Ken Gurnick reports that Matt Kemp is ahead of schedule in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, and that Kemp expects to be ready for Opening Day. Kemp has reported still feeling soreness in the shoulder he injured after crashing into the outfield wall in Colorado on consecutive days:

“That’s my goal,” said Kemp. “I’m hitting off the tee, no soft toss yet. I have my good days and bad days. It’s still a little sore. But being ready for the season is all that matters.”

This is the downside to players wanting to play through severe injuries and teams allowing them to. Last year’s playoff push was not more important than the next decade or so of Kemp’s career, and the Dodgers letting him play was a terrible idea even at the time.

“I couldn’t shut it down,” Kemp said. “They told me to shut it down and think about surgery — or at least rest. But I just couldn’t do it. I had to continue and play. That’s what I do. I can’t sit and watch.”

Players obviously always want to be on the field, but that’s why coaches and trainers exist.

—–

Scott Elbert underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow Wednesday, the second such surgery he’s had on the elbow this offseason. Elbert will be able to resume throwing in six weeks, and his availability for Opening Day is not a certainty.

This figures to open the door for J.P. Howell, Paco Rodriguez, and Ted Lilly, if they weren’t already ahead to begin with.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Ronald Belisario & A.J. Ellis have agreed to terms with the Dodgers, thus avoiding arbitration, report Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Belisario’s contract is for one year and $1.45 million, while Ellis signed on a one-year, $2 million contract. Assuming he can stay clear of trouble, Belisario figures to be a key component in the back-end of the team’s bullpen (3.09 2012 FIP), but that assumption could be troublesome given his history. Ellis, as made obvious by the meme above, became somewhat of a folk hero in 2012, clocking in at 3.8 WAR for the year seemingly out of nowhere. He’ll be hard-pressed to duplicate that performance, but if he gets anywhere close, he’ll continue to be a bargain at an offense-starved position.

The Dodgers have now not been to arbitration since 2007 with Joe Beimel.

Matt Kemp has begun upper-body workouts for the first time since offseason shoulder surgery. Kemp’s agent, Dave Stewart, relays that The Bison is pain-free three months after his surgery.

—–

Chad Billingsley continues to progress from his elbow injury and has reported no setbacks thus far, according to Ken Gurnick.

“Physically, Chad’s doing great, and he’s excited about the year,” said Stewart. “He sounds confident. I’m not in his head, but he sounds like he’s relieved that the throwing program worked out well. He’s pain-free. He said he’s right where he needs to be.”

Promising news, but again, the reason for the rotation depth is that nobody really knows how he’ll hold up until he gets out there on the mound and goes full bore.

—–

Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles has an update on Carl Crawford‘s offseason progress and Don Mattingly‘s expectations of his continued recovery from Tommy John surgery.

“It’s all positive, nothing negative,” Mattingly said. “His throwing will probably be a little behind at first, but as I recall, he wasn’t a guy who had a cannon to begin with. He can go get the ball and he’s a good defender, but his defense isn’t really built around having a good arm.”

Probably one of the most important players for the Dodgers going forward, at least in terms of boom-or-bust potential. He can be anything from a 4-5 win player to a complete non-factor due to injury like he was the last two years, so obviously the status of his health looms large.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Credit: The LFP

The Zack Greinke saga is the story of the Winter Meetings, not only because he’s the top free agent out there, but also because he’s holding up the deals of other free agents, as they’re all waiting on him.

Whatever he decides, it figures to be at least borderline historical, as Jon Heyman notes.

Strong belief by people close to situation is greinke can beat cc sabathia $161M record deal if desires. #dodgers #rangers

But who’s in the lead now? Jayson Stark says the talk revolves around the Rangers…

The big buzz this morning at the winter meetings is: Watch out for Texas on Zack Greinke.

…and Joel Sherman gives a potential reason why Greinke might be leaning that way.

Told Greinke’s wife is former Dall #Cowboys cheerleader and could influence desire get back to Tex. score1 for #Rangers

The Nationals are out of the sweepstakes thanks to their Dan Haren acquisition, and the Angels are assumed to be out of it as well due to price concerns, according to Danny Knobler.

With Greinke bidding heading to $160 million and perhaps beyond, one Angels person said: “That’s going to blow us out of the water.”

Additionally, they just added Joe Blanton to their rotation.

Ken Gurnick reports that Greinke’s personal fingerprints appear to be all over the negotiations.

The speculation is that Greinke, and not Close, is orchestrating the leisurely pace of negotiations, which has log-jammed the free-agent market for pitchers. The 29-year-old Greinke could wind up with a contract bigger than CC Sabathia’s record for a pitcher of seven years and $161 million.

Reading between the lines a little, this could mean that the money is close enough where it boils down to personal matters, which could lead him to stray away from the Dodgers and the most money. It could also be the reason Josh Hamilton to the Mariners talks have picked up, as his agent might sense the Rangers will be out of the market for him.

Hopefully not, but the reports yesterday certainly weren’t as optimistic for the team as the day before.

—–

Those Dee Gordon rumors from yesterday? Well apparently they have some legs, and Jon Paul Morosi/Ken Rosenthal report that the Indians are in.

I looked at the Mariners roster yesterday to find a potential fit in a trade, but for the Indians I don’t see a clear-cut fit for the Dodgers current roster. I’m hoping it doesn’t involve Ubaldo Jimenez.

—–

As for Hyun Jin Ryu, yesterday was just a continuation of the day before.

Nor would Colletti say if he felt he was closer to a deal for Korean free-agent pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin.

“I just feel closer to Sunday,” Colletti said, because at 2 p.m. PT Sunday the Dodgers must either have a deal with Ryu or he returns to Korea.

Oddly enough, I think Jim Bowden‘s thoughts most accurately reflects reality.

Dodgers not worried about negotiations w Ryu… they know Boras style & will wait until Sunday Deadline to bear down with him & get it done

— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) December 6, 2012

Though I would be lying if I said I didn’t cringe when Scott Boras started comparing him and his impending contract to Daisuke Matsuzaka.

“We have standards that all of us agree the guy is a No. 3 starter in the Major Leagues,” Boras said Wednesday. “And past practices, negotiations that we’ve done for [Daisuke] Matsuzaka, at that time Matsuzaka got paid [$52 million, six years] like he was a No. 3 pitcher in the big leagues. We think very highly of Ryu.

Why?

1) Expecting that contract is ridiculous to me.

2) Why would he ever want to associate an Asian pitcher’s potential career with that of Daisuke Matsuzaka?

—–

The Dodgers do need a lefty reliever in the pen for next year, and with Randy Choate now off the board, Mike Petriello brings up Matt Thornton‘s name.

With LH RP dropping off the board, #Dodgers will probably need to get one via trade. One rumored possibility: Matt Thornton of Chicago.

Would have loved this idea three or four years ago, but he’s now on a three-year negative trend, is going to be 36, and his stuff diminishing is becoming an annual event.

Still a better option than signing Choate for three years, but not exactly a guy you want to give up meaningful assets to acquire.

The Dodgers will offer Zack Greinke the most money to sign, according to Jon Heyman, because they have no concept of a budget.

The Dodgers have an interesting strategy that’s been employed only rarely: Sign the best, no matter the cost.

“They are like theSteinrenner Yankees of the ’70s,” one competing GM said.

Rival executives are beginning to wonder of there’s any chance to compete with the Dodgers in the Zack Greinke sweepstakes. Greinke is said by friends to be an unusual free agent who values comfort and winning right up there with money, so some teams will hang in there with a bit of hope.

But it seems pretty clear who is going to offer Greinke the biggest deal at this point. The Dodgers seem determined to sign him, no matter the cost. As Dodgers president Stan Kasten said, “We are the opposite of the mystery team.”

Asked about their budget, one Dodgers person responded on Monday, “What budget?”

Some wonder whether it might be wise to sign up Clayton Kershaw first, thus in effect capping Greinke’s final price. But one rival exec said, he believes the Dodgers “just don’t care” how much things cost.

Greinke is a unique free agent in the sense that it’s believable that he could make his decision based on comfort over sheer money. Though if the combination of staying in Los Angeles and an offer with the most money comes across the table, I find it hard to believe he’ll turn that down.

This goes counter to what Joel Sherman reports though, as he says the Rangers have every intention of spending right along side the Dodgers on Greinke.

Heard #Rangers right there with #Dodgers in willingness to spend on Greinke, #Nationals still talking #Angels all but fallen out at these $$

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 3, 2012

Could make things interesting since they also have television money to spend.

The sleeper in all of this is still the Nationals, who I think have a lot more money than people would expect.

—–

Ned Colletti has said that if things continue the way they are, Hyun Jin Ryu is unlikely to be signed.

#Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said talks with Ryu Hyun-jin are moving slowly.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) December 3, 2012

Colletti: At this pace, a deal with Ryu won’t get done.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) December 3, 2012

In response to this, Scott Boras trolled back, saying Ryu could end up in Japan.

South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin could pitch in Japan next season if he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers, his agent said Tuesday.

“Japan is a very viable option for him,” said Scott Boras, who disputed the notion that his client doesn’t have any leverage in his negotiations with the Dodgers.

Never a dull moment with Boras, man.

The deadline is 5 PM on Sunday, so there’s still quite a bit of time, and we knew from before that the Dodgers probably preferred to wait until after the Winter Meetings were over to finalize a deal with him. That makes sense, especially in light of news that they’re involved on a whole mess of players at the moment.

At the end of the day though, I have a difficult time believing that a deal with Ryu won’t get done, especially given the team’s alleged lack of financial restrictions.

—–

The Dodgers are talking with a whole bunch of teams in regards to trades, according to Colletti.

#Dodgers are talking to 10-12 teams about potential trades, GM Ned Colletti said.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) December 4, 2012

Ken Gurnick says this includes the Mets and R.A. Dickey (along with at least seven other teams), while Molly Knight adds that the Rays and James Shields are involved. Jon Heyman adds that the Rays are increasingly likely to deal a starter and that the suitors include the Dodgers, Rangers, and Nationals.

I’m not sure how legit that Dickey interest is, but I have been hearing about the Dodgers being in on Shields a lot, so it seems that would be their primary target. Wouldn’t be surprised at all to see that rumor escalate today.

—–

As for the fourth outfielder issue, Ken Gurnick has mentioned that Nate Schierholtz is a target.

One non-tendered player the Dodgers have some interest in is outfielder Nate Schierholtz, cut loose last week by the Phillies, who acquired him from the Giants in the Hunter Pence trade.

Schierholtz doesn’t play center, is left-handed, and had a .698 OPS last year.

I know he has hit righties well over the last two years, but if you look at the larger sample size of his career, there’s like a 30 point OPS difference in his platoon split, which hardly makes him a platoon weapon.

I would hope they can do better.

—–

Rafael Ynoa is generating interest in regards to the Rule 5 Draft, which doesn’t surprise me.

Hearing some Rule 5 buzz on #Dodgers infielder Rafael Ynoa.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 3, 2012

I would give him a ceiling of a utility player, but I think there’s a chance he could stick all year, so why wouldn’t a team with 40-man roster space give him a shot now? Coming off his red-hot AFL, there’s probably no better time.

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen underwent heart surgery on Tuesday to correct an irregular heartbeat, a procedure we were all aware would occur during the offseason.

Jansen’s heart problems have sidelined him for stretches during the 2011 regular season, Spring Training of 2012, and the 2012 regular season. Ken Gurnick reports that Jansen will now be out for at least three months as he recuperates.

It doesn’t sound like there were any complications, nor were there any indications this could be a lingering problem, so he should be ready to go for Spring Training.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Juan Rivera has been placed on the disabled list and Scott Van Slyke will take his place on the Dodgers.

The Dodgers on Wednesday placed outfielder Juan Rivera on the 15-day disabled list with a significant hamstring strain or tear behind the left knee and were recalling outfielder Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Manager Don Mattingly described the injury as “fairly major,” “significant” and “not just a strain.”

He said newly signed Bobby Abreu would get most of Rivera’s playing time in left field, but Mattingly is “not looking at him as an everyday guy” because that would “run the risk of beating him up.”

Rivera, who missed six starts last month with a left hamstring injury, was removed from Tuesday night’s game when he felt “pins and needles” in the same area behind the back of his left knee while sliding into third base.

An MRI on Wednesday revealed the extent of the injury.

“I felt something pop, but it didn’t hurt,” said Rivera. “They said this is better than pulling a hamstring. It might take two or three weeks and they want me to be 100 percent.”

So Rivera’s injury looks to be a lot more serious than initially thought, and based on the way he’s been playing so far in 2012, the injury is probably a blessing in disguise because his replacements would be hard-pressed to play worse.

With that said, Bobby Abreu getting a majority of the time in left field frightens me for defensive reasons, so hopefully Van Slyke hits well right off the bat and gets a shot at regular playing time.

From 2011 on, at AA and AAA, Van Slyke has posted a .351/.428/.626/1.054 line against lefties and an equally impressive .343/.422/.591/1.013 line against righties, so he’s not really a platoon player. He’ll make 26 in two months and seems to have little left to prove in the minors, so this seems to be as good a time as any to give him a shot.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com says so.

The Dodgers have reached an agreement to be sold to Magic Johnson’s bidding group, according to a baseball source. See http://dodgers.com.

Dennis Berman of the Wall Street Journal says it’s for $2 billion.

Breaking from WSJ: Magic Johnson-led group buys LA Dodgers for $2 billion, shattering all previous prices paid for sports franchises.

The official statement from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Frank McCourt.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Frank McCourt Announce Agreement With Guggenheim Baseball Management

LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2012 – The Los Angeles Dodgers and Frank McCourt today announced an agreement under which Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC (“GBM”) will acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion upon completion of the closing process. The purchasing group includes Mark R. Walter as its controlling partner, as well as Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Peter Guber, Stan Kasten, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly. Mr. McCourt and certain affiliates of the purchasers will also be forming a joint venture, which will acquire the Chavez Ravine property for an additional $150 million.

The Los Angeles Dodgers stated, “This transaction underscores the Debtors’ objective to maximize the value of their estate and to emerge from Chapter 11 under a successful Plan of Reorganization, under which all creditors are paid in full.”

Frank McCourt stated, “This agreement with Guggenheim reflects both the strength and future potential of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and assures that the Dodgers will have new ownership with deep local roots, which bodes well for the Dodgers, its fans and the Los Angeles community. We are delighted that this group will continue the important work we have started in the community, fulfilling our commitment to building 50 Dream Fields and helping with the effort to cure cancer.”

Earvin “Magic” Johnson stated, “I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles.”

So in addition to a ton of expected fluff, the statement alludes to McCourt still being involved with the Chavez Ravine property, not exactly what Dodgers fans want to hear. With that said, I would wait before overreacting to any news on the parking lots, because it still isn’t known if McCourt’s a majority or minority partner in that.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, for instance, has McCourt selling the lots.

The Johnson group will spend $2 billion for the team and $150 million for a joint venture with the beleaguered seller, Frank McCourt, on the land surrounding Dodger Stadium, including the parking lots. McCourt had until recently resisted selling the lots, preferring instead to lease them to the new owner. McCourt bought the team in 2004.

Regardless, he’s out as owner, which is the main thing.

…

…

…

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com wrote what was essentially a rebuttal to Mike Petriello‘s article about batting A.J. Ellis second in the order.

Catcher A.J. Ellis is aware of the Internet chatter suggesting he might make the best No. 2 hitter in the Dodgers’ batting order, but he thinks he’s a better fit at No. 8, which is where he’s expected to bat this year.

“Internet chatter“.

At least mention him by name and tell everybody where you got the idea from.

Ellis’ .376 career on-base percentage is what catches the eye of number crunchers, figuring he would be on base often for Matt Kemp and the middle of the order to drive in.

Aside from the obvious drawback of clogging up the bases, Ellis cautions that opposing strategy influences the on-base stat for a No. 8 hitter as much as his selective hitter’s eye.

Clogging up the bases? What is this? Dusty Baker managerial camp?

Oh you silly nerds.

“If I’m hitting second, I’m not going to see the same pitches I see hitting eighth,” he said. “If Kemp is behind me, I’m going to get peppered with fastballs. They won’t be pitching around me. I won’t get some of those walks. Sometimes as a catcher batting eighth, they work around you because they feel they have a sure out batting ninth.

“So some of those walks are a product of the pitcher. I love hitting eighth. I take it as a challenge and embrace it. There’s a strong mental aspect to it and I feel privileged in that spot. Jamey Carroll hit eighth a lot for us and he taught me a lot.

I’m not oblivious to the fact that pitchers may change the way they attack batters in certain counts depending on who hits behind them, and while Ellis is being a good sport about all this, I don’t believe what’s being argued at all.

—–

What we do know is this:

1) A.J. Ellis has always had a plate discipline skill.

Despite never having a minor league OPS over .800 until he got to the rarefied air of the Los Angeles Dodgers AAA affiliates at the age of 27, he still managed to stick around in the organization and continue to be a relevant piece.

Why?

Because his career walk rate in the minor leagues is 15.6%. He has walked at a 11.5% clip for his MLB career and is projected to walk at around a 13% rate next year. The average in the MLB last year was 8.1%.

Ellis didn’t magically grow this skill because he’s hitting 8th, he has always had it, and if he didn’t, he would be out of baseball.

2) A.J. Ellis makes a lot of contact.

Pair a high walk total with a ton of contact and you generally have the recipe for an acceptable enough batting average to make the player’s on-base percentage valuable.

His career strikeout rate in the minor leagues is 13.3% and he has struck out 15.2% of the time in the MLB. He is projected to hover around 15% next year, while the MLB average is 18.6%.

So despite being devoid of power, the constant contact and discerning eye help him avoid making a ton of outs, thus making him a decent hitter.

3) A.J. Ellis has not walked more in the 8th spot in the lineup thus far in his MLB career.

Granted, it’s a small sample size, but to say he has walked more because he hit in the 8th spot is just wrong as of right now.

Click To Enlarge

Just saying.

—–

So sure, he’ll get pitched around more frequently batting in the 8th spot than batting in the 2nd spot, but it doesn’t change his inherent skills. Additionally, one could conversely argue that getting more pitches to drive would up his average and slugging as well.

While it’s an unknown how he’ll fare when getting better pitches to hit, it’s a risk I’m willing to take, especially when the alternative is a player who had a .288 OBP last year (Mark Ellis).

Call me crazy.

Dee Gordon is straddling the line between confidence and arrogance, which is fine, but that’s not the part about this article that concerns me.

“I don’t care what they say,” Gordon said.

They say he’s impatient at the plate, that he needs to walk more, work counts deeper. He believes he knows better.

“Would you mess around with me and walk me? No, the pitchers come right at me, they aren’t hitting corners,” said Gordon. “They feel they can knock the bat out of my hands. In reality, I can hit. So it helps me to be ready to swing and not look for a walk. I could always hit the ball. I’m fine with walking, but it’s called hitting, not walking.”

Oh joy.

—–

Dodgers hope to sign one or two players that showed up at the open tryout, including Doug Davis.

The 36-year-old Davis, a left-hander who strung together four consecutive seasons of double-digit wins from 2004-07, went 1-7 with a 6.50 ERA last year for the Cubs. He has four seasons with at least 200 innings pitched, but his career hasn’t been the same since he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2008 and underwent surgery.

Another athlete trying out was Minnesota Vikings defensive back Jarrad Page, which came as a shock to the Vikings. Page played college baseball at UCLA and was drafted three times by MLB teams as a center fielder without ever signing.

Jarrad Page is an interesting case, as he used to be a starter in the NFL for about three years, but seems to be getting less playing time recently. 27 is old for a prospect, but this is a different case.

Unfortunately, he didn’t even hit in college, but he was drafted three times, so the athleticism must have been appealing.

—–

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Aaron Harang‘s foot is an issue this year, but not the same part as last year.

Dodgers starter Aaron Harang was able to throw live batting practice Wednesday despite irritation to his right foot caused by new orthotics.

The Dodgers had some degree of concern, because Harang missed a month last year with the Padres due to a stress reaction to the same foot caused by pitching on a mound with a deep hole dug into it by the opposing pitcher. His current discomfort is with a different part of the foot than last year.

Harang said he was tentative warming up, but he could tell that the pitching motion didn’t cause discomfort.

For whatever reason, it’s not a big deal when Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw have dings and dents in Spring Training, but whenever these veterans have issues, I cringe.

Eric Stephen of True Blue LA finds out that A.J. Ellis probably doesn’t think he’ll be hitting second.

I asked catcher A.J. Ellis whether or not he could hit second in the lineup, and he joked, “I could be at the top, I could steal some bags.” But Ellis then noted he isn’t really concerned with where he hits in the batting order. “One of the last things on my mind right now is batting order. I just want to see my name somewhere in the lineup,” Ellis said. “My value to the team is getting on base and helping to turn the lineup over, so hopefully guys like Matt [Kemp] and Andre [Ethier] can get as many at-bats as they can get.”

Sort of reading between the lines, but he seems to politely scoff at the idea, which is a bit shitty, because he might actually be better at #1 or #2 than Dee Gordon or Mark Ellis if they get on at the same rate as 2011.

On the upside, he seems to know exactly what his role in the lineup is.

—–

Andre Ethier had some back tightness according to MLB.com‘s Ken Gurnick.

“He felt something when he was stretching and he went in with Sue [Falsone, trainer], but came back out to hit and did outfield work,” manager Don Mattingly said. “It was in his upper middle back, but Sue said he came back out to see what he could do. If anything scared anybody, he wouldn’t have been back on the field.”

Doesn’t sound serious at least.

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that Clayton Kershaw will throw a bullpen session on Friday after getting his original bullpen session postponed due a sore back on Wednesday. Additionally, Mike MacDougal postponed a bullpen session due to a back injury.

Ah, Spring Training!

—–

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers have claimed Matt Angle off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles and moved Rubby De La Rosa to the 60-day disabled list.

My question? Why him?

He’s a 25-year-old outfielder that hit .177/.293/.266/.559 in the majors last year, and only .271/.347/.344/.692 in the minors. Plus, Ned Colletti signed enough outfielders to have five or six of them on the roster, and all the Dodgers have in the minors is potential reserve outfielders.

Confusing.

—–

Don Mattingly thinks Chad Billingsley can do much better, which isn’t surprising given his 2011, but the mechanics part off the story is interesting.

“I think there’s more there,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Honey [pitching coach Rick Honeycutt] thinks there’s more there. I think Chad thinks there’s more there. That’s the thing we want to help him with, just to get a little better.”

According to Honeycutt, scouting director Logan White provided video of Billingsley pitching in high school, when he dominated Ohio preps, leading to his first-round selection by the Dodgers. Back then, he kept his foot under his body as he lifted his lead leg. In recent years, he kicks out the foot before shifting his body weight from right leg to left. He worked during the winter on regaining his high school form.

“I’m trying to keep my foot closer and that allows me to be more consistent in my rhythm and timing,” Billingsley said. “We looked at some video and noticed that it was different from a few years ago. It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but a little adjustment can make a difference.

“It’s not really about confidence. My confidence is fine. It’s more like when you’re pitching or hitting and it doesn’t feel effortless. There are times when I feel I have to force my body to get into position and I have to work at it. I fight myself, kind of. We all try to throw the fastball down and away. For me, to do that, I feel like I’m throwing across my body and it leads to cutting the ball.”

Would love to have that video of him in high school so I can compare, but it’s still something worth monitoring.

Enjoyed how he threw in that part about his confidence just so that people can get off that schtick for once.

Clayton Kershaw is injured! Everybody panic!

Dodgers Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw missed his first bullpen session of Spring Training on Wednesday as a precautionary measure due to mild back tightness.

Oh, it’s just back tightness.

Speaking of injuries, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Rubby De La Rosa is progressing quickly.

Rubby De La Rosa is a pitcher, not a doctor, but he’s declared his Tommy John elbow reconstruction a success and predicts a return this season “after the All-Star break.”

“It’s unbelievable, perfect,” said De La Rosa, whose meteoric rise to the Major Leagues last year was derailed by one bad pitch that tore his ulnar collateral ligament. “I’m going to be a lot better. No doubt I’ll be 100 percent.”

De La Rosa, six months into recovery, said he hasn’t had any setbacks and is throwing 90 feet on flat ground with a target of April to be throwing off a mound. He said he feels healthy enough to air it out, but the training staff has him reined in to throw easy.

“I have to wait,” he said. “I want to be healthy. Sometimes I want to throw hard.”

Can’t wait to see how he performs upon returning. I’m guessing it’ll be out of the pen initially.

As Ronald Belisario‘s world turns, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times has an update that involves cocaine.

Back with the Dodgers after a yearlong absence, reliever Ronald Belisario said Wednesday that he was prevented from entering the United States last year because he tested positive for cocaine.

The positive drug test also resulted in a 25-game suspension issued by Major League Baseball that Belisario will serve at the start of the upcoming season.

Standing in front of his locker before the pitchers and catchers’ first workout of the spring, Belisario said he didn’t have a cocaine problem and that he had ingested the drug only once.

“I don’t have a problem with any drugs,” he said.

The failed drug test was the latest incident in a series of personal setbacks that have derailed the 29-year-old right-hander’s once-promising career. In 2010, his last season with the Dodgers, Belisario left the team for more than a month to receive treatment in a substance-abuse program.

Belisario didn’t offer specifics about the treatment he received other than saying it wasn’t for cocaine abuse.

“That’s in the past,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Only did cocaine once and was in the substance abuse program for a different issue that he doesn’t want to talk about. Wonderful, sounds legit. Maybe he should have checked himself into a top private drug rehab in Los Angeles, CA instead.

—–

Could Andre Ethier platoon with Jerry Sands against lefties? Don Mattingly leads us to believe in the possibility.

“Jerry was really good against lefties last year, but we’ve got to be able to get him x number of at-bats. I hate the thought of saying that we’ll platoon guys, but the numbers say (James) Loney and (Andre) Ethier weren’t good against lefties. We’ll mix and match.”

So who tells Ethier about this and how big of a fit does he throw?

Naturally though, it’s the correct move.

—–

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus reported on Twitter that the Dodgers signed Brent Leach, who was once a prospect in the Dodgers system before he left to Japan.

Lefties galore.

Spring Training is here, which means all other sports matter less, and wow, there’s way too much news out of the Los Angeles Dodgers camp already.

=====

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Clayton Kershaw will start on Opening Day, which is basically the biggest Captain Obvious moment of the season.

Then Matt Kemp told the media that he doesn’t want the 2011 NL MVP Award if Ryan Braun is suspended.

“I would want to win by them voting me,” Kemp said. “I wouldn’t want them to just, ‘Oh, this person did that so how about we just give the award to this person?’ I don’t think it should work that way.

“If it is that way, then it should be a vacant award for 2011, no one should win the MVP award in the National League.”

Kemp said he hopes Braun is vindicated.

“I know Braun,” he said. “We’ve always been cool. We’ve been friends. He’s been one of my favorite players in the big leagues. I hope it’s not true.”

Kemp has handled this situation extremely well up to this point and that just cements it.

It wasn’t all rainbows and kittens though, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reported that Blake Hawksworth won’t be ready to start the season because a second operation was necessary to clean up his elbow.

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As far as roles and playing time go, Eric Stephen of True Blue LA has a ton of news.

“Javy, to me, didn’t do anything last year to say he shouldn’t be that guy,” manager Don Mattingly said on Tuesday. “More than anything, Kenley was saying ‘Hey I can do that too’ by the way he pitched. It’s a good problem for us to have.”

“Javy has been here one year,” said Mattingly. “It’s a competition, you still have to perform. There have been a lot of guys in their first year were really good and struggled the next year. Kenley was a perfect example, as he wasn’t himself [to start 2011] that he was the year before. It took him a half a season with little problems here and there, and he was in the minors for a little bit, but next thing you know he emerged back to what we had seen the year before.”

Javy Guerra will be the closer over Kenley Jansen to start the season, and while Jansen is the better pitcher, I don’t have a problem with this, as it gives the team better flexibility in regards to Jansen’s usage.

“It’s not like he’s a bad guy, or you don’t like him. But to this point he’s been tough to count on,” Mattingly said of relief pitcher Ronald Belisario, who is here in camp, but was not available for reporters as he left for a dental appointment. “It’s a step in the right direction that he’s here.”

The much maligned Ronald Belisario was actually there in person in real life at Spring Training and it’s important because if he looks anything like his old self, Hawksworth’s injury might have just opened up a spot.

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In the world of position players, both starting and backup roles are at stake.

Jerry Sands doesn’t necessarily need to win an everyday spot in the lineup to make the opening day roster, but Mattingly said he needs to have a certain number of plate appearances to justify a spot on the big league roster, as the club wants Sands to play nearly every day. While Mattingly shied away from committing to a plan of sitting Andre Ethier and Loney against southpaws, the manager said that figuring out a way to get Sands enough at-bats will be one of his projects in camp.

I have a way to get Jerry Sands at bats: don’t play Juan Rivera.

The backup shortstop will be Jerry Hairston Jr., as Mattingly wants to keep Juan Uribe at third base. Should Dee Gordon go down for any extended period of time, the club would turn to Justin Sellers.

Jerry Hairston Jr. is a fine utility infielder, but that paragraph makes me want to barf. Juan Uribe at third all the time and Justin Sellers is the backup in case Dee Gordon doesn’t take off like they expect.

Could be bad.

Finally, it was announced that Gordon will hit first, while Kemp hits third.

I’ll explore this later, but this could be a bad idea. Gordon got better later in the season, but it was a tiny sample size, and as a whole, he has always struggled at taking a walk. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, putting your best hitter in the three hole is not optimal either.

After the surprise signing of Todd Coffey, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a decision to make in regards to the 40-man roster, and Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers decided to designate Russ Mitchell for assignment.

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In other news, Blake DeWitt was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs, and while he hardly set the world on fire (or even made a fire), I do remember him playing good defense with a passable bat, and the Dodgers basically have zero depth at third base.

That said, Russ Mitchell could play third base and they choose to designate him over Trent Oeltjen and friends, so I’m guessing they aren’t going to bother giving him a looksy.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers filed a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court that shows the club near $600 million in debt.

The Dodgers filed their reorganization plan with a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware on Friday, which will bring the club out of Chapter 11 protection through a sale of the team by April 30.

…

The club, which has been hamstrung by $573 million in debt, is expected to fetch $1.5 billion or more through the auction.

In reality though, it’s far worse than that, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times explains on Twitter.

McCourt owes $573m in team debt, $131m to ex-wife, up to $200m on tax liability. That’s up to $904m, with any Stow liability TBD. #dodgers

That’s a potential disaster waiting to happen and it could leave Frank McCourt with no room for profit, but Lester Munson of ESPN explains how Frank McCourt has a chance to come out on top.

At the earliest possible moment in the litigation process, McCourt’s new lawyers asked Sanders to dismiss that case, and she quickly agreed, leaving the Bingham firm with no option beyond an appeal of her ruling — an appeal that appears, based on legal precedents, to be hopeless. Other law firms, caught in similar circumstances, have tried the same maneuver in at least eight states, and none has succeeded.

Court papers show that McCourt will be looking for hundreds of millions of dollars in the malpractice suit. His lawyers from the Bartlit firm, led by Fred Bartlit and Glen Summers, will argue that Silverstein’s error and the court ruling on the ownership of the team prompted both MLB commissioner Bud Selig’s effort to drive McCourt out of baseball and subsequent rulings in the Dodgers’ bankruptcy case that have resulted in the auction of the team.

The amount of McCourt’s losses is not yet known, but they are substantial. The bidding on the sale of the Dodgers will be a key factor. If the price is low, he could walk away from the franchise with a net of nothing, which would add to his claim against Silverstein and the Bingham firm.

None of the lawyers involved in the McCourt-Bingham dispute would discuss it with ESPN.com, but there is little doubt that it will be one of the largest legal malpractice cases in the history of American jurisprudence. If the auction goes badly, McCourt’s damages could be more than $500 million.

While I would prefer he suffer, I’m at the point where I honestly don’t care what happens, as long as he has nothing to do with the Dodgers ever again.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Ned Colletti is still looking for a starter, reliever, and utility infielder.

All that’s left on his frugal shopping list is an affordable replacement in the starting rotation for Hiroki Kuroda, a utility infielder like Jerry Hairston Jr. and a veteran, versatile, durable reliever.

I already took a look at the potential starters and utility infielders, but I had not heard of this desire for a reliever.

The problem isn’t shoring up the bullpen, the problem is that it’s Ned Colletti and it’s Ned Colletti looking for a veteran.

As you can see here, the list of available relievers within the Dodgers price range and Colletti’s requirements isn’t exactly teeming with talent, so it’s easy to think that the Dodgers are going to get more near replacement level roster filler than anything significant.

While I suppose you could look at that as a bad thing, I see it as the payroll restrictions saving the Dodgers from Colletti giving yet another veteran the Matt Guerrier treatment.

Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers and Juan Rivera have agreed on a one-year contract worth 4 million dollars that includes an option year. Jon Paul Morosi adds that the option year is a team option worth 4 million dollars with a $500k buyout and that there are $500k worth of incentives in both years. Dylan Hernandez had the initial report of a deal being finalized.

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Despite appearances, Juan Rivera does have value, as he hit .274/.333/.406/.739 in a Dodgers uniform last year. Additionally, he’s a competent fielder, posting a 3.0 runs defensive WAR value in 2011 with a history of above average defensive play. However, his .324 wOBA is mediocre for the position, and he hasn’t posted an OBP over ~.330 since 2006. Plus, his power has fallen in two consecutive seasons, which isn’t the most promising sign for a soon to be 34-year-old. As one might expect, he’s worth -1.5 runs on the basepaths and that only figures to get worse as he ages.

Given enough playing time, he would be hard pressed not to be a break even value for the Dodgers at 4-5 million dollars (~1.0 WAR). The catch is that starting him full time means he takes significant playing/development time away from Jerry Sands, who might be a superior player as it is. On the other hand, if the Dodgers choose not to start him and use him as a bench player or a platoon partner for Andre Ethier and James Loney, then he’s unlikely to accumulate enough value to justify his contract even as a neutral move. If it sounds like a Catch-22, that’s because it is.

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In a vacuum, I actually don’t mind having Juan Rivera on the Dodgers. He has value as a bench bat that can competently play three positions and hit a bit, but with the Dodgers situation, there’s only a tiny window for him to succeed, especially given his age.