MLB los angeles Dodgers

In what wasn't much of a surprise, Los Angeles Dodgers left-fielder Manny Ramirez has decided to exercise his player option for 2010 and will return to the Dodgers next season. His agent Scott Boras let Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti know about Ramirez's decision on Friday night.

All of which means that Ramirez will make $20 million with the Dodgers rather than becoming a free agent, which is a smart move considering it's highly unlikely Manny would get that much money anywhere else next year. Manny didn't have the greatest season for the Dodgers in 2009, but Colletti is confident he'll bounce back next season.

UPDATE: It seems that Padilla did not shoot himself, but was in fact shot by a shooting instructor. Full details here.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla is back home in his native Nicaragua now his team's season has ended, and while there he's decided to do some hunting. Unfortunately for Vicente it seems his aim with a gun is a lot like his aim with his fastball. Sometimes he loses control of the thing and ends up hitting somebody.

Though this time it was himself.

Padilla was treated in a hospital on Tuesday after suffering what is being called a "minor" gunshot wound to his right leg.

While the Los Angeles Dodgers season may be over it appears that team owner Frank McCourt's divorce drama with his wife Jamie is going to continue for a while. The latest story being reported about the estranged couple is of Jamie calling 911 after being startled at home by Frank.

According to the police report that was filed, Frank did not attack Jamie in anyway, but rather came over to the house while she was swimming, which prompted her to make the call.

Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has dismissed wife Jamie from her post as the team's CEO ahead of what is expected to be a bitter divorce battle between the separated couple, according to a report by SI.com's Jon Heyman.

McCourt, who has been married to Jamie since 1979, purchased the Dodgers in 2004 for $430 million, but the team is believed to be worth considerably more than that.

The firing of Jamie further complicates the fate of the franchise as the couple heads for divorce court, with Frank claiming that he has full ownership of the team and his spouse contending that she owns 50 percent of it.

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The playoffs are almost over and the stage is set for the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies to face the dreadnought New York Yankees ... or the Los Angeles Angels Angels, pending a dead Christopher Lloyd-style miracle.

The bottom line is this: the World Series is like one block to our left, and we're going to have to start buckling down and making some declarative statements. Before we do that, though, today's Dugout features some pre-ALCS decision arguing and some sad realities.

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

Bask in the baseball now, because if the Yankees beat the Angels Thursday night, there isn't going to be much to keep us busy until the World Series begins.

In the last three LCS rounds, one of the two series has either gone four or five games. The other half -- the 2006 NLCS and the 2007 and 2008 ALCS -- went the distance. That partially masked the big problem with Major League Baseball's ever-elongating postseason schedule, but if the Yankees wrap up their spot in the World Series, it'll be impossible to ignore.

PHILADELPHIA -- As the Phillies celebrated the NL's first repeat championship in 12 years Wednesday, a fan at Citizens Bank Park held up a sign:

"Bring On The Bronx."

Oh yeah.

Asked about a potential Yankees-Phillies World Series, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins whistled.

"Two big boys," he said.

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For the first time this postseason, there's a World Series berth on the line. Following their dramatic last at-bat win over the Dodgers Monday night, the Phillies will try to seal their second straight trip to the Fall Classic Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Standing in the Phillies' way is Vicente Padilla, who Los Angeles picked up off the scrap heap in August, but has excelled down the stretch.

Will it be joy in the City of Brotherly Love or a return trip to the City of Angels for Game 6? Join the MLB FanHouse crew, after the jump, for a LIVE chat starting at 7:45 PM ET.

Ned Colletti hasn't been perfect in four seasons as the Dodgers' general manager. But he promises he has learned from his mistakes.

The team announced Tuesday that Colletti had agreed to a "long-term" extension.

"I think that some of the decisions we made that didn't work out particularly well were out of impatience on our own part," Colletti said -- referring to (not by name) -- contracts for Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones. "I think the last year or so our deliberation and our thought process were keener, were a little bit more fine-tuned, were less impatient."

Instead, the Dodgers have blended acquisitions (Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Hiroki Kuroda) with a home-grown core.

PHILADELPHIA -- Joe Torre met with the Dodgers for 12 minutes Tuesday in the visitors' weight room at Citizens Bank Park in an effort to convince his players they are Idiots.

It may not work. These are not the 2004 Red Sox.

Down 3-1 in the NLCS to the Phillies, the Dodgers will try to become the seventh team to come back from such a deficit in an LCS.

The kings of the comeback were the so-called "Idiots," who in 2004 wiped out the Yankees 3-0 lead in the ALCS -- sending Torre home for the winter.