Hope you enjoyed your day off, Tony.

Tough break on Nomar though not unexpected since he's been out this long, you had to figure it was more than a normal bruise.

The Dodgers will no doubt be watching the waiver wires to see if anyone comes across that looks like a decent short term fix.

Either that or get ready for Opening Day third baseman Ramon Martinez!

I advocate that Antonio Perez gets a chance at 3rd base.

Oh, nevermind. He was traded with Bradley for fodder.

This is the third time Tony has lobbied for an Inge or Crede trade... Dodgers.com says Colletti thinks DeWitt may be able to handle the job.

I'm fine with trading for Crede as long as we're waving good-bye to Juan Pierre.

joeyp at dodgerthoughts... are you for real? Just curious.

I don't think Tony is necessarily lobbying for Inge, Crede or anyone else.

Hopefully the Dodgers don't panic and do something they will regret. It appears to me there are a number of short term solutions like Abreu, Hu and DeWitt. For the player to be DeWitt it would probably mean that Nomar would have to be put on the DL. I guess it depends on how "micro" the fracture is.

WeNeedaBat,

I forgot to include this in my previous post. I believe the consensus is that we should ignore the troll (see the previous thread).

Calling Esteban German, calling Esteban German....

He makes the most sense of those names being bandied about. He won't cost an arm and a leg in salary and players, he can also play short and second and he has no problem being a backup when LaRoche and Nomar are healthy..if ever.

Who knows if Ken Rosenthal has it right, but you guys oughta open your minds to Felipe Lopez, Ron Belliard and Mark Loretta. These are solid, solid players, and would all make fans in L.A. quickly.

They'd be good to have on the team all year long as well, not just if and when Nomar, Abreu and LaRoche are ailing.

Lopez is a switch-hitter, which is a nice bonus, and Loretta is an on base machine.

I'm on the edge of my seat, hoping for any of the three rumors to come true. So much better than Wes Helms, Brandon Inge or Joe Crede is laughable.

Trust me, you'll be happy if the Dodgers go this route.

BaseballSavvy,

Outside of 2005, why would I get excited about Felipe Lopez?

Not too excited about Ron Belliard either. He's a decent player, but nothing special. I think he also may have a weight problem.

Mark Loretta has been a solid hitter for a lot of years, but outside of some doubles, will not provide much power. He will also turn 37 during the season. I wouldn't mind having him, but the price would have to be cheap. Don't know too much about his defense at 3B.

2006 was a solid year as well for Lopez.

But just generally, the Dodgers are much more likely to pick up a guy like Lopez, Loretta or Belliard as much as a utility player for the full year, to fill in at third for a matter of weeks, than they are to go out and get a stud starting third baseman. I mean, there's just a small handful of that type of player in all of MLB, let alone available now.

Short term solution, giving up little in return, and then you have a nice veteran bench player for the rest of the season. You simply can't go wrong.