FanHouse NedColetti

The closer we get to spring training, the more likely it is that Manny Ramirez is going to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It just makes sense. The Dodgers want him to stay in Los Angeles after the spark he brought to the team after coming over last summer, and they're the only team who has made an offer close to what Manny and Scott Boras think Ramirez deserves.

At first glance, the Kershaw Decree sounds like something you've forgotten from eighth grade history class. An obscure corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, perhaps, or the legal decision that made it okay for the United States to herd Native Americans onto reservations. It isn't though, as you may have guessed from the picture of Dodgers prospect Clayton Kershaw to the right.

The Dodgers would like to have Kershaw available to them during the tail end of the season, so they've issued the Kershaw Decree. If this all seems familiar, it's probably because Joe Torre is the Dodgers manager and he went through the same thing with Joba Chamberlain in New York last summer. The "Joba Rules" may be a bit catchier title but the operating principle is the same.

The Decree holds that he can't pitch more than 25 innings during any month in the minor leagues. That would keep him on track for 150 innings or so for the season. Like Chamberlain, he's not to be fed after midnight and should never, ever be exposed to water or bright light. Dodger GM Ned Coletti watched Kershaw's last start and wants the lefty to pitch relief in his next few outings.

"We all know that his future, if he stays healthy, is in the big leagues," Torre said. "I leave it to the Minor League people and Ned to tell me when it is."

Given Coletti's fetish for the aged, he'll probably deem him ready sometime in the summer of 2014 but only if Esteban Loaiza isn't still on the market.