Hiroki Kuroda has passed a physical this morning and will be introduced tomorrow as the newest member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The signing has been speculated and anticipated for quite some time and seems to be a perfect fit, as it did not require the club to give up any of the young talent that has fans so excited about 2008.

As most of you know, there is a very long history between the Dodgers and Japan dating back to the team’s days in Brooklyn. It sounds like the popularity of the Dodgers as well as Kuroda’s respect for Takashi Saito and the supportive Japanese community in Los Angeles had a lot to do with his decision to join the Dodgers over the other teams that coveted him — some reports have that number as high as 20 Major League teams.

I probably speak for many baseball fans when I say that I’m excited for the talk around the game of baseball to return to the field. The Mitchell Report will have a lasting place in baseball history but I’d like to think that as an industry, we can and should accept our mistakes and continue to welcome the changes that have been made over the past few years to maintain the game’s integrity.

I’m looking forward to the day this year when Kuroda gives us eight strong innings and Saito finishes the game with a save, a fist pump and his trademark smile.

I’m sure I’ll write more tomorrow after the news conference.

“As the steward of the Los Angeles Dodgers, I am steadfast in the belief that performance-enhancing drugs have no place in baseball. The Dodgers have supported and fully cooperated with this investigation, initiated by the commissioner and conducted by Senator Mitchell. We wholeheartedly support Commissioner Selig’s efforts to rid the game of these substances and we commend Senator Mitchell on a thorough investigation. Our commitment to our fans during our stewardship has been and always will be to do everything in our power to maintain the game’s integrity.

“With that said, I have not had the chance to read the report in its entirety and once I am able to do so, I’ll be willing to share any further thoughts.”

It’s only 2:45 but today has really been phenomenal. This morning we hosted about 300 kids from local youth organizations at a holiday party at Dodger Stadium and it doubled as an introduction to Los Angeles for Andruw Jones. In addition to the newest Dodger, we had people like Tommy Lasorda, Ned Colletti, Eric Karros, Kenny Landreaux, Bobby Castillo, Rudy Law, Charley Steiner and Steve Lyons, among others, on hand to spend time with the youngsters.

As for Andruw, he couldn’t have been more gracious with the little ones and the big ones (those in the media), and we’re certainly looking forward to having him here.

The thing that he kept repeating that stuck out with me is his converations with Ned and Frank in which he said they showed him how much they wanted him and how badly they expect and want to win here. I obviously don’t know what was said behind closed doors but whatever it was, it clearly convinced him that a two-year deal with the Dodgers than a potentially longer gig elsewhere. (On a side note, the final center fielder of the winter signed today – Aaron Rowand for five years and $60 million; Hunter was five years and $90 million and Kosuke Fukudome at four years and $48 million). 

He mentioned that in Curacao, where he grew up, the two teams everyone talks about are the Dodgers and Yankees so if there are any people from Curacao reading this, we welcome your native son to Los Angeles and hope you’ll come visit us this Spring in Vero Beach or this summer in LA. He also confirmed that he speaks four languages – English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento, which is a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French and has some Arawak Indian and African influences (according to my trusty google search). That’s the official language of Curacao and the one he’s spoken since birth.

We also announced today that we have invited 11 players to Spring as non-roster players, including Tanyon Sturtze, Danny Ardoin and Mike Koplove, among others. The full release is here.

Additionally, today we will non-tender Mark Hendrickson, making him a free agent.

I know a lot of you are asking about Kuroda and unfortunately, I don’t really have an update. From what I understand, members of the Japanese media have reported that he told someone at the the Hiroshima Carp that he wants to play for the Dodgers, but if that’s the case, he has not yet told the Dodgers that. That would certainly be great news if it proves to be true and as soon as I know it’s official, I’ll post here again.

It’s official…Andruw passed his physical today and will be introduced tomorrow at Dodger Stadium at the Children’s Holiday Party for local youths. That will be his first chance to meet the media here, too, so I’d expect to see a lot of stories on TV, radio and in the papers/online in the next 24-48 hours about Mr. Jones.

Otherwise we’re staying very busy with stuff that isn’t the public side of the game – internal planning for 2008. That’s everything from relationships with our TV partners, radio partners, community events, Rose Parade planning, 50th anniversary planning, etc. I’m sure it doesn’t sound like much but I can assure you that we could all use a few extra hours in the day.

As for the comments about Ned reading the blog (or any blog), I can assure you that he was joking around with our beat writers at the winter meetings and it came off as flippant. Since three of our regular papers now have blogs, that topic came up and everyone was joking about it, which was when Ned made the comment he made.  As someone who sees just how insanely busy his schedule is, it’s safe to assume that he doesn’t do much reading of media coverage or blogs and I’m fairly certain that he’s not alone in that area when it comes to big league GMs. That doesn’t mean they don’t care about what fans think – it’s just that they have to rely on their scouts and baseball people for opinions and then make a decision rather than reading every website out there for input. 

I’ll keep trying to post news as it comes. As you know during the winter, that’s not every day but keep checking back regularly for updates.

Ned confirmed just a few minutes ago that the Jones deal is done pending a physical, which will probably be on Tuesday. He explained how this had gained steam from Monday when they arrived and was finalized last night, right before the news broke by the LA writers who were on site here.  I was in our suite when it all went down and it’s fair to say that there was quite a buzz of excitement about all of this.

Some key points from his talk with the media:

He said that this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll have to move an outfielder and he likes the depth it creates in the outfield. He also said it allows us to be more focused in our quest for pitching.

He also said this makes him a little bit more comfortable about the in-house options at third base. If something comes up that is a really great option, we would do it, but pitching is the greater priority.

He praised all of our staff in getting this done and the McCourts for being willing to make a move of this nature.

He was asked about Don Mattingly’s effect on Jones and he said he has been very impressed with Don and the fact that he came down here from Evansville and has fit in immediately with everyone at the team. He’s looking forward to seeing him work with our players, especially the young guys.

Ned reached out to Juan Pierre last night to talk about how this affects him, but wasn’t able to reach him. And when asked if he regrets signing Pierre, he said he absolutely does not. He can’t re-write history, but he implored everyone to look back at the circumstances that we were in when we signed him (only one outfielder with more than a month of experience in the Majors – Ethier). He pointed out that Juan did exactly what we expected him to do and that he has never said that Juan was a franchise player. He’s a very good player on a winning team and the reason we didn’t win last year was not Juan Pierre’s fault.

He continued to say that as a team, we’re not of a mind to give up three or four players for one star pitcher or player.  He reiterated that we’re not going to do something just to do it, but that we’ve zeroed in on two or three pitchers and will see if anything can happen. Obviously Kuroda remains a viable option.

On a side note, Chan Ho Park’s non-roster invite is now formally done. Also, we did not take anyone in the Rule 5 draft, but we did lose Wesley Wright to the Astros, so he’ll have to stay on their big league roster all year or be offered back to us for $25,000.

From what it seems like by your comments and the various articles I’ve read today, most people see this as a great deal for the Dodgers. Andruw obviously has the power we need (10 straight years of 25-plus homers) and is a Gold Glover (10 times over, two shy of Mays and Clemente’s record). And the bottom line is, this deal seems to have gotten done because Andruw wanted to be a Dodger and that’s a very cool thing to hear.

If you’re a Dodger fan, I’ve got to imagine today is a very good day. Now it’s back to Los Angeles…

I meant to post yesterday and never got the chance, but all is still relatively quiet on the homefront. Obviously the Tigers and Marlins appear to have made a major splash, though until it’s announced anything can still go south.

As for the Dodgers, it’s still 18-hour workdays (not for the PR guy, but for the baseball people). These meetings always give me a chance to interact with some of the scouts and special assistants I don’t normally see during the season and I really get an appreciation for what they all do. They have been meeting with the various teams to see if our needs match up and of course, the agents for the players who are on the open market. Obviously there hasn’t been a deal made yet on our end, but those things change quickly in this environment, as everyone learned yesterday with Detroit.

We did get a special treat last night, as Tommy Lasorda hosted everyone at John’s A’s, a restaurant known for its ribs and catfish. Apparently Tommy has been going there for more than 30 years and the owner coaxed him to get on stage and do some singing with the band (ok, it didn’t require much coaxing). He also gave an impassioned speech about supporting our troops and about being proud Americans, at which point the band broke into Lee Greenwood’s "Proud to be an American."  I’m sure that any of the people who were in the restaurant without knowing that the Dodger party was coming that night had an evening they’ll never forget.

Over at Dodger Thoughts, Jon Weisman posts a great explanation of the rumor mill here at the meetings. This is some of the most fun times to be a baseball fan, when rumors run rampant and almost every name out there is attached to the Dodgers one way or the other. But like Jon, I urge caution in getting too caught up in believing all of it. These are often thrown out there by agents looking to drive up the market for their player or teams who are interested in someone on another team. Given that our baseball people are working almost around the clock, it’s safe to assume that they ask about almost everyone you can imagine who would help improve the Dodgers. That said, it doesn’t mean it’s a top target or that the names floated out there as possible prospects leaving Los Angeles have any validity to them. Sometimes they do and often they don’t. That’s the nature of these meetings.

Still, it’s a lot of fun and keeps baseball at the top of everyone’s mind in December, and that’s a great thing!

I’ll hopefully post one more time before leaving tomorrow. The Rule 5 draft is in the morning and we head back to Los Angeles in the evening before returning to the stadium on Friday morning. In the meantime, I’m going to go buy an Elvis souvenir – they seem to be everywhere in this hotel.

The first day of the meetings came and went relatively quietly, not just for us but for all of the teams. Ned met with all our media members late last night (during the finish of the Patriots game) and I think the most interesting thing that we learned was that a few years ago, he and Brian Sabean signed Tom Brady to a contract for $1 when he came out to take batting practice with the Giants.

Otherwise, he reiterated that starting pitching remains a top priority and that we’ve made an offer to Hiroki Kuroda, the Japanese starting pitcher who has been most highly sought. He said that while we do have an interest in Andruw Jones and/or Aaron Rowand, right now we’re very far apart in both years and dollars for both players. The Miguel Cabrera situation does not appear to have changed at all, with demands simply too high for it to fit right now. And finally, he said that there are still a few of our own free agents who we are considering re-signing, including Mike Lieberthal, Mark Sweeney and Rudy Seanez, among others.

The rest of the day was filled with the previously mentioned great news that Walter O’Malley will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as will former Brooklyn outfielder **** Williams. We also signed an amateur Japanese pitcher named Robert Boothe.

Joe Jareck and I spent the day in PR meetings with the other 30 teams which were both informative and fascinating at times. After James Carville and Mary Matalin spoke to the entire MLB contingent at the Fall Business Meetings two weeks ago, Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary, gave us a glimpse at presidential PR and how it relates to the things that we do. It’s not every day you get to hear stories like his and it was very interesting stuff.

Finally, we attended a reception in which Rich Levin of Major League Baseball was given the annual Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence and we also got the chance to attend a dinner with about 50 employees from our minor league affiliates across the country.

Day two starts early (heading out now)…hope to have something interesting to post later.

This morning, the Hall of Fame announced that Walter O’Malley and **** Williams will both be inducted in Cooperstown this summer. What a great way to begin the four days here in Nashville and we’ll be sending out a release shortly, but all of us at the Dodgers are ecstatic that these two men will finally find their rightful place at the Hall of Fame.

The timing couldn’t be better, either. We’ll be celebrating 50 years of Los Angeles Dodger baseball all year long and without Walter O’Malley, none of that would be possible. As for Williams, he played outfielder for us for about five years in the 50s and though he is mostly being inducted for all that he accomplished after being with the Dodgers, that’s where his career began and we’re very excited for him, too.

So I’ve found a way to keep Matt Kemp in the lineup even if we add another center fielder. About two months ago, someone bought me a PSP as a gift and the only game they gave me was MLB ’07. So I’ve been playing out the Dodgers’ season from last year during late night baby feedings.

You’ll be happy to know that Juan Pierre leads the league with a .521 batting average, 75 hits, 34 runs and 28 stolen bases through 31 games. His OPS is 1.1107, the seventh-best in the league and his drag bunting is practically indefensible and he’s stolen about 90 percent of his attempts successfully. Luis Gonzalez is one of my top power hitters, so I can’t take him out of the lineup and Ethier is hitting about .440 with solid production.

However, Matt Kemp has homered four times as a pinch-hitter (he platoons with Ethier) and I’ve got to find a way to get him into the lineup more often, so I tried him at second base for the "slumping" Jeff Kent (he was hitting only .310 with one homer) and he’s a natural there! He turned a sweet double play recently and has about eight homers now…

Unfortunately, I don’t see this as a real solution, so I guess we’ll be looking for other ways to improve the team in ’08. Hence, why all teams are headed for Nashville and the winter meetings. The next time I write, I’ll be in the Opryland Hotel, as we depart tomorrow morning for Tennessee.

In the meantime, you’ve got to check out the "Sons…" blog, where there’s a priceless video from the 80s. Just about all the players I grew up watching in a horrific display of singing and dancing. That includes current Dodger coaches Ken Howell and Rick Honeycutt, broadcasters Rick Monday and Jerry Reuss and other lesser remembered Dodgers from 80s like Len Matuszek, who I think I saw in there.

And while you’re in the video watching mood, Dodgers on Demand has been busy keeping their site (and their On Demand service on Time Warner) up to date so check that out, too.

‘Til Tennesse…

Jonathan Mayo over at MLB.com (and MiLB.com, the minor league site) has his Top 50 prospects in baseball revealed and the best pitcher in baseball and fourth-best prospect overall is none other than Dodger lefty Clayton Kershaw. Andy LaRoche checks in at No. 33 and Scott Elbert, despite his injury, is at No. 36.

Of course, lists like this are clearly subjective — sometimes the projections come to fruition and sometimes they don’t. We’ve seen plenty of examples of both in the past, but nonetheless it’s a nice honor for Clayton to take with him as he heads into Spring Training. He’ll turn 20 a few days after reporting to Dodgertown…

Mayo adds two more stories on the topic: Breaking Down the Prospects and Sometimes the Prospects "Catch On." Both are interesting reads and Mayo has been a dedicated minor league follower for about a decade, so I do tend to value his opinion and those of the scouts he talks to more than most.