Who is Andrew Lambo? Only the Dodgers' top prospect, according to Baseball America (via Diamond Leung). Lambo hasn't made it past AA ball, but any minor leaguer who can handle the stick is always worth watching.
Would you like to know more? Prospect Profiles 2009: Andrew Lambo (Fire Ned Colletti Now)
photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
top photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
bottom photo by Chris Carlson/AP
top: AP photo
bottom photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
ON THE FIELD:
Cubs 5, Dodgers 3 (Dodgers.com)
OFF THE FIELD:
The latest Manny action via Diamond:
The Dodgers' meeting with Scott Boras lasted about 150 minutes and produced a two-year, $45 million offer with Manny Ramirez getting a player option for the second year at Boras' request, according to a baseball source. The deal would guarantee Ramirez $25 million in the first year, and he can either accept a $20 million salary in the second season or try to make more in free agency.
Tony Jackson adds:
If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed.
It seems this is the Dodgers' concession in avoiding a third year. $45 million guaranteed, with no Andruw Jones-type maneuvering.
Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown notes:
Boras did not immediately accept the offer, but a source said he delivered the offer to his client – a sign of progress because the first two offers were dismissed immediately by Boras.
But I think I speak of all the beat hacks -- and a lot of people inside the Dodgers organization -- when I say this Manny Ramirez issue needs closure. I'm guessing you, the fans, are getting pretty tired of it, too. We have been following this story almost daily since the end of last season, and really, nothing has changed. Until today, or the past few days, or whenever this all started to come together, nothing had really changed on either side in all that time. That having been said, I do think that if this deal gets done, the Dodgers have a chance to be really, really good....
Jackson talks about the possibility of the Dodgers acquiring "another frontline starting pitcher along the way"—might Roy Halladay become available?—but that's ages away. (The only one not holding his breath for the Dodgers to sign Manny? Juan Pierre.) But just because we're all getting tired of week after week of non-news doesn't mean Ned Colletti and Boras need to speed things along. Take your time, guys. Opening Day is more than a month away.
UPDATE:
From Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times:
Manny Ramirez's agent revealed early this morning that the All-Star outfielder hadn't accepted the offer made to him by the Dodgers on Wednesday, saying he remained "in the middle of negotiations" on behalf of the slugger.Scott Boras declined to discuss the Dodgers' latest proposal, which would pay Ramirez $25 million this season and $20 million in 2010 if his client picked up a player option, according to baseball sources familiar with the offer who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. But while issuing a "no comment," Boras indicated that Ramirez hadn't reached an agreement with the Dodgers and that there was at least one other team in talks with him.
That second team? We're not sure, but we're guessing it's the Worcester Tornadoes of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball.
Remember when these guys were rookies and we were drooling over the prospect of them developing and playing together? Well, it's happened. Hat tip to Ned Colletti for resisting the urge to trade them.
photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
Spring training has sprung! Dodgers.com has photos and video and Yahoo! Sports has photos. Tony Jackson and Diamond Leung have updates. The LA Times has a nifty travel guide to Camelback Ranch ("Swing fever: Dodgers make Phoenix home to spring training") and Dodgers.com has its own Camelback Ranch page. But Jackson comes up with the quote of the day:
Martin seemed noticeably more relaxed before, during and after the workout. When reporters asked him at one point what caused some slight discomfort he is feeling in his left foot - he underwent an MRI on Friday that came back negative - Martin joked that he might have hurt himself in the bedroom."Kama Sutra Position 68," he said.
Earlier: Namaste, Russell (SoSG)
(Thanks to DT poster underdog for the heads-up!)
Martin photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers
Schmidt: AP photo
Remember we told you the Dodgers are selling naming rights to parts of Dodger Stadium? Well, they're doing the same thing at Camelback Ranch in Arizona. Or at least trying to. Writes Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times:
The Dodgers and White Sox, who share the facility equally, were so excited about their new home's potential as a revenue producer that they ignored the proven spring training model of seeking local advertisers and instead focused their efforts on finding national sponsors.The concept -- called "The Starting 9" -- was designed to allow nine major sponsors paying $200,000 annually to secure the naming rights for different parts of the facility. [...]
So far, the sales force is 0 for nine in selling them.
Whoops. Hernandez also cites sluggish ticket sales in Arizona, as the economy seems to be affecting many aspects of spring training. So this story either goes away, or it becomes the first in a series about how the Dodgers, and baseball in general, are losing money this season.
And if the Dodgers fail to sign Manny Ramirez? Then expect the story to come from not only the media, but also from the Dodgers front office.
From dodgers.com, Dodgers give name to new spring site: Joint facility with White Sox will be called 'Camelback Ranch':
"The name 'Camelback Ranch' inspires the pioneering spirit of the Dodgers' original move west in 1958 and with our relocation this spring to Arizona, that move is now complete," Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt said in a statement issued by the team. "We believe this facility will be the best in all of Major League Baseball and will provide our team with an unparalleled place to prepare year-round for championship-caliber baseball." [...]
The 141-acre site is located on Camelback Road just west of the Loop 101. The $80 million baseball facility includes more than 118,000 square feet of Major and Minor League clubhouse space, 13 full baseball fields and three half-fields. The site will feature walking trails, landscaped grounds and an orange grove. There will also be two ponds and a fully stocked lake between the Dodgers and White Sox facilities. LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers and White Sox announced Thursday that their new joint venture Spring Training facility in Glendale, Ariz., will be called "Camelback Ranch."
Wow, "Camelback Road" begets "Camelback Ranch." Ingenious.
Maybe Camel cigarettes can sponsor an ad on the centerfield fence? Or there can be "Hump Day" promotions? Or we can field a slow-moving team (let's start by re-signing James Baldwin and Jason Phillips?
The possibilities are endless.
