Welcome Back! Another Year Promising More Disappointment

Welcome to 2009, everyone. This is my first blog of the new year and I have a lot to say, but first, let's focus on the evil McCourts and what the Dodgers didn't do during the offseason.

While at the gym yesterday, I ran into an ex-Dodger pitcher who was traded mid-season and who now happily plays for another organization. No doubt his career will blossom. We talked about the Dodgers and he spoke candidly to me, agreeing with most of my sentiments: That the Dodger brass are quietly referring to this as a "throw away" season. That Frank McCourt doesn't care about putting a championship caliber team on the field so long as he gets his 3.5 million fans a year. That Matt Kemp is not only a dumb ballplayer, but he is both arrogant and difficult and should have been packaged in a trade for Jake Peavy. That Andruw Jones is done and doesn't care anymore and that both were obvious to everyone but Ned Colletti from Day 1 of Spring Training last season. That a lot of guys just really don't care as long as they're getting their paychecks. That Russell Martin is a great competitor and a great guy but needs to stop trying to hit home runs every time he comes to the plate, needs to focus more behind the dish and needs to rest more. That Blake DeWitt is already one of the smartest ballplayers in the game and is going to be an excellent player, and is a humble, great guy. That James Loney is quiet and shy but is hanging out too much with Matt Kemp and is losing focus. He disagreed with me, however, that the Dodgers should sign Manny. He feels that once Manny has a contract, he'll pull the same BS he pulled in Boston. I believe that if the Dodgers don't sign Manny, their season is over before it begins. I appreciate that they're standing up to the evil Scott Boras, but they owe the fans a winner and should be willing to pay the price. Let's say they gave Manny a four year deal. If two of those years were great and they won it all in just one of those years and if he tanked it the the other two years, the fans would still be tickled pink. The Red Sox fans hate Manny now, but you think one of them isn't glad they had him in '04 and '07? We deserve a winner. These are the Dodgers, for freak's sake. It's been 21 years.

I also believe that if they have no plans to go after a front line starter after losing Lowe, (The oft injured Ben Sheets is still availabe, and there's still a possible deal out there for Peavy. They've shown interest in Garland, Looper, Wolfe and Pettite, none of whom are even close to being front line starters) they have absolutely no chance of competing with the pitching staff in San Francisco.

Can't help noticing we don't hear about the "promising youth" on the club anymore. That's because we now have a better idea of the kind of players that Ethier, Kemp, Martin, Loney et al, will become. Solid ballplayers all, but not a superstar in the bunch. You simply can't win without one or two impact guys like Manny or Ryan Howard or Evan Longoria.

Watched "The Dodger Championship Years" on the new MLB Network and was almost moved to tears. It's been so long. It's more than apparent that Frank and Jaimie McCourt simply don't care about restoring the Dodger reputation as one of the great teams in baseball. Their preoccupation with the bottom line is abundantly clear to any fan with a brain. They just don't want to spend the money. One might badmouth the Yankees for their enormous payrolls and desperate obsession with winning, but at least their eccentric ownership feels an obligation to their 3 million plus fans who show up every year. McCourt didn't even make an attempt to sign Sabathia (who wanted to be a Dodger) or Burnett. If all the McCourts care about is the Dodger Stadium "experience" then they should own a theme park. After all, watching Matt Kemp run the bases is like watching Snoopy on Ice. The charity smokescreen means rather little to the true fan and Jaimie should've been run out of town for her comment about "the fields." It's a shame the McCourts seem so happy with themselves and with LA. I was kind of hoping they would sell the team to someone who actually knows that a Major League owner can't expect to turn a profit every year. I was kind of hoping they would sell the team to someone who cares. In the end, I rest the blame on Bud Selig. He should never have approved the sale of the Dodgers to the McCourts who's clearly can't afford to own a large market team like the Dodgers and maintain their integrity.