According to Ross Newhan's column in Tuesday's L.A. Times, "sources" said Fred Claire was leaning towards protecting the following 15 players: (Pitchers) Valdes, Park, Nomo, Martinez, Reyes, Dreifort, Osuna, Radinsky; (Catcher) Piazza; (Infielders) Karros, Zeile, Konerko, Young; (Outfielders) Mondesi, Hollandsworth. This leaves Garcia, Guerrero, Cedeno, Adam Riggs, Darren Hall and Mike Judd exposed, among others. The article said both Karros and Zeile are expected to be protected because of their "productivity and the club's reluctance to risk the loss of either player without getting something in return". Claire has considered leaving Martinez unprotected, gambling nobody would want to take on his $5 million salary, or concern over his shoulder injury. They feel Hollandsworth is "likely to rebound from his disappointing season" and that would make Cedeno expendable as their only true center fielder. They're also hot for Brady Anderson, and "hopeful" of re-signing Nixon as security. According to this list, it appears the Dodgers are more concerned with protecting their veterans than their prospects. Claire said, "every club has a tendency to overrate their talent. I try not to do that, but there's no way we can get to 15 without being at risk... there's no way we can avoid the loss of an important player".