DODGERS LOSE THEIR PUNCH BELTRE SIGNS WITH SEATTLE; GREEN MAY BE IN BLOCKBUSTER DEAL.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer In what could be the Dodgers' biggest one-day shift of high-priced talent since Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza (born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is an American Major League Baseball player who currently plays for the Oakland Athletics. He began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres left town more than six years ago, free agent third baseman third baseman n. Baseball The infielder stationed near third base. Noun 1. third baseman - (baseball) the person who plays third base third sacker Adrian Beltre signed with the Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Mariners have played in Safeco Field. on Thursday, just hours before outfielder/first baseman Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972, in Des Plaines, Illinois) is a 6' 4" left-handed Major League Baseball player. Green is the starting right fielder for the New York Mets.[1] Green was a 1st round draft pick, and has been a two-time major league All-Star. appeared headed to the Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. as part of a monster three-team deal. Beltre's decision came after his long-awaited breakout season netted 48 homers, tying the major league record for third basemen and falling one short of Green's club record set in 2001. It also brought a five-year contract from the Mariners worth a reported $64 million. The Dodgers offered a sixth season plus an option year in 2011, but they couldn't match the average salary of Seattle's proposal. ``We're disappointed,'' Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta Paul DePodesta (born December 16, 1972) is baseball front-office assistant for the San Diego Padres. He has also served as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from February 16, 2004 to October 29, 2005. said. ``It hurts, and we obviously would have loved to have him back. But I think this was a possibility during the course of the year, and we feel like we stepped up and made a very competitive offer. We actually tried to make it a compelling (offer) by putting in a sixth guaranteed year, but unfortunately for us, Adrian decided to go elsewhere.'' The loss of Beltre, 25, is certain to rock Dodgers fans, who watched their team win the National League West for the first time since 1996 and win a playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship for the first time since the 1998 World Series. The Dodgers drew 3,488,283 fans in 2004, tops in the National League and second in the majors. But they have been through it before. On May 14, 1998, Piazza and Todd Ziele were sent to the Florida Marlins The Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Marlins have played in Dolphin Stadium. in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson and Jim Eisenreich. Thursday, the news got even bigger when the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and New York Yankees  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. began to close in on a multiplayer transaction
featuring of the biggest names in baseball. Green was headed to the
Diamondbacks, five-time Cy Young award winner Randy Johnson was off to
New York New York, state, United StatesNew York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Yankees right-hander Javier Vazquez was joining the Dodgers. ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , Newsday and Fox Sports, which first reported the deal on their Web sites, said the other players were Dodgers pitchers Brad Penny and Yhency Brazoban, and Yankees top prospects Eric Duncan and Dioner Navarro. There was no confirmation from any of the teams that a deal had been finalized. And one source told The Associated Press it still could fall apart at the last moment because of the number of players and clubs involved. The deal also is contingent on both Johnson and Green waiving their respective no-trade clauses, but both are expected to do so. ``We're still in conversations with a lot of different clubs about a lot of different possibilities,'' DePodesta said earlier in the day. ``We have talked about some three-way deals and some four-way deals. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if it's going to happen or not.'' The Mariners have yet to formally announce the signing, partly because Beltre must pass a physical. But DePodesta publicly acknowledged in a conference call with reporters that his club is out of the running for Beltre. By not signing Beltre, the Dodgers clearly have more financial flexibility in filling out their roster. The club has a $100 million payroll budget and about $51.25 million committed to seven players. With the roughly $12 million they would have paid Beltre now available for other players, the Dodgers can be more aggressive in pursuing trades and other free agents. ``We have some standing offers out there for some people,'' DePodesta said. ``What this does is probably free us up to more actively pursue some other players where we (previously) had expressed an interest but told those players all along that Adrian was our priority and that we couldn't offer them something concrete. ``Now, we're certainly free to pursue those fronts.'' By trading Green, the Dodgers would clear an additional $16 million from that $51.25 million commitment. Vazquez has about three years and $34.5 million left on his current contract, a four-year, $45 million deal he signed with the Yankees last winter, and the Yankees, it is expected, will have to agree to pay at least some of that. The Dodgers' primary goal is to upgrade their starting pitching, and they reportedly have made an offer to free-agent right-hander Orlando Hernandez. DePodesta has been preparing for months for the possibility of losing Beltre, with the boldest stroke being last week's signing of veteran free agent Jeff Kent. Kent primarily is a second baseman, but could play either third or first, and the Dodgers already have defensive standout Alex Cora at second. DePodesta said the loss of Beltre doesn't necessarily mean Kent will play third base, although unless the Dodgers acquire another third baseman via trade, they don't appear to have any other options at the position. The Dodgers also are seeking an everyday catcher and, now, probably a power-hitting outfielder. Tony Jackson,(818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Adrian Beltre |
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