Colletti Poised And Ready To Give Money, Prospects Away

When I read the dodgers.com headline, "Colletti willing to deal, but targets uncertain," I couldn't help but reverse the headline and think, "Targets uncertain, but Colletti willing to deal." And so here we are, at the trade deadline, with Ned getting anxious:

Wednesday's non-waiver Trade Deadline is approaching quickly and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is locked and loaded with an itchy trigger finger.

Only one problem -- he's having trouble finding a target.

Oh, no.

Another focus could be a right-handed middle reliever, but Colletti has said he has his doubts how much of an upgrade is out there. The Carlos Marmol experiment is still a work in progress judging from early returns.

I don't think the late returns are going to get any better.

Colletti has repeatedly shown a reliance on vets over kids with almost annual in-season trades for veteran relievers -- Elmer Dessens, Scott Proctor, George Sherrill, Octavio Dotel, Randy Choate and [Brandon] League.

But to get those guys, we gave away Odalis Perez, Wilson Betemit, Josh Bell and Steve Johnson. Randy Choate came over with Hanley Ramirez, at the cost of Nate Eovaldi and Scott McGough. League came over for Leon Landry and Logan Bawcom, which might not have been so bad in itself, except it led to a $22.5M deal a blink of an eye later.

And then there's Dotel, who came at the cost of James McDonald and Andrew Lambo. Ouch.

Somehow, I have this sinking feeling that Brian Wilson is imminent.

Delino's Delightful Weekend of Conflicted Loyalties and Uber-Nerds

For the astute reader, and even the not so astute reader (I'm looking at you "Todd"), the Double D's allegiances have come in question before.

A hybrid of Philly suburbs (aka Delaware), New York bloodline, and a decade in Los Angeles, this intrepid blogger has often sided with the enemy. Rooting for the Giants against the Eagles in the Vet, and living to tell the tale. Hooting and hollering when the Flyers come to Anaheim. Screaming out for a rare Sixers victory while sitting next to the Clippers' FAN. But when two of my beloved teams come face to face, then I have to look deep in my soul. Like at the Forum, when Penn basketball spanked the Trojans (with the late, great John Ritter in attendance). Or this past weekend.

I've got one simple rule when I wear my METS gear to Dodger Stadium - never sit above the Loge. Up in the Reserve, where the air is thinner, the people aren't looking for homeruns. They're looking for VENGEANCE. So with Field seats in hand, I attended two different pathetic Mets losses with an ace up my sleeve. My two-year-old!

I'll give the Dodgers faithful credit: when you're carrying a two year old, you seldom get called the C, F, MF, T, CS, or L Word. (Besides, I think this Mets team is too pathetic for derision.)

Thursday- Bidding will start at $40 for my newest possession!

(Thanks to my son for being young enough to get a copy - kid's finally pulling his weight!). We tried to also get a Matt Kemp, but it was stuck under an umbrella-ella-ella.

For a boy who's not even been around 800 days, DD II is really into his baseball. It's a word he says about 100 times a day, and on Thursday he constantly cheered "Go Go Mets," "David Wright," and the occasional "Baba Booey."

It's been fun watching my little man turn into a complete baseball addict. His favorite book ever? A tie between "Let's Go Dodgers," "Let's Go Mets" and...

Sharing a hot dog, screaming out together at bad calls, rocking out to the seventh inning stretch - I think I finally get all those Crosby, Stills and Nash songs.

Enough with the Toy Story 3-inspired whimsy. Back to the "game." Perhaps even more perplexing than the Mets lack of run support was the polarizing behavior of the Stadium staff. The man at the ticket booth gave us two field seats for well under face, right next to the Mets perpetually tired bullpen. What a mensch!

Later on, while we stood next to the bullpen so my son can learn about ELMER DESSENS, I got yelled at by an usher to sit down. Despite the fact that ZERO people were behind me. Literally, the last ten rows were completely empty. When I tried to plead my case, the usher was having none of it. Forcing me to jokingly rat on a five year old who ran over to look at the bullpen. Joke was on me - the usher instantly made that kid sit down too. And the poor child glared at me with a "Why Me" look?

Friday and Saturday - Only one place on Earth makes me feel like Leo DiCaprio and Wilt Chamberlain rolled up in one. Comic-Con! The highlights - Flynn's Arcade from Tron...

... and continuing my photo collection of "Hanging with Stormtroopers."

Sunday - Viva Los Dodgers day. Which apparently means NOTHING. No special announcements. No giveaways. In fact, they even closed Comacho's Taco shack, which just felt like a slap on Viva day. At least Anson Williams was there, to provide solace with the world's fastest, least adventurous performances of the Star Spangled Banner and G-d Bless America.

Another day, another lack of Mets run support. At least this time, my wife and some other Mets sympathizers were there. Meaning I could drink some beer. Things were looking up, until I tried to get ketchup on my hot dog...

Oh, the humanity. Things took an even darker turner when I watched as the seventh inning ended while I was but one spot away from getting more beer. They wouldn't even sell me Dipping Dots! Meaning I had to watch the Mets blow another one without even the smallest of buzz to take the edge off.

At least long-time SoSG reader "Todd" had his nutritional needs met.

Photo courtesy of Todd. Sort of. I took it off his Facebook.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend of time spent with my favorite little man and hanging with the other DD crowd (Dungeons and Dragons).

Though I'm worried that my son's beginning to test his old man. Today at school, one of the hooligan kids kept saying "Go Dodgers." And now, that's all I'm hearing from him.

Which I suppose is fine - next to the Mets, they're my guys! Just have to teach him that if Grandma DeShields, born in Brooklyn, suspects his shifting allegiances, she might knock a zero off his birthday check.

Dodgers Gain Clark; Trade Dessens; Lose Repko for Season

The Elmer Dessens era is over, as Dessens was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Brady Clark and $2.1M.

Clark gives the Dodgers a replacement for Jason Repko, whose severely injured left hamstring is expected to keep him sidelined for several months. Repko was the only right-handed hitting outfielder set to make the team because the Dodgers want power-hitting prospect Matt Kemp to play every day at triple A.

Clark, 33, batted .263 with four home runs and three stolen bases in 138 games last season. His best year came in 2005 when he batted .306 with 13 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 599 at-bats. "It gives us a very capable player who plays hard, plays all three outfield spots and is a baseball player," said General Manager Ned Colletti said, who added that his scouts say Clark "does a lot of things major league average. He's an average hitter."

Not exactly the rousing endorsement from Neddie ("we're trading to get Mr. Average"). But given the news on Repko, we were kinda stuck:

Repko has two torn tendons in his hamstring close to the pelvis and will be sidelined for at least five months. Dr. Neal El Attrache will perform surgery Wednesday in L.A. to reattach the tendons.

"The prognosis is good, the time frame is bad," Conte said. "This requires the tendon to be regrown back on the bone. So essentially, he will miss the season."

Conte said the injury is rare in baseball but fairly common in football. It occurred while Repko was running for a fly ball in a game Thursday. The hamstring gave out when he stepped from the grass to the warning track.

Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that Dr. Attrache will be doing the reattach? Pretty ironic anagrams. Next they'll be telling me that Stan Conte Can't Stone, or that Nomar Garciaparra has No Air, A Rag Arm, Crap.

Dodgers Trying to Make Room for Seanez

...which shouldn't be as difficult as making room for, say Olmedo Saenz. But it could mean bad news for Elmer Dessens fans (both of them), according to the LA Daily News (and SI.com's Truth and Rumors column):

The Dodgers are trying hard to move reliever Elmer Dessens, an industry source said Sunday, and it isn't because they hope to get much in return. Apparently, club officials want to create a roster spot for veteran Rudy Seanez.