The Dodgers are Winners in the Eyes of the Media

"They love us! They really love us!"

...and really, what else matters? From Jayson Stark at ESPN.com:

WINNERS
• Dodgers
No one knows what the Dodgers are going to get from their man Manny these next two months. Not Joe Torre. Not Scott Boras. Not even Manny himself. But it won't be all good. We know that. Not when you have a slightly whacked-out man on a shameless money mission. Not when the manager has to figure out how to play five "regular" outfielders on one roster. And not, certainly, when Manny puts a glove on his hand.

From Jon Heyman at SI.com:

Winners
1. Dodgers. The trade for Manny was such a steal it might make owner and Bostonian Frank McCourt forget the $36.2-million he sunk last winter into the disintegrating Andruw Jones ... for a few minutes anyway. The Dodgers' offense has been atrocious, and this can only help. Joe Torre has to love seeing Ramirez on his side for a change. His only problem is that he now will have five outfielders who consider themselves starters -- including Juan Pierre, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Jones. Oh yeah, and they got infielder Casey Blake from the Indians, too.

From Ken Rosenthal at FOXSports.com:

Take your pick: Manny deal produced winners all around

Earlier this month, the Dodgers had a chance to land left-hander CC Sabathia, Blake and infielder Jamey Carroll from the Indians, but owner Frank McCourt rejected the deal because it would have added more than $7 million in payroll, according to major-league sources.

Well, give Colletti credit — he kept plugging. As it turns out, the Dodgers were better off passing on CC; Ramirez will make a greater impact on their offense than even Sabathia would have made on their rotation.

UPDATE:

But wait, there's more! From Dayn Perry at FOXSports.com:

WINNERS
Dodgers
Manny Ramirez's glove will be a concern in the somewhat spacious Dodger Stadium outfield, but this team badly needed an impact bat. Now they have it. Dodger left fielders are hitting a miserable .253 AVG/.311 OBP/.315 SLG, and Ramirez will obviously beat that by leaps and bounds. Best of all, Boston's reportedly picking up his tab, and the Dodgers weren't forced to part with Matt Kemp or James Loney in order to get him. The first good move made by GM Ned Colletti? It just might be.

photo by Nick Ut/AP