Dodgers GM Ned Colletti better charge his cell phone and work it overtime on the last day of baseball’s winter meetings Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

But despite all of the rumors and chatter the Dodgers have added exactly no one to their roster, unless you count Matt Magill and Stephen Ames being added to the Major League Roster. Obviously the biggest prize Dodgers fans want signed is Zack Greinke, the former Cy Young Award winner and the unquestioned top free agent pitcher. Multiple sources have the Dodgers and Rangers as the 2 teams left in the Greinke sweepstakes, and all indications are the Dodgers are the clear front runner, with the possibility of Greinke receiving the richest contract of any pitcher in baseball history. Colletti met with Greinke’s agent on Wednesday but according to Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

Didn’t have “any idea” when a Greinke deal might occur.

Same goes for Korean lefty Ryu Hyun-jin, who the Dodgers spent $25.7 million dollars to have the exclusive rights to negotiate with. The Dodgers are in a position of strength as they are the only MLB club who can sign the 25 year old. However, the Dodgers haven’t had the best history working out deals with Hyun-jin’s agent Scott Boras. Boras has stated that:

“We have standards that all of us agree the guy is a No. 3 starter in the Major Leagues, Boras said Wednesday. And past practices, negotiations that we’ve done for [Daisuke] Matsuzaka, at that time Matsuzaka got paid [$52 million, six years] like he was a No. 3 pitcher in the big leagues. We think very highly of Ryu.”

The Dodgers have until Sunday to complete a deal with Ryu and worst case scenario is they can’t agree to terms and their $25.7 million is returned to them, which they could then use to sign another starting pitcher. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times reported that the Dodgers made Ryu a long-term offer on Tuesday that was “promptly rejected.” Boras said he made a counter offer to the Dodgers and that “negotiations continue.” Colletti said the Dodger’s offer “predictably fell a tad short.” So let me wrap my head around this, you just spent $25.7 million for the exclusive opportunity to sign the talented young lefty. Your offer is simply “a tad short,” I don’t know how many millions equal a “tad” but they’ve come this far in the process just get the deal done already. With the huge Korean community in L.A. Ryu could take on a “Fernando Mania” type role with the Dodgers if he is indeed a #3 caliber starter, to me that’s worth the “tad” that the two sides are apart.

Management has made it clear that the Dodgers plan on adding at least one, but more likely two starting pitchers, even though they have 6 starters under contract for 2013. But with Ted Lilly coming off of shoulder surgery, not to mention being 37 in January, with Chad Billingsley having a partially torn ligament in his elbow, and with Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang both being closer to 40 than 30 by the time the pennant race is in full swing, the need to bolster the starting pitching is more prevalent than ever.

Yet while other teams are throwing around silly amounts of money the Dodgers are kicking back in their suite in Nashville hopefully planning on closing the Winter Meetings with a bang. They already missed out on Japanese reliever Kyuji Fujikawa, who reportedly signed a 2 year $9.5 million dollar deal with the Cubs. That contract looks like a bargain when you consider ex-Dodger Shane Victorino somehow got $39.5 million from the Red Sox for 3 years. I’m still shaking my head over that amount of money for a player who hit .255 last year and was very average as a Dodger.  St. Louis gave Randy Choate, a one trick pony a.k.a lefty specialist, a 3 year deal worth a reported $7.5 million. To top it all off Joe Blanton just got $15 million for 2 years from the Angels, the same Joe Blanton who put up an ERA of 4.71 in 2012. Those are shocking numbers in my opinion and I am thrilled the Dodgers didn’t agree to any of them, with the exception of Fujikawa.

So while Dodger fans await the signing of Greinke, Ryu, or Anibal Sanchez, they can at least breath a sigh of relief that they haven’t overpaid for an under-performer, in that respect the Winter Meetings have been a success for the Dodgers. Now if they can finish it off by locking up Greinke and Ryu or perhaps making a trade for James Shields, R.A. Dickey, David Price or another #2 starter to compliment Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers fans can have something to be excited about.

One other piece of interesting news is the Diamondbacks efforts to deal Justin Upton. This is the 3rd straight off-season that Upton trade rumors are out there and why the D’Backs would want to deal Upton I have no idea. But I certainly would not be sad to see him leave the N.L. West. So as we enter the final day of the Winter Meetings one big question remains, what will the Dodgers do and when will they pull something off? Stay tuned to Lasorda’s Lair for any breaking news and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on facebook

Boras feels that Ryu can join a Major League level team immediately, and he had this to say about the young hurler:

 

“He can jump in and be a third starter on a championship-caliber Major League team,” said Boras. “He comes with a great pedigree. This is a rare opportunity.”

Boras was already drawing a comparison to Japanese pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish who

Sports agent Scott Boras represents Ryu Hyun-Jin. Photo: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

received $52 million and $56 million six-year deals from Boston and Texas. He also claimed that Ryu’s bid from the Dodgers for $25,737,737.33 was less than the two aforementioned Japanese pitchers’ posting bids, because Korean pitchers obtain less visibility than Japanese pitchers. Of course Boras is trying to garner a deal in line with the contracts given to Darvish and Matsuzaka, because that’s his job. He will try to squeeze as much money out of the Dodgers as he possibly can. And the Dodgers now have more money than ever to work with, so I’m sure Boras is clamping at the bit to get his client some of that GBM cash.

The Dodgers have until December 10th to strike a deal with Ryu, otherwise he must return to the Hanwha Eagles. Even though there will be a negotiating process, I’m pretty confident that the Dodgers will sign Ryu to a generous contract. The team has made a flurry of recent hires in order to shape a new international scouting and player development team, and signing Ryu would progress their forward momentum into the international market in which they have been absent from during Frank McCourt’s reign.

Ryu Hyun-jin.-Photo courtesy of Kata.com

There’s also no secret that the Dodgers need starting pitching. Chad Billingsley‘s elbow is iffy, Ted Lilly is recovering from shoulder surgery and extremely rusty, and Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano are mediocre at best. The Dodgers are still wading through the free agent market, but signing Ryu would be a great investment in the future instead of picking up a pitcher for a short term one or two-year deal. Chances are the Dodgers may even sign Ryu and sign another starter via free agency. Whether Ryu is able to immediately transition from pitching in Korea and be injected straight into the Dodgers’ starting rotation is unknown. He may have to begin in the minors or perhaps the bullpen before he is thrown into a Major League starting role.

Through an interpreter, Ryu talked about Chan Ho Park‘s influence on him and the Korean community of Los Angeles:

 

“Chan Ho was very influential to me and very helpful, and [giving] me insight into playing in the Major Leagues and giving me the dream to play in the Major Leagues,” he said. “As a baseball alumni, he’s teaching me the ropes.”

Although the new ownership’s prime goal is to win, there’s also the additional objective to sign players which reflect the Angelino community and those in which the fans can relate to and root for.

Ryu in Blue? You can bet on it

Take our Ryu poll, and let us know if you think he will sign with the Dodgers and for how much.