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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!".
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.
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).