Kudos to new Dodgers manager Joe Torre for starting promising prospects Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier over the highly paid Juan Pierre on Opening Day. They will be key contributors for years to come, and both Kemp and Ethier are likely to build on solid 2007 seasons.

It didn’t matter that Pierre is still owed nearly $37 mil on a mind-boggling five-year, $44 million deal. Or that the light-hitting outfielder had played in 434 consecutive games going into the new season. The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers suggested Tuesday that Torre “is more interested in proving his old owner wrong than his new general manager right,” but it’s hard to make a case against the veteran skipper’s decision.

Torre’s decision-making stands in stark contrast to the choices made by new Reds manager Dusty Baker. The Reds boast some of the top near-ready prospects in the game -- Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto -- but none of them made appearances in Cincinnati’s opener against Arizona Monday.

Bruce was sent to Triple-A Louisville, where he has nothing to prove. Instead, the Reds signed Corey Patterson recently, and Baker had the veteran playing center field and batting leadoff yesterday. Apparently it doesn’t matter that Patterson has a career .297 OBP in eight big league seasons. Votto was on the bench in favor of first baseman Scott Hatteberg. Right-hander Bailey also is in Louisville, as only Cueto won a spot on the pitching staff.

Sure, the Reds want to win now after six straight losing seasons, but so do the Dodgers. Making winning a long-term proposition means going with your young talent and accepting a few bumps along the way, in order to have them prepared and productive as part of the long-term payoff.