Spurned!

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Now that Tanaka-san decided to try his luck with the Yankees, what do the Dodgers do? Do they really need another starter?

Yes, yes: “You can never have too much pitching.” And it’s true that after Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu the Dodgers have questions. Will Haren return to his earlier form, or is he now a .500 pitcher? Will Beckett and Billingsley recover fully from their respective injuries? Who knows?

Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo, among others, remain unsigned. Santana and Jimenez received qualifying offers, which means that landing them would cost the Dodgers a draft pick. That seems unlikely, given the team’s imperative to rebuild the farm system gutted by Frank McCourt. Neither Garza nor Arroyo received qualifying offers, which could put them in play.

I dunno. I think they need to get Hanley Ramirez’s contract extended before offering more money to any of those guys.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN both Tweet that the Dodgers have signed ex-Angel Chone Figgins to a minor league contract and invited him to camp as a non-roster guy. If he’s got anything at all left (he sat out last year and is 36 years old) he could be one of the utility guys the Dodgers desperately need.

10 thoughts on “Spurned!”

  1. Swiped from, of all places, comments at dodgers.com. By a Cards fan who seems to be complimentary of the Dodgers also. Good for a chuckle, or 3.

    FireCapt50 21 hours ago
    Honorable Tanaka-San would rather freeze to death in Central Park than
    bask in the warm sunshine of Chavez Ravine. Honorable Wife not happy.
    Honorable children not happy. Honorable Yankees finish 3rd in AL East.
    Honorable Cashman commit Hari-Kari.

  2. Wasn’t Chone Figgins Dee Gordon a decade ago? Sorry, was never a fan even during his “good” years with Anaheim.

    • No, he was a lot better than Dee for half-a-dozen years with the Angels. See Mark Saxon at ESPN.

      Over a six-year stretch ending in 2009, Chone Figgins — who will be competing for a bench job on the Dodgers this spring — was one of the best leadoff hitters and most versatile players in baseball.

      He averaged 632 plate appearances while playing every position other
      than pitcher, first base and catcher. He batted .292, got on base at a
      .362 rate and averaged 44 stolen bases.

  4. On Topic: No, Dodgers don’t need to sign more pitchers, lest they block younger players who deserve a fair shot. Too bad you can’t have young talent that also has years of MLB experience (except for a few like Kersh).

    The team talks about getting younger. But it seems Ned may be having trouble absorbing this message completely.

    And, yes–extend Hanley. Now would be good.