Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times has some insight into Ned Colletti’s gameplan this offseason.
Colletti still isn’t a fan of the free agent market for starting pitchers. He feels that the Dodgers’ best chance of upgrading the rotation is via trade. Though the Dodgers have been previously linked to Hiroki Kuroda, Colletti seemed unimpressed by the Japanese market. Trade options might include Erik Bedard, A.J. Burnett, Cliff Lee, Jon Garland, Jose Contreras, Johan Santana, Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, Chris Capuano, and Dave Bush. Did I miss anyone?
As far as third base, Colletti says the Dodgers haven’t decided whether to go after Alex Rodriguez. He was able to tolerate Scott Boras enough to talk with him briefly last week. The other options for the Dodgers would be Mike Lowell and Miguel Cabrera. Giving Andy LaRoche a try wouldn’t be a terrible idea.
It sounds like the Dodgers really want to sign a center fielder and move Juan Pierre over. It seems that Colletti will investigate the Big Three among free agent center fielders. Him being on OK terms with Boras bodes well for the Andruw Jones possibility.
Second base is still unresolved, and Colletti could go for Luis Castillo if Jeff Kent retires. Kent’s agent shot down the whole Larry King thing. Tony Abreu makes for a fine internal fallback.
