A Schelling For Your Thoughts

Guerrier makes first return trip to Twins country

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Twins right-hander Matt Guerrier made his return to Target Field on Monday for the first time since signing a three-year, $12 million deal with the Dodgers in the offseason.

Guerrier, who posted a combined 3.38 ERA in seven seasons with the Twins and led the American League in appearances in 2008-09, was happy to return to Minnesota, saying there were no hard feelings about leaving.

“It’s good to be back,” Guerrier told reporters. “It’s exciting to see everybody and to come back and see a couple of the changes that’s been done here. It’s different, but exciting.”

Guerrier, who has a 4.50 ERA in 38 innings this year, talked to several of his former teammates during early batting practice, including right-hander Joe Nathan. Nathan said he’s scheduled to meet up with Guerrier after the game, and had nothing but positives to say about his former bullpen mate.

“We miss him on both ends,” Nathan said. “He’s obviously a great guy in the clubhouse and kept guys loose by smiling. Obviously, there’s what he does on the field. He was leading the league in appearances and all that, so guys like that are very hard to replace.”

Mattingly, Kershaw address bankruptcy filing

MINNEAPOLIS — Prior to Monday’s game at Target Field, manager Don Mattingly answered questions about the Dodgers filing for bankruptcy for five minutes before getting to any queries related to their play on the field.

The Dodgers filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court earlier Monday — which sets in motion the beginning of legal proceedings that will decide the future of Frank McCourt’s ownership — was the main topic of discussion in the visitors’ dugout.

But even as the club’s off-the-field issues have overshadowed what the Dodgers have done on the field, Mattingly insists it’s still business as usual at the ballpark, and the team’s struggles through 79 games are not related to the ownership situation.

“I honestly believe that,” Mattingly said. “I know there’s a lot going on and a lot of talk about it. And again, I think it’s an area that, to really say that that’s not getting a hit with runners in scoring position or making a pitch with a guy in scoring position or any of that … I think it’s just not true.”

The Dodgers entered their Interleague series against the Twins with a 35-44 record, sitting 9 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants.

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw, like his manager, sees no correlation between the off-field issues and the on-field play.

“I really don’t think so,” Kershaw said. “You see the guys in this room, you see guys like Matt [Kemp] and Andre [Ethier] and James [Loney] is hitting really well right now … we’ve got all the pieces. And that’s almost the frustrating part is that we’re not just stringing the wins together like we should.

“But I definitely don’t think what’s going on out there is resulting in a poor team on the field. I think we’ve got good players. We should be playing better than we are, and the good news is we’re not quite halfway there yet, so we’ve still got a shot.”

Mattingly and Kershaw both noted that an e-mail from Peter Wilhelm, the Dodgers’ chief financial officer, was forwarded to everyone on the team, letting them know the club would continue to operate as usual within the organization.

Kershaw said that as a team, they “definitely like to focus on baseball,” and that he hopes the whole situation will be figured out soon.

“I think that’s what everybody wants, whether it’s Mr. McCourt or baseball or us. Everybody wants it just to be settled,” Kershaw said. “That’s kind of what everybody’s going for, it’s just everybody has differences of opinion on how to get there.”