FanHouse Casey Blake

While some people around Major League Baseball are losing their jobs for failing to win games, others around the league are being rewarded for their success. The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting ready to make their third appearance in the postseason in the last four years, and it looks like the man who is in charge of putting the team together is about to be rewarded for it.

There's word out of Los Angeles that the team has begun negotiating with general manager Ned Colletti about signing a long-term contract extension with the team. Colletti is currently working under a deal that includes a mutual option for 2010, and now the Dodgers would like that to last a bit longer.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Yes, the Dodgers' solar system revolves around Manny Ramirez. He's their star on the field and their main attraction.

But they wouldn't have Ramirez, nor many of the players who carried the team in his absence, were it not for a farm system that has been remarkably productive.

"It's nice that management kept us all here," ace Chad Billingsley told FanHouse. "There's some teams that maybe just start trading guys away. And believing in us, that's a huge thing."

In the 2002-03 drafts, Los Angeles took Russell Martin, James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp and Billingsley. Those five players made their big league debuts within an 11-month span, from July 2005 to June 2006.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

It was only a matter of time. As much as people want to talk about the New York pressure and how you can't continue to look at his career's worth of slow-starting seasons, all we had to do was be patient and wait for the inevitable stat correction when it came to Mark Teixeira. Now, we're right in the middle of it. In his last six games, Teixeira is hitting .458 with 3 home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.458 OPS. Low and behold, he's on pace for 42 bombs and 119 RBI.

MIAMI – Manny Ramirez faced the music Friday. It had to sound like Muzak to his poor, beleaguered soul.

You know Muzak, the soothing soundtrack you hear in elevators, malls and dentist offices. Ramirez saw teammates for the first time since he was busted last week for using banned substances.

The meeting was held in a conference room at the team hotel. From the sound of things, they should have just piled all the players, coaches and Ramirez into an elevator and let them have a group hug.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That closer Brian Wilson was perhaps the only one in the Giants clubhouse not happy after their 7-5, 13-inning victory over the Dodgers on Sunday. Wilson blew a save opportunity in the 12th and then got the win, but what really had him upset was a photo of Dodgers' third baseman Casey Blake, seemingly mocking Wilson's traditional post-game crossed-arm salute (right).

Blake had homered off Wilson to tie the game, and then was caught in a photo in the Dodgers dugout with his arms crossed. A friend of Wilson's sent the photo to his cell phone, and when Wilson showed it to reporters after the game, he was tight-lipped. Wilson said the symbol has to do with his faith and is also a sign to his late father.

Blake had already left the Dodgers clubhouse by the time Giants beat writers got to the Dodgers clubhouse to get his reaction.

The Giants and Dodgers don't play again until August, but Wilson isn't likely to forget.

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Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Eventual landing spot for Manny Ramirez. Seriously, it's going to happen sooner or later, so we'll just assume it's already happened for the purposes of this post. Obviously, if he either signs elsewhere (unlikely) or sits out this season (as unlikely as the holier than thou media embracing A-Rod), we'll have to re-fantasy-spin the entire offense. He's that important to the lineup.

All winter we've been sitting by and waiting for the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez to finally come to terms on a contract to keep the dreadlocked one in Los Angeles, but yet, here we are on February 20 with teams in spring training and Manny is still a free agent. The thing is, while most people have paid attention to Manny as a top free agent without a home, there have been a whole slew of other Type A guys sitting on their hands waiting for a phone call.

One of those guys was second baseman Orlando Hudson, who has no doubt suffered due to a bad economy and a newfound commitment to the draft by teams across baseball. Well, since they have nothing better to do with their time while waiting for Manny, the Dodgers have decided they don't need that draft pick, and signed Hudson this afternoon.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Michael Young's time with the Texas Rangers has been punctuated by him making personal sacrifices to help better the team. After years as a good second baseman for the team with both the stick and the glove, he didn't have a problem when he was asked to move to shortstop in the wake of the Alex Rodriguez trade and the subsequent arrival of Alfonso Soriano. Sure, Young's offensive numbers didn't quite stand out at short quite like they did at second base, but it was about the team, not Michael Young

Since his move he's won a Gold Glove and has been named to the AL All-Star team five times. Well, now the Rangers would like him to make another sacrifice and move from shortstop to third base so they can make room for prospect Elvis Andrus. Only this time Young isn't down, and he's told the Rangers he's stood all he can stand and that he can't stand no more. He wants to be traded.

So where are the Rangers going to send him?

Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

Joe Torre's admiration for veteran players like Bernie Williams in his years with the Yankees is almost legendary, so it should come as no surprise that, as the Dodgers try to navigate through an offseason of expansive upheaval, Torre is placing a big emphasis on veteran players.

Torre raved about the apparent signings of infielders Mark Loretta and Casey Blake for that reason, and the value he places on experience quickly bled over into a discussion about pitching.

"You need somebody to lead the way," said Torre. "If you do have that one guy that they can follow to take the pressure off the young guys and stop a losing streak, it makes life easier."

Chad Billingsley, who is only 24, has the most major league experience of all the starting pitchers on Los Angeles' big league roster. That's not exactly the type of veteran leadership Torre is talking about.

It's no secret that the Twins are looking for a third baseman. They've been rumored to be after free agent Casey Blake for awhile, but at this point it seems as though those talks have broken down, and they're turning their sights to a familiar target:

The Twins badly want a third baseman and will now step up efforts to get one, including conversations with the Mariners for Adrian Beltre. Minnesota inquired about Beltre last summer, but felt the asking price was too high given the salary they would have had to take on. That salary is now down to $12 million for the 2009 season instead of the $17 million it would have cost to get him last July. Don't forget, the M's want players back in return as well.

Beltre is a far superior player to Blake, and would be a huge upgrade for Minnesota at third. He's only a slightly above average hitter for his position, but is a fantastic defender, one of the best in the league.

In the Seattle Times article linked above, Geoff Baker mentions Michael Cuddyer as the possible centerpiece of the package going back to Seattle. That's reasonable enough -- the Mariners could use a corner bat or three -- but you have to wonder if they'd prefer someone more conducive to their stage in the rebuilding process, such as one of Minnesota's many young pitchers.

For the Twins, even though they'd have to give up a few players and pay Beltre's $12MM contract in 2008, their backup plan may actually be superior to their original one; you know pretty much what you're getting with one year of Beltre, while guaranteeing Blake three years would've been a significant gamble.