Mama's House

Wow, wow, wow! First heard about the trade on the car radio... immediately had to check the internet to see who they gave up hoping Matt Kemp was not part of the deal. A little sad to see Laroche go because I think he's got a bright future ahead of himself and the Dodgers are going to be in the market for a 3rd baseman after the season, but what a return!

Colletti has pulled off the coup of his GMing career, a trade for a future Hall of Fame slugger that immediately, and perhaps irrevocably, changes the look and feel of the heretofore gutless National League West. With Ramirez in Tinsletown, the Dodgers go from contenders to favorites, from clueless to clued-in. The kicker: It cost them next to nothing to get there.

Ramirez to L.A. is all upside for the Dodgers. Even if Manny reverts to being the Bad Manny... all the Dodgers have to do is bench the guy. Or release him. They're not paying him a dime. (The Red Sox, in their haste to wash their hands of Bad Manny, are picking up the $7 million remaining on his 2008 salary.)

With Ramirez in the lineup, the Dodgers don't have to worry about handing out playing time to Andruw Jones or Juan Pierre, two of Colletti's more expensive and most noticeable flops. With Ramirez clobbering home runs, even in spacious Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers -- 15th in the 16-team NL in homers -- now have a legitimate bat to go with emerging sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier and still-capable veteran second baseman Jeff Kent.