Dodgers' Trade Rumors, And Corned Beef Is Tasty

Quick-hitters:

- My latest toy, the AMD Athlon64 3200+ + mobo combo, has run into a bit of trouble, and I'm betting it's due to the Windows XP repair I did. Now, I've done OS repairs in the past, generally with good results. This time, I guess a full OS reinstall is in order.

Guess I have something to do this weekend...

- Good to see Jon Lester back on the baseball diamond, pitching six effective innings en route to a victory. For those of you not in the know, Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma only eleven months earlier.

In the sports world of Michael Vick, steroids in baseball, refs fixing games, etc., it's good to know that there are still "good guy" stories out there.

- It seems that my Dodgers are front-runners for Royals' relief pitcher Octavio Dotel, according to this source. Personally, I think the Dodgers need a bat more so than a reliever, but as long as don't give up any of our key prospects--Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Billingsley, LaRoche, etc.--I'll be OK with this acquisition.

(Speaking of Billingsley: damn you! One out away from our first complete game shutout since...Jeff Weaver?!?)

The Dodgers could really use a bat, but I don't think Texas 1B Mark Teixeira fits. He couldn't play 1B, unless the Dodgers are crazy (stupid?) enough to part with Loney in a deal to Texas, or if they move Loney. If they move Loney, where would he play?

3B? Not as long as Nomar is there.
LF? Gonzo.
RF? Ethier/Kemp are there.
CF? Damn you, Juan Pierre! *shakes fist*
C? I kid, I kid.

Anyway, if the Dodgers do make a splash before the trading deadline, I'll bet they part with Ethier before any of their other prospects. And if the Dodgers are dumb enough to give up Matt Kemp, they better be getting a superstar NOT in his walk year.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few days.

- Corned beef is damn tasty. I made some today; I found the slab stuck in the back of my freezer this morning, and decided, on a whim, that I would cook it. I made some roasted red skin potatoes--cubed potatoes, skin on, coated in EVOO and Mrs. Dash, baked in the oven at 400F for about 45 minutes--and a salad as my sides. Normally, I'd have steamed veggies with my corned beef, but I decided that it was too hot to have steamed veggies (read: I was too lazy to cut the veggies up and steam them).

The potatoes were a bit bland, so I sprinkled some kosher salt on them, and popped them back in the oven for a few more minutes. The extra kosher salt made all the difference in the world.

(Yeah, I know; my blood pressure is probably infinity/infinity.)

The salad was decent, but the corned beef was absolutely delicious. It might have been a bit too salty, but I didn't care.

Damn, I could go for another plate of food right now :P. And I think it's been long enough since I last barbecued. Drool...

Happy blogging!