Peter Gammons: Things about to get interesting for Dodgers

Ned Colletti says Chad Billingsley “is expected to be ready before spring training,” after the Dodger starter slipped on ice in Reading, Pa. and suffered a broken left fibula.

“It doesn’t change anything for the Dodgers,” Colletti said.

Likely having lost Derek Lowe and Brad Penny to free agency and Greg Maddux to retirement, the Dodgers seem thin in starting pitching, with Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, James McDonald and Jason Schmidt. And no one knows about the uncertain future of closer Takashi Saito.

Will the Dodgers jump hard on CC Sabathia? Will they try to re-open talks on Jake Peavy? Will they move on Ben Sheets or A.J. Burnett? To go into spring training without adding a veteran starter may be a big gamble, although they still reside in the NL West. Colletti clearly is going to see what unfurls over the next few days.

The next 10 days will be significant as the Sabathia Sweepstakes pick up pace. Colletti knows that if he is close to the Yankees, he has a legitimate shot at the prize of this offseason. That Billingsley got hurt before Thanksgiving may be a blessing in one sense. Then again, it may force the Dodgers to extend on Sabathia further than they ever imagined.

Sabathia right now holds the major free-agent market hostage—impacting Manny Ramirez, Burnett, Lowe and, to a lesser degree, Mark Teixeira.