Orlando Hudson

The Dodgers are on the verge of another bargain-bin addition, agreeing on a one-year deal with three-time Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson on Friday, according to baseball sources. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was pending because Hudson had to take a physical. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti declined to confirm or deny the agreement. Hudson's agent, Greg Genske, couldn't be reached by phone or e-mail.

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND : Orlando Hudson was sent to the minors as punishment for referring to the Toronto Blue Jays general manager as a "pimp. " In the spring of 2002, current San Diego Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson was still a prospect trying to make the Toronto Blue Jays. Hudson was the Blue Jays' fourth-best prospect in 2002 (according to Baseball America - Josh Phelps was their #1 prospect at the time. Jayson Werth was #2 and Gabe Gross was #3) but his spot on the major league squad was far from assured.

Dodgers trainer Stan Conte says he has seen the videos several times, sometimes in slow motion. Each time, Conte says, he is left scratching his head. The videos are of Orlando Hudson playing second base. "I don't know how he does it," Conte said.

Blake DeWitt spent last winter preparing to become the Dodgers' starting second baseman and what did it get him? Only 31 games in the majors. Constant shuttling back and forth from the Dodgers' triple-A affiliate in New Mexico. A hectic schedule that prevented him from establishing a rhythm at the plate and resulted in a .204 average. Again preparing himself to be the Dodgers' second baseman this off-season, DeWitt said he knows that next year could turn out the same way, that the team could find another veteran free agent to push him out of the lineup and into limbo.

When Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle in the Dodgers' home opener April 13, it was just a prelude to the hot April the second baseman would enjoy. Hudson, obtained by the Dodgers in the off-season mainly for his Gold Glove skills, is the team's hottest hitter despite going 0 for 4 in the Dodgers' loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. The native of Darlington, S.C., now in his eighth major league season, was riding a career-high 11-game hitting streak until Sunday. With a .

A handful of Dodgers filed for free agency, including infielders Ronnie Belliard , Orlando Hudson and Doug Mientkiewicz and pitchers Randy Wolf , Jon Garland and Eric Milton . Thursday was the first day of a 15-day window in which players can file for free agency. They cannot negotiate with other teams until the window closes. Garland became a free agent after the Dodgers declined the mutual option on the 30-year-old right-hander's contract. Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 31 for a player to be named who turned out to be infielder Tony Abreu , Garland was 3-2 with a 2.72 earned-run average in six regular-season starts for the Dodgers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks' clubhouse was almost silent, the players murmuring among themselves while eating pregame meals. Eric Byrnes looked across the room. Without Orlando Hudson, spring training wasn't quite the same, he said. Certainly not as loud. Byrnes laughed as he recalled the playful barbs he and the Gold Glove second baseman used to exchange for everyone to hear. He said Hudson used to tease him for being "the California surfer dude."

Ronnie Belliard started at second base in place of Orlando Hudson tonight for the third consecutive game, as Manager Joe Torre said he intended to continue to "ride the hot hand." "We'll ride it as long as we can and see what happens," Torre said. Torre said he spoke about playing time to Hudson, whom he described as understanding. "I told him without him we wouldn't be in the situation we are to win something, but Belliard's hot right now," Torre said. ""I told him this time of year we need to get something done and we're just going to ride the hot hand.

It appears Orlando Hudson might no longer be the Dodgers starting second baseman. Manager Joe Torre sounded non-committal today as recent acquisition Ronnie Belliard played in place of Hudson for the second consecutive game. Hudson, 31, a switch-hitting All Star and Gold Glove winner, has played in nearly every game since being acquired last winter. But "over the course of the season it's probably taken a little bit of a toll on him," Torre said before today's game.

With the Dodgers less than an hour removed from recording their final out of the season, Andre Ethier let himself look ahead to the day they reach the World Series. What Ethier imagined was the same cast of players, only older. What he imagined was a team resembling the Philadelphia Phillies club that eliminated them from the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. "They have a whole different identity than us," Ethier said. "They're built around that core lineup that has a lot of power.

A handful of Dodgers filed for free agency, including infielders Ronnie Belliard , Orlando Hudson and Doug Mientkiewicz and pitchers Randy Wolf , Jon Garland and Eric Milton . Thursday was the first day of a 15-day window in which players can file for free agency. They cannot negotiate with other teams until the window closes. Garland became a free agent after the Dodgers declined the mutual option on the 30-year-old right-hander's contract. Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 31 for a player to be named who turned out to be infielder Tony Abreu , Garland was 3-2 with a 2.72 earned-run average in six regular-season starts for the Dodgers.

With the Dodgers less than an hour removed from recording their final out of the season, Andre Ethier let himself look ahead to the day they reach the World Series. What Ethier imagined was the same cast of players, only older. What he imagined was a team resembling the Philadelphia Phillies club that eliminated them from the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. "They have a whole different identity than us," Ethier said. "They're built around that core lineup that has a lot of power.

As the postseason began Wednesday, it all went according to form. Cliff Lee dominated the Rockies as expected, the Yankees dismissed the Twins, of course, and Randy Wolf showed why he went 275 starts without ever getting the chance to work a playoff game before. It was Dodgers textbook baseball, all right, terrific entertainment, hair-raising and just how they won more games in the National League this season than any other. You mix shaky starting pitching with a burst of hitting and a bullpen committee with the ability to take a game over beginning with the seventh inning, and the Cardinals probably still don't know what happened.

Vicente Padilla said he never envisioned this season turning out the way it has. He was let go by the Texas Rangers in August and trashed by some of his former teammates on his way out. He was picked up by the Dodgers, who signed him for a prorated share of the major league minimum -- about $100,000. On his first day at Dodger Stadium, he was peppered with questions about his reputation as a head-hunter. On Tuesday, Padilla was named the Dodgers' starting pitcher for Game 3 of the National League division series.

Chad Billingsley sounded like a new man. He was smiling. He wasn't mumbling. "It's a different story in the playoffs," he said. "It's a new season. You get a new life. The regular season's over. It's postseason, it's October. The whole playoff atmosphere is exciting." Billingsley was named the fourth and final member of the Dodgers' rotation in the National League division series that starts tonight against St. Louis. Vicente Padilla will start Game 3. Billingsley on Monday threw 82 pitches in a simulated game at the Dodgers' spring training complex in Arizona.

Hiroki Kuroda maintained his sense of humor when talking about what could be his greatest setback of an injury-riddled season: a slightly bulging disk in his neck that will sideline him for at least the opening round of the playoffs. Asked whether he considered this to be unluckiest season of his professional career, Kuroda replied, "So far. But my career's not over yet." Kuroda spent most of the first two months this season on the disabled list because of a strained side muscle.

Orlando Hudson was packing his bags when he heard someone shout to him from across the Dodgers' clubhouse. The voice belonged to Matt Kemp, who told him to hit a home run. "From both sides," James Loney chimed in. "And make a diving catch." Hudson smiled. That he would receive this kind of send-off as the Dodgers went into the All-Star break was unthinkable to almost everyone in baseball 4 1/2 months ago.

Orlando Hudson was out of the Dodgers' lineup Friday, Manager Joe Torre's decision to sit him likely costing the second baseman $40,000 or $50,000. At least for now. Per the terms of the one-year, incentive-laden deal Hudson signed with the budget-conscious Dodgers this spring, he will be paid $10,000 for each plate appearance from No. 576 to No. 632. Hudson went into the series in San Francisco with 577 plate appearances. He has already earned $4.06 million in incentive pay in addition to his $3.38 million base salary.

The day started like any other, Matt Kemp dancing in one corner of the Dodgers' clubhouse and Hiroki Kuroda joking about how he nearly died last month in another. "This ballclub really doesn't change its personality that much," Manager Joe Torre said. "They've been as good as any club I've ever had [at] dismissing yesterday." The Dodgers will again have to call on those powers of selective amnesia, as they had another night to forget Tuesday at Petco Park, falling to the San Diego Padres, 3-1. For the third consecutive day, the Dodgers went into a game with their magic number to clinch the National League West title at one. For the third consecutive night, they went to bed with the Colorado Rockies still in contention.

By the end of the Dodgers' third and most embarrassing defeat in the last four days to one of baseball's worst teams, Larry Bowa was reduced to picking dirt out of his nails in the third base coach's box. The game was a long one for Bowa, who had almost nothing to do until he sent Orlando Hudson home on a sacrifice fly by Chin-lung Hu in the ninth inning of the Dodgers' 11-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday that kept the team's magic number...