RANTS & RAVES

• The Dodgers will lose the protest of last night’s game!
• James McDonald won his first start in AAA, pitching 6 innings of 2 hit ball while striking out 10!
• Blake DeWitt took the collar and is now hitting .256.
• Ivan DeJesus was 1-1 with 4 BB and 3 runs scored last night.
• At least the D-Backs lost…

Rants & Raves

• Scott Proctor was shut down with elbow soreness.
• The Dodgers need to move Martin to #2 or #6 - Martin is not hitting ahead of Manny.  I’d try Ethier or Kemp there, maybe Loney would be the best bet since he is LH!  Martin isn’t cutting it at #3!
• Stults pitched 5 innings of 1 run ball last night
• Hu was 0-4 and is at .333
• DeWitt is sinking fast (.286) and is playing 2B
• DeJesus was 2-3 (.304)
• Elbert pitched another scoreless inning (2.45)
• Come on D-Lowe!  We need a gem!

Today starts the big test!  The Cards usually beat us like rented mules.  If we are truly on the road to the post-season, we need to change that right here - right now!  It all starts tonight with C-Bill vs. a less than 100% Chris Carpenter, who is back after missing all of the season until recently.

RANTS & RAVES

• The Dodgers signed lefty Eric DuBose and sent him to Jacksonville
• James McDonald was promoted to Las Vegas

That’s all, Folks!

Nomar ($ 8.5mil); Raffy ($13 mil) Kent ($9 mil);  and Lowe ($10 mil) all come off the books this year, in addition to Blake and Ramirez.  That’s $40 mil to play with.  I really don’t see us re-signing any of those first four players, unless Raffy accepts an incentative-laden one-year deal.  I would offer Blake a 2 year/$17 mil deal and give him an early deadline to take it, or leave it!  I f he wants to be aDodger, he will take it.  If he doesn’t we still have DeWitt (a year later) and Abreu. 

McCourt WILL be a player for Manny and I think an offer of 3 years/$70 mil or 4 years/$85 mil will get it done.  Frank knows that he is building the Dodger brand and that he is in danger of losing his #1 LA ranking to the Angels.  Frank knows the value of marketing and the value of having key players on the team.  That is unquestionable.  The Dodgers are still about 400,000 plus fans ahead in attendence. 

Here’s the other bargining chip:  Andruw Jones, Brad Penny and Jason Schmidt come off a year later, so we could sign Sabathia, Ramirez, Blake and even Orlando Hudson by backloading the contracts.   Now, I am not sure that we need Hudson, but if we don’t sign Blake, then we might make a move for Hudson. 

Ideally, we could trade Pierre and prospects for a 2B  who could bat leadoff.  Manny says he wants to play for LA, but time will tell - it’s early, but I know we will be trying to sign Ramiez and possibly Blake.  Here’s the other thing too:  Kemp, Loney and Martin are all delivering more-and-more in the clutch and learing from guys like Manny and Casey.  I still think the Dodgers want an oufield or Manny, Kemp and Ethier, but currently Pierre is needed to leadoff.

There is major excitement surrounding the team.  That is obvious, but watch INSIDE the dugout and see how excited and enthusiastic the players are.  The entire team is playing at a higher level and the passion and emotion are obvious.  Manny has brought lightening in a jar and the Dodgers have caught it.  We are now headed down the stretch of the pennant drive an I will go on record, right here, right now, that I would not be surprised if we win this thing GOING AWAY!  I have sensed a new confidence, a swagger, building within the Dodgers over past four games and we are now the odds-on favorite to win the NL West.  Beyond that, we have the pitching to win it all.  Dodger Fans - It time to return to glory!  These are Destiny’s Dodgers!

Rants & Raves

• Even with Andy LaRoche gone, Blake DeWitt is staying at 2B!
• DeJesus with 2 more hits (.305) and his 18th error!
• Penny allegedly was hitting 98 MPH Saturday in his last start.
• Paul LoDuca is a Free Agent
• I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jason Schmidt in September
• Proctor got bombed at IE.
• Juan Pierre unhappy
• Tony Jackson was spying on the Jones Situation:

… but there was a lengthy conversation just inside the doors leading to the Dodgers’ clubhouse this morning between Joe Torre and Scott Boras, and while I have no idea what it was about, my strong suspicion is it might have been about Andruw Jones and the possibility of him going to the minors for a few days to try to get his swing right. When the conversation finally ended, I saw Joe and Ned Colletti go into Joe’s office.
Without coming right out and saying, “Hey, what were you and Boras talking about?” I did go fishing with Joe during his pregame session. What I asked, specifically, was whether sending Andruw to the minors for a few days was a possibility.
This was Joe’s answer:
“We’re trying to fix Andruw. He is going to have to do it off the bench at this point in time. He is working on some stuff with (extra hitting coach) Jeff (Pentland) and (hitting coach) Donnie (Mattingly). But long-term, I think we’re going to have to see some signs to get him back to regular status at this point in time.”
I then specifically asked if going to the minors has been presented to Andruw. Joe said it hasn’t, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been presented to Boras. This sort of thing typically goes to the agent first.
Although it can’t officially be called a rehab, sending Jones down essentially would amount to the club asking him to complete the minor-league rehab assignment he cut short a month ago, the one that was supposed to last two weeks longer than it did. He was only in Vegas for three days, during which he was said to have shown a dramatically improved swing with his surgically repaired leg. But at Jones’ own suggestion, he was activated on July 4 to make up for the fact the club had lost Juan Pierre to the DL. Pierre is back now. But Jones still isn’t any better than he was even before knee surgery.