Los Angeles Dodgers

Sometimes when making an effort to rebuild a team, many general managers make the mistake of choosing the best player available on the market rather than addressing one particular area where the squad is weak.

Instead of paying millions for a superstar, then trying to find out how or where a certain player will mesh with the team, the good general managers will first break down the specific needs of the club and make a checklist, then when considering any new additions, they check to make sure that each prospective player meet the required criteria.

As we start another offseason of Dodger baseball, this one seems to have a much bigger impact on the landscape of the franchise than most.

With the McCourt’s fighting over the control of the team, free agency questions looming, and deciding on weather to hold on to or cut ties with some of the young faces that have helped mold the franchise. And all this while the Dodgers are breaking in a new manager, Don Mattingly.

Starting pitcher Ted Lilly has signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has also been reporting on Lilly's new deal. The dollar amount for the three-year contract has not yet been disclosed.

Normally when a new manager is hired in Major League Baseball, his first task is to assemble his own coaching staff, but in the case of Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers, things may be a bit more complicated than they look.

The Los Angeles Dodgers couldn't have summarized their disappointing season any better than manager Joe Torre's farewell speech Sunday, following a Dodgers win that allowed the team to finish a game under .500 for a fourth-place finish in the National League West.

Torre's speech seemed to stumble along in pleasantry, rambling while he searched for words to describe his tenure as Dodgers manager.

As I watched the last inning of the Dodgers' last game of the season on TV, three things came to mind:

1.  That it was nice to see them end the year with a win.

2.  The way they hit—or more accurately, didn't hit—they were lucky to have won 80 games, and...

3.  Their biggest highlight was Vin Scully, the greatest broadcaster of all time, announcing that he will return for his 62nd season.

For those who were concerned with Clayton Kershaw prior to the season, they certainly had their questions answered early and often in 2010.  While the Dodgers opted to shut him down early due to a heavy workload (he went from 171.0 innings in 2009 to 204.1 innings in 2010), that couldn’t put a damper on his amazing campaign.

Let’s take a look at the numbers before putting his success in perspective:

Tim Wallach says he's ready to manage in the bigs, and after being passed over by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he may finally have his chance.

According to Bob Nightengale of the USA Today, the Blue Jays currently have their eyes on Colorado Rockies hitting coach Don Baylor, but he also says that Wallach is quickly emerging as a front-runner for the managing job in Toronto.

Unless something dramatic occurs at the McCourt divorce trial, it's very safe to say that Frank McCourt will maintain control of the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into 2011. Even if Jamie finds herself on the winning end of Judge Scott Gordon's decision, it's quite possible that the appeals process could take up to several years, which would leave Frank in control indefinitely.

For Los Angeles Dodgers fans, the realization that their club hasn’t played a meaningful game in the last month of the season remains tough to swallow.

Los Angeles is headed for a sub-.500 record and an offseason of turnover, a 500-foot home run from the last two seasons that saw the Dodgers advance to the National League Championship Series.