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While I ponder what a potential rainout of Thursday's Dodgers-Nationals doubleheader — with the games unlikely to be replayed — might do to Matt Kemp's MVP chances, here are some links:

• Juan Uribe's season-ending surgery for a sports hernia is today, the Dodgers announced.
• Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation offers a history of suicides among baseball players, with some particularly grim anecdotes from the distant and more recent past.
• Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. on the broken dreams of Ivan DeJesus Jr.:
  

  ... In addition to his two walks in 35 at-bats with the Dodgers, DeJesus had just 16 walks in 245 plate appearances over 57 games in Triple A through July 21, just 6.5% of his plate appearances. However, as the season wore on DeJesus showed improvement with 29 walks in his final 43 games, walking in 14.6% of his plate appearances during that span, showing glimpses of his prior days as a viable prospect. DeJesus even hit six of his eight home runs this season in a 16-game span in mid-August.
  
  
  Whether it was for attitude, or performance, or both, DeJesus did not get the call. Again. If the Dodgers thought anything of DeJesus, he would be up with the big league team. It appears his days in the Dodger organization are numbered, which is a shame.

  
  It's not clear to me why, even if De Jesus doesn't loom large in the Dodgers' future plans, he would get buried by Eugenio Velez, who is 0 for his last 40 in the majors — unless the Dodgers' share the same perverse fascination with how long Velez's streak can go on that we do.
• Stephen also points out that Andre Ethier now has at least 30 doubles in five consecutive seasons, a figure exceeded by only four players in Dodger history: Zack Wheat, Dixie Walker, Jackie Robinson and Steve Garvey.
• Don Mattingly gave an interview to Jim Rosenthal of Los Angeles Magazine (link via L.A. Observed, which also points to a science-flavored Times op-ed piece by Frederick M. Cohan related to Sandy Koufax's perfect game). An excerpt from the Mattingly interview:
  

  ... Managers have people second-guessing them all the time. But even you’ve second-guessed some of your decisions in the press.
  If you don’t second-guess yourself, then you are not trying to get better. Joe would always tell me that you are going to make decisions. Some of them are not going to work out, and it does not mean that they were the wrong decisions. I have had many occasions this year where I questioned and second-guessed my decision in a game, but it comes down to learning from mistakes and being accountable for what you did right or did wrong.
  
  Can you think of a decision you second-guessed recently?
  The Mets had Jason Bay waiting on deck with an open base, and I could have walked the lefty hitter and pitched to Bay. Instead the lefty got a hit, and I kicked myself for not challenging Bay and walking the other guy with an open base. We all have the temptation to be backseat drivers when it comes to decisions that don’t work out the way we want. ...

• Is Biz of Baseball founder and Dodger Thoughts friend Maury Brown bringing down the Jim Crane ownership of the Houston Astros (with an assist from Frank and Jamie McCourt) before it even begins? Take a look at this piece and this one by Brown and judge for yourself.
• J.J. Cooper of Baseball America stacks Minor League Player of the Year Mike Trout's 2011 season against the best ever by age-20 players.
• Satchel Price of Beyond the Boxscore looks at the offseason market for catchers (in case the Dodgers decide they need to stick a dagger in A.J. Ellis' heart one more time.
• A big topic of conversation in the online sabermetric world Tuesday was this piece appearing on It's About the Money, which calls into question the value of the Wins Above Replacement stat because of its reliance on fielding metrics that are questionable. This led to a discussion at Sean Foreman's Baseball-Reference.com blog (including the comments) about how much consistency one should expect in fielding stats for individual players from year to year.
• Baseball Toaster founder Ken Arneson explores on his new blog why he's not ready to "commit to a life as a chicken." I can relate:
  

  ... It’s partly because I don’t have all my ducks in a row in my personal life to make that practical right now. I quit writing regularly two years ago because I was juggling too many balls in my life, and I ended up doing a half-assed job on all of them. I hate feeling like I’m not living up to expectations, I hate feeling like I need to work 24/7 in order to avoid feeling like I’m not living up to expectations, so I resist making commitments that would create any expectations. Hence, for now, this blog, where I can do what I like, when I like, how I like with maximum flexibility and minimum commitment. ...

I've noticed on different parts of the World Wide Internet that frustration about the Dodgers has started being directed toward manager Don Mattingly, something that I suppose is predictable and unexpected all at once.

It's predictable because frustration about losing always falls at some point in the manager's lap, as we can see by the end today of Edwin Rodriguez's 163-game tenure skippering the Florida Marlins. But at the same time, I'm taken aback by the idea of Mattingly as whipping boy, because I don't know how people can expect Mattingly to do much more about the situation than he already has. And I say this as someone who was repeatedly skeptical about his being hired in the first place.

If anything, as Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes, Mattingly has every right to share in the current frustration, rather than be a target of it.

Starting pitching: Not much to say here. The relative strength of the team, it has faltered in recent days, but as we've seen by his recent comments about Chad Billingsley, Mattingly is if nothing else trying to do something about it.

Bullpen: Working without Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Vicente Padilla, Blake Hawksworth, Kenley Jansen and Ronald Belisario for long stretches this season – in case you hadn't noticed, that's pretty much an entire bullpen right there – Mattingly has actually managed better in this area than I would expect from a protege of Joe Torre. He hasn't overworked any pitchers, and he has not let a player's lack of experience get in the way of using him if he's the best option. Mattingly's a bit more infatuated with inherited runner-squanderer Mike MacDougal than I would like, but again, when a non-roster invitee is the only member of your expected Opening Day bullpen not to end up on the disabled or restricted list, you're not always going to have the ideal man out there.

There are always going to be moments where a manager makes a pitching change that you disagree with, but I don't know how you can say that Mattingly has been below-average here.

Starting lineup: Mattingly hasn't been afraid to start sitting the slumping James Loney or even acknowledge Andre Ethier's struggles against lefties. I think he'd be even less afraid if he had alternatives. Except on occasional days, he has recognized that Jamey Carroll, on pace for 603 plate appearances this year, is about the best option he has in the infield. Kids such as Jerry Sands and Dee Gordon have gotten trials – in Sands' case, 144 plate appearances in under two months. The Dodgers don't have an answer for the left-field question, but is that Mattingly's fault? Juan Uribe has been terrible, but is that Mattingly's fault? Casey Blake is aging and fragile, Rafael Furcal has disappeared ... you get the idea. As with the bullpen, there's stuff to quibble about, but I don't know of any manager who could make this offense work.

One of the next tests for Mattingly will be how much he plays A.J. Ellis while Rod Barajas is out. But regardless of how well he does, does anyone think Ellis will be a difference-maker?

Motivation: Jackson reports that Mattingly held a team meeting after Saturday's loss, the Dodgers' fifth straight, all at home. Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. writes that with that defeat, the 2011 Dodgers have matched the 1992 team for the worst 72-game start in Los Angeles Dodger history. All I can say is that one of the main arguments in Mattingly's favor as manager was his ability to relate to players. What's happening on the field isn't pretty, but I'm not sure why we'd pick this moment, 2 1/2 months into his career, to decide that Mattingly is hopeless to motivate his players.

I'm sure there are some of you who will still be wondering where this piece is coming from, that see the Dodgers' problems originating, as I do, from the people wearing the suits and sport coats, not the uniforms and caps. But all I can say is that there are those who have already lost patience with Mattingly. Perhaps someday we'll find, as I considered a year ago, that he isn't the best man for the job, but there's no way you can base that decision on what's happened in 2011.

* * *

Crazy one in Albuquerque on Saturday: Christopher Jackson of Albuquerque Baseball Examiner writes that the Isotopes had 13 consecutive batters reach base in the 11-run second inning of their 13-10 victory over Iowa, a game in which all 23 runs had scored by the middle of the fourth inning.

John Lindsey survived being hit by pitches twice in the single inning, only to leave the game after reaggravating a calf injury in the third.

Trayvon Robinson went 3 for 3 with two walks and has now reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances. Robinson has a .500 on-base percentage and .705 slugging percentage in June. Though he's still averaging more than one strikeout per game, perhaps Robinson will be the next kid for Mattingly to play with.

Making more front-page drive-in news is Jonathan Broxton. An excerpt follows, but be sure to read the full story on Broxton's status from Tony Jackson at ESPNLosAngeles.com:

Jonathan Broxton was told by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly on Tuesday that he is still the team's closer despite widespread media reports that the team had decided to go with a closer-by-committee approach in the wake of Broxton's blown save on Monday night against the Florida Marlins.

Mattingly saw one of those media reports, on the MLB Network, while working out on Tuesday morning and immediately decided to meet with Broxton to reassure him that the job was still his. That closed-door meeting, which also included pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, took place in the visiting clubhouse at Sun Life Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before the Dodgers played the Marlins. The Marlins scored three runs off Broxton after two were out and nobody was on base in the ninth inning on Monday night to beat the Dodgers 5-4.

"I'm the closer right now, so I just have to go out there and continue to throw," Broxton said after the meeting. "I just have to turn the page. That is the big thing about closing or doing anything, setting up, relieving. You have to turn the page. ... [Mattingly] said he liked what he has been seeing and that I'm throwing the ball good. I just have to get back to that attack mode, especially with two outs."

Those media reports stemmed from comments Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti made during his weekly radio interview on Tuesday morning with KABC's Peter Tilden. Although Colletti never used the term "closer-by-committee," he did mention the names of at least two other pitchers -- Hong-Chih Kuo, who is on the disabled list but expected to return as early as Friday, and Vicente Padilla, who came off the disabled list on Friday and has since had one strong outing and one shaky one -- as possible closer candidates.

"I can't help but be concerned," Colletti said when Tilden asked about Broxton. "I'm one of those people who are pretty much concerned about everything anyway. I am concerned about him. Hopefully, we will get Kuo back Friday, and Padilla has been back for a couple of games. Hopefully, we can give Donnie three choices or so at the end of a game and let him make up his mind by matchup or whatever until Broxton can get his confidence back and get settled."

Contacted by ESPNLosAngeles.com, Colletti downplayed the implications of what he had told Tilden earlier in the day.

"I just said when we get Kuo back and Padilla back to 100 percent, it's going to give Donnie some options, depending upon matchups and the previous day's usage, things like that," Colletti said. "But that doesn't mean Broxton isn't the closer."

Both Mattingly and Honeycutt said Broxton wasn't available to close on Tuesday night against the Marlins, but only because he had pitched each of the previous two games. ...

Also, Jackson reports that Frank McCourt is meeting in New York on Thursday with MLB execs — but not commissioner Bud Selig.

Finally, Xavier Paul was claimed on waivers by Pittsburgh, where he'll be a teammate of Brandon Wood, recently claimed from the Angels, and former Dodger James McDonald.

Tie game, 11th inning, Juan Uribe on second with none out. A single gives you the lead. No double-play threat. Right-handed pitcher on the mound.

And Don Mattingly has James Loney bunt.

So much for Mr. RBI. If that's not the lowest moment of Loney's playing career, it's the lowest moment of Mattingly's managing career.

Loney took three pitches, fouled off a bunt, hit another foul swinging away, then popped out.

For my third Sweet Spot post, I share my initial impressions of Don Mattingly 2011, and look ahead to one of the main challenges facing him this season.

Tony Jackson's Spring Training update today for ESPNLosAngeles.com focuses on Davey Lopes' tutoring the Dodgers. Some good stuff therein:

... The 45-minute session dealt mostly with the basics. But Lopes delivered his message in a charismatic, entertaining way, with a lot of the no-nonsense language one might expect from a 65-year-old baseball lifer who believes in doing things the right way, mixed with a little bit of humor.

The audience appeared to include every non-pitcher the Dodgers have in camp, and that audience burst into laughter on a few occasions, usually when Lopes would get especially animated while demonstrating the wrong way to do something.

For those who were paying attention, though, there were a lot of lessons.

For one, Lopes isn't a fan of the headfirst slide. He also isn't a fan of the slide into first base.

"There are two reasons why you slide," Lopes told the assembly. "First, to slow your body down. … Second, to avoid a tag."

And thus, Lopes said, the only time a slide into first base is justified is to avoid a tag if the player covering has to come off the bag to take an off-line throw. ...

Elsewhere ...

• Donnie Baseball: The Definitive Biography of Don Mattingly by Mike Shailin is due in stores soon, notes Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy.
• Ted Lilly and Clayton Kershaw have two of the four highest pop-out rates for pitchers since 2008, according to Beyond the Box Score.
• Former Dodger prospect Andrew Lambo talked to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com about trying to rebuild his reputation and his path to the majors.
• Justine Siegel writes about becoming the first woman to throw batting practice to a major-league team at her blog, Justine's Baseball Journey.
• Sarah D. Morris has expanded her focus on MLB.com to include all of major-league baseball, not just the Dodgers. Here's Morris' bio.
• Speaking of MLB.com, the folks there are searching for someone to watch and blog about every single baseball game this season.
• Vin Scully is being honored by the Beverly Hills Wine Festival, notes Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven.
• Orlando Hudson and Jeff Kent came out at opposite ends of David Pinto's 2006-10 PMR defensive ratings.
• It appeared a minor signing at first, but Andrew Miller signed a potentially groundbreaking deal with the Red Sox. Miller would normally have to clear waivers if the Red Sox tried to send him to the minors, but his contract includes "a $3 million option for 2012 that vests if he’s claimed on waivers by another team," as Dave Cameron of Fangraphs notes in his analysis. (Alex Speier of WEEI.com had the original story.) Miller's base salary if he makes the majors is reportedly only $1.3 million.
• Those of you who have enjoyed his pieces on baseball and politics will probably enjoy Nate Silver's analysis of the Knicks-Nuggets NBA trade.

The most fun and interesting detail to come out of Camelback Ranch today was the tidbit that Dodger manager Don Mattingly will stand in the batters box during bullpen sessions for his pitchers. From Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com:

In Mattingly's first spring as the team's manager, he already has employed at least one unconventional tactic. Often, when a pitcher is throwing in the bullpen, Mattingly will grab a bat, step into the left-handed batter's box and get into the familiar stance he employed for so many years as a six-time All-Star first baseman for the New York Yankees.

"It gives me a better look at a guy's stuff," Mattingly said. "[By standing there], I can tell if what a guy is throwing can get somebody out or it can't."

Mattingly conceded that some of his pitchers -- especially those who will spend the spring fighting for a roster spot -- might be a bit unnerved by firing a baseball in the general direction of the boss's body. In deference to that, he said he steps out of the box when it comes time for a pitcher to throw to the inside part of the plate.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has more.

... Mattingly's participation in the bullpen sessions had the players talking.

"First time I ever saw that," said catcher Dioner Navarro. "Caught me off guard. I did a double take. You know, you don't want to drill him. But you can see he wants to be involved in everything, to know everything. It's like he's back to being a player. He knows what it takes. It brings confidence to the team to see that. It's exciting."

Mattingly, 49, said he no longer gets the urge to actually hit, having retired after the 1995 season. And he only steps in to his natural left-handed side, because he said he might not know how to get out of the way from the right-hander's box.

Among the pitchers he "faced" Saturday were veterans Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla. Mattingly said he'd think twice if he saw a pitcher was having control problems.

"Managers do that in Japan and it's considered an honor," said Kuroda. "They do it for top young prospects and established veterans. And in the middle of Spring Training you have a session when you throw 200 to 300 pitches to establish endurance, and the manager steps in then, so you don't slack off." ...

* * *

Davey Lopes baserunning tutorials are in full swing. From Jackson:

... Lopes has been giving these tutorials every morning this spring, and after a few minutes on Saturday, (Matt) Kemp was joined by outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., shortstop Rafael Furcal, highly touted prospects Dee Gordon and Trayvon Robinson and non-roster outfielder Trent Oeltjen. Not one of those players is required to be in camp until Monday, but several of the team's position players chose to report early.

Lopes' group spent the entire session taking leads off first, crouching and breaking toward second base, though they weren't running at anything close to full speed and they stopped about halfway there.

"Right now, I'm just trying to get an idea of what they do and what they attempt to do and see if there is something we can try to adjust to make it a little better fit for them," Lopes said. "Basically, we're just breaking down their movements." ...

* * *

Hiroki Kuroda is working on adding a curveball to his repertoire. Dylan Hernandez of the Times has more:

Last spring, Kuroda tried to add a changeup to his arsenal, but the project was abandoned early in camp. Kuroda said he's more optimistic about his curveball.

"I'll throw it during the exhibition season and see how it feels," he said.

Kuroda said he has received tips from Clayton Kershaw, but that he learned the curveball grip over the winter by watching videos.

* * *

Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports writes about the importance to Rafael Furcal of the fire truck recently donated to his hometown in the Dominican Republic:

“I’ll sleep better knowing people will be safe,” Furcal said. “I’m the only guy who made it. It’s like a responsibility to me.”

His love of firefighting was noticed by Dodgers public relations director Josh Rawitch, who mentioned it to general manager Ned Colletti during Furcal’s contract negotiations after the 2008 season. Colletti included the truck in discussions with Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer. Furcal was torn between signing with the Braves – the team that first signed him in 1996 and for whom he played his first six years in the majors – or returning to the Dodgers.

The fire truck was the ideal perk. It spoke to something close to his heart. And it convinced him the Dodgers cared about him as a person, and about his hometown.

* * *

Farewell, Ollie Matson.

Friend this ...

• Ronald Belisario says he just needs to replace a lost passport, and that "of course" he is going to Spring Training.
• Ned Colletti isn't rushing to offer a laurel and hearty handshake.
• Matt Kemp couldn't wait to start his baserunning training with Davey Lopes.
• Don Mattingly feels like the eye in the hurricane.
• Gabe Kapler is a happy and hopeful Dodger (and doesn't want to be the one to tell you he has more managerial experience than Don Mattingly).
• Clayton Kershaw always enjoys a good laugh with his buddy Hiroki.
• Jon Garland had a happy first day throwing in Arizona with Hiroki.
• A.J. Ellis is trying not to be frustrated.
• Dana Eveland is not in the moon over his hammy.
• Jonathan Broxton's calendar does not say 2010.
• Tony Gwynn Jr. might be a left fielder after all.
• Vicente Padilla isn't a relief pitcher ... yet.
• Jeff Weaver is hanging by the phone.
• Hong-Chih Kuo pledges allegiance to the pitching schedule.
• Manny Ramirez is an eager beaver.
  
• Casey Blake is gettin' in some last-minute wrestling-watching.
• Dee Gordon has heard it all before, but you can't shake his confidence.
• Josh Rawitch thinks this might be the best time to be at Camelback Ranch.
• Gary Sheffield is not thinking about how destiny will reunite him with Mike Piazza in 2014.
• Vance Lovelace is thankful for the opportunity to have a career in baseball after his playing days ended.
• Sandy Koufax is smiling.

As it should be ...

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw will get the ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers' season opener on March 31 against the San Francisco Giants, manager Don Mattingly announced on Wednesday morning.

Mattingly said he made the decision as far back as last fall.

"Probably the day after I found out I was going to manage," Mattingly said. "This kid loves the challenge, and I would line him up against anybody."

In this case, Mattingly likely will be lining up Kershaw against right-hander Tim Lincecum, the Giants' ace right-hander and two-time reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. Mattingly cited Kershaw's two victories last season over Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, the N.L. starter in the All-Star Game, as evidence of his ability to rise to the occasion. ...

James Loney and the Dodgers will head to an arbitration hearing Feb. 18 if they can't settle their salary disagreement beforehand, reports ESPNLosAngeles.com's Tony Jackson, who also has a feature on Don Mattingly today.

Elsewhere ...

• Jayson Stark of ESPN.com mostly approves of the Dodger offseason, at least relative to the rest of the National League West.
• The Dodgers have packed for Camelback Ranch, and Roberto Baly — the Carmen Sandiego of Dodgerdom — is on the scene. Check out his pics and video, including shots of 75-year-old James Hall, who has been driving the truck for 29 years.
• Check out the photo archive of Sports Illustrated vet Hy Peskin, thanks to the link passed along by Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness.
• Loved this video of Landry Fields working at a New York sporting goods store and trying in vain to sell his own jersey.
• Nice story on ex-Chatsworth High ballplayer Matt Cassel by Eric Sondheimer of the Times.
• Tweet of the day:"@jeffthiessen: Went to my local batting cage today and JAY GIBBONS of the #dodgers was hitting in my cage.. He said I have a nice swing!!"

And miles to link before I sleep ...

• The state of Don Mattingly is profiled by Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
• Evan Bladh Sr. of Opinion of Kingman's Performance continues to knock 'em out of the park – here's a great story about the Dodgers and Mister Marty.
• The frustrating thing with Russell Martin is that he keeps telling us in April that he's training like he's never trained before, and then the following winter he inevitably tells us, "No, not really." Anyway, Martin tells the Canadian Press that he had some personal "distractions" and "frustrations" during his last two years with the Dodgers, but this year, he'll be back.
• Dodger pitching prospects Javy Guerra and Chris Withrow were continuing their rehab from injuries at the team's recent minicamp in Los Angeles, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
• Delino DeShields Jr., the 18-year-old reigning first-round draft pick of the Houston Astros, was charged with a DUI, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
• Danny's Farm, the Altadena animal farm tailored for special-needs children that was founded by former Dodger pitcher Jim Gott and his wife Cathy, has been closed because of zoning restrictions, reports Corina Knoll of the Times.
• Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye gets praise from Rob McMillin at 6-4-2.
• Steve Dilbeck of the Times has a praiseworthy recap of Dennis Gilbert's annual Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation dinner Saturday.

Update:

• Crzblue's Dodger Blue World has a post with information on what is believed to be the 53 living former Brooklyn Dodgers, led by 101-year-old Tony Malinosky. (link via Dodger Thoughts commenter Mike Tink). Here's a link to a 2009 KCLU interview with Malinosky.
• Roger Schlueter of MLB.com looks at Clayton Kershaw's accomplishments to date in a historical context.

Two seasons ago, the Dodgers gave away Delwyn Young, then sent Andy LaRoche away to get Manny Ramirez a few months later. Now, the Dodgers can have them back for nothing. Pittsburgh designated Young and LaRoche for assignment today.

Both players occasionally flashed ability but mostly have washed out. That's not as big a surprise for Young, who was never expected to be much more than a bench player, but the bigger disappointment was LaRoche, whose fine minor-league career seemed to have him poised for a starting role. Indeed, yours truly insisted in 2008 that the Dodgers didn't give LaRoche a fair chance to win the third-base job before deciding to trade Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan for Casey Blake, days before the Ramirez trade.

When LaRoche was sent away (along with minor-league pitcher Bryan Morris), I consoled myself with the fact that at least the Dodgers were getting a major talent back. And more than ever, there's no doubt the trade was a major win for the Dodgers, especially with injuries and stagnating development making LaRoche a discard.

Either player might be worth a flyer on a minor-league contract, especially considering the Dodgers' depth issues, but based on Ned Colletti's past actions, if there's any ex-Pirate he'd be taking a chance on for next season's major-league roster, it would be today's third DFA, Zach Duke. Duke is five years removed from the 1.81 ERA he posted in his rookie debut and hasn't averaged more than 5.5 strikeouts per nine innings since, but he did have a 4.06 ERA in 2009 and will still only be 28 in April. For a general manager who saw potential in every R. Ortiz under the sun, Duke certainly seems like someone whose tires would get kicked.

And believe it or not, there's a fourth ex-Pirate in the Dodger news today, though don't expect to see him in Los Angeles. The Dodgers purchased the contracts of two players and added them to their 40-man roster – one was 28-year-old catcher Hector Gimenez, who had a .916 OPS for the Pirates' Double-A team in Altoona – the first time in eight professional seasons he had broken the .800 mark.

The other was Luis Vasquez (25 in April), who had a nifty 2.68 ERA and with 39 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings, but all the way down in Single-A. Vasquez allowed only 24 hits but walked 26.

No, this doesn't mean the Dodgers have solved their catching and bullpen issues. Nor, certainly, have they provided us an answer who will start in left field in 2011, though Colletti gave Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (news via MLB Trade Rumors) this conversation piece: Jay Gibbons, Xavier Paul and Jamie Hoffmann are all considered candidates to be the outfield's Opening Day third wheel.

* * *

Don Mattingly completed his managerial stint in the Arizona Fall League, and Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com touched base with him.

Last time the Dodgers won a Gold Glove at the following positions:

C - Russell Martin, 2007
1B - Steve Garvey, 1977
2B - Orlando Hudson, 2009
SS - Cesar Izturis, 2004
3B - None
OF - Matt Kemp, 2009
OF - Steve Finley, 2004
OF - Raul Mondesi, 1997
P - Greg Maddux, 2008

The timing wasn't right for Ron Cey or Adrian Beltre to win Gold Gloves for the Dodgers ...

* * *

• The history of Bill Russell as Dodger manager gets a long look back at the Hardball Times from Steven Booth, who is searching for parallels (and coming up with mixed results) with Don Mattingly's nascent tenure in the hot seat.
• Sam Miller of the Orange County Register questions a system that makes relievers 35 percent of Type A free agents.

* * *

All my best wishes and thanks to the nation's veterans on this day ...

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has caught some undeserved grief in the past 24 hours or so because his Phoenix Desert Dogs team in the Arizona Fall League ran out of pitchers and couldn't finish the nine-inning game, as Scott Merkin of MLB.com reported.

As someone who wishes the next Dodger manager had more experience, I nevertheless found this to be completely unremarkable. Some people have been using it to launch more snark at Mattingly, but that snark betrays a lack of understanding of what the AFL is – a series of games designed to provide a limited number of players with practice in a (pseudo-)competitive setting.

The math is simple: Mattingly was given five pitchers to work with Thursday (two others were injured), and was expected to get them all in the game while adhering to strict pitch-count limits. Over the first six innings he used three hurlers, none of whom pitched all that well, leaving him with two for the final three.

The real trouble began with Dodger prospect Steven Ames, a 17th-round pick in 2009, couldn't retire any of the seven batters he faced in the seventh inning. The next pitcher, Marlins prospect Steve Cishek, fared little better, retiring only two of the next seven batters, using 36 pitches in the process.

That forced Mattingly to use a sixth pitcher, Braves prospect Cory Gearrin, who was supposed to pitch today, in order to complete the seventh inning Thursday.

Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles spoke to Mattingly today and sent along these quotes:

"You only have so many guys, and we have two starters down (with injuries)," Mattingly told Jackson. "Each organization dictates how much you can use their guys and how much they can pitch. Ames just got here, and he was only supposed to go one inning or 30 pitches. And then Cishek, he could only go 40 pitches or two innings. And then I had to bring in Gearrin, and he only had 14 pitches left.'

"This had nothing to do with managing a game. I would do it every day exactly the way we did it, because I'm not going to send somebody out there and get them hurt, either somebody from our organization or from another organization. And you're not about to send another (position) player out there (to pitch) and risk getting them hurt just to get through one inning. ... We saw this coming for three or four days. We'd send a guy out there and cross our fingers and just hope he could give us an inning or get a double play or whatever, just to get us through. But it finally caught up with us.''

It's happened before, and it's happened again. Save the grievances about Mattingly for when they actually matter ...

The Arizona Fall League throws out its first pitch of 2010 today, and Dodger fans might pay it a little more mind than usual. Not only is this Don Mattingly's first official gig at the helm of a baseball team, the Phoenix Desert Dogs, but there are a couple of key players to watch:

1) The Dodgers' minor-league hitter of the year, Jerry Sands, will be tested out at third base.

2) The Dodgers' minor-league mystery of the year, Scott Elbert, will be tested out on the mound.

Other organization members on the Desert Dogs of Phoenix (or is it the Dogs of Phoenix Desert) are Javy Guerra, Jon Link, Justin Miller the Younger, Matt Wallach, Ivan DeJesus, Jr. and Trayvon Robinson. A few of these guys will be competing for major-league jobs in 2011.

Phoenix has its first game against Mesa at 12:35 p.m.

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• Logan White will interview for the Mets' vacant general manager slot, according to Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Jackson adds the following about surprising rumors in recent days that the Dodgers were pushing White out the door.
  

  ... As recently as 10 days ago, rumors surfaced that White, whose current contract is set to expire at the end of this month, was on the verge of being fired by the Dodgers. White told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Oct. 1 that he was aware of those rumors but hadn't been told anything official and that he planned to continue working as usual until he was told not to.
  
  "I'm still working," White said at the time. "I haven't been told anything [different]. There is a lot of innuendo and rumor out there, and I hate to even address some of those because they are so ridiculous."
  
  Those rumors appear to have been the result of confusing White with another Southern California amateur-scouting chief. The Los Angeles Angels had fired their scouting director, Eddie Bane, along with three of his scouts, on Sept. 29. Multiple sources said Monday the Dodgers have every intention of re-signing White and keeping him around in his present role if he isn't hired as a GM by another club. ...

• Vin Scully Is My Homeboy passes along these interviews by reporter Maria Serrao with Scully himself.
• Friend of the Dodger Thoughts family Daniel Paul has passed along this link to some Dodger caps his son Harry designed. Click the link and rate the cap.