Manager Jim Tracy discusses the trade with reporters on Friday in San Diego. (Jon SooHoo/Dodgers)
SAN DIEGO -- General manager Paul DePodesta took a Dodger team already in first place and blew it up Friday, hoping that the pieces land in all the right places and the team lands where it is now: in first place.
His trade to Florida of popular All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca, nasty setup reliever Guillermo Mota and ailing outfielder Juan Encarnacion -- when all the dust settles -- is meant to upgrade this year's Dodgers for a run at the World Series.
It remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will end up with the players they received Friday -- Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi and minor league pitcher Bill Murphy -- or a combination that might include Randy Johnson and Steve Finley.
But however it ends up, Friday it left Lo Duca in tears and his teammates in shock.
"It doesn't sound like a first-place clubhouse in here," one veteran said as players offered goodbyes to the three former teammates less than two hours before the start of Friday's key series opener with the Padres.
Lo Duca cried and talked openly about the pain of leaving the only organization he has ever known.
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