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.
Showing posts with label Gibbons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gibbons. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Gibbons resigns as Podsednik walks
The Dodgers made a couple of moves with their outfielder today, as Jay Gibbons has agreed on a one-year deal, while Scott Podsednik has declined his option to become a free agent. Gibbons's deal will be worth $650,000. Podsednik turned down $2 million.
Gibbons was an interesting story last season, as he tore up Triple-A to the tune of a .347 average with 19 home runs. When he was called up in August to the big club, he hit .280 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 37 games mostly in left field.
For this cheap, it's a good sign by the Dodgers. Gibbons showed some signs of having pop left in his bat, and for the Dodgers, they'll take that any way they can get it. Who knows if the Dodgers will make a big splash and sign a slugger, but I can see him getting some time in left field and being a key pinch-hitter.
As for Podsednik, the word is that even with declining his option, he's still talking to the club about coming back. Not too sure how serious those talks are, however. Seems obvious to me that the Dodgers didn't want to pay him $2 million.
If he does sign elsewhere, it's really not a big loss. He's a good source of speed at the top of the order, but he only had a .313 OBP when he came to the Dodgers. That's just not good enough, especially on a team that lacks power. Plus, he was 5-for-8 in stolen base attempts in 39 games, so it's not like he was setting the world on fire. A decent player, but not one they'll miss.
Gibbons was an interesting story last season, as he tore up Triple-A to the tune of a .347 average with 19 home runs. When he was called up in August to the big club, he hit .280 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 37 games mostly in left field.
For this cheap, it's a good sign by the Dodgers. Gibbons showed some signs of having pop left in his bat, and for the Dodgers, they'll take that any way they can get it. Who knows if the Dodgers will make a big splash and sign a slugger, but I can see him getting some time in left field and being a key pinch-hitter.
As for Podsednik, the word is that even with declining his option, he's still talking to the club about coming back. Not too sure how serious those talks are, however. Seems obvious to me that the Dodgers didn't want to pay him $2 million.
If he does sign elsewhere, it's really not a big loss. He's a good source of speed at the top of the order, but he only had a .313 OBP when he came to the Dodgers. That's just not good enough, especially on a team that lacks power. Plus, he was 5-for-8 in stolen base attempts in 39 games, so it's not like he was setting the world on fire. A decent player, but not one they'll miss.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Say goodbye to Anderson
At long last, the Dodgers did something that it didn't look like they would do - get rid of Garret Anderson.
Anderson was designed for assignment on Sunday to make room for Jay Gibbons. This marks the end of a miserable season for Anderson, who put together a .181 average, two homers, and 12 RBIs in 155 at-bats. Yikes.
To put it in perspective just how bad of a season he was having, he was second-to-last in batting average for people with at least 100 at-bats.
The Dodgers can certainly say they gave Anderson every single chance possible to turn things around, but it just didn't happen. Had he not come in with the reputation of one of the best lefty hitters during his time, I highly doubt he would have been granted nearly this much time to play better.
I thought the signing of Anderson was a good idea. Like I said, he was a great hitter during his prime. I think people forget just how much he meant to those Angels' teams he was on in the late 90's - early 2000's. He had four straight seasons of well over 100 RBIs.
The hope was that he'd be the primary lefty off the bench. It was a good idea in theory, but it never came close to working out. His highest average of any month was June... where he hit .217! It's been said that adjusting to a part-time player requires a whole lot of patience, and maybe that's something he just never could get used to.
In his place will be Gibbons, who's certainly enjoying a big year at Triple-A Albuquerque. He was mashing the ball for a .347 average, 19 homers, and 83 RBIs. He's the former Baltimore Orioles slugger who has 121 career home runs.
He also was named in the Mitchell Report as being one of "those guys." I guess he can just get in line and join the others. All of that aside, he's certainly made the most of the second life he was granted with the Dodgers. Here's hoping he can get some big hits for them, because we all know they can sure use it.
Anderson was designed for assignment on Sunday to make room for Jay Gibbons. This marks the end of a miserable season for Anderson, who put together a .181 average, two homers, and 12 RBIs in 155 at-bats. Yikes.
To put it in perspective just how bad of a season he was having, he was second-to-last in batting average for people with at least 100 at-bats.
The Dodgers can certainly say they gave Anderson every single chance possible to turn things around, but it just didn't happen. Had he not come in with the reputation of one of the best lefty hitters during his time, I highly doubt he would have been granted nearly this much time to play better.
I thought the signing of Anderson was a good idea. Like I said, he was a great hitter during his prime. I think people forget just how much he meant to those Angels' teams he was on in the late 90's - early 2000's. He had four straight seasons of well over 100 RBIs.
The hope was that he'd be the primary lefty off the bench. It was a good idea in theory, but it never came close to working out. His highest average of any month was June... where he hit .217! It's been said that adjusting to a part-time player requires a whole lot of patience, and maybe that's something he just never could get used to.
In his place will be Gibbons, who's certainly enjoying a big year at Triple-A Albuquerque. He was mashing the ball for a .347 average, 19 homers, and 83 RBIs. He's the former Baltimore Orioles slugger who has 121 career home runs.
He also was named in the Mitchell Report as being one of "those guys." I guess he can just get in line and join the others. All of that aside, he's certainly made the most of the second life he was granted with the Dodgers. Here's hoping he can get some big hits for them, because we all know they can sure use it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)