DODGERS: Offseason Thread

too bad we're not buyers
anyone else old enough to remember when we were the dodgers?


Oswalt Seeks One-Year Deal; Interest Picks Up

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 20 at 12:44pm CST]
Roy Oswalt was looking for a three-year deal earlier in the offseason, but he has since told teams he only wants a one-year contract, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (all Twitter links). The right-hander wants to prove that his back is healthy and re-enter the market a year from now in search of multiyear security. Six teams are now talking to Oswalt and agent Bob Garber about a possible deal, Crasnick reports.

The Red Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Twins and Nationals are among the teams that could use rotation depth and may have interest in Oswalt. The Rockies had interest earlier in the offseason and while they could still use pitching depth, it's not clear if they still have the payroll flexibility to accommodate Oswalt or if he'd want to pitch in Denver.

Garber has said Oswalt feels “great,” even after two back-related stints on the disabled list in 2011. The 34-year-old made 23 starts and completed 139 innings this past season, posting a 3.69 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 45.1% ground ball rate. His average fastball velocity dropped to 91.4 mph, however. Oswalt was a Type A free agent, but the Phillies declined to offer him arbitration and he won't cost a draft pick.

 

a good read...


Loyal Kuroda too expensive for Dodgers


By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports 3 hours, 22 minutes ago
The Los Angeles Dodgers hoped to sign Hiroki Kuroda, a good man and a good pitcher who once returned to the Dodgers in part because he felt like he owed them more.

Weird, I know.

The problem was, Kuroda is one of the better starters on the market – below C.J. Wilson and alongside Roy Oswalt and Mark Buehrle. And while that shouldn’t be an issue for the Dodgers, it is.

For all the love outgoing owner Frank McCourt got for signing Matt Kemp long term and ignoring the possible sale implications of that, the Kemp contract is heavily back-loaded and there’s still very little money to turn the current Dodgers into anything other than the mediocre ballclub they are.


Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda delivers a pitch on Sept. 22 against the Giants. He earned his 13th win of 2011, likely his last in a Los Angeles uniform.
(Getty Images)

Let’s assume Kuroda pulls about $13 million a year. That’s under Buehrle’s AAV of $14.5 million with the Miami Marlins. Though their numbers over the past two seasons were pretty similar, Buehrle gets more because he’s four years younger and the Marlins are wacky.

Here’s what Ned Colletti got for $12.4 million in 2012: Mark Ellis, Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, Jerry Hairston Jr., Adam Kennedy, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Matt Treanor. Plus, he’ll have another few hundred thousand to spend on a middle reliever. It’s what passes for an offseason in the little berg north of Anaheim.

So, and I blame this on McCourt, Colletti could have had Kuroda, but then he’d be short a second baseman, a left fielder, any kind of utility infield help and a backup catcher and his rotation would run four deep.

This is what happens when a man goes $700 million into debt on his business alone, as Forbes reported based on the MLB sale book that went out Monday. McCourt’s personal debt can’t be pretty, either. So, at a time when they should have been players for Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, the Dodgers weren’t. And as the Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes prepares to come free, the Dodgers didn’t scout him in earnest. As one of their baseball people asked me, “What, is he going to play for free?” They never even considered bidding on Yu Darvish.

While none of this is new or a surprise, I heard Monday morning that Kuroda was close to agreeing to a new contract and it wouldn’t be with the Dodgers. The Seattle Mariners said it wasn’t them, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, among others, answered similarly: “Not us.”

The bottom line: The Dodgers could have used Kuroda. Kuroda liked it in L.A. They were good for each other. And the whole wretched McCourt affair continues to dog the franchise large and small, as every day L.A. gets a new reason to wish this sale could move along faster.

 

bye beard.
watch, he'll hit like .900 against us...

Rockies To Sign Casey Blake
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 20, 2011 at 4:21pm CST]

The Rockies have agreed to sign Casey Blake to a one-year deal, pending a physical, Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd announced (Twitter link). The sides agreed to a non-guaranteed contract worth $2MM plus $1MM in performance bonuses, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding (on Twitter).
Blake hit .252/.342/.371 in 239 plate appearances for the Dodgers in 2011, spending considerable time on the DL with a cervical strain. He had surgery in September and the Dodgers declined his $6MM option for 2012 after the season. The Indians were among nine teams with some interest in Blake, who should be ready to play in 2012, agent Jim McDowell told MLBTR.

The move provides the Rockies with depth at third base to go along with Jordan Pacheco and Chris Nelson. Nolan Arenado, a 20-year-old third base prospect in the Rockies' system, has yet to play in Double-A.