Dodgers Web musings: Fodder, Prince Fielder, slugger James Loney

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Why so quiet?

Hey, it had to happen sometime. After some early free agent signings and the Cy Young and MVP announcements, there has now actually been a moment of calm for the Dodgers’ front office.

Not completely, of course. There are those ever popular nonroster invitees to locate, and you can bet General Manager Ned Colletti is scouring the waiver wire to find fresh fodder before the winter meetings start next Sunday in Dallas.

He has reportedly already picked up a pair of journeyman arms for the bullpen.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi, via a Venezuelan publication, reports the Dodgers are on the verge of signing left-handed reliever Wil Ledzema. And Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy reports, via the Melbourne Aces, they have signed right-hander Shane Lindsay.

Both were signed to minor-league contracts, presumably with invites to the big-league camp, and neither were designed to get you sprinting to the ticket window.

Ledzema will be 31 in January and this will be his eighth team in seven years. Did I mention he was a left-handed reliever? He spent most of last season at triple-A, appearing in five games for the Blue Jays.

Lindsay, who turns 27 in January, has spent all but six innings of his career in the minors.

These are the low-risk, moderate-reward (Mike MacDougal) type offseason signings that Colletti adores, though that would hardly make him unique amongst GMs.

Also on the Web:

--Hey, what if the price tag for free agent Prince Fielder actually managed to come down somewhere within sight of the Dodgers? I mean, like only needing binoculars instead of a telescope.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman thinks it will take a contract worth about $200 million to nab Fielder.

But ESPN’s Jim Bowden reports there has been so little action on Fielder than some now think he could yet return to Milwaukee.

--Colletti, however, told Mel Antonen of MLB Network Radio last week that James Loney would be his first baseman next season. And, oh yeah, he thought Loney could hit 20-25 home runs.

--The San Francisco Chronicle reprinted a great 1962 column from Charles McCabe on Sunday about how local gamblers suspected that Willie McCovey’s sudden September illness was the work of a nefarious Walter O’Malley and almost led to a great collapse by the Giants.

--To the surprise of no one, Dodgers.com’s Ken Gurnick reports the Dodgers did not offer arbitration to any of their remaining seven free agents.

--All his bunting drives Mike Petriello nuts, but he tips his cap to the job Don Mattingly did in a trying rookie season as manager.

--What is it about Boston real estate and its links to the Dodgers? Yahoo Sports’ Ben Maller reports, via the Boston Herald, that after trying to sell his downtown Boston pad for six years, Manny Ramirez finally unloaded it for nearly $300,000 less than he paid for it in 2001.

--Ex-Dodger Bobby Valentine -- ex a lot of teams -- is expected to be named the next Red Sox manager, the Denver Post’s Troy Renck reports.

-- Steve Dilbeck