Next in our Offseason In Review series, the Dodgers.
Major League Signings
- Vicente Padilla, SP: one year, $5.025MM.
- Jamey Carroll, IF: two years, $3.85MM.
- Brad Ausmus, C: one year, $1MM. Includes $1MM club option with a $150K buyout.
- Ronnie Belliard, IF: one year, $825K.
- Reed Johnson, OF: one year, $800K.
- Total spend: $11.5MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Justin Miller, Ramon Ortiz, Russ Ortiz, Josh Towers, Jeff Weaver, Nick Green, Argenis Reyes, Alfredo Amezaga, Garret Anderson, Brian Barton, Luis Ayala
Extensions
- Andre Ethier, RF: two years, $15.25MM.
- Jonathan Broxton, RP: two years, $11MM.
- Matt Kemp, CF: two years, $10.95MM.
Trades and Claims
- Claimed Rule 5 P Armando Zerpa from Red Sox; returned 3/15/10
- Acquired Rule 5 P Carlos Monasterios from Mets for cash
- Acquired P John Ely and P Jon Link from White Sox for OF Juan Pierre and $10.5MM
Notable Losses
- Orlando Hudson, Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, Juan Castro, Jim Thome, Mitch Jones, Randy Wolf, Guillermo Mota, Jon Garland, Eric Milton, Jason Schmidt, Will Ohman
Summary
GM Ned Colletti chose to let key free agents Wolf, Garland, and Hudson leave, replacing them with cheaper options. Let's take a look at the team's biggest moves.
Wolf earned $8MM in 2009 and pitched like an ace for the Dodgers. He'd signed one-year deals three years in a row and was a near-lock to turn down an arbitration offer from the Dodgers. Colletti reportedly feared a $15MM reward for Wolf, but said, "Our decision was made strictly from a baseball perspective." The misstep cost the Dodgers a pair of draft picks. Hudson was also a Type A free agent, but the choice not to offer him arbitration was defensible. The Dodgers have more than enough options to replace him.
So, Colletti missed out on the #36 and #65 picks in the 2010 draft. The Dodgers will survive. Colletti's first big move of the offseason was to shave $3MM off the '10 payroll and $5MM off for '11 by unloading Pierre on the White Sox. Colletti went on to allocate $11.5MM to free agents, most of which will be paid in '10.
With a million bucks in innings incentives dangling, I think Padilla will have a decent year. Brett Myers and Jon Garland, who signed for similar dollars, don't seem any better or worse. Carroll's two-year deal was unnecessary. The 36-year-old is a useful player, but if you're pinching pennies there are better ways to spend $3.85MM. Saving the money for midseason acquisitions would've been a better move.
Colletti deserves praise for adding 2011 cost certainty with the Ethier, Broxton, and Kemp deals. He chose the right players and didn't overpay.
The Dodgers' offense appears respectable, with no clear area for upgrade. Getting sufficient innings out of the Billingsley-Kershaw-Padilla-Kuroda front four is a concern, though few teams are satisfied with their rotation depth. Colletti may need to make a deal this summer.
While the Dodgers have a great bullpen, I think there is a chance Torre may be forced to over-work them this year. None of their front four that Tim mentioned can be considered a horse. Kershaw walks people at a very high rate, Kuroda averages less than 6 inning per start and Padilla nowadays is a 6 inning pitcher. Billingsley might be the only one that has a chance to give them 200 innings, and we all know how his season ended last year. The Dodgers are obviously still a very strong offensive team having retained almost all of their regulars, but I’d be worried about that rotation and the effect it will have on an otherwise suberb bullpen.
Torre and overworking a bullpen go hand in hand
i agree with you. their bullpen is going to be out there a lot. i still think they’re the team to beat. they have a good line up but if someone gets hurt they have double A backups. dodgers fans should be preying no one does get hurt. if some one does it could be their season.
I’m a bit concerned about the bullpen as well. In addition to the overuse by Torre, Broxton is the only guy that’s pitched decently this spring. Sherrill’s been struggling, Kuo is injured, Belisario won’t be added to the roster for at least a couple of weeks, Wade is injured, Troncoso has been ineffective since the 1st half of last season (his 2nd half numbers were awful) and has had a horrible spring. Mota was effective last season, now he is gone. Weaver hasn’t looked good this spring, McDonald was terrible and already sent to minor league camp along with Elbert…
Ramon Ortiz has been incredible this spring, so that’s a bright spot, and I’m not too concerned about Broxton, Sherrill or Belisario, but the other spots in the bullpen have me worried.
I don’t think Kemp will put in the extra work to be a possible MVP when he has Rihanna at home.
Wow, that was a very uneducated statement. Kemp was one of the first to start his offseason program and was one of the first to report to ST. Almost every pic of them is from 1 weekend in Mex
Aaaactually they are moving in together. Don’t be jealous.
Yea, they are moving together, but he’s keeping his apartment just in case. The point is this relationship had no effect on his offseason training and shouldn’t affect him in the season
I think the Dodgers are kind of a sleeper team this year! Weird to say about a team that has been to the NLCS 2 straight seasons but it seems like alot of people are writing them off because they didn’t get better and they didn’t go get that “Ace” But they are just loaded with young talent! I think alot of them take it to the next level this year. I look for an MVP type season out of Kemp, and for Loney to really start producing. The pitching is there. Kershaw and Billingsley have the ability to be Aces. They are working their way there. I think this team might surprise some people this year…
It’s really amazing how quickly they are rubbed off. You’d think a couple of NLCS apperances would get some respect… Especially with the talent we have..
I don’t think people are “writing them off”. The concern is, that they HAVE been to the NLCS twice in a row and have shown that they are only one player away from being able to make it to World Series, and they did not add any pieces to get that little extra push that they need
I really do think they are writing them off. If you hear anyone talk about the Dodgers, it’s we didn’t get an ace(even though we have two of them…) and the divorce. No one talks about the young talent that is only getting better and we have supposedly been taken over by Col, even though neither team did anything major to help themselves and we have more talent that is still at a stage that they will get better. Whatever, dodger fans have learned to ignore the national media… They know nothing about the team
Do you really consider both Kershaw and Billingsley “Aces” at this point?
Kershaw definitely has the makings of an ace, but needs a little more mental toughness.
Billingsley needs to have a bounce back year. Last season he had “Zito-esque” numbers.
Do you consider Cain an Ace?
Cain is not an ace, nor did I say he was. He is a Solid #2 that could be a #1 but most likely never “Ace” status.
LOL. Billingsley put up a MUCH, MUCH better season than Barry Zito. I know you aren’t an idiot so why are you saying idiotic things? And since when does Kershaw need to work on his “mental toughness”? That’s the moronic label put on Billingsley, not Kershaw. Come on dude, you’re better than that.
Zito –
10-13
4.03 ERA
154 K’s
81 BB’s
1.35 WHIP
2.50 Opp. AVG.
Bills –
12-11
4.03 ERA
179 K’s
86 BB’s
1.32 WHIP
2.44 Opp. Avg.
I agree Billingsley is a better pitcher, but you guys have to agree he had a major off year…whether or not he gets better, we’ll have to see.
Mental toughness? Walks, yes, mental toughness.. Hell no..
Billingsley needed to get healthy and did. He broke his leg which lead to him not starting his offseason plan until Jan and therefore made him more injury prone. He broke his leg, which lead to the hamstring issues. The reason he was great and then horrible was because his legs would start the game strong and as the game went on, he faultered.
I shouldn’t have said aces, but rather ace stuff. But when people say we need an ace and ignore the guys that are more than likely more talented than their teams 1-2 punch, they shouldn’t have to look any farther than Kershaw and Billingsley
When Kershaw is on, he is dominant..
When he is off, he overthrows and loses command..
That being said, he definitely does have Ace material and with his youth, definitely has time to grow.
That’s not mental toughness, that’s inconsistency because of age. Lack of mental toughness is when someone looks like they will cry on the mound after a hit… The one thing that everyone has been so impressed with kershaw is his ability to stay calm on the mound. He is a Loy of things, but not mentaly tough isn’t one of them..
Actually he did look like he was going to cry after being pulled from the playoffs…he was pouting pretty good in the dugout.
He definitely has the chance to lock up “Ace” status early in his career like Timmy did. We’ll see starting Monday…
That being said…BASEBALL IS BACK MONDAY!!!
I’d say that was more because he felt he disapointed his team and could have done better… More of a competitive drive than mentally weak
That’s not mental toughness that’s simply maturity. Mental toughness is crying on the mound… The one thing that is impressive about Kershaw is that he is always calm
Mental toughness? Work on walks, yes. Mental toughness? Hell no
Billingsley needs to get healthy. And he has. He broke his leg and that lead to a break in his offseason program and therefore hamstring issues in the 2nd half. He was pitching completely with one leg.
I should have said ace stuff and not aces yet, but when people say we need an ace and don’t have one, they shouldn’t look any farther than kershaw and Billz
For what we had to work with, it wasn’t a bad offseason. The two major mistakes had nothing to do with pitching. The first was Carroll. We committed too much money and too many years to a 36 year old who won’t be a starter. The other was arbitration. We should have offered it to both of them. With Logan White, a mid 30 pick is like a top 10 pick.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that giving Jamey Carroll $1.9 million a year will prevent the Dodgers from acquiring a needed piece at the trade deadline. This really shouldn’t be a deal, even with the uncertain financial situation, that is a hinderance.
I would not have offered arbitration to Hudson however. Too many other cheaper options and he’s lost a step defensively. Wolf was a no-brainer however.
Usually I’d agree. However, with how Frankie is running the team, 1.9 at the trade deadline could equal Chris Withrow…
With Hudson, I see no way he comes back. He was angry that he was never talked to and the fact it got out in the media should have shown how angry he was… He wasn’t going to come back
Agreed. At the time it was a slam dunk case. Hudson and Wolf would have brought back important future picks.
The Dodgers will go as far as there starting pitching, if there are any injurys to the starters there does not seem to be much depth to pick up the pieces. Kershaw may have a breakout season this year but you can not count on it, and kuroda has been injury prone. The whole shame of this is this morning it is reported that Frank McCourt has a net worth of 1.2 billion dollars. For an owner who has doubled the price of everything since he took over and continues to raise the price on everything from parking to tickets to those vile hot dogs made from hoofs and snouts and being so close to a world series berth you could have at least resigned Randy Wolf you cheap ###. Wolf offered the Dodgers a two year reduced per year salary to play in LA.If you are going to put the screws on the fans for every cent, at least try to give them a world championship.
Please stop with the injuries to starters crap. We went through this last year when Kuroda went down. We were supposed to curl up and become the Padres apparently. Also, I wouldn’t call Kuroda injury prone, but rather unlucky. He had 3 non arm related injuries and just one was a normal baseball injury. He got hit on the head with a liner and had a neck injury when flying… How many times does a ball player fly on a plane?hundreds a year?
With wolf, we should have offered arb. But I have a hard time believing that he would have signed a 2 year deal at 14m. He had his best year by far and was going to cash in. The brew crew called and said as long as arb wasn’t offered, he had 30m with his name on it… At his age you don’t walk away from 30m
It is a reasonable concern. Kuroda did miss a lot of time last season, regardless the reasons, those injuries could have lingering effects, especially at his age. It is common to have one, or even two, starters miss considerable amount of time in a season. Schmidt aside, the Dodgers have been fairly lucky not to get hit with many injuries the last couple seasons.
The 5th starter looks like it is going to be Haeger. As backups if Kuroda (or anyone else) is injured we’ll probably have Monasterios (never pitched above AA, and wasn’t impressive there), Ramon Ortiz and Jeff Weaver (anticipating Stults is traded). Maybe Ayala, Towers, and Russ Ortiz if they decide to stick around in AAA. Not exactly a great amount of depth. McDonald and Elbert haven’t looked capable of going deeper than 3-4 innings in the majors…
Not saying I’m anticipating injury, but if it happens to one of our 1-4, we may be in trouble…
Any injury could linger. But given how he has looked so far in ST and what he has said to the media, there shouldn’t be any long term affects.
With depth, we have the guys you mentioned plus one very interesting person.. Josh Lindblom. He has consistently kept the ball down in the minors and will most likely get time this year. And honestly, if we need to have Elbert or Jmac make a couple of starts.. Whatever. I’m comfortable with giving them a shot.
Now, if we lose Billz and Kershaw for a long period of time, yea, we are probably screwed. But you can say the same thing for the Yanks, Phillies and any other contender. To use that as an argument shows that there really isn’t one there and people are just looking for something to start a fight on…
It was reported he offered the dodgers a two year deal and they turned him down. Prehaps you are wiser and smarter then all the rest of us.
no, he said he would have accepted 15M over two years had they offered it, but they didnt.
My point was that came out after he signed his 30M deal. IMO, it is easy to say ‘yea, I would have taken that’ after you have a contract signed. I doubt if he was given 2/15 and 3/30 and had to to pick one, that he’d pick the 2/15…
Sorry pal you are defending a sinking ship, the McCourts will be done after they rip and shread each other into tiny bits of flesh.Most likely when they are done the dodgers will have the look of an expansion team, And Wolf did make the statement that he offered to take a two year deal.
Im not trying to say he didnt say that. Yes, Wolf said he would have taken 15M. What Im saying is I dont believe he would have taken 1/2 the money and one less year because he was comfortable somewhere. After the year he had and at his age, he needed to simply take the biggest deal for the longest time. He is too fragile and old to be picky and turn down 15M simply because he didnt want to move…
Garland is a “key free agent”? Really Tim?
The guy was a 6th starter for most of his time with the Dodgers and was so expendable that he didn’t see any playoff use. I didn’t understand that trade at the time the Dodgers did it, and I still don’t. Wouldn’t they love to still have Tony Abreu right now?
I do appreciate the even-handedness of most of this though. The Dodgers Nay-sayers have come out in force this off-season, but I’m not really that sure why. Wolf was good, but “Ace” is overstated: he had 11 wins because he didn’t pitch deep enough into games. So he racked up those 220 innings and 3.30 ERA, but he did that not by pitching deep into games but by mostly just staying healthy. “Ace” is overstated for him.
I recently wrote a little comparison of the Dodgers and Rockies off-seasons at my blog, because the Rockies have been the popular pick in the division despite basically having the exact same issues and off-seasons as the Dodgers.
Andrew
Brothers Who Like Sports
“So he racked up those 220 innings and 3.30 ERA, but he did that not by pitching deep into games but by mostly just staying healthy.”
Wolf averaged near 6 1/3 IP per game. On average he pitched into the 7th inning… how can you say he did not pitch late into games? He nearly averaged a quality start through 34 games… that’s great. He’s no Halladay and I wouldn’t refer to him as an “ace” either, but losing that kind of production from a pitcher while not replacing it in any kind seems irresponsible. Maybe Coletti didn’t want to spend the cash to resign him (with Milwaukee offering the cash they did), but now the Dodgers go into the 2010 season with only 4 starters. I wouldn’t write them off, especially with the young, talented core they have, but they definitely got worse overall, IMO.
Well, yes and no. He got through the full 8 innings once and pitched into the 8th four times. Blame it on Torre’s quick hook or the Dodgers’ great bullpen last year if you like, but that’s not ace stuff. He was consistently a 6ish inning guy.
No question about it: Randy Wolf was very good last year. But he wasn’t amazing or the core of the team or whatever else. He was really good, and I think, frankly, that he’s more replaceable than people make out.
I completely agree that he’s replaceable. But I still stand that the Dodgers did not replace him. And Garland was no stud, but they did not replace him either. I am not very familar with the Dodgers younger pitchers, so maybe they can replace Wolf internally, but I feel that that may prove to be a lot more difficult than not.
Well, with Garland, they didn’t replace him because he was their 6th starter. By the end of the year the rotation had Wolf, Kuroda, Billingsley, Kershaw, Padilla, and Garland. Getting Garland was a move that was not panned nearly as much as it should have been. They didn’t even use him in the playoffs at all. The easy way to look at it is that Billingsley replaced Garland because Bills’ struggles was a lot of why they got him.
So that leaves Wolf, who, you’re right, they didn’t replace in one sense. But in another sense, Padilla replaces Wolf. Last year they came in with Kuroda, Bills, Wolf, Kershaw, and James McDonald. MacDonald quickly lost his job and they shuffled starters most of the year until they got Padilla and Garland. This year they come in with Kershaw, Bills, Padilla, and Kuroda with, again, the 5th starter spot up for grabs, but with it looking like knuckleballer Charlie Haeger is going to get it.
So yeah, Padilla is the Wolf replacement, and if he pitches like he did for the Dodgers last year (and I know that’s a big if) he’ll be great.
Yeah, acquiring Garland was just a huge waste of a potentially solid player in Tony Abreu.
The Dodgers went 3-3 in Garland’s 6 starts. All but 1 of those starts were against the worst teams in baseball. He pitched 2 games against the Diamondbacks, 2 games against the Pirates, and one game against the Padres. Just about any of the Dodgers extra arms could’ve gone .500 against those teams (Haeger, Stults, Weaver, etc.).
Honestly, how many teams come into ST with a set rotation? 3? Maybe… When healthy, we have one of the best 1-4 in the majors, and 1/2 of that is young, homegrown talent.
And do you expect Wolf to be anything like he was last year? That’s like saying Jamey Carroll will be an all star this year… Or Mark Loretta should have entered the HR Derby last year
To me, Wolf was like Washburn last year. You know he isn’t that good, but they both provided tremendous value to their teams. The fact that neither won a ton of games is irrelevant. The 09 performances from both pitchers will be missed in 10.
Since the wild card, in a division with markets like Arizona, San Diego and Denver the Dodgers only made the playoffs 6 times. Thats kinda sad considering how much more money they have to spend then almost everyone in the division.
And no WS appearances in that span?
Its starting to get real easy to overlook the Dodgers.
No world series appearances true, but back to back NLCS appearances is progress. No one is saying it’s good enough because it’s not, but the fact is there’s been only one team in the NL that did better than the Dodgers the last two years, and that’s the Phillies. I also laugh that when the Dodgers got Wolf and Hudson last year, they still weren’t predicted to win the division. Now that we lost them we can’t win without them, at least that how it seems to me sometimes. The Dodgers won 95 games last year despite poor seasons from Furcal and Martin, Manny’s suspension and slump, and Loney not being the slugger that everyone wants him to be. (I think he did great, but he’ll be better this season.) Add also a dissapointing second half from one of our best pitchers in Bills, an injury plagued season by another solid starter in Kuroda, and the revolving door of the 5th spot, the Dodgers did pretty damn good. I think this is the year we take it all, provided everyone stays healthy.
Its true 2 NLCS appearances in a row is positive, aside from Kershaw and 2 or 3 other key players I think most of the players are already topped out. Manny, Martin, Blake, I don’t see these guys raising their play. The Rockies fell just short last year and have like 8 of their top 16 players that have yet to reach their potential.
Please tell me you are kidding. Every player that is a core player, Kershaw, Billz, Kemp, Ethier, Broxton, Martin, Kuo, Loney etc are all no older than 27. Core year for most players is anywhere from 25-32. how can you say they are topped out, unless you mean you are simply hoping they are topped out.. Face it, this team is going to get better, not worse
I also remember the reaction when the Dodgers were forecasted right here, on this site last year at this time, to be a 90 game winner. Hardly anyone believed it.
The biggest problem the Dodgers have this year is a tough division that got even tougher.
Will the Dodgers miss Wolf? Or will Wolf miss Dodger Stadium, AT&T, and Petco?
If Manny comes back strong(looks great in ST) and Ethier and Kemp keep it up.. oh boy.
The Key to the season will be if Kuroda can stay healthy.
Tim said: “The 36-year-old is a useful player, but if you’re pinching pennies there are better ways to spend $3.85MM.”
Maybe because they aren’t “pinching pennies?” I know this has become the accepted storyline, and a lot of people seem to accept it. Buy why do it, even when the evidence is contradictory?
We are passed pinching pennies… Way passed. Giving him 2m when in the last two years we have traded top prospects for 2m, it was a horrible deal
When you put it that way, it gets real brutal.
yea, I know…
I’m not talking about whether it was a good deal or not. Time will tell on that score. What I’m talking about is the evidence for “pinching pennies.” Seems to me that once a storyline becomes the conventional wisdom, every fact, even if it contradicts the story, has to made to support the story one way or another.
I thought this review was on the money. I would not have signed Carroll, especially not with Reed Johnson too. I would have skipped both and spent the money on a free agent starter, probably Jon Garland, but maybe waiting until mid-season to pick up Pedro martinez..
what does Carroll and Johnson have to do with each other? Ones a 2B/SS, ones an OF… do you mean Belliard?
No I meant Carroll and Reed Johnson. Carroll is versatile enough that he theorteically could play outfield. But if Reed is on the roster, Carroll is unlike to play much outfield. I like DeWitt and Belliard platooning at 2B, with DeWitt being able to sub for Blake and Belliard maybe learning how to sub for Loney at 1B in a real pinch. I thought Carroll was a poor use of money compared to picking up a starter and same for Reed Johnson just less money spent. The Dodgers need another pitcher, especially with Kuo starting hurt. I still think the Dodgers are the best team in the NL West. I love the Giants pitching but their offense is mediocore. The Rockies are good, but how much magic can Tracy work.
The Dodgers were apparently interested in Carroll when they traded for Casey Blake. They obviously had some kind of man crush on him. They got into a bidding war with the As and unfortunately went two years and nearly 4M. They acted too early for a slow-developing market and it cost them.
I still dont think Johnson and Carroll have anything to do with each other. I dont think the 800K we are paying Johnson to be a defensive stud is well used.
Belliard is learning 1B so he can sub for Loney.
We will start the year with a weaker pen because Kuo and Belisario wont be in the pen. However, they will both be back relatively early, IMO, and will provide a boost. No need to panic before the season hasnt even started yet
Obviously there is no need to panic as I pointed out I still think the Dodgers are primed to repeat as Division champions. But during the course of the year, you expect a starter to go down injured and the Dodgers starting pitching is thin. I am not yet sold on either Ortiz as an option nor do I think Elbert or McDonald is the answer, though both will have their days in the show in the future. My point is that the Dodgers should have saved the money that they spent on carroll and Reed Johnson. They could have used Chin-Lung Hu and Repko or Paul for now and spent their money on a quality starter, either now or later, whenever the best value was apparent. Now if the Dodgers still plan on getting another starting pitcher by mid-season, and a solid one with MLB experience, then who am I to care if they overspent for Carroll and Reed.
Yeah, especially with Garrett Anderson being able to rest Manny in LF, I’m not so high on the Reed Johnson signing. Reason being, we have absolutely zero speed off the bench now. Anderson, Johnson, Carroll, Belliard and Ausmus. Who will pinch run out of that group? And the situation isn’t much better with Green or Hu make the roster, as they’re not much faster themselves.
Seems like Repko would’ve made sense as the 4th outfielder. He’s great defensively and has excellent speed. His offense is dismal, but how often to Kemp and Ethier really need a day off? Repko would rarely need to start if Anderson could spell Manny in LF. He’d provide some useful speed off the bench. And if Ethier or Kemp (god forbid) are going to miss any significant time, you bring up Xavier Paul…
Hopefully Amezaga comes back healthy and takes a spot from Belliard or Johnson.
Reed can play every position in the OF. Thats why he was signed. GA was signed because they werent impressed with Doug M and wanted a lefty off the bench.
BTW, GA is one of the worst defensive LFs in the game. Dont count on anything defensively from him.
We arent playing Paul because they apparently feel he has a starters future and want him to play everyday.
With Repko, Id guess they dont want him to hurt anyone important, so they dont let him in the majors.. haha
I wouldnt count on anything from Amezaga, he is coming off major knee surgery and still has done nothing baseball related…
19 million and counting for divorce attorneys and 11 million for players screw you McCourt you have nearly tripled the cost of tickets, 20 bucks to park plus overpriced raw hot dogs made from hoofs and rectums and flat sodas and warm beer. On top of that you took down the Dodger great portraits off of the fences and you sell advertising over every square inch of Dodger stadium like a cheap pimp.The Dodgers are one of the top revenue producers in baseball, your wife wants control of the team and her business model that she presented to the courts was double the price of everything the next eight years and keep the payroll the same. The Dodgers are so close to winning a championship, you inherited these great young players that are now playing the the majors and you will not spend on an ace pitcher, but you will spend 19 plus million on lawyers. Go back to the bowels of boston you carpetbagger and sell the team to someone who cares about the city of Los Angeles and dodger fans.