That cheap, cheap, cheap sound you hear is the Dodgers ruining their future

If I'm Andre Ethier, I'd be pissed about the recent signings of scrap heap pitchers. He and the Dodgers are squabbling over a difference of $1.1 million in arbitration for 2009. He wants to be paid slightly less than Russell Martin, who he outhit in 2008.

The Dodgers continue to be super-cheap with their young players (remember the bickering about whether Abreu was on the major or minor league DL?) while lavishing money on retreads, losers, and so-called "diamonds in the rough" like Eric Milton, Jeff Weaver, Shawn Estes, and the like. What, Esteban Loaiza wasn't available? Elmer Dessens has worn out his welcome?

Sure, one of those guys may turn out to be Chan Ho Park. But none of them is going to be as valuable to the club as a happy Ethier, Loney, Kemp, Martin, or even Abreu. When it comes free agent time, does anybody think those guys are going to give the Dodgers a home town discount after the way the team has treated them when it had the hammer? I don't think so.