Dodgers Offseason: The Final Stretch Begins

It's a new year, and we all know what that means. Spring Training is just 60 days away from today. The good news is Ned Colletti still has plenty of time to fill the remaining holes. The bargains will start emerging during the next 60 days, and this is exactly what Colletti is banking on. Last year he got several free agent bargains before the start of the year, and they paid off heavily. Colletti will be looking to repeat his good fortune of 2009 in 2010, time will soon tell.

Before the Dodgers arrive to Spring Training there are some obstacles the front office will have to deal with.

• The Dodgers are rumored to have a $100M payroll to work with. Even at $90M this is more than doable.
• The economy is still in a flux, and the Dodgers will have to be creative is stretching their dollars.
• Frank McCourt will have to deal with his divorce both personally and professionally. Frank is a businessman first and foremost, and he will handle this divorce accordingly.

Alright we all know the hurdles Ned Colletti and the Dodgers front office have been dealing with this winter. Let's face it, it is what it is, and it's time to stop blaming everything on Frank McCourt and his divorce. Frank wants to be successful both personally and professionally. With the divorce looming over him daily, now more than ever he wants to win a World Series. Sure his divorce has some affect on the offseason dealings, but let's be serious, you gotta know the hand you are dealt before you play the game. Right? Sure I was bummed we didn't offer arbitration to Wolf and Hudson, but looking back I can't really blame 'em. It was a gamble, and despite what little chance of accepting existed, it did exist. This risk that existed could have been disastrous to the 2010 payroll.

For those of you who are worried or think Frank McCourt is going to throw the Dodgers in the garbage, now would be a good time to take a chill pill. The Dodgers are more active in the front office than they have been in the last five years I have been following this stuff. Don't get crazy, everything will be just fine. Sure even I get frustrated at times, especially with the lack of baseball knowledge McCourt and Mannion have. But as long as people like Ned Colletti, Logan White, Kim Ng, Joe Torre, and let us not forget Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers will be fine when it comes to operations and personnel decisions. Why do you think the Dodgers keep Tommy around? Tommy knows what it takes to win, and not many know baseball better than Tommy.

Now as far as the lack of big free agent signings go, all of you need to let it go. The Dodgers are learning from their mistakes, and with the trade of Pierre behind us, the Dodgers can finally move on. The Dodgers have finally got rid of all the bad contracts that have haunted them over the last few years, at least on the forefront. The bad news is the Dodgers have a lot of deferred money to deal with for the next several years. Andruw Jones($16M over 5 years), Manny Ramirez($30M over 4 years), and Juan Pierre's ($10.5M over 2 years) deferred salary total up to the tune of $56.5 million dollars. That is a lot of money tied up to players who won't even be on the team. Yet you all still wonder why the Dodgers are looking to sign free agents to big contracts. The Dodgers haven't done well in this department, and they are headed in a new direction. The Dodgers will be better in 2010 than 2009, mark my words. The Dodgers got to the NLCS with a $100M payroll, there is no reason to think they won't do it again.