If you consider Bill Hall to be “talent.” JJ Hardy has been hot, though, and he’s blocking a really good AA SS (A. Escobar) expected in another year or so. Don’t know what they’d want in return though, since I don’t think the Dodgers would give up Kershaw or Kemp.

... on whether Brandon Wood’s a shortstop or a third baseman, and whether we re-sign Figgins. At this moment, there is no SS surplus, because Aybar & Izzy are both injury prone, and the next level below, as we saw in May, can’t really hit yet.

BUT. If we re-sign Figgins, then Brandon Wood is extraneous, and probably SHOULD be traded while he still is considered to have upside, because there’s nowhere else for him to go.

My preference is to let Figgins walk, take the much-need draft picks as compensation, play Wood at 3B next year, survive through the first lousy 200 ABs, and accept Izturis as your Figgins-style super-sub on the infield.

The Dodgers are run by Grade-A retards, who are openly advertising their desperation for a shortstop & willingness to give away their allegedly uncoachable young talent. That means Matt Kemp - a monster outfield talent who can hit and run and draw walks RIGHT NOW - is totally on the table, if we’re willing to part ways with a shortstop. What’s more, we’ve got surplus outfielders to ease the Dodgers’ pain—especially Juan Rivera. And, they’ve got a logjam at third base & might just be stupid enough to clear it out by trading Adam LaRoche.

SO. I sure hope we’re talking to the Dodgers. Aybar or Izturis and Rivera for Kemp? I’d do that in a heartbeat.

Let’s get LaRoche. The Dodgers, in their idiocy, prefer DeWitt over Andy right now. Andy’s bat is far more explosive and from what I’ve seen, he’s more than adequate at the hot corner.

Link. Excerpt:

Colletti also acknowledged if an opportunity arises to acquire such a player, it might result in the Dodgers trading at least one player who previously might have been deemed untouchable.

“We’re more open-minded to what we may have to move than we have been in the past,” Colletti said. He added it likely will be something more than a one-for-one trade.

He’s never publicly identified any player as one he would be unwilling to trade, but that list always was believed to include catcher Russell Martin, outfielder Matt Kemp, pitcher Clayton Kershaw and perhaps pitcher Chad Billingsley.

Martin, a candidate to play in his second consecutive All-Star Game, probably remains immovable, as does Kershaw, still the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect despite being optioned back to Double-A Jacksonville on Wednesday. Billingsley, who preceded Kershaw as the club’s top pitching prospect, is beginning to blossom into the dominating starter team officials always figured he would be.

That leaves Kemp, who is something of an enigma despite a team-leading 44 RBIs and .336 on-base percentage. He still is coveted by a host of other clubs.

Lots more like that. They’d be crazy, all right—because they ARE crazy. Just ask the Tampa Bay Rays.