mas fwiw... Dodgers To Sign Justin TurnerBy Jeff Todd [February 5 at 2:47pm CST]The Dodgers have agreed to sign infielder Justin Turner, reports MLBTR's Tim Dierkes (via Twitter). Turner, 29, is a Legacy client. He gets a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.Most of Turner's big league time has been spent with the Mets, who non-tendered him this year. Since receiving 487 plate appearances and slashing .260/.334/.356 in 2011, Turner has seen less regular action. In 214 plate appearances last year, he put up a .280/.319/.385 triple-slash -- good for a precisely league-average 100 OPS+.Turner's versatility gives him a chance to crack the MLB roster as a utility infielder. The right-handed swinging Turner will presumably compete with lefty Dee Gordon, veteran switch-hitter Chone Figgins, and a pair of fellow righties in Justin Sellers and Brendan Harris. Though defensive metrics have not liked Turner's work at second, he grades out as roughly average on the left side of the infield, where he has spent most of his time over the last two seasons. __
guerrero can make this whole thing a lot easier if he shows he can play regardless, i'm hoping between turner, figgins and harris there's a carroll/punto in there dee and sellers are what they are -- a black guy who wishes he could play, and a white guy who wishes he was black
Don't forget Rojas, apparently he can really pick it but can't hit a lick. I might rather have him over Dee who can't field AND might not be able to hit. It'll work itself out forsure.
I am actually happy about this move. Turner is not as bad as many of our other options. He has versatility.
Clint Barmes? Paul Janish? Those guys are better options. Our bench is going to cost us some victories.
Uh...no. They both suck gorilla dicks. Janish owns a lifetime .214 BA. And neither of them is that good of a fielder.
Justin Turner looks like a less portly Philip seymore Hoffman with red hair. I like it! and I can't wait to drop this one on someone next season
Turner is a solid signing, although it might not be saying much considering the market haha. But I expect him to make the club.
THURSDAY: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Arroyo's camp has lowered the asking price to the two-year, $22MM range, and the Orioles and Diamondbacks are "definitely pushing" for the veteran righty. interesting
Old habits die hard...and /or, he just subscribes to the old adage: even a broken clock is right twice a day". And it actually has worked well in some cases. It's like we used to tell the old joke when we were kids..."how does a girl know if she had a good time on a date? When she gets home, and takes her panties off, and throws them against the wall...if they stick there, she had a good time". It's too bad bout Punto though; if all the "family" concerns are true, then what can you do? But truthfully, doesn't your family needs pale beneath being hugged by Danny DeVito? I mean, really...
For the record, I want him. I remember that we were in on him. He could be a 2nd base answer. We are short in minors on middle infielders. If Guerrero looks good with a bat and can play third better than 2nd...poof. Uribe's contract is not as restricting as it once was. We will need the depth, trust me. One potential hangup in the Stephen Drew market could be the fact that Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz will be cleared to sign in two weeks. The 23-year-old was declared ineligible to sign after falsifying his age last year (Diaz claimed to be 23 then, in order to be eligible for MLB one year early). Morosi reminds that MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez listed (MLBTR link) the Red Sox and Yankees as two of eight clubs to have shown interest in Diaz back in December, and both have been linked to Drew.
speaking of which... The Diamondbacks' signing of Bronson Arroyo was a mistake, ESPN's Keith Law writes (Insider-only). Law argues that Arroyo's declining velocity, tendency to give up homers, and struggles with lefties all make him a bad bet for two years and $23.5MM. Arroyo allowed 32 homers last season (although 19 of them were in the Reds' homer-friendly ballpark), and lefties hit .295/.327/.529 against him. He's also had an average fastball velocity of about 87 MPH the past several seasons, which Law suggests has been one cause of his home-run problems. __
bad deal for all parties it seems. Arroyo would've been much better with us and in Dodger Stadium. but being that he's pitched in launching pads for much of his career i'll give him a smidgeon of hope in Arizona. but that 4.5M buy out @ age 40 screams desperation on ARI's part. they may have felt like Arroyo signing with LAD would've put the nail in their coffin for the next 2yrs. what they don't realize is that the nail is already there.