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So ESPN is reporting that the $20-$25 million per year isn’t the issue, it’s the length of the contract, with Ned pushing for two years instead of five or six.

My take is that this is a smart move by Ned for several reasons: one, this is a negotiation. We all know a five or six-year deal for Manny makes absolutely no sense for a NL team. Where’s he going to hit when his knees break down? At 33, Manny’s no spring chicken! Two, the team has been burned by long-term contracts in the past. Does Darren Dreifort’s infamous five-year, $55 million contract in 2000 ring any bells? Personally, I’d take Manny for three years at A-Rod money. He proved a lot to me during his short stint in LA, and the effect he had on the players both on and off the field was undeniable.

Plus, Ned has shown that he likes short-term contracts while in LA, and it probably kept him from getting fired this off-season. Could you imagine if the Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt deals were for 4+ years??

I’m sure we’ll now see Scott Boras start talking about mythical offers from “unnamed clubs” in an effort to get Ned to bid against himself, but I think we’re long past the Boras shenanigans of old working in 2008 (God, at least I hope we are).

Your move, Manny…

Like you guys, I’m psyched for this series against the Fightin’ Phils!  A deeper analysis of the NLCS will be coming in the next day or so, but needless to say, it’s going to be damn tough - especially when you take into account the numerous match-up problems (something that the Cubs couldn’t offer up).  In the meantime, I wanted to highlight three guys that are probably more psyched than all of us for this series: Larry Bowa, Davey Lopes (1972-81) and Milt Thompson (1996) - all coaches for the opposition.  Josh Rawitch offers up the following facts on Bowa’s career over at Inside the Dodgers, plus a few additional tidbits on other ties between the two clubs:

- Remember Charlie Manuel as a Dodger?  He was a reserve outfielder with the club for parts of the ‘74 and ‘75 seasons

- Fan favorite OF Jayson Werth and reliever Rudy Seanez both played for Big Blue recently (2004-06 and 1994-95, 2007, respectively)

- Dodgers Chief Operating Officer Dennis Mannion worked for the Phillies from 1982-97

- Third base coach Larry Bowa not only was a HOF legend as a player, bur managed the club from 2001-04

Now our regular readers know that we love to see what the opposition thinks about the Dodgers, so following is a link to The Phillies Zone, a blog by The Philadelphia Daily News’  Todd Zolecki.  I’m recommending that we all keep an eye on it throughout the series, as Todd offers up a ton of great info and links.

Finally, we’re working on getting a Philly blogger to post on Dodgerfan.net periodically throughout the series with his or her thoughts.  While we all bleed Dodger Blue over here, we thought it would be interesting to get a view of the game from the opposing press box (we’ll let you know if we get a reciprocal offer).

Series analysis coming later tonight…

You heard me correctly, $75 will buy you lunch and the opportunity to press palms with many current and former Dodgers at Dodger Stadium this Saturday.

The Dodgers are planning to honor their star players from the 1970s Saturday at a luncheon open to the public at Dodger Stadium. It will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. and include a question-and-answer session and the opportunity to score autographs and mingle with former players.

The ever-popular Tommy Lasorda is scheduled to attend, along with former Dodgers Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Maury Wills, Rick Monday and others. The players will be honored before Saturday’s game and sign autographs before Sunday’s game (both of which are against the Angels). This is a serious lineup of former players that should be of interest to hard-core fans and a great way to help a Dodger charity at the same time.

Tickets are $75 for adults and $50 for children 14 and under and include parking and a reserve level ticket to Saturday’s game. Fans can upgrade to a loge box, field box or baseline box club ticket for an additional fee. Proceeds benefit the Dodgers Dream foundation

Tickets are available at the team’s Web site, www.dodgers.com and Dodger Stadium. Additional information is available by calling (323) 224-1507 or by e-mailing fanfeedback@ladodgers.com.

Bobby Valentine is one of those old guard Dodger guys (like Kevin Kennedy) whose name always comes up when there is a managerial need with the Blue at the big league level.  Of course, he never seems to get the job.  Always the bridesmaid…

That said, Bobby V has had a lot of recent success managing in Japan and seems to really like the passion of the players in Asia.  I’ve never really been able to figure out why no-one has given him a shot since his days with the Mets.

We discovered that “The Zen of Bobby V” aired last night on ESPN 2 by reading Ernest’s blog over at Blue Heaven.  Check out the promo interview he’s got linked which features an interview with Bobby.  New York Magazine also had an interesting Q&A with the former ML manager.

Here’s the description of the film (which happened to play at the Tribeca Film Festival a few weeks ago):

He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers at just 19 years old. Since then, as a player, coach, and mostly manager, Bobby Valentine has been a stalwart figure in the world of baseball, and not just in America. After his first managerial position leading the Texas Rangers, Valentine went to Japan for a brief stint as a manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, testing the waters in a country where baseball was quickly becoming the most popular sport around. He returned to the United States in 1996 to become manager of the New York Mets. In 2000 he led his team to the World Series against the crosstown rival Yankees, but the Mets’ loss in that game was the beginning of the end for Valentine. After finishing last in the National League East in 2002, he was fired. But in 2004, Valentine headed back to Japan, determined to help transform Japanese baseball into a real rival for the American major leagues instead of just another farm system for talent. Since Valentine returned, the Marines have been a perennial contender and even won the championship in 2005, prompting Valentine to propose a true World Series: a matchup between the American and Japanese champions. He has tried to boost the Japanese game in quality as well as stature, arguing that the Japanese league shouldn’t play second fiddle to anyone. Along the way, Valentine has become an icon and hero in Japan, a recognizable celebrity as popular as any ballplayer. Andrew Jenks, Jonah Quickmire Pettigrew, and Andrew Muscato take the audience behind the scenes into a baseball-season-in-the-life of this energetic, enthusiastic, and outspoken American who continues to prove that his love for the game is infectious even across oceans.