Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Despite ties to Torre, Dodgers pass on Wang

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman has tweeted that the Dodgers will no longer pursue Chien-Ming Wang. Ned Colletti and assistant GM Logan White watched Wang throw off of flat ground today, but were apparently not impressed enough to sign him.

Wang was a back-to-back 19-game winner with Torre and the Yankees from 2006-2007. So naturally, when Wang became a free agent after last season, the Dodgers became a likely destination. Add in the Dodgers' desire for a fifth starter, and it looked like a good fit.

The trouble is that Wang is still on the shelf following shoulder surgery last summer. Early estimates have him back in May or possibly later. If the Dodgers didn't go through the Jason Schmidt debacle, maybe they'd take a chance. But taking a risk twice on starting pitchers with bad shoulders? It just wasn't going to happen.

And rightfully so. The Dodgers need to focus on rounding out the rotation from within. Guys like James McDonald and Eric Stults come to mind right away.

As for Wang, the Nationals are the only other team that have shown serious interest, so that might now happen with the Dodgers out of the picture.

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