Los Angeles Dodgers Sign Adam Kennedy To 1 Year/$800k Deal + Analysis

According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed infielder Adam Kennedy to a 1 year deal worth $800k with the chance to earn $150k in incentives based on plate appearances.

It’s assumed that the addition of Kennedy will help round out the bench core, as he provides a left handed bat that can play 1B, 2B, and 3B.

The breakdown of the WAR is -12.0 batting, -1 baserunning, -0.5 defense, 1 position, and 10 replacement.

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I chalked him up for 300 plate appearances, so I assumed the $150k in incentives wouldn’t kick in. The exact playing time is not that important to the value anyway, as the more playing time he gets, the worse he projects.

For his defense and baserunning, Kennedy actually holds his own effectively at all three positions and he runs the bases well enough, so he doesn’t figure to be a liability for the team in either department.

With the bat, Kennedy has put up slash lines of .249/.327/.327/.655 and .234/.277/.355/.632 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Needless to say, that’s quite poor, which is reflected in the respective .303 and .278 wOBA totals. His BABIP has been a bit below expectations for two straight seasons, so there’s a chance his numbers could take a uptick, but the numbers might simply be about Kennedy failing to make solid contact anymore. I ended up projecting him at a .285 wOBA, and given that he’ll be 36, it’s almost taking the high side of things.

I don’t think I need to tell you that the signing is looking utterly pointless, as he’s a replacement level player at best. For the Dodgers, considering his replacement might already be a better player than he is, I don’t see the point in guaranteeing him anything.

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As I’ve said many times before, the lack of funds from the owner in recent years has prevented Ned Colletti from repeating his disastrous free agent signings from early in his career, and in a vacuum you can’t point to Matt Treanor or Adam Kennedy or Mark Ellis or Juan Rivera deals as significantly damaging. However, all those deals do continue the trend of Colletti’s poor asset management, where 1 million is wasted here and 4 million is wasted there, all on mediocre upgrades that lead to either reduced roster spots for better players or lack of funds to sign actual impact players.

Painful.