Dodgers Diaries

Let me get this part out of the way first: I love the acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez, a San Diego native who will energize the Latino fan base in Los Angeles. His three-run homer in his first at-bat yesterday is the first of many dividends he will provide. And his defense may be superior to the offensively disappointing James Loney, who went to Boston in this deal.

Let’s just hope somebody can figure out a better nickname for him than A-Gon. Because it has the word “gone” in it, using the first-initial, first syllable of last name nickname structure isn’t quite as lame as it is for A-Rod (M-Teja anyone? S-Vict? A-Eth? A-Puj? M-Hol?

But I hate the other parts of this puzzle. Josh Beckett seems like a malcontent whose best days are behind him. I loved the Hanley Ramirez deal, even though he seemed like a malcontent, too. But Hanley is only 28. Beckett is 32. Big difference there.

Carl Crawford has an albatross of a contract for a player who has never played up to his potential. His ability to steal bases appealed to people who don't understand OPS, but even those days were three years ago. He has stolen just 23 bases in the past two years, and hit just nine triples. His return from Tommy John surgery (for an outfielder!) is another nine months away. As he has gotten older (he just turned 31), he has become injury prone. Nick Punto? The Dodgers already have a third baseman who can’t hit his weight?

I also don't like giving up Allen Webster and Robby de La Rosa, two of the Dodgers top pitching prospects. De La Rosa may not become Pedro Martinez, as some have suggested, but I do believe he would have been the #3 starter in the Dodgers’ rotation in 2013. Not bad when your No. 1 is Clayton Kershaw and your No. 2 is a guy who won six straight starts before hitting the DL.

More than the players involved in the trade, however, I don’t like the economics. Taking on an additional $250+ million in salary for one All-Star and three spare parts is lunacy. It turns the Dodgers into the west coast version of the Yankees, a team that spends its way to success rather than building from within.

I tired of the Yankee way just as I was leaving New York. Bringing in hired guns like A-Rod and Clemens and Teixeira undoubtedly created a team that made the postseason almost every year. But they became a team that was hard to root for, because they were expected to win every game. When they lost, it was almost a personal affront to the fans.

The high payroll also turned Yankee Stadium into a cathedral for the rich. Economists say high player salaries don’t translate into high ticket prices. But I’m wary. The joy of Dodger Stadium is that it’s affordable and timeless in its beauty. Turning it into New Yankee Stadium would make it less appealing to me.

Experts also say the expected TV deal will make a quarter of a billion dollars look like chump change. Again, I’m suspicious. If the Dodgers have this kind of money to waste, they didn’t need to keep Juan Uribe and his piddling $8 million contract on the bench. I worry that a year from now, when Beckett and Crawford are both sucking, management will be just as reluctant to eat those contracts. The only problem is Crawford is signed through 2017. It’s as though, having finally shed the onerous contracts of Juan Pierre and Manny Ramirez (they’re still paying Andruw Jones, if you can believe it!) they decided to take on an even bigger financial headache.

If Crawford stands in the way of the Dodgers playing a better option, be it Yasiel Puig or whoever, this trade will continue to plague them for years down the road.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL

The season is now just three games long. Three games for the Dodgers to determine whether they are in the race or not. Three games for them to decide whether Manny Ramirez is worth holding onto for five more weeks.

Judging by the fact that Manny hasn’t started the past three days and is not in the starting lineup Sunday, that decision has already been made. Manny is as good as gone. They’re being extra cautious with him, assuring he won’t get injured before a trade can be consummated.

So why go on with the charade that they’re actually in a pennant race? Why not make it official and unload Hiroki Kuroda to the Yankees at the same time? Vicente Padilla’s on the DL, otherwise he’d be another fire sale candidate. Might as well showcase Ted Lilly one last time and include him in a deal. He’s been great as a Dodger, and I hope he signs here in the offseason, but unless he can also play left field and OPS .900, he’s not going to do it alone. Lilly is in fact a terrible hitter, even as pitchers go.

It pains me to see three outfielders wearing White Sox pinstripes while still collecting deferred money from Los Angeles (Manny, Fat Andruw Jones and Slappy Pierre). Only a three-game winning streak can stop that from happening.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL

Joe Torre was in Santa Monica on Wednesday at the Milken Institute to promote his Safe At Home Foundation against domestic violence. I figured somebody would start the questioning with a token inquiry about domestic violence, but, no, questioner No. 1 went straight to the matter of the day: Steroids in baseball. Torre seemed to expect the question and had a response that will make no headlines.

“Gaining the public’s trust is critical,” he said. “I’m not sure why it took so long [for Mark McGwire’s confession] to come out. I wish he would have just said ’I took this’ and ‘I took that’ instead of insinuating he could have hit a lot of homers without [steroids].

“The only way for baseball to get through this is to listen to all of the apologies. It’s something we’re going to have to live with. The McGwire apology was one step in turning over all the stones.“

Torre also had nicer words than one might have expected for L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers and for tubby center fielder Andruw Jones. “Simers can be cruel, but it’s nothing personal. I like the guy,” Torre said.

Of Jones, he said, “Andruw was a good guy. He should have been in better shape, but he was a good guy.” Jones’s fate with the Dodgers was sealed, Torre said, when he tried to tell Simers that not hitting didn’t bother him.

And of course the evening wouldn’t end without a Manny Ramirez reference. Torre said he does not have any preconceptions about where a batter should hit in the lineup because of the salary he earns. (“Although I took a lot of guff for batting A-Rod eighth a few years ago,” he conceded). He defended Ramirez’s poor second half by saying Manny didn’t have any spring training and he had lost his balance.

“He was shy on the ball inside and he was very uncomfortable," Torre said. "Manny wasn’t himself when he came back. He was a mess. He was a good guy, he was the same with everyone, and he always did his work.”

As to what kind of player Torre thinks Ramirez will be post-steroids, he set the expectations bar at rather pedestrian levels. “We’ll have to wait and see this spring what kind of player we’re getting.”

To join the fight against domestic violence, go to JoeTorre.org or call 877-878-4JOE.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL

Do the Dodgers hold stock in Southwest Airlines? How else to explain the roster moves they made yesterday.

The team called up catcher A.J. Ellis and 31-year-old rookie Mitch Jones, a favorite of those who love to see Crash Davis types finally get their big break. To make room for the two newbies, Blake DeWitt and Jamie Hoffmann were returned to Albuquerque.

Ellis had one cup of coffee with the big league team May 29-31 but did not appear in a game. He’s not likely to see much action this time either. Russell Martin hates to sit, and Brad Ausmus has been fine as his once-a-week replacement. Ellis bats right-handed, so he’s not even likely to be a bat off the bench.

Jones, like the man he replaces in Hoffmann, is also a right-handed batter. Unlike Hoffmann, he’s a poor defender. The move effectively leaves the Dodgers without a fourth outfielder. Hoffmann started his major league career with a bang, hitting a homer in his third at-bat against the Angels. He got one more start after that, and then went 1-for-7 in pinch-hitting appearances. To my mind, his .182 average reflected a lack of regular use more than any slump.

DeWitt, meanwhile, has hit .158 in two stints with the Dodgers this year. He has to be wondering what the Dodgers’ plans are for him long-term. Originally slated as the second baseman, he returned to the minors to get regular playing time when Orlando Hudson signed as a free agent. But DeWitt stayed in the majors through April, getting all of 17 at-bats. He shuttled back to Albuquerque in May before getting a second call-up June 8. He appeared in three games, walking once in three plate appearances.

I wasn’t the only one who had hoped DeWitt might get a little more playing time during interleague, allowing Joe Torre to rest Hudson and/or Casey Blake at DH. With six more games to be played in AL parks over the next 10 days, the move is even more perplexing.

I can only guess that the Jones move is symbolic, an effort to get the career minor leaguer a few days of major league service so that he qualifies for a membership in the players union (and all its attendant benefits). I look for Xavier Paul to return to the roster when the Dodgers travel to Anaheim on Friday. --- John Rosenthal.