Los Angeles

The Heckler predicts what will happen in the world of sports in the next 7 days. Among the speculations, Blake Griffin will dunk the moon and Matt Thornton will get an unofficial save.

To many observers, Manny Ramirez is a clubhouse cancer and an aging slugger on the downside of his career. To the LA Dodgers, he remains one of baseball's best hitters and provides a much-needed edge in the NL. The Dodgers reportedly are nearing a two-year, $45 million contract extension, and Ramirez is certain of two things: 1. He's going to continue acting like a loon and 2. He's going to hit at least .500 again against the Cubs.

Even though he’s in jail awaiting trial on drug and grand theft auto charges, things are looking up for baseball-player-turned-financial-consultant Lenny Dykstra. The former outfielder recently announced he landed a big client: Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, whose team is currently in MLB conservatorship.

The Mets have acquired Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, but not in the conventional way. Starting in the 2012 season, the Mets and Dodgers will be combined to form one “Super Team.”

Why They Might Be Good: It's still difficult to accept the fact that last season—when they were healthy—these perpetual doormats sported one of the most reliable starting lineups in the league, led by rock Elton Brand. But as solid as they were in '06, they shored up their roster with the signings of professionally-diagnosed depressive forward Vin Baker and hilariously named center Boniface Ndong.

Why They Might Be Good: Attitudinal off-guard Kobe Bryant has made a promise to Lakers fans: "We're going back to the Finals. How? By me taking zero shots a game. If I get my teammates involved—teammates like [streaky guard] Sasha Vujacic, [streaky guard] Maurice Evans, and [streaky guard] Jimmy Jackson—there's no stopping us."