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Dodgers Could Trim An Additional $5.775MM

The Dodgers already saved about $3.8MM by unloading Manny Ramirez yesterday.  With a 4.1% playoff shot according to Baseball Prospectus (5.5 games out in the wild card), they're still not committed to packing it in for 2010.  But let's do some simple math to determine how much additional cash the Dodgers would save if they cleaned house.  Here's who could go and how much is left on their contracts:

• Hiroki Kuroda, $2.33MM.  Kuroda was placed on waivers on August 24th, tweeted Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  If he was claimed, the window to make a deal or dump his contract closed yesterday.  Perhaps Kuroda was claimed and the Dodgers pulled him back, killing the chances of a deal.  Or maybe his $13MM salary allowed him to clear waivers, and a trade is still possible.  UPDATE: Scratch the Kuroda idea, he was pulled back over the weekend after the Padres claimed him.
• Ted Lilly, $2.15MM.  Lilly was placed on waivers on August 27th, tweeted Rosenthal.  The Dodgers could come out ahead financially on the Lilly portion of their deal with the Cubs.  The Dodgers could keep the $2.5MM the Cubs sent but trade the lefty again today, allowing another team to pay the $2.15MM left on his contract.  SI's Jon Heyman tweeted today that Lilly will not be moved, however.
• Octavio Dotel, $583K.  It's a similar story with Dotel, as the Dodgers could keep the $500K the Pirates sent but trade the reliever again.
• Scott Podsednik, $296K.  This assumes Pods voids his 2011 option.
• Brad Ausmus, $179K.
• Reed Johnson, $143K.
• Rod Barajas, $90K.  The Dodgers may also save money on Barajas' performance bonuses.
• We'll leave Jeff Weaver, Ronnie Belliard, Vicente Padilla, and George Sherrill out of this discussion, as Padilla can't be dealt and the others are not appealing.
• To sum it up, if the Dodgers moved or dumped Kuroda, Lilly, Dotel, Podsednik, Ausmus, Johnson, and Barajas today, they'd save $5.775MM and add a few prospects.  Add in $3.8MM for Manny and the $3MM received in July, and that's a cool $12.575MM.  I don't expect the Dodgers to gut their team in this fashion, but it's fun to think about.

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