The Dodgers have signed 34-year old lefty Ted Lilly to a new 3-year deal but it wasn’t disclosed yet as to how much money he will make. Lilly started 12 games for the Dodgers after coming over from the Cubs in the trade deadline deal and he was 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He pitched in 30 games (all starts) overall for the Cubs & Dodgers last year and he was 10-12 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has now pitched in 310 games (285 starts) in his 12 years in the majors and he is 113-96 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. This was a outstanding signing for the Dodgers as Lilly will team with Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw to give the Dodgers a very solid top three in the starting rotation for 2011 and beyond.

UPDATE: (10/20/2010) - The deal is for 3 years and $33 million bucks for Lilly.

Joe Torre has stepped down as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers finished a distant 4th place in the N.L. West with a 80-82 record which had them 12 games behind the Giants. In his three years with the Dodgers, Torre was 259-227 (53.3%) during the regular season and 8-8 in the playoffs. Torre has managed 29 years in his major league career now and he is 2,326-1,997 (53.8%) during the regular season and 84-55 in the post season (60.4%). He won 4 World Series with the Yankees in his time there. But, Torre has not proven that he can win without a All-Star team which he was running in the Bronx. Don Mattingly will take over as the Dodgers new manager starting in 2011.

40-year old righty swinging catcher Brad Ausmus has decided to retire. He played in 21 games for the Dodgers this year and he was 14 of 63 (.222 avg, .564 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Ausmus played in 57 games in two years with the Dodgers and he was 42 of 158 (.266 avg, .652 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs. He played in 1,971 games in his 18 years in the majors and he was 1,579 of 6,279 (.251 avg, .669 OPS) with 718 runs scored, 80 homers, 607 RBIs and 102 stolen bases. He made it to 1 All-Star Game and he won 3 Gold Gloves in his career. Ausmus had a good career but he picked the right time to retire as it’s amazing to me that he played as long as he did.