Dear Andre, We're Officially Gay for You

For a guy that pretty much gets worked in every trade he makes, Ned Colletti still gets a pass for the one deal in which he clearly won. Ned we forgive you for Lance Carter, Danys Baez and Julio Lugo. Well, not really. Those trades were colossally dopey, even for Ned. The fact that the Dodgers were able to get anything for Milton Bradley when the whole world knew he had to go is amazing. But Andre Ethier? He was a known commodity, an outfielder with tremendous upside.

Manny Ramirez is arguably the best right-handed hitter of his generation, and Matt Kemp is one of the most talented players to don the blue in recent memory. But there's something about Ethier. Those other guys are so good that they make it seem too easy. Ethier gives off the vibe that he is getting everything out of his ability. Maybe its the streakiness, the slumps? Do his struggles make his successes that much more savory? We don't like to get all "heart and soul" with it, but with apologies to all you Russell Martin fans - Ethier is it. Don't give us the numbers. We'll do it like Plaschke, with our eyes and superior reasoning. Ladies and gentlemen (ladies?) your 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers MVP, Andre Ethier.

How About Pierre for Pujols?

Bill Shaikin's proposed trade for Roy Halladay is doubtlessly a pipe dream, although we'd pull the trigger in a heart beat (heartbeat?). What's interesting here is that someone in the Los Angeles media will actually broach the topic of trading Russell Martin. We all know how those dudes at the LA Times get all misty eyed when it comes to heart-and-soul, dick-in-the-dirt types of guys like Martin. Bill Plaschke still gets all weepy when the ghost of Paul LoDuca haunts his column. After all, how dumb was it to trade a decent catcher due a big payday and a statistical decline for a front of the rotation starting pitcher? How soon we forget, LoDuca hustled!

So here the Dodgers sit wondering what it would take to make a serious run at Roy Halladay. The name Clayton Kershaw gets bandied about often, probably by J.P. Ricciardi. But trading your second best starter for your first best starter seems like a weak net result when the bottom line is a World Series. And let's be clear, the Dodgers don't have a GM with the sack to do a big deal like this. This package might not get you a Halladay, but would it get you Jake Peavy? It definitely won't get you Cliff Lee. The Indians are pretty stocked at catcher (thanks in part to our boy Ned.) All this trade discussion is pointless anyway. We'll sum it up with this: if a starting pitcher could be had for the scant price of a league average catcher, you do it. Even if he hustles.

Ned Colletti Thinks it's 1996

Not content to let those chardonnay sipping elitists in Frisco monopolize every past-his-prime-never-was ballplayer in the NL West, our boy Ned is reportedly interested in Omar Vizquel as a fallback option at shortstop.

For the Dodgers? The Los Angeles Dodgers? In 2009? Not Omar Vizquel Jr., but the actual Omar Vizquel? We're talking about the older gentleman that used to be a major league shortstop? Did he learn how to throw the knuckleball?

From Tony Jackson:

He clearly would be nothing more than a fallback plan if the club doesn't sign Rafael Furcal, he'll turn 42 in April, and he hasn't hit better than .250 in three years. But he IS an 11-time Gold Glove winner and would be another excellent addition to the clubhouse. He also would shore up the SS position for a year until Ivan De Jesus is ready, although he wouldn't come close to providing the offense Furcal did.

Clearly.

Vizquel had outgrown his usefulness the first time Ned signed him - in 2005. On what planet is Omar Vizquel a more appealing "fallback" than Chin-Lung Hu?

Even Sabean has to be laughing at this one.

Update

Diamond Leung says no:

Colletti indicated the team wasn't looking at free-agent shortstop Omar Vizquel as an option.

Damn. So close.

Update

Tony Jackson got some bad info:

By the way, I got bad info earlier. The Dodgers are NOT interested in Omar Vizquel.

So much bullshit comes out of those meetings, still it's something one easily could see Ned doing.

How Very Brian Sabean of You

Thankfully Brian Sabean is around to keep Ned from going all Brian Sabean and making deals like this. Yeah it's short on years, but Renteria is short on effort and ability. While he was a beast back in the day, that was back in the day.

For what it's worth Keith Law likes this deal and seems to think it shows a new side of Brian Sabean. Seems like the same guy that gave all that money to Omar Vizquel.

Meet the new boss, same as the...you get it.