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If you want to dive into some serious Dodger prospect details, you could do worse than Kevin Goldstein's new report at Baseball Prospectus or Brandon Lennox's ongoing countdown at True Blue L.A.
Been meaning to wonder aloud about Hong-Chih Kuo, who remains unsigned with February just around the corner. The Dodgers declined to offer salary arbitration to Kuo for obvious reasons following his massive struggles in 2011, but the memory of his 2010 dominance makes him a good guy to have at Spring Training on a low- or no-guarantee contract.
Can the seventh-best team in the National League in 2011 become the fifth-best team in 2012? Nothing's official yet, but Bud Selig thinks the expansion of MLB's playoffs to 10 teams could come this year, reports The Associated Press.
Potential ownership groups featuring Peter O'Malley, Magic Johnson, Joe Torre, Steve Cohen and Stanley Gold are among those whom Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com is reporting have gained first-round approval in the bidding for the Dodgers.
By offering big bucks up front and an opt-out clause after four years of a seven-year deal, the Dodgers were finalists in the bidding for Prince Fielder after all - and perhaps would have signed him if Detroit, reeling from the ACL injury to Victor Martinez, hadn't swooped in.
At lunch Wednesday with Dodger publications director Jorge Martin, we marveled with glee not only at Clayton Kershaw's magnificent 2011 season, but our inability, despite knowing all about how hard the job of pitching is, not to expect him to dominate every time out in 2012.
A bundle of clickable goodness today ... Andre Ethier had some interesting comments in an interview Tuesday with ESPN AM 710. ... Asked about wanting to be with the Dodgers long-term, Ethier said, "It comes down to the security part, too, but it also comes down to unfinished business and I feel like, yeah, I'm facing that decision now where hopefully it doesn't come down to me having to leave and [I can] be a part of this team when we start rebounding and getting back to where we need to be.
On the morning of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords' emotional resignation from the House, I checked in on the website in memory of Christina-Taylor Green, Dodger scout John Green's 9-year-old daughter who died in the mass shooting that severely wounded Giffords.
Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers are close to a contract - a nine-year, $214 million contract. That's a bigger deal than I expected Fielder to get, and I'm not surprised or particularly crushed that the Dodgers didn't top it.
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