SPORTS
February 12, 2013 | Dylan Hernandez
The most expensive team in baseball history will start to assemble Tuesday, when pitchers and catchers report to the Dodgers' Arizona spring-training complex. The Dodgers have a projected opening-day payroll of $230 million and a roster that includes a dozen former All-Stars. Several of these players were acquired in the middle of last season, which ended with a shocking collapse that left them eight games back of their division rival, the San Francisco Giants. General Manager Ned Colletti thinks that spending the spring together could allow these Dodgers to meet the incredibly high expectations of their ambitious and free-spending owners.
SPORTS
December 7, 2012 | Dylan Hernandez
The Dodgers left baseball's winter meetings Thursday without their top free-agent target. The upside: No other team signed pitcher Zack Greinke, either. And the field of suitors seems to have thinned. The Texas Rangers are the only other identified remaining bidder for the Cy Young Award-winning right-hander. The Angels and Washington Nationals were also interested in Greinke, but they turned to considerably less costly alternatives. The Dodgers may end up looking elsewhere too. While Greinke remains the Dodgers' top choice, General Manager Ned Colletti said his team wouldn't be left paralyzed waiting for him to make a decision.
SPORTS
December 5, 2012 | Dylan Hernandez
The Dodgers are prepared to start spring training with Hanley Ramirez as their starting shortstop. While they have maintained contact with Zack Greinke's agent and checked in with the New York Mets on the remote possibility of trading for R.A. Dickey at the winter meetings, they haven't pursued any shortstops. And they don't plan to this off-season, General Manager Ned Colletti said. Colletti and Manager Don Mattingly acknowledge that Ramirez has to play better defense than he did after he was acquired from the Miami Marlins in July.
SPORTS
August 29, 2012 | T.J. SIMERS
So much for our glory hounds winning best in show. Everyone goes bonkers after the trade with Boston, including Page 2, but it's pretty obvious now our Choking Dogs react better when tapped on the fanny with a newspaper. Yes sirree, a very peculiar thing has happened to our heroes as they make their way to the World Series. They suddenly stink. They appear lifeless and uninspired in three consecutive losses to the dead meat likes of the Marlins and Rockies, and how much more condemnation of their play can one make?
SPORTS
August 22, 2012 | Dylan Hernandez
The Dodgers placed waiver claims on Cliff Lee and Joe Blanton earlier this month. The Philadelphia Phillies let Blanton go, but not Lee. The Dodgers' 4-1 defeat to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night showed why. Blanton departed from the field to the collective boos of the 56,000 fans who were drawn to Dodger Stadium by a bobblehead promotion featuring Fernando Valenzuela. Blanton lost his third consecutive start and the Dodgers fell 11/2 games behind the first-place Giants in the National League West, as he was charged with four runs in 52/3 innings.
SPORTS
August 21, 2012 | Dylan Hernandez
The San Francisco Giants will be without their best hitter for the remainder of the regular season. In time, Melky Cabrera's 50-game drug suspension could turn out to be a lethal blow to their postseason ambitions. But that time hasn't come. The Dodgers fell half a game behind the Giants in the National League West on Monday night, as Clayton Kershaw was outpitched at Dodger Stadium by fellow left-hander Madison Bumgarner in a 2-1 victory for the visitors. Kershaw pitched masterfully, limiting the Giants to two runs and six hits over eight innings.