01:00 AM EST on Sunday, April 2, 2006

It didn't take Ned Colletti long to size things up when Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt hired him as the team's general manager in November.

"I felt the club needed to get better," Colletti said. "And get better sooner rather than later."

So he signed two former Red Sox standouts -- five-time All-Star Nomar Garciaparra and 11-year veteran Bill Mueller -- the next month. Both are former batting champions who played for new Dodgers manager Grady Little in Boston.

"I wanted quality players who know how to play the game the right way, and know how to play the game hard," Colletti said. "Nobody does that better than Billy Mueller."

Mueller, 35, owns a career .292 average and made three trips to the postseason with the Sox. Boston was afraid age was beginning to catch up with him, but Mueller doesn't foresee his age slowing him down defensively.

"I think if I wouldn't be able to play up to the standards that I've set, then I probably wouldn't be playing," Mueller said. "Because there probably wouldn't be any point. I believe that where I'm at right now is right where I've been for 10 years of my career, and I don't see any problems."