Miguel Cabrera Situation

Presently, it looks like the Yankees will have the inside edge on the whole AROD signing situation. The Miguel Cabrera sweepstakes will begin to heat up. Honestly, I feel that signing Miguel Cabrera will have a much higher upside than signing Alex Rodriguez. First of all, AROD is demanding $30 million a year. No matter how big of a market Los Angeles is, the Dodgers does not have an unlimited payroll. Paying $30 million to one player greatly decreases the amount of money the dodgers can invest in other players. Secondly, AROD is 32 years old right now and if he wants a 10 year contract, then he will be 42 at the end of the contract. Even though he keeps himself in top shape, I do expect him to decline in numbers once he hits the 37-38 age range. No doubt that he'll still be a good player, but he will not be a player who is worth $30 million a year. Furthermore, in a ten year span, there is a high possibility of AROD getting hurt. If a major injury occurs, then the Dodgers will have another Darren Dreiford situation except wiht a player getting paid $30 million. Personally I don't want to see that happen.

Miguel Cabrera on the other hand has a huge upside to him. Aside from the weight problems (which I believe will get resolved especially with Joe Torre as the manager), Cabrera still has a lot of potential inside him. I think he will continue to improve especially at the plate. A talent like him very rarely comes around especially since he still have 2 more years until he hits free agency. I think if the Dodgers can get him and Uggla, whom Florida said they're willing to throw it the deal, with a package of Ethier, Kershaw, LaRoach and Loney then they should definitely do it. With the money saved from not signing AROD, the Dodgers should go after Torri Hunter and sign him. Along with his bat and defense comes the clubhouse leadership and other intangibles that could only help the clubhouse tension that devastated the team last year. Furthermore, this allows the Dodgers to move Pierre over to right field and have the former gold glove winner Hunter play center field. The defense in the outfield would definitely improve. Assuming that Kent returns, the Dodgers could now move him over to 1st base which eliminates his horrible range from second base.

Now the Dodgers would have a potential lineup of

SS- Furcal
RF- Pierre
C- Martin
3B- Cabrera
CF- Hunter
1B- Kent
2B- Uggla
LF- Kemp
Pitcher

That lineup along with a rotation of Penny, Lowe, Billingsley, Schmidt, and Loaiza, the Dodgers become a world series contender next year.