Dotel added to the bullpen

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.

Ely sent back down, Link is back up

After getting pounded in his last two starts, the Dodgers have officially sent John Ely back to Triple-A Albuquerque. In his place will be Jon Link, recalled for the fourth time already this season.

Ely has ridden a roller coaster of success and failure this year. He was 3-1 in May with a 2.18 ERA, and looked like quite the hidden gem in the Juan Pierre deal. The rest of the league sure caught up to him and fast, because his ERA has shot up over two runs since the start of June.

The biggest issue has been his command. On June 1 after his seventh start, his ERA was at 2.54 and he walked only eight hitters. In seven starts since then, his ERA is up to 4.63 and he's walked 17 hitters.

He's shown the ability to gave good control, so maybe he just needs some time to get that confidence back. It's not like the Dodgers have a whole bunch of starters they can turn to, so if he figures things out in the minors, he'll be back.

The Dodgers won't need a fifth starter until June 19 against the Giants, and the early favorite appears to be James McDonald (remember him?). In 13 starts this season in the minors, McDonald is 5-1 with a 4.45 ERA. Keep in mind that playing in Albuquerque inflates numbers, so it's not quite as bad as it may appear. He's struck out 63 in 62 2/3 innings, a very good stat.

Of course, there's also the possibility of acquiring a starter via trade. Stay tuned on that.

McDonald gets slashed in latest roster cuts

If James McDonald is ever going to figure things out, he'll have to do it in the minors.

McDonald has been cut from the big club after a horrendous spring. Just how bad has he been so far? Try a 20.25 ERA after only 5 1/3 innings pitched. Whoa.

He certainly appeared to be one of the lead dogs in getting that fifth spot in the rotation. For those of you that have forgotten, he was in the same position last year and won it initially. Then the regular season started, and he pitched his way back into the bullpen. An 8.16 ERA in April included 14 walks in 14 1/3 innings.

Once he hit the 'pen, though, he was actually pretty good. Pitching 49 1/3 innings in middle-relief, he put together a 2.72 ERA.

His best bet is that he can find a niche in the bullpen again this season. Although, he most likely be a starter down on the farm, so who knows, maybe he'll get things straightened. But, he sure has a long way to go if this spring is any indication.

Milton called up to start in Florida

After being out of the Majors for nearly two years, Eric Milton will be called up to start against the Marlins on Saturday. The move switches Jeff Weaver back to the long relief role in the bullpen, and James McDonald will go down to Triple-A.

First, a look at Milton. He was one of several free agent signings in Spring Training by the Dodgers, and he competed for the fifth starter job. It ended up going to McDonald, so Milton went to Triple-A Albuquerque. He's started seven games, going 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA. Looking deeper into his stats, his WHIP is an excellent 1.00, surrendering a mere 27 hits and six walks in 35 innings. I think he's ready.

The final straw for McDonald came Wednesday night. With the Dodgers leading the Phillies 9-2 in the ninth, McDonald came on to seal the deal. He got the first out, then walked the following batter. Joe Torre wasted no time in yanking him, clearly upset about a walk with such a huge lead. McDonald may as well have kept walking to Albuquerque.

As for Weaver, I think the long relief role suits him well at this stage in his career. He won't be asked to pitch as many innings as a starter, and he has the experience to get Major League hitters out when needed. I like the move.

McDonald and Weaver swap spots

Joe Torre has made the decision to place the struggling James McDonald back in the bullpen and give his next start to Jeff Weaver. The move can't be too surprising given how completely opposite each pitched Thursday night against the Padres.

I talked about this yesterday and my guess was that Weaver would be kept in the bullpen, but I can certainly understand the move. McDonald will now be the long reliever, which makes sense given the return of Cory Wade to pitch late innings. Plus Ramon Troncoso hasn't surrendered a run in his last 10.2 innings.

Who knows how long Weaver will last as a starter, but it could be permanent. An why not? He's a veteran who knows what it takes to win in the NL West. All the Dodgers are looking for is someone to give them some steady innings, which is what McDonald just couldn't do. Each man should be comfortable with their new roles, so it's a good thing.

Rotation tweaked a bit for this week

With Eric Stults pitching so well on Saturday in Arizona, he will be getting another start this week as Joe Torre has made a couple of changes to the rotation, mainly due to the day off on Tuesday.

Instead of having James McDonald go Thursday in the last game against the Giants, he will be pushed back to Sunday against the Rockies. Stults will get that Thursday start.

Torre says this was done because of the off day and has nothing to do with McDonald's shaky start on Friday. I think I believe about half of that, as Stults is clearly the better option right now. For whatever reason, he handles starting much better than relieving. Plus, McDonald will be used out of the bullpen this week, which is more his strength. It could work out.

In the long run, Stults has a chance to get that 5th starter job, moving McDonald to the 'pen for good. That would mean a guy like Blake DeWitt or Ramon Troncoso would have to get optioned, but so be it. Having McDonald in the 'pen makes their depth a whole lot better, so Stults' start on Thursday will be big for everyone.

McDonald annoited the 5th starter

James McDonald has been officially named the 5th starter to begin the season with the Dodgers. For about a week or so this had been the talk, but Joe Torre went on record with it yesterday.

Good for him. After watching him at the end of last season, it was obvious he was another prospect with really good stuff and a really good future. His numbers this spring haven't been very pretty - 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA - but he's given up 3 runs in his last 10.1 IP. There's plenty of reason to be excited.

But I can't help but comment that while McDonald has stepped up, he was given a huge boost by the miserable pitching of others. The Dodgers were hoping to find lightning in a bottle like they have so many times in the past by bringing in forgotten veterans and seeing who would step up. Shawn Estes, Eric Milton, Jeff Weaver, and Claudio Vargas had their chances.

And all of them failed miserably.

Estes is now trying to become a left-handed specialist, which could prolong his already shaky career. Weaver is going to Triple-A to get more innings in. I have no idea what the plans for Milton and Vargas are, but they all pretty much pitched their way out of contention.

I'm sure the Dodgers wanted to see McDonald at least start off in the bullpen and work his way up, but they have no choice. Jason Schmidt still isn't ready to pitch every 5th day, so that didn't work either.

Ready or not, here comes McDonald. His first start will be on Friday in Arizona.

5th starter battle is heating up

*** UPDATE ***

Shawn Estes is done. The Dodgers did themselves a favor by cutting the veteran lefty with a hefty 8.44 ERA in 5 games this spring. He says he can still get people out. Maybe he meant Little League.

***

With Jason Schmidt not being able to grab a stranglehold on the 5th starter spot, the Dodgers find themselves in the same position they did last year at this time - who to put in that spot. From what I can tell, it's down to 3 guys: James McDonald, Claudio Vargas, and Josh Lindblom.

Now I know what you're thinking, Who's Josh Lindblom? Trust me, I did the same thing. Here's what I found. He was the 2nd round pick by the Dodgers in the 2008 draft after pitching first at Tennessee and then at Purdue. Currently, he's the #4 ranked pitcher in the Dodgers' farm system. He's only pitched in 35 Minor League innings, but that didn't stop him from K'ing 3 in 2 IP against the Royals the other night. Scouts were rightfully impressed.

Even with that, I'd still be surprised if he does get the nod. But as far as making the team? Well, he did pitch at the AA level last year, so a promotion to AAA would make sense.

McDonald came off of 5 lousy relief appearances this spring to pitch 3 flawless innings against the Indians on Saturday. He's pitched 11 1/3 innings in the Bigs late last year, including the postseason, without allowing a run. The 2-time Dodgers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year would seem like a favorite for the job. He's got quality pitcher written all over him.

The last is Claudio Vargas, who is already on his 5th team in 7 seasons. He has a 6.57 ERA this spring, yet guys like Shawn Estes and Eric Milton have been so bad, that's actually considered good. That's pretty sad. Needless to say, I have never little confidence that he could be even a decent pitcher.

My guess is that most fans would like to see McDonald get a crack at this spot. He's definitely got the stuff to get the job done. He's also 24 with only 6 games of experience in the Majors. The Dodgers already have Clayton Kershaw in the rotation, so will they want another young gun in there as well?

I think the team would definitely want a veteran to step up and take the job, but that's just not happening. Because of that, we may be seeing the beginning of the James McDonald era in the starting rotation.

McDonald replaces Troncoso

Here's a surprise that I'm sure young James McDonald never thought he'd hear: he will replace Ramon Troncoso as the final man on the 25-man roster for the NLDS. Joe Torre had originally said it would be Troncoso over Scott Proctor, but obviously changed his mind after a night thinking about it.

I guess the thinking is that McDonald has a fresh, young arm that hitters aren't familiar with yet. I can go for that. I'm not sure what the chances of him pitching a meaningful inning is, but we shall see.

He's only appeared in 4 games, but they've all been good. Twice he's pitched 2 innings, and twice 1, and hasn't given up a run in any of them. 5 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings is great. True, it's not exactly a big piece of the season that we're judging him on, but I think he's earned his way to the postseason. Good for him.

Callups and returns for September

The start of September means it's roster expansion time, and here's what the Dodgers have cooking:

Callups:

• Eric Stults, left-handed pitcher
  
• James McDonald, right-handed pitcher
• Jason Repko (remember him?), outfielder

Back from the DL:

• Andruw Jones, outfielder and overall letdown
• Delwyn Young, outfielder
  
• Scott Proctor, right-handed reliever

3 more pitchers gives the Dodgers more depth out of their bullpen, where guys like Hong-Chih Kuo and Chan Ho Park have been overworked lately. Scott Elbert is already up, and he will be relied upon as well.

I've long since given up on Jones, mostly because he's a joke who has turned out to be the biggest free agent bust this season, and possibly in a long time. Young can provide a good bat late in games when they need some pop. Who knows what to expect from Repko, but if he truly is healthy, he'll give the team good energy.