Orlando Hudson Is a Dodger

All winter we've been sitting by and waiting for the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez to finally come to terms on a contract to keep the dreadlocked one in Los Angeles, but yet, here we are on February 20 with teams in spring training and Manny is still a free agent. The thing is, while most people have paid attention to Manny as a top free agent without a home, there have been a whole slew of other Type A guys sitting on their hands waiting for a phone call.

One of those guys was second baseman Orlando Hudson, who has no doubt suffered due to a bad economy and a newfound commitment to the draft by teams across baseball. Well, since they have nothing better to do with their time while waiting for Manny, the Dodgers have decided they don't need that draft pick, and signed Hudson this afternoon.

...the Dodgers picked one up on the cheap Friday when they agreed with second baseman Orlando Hudson on a one-year contract, baseball sources confirmed.

The deal is worth $3.4 million with another $4.6 million in possible incentives.

The signing will also cost the Dodgers the 17th pick in the draft next June.

It's a pretty big paycut from the $6.2 million Hudson made last year, but with concerns about a dislocated wrist he suffered in August combined with everything else, it isn't exactly shocking. While there is no word on what the incentive clauses are, this signing does lead to other questions for the Dodgers.

Specifically, what are they going to do with Blake DeWitt? Is he going to be relegated to pinch-hitter/spot starting duty, or will he move to third while Casey Blake goes to left field? It seems like a pretty easy choice when you consider one option involves Juan Pierre as your starting left fielder, and the other doesn't, but who knows what goes through Joe Torre's gigantic nostrils?

Of course, it won't matter when if they sign Manny.