Trade winds calm in Las Vegas

Nick Christensen

Monday, July 21, 2003 | 10 a.m.

So much for no offense.

As expected, Dodgers general manager Dan Evans pulled the trigger last week on the acquisition of more offense for Los Angeles. And, expected or not, the addition of Rickey Henderson and Jeromy Burnitz has sparked the Dodgers to be a better offensive team. The Blue Crew combined for 22 runs in the four games after the All-Star break, 14 in the first two games back.

While the immediate impact in the Las Vegas clubhouse was the return of outfielder Chin-Feng Chen and the arrival of pitcher Alfredo Gonzalez, the fact that the Dodgers finally made a trade and no 51s were a part of it was definitely not lost on the Dodgers' farm hands.

"It might be in the back of someone's mind, but that's all it is -- in the back of their minds," said second baseman Joe Thurston, who was 1-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to 11 games in Sunday's 8-5 victory against Colorado Springs at Cashman Field. "We have games to play, and games to win here. Whatever the situation may be, nobody talks about it, because it's out of everyone's control."

Lindsay Gulin, who himself has pitched in four different organizations, echoed Thurston's sentiments. Gulin started yesterday and worked six innings to improved his record to 8-7.

"Everybody's such a professional, they want to get to the park, do their business," said Gulin. "Even if they have something in the back of their minds, if they're wishing for (a trade) or they're not, everybody keeps it to themselves and handles their business. We're here trying to win a championship."

A championship for both the Dodgers and the 51s. The 51s linger 5 1/2 games back of Sacramento in the PCL's Southern Division, and the Dodgers are hanging into the National League wild-card race. History is on L.A.'s side -- teams that have acquired Rickey Henderson in the midseason have done no worse than the made it to the league championship series.

Whether it be with the 51s or Dodgers in September, vying for those championships, Thurston said he's glad to still be a part of the Los Angeles organization.

"I'm excited I didn't go, because that shows that I still do have a chance of playing in L.A. one day, even though the trade deadline isn't over yet. Wherever I am, I'm going to play hard. That's all I can control.

"Whether people are thinking about it or not, we're still playing our game. Whoever might get traded at some point, whatever the situation is, we're all still here right now, and we're playing for the Las Vegas 51s, so that's all we can control."