[h1]Latest buzz from MLB's GM meetings[/h1] [h4]Dodgers called "a mess" by rival GM - 8 p.m.[/h4]
The Divorce Court Dodgers, in the words of one rival general manager, are "a mess."
The team's payroll, direction, future ... unknown.
[table][tr][td][/td] [/tr][tr][td]Frank and Jamie better figure it out for the Dodgers' sake. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)[/td] [/tr][/table]
The divorce proceedings between owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie are almost certain to affect the way the Dodgers operate.
Then again, general manager Ned Colletti is accustomed to working under unique financial restrictions.
Colletti faces two major issues this offseason:
- Three of his starting pitchers - Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland - are free agents.
- Nine Dodgers are eligible for salary arbitration, including many of the team's young, core players.
At the moment, Colletti only can make cash-neutral trades, according to major-league sources.
Like most executives, he is no rush to act quickly in an uncertain economic landscape. And he clearly is capable of great patience; he waited until March last off-season to re-sign free-agent outfielder Manny Ramirez.
Colletti said he would like to add at least one starting pitcher, "but the free-agent market doesn't do a lot for me, certainly not at the top."
He also rose to the defense of right-hander Chad Billingsley, saying, "We haven't given up hope that he will be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. And (Clayton) Kershaw is right with him, in some ways ahead of him."
Billingsley is one of the Dodgers' arbitration-eligible players, along with closer Jonathon Broxton and outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.
The rest of the group includes catcher Russell Martin, first baseman James Loney, outfielder Jason Repko and left-handed relievers Hong-Chih Kuo and George Sherrill.
"We're not going to move any of 'em just to move 'em," Colletti said. "But if you end up getting in situations where the talent doesn't equal the value of the contract, it becomes just like everything else."
A situation in which hard decisions must be made.
WEDNESDAY, 9:38am: FOX's guys continue to work this story, stating that the Dodgers "have some interest" in bringing Jackson back to the organization. The writers add that the teams have not discussed a Jackson-George Sherrill swap, though the Tigers liked Sherrill at the trade deadline.
That would make too much sense.
wait what?
Jackson was pitching horribly.
