Lilly will stay with the Dodgers

***UPDATE***

The deal will be for three years and $33 million. He will have a full no-trade clause for the first two years.

***

Well that was fast.

Ted Lilly wasted very little time this offseason, as he has agreed to remain with the Dodgers on a three-year contract. A physical is still pending, so the deal may take a few days to become official.

Lilly came over to L.A. at the trade deadline at the end of July. In 12 starts, he went 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 77 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings. He won his first five starts before suffering a loss on August 29 in Colorado.

For his career, Lilly has pitched 11 seasons and compiled a 113-96 record with a 4.18 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. His best run came from 2007-2009 with the Cubs, where he won 44 games, including 17-9 in '08.

The Dodgers have many questions that need to be answered this offseason, so they have to be happy about already answering one of them. Lilly was clearly one of the top starters available this offseason along with guys like Bronson Arroyo, Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, and Carl Pavano. The fact that Lilly wants to stay with the Dodgers is a good sign.

With Clayton Kershaw becoming more of an ace each season, and with Chad Billingsley regaining his form, Lilly will slide in at the #3 spot in the rotation quite nicely. True, he'll be 35 next season, but so far, he's still shown an ability to be a good pitcher.

The next question mark will be Kuroda, and if the Dodgers will now try to resign him. If he walks, then there's two open spots in the rotation that need to still be addressed. There's also Vicente Padilla to consider, but his many injuries this season are a major concern.

This shouldn't be considered a major signing, but a good step forward to start the offseason. Kudos to you, Dodgers. Now keep it going.