I do hope they re-sign Russ, he is a risk but the upside is he is far better than any of the other options. I do think Ellis will make a fine, and cheap, backup backstop next year who can spell Martin twice a week. Hopefully an incentives deal is on its way...

Memorable indeed. Saw Persona in a film class and remember being both chilled by it and couldn't shake it either. Btw, great parody of Bergman on MST3K that I posted here some time ago: http://underdog.typepad.com/wandering_outloud_/2009/11/mst3k-bergman-satire-two-men-stood-alone-on-a-pier.html

And I'll be right there, also muttering about Tilda Swinton's absence from the otherwise fairly weak roster of lead actress nominees. And other fun thoughts! =CP=

I believe by "you" you're referring to James Schamus? And not me, the owner of this blog. Just so we're clear. Sorry to hear about the theft of your footage. CP

Did it bug you that even though it's set in NorCal (like the book), he shot it in like the Midwest and South? Presumably because it was cheaper, of course, but still, that kind of bugs me (admittedly I haven't seen it yet)... Yep, Michigan looks just like Berkeley!

"our offence has gotten alot better while the Dodgers' is sinking" How is the Dodgers offense sinking exactly? What has changed since last season other than 2nd base? (Which I admit is a question mark but if DeWitt actually plays up to his potential there may be hardly any drop off there at all.) Personally I'd pick the Rockies 1st in the division as it stands, but I still think Dodgers are better than AZ or SF and comments like the above which aren't actually fact-based don't really change my mind.

Giants fans should really abstain from posting here. ;-) But I appreciate the discussion here otherwise. The Dodgers have a ton of pitching talent coming up through the minors over the next 2-3 years. Not as deep in position talent. But for pitching the bad thing is most of those players are another year away at lesat. That said, I think people are making a bigger deal out of their "losses" this offseason. While it was an idiotic mistake by their front office to not offer arbitration to at least Wolf, losing he and Hudson is not the tragedy some seem to make it out to. Both were important to LA earlier in the season but neither contributed much during late season run. Wolf also is too risky and average to offer long term contract to. Meanwhile they have guys like Elbert, McDonald, Withrow, Ethan Martin, Miller, Lindblom, Webster, Gould, Kenley Jansen and more, coming up through the pitching ranks. Despite what I said above at least two of those guys if not more could be of use this year. Sign one more veteran pitcher and they have a pretty good rotation, to add to a starting line-up that got them to the NLCS last year and is virtually unchanged. It's a winnable division for any team other than San Diego and the Dodgers have won it two years in a row without really taking the step back some here seem to think they have. The ownership is a mess right now; the team itself, not so much.

"The Dodgers may just finish 3rd in the West this year." No offense but... what? While Pierre did contribute to LA's season last year, at least, over the past two years he was hardly the reason they made the NLCS. I don't understand some of the comments here. He was a highly paid 4TH OUTFIELDER on the Dodgers, a team that clearly needs salary relief. The White Sox got a useful guy no doubt and I wish him the best, but they also did the Dodgers a MAJOR favor by eating a lot of that salary. Now they can actually afford to sign someone who fills an area of need, and/or use it for new contracts for some of the arb eligible younger players. Whoever the minor league players TBD are doesn't even matter that much, it's a bonus. The salary relief is huge right now.

The Dodgers could be called a "loser" because of their Wolf mistake (no arbitration) but other than that I wouldn't call them that just because they didn't make some stupid signing. I'd rather them sign no one this week than make a Jason Schmidt type mistake. Most of the available pitchers right now have question marks, and there's not much of value offered in trade, either. Winter meetings are the start, as last season indicated things can happen right up into February. I'd give them an incomplete, as I would a lot of other teams.

"Here's what we learned yesterday: the Angels could be a fit; the Dodgers don't appear to match up well with the Jays and the Rays checked in on the big righty." Hah, you could also have written "Here's what we learned [fill in the blank: June/July/August/etc]" ;-) I feel like we all get stuck in neutral, or get "deja vu all over again" when it comes to Halladay rumors.

I can understand why my fellow Dodger fans might react the way some have at reports like this, given the situation right now with ownership, but have to laugh a bit too. A veteran pitcher may get signed to a MINOR LEAGUE contract. It happens every year. One or two of them sometimes even work out, come up to the big league club and contribute. Many more fade away because they stink. This hardly seems like something to freak out about, but if it makes people feel better... ;-)

Fananfanaboo-bauskas?

John, sorry, you took me too literally, not Penny's shoulder right now per se, just that he's generally been sucky for several years off and on. I will say in defense of the signing that, as I said before he should be better than he was in the AL and he's had good success vs. the Rockies in the past so in that sense it seems worth a shot. Still, I'm just fine seeing him in a Giants uniform. Bowa's not the only one in LA who was happy to see him go. He could give a crap about the team when he was rehabbing, and had multiple issues come up. Bowa's a hothead no doubt but that doesn't mean his comments had no merit. He didn't exactly get the red carpet rolled out for him when he left Boston, either. Doesn't mean it's a bad signing for the Giants, again, worth a shot, but I wonder if it's really Penny's bat they wanted. ;-) Btw, anyone trying to get under my skin by mocking the Jason Schmidt signing is barking up the wrong tree. I thought that was a bad signing from the beginning and it certainly proved to be a waste of money (Schmidt at least tried multiple times to come back, no knock on him but the signing was bad from the beginning). But... who cares?

As a Dodger fan, I approve this trade. (I do expect him to be better in the NL again, but he's essentially been horrible for almost two years.) I don't care if he has a chip on his shoulder; I just care that he keeps pitching like he has chips IN his shoulder.

Ah hah. So basically Rosenthal prints any garbagey rumor, makes it sound like a done deal, and then later gets more ink for saying it's bogus and acting like it's someone else's fault for spreading false rumors. As Bugs Bunny would say, what a maroon.

If the Dodgers trade Clayton Kershaw for whoever, then THEY are the ones getting raped. You have to be kidding me Rosenthal. He's 21 and has basically been the best pitcher in baseball over the past 1.5 months. Either Rosenthal's wrong or I'm heading over to Colletti's office to set fire to it. Why create a big hole to fill it? If it's Loney and McDonald and another top prospect that makes more sense. Otherwise this rumor is total garbage.

Kershaw is considered untouchable by LA, as he should be. He's 21 -- and look at his peripherals for a guy that age. He's no more likely to be moved than is Tim Lincecum, and neither is Billingsley. Plus, why trade a top starter for another starter, create another hole to fill a hole? Makes zero sense. They are more likely to trade for a reliever, that makes more sense. I only hope it's not "give us your best prospects for a reliever" kinda nonsense. Jason Frasor would fit. For a starter, they will probably first try Jason Schmidt, as soon as next week, just to give him a whirl finally.

nerbster, thanks for info re Downs. It's probably true the Jays don't want to trade him, or that they would ask for too much. But I do know the Dodgers are interested in him at least, fwiw. And this was posted in the Toronto paper yesterday: "Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs has attracted the attention of several major-league teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were interested before closer Jonathan Broxton damaged a nerve in his big toe. The Dodgers double-teamed the Blue Jays weekend series in Baltimore and have double-teamed recent starts by Halladay."