The Dodgers declined reserve infielder Ramon Martinez’ option for the 2008 season which was worth $1 million bucks. He played in 67 games last year for the Dodgers and he was 25 for 129 (.194 avg, .473 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers and 27 RBIs. The Dodgers think they can find more bang for their buck in free agency for a bench player.

The Dodgers decided that they could do better at the backup catcher position after watching Lieberthal play last season so they declined his $1.5 million dollar club option for 2008. Lieberthal played in 38 games last season for the Dodgers and he was 18 for 77 (.234 avg, .540 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 1 RBI. The Dodgers need to sign someone they trust to play a little more so that Russell Martin doesn’t wear out.

The Dodgers probably gave Little a choice…..resign or get fired….so Little took the dignified way out. The Dodgers were a disappointing 82-80 last season which was good for 4th place in the National League West, 8 games behind the D-Backs. Little finished his career in LA with a 170-154 (52.5%) record and he was 0-3 in the playoffs. Rumors are flying that Joe Torre is going to be the next manager of the Dodgers but nothing is verified at this time.

Sure, the first season Penny pitched for the Dodgers he went down early with an injury but he’s been great for them since being acquired from the Marlins. Penny has pitched in 99 games (98 starts) for the Dodgers in his career and he’s 40-24 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He has worked 584 innings with the Dodgers and he’s allowed 596 hits, walked 174 batters and whiffed 411. Penny has improved so much for the Dodgers because he’s learned how to pitch instead of checking out the radar gun all of the time. At one point when he was with the Marlins they turned off the gun during his starts in an attempt to get him to focus on his pitching instead of how hard he was throwing. Look for him to the the Dodgers ace for a while.