The Dodgers have traded Octavio Dotel to the Rockies for a player to be named later, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The two sides will split Dotel's remaining salary and the buyout for his 2011 option, leaving Colorado on the hook for $250K (Twitter link). Since the Rockies are playing the Dodgers in L.A. today, Dotel will simply change locker rooms.
Dotel came to the Dodgers at the deadline in exchange for pitcher James MacDonald and Andrew Lambo as they looked to make a postseason push. The 36-year-old registered a 3.38 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 across a 19-game span in which the club fell out of playoff contention.
The contract that Dotel signed with the Pirates last winter included a $4.5MM club option for 2011. However, when Pittsburgh traded the veteran reliever to the Dodgers, the option became mutual. Renck (Twitter link) doesn't expect the Rockies to exercise the option, even with some money coming off their books this offseason.
Having been traded after August 31st, Dotel will not be eligible for the postseason. The Rockies could certainly use the help however as they trail the Padres by 1.5 games in the NL West and the Braves by 2.5 games in the Wild Card chase.
the dodgers traded their best prospects for a 1 month rental reliever, only to fall in the standings. congrats to them
Andrew Lambo and James McDonald were far from our best prospects. Sorry, sir.
typical dodger fan trying to hide the truth
Not even close to being our top prospects. But losing Jmac is so bad.
Not a Dodgers fan, but James McDonald is not a top prospect, although he was one in the past. But then, he was still under team control and cheaply for 4 more years, and is a starting pitcher. And I don’t really see the SP depth the Dodgers have in the minors, although I *don’t* know LA’s system well.
!!!
Torre and Agent Ned really killed us this year. It started with McCourt and it seeped downwards.
MacDonald showed that he was a AAAA player- too good for AAA, not good enough for the majors. Lambo has PEF issues. Still, I’m glad to see Dotel go. Certainly didn’t help LA catch up.
By “PEF” do you mean PED’s? And if so, Lambo was busted for smoking weed, not exactly a performance enhancer in my experience.
Yeah, PED’s. Thought that’s what it was. If he’s a pot head, we can let him go, nonetheless. Maybe he’d do as Lincicum’s roomie.
I think MacDonald was also the kind of player who will do better in a small market with minimal expectations of, say, reaching the postseason. He was so frustrating for Dodger fans, who wanted to like him, but kept seeing him blow up when given numerous chances. He’s got talent, for sure.
at least they wont leave empty handed like they would have if they kept him the whole season
That would be the Braves that they trail in the WC race…
And the Giants in the West lol
Actually, McDonald wasn’t a prospect and Lambo was far from the Dodgers’ top prospect. Trayvon Robinson and Jerry Sands are far better OF prospects, though if you want to consider Sands a 1B, that’s fine as well.
No Dodger fan is trying to “hide the truth” that the Dotel deal was beyond brutal, but if you’re going to take potshots at the team (it’s not hard), at least try and come across as somewhat knowledgeable.
baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organ…
That must’ve been one heck of a year for them to suddenly become scrubs.
… I think he wins …
really? you couldn’t at least have used the more recent one? baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organ…
and more recent trade analysis from BA…
baseballamerica.com/today/majors/trade-central/201…
1 year and 9 months ago when that article was written, yes, they were considered top prospects.
Gordon and Withrow were considered the Dodgers top prospects entering the 2010 season (top 50 in MLB, along with Josh Bell who was traded to the Orioles), Lambo and McDonald had slipped considerably.
New guys like Sands, Robinson, Jansen, Miller, De La Rosa are all better prospects. E. Martin, Eovaldi, Lindblom, Gould might be, too. We’ll see next January how they’re all ranked, I suppose.
ill laugh if the ptbnl goes on to have a HOF career
If the Rockies can find a way to get to the post season, they would be a force to be reckoned with. I would fear them more than the Padres.
Ned Coletti’s stupidity continues to amaze me…
That would be the GIANTS they trail by 1.5 games, not the Padres…..
actually @tonymr95, he’s right. Lambo and McDonald weren’t even top 3 in the organiztion, but you are right about the concept.
Yeah, Lambo wasn’t even top 5 so tonymr95 and the other two people who liked is comment are wrong.
@vtadave
Maybe they are just not updated. Lambo was their 2009 top prospect according to BA and was #6 this year (top OF prospect). I’m guessing they are remembering his top prospect image and missed the declining status. Anyway you cut it, that Dotel trade was hilarious.
A good win for the Pirates! They get a solid #3-#4 starter and maybe a future outfielder with Andrew Lambo (But they also said that with Brandon Moss :/)
Man, the Dodgers act like there in shambles!!
err how can they be trailing the Reds in the Wild Card when the Reds lead the Central? And isn’t San Fran. 1.5 game up? 0_o
The big question is, will this PTBNL be worth more than the draft pick(s) they would get from offering him arbitration if the option didn’t get picked up.
You think Dotel would of passed on 5 million dollars? Do you think the Dodgers will play that game again? George Sherrill says “HI!!”
You’re right. Although, I don’t think George Sherrill had enough service time to be a free agent though. I still think the PTBNL will be worth less than Dotel would be at a 4MM salary next year, especially since the Dodgers will need bullpen help next year anyway with one of Monasterios/Ely almost certainly in the rotation, and could trade him next year if they fall out of contention again.
But then, I still think something is better than nothing, and that sending Dotel to the Rox was probably a pretty good move by the Dodgers.
Between Kuo and Jansen and hopefully rebounds from Belisario and Broxton, I think the Dodgers bullpen will be OK. They’ll need to sign a lefty specialist, but that’s about it. Between Troncoso, Wade, Schlichting, Link, Leach, Lindblom, De La Rosa, Miller, Guerra, they’ll have options for the bullpen.
Monasterios will probably start in AAA.
The Dodgers demonstrate the worst possible way to flip a player.
Dodgers traded Josh Bell and Carlos Santana as well as a whole bunch of other prospects including McDonald. All for veterans… This was expected or supposed to be expected if anyone payed attention to the Dodgers
Even if the Dodgers didn’t particularly need those guys… imagine what they could’ve brought in had they packaged them for a marquee player instead of these league average veterans?
Don’t tell me Carlos Santana, Josh Bell, James McDonald and Andrew Lambo wouldn’t have brought Cliff Lee over from the Indians at the ’09 trade deadline. Imagine what a difference that would’ve made. Cliff Lee would’ve been kept from the Phillies, who would’ve had to make a play for Roy Halladay, probably overpaying in the process. Then who knows how the NLDS and NLCS would’ve ended up…
And the Dodgers would’ve had Cliff Lee all 2010.
Instead we got Sherrill, 1 month of Dotel, and 2 months of Casey Blake (who could’ve been had for a lesser prospect if McCourt was willing to pick up salary). Bleh.
Way to go, Agent Ned. You’re doing a fine job.
Apparently part of the deal was the Dodgers rolling over and dying in this series…which they seem more than willing to do.
Uhhh… have you not been paying attention to the Dodgers? They have been rolling over and dying EVERY series for the past few weeks…
Don’t get all butt hurt because your Giants lost 1 game to us (when the Dodgers only had ONE hit) while the Padres swept us and the Rockies are likely to as well.
who is the ptbnl it makes a big difference. The Rockies have a stocked system
hopefully its carlos gonzalez
@melonis_rex
it is pretty deep. Miller/Eovaldi/Withrow/Lee are just a few but it’s decent.
The Dodgers are so bad at making trades they make the Jose Bautista,Robinson Diaz trade look good for the pirates.
To be fair Jose Bautista had a career OPS+ of 88 and Robinson Diaz had fairly good numbers at AA as a 23 year old catcher when the trade was made.
@bobraines
Are you in denial James Macdonald came into tonights start with a 16 inning scoreless streak the dodgers did not give him a long enough chance to prove what he could do and now your just covering up the truth that the dodgers should have never made that trade.I am confident the pirates will have a winning season before the dodgers win a playoff series.
Most Dodger fans knew what McDonald was capable of. He was our minor league player of the year for 2 straight seasons and definitely showed flashes of dominance coming out of the bullpen.
Problem with James was clearly a matter of not being able to take the pressure of starting for the Dodgers. He was born and raised in L.A., grew up a Dodger fan, his parents came to all his starts… and he was just clearly struggling with that pressure. I’m in no way surprised to see him do well with the Pirates.
I don’t think Dodger fans are particularly upset that McDonald was traded… it is more a matter of the fact he was traded for a mediocre 2 month rental reliever. McDonald put up better numbers in the Dodgers bullpen in ’09 than Dotel has put up since 2003. Just a stupid trade, and the type of trade Ned is developing a pattern of doing (Carlos Santana, Josh Bell). Any Dodger fan that didn’t see it was a stupid trade when it happened (there were some, myself not included), certainly sees so now.
Well considering that list is 20 months old, a lot can change, can it not? McDonald isn’t prospect eligible, so he’s not a “prospect”. He is a solid young pitcher who the Dodgers were idiots to deal.
Lambo has some upside, but you may want to search for news stories on him the last couple years. Try searching for “Lambo 50-game suspension” or “Lambo pot-head”.
If you think I think they are “scrubs”, you obviously didn’t read my post, but they are far from the Dodgers top two prospects.
If the first part was in reference to me, I wasn’t disagreeing with you. Just trying to show why so many held Lambo in such esteem.
Yeah Tulo would be nice too. They can move him to second base.
The Dodgers are a shamble. No doubt about that. The blame falls on the McCourts. However let’s not paint Josh Bell and James McDonald as world beaters, yet. McDonald is a #4 or #5 rotation guy on the Pirates. On the Dodgers (At least pre-McCourt) he would be Eric Stults Part 2. Would I rather the Dodgers had hung on to him. Of course! But honestly I would hope the Dodgers would have better talent to plug into the rotation. Lambo is a pothead. You can’t trust potheads. Josh Bell is batting.215. So the jury is out on him. However I still wish he was in the Dodger organization.
Jeff, I think one of the issues here is that these bad trades pile up and hurt the Dodgers flexibility in other ways. Regardless of how guys like Carlos Santana, Josh Bell, Andrew Lambo or James McDonald do after they are traded, you have to consider the value they have as prospects and whether or not the Dodgers were receiving an equally valuable return at the time. Even if the prospects are of little use to the Dodgers, you have to think about what they are worth to other teams.Carlos Santana, Josh Bell, Andrew Lambo and James McDonald could’ve easily brought Cliff Lee over at the 2009 trade deadline. That may have been the difference maker in the 2009 NLCS, and may have kept the Dodgers in contention through 2010. Instead, we got George Sherrill, Octavio Dotel and 2 months of Casey Blake (who could’ve still been had for lesser prospects if the Dodgers were willing to pick up salary). Worth it? Clearly not…
The Dodgers are a shamble. No doubt about that. The blame falls on the McCourts. However let’s not paint Josh Bell and James McDonald as world beaters, yet. McDonald is a #4 or #5 rotation guy on the Pirates. On the Dodgers (At least pre-McCourt) he would be Eric Stults Part 2. Would I rather the Dodgers had hung on to him. Of course! But honestly I would hope the Dodgers would have better talent to plug into the rotation. Lambo is a pothead. You can’t trust potheads. Josh Bell is batting.215. So the jury is out on him. However I still wish he was in the Dodger organization.