Furcal Stays in LA

I'm glad I didn't try to track these negotiations, they were a mess. One day the A's are locked in, the next the Braves have him all ready to sign, but finally he stays with the Dodgers for 3 years at $30m. So, the Dodgers who looked like they could lose half their team via free agency, at least keep their shortstop pairing him with resigned 3b Casey Blake on the left side. Lowe is rumored to be looking at Boston and the Mets, Manny got 2 offers from LA already, arbitration and 2 years $45m, Penny is as good as gone, and non-tendered reliever Saito is available to anyone who wants.

I was pretty critical of the Dodgers early on, saying they could see some major slippage with all of their free agents. But it looks like they are doing a good job of keeping the harder to replace positions of SS and 3b. Replacing Lowe is pretty difficult but with James McDonald, Scott Elbert, and prized pitcher Clayton Kershaw all possibly ready to make the next step (Kershaw kind of already has), their rotation shouldn't be in shambles for too long, if anything at all.

This next year could be somewhat of a rebuilding year with a chance to still win the division. It took 84 games to get it this year, with the Rockies trading Holliday, Padres trying to trade everyone, DBacks losing Dunn and lowballing Randy Johnson, and the Giants still well the Giants for now, it shouldn't take more than 84 games to win the division next year. Even rebuilding (if you want to even call it that) next year with a young staff and a young core of position players the Dodgers have a solid shot in a total crap division. Maybe they'll keep Manny, or go for a veteren pitcher like Oliver Perez to shoot down the whole quasi rebuilding thing, but for now think of them kind of like the Rays last year. A few guys take the next step and you're looking at a potentially dangerous team...at least for NL West standards.