5:27pm: Talks between the two sides are still progressing, with terms in the ballpark of two years and $12MM, tweets Rosenthal.
2:23pm: The Dodgers are making progress on a deal with starter Aaron Harang, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The deal is expected to be for two years, tweets Morosi. Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio adds that the two sides are close to an agreement. Bowden says the two sides have agreed to terms but are just waiting on dotting i's and crossing t's.
Harang, 33, aimed to remain on the West Coast after spending 2011 in his native San Diego. The Dodgers signed Chris Capuano earlier this month. The two veterans would complement a rotation that includes Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Ted Lilly.
Harang posted a 3.64 ERA, 6.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 40.6% groundball rate in 170 2/3 innings for the Padres this year, earning $4MM.
i kinda like this for the dodgers
I am going to lose my mind if he makes more than 4 million dollars
It’s like the Dodgers are going for a monopoly on 5th starters and over-the-hill second basemen this offseason.
Get back to me if they pick up Counsell
Why?! I’d much rather have Kuroda and Eovaldi (as the 5) than Capuano and Harang
I guess Kuroda won’t be back in Dodgerland in 2012.
A lot of bloggers bust up on Ned Colletti, but if he gets Harang, that’s a pretty good rotation provided everyone stays healthy. I don’t know their farm system at all, do they have any up and comers pitching wise for September call-ups?
They might make a play off run in ’12 with a few more moves.
All the Dodgers top prospects now are pitchers…most of them are a couple years away, Zach Lee is there top prospect now and he is a couple years away, Chris Withrow and Ethan Martin have had injures that have prevented them from the show but there still young…Allan Webster is is a couple years away…and Ruby De La Rosa and Nathan Eovaldi both pitched well last year for them…Ruby is having tommy john tho! i think the signing of Harang and Coupono are signings to try and help the team now on a low budget and by the time there contracts are up some of these pitchers could be ready! if not traded for a bat or pitcher!
Thanks!
Rubby De La Rosa has already had Tommy John surgery and should be back at some point mid-year. Webster will be 22 in February and has already reached Double-A, so he’s probably less than “a couple years away”.
“Coupono” – love it.
We hope De La Rosa is coming back midyear, but not everybody does make it through Tommy John surgery successfully, so he can hardly be counted on. A double-A pitcher might jump straight to the majors, but only if he makes really quick progress and/or the team is desperate.
Dinging somebody for a typo. Love it.
Wasn’t my intent – I make typos all the time. Just though it was funny that Capuano was typed the way it was. You know, “coupon” and all…
Definitely wouldn’t want the Dodgers to “count on” DLR, but was making it clear that he’s already HAD TJ.
Okay, I guess that was too subtle for me. I read it like you were being snarky. Anyhow, the take-away point is that the team apparently isn’t going to count on either De La Rosa coming back or Eovaldi being ready for the rotation.
Agreed…
It’s a mistake though, as Eovaldi and someone cheap as a Plan B + Kuroda > Harang + Capuano.
Harang and Capuano are about as cheap as you’re going to find for journeyman starters. Sure I wanted to see Kuroda return but that plan requires relying on Eovaldi, or somebody really questionable like Eveland or Ely. I can understand the thinking, even if I don’t particularly like the results.
LOL to anyone who thinks hes a good pitcher.. Look at his splits
I can’t believe he’d seriously consider leaving San Diego. Not only does he get the benefit of pitching in Petco, but being his hometown, too? He might be staying in the NL West, but that’s surprising. I don’t follow the Padres closely- I take it they didn’t want him back?
they declined their end of the option that would have paid him something like $5.5m. they offered arbitration with a gentleman’s agreement that he wouldn’t accept.
Interesting move given what the rotation looks like at the moment. It should be a decent signing though if the price is right. I’m not convinced Eovaldi is ready to a starter for a full season just yet.
Apparently the team is not convinced that he’s ready for a starting job. I’d expect Eovaldi or Harang will end up in a swingman role and those roles could change over the course of the season.
I’d be okay with that idea. Harangs road splits do worry me, so if he falters or gets injured, I think calling Eovaldi up would definitely be the go to option. Getting Eo a bit more seasoning in the minors wouldn’t hurt, still needs to improve on his location. The more potential options the better.
Right. It’s difficult to get excited by another journeyman signing but I think this one like the others need to be read as indications of management’s confidence level in who they’ve got coming up. Put it this way: if Eovaldi gets pasted in his sophomore year (and it happens a lot), what’s Plan B? Dana Eveland?
Sounds like we’re on the same page. Really don’t want to see Eveland starting for us in the near future. Let’s just hope if we do get Harang or any stop gap, it’s just that, on a one year deal.
edit: just realized the reports for two years. A little bit more skeptical.
maybe a trade for billingsly to bring in a thumper is in the works?!
They need somebody to come in or else its another year of just Kemp and Eithier as your only two reliable offensive thumpers. I don’t buy Loney as a consistent middle of the order threat. Or Rivera for that matter. The pitching wasn’t their problem last year, so I don’t feel like they are getting any better.
Good to see all you Dodger “fans” offering your opinions, but, if you were truly Dodger fans, you would know that the Dodgers can’t resign Kuroda because he puts them over budget. Kuroda made 12 mil last season and he wants more this year, believed to be 13.5-14 mil. Capuano is costing 5 mil this season, Harang is rumored to be around 3.5 to 4, so both combined would still be less than Kuroda. The extra 1.5 million left on budget would probably go to a utility guy (Hairston Jr.)
hahahaha.. signing Rivera to a 4 million dollar contract puts the team over budget
If you say so, but, they have signed several contracts AFTER Rivera!
oh right, he can over pay for FAs as long as he picks enough up so it blocks the return of the 2nd best pitcher on the staff
You are attempting a logical response to the wrong person.
Yep, I have no idea what I am talking about. Ned signs terrible players to backloaded deals that hurt team now and in the future.. You drink that koolaid.
An insult is not an answer. He made a reasonable point that contradicted yours so you changed the subject. I’ve been down that road with you before, so I can relate.
Thanks BlueSkyLA, i can see that now. Again, it’s the H8ers that we can’t reason with. I believe Coletti has made several big mistakes, but he’s also found some pretty good deals on the cheap. I like the Capuano and Harrang signings considering that none of the “prospects” are quite ready. Also, maybe it’s time for Billingsley to wake and grow up or be shipped off.
One thing you learn around here is that you are not allowed to say that Colletti isn’t the worst GM ever. Most fans won’t acknowledge that he’s worked under a serious handicap, not just McCourt’s lack of resources but the starving of the farm system as well. I’d like to see how he does with a real major-market payroll budget. I say give him a year under new ownership; if he can’t make quality changes with more payroll, then fine, get rid of him.
Based on Santana for Blake, RMartin goes and cuts the mustard well in the AL East, we got Barajas and d-league softball catchers left over, Harang looks like Garland 2.0 coming up from S.D. with inflated value, can Coletti.
Yes, NOW re-signing Kuroda puts the team over its budget, but signing less junk (i.e. Ellis, Capuano, Rivera, Harang, Treanor, Kennedy…) would have easily made it possible.
Quantity over quality was Ned’s plan and I completely disagree with it.
Fortunately, he’ll be fired soon, but the new owner will still be paying many of these guys next year.
Its a 2 year deal.. OMG
So Kuroda is worth 14 million dollars a year?? That’s what he wants, and there’s no way the Dbacks give him that.
Never said he was worth $14 million….
He’d still be by far the team’s second best starter next year, but instead we get a steaming pile of poo. Next up: Harang and Jerry Hairston?
not a bad signing considering he want to stay on the west coast.
lol thank you dodgers for taking all the mediocre pitching off the market! They keep signing the pitchers that I was scared the cubs were going to take a chance on.
You suck? Okay.. you get a 2 year deal!!!
I like this. Good solid 5, innings eaters, it’s not bad at all. Sure he’s not great but he knwos how to pitch and the Dodgers weren’t going to pay 15 mil on a 38 year old pitcher…been down that road before. Also look as if the Dodgesr are gearing up for some youth to move in, by the time this is done their youngsters should be ready to move into the rotation full time.
This also gives them the best 1-5 in the West, especially if bills can pitch like we know he can. Dodgers should be competitive next season.
as much grief as i give colletti, he sure knows how to get people in.
“Good solid 5” He’s unfortunately our 3/4.
“The best 1-5 in the west” I’m a die hard dodger fan but come on. San Fran clearly has a better rotation than we do. We have Kershaw and 4 average at best pitchers
agreed as much as i hate to say…the giants pitching staff is a lot better then the dodgers! after saying that i dont think the dodgers staff is going to be horrible like a lot of you are thinking…not the best but they will be decent…good enough for the budget we have right now!
I
don’t know how thrilled I am about this presumed Opening-Day roster:
C
– Matt Treanor
1B
– James Loney
2B
– Mark Ellis
SS
– Dee Gordon
3B
– Juan Uribe
LF
– Juan Rivera
CF
– Matt Kemp
RF
– Andre Ethier
C – A.J. Ellis
IF – Adam Kennedy
IF – Justin Sellers
OF – Jerry Sands
OF – Tony Gwynn
SP
– Clayton Kershaw
SP
– Chad Billingsley
SP
– Ted Lilly
SP – Aaron Harang
SP
– Chris Capuano
RP
– Nathan Eovaldi
RP
– Scott Elbert
RP
– Dana Eveland
RP
– Matt Guerrier
RP
– Blake Hawksworth
RP
– Kenley Jansen
RP
– Hong-Chih Kuo (Maybe)
RP
– Ramon Troncoso
C
– Javy Guerra
Take comfort in knowing AJ Ellis will be the starter 🙂
I think the fact that Ellis is the starting catcher is what makes me want to puke the most.
Good god why is this like triple spaced?
Nine guys in the bullpen? It’ll be:
Guerra, Jansen, Elbert, Lindblom, Guerrier, Hawksworth and either Kuo, Eveland, or a free agent signing.
Eovaldi will be starting in the minors, Troncoso will stay where he belongs in AAA.
you’re not excited to have two DHs and a right fielder in the outfield?
That’s what I’m hoping for, too.
Looks like we’ve also signed Alberto Castillo. When will this bleeding just STOP?
In all fairness, this staff could be a lot worse. In 2011, Kershaw went 21-5, Billingsley 11-11, Lilley 12-14, Capuano 11-12, and Harang finished at 14-7. Over-all, you’re looking at 69-49 (heavily supplemented by Kershaw of course). Kuroda went 13-16 on the season. Although we can argue that he never got any run support, Harang played for even MORE of an offensive embarrassment in San Diego. It’s gonna be hard for me to see Kuroda go; especially if he lands with the Diamondbacks like expected. But the fact of the matter is that something needs to change. Shake this team up and get something else going, because last season was absolutely atrocius. I’m not thrilled about the current lineup or this rotation, but it really can’t get any worse. The Capuano/Harang tandem probably isn’t the answer, but who knows. Maybe Ned Colleti’s got something up his sleeve.
The only thing Ned has up his sleeve are a few more grenades that he can drop on his way out the door. Using prior-year wins to judge how a pitching staff will do the following year? I thought we were beyond that. Is Harang better than David Price because he had two more wins?
I can see him shipping out Bills for a pile of crap.
W-L? Really?
By that logic, a rotation of Kyle Lohse, Colby Lewis, Aaron Harang, Max Scherzer and Dillon Gee would be better than a rotation of Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez, Mat Latos, Hiroki Kuroda and David Price (none of whom had winning records in 2011).
rofl
but man does it suck being a dodger fan
When Mark Cuban (hopefully) buys the Dodgers, things are going to change rapidly.
So 2 years $12 million?
That essentially means this:
2011: $4 million
2012: $8 million
“Hey Magic/Cuban/whomever, you get to pay Aaron Harang $8 million in 2013 in addition to these contracts:
Capuano – $7 million
Ellis – $6.25 million
Uribe – $7 million
Lilly – $13.2 million
Guerrier – $4.75 millionMANNY – $8.3 million
ANDRUW FREAKING JONES – $3.2 million
Hope you have deep pockets.”
2 years 12 million? kind of an overpay i think. its not going to kill them but i don’t see the rationale considering their whole rotations is basically aaron harangs outside of kershaw.
Good for Harang. For a guy who went from going 43-30 over three seasons while getting paid $7.04MM to a guy who went 18-38 over the next three seasons while getting paid $33.25MM, to bounce back to a 2 year/$12MM deal after a decent come back season, well… hey, clearly the guy knows when to pitch well for a contract. He’s like the NL’s lesser known A.J. Burnett!
I’m used to keeping my mouth shut when it comes to Ned Colletti, but..wow. Once again, it’s not the player that’s the problem, it’s the price. I’m praying that 2/12 truly is just a “ballpark figure” and the annual salary is infact less.
I’m not a financial adviser, or a GM, but one feels that the Dodgers limited money can be spent more effectively than it has been. A few extra million of overpays here and there certainly adds up!
dodgers are probably going to suck here
Kuroda is much better than both Harang and Capuano combined, in terms of stats and potentially in Innings Pitched
Just signed Hairston Jr. also.
This could be a nice singnig since they can get 2 pitchers with less salary in 2012 then what kuroda wanted in 2012 which was 12-13 million.