LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Loney, who was out of the starting lineup against an opposing left-handed pitcher for the second time in the past four days on Monday night because of his .125 average this season against southpaws, now has a new reason to try to hit more opposite-field line drives than fly balls.

Manager Don Mattingly said that starting with Monday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs, when Loney wasn’t slated to start against left-hander James Russell, he will fine Loney $1 each time he flies out to left.

“And then he said he wants to take a dollar back every time he hits a line drive to left,” said Mattingly, who went along with that request. “I want him to keep the ball low to left field. This will give him a chance to keep working on it.”

Mattingly said he will be the judge on any of those arcing balls that are difficult to categorize as a line drive or fly ball.

The left-handed-hitting Loney said the key to hitting more liners to left will be making sure he squares the ball — as opposed to getting under it — something that is tougher to do hitting balls on the outer half the opposite way.

“The ball is farther from your bat, so you have to reach for it,” Loney said.

Loney is hitting a disappointing .204 overall, but he has struggled much more against lefties. Mattingly’s mostly right-handed lineup against Russell included Jerry Sands playing first base in place of Loney and little-used Marcus Thames playing left in place of Sands, but Mattingly was quick to say this isn’t a platoon situation in which Loney always will sit against opposing lefties.

“I want to get James going, but I feel like this lineup is better today,” Mattingly said. “I want to get Marcus in there because he is better against lefties than righties. James will get his at-bats against lefties, but for right now, I’m trying to get some offense going.”

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided arbitration with infielder James Loney, signing him to a one-year contract.

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) – The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided arbitration with infielder James Loney, signing him to a one-year contract.

Terms of the deal were not available.

Loney hit .267 with 10 home runs, 41 doubles and knocked in 88 runs over 161 games for the Dodgers in 2010.

Over five seasons, all in LA, the 26-year-old Houston native is a .288 hitter with 55 homers, 125 doubles and 353 RBI in 624 contests.

With the signing, the Dodgers have cleared up all potential arbitration cases as the club heads to Arizona for spring training.

© 2011 The Sports Network

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The Los Angeles Dodgers had a salary arbitration hearing with James Loney scheduled for next Friday in Phoenix, but that won’t be necessary as Loney and the Dodgers have agreed to a one-year contract worth $4.875 million.

By Eric Stephen – Editor

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Feb 11, 2011 - The Los Angeles Dodgers had a salary arbitration hearing with James Loney scheduled for next Friday in Phoenix, but that won’t be necessary. Loney and the Dodgers have agreed to a one-year contract worth $4.875 million, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Loney was asking for a salary of $5.25 million through arbitration, while the Dodgers filed at a figure of $4.7 million. The base salary Loney agreed to is $100,000 below the midpoint of those two figures.

Loney made $3.1 million last season, his first year of arbitration eligibility. After two successive years with exactly 13 home runs and 90 RBI, Loney hit 10 homers and drove in 88 runs in 2010, hitting .267/.329/.395. It was the second straight season with a slugging percentage under .400 for the first baseman. Loney has one more year of arbitration eligibility, in 2012, before qualifying for free agency.

The Dodgers are all finished with salary arbitration, and now have 20 players signed for 2011 for a total of $92.05 million. Factoring in deferred salaries and option buyouts to players no longer around, the total Dodger paryoll will settle in at approximately $110 million. Dodger pitchers and catchers report on February 16, with their first workout scheduled February 17. The rest of the team is scheduled to report February 21, with the first full squad workout on February 22.

For more news and information on James Loney and the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.

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