Dodgers offer arbitration to Ramirez, Lowe, Blake

Dec 2, 2008 - 2:22 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday made sure they were protected in case of a free agent exodus by offering arbitration to left fielder Manny Ramirez, righthander Derek Lowe and third baseman Casey Blake.

Ramirez and Lowe are Type A free agents, meaning the Dodgers would be compensated with a first-round pick and a supplemental pick in next June's draft for each player, should they depart.

Blake is a Type B free agent, which would yield Los Angeles a supplemental pick.

The Dodgers reportedly offered Ramirez a two-year, $45 million deal after the season ended and want to bring the 36-year-old back. A 12-time All-Star, Ramirez hit .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBI in 53 games for Los Angeles after being acquired from the Boston Red Sox at the trading deadline.

Lowe is less likely to return to the Dodgers and is reportedly drawing interest from as many as 10 teams. The veteran sinkerballer went 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 2008 and posted sub-4.00 ERAs in each of his four seasons in Los Angeles.

Another 2008 trade deadline acquisition, Blake is also drawing interest from a number of teams, including the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.

The Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to Joe Beimel, Gary Bennett, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Johnson, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Pablo Ozuna, Chan Ho Park, Brad Penny, and Mark Sweeney.