» Ned Colletti

So, there really hasn’t been any real news to talk of as of late, so may as well talk a little about the biggest question most Dodger fans have about this offseason, what’s going to happen with Manny.

As reported on dodgers.com, Colletti has been talking with Manny more frequently and for longer durations as of late.  There’s still no word as to if we’re getting any closer to signing him, though I really think we’ll be signing him soon.

As most probably know, Manny has already been offered 2 deals, 2 years $45 mil and 1 year $25 mil and he rejected both.  He reportedly wants a 4 year deal in the range of A-Roid money, like $27 mil a year.  The problem with giving him that kind of money is his age.  As great of a player as Manny may be, its unlikely he’ll be playing at this level in 4 years, and no team really wants to give him $30+ million during a season he’s not still at an elite level.

Manny seemed to be counting on interest from other teams, like the Yankees, to cause a bidding war for his services, but that never happened.  At this point, I think Manny knows he isn’t going to get his 4 year deal.  At the moment its almost like a game of chicken, who’s more desperate, Colletti to get Manny back or Manny to get a contract so he isn’t sitting out one of the few productive years he has left.  I think Manny has more to lose than the Dodgers do, so I think he’ll soon cave and take the deal.  Manny has never been known as a workhorse, and, in my opinion, he’s using these contract discussions to get out of the harder spring workouts, and will sign in time for spring training games to start.

 The Dodgers are apparently now in talks with free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.  Hudson has reportedly lowered his asking price from $10 million since, with todays market, there are no teams willing to pay that for him. 

Colletti told dodgers.com that he wasn’t necessarily looking to replace Blake DeWitt, but more or less looking at options.  The article on dodgers.com said if Manny doesn’t sign we could always use Hudson at second, move DeWitt to third, and Casey Blake to left. 

Personally, I would like the signing, as Hudson is a proven second baseman, a 2 time gold glove, and he can hit.  Last year Hudson hit .305 while only playing in 107 games due to an injury, but if you look at his stats, his average has gotten better every year.  I don’t know how much I would like the musical chairs of players, especially since, if Manny doesn’t sign, we have a perfectly healthy Juan Pierre to play left, and while he doesn’t add the power that even Blake has, he has batting average and speed.

Ideally, we could sign both Hudson and Manny and have an even better offense than last year.  I’d like to see Hudson as an everyday 2B and let DeWitt and Blake fight it out for 3B/utility IF.  Granted, there would be many options that Torre could look into with this signing, and would be nice to add another bat to our lineup.