The Dodgers have finally begun signing some free agents, today resigning Casey Blake to a three-year deal and also signing Mark Loretta.
The signing of Blake was probably to be expected, but the length is a little long for what they are getting. Blake, after the first couple of weeks in LA, really did little at the plate. His defense is terribly over-rated, he covers almost no ground to either side, but is solid with a good arm for anything hit at him. He'll be 36 when the season starts and will be 39 at the end of the contract. I doubt he will either be with the team or starting by the end of this contract. But, by all accounts, he is serious, professional, and a good guy in the clubhouse (as opposed to the now happily departed Jeff Kent).
In signing Loretta the Dodgers get someone to pinch hit and give you reasonable solid defense at all of the infield positions. He essentially replaces Mark Sweeney. Sweeney was absolutely terrible and wasn't even on the playoff roster. Loretta can still hit but brings no power. The mistake would be to think Loretta is still an everyday player and put him in the middle infield.
The Dodgers are still in the mix for Manny Ramirez and C. C. Sabathia. Signing both would appear to be a stretch, although that would certainly make the Dodgers a heavy favorite for the NL West (which they should almost be anyway with Arizona). I think the key signing still will be to get Rafael Furcal back. With the near stationary Blake at third the Dodgers are going to need someone at short who compensates. The right side of the infield will be better now that Blake DeWitt seems to be the second baseman for 2009 and they have a future gold glove winner at first in James Loney. Hu certainly can field, but couldn't hit at all in the majors. De Jesus is still a year or two away from the majors.
The Dodgers rotation right now would seem to be very young, but potentially very good. Billingsley, Kershaw, Kuroda are pretty certain. James McDonald and Scott Elbert could round out the rotation. It would be nice to think that Jason Schmidt would contribute something at the back end of the rotation in the final year of his contract; but he essentially hasn't pitched in two years, he's 36 years old, and was declining before he hurt his shoulder. Sabathia would make the Dodgers rotation as formidable as any in the NL.
The NL West looks to be exceptionally weak again this year. San Diego is on their way to be an absolutely horrible team in 2009 with a 100 loss season almost a certainty. The Giants, I think, played beyond themselves last year and won't be as good next year. The Rockies could go either way, but until they can win consistently on the road and not have to take 3+ innings every home game out of their bullpen, they aren't going to be over .500. Arizona was a complete cipher last season. They looked unbeatable for the first two months of the season and should have walked away with the division, but they would just stop playing for a month at a time (twice) and were beaten out by the Dodgers.
This should be an interesting off-season. The Dodgers still have to figure out what to do with the outfield. Assuming that they sign Manny (which I think is going to happen soon) what to do with Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They are saddled with Pierre for three more years thanks to Colletti's horrible signing. Worst than that he's a sulker when he's not playing. If they can trade him for anything it would be a good move, even if the McCourt's have to eat some salary. Andruw Jones is in the final year of his contract. It's almost impossible to believe that he could have a worse year than last year. Jones looks to me like someone who had immense natural talent and has never had to work hard at the game. Now that he's older and has to work hard, it doesn't appear that he either knows how or wants to. If he comes to spring training a pound overweight and shows no more interest in working hard than last year they will probably just have to release him. They still have Jason Repko as the fourth outfielder, who I, against all opinion apparently, still like. But, if he isn't going to make the team this year I don't see him spending another year in AAA, he'll probably be traded.
PS: My thanks to ESPN Baseball Analyst Keith Law (http://www.meadowparty.com/blog/) for taking time to have lunch and talk with me while I was in Boston recently. One of the really bright and pleasant people I have had the pleasure of meeting. I wish he was running the Dodgers.
Posted by Narnia3 at December 9, 2008 6:28 PM | TrackBack