In a bit of a surprising move, the Dodgers announced on Wednesday that Bobby Abreu has been designated for assignment to make room for Shane Victorino. Abreu was signed on May 4 after the Angels let him go.
Abreu appeared in 70 games for the Dodgers, hitting .251 with a .359 OBP, 2 homers, 17 RBIs, and 5 steals. He had an excellent May, hitting .318 with a whopping .430 OBP. June wasn't nearly as good (.200, .307) and July was only slightly better (.229, .327).
Even with his drops in numbers, I'm still surprised by this. He knows how to get on base, and late in games, I would think it would be nice to turn to a veteran who knows how to get on.
But, what ultimately was his undoing is his lack of power. In 203 at-bats with both the Angels and Dodgers, he only has 14 extra-base hits (11 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers). Maybe the Dodgers wanted someone with more pop, and were obviously concerned by his numbers dropping so low recently.
I'm sure plenty of people much preferred Juan Uribe to get DFA'd, but that hasn't happened yet. So why hasn't it, you may ask? Perhaps it's a money thing. Maybe it's a Ned Colletti thing, as he doesn't want to give up on his big free agent signing a couple years back. Or maybe the Dodgers want that infield depth, as the outfield is now set with Victorino, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier being your everyday starters. Who knows.
Anyway you look at it, Abreu is gone, and I'll miss him. He got rave reviews for his handling of younger players, and seemed like he was accepting his role off the bench. I can't imagine he'll have any trouble latching onto another team, so we'll see him soon.
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