LOS ANGELES -- Still needing a run producer and having heard nothing from free agent Manny Ramirez since the Winter Meetings, the Dodgers are considering making runs at free-agent outfielders Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu.

A baseball source confirmed an ESPN.com report that the Dodgers recently contacted the agent for Dunn. The source added that the club also has Abreu on the radar. Both players are expected to command salaries far short of the two-year, $45 million offer the Dodgers made to Ramirez last month.

That offer went without a response and was withdrawn. It is the only known offer made to Ramirez. Because of a number of reasons -- he turns 37 next year and seems best suited for the American League, the Yankees already filled their slugger hole with Mark Teixeira and concern about Ramirez's temperament -- no club has stepped forward as a legitimate bidder.

The Dodgers have not spoken to agent Scott Boras about Ramirez since the Winter Meetings. They remain interested in Ramirez, but only for a short-term deal similar to the one they made in November, which included a third-year option for $15 million. Expressing interest in Dunn and Abreu serves the dual purpose of signaling impatience with Ramirez while lining up a possible replacement if he doesn't want a short-term contract from the Dodgers.

Once the Dodgers lock up a run-producing outfielder, they can step up efforts to move either Andruw Jones or Juan Pierre. General manager Ned Colletti has said there is some interest in Jones, but the Dodgers would be required to eat most of the remaining $21 million on his contract. An ESPN.com report claims the Dodgers have talked to the Mets about Jones. Pierre, who has three years remaining on his contract, has requested a trade if he is not a starter.

Dunn is no Ramirez, but he has hit exactly 40 home runs each of the past four years and has driven in at least 100 runs four of the past five seasons. He has a lifetime batting average of .247 and has averaged 170 strikeouts over that time, but he has the power to make Dodger Stadium play small. He earned $13 million in 2008.

Abreu, who will turn 35 in March, hit .296 with 20 homers and 100 RBIs for the Yankees in 2008. He lacks the power of Dunn but has seven seasons driving in at least 100 runs and is a better defensive outfielder. Neither Dunn nor Abreu were offered arbitration by their former clubs and would not cost the Dodgers Draft pick compensation.

Despite only two months in the National League with the Dodgers, Ramirez finished fourth in voting for the league's Most Valuable Player Award, one vote short of third-place Ryan Braun of Milwaukee.

Ramirez pretty much carried the Dodgers into the postseason with a .396 average, 17 homers and 53 runs in 53 games, along with a .469 on-base percentage and .743 slugging percentage after his July 31 acquisition from Boston. Since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920, only one Dodgers player (Duke Snider in 1953) had more homers, RBIs and a higher average in a 53-game span.

Ramirez has 527 career home runs, 17th on the all-time list, and is 20th on the all-time RBI list with 1,725. His .396 average with the Dodgers was second highest for an in-season acquisition behind Cesar Cedeno, who hit .434 in 28 games in 1985. Ramirez's combined .332 average on the season was third in baseball behind Chipper Jones (.364) and Albert Pujols (.357), he tied for fourth with 37 homers, was sixth with 121 RBIs, second with a .601 slugging percentage and fourth with a .430 on-base percentage.

Although it doesn't count for MVP consideration, Ramirez continued the onslaught in the postseason, going 13-for-25 with four homers and 10 RBIs in eight games. He extended his MLB postseason records with his 28th homer, 12 in the League Championship Series and has an RBI in nine straight postseason games.

He hit .533 (8-for-15) in the National League Championship Series with two homers and seven walks. He drove in seven of the Dodgers' 20 runs (35 percent), had 16 of their 64 total bases (25 percent), with a .682 on-base percentage and a 1.067 slugging percentage.

Ramirez is one of only six players in MLB history with at least 12 seasons of 30 or more home runs and the only active player with more home runs during the last decade is Alex Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, as the Hot Stove league is fixated on Ramirez, the Dodgers reportedly continue their pursuit of pitching, which Colletti said became his top priority after he re-signed Rafael Furcal two weeks ago.

The two free-agent starters the Dodgers have targeted are Jon Garland and Randy Wolf. Colletti has said he wants to add a veteran to a rotation that now consists of Chad Billingsley (recovering from a broken leg), Hiroki Kuroda, Clayton Kershaw and a group that includes Jason Schmidt, Eric Stults and James McDonald. Colletti also has allowed for the possibility that a starter could be acquired via trade, although it is not likely to be a top-of-the-rotation arm.

The Dodgers also need a veteran arm in the bullpen with the apparent free-agent departures of Takashi Saito, Joe Beimel, Chan Ho Park and Scott Proctor. Current relievers are all relatively young -- Jonathan Broxton, Scott Elbert, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ramon Troncoso and Cory Wade.