It's about time.
That's the first thing that came to mind when I read the surprising move today that the Dodgers have designated Brian Wilson for assignment with the addition of Brandon McCarthy. He picked up his player option after the season, so unless he's traded or claimed by another club in the next 10 days, the Dodgers will owe him his entire $10 million salary.
In other words, in 10 days from now, the Dodgers will then owe him $10 million.
It's as simple as that, because as surprising as this move was, it would be a flat out shocker if some other team actually spends that kind of money on him.
I'm saying "surprising" only because the Dodgers sure as hell loved to use him over and over last season, despite the big warning signs that he was completely washed up. But then again, there's a whole new management in town, and they clearly saw what the rest of us saw when it came to Wilson.
Just to review, Wilson ended last year with 22 holds, but four blown saves, a 4.66 ERA, and 1.61 WHIP, which is ridiculously high. Time and time again Don Mattingly would run him out there in the eighth inning as the setup man, and time and time again he would look like crap. It had to be a huge relief to the other teams that Donny kept going to him so much. Granted, there weren't a lot of other options, but Wilson was still the worst.
What Wilson should be given credit for was his excellent 2013 season. He was signed that year at the trade deadline, and went on to post an 0.66 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 18 games. He formed a fantastic 1-2 punch with Kenley Jansen, so the expectation coming into 2014 was that they would lock down the final two innings all season. Needless to say, it didn't happen.
Eating $10 million is never a fun thing to do, but I love the message being sent by Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zadi. The Dodgers don't need to keep an awful player just because of his contract. It's time to clean house, hold everyone responsible, and build a winner.
This is a great step in that direction.
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