Last March when Manny Ramirez signed a two-year $45 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, there was a provision placed in the deal that required Ramirez to donate $1 million of his salary to Dodgers team charities. Team owner Frank McCourt then said that he was going to implement this "Ramirez Provision" into all future Dodgers' contracts that would require players to make a donation of their choice to the charity.

The player's union did not like this, and filed a grievance against the Dodgers and 21 other teams who had similar provisions in contracts with 109 players. On Wednesday Major League Baseball ruled that these types of clauses would no longer be allowed, though there are still a few instances in which players can make the donations.

Playoff hero Vicente Padilla is returning to Chavez Ravine after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Dodgers on Thursday.

Padilla was released by the Rangers last August, reportedly because he was a problem in the clubhouse, but he flourished upon arrival in Los Angeles shortly thereafter, going 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA down the stretch to stabilize Joe Torre's rotation. He also picked up two wins in the postseason -- the Dodgers' NLDS-clinching victory over St. Louis and their lone win against the Phillies in the NLCS.

His deal is worth a base of $4 million, according to MLB.com.

LOS ANGELES -- The question of who really owns the Los Angeles Dodgers will drag into the 2010 season, as a judge Tuesday set a late May trial date for the divorce case between Frank and Jamie McCourt.

Trial on the ownership issue will take place between May 24 and June 3.

Frank McCourt's lawyers say Jamie is trying to "place a cloud of ownership over the Dodgers."

In a statement after the hearing, Dennis Wasser, Jamie's lawyer, alleged "Frank McCourt has "RAIDS, Recently Acquired Income Deficiency Syndrome."

Thus far, McCourt has not produced any 2009 income statements. "More bombshells will occur in this case," Wasser said, adding that they believe Frank McCourt has been spending personal income not on his family or the Dodgers.

Frank McCourt's attorney, Marc Seltzer, called Wasser's allegations about Mr. McCourt's spending "out of left field" and said that that their side has produced more than 35,000 documents relating to Frank McCourt's finances.

Seltzer said the case is a "obviously a distraction to [Dodgers] management."

The judge set a May 24 trial date to decide whether the Dodgers are Frank's separate property or are owned jointly by the couple.

The McCourts purchased the Dodgers from FOX in a highly leveraged 2003 deal for $430 million. They have been married since 1979 and have four adult children. The divorce became public on the eve of Game 1 of the NLCS between the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally found a taker for Juan Pierre, and it looks as though it's only going to cost them a little over half of the two years and $18.5 million left on his contract to get one. According to Yahoo!'s Tim Brown the Dodgers have traded Pierre to the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers and have agreed to pay $10 million of his remaining salary.

The two minor leaguers the White Sox will be sending back to the Dodgers in the deal won't be announced until later, but at least they've finally freed up the logjam they've had in their outfield since they acquired Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox during the 2008 season.

The Winter Meetings did not disappoint. It wasn't the busiest year but it had a little of everything. With blockbuster trades, multiple free-agent signings, other big deals in the works, and even some interesting Rule 5 draft moves, there were plenty of things to talk about. While the Yankees addition of Curtis Granderson may have dominated this week's news, there were other teams wheeling and dealing as well.

The best moves made at the Winter Meetings were not deals centered around one team outbidding others to get their man. The Texas Rangers, for instance, made a number of moves to acquire quality talent, and did so without significantly increasing their payroll. There were also some impressive talents in the Rule 5 draft that are worth keeping an eye on in 2010.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Picking a winner among the NL West teams is easy, since only one of them -- the Diamondbacks -- did anything of consequence this week. The rest of the teams sat quietly and left Indianapolis without much change to their rosters. Although the Giants, Rockies and Padres may simply have plans for later in the winter, it has become clear to baseball people that the Dodgers are hamstrung financially because of the looming divorce between owners Frank and Jamie McCourt.

When is a free agent truly free? When he's not John Lackey or Matt Holliday or Jason Bay or a few other elite members of the class, he's still designated a Type-A free agent by Elias and he's not offered arbitration by his 2009 club.

Lower-tier Type As face an agonizing choice when they are offered arbitration: Accept and go into 2010 with a one-year deal, likely at a time in their life when they are looking for long-term security, or decline and watch their stock drop on the open market as clubs shrink away because of the prospect of losing a first-round draft pick as compensation for signing him.

The teams face a similarly difficult decision-making process before offering arbitration to their free agents. If they miscalculate in one direction or another, they could wind up stuck with an expensive, superfluous player or miss out on a valuable draft pick.

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Frank and Jamie McCourt's divorce battle is still in the early rounds, but some small developments last week shed new light on the couple's financial health -- and indicate why it's quite likely that neither spouse will end up controlling the Los Angeles Dodgers. For those handicapping at home, here's some recent information you may have missed on L'Affaire du Chavez Ravine:

With Alex Gonzalez signing with the Blue Jays, the market for Marco Scutaro has heated up over the holiday weekend. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe is reporting that the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Mariners are all interested in the veteran infielder now that the Blue Jays have filled his position and assured that he won't return to Canada in 2009.

Scutaro is slated to be a Type-A free agent and the Jays are all but certain to offer him arbitration, meaning that if any of the three teams mentioned above sign him they'd have to give up their first-round draft pick for the ability to do so. That's a pretty good indication that the interest in Scutaro is strong and he should be able to pick his new home for 2010.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, both L.A.-area teams are in pursuit of Blue Jays' ace Roy Halladay via trade. The report cites sources familiar with talks from both teams and places the chances of the Dodgers getting the right-hander a "long shot," but it sounds like the Angels have a realistic chance at acquiring Halladay.

Reportedly, Halladay would cost the Angels a young starting pitcher, such as Jered Weaver or Ervin Santana, in addition to a prospect. New Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopolous is also said to be willing to allow a potential trading partner to negotiate a contract extension with Halladay before any deal is finalized.