Los Angeles Dodgers

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal has reported via Twitter that former San Francisco Giant infielder Juan Uribe has signed a three-year deal worth $21 million with the Los Angles Dodgers.

This is a nice deal for Uribe, 31, who batted .248 with 24 home runs and 85 runs batted in. The Dodgers will get some pop with Uribe's bat and will certainly get experience. Uribe's bat will boost the Dodger's lineup and his glove will improve the Dodger' infield— as he will probably play a lot of second base.

I am going to have to admit, I didn’t see this signing coming at all.

I thought if Jon Garland was going to sign with a team over the Thanksgiving weekend, it would have been with the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres or even the New York Mets. I didn’t see him signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers at all, but he did.

The Dodgers just signed Jon Garland for 2011 at $5 million with $3 million in performance incentives and a guaranteed $8 million in 2012 if he pitches 190 innings in 2011.  My first thought on hearing this was Garland must want to play in L.A. next year.

According to the team website, the Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to veterans Vicente Padilla, Rod Barajas and Scott Podsednik, making them unrestricted free agents.

However, declining to offer a player arbitration is not a signal that the team is ready to move on. Multiple media outlets have reported the Dodgers remain in talks with all three players. General Manager Ned Colletti has mentioned several times that he is still very interested in resigning Padilla to fill out the remainder of the rotation.

Making a Hall of Fame case for the legendary player, manager and world series champion

By Howard G. Ruben

For most hardcore Dodgers fans, the ongoing melodrama between Jamie and Frank McCourt has more than frayed our collective nerves, worn our patience and bored us to tears. 

One of the main concerns for GM Ned Colletti and the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason is finding a permanent solution for second base. For Dodgers fans, the last few seasons have been confusing in the middle infield, as several journeyman veterans and utility players have stepped in, taking turns manning the right side of the infield.

The upcoming season appears to be heading in the same direction. However, it is also possible with major names on the free agent market, the Dodgers will be able to sign a solid fielder with a productive bat to a multi-year deal.

Piece by piece, the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers coaching staff is slowly coming together, and within the next few weeks, general manager Ned Colletti is expected to confirm all reports and make an official announcement about who will be working under new skipper Don Mattingly next season.

Ken Davidoff, a national baseball writer for Newsday, reported on Tuesday that pitching coach Rick Honeycutt has agreed to return to Los Angeles for a fifth season.

Over the last several years, the Los Angeles Dodgers' management team of owner Frank McCourt and general manager Ned Colletti have utilized the deferred contract option as a tactic to bring in numerous big name players with highly valued contracts—without paying much up front.

Looking back at several of the players who were still part of the Dodgers payroll in 2010, and who will be receiving paychecks from McCourt into the future, there's no doubt that many of the deals have failed miserably.

Is anyone else a little skeptical of one of the latest releases on the Dodgers' website? According to General Manager Ned Colletti, the Dodgers are actually planning on increasing the $93 million payroll from 2010.

Here are the options I am guessing Ted Lilly was faced with. He could test the free agent market, make a little more money but risk not being in an ideal situation.