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.
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.
