Dodgers Put the ‘Off’ in Baseball Off-Season

Let’s see . . . Alex Rodriguez to the Rangers, Mike Mussina to the Yankees, Manny Ramirez to the Red Sox . . . Charles Johnson to the Marlins . . . Mike Hampton to the Rockies . . .

Yep, the Dodgers are right on pace to finish fourth in the NL West.

By my calculations, the Dodgers have done four things this off-season:

1. Re-signed Darren Dreifort to a completely absurd contract.

2. Made signing Chan Ho Park a lot costlier by giving Dreifort that ridiculous contract.

3. Signed journeyman fourth starter Andy Ashby, who will again be able to hide behind Kevin Brown, as he did in San Diego.

4. Turned over their vaunted pitching staff to the tandem of Chad Kreuter and Paul LoDuca by letting Todd Hundley leave and not pursuing Charles Johnson.

Way to go, Kevin Malone. As a lifelong Dodger hater, I hope they never fire you.

PATRICK MALLON

San Luis Obispo