Now this, I didn't expect. A couple days ago J.D. Drew opted out of the remaining 3 years and $33 million left on his contract to explore the free agent market. Only one word comes to mind regarding this matter: idiot. It takes a true dumbass to guarantee Drew $55 million over 5 years. That person was Paul DePodesta. It takes an even bigger dumbass to throw $33 million from that contract away. Enter J.D. Drew. No front office is going to be dumb enough to give him that kind of money this time.

Ever since he came into the league, Drew and his "weaselliest of the weaselly" agent Scott Boras have demanded nothing less than top dollar, and in most cases have gotten it. Drew is booed horrendously in Philadelphia for holding out for a whole year because the Phillies' offer wasn't good enough when they drafted him 2nd overall. He is booed unmercifully in St. Louis where, after they re-drafted him the year after and gave him $10 million, went on to a career worthy of the Disabled List Hall of Fame. He is booed mightily in Atlanta because, after one year of good health and production, he left them for free agency like they were an unconscious drunk girl who's name he couldn't remember. And he will be booed unrelentingly in Los Angeles for his 106 DNP's in two years and for showing as much emotion as a paperweight. Is there any other player in the league that is so hated in 4 cities? Well, other than A-Rod...

Now the Dodgers will take their new found $33 million and hopefully do something useful with it. Aramis Ramirez has come off the market, but there are still plenty of good free agents and players available via trade that we can acquire. Now that Drew is gone, here is what I would do if I were Ned Colletti:

1) Trade Brad Penny, Joe Beimel, and Andy LaRoche to Atlanta for Andruw Jones and a minor leaguer or two. Sign Jones to a 2-3 year contract extension.
2) Re-sign Nomar to play 3B.
3) Sign Barry Zito.
4) Convince Takashi Saito to stay.
5) Re-sign Eric Gagne to an incentive-laden 1 year deal like the one Kerry Wood just got.
6) Re-sign the old man Greg Maddux.

That doesn't seem like so farfetched of an offseason to me. With those changes the Dodgers' roster would look like:

Rotation: Lowe, Zito, Maddux, Billingsley, Kuo
Bullpen: Dessens, Hendrickson, Broxton, Gagne, Saito
Lineup:
SS Furcal
1B Loney
3B Nomar
CF Jones
2B Kent
LF Ethier
RF Kemp
C Martin
Bench: Lefty PH Betemit, Righty PH Saenz, Martinez, Repko

That's the gist of it. There are still some minor holes to fill like adding another veteran backup outfielder, catcher and another bullpen arm, but those can be easily filled in. Like I said before, this or a similar offseason makeover is very doable. Ned can't just stand pat now that last year's team leader in homers, RBI, and OPS is gone. Changes must be made, and they must be big. So here's hoping Colletti's a lot smarter than Pauly DeeP. My bet is he will be.

Funny sight of the day: It might seem early to some of you, but Campaign '08 bumper stickers are already showing their faces. Walking to work today, I saw a "Hillary Clinton in '08" bumper sticker on the back of a white van resembling the one the D.C. snipers were rollin' in a few years back (no affiliation of course; just what comes to mind whenever I see a white van). Is it really worth backing Hillary right now, or, really, ... ever? I'm all for a woman being elected president, but shouldn't the first female prez be a person people actually like? She would get demolished by any candidate the Republicans put up against her. She's just not a very likeable person. Voting for Hillary would be like rooting for the Kansas City Royals. Sure, you can buy all the tickets and team gear you can afford and support the team will all your heart, but they still have no chance. Hey, maybe the Democrats can sign J.D. Drew to a new deal.