Ramblings on a slow news day

Joe Torre acknowledged today that the club does need to get more innings out of its starting pitchers. Ramon Troncoso saved their bacon last night by going a career-high 3 2/3, but he consequently isn’t available tonight, and neither is Guillermo Mota because he has pitched two days in a row. … Jason Schmidt and Claudio Vargas showed up in the clubhouse today, what with extended spring training being just across town. Schmidt was in no mood to talk about it, though. Doesn’t sound like he is going to start his rehab anytime soon, although he is expected to make his next extended-spring start around the middle of next week. Vargas said he is getting frustrated with his lack of progress and that when he is finally able to get on a mound again, it’ll be like starting spring training from scratch. So even though he is on the 60-day DL and has plenty of time, he really doesn’t have all that much time. … The lineup change was just because of the way Ethier/Loney were hitting. Even though Ethier has that high OBP, that appears to be part of the reason. Torre said Andre is taking too many pitches right now. … Also, I was just told that the city of Los Angeles, for budgetary reasons, has decided NOT to offer the Dodgers Trolley shuttle from Union Station to Dodger Stadium for games this year, at least for now. But I was also told the team is still working with the city to try to find a way to make it happen. The Dodgers aren’t going to fund this themselves because they see public transit as the domain of city government, not of the team.