The final move of the day from Ned Colletti saw the Dodgers grab Octavio Dotel from the Pirates for James McDonald and minor league outfielder Andrew Lambo.
This season, Dotel has converted 21 of 26 save opportunities for the miserable Pirates. He has a 4.28 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 40 innings. Currently at 36, he's saved 104 games in his 12-year career.
While I wouldn't say he's a shut-down closer, he is a good one that will only help the arms in the Dodgers' bullpen. Lately, guys like George Sherrill, Jeff Weaver, and Travis Schlichting have been counted on to pitch in tight situations. Dotel will be a much better option than them.
McDonald is someone that has potential, but has been unable to put it together at the major league level. In three years with the Dodgers, he's pitched in 54 games for a 4.11 ERA and a very high 1.51 WHIP. He was good out of the 'pen, but got crushed as a starter.
He hasn't had much of a chance this year, but when he has been in there, he's done very little to impress. In watching him pitch, I couldn't help but think that he's nothing more than a Triple-A pitcher. Good enough to get called up, but not good enough to stay. I won't miss him.
I doubt many people know about Lambo, but he was one of the bigger prospects the Dodgers had. But, he's certainly had a mixed bag of results. In four seasons in the minors for 362 games, he's hit .287 with 38 homers and 209 RBIs. He's shown plenty of signs of one day being a good big league hitter.
And then there was the 50-game suspension he served for violating the drug policy earlier this year. Maybe the Dodgers wanted to just wash their hands of this guy, and they found the opportunity to do so.
Back to Dotel, and he was told he'd be in a setup role. That may be true, but with the way Jonathan Broxton has struggled at the end of games, I can easily see him getting his shot in the ninth.
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