Simers connects *

Times sports columnist-wiseguy T.J. Simers cracked off some arch lines in today's piece on the Giants' Barry Bonds possibly switching to the Dodgers next season. Simers observed, for instance, that the Dodgers already have a crisis-management firm in house to keep reporters away from Bonds. My favorite was Simers' aside after overhearing Bonds tell the Dodgers' Derek Lowe how great it is in L.A.: "Where you can do interviews and pick up chicks at the same time?" (A veiled reference to Lowe's rumored affair with Fox Sports West's Dodgers reporter Carolyn Hughes.)

* Meanwhile: The Daily News' Tom Hoffarth reported Friday that Hughes remains off the air at FSW, and a show she was supposed to host seems to have vanished: "Truth is, that was just a quiet way of making it appear that Hughes was still employable while her agent scrambled to get her another gig. Nothing new on that end, either. So her unofficial suspension continues, if only for the sake of semantics." 8:30 p.m.