Dodgers Offer Arbitration to Three

The Dodgers offered salary arbitration to outfielder Many Ramirez, starting pitcher Derek Lowe, and infielder Casey Blake according to General Manager Ned Colletti. The other 11 free agents were not offered arbitration.

    The three players have until 9:00 p.m. PST on December 7 to accept the offer and doing so would ensure their spot on the 2009 roster. As “Type A” free agents, if Ramirez and Lowe do not accept arbitration and choose to sign with another team, the Dodgers will receive two draft picks apiece from that club.

Blake, a “Type B” free agent, would net the Dodgers a supplemental draft pick if he elects to sign elsewhere.  

None of the three are odds-on to stay with the Club. Ramirez is asking for four to six years and will go to the highest bidder. Lowe has expressed the desire to return to Boston but he is in such demand, he may wind up elsewhere and Blake originally wanted to return to Cleveland but had had a number of other offers and he, too, may take the highest bid.  

So the arbitration offered is a win-win situation. If the player doesn't accept, the Dodgers get draft choices. If he does accept, the Dodgers will have him for a year at least.  

The Dodgers did not offer arbitration to free agents Joe Beimel, Gary Bennett, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Johnson, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Pablo Ozuna, Chan Ho Park, Brad Penny, and Mark Sweeney.

Furcal's agent told ESPN.com "I don't see anything happening before the winter meetings."

The A's and Giants have actively pursued Furcal over the last couple of weeks. Apparently two other clubs have interest, but only if they make another trade. One is the Braves.

Indications are that neither the Cubs nor Furcal's old team, the Dodgers, are currently in the mix. The Dodgers have balked at the four-year contract Furcal has been asking for but they have Ivan De Jesus and perhaps even Chin-Lung Hu waiting in the wings, or at shortstop actually, and they do not want a long-term contract blocking their progress.