--RHP Jonathan Broxton appears to have sewn up the closer role a month before spring training. The Dodgers' effort to sign free-agent closer Trevor Hoffman fell through when Hoffman agreed to terms with Milwaukee, and former Dodgers closer Takashi Saito signed with Boston as a free agent.
Broxton, 24, has been inconsistent as a fill-in closer, a role he held for most of the second half last season while Saito was on the disabled list. Broxton has 19 career saves, 14 of which came in 2008. That is, of course, 535 fewer saves than Hoffman, to whom the Dodgers made a competitive offer before losing out to the Brewers for his services. --LHP Shawn Estes, who missed much of last season with a fractured left thumb, agreed to a minor league deal with the Dodgers, according to multiple media reports. He reportedly would earn $1.55 million this year if he is on the opening-day roster and makes 30 big-league starts. Estes went 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA in eight starts for San Diego last year.
--INF Tony Abreu, who missed all of last season while recovering from surgery for a sports hernia more than a year ago, is expected to participate in the Dodgers' second annual winter development program. The program is primarily designed for rookies and prospects to work out at Dodger Stadium and be educated on life in the majors. Abreu is expected to compete with veterans Juan Castro and Hector Luna and longtime prospect Chin-lung Hu for a utility role.
--RHP Yhency Brazoban, who was non-tendered last month because the club didn't want to go through the arbitration process with him, has agreed to terms on a minor league contract. Brazoban has appeared in just 11 major league games over the past three seasons after posting 21 saves in 2005. He could compete for a bullpen spot in spring training, but club officials have long been concerned about his inability to shed excess weight.
--INF Luis Maza re-signed with the Dodgers, getting a minor league contract. Maza finally made his big-league debut last season after nine years in the minors and batted .228, playing 16 games at shortstop and 35 at second base. He will enter spring training as a dark-horse candidate for a utility role, but he has little shot of beating out Juan Castro, Hector Luna and Chin-lung Hu.
--RHP Scott Strickland, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2005, will try to end that drought with the Dodgers. He signed a minor league deal and will compete for a bullpen slot, but he probably is headed to Class AAA Albuquerque. Strickland made his major league debut with Montreal back in 1999 and has a 3.34 ERA in 236 career big-league appearances.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 -- Weeks since the Dodgers rescinded their two-year, $45 million offer to LF Manny Ramirez. Since then, no other club, including the Dodgers, is known to have made an official offer to Ramirez, who entered the winter as arguably the top offensive player on the market. The Red Sox, at Ramirez's request, declined $20 million options they held on Ramirez for each of the next two seasons when they traded him to the Dodgers on July 31.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Starting in the winter of '05-'06, we tried to be patient with our younger players (in Class AA) and move slowly toward a time when the team was comprised more of younger players than veterans. Little by little, our younger players have become veteran players. Now, rather than sprinkling them in, it is more the (veterans) who are sprinkled in." -- Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, on the gradual growth of the club's stable of young talent.
