Yes, this is the final installment of the 2012 Season Review for the Dodgers, and if you want to catch up on the others, then you can check out this tag here.

Otherwise, in the tables listed below, I have calculated the WAR (along with its components), value, and surplus value of every player on the Dodgers payroll in 2012.

It’s not meant to be taken literally (“A.J. Ellis is a better player than Matt Kemp!“), but I always learn stuff about the team that I hadn’t previously realized when I do it.

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The three best players on the Dodgers, according to WAR, were A.J. Ellis, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier, in order. The most valuable players, according to surplus value, were A.J. Ellis, Luis Cruz, and Mark Ellis.

Best hitters? Kemp, Ethier, and A.J. Ellis. Best baserunners? Dee Gordon, Shane Victorino, and Hanley Ramirez. Best fielders? Mark Ellis, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Cruz.

The three worst players on the Dodgers, according to WAR, were Gordon, Juan Rivera, and Alex Castellanos. The least valuable players, according to surplus value (excluding dead money), were Juan Uribe, James Loney, and Rivera.

Worst hitters? Gordon, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Uribe. Worst baserunners? A.J. Ellis, Adrian Gonzalez, and Matt Treanor. Worst fielders? Gordon, Kemp, Ramirez.

In related news, did you realize the Dodgers are STILL paying Juan Pierre? Good grief.

The three best pitchers on the Dodgers, according to WAR, were Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Chris Capuano, in order. The most valuable pitchers, according to surplus value, were Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, and Capuano.

The three worst pitchers on the Dodgers, according to WAR, were John Ely, Matt Guerrier, and Mike MacDougal. The least valuable players, according to surplus value (excluding dead money), were Ted Lilly, Guerrier, and Ely.

In related news, you can see why the Dodgers want to upgrade their rotation, as the team defense was decidedly average, but the staff RA WAR outperformed their FIP WAR by six wins.

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If there are any questions, let me know below.

Andre Ethier

Andre Ethier, in his age-30 season and coming off a couple of years in which he had to deal with injuries, spent time on the DL again this past season, which limited him to just 146 games. Oblique injury aside, Dre actually had one of his best campaigns as a pro, posting a ~3.1 WAR that included average baserunning (~0.0) and below-average fielding (~-3.0).

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With the bat, Ethier posted a .284/.351/.460/.811 slash line with a .350 wOBA and 124 wRC+. While his power did jump from the previous year (.129 to .176 ISO), which should have been expected with his ’11 pinkie injury healed, he did display a troubling tendency at the plate, as he walked less (10.5/8.1 BB%) and struck out more (18.7/20.1 K%) than in 2011. His 2012 BABIP of .333 is consistent with his career mark of .324 and his average on balls-in-play in all but one of his major league seasons, so luck doesn’t really factor into the larger picture for Andre.

While his walks and strikeouts make one pause, what doesn’t shock us anymore is his continued ineptitude against southpaws. In 2012, Andre hit – if we can even use that word – .222/.276/.330/.606 against lefty hurlers, and he was somehow worse than his career slash line of .238/.296/.352/.649. Simply put, Ethier can’t, won’t, and never will hit lefties with the amount of consistency that an everyday player should. Sure, he’ll garner the occasional base-knock against one of his own kind, but Don Mattingly would be wise to institute a firmer platoon in right if Ned Colletti could ever actually provide him with a platoon partner who isn’t as putrid as your Juan Rivera-types Uncle Ned always gravitates towards.

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Heading into year one of a 5-year, $85 million dollar contract that has a great chance of becoming a $100 million deal, Andre Ethier no longer needs to be the second-best bat on the squad, but if struggles in the box continue for a couple of new additions, he could end up being the second-best offensive player once again in 2013 … which might not be a good thing.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Left field has been, is, and will in all likelihood continue to be, a vast wasteland for the Dodgers. That is, unless Carl Crawford returns to his Tampa Bay form in 2013 or the Yasiel Puig era — whenever that actually begins — proves to be worth the wait.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s review 2012, which was a comedy of mediocrity flanking Matt Kemp‘s right side.

Shane Victorino

I start with Shane Victorino, not because he was any good, but because he carries with him name value. Coming off a career year in 2011, he dropped off significantly in 2012. Following a campaign in which he slashed .279/.355/.491/.846 with a .368 wOBA, The Flyin’ Hawaiian hit just .255/.321/.383/.704 with a .310 wOBA this past season. That line fell even further after he was dealt to the Dodgers, as he hit a putrid .245/.316/.351/.667 with a .297 wOBA in Dodger Blue.

Known as an elite baserunner with a great glove in center, some pop, and decent on-base skills, Victorino’s offensive numbers crashed across the board in 2012 from his 2011 and career marks. He set or tied career worsts in ISO (.128), OBP (.321), wOBA (.310), wRC+ (94), and SLG% (.383).

Shane still managed to provide some value through his legs (~5.0 baserunning) and glove (~2.5 fielding), and he ended up posting a ~3.0 WAR in 2012, but only ~1.0 WAR after the trade.

Reports have Shane seeking a long-term deal this year as he hits free agency, and though he’s intimated at returning only as a starter, with the aforementioned Crawford and Puig signed to long-term deals themselves — not to mention the fact that heading into his age-32 season — there’s no place in a crowded Los Angeles outfield for the three-time Dodger.

Bobby Abreu

After being released by the Angels and qualifying to be a Dodger based on his “veteranness”, Bobby Abreu started 42 games in left for the Dodgers in 2012, the second-most of any player on the team behind the previously-discussed Victorino.

After a splashy start to his Dodger stint (.318/.430/.424/.854 in his first 24 games, buoyed by a .438 BABIP, no less), Abreu was right back to the player that he was at the end of his Angels career, the one that got him DFA’d: .209/.325/.302/.627 over his final 68 games as a Dodger, which included a trip to the minors.

He won’t be back. Please listen to that, Ned Colletti.

No.

Juan Rivera

Juan Rivera started 30 games in left, hitting .282/.313/.376/.689 in the process. As he started more games at first than in left in 2012, he’ll get a more depressing detailed write-up in that Season Review.

Let’s just say his WAR was ~-0.3 and move on to other, less predictable matters.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Adrian Gonzalez

When the Dodgers acquired Adrian Gonzalez from the Boston Red Sox, I saw a plethora of Dodger fans begin to assert wild and crazy things. Not only were the Dodgers guaranteed of making the playoffs, but they were a lock to make the World Series on the back of a hero who was absolutely the right acquisition because of the dubious logic of him fitting in with the community and what not.

With all of the variables in baseball, I found these claims to be ridiculous. Putting aside the unforeseen injuries to Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, and Kenley Jansen, Gonzalez’s acquisition did not portend to an immediate success because of the small sample size of the remaining season and because it wasn’t really the same A-Gon of pre-2012.

No, this A-Gon was potentially still dealing with ramifications from shoulder and back injuries, had seen his power sapped, and had seemingly forgotten how to draw a walk (10.6% career, 10.3% in 2011, 6.1% in 2012). While an obvious upgrade over James Loney‘s corpse, success was no sure thing, as he was in the midst of his worst professional season since becoming a full-time starter. What would end up disappointing people in 2012 was two-fold: far too high expectations and a stretch in which Gonzalez was atrocious at the plate, to the tune of a .235/.292/.346/.638 line over a 20-game span.

Following an MVP-caliber 2011 in which he hit .338/.410/.548/.958 with a .407 wOBA, .210 ISO, 154 wRC+, and 75 extra-base hits, A-Gon’s slash line fell to .299/.344/.463/.807 with a .346 wOBA, .164 ISO, 115 wRC+, and 66 extra-base hits. Again, those numbers still trump anything his predecessor in Blue could dream of, and his numbers after the trade still stand above Loney’s, but will they be enough in the long-run for such a high-priced player? It’s yet to be seen.

On the positive side, Gonzalez was still a very productive player, no doubt, saving ~15.5 runs with his excellent glove and posting a WAR of ~3.4. Also, Adrian did finish strong, mashing to the tune of a .330/.365/.495/.860 line. As he won’t even turn 31 until May, I expect Gonzalez to rebound and be better with the lumber, ending up closer to a ~4 WAR player, at least for a season or two.

James Loney

Prior to his trade to Red Sox Nation, Loney was having yet another putrid season, hitting .254/.302/.344/.646 with a .278 wOBA and .090 ISO. Even his most ardent fans were less boisterous about how the #RBIMachine would bust out at any moment, and though the financial ramifications of the Boston deal worry me, and the deal as a whole doesn’t thrill me, I was very pleased to see the Sox take him away.

Loney leaves Los Angeles as a failed prospect who could never hit enough to warrant his job at a premium offensive position. The only real role in baseball that he has left is as a late-inning defensive replacement, as he saved ~3.3 runs in 2012 prior to his move east.

Juan Rivera

Rivera was the right-handed half of the #Fail platoon Don Mattingly trotted out at first prior to Gonzalez’s arrival. He started 39 games and appeared in 54 at first, hitting just .226/.268/.404/.672 while being a liability on the basepaths (-1.4 BsR) and with a first baseman’s glove (-17.6 UZR/150 in over 300 innings). He managed to land in that rarefied air of posting a negative fWAR, clocking in at -0.8 for the year.

How he could possibly receive anything other than a minor-league invitation to Spring Training in 2013 from any team is beyond me, but if anyone can make that theoretical minor-league deal into a guaranteed major-league one, it would be Uncle Ned.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Baseball America: Dodgers have hired Patrick Guerrero as their Latin American Coordinator.

Guerrero, who lives in the Dominican Republic, will run the organization’s scouting throughout Latin America. The Mariners had fired Guerrero as their Latin American coordinator earlier this month at the same time they announced that Bob Engle, their vice president of international scouting, had decided to leave the organization. Seattle’s decision to fire Guerrero, according to Baseball America’s sources, was made above Engle, an unusual move for a Latin American scout. Both Guerrero and Engle had been with the Mariners since 2000.

Baseball America: Bob Engle has been added to the Dodgers staff as the Vice President Of International Scouting.

The Dodgers have made more changes to their international scouting department, most notably with today’s hiring of Bob Engle as their vice president of international scouting.

Bob Elliot reported last night on Twitter that the Dodgers were going to hire Engle, whose contract with the Mariners as their vice president of international scouting ended yesterday.

Word in the industry is that there could be more major changes coming to the team’s front office, but the team has already confirmed that Engle will bring aboard several of his former lieutenants with the Mariners to work for the Dodgers.

He’ll bring on scouts that have worked with him with the Mariners.

Three other scouts who had worked for Engle in Seattle will join his staff with the Dodgers. Pat Kelly is coming in as the team’s Pacific Rim coordinator after holding the same title in Seattle. Jamie Storvick, who resides in Taiwan, will also be heavily involved in the team’s Pacific Rim work. Gene Grimaldi will help lead the team’s efforts in Europe. The Dodgers are also bringing in Mike Tosar, who had been out of baseball but also previously worked with Engle in Seattle, as a special assignment scout.

Dodgers continue to add quality staff, which can only be seen as a positive.

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MLB.com: Todd Coffey, Juan Rivera, and Matt Treanor had their options declined by the team.

The Dodgers declined the 2013 contract options for pitcher Todd Coffey, outfielder Juan Rivera and catcher Matt Treanor on Monday.

Coffey, who missed the second half of the season after undergoing his second Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, was bought out of a $2.5 million salary for $300,000.

Rivera, who shuttled between left field and first base until the trades for Shane Victorino and Adrian Gonzalez, was bought out of a $4 million salary for $500,000.

Treanor, who saw only sporadic action backing up A.J. Ellis, was bought out of a $950,000 salary for $150,000.

No shockers here. We’re all just glad they’re gone, I figure.

Los Angeles Times: Chad Billingsley seems to be on track to pitch in 2013.

“It looks like he’s going to be ready for the 2013 season,” said Dave Stewart, Billingsley’s agent.

Billingsley touched 94 mph with his fastball and threw an assortment of pitches, including his four-seamer, two-seamer, curveball and changeup. Billingsley threw 35 to 40 pitches.

One still has to wonder how long this will last though. I haven’t heard of too many success stories in regards to rehabbing torn elbow ligaments.

MLB.com: Kenley Jansen is on the road to recovery after heart surgery.

“I feel so much better now than I did at the end of the season,” said Jansen, who has recovered enough from last week’s heart surgery to take part in a Halloween candy giveaway on Monday at the Home Depot Center soccer stadium.

“I was dragging all day long at the end,” he said. “I can tell I’ve got so much more energy. Now I look at this soccer field and just want to get out there and start playing. I’m feeling so good.”

Jansen underwent a successful three-hour ablation surgery performed by Dr. Koonwalee Nademanee at White Memorial Hospital on Oct. 23. During the procedure, the abnormal tissue in his heart was identified and then cauterized to stop the erratic electrical signals sent from the area.

Jansen said his heart went into an irregular beat when the surgery started, helping doctors quickly pinpoint the areas needing attention. He said he still has some stiffness in his groin area, where two small incisions were made, but otherwise feels better than he had.

“It wasn’t scary at all,” said the 25-year-old. “I just wanted to get it over with. I feel it’s a relief and it will be good for me for the rest of my life. I just wanted to get it done, and I know this doctor is one of the great experts and I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Baseball aside, I just hope this ends his heart issues once and for all.

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FanGraphs: Jeff Sullivan thinks that Brandon League‘s contract is an example of inefficiency by the team.

Yet I might just be skipping around the major point. Brandon League has closer-type stuff, and the Dodgers want League to close, but the Dodgers already had an effective closer in Kenley Jansen. Granted, Jansen just underwent heart surgery, but his outlook is very good and he intends to be at full strength come spring training. Last year Jansen had 99 strikeouts in 65 appearances. He’s dominant when he’s pitching, and on top of that, he’s cheap. So the Dodgers aren’t paying League to fill a gaping void. That makes this move seem more unnecessary.

And League has supposedly figured it out before, only to lose it again within weeks or months. The fact that he had to re-discover the feel for his splitter says that, previously, he has lost the feel for his splitter after having had it. League, at his absolute best, is a very good reliever worth millions of dollars, but he’s seldom at his absolute best and he’s hardly been the model of consistency. The Dodgers didn’t just make a godawful move. They made a move that’s easier to criticize than defend. Individual inefficiencies aren’t a big deal, but individual inefficiencies do add up, and the Dodgers seem to be adding them up.

Baseball Prospectus: R.J. Anderson doesn’t think history will view the deal favorably.

Handing out a three-year deal to any non-elite reliever is asking for a lousy return on investment—ditto the $7.5 million average annual value. Why then are the Dodgers marching into the land of poor ROI? It might be that Colletti suspects the rest of the league, flush with cash, will hit the market with similar ferocity; causing an apparent overpay to blend in with the norm in the coming weeks. The chicken-or-the-egg scenario here is whether Colletti’s attempt to beat the market inadvertently set the market, but that’s a topic for another day. In a market with so many right-handed relief options available, it seems fair to ask if the endowment effect fooled the Dodgers into liking League more than they should.

In all likelihood, no one, save League and his agency, will stamp this move with a gold star in three years. You can make sense of it from the Dodgers’ point of view if you want to, however.

Sounds familiar, so I guess I’m not the only one thinking along those lines.

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FanGraphs: Does throwing a lot of strikes indicate a pitcher who is at less risk for injury? A case study by Jeff Zimmerman seems to suggest that.

The Dodgers have announced that all members of the 2012 coaching staff will return in 2013 with the lone exception being hitting coach Dave Hansen, whom the club has parted ways with after he spent just over a season in the position. While it’s true that this squad was fairly terrible offensively for most of the season, I can’t and won’t pin the blame on Hansen. Primarily because I don’t believe a hitting coach has that much of an effect on the hitting performance of a team as a whole.

Teams that can hit end up doing so because they have talented offensive players, which the club lacked for much of the year. As they later showed, the early offensive outburst was a mirage, and the reinforcements arrived too late to make an adequate judgement on how a hitting coach may have affected their performance.

Factor in the multiple injuries suffered by Matt Kemp, the late arrivals of upgrades Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez, and the light-hitting/atrocious players Ned Colletti chose to have on the team to begin with – Dee Gordon, James Loney, Juan Rivera, to name a few – and the poor offensive showing was really to be expected.

Hansen is an easy scapegoat for the team’s struggles, but the concern should be fielding a team of talented offensive players who walk, hit for power, and run the bases effectively, and hopefully those players manage to stay healthy over the course of the season. The blame for the struggles of the Dodgers goes a lot deeper than the hitting coach, and it’s always rather pathetic when they get the ax for the failings of others.

Clayton Kershaw has an impingement of the right hip and threw off a mound on Friday prior to making the start Sunday. I’ve made my feelings on the topic known before: they should shut him down.

Don Mattingly, via Dylan Hernandez, said:

“The last thing I want to be involved with is pitching Clayton Kershaw hurt. If I knew something … I couldn’t sit here for it.”

And yet, that’s exactly what he and the organization did.

Though doctors said Kershaw couldn’t hurt his hip any worse, but he could have hurt his arm compensating for the injured hip, which Chad explained earlier and Orel Hershiser explained during the game.

We all should remember how well compensating for an injured body part worked for another dynamite hurler, Eric Gagne. I’ve said it a thousand times, but again, there is baseball beyond 2012.

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Hanley Ramirez left Sunday’s game after fouling a ball off of his leg. X-rays on his shin were negative.

Despite his struggles of late, the last thing the Dodgers needed was another serious injury at the end of the year.

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Chad Billingsley played catch with medical director Stan Conte on Friday. Ted Lilly underwent shoulder surgery Friday and can resume throwing in 6-to-8 weeks.

The Dodgers have to hope both will be healthy for 2013 or the rotation might be a bit of a mess, at least initially.

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Shane Victorino missed the series against Cincinnati with a sore wrist.

I suppose this is an indictment of both his performance and the offense of late (since Juan Rivera did nothing), but it was hard to say anybody even noticed much that he was gone.

Paco Rodriguez, the lefty reliever out of University Of Florida and the Dodgers‘ second round pick in 2012, was recalled to replace the injured Chad Billingsley, who found himself on the 60-day DL with his elbow injury that may require offseason surgery.

Rodriguez becomes the first 2012 draftee to debut in The Show. He’ll help out with lefty reliever depth out of the pen with Scott Elbert and Ted Lilly on the mend.

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Bobby Abreu was recalled from AAA Albuquerque. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, Chris Withrow was momentarily recalled before being placed on the 60-day DL.

He should help with bench depth and could spell struggling Shane Victorino from time to time at this rate.

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Alex Castellanos was recalled from AAA.

He’ll likely be a right-handed bench addition, but there’s a case to be made that maybe the Dodgers are better off hoping he can find his stroke and make some quality starts in the outfield. Would be hard to be worse than Juan Rivera.

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Josh Wall also got a call-up from the Isotopes.

Will look to provide depth to a suddenly thin bullpen arrangement.

Now that rosters have expanded, let the speculation on who gets the September call begin!

Pump the brakes a bit though, because unfortunately for the people who wish to see young players show their stuff: 1) the 40-man roster is full 2) guys on the 60-day DL are due to return 3) um … the team just traded away all of the top prospects that were close to contributing.

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One of the primary issues is that Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands are still on the Dodgers 40-man roster, so it creates a bit of a mess in terms of roster spots. This is especially true because Ted Lilly (maybe) and Dee Gordon are set to return, which means guys will have to get designated just to fit them in. Perhaps Chad Billingsley, Kenley Jansen, or Scott Elbert could be placed on the 60-day DL, but that creates more holes, not less.

Either way, guys like Adam Kennedy, Juan Uribe, Matt Angle, Elian Herrera, and Stephen Fife might not want to get too comfortable on the 40-man, depending on what direction the team decides on. However, due to the roster crunch, those hoping for players not on the 40-man roster to get called — like John Ely, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Bobby Abreu — might be left disappointed.

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Among those who I feel could help the team immediately are Tim Federowicz, Javy Guerra, Josh Wall, and Alex Castellanos. I already went over the reasons Guerra could contribute, as I believed sending him down to begin with was foolish. Wall, despite just an average year at AAA, has the raw stuff catch fire and help stabilize a suddenly shaky bullpen. Federowicz is not as good a hitter as his .296/.371/.465/.836 line in AAA would indicate, but he’s a good defender and is an upgrade over Matt Treanor right now. Castellanos could provide right-handed thump off the bench, as his .338/.431/.610/1.041 line in AAA would somewhat indicate. I’d rather see him get a chance than continue to run Juan Rivera out there, that’s for sure.

Other possibilities on the 40-man are Scott Van Slyke and Fife. Van Slyke could do much the same as Castellanos, but I have less confidence in his bat. Still, he can hardly be a worse pinch hitting option than Uribe or Kennedy or Nick Punto. I’m not sure Fife would fit in the bullpen, but if he’s not going to get designated then he could be called up to use as a long man.

Ely, Gwynn, and Abreu could all help, but I have to think they’re long shots due to the roster crunch reasons I mentioned earlier. Personally, I would have no problem designating about a half dozen players, but the team has somehow managed to resist doing that all year, so I don’t see why they would start now. With that said, if a starter goes down with injury, Ely deserves a chance after putting up a 3.20 ERA in 168.2 innings with solid peripherals in that league. Gwynn has put up a .304/.400/.393/.793 line at AAA and I really feel like he has to be added to the 40-man and called up somehow, if for no other reason than to pinch run. If Abreu’s healthy, he could probably do what Shane Victorino is producing in left right now sans the defense, so he could be a useful bench guy.

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Assuming Billingsley, Jansen, and Elbert return from injury, and that Gordon will be back but not Lilly, I would call on Federowicz, Guerra, Wall, Castellanos, Van Slyke, Gwynn, and Abreu while designating Uribe, Angle, and Herrera.

The Dodgers announced moments ago that Jerry Sands would be getting the call from AAA and that Tony Gwynn Jr. has been designated for assignment.

OFFICIAL: @dodgers today designatedTony Gwynn Jr. for assignment and recalled outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands from AAA Albuquerque.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 6, 2012

Sands has done his part to deserve the shot, hitting .286/.368/.521/.889 at AAA, including a BABIP around league average. He’s hitting lefties and righties about equally well, so putting him down as a platoon guy seems a bit asinine, and unlike last year, when he posted a 1.153 OPS at Albuquerque and a .659 OPS away, this year he’s at .964 and .826, respectively.

It’s also worth noting that even if you don’t believe Sands will be a regular in the future, he has put up a .248/.329/.381/.710 line in his MLB career, which puts him 60 points higher than James Loney and Juan Rivera in 2012.

That fact happens to be exactly what I don’t understand about getting rid of Gwynn though.

Mike Petriello doesn’t mind ditching Gwynn because he doesn’t think Gwynn has any utility left for the team. While that’s true, I’m not quite sure what utility the others have either.

Designate plus-plus defender and fourth outfielder, keep two mediocre 1B who are only useful in a platoon and all around useless 3B.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 6, 2012

I guess my argument is less that the team needs Gwynn and more that it needs Rivera, Loney, Juan Uribe, and Adam Kennedy less.

Gwynn’s .232/.276/.293/.570 line is terrible, without a doubt, but he’s still a plus-plus defender that’s better than anybody in the Dodgers outfield by a long shot. The type of player he is has value as a pinch runner, as a defensive replacement, and as an emergency starter — even if they can’t hit.

What utility do Loney, Rivera, Uribe, and Kennedy have? To me, they aren’t even useful off the bench as a pinch hitter (maybe Rivera).

Tony Gwynn Jr.: career .305/.372/.405 hitter in 147 PA as pinch-hitter. Between that and defense, should have been kept instead of Uribe

— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) August 6, 2012

Dodgers had (at least) four guys who are let’s say offensively challenged (Uribe, Loney, Rivera, Gwynn). They cut the best defender

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) August 6, 2012

Regardless, it’s hard to get worked up about it, as we’re likely talking about 50-75 PA for Gwynn and whatever amount of defensive replacement appearances he would have got, but I just disagree that moving Gwynn instead of one of the other four was in the best interests of the Dodgers roster.

As I wrote yesterday, the Dodgers acquired outfielder Shane Victorino from the Phillies in return for reliever Josh Lindblom, AA starter Ethan Martin, and either a player to be named later or cash.

Shane Victorino is returning to the organization that drafted him in 1999. The Dodgers acquired Victorino from the Phillies today for starting pitching prospect Ethan Martin and reliever Josh Lindblom, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown (Twitter link). The deal has been officially announced by both teams, and the Phillies also received a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Josh Lindblom

From 2011 to 2012, in what amounts to about a full season’s worth of work (75 G/77.1 IP), Lindblom has posted a 2.91 ERA/4.02 FIP/4.19 xFIP/3.53 SIERA. He’s been worth around 0.7 WAR in that time period and figures to be around 0.5 to 1.0 WAR annually, depending on whether you believe his defense independent profile or batted ball profile.

After this season, he has five years of team control left, so taking the middle ground of things, he figures to be worth around 4 WAR during that time.

Ethan Martin

I ranked Martin as the 21st best prospect in the system coming into 2012, based primarily on his upside. In 2011, he seemed destined for a bullpen role, as he could never get it together as a starter, but the lack of ceiling in the Dodgers system led me to rank him anyway.

The Dodgers decided to give him another shot in 2012 as a starter and it has paid dividends. In 118 innings at AA, he has a 3.58 ERA and a 3.48 FIP due to continuing to miss bats (22.9 K%) but dropping his walk rate four percent (12.5%).

He’s not that old for the level at 23 and would have ranked somewhere in the top 10 in the system going into 2013. I probably would have put his upside as a #3 starter or late inning reliever with a high risk grade, an improvement from #3/#4 starter and late inning reliever with a very high risk grade.

Player To Be Named Later Or Cash

PTBNL rarely amount to much so I wouldn’t be concerned about it. Cash obviously doesn’t affect the Dodgers much either. Both figure to be moot unless there’s a shocking twist.

Shane Victorino

2012 marks Victorino’s worst offensive season of his career, posting a .261/.324/.401/.724 line. He’s a good baserunner and an average defender in center (Last Four Years: 0 DRS, -7 FRAA), but a lot of his offensive value comes from the fact that he’s a center fielder, which may not be the case with the Dodgers. Still, there’s no doubt that he marks an upgrade over the previous occupants, who have posted a pathetic line of .238/.294/.329/.623.

Victorino projects at .271/.338/.439/.777 the rest of the way, while the three headed monster of Bobby Abreu (.253/.343/.373/.716), Juan Rivera (.261/.312/.394/.706), and Tony Gwynn Jr. (.252/.306/.341/.647) all clock in well below that.

Comparing Victorino with the three-headed monster that was sharing time in left shows a ~4.5 run upgrade offensively, ~0.5 run upgrade on the bases, and a ~3 run upgrade defensively. That’s assuming the regressed offensive performance and that Victorino adjusts from average/fringe center fielder to above average/good left fielder defensively. So he’s about a 0.8 marginal win upgrade or so.

For the record, PECOTA has him at only a half win upgrade.

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While I liked both Lindblom and Martin, they weren’t elite assets, so I’m not going to throw a fit like I was on Twitter when I thought they dealt Allen Webster. However, they were assets that obviously had value, and as a rule of thumb, I don’t like trading valuable assets for rentals except under certain circumstances (history generally shows why), such as an elite team looking to shore up roles.

My cause for concern with trades like these has less to do with Victorino specifically though, as he does indeed represent a significant upgrade in left. Over a full season, he would be about a 2.0 to 2.5 win upgrade over what the Dodgers were trotting out there. However, all they get is two months, and while I assumed he will regress to norms, he may not, and even if he does, his marginal value is minimal because of the time frame involved.

Overall, I understand why people are thrilled with this move, and I hope for the best along with everybody else, but I don’t think there’s much to get excited about either way.

So with the Dodgers basically looking at everybody, and with the Carlos Lee trade falling through, the team has now revealed five teams that their scouts are watching intently as potential trading partners.

Dodgers scouts have an increased presence with Milwaukee, as well as continued coverage of the Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Philadelphia and Minnesota.

The players believed in their sights include Brewers sluggers Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart; Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster; Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer; and Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels. At the top of the club’s wish list are a productive corner infielder and a starting pitcher.

I thought the five players were intriguing options, so I decided to take a detailed look at all of them.

=====

Aramis Ramirez – 3B – Brewers

Dodgers third basemen on the year have combined to go .245/.319/.340/.659, and that’s being kind because utility man Jerry Hairston Jr. has a .326/.380/.500/.880 line in 50 plate appearances there. Hairston operates best as a super utility guy though, so Ramirez would essentially be a Juan Uribe (.200/.259/.280/.539)/Adam Kennedy (.228/.319/.289/.608)replacement.

Ramirez has hit .263/.341/.471/.812 so far in 2012 and he projects to improve on that a bit at .274/.341/.484/.824. Uribe and Kennedy are about average defensively, while Ramirez is well below average, bordering on poor. There’s a five to ten run gap on defense that Ramirez will have to make up, and that he does. For the rest of 2012, Ramirez projects to be about 20-25 runs better offensively than the combination of men he’s replacing. If you buy into his splits, which for his career have him ~60 OPS points higher in the second half, the disparity could be even more significant. Also, despite being 34, his peripherals show little sign of decline.

Of course, there’s the problem of the contract that the team would be taking on. Making $6 million in 2012, $10 million in 2013, and $16 million in 2014 with a 2015 mutual option/$4 million buyout, the Dodgers would hypothetically be on the hook for about $32 million for 2.5 years of service.

A bit painful but perhaps not overly terrible for a 3-4 WAR player, even one due to regress because of age. Ramirez would basically have to be worth around 7 or 8 WAR to make it work, and he figures to be in the neighborhood of that figure. Furthermore, he plays third, and unlike the corner outfield positions, third basemen are a much rarer asset. This is particularly true for the Dodgers, who have a complete dearth of internal options. Now factor in that the free agent market might come down to Maicier Izturis, and Ramirez isn’t such a terrible shot to take.

For the Brewers part, the Dodgers will probably have to wait until the last minute. Milwaukee sits a mere seven games back of first right now, which may seem like a lot, but with two wild card spots this year and the Cardinals late charge in 2011 fresh in everybody’s memory, they’ll probably be taking this decision down to the wire. One winning streak and they may not end up selling off at all.

—–

Corey Hart – RF – Brewers

Dodgers left fielders have hit .242/.300/.333/.632 on the year, which is amazingly bad. Hart would be a boon for the team, as he’s currently at .251/.313/.505/.818 and projects to hit .264/.327/.484/.811 the rest of the way. An average fielder, he would improve that area of the outfield as well, as they are basically stuck with Juan Rivera and Bobby Abreu as their primary options.

Hart is signed through 2013 and makes $9 million in 2012 and $10 million in 2013. His contract is more than reasonable for a 3-4 WAR player, and he’s a potential addition who could make upwards of a 25-35 run difference over the rest of the year (that’s being conservative, really).

Like Ramirez though, he may never become available, as the Brewers may never end up selling.

—–

Ryan Dempster – RHP – Cubs

I already addressed his potential addition here, but his acquisition makes even more sense now with Ted Lilly being transferred to the 60-day DL, health unknown, as Dempster would be a huge improvement over Nate Eovaldi.

The Cubs are 14 games back and are shopping everybody, so he’ll be on the market.

—–

Cole Hamels – LHP – Phillies

I like Hamels for the same reason I like Dempster, except he’s even better than Dempster and has a longer track record of excellence without the immediate injury history. He’s a consistent 3.5-4.5 WAR pitcher and a solid #1/#2 to slot behind Clayton Kershaw if the Dodgers can make the playoffs.

A 2.79 ERA/3.05 FIP/3.02 xFIP/3.03 SIERA in 2011 and a 3.08 ERA/3.28 FIP/3.24 xFIP/3.25 SIERA in 2012 basically says it all.

Hamels makes $15 million in 2012 and is slated to be a free agent, one that will probably be pursued by the Dodgers either way. The Phillies are 12 games back and should be sellers.

—–

Michael Cuddyer – RF – Rockies

Like Hart, he would be replacing a terrible concoction of outfielders that the Dodgers have trotted out in left field. Like Hart, he’s a solid hitter. Putting up a .284/.346/.459/.805 line in 2011, he has dropped a bit to .260/.313/.480/.793 in 2012, but projects to finish at a .281/.338/.485/.823 clip. Unlike Hart, he’s a rather poor defender, and I do have concerns that Coors Field is playing insane again, yet he’s still down a bit. That concern is especially true because he’s 33.

As far as his contract goes, he makes $10.5 million in 2012, 2013, and 2014, with performance bonuses that could up it by $1.5 million in 2014. A reasonable deal for a 2.5-3.5 WAR player, but I think Hart is both the better overall player and the one with less risk.

The Rockies are 14 games back at the moment and surely would be willing to sell, even if it’s within the division.

=====

Overall, all of the rumored players mentioned represent significant improvements to the team. Unlike Carlos Lee, they are likely to be difference makers for the Dodgers, thus making it understandable that they surrender assets for them. Whether the trades are workable or worth it obviously still depends on what the Dodgers give up and the finances involved, but if these are the types of players the team is pursuing, they definitely seem headed down the right road.

It’s no secret that the Dodgers are desperate for help. Offense has been the primary problem of late, as the team is now feeling the effects of missing cogs like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Mark Ellis. However, Ned Colletti has been looking to shore up pitching as well.

As of the last couple of days though, seemingly as a result of the recent losing streak, talks have intensified everywhere, and the Dodgers are apparently trying to find upgrades wherever they can get them.

—–

A prime example of their current mindset is Buster Olney listing basically everybody as potential trade targets for the Dodgers. He mentions Jeff Francouer, Alfonso Soriano, Chase Headley, Edwin Encarnacion, Vernon Wells, Carlos Lee, Justin Morneau, Bryan LaHair, Hanley Ramirez, Daniel Murphy, and “Boston Red Sox leftovers“. I wouldn’t waste too much time thinking about scenarios for most of those names, as it’s just speculation, but it gives you a general idea of what the team is looking at.

Dodgers have scouted Bryan LaHair, and like other teams, they have concerns about defense. Maybe that won’t matter, because they need help.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 28, 2012

Ken Rosenthal‘s recent reports provide another example, as he reveals the Dodgers have been in touch with at least eight teams about a variety of positions.

According to major league sources, they have talked multiple times to the Cubs, Astros, and Brewers. They’ve also touched base with a number of other teams, including the Mariners, Royals, Twins, Blue Jays and Padres, sources said. The Dodgers would like to add a hitter, a starting pitcher, and a left-handed reliever.

So the Dodgers are contacting everybody in an effort to improve the squad, not just the offense, but also the rotation and bullpen.

Specifically, the team is looking hard at Ryan Dempster, who I wrote about before, and are even apparently considering Derrek Lee.

Speaking of the Cubs, the Dodgers are viewed as a favorite to land Ryan Dempster once he returns from the disabled list, sources suggest to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The two sides haven’t talked since the week before Dempster went down but a person familiar with the situation says Los Angeles has a very good chance to land the right-hander.

The Dodgers are lukewarm to the idea of signing Derrek Lee, and would prefer to explore other options first, a major league source told Rosenthal. Lee would require time at Triple-A and the Dodgers seem to prefer more certainty and perhaps a more immediate solution at first base.

Would take the Lee interest with a grain of salt, but the Dodgers are clearly looking for just about anybody who is alive and can play first base at this point.

—–

So with that established, the hot button issue at the moment are the rumors involving Zach Lee, Garrett Gould, Jed Lowrie, and Carlos Lee.

9:02pm: The Dodgers are talking to the Astros about a trade that would send Jed Lowrie to the Dodgers with minor-leaguers Zach Lee and Garrett Gould headed to Houston, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). One source place the odds of the deal taking place at about 50-50 right now, Olney tweets.

I understood the interest in Lowrie, as Dee Gordon has been a black hole, both offensively and defensively, but Carlos is a marginal upgrade at best, if he even is one.

10:11pm: The Dodgers asked about Lowrie, but he’s now not in the current talks, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. A source says that there’s a 50-50 shot that Carlos Lee accepts a deal to Los Angeles for pitching prospects.

This is where I got negative. With Lowrie out of the picture, it’s Carlos for “pitching prospects”, plural.

9:57pm: Dodgers‬’ talks with ‪Astros‬ involve Carlos Lee, not Jed Lowrie, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Lee would need to a approve deal and has the right to block a deal to the Dodgers.

As I was expressing on Twitter, I’m not thrilled with the idea of trading prospects for Carlos Lee. A solid segment of fans disagreed though, as they were generally enamored with acquiring an upgrade over James Loney. I’m just not sure Carlos Lee is the guy they’re looking for.

Carlos Lee’s current slash line is .290/.342/.412/.754, which is in line with his recent production, and he projects to hit .276/.328/.434/.762 the rest of the way. Additionally, consider that he’s a terrible defender in the outfield and a fringe to poor defender at first base.

James Loney’s current line is .236/.303/.323/.626, which is partially the result of lower than normal BABIP. He projects to hit .266/.327/.387/.714 the rest of the way. Plus, he plays above-average to plus defense at first.

Now 50 points difference in OPS is nothing to scoff at, but factor in the defense and then consider that Loney has a .802 OPS career against righties (.669 against lefties) and Juan Rivera has a .821 career OPS against lefties (.747 against righties). Now the gap is basically non-existent.

You know how to tell that this trade is an iffy upgrade? When it’s even arguable as to whether a potential acquisition is an improvement over James Loney and Juan Rivera.

Then there’s the matter of the prospects involved, but I already gave my thoughts on that through Twitter.

My problem isn’t the prospects involved as much as it is getting players who are decent in return, which Ned has trouble doing.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 30, 2012

Garrett Gould most likely busts anyway, as do most prospects, but surrendering them randomly for crap is pointless.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 30, 2012

The discussion is about the logic behind giving up assets at random because “it’s an upgrade now”.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 30, 2012

It’s not so much about the prospects, it’s about giving away legitimate assets for questionable upgrades.

Some people are happy to give away prospects for immediate upgrades, no matter how small, but why give away prospects for basically no reason? Throwing shit against the wall may work in small sample sizes, but do it enough and you’ll get burned more often than not.

The Dodgers under Colletti have made a habit of surrendering solid assets for marginal upgrades, so it’s a legitimate concern for fans, and history indicates we have every right to be.

Juan Rivera was activated off the disabled list and Scott Van Slyke was optioned. In a vacuum, it’s a positive move, because Rivera is likely a better player than Van Slyke, but I’d much rather see his playing time go to a combination of Bobby Abreu/Tony Gywnn Jr./Alex Castellanos instead.

—–

In what can only be described as surprising, the Dodgers called up Shawn Tolleson, who I had been pining for since the beginning of the year, really. Funny enough though, it was for Javy Guerra, who heads to the disabled list, so this is probably a neutral move unless Tolleson sets the world on fire since Guerra was having a good year himself.

Why excited? In 120 professional innings, Tolleson has a 1.35 ERA, 178 strikeouts, 28 walks, and scouting reports that check out.

Tolleson was ranked #12 in my March Prospect Rankings.

I had my fears over Ted Lilly‘s MRI, but it showed no structural damage to his shoulder.

The Dodgers received good news regarding one of their core starters Friday, as the results of Ted Lilly’s MRI came back revealing no structural damage to his left shoulder.

“Teddy’s MRI went good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “That was good for us. With the medication [they gave him], they expect him to have a few days off here with that, and basically start moving forward.”

While great, it does make me seriously wonder why they made an offer to Roy Oswalt.

—–

Juan Rivera might be back with the club by next Monday, but I’m honestly not all that thrilled about it.

Juan Rivera was back with the club in Colorado on Friday for reevaluation following four rehab starts as he works back from a left hamstring strain that put him on the DL on May 9. He will not be activated in Colorado, but may well return to the 25-man roster when the team goes to Philadelphia for a four-game set starting Monday.

“He’s doing really well, and he feels good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I’m hearing sometime in Philly. We’re going to do more testing today with him and see where’s he’s at — he’s been playing the last couple days. Then we’ll make a decision about whether to play him one more game [in the Minors] or if we feel like he’s ready to go. We’ll be patient.”

I would much rather see a combination of Bobby Abreu/Tony Gywnn Jr./Alex Castellanos/Jerry Sands/Scott Van Slyke in left field.

Both statistically and logically, I doubt his return is an upgrade in any way at this time.

—–

Juan Uribe will begin a rehab stint next week, and as much as I harass him, he will be a welcome addition.

Juan Uribe is poised to take the final step in working his way back from a left wrist injury that sidelined him since May 14. Uribe has been working out with the Dodgers, and can be expected to begin a brief Minor League rehab assignment next week.

“Juan’s been improving,” manager Don Mattingly said Friday. “He’ll be taking BP, and he’s been progressing. The thing with Juan that’s been good is he’ll take BP, and then the next day he’s been fine. So we’ve had two days of that. He’s going to progress, and we’ll probably within the next day or so be talking about him playing somewhere.”

Mattingly is impressed with how quickly Uribe has gotten his feel for the game back, and wants to ensure he gets some game action in the Minors to get the timing down on his swing.

Like most, I prefer just letting Jerry Hairston Jr. play everyday, but having Juan Uribe around to start over Adam Kennedy is basically improving by default.

This was an interesting week in the minors. The Isotopes actually looked like they were playing in the Pacific Coast League, scoring 45 runs in seven games (6.4 runs per game) while giving up 57 runs (8.1). Despite that, they were still be better than .500 this week. Of course, they got a little help from Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera in Sunday’s game.

The Quakes only scored 16 runs on the week, and that’s not a typo. The Lookouts gave up the fewest runs with 27. That pitching staff, despite the promotions, is really stepping up.

The Loons should get a boost this week from new additions Angelo Songco and Ralston Cash, both of whom made their season debuts Monday.

—–

Albuquerque Isotopes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 45
Runs Allowed: 57

Player Of The Week

Brian Cavazos-Galvez – OF

Despite struggling mightily in Double-A, Cavazos-Galvez, local to New Mexico, is flourishing with the Isotopes. He went 11-for-24 (.458) with a home run, seven RBI, three doubles, a triple, and six runs scored. I wouldn’t get too terribly excited; Cavazos-Galvez has done well in the hitter’s league and has struggled in the pitcher’s league this season.

Pitcher Of The Week

John Ely – RHP

Can there really be a Pitcher Of The Week when the staff allowed 57 runs in seven games? Sure. This week, it’s Ely. Elymania posted a great line this week: 14 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 13 K. This is his second POTW honor, and it’s really surprising to see such a good performance from him in a week the team allowed so many runs. In fact, if you take away Ely’s three runs allowed, the rest of the Isotopes staff allowed 54 runs. That’s … ugly.

After a rough start to the season, Ely has put up some great numbers in an extreme hitter’s league: 3.58 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 0.7 HR/9, 2.2 BB/9, 9.7 K/9, 4.33 BB/K and a 1.85 groundout to flyout rate. He wouldn’t be nearly this good in the majors, but it’s nice to see him pitching well in case the Dodgers need an emergency starter later this season.

—–

Chattanooga Lookouts (4-2)

Runs Scored: 31
Runs Allowed: 27

Player Of The Week

Pedro Baez – 3B

Nick Buss pushed hard for this award, but Baez gets the nod this week. He went 8-for-20 (.400) with two home runs, six RBI, a double, and, most encouraging, five walks (against three strikeouts). I have long since given up on Baez being any kind of contributor for the Dodgers, but the talent is there, as his defensive ability at third base has never been questioned. His bat, however, hasn’t lived up to the potential. While he’s hitting just .259, he does have a .360 on-base percentage and is improving his pop a little bit.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ethan Martin – RHP

Martin’s resurgence continues, as he had a good start and a mediocre start this week: 11 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 12 K. The walk total was a bit high this week, but it’s still pretty good by Martin’s standards. He’s holding opposing hitters to a .190 batting average and has given up just three home runs this season.

With Nate Eovaldi‘s promotion to Los Angeles (for now), Martin is vying with Matt Magill for the role of Chattanooga‘s ace — something I bet no one was expecting coming into the season (on both accounts).

The Southern League, however, doesn’t agree with my pick as Magill was named league’s Pitcher of the Week (for the second time this season) on Tuesday. He had a fantastic outing on Thursday: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K.  Seems I should have gone with him instead of Martin, but I’m standing by my choice.

—–

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (2-4)

Runs Scored: 16
Runs Allowed: 31

Player Of The Week

Austin Gallagher – 1B/DH

This was slim pickins, as the Quakes scored an unimpressive 16 runs in six games this week. Gallagher was the best of the bunch, going 7-for-22 (.318) with two doubles, two RBI, three walks, and a run scored. Like I said, slim. Gallagher, who earns his second POTW award, is still hitting with some pop, posting a .483 slugging percentage on the season. However, I’d like to see his .264 average come up substantially.

Pitcher Of The Week

Angel Sanchez – RHP

Wasn’t much to get excited about this week on the hill for the Quakes. Chris Reed made his return and Scott McGough was solid out of the bullpen, but Angel Sanchez had one of his best starts of the season, earning him this week’s honor: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Sanchez has been a bit up and down this season, but hopefully this outing gets him going. He’s issued just two walks in his last 27 2/3 innings. Like Gallagher, this is Sanchez’s second POTW award.

—–

Great Lakes Loons (3-3)

Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 39

Player Of The Week

James Baldwin – CF

Baldwin just edges out O’Koyea Dickson for the honor this week. It would have been Dickson’s third consecutive award, but instead, this is Baldwin’s second award this season. He went 9-for-24 (.375) with two doubles, two RBI, two walks, and seven stolen bases. Baldwin did most of his damage on May 21st, going 5-for-5 on the day.

Despite the solid week, he’s struggled mightily this season. His power has completely disappeared (six doubles, no triples or home runs) and he’s still striking out far too much (35.2 percent). His potential and talent is unquestioned; the ability to harness said potential is what’s in question.

Pitcher Of The Week

Yimi Garcia – RHP

As you can probably tell from the 39 runs allowed in six games, it wasn’t a great week on the hill for the Loons. So, this award is going to the Loons’ closer this week. Garcia was decent but not great this week: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 saves. Garcia is more than holding his own as a 21-year-old in Low-A (1.93 ERA, 12.5 K/9) and should get the call to Rancho Cucamonga soon.

People are always asking me on Twitter whether Dee Gordon will be demoted. Demoted? Please. Don Mattingly won’t even budge on dropping him from the top spot in the lineup.

For whatever reason, Mattingly absolutely refuses to consider dropping Gordon from the top, and judging by what he said to AJ Cassavell yesterday, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be changing that stance any time soon.

“Dropping Dee in the order sounds really easy,” said Mattingly, who rested Gordon for Sunday’s series finale against Colorado. “But then who do you want me to hit there?”

Mark Ellis? A.J. Ellis? Bobby Abreu? Juan Rivera‘s ruptured hamstring? Davey Lopes?

Basically anybody or anything with an OBP higher than .250.

Newly acquired outfielder Bobby Abreu could lead off, Mattingly said, but that would take a potent bat out of the middle of the order.

But Abreu doesn’t even have power anymore, so hypothetically, all he’s good for is walking (hollow OBP, as Beyond The Boxscore put it).

It’s not like he’s being asked to put Matt Kemp in the lead-off spot.

Second baseman Mark Ellis could bat first, but Mattingly likes him in the two-hole, hitting ahead of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, and doesn’t want Ellis’ role changing on a day-to-day basis.

Ellis’ spot in the lineup has nothing to do with his success though. Even if it did, unless he drops over 100 points in OBP, it’s not exactly going to kill the team any more than Gordon already is.

“He kind of needs to be that guy,” Mattingly said of Gordon. “I know we can’t force a square peg into a round hole, but we have been able to sustain so far without Dee kind of getting going.”

“I know we can’t force a square peg in a round hole … BUT I’M GONNA DO IT ANYWAY! TROLOLOLOLOLOLOL!” – Don Trollingly

Left fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. got the start on Sunday afternoon in the leadoff spot, but as a platoon player, Gwynn won’t be in the lineup with Gordon very often. When Gwynn does play on the same day as Gordon, Mattingly said he’d be fully comfortable moving Gordon down because of the speed and on-base ability Gwynn brings to the table.

This reveals the exact reason Mattingly refuses to demote Gordon. It’s basically because he can’t come to grips with the idea of using somebody without plus speed in the lead-off spot.

It’s why he’s comfortable with Tony Gwynn Jr. leading off despite his career .320 OBP, yet he makes excuses as to why the Ellis twins and Abreu can’t do it.

It’s like Mattingly’s decision making was imported from Dusty Baker and his dugout dice.

Mattingly dismissed that notion, saying he is content with leaving Ellis lower in the lineup, where he can drive in runs and turn the order over.

“You try to have a balanced lineup where you have a chance to score in all parts of the game,” Mattingly said. “Obviously the more guys you’ve got that are productive, the easier that is.”

Besides the fact that the lineup gets turned over regardless of batting order position, you know what else helps? Being productive in front of other productive players instead of walking, having the pitcher come up to create an automatic out, and setting it all up for … Gordon.

I love prospects, and I understand that Mattingly has to defend his guys, but moving a rookie shortstop down in the order so that there’s less pressure on him isn’t exactly some world ending move. In fact, it’s pretty standard, isn’t it? Joe Torre bat Kemp eighth for an eternity, so I think Gordon can stand a few plate appearances down there without imploding.

—–

In other news (maybe related), Elian Herrera is on his way to Los Angeles, and he’ll be activated if Kemp gets put on the disabled list.

His .282/.363/.388/.751 career line in the minors basically sums up his skills. He can take a walk, but offers little else.

So why does he get chosen? I don’t know. He’s a utility player, basically. He has played 2B/3B/SS/CF/LF, so Ned Colletti is inching closer to his dream of having an entire starting lineup of utility players.

The Dodgers have signed free-agent infielder Aaron Miles and asked for unconditional release waivers on right-handed reliever Mike MacDougal, who was designated for assignment last Thursday when Ronald Belisario was activated.

How does a player like Miles price himself out of the free agent market? How delusional was he, exactly?

“Oh ho ho! Albert Pujols got paid $240 million this off-season, and his WAR was only six times higher than mine, so it’s $40 million or bust for me in 2012!”

Fail.

Then there’s the Mike MacDougal news, which you may be celebrating about, until you realize that Todd Coffey has somehow managed to be worse.

—–

In “oh well” injury news, Juan Rivera is going to be out for a while.

Dodgers outfielder Juan Rivera has a ruptured left hamstring tendon and could be out as long as two months, trainer Sue Falsone said on Friday.

Rivera — who had been hobbled by hamstring problems for weeks but felt a pop sliding into third base on Tuesday night and was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday — has a rupture where the tendon inserts into the knee. Falsone said it is an unusual baseball injury and there’s a medical debate whether surgery is appropriate.

“We will re-evaluate after two weeks and see where we’re at,” Falsone said. “[Rivera] did some exercises today and was pain-free. The best case is that he’s ready to return in 15 days, but I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at. The worst case is six to eight weeks. He will play this season, for sure.”

In “aw shit” injury news, Jerry Hairston Jr. won’t be back for a while.

The Dodgers placed infielder Jerry Hairston on the 15-day disabled list on Friday with a strained left hamstring and recalled infielder Justin Sellers from Triple-A Albuquerque.

“It would be a foolish thing to go out there and blow it out and miss two months,” said Hairston. “I blew out the right one and was out three or four weeks. This won’t take that long.

Can you imagine a bench of Aaron Miles, Justin Sellers, Adam Kennedy, and Matt Treanor?

I mean … seriously?

On a first place team.

Seriously.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Juan Rivera has been placed on the disabled list and Scott Van Slyke will take his place on the Dodgers.

The Dodgers on Wednesday placed outfielder Juan Rivera on the 15-day disabled list with a significant hamstring strain or tear behind the left knee and were recalling outfielder Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Manager Don Mattingly described the injury as “fairly major,” “significant” and “not just a strain.”

He said newly signed Bobby Abreu would get most of Rivera’s playing time in left field, but Mattingly is “not looking at him as an everyday guy” because that would “run the risk of beating him up.”

Rivera, who missed six starts last month with a left hamstring injury, was removed from Tuesday night’s game when he felt “pins and needles” in the same area behind the back of his left knee while sliding into third base.

An MRI on Wednesday revealed the extent of the injury.

“I felt something pop, but it didn’t hurt,” said Rivera. “They said this is better than pulling a hamstring. It might take two or three weeks and they want me to be 100 percent.”

So Rivera’s injury looks to be a lot more serious than initially thought, and based on the way he’s been playing so far in 2012, the injury is probably a blessing in disguise because his replacements would be hard-pressed to play worse.

With that said, Bobby Abreu getting a majority of the time in left field frightens me for defensive reasons, so hopefully Van Slyke hits well right off the bat and gets a shot at regular playing time.

From 2011 on, at AA and AAA, Van Slyke has posted a .351/.428/.626/1.054 line against lefties and an equally impressive .343/.422/.591/1.013 line against righties, so he’s not really a platoon player. He’ll make 26 in two months and seems to have little left to prove in the minors, so this seems to be as good a time as any to give him a shot.

I think Don Mattingly is probably the best manager the Dodgers have had since Tommy Lasorda, but his management of yesterday’s game against the Giants exposed what is probably his most glaring weakness.

—–

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Dodgers down one run, the team basically hit the lottery by somehow managing to get Juan Rivera and James Loney to not make outs.

That brought up Juan Uribe in what was clearly a traditional sacrifice situation, especially considering that Uribe sucks. However, while he does have 60 sacrifice bunts in his career over 5121 plate appearances, he’s had only one sacrifice bunt in the last three seasons over the course of 941 plate appearances. As such, it’s safe to say that he’s not exactly accustomed to bunting.

Uribe executing a successful sacrifice is anything but a foregone conclusion, then you add that you’re actually lessening your chances of scoring runs by bunting, and it’s just an overall terrible decision.

Mattingly though, of course, called for the bunt anyway, and it worked out SPLENDIDLY.

Then, IN THE VERY NEXT INNING, the Dodgers were put in the exact same situation after a Bobby Abreu walk and a Dee Gordon bunt single. With Mark Ellis coming up and Matt Kemp on deck, Mattingly elected to bunt with Ellis, effectively setting things up perfectly for the Giants to avoid pitching to Kemp.

Ellis was a fine option to bunt, as he has executed 12 of them in his previous three seasons, but even so, it again lessened the Dodgers chances of scoring runs.

Predictably, after the successful bunt, the Giants walked Kemp to load the bases and brought in Javier Lopez to pitch to Andre Ethier.

On cue, Ethier did that, just like it was out of a script.

It would have been sad if everybody didn’t see it coming, but judging by the reaction on Twitter, we all did see it coming.

Sigh.

—–

The only possible positive thing that could have come out of this is Mattingly learning his lesson and swearing to stop doing this in the future.

Did he?

“Neither one of those decisions I would look back and change,” Mattingly said after the game.

Welp, alrighty then.

“They have to pick between Matt and Andre, and if I can get Andre up there with the bases loaded, I’ll take it every day. He’s leading the league in RBI,” Mattingly said.

“I’m still giving two guys a chance, but I don’t even need a hit. I just need to get a ball in the air,” Mattingly said. “I have two guys that are basically leading the league in RBI and they have to take their pick.”

“I wouldn’t really change anything. We just have to execute, that’s all,” Mattingly said. “First and second nobody out we have to try to get runners over and get them in scoring position. With Mark [Ellis], I do it all the time.”

Yes, I know you do it all the time.

THAT’S THE PROBLEM

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Dodgers have signed Bobby Abreu, formerly of the Angels. In a corresponding move, the team has demoted utility infielder Justin Sellers to the minors and will probably use Jerry Hairston Jr. at shortstop.

The Angels will be paying Abreu’s 2012 salary, and speculation is that the Dodgers will be paying Abreu a prorated league minimum salary.

The Angels released Abreu one week ago and will be on the hook for the remainder of his $9MM salary. Abreu’s new deal could be for as little as the pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum.

So at the very least, he probably won’t be expensive.

—–

My initial thought? Wow, wonderful. Any time you get the chance to platoon Juan Rivera and Abreu in what should be an elite offensive position in left field, you’ve absolutely got to do it.

With that said, it doesn’t seem like it will be much of a platoon, at least if Bill Shaikin is correct.

Abreu would not fit with #Dodgers or any other NL team except as a PH. He can’t play defense regularly any more.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 28, 2012

Seems he’ll see limited action in left field and be the primary bat off the bench.

—–

Now the main question on the minds of fans is why wasn’t Adam Kennedy released instead of having Sellers sent down. Well, the sad reality is that Abreu might not be much better than Kennedy.

Kennedy projects to hit .252/.305/.358/.663 the rest of the season, according to ZiPS. Once a plus defender at second base, Kennedy has now been reduced to playing fringe defense at first base, second base, and third base.

Abreu? Well, he’s on a four-year OPS decline (.843/.825/.787/.717), and ZiPS projects him to hit .243/.333/.382/.716 the rest of the way. Better with the bat, but not a gigantic gap between the two. Defensively, Abreu has been worth -76.3 runs according to UZR and -47 runs according to DRS over his career, coming out to around -8.4 runs UZR per 150 games and -5.2 runs DRS per 150 games. In simpler terms, he’s a shitty defensive player.

If I give Abreu ~100 PA for the remainder of 2012, he comes out to being worth ~1.3 runs with the bat, ~3.3 runs replacement level, ~-0.8 runs position adjustment, ~-0.8 runs on the bases, and ~-1.1 runs defensively. A total of ~1.9 runs or ~0.2 WAR.

At this stage in his career, he’s basically a well below average player whose only redeeming quality left is being able to take a walk more often than most.

—–

So basically, Kennedy can’t hit, but has defensive versatility and is competent with the glove. Abreu is a better hitter, but not by as much as you’d think, and he’s terrible with the glove.

Given that Kennedy’s current role is essentially that of a pinch hitter, I would think/hope Abreu is more valuable to the Dodgers. However, if they start to play Abreu in the outfield against every righty, it could get ugly, not so much at the plate, but for the Dodgers pitching staff.

—–

Kennedy is bad and he deserves all the criticism thrown his way, but the reality is that, depending on the role, Abreu might be even worse.

It all leaves me to wonder why the Dodgers can’t ever do better on the bench (Mark Sweeney/Garret Anderson/Mark Loretta/Eugenio Velez), because while Kennedy hasn’t been the answer, I don’t think Abreu is the thump off the bench the team is looking for either.

Javy Guerra seems to be miraculously recovered from taking a ball off the jaw, but has hurt his foot.

Javy Guerra no longer has a swollen jaw, and outside of a slight headache on Thursday he has passed every test with flying colors, including a CAT scan.

But Guerra does have a sore foot, which happened as Guerra twisted to try to get out of the way of the line drive hit back at him by Brian McCann on Wednesday night. “Sue [Falsone, team trainer] feels like it’s short term and there’s really nothing structurally wrong there,” manager Don Mattingly said.

Guerra was reevaluated after throwing before Friday’s game, and cleared to throw per J.P. Hoornstra of the Daily News.

So he was available last night, they just decided to hold him out, which seems reasonable, especially considering that Don Mattingly didn’t take him out the other day because he didn’t think the ball hit him flush in the face.

Mattingly said that when he went to the mound Wednesday night, he thought the ball deflected off Guerra’s glove, though replays showed it hit him flush in the face. Though Mattingly said he would defer to assistant trainer Greg Harrel, who went to the mound with him to check on Guerra, there were some regrets in leaving him in the game after seeing the replay.

“If I would have known it would have got him straight on, I probably would have pulled him right away,” Mattingly said.

Well, I guess that answers my question as to why he left Javy in.

—–

Juan Rivera still hopes to avoid the disabled list.

Juan Rivera is out of the lineup again tonight, still nursing a strained left hamstring. Rivera took ground balls and hit in the cage before the game and may or may not be available to pinch hit tonight, depending on how Rivera feels and the evaluation from the training staff.

“We’re still hopeful that this thing’s not going to linger. He feels better today than he did yesterday,” Mattingly said of Rivera. “We’re still hopeful that he doesn’t have to go on the DL, and that maybe it’s just a couple of days.”

If I’m being honest, I don’t care that much.

One could make the argument that the difference between Tony Gwynn Jr.‘s glove and Rivera’s glove makes up for the difference in their bats.

—–

Nate Eovaldi is indeed being called up, which means Michael Antonini will be sent down after two days and no appearances.

As expected the Dodgers have recalled pitcher Nathan Eovaldi from Double A Chattanooga before Friday night’s game with the Washington Nationals. Eovaldi will replace Michael Antonini, who was optioned back to Triple A Albuquerque.

For Antonini, this has to be bittersweet, as he was just recalled on Tuesday and his initial cup of coffee in the majors included two days and no games pitched. On Tuesday, Antonini said his parents planned to make a trip from Philadelphia to possibly see him pitch.

Sucks for Antonini, but it’ll be a short stint for Eovaldi too, as he’ll likely go back down when Todd Coffey comes up, because his long-term role in the eyes of the Dodgers hasn’t changed.

Todd Coffey is due off the disabled list on Sunday.

Eovaldi has only pitched two innings since his start on April 9, but he said he has still done all his normal sidework and bullpen sessions under a starter’s workload, which is still the Dodgers’ plan for the 22-year old right-hander.

“We don’t want to get into him being in the bullpen. We want him preparing as a starter,” Mattingly said.

Understandable, as there’s much more value in even an average starter than a closer, but I still think back-end bullpen guy is a good possibility for him.

—–

Despite worries, it seems like the Dodgers ownership transfer will go off without a hitch.

When the Dodgers take the field Monday night, they should be under new ownership.

The sale of the Dodgers is expected to close as scheduled on Monday, according to three people familiar with the process.

Friday marked the deadline for parties to object to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court order approving the sale from Frank McCourt to Guggenheim Baseball, a group led by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson. No objections were filed.

I guess that’s when it will be officially over.

With Javy Guerra getting smashed in the face, I have a question: why was he allowed to stay in the game?

I trust the trainers and coaches, and I’m sure Guerra felt he was fine, but I’m not so sure it was the correct move.

We can all put ourselves in Guerra’s shoes, as we’ve all been terrified at some point by sudden movements. So we know what happens when our adrenaline gets pumping and we start to feel like a completely different person. Well, now imagine that you’re in front of ~30,000 people, playing professional baseball, it’s the ninth inning, you just lost the game yesterday, you’re on the verge of losing the game today, and you just got hit flush in the jaw with a 100 mph liner.

I don’t care how “alright” he may have been, he would have to be superhuman to truly put all of that, along with the pain, out of his mind and pitch as he normally would, no? And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that Guerra had not been pitching exceptionally well of late to begin with, so why risk both the game and his health?

Either way, I know people are vilifying him for the loss, but it amazes me that he managed to pitch relatively normal following the blow.

—–

Don Mattingly, Greg Harrel, A.J. Ellis, and Guerra himself all say that he wasn’t affected by the line drive.

Manager Don Mattingly said he considered removing Guerra immediately after the line drive off his face, but decided to leave his closer in the game after Guerra was cleared by assistant trainer Greg Harrel. Mattingly, Guerra, and catcher A.J. Ellis all insisted that Guerra was not affected, physically, by the line drive.

Physically.

Mentally though? Has to be tough.

Guerra received concussion tests, which he passed, after the game. His jaw was visibly swollen as he spoke to reporters.

At least he’s okay, as he’s going to be a valuable part of the bullpen, regardless of what role he has.

Guerra has three losses, including two blown saves, in his last five outings over the last nine days, but Mattingly bristled at questions about the closer role. “Javy is throwing the ball good for us. Nothing really changes in my eyes,” Mattingly said.

“You can sit there and question all you want. Our ballclub has confidence in Javy. The game will tell us what to do with him. If he has trouble there, we’ll put him in a different spot,” Mattingly said. “Two days ago or three days ago it’s not even a question. After two outings do you think I’m going to flip-flop? I’m not.”

After thinking about it, I’m actually fine with the decision.

Kenley Jansen has always been the superior pitcher, but him and Josh Lindblom are best served putting out fires in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings. Granted, Guerra can’t keep blowing games like this, but I’m not so sure this string of appearances has to force a change either.

—–

Eric Stephen of True Blue LA reports that Nate Eovaldi is coming to town.

Nathan Eovaldi was pulled after just one inning in his start Wednesday night for Double A Chattanooga, and speculation is that he is on his way to Los Angeles. We just don’t know which pitcher he will replace. Mattingly responded “Yes,” when asked if there were other injuries on his pitching staff, but declined further comment.

Let the speculation begin.

My money is on Mike MacDougal. You?

—–

Juan Rivera and Aaron Harang should be okay.

Rivera, who strained a left hamstring running out a sixth-inning infield single, was out of the lineup Wednesday night but took batting practice. Manager Don Mattingly said the outfielder won’t be placed on the disabled list if he is able to pinch-hit and run for himself by the weekend.

“He was getting tonight off anyway after playing five or six straight, and Sue [Falsone, trainer] said he was able to do more than she thought he would,” said Mattingly. “He’s day to day. If it lingers, we’ll think about doing something different.”

Harang said he did not expect to miss his scheduled bullpen session on Friday in preparation for his next start, Monday in Denver. He fouled a pitch off his foot in a third-inning at-bat, and it swelled as the game went on. He was removed after six innings.

You tell me whether that’s good or bad.

Los Angeles Times: Bill Plaschke (barf) talks to the key figures in the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership.

For now, as the initial celebration fades and the close examination begins, Dodger fans need to see proof that this dream team won’t just turn into another nightmare.

“You know I’m going to do this right,” promised Johnson. “I would not be putting millions of my dollars into this if we weren’t going to do it right.”

The questioning started here with Johnson. Will he be more than just a new Dodger face and voice? Will he have the freedom to help run the Dodgers with his considerable business acumen and competitive spirit?

“You want to know Magic’s title? It’s owner,” Kasten said.

Johnson confirmed that he has already picked out a Dodger Stadium office and that, while he still has other business interests, this will be his main job and focus.

“I take, very seriously, the honor of being a minority owner in an organization where Jackie Robinson played,” Johnson said. “I’ll be there every day, fans will see me every day, I’ll be working hard to spread the word about how we’re going to make this a great franchise again.”

I think we’ve known all along that he was a figurehead, but he’s an awesome figurehead, so whatever.

Walter said he will remain in the background of the club’s daily operations, allowing Kasten to oversee baseball and business matters while Johnson is the caretaker of the image.

“I’m a baseball fan, but I’m not qualified to make baseball decisions, and I don’t want to pretend to be,” said Walter. “I’m here to support and help my people as much as I can. I’m here to cheer as loud as I can.”

But since he still controls the purse strings, the bucks still stop with him, no? Will he give Kasten the freedom to spend them? How does he view the idea of paying the sort of big money for the sort of big free agents that the Dodgers have avoided signing during most of their 14-year championship drought?

“Stan has a very proven formula for building a team that doesn’t win one year, but wins 12 years in a row [Atlanta Braves], so for me to tell him how you build that is completely inappropriate,” said Walter. “But having said that, we really want to win, and it’s OK if, while we’re producing the best players in the world, we also have the best players in the world on our field.”

In other words, said Johnson, “We are going to have all the resources available to us to put a championship team on the field.”

Oh dear, I think I’m in love.

“We understand what we just bought, we understand what it needs to be,” said Kasten. “We make more money when we win. We are real cognizant of that. While we want to build a long-term plan, we want to have a winner now.”

To understand Kasten’s baseball philosophy, check out his Atlanta Braves team that won the 1995 World Series. His front office was led by powerful General Manager John Schuerholz. His starting rotation was led by a high-priced free agent, Greg Maddux. His everyday lineup was filled with homegrown stars like Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko and David Justice.

“I believe in scouting and player development, and a starting rotation,” Kasten said. “With both, anything is possible. Without both, nothing is possible.”

It’s just words, and I prefer actions, but they are saying literally everything right so far.

Haven’t been this excited about the team since they swept the Chicago Cubs in the 2008 NLDS.

Los Angeles Times: Walter Hamilton takes a look at the Guggenheim Partners.

Guggenheim Partners is connected to the family of Meyer Guggenheim, who came to the U.S. in the 1840s and made a fortune in mining. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is named after the family.

Peter Lawson Johnston II, a great-grandson of the Guggenheim’s patriarch, launched the financial services company in 2000. The company is run day to day by chief executive Mark Walter and executive chairman Alan Schwartz, the former CEO of Bear Stearns & Co.

The firm is a full-fledged investment bank in the mold of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Guggenheim has become a big player in commercial real estate debt, managing the type of investments that tripped up so many big Wall Street firms during the global financial crisis.

Guggenheim has varied holdings, including being a co-owner of the company that operates the Hollywood Reporter.

It has a large investment operation in Santa Monica, with more than 200 of its 1,700 employees based there. The firm manages about $125 billion in assets.

Mining, huh? It’s like they’re trolling Josh Macciello.

MLB.com: Richard Justice with a nice profile on Kasten.

He has some unshakeable core beliefs about running a baseball team. He believes the fan experience should be pleasant, that teams must be accountable to their customers. And he believes teams should be built from the inside through scouting and player development.

If he’s approved, he’ll surely use the work done by Cox and Schuerholz with the Braves as a blueprint for how to run the Dodgers.

He’s also a student of the game’s history and will almost certainly both understand and tap into the things that have made the Dodgers special, from the former players who created the team’s aura to the ballpark that is one of the signature destinations in Major League Baseball.

In both Atlanta and Washington, he told his employees that there really was no magic formula to succeeding. It was a matter of doing things right and getting better every single day.

Awesome.

Fox Sports: Ken Rosenthal believes Kasten will be the difference maker for the product on the field as well.

Wall Street Journal: Scott Austin has short blurbs on all those involved in the new ownership of the Dodgers.

—–

ESPN Los Angeles: Jon Weisman has a to-do list for the new owners.

The bottom line is, you can’t expect perfection, but you can demand excellence. Every effort must be made at making the best possible decision a thousand times over.

The new owners might fail. But, finally, Dodgers fans can at least say there’s hope.

Word.

Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Mike Petriello gives 19 random thoughts on the new ownership of the team.

—–

Dodgers Now: Dodgers players give their thoughts on the new owners, including Juan Rivera and Juan Uribe, who hadn’t heard of the deal until Dylan Hernandez told them.

Dodgers Now: What do Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol think about Magic Johnson‘s involvement with the Dodgers?

The question reminded me of this:

When you’re a team full of over-the-hill or never-were veterans, a team that is offensively-challenged to the umpteenth degree beyond your dominating center fielder, and a team that has a broke owner, playing your top offensive prospect who doesn’t make a lot of money and has the most upside of any of your left field candidates is the obvious and wise choice.

Unfortunately, if you’re the Los Angeles Dodgers, and more to the point, Ned Colletti, you sign Juan Rivera for $4 million (with a $4 million club option for 2013) and confuse the whole baseball world yet again.

—–

Rivera – after being plucked off waivers following his release from the Toronto Blue Jays – stepped to the plate 246 times over 62 games and hit .274/.333/.406 with a .324 wOBA.

Now, you may be asking yourselves how anyone could be impressed with this, aside from the fact that it meant sayonara to Marcus Thames, Jay Gibbons, and Eugenio Velez. Well, Rivera’s impressive play, in the eyes of Colletti, is based on two things: a BABIP-fueled (.358) 34-game stretch in which he smacked the ball to the tune of a .322/.367/.496/.863 line, and 46 RBIs in those 62 games in Dodger Blue. In his last 28 games to end the campaign, Rivera’s slash line: .221/.297./308/.605 with a .236 BABIP. Rivera’s career batting average on balls in play is .283, but it has not exceeded .300 since 2006. He most certainly has a place on this team, and one we should all welcome, but that place is not making four million dollars and starting in left field every day.

Rivera performs well against lefties, to the tune of a .289/.335/.495/.830 line, and the Dodgers have a first baseman and a right fielder who can’t hit lefties to save their tails. A match made in baseball heaven this should be. Platoon Juan with both Andre Ethier and James Loney, leaving left field wide open for the club’s best offensive prospect, who has nothing left to prove in the minors: Jerry Sands.

Rivera has never been more than a 2.8 WAR player, and Sands has displayed power, a good eye at the plate, and the ability to get on-base. Plus, and this can’t be stressed enough: he’s got upside and is only 24 years of age. If either of their respective glove work is concerning (Rivera actually boats a career UZR/150 of 4.8 in left and Sands’ best work in the field in small sample sizes has been in right), Tony Gwynn, Jr. is always around to play late-inning caddy.

—–

The moral of the story is this: don’t sign Juan Rivera for four million bones to be a starter on your team, and don’t let Ned Colletti have control of the signings to begin with.