Clayton Kershaw was in Oklahoma City on Thursday to accept the 2011 Warren Spahn Award, an award named after the Hall of Famer who won 363 games, given annually to the top left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, based on rankings of wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Kershaw led the National League in all three categories last season.

Kershaw was asked about his pending salary arbitration hearing at the event, and told Yahoo! Sports, "I’m not worried about it at all. My court date was set. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, it will be settled before then but you never know."

The Dodgers submitted a salary arbitration figure of $6.5 million for Kershaw in 2012, while the southpaw countered with a request for $10 million, which would set a new record for a pitcher in his first year of arbitration eligibility. I still think it is likely that the two sides settle before an arbitration hearing, which would be in early February, but if they don't come to an agreement it will be the first arbitration hearing for the Dodgers since 2007, with relief pitcher Joe Beimel.

But hey, since that Prince Fielder money didn't get spent maybe a long-term extension for the reigning Cy Young winner is in order.

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Kershaw will join Matt Kemp in Kansas City on Saturday night at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Legacy Awards in Kansas City. Kershaw is the 2011 recipient of the National League Bullet Joe Rogan Award for pitcher of the year, while Kemp will be presented with the Oscar Charleston Award as the NL MVP.

I don't know what was more unstable this offseason: the Dodgers' team-building plan or the ACL of Victor Martinez. It turns out that both cost the team one way or another.

First baseman Prince Fielder signed a nine-year deal with the Detroit Tigers that became official today, and news broke today that the Dodgers were heavily involved in the negotiations in recent weeks, per various reports (Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, and Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports).

The Dodgers had a seven-year offer on the table, with an opt-out clause for Fielder, per Heyman:

The Dodgers' offer was said to have called for an average salary of about $26 million for the first four years and something in the low $20-million-range in the next three years. The bid was designed not to discourage Fielder from opting out and possibly moving to the American League where he could DH after the first four years. The total Dodgers deal was believed to have been worth in the low $160 millions.

I seriously don't understand this offseason. Every move made this winter by the Dodgers were the cumulative moves of a team desperately trying to add players with a small payout in 2012 with larger payouts in 2013 and beyond. The lack of money was cited as a reason for not re-signing Hiroki Kuroda, who ended up inking a deal with the New York Yankees for one year and $10 million.

Now all of a sudden the money was there for Fielder? It would have been nice to have that earlier in the offseason.

Maybe this explanation from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports sheds some light:

One motivation for #Dodgers to get Prince was to boost short-term revenues. Team facing "huge revenue problem" in '12, one exec says.

Had Martinez not suffered the season-ending injury to his ACL, would the Tigers have offered nine years and $214 million to Fielder? I doubt it, but we'll never know.

As we enter the second half of my Dodger Minor League countdown, I figured I'd give a little refresher about this list that I'm putting together. In short, am ranking and providing a summary of virtually every player in the Dodgers minor league system who meets the following qualifications: (1) is within the Dodgers organization as of December 14, 2011; (2) is under 28 years old as of Opening Day 2012; and (3) is still considered a prospect by Baseball America standards, which means that pitchers must have less than 50 innings pitched (or 30 appearances) in the majors, and hitters must have less than 130 at bats in the majors. Like Baseball America, I do not take into account service time, and therefore it is possible that I have included prospects who will not technically be rookies in 2012.

In addition, while I do spend a lot of time ranking the players in the order that I think is the most accurate, this list can also be viewed as a "get to know your Dodger minor league system". My goal is for Dodger fans to know at least a little something about all players in the Dodgers system because it makes looking at the minor league box scores more fun. There won’t just be a bunch of names, but instead players that fans have at least heard of.

Now that we've moved into the top 100 Dodger minor leaguers you'll notice that that the names on the list will become more and more familiar. This particular group features several guys from the 2011 draft, a few interesting international players, and a pair of music videos.

100. Blake Dean, 1B (96 games in LoA in 2011)
Drafted by Dodgers 2010, 8th round
6’1", 175 lbs, 24 years old, bats left handed
.237 average, .657 OPS, 7 HR’s, 44 RBI’s, 1 SB
Pre 2011 Rank: 77; Pre 2010 Rank: N/A; Pre 2009 Rank: N/A

Blake Dean was definitely a safe and cost effective pick for the Dodgers as the LSU Senior signed for just $35K. The 10th round pick of the Twins in 2009, Dean chose to return to college for his senior season even though he had already led his team to the national title. In 2010, Dean hit .341 for LSU with a .430 OBP, slugged 12 homers, and led the team with 70 RBI’s. He signed quickly with the Dodgers and was sent to the Pioneer League where he had a solid professional debut, although he didn’t show much power. "Deano" was promoted to Great Lakes in 2011 and was the Loons main 1st baseman, but he had a terrible year at the plate. A .237 average and .657 OPS just don't play at the power position of 1st base. The only positive of Dean's season was that kept up his strong walk to strikeout ratio, which has been one of his trademarks since turning pro. Overall it doesn’t appear that Dean has the offensive ability to make it to the big leagues as a 1st baseman, but he’s still just 155 games into his professional career so he has time to turn it around. In fact, I could see Blake getting promoted to the Quakes in 2012 and having a big season in the hitter friendly league, so he shouldn’t be written off just yet. Finally, the best part about Blake Dean is this music video.

99. Justin Miller, RHP (23.2 IP in AA in 2011)
Drafted by Dodgers 2007, 6th round
6’2", 190 lbs, 24.5 years old
2-0, 7.23 ERA, 2.07 WHIP, 5.31 FIP, 5.32 K/9
Pre 2011 Rank: 45; Pre 2010 Rank: 54; Pre 2009 Rank: 48

Justin Miller’s 2011 season is a bit of a mystery to me. After a stellar 2010 season with the Lookouts where he posted a 2.76 ERA over 42.1 innings, the ground ball specialist got off to a very rocky start with Chattanooga in 2011 and then in early June he was then placed on the restricted list for the rest of the season. I can’t find why Miller was put on the restricted list or why he missed the rest of the season, but one can only hope that Justin returns to the organization in 2012 and is ready to pick up where he left off in 2010. To provide a little more background on Miller, Justin was considered to be one of the best community college pitchers available in the 2007 draft, yet he fell to the 6th round where the Dodgers gladly scooped him up. What probably scared most teams away was the fact that Miller actually spent more time in right field than on the mound during his final college season, as he developed a tender elbow. Nevertheless, he was hitting 94 on the radar gun before his injury, and at 6’3", the Dodgers felt like he had a very projectable frame. In his first three professional seasons, Miller was used strictly as a starter and had pretty disappointing results. His career win-loss record heading into 2010 was 11 – 26, and he was much too hittable. So the Dodgers decided to move Justin to the bullpen in 2010, and they have got to be pleased with his results. Starting the year in LoA, Miller recorded a 1.30 ERA through 34.2 innings and had an outstanding .208 batting average against. Given his success the Dodgers moved Miller up to AA where he wasn’t quite as dominant, but as mentioned above he continued to get the job done. After the 2010 season Justin was invited to participate in the AFL, and prior to the start of the Fall season DeJon Watson said about Miller: "We'll try to push the envelope with him. He has a sinking fastball. He's a ground-ball pitcher, and we want to get him prepared for next level. He'll probably start the season at Double-A. We want him facing better hitters here to understand the adjustments he'll need to make. He can be deceptive, and we want him to get to where hitters are chasing his pitches." Again I’m not sure what put Miller’s career on hold, but if he does return in 2012 he’ll probably get another chance in AA where he’ll continue to work out of the bullpen.

Follow the jump for #'s 98 - 91

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Andre Ethier was interviewed by Mark Willard of ESPN Radio 710 in Los Angeles, and spoke about the knee injury that limited the right fielder to 11 home runs in 135 games and cut short season in early September:

"I've kind of dealt with this knee thing for the past two years, put it off for one off-season and then last season it just became a thing where a lot of things started multiplying and getting worse and something where I couldn't quite get back my swing … It was very frustrating and I learned a lot from that."

Ethier also expressed frustration at the Dodgers for not participating in any big free agent signings this winter, but noted, "Obviously it's going to get better from here on out because of the [sale] and getting new people in there." The interview will air on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PST, which by then will make it about as fresh and timely as an interview by Lee 'Hacksaw' Hamilton.

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Clayton Kershaw caught up with Domingo Ayala (@DomingoBeisbol on Twitter) recently, and the two took part in a bullpen session together, and had a press conference for an upcoming "challenge" (hat tip to Xeifrank for the link):

******

I can't thank you enough for the overwhelming amount of support you all showed me yesterday. I have written here at True Blue LA for over three years, and I'm thankful to have all of you as loyal readers and integral members of the community. There is nothing I love doing more than writing about the Dodgers, and about sports in general. Now, thanks to a freelance writing job I have taken, I will now have even more time to devote to doing a job I love.

My plan is to go to Arizona for six full weeks of spring training, and from then throughout the regular season provide you with more Dodgers coverage than ever before. Thanks again for reading, and for your support.

The deadline for prospective ownership groups to submit bids for the Dodgers was Monday, and the Dodgers received "more than 10" bids per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, who has covered this story from head to toe for well over two years.

Through Shaikin, Tony Jackson of ESPN LA and Molly Knight of ESPN The Magazine, we know the following groups have reportedly submitted bids for the team:

• Magic Johnson & Stan Kasten
• Joe Torre & Rick Caruso
• Peter O'Malley
• Mark Cuban
• Steve Garvey & Orel Hershiser
• Steven Cohen
• Roy Disney's family & Stanley Gold
• Dennis Gibert, Jason Reese, and Randy Wooster
• Joshua Macciello

This is only the beginning of the process, as Shaikin noted, and opening bids might not necessarily be what they seem:

The opening bids are not binding. As a result, according to sports business consultant Marc Ganis, a prospective owner might offer more money now than he might realistically be willing to spend.

"You'd want to bid higher to make sure you get into the next round," Ganis said.

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Catching up on some Dodgers links for the past few days...

• Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts undertook the ambitious process late last week of trying to create a viable team out of players who were valuable to both the Dodgers and another team, selecting one Dodger from every other major league team.
• The rumors of Prince Fielder to the Dodgers don't seem to be going away, despite the long shot of the first baseman actually becoming a Dodger. Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness explored.
• Albuquerque Isotopes beat writer Christopher Jackson caught up with Dodgers head of player development DeJon Watson - the piece is split into two parts, here and here - who discussed among other things Alex Castellanos playing second and third base in addition to the outfield.
  
• Clayton Kershaw received his National League Cy Young Award on Saturday night in New York. Here is his acceptance speech:

We break into your normal programming to bring you this breaking news:

Hard working TrueBlueLA and SBNation Los Angeles Editor Eric Stephen is going to Arizona this spring and he could use new clothes to rep TrueBlueLa in style.

We are over 5,000 members strong and before you spend that tax rebate money on clothes for your kids, food for your family, or food banks, we need you to consider spending some money on yourself. And by yourself I mean Eric. It has been a dry winter, but you all remember how Eric does the pregame show, in - game moderation, post game shows. How he leaves his home every weekend to cover the Dodgers and get the best quotes and in house information. You all remember that, but this year we need to get him to Camelback to cover the team like it has never been covered before.

This is not your normal telethon, we have some of the greatest TBLA characters on the phones right now to take your donations.

So call 1-888-TRUEBLA and make a donation after talking to the commentator of your choice:

The Midnight to Eight AM Shift has some of our best talent:

Gary - as Gary has humbly told us he can tell if someone is a prospect or not simply by watching how they wash their hands. He'll be heading to Camelback himself this spring, ask him which prospect you want him to keep an eye on in the restroom and for the right price, he'll report back to you personally. He has other talents, if you want Gary to put a fastball into someones earhole he's also the man for that. Also can help in the marketing world. Don't ask him about him doing dishes after a layover.

BHSportsGuy - you need a recipe, he's your man. Be prepared have your tomato paste on hand.

Hollywood Joe - the most interesting man on TrueBlueLA can give you an adventure no matter the subject. Surfing, Woman, Food, Wine, Outsourcing. He's your man

Humma - You want him to make fun of himself or give you a clever limerick? He's multi faceted and and will deliver the goods while drinking gin in one hand and handling/manipulating the speaker phone with the other hand. And by speaker phone I don't mean speaker phone.

NoLander - has an opinion about everything, even sports he does not like or pay attention too. He can help with any gadget questions provided it was not created by Apple.

Silverwidow - you want an overhyped prospect in any sport that will become yesterdays news before yesterday comes. He's your man.

Michael White - will answer any Clipper or basketball question, or for the whack jobs, he will answer questions about the WAC

Brandon - you'd think he'd answer any prospect questions but he asked if we could set it up so he does not have to answer any questions. After ranking 200 players he is soooooooo tired of Dodger prospects, so instead ask about exciting audit stuff, you know the stuff gives auditors the woody's they are world renowned for.

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With this post we are now officially halfway through my Dodger minor league player countdown. While this group of 10 guys didn't make the top half of my list, they are all still intriguing players in their own right. Also, in case you missed any of my previous posts, you can find them at the following links:

200 - 191; 190 - 181; 180 - 171; 170 - 161; 160 - 151; 150 - 141; 140 - 131; 130 - 121; 120 - 111

110. Rafael Ynoa, 2B/SS (126 games in HiA in 2011)
Signed by Dodgers 7/8/05
6’0", 180 lbs, 24.5 years old, switch hitter
.275 average, .697 OPS, 5 HR’s, 54 RBI’s, 13 SB’s
Pre 2011 Rank: 74; Pre 2010 Rank: 172; Pre 2009 Rank: 89

As expected, Rafael Ynoa came back down to earth in 2011. After a breakout season in 2010 which saw Ynoa sock 9 home runs and steal an impressive 40 stolen bases, Rafael regressed despite a promotion to the hitter friendly California League. An everyday player for the Quakes, Ynoa had a very pedestrian season in 2011 he posted an OPS of just .697. He was also caught in 11 of his 24 stolen base attempts and only hit 5 homers. His lone bright spot was his strong walk to strikeout ratio as the switch hitter struck out in just 13.1% of his plate appearances. In terms of his defense, Rafael played 31 games at shortstop and spent the rest of the season at 2nd base. He had a decent fielding percentage, and back in 2010 the Great Lakes Loons beat writer Hugh Bernreuter said "Ynoa is an outstanding fielder, especially at second base. He had a long string of errorless games during the season and made some spectacular plays. He is very solid, very consistent. The best fielding second baseman the Loons have had". Despite his great defense, I’m sticking with my stance from last year which was that I’m not sold on Ynoa as a legitimate prospect. I don’t think he’s ready for AA, so he’ll probably return to HiA for another season in 2012. Unless he really breaks out again next year, the 24 year old can probably kiss his chances of making the big leagues goodbye.

109. Arce Rodriguez, OF (53 games in DSL in 2011)
Signed by Dodgers 1/25/10
6’0", 191 lbs, 19.25 years old, bats right handed
.288 average, .760 OPS, 4 HR’s, 25 RBI’s, 3 SB's
Pre 2011 Rank: 130; Pre 2010 Rank: N/A; Pre 2009 Rank: N/A

Arce Rodriguez made his professional debut with the Dominican Dodgers in 2010, and played that entire season as a 17 year old. While he had a very poor year at the dish, I liked his youth and figured he’d improve with experience. The turned out to be the case in 2011 as Rodriguez returned to the DSL and put up better stats in every offensive category. He led the team in home runs with 4, and his .288 average ranked second. He also increased his walk rate from 1.6% of plate appearances in 2010 to 6.2%, and only struck out 19.6% of the time. His one drawback is that he appears to be limited defensively as he was used mostly in left field and 1st base, but hopefully he'll hit enough as he moves up the ladder to justify his positions. Given his success in 2011 and the fact that he's already spent 2 seasons in the DSL, Rodriguez will probably be promoted to the Arizona Rookie League next year at the tender age of 19. If he continues to improve, then we might have a rare Dominican born Dodger hitting prospect on our hands.

Follow the jump for #'s 108 - 101

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