During the long, 50 game suspension of slugger Manny Ramirez, the Los Angeles Dodgers played as a team should play. They wouldn't let the absence of a key player keep them from winning, and they stayed in first place and racked up the best record in the major leagues.

But did they do the opposite since Manny's return?

Specifically, did they make a statement to management that unless the team acquired a key player, a pitcher, for the second half of the season, there would be trouble in the standings?

Here's what looks so curious. The men in blue hadn't lost three games in a row all season long. Then edging up to the July 31 trade deadline, they blew four in a row.

It wasn't their pitchers, by and large, that phoned it in. It was the hitters that sent a message by taking a prolonged nap.

Coincidence? Statistical probability?

Then, on 30 July, it was announced they obtained George Sherrill, a relief pitcher.

The Dodgers won that day, and the next, using their new hurler.

"The Slow Walk" is a work unit's way of telling management that they feel they're being mistreated, ignored, or over-worked. It isn't that people stop doing their jobs. They simply do them at a snail's pace, which means productivity slips more and more with each passing day.

Did the team slow-walk their way to beefing up the bullpen? Did they think General Manager Ned Colletti would be satisfied and stand pat with the existing roster if a warning shot wasn't fired before July 31?

Shakespeare famously said all's well that ends well.

But is this the end of the team's use of slow-mo? Who knows?

There are more player acquisition opportunities coming up, before season's end.