Esteban Viene
First David Wells, now ... Esteban Loaiza? I must say, Ned Colletti sure is searching every nook and cranny to find help for his pitching staff. Loaiza actually isn't that bad of a pickup. Sure, he's been hurt all year, but in his two starts since he's come back he has posted a 1.84 ERA. And after last year's All-star break, he was quite decent. Whatever he turns out to be for the Dodgers, it can't be worse than Mark Hendrickson or Brett Tomko.

The Dodgers have finally filled out their pitching staff for the stretch run, and for once it doesn't look like there are any emergency replacement starters among them. Let's take a look at the starting rotation now, and at the beginning of the season:

Opening Day:
Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Jason Schmidt, Randy Wolf, Brett Tomko
Today:
Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, David Wells, Esteban Loaiza

The entire back end has been overhauled. Schmidt and Wolf couldn't stay healthy, and Tomko couldn't stay good (assuming he ever was). Would you ever have thought that Boomer and Loaiza would be shoring up the back end of the rotation? I sure didn't. With Loaiza on the books for another year, next year's rotation looks to be like this:

(Assuming Schmidt heals up and Wolf's club option isn't picked up)
Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Jason Schmidt, Esteban Loaiza

And we also have Hong-Chih Kuo getting healthy and Clayton Kershaw moving quickly up the ranks to take over for the older guys. So, like I said before, it wouldn't be the worst thing for the Dodgers to miss the playoffs this year. At least the future still looks bright.

Becks Done?
David Beckham's latest injury could and should end his first MLS season. The Galaxy are already out of playoff contention and he should try to get healthy enough to play for England. If that is indeed the case, then it is a sad day for soccer in America.

Beckham's arrival in this country has been nothing short of a disaster. The pressure on him to play in every game was enormous, and it probably ended up hurting his ankle. The Galaxy have been terrible, going 0-5-1 in MLS games since he's come over, and the only game they won where he did anything was in the Superliga match against DC United. Who knew David Beckham would come to the US and become soccer's version of Mark Prior?

So all hope will be placed on a better showing next year. Hopefully Becks will be healthy and good, and unlike Mark Prior, he'll come back strong, ala Ken Griffey Jr.