If you can't get what you really want, then get what you kinda want. This is how Ned Colletti has been operating this offseason, and understandably so. After the new collective bargaining agreement was signed and assured more revenue streams to the teams, the spending has run amok. Alfonso Soriano for $136 million? Carlos Lee for $100 million? It seemed for a moment we might have gone back to the early 2000's when monstrous contracts like A-Rod's and Manny's were signed. Only, in this offseason's market, there were no surefire future hall of famers like Manny and A-Rod to throw money at. Thus, J. D. Drew gets $70 million over 5 years. Julio Lugo gets $36 million over 4 years. Gary Matthews Jr. gets $50 million over 5 years. You get the picture.

So with the overwhelming bull market raging, the Dodgers couldn't help but overpay for their players. Since the Juan Pierre and Randy Wolf deals, Colletti has made two more signings worth noting. The first is inking Mike Leiberthal for 1 year, $1.25 million to be our backup catcher. Personally, I think it's ludicrous to give a contract of over $1 million for a backup, unless he's a valuable and frequently used backup like Olmedo Saenz. But this is not the case. Last year's backup catcher Toby Hall was like the living room in my house: expensive and of good quality, but rarely used. Also note that Hall is still on the roster. So until he is inevitably traded, the Dodgers have 3 catchers on the roster, and the two backups both make more than the starter Russel Martin.

The second signing is the huge acquisition of Jason Schmidt for 3 years and $47 million dollars. This move was more predictable than Britney and K-Fed's split, considering Ned had already brought over half of the Giants' players and staff in his short time as GM. This deal finally remedies the Dodgers problem in recent years of having multiple number 2 or 3 quality starters, but no true ace. Schmidt is absolutely a true ace, having gone 78-37 with a 3.36 ERA in his last five and a half years with the Giants. He is 33 years old, however, and will be 37 at the conclusion of the deal. With a fastball declining in velocity, it is questionable how much longer Schmidt can actually pitch like a number 1. At a little over $15 million a year, the deal is comparable to the one Roy Oswalt signed just before last season ended, so I don't feel like we overpaid for Schmidt. We got him at a fair price, and he should help our ballclub tremendously next season.

So now the rotation stacks up like this: Schmidt, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Wolf, and Chad Billingsley, with Hong-Chih Kuo, Mark Hendrickson, and Brett Tomko either relegated to the bullpen or traded away before the season starts. Joe Beimel looks like he's going to be welcomed back as our lefty reliever, and with Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito both returning as well, our bullpen looks solid. The Dodgers are now one of the few teams in the league with a surplus of pitching, so maybe Ned can actually get the power bat he wanted. Someone like Vernon Wells, perhaps? Either way, the Dodgers will probably have the best pitching staff in the National League next year.

Celebrity Sightings of the Day: I went to the Clippers vs. Heat game last night and was treated to some wonderful first row seats right next to the tunnel. Unfortunately it was not the players' tunnel, rather the tunnel the Clippers' Spirit uses. At least I got some close up views of some lovely ladies. The random celebrity sightings of the game included: Al Michaels, Mary J. Blige, and Michael Clarke Duncan. I was also really excited to be sitting a mere 20 feet or so directly behind Elgin Baylor. Sadly, however, Frankie Muniz and Billy Crystal were not present that night. We also got to take a picture with Clipper Darryl, the black guy who wears a blue and red suit and yells uncontrollably at the top of his lungs, "Let's Go Clippers, Let's Go!" It was a fun night.