PHILADELPHIA -- The Dodgers might be more likely to sign CC Sabathia than Casey Blake this winter.
That, at least, is the way Blake sees it. The two men played together for five seasons in Cleveland, before the Indians traded Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers and Blake to the Dodgers last month.
The left-hander is expected to command at least $100 million as the top starting pitcher in free agency, and Blake said Sabathia has shared no inside information about his preferred destinations. Sabathia hails from the Bay Area and has said he is shopping for a home in Southern California.
"I think he wants to be close to home," Blake said. "I think it would be in his best interest to stay in the National League."
Why?
"Just because he rakes," Blake said.
Indeed, Sabathia hit a 440-foot home run at Dodger Stadium this season. Of the three NL clubs in California, the San Diego Padres are expected to slash their payroll, and the San Francisco Giants might shy away from a large contract for a pitcher after their $126-million experience with Barry Zito.
Blake, who turned 35 Saturday, has stabilized third base for the Dodgers and said he had not ruled out returning to Los Angeles. When the Indians traded him, he said, they told him they hoped to offer him a contract this winter, to return to what was the only major league club he had known.
"They'll be the front-runners, probably," he said.
Looking fore-ward
The Phillies' Kyle Kendrick, 23, credited his victory over Greg Maddux and the Dodgers on Friday to a conversation he had with Maddux in San Diego, two days before the Padres traded Maddux to the Dodgers last week.
Maddux's older brother, Mike, is the highly regarded pitching coach of the Milwaukee Brewers. Greg Maddux, 42, said he has not decided how much longer he might want to play or whether he might follow his big brother into coaching.
After his retirement, Maddux said, he will take a year off, to consider what he might want to do, and to golf. He has played his entire career in the National League, so for the first time he could play a summer round in American League cities.
"I was thinking more like Scotland and Ireland," he said.
September story
