| Joe Gutierrez. 11th January, 2006 - 12:25 am
 While Jeff Weaver departed from the club this past week, Grady Little officially announced his coaching staff for the new look Los Angeles Dodgers. First and third base would have Mariano Duncan taking over first succeeding John Shelby, and Rich Donnelly taking over Glenn Hoffman?s job at third. Jim Colborn?s old job of pitching coach would be handed over to Rick Honeycutt while Dave Jauss commands the bench coach position once held by Jim Lett. The bullpen coach position will be taken over by Dan Warthen as Ron Flippo returns as the bullpen catcher. Manny Mota will remain with the Dodgers as a working coach, and probably will continue to help benefit hitters such as Kenny Lofton and Rafael Furcal. The new hitting coach will be none other than former slugger and HOF Eddie Murray.
It isn?t as if the Dodgers were not prepared for Weaver to leave them as they traded for Jae Seo and signed Brett Tomko. Weaver lead the team in wins last season with 14 and just ate up innings for the Dodgers. It is possible though that Los Angeles could sign Weaver but not until May 1. This isn?t going to happen as Weaver should be signed with a new club by then. Where he goes from here is a mystery but the Orioles and a few other American League teams could show interest.
Dodgers Show Interest
The Dodgers have supposedly shown interest in free agent right hander Julian Tavarez. Tavarez pitched for the Cardinals last season and would replace Giovanni Carrara?s spot in the bullpen. Carrara signed a minor league deal with former Dodger manager Jim Tracy and the Bucs in Pittsburgh.
D?j? vu All Over Again?
All star 2B Jeff Kent and new SS Rafael Furcal will both undergo surgeries within this week. Kent is scheduled for surgery today to clean up scar tissue on his right wrist. It isn?t serious to the extent where he will be out awhile, but just a precaution to treat it early before the season starts. He should be ready by early spring training. Same goes for Furcal as he goes in for arthroscopic surgery tomorrow on his right knee. Smart moves proposed by Ned Colletti as he hopefully won?t have to deal with nagging injuries to the team as the season progresses.
Talks Die Down
Rumored talks between the Dodgers and Red Sox about a possible deal that would send David Wells to Los Angeles for prospects has died down for now. Colletti needs to back out of this deal if he hasn?t already. BoSox are asking for some of the farm system?s top prospects such as Jonathon Broxton or Edwin Jackson. There would be no point to trigger this deal as the 43 year old Wells isn?t getting any younger, and wouldn?t be with LA no longer than a year at the most. |
