Andruw Jones was overweight, hitting .161, and had struck out in 74 of his 205 at-bats so far this season when he went down injured. According to Jones, those numbers are set in stone.

"This year," Jones said, "it's basically over."

He's reacting to the fact that his knee injury flared up again during his rehab assignment. The proverbial writing, however, is also on the wall with Matt Kemp, Manny Ramirez, and Andre Ethier the everyday starters in LA's outfield. At this point you'd even have to consider Juan Pierre ahead of Jones on the depth chart, given Jones' pathetic play in 2008. He knows it:

"If the team needed me and I was the only one who could be out there, I would wrap it up and play," said Jones, who cut short the first of his two rehab assignments to step in for an injured Juan Pierre in early July. "In this situation, we have other guys who have been getting the job done. I'll try not to be in their way."

Good thing for Andruw that his agent, Scott Boras, was able to squeeze an extra year out of the Dodgers ... otherwise he'd be in line for a minor league contract or retirement next year. Either way, the unemployment line is not far off for someone once destined for Cooperstown.

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- Wild, Wild West: The contenders in the NL West might not have gaudy records -- only the Diamondbacks sit above .500 entering play Thursday -- but that doesn't mean the race won't be plenty entertaining. Think about the last couple of days.

Tuesday Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw and prized acquisition Manny Ramirez powered Los Angeles to within 1 1/2 games of first-place Diamondbacks. Wednesday Arizona's own trade catch Adam Dunn gave the D'backs a walk-off win and some breathing room ahead of their final series with the rival Dodgers.

All the while, the Rockies, the darlings of last year's postseason, are lurking. Colorado is 17-14 since the beginning of August, and lest you think it isn't a real factor well back of Los Angeles and Arizona, the Rockies will play both clubs a combined nine times in the coming weeks.

The beauty of a protracted pennant race, especially one with three teams battling for a lone playoff spot, is that it's bound to be exciting even if the teams aren't great, or even very good.

Everyone's favorite positive locker room influence, Jeff Kent, was thought to be out for the season with torn knee cartilage. Not so fast, my friend (hey, it's college football season, too). If the stars align and everything works perfectly for the heavy hitting second baseman, he could be back in two weeks. Operative word: Could.

(Dodgers trainer Stan) Conte said it was premature to say when Kent could return, and that the recovery process could last from two to eight weeks.

From the Dodgers' perspective, I'm sure they'll go on thinking they've lost Kent for the season. You don't want to plan on having a guy in the lineup and then never get him. If he comes back, that's just gravy. Plus, Kent's such a peach you don't want the guys in the clubhouse to get their hopes up in anticipation of Mr. Personality's return. You know, morale could take a huge dip ... like when the life of the party doesn't show up to your fiesta.

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- Champs Getting Stronger: The Red Sox have suddenly opened up a sizable four-game edge in the wild-card race after winning Tuesday while the White Sox and Twins lost. The news gets even better when you consider that Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett are set to return on Friday, with J.D. Drew and pitcher Bartolo Colon possibly returning next week.

It's easy to compare the 2008 Sox to the last Boston team that defended a title. Like this year's version, the 2005 team was ravaged by injuries to key players. There's one major difference, though, and that's the depth in the organization. GM Theo Epstein's vision of making the Red Sox a nine-figure player development machine has bloomed fully, and because of it Boston has a very real chance to repeat.

Their minor league system is among the most robust in the game, far different from the Dan Duquette era, and it's enabled the Red Sox to plug many of the holes they've had over the course of a trying season.

When Julio Lugo went down, Jed Lowrie came up and improved the team. When the team needed a spot starter for Josh Beckett, they turned to pitching prospect Michael Bowden. When the team needed another outfielder because of Drew's injury, they were able to deal a prospect with good upside for Mark Kotsay because of their minor league depth.

Jeff Kent has been in baseball a long time. He has also said that he has zero intention of going out the door like Brett Favre (you know, indecisive whining that tortures a fanbase). And now he may have a touch decision ahead, if he wants to stick to his guns on that call.

See, he's probably going to be out for the season. And it was supposed to be his final season. So, um, yeah.

Kent, 40, has been playing through pain from slightly torn cartilage in his knee for about a month, fully aware that the continued grind of playing baseball on an everyday basis meant there was a strong risk of additional, more painful tearing.

That additional tearing is believed to be what took place during Friday's game. Kent was said to be in "excruciating pain" after leaving the game, and club officials were holding out slim hope of getting him back in what is widely expected to be his final season.

"Knowing him, I can't say (he is done) for sure," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Torre also went on to say that he felt like Kent's goal in sticking around was to help the Dodgers "win a pennant", which seems kind of obvious, but it's pretty indicative that he wouldn't have still been playing if the Dodgers didn't have a shot at winning this year.

Kent's a lockjob for Cooperstown, and it would make sense that the only thing he wants to do before he rolls out of the game is pick up a championship ring. But it also stands to reason that he knows how pathetic chasing one looks. So, he may just call the dogs off, head back home and spend the rest of his days not watching porn.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

New York Mets (75-60) at Florida Marlins (68-67) 7:10 PM ET

Hey, why not? Beltran's in Florida, just like Chad Johnson was when he changed his name. And after last night's grand slam against the Marlins to cap a ninth inning rally which started with two outs and nobody on, Carlos Beltran can give himself a cool nickname like Uno Cinco and then take a trip to Broward and get that name changed. Of course, I'm sure that Uno Cinco would have much rather done what he did last night against Adam Wainwright in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, but that's being picky.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Say what you want about GM Ned Colletti, and we've said it all here at FanHouse, but he's done just about everything possible to put the Dodgers in a position to win the NL West this year. When one Hall of Famer -- Manny Ramirez -- wasn't enough, he went out and got another one -- Greg Maddux.

Yet here the Dodgers sit, losers of six straight and eight of their last nine on the eve of a stretch where they will play the Diamondbacks in six of their next nine games

It'd be an understatement to say Los Angeles is at a crossroads.

Just as it was before the Ramirez trade, the offense is at the heart of the Dodgers' problems. Manager Joe Torre insists the now daily struggle to put runs on the board is a result of his team pressing, particularly with runners in scoring position.

"Right now, the only thing we're not doing enough of is breathing," says Torre. "We're putting ourselves in a position to succeed and we just can't get over this hump."

The Houston Astros are 16 games out of first place in the NL Central, and ten games out of the wild card. Basically, you'd have to say they definitely are out of the pennant race barring several miraculous occurrences from here on out ... one of them being a commissioner's order that they are switched to the NL West.

That's right, the Houston Astros would only be one game out of first place in the West, where the division-leading Diamondbacks have lost four straight. The Diamondbacks were most recently swept by the Padres, whose winning percentage is .383 ... after the sweep. Starting pitchers for the Snakes in the three losses? Dan Haren, Brandon Webb, and Randy Johnson. You know, the same three the Cubs are supposed to be wetting themselves over having to face in the "short series" NLDS.

On the bright side, Justin Upton is close to returning to the lineup, but the defense will become a bit shaky when he does. The Backs are talking about moving Adam Dunn to first base to accommodate Upton, or moving Mark Reynolds to second base, which would move Chad Tracy to third. I understand the need for offense with this group, but sacrificing the defense could render Webb a little less significant.

The Dodgers are flat-lining right now, but the division is still within reach thanks to the overall futility of the NL West. A little heimlicking and they'll still have a month to win this thing.

The difference in approach was called "good cop/bad cop" in the LA Times, while I prefer Riggs/Murtaugh due to my affinity for the Lethal Weapon series. No matter how you slice it, though, Joe Torre and Larry Bowa are a complete 180 from each other in how they are dealing with the players in light of the recent onslaught of losing. They are even arguing like the explosive fictional LAPD officers, which was kickstarted Monday night by this:

"I've seen teams play like this when they're 30 games out," Bowa said Monday. "There's no excuse for it."

He also said the team should be "embarrassed."

Torre had a closed meeting with the team Tuesday to remind players not to lose their "spirit." The team responded by losing to the Washington Nationals. Ouch.

Torre didn't speak only to the players, of course, he spoke out to the media about his fiery third-base coach.

"He's a tough-love guy," Torre said. "I see where his emotions are. He's frustrated by it, just like a lot of the players."

So disciplinarian Joe Torre made Manny Ramirez cut a whole inch off his dreads. Big freaking deal.

Apparently it is, because the Dodgers' new found mojo went by the wayside along with that seemingly insignificant inch.

The Dodgers were playing like a powerhouse after Ramirez's arrival -- until the Dodgers' hair-challenged manager insisted on Samson cutting his dreadlocks, Ramirez complying and hitting .250 ever since, the Dodgers going 4-7 in that time.

An interesting find here by the LA Times, to say the least. I've never actually had long hair, so I can't speak to how losing it would muzzle Manny's ability to rake ... but I can say that when playing a different position you are definitely affected by your teammates hair. No wonder Jonathan Broxton can't close games, Russell Martin is tiring, and Andre Ethier can't hit the ball out of the infield ... and of course, the always mentally weak Greg Maddux obviously got touched up because he was so bothered by Manny's hair missing that one ever-so-important inch.

Seriously, guys ... isn't this the kind of material writers reserve for Cubs' bad stretches?

At least Torre had a sense of humor about it and played along.

"That's something about discipline," Torre joked after getting Ramirez to snip an inch off his dreadlocks. "You sacrifice wins, the season and everything else to have it."