April 30th, 2012 at 7:32 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s have some fun here. It’s May 1, 2012. You are Stan Kaston and you have just taken over as the new decision-maker for the Los Angeles Dodgers. You have 100% absolute control over all personnel decisions both on and off the field and what you say goes – period. What would your first FIVE (and only five) decisions be in priority order?
Here are my Top-5:
1. Sign Clayton Kershaw to a long-term contract extension.
2. Sign Andre Ethier to a long-term contract extension.
3. Fire Ned Colletti and appoint Kim Ng as the new Dodger GM.
4. Designate Juan Uribe for assignment and make Jerry Hairston Jr. the everyday third baseman. (Ok, I admit it – this was almost number one).
5. Designate Todd Coffey for assignment and call up Scott Rice.
Have fun but remember, you can only list five.
Posted in 
1) Sign Kershaw.
2) Sign Ethier.
3) Fire Stan Conte.
4) Tell Mattingly he has my full support
5) Tell Honeycutt that I’m watching him very closely (and start looking for a new pitching coach).
Tough question:
1. Sign Andre to an extension first.
2. Sign Clayton longer term than Andre.
3. Trade for a big bat. Don’t wait for the deadline. Every minor
leaguer available for trade except Evoldi and Lee. Mark Trumbo
maybe. Would require a package but I expect two minor league
pitchers, in a package, to be traded this year for some offense.
4. Release Adam Kennedy and add a good bat for off the bench. Maybe
Van Slyke but I see him as vying for a full time spot in 2013 in
LF.
5. Prepare for the June draft which is in early June. Set goals and
$$$ looking for position players early. 2B and 3B
1. Sign Andre Ethier to multi-year contract.
2. Sign Clayton Kershaw to multi-year contract extension.
3. Clean up the roster, rid ourselves of dead weight. (Pun intended! i.e. Uribe, Coffey, MacNugget, etc.)
4. Clean up the front office. Hire De Jon Watson as new GM.
5. Improve fan experience at Dodger Stadium, including parking issues, security and stadium improvements.
1. Sign Either to 5+ years
2. Sign Kershaw to 8 years
3. Cut Uribe, Kennedy, Coffey, McNugget
4. Trade for a solid 3B and be willing to let 2-3 minor league pitchers.
5. Fire Colletti and consider Kim NG, after all Kasten is really going to be make the big decisions and he likes to grow them on the farm and NG is perfect for the job along with White and Watson
6. Fire Conte (that one’s for you Dick) and let Sue take over.
I would sign Kershaw and Ethier to multi-year contracts.
I’m not advocating Ned’s dismissal, preferring to let Kasten (who I respect immensely) determine his abilities or lack thereof!
1 – Extend Ethier – no more than 4 years if possible
2 – Dump Ned C. in favor of a real talent evaluator – (not Kim Ng – there is no evidence that she is anything other than a technician) _ if you don’t dump Ned, you can’t take any of the next steps
3 – Cut loose the deadwood – Kennedy, Treanor, MacDougal, Coffee in favor of kids
4 – Sign/trade for big bat – !B, 3B, or OF – David Wright comes to mind
5 – Keep eyes open for another bat and SP – I don’t trust that Lilly, Capuano and Harang will all be available by the end of the season, and I’m not sure that one big bat will be enough
They have a year or two to get a deal done with Kershaw – the other things have to be done this year – now!