Scanning Sports: 12/17/08 Edition

By John Scanlan

So…what are the Dodgers waiting for?

Last week’s Winter Meetings in Las Vegas came and went and if you didn’t hear less than accurate comments from Ned Colletti about C.C. Sabathia saying he wanted to be a Dodger, you wouldn’t know they were there. They were less visible than Torosian’s fantasy football team in a playoff bracket.

They signed local boy (St. Francis) Mark Loretta, who provides offensive depth in the infield. He won’t contribute with the glove anymore, but he can spell Blake Dewitt or Casey Blake a couple times a week.

Speaking of Blake, the Dodgers resigned their midseason acquisition from last year for 3 years and $17.5 million. Somehow, Blake got a third year AFTER the Minnesota Twins dropped out of the running for his services and the Dodgers were the only real suitor. The Dodgers had wanted to only go two years, but in typical Colletti fashion, Blake ended up getting three once the Dodgers were only bidding against themselves. For good measure, an option year was added when Blake will be 39. All of this for a below average defensive 3B who will be 36 next season and just turned in a fairly pedestrian year while splitting time between the Dodgers and Indians. Now do you understand why there should be mass panic when Colletti has money to spend?

Speaking of mass panic, should we be worried about Colletti’s public hissy-fit regarding the Manny Ramirez negotiations? The market for Ramirez is dwindling, as the Yankees have to be nearly tapped out after adding Sabathia and A.J. Burnett for a combined $240 million. Boston is an obvious no-go. The Angels appear to be on the cusp of signing Mark Teixiera to a huge contract worth $20 million a year. The Nationals are making noise as if they’re interested, but the interest most likely isn’t mutual. The Cubs have ownership issues and the White Sox are shedding salary. The Giants are a possibility, but they have yet to show any real interest. Ramirez could always retire, but he’s been pouting about a new contract for a couple years now. He didn’t opt out of his current deal to sit at home. He wants to get paid.

Odds are, the Dodgers will find out where they stand with the Rafael Furcal situation and then approach the Ramirez issue from there. Look for something in the 2-year, $45 million range with a mutual option or incentive-triggering option for a third season.

The Dodgers will still need someone to replace Derek Lowe and Brad Penny. A good replacement for Lowe would be Lowe himself, who remains unsigned and stated publicly that the notion he wants to head back East isn’t necessarily true. There have been rumblings about the Mets being interested, but GM Omar Minaya hinted that they may be done after spending a ton of money (3 years, $37 mil) on closer Francisco Rodriguez. Apparently, Minaya didn’t get the memo that it’s better to spend that kind of money on someone who throws 6-7 innings per game rather than one.

Needless to say, the Dodgers have plenty left to do.

Before closing out the column this week, I want to acknowledge the unfortunate passing of a great colleague, Tony Simonian. Tony was an Auto Tech teacher at San Gabriel High School and a great asset to the students and the fellow teachers who were proud to also call him a friend. He’ll be greatly missed.

John Scanlan can be reached at scanman_33@sbcglobal.net and heard on the Mid-Valley Sports Show on Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm on KSPR Perspective Radio (http://www.perspectiveradio.com/)