Dodgers Diaries

Juan Uribe has apparently spent some of the $21 million the Dodgers lavished upon him two winters ago to purchase the naked pictures of Ned Colletti previously held by Mark Sweeney and Garret Anderson. How else to explain Uribe’s continued presence on the 2012 Dodgers?

One had to assume the rotund infielder’s days were numbered at the All-Star break, when his batting average fell below the Mendoza line. Or two weeks later, when the Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramirez to play the two positions for which Uribe is marginally qualified.

Or yesterday, when the Dodgers needed to clear space to bring back the slightly less disappointing infielder Adam Kennedy. Yet somehow, Uribe managed to upend the grim reaper’s chess board, as Jerry Sands was sent back to Albuquerque just four days after being recalled.

What the hell was that all about? You bring a guy up for four days? Did somebody need frequent flyer miles?

So Uribe continues to provide veteran leadership in the locker room, while playing just five innings since Ramirez’s arrival. In essence, the Dodgers are playing a man short because they’re unwilling to eat the approximately $10 million Uribe is still owed through the end of 2013.

If they really didn’t mind going with a 24-man roster, couldn’t the Dodgers at least let Matt Treanor go to London to watch his wife win an Olympic gold medal?

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL