Is Hiroki Kuroda Close To Re-Signing With The Dodgers?

Is Hiroki Kuroda close to re-signing with the Dodgers? According to Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com, Kuroda is on the verge of signing a one-year, $8 million deal to stay in Los Angeles.

Hiro, who will be 36 in 2011, went 11-13 with a 3.39 ERA in 196 1/3 innings last season. Kuroda was hurt by the lack of run support last year. The Dodgers were shutout in six of his 13 losses.

If he does come back to play for LA, he'd be their fourth starter behind Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and the recently signed Ted Lilly. This would be a great deal for Ned Colletti and the Dodgers. It seems like he's trying to get the starting rotation wrapped up before he goes out and gets bats.

So who gets that fifth spot in the rotation? John Ely? Vicente Padilla? Carlos Monasterios?

2011 Dodger Bobbleheads

Alright Dodger fans, the 2011 promotional schedule is out. We already knew there would be six bobbleheads giveaways next year, and I did make my bobble predictions a few weeks ago. Were any of my predictions right? Well, the Dodgers did reveal who four of the 6 bobbleheads would be. Here are the six dates:

Tuesday, May 17, Clayton Kershaw
Wednesday, June 1, Don Mattingly
Tuesday, June 14, TBA
Thursday, July 7, Andre Ethier
Tuesday, July 26,  Fernandomania
Tuesday, August 9, TBA

I did predict the Dodgers would honor Mattingly and Kershaw. I'm not surprised they're giving Fernando a bobble 30 years after Fernandomania, although it's his third Dodger Stadium giveaway. I am surprised they're giving away another Andre Ethier though. So who will those other two be? I still think Hong Chih Kuo will get one, and Chad Billingsley deserves the other.

Does This Look Like Timmy?

This is one bobblehead I never wanted to see.

This creepy looking thing can be yours for $24.99 at mlb.com. Other SF World Series Championship bobbleheads at the MLB Shop are Brian Wilson, Cody Ross, Buster Posey, Matt Cain, and Lou Seal, the Giants' mascot. I can't tell you how sick I get when I look at these things.

huh?

Bobblehead Of The Day: Russell Martin

Click here to purchase

Russell Martin finally got a day off yesterday after starting 22 straight games. Russell is in the midst of a career-high 15-game hit streak and is batting .268 with four home runs and 12 RBI, so I understand why Joe Torre wanted him in the line-up everyday. He's hot. He's caught 323 2/3 innings so far this season, which ranks him second in the National League behind the Cardinal's Yadier Molina.

Because Russell has been playing so well lately, I thought I'd post his 2007 Dodger Stadium bobblehead. The bobblehead was given away on August 2, 2007 to the first 50,000 fans in attendance. Presented by Subway, this bobble was made by P Squared Promos. This was the last of three bobbleheads given away that year. The first two were Nomar Garciaparra(April 26) and Rafael Furcal(July 6). The Dodgers held online voting for the last bobblehead 0f 2007, and they chose Rusell Martin.

The Dodgers played the San Francisco Giants that night and lost 4-2. Barry Zito was the winning pitcher and Brett Tomko took the loss(I'm shocked).

Let's take a look at the bobblehead.







This is one of my favorite bobbleheads. It's not a player in the traditional batting stance, but in a defensive position, blocking the plate. The bobblehead looks like Russell too. They got the facial hair and skin tone down. 2007 was a good year for Dodger Stadium bobblehead SGA's, the Nomar and Furacal are also two more of my favorites.

Up next: 2007 Rafael Furcal bobblehead

Dodgers Notes: Gibbons Signs, Pods Declines

A couple of notes from the Dodgers today. After the Dodgers picked up their part of Scott Podsednik's $2 million option on Monday, he declined his part of the mutual option today and became a free agent. I guess Pods feels he can make more money elsewhere. He can still return to the Dodgers.

So, who will play in left field in 2011? One option will be Jay Gibbons who signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers today. Gibby will earn $650,000 with another $150,000 in plate-appearance incentives.

I was a little worried about the Dodgers picking up the Podsednik option. I don't think Pods is an everyday player, and I was scared Ned Colletti viewed him as one.

Gibbons isn't an everyday player either, but I don't mind the signing. He'll be fine as a left-handed option coming off the bench and as  a spot starter. His biggest flaw was playing the field. It was painful watching him play defense.

I Hate The Giants More Than Ever

Photo Credit Eric Gay/AP

The Giants won the World Series last night. I've acknowledged it. That's all I will do. Am I jealous of the fans in San Francisco? Hell Yeah. This is what I want for my beloved Dodgers, a world championship. I think I hate the Giants and their fans more than ever now.

This is exactly what the Dodgers need though, a wake up call for this organization.  This should be motivation for Frank McCourt and  Ned Colleti to put a championship caliber team together. The hated rivals from up north should be sniffing the Dodgers' rears every year.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween, although there's no color combination I hate more than orange and black. Speaking of orange and black, it was nice seeing the Giants lose last night. Hopefully the Rangers can pull off another victory tonight. There's no scarier though than the Giants winning it all.

Here are some Dodgers  Jack O' Lanterns:

You can download these Dodgers pumpkin stencils here and here.