Hot Corner Hotline?

Meetings postponed til tomorrow. Great. That gives me time to get my old restaurant resume in order and start pounding the pavement for a job waiting tables. Haven’t done it in 15 years, but this whole working for free thing is getting expensive. Also gives me time to ponder the weekend series with the rival DBacks. I was wrong about one thing and one thing only. The Dodgers didn’t lose the series like I thought they would. Yes, Brandon Webb shut them down, but the other Brandon was awful. It was nice to see that LA Times Dodger beat writer is reading my blog. It was even nicer to see that, perhaps Matt Kemp is reading my blog. More likely, someone – hopefully everyone – got in his face after his putrid at bat to end Saturday’s affair. Maybe the team pretended they were taking him to a party or to dinner and, instead, fooled him into attending an intervention. Whatever it was, it worked. He pulled a Costanza. His at bat in the 9th yesterday was the complete opposite of every instinct he's ever had. He was patient, composed, and calculating. He went up there with a plan and the plan worked. Eight pitches and a game-tying double. Can’t get much better than that. Now, can he be consistent in that approach? Could be the difference between him staying and going.

Now the Dodgers, still a pitiful 2 games below the .500 mark, are back in a flat footed tie for first place with the Snakes. The DBacks host the tough Cubbies while the Dodgers go to Denver to face the Rockies, who are sort of en fuego. They’ve won 4 or 5 in a row and, suddenly, Holliday, Atkins and Hawpe are all doing their thing at the same time. Not only that, Troy Tulowitsky comes back tonight. That could spell trouble for the Blue. They just beat a cold team in Phoenix 2 out of 3. Can they beat a hot team at home a mile high up? Especially with Stults, Jason Johnson??? and Kuroda? Don’t look now, but here come the NL defending champion Rockies. They’re a mere 6 games out of first and 14 games under .500. Not good. But, in that division, not horrific either. If they take 2 out of 3 in this series against the Dodgers, I think you can say goodbye to any possibility of trading Holliday or any of their stars. Which is just fine, because whoever were to get Holliday would only be renting him for a season and a half. His agent, the evil Scot Boras, will make sure he doesn’t sign a contract extension so that he may test the free agent market after the 2009 season.

I was also glad to see Colletti didn’t pull the trigger on any deal involving A’s shortstop, Bobby Crosby or Mariner’s third baseman, Adrian Beltre. The oft injured Crosby is a decent shortstop with some power, but he’s not much better an option than Nomar over there. He’s currently hitting .255 with a few homers. Even if you moved Nomar to 3rd and played Crosby at short, the Dodgers wouldn’t really be gaining that much to justify parting with anyone valuable. Crosby has never developed into the impact player Billy Beane and the A’s were hoping he’d become. As far as Beltre, he had that one amazing year for the Dodgers before Scott Boras took him away and he’s been the encyclopedic definition of mediocrity ever since. Admittedly, he does have a little pop, but to expect him to come back to LA and suddenly revert to his 2004 form is a stretch. Again, not enough gain if you have to part with value. If indeed the Dodgers are looking to land a third baseman, good luck. Scott Rolen could help them if Toronto was willing, but he’s not exactly having a stellar year at the plate. If you could lure Edwin Encarnacion away from Cincy, you get a guy who’s got 17 homers, but who leads the league in errors with 19. Might be a possibility, however, because they need the bat. If you can somehow talk the Royals into letting you have Alex Gordon, the price would be high and the dividends at this early point in Gordon’s career not as immediate. Being in first place, the White Sox would be loathe to part with Joe Crede and forget about Brandon Inge from Detroit. Not enough payoff for too much of an asking price. The Rangers may be willing to part ways with Hank Blalock but he’s another injury guy who’s power numbers are down from where they were. Will Philly trade Greg Dobbs? Not sure. Could he even have an impact? Not sure. Other possibilities? Melvin Mora from Baltimore. He’s got a little pop, but he’s hitting .240. Oakland would love to get rid of Eric Chavez, but he’s the Jason Schmidt of 3rd basemen. Casey Blake from Cleveland? Makes sense on a lot of levels. Not a big power guy, but he’s hitting @ .280 with close to 60 RBIs. He has post season experience and his team is going nowhere fast. My vote? Let’s hope the Dodger sweep Colorado and talk them into giving us UCLA alum, Garret Atkins. If that doesn’t happen, let’s get Chipper Jones away from Atlanta. So what if he’s the most beloved player the Braves have had since Aaron, he’s been a mainstay there since ’94, he’s a surefire Hall of Famer, he’s in the middle of a career year and he reminds people of a sober, non-carousing Mickey Mantle. I’m sure Atlanta, only 6 1/2 games out of first in the East, would be more than happy to give him up.

Who would the Dodger part with at this point? Well, it depends on the needs of the team they're dealing with in a trade. Clayton Kershaw, once believed to be untouchable, may not be, depending on whom the Dodgers are trying to acquire. To me, Chad Billingsley and Russell Martin are the only 2 Dodgers I would absolutely NOT trade. Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Loney and Kershaw would all be extremely diffcult to part with. Like I said, depends on the guy or guys they'd be getting and the terms of his or their deal. In other words, it's not worth it to trade for Matt Holliday if you can only have him for a year and a half. However, it is worth it for Holliday if they can somehow get him to sign a contract extension.

The bottom line is, yes, the Dodgers, as constituted, have a chance to win the weak, weak, West. (I still think that as long as their staff is anchored by Webb and Haren, the Snakes have the edge) But do the Dodgers, as constituted, have a chance in hell of winning in October? The answer is no. Not one game. So, it begs the question, is Frank McCourt looking just to make the post season or is he looking to win a championship? The answer will come inside the next 10 days. (Hint: Pablo Ozuna is not the answer)