Horsehide Chronicles

Getting a right-handed bat for the outfield was one of the offseason priorities for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pitchers and catchers will report any day now, but until then there's still plenty of unfinished business to tend to out on the free-agent market.

Here we are in late January, and notables like speedy center fielder Michael Bourn and veteran starting pitcher Kyle Lohse still don't have contracts. Proven closers like Jose Valverde and Brian Wilson are also still looking for work, and I suspect all of us are waiting for the Texas Rangers to do something.

'Tis the season for hard bargaining in Major League Baseball. A handful of players filed for arbitration on Friday, including several players with considerable star power.

Among the notables is San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley, who filed for over $10 million following his breakout year in 2012. Also looking for significant pay raises are San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo and Cincinnati Reds right-handers Mat Latos and Homer Bailey.

Spring training is three weeks away, yet there are still several players who could help MLB clubs available on the free-agent market.

Perhaps teams want to go through drills and a couple of weeks of exhibition games to see what they have on their rosters before bringing outside help in. Maybe a few of these players are still holding out hope for a starting position that doesn't currently exist.

With approximately four weeks remaining until MLB teams report to spring training, there are a surprising number of familiar names still available on the free-agent market. 

Some of these players have had impressive seasons in the majors, both in the regular season and postseason, and could surely make a meaningful contribution to any club that signed them to a contract.

The Milwaukee Brewers salvaged what was a disappointing 2012 season by playing themselves into the NL wild-card race by the end of the season. 

The Brew Crew went 18-10 in September. That surge pushed Milwaukee to within 1.5 games of the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL's second wild-card spot, as of Sept. 21. 

If the Tampa Bay Rays want to make a power play in what is a very deep AL East, they should consider signing the top free agent left on the open market: Speedy center fielder Michael Bourn.

The plan for the Los Angeles Dodgers going into the 2013 season was to play Hanley Ramirez at shortstop. 

Despite that commitment, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti wanted to see Ramirez improve his defense at shortstop.

It's only a matter of time before Major League Baseball gets expanded replay, but first the league has to figure out a protocol for how to go about using it when it's needed.

The big question: Should instant replay be used liberally whenever a situation calls for a review, or should it be the managers who get the ball rolling?

More to the point: Should managers be given challenge flags, just like NFL coaches?

Last season, the Los Angeles Dodgers scored 637 runs, ranking 25th out of 30 MLB teams.

For the Dodgers to live up to expectations, compete for the NL West and contend for a World Series championship this season, they have to score more runs and give their outstanding pitching staff some support.