In a surprise move, the Los Angeles Dodgers improved their team by acquiring veteran pitcher Jon Garland and the number 12 all-time home run hitting, Jim Thome.

Garland is expected to pitch every five games, which would put him on track to take the mound six times between now and the post-season. Thome, who hasn't played a fielding position for two years, is expected to pinch-hit off the bench.

Exactly how much have the Dodgers improved through these pick-ups?

Hard to say, really, but if the presence of Garland and Thome makes the team just 2% better, then they will have pulled their weight.

Two percent, expressed as a percentage of games during the remaining ones to be played comes to winning just a single, additional contest above that which the men in blue would otherwise do.

Is a one-game edge worth the trouble of potentially upsetting the clubhouse chemistry the Dodgers have enjoyed, so far this season?

With only a five and one-half game lead over the Diamondbacks and Giants, a one game cushion might be necessary to win the division. Moreover, if the Dodgers play as poorly in September as they did in August, one game could mean winning versus losing the wild card slot in the post-season.

On a forty-man roster, two players constitute a 5% difference in the makeup of personnel. Maybe that translates into a plus two-game advantage, overall, by season's end.

And who knows whether Thome can make all the difference with a single stroke of the bat, or Garland with a successful start in the post-season.

Having already improved the team by trading for infielder Belliard and pitchers Sherrill and Padilla, the Dodgers are practiced in making incremental improvements, instead of giant leaps, as they did last year in adding the bat of Manny Ramirez.

Football may be a game of inches, but baseball is revered for its percentages. And the Dodgers, so far, seem to be playing them just right.