Player: James McDonald
2008 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (4 games)
2008 Analysis: McDonald looked pretty impressive. He came up as a September call-up and pitched six innings at the end of the season. He gave up no runs and five hits over that span, while striking out two, but looked impressive. So much so, that he was put on the playoff roster. He pitched an additional 5.1 innings of shutout ball in the playoffs while striking out seven.
2009 Outlook: McDonald should be a good part of the 2009 team. I'll say this, I expect McDonald to be a part of the rotation at some point next year. Recent news is saying that McDonald will start the year in the bullpen, but I don't expect him to stay there long. We'll see, but I'm fairly sure McDonald will have some impact on 2009.
Player: Scott Elbert
2008 Stats: 0-1, 12.00 ERA (10 games)
2008 Analysis: Elbert came up as a September call-up and got a little taste of the big leagues. He gave up eight earned runs in six innings while striking out eight.
He came in mostly in garbage time. It's hard to tell what we saw. He did get hit a little, but he had some nasty stuff, and did make some big league hitters look foolish.
2009 Outlook: I'm still not sure where the Dodgers want Elbert. He's always been a starter through his minor league career until 2008 when he pitched as a reliever coming off a surgery. Personally, I'd like to see him start 2009 in AAA as a starter and work his way into the big leagues. He's got the stuff to be a starter, and if he can stay healthy, he'll be an excellent addition to the rotation.
Player: Brian Falkenborg
2008 Stats: 2-2, 6.17 ERA (16 games)
2008 Analysis: Falkenborg gave up eight earned runs in 11.2 innings for us. We Designated Him For Assignment and he was picked up by the San Diego Padres. He gave up five earned runs for them in 10.2 innings of work ...so he had quite the year.
My favorite thing about Falkenborg during this season was that for his first five or six appearances in the season, Charlie Steiner kept calling him "Brian Forkenborg."
Which led me to make a series of jokes about how old Charlie Steiner is, and that Forkenborg sounds like something someone would say when something went wrong in the 1950s. "Oh Forkenborg! I burnt the roast." or "The Pilot light is out again? Forkenborg!"
2009 Analysis: Forkenborg is probably a free agent. He'll probably get a shot somewhere. It's not my problem anymore.
Player: Ramon Troncoso
2008 Stats: 1-1, 4.26 ERA (32 games)
2008 Analysis: Meh, Troncoso was ok. He started the year on the major league roster, but went up and down to AAA a couple times.
He had a couple bad games, and a couple good games, so he was average? He did go two innings, while striking out five and collecting the win on July 20th in what was probably the best game of his year.
2009 Outlook: Reports out of the Winter League say Troncoso has been excellent, posting an ERA in the 2.00's. If that's the case, I'd be willing to leave a spot open in the bullpen for Troncoso in 2009.
Player: Scott Proctor
2008 Stats: 2-0, 6.05 ERA (41 games)
2008 Analysis: Proctor was not too good. Though he did have a surprisingly good ratio of strikeouts to innings pitched (46 Ks to 38.2 innings) for someone who kept getting lit up.
Still, he had four instances where he gave up four runs. That ain't good.
2009 Outlook: Proctor signed with the Florida Marlins earlier in the offseason. I never understood why he never clicked with us. He had a solid fastball and a pretty good curveball. It's a nice one-two punch for a reliever. Anyway, we'll see how he does in Florida, but I would guess, probably not great.
The Dodgers reportedly signed Brad Ausmus to a one year, $1 million contract for the 2009 season.
Ausmus will back-up Russell Martin, and isn't a bad choice. He's not a great hitter, but he's still good enough defensively, and hopefully he'll be able to give Martin a few more days off and keep him fresh through the year.
I guess we'll see, but it's a good enough signing for now.
According to reports, Jeff Kent is set to retire Thursday after 17 seasons.
It's been quite a career for Jeff. 377 homeruns, 1518 RBIs, and a .290 career average. He also holds the record for most homeruns hit by a 2nd baseman.
I am going to miss his hard-nosed, no nonsense style, but it's a good time for him to hang them up.
Now he can head off to the ranch, ride some motorcycles, and wait for the Hall to come calling.
Happy Trails, Jeff.
Player: Takashi Saito
2008 Stats: 4-4, 2.49 ERA, 18 saves (45 games)
2008 Analysis: Saito was pretty good for the first part of the season, though watching him, you could see he'd lost a little something. He wasn't as lights out as he had been in the past, and his fastball looked like had lost something. But he continued on, picking up 17 saves in 20 opportunities.
But then he tweaked something. He went on the DL on July 18th and was out until pretty much the end of the season. He came back in late September and didn't look much better. He got knocked around a couple times in his six games off the DL. Still, he led the team in saves.
2009 Outlook: Saito signed with the Boston Red Sox earlier in the offseason, and apparently feels he still can contribute to a team. I'm going to miss him, and I wish him luck, but honestly, I don't know if he's got much left in the tank.
Player: Cory Wade
2008 Stats: 2-1, 2.27 ERA (55 games)
2008 Analysis: Those would be great stats for a veteran reliever, which makes it more amazing that Cory Wade debuted in April jumping straight up from Double A.
And he was just plain good. He kept his ERA below 3.00 for most of the season, and only gave up more than two runs in an appearance once during the year. He was versatile, too. Sometimes, he came in to close out innings, sometime, he came in to pitched a solid 7th, and sometimes he could be used for a couple innings in a longer relief role.
Oh, and he won the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Rookie of the Year" award.
2009 Outlook: Cory Wade should be a solid part of the Dodger bullpen in 2009. He could again be the 7th inning guy, and should Hong-Chih Kuo go down to injury (not that I'd want that, but would you be surprised?), he would do well filling in as the set-up man in the 8th.
Player: Jonathan Broxton
2008 Stats: 3-5, 14 saves, 3.13 ERA, 88 Ks (70 games)
2008 Analysis: Broxton started the year as setup man for Takashi Saito and moved into the closer role when Saito went down with an injury.
...And he was not bad. After July 18th, when Saito went down, until the end of the season, Broxton was 1-3 with a 2.76 ERA and was 14-17 in save opportunities, which again, was not bad.
2009 Outlook: The Dodgers have been shopping around for a closer a little bit this offseason, but I don't think they are seriously strongly persuing one. As such, barring any unforseen signings, Broxton will be the Dodger closer in 2009.
The Dodgers added to their bullpen today, finalizing a deal with reliever Guillermo Mota, a former Dodger who was traded away in 2004.
Meanwhile, Andruw Jones will be reportedly released tomorrow.
The Mota move is currently a "Meh" for me, with the possibility of becoming "Good", while the Jones move is currently a "Good" for me, with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!". Let me explain.
One the Mota side, he has the potential to be good. Mota was, at one point, a fantastic set-up man for the Dodgers. That was 2003 and the first half of 2004. However, since then, not so much. He only posted a below 4.00 ERA once, 18 games for the New York Mets in 2006. In any case, his contract will only be for one year, at a guaranteed $2.35 million (with a possible $300,000 in incentives), so he comes relatively cheap. Might as well give it a shot, he could be helpful. Again, "Meh" with the possibility of "Good".
One the Andruw Jones side, I'm glad he's gone. He won't be able to take up a roster spot, which makes me happy and makes this move "Good". However, we are now going to be paying him for another several years, which makes me sad. That also means, now that he's gone from our team, he has the chance to sign with another team and come back to haunt us. Which means, knowing our history with similar situations, he will. Which leaves this move, "Good" with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!".
EDIT: Oh yeah, totally forgot. Happy trails to Derek Lowe who signed a four year deal with the Atlanta Braves, further adding to the drama of the Dodgers/Braves matchups next season, what with the Rafael Furcal drama and everything.
2ND EDIT: Pablo Ozuna signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Happy Trails!
Player: Joe Beimel
2008 Stats: 5-1, 2.02 ERA (71 games)
2008 Analysis: Beimel had a bit of an interesting year. Despite really seeming like he fits the mold of a left handed specialist, Beimel was really used in that role for the first time this year. Over the past two seasons, Beimel pitched almost as many innings as games he was in (137.1 innings to 145 games), or in other words, he was used like a regular reliever.
This season, Beimel pitched 49 innings, in 71 games. Well, pitching 1/3 or 2/3 an inning here and there is good for your ERA (2.02 is the lowest of his career) but not necessarily so good for your team. Beimel had a bit of an issue this year with allowing inherited runners to score. In fact, he allowed 60 inherited runners to score. 60. In 71 games. You do the math.
2009 Analysis: It looks like Beimel's time with the Dodgers might be coming to an end. If I know about how bad Beimel was with inherited runners this year, you know that Joe Torre and Ned Colletti do as well. As such, there's been no murmurs of Beimel returning to the Dodgers, but there have been rumors of the Dodgers looking at other lefties.
I'm sure, though, that Beimel will land a home. He can still be an effective reliever, if used right. And he's got a nasty pickoff move. I think I'll miss that most of all.
Player: Jason Johnson
2008 Stats: 1-2, 5.22 ERA (16 games, two starts)
2008 Analysis: Wow, Johnson actually pitched more innings than Loaiza in 2008. Interesting. I only have three memories of Johnson. One, he had a good start (that was July 29th against the Giants) and two and three, that he came twice in extra innings to end the game (not in our favor: August 5th against St. Louis and September 26th against the Giants ironically).
Oh, I also remember he has diabetes and a little pack attached to his belt. That's a nice story...
2009 Outlook: The Yankees picked up Johnson for the 2009 season, which is just fine by me. He seems like a nice guy (not that I'd know) and I'm sure he's a good role model for kids with diabetes, but he can't pitch well, which is unfortunate given his career choice.
So, a couple more odds and ends for the Dodgers these past few days.
Happy trails to Takashi Saito, who signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox for one year and an option. Saito was a good closer, with one of the nastiest sliders I've ever seen, so it is a bit sad to see him go. At the same time, he might not be able to pitch anymore, which would make the blow a little easier to take. I honestly do hope that he can still pitch, because I like the guy, and I would like to see him succeed again.
Secondly, the Dodgers added another pitcher in Shawn Estes. I'm not too excited about this one. Estes was a name that when you saw him coming up for a start against us, you thought to yourself: "Well, that's at least one win guaranteed in the series." He's going to make $550,000, and could earn up to $1 million in incentives if he pitches up to 30 starts. Side note: if Shawn Estes makes 30 starts for us next year, we are going to be in some serious trouble.
On a light side note: Estes now joins Steve Finley and Matt Herges in the "I've Played For Every Team In The NL West Club."
Player: Esteban Loaiza
2008 Stats: 1-2, 5.63 ERA (seven games, three starts)
2008 Analysis: Wow! Was that really this year that Esteban Loaiza was with us? That's amazing. Until researching for these pieces, I hadn't remembered him, or at least I thought that was a year or two ago.
Well, I guess it was this year. And he made three starts? Wow. He actually pitched 24 innings. Wow. The only vague memory I have of him is throwing some soft low-80s fastball to somebody, and that person demolished it. And then Loaiza was gone.
2009 Outlook: Well, sensibly, Loaiza was Designated for Assignment pretty fast into the 2008 season and ended up with the Chicago White Sox, where he played in three games the rest of the year. I don't know where he is now (maybe retired? maybe a free agent? The White Sox released him in July after those three games and a trip to the disabled list), but I'm guessing we are still paying him part of his contract to be there.
Player: Hong-Chih Kuo
2008 Stats: 5-3, 2.14 ERA, 96 Ks (42 games, three starts)
2008 Analysis: I think Dodger fans always knew that Hong-Chih Kuo would be something special if he could stay healthy. He proved us right in 2008 (although he was injured by the end of the season).
His ERA was only about 3.00 for a few games early in the season, but for most of the season, he was in the 2.00 ERA range and even had a good two and a half months where he was under 2.00. His WHIP was 1.01, and he racked up 16 more strikeouts than innings pitched. It was a pretty good year.
Plus, he won the "TYIB Setup Man" award, and more importantly, the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year" award.
2009 Outlook: Well, if Hong-Chih Kuo can remain healthy, he'll be excellent in our bullpen in 2009, as either lefty reliever, setup man, long reliever, or even closer. The key words there being "if Hong-Chih Kuo can remain healthy."
So, I've been a little busy the last week, and as such, wasn't able to write about a couple of things that happened.
First, happy trails to Scott Proctor, who signed a one-year deal with the Florida Marlins. At least now he gets to avoid Joe Torre for a little while.
Second, happy trails to both Ángel Berroa and Jason Johnson. Though I don't believe anything has been made official yet, both are heading to the New York Yankees. Um... they will be missed? I don't have much else.
Finally, the Dodgers added a pitcher, by signing Claudio Vargas. He's ok... He recorded double digit wins in 2006 and 2007, but has never had a sub-4.00 ERA. I'm not thrilled about the acquisition, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have an extra pitcher around.
These are the relievers who made a couple starts during the season.
Player: Chan Ho Park
2008 Stats: 4-4, 3.40 ERA, 79 Ks (54 games, five starts)
2008 Analysis: Chan Ho Park really revived his career coming back to the Dodgers. After appearing in only one game in 2007 for the New York Mets, he signed a contract to come back to the Dodgers. And he was, for the most part, pretty impressive.
His 3.40 ERA is a bit deceiving as he had a sub-3.00 ERA for most of the year until a late season meltdown.
Oh, and he also won the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Comeback Player of the Year" award.
It was a pretty good year for Chan Ho, so much so, that he decided he could ask for a starting pitcher role in 2009, which leads to...
2009 Outlook: Chan Ho signed with the Philadelphia Phillies earlier in the offseason because they said he'd have the possibility of becoming their 5th starter. I somewhat alluded to it in that post, but this might not be such a good idea for Chan Ho. Chan Ho left us in 2001 and in the seven seasons he spent away from us, he never had an ERA below 4.80. In fact, only pitching for San Diego in 24 games in 2006 did he have an ERA under 5.00. His worst years came in Texas, where the baseball fly out of the park.
So what did Chan Ho Park do when this offseason came around. He left the Dodgers and signed a contract with a team who plays in one of the smallest parks in the majors, where balls are constantly flying out of the yard.
I'm not condemning Chan Ho back to a career of failures, but I'm just saying his 2009 outlook doesn't look too good.
Player: Eric Stults
2008 Stats: 2-3, 3.49 ERA, 30 Ks, 1 CG shutout (7 starts)
2008 Analysis: Stults came up mid-season to make a handful of starts for the injured Dodger pitching staff and he wasn't too bad.
He had three quality starts (including the complete game shutout of the Chicago White Sox on June 25th) and four shorter outings (though none he never gave up more than four runs in an outing).
The interesting thing is that Stults made as many starts for the Dodgers as Greg Maddux, and for the most part, out-dueled him. He had the same amount of wins, fewer losses, a lower ERA, more strikeouts, and more complete game shutouts.
That's not bad for a kid who's really, sadly becoming a AAAA player.
2009 Outlook: It is a bit hard to pencil in Stults name in the 2009 starting rotation, even as a 5th starter. It's really a kinda tough predicament.
He's not been bad. In fact, he's shown signs of quality and he's left handed, which is a plus for any rotation. Still, there's a certain untangable about him that makes me feel uneasy about giving him 30 or so starts at the major league level.
Then again, the way this offseason is heading, who's to say who the Dodgers will have lined up for the 2009 season. Stults might very well find himself in the position by default ...which I guess I wouldn't have too much of a problem with...
Player: Greg Maddux
2008 Stats: 2-4, 5.09 ERA (7 starts) (Full Season: 8-13, 4.22 ERA)
2008 Analysis: Greg Maddux was acquired by the Dodgers on August 19th from the San Diego Padres and made seven starts from then until the end of the year. And frankly, he wasn't too impressive.
He did have three fairly good starts (September 1st, September 14th, and September 27th), and four pretty bad ones (August 22nd, August 27th, September 8th, and September 19th).
He did spend some quality time with our younger pitchers, though, and that almost makes his sub-par performance worth it.
2009 Outlook: Well, seeing as Maddux retired earlier in the offseason, I'm guessing his 2009 season will be spent with his family. I do hope though, that if he ever decides on becoming a coach, he does it with us. He's one of the better baseball minds in the game, and having him around our team can only bring good results.
2008 Analysis: McDonald looked pretty impressive. He came up as a September call-up and pitched six innings at the end of the season. He gave up no runs and five hits over that span, while striking out two, but looked impressive. So much so, that he was put on the playoff roster. He pitched an additional 5.1 innings of shutout ball in the playoffs while striking out seven.
