Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers beat writer for MLB.com, is now sharing his insights on a blog for the network. "Covering all things Dodgers since Steve Sax was a rookie," reads the tagline at Kenny G Around the Horn. Indeed, Gurnick has covered baseball for, I think, the Herald Examiner, Register, New York Times and the short-lived National Sports Daily. His take on the Manny Ramirez situation, as of a few days ago:

So, the Dodgers strategy remains the same: continue talks with Ramirez, hope that the Giants mean it when they say they won't get into a bidding war for the outfielder, and hope he'll eventually return to the Dodgers for one or two years.

And if he doesn't?

The Dodgers plan to go into the season with the lineup they currently have and see if the kids can step up their game a notch.

And if they don't?

Then in-season trades will be the tactic of choice, only this year they won't necessarily wait for the July 31 deadline. General manager Ned Colletti expects rosters to be fluid this season like no other.

Remembering The National: The L.A. staff of the sports paper that debuted in 1990 included current local journos Gurnick, Lisa Dillman and Eric Sondheimer, as well as former L.A. Times columnist Scott Ostler. Steve Clow, currently deputy California editor at the LAT, was bureau chief in Los Angeles for The National. The paper, edited by Frank Deford, folded after eighteen months.