The Trolley Dodger

Maria Serrao, a fixture in LA sports reporting currently with COX/RPV-TV (and one of the folks featured in Bluetopia) put together a short feature on the three Italians at the top of the Dodgers organization — Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre, and Ned Colletti. And The Dodgers Italian Connection just won an award.

[It] was my pleasure to sit down with these three men and talk about their Italian heritage. As a result the feature called the “Italian Story” won a National award this week, called The Telly.

Maria has also started up a sports blog recently called, appropriately, Maria Serrao’s Sports Blog.

Negotiations between the Twins and free agent Eric Gagne have reportedly broken down after nearly coming together on a one-year, $3-million deal.

Also reportedly, the Dodgers want to pick up some more bullpen help after their first two priorities — Manny and a starting pitcher — are taken care of.

If you’re Ned Colletti, do you bring Gagne back as a middle reliever?

Does Gagne have any value to the Dodgers?

Would he even come back?

Too much baggage?

Update: So much for that idea…

An MRI recently revealed that Gagne has labrum and rotator cuff damage in his pitching shoulder. He was given the option of having an injection and trying physical rehab, or undergoing surgery.

Either way, Gagne was not going to be able to make the Brewers’ roster this spring. He signed a minor-league deal that guaranteed him a $1.5 million salary if added to the roster by March 26. That deadline became moot when Gagne was unable to pitch in a game.

Update 2: …or maybe not

With the bullpen being the Dodgers’ greatest question mark, who should make an appearance at Camelback Ranch on Friday but the team’s greatest reliever of all time, Eric Gagne.

Gagne, the 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner and three-time All-Star, said it’s not “Game Over” for him just yet.

I think Ned Colletti is getting Scott Boras back for his “serious offers” crack last month:

“[The Manny Ramirez situation] is like watching the San Andreas fault,” Colletti said. “Some days you can see it move probably, and other days, it’s just going to sit there. And in a week or two, it may move a lot.”

Via Diamond Leung