The Dodgers announced that they designated Bobby Abreu for assignment. The move creates room for Shane Victorino on Los Angeles' active roster.
The Angels released Abreu in April after a disappointing opening month, and the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal a week later. Though Abreu's power has disappeared, he continues to get on base at an above-average rate. The 38-year-old has posted a .246/.347/.340 batting line in 236 total plate appearances this year. The 17-year MLB veteran earns a $9MM salary, but any team can sign him for a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum if he reaches free agency.
I’ll miss Bobby though
One of my all-time favorite players. Still has a strong OBP and good wheels. Deserves better treatment.
i liked him too… till he became a cancer in the angel clubhouse
I don’t blame him for complaining. He gave a lot for the team, was still productive, and was treated like a castaway.
showing up to spring training 20lb over weight was not productive… neither was his .208 avg and .259 obp
Excess weight leads to clubhouse cancer?
when you whine about it it does
He gained 20 pounds and then complained about it?
no he showed up to training camp out of shape and unmotivated then complained about not getting a starting position
Maybe you weren’t paying close attention …
2012 – 208/259/333 – good for a Jeff Mathis like 593 OPS.
2011 – 253/353/365 – OPS just north of 700.
Add to this that Abreu plays a corner outfield position, 1st base or DH’d (all premium offensive positions). He can’t field worth a lick and his baserunning has become a liability. Tell me again what he gave the team and how his last 1.5 years could be deemed “productive”.
He was a steal in 2009. Played up to his salary in 2010. Play was way below his salary (worth $1.6m – paid $9m) in 2011. Don’t even get me started on 2012 (been worth $0.3m COMBINED between the Halos and Dodgers while cashing in on another $9m salary).
Overall, this will go down as a dog of a deal. Reagins should have stuck to his guns. A 2 year / $16m deal would have been fair back in 2010. Angels still wouldn’t have come out on top but that was a reasonable contract offer – one that Abreu most likely would have accepted. Instead Reagins upped the dollars AND increased the years. Such a freaking bonehead.
Being a Phillies fan, I know all too well about Abreu being a malcontent. He only wanted to bat 3rd and would pout when he didn’t. Seemed to be there to get his stats and go home.
yep and he was blocking mike trout
Should have been Uribe.
Agreed. Wvidently they are not willing to pay uribe 12m to sit at home to watch BB on television however.
Abreu would have had use as a PH, but they really do need a token 3b/utility guy and not saying that to be mean.
Maybe they can find a way to sneak someone through waivers and get a deal done with someone, but yeah.. Uribe is awful.
Offensively, he’s currently awful (a historically streaky hitter) but defensively he is still valuable for his ability to play three infield positions. If we think of him as a utility player and not a starter then it becomes pretty obvious that there is no reason to release him other than to satisfy the blood-lust of the fans.
We chatted about a month ago between us about all the negative reasons for the LAD to acquire Youk. Then he went to Chicago for nothing. It even makes me sick that he could at least be helping a team I think has a legit chance at a ‘ring”, rather than one that has at best? Hopes of “one and done”.
Which brings up the point that no matter who you get and how you get him, a roster spot has to be opened if you expect the new player to play. Getting Youkilis even for nothing required dealing or releasing the incumbent(s) at that position. It’s pretty much a one-way trip, unless the incumbent is a minor leaguer, so you’d better know the move has a good chance of succeeding.
I disagree for the poins made above. WIth in the crew of Hanley, Cruz, Hairston, and eventually Gordon, Kennedy and Sellers, and Herrera (who should have NEVER been sent back down), you have enough good defensive options (K, Gordon is NOT a great defensive option, right now, but maybe the time off helped him some) who can still hit better than Uribe. Abreu, at least then is the better PH option.
Any of he, Uribe, or Kennedy was fine with me.
Hopefully Uribe will be gone when Kennedy comes back…
So the fans are warming to Adam Kennedy now? Seems to me only a month ago many around here were demanding his head on a stake.
I was one of those people who wanted Kennedy tossed, I was a little wrong about him. Still not a huge Kennedy fan, but Kennedy showed he was at the very least an upgrade over Uribe in term of his offense.
I mean seriously, why DFA Abreau and not Uribe? Sure, we owe the guy a ton of money, but its not like he should EVER be in a game from this point forward. With Hanley and Hairston (and Kennedy, Cruz, Gordon, Sellers, Herrera), 3B and SS is pretty well covered by BETTER options than Uribe. Abreau, at the very least, is a nice bat to have for PH, hes gonna hit for better avg and better pop than Uribe, period. Uribe should NEVER be a starting option, and only a defensive option when the 3B/SS is not expected to have another AB in the game.
Really disappointed by this move.
Things change don’t they? Kennedy, Gordon and Sellers are all on the DL. We will see some/all of them in the near future no doubt, but not right now. For right now Uribe is more useful than Abreu. He goes now to make room for another outfielder. In a week or so we will see, when one or more of the injured infielders become available. More roster moves to come, no doubt.
True enough. Can’t argue the fact that Gordon, Sellers and Kennedy are not here, right now. Still don’t think Uribe should be playing any time soon! Uggg…Ive been one of the biggest Uribe and Loney supporters, making all kinds of excuses for them, but I’ve just about had it with both of them, but especially Uribe (at least Loney is still hitting OK for a Major Leaguer, even if its horrible for a 1B). Arrrgggg
I feel you with Loney, I have tried to argue he is not as bad as people say but…. Uribe on the other hand I have never been a fan of. I saw a lot of him when he was with the Sox and I completely understand why he never got a multi-year deal. It makes me sick to look at his numbers and think that we have one more year of him.
The only solace I have is that he has contributed to 2 WS winning teams, and teams that broke longer droughts than the Dodgers are in. Maybe he brings luck. Rub a little Uribe on your glove (NOT the bats) and BAM! Dodgers win the World Series!
Definitely not warming to Kennedy. Just dislike his approach at the plate less than I dislike Uribe’s.
Guessing he gets picked up by San Francisco, they did need outfielders
He can’t play the outfield anymore and his power is all but gone, but he still has a good OBP and draws walks. Not very useful, but far better than whatever Uribe will give to (or detract from) the team. I bet a bad AL team will take a flier.
yeah you’d think a team in the playoff hunt would want him as a premium bench piece for the .obp, left-handedness, and a moderate amount of speed. A good piece to throw up there as a pinch hitter or runner.
I hope this isn’t the end for Abreu. BUt if it is, it was quite a career. Although his career WAR would nearly make a HoFer, I don’t think his peak was quite high enough. Even so, he’s rock solid material for Hall of the Very Good.
Pretty weird to think that Abreu has a higher career WAR than guys like Harmon Killebrew. Not a HOFer, but a very nice career.
I doubt it is…The Rays will have interest cause he still gets on base and is still a serviceable OF..Plus it’s where he started his career. If they can sign him for a couple hundred grand and have him on Playoff roster they’ll do it…I mean they gave Matsui a chance….
He is NOT serviceable in the OF. The guy hasn’t posted a positive fielding score since 2004. At his current rate (pro-rated for a full season) he would be looking at -10 runs or so. That’s awful.
He does get on base but can’t field and is now a liability on the basepaths. He is strictly a pinch hitter in situations where you just want to get a runner on. Hard to justify a roster spot for that scenario.
Bobby has contact and he is still a very good player where ever he goes well good luck
Dang, Abreu>Uribe. Was thinking a PLUS out of all of this was Bobby’s bat coming off the bench. Chances are Abreu asked to be moved if he couldn’t start though. Well, thanks for the visit, Bobby.
It isn’t necessarily over. I believe the Dodgers now have ten days to decide what to do with him: place on waivers, trade or release. Anyhow the manpower shortage is in the infield not the outfield, so there wasn’t any real chance that Uribe would be DFA’d. Uribe is now a very well compensated utility infielder.
3B is the only question. SS is well covered by Cruz, Sellers and Herrera if they ever decided to bring him back up. Im my opinion, Hairston is as good of a defensive 3B as Uribe, but is hitting light years ahead of Uribe. You want a late game 3B defensive upgrade fro Hanley? Throw in Hairston. If Hairston was at LF, bring in Gwynn (or Victorino if he wasn’t starting for any reason). You are 100% right that defensively we have better OF options, however, I think think we have better IF options than Uribe. I think its a wash in those terms, the only question the remains, who is the better PH option.
Hairston you don’t want pinned to third. He appears in the depth chart at nearly every position and this is his real value. You also want to let him sit down a few nights a week. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be surprised to see Uribe finish with the Dodgers this season, but I think we should expect that decision later when some of those other players come on line. A lot of people seem surprised by the Abreu move but I’m not sure why. Dropping an infielder to make room for an outfielder just isn’t what we would normally expect so it wasn’t shocking that it didn’t happen here.
As much as I dislike Uribe… Hairston is not a good defender at 3B.
Sort of ironic in that Victorino got his chance in Philadelphia as an every day player only after they traded away Abreu.
That is true, I didnt think about that.
The former Gold Glover who managed to never get a grass stain on his uni.
And the first 2012 player to clear waivers is…. Roberto Abreu!!!
Actually his legal name is “Bob”
Still better than bay
Now Bobby needs to be signed and cut by the Lakers and Clippers for the clean sweep of being cut by LA teams.
What about the Kings, Chivas and Galaxy? Do we still have an Indoor football team? Can the Avengers sign him? He might as well sign with the Raiders, since everyone in LA is under the impression they still play at the Colosseum
Uribe is the one that should have been sent down. He’s the one who’s done the disappearing act.
Wouldn’t mind seeing the Phillies claim him for nostalgias sake…
They just shed some major league talent and might benefit from Abreu in a Thome like role. He can then have a shot to end it where he had some of his best years.
I think that many teams could still use him as a DH. He is still getting on base at a pretty good clip, and still has some speed.
Can anyone explain why the Dodgers can’t send down Uribe to AAA until he gets his swing back. Does he have some type of clause that prevents that?
he has more than 5 years service time. per the CBA, he has to approve any demotion to AAA.
edit: unless they DFA’d him, he cleared waivers (which he should because hes terrible) and then got sent to AAA. refusing after a DFA assignment, IIRC, would mean he loses his contract. (I might be wrong).
He still gets paid regardless of whether he accepts or not.
Thanks for the info.
phillies! pick him up!
Not happy with this move, although I guess it makes sense. It would have made just as much, if not more, sense to dump Uribe once and for all. Even though Abreu remaining would have caused them to have too many outfielders, LA also has plenty of infield options to replace Uribe. That’s not even taking into consideration when Gordon returns, in which they’d have something of a crowded infield too. Abreu was a nice veteran addition, and a welcome change from Colletti’s usual routine of getting us washed up, useless reclamation projects (Garret Anderson, Jay Gibbons, Marcus Thames come to mind).
The Seattle Mariners should pick up Bobby Abreu off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a waiver deal for Chone Figgins since both players can use a change of scenery.Abreu would fit well w/ the team to get the team to stay hot and possibly sneak into the wild card race. Figgins may be better option than Uribe whenever Adam Kennedy is off the disable list w/ one of young rookies that was called up to the Dodgers should be sent down too.
Luis Cruz or Figgins. I think Dodger fans will take Cruz at this point and be happy. Plus no team wants to pay Figgy to do nothing. Plus once Gordon comes back they will be set. Gwynn blocks Figgy in the OF, Cruz, uribe, Kennedy and hairston all can play the IF. Just zero room on the 25 man for Figgy.
The Giants should take a shot on Bobby Abreu as a reserve outfielder/1st Baseman. The Giants need a little more offense.
Bobby Abreu>Adam Kennedy+Juan Uribe
Given his OBP, are you telling me that Ned Colletti couldn’t get ANYTHING for Abreu, who would have been a rental?
He would be a good bench player and part-time DH for a team like the Rangers, Angels, Orioles, or Rays. But what were his stat lines coming up to his DFA?
Tigers should sign him to DH and bat 2nd
Am I missing something? Wasn’t Abreu batting 3rd for the Dodgers?!
Such an under-rated player much of his career.
How often does a guy w a .359 Obp get designated for a guy with horrible platoon splits?
I have always felt badly for bobby. He’s never played for any of my favorite teams. But he deserved better and has been one of the better players of the last 15 years.
Should I take Melky for Rios in fantasy