FanHouse Dodgers

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, both L.A.-area teams are in pursuit of Blue Jays' ace Roy Halladay via trade. The report cites sources familiar with talks from both teams and places the chances of the Dodgers getting the right-hander a "long shot," but it sounds like the Angels have a realistic chance at acquiring Halladay.

Reportedly, Halladay would cost the Angels a young starting pitcher, such as Jered Weaver or Ervin Santana, in addition to a prospect. New Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopolous is also said to be willing to allow a potential trading partner to negotiate a contract extension with Halladay before any deal is finalized.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Dodgers went to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, and lost again.

So they now realize -- or at least should -- that they need to retool some to take the next step. And as if that already didn't make this a critical offseason, owner Frank McCourt is divorcing his wife Jamie, leaving everyone to wonder who will control the team and whether it will affect their spending, as happened down the road in San Diego.

The Dodgers did some fixing on the fly over the summer, with Vicente Padilla, Jon Garland and Ronnie Belliard. But all three of those players are now free agents, so the holes are back to be patched.

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Though he hasn't made anything official and he's gone ahead and filed for free agency, Jason Schmidt is sounding more and more like a man who's thrown his last major league pitch. When approached by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Schmidt says that he field for free agency simply to "keep his options open," but in his mind, he retired when his season ended in August.

If that is the case, that means that Schmidt's All-Star career will end with a whimper. After signing a three-year, $47 million contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2007 season, two shoulder surgeries limited Schmidt to only 10 starts in Dodger blue. Because of the injuries, he missed all of the 2008 season and huge chunks of 2007 and 2009.

The nature of his contract and the amount of time missed to injury (Schmidt ended up being paid almost $5 million per start in LA) are what a lot of people associate Schmidt with now, but there was certainly more to his career.

CHICAGO -- On a day this week when the stock market had one of the encouraging spikes investors have enjoyed more frequently over the past few months, Kenny Williams let out a sarcastic cheer for what it meant to baseball.

"Let's go, let's party," he said. "We've got cash again."

Then, the White Sox general manager quickly returned to reality, at least the version of reality that he and his colleagues have been describing this week at the GM Meetings.

"I don't think it works that way," he said. "We might need to see six months of recovery before we buy into that. We need an advertiser or a sponsor or two to come back to us."

Mark Cuban is back on Bud Selig's doorstep with a sack full of money. This time he's got his eyes on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As the divorce drama of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife (and, depending on the courts, co-owner) Jamie plays out in Los Angeles, speculation has started that the team may hit the market. That's what happened with the Padres, you'll remember, when John Moores sold a stake in the team to pay off his ex-wife. If it plays out that way further up the California coastline, Cuban told the Los Angeles Times that he'd be interested in buying the team.

For most of the summer, Joe Torre indicated that he was planning on retiring from managing after his contract with the Dodgers expires in 2010. Both he and people who have followed his career closely noted that he's made similar statements in the past, and he's still in the dugout. Accordingly, Torre admitted to T.J. Simers on Sunday that he's considering negotiating a contract extension with the Dodgers that would keep him in L.A. beyond the 2010 season.

In his two years with the Dodgers, Torre's taken the team to the NLCS twice, but failed to get past the Phillies both times. Dating back to his years with the Yankees, he's taken his team to a playoff spot in 14 consecutive seasons. Unsurprisingly, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti indicates in the same story that he'd be happy to negotiate with Torre, should he want an extension.

In what wasn't much of a surprise, Los Angeles Dodgers left-fielder Manny Ramirez has decided to exercise his player option for 2010 and will return to the Dodgers next season. His agent Scott Boras let Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti know about Ramirez's decision on Friday night.

All of which means that Ramirez will make $20 million with the Dodgers rather than becoming a free agent, which is a smart move considering it's highly unlikely Manny would get that much money anywhere else next year. Manny didn't have the greatest season for the Dodgers in 2009, but Colletti is confident he'll bounce back next season.

UPDATE: It seems that Padilla did not shoot himself, but was in fact shot by a shooting instructor. Full details here.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla is back home in his native Nicaragua now his team's season has ended, and while there he's decided to do some hunting. Unfortunately for Vicente it seems his aim with a gun is a lot like his aim with his fastball. Sometimes he loses control of the thing and ends up hitting somebody.

Though this time it was himself.

Padilla was treated in a hospital on Tuesday after suffering what is being called a "minor" gunshot wound to his right leg.

While the Los Angeles Dodgers season may be over it appears that team owner Frank McCourt's divorce drama with his wife Jamie is going to continue for a while. The latest story being reported about the estranged couple is of Jamie calling 911 after being startled at home by Frank.

According to the police report that was filed, Frank did not attack Jamie in anyway, but rather came over to the house while she was swimming, which prompted her to make the call.

Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has dismissed wife Jamie from her post as the team's CEO ahead of what is expected to be a bitter divorce battle between the separated couple, according to a report by SI.com's Jon Heyman.

McCourt, who has been married to Jamie since 1979, purchased the Dodgers in 2004 for $430 million, but the team is believed to be worth considerably more than that.

The firing of Jamie further complicates the fate of the franchise as the couple heads for divorce court, with Frank claiming that he has full ownership of the team and his spouse contending that she owns 50 percent of it.

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