--RHP Yhency Brazoban, who because of injuries, ineffectiveness and a lack of conditioning has made only 11 major league appearances over the past three seasons, has been shut down because of a recurrence of the right-shoulder inflammation that landed him on the disabled list for two months last year. Brazoban is in camp on a minor league contract after the Dodgers non-tendered him over the winter because he was eligible for arbitration. He had little chance of making the club even before being shut down.

--RHP Cory Wade, who became a mainstay in the bullpen as a rookie last year after being promoted from Class AA, has been shut down with right-shoulder inflammation. But he reported feeling much better in the days following a cortisone injection. Wade is considered a lock to make the club if healthy.

--SS Rafael Furcal is expected to be out of the starting lineup about once a week this season. Dodgers manager Joe Torre devised the plan in hopes of keeping Furcal healthy. Furcal missed almost five months last season with a back injury after playing all but one inning of the team's first 32 games.

--INF Luis Maza, who made his big-league debut last season and is in camp on a minor league contract, said he has had about four days off since the end of last season. When the season ended, Maza immediately went home to Venezuela and reported to Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League. He was the starting shortstop on the club that went on to win the league title and the Caribbean World Series. From there, Maza went immediately to spring training in Glendale, Ariz.

--OF Andre Ethier avoided arbitration on Feb. 17, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $3.1 million contract. The deal includes incentives that could bring the deal to $3.2 million, which would be the midpoint between the $3.75 million submitted by Ethier and the $2.65 million submitted by the club. The agreement came only after the sides actually sat down at a table in the hearing room and even asked for a temporary delay in the hearing.

BY THE NUMBERS: 72 -- Batters who reached base via walk or hit batsman in the 53 2/3 innings pitched by Greg Miller at Class AAA Las Vegas last season. Miller, the Dodgers' top left-handed pitching prospect before shoulder surgery in 2004, has walked 198 batters, hit 24 and thrown 29 wild pitches in a total of 190 innings over the past three seasons in Class AA and Class AAA. He is in danger of pitching his way out of the organization.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "You mean the same guy who was never on time, (was) out of shape and has one complete game (with the Dodgers)? He has more stuff to worry about in the American League East than me. He has to worry about getting people out. Put that on the (expletive) dot-com. Put it in the headline." -- Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa, when told that former Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, now with Boston, had ripped him by name in an internet article.