Ned Colletti

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

Reporting from Milwaukee -- They stayed in the same hotel, attended many of the same meetings and mingled with reporters in the same lobby all week. But by the end of the general managers and owners meetings on Thursday, General Managers Jerry Dipoto of the Angels and Ned Colletti of the Dodgers seemed to be in completely different places. Dipoto was at the starting line, Colletti nearing the finish. Not because Dipoto is in his first month of a three-year contract and Colletti will soon face the job uncertainty that comes with an ownership change.

SAN DIEGO — Based on his conversations with the Dodgers' new owners, General Manager Ned Colletti expects to have more financial flexibility at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline than he's had in recent years. "If we have a chance to improve our club, they're open-minded to doing it and everything that it entails," Colletti said. That could mean making significant additions to the payroll. President Stan Kasten recently acknowledged the Dodgers "don't have the warehouse of prospects we wish we had. " Without prospects to trade, the Dodgers probably won't be able to make any meaningful acquisitions unless they agree to inherit millions of dollars in salaries from non-contenders looking to shed payroll.

I have a good heart. Dr. Paul Weinstein has pictures to prove it following my angiogram, the chest pain now attributed to the stress from attending a Kings game and reading columns gushing about Kobe . I took my initial concerns to Dr. Thomas Parsa and his tireless nurse, Danielle Davis , who recommended Weinstein, a heart specialist — the pair dubious, but still willing to learn if I had one. I then had the...

Two Dodgers employees received multiyear contract extensions this past off-season. Quiz: Which one lamented publicly the alleged failures of the other in stating, "Why is it? Because he got a new deal?" The player, commenting on the GM who assembled a pitching staff worthy of triple-A ball? Or the GM, commenting on the player who lead the majors in runs scored and is in the top five in homers and RBIs? If you answered the latter, welcome to L.A.'s nightmare. Jeff Kahl Aliso Viejo By ripping Matt Kemp, at or near the top of the NL in many offensive categories, Ned Colletti continues to reaffirm that he has no clue what he's doing as general manager.

After all his talk about restoring Dodger tradition, would Frank McCourt hire a key member of his team's most reviled rival as general manager? In the case of Ned Colletti, it might be a shrewd move. Colletti, assistant GM of the San Francisco Giants the last nine years, is one of a small group of candidates the Dodgers have seriously considered since Paul DePodesta was fired 17 days ago.

Amid the mad swirl of a pennant race, all it takes for Ned Colletti to find his center is to tour his hardscrabble hometown in a rental car. The sights of his childhood homes and haunts bring back memories, to be sure, but it is the sounds that remind him how he pushed himself to move forward, onward, upward. The roar of jets flying into O'Hare airport directly over his family's tiny brick house. The screech of train brakes at the Bensenville Freight Yard a block away.

If only for a few minutes, Ned Colletti looked relaxed. The Dodgers' general manager had learned that his team would face the Chicago Cubs in the National League division series. The visiting clubhouse at AT&T Park in San Francisco was clearing out on Sunday, as players rushed out of the showers, dressed quickly and dashed through the back door to the team bus. Colletti wasn't in a hurry.

Praising Ned Colletti for his role in the Dodgers' signing of Manny Ramirez, owner Frank McCourt hinted Thursday that the general manager's performance this winter could be a plus in determining his future with the club. "There's nobody I know that works harder and wants to achieve the objectives of this organization more than Ned," McCourt said. "He works very, very hard to do that. He embraces all of what we're trying to accomplish."

General Manager Ned Colletti said he wants to explore the possibility of signing Andre Ethier to a contract extension soon after the Dodgers' new owners take over the club next week. "I've always been inclined to keep him," Colletti said. "His start certainly hasn't hurt. " Ethier, who will be eligible for free agency when his one-year, $10.95-million deal expires at the end of the season, drove in 21 runs in the Dodgers' first 16 games. Entering the series against the Atlanta Braves, his runs batted in total was second in the majors behind teammate Matt Kemp's 22. Ethier drove in the Dodgers' first run Monday.

PHOENIX — Outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. sounded noticeably excited about the news that a group led by Magic Johnson had agreed to purchase the Dodgers. "I'm pumped," Gwynn said. "I'm only pumped because I'm the biggest Lakers fan. I grew up a huge Magic Johnson fan. " He speculated that he wasn't the only one feeling that way Tuesday night. Matt Kemp told Gwynn that he wanted Johnson's group to buy the team. So did James Loney and Dee Gordon. "The big basketball guys were all pulling for Magic," Gwynn said.

From Phoenix — I'm here with the Dodgers and I'm mad. Maybe it's because I started the day reading the Arizona Republic's editorial page. The paper was making the case, "Maybe This Will Help the Cardinals" now that they have lost out on Peyton Manning . The hometown paper concluded, "The Cards were among the hottest teams in the league through the second half of last season without Manning. This snub should provide the motivation to stay focused. " What a bunch of hooey.

At the Academy Awards on Sunday night, a mustachioed man was sitting behind best actress nominee Michelle Williams. Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said he was flipping through channels when the  mustachioed man caught his eye. The man was his general manager, Ned Colletti. “I flipped the channel and was like, 'Ned!' ” Mattingly said. Colletti wasn't at the Dodgers' spring-training complex on Sunday. He was expected to be back some time Monday. Asked if he was hurt that he wasn't invited to the awards show, Mattingly laughed and said, “I found that out, right?

Prince Fielder was fool's gold, and Dodgers fans shouldn't waste one moment of regret that the big lug will spend the next nine years clogging the payroll, the basepaths and eventually the training room for the Detroit Tigers. The Dodgers' biggest concern right now is not a Prince, but a king. What are they going to do with Clayton Kershaw? The easy answer is, nothing. For the next three years, they don't have to do anything with the 2011 Cy Young Award winner other than hand him a contract and watch him sign it. Baseball rules prevent Kershaw from being a free agent until after the 2014 season.

James Loney was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence last month, authorities said Thursday. Loney sideswiped three cars on the 101 Freeway in Sherman Oaks, stopped in the fast lane, passed out, then awakened and tried to flee the scene, only to crash again, said Leland Tang, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. The Nov. 14 accident came to light on the final day of baseball's winter meetings. General Manager Ned Colletti said he had spoken to Loney about the incident.

Amid the rows of chilled, sparkling luxury suites at Dodger Stadium, one is not air conditioned. Coincidence or not, it's the one belonging to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers general manager was smiling through the stifling heat Tuesday, wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt in his fancy steam bath. "This is great," he said. "I'm great." Oh yeah? Well, it's about to get hotter. Colletti finished his season's work late Monday night, acquiring enough players to satisfy most of the team's postseason needs.

Was it the best trade Ned Colletti ever made? "I shouldn't be answering that," the Dodgers' general manager said. Certainly the deal for Manny Ramirez was a pretty good one. A minor league pitcher and a bench player for a future Hall of Fame member whose salary was being paid by the other team? Who wouldn't make that deal? Over time, however, that may pale in comparison to the first trade Colletti made as a general manager, the one that made Andre Ethier a Dodger. Come to think of it, it might be a better trade right now. At 27, Ethier is a decade younger than Ramirez.

Reporting from Dallas -- Prince Fielder is there for the taking. The Dodgers aren't playing, but Ned Colletti had a thought. "Can we sign Prince for $3 million this year and $30 million the next year?" the Dodgers' general manager said. It's too bad the question was rhetorical. As Dodgers fans await the sale of the team, and the accompanying deliverance from headlines about the likes of Chris Capuano, the unsettling truth is that a new owner might not be able to turn the Dodgers around in a hurry.

Before the next owner is in place and starts promising to restore the team to its former glory, it looks as though the Dodgers will have to endure another barren winter. The Dodgers have plenty of needs. But with departing owner Frank McCourt preparing to sell, they have even less cash than usual to spend on players. The combined 2012 salaries of the players on their opening-day roster are expected to be less than $90 million. Ideally, the Dodgers would be looking to add a middle-of-the-lineup bat, a couple of middle-of-the-rotation starting pitchers and a veteran catcher at baseball's winter meetings.