Dodgers Decline To Offer Arbitration To Padilla, Barajas, Podsednik; Sign Villarreal

The Dodgers have declined to offer arbitration to all three of their Type B free agents Rod Barajas and Scott Podsednik, and Vicente Padilla, who was also apparently a Type B (MLB Trade Rumors lied to us!). The Dodgers are still free to negotiate with all three of them, but should they sign elsewhere the Dodgers will receive no compensation.

Barajas made $500,000, plus incentives last season. Podsednik made $1.65 million, and declined a mutual option for $2 million for 2011. Both players will be 35 years old next season. Padilla, 33, made $5.025 million last season, $1 million of which will be paid in April 2011.

In case you were wondering about the Dodgers and arbitration, the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible pre-free agency players is next Thursday, December 2.  The players in question then will be George Sherrill, Russell Martin, Ryan Theriot, James Loney, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Chad Billingsley. So, nine days from today we will know just how many pending arbitration cases the team will have.

For now, the Dodgers' 40-man roster remains at 37 players.

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In other news, the Dodgers signed Oscar Villarreal to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training. The right-handed reliever has a career 24-15 record and 3.86 ERA in his career, and he most recently pitched in the majors in 2008 with Houston. Villareal, 29, missed all of 2009 with Tommy John surgery, and pitched for Triple A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies organization last season, going 4-3 with a 4.40 ERA, with 26 walks and 42 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. Villarreal is currently pitching for Aguilas de Mexicali in the Mexican winter league, and has a 6.17 ERA in 11 2/3 innings, with six walks and 10 strikeouts.