NewsThree more Dodgers opt for free agency
Castro, Loretta, Ohman give LA 14 filing players
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
11/09/09 8:02 PM EST
LOS ANGELES -- Infielders Juan Castro and Mark Loretta and reliever Will Ohman filed for free agency Monday, leaving Jason Schmidt as the only Dodgers player eligible for free agency yet to file. Schmidt is expected to retire. The club has already bought Ohman out of his 2010 option for $200,000 after he missed most of the season with shoulder and elbow problems. He currently is recovering from shoulder surgery. Castro and Loretta served as utility infielders, with Loretta doubling as the primary right-handed pinch-hitter. Castro appeared in only 57 games and hit .277 as the primary backup to shortstop Rafael Furcal. Loretta hit .232 and went 14-for-60 as a pinch-hitter, but he also delivered the game-winning walk-off hit in the Dodgers' Game 2 victory over the Cardinals in this year's National League Division Series. The 14 Dodgers who have filed for free agency are Castro, Loretta, Ohman, Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, Eric Milton, Orlando Hudson, Ronnie Belliard, Doug Mientkiewicz, Brad Ausmus, Vicente Padilla, Guillermo Mota, Jeff Weaver and Jim Thome. Wolf and Hudson are Type A free agents, meaning the Dodgers would be eligible for draft-pick compensation from a signing club if the Dodgers offer -- and the players decline -- salary arbitration. Offering arbitration would be more likely in the case of Wolf than Hudson. Type B free agents are Belliard, Padilla, Garland, Mota and Ohman. Lesser draft-pick compensation is attached to Type B free agents, although the likelihood the Dodgers would offer any of them salary arbitration is even less because of the sizeable salaries they are likely to command.Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
