Saito re-signs with Dodgers

The Man from Miyagi is back! The Dodgers announced today that Takashi Saito has re-signed for another year. It’ll be great to see his smiling face and pumping fist in Chavez Ravine.

Saito, who will be 37 when Spring Training opens, went 6-2 with a 2.07 ERA and successfully converted all but two save opportunities in 2006. With a repertoire that includes a moving fastball in the low-90 mph range and a sharp slider and splitter, Saito struck out 107 batters in 78 1/3 innings and limited opponents to a .177 average — right-handed batters hit only .129 off him.

The oldest rookie in Dodgers history, Saito was a four-time All-Star in Japan as a starter and a closer, but he was an outright free agent last winter, and the Dodgers were not required to post a fee to earn the rights to sign him. He has turned out to be quite a bargain in light of the $51 million Boston has anted for the right to sign Japanese starter Daisuke Matsuzaka.

There’s noise that Eric Gagne may be signed by somebody this month. Never mind who that will wind up being — who knows if he even can even pitch for reals any more.

Greg Maddux is likely headed for San Diego now.

As far as all the other rumors go, I think the only way to make it through Hot Stove Season without a migraine is to follow these simple assumptions:

1. The Red Sox are insane; Red Sox fans, doubly so.
2. Corollary to #1, Manny Ramirez will never, ever be traded.
3. You can tell if Scott Boras is lying if his lips are moving. As Jabba the Hutt might have said about him, “This agent is my kind of scum: fearless and inventive.”
4. No deal is true until it has shown up as a press release on the team’s website.
5. Even then, wait until tomorrow to see if it’s still up there.
6. Anybody who says they know what’s going to happen is either lying or deluded.
7. And that includes the players.