The Dodgers have a few glaring holes in starting pitching this offseason, but it appears one of them will be filled by Ted Lilly. Lilly, who was 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA in 12 starts with the Dodgers this season, is close to returning to the club, per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times:
Source: Ted Lilly has agreed to terms of a new deal with the #Dodgers. Physical scheduled for next week.
Earlier Saturday night, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted the following:
Source: #Dodgers, Lilly close on 3-year contract. Announcement could come as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
So, it appears Lilly will be back on a three-year contract, through 2013. Terms are as of yet unknown, but with Lilly the Dodgers have three established starting pitchers under contract, along with Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.
Lilly was acquired with second baseman Ryan Theriot and $2.5 million from the Cubs for Blake DeWitt, Brett Wallach, and Kyle Smit at the July 31 trading deadline.
Lilly was projected to be a Type A free agent this winter, meaning if the Dodgers offered him arbitration they would have received draft pick compensation had he signed elsewhere. That point appears moot now.
Lilly just completed the final season of a four-year, $40 million contract that he signed with the Cubs before the 2007 season.
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