three games in three days, but added that he might only be 50 percent by Opening Day.

Yes, 50 percent.

Ramirez was asked how he expected to be feeling on Opening Day and said ``maybe like 50 percent, but who cares? It's a long season, that's the way I look at it.''

While that kind of quote might sound a bit alarming, don't read too much into it. I interpreted Manny as saying ``Look, it's March 25th. There's a 162 games in the season. I'll be fine, even if I'm not 100 percent on Opening Day.''

Others who speak Mannyese better than I do thought the same thing. Remember his infamous ``Who cares?'' line after the Red Sox fell behind three games to one in the ALCS against the Indians a few years ago? Well, I think he uses the ``Who cares?'' line to mean ``it's no big deal'' or ``it doesn't matter that much.''

And when he says he's 50 percent, that's a bit open to interpretation too. Before the game, Joe Torre said Manny had been ``chomping at the bit'' to get in the game and wanted to play through the hamstring tightness, but sat out as a precaution.

Basically, it doesn't seem like all that big of a deal. The main focus is on sharpening up, as safely as possible, before Opening Day.

Fifth-starter candidate Eric Stults was chased after giving up four runs, three walks and a home run. Claudio Vargas came on in relief and wasn't much better, surrendering a three-run homer to Mike Cameron.

Delwyn Young had an MRI on his elbow Tuesday that came back negative.

For many of the guys in this afternoon's game against the Brewers this is just another spring training game. But for starting pitcher Eric Stults it's an important audition for the fifth starter's role.

Stults is one of four candidates remaining in the competition to be L.A.'s fifth starter, along with Eric Milton, Claudio Vargas and James McDonald. It was assumed that the losers in that competition immediately become candidates for the bullpen, but Joe Torre suggested before the game that he's more comfortable with Vargas and/or McDonald out of the pen and was undecided about Milton and Stults in that role.

``Stults is more of a touch and feel guy who has to throw all of his pitches,'' Torre said. ``I still don't see him as much of a bullpen option.''

So what does Stults need to do to impress his manager today?

``We'd like to see the guy who we saw when we called up last year,'' Torre said. ``We'd like to see that presence on the mound that we saw in his first couple of starts last year.''

Torre said Stults would throw about 65 pitches today, then Vargas would go about two innings. He mentioned that he talked to Vargas before the game about coming out of the bullpen if he chose someone else as the fifth starter and Vargas was OK with it.

Jason Repko said he's feeling pretty good after experiencing some tightness in his hamstring last night, but that he'd know more after he went through some workouts this morning. As of about 9 a.m. he was still scheduled to make the trip for the road game against the Brewers.

It's official, or as official as the posted lineup in the Dodgers clubhouse this morning. Manny Ramirez will play left field this afternoon in the Dodgers game against the Brewers.

Joe Torre said after Tuesday's game that he thought Manny Ramirez was just tracking pitches in Monday's game where he struck out looking twice.

``I think he was just tracking yesterday, just looking at pitches,'' Torre said.

Tuesday night, Ramirez drove a home run over the left field fence in his first at bat and another on a line to the warning track in his third at bat.

Could he remember a player who'd done anything similar to that in spring training?

``I've heard that Joe DiMaggio always took a 3-2 count in spring training just so he could see more pitches,'' Torre said. ``I've heard that, I didn't see it myself.''

As for Ramirez' turnaround from Monday afternoon to Tuesday night, Torre joked that hitting coach Don Mattingly had told Ramirez to pick it up and make him look good.

Jonathan Broxton has come on here in the top of the ninth and it's not going so well. He's given up a walk, four hits and four runs. It's now 8-6 Mariners with two outs. Two of the four hits have been doubles.

UPDATE: Here's what Joe Torre had to say about Brox after the game.

``He hasn't pitched in a week so I'm really not concerned about it,'' Torre said.

Before today's game, Torre mentioned that he was happy Broxton hadn't been overworked at the WBC and that he'd try to make up for some of the innings he didn't throw while with Team USA this week.

``You're always concerned about overworking when you send somebody,'' I'm pleased he got through it without any problems, and I'm sure he'll be able to make it up this week.

``It's tough stuff, especially when you don't have the full spring training and you get to competing. Players, even though they know they're not at their best, they're still basically bred to compete. When the game starts, the national anthem's played, they put themselves into that competitive mode, they can't go halfway.''

Minor leaguer Devaris Gordon, the son of former major league reliever Tom ``Flash'' Gordon just stole second base and took third base on a throwing error. He tried to score on a wild pitch, but was tagged out.

Gordon, the Dodgers' fourth-round pick in last year's draft, is a short stop.

Didn't look too serious, but Jason Repko left tonight's game with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He pulled up rounding third base and was replaced by a pinch runner. Trainer Stan Conte said it didn't appear to be too serious.

Clayton Kershaw took a hard line drive off his hip in the first inning of Tuesday's game against the Mariners, but said he didn't think it would cause him any problems. Kershaw stayed in the game and proceeded to strike out six batters in 5 1/3 innings.

Until the sixth inning, when he allowed a triple first baseman Chris Woodward and an RBI single to Endy Chavez, he had given up just one infield single.

``The bite on my curveball was what I was looking for,'' he said. ``I wasn't locating it as well, but it had the bite I was looking for.''

Kershaw has put up back-to-back solid outings, striking out nine in 10 1/3 innings while giving up four hits and one run.

Just caught up with Manny after the game and he said that he is planning on testing his injured hamstring by playing left field in Wednesday's game against the Brewers.

``I'm going to save my cannon,'' he joked. ``I don't want to peak too early.''

As for his home run in the first inning of Tuesday's game, he joked, ``Anybody can hit a home run in March.''

Ramirez was hit by a pitch in his second at bat and drove a line drive to centerfield in his third at bat.

Manny has officially left Camelback Ranch. He just belted a 1-1 pitch from Seattle's Ryan Rowland-Smith over the left field wall. Here in the press box we're calling it about 385 feet. It cleared the 345-fence, the bullpen behind it and hit the party deck where a bunch of well-dressed people are sitting down for dinner.

Here's a picture from the press box of Manny at the plate. It's a cell phone so it's really, really not much. But it gives you a sense of this place at night.

Matt Kemp is gone today because he had to go get new contact lenses but he'll be back tommorrow.

Not definite yet, but Joe Torre said Manny Ramirez might play in the outfield during tommorrow's game with the Brewers.

Jason Schmidt pitched three innings in a minor league game (Single A) against the Brewers today. He went three innings, gave up two runs and six hits. Both runs came in the first inning, then he settled down and struck out two in the second.

45 pitches, 28 for strikes.

So three Dodgers got hurt in yesterday's game against the Halos: Chad Billingsley and Mark Loretta each hurt their right groin muscles, while Blake DeWitt bruised his quadriceps.

One day later, it seems like Loretta's injury is the most serious because trainer Stan Conte said it was higher up, in a place where the injury is ``notorious for hanging around'' so the team is going to be more conservative with him. Joe Torre said he'll be held out four or five days.

Billingsley was out playing catch today and Conte said that he didn't feel any worse this morning than last night, which is a very good thing. So he's in the old ``day-to-day'' mode.

Conte said that most pitchers with groin injuries like Billingsley's are typically able to throw bullpens without incident, but you don't know how it'll really respond until they get into a game and ``compete.''

``If we're undecided about whether he can get into a competition, it'll be a `No,' '' Conte said. ``You don't have room to make mistakes this close to Opening Day.''

DeWitt was taking ground balls today, but Torre said he might be a little limited the next couple of days.

Hey folks,

I'll be taking you through the week with our main man Tony off for a few days. With the night game tonight the information will be flowin a little later than normal, but I should have updates for you on how Chad Billingsley and Mark Loretta's groin injuries feel on the all important day after.

Check back around 4 or 4:30 for the latest.

--R

The dominance continues even in spring training. That aside, both Joe Torre and Stan Conte said after the game that groin injuries to pitchers are ALWAYS a concern, especially since this one is to Billingsley's push-off leg. The next step is a series of muscle tests that will take place tomorrow to see how he responds. Stan said it's often more about how the pitcher feels the next day than how he feels when the injury occurs. Loretta said he hurt himself making a lunging play on a forceout in the bottom of the fifth inning. Said if it were the regular season, he would have stayed in the game. ... Dodgers had nine hits today, ALL of them singles. ... Brian Mazone pitched the eighth inning and stranded a runner on third. He now has pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, spread over eight appearances, this spring. He also is a left-hander. And the Dodgers NEED a left-handed reliever. But this guy probably will begin the season at abq. ... Dodgers fall to 13-12.

Loretta has the exact, same injury as Billingsley, slight right-groin tightness. He was removed in the middle of the bottom of the fifth inning. ... Manny went 0 for 3. Was called out on strikes in the first inning and again in the fifth. In between, he GIDP'd. He says he'll lobby Torre to play tomorrow night as the DH. It's a home game, but it's against an A.L. club (Seattle), so I'm sure Don Wakamatsu, the Mariners' new skipper, won't object. Tough to imagine a rookie A.L. manager saying to Joe Torre, ``No, you're an National League team, it's in your park, so we MUST play by National League rules.''

He felt tightness in the groin at the start of the second inning and pitched through it. After the inning, he told Rick Honeycutt and Stan Conte about it. Chad said he wanted to continue, but they thought better of it. Doesn't sound serious in any way. Maybe it was from changing clothes in his car. It is a very small car. Ethier and Martin have two hits apiece. Angels lead 6-4, top 5

He joins Tommy Lasorda and Dr. Frank Jobe as the only members of the organization with that title. Here is the team's release:

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers today named longtime Dodger pitcher, front-office executive, and baseball pioneer Don Newcombe as Special Advisor to the Chairman.
The only man in baseball history to win the game's three major honors - Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and Cy Young Award - Newcombe played a key role in the country's civil rights movement, along with Dodger teammates Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.
"Don Newcombe's life experiences both on and off the field put him in a class by himself," said Frank McCourt, the Dodgers' Owner and Chairman. "His dedication to the Dodger organization for nearly half a century provides him with a unique perspective, and we are fortunate to be able to seek his counsel on any number of issues."
Newcombe also founded baseball's first community affairs department in 1970, and established baseball's first community relations department, a practice subsequently followed by the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball.
"It's an honor to be given this position and I will always do whatever it takes to make the Dodgers a better organization," said Newcombe, who joins Tommy Lasorda and Dr. Frank Jobe as the club's only three Special Advisors to the Chairman. "I have a great deal of respect for Tommy and Dr. Jobe, two of the best ever in their respective fields, and I look forward to joining them to help Mr. McCourt in any way possible."
When Newcombe signed with the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues in 1945, Dodger President Branch Rickey was scouting players there. Breaking the color barrier in baseball, Rickey signed Robinson, Campanella, and Newcombe.
In 1946, the trio joined the Dodgers' system, with Robinson starting at Triple-A Montreal. When Rickey attempted to send Newcombe and Campanella to the Dodgers' Danville affiliate in the Three-I League, the league threatened to shut down if the players arrived. The only other affiliate that would take them was in the New England League, where Nashua General Manager Buzzie Bavasi's only question was whether they could play. He and the world would soon find out.
Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and was named the National League Rookie of the Year. In 1948, Campanella came up, and in May, 1949, Newcombe arrived and won Rookie of the Year honors as well.
Newcombe won the Major League Baseball Cy Young Award in 1956 (at that time, only one award was bestowed) and was the National League's Most Valuable Player that year as well.
In the eight seasons starting 1949 through 1956, the Dodgers played in five World Series and narrowly missed pennants in 1950 and 1951. They won their first World Championship in 1955.
While the Dodgers were winners on the field, the trio faced such challenges off the field as death threats, isolation, degradation, and insults from fans, opponents, and even some teammates. Various hotels and restaurants refused to serve them.
Despite such conditions, Newcombe, during his 10-year career, was 149-90 with 1,129 strikeouts and a 3.56 ERA, with 136 complete games and 24 shutouts. Also a dangerous hitter, Newcombe hit seven home runs in one season and overall batted .271 with 15 home runs, 108 RBI, 238 hits, three doubles, 94 runs scored, and eight stolen bases.
In 1968, Newcombe had a fateful meeting with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just 28 days before Dr. King's assassination. Concluding a tour of speech-making, protest marches, and peaceful demonstrations, King had dinner at Newcombe's home in Los Angeles before returning to Atlanta.
Newcombe recalls that King said, "Don, you'll never know how easy you and Jackie and (Larry) Doby and Campy (Roy Campanella) made it for me to do my job by what you did on the baseball field."
"Imagine, here is Martin getting beaten with billyclubs, bitten by dogs, and thrown in jail, and he says we made his job easier," Newcombe said.
Newcombe joined the Dodger front office in 1970 and has devoted countless hours to community service over the last five decades. Among his contributions, he has helped numerous others in their battles against substance abuse.
"What I have done after my baseball career - being able to help people with their lives and getting their lives back on track so they become productive human beings again - that means more to me than all the things I did in baseball," Newcombe said.
Newcombe is the lone survivor of the historic trio. Robinson died in 1972, just 10 days after the Dodgers paid tribute to him on the 25th Anniversary of his debut. Campanella, who outlived the doctors who treated him after an automobile accident left him paralyzed in January 1958, passed away in 1993.

We're heading down to see him in a few minutes. More information after that. He struggled through two innings, gave up four runs on four hits, although two of those runs scored on a, two-out, two-run triple by Torii Hunter that Andre Ethier should have caught but lost in the sun. Angels leading 4-1, top 4

Michael D'Antonio, who wrote Forever Blue, a profile on late Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, will sign copies from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday at the ESPN Zone at L.A. Live.

Today's game between the Dodgers and Angels is sold out, and most of us who were coming to Tempe from Glendale got here well after 11 a.m., by which time most of the good parking spaces were long gone. As my daughter and I were walking across a distant lot on our way into the stadium, I made eye contract with a lot attendant, who was chuckling about something. He points to a very expensive sports car parked nearby and says, ``That guy's putting his uniform on in the car.'' I looked, and it was ... Chad Billingsley, today's starting pitcher for the Dodgers, who had to park his car in a public lot. I'm hoping he didn't have to pay the $5 fee that was displayed on the board as we drove in, which I was able to dodge by showing my media credential. But at the very least, Chad did have to walk across the lot, wearing his full uniform, on his way in. Yes, spring training is a bit more laid back than the regular season. ... By the way, with Venezuela having been eliminated from the WBC on Saturday, Luis Maza arrived back in camp today. It's too late for him to make a serious bid at making the club, but I'm betting he'll get at least some big-league service time this year. With the U.S. having been eliminated last night, Jonathan Broxton will be back soon, probably tomorrow.

Nothing has changed as far as his present status. He is still reassigned to minor-league camp. But the intriguing part of the story is what he is going to do over there. He will be used as a reliever, pitching on back-to-back days and at times facing no more than one or two batters. The thought process, which was worked out in that meeting he had with Ned Colletti yesterday, is that he could be that situational left-handed reliever the Dodgers so desperately need and that they haven't been able to find among the guys they presently have in big-league camp. Ned said this morning that Estes was completely on board with the idea -- and there is precedent for guys making the team out of minor-league camp. In case you're wondering, Estes has made exactly two relief appearances in his 13-year, major-league career. One was for the Cubs in September 2003 in the second game of a doubleheader, typically an all-hands-on-deck situation. The other was his first appearance for the Padres last May 8, after he had missed all of 2007 with an injury. He immediately thereafter went into the starting rotation and stayed there the rest of the year.

There were a few more cuts after the game yesterday that I forgot to mention on this blog, but none of them was a surprise, and they're listed in today's paper if you want to check it out. The important thing to note is that, after reading between the lines of Joe Torre's postgame comments yesterday -- and Joe is really good at giving writers lines to read through -- it is becoming fairly apparently who is and who isn't going to be on this club when the season begins, at least from a position-player standpoint. My best educated guess at this point is that Juan Castro and Doug Mientkiewicz make the club as extra infielders, giving the Dodgers seven infielders in all. That means only four outfielders, which probably means Delwyn Young will be waived if he isn't traded -- and while that SOUNDS negative, it's probably a good thing for DY, as he might end up with a club that will give him regular playing time. It also probably means Chin-lung Hu and Jason Repko are all headed for abq. But as always, I reserve the right to be wrong.

Randy Wolf had his best performance of the spring -- and, by his own estimation, the longest spring-training start of his career. He threw six shutout innings, allowing only one hit, and he faced one batter over the minimum, erasing the hit he allowed by picking Joaquin Arias off first base and one of his two walks by getting Arias to GIDP to end the sixth inning. You may recall that Wolf gave up seven runs on 10 hits in four innings his last time out, including a three-run bomb to Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Since then, Randy made an ever-so-slight mechanical adjustment on his breaking pitches, getting his elbow just a little higher. ``Pretty nice adjustment,'' pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said after the game. Wolf also went 2 for 2 at the plate, with a two-run double. ... Rafael Furcal had two hits, including a double up the leftfield line on a perfectly placed push bunt that somehow got enough loft on it to get past the third baseman and scoot up the line. ... Jason Repko hit a three-run homer in his lone plate appearance, his first extra-base hit of the spring. ... Andre Ethier went 0 forr 5 with two strikeouts. He is now hitting .188, with two extra-base hits in 48 ABs and three RBI. Torre had a talk with him yesterday about not putting too much pressure on himself, especially in spring training, and said Ethier was receptive to the advice. ... Dodgers go to 13-11. At the Angels tomorrow.

My buddy T.R. Sullivan, who covers the Rangers for mlb.com, just told me this in the press box. Andruw didn't make the trip with the Rangers today, by the way. Probably didn't want to hear the way Dodgers fans would react to him. Here is the link to T.R.'s story:

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090322&content_id=4046838&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

They just stopped by the media work room and informed me that they discussed the matter. They both had smiles on their faces. So disregard my previous post. We move forward.

Just learned that he has to make a decision on whether to go to the minors or be released BEFORE he is allowed to talk to other clubs, so there is some risk involved. He clearly isn't happy with the Dodgers, although it's a little bit of a reach to say his comments to the media were any sort of a rip job. They were more just an expression of dissatisfaction, especially with the fact he was released on the day after he felt he pitched well for the first time this spring and on the day he came in feeling a bit more confident in his chances as a result. He said he was told of the news in a meeting with Joe Torre, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and assistant general managers Kim Ng and De Jon Watson. Estes also expressed disappointment with the fact that general manager Ned Colletti wasn't present at the meeting.
``I would certainly like to talk to Ned, to be honest,'' he said. Then, when asked if he found it strange that Colletti wasn't there, Estes said, ``Yeah.''
Well, as it turns out, it's pretty standard procedure with the Dodgers for Colletti NOT to attend these meetings. He routinely leaves it to Torre and the appropriate coach, and Ng is generally the person who negotiates minor-league deals with veteran free agents.
``I haven't been in that room in three years,'' Colletti said. ``Now all of a sudden I'm going to be in there because Shawn Estes is in there?''
Another concern Estes had was hypothetical: if he agrees to go to Triple-A, is he even guaranteed a spot in the ABQ rotation after the Dodgers make the rest of their cuts, cuts that potentially could clog the ABQ rotation with other guys and squeeze Estes out, something that probably would lead to his being released anyway?
``We don't know that yet,'' Colletti said.

He can go to minor-league camp and start for Triple-A Albuquerque this season -- although that might not be a guarantee given all the other pitchers the Dodgers have in camp and all the other pitchers who figure to be in Triple-A this year -- or he can ask for a release and become a free agent. He says he won't make up his mind today, but he also seemed to indicate that he isn't ready to retire, even if that might ultimately be the result of all this. The result of all this for the Dodgers, at least for now, is that the battle for the fifth spot in the starting rotation has been reduced to four guys: James McDonald, Claudio Vargas, Eric Milton and Eric Stults, in current order of their likelihood of actually landing the job -- although that order seems to change every time one of them pitches. ... The Dodgers also reassigned Charlie Haeger to minor-league camp. He is a non-roster pitcher who has been doing mop-up duty in the Cactus League but will start this season for Albuquerque.

... just know that they are a big hit in the clubhouse. A few days ago, a fan on the back fields handed Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal full-color, painted portraits of themselves that look really nice. Manny has his proudly displayed on a shelf above his locker, and Furcal took his home so his kids could enjoy it. We asked them yesterday if they knew who painted them, and they didn't. Manny just said, ``A guy gave it to me the other day.'' Not sure if the guy is a reader of this blog, but if you're out there, come clean and take your bow for a job well-done.

The players' union filed a grievance yesterday in response to McCourt's announcement earlier this month about the ``Ramirez provision'' in which every player the Dodgers sign from here on out will be asked to fill in an amount of that player's choosing to be donated to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. This is Frank's response to that grievance, which was emailed out a few minutes ago:

"I have not seen the grievance, but I find it odd that in these challenging times, that we encounter a complaint against the idea of players giving back to the communities that support them.
"We believe there are qualities that represent the Dodger Way. The player's contributions to the team, appreciation of the fans, and impact on such a supportive community all combine to help our organization live up to our core values. We seek players who embrace these values.
"The Ramirez Provision is a blank line to be filled in with whatever number a player chooses."

The big story today was James McDonald. Joe Torre told us this morning that he was going to get a more serious look for the fifth starter's spot, so serious that in order to stretch him out a little, they relegated Hiroki Kuroda to a Double-A game with Milwaukee to get his innings in today. McDonald responded with three hitless innings, facing the minimum nine batters, and with the qualifier that this could change in a heartbeat, I would have to surmise that he is now the FRONTRUNNER for the fifth spot. Torre wanted to get Shawn Estes some innings, too, so McDonald had to go to the bullpen to throw the rest of his pitches because he got through his three innings on so few. ... Estes pitched well for two innings, then ran out of gas in the sixth. He's become a longer and longer shot all the time. ... Doug Mientkiewicz, who just returned last night from his quad injury, had a big day, going 3 for 4 with a double and a triple -- although if the official scorer had been paying attention, he would have noticed that Mientkiewicz had stopped at second before going to third when the ball got loose, but it's spring training so no one really cares. ... Juan Castro went 2 for 2 with a double and is now hitting .459. ... X Paul was 1 for 1 with a triple and is now hitting .409. ... Russell Martin caught seven innings and hit his third home run of the spring, a two-run, game-tying shot off Jeremy Sowers in the seventh inning. Martin has nine RBI despite missing so much time for the WBC. ... Brian Mazone got two outs without giving up a run and is now scoreless through six appearances and 5 1/3 innings. ... Dodgers improve to 12-11.

This place is really nice, although it's a little more antiseptic and has more of a suburban feel. CBR was built to blend into the desert scenery, This place would blend in perfectly if there was a mega-mall across the street, which there very well may be one day. It sits in the middle of a vast prairie where you could build a DOZEN mega-malls. All that aside, though, I really like it ... and there are already Cincinnati Reds logos everywhere, even though the Reds won't be here until next year. The third-base dugout has Reds logos painted all over the top of it, just as the first-base side has Indians logos. Also, off to the right, there is a parking facility for commercial jetliners that aren't presently in use. There are about 25 of them parked over there, almost every airline represented. ... James McDonald has pitched three hitless innings, facing the minimum. He might just sneak up and take this fifth starter gig.

He'll handle the former duties of Jerry Reuss, doing road games outside the N.L. West. He has formerly done baseball for NBC at last summer's Olympics and for ESPN at the College World Series. Here is the release from the Dodgers:

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced that Eric Collins will join Steve Lyons in the television booth on KCAL and PRIME TICKET during 38 games in 2009. Collins, whose play by play experience includes Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Olympics, College Baseball, and Women's Softball, will call the action in games east of Colorado.
Collins, 39, was the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC in its baseball coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. For the past five years, he has called ESPN's College Baseball Super Regionals, and also performed radio and television play by play for the Chicago White Sox on occasions in 2004 and 2008.
One of the nation's preeminent voices for women's softball, the Cleveland native has called the sport's World Cup for ESPN in each of the past three seasons and served as a play-by-play announcer at the Women's College World Series in 2007 and 2008.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the broadcasting team of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a legendary franchise with a legacy of pioneering and innovation," said Collins. "I cherish this opportunity. I'm humbled to join an organization with such class, professionalism, and tradition."
In addition to baseball and softball, Collins has been play by play announcer for ESPN/ABC the past five years in its college football coverage and in college basketball's Championship Week.
The search for the broadcaster, led by Dodger Vice President of Communications Josh Rawitch and Vice President of Broadcasting Lauryn Lukin, included substantial participation from rightsholders PRIME TICKET and KCAL 9, and other members of the Dodgers' organization.
"As one can imagine, it was an extremely competitive group of candidates," said Rawitch. "Eric has a fresh approach. He brings enthusiasm, knowledge, and a noticeable charisma on and off the air."
"Eric's network television experience and curiosity about all facets of the game, combined with his years of calling baseball at every level, make him a great addition to our talented team of broadcasters," said Lukin. "We truly feel that we have a shared vision with our partners at KCAL and PRIME TICKET, who played an integral role throughout this process."
Prior to joining ESPN/ABC, Collins spent four seasons calling minor league baseball for the Schaumburg Flyers and the Rochester Red Wings. He has served as a pregame and postgame host for the White Sox and Cubs and as a sideline reporter for the Chicago Bulls from 1997-2002.
Collins earned a bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY prior to earning a Master's from Syracuse University.
He and his wife, Keri, make their home in Chicago with their three-year-old daughter Beatrice and three-week old daughter, Harriet.

He confirmed this morning that he ran at "medium" speed yesterday, that he feels fine today and that he will DH on Monday against the Angels. There is no plan yet for after that, but Manny also says he plans to win a Gold Glove this year. ... BTW, Kuroda is pitching on the minor-league side today, with James McDonald going against Cleveland in tbe Cactus League tilt.

Claudio Vargas pitched decently, Eric Milton pitched poorly, and the fifth spot remains as wide open to anyone who is willing to step up and grab it as it has been since this whole marathon started more than five weeks ago. One guy who WON'T be the fifth starter is Josh Lindblom, but he continued to impress in his second Cactus League appearance, once again setting down six of the seven batters he faced. He struck out three of them -- Luis Hernandez, Miguel Olivo and Willie Bloomquist -- in succession. ... On the offensive side, Blake DeWitt had a big night, going 3 for 5. Delwyn Young had two hits, raising his average to .289, and if the Dodgers end up placing him on waivers, there is a very good chance he won't get through and that he will wind up in the uniform of a different organization. But if this club carries only four OFs, and it is beginning to look as if they will, DY is as good as gone because he is out of options. Xavier Paul went 0 for 3, but is still hitting .395. Juan Castro went 0 for 2 but it still hitting .429. ... Dodgers fall to 11-11. At the Indians tomorrow, in Arizona's OTHER new spring-training complex over in Goodyear.

Manny Ramirez is running at ``about 75-80 percent'' according to a member of the team's medical staff, and Joe Torre said Stan Conte told him that Manny should be ready to DH by the time the Dodgers play the Angels in Tempe on Monday. Not sure when he'll play LF, but Torre indicated he'll hold his breath and cross his fingers when Manny does play defensively. ... Doug Mientkiewicz is fully recovered from his quadriceps injury and made the trip tonight, He is expected to enter the game later. ... This is kind of a big game as it pertains to the battle for the fifth starter's spot. Claudio Vargas is starting and expected to pitch three innings, with Eric Milton expected to follow and pitch another three innings. Both of those guys are near the top of a competition that no one seems to want to win. Right now, Milton appears to be the favorite.

Muhammad Ali, who lives nearby, showed up for tonight's Dodgers-Royals tilt and was honored in a pregame, on-field ceremony near the Royals dugout. He didn't go over to the Dodgers' side, but Joe Torre and a handful of players -- James Loney, Matt Kemp, Delwyn Young, Xavier Paul and Stephen Randolph -- walked across the field to meet him and pose for a group photo with him. Torre then posed for a SECOND group photo with Ali, Wayne Gretzky and George Brett. A little bit of strength there.

Do you remember how you spent your 21st birthday (assuming you have had it)? Clayton Kershaw spent his not only pitching five shutout innings in which he faced the minimum 15 batters in a Cactus League game, but also hitting a home run off Colorado's Franklin Morales, and that was lefty vs. lefty. Kershaw got through those five innings on just 61 pitches, then went to the bullpen and threw 14 more. Why not just throw 75 pitches in the GAME, you ask?
``That was good,'' Joe Torre said. ``I didn't want him to get too excited at that point. It was a good day's work, five innings.''
Kershaw pitched three perfect innings on 33 pitches, then gave up one hit, a leadoff double by Carlos Gonzalez that was erased when Gonzalez lost track of the outs and got doubled off second on a line drive. There also was a leadoff walk to Matt Murton in the fifth that was erased when Jeff Baker GIDP'd.
After that, Kershaw said he was going to celebrate the big two-one by having dinner with his girlfriend and her parents.
``I have never actually had a drink in my life,'' he said. ``I might have to try it tonight.''

By the way, outfielder Jamie Hoffman was optioned to minor-league camp today. Also, Eric Stults struggled and only lasted 1 2/3 innings behind Kershaw, but Torre said he is still in the running for the fifth spot. Stephen Randolph, a long-shot candidate for the situational lefty slot, came on to face Dan Ortmeier with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh and struck him out. ... Jeff Weaver, who is beginning to look like a lock for a bullpen spot, had a good eighth inning, allowing just one hit. ... Ramon Troncoso, whose spot in the bullpen is far from a certainty, got two quick outs in the ninth before walking two of the next three batters and getting Carlos Gonzalez fly to left on a 2-0 count with the bases loaded to end the game. ... Dodgers go to 11-10 for the spring. At the Royals tomorrow NIGHT. First one of the spring. It's a 6:05 start.

Can't say it's much of a surprise, as it had been heading this way for a long, long time. Yes, he had arm problems and couldn't stay healthy. But club officials were more exasperated by his inability (or unwillingness) to keep himself in good physical condition. He has been dramatically heavier the past couple of years than he was in 2005, when he was the Dodgers' fill-in closer for a time and actually handled the role pretty well. You may recall he had been non-tendered last winter and re-signed to a minor-league deal, a clear indication that no other team really wanted him, either. This could be the end of his baseball career. Or not. We'll see. ... By the way, we have clarification on Lindblom. He's going to get a long look, but it's more to gauge his readiness for an in-season callup. He really doesn't have much of a chance to be on the opening-day roster, especially given that he has exactly one career appearance at anything above Single-A and most players his age are still trying to earn their way TO A-ball. He does, however, have a decent chance of being in the majors sometime this year if he can take advantage of this opportunity, something he started when he retired six of the seven batters he faced on Monday against Oakland.

De Jon Watson informed him this morning. Haven't had a chance to ask Torre yet, but this probably means Lindblom, last year's second-round pick out of Purdue, is at least COMPETING for a spot on the opening-day roster, even if he is a long shot to get one. You may recall that both Clayton Kershaw (who turns 21 today, by the way) and Blake DeWitt were promoted from the minor-league side in the middle of camp last spring, and both of them wound up in the big leagues during the season, with DeWitt actually making the team out of camp in starting at 3B on opening day. Lindblom was a dominating closer his junior season at Purdue, but the Dodgers immediately sent him straight to low Single-A and immediately set about converting him to starting, which he had done in high school, as a freshman at Tennessee and for most of his sophomore season at Purdue. Not sure yet which role he'll be pitching in the rest of this spring, but the Dodgers need help with both.

Joe Torre told us this morning, just as he headed out the door to play golf on the team's final off-day of the spring. It wasn't an off-day for Chad Billingsley, as he pitched five innings in a minor-league intrasquad game. He gave up three runs on five hits, including a two-run homer to Dodgers infield prospect Austin Gallagher, but he threw a spring-high 76 pitches and said afterward he felt great and had a chance to work on a lot of things. He threw a TON of changeups.
As for the rotation, it sounds like Kuroda's playoff performance, and the fact he really is a veteran even though he technically was a rookie last year, played a big factor here. He'll start the April 6 opener at San Diego. And Billingsley, who was the regular-season ace and led the team with 16 wins, will start the third game in San Diego on April 8 -- and more importantly, he now gets to start the home opener against the Giants on April 13.
Randy Wolf will pitch Game 2 on April 7, Clayton Kershaw Game 4 on April 9, also at San Diego. The fifth starter is yet to be determined.
What this does is allow the club to stagger the rotation right-left-right-left through the first four spots, although there is a good chance the fifth starter also will be a lefty (Eric Milton?).

The Dodgers' starting rotation -- and by that, I mean the four guys who we KNOW are going to be in it-- has been roughed up for 14 runs on 25 hits over 13 1/3 innings this time through. For that mathematically challenged, that's an 8.78 ERA (only 13 runs were earned). It all sort of came to a head today when Randy Wolf gave up seven runs on 10 hits over four innings. Of those seven runs, four of them were knocked in by opposing pitcher Carlos Zambrano with a three-run homer and an RBI double. In fairness to Randy, Zambrano is one of the best-hitting pitchers in the game. But fear not, Dodgers fans. This is basically an annual occurrence during the dog days of spring training -- and these most definitely are those -- when pitchers who have been throwing off mounds, throwing batting practice and throwing in meaningless exhibition games go through an inevitable dead-arm period that usually subsides well in advance of opening day. That's exactly what this is, right?
``I hope so,'' Joe Torre said.
Well, that sounds convincing.
James McDonald got roughed up today, too, giving up four runs in 1 2/3 innings. Torre said that probably was due to nerves now that McDonald really believes he has a shot to make the team. There weren't really any positives on the offensive side for the Dodgers, either. They had five hits.
One guy who hasn't been mentioned a lot this spring is Brian Mazone, a non-roster lefty who could sneak in and take that situational spot that no one else seems to want. He pitched a perfect ninth and has yet to give up a run in seven appearances this spring.
Dodgers fall to 10-10.

The Dodgers just announced that Jamie McCourt has gone from being the team president to being the chief executive offiers, while chief operating officer Dennis Mannion is now the team president in addition to his COO title. What this means isn't exactly clear. But here is the official release from the club:

LOS ANGELES, CA - Dodgers owner Frank McCourt today announced that Dodgers President Jamie McCourt has been named Chief Executive Officer and Dennis Mannion has been named President/COO of the club.
"Jamie has done an outstanding job of assembling a talented management team, fostering a positive culture, and building a first-class business operation," said McCourt. "We all now look forward to Jamie and Dennis taking the organization to new heights."
As CEO, Jamie will oversee the strategic direction and decisions of the organization, focusing on the development of relationships throughout the Dodgers community and Major League Baseball, and with corporate partners and public officials. Jamie will also lead business development initiatives in order to grow the global Dodgers brand across all platforms. She will remain responsible for driving the organizational culture within the Dodgers family.
"I am honored to assume this new leadership role," Jamie said. "It allows me to promote a strategic mindset and build long-term relationships that strengthen our brand. The most important of those relationships is with our fans. So I will invest even more heavily in how we connect with them in every imaginable way.
"We are very optimistic about the future of this franchise - on the field, in the stands, and in our neighborhoods. Baseball is tied to family values; it is classic Americana, and it is the National Pastime for a reason. We are focused on strengthening our ties to families...and families need baseball now more than ever."
Jamie was named President of the club August 12, 2005. She has since recruited a strong leadership team, including Mannion, to help her reshape the culture of the organization and solidly position the enterprise as it begins its next 50 years in Los Angeles.
"Dennis has done an excellent job of implementing our strategy with his disciplined approach and innovative ideas," Jamie said. "Having worked with him during this past year and a half, Dennis has demonstrated that he is ready to take the reigns of the day-to-day operations as President/COO of this ballclub."
Mannion joined the Dodgers in November, 2007, after 27 years with the Philadelphia Phillies, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Baltimore Ravens.
"I want to thank the McCourts," said Mannion. "I could not be more proud. All of us inside and outside the organization sense the potential this organization has to elevate its prominence and increase its relevance in sports and world culture."

He is filming a promotional ad for DirecTV's new Cricket Ticket Package. The satellite provider will be the only place you can actually watch cricket on TV in the U.S. ... (I'll pause here while you finish laughing) ... So ManRam is going to ``step onto the pitch to take his hacks'' against Shaun Marsh, whom the press release I received refers to as ``the most renowned cricket hitter of this generation.'' I got a cricket hitter at my house, it's hanging from a nail in the kitchen and I use it every time I see an insect ... oh, wait, that's called a fly swatter, not a cricket hitter. Manny does have the hamstring thing going on, but apparently all he is going to do for this thing is stand at the cricket equivalent of home plate. This release also claims that there are over 5 million cricket fans in the U.S. Do you know any of them?

He wasn't visibly agitated, but reading between the lines of what he said this morning, it is beginning to dawn on Joe that this situation is pretty dire after the front four in the rotation. No one seems to want to jump up and take that fifth spot.
``Not yet,'' Joe said. ``We still have a lot of bodies here, and we're trying to figure out roles. Obviously, we didn't help ourselves in that third inning over in Phoenix yesterday. Probably this next go-round, if not already, a lot of these guys are sensing that decisions have to be made. It's the human element.''
Yesterday, one day after saying the club might have to look at Jeff Weaver and James McDonald for the role if no one stepped up, he said Weaver isn't a candidate for a starting role -- he said it after Jeff faced four batters in that aforementioned third inning, all of four of them reached and scored.
Then, this morning, Joe talked about McDonald, although it was tough to discern from what he said whether James has a good chance or not much chance at all.
``I'm not saying he will be our number-five starter, but first off, the kid has to make the club,'' Torre said. ``Am I questioning his ability? No. But the thing I have to answer is, will he get enough work here to have it make sense? We think really highly of him, and he did show us in the postseason he can handle the heat.''

Manny says he isn't getting frustrated, that he has to be patient and take it day by day, basically the same thing he said two days ago. He is going to try running in the pool today, but that is the only running he is allowed to do until the hammy heals completely. ``No stolen bases,'' he said. ... Tony Abreu, Victor Garate, Brent Leach, Jesus Castillo, Lucas May and Travis Schlichting were all sent to minor-league camp this morning. All six of them were on the 40-man roster, but all of them except for Abreu and May were new additions to the roster this winter and thus are using only their first options. Ivan DeJesus also was reassigned. Because he is NOT on the 40-man roster, he doesn't have to be placed on the disabled list after breaking his leg in a ``B'' game a couple of weeks ago. He is expected to miss about four months.

They rallied here, scoring four in the ninth off some guy named Carignan who started the inning with a six-run lead and promptly walked the leadoff guy. Ronald Belisario hit a two-run double later in the frame, but the Dodgers still lost to the A's 10-8. The big story other than what I already told you in previous posts was that Josh Lindblom, their second-round pick in last year's draft, made the trip out of minor-league camp and pitched two strong innings, allowing only a harmless, two-out double and retiring the other six batter he faced, ending it with a strikeout of Daric Barton with a man in scoring position. A dominating closer his junior year at Purdue, Lindblom is in the process of converting back to starting. The process began last summer at low Single-A Great Lakes, a level to which new draft picks are almost NEVER assigned, but Logan White and De Jon Watson felt this kid was good enough to bypass Rookie ball and needed a challenge right out of the gate. Joe Torre said we'll see him again. ... The boys lost 4-3 in 10 innings in the other game against Seattle, which your humble scribe didn't see. Don Mattingly is now 0-1 managing split-squad teams. Blake DeWitt went 3 for 5. Orlando Hudson, Mitch Jones and Xavier Paul each had two hits, including a triple by Hudson and a HR by Jones. Paul is now batting .425 for the spring. Hiroki Kuroda finally allowed a run -- two of them, in fact, although only one was earned. He did get roughed up for seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. His ERA for the spring skyrocketed to 0.75. ... Dodgers drop to 10-9 overall..

That's what he said after today's two-inning stint in which he allowed no runs and one hit. There were also a couple of walks and two strikeouts, both on changeups. Also said he was more comfortable on the mound than he was in his previous start a week ago.
``I'm just trying to get out there and get on the mound,'' Schmidt said. ``I'm not thinking about opening day or five days from then. I'm just thinking about eventually getting back into a game in L.A. and pitching in the big leagues. I don't have a set timetable. I'll just let it dictate itself.''
This game has deteriorated into a horrid walk-fest. A's scored nine runs in the third, sending 15 batters to the plate against three Dodgers pitchers who combined to walk three batters and hit two. All three of them -- Jeff Weaver, Stephen Randolph and Shawn Estes -- are candidates to fill two roles that are becoming desperate for the Dodgers, fifth starter and lefty relievers. A's lead 10-4, bottom 7

Torre says he won't play again until the tightness is completely gone from his left hamstring. He hit in the cage and played catch this morning. Torre also said there is plent of time left for Manny to get his requisite ABs in spring training.
``My feeling is if he gets a week or so of at-bats, that should be enough,'' Torre said. ``Hopefully, it will be more than that. But I think he will be able to hit.''

Joe Torre made that pronouncement BEFORE today's game, which means before Jason took the mound. The rationale is that Schmidt's pitch count isn't progressing and that he needed the extra day off between starts. He isn't expected to throw more than 35-40 pitches today, roughly the same number he threw last Monday against Texas.
``I would say at this juncture ... there is no way we can count on him for that right now, just because of the fact we are in that period of less than three weeks until opening day.''
It was a week ago today, after Schmidt made his first start of the spring, that Torre said the fifth starter's job was his to lose if he stayed healthy and pitched effectively. But the fact he couldn't bounce back quickly enough and that he still seems tentative with his shoulder means that he can't be considered healthy enough.
``This is all about some time down the road getting him back,'' Torre said. ``At this point, we have no idea when that is. After what he has been through with the surgeries, I think you have to look at it as a continuing rehab.''
By the way, Schmidt looked strong in the first inning, retiring three of four batters with a walk, but he still looks tentative in his delivery. Dodgers were batting for a long time in the top of the second, so it'll be interesting to see how he responds. He's now warming up for bottom 2, Dodgers leading the A's 4-0.

blogging from the iPhone because the web access is really spotty in the work room this morning so please forgive any typos. Anyway, Stan Conte told me this morning that Manny's hammy isn't serious but tgat every precaution will be taken to make sure it doesn't become so. He'll hit in the cage and throw today but no running. Not sure yet about tomorrow. Split squad today. Most of us will be going to the Oakland game because Jason Schmidt is pitching. Other game is against Seattle, both on the road.

Manny's hammy problem is in the lower part of the muscle, just above the knee, which is a lot better than in the center of the hamstring, according to what Stan Conte told Joe Torre. For now, there will be no further testing. But if it isn't better in a couple of days, there will be further testing of some kind. Manny won't play at all in tomorrow's split-squad setup, but he will be free to go through the morning workout as usual. ... As for the game, Eric Milton and Claudio Vargas both got lit up, and that coupled with Torre's morning speculation that Jason Schmidt might need a rehab start or two at the beginning of the season all adds up to the fact that the Dodgers are at a loss when it comes to a fifth starter. Joe said he isn't concerned, that there is still plenty of time and that Jeff Weaver and James McDonald could become more serious candidates for the role if the top-tier guys continue to struggle. ... Valentino Pascucci homered for the second day in a row after his parents arrived on Saturday morning, and he is hitting .583 (7 for 12) in a spring training abbreviated by his WBC stint. But he hasn't played in the majors since 2004 with Montreal. Joe Torre summed it up perfectly when describing Pascucci's power: ``Wallach has a smile on his face every time he sees him hit one.'' Wallach is Tim Wallach, the Dodgers' Triple-A manager, so there you have it. ... Xavier Paul had two more hits and is batting .417. Hector Luna went 2 for 2 with a double, but that only raised his average to .200. Juan Castro singled in his only at-bat and is now hitting .464. ... Dodgers fall to 10-7. Split squad tomorrow, at the Mariners and at the A's. Your humble scribe will be at the latter because Schmidt is pitching.

Says he did it chasing down the last ball hit to him, a double into the leftfield corner by Troy Tulowitzki. Manny was due up second in the bottom of the inning, but Delwyn Young pinch hit for him, the first sign something was wrong. At first glance, this doesn't appear to be anything major. On the other hand, it's the second time in the three games he has been scheduled to play that he was either scratched from the lineup or left early because of this left-hamstring problem, which he admits is becoming a concern.
``Yeah, but you have to be patient,'' he said. ``What can I do? I come in early and do all my work to prepare for the season. I'll just take it day by day.''
Manny is scheduled to play LF in tomorrow's split-squad game against Seattle, but that obviously is in jeopardy now.

Got a chance before the game to say hello to Joe Glenn, whom I hadn't seen in about 10 years. If you don't know him, he is a longtime college football coach who was let go last fall by the University of Wyoming. More specifically, he is my all-time favorite football coach, a guy I had the pleasure of covering when he was at the University of Northern Colorado, where he won back-to-back Division II national championships in 1996-97, and I was at the Rocky Mountain News. I'm not a big fan of the culture of football, particularly the dour, humorless and often maniacally controlling personas that so many of the game's coaches seem to have these days. But not Joe. He was the anti-football coach, a guy who if a writer showed up for practice would usually stroll over to the sideline and shoot the breeze with the guy for a few minutes. He once let me sit in on a quarterbacks meeting when I was up at UNC doing a feature on Corte McGuffey, who won that year's Division II version of the Heisman (I forget what they call it). I have literally never seen the man without a smile on his face, and when I saw him today for the first time since 1999, he was still smiling as always despite the fact he is now between jobs. He is living in Scottsdale now and is attending this game with a close mutual friend of his and mine, Hall of Fame baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby. Powder River, let 'er buck.

Joe Torre said this morning that there is still a chance club officials will want Schmidt to begin the season with a couple of rehab starts before he is thrown directly into the fire. That would require him starting the season on the disabled list, something you can't legally do unless the player is injured. But because Schmidt has been battling his way back from an injury for such a long time and hasn't pitched in a regular-season major-league game at any point since undergoing his first shoulder operation in June 2007, it would be easy enough to make the case that this is still part of the recovery process. The problem as I understand it is that Jason is still learning to trust his body after all the adversity he has been through over the past couple of years. Joe said the first two or three outings -- the second one is tomorrow against Oakland -- are there for Jason to hopefully get that secure feeling back, and only then will he start to build up his innings in preparation for starting during the season. With only three weeks left in camp, that might not allow enough time for Jason to be game-ready by the fifth game of the season on April 10 at Arizona, which is when he would make his first start if he becomes the fifth starter. ... Eric Milton, another fifth-starter candidate, gave up six consecutive hits in the first inning, including a bomb to left by Ryan Spilborghs and then a bunch of singles. If Xavier Paul hadn't gunned down Dan Ortmeier trying to go first-to-third, the inning might have gone on much longer. As it is, the Rockies have a 4-0 lead after 1.

It took place last night. He said they didn't quite sell ALL the tables (it was a celebrity poker event), but they sold quite a few and a good time was had by all, including the host himself.
``I had fun,'' Kemp said. ``It was great to get my family all together and all my friends and to get people to help me with something that is important in my life and support my cause nd this foundation (Talk About Curing Autism).''
Kemp said he hopes to have the event every year and possibly twice a year.
``All the money goes back to the foundation, for research into trying to find a cure for autism and for helping the families who have autistic kids,'' Kemp said. ``A lot of people came out. It was a pretty successful event.''
Kemp has a younger brother, Carlton, who is 14 and suffers from autism. Kemp is one of several Dodgers players who have taken up the autism cause. Second baseman Orlando Hudson actually has his own foundation, called Curing Autism Through Change and Hope (CATCH).

So he walks into the clubhouse this morning, walks up to the lineup card posted on a support beam in the middle of the room and sees his name in the three hole, playing left field for the first time this spring.
``Left field?'' he said, with feigned incredulity. ``Are we TRYING?'' Then, as he walked away, he shrugged his shoulders and said, ``We'll get 'em tomorrow.''

The Dodgers lost two non-roster players in the seventh inning when lefty Erick Threets felt something in his shoulder and had to be removed from the game and infielder Doug Mientkiewicz, who is fighting for one of the last 25-man roster spots, hurt his quadriceps coming out of the batter's box after hitting a ground ball to second base. Joe Torre said Threets was shaking when they went out to check on him, but initial tests didn't show anything serious. Mientkiewicz is expected to miss at least a week just as spring training hits a critical juncture as far as evaluating those players hoping to make the team. ... Russell Martin had a big game, going 2 for 4 with a single and a home run and two RBI. Clayton Kershaw had one of his best outings yet, going 3 2/3 and allowing two runs on four hits, although a questionable scoring decision would have resulted in one of those runs being unearned if Blake DeWitt had been charged with an error on a ball he botched in the third inning that was ruled a hit because it took a tough hop. ... Juan Pierre had two hits, including a double, and stole two bases. He also drew a walk. ... Mark Loretta had a big day, doing 2 for 3 with a single, double and walk. Delwyn Young had a home run. And Juan Castro finally cooled off, going 0 for 5 to drop his average to .444. ... Dodgers improve to 10-6 counting the win over South Korea, and for purposes of this blog, I'm GOING to count it for the rest of the spring. Feel free to disagree. If you do, just subtract one from the win column.

Other than Eric Stults having his best outing of the spring in this morning's B game against the White Sox -- three shutout innings, two hits -- today has been a whole lot of nothing thus far. We do have pitching plans for the next few days. Claudio Vargas will start today's game with the Rockies at CBR. Jason Schmidt, who requested an extra day because his body was tired, will now pitch at Oakland on Sunday, while Hiroki Kuroda will start the other half of that split-squad doubleheader at Seattle. ... Oh, by the way, Justin Orenduff, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to the minor leagues. ... Dodgers are playing the Brewers in Maryvale in the real game, in a battle to determine which team's general manager has the best cop 'stache. Maryvale Baseball Park is in a blighted section of Phoenix, but it's an otherwise-beautiful yard, one of my favorites in the Cactus League. Phoenix is an unusual city in that it has a mostly flat landscape, but there are several small mountains rising from the desert floor right in the middle of town. This ballpark offers a gorgeous view of some of those mountains. It's also one of the shortest trips from CBR, just a few miles east on Camelback Road and then a few blocks south on 51st Avenue.

Manny walked each of his first two times up against Doug Mathis, who later seemed to be saying he was pitching around him by saying he ``wasn't going to give in to him.'' Ron Washington, the Rangers manager, said after the game that they WEREN'T pitching around Manny. ``I think (Mathis) just got a little pumped up,'' Washington said. At any rate, Manny came up a third time against Ramirez, Rangers reliever Elizardo, and hit a ground single up the middle, after which he was removed for a pinch runner. The DH situation with the Brewers is now moot, as Torre told us after the game that Manny will now TAKE TODAY OFF rather than playing against the Brewers or in the B game with the White Sox. Manny will now play LF for the first time on Sunday against the Rockies. ... After the first walk, Manny ended up scoring, but only after advancing one base at a time. Larry Bowa held him at third on a single by James Loney because with Manny's left hammy having tightened on him yesterday, nobody wanted to take any unnecessary chances. He subsequently scored when the Rangers botched a DP grounder by Casey Blake. ... As for the game, it ended when Delwyn Young, pinch hitting with runners on the corners and one out in the ninth, shot a ball up the gap in left-center off reliever Thomas Diamond, scoring Jason Repko. ... Cory Wade made his Cactus League debut in grand style, retiring all three batters he faced in a breeze of an eighth inning. Said afterward he was happy with the way the ball was coming out of his hand and that he feels good. ... Dodgers improve to 8-6, but it really bothers me that they aren't 9-6. If these games don't really count anyway, then why are some games (against major-league opponents) counted in your record and others (yesterday's win over South Korea) not? They're all a bunch of meaningless exhibitions anyway. So why not just count them all? But I digress.

I'll be sitting in for Suchon, not sure where he is or why he isn't on, but it'll be Ken Levine and me. First question I asked was whether it pays, and I didn't get an answer. Guess I should have asked HOW MUCH it pays. But it'll be fun anyway. KABC, 790-AM at 6 p.m. Los Angeles time.

Brewers manager Ken Macha told reporters this morning that his club won't accommodate the Dodgers' request to use a DH in tomorrow's game against the Dodgers.
``We're not going to DH,'' Macha said. ``We've got candidates who are candidates for this team that are going to earn their way with the ability to pinch hit. We'd certainly like to accommodate everybody, but the first accommodation is the Milwaukee Brewers.''
Joe Torre reiterated to reporters here this morning that he doesn't want Manny to play in the field that soon. That means Manny will take his hacks in a 9:30 B game tomorrow against the Pale Hose (remember when they used to call them that?).
Manny drew a five-pitch walk from Texas' Doug Mathis, which of course drew a loud chorus of boos. Wild first inning, three for the Rangers off Billingsley on home runs by Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz, both of them moon shots, and two for the Dodgers on the walk to Manny, singles by Hudson, Ethier and Loney and a fielding error by the Rangers.

Went over to the minor-league side yesterday morning and spoke briefly with Tony Delmonico, the Dodgers' sixth-round pick in last year's draft out of Florida State. Tony is the son of Rod Delmonico, the longtime University of Tennessee head coach who is the manager of the feel-good story of this year's World Baseball Classic, also known as Team Netherlands.
``It's a little bit of an Angels in the Outfield thing they have going on,'' Tony said. ``To be honest with you, I knew they had some good pitching, but I didn't know they were capable of doing what they have done.''
What they have done, if you haven't been paying attention, is upset one of the pre-tournament favorites, the mighty Dominican Republic -- TWICE.
Rod Delmonico was fired from U.T. a couple of years ago after 18 mostly successful seasons that included three College World Series berths. He had been serving as an assistant at Florida International when Arizona State coach Pat Murphy told him about an opening as the head of the Dutch baseball federation, a job Delmonico applied for and got. And in case you were wondering, there is no Dutch heritage in the Delmonico family.
``No, he's pretty much Italian through and through,'' Tony said. ``But this is such a good thing for him. He has been through a lot of adversity the past couple of years, but he is a hard worker, and he really loves coaching.''
By the way, one of Delmonico's players on the Dutch team is Dodgers catcher prospect Kenley Jansen, who hit .227 with nine homers and 27 RBI at Great Lakes last year. The team now moves on to the second round in Miami, where it will play Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Even as Tony Delmonico prepares for his first full professional season -- he hit a resounding .340, with 20, doubles, 11 homers, 39 RBI and a .443 on-base percentage in just 35 games and 141 ABs at short-season Ogden last summer -- he is paying close attention to what is going on thousands of miles away.
``Proud pretty much sums it all up,'' he said. ``Words can't describe what has been going on.''

Chin-lung Hu came up with a big two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth to mercifully bring closure to this agonizing affair that included 11 walks and three hit batters and lasted three hours, 12 minutes. ... Hong-Chih Kuo came out of his first appearance fine, coming in to start the eighth inning and retiring the first two batters but then giving up a single and hitting a batter to end his day. He complained afterward that his fastball was cutting in toward RH hitters, something he blamed on a mechanical issue of flying open too quickly. But the important thing was that he felt fine physically. ... Orlando Hudson had two hits, both singles. ... The Dodgers had three successful sacrifices. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that your humble correspondent is adamantly opposed to the sacrifice bunt on general principle. I hope this doesn't mean Joe Torre plans to use it a lot this year. ... The Korean roster featured eight guys whose last name was Lee and two guys whose last name was Park. The five guys who pitched for Korea had the following last names: Jang, Jong, Chong, Im and Lim. There was one major leaguer, Cleveland's Shin-Soo Choo, and I believe one former major leaguer in Jungkeun Bong, who last pitched for Cincinnati in 2004. But I have to admit I'm not 100 percent certain that it's the same guy. He didn't appear in this game. ... Manny will DH against the Rangers tomorrow. Joe Torre said if he can't convince the Brewers to use the DH in Saturday's game, Manny probably will play in that morning's B game against the White Sox. ... The Dodgers would have improved to 8-6 if this game counted in the Cactus League, but it doesn't, so they didn't.

He felt it when he was doing second-to-home running drills. Said it's only tightness, nothing to be concerned about, and he is hoping to play in tomorrow's game with the Rangers. Probably due to the fact he has been doing so much running the past few days since he arrived in camp. He also said he hasn't had any hamstring problems since 1995. Sounds like this doesn't get much worse than the fact that this really screws up the day for all those out-of-town reporters who came in to cover Manny's debut.

Still trying to nail down exactly why, but it has something to do with his legs being tight and just feeling that he isn't ready yet, according to the one person I have had a chance to check with so far. Will post something more definitive when I have it.

Learned this morning that there has been no contact between the Dodgers and representatives for Martinez for months, and that when there WAS contact, the price was so high the Dodgers didn't even consider signing him and still aren't considering signing him. The only way this happens is if the price comes way, way down, to a base salary not too far above the major-league minimum with a bunch of incentives thrown in. After all, if he was still vintage Pedro Martinez, the Mets would have re-signed him. And yes, he pitched well against the Netherlands, and yes, the Netherlands upset the Dominican twice in the WBC, but really, THIS IS THE NETHERLANDS. ... The Dodgers sent Travis Chick and Scott Strickland to minor-league camp this morning. In case you didn't know, they're pitchers. Fifty-four left in big-league camp, not including Ivan DeJesus Jr., who is recovering from a broken leg.

Jonathan Papelbon, the Red Sox closer, calls Manny a ``cancer'' in an interview with Esquire Magazine. So far, Manny's only response to those comments is, ``I just want to play,'' which is very similar to what he has said every time some Red Sox player has ripped him since he was traded to the Dodgers. Basically, he has put Boston behind him.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/2009_03_12_Jonathan_Papelbon_pops_off_on_Manny_Ramirez/srvc=home&position=1

After Canada's two-and-out WBC flameout, Russ is back in camp and will start behind the plate today against South Korea.

Furcal SS
Hudson 2B
Ramirez DH
Ethier RF
Martin C
Loney 1B
Blake 3B
Kemp CF
Pierre LF

Wolf LH

The Dodgers are off tomorrow. ... Hiroki Kuroda pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with two walks and six strikeouts. He now has pitched 8 2/3 innings without allowing a run this spring. With all due respect to Chad Billingsley, who has a stellar ERA (1.29) himself this spring, Kuroda is making an strong (and possibly undeniable) bid to be the Dodgers' opening-day starter, an assignment that still would line Billingsley up for the home opener. ... The Dodgers are off tomorrow. ... Tanyon Sturtze, who seemed headed for retirement when the Dodgers released him in August and really was signed this winter to give him one last shot, might have pitched himself into contention for a bullpen spot this spring. He pitched a perfect seventh inning, with one strikeout, and has a 2.70 ERA in four appearances. ... Matt Kemp hit his second home run of the spring. Brad Ausmus went 2 for 3 with a double. James Loney went 2 for 2 with two singles. Juan Pierre had a triple. Danny Ardoin doubled in his only at-bat. ... Dodgers improve to 7-6 after lighting up Brandon Webb -- lighting him up by Brandon Webb standards, anyway -- for three runs on four hits over the first three innings. ... Did I mention the Dodgers are off tomorrow? See ya Thursday.

He has improved dramatically from his right-groin problem, and although he isn't running yet, he is moving laterally without pain. But when asked this morning if there was still enough time for Abreu to compete for the spot, Joe Torre said that Tony always faced long odds because he had missed so much time following sports-hernia and hip surgeries.
``To be honest with you, because he hasn't played in a year and a half, even if he were completely healthy, he probably would need to go play (regularly in the minors),'' Torre said. ``He hasn't done a lot of that lately.''
That means the last infield spot will come down to Blake DeWitt, Juan Castro, Hector Luna, Chin-lung Hu and Doug Mientkiewicz. However, there is a CHANCE that two of those guys could make it, even if the Dodgers go with 12 pitchers, because there is a possibility they will go with only four pure outfielders.

He did say he wants to look back at his spring-training stats from his Boston years to see how many games he typically played in and how many plate appearances he typically got in spring training, and he'll try to gauge from that how much he'll need to play in the 3 1/2 weeks that will be left of spring training when we all get back from tomorrow's off-day. He also said the 6 a.m, arrivals every morning -- during which he does ``some outfield drills, run the bases and (run) some gassers'' -- aren't a normal part of his spring-training routine that he is doing it now because he arrived late to camp and wants to make up for lost time. Joe Torre told us something interesting about Manny yesterday. Said he lifts weights in the weight room IN FULL UNIFORM. Not in shorts, not in a T-shirt. Talking full Dodgers ensemble, including BP jersey, game pants and belt. He doesn't wear spikes, though. Guessing those probably aren't even allowed in the weight room.

Joe Torre admitted after the game that the fifth starter's job is Schmidt's to lose, and that if he continues to show that he is healthy and that he can be effective the rest of the spring, he'll be the guy ... apparently, even if Eric Milton continues to pitch the way he did today (three scoreless innings, two hits). ... Juan Castro is now hitting .524 (11 for 21) after going 3 for 5 with a home run. Xavier Paul is now hitting .406 (13 for 32) after going 3 for 5 with a double and a triple. Going to be tough for him to make the club out of camp, especially if the Dodgers go with four OFs. But Torre said after the game that X clearly is a guy whose name will at least come to mind if the club needs to bring somebody up during the season. Chin-lung Hu had two hits today, as did Blake DeWitt. ... Claudio Vargas got knocked around, giving up three home runs and four runs on six hits over 2 1/3. ... Dodgers improve to 6-6. At home against the D-backs tomorrow, and then, on Wednesday ... an off-day. A real, live, honest-to-goodness off-day, with no B game, no intrasquad, no simulated game, nobody throwing a bullpen and nobody taking live batting practice on the minor-league side. Joe Torre is my hero.

He has now hit one-third as many HRs against the Dodgers this spring as he hit FOR them last season. It was a two-run shot off Claudio Vargas to left field in the bottom of the third. Dodgers still leading 10-5.

Caught up with him briefly before the game. Apparently, he's all better now, got his confidence back and feels comfortable at the plate again after working with Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, whom Scott Boras suggested he go to in Dallas in January. The two hit it off almost immediately, and it was shortly thereafter that Andruw signed with the Rangers. He started out slowly in the Cactus League, but he came into today's game hitting a respectable .273 after striking out something like eigh of his first nine ABs (that was by HIS count). He did strike out in his first AB today against Jason Schmidt, who did come back out for the second inning. Andruw also just missed a ball in CF that Xavier Paul hit over his head for a two-run triple. Schmidt done after two. Dodgers lead 8-3.

Josh Rawitch tells me he is expecting a Korean media contingent of about 100 who are following the South Korean team through the WBC. Joe Torre said shortly before game time today that Manny won't play before Thursday, but he still wasn't 100-percent committal on that. So if you're buying a ticket to that game for that reason, well ... he's probably going to play. ... Jason Schmidt had a quick go of it in the first inning, and he isn't running in the outfield yet. So it looks like he'll get a second inning. Joe said he'll throw about 40 pitches.

I have no idea what that headline means, it just sounded like a cool play on words. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched one inning in a B game against the White Sox this morning, his first actual game appearance of the spring, and did really well. Threw 12 pitches, eight strikes, never hit 90 mph but was consistently in the high 80s. Threw all fastballs and sinkers with one curveball, which was 72. Got Dewayne Wise looking after starting him off 2-0, gave up a single to Gordon Beckham after starting him off 2-0, then got No. 74 (gotta love B games) to GIDP on the first pitch. With that, his day was over. Nice work if you can get it. Off to Surprise. Going to see if I can find Andruw Jones.

The Dodgers are taking the following lineup to Surprise, Surprise, Surprise for today's game with the Rangers. MLB has a rule that you have to take at least four ``regulars'' to every road game, including split-squad games. But the definition of ``regular'' is something that has never really been nailed down, and managers tend to stretch the rules. Today, you could make a case for DeWitt, Loney and Kemp, with Schmidt pitching. That's four, apparently.

75 Xavier Paul (L) RF
33 Blake DeWitt (L) SS
7 James Loney (L) 1B
27 Matt Kemp CF
3 Delwyn Young DH
17 Jason Repko LF
14 Juan Castro* 3B
60 Chin-lung Hu 2B
44 A.J. Ellis C

Talk about the game that woudn't die. Dodgers trotted out four different lefty relievers today, and three of them got hit hard. Scott Elbert was touched fo three earned runs in one inning, with a walk mixed in. Stephen Randolph, whose praises I was singing here three days ago when he struck out all three batters he faced, gave up two earnies in two-thirds of an inning and walked three of the seven batters he faced. And Brent Leach didn't walk anybody or give up an earned run, but he did give up an unearned run when he allowed a two-out single to Sox catcher Donny Lucy. The error that led to the unearned run? It was committed by Chin-lung Hu, his second in two games. Not a good sign for a guy with a career big-league average of .193 whose glove is probably his only chance of making the team. ... Speaking of batting averages, Juan Castro's is now .500 after he doubled in his only at-bat. In fact, he is now DOUBLING at a rate of .313 -- he has five of them in 16 ABs. I asked him after the game if he remembered beating Joe Torre and the Yankees with a walkoff single on June 3, 2003, when Juan was still playing for the Reds and I was still covering them. Of course he remembered. But then he said, ``Don't bring it up (to Torre), or I won't make the team.'' So of course I brought it up to Torre, who laughed. But if this guy keeps hitting .500, he'll make the team as a second utility guy, especially considering he can play all four infield spots. ... Kershaw was good, 2 2/3 scoreless, allowed two hits and a walk. Struck out the last batter he faced, Alexei Ramirez, with runners on second and third and one out in the third. James McDonald got the last out to escape that jam, then set down the Sox in order in the fourth ,but hitting a batter with one out in the fifth got him into trouble, and he wound up being charged with two runs that inning. A good lesson for a young pitcher who is going to be really, really good before it's all over with. ... Dodgers fall to 5-6. At the Rangers tomorrow, Schmidt on the mound for the first inning.

That would be Cardozo High School in Washington D.C., which plans to name its baseball field after him in a ceremony later this month. Maury told me recently -- and I find this absolutely mind-boggling -- that he is one of only two major-league players ever to come out of our nation's capital. The other is current Giants infielder Emmanuel Burriss, a first-round pick in the 2006 amateur draft. Anyway, this is a great honor for one of my favorite people in the Dodgers organization.

Trying to figure out why. Should have something in a few minutes. He didn't seem to be in any obvious pain, and he was carrying a bat in his left hand, which is the wrist he had surgically repaired. If it is left-wrist related ... oh, wait, we just got the announcement as I was typing. It's flulike symptoms -- which is a fancy way of saying he has the flu. Back to whatever you were doing.

TFWV was in the crowd by one of the back fields this morning holding up a gigantic sign imploring the Dodgers to sign his favorite situational lefty, and given the way all the serious candidates for that role have pitched this spring, perhaps the Dodgers could use a guy like Beimel. Well, it turns out that the club does have SOME interest in re-signing him -- but only if the price comes down. Ditto Will Ohman, another veteran situational guy who remains in limbo on the free-agent market. Both pitchers are seeking salaries between $2 million and $3 million, and the Dodgers aren't going to pay that kind of dough to a guy who comes in and faces one or two batters at a clip. The same apparently is true of several other teams. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told mlb.com yesterday that his team won't be signing either Biemel or Ohman. You have to figure to price for those two guys has to come down soon if they want to work this year -- especially since free-agent lefty Dennys Reyes signed with the Cardinals on Thursday for two years, $3 million, an average annual value of $1.5 million. Reyes held lefty hitters to a .202 average with the Twins last year, while Beimel was comparatively rocked for a .278 average by lefties, who batted .200 against Ohman. All three pitchers are exactly the same age (31). Beimel's incentives took him to $2.045 million with the Dodgers last year after he avoided arbitration and settled for $1.925 million. He probably won't get that much this year. Ohman made $2.5 million last year with the Braves.

Jason Schmidt will start against the Rangers tomorrow and pitch ONE inning. It will be his first start in a major-league game, other than an intrasquad or a B game, since June 2007. ... They made two more cuts this morning, shipping non-roster pitchers Carmen Cali and Edgar Martinez to the minor-league side. Could have something to do with the fact they combined to give up four earned runs on two hits and three walks over a total of two-thirds of an inning yesterday as the Dodgers were blowing a five-run lead against the Mariners. ... Sandy Koufax is here, but Torre said he won't be working with any of the pitchers because he is visiting his stepdaughter who lives here and will only be in for a couple of days. Sandy lives in Vero Beach, Fla., and routinely showed up at Dodgertown to work with pitchers there.

Hong-Chih Kuo said he will pitch in a B game tomorrow, his first game action of the spring. Cory Wade will pitch live batting practice today and go from there, but he said the tentative plan is for to make his Cactus League debut on Friday or Saturday. So other than Ivan DeJesus, it looks like the Dodgers are close to being at full strength, No other news so far this morning.

Hong-Chih Kuo said he will pitch in a B game tomorrow, his first game action of the spring. Cory Wade will pitch live batting practice today and go from there, but he said the tentative plan is for to make his Cactus League debut on Friday or Saturday. So other than Ivan DeJesus, it looks like the Dodgers are close to being at full strength, No other news so far this morning.

I won't bore you with too many of the details about how this one got away of how the boys blew a 7-2 lead in the final three innings, of how Chin-lung Hu made a fateful error at the start of a ninth inning in which Victor Garate later gave up a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer to Bryan LaHair to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. What I will tell you is that Casey Blake had two hits in three at-bats in his first Cactus League action since suffering a groin injury in the opener on Feb. 25. He DH'd today and will play 3B tomorrow, Joe Torre said. ... A.J. Ellis had a nice game for the Dodgers, throwing out two consecutive basestealers in the second inning after they hit back-to-back singles off Chad Billingsley. Ellis also went 1 for 3 with an RBI single and was at the back end of a successful double steal, drawing a throw that allowed Jamie Hoffmann to steal home in the sixth inning. That gave the Dodgers their ill-fated, 7-2 lead. ... Billingsley was otherwise solid, giving up three hits over three shutout innings, with no walks. Going to be a tough decision for Torre/Honeycutt as to whether to give the ball to Billingsley or Kuroda for the opener. But as I predicted here a few days ago, my guess is it'll be Kuroda in the actual opener on April 6 and Billingsley in the home opener on April 13. ... Dodgers fall to 5-5.

He hit it off Scot Shields in the seventh inning. Big day for Dodgers catchers and catching prospects in the WBC. Here in Glendale, Dodgers lead the M's 3-1, and we just got another look at something we should be seeing all summer at Chavez Ravine. With a man on first and none out in the fifth, Prentice Redman sent a smash up the middle toward center field, but it never got there. Orlando Hudson made a diving stop and dished to Rafael Furcal on the bag, starting a beautiful 4-6-3 double play. A lot has been said lately about the Dodgers' pitching staff being somewhat mediocre. But it's amazing how a good pair of middle infielders can make a pitching staff better. That's another reason the Dodgers are better off without the perpetually sour Jeff Kent.

About an hour before the game today, with most of the players having completed their pregame work, they were sitting around the clubhouse watching the end of the Netherlands' stunning upset of the Dominican Republic in the opening round of the WBC. While I'm fairly certain no one was especially rooting for the Netherlands -- the Dodgers have several Dominican players, but no one from the Netherlands or Curacao -- the place went nuts for one moment in the bottom of the ninth. With the tying run on second and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Willy Taveras took off for third. But the Netherlands catcher gunned him down easily for the second out of the inning. That catcher was Kenley Jansen, who has been in the Dodgers organization for the past four seasons.

According to Rick Honeycutt, Schmidt felt much better about his mechanics after throwing a side session this morning. He had appeared in an intrasquad and a B game and thrown live batting practice on the minor-league side for his first three turns, and Joe Torre told us this morning (before Schmidt threw off a mound in the strings area) that Schmidt hadn't felt good about the way the ball was coming out of his hands. That was clearly just a product of the fact he hasn't pitched competitively in so long. He now has plenty of time to make a strong run at the fifth spot in the starting rotation. ... By the way, the mariachi band was replaced today by a band that plays island music, whatever they call that (tiki, calypso, I'm not sure what the word for it is). So Schmidt had a nice backdrop of Caribbean sound (or Hawaiin if you prefer) as he threw his pen. Maybe that was what made the difference.

Spring training can officially begin now. This morning, as I was walking from my car to the building, I saw Troy from West Virginia, clad as always in a Joe Beimel No. 97 Dodgers jersey. And no, the still-unemployed Joe Beimel wasn't with him. Amazing to me that Beimel is still out there as a free agent and the Dodgers are still trying to find a situational lefty. But Joe's inability to be effective in that role last year, coupled with the fact there was a new coaching staff on board that hadn't seen him be effective in that role the previous two seasons, served to hasten his ouster from Los Angeles. Anyway, here's hoping Troy can stay out of trouble in Glendale.

Randy Wolf pitched three shutout innings, allowing one hit, and has not pitched five shutout innings for the spring. The fact he is left-handed probably rules him out as opening-day starter because one would imagine Torre will stagger the righties/lefties. ... Jeff Weaver pitched two shutout innings and has now pitched three shutout innings for the spring, but Torre said he still isn't quite ready to think of the Weave as a starting candidate. Still, the fact he pitched two innings is a clear indication Joe isn't ready to rule him out for that, either. ... Doug Mientkiewicz went 1 for 3 with his second home run in nine at-bats this spring, also driving in a run with a bases-loaded, fielder's choice grounder in the first inning. And, playing first base, he made a diving catch of a foul pop by Bobby Scales in the sixth inning. ... Brian Mazone, a non-roster guy who could be a candidate for that situational lefty role the club is seeking to fill, came on with two outs and the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth and struck out Brad Snyder to end the game. ... Dodgers go to 5-4 for the spring. Versus the Mariners tomorrow. ... By the way, one of you asked about Jason Schmidt. He's fine. He pitched two ``innings'' of live batting practice yesterday -- that means faced a few hitters, sat down, got up and faced a few more hitters. He is taking his regular turns. They just aren't in Cactus League games yet.

He's going to be an ``assistant coach,'' whatever that is. He is also going to be a ``liaison between the Dodgers' advance scout and the club,'' whatever that is. Basically, it sounds like he was just such a good guy that they made up a job for him. But I have no problem with that, because he really is a good guy who really wants to stay in the game somehow. He told us a few days ago, when he stopped by CBR (that's how I'm heretofore going to refer to Camelback Ranch), that he wanted to go into broadcasting. For now, I guess he'll take what he can get. Here is the release from the club:

CAMELBACK RANCH - GLENDALE - Mark Sweeney, one of the premiere pinch-hitters in baseball history, today announced his retirement after a 14-year Major League playing career. The 39-year-old will now join the Dodgers field staff as an Assistant Coach. General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.
"We are excited to be able to keep Mark Sweeney in the Dodger organization and we congratulate him on his retirement from his playing career," said Colletti. "With 14 years of big league experience, he will bring some very valuable baseball knowledge to our staff."
Sweeney will be in uniform for all pre-game workouts during the regular season, and will also serve as an instructor during Spring Training. Sweeney will serve as a liaison between the Dodgers' advance scout and the club, including series preparation.
"I truly enjoyed my experience last season with the Dodgers, Joe Torre, and his staff," said Sweeney. "I look forward to the opportunity to continue that association and to give something back to the game I enjoy so much."
Sweeney ranks second in baseball history with 175 pinch-hits behind only Lenny Harris (212), who was hired by the Dodgers on October 31, 2008 as the Senior Hitting Coach at Camelback Ranch - Glendale. With Sweeney, Harris, and longtime Dodger coach Manny Mota, the Dodgers now have as coaches the top three pinch hitters of all-time. Mota logged 155 pinch-hits during his career, and retired as the all-time leader in Major League history before being surpassed by Harris and Sweeney.
Sweeney batted .254 with 42 homers and 250 RBI in 1,218 games with St. Louis (1995-97), San Diego (1997-98, 2002, 2005), Cincinnati (1999), Milwaukee (2000-01), Colorado (2003-04), San Francisco (2006-07), and the Dodgers (2007-08). The left-handed hitter also is baseball's all-time leader with 102 pinch-RBI. Sweeney hit .258 (175-for-679) as a pinch-hitter in his career. He appeared in three postseasons, including one World Series with San Diego in 1998.

If he gets what he wants for his Boston condo -- he is asking $8.5 million -- he'll have no trouble making that $1 million donation to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. It's a 4,500-square foot penthouse pad on the 37th floor of the Residences at Ritz-Carlton, and it has four bedrooms, six baths and three valet parking spaces. If you're interested, all the info can be found at the link below.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/05/ramirezs_boston_condo_hits_the_market_for_85m/

Orenduff didn't pitch well at Vegas last year, going 3-7 with a 6.55 ERA in 21 starts and 10 relief appearances. He made one Cactus League appearance this spring, facing six batters, recording two outs, walking two and giving up two doubles on Feb. 27 against Seattle. He has a good chance of clearing waivers and remaining in the organization.

They weren't surprising. Pitchers Greg Miller and Justin Orenduff were optioned to minor-league camp. Pitchers Jacobo Meque, Yhency Brazoban and Ronald Belisario were reassigned to minor-league camp. Also, all the zero-to-three guys have now agred to terms for this season. And we expect a corresponding move for Manny within the hour.

For some reason, there is one here today, a seven-piece mariachi band playing near the main (centerfield) entrance to the stadium. Although it's a White Sox game today, it provided a nice, mood-setting backdrop as the Dodgers worked out on the back fields before boarding a bus for Mesa. According to Joe Torre, who was here at 10 til 7 this morning, Manny Ramirez was already out on the field running sprints with conditioning coach Brendan Huttman when Joe arrived. Manny will NOT be going to Mesa today. According to one of my more morning-oriented colleagues, who was in the clubhouse long before I straggled in at 8:30, when Matt Kemp walked into the clubhouse this morning, Manny greeted him with, ``I was here at 6 a.m., where were you?'' To which the ever-witty Kemp responded with, ``I was here three weeks ago.'' ... By the way, as we suspected, Randy Wolf is batting second because Joe wants him to get at-bats, so this is probably going to be a regular thing now that pitchers are hitting. I also asked Joe, just casually on the back fields this morning, if he would ever consider settling the issue of Manny batting third of fourth by going the Tony La Russa route and batting his pitcher eighth. Joe didn't totally dismiss it, saying it might be an option on days when Juan Pierre plays because then you could bat Pierre ninth and thus have three table setters batting immediately ahead of Manny in the three hole.

The officially licensed Manny Ramirez Dodgers jersey, with No. 99, went on sale in the team store at the Ballpark at Camelback Ranch-Glendale during yesterday's game with the White Sox. The price tag: a cool $275. And the worst part is, they were allegedly selling like hotcakes. People are actually buying these things at that price. Now in fairness, I suppose it's possible that ALL the authentic jerseys are selling their for that amount -- I didn't bother to check the others. I just asked Greg Corns, the head of the joint venture between the Dodgers and White Sox, and he was unaware of the price or if any of the other jerseys had the same price tag, but he was going to check on it. ... Pitchers are batting for the first time this spring, as the Dodgers play the Cubs at Mesa. So Randy Wolf is batting ... second. Not sure why, but will ask Joe. Guessing it's so they can get extra bunting practice.

The boys rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth on singles by Lucas May, Xavier Paul and Jason Repko and a walk to Mitch Jones, who didn't have an extra-base hit for the first time in his past six games. The Repko single was the winner. ... Hiroki Kuroda continued to make his case for the opening-day starter nod, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced in becoming the first Dodgers starter to go three innings this spring. He gave up only a single to Alexei Ramirez. ... Paul had two hits, including a home run, and is now batting .421 (8 for 19) in the Cactus League. ... Stephen Randolph, a longshot candidate for the situational lefty role (long shot because he has limited experience as a situational guy), struck out all three batters he faced in the top of the ninth (Brian Myrow, Miguel Negron and Brent Lillibridge) to get the win. ... Dodgers improve to 4-4. At the Cubs tomorrow.

Amazing how this announcement coincided with the Manny signing, isn't it? Here is the official release from the Dodgers:

LOS ANGELES - Single-game tickets to see Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, and all of the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers, defending champions of the National League West, go on sale this Saturday, March 7 at 10:00 a.m. Fans can purchase online at dodgers.com, via telephone at 866-DODGERS, in person at Dodger Stadium in Lot P, and at all Southern California Ticketmaster outlets. The Dodgers held ticket prices, which start at $9, at 2008 levels.
Season ticket plans, partial and full, range from as few as 7 games to as many as all 81. The popular ampm All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion, Baseline Box Club, and Dugout Club seats will be again available in 2009 as well.
"The most convenient way to purchase tickets is on line," said Dodgers Chief Operating Officer Dennis Mannion. "Families can purchase tickets in the comfort of their own home, or if they prefer, order by telephone. Of course, for those who still prefer to visit our box office, we will offer our hospitality as well."
Fans who wish to purchase tickets in person at Dodger Stadium can enter via the Sunset Gate as early as 8 a.m. and receive numbered wristbands until a starting number is randomly selected at 8:45 a.m. There is no advantage to arriving before 8 a.m.
The person with the selected number will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets at 10:00 a.m., and the remainder of the group will be served in numerical sequence. Fans arriving after 8:45 a.m. will receive a different color wristband, and that group will be helped after the first. There is a limit of four Opening Day tickets available for purchase per person while supplies last.
The Dodgers open the 2009 regular season at home on April 13 against the San Francisco Giants at 1:10 p.m. The schedule can be found online at dodgers.com.

He kept them laughing at his introductory press conference this morning, right from his opening line: ``I want to think the McCourt Family for making this good investment.''. He later said something about ``getting my Gold Glove ready, but I have to save my cannon for the season.'' That REALLY got them laughing. The audience included close to 50 reporters and a handful of team employees and other onlookers. It even included the great Steve Perry, who 25 years ago might have been a bigger star than Manny is now, but in this setting seemed as awestruck by Manny's presence as everybody else. ... One of the most poignant moments this morning came when Frank McCourt announced that every Dodgers player contract from here on out with include the ``Ramirez provision,'' which means a blank line for that player to insert a figure of his choosing for what he plans to donate to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. Ramirez started the tradition by donating $1 million. McCourt had asked him (not told him, but asked him) to include such a provision in the deal, and Manny chose the amount. ... I'll detail in tomorrow's paper how the sides transitioned from McCourt saying last Thursday night that negotiations would start again ``from scratch,'' to Manny ultimately signing the same deal the Dodgers had offered last Wednesday and withdrawn on Thursday, when McCourt made that comment.

Manny Ramirez, who is traveling on Frank McCourt's private jet, will be here in about five minutes, according to a flight tracker program I just checked. They are arriving at Glendale Municipal Airport, which is adjacent to the spring-training complex, so will be here in a matter of minutes once they land. The press conference is at 9:30 L.A. time, so in about an hour. There are already media from all across the country here, including a few from Los Angeles who are here for the first time. Other than that, it's been a slow morning. ... By the way, Orlando Hudson and Rafael Furcal are IN today's starting lineup against a White Sox split squad, so whatever was ailing the O-Dog yesterday is apparently no longer an issue. I did see assistant trainer Rick Lembo giving him a wrist brace to try on this morning, so he might wear it for a while.

It will be shown for the first time tonight immediately following the UCLA men's basketball game. The feature runs 30 minutes and will showcase the new Dodgers/White Sox spring-training facility from the time of its groundbreaking until the first game was held there on Sunday. Additionally, Prime Ticket also will carry tomorrow morning's Manny Ramirez press conference live. It begins at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time.

Here is the Dodgers' release.

CAMELBACK RANCH - GLENDALE - The Los Angeles Dodgers today signed 12-time All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez to a two-year contract with a player option following the first season. In addition, Ramirez will make a $1 million commitment to the Dodgers Dream Foundation that will help fund Dodgers Dreamfields.
Ramirez is expected to meet with the media at a news conference tomorrow at approximately 10:30 a.m. (MT) at Camelback Ranch - Glendale, located at 10712 W. Camelback Road.
"We are thrilled that Manny wants to be a Dodger and that he has made such a tremendous commitment to the Los Angeles community," said Dodger Owner Frank McCourt. "We witnessed something very special last year in the way that our fans connected with him and the manner in which the team came together. Now, we focus our complete and undivided attention on our primary goal - winning a World Championship."
"Manny has shown that he has an ability to significantly alter our lineup," said Colletti. "Our organization has maintained its commitment to our core of young, homegrown talent while also retaining such key veterans as Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal, and now Manny, all of whom helped us reach the National League Championship Series.
"Manny showed great leadership in the clubhouse and on the field last season and to say we're very pleased that he's back with the Dodgers is an understatement."
Ramirez, who hit ..396 (74-for-187) with 17 homers and 53 RBI in 53 regular-season games in a Dodger uniform, helped lead the team to a 2008 National League West Division Championship, a sweep of the Cubs in the Division Series, and its first National League Championship Series appearance since 1988. He became one of the most popular players in franchise history after he was acquired by the Dodgers July 31 along with cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox at last year's trade deadline as part of a three-team deal with Pittsburgh.
Ramirez's 21 homers as a Dodger from August 1 through the postseason were the most by any player on the team for the entire season, one more than Andre Ethier's 20.
The right-handed hitter batted a combined .332 with 37 homers and 121 RBI in 153 games with the Red Sox and Dodgers in 2008. He ranked third in the Majors in batting average, tied for fourth in homers, and tied for sixth in RBI. He also ranked second in the Majors with a .602 slugging percentage, behind only Albert Pujols (.653), and fourth with a .430 on-base percentage.
In the 2008 postseason, Ramirez batted .520 (13-for-25) with four homers, 10 RBI, 11 walks, and a .667 on-base percentage in eight games as the Dodgers swept the Cubs in the National League Division Series before falling to the eventual World Champion Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Ramirez ranks 17th on baseball's all-time home run list with 527, and is one of only eight players in baseball history with at least 12 seasons with 30 or more homers (1995-96, 1998-2006, 2008). He is also one of just nine players in history to hit at least 20 home runs in 14 straight seasons.
Ramirez, 36, is a career .314 hitter in 2,103 games with Cleveland (1993-2000), Boston (2001-2008), and the Dodgers (2008). Among active players, he ranks sixth in hitting, third in doubles (507), fourth in home runs, and second in RBI (1,725) behind only Ken Griffey Jr.'s 1,772. Only Griffey Jr. (611), Alex Rodriguez (553), and Jim Thome (541) have more home runs among active players. Ramirez has won nine AL Silver Slugger Awards for outfielders during his 16 Major League seasons.
Ramirez ranks 20th on baseball's all-time RBI list. He has logged at least 100 RBI in 12 seasons, including nine straight campaigns from 1998-2006. Since "RBI" became an official statistic in 1920, only eight players in history have recorded nine consecutive seasons of at least 100 RBI. Ramirez has 1,353 RBI since the start of the 1998 season, trailing only Alex Rodriguez (1,378) among all Major Leaguers in that time. Ramirez's 418 home runs in that same span rank second behind only Rodriguez (489).
A veteran of 10 postseasons, including four World Series, Ramirez is baseball's all-time post-season home run leader with 28, and he ranks second with 74 RBI, just six behind Bernie Williams. Ramirez won two World Series championships with Boston in 2004 and 2007, and was named the World Series Most Valuable Player in 2004. He also played in the 1995 and 1997 Fall Classics with Cleveland.
Among active players, Ramirez ranks fifth in on-base percentage (.411), and seventh in batting average. He also ranks eighth in baseball history, and second among active players behind only Albert Pujols (.624), with a .593 slugging percentage. His 2,392 hits rank ninth among active players, while his 507 doubles are third.
He was the AL batting champ in 2002 with a .349 average and the 2004 AL home run champ with 43.
Ramirez was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Washington Heights, NY, graduating from George Washington High School in 1991. He was originally selected by the Indians as the 13th overall pick of the 1993 First-Year Player Draft. He then signed with Boston as a free agent on December 13, 2000.

Delwyn Young went 2 for 2 with a double. Chin-lung Hu, who wouldn't have started if not for Orlando Hudson getting scratched, went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Mitch Jones had another extra-base hit, this one a double, and now has extra-base hits in each of his past five games (homers in three of them), with a home run in a B game mixed in as well. Pitching was a little shaky on both sides, especially late. Giants pitchers Billy Sadler and Henry Sosa and Dodgers pitcher Brent Leach combined to walk seven guys from the bottom of the seventh through the bottom of the eighth, right around the time the game was reaching, and far surpassing, the three-hour mark. Dodgers fall to 3-4 and will play a White Sox split squad tomorrow.

This might be the grossest example of concession-stand fleecing I have ever run across. Today, because Joe and Ned arrived just before game time and held a press conference, most of the writers didn't make it ot the game in time to hit the media dining room. No problem. I'll just grab a couple of hot dogs in the third inning. This is what I discovered here at Camelback Ranch: you can get a regular hot dog for $4.50, but if you take it to the nearby condiment stand, you will find three things: yellow mustard, brown mustard and ketchup. You will NOT find relish, onions or anything else. For that, you have to purchase the HOME RUN DOG, which costs a dollar more, and the guy behind the counter puts the stuff on for you. Granted, there is a long list of toppings (cheese, jalapenos, onions, relish, chili, etc.) that you can get for that one dollar, and you can get them ALL for that one dollar if you want. But if you aren't willing to pony up the extra buck, you ain't getting ANY of them. Nice.

The O-Dog had some soreness in his surgically repaired left wrist, so he was scratched as a precaution -- kicking and screaming, apparently. That's a good sign, because it clearly wasn't serious. As Torre tells is, Hudson felt it when he got here this morning, then went through the morning workouts before he told the medical staff. Sounds like there is a good chance he'll play tomorrow -- or the next time Furcal plays, whenever that is. ... There was a big media scrum with Colletti and Torre when they got back, but we really didn't find out a lot that we didn't already know. Ned said he couldn't even remember how the negotiations got started again, who initiated it or whatever. Still wouldn't confirm that there is a deal in place, or that a physical exam is taking place. Torre said it will probably be a few days before you see Manny in a Cactus League game. Colletti was asked to talk about the purpose of the meeting, which we all know was about figuring out which Manny the Dodgers are actually getting. Here is what he said;

``I think it was for everybody. We are really trying to build a team here that really sticks together and fights together. I think it was imperative that we all sit down and talk. (Ramirez) is obviously a very important member of the group and member of the team.''

Not sure why. Trying to find out. Chin-lung Hu playing 2B.

The national media is coming out of the woodwork, for obvious reasons. We are all kind of running around like crazy, but with noplace to go. Just a nervous energy, everyone running around talking on their cell phones, ignoring the fact that the Dodgers are actually working out on the back fields and the fact there is a game starting in a little more than an hour, with the hated Giants, no less. To what end, I can't even begin to tell you. Last I heard, Ned and Joe were stuck in L.A. traffic on their way to the airport, not sure which airport and not sure whether they are flying commercial or on Frank's jet. I am assuming there will be some sort of media thing with Ned when they get here (Joe will probably go straight to the dugout and manage if they get here before the game ends). I did get my picture taken with Steve Perry this morning, who was being escorted around the complex by equipment manager Mitch Poole (they're good friends). The Giants beat writers are supposed to come over to the new pad for a cookout tonight, so I'm hoping this Manny business gets wrapped up during regular work hours. But I'm not counting on it. Lunch time now, then the game. I'll check back in a bit.

The face-to-face meeting took place early this morning -- VERY early, apparently. There is now an agreement in principle on a two-year, $45 million contract, with the final hurdle of Manny passing a physical exam. Once that happens, he'll sign the contract and report to spring training, guessing he'll be here tomorrow morning. Ned Colletti and Joe Torre, who went to Los Angeles for the meeting with Manny and McCourt, are on their way back here to Glendale now.

How close depends on whom you talk to, and I am not even close to being at liberty to tell you whom I have been talking to, but basically, here's the deal:

Manny IS on his way to Los Angeles tonight, just as Enrique Rojas reported on ESPN. Manny IS willing to accept some form of what the Dodgers offered him last Wednesday, a two-year, $45 million deal with $25 million the first year, $20 million the second year and an opt-out. That offer IS back on the table, even though it has been taken off the table last week. But there is no actual agreement in place YET, because Dodgers officials want to meet with Manny face to face, presumably tomorrow morning, before making this thing happen. Given this player's history and the fact he didn't get anything close to what he thought he was going to get on the open market this winter, I believe they simply want to gauge how he is dealing with that fact emotionally. Once that happens, if everybody likes what they hear, this deal will get done.

So the bottom line (literally) is this: the Dodgers, barring something unforeseen, are about to sign Manny Ramirez. And the shaky pitching staff notwithstanding, that is SHOULD make this a very good ballclub in 2009.

Still trying to run it down. Stay tuned

Chad Billingsley was solid, walking the first batter of the game but retiring the next six in order to finish off two shutout innings. Shawn Estes followed, and in the same ballpark where he got rocked for seven runs (five earned) in 1 1/3 innings on Friday, he pitched two shutout innings, allowing three hits with no walks. Mitch Jones homered for the third time in his past four games (he had a double in the other games). He also homered in yesterday's B game, but that one didn't count. Blake DeWitt went 2 for 3 with a double, a two-run homer and two runs scored. He also played six innings at SS and got a couple more balls hit his way today than he did on Saturday. Overall, he was fine, but he did turn a double play into a single play by bobbling the ball. Torre said after the game he just got in too big of a hurry to turn two. Joe remained non-committal on whether DeWitt could get enough at-bats as a utility guy to justify keeping him in the majors. Dodgers improve to 3-3. Versus the Giants tomorrow.

If you are 18 or older, not enrolled in high school or college and not affiliated witha any other baseball organization, including independent leagues, and if the idea of playing in the low minors and taking a lot of long bus rides is something you find appealing, you might want to consider the Dodgers' annual open tryout. It is scheduled for Friday at Camelback Ranch, with registration at 8 a.m. and the workout at 9. If you're still chasing the dream and you're planning on being in the Phoenix area that day, come on out. The odds are stacked against you or anyone else actually getting signed out of the camp, but you have nothing to lose.

That's just the roughest of rough estimates. Could be longer, could be shorter. He'll have a rod put in today and then be on crutches for six weeks.

Mark Wiedemaier, a special assistant to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, just told us he is back doing what he does best -- and, as many in the game will tell you, he does better than almost anyone else in the business -- advance scouting. He took two years off those duties to be a special-assignment scout, but he is back now. He also got married this winter, for the first time ever at age 54, so it's a really good time in the life of a really good guy. His new stepdaughter, he tells us, is engaged to Brian Bosworth. Mark and his new wife will continue to live in the Tampa Bay area, but he'll go back to spending most of his time on the road. Advance scouting is one of the most important, yet thankless and under-recognized, jobs in the game. Basically, you catch a team about a week before that team plays your team and you look for weaknesses that can be exploited, strengths that need to be avoided and general tendencies you can try to work to your favor. When a club has pitchers' and hitters' meetings before the first game of each series, it is the advance scouting report that they are going over. Anyway, congratulations Wiedy.

Can't remember whether I ever posted this on the blog, but I did write it in the paper. On the day of the first full-squad workout this spring, Dodgers 3B coach Larry Bowa held a baserunning tutorial. One thing that struck me that day was when he said this:

``If you're in doubt, slide. The worst thing you can do is stand up and then at the last second decide to slide. That is how we break ankles.''

That also appears to be how Ivan DeJesus Jr. broke his tibia yesterday. And the thing is, there shouldn't have even BEEN any doubt in this case, because on-deck hitter Juan Pierre was directly in DeJesus' line of view yelling ``Get down, get down, get down.'' But this is what happens sometimes in sports, when an athlete has to make a split-second decision. It isn't always the right one, especially when you are 21 years old. I'm betting Ivan DeJesus never makes this mistake again.

This according to Joe Torre, but Stan Conte said it's too early to know for sure. DeJesus has a broken left tibia. He was admitted to a local hospital, at least overnight, and they will decide tomorrow whether to do surgery. Good thing the Dodgers signed Furcal for three more years. Tough break for a great kid. And again, it happened in a B game. The worst part is, he was hoping to play for Puerto Rico in the WBC, but he didn't make the team. If he HAD made the team, he would have been thousands of miles away from Glendale this morning. Instead, he was here, breaking his leg in a home-plate collision.

Nothing like losing one of your top prospects in a morning B game. It appears to be his left ankle, or maybe his left knee. He got hurt in a play at the plate, Looked like he got caught between sliding and barreling into the catcher, couldn't make up his mind. He was down for several minutes before being hauled away on the cart. More when I know more.

The boys blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth after pretty much dominating the game to that point. Kuroda, Eric Milton and Claudio Vargas eah threw two shutout innings, and Guillermo Mota mowed down the Sox in the seventh. After that, things kind of fell apart. Ramon Troncoso, who Joe Torre said hasn't alerted him to any physical issues, struggled again, walking two of the three batters he faced before being lifted, and Victor Garate had to finish that inning. Then Scott Strickland, Carmen Cali and Edgar Martinez combined to cough in up in the ninth, although Martinez was just the poor sap who allowed an inherited runner to score while otherwise retiring all three batters he faced. Dodgers fall to 2-3. No Cactus League game tomorrow, just a B game with the Brewers at 9:30 a.m. (ugh!)

This just arrived in the in-box, courtesy of Boras associate Luis Garcia. First, it refers to Boras' latest proposal to the Dodgers, which Frank McCourt said this morning the club isn't even considering because there are no negotiations on-going at the moment. Then, it includes a statement from Manny Ramirez making it clear that he HAS been kept in the loop on negotiations.

Here is the statement:

``We have continued to work with Ned and the Dodgers to do away with the artificial barriers and attempt get a deal completed. There is no issue with deferred money being part of any contract; just want to make sure the value is stated accurately and appropriately.
``Our most recent offer Saturday morning covered two years with some deferred compensation ($43.5m net present value). Manny directed me to compromise between the Dodgers last offer of $42 million net present value ($45 million with deferred compensation) and our $45 million dollar without deferred money. However, we have yet to hear from them on our last three offers.''

The statement also included this from Manny himself:

``I would not allow negotiations to take place without being involved and talk to Scott nearly every day" said Manny. "I have given Scott offers that he has given to the Dodgers and he has given me all offers from the team.''

This ran this morning in Newsday. Ken Davidoff had the story. Seems to me Easler doesn't have much of a case given that he turned down a job offer. But whatever. Here is the story:

When Don Mattingly, dealing with a divorce, decided he couldn't begin the
2008 season as the Dodgers' hitting coach, the team promoted Triple-A
hitting coach Mike Easler. A year later, Easler, out of work, has filed a
grievance with MLB concerning LA's treatment of him, according to his
agent, Burton Rocks
``The Dodgers handled Mike's coaching situation in such a manner that, by
the time Mike was able to contractually seek other employment, all coaching
spots had been filled by other clubs,'' Rocks wrote in an e-mail. ``Mike's
loyalty to the Dodgers and to his contract has now left Mike sitting at
home without health insurance.''

Easler, known as "Hit Man" in his playing days, served until the All-Star
break, at which point Mattingly (Easler's teammate with the 1986 and 1987
Yankees) replaced him. Easler spent the rest of the year as a roving
hitting instructor for the Dodgers.

After the season, Easler said, the Dodgers offered him a 2009 position as
the Class A hitting coach. He initially declined the de facto demotion.
Later, he asked for a scouting position and was told such a job wasn't
available.

The Dodgers declined to comment on the matter.

Too bad there are so many people still trying to get in. You can see a long line of cars streaming into the lot off Camelback Road. Hey, it IS a Dodgers' home game, so might as well have it be just like Dodger Stadium, right? All in all, the day has been a success so far. A few glitches here and there, a few parking-lot attendants with attitudes, already a clogged toilet in the press box. But the stadium looks really nice from where I sit. You can't even tell that a lot of the place is still a construction zone. And with all the cars in the lot, you can't even tell that the lots are unpaved. ... White Sox didn't score in the top of the first, although Laynce Nix had a double. ... If you have never been to a spring-training game, one thing they always announce is the temperature here and the temperature in the home cities of the teams. It usually means nothing for the Dodgers, who play in perpetually warm Los Angeles (today, the temp here is 81 at game time, 80 in L.A.). But they also just announced that it is 19 in Chicago.

He seemed to suggest that club officials were suspicious that if they didn't make their offers public, those offers would never make it to Manny Ramirez before Scott Boras rejected them.
``The purpose was to let Manny know we wanted him,'' Frank said. ``We just wanted to make sure he knew.''
When I pressed him on this, asking him specifically if he was suggesting that Boras hides offers from his clients, Frank didn't bite. (More specifically, I referred to several other dealings with several other Boras clients, which I laid out on this blog a few nights ago, and whether Dodgers believed Boras had rejected Dodgers' offers to those clients without the clients being made aware of those offers).
``I'm not comfortable getting into that,'' McCourt said. ``To me, that is all water under the bridge.''
What McCourt did say was that negotiations are back at square one, that there is no offer on the table and that THERE WILL BE NO MANNY NEWS TODAY. Today, he said, is about the glorious opening of Camelback Ranch, where the Dodgers and White Sox will tee it up in about 90 minutes.