Saturday, May 8, 2010

With returning veterans, Ely and Paul optioned

After helping the Dodgers win a couple games recently, John Ely and Xavier Paul received some tough, but not too unexpected news: both are being sent down to Triple-A Albuquerque. Jeff Weaver and Manny Ramirez came off the 15-day DL to replace them.

Ely was great on Thursday against the Brewers. He lasted 6 2/3 innings and gave up only a single run. A blown save in the ninth by Jonathan Broxton prevented him from getting his first big league win. The outing was especially impressive considering the Brew Crew just slapped around Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley the previous two nights. With the way the rotation has been going, look for him to be back at some point.

As for Paul, he seemed to take the news pretty hard. The Dodgers are 5-1 when he starts, and 4-0 when he leads off. But, he's still the odd man out. My guess is the decision came down to him or Garret Anderson. Anderson is hitting .133 in 45 at-bats playing part-time. But, this early in the season, the Dodgers simply weren't going to give up on him for the younger Paul.

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