Congratulations to Rowland Heights's Jacob Martinez, who predicted the Saints' would win 28-17 yesterday, coming within three points of the correct score. We're going to send out a Dodger prize package, including an autographed baseball and other memorabilia.

And with that, football season has come to a close and baseball is upon us. Less than two weeks before we report to Camelback Ranch.

Are any of you planning on coming out?

It's the last official day of football season, so get it out of your system now and get ready to start watching America's pastime.

Just for fun, why doesn't everyone list their prediction for the score of the Superbowl and we'll send something out to the person who comes closest to getting it right?

It's been an amazing two days hitting all areas around Los Angeles and seeing so many fans out there.

The stories are all over the news and on the front of the site, so check them out and be sure to check out the photo galleries, too. Some great shots.

It certainly has those of us at the organization counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report...17 days left, in case you're wondering.

Off to Olvera Street for the finale of the caravan...

Just came from a very cool luncheon which takes place each year and is hosted by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association.

Vin Scully was receiving the President's Award from the organization and Jim Hill was put into the Hall of Fame and both gave very moving speeches but the event turned into an impromptu lovefest for Vin that has rarely been equaled. It seemed that everyone who won an award talked at length about Vin's role in their career and he was clearly humbled by the whole thing. He really is as classy as any individual I've ever been around and we are all very fortunate to have him be the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Other key Dodger people who won awards were Vin for best TV and radio play by play announcer, Jaime Jarrin for Spanish-language broadcaster, Ken Levine for talk show host (he gave props to Josh Suchon, his partner) and Eric Karros for pre or postgame host. We're proud of all of them, and a personal shout out goes to Nancy Mazmanian, formerly of the Angels, who won the "High Five" award. And lots of love went out to the memory of Rory Markas, among others who we lost this year.

Meanwhile, at the same time that event was going on, we had the kickoff to the caravan at USC Hospital and tomorrow and Wednesday, we'll be kicking around town and hope to see you all there.

Congratulations are in order to Clayton Kershaw and minor league pitching coach Danny Darwin, who were both honored last night in Dallas.

And serious kudos go out to Casey Blake, who clearly understands the meaning of giving back to the community. He and his family are donating $1 million to their hometown, according to their local paper.

Hopefully we'll see many of you out and about at the caravan this week. More public stops than we've ever had before, so come out and see current and former Dodgers as we gear up for Spring Training (pitchers and catchers report in less than three weeks).

And we'll leave you with the following photo from Joe Torre, who has a cameo on Jay Mohr's show Gary Unmarried (seen here with Rob Riggle of The Daily Show fame). It'll air on March 10 when we're at Camelback.

Slowly but surely, many pieces of last year's team are coming back into the fold, as we just signed Ronnie Belliard for 2010. More to come soon, but wanted to let you all know as soon as it became official.

UPDATE: Ausmus back, too, to serve as Russell's backup (and mentor as he did last year)

 

Today we made official what has been reported for weeks...that we'll make a trip to Taiwan for two games (about five days) in March. As you know, fans from around the world support the Dodgers and this is really going to be something special...the fact that the thousands of fans that we have in Taiwan will get to see their team up close and personal and that Hu and Kuo will get to play in front of their hometown crowds with Dodger uniforms on is something many Taiwanese people will remember for the rest of their lives.

These sorts of trips are invaluable to spreading the game internationally and of course, to creating Dodger fans all over the world. The last time we went to Taiwan, in 1993, players like Hong-Chih Kuo, Chin-Feng Chen and Chin-lung Hu watched us as youngsters and it absolutely made an impact when it came time to choose which team they'd sign with. Even the visits to Japan back in past decades had the same impact on players like Nomo and Ishii and Kuroda (and their parents). It's one way to help develop the Dodgers' name in the international community, as are things like the new partnership we've created with a Venezuelan team (La Guaira). And of course, having scouts throughout the world who can find talents like Ronald Belisario (and Zerpa and Monasterios, our two Rule 5 guys from this year) are all part of our strategy to locate talent around the globe, develop it, and then reap the benefits at the Major League level. With our big league club often having as many as seven or eight nationalities represented each year, we do believe that it is working.

In any event, I'm personally very excited to make the trip to Taiwan and I know that several of our players are, too. In fact, guys like James Loney and Jamey Carroll have already volunteered to make the trip, while others will surely sign on, too, as we get closer to setting up a roster. If any of you have been there (or perhaps live there and read this blog or facebook post from Taiwan), please offer any advice you can give to those of us who have never been.

I know that there have been some questions about whether or not this trip will have a negative effect on what goes on at Camelback Ranch, so we should address that, too. Two years ago, when we went to China, there were many who thought that would hurt the team and obviously the result at season's end was a trip to the NLCS for the first time in 20 years. And a player like Blake DeWitt proved himself back in Vero Beach when he might not otherwise have had the opportunity to do so. So while I can understand that concern, I do believe that this is not only good for the Dodgers long-term brand and future teams, I don't believe that it affects us negatively in the short-term.

I've also heard some say that they don't understand why the team would spend money on something like this rather than in other areas, so I can address that, too. This is a trip put on by MLB International and does not cost the team any money. So while the benefits of making a trip like this are many, the drawbacks, if any, I believe are few.

Finally, I'm glad to see the lively debate in the comments and appreciate the kind words about my efforts on this site as well as the efforts of those in the rest of the organization. All I can say is that the organization does read what you have to say and utilize it for the betterment of the club. Quite often, the comments about stadium experience and things of that nature are put to use more often than opinions on the composition of the team, but I do think that's a great part of this forum and continue to welcome everyone's thoughts in that regard. At the end of the day, the baseball operations staff has to rely on their experience, their research (statistical and otherwise), their scouts and their business acumen to make baseball decisions. That doesn't mean that we ignore what the fans want, but I think that when it comes to baseball decisions, you're always going to have some fans who want thing and others who want another. That's the really great thing about this game. And of course, I believe that the results of the last few seasons should give everyone some confidence in the decisions made by Ned and his entire staff.

As for me, I can only continue to help you all understand why we make the decisions we make, both on the business and baseball side. I have the benefit of getting to deal with Ned and his staff, as well as everyone at the organization on a daily basis. So, while it may appear to be positive spin to some, in my honest opinion it's simply explaining why we do what we do. I don't expect everyone to agree with the explanation and would hope that you debate the merits of what we say. That's exactly what this blog is for and we appreciate all the time and effort that our fans put into it.

Ned has spoken all winter about wanting to add another veteran starting pitcher and today, he got Vicente Padilla, who was even better than we expected when he came our way last season. He went 4-0 for us in the regular season, had our two best starts in the playoffs, and by all accounts of his teammates and coaches, exhibited none of the issues that seemingly plagued him in Texas.

As we noted in the news release, he's won 14 or more games in four of the last eight seasons and the only other pitcher on the free agent market who can say that was Andy Pettitte.

I hope you all are as excited about this new addition as we are and I still don't think we're done. I know that Ned has talked a lot about shoring up the bench with another veteran player or two and I have full faith and confidence that he will.

James Loney, Hong-Chih Kuo and George Sherrill have all avoided arbitration for 2010, leaving just three more guys to lock up - Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton and Russell Martin.

Today is the day when numbers get filed for each side, but it's hardly the end of the process. We're still very hopeful we can get those other three guys done soon...stay tuned.

As any of you who follow the game closely know, arbitration is a process you never want to go to with a player, so the work of Kim Ng and her staff in getting six of the nine guys done so far should be commended...and hopefully she and they will get the rest done soon!

UPDATE: Russell Martin also avoids arbitration and signs for 2010!

I hope that all of you are getting the day off in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts in the civil rights movement.

A couple stories have run about the various events around town, including this recap in the Daily News which talks about the reasoning behind having our Dodger prospects take part in the Kingdom Day Parade. Safe bet that's the only time you're ever going to see a quote from me followed by a quote by President Obama, but the underlying message from everyone today is a salute to Dr. King.

And as always, we appreciate everyone's feedback in the comments section and hopefully by the end of this week, we'll have some more announcements that will make all of you more exciting about the upcoming season and the team. I do have to ask, though, that you please remember this is a family site. There are a million ways to share your opinion without getting vulgar and I ask that you please do so.