Recently Tommy Hawkins, a former Laker who had worked in the Dodgers’ front office for 18 years before retiring a year ago as vice president. He is as good a soldier as there is in pro sports, yet he uncharacteristically blasted the Dodgers on a local L.A. radio show. Said Hawkins on “The Big Show with Steve Mason and John Ireland”: “Every time I see some of the decisions being made or some of the people that have been fired or some of the people that were brought into positions who have never spent one hour in baseball, I want to throw up.”

Clearly, he was not impressed with the direction of the club.

But that was before the Boston remodel job. Now the mood has brightened ever so slightly in Los Angeles. Colletti has also taken a run at current Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez and former Red Sox starter Roger Clemens, though those attempts were the baseball equivalent of phoning a radio show in the hopes of being the lucky 16^th caller. The Manny fling never got serious. And Clemens is as likely to become a Dodger as he is of inviting ex-Red Sox GM Dan Duquette to his Hall of Fame induction.

These additions do not a championship team make, however. The pitching staff is still uncertain. Free agent starter Jeff Weaver is not a cinch to stay with the club. And the Dodgers have toyed with the idea of trading away Odalis Perez. Colletti said he would like to have another starting pitcher, but it likely won’t be a high-end acquisition.

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The Dodgers also are shaping this team for the short term, hoping their prospects develop in the next year or two to move up to the majors and move the team’s payroll down toward small-market levels. Mueller signed only a two-year deal, Garciaparra only one. Newly acquired leadoff man Rafael Furcal was locked up for three years at $13 million per. Also, there’s the little matter of hoping Garciaparra can make the move to first base.

But the most significant contributions for the Dodgers in 2006 will likely come from the Blue Sox, those exiles from Boston who hope that success comes in many colors.