The Dodgers activated three men off the Disabled List today in Blake Hawksworth, Juan Uribe, and Marcus Thames. The question then turned to which players would be replaced.
After making some roster moves today, Dodger management made one thing clear: the youth movement is upon us.
Not only were those three men activated, but shortstop and top prospect Dee Gordon has been given the big league call. Designated for assignment were Juan Castro and Jay Gibbons. Sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque were John Ely and Ivan De Jesus.
It's obviously a big day for Gordon, and most likely an unexpected one because there wasn't much talk of calling him up. But his time has come, and with Rafael Furcal sidelined once again, he will get his chance to show what he's got.
In 50 games with Albuquerque this season, he was hitting .315 with a .361 OBP, plus 22 steals in 25 chances. Stealing bases is his forte, as he stole an incredible 73 in '09 with Great Lakes, and 53 the next season with Chattanooga. That's some unbelievable speed.
The down side? He commits errors, and a whole lot of them. In four years of minor league ball (369 games total), he's made 106 errors for a .937 fielding %. I'm no expert, but that's not very good. The slight silver lining is that he's up to .949 this year, his highest mark.
In addition to Gordon's arrival, Jerry Sands will be staying aboard, as Gibbons was the one given the boot. There had been speculation that it would be the other way around in order to keep both men in the organization, but give the Dodgers credit for doing the right thing. Sands is only hitting .210, but after dominating the minors for a few years, he still needs more time to get comfortable and produce.
I was a fan of the Gibbons signing this past offseason, but it clearly hasn't worked out. First he had problems with his eyes in spring training, which delayed the start of his season. When he has played, he's hitting .255 with one homer and five RBIs. So much for being a power bat from the left side. I do like Castro, so hopefully he can hang around and get called back up at some point.
It's about time the Dodgers got some good news on the injury front, as they have just been hit hard all season long. So, it's nice to see Uribe, Hawksworth, and Thames back. Plus with Gordon coming up and Sands staying around, there's finally some reasons to get excited again. It's not like we're talking major contenders here, but maybe more guys not named Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier will give Dodger fans something to cheer about.
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