At this point, Brewers very much a work in progress

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

• Heard this: While the perceived price tag of Derek Lowe continues to drop, the Dodgers do not intend to discuss another contract with the right-hander. L.A. will also take a look at Trevor Hoffman.

• Heard this: The person who might have been the most frustrated with the Dodgers' signing of Rafael Furcal could be Orlando Cabrera. If Furcal had signed with Atlanta, Cabrera might have had an in with L.A. But after the Dodgers heard the asking price on Cabrera, which was about the same as what Furcal wound up signing for, L.A. refocused its efforts to bring back Furcal. And now Cabrera might have a tough time finding a landing spot, especially at a time when anybody who needs a shortstop could find a nice alternative by calling the Astros and taking the Miguel Tejada salary dump.

• For the Orioles, it's not all Mark Teixeira all the time, writes Peter Schmuck.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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