While the world is still waiting to see if Manny Ramirez will grace the Dodgers with his presence, the Dodgers are still the front-runners to sign 2B Orlando Hudson. Even with the pursuit of Manny, GM Ned Colletti says that he has flexibility to add Hudson as well.
As of now, the Dodgers have about $75 million committed to this season, well below the $120 million from last season. But, you have to remember that Manny's deal could easily push that up another $20-$25 million, plus Hudson's potential deal. Hudson originally wanted $10 million per, but that's just not going to happen. They still won't be near last year's salary even if both come in, though.
A double-play combination of Hudson and Rafael Furcal could be fun to see, but how often can we expect to see that? Both are coming off major injuries last year that kept them out a big chunk of the season. Hudson broke his left wrist last year, keeping him out for 2 months. Could that injury be making GM's gun shy about signing him? It's a possibility.
In my mind, I think signing Hudson could be a nice boost, but it's not extremely important like getting Manny back would be. He's always been a solid player, as his glove is among the best in the league. But he's also handled the bat pretty well the last 2 years, with AVG's of .294 and .305 and OBP's of .376 and .367. He'd be a nice option in the #2 hole to move Furcal over and get on base himself.
Blake DeWitt fans may not be crazy about this, and I understand that. But he is still is only 23 and has plenty of time to progress. He had his share of ups and downs last season, and was clearly overmatched in the NLCS against the Phillies. I'm sure he'll be fine.
Here's a scenario to consider from RotoWire: if Manny doesn't resign and Hudson does sign, then perhaps Hudson plays 2nd, DeWitt 3rd, and Casey Blake goes to LF. I'd be very surprised if that does happen since good ol' Juan "For Five" Pierre is still there with that huge contract.
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