by Lynette Alice

Created on: July 26, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Unlike most kids when I was growing up that dreamed of playing for a baseball team I was the kid that dreamed of running a team. I've spent a lifetime playing the "what if" game, formulating trades in my mind, second guessing free agent signings, and wondering what was going on down on the farm. Given a chance to run the Dodgers there are a few things that seem easy to do right away to get better in one way or another and a few more moves that will help, but only in time. The phrase radical reconstruction comes to mind when I think of what I would do with the Dodgers.

With all due respect to Joe Torre, he is not going to make this current roster a winner by the sheer power of his aura. The Dodgers are currently in the thick of the race in the west even though they are under .500 which counts for something in the same way getting the second prize in a beauty contest card counts in Monopoly. It's nice, it just isn't a winner. I would honor the remainder of Joe's contract just to give the team some air of substance and then bid him farewell. My next step would be to move Don Mattingly to the bench coach slot and spend whatever money it takes to lure Rudy Jaramillo to Lala land as the new hitting instructor to help turn the offense around.

The second move is to cut the fat. Andruw Jones hasn't just lost a step, he's lost several. Were it not for the idea of getting nothing in return for the remainder of his contract he would be cut. While he carries some weight based on his reputation I would make a deal in which I'd be willing to absorb up to half his salary to move him for a package of young pitching prospects. Plenty of teams will still gamble on his rebound and the longer you wait on him the more the returns will diminish. This is someting to act fast on. At this point I would almost pull an even up swap for a cup of gatorade with the flavor to be named later.

Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent are contributing, but at 35 and 40 years old respectively they have seen their best days and are earning too much to legitimize their "leadership" role on the team. Leadership is valuable, just not at their pricetag. Derek Lowe is generally stable in the least and eats innings but is also going to have to go as at age 35 he isn't part of the long term solution and hasn't shown any desire to help develop young pitchers making the jump to the big team, something that may have bought him extra time otherwise. Chan Ho Park can stay but only because he is at bargain basement

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