Dodgers dealings: Manny and Andruw out? Dunn in?

December 29, 7:40 PMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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It's hard to tell which one of the reports about the Dodgers on Monday is more eye-raising:

That they have contacted free agent Adam Dunn -- another sign they are ready to move on post-Manny -- or that they actually found somebody willing to talk about taking on the last year of Andruw Jones' contract. 

Let's take a closer look at each potential development:

If you're still not convinced, maybe it's time to believe the Dodgers really aren't willing to go past three guaranteed years for Ramirez, and that pulling the two-year, $45-million offer off the table awhile ago wasn't just a negotiating ploy.

It's a risky game of chicken Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras have been playing all winter, and apparently, it just got a bit riskier. Hello Washington D.C.?

Dunn obviously is no Manny. But nobody needs a 40-homer man more than the Dodgers, and that's exactly the number Dunn has hit in each of the last four seasons. And over the last five seasons, he has driven in 501 runs with metronome consistency: 102, 101, 106, 92 and 100.

Throw in 100-plus walks annually and an on-base percentage in the .380s -- two more things the Dodgers lineup can use -- and you can live with the strikeouts and the .240s batting average.

And paying Dunn's new free-agent salary-to-be-determined would be much easier for the Dodgers if they could rid themselves of some portion of the $22 million left on Jones'  two-year, $36.2-million deal.

 Nobody's career has fallen off the table quicker than Jones' , who is listed at 31 and may be older, and certainly has shown no willingness to alter his swing and change his free-swinging, selfish approach that the Braves finally tired of after the 2007 season. And on top of that, his defense isn't close to what it used to be.

Why the Mets would consider adding Jones to play right field in a platoon with Ryan Church is the most head-shaking aspect here. But it would be a double coup for Dodgers GM Ned Colletti to add Dunn while subtracting Jones.  And if all this prompts Manny to come to the table, that's not a bad alternative, either.

 CHECK OUT DODGERS EXAMINER ALEX HERBACH