Baseball - Coletti to Bring Back Little 

After the LA Dodgers have been eliminated from the playoffs, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti may have plenty of decisions to make on players. He did not wait too long. He has already decided to bring back manager Grady Little and his staff.

Colletti will also bring back the entire coaching staff and front-office officials including Kim Ng, Roy Smith, Logan White and Bill Lajoie. As far as players are concerned that could benefit to the club, Coletti has already thought about which player to sign. In the next few weeks he will plan more in details who will join his team.

But already free agent Nomar Garciaparra, who won the NL comeback player of the year award, announced he hopes to return to the Dodgers. Garciaparra, 33, who grew up in nearby Whittier, made a successful move from shortstop to first base when he joined the Dodgers this season. Coletti has already expressed interest in re-signing Garciaparra.

The Dodgers will have also to make decisions regarding their potential free agents such as Eric Gagne, baseball's best closer from 2002-04, or the 40-year-old Greg Maddux, a winner of 333 career games, and also center fielder Kenny Lofton. The Californian team has a $12 million option on Gagne but is expected to buy out his contract and try and sign him at a lower cost. Besides Takashi Saito, the 36-year-old rookie did an outstanding job as Gagne's replacement, recording 24 saves in 26 chances.

This season the Dodgers did lack offensive punch. Garciaparra and J.D. Drew led the team in homers with 20 each. The team hit only 153 home runs scoring the fourth-worst in Major League Baseball history.