July 2012 - Los Angeles Dodgers Wiretap

Despite the big offseason moves of the Angels, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says that Los Angeles belongs to his team. "It's kind of like Mets-Yankees," said Mattingly, who spent his entire playing career with the Yankees. "The Yankees are the team. (The Mets) are going to have their years when they play well, but the Yankees are still the team. I don't want to badmouth the Angels at all. Mr. (Angels owner Arte) Moreno has done a great job down there in Anaheim, and (Angels manager) Mike (Scioscia) does a great job. But we're the Dodgers, and that isn't going to change."

The list of potential owners or ownership groups vying to buy the Dodgers was reduced to seven on Monday. According to sources, the following are still in the mix to purchase the team: - A group headed by Magic Johnson and largely funded by Guggenheim Partners chief executive officer Mark Walter - St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke - Real-estate developer Alan Casden - New York Observer publisher, real-estate mogul and Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner - A group headed by Shamrock Holdings president and CEO Stanley Gold and the family of the late Roy Disney - A group headed by hedge-fund manager and SAC Capital Advisors founder Steven Cohen - A group headed by former YES Network chairman and chief executive Leo Hindery and Colony Capital chairman Tom Barrack

Andre Ethier reported to Spring Training with the Dodgers on Saturday, but he certainly wasn't in a talkative mood. He gave short answers to questions about his future with the team, which appears to be up in the air. "I'm just giving you honest-truth answers," he said. "I'm not your buddy, you're not my buddy. We're not going to sit here and have a bar-top conversation." Ethier will be a free agent after the 2012 season. "I can't tell you anything about any of that," he said. "All I know is what's going to happen right now in front of me. I can't change anything from the past, I can't change anything that's going to happen in the future. I can change it by the way I play, but I can't do anything else. Today is today, that's all I can handle."

Clayton Kershaw is on schedule to make his Spring Training debut on March 9, despite suffering from mild back tightness this week. The injury pushed back his first bullpen session to at least Friday, said manager Don Mattingly. "It's just precautionary. We're not taking a chance," Mattingly said. "He's on schedule for his first start. The bullpen [session] is Friday, at least it's scheduled for Friday. He's able to do everything. He wanted to do the first bullpen [session Wednesday], but we're not letting him, just because he didn't want to miss the first day of school."

Matt Kemp has turned heads by predicting that he'll have a historic offensive season in 2012. Kemp is striving for 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases this season. "Anything is possible," he said. The 27-year-old hit 39 home runs and stole 40 bases last year. Only two players -- Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson -- have ever posted a 50-50 season. Just four men have achieved a 40-40 campaign -- Jose Canseco, Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano. "I believe in myself to the most," Kemp said. "I have confidence I can achieve it. I try to set my expectations as high as I can. I think I'm capable of doing it."

Joe Torre and real estate developer Rick Caruso have bowed out of their joint bid to purchase the Dodgers, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPNLosAngeles.com that Caruso pulled out because of owner Frank McCourt's refusal to include or negotiate the parking lots as part of the sale.

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, missed his first scheduled bullpen session of spring training on Wednesday because of mild back stiffness, manager Don Mattingly said Thursday.

Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario missed all of last season because of visa problems in his native Venezuela. He admitted Wednesday that a positive test for cocaine kept him from obtaining the necessary paperwork that would have allowed him to enter the United States. Belisario, who must serve a 25-game suspension at the start of this season for failing to comply with baseball's drug policy, said he used the drug only once. "I don't have a problem with any drugs," he said. "It was a one-time thing."

Peter O'Malley has withdrawn his bid to buy the Dodgers, according to two people familiar with the situation. The decision means the O'Malley family will not reclaim ownership of the team it guided for nearly half a century. The Dodgers won all six of their World Series titles under the family.

Matt Kemp says he doesn't believe he should be given the National League MVP award if Ryan Braun is stripped of the title. Braun is appealing a 50-game suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test. Kemp finished second to Braun in balloting for the award. "I feel like that would be by default," Kemp said. "I wish I would've won it just by them voting me and me being the MVP. That would be special. But hopefully, I will have the same type of year or even better and win it straight up this year, with us making the playoffs."