Don Mattingly has named Kenley Jansen closer following Brandon League being Brandon League and imploding in a save situation yet again.

When asked how he would get the ball to Jansen, Donnie Baseball said something you’d prefer your manager to not say publicly:

With Jansen closing, how will Dodgers get the ball to the 9th inning? Mattingly: “That’s a great question.”

Jansen is obviously the better pitcher, but what’s most important is not simply removing League from “save situations”, as a game could need saving in the 6th, 7th, or 8th inning.

What Don needs to do is not put League in high leverage situations, at least in the interim, wherever and whenever they present themselves.

—–

Scott Van Slyke hit the 15-day DL with shoulder bursitis. Alex Castellanos was recalled to take his place.

Van Slyke originally injured himself on May 25th trying to make a diving grab. He’s the 15th different Dodger to land on the disabled list in 2013, and many of those fifteen have made multiple trips.

—–

Ted Lilly hit the DL yet again, and Matt Magill was recalled yet again to take his place in the rotation.

The Dodgers on Sunday made official what was reported on Saturday, that Ted Lilly was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a neck sprain and Matt Magill was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to start the series finale against the Braves at Dodger Stadium.

Magill was then sent back to AAA as Justin Sellers was called up.

Sellers was then sent down, with Chris Withrow being recalled from AAA.

Hopefully Withrow finds success quickly in the bigs, as it would give Mattingly a late-inning option other than League and not named Jansen or Paco Rodriguez.

—–

Two minor-league promotions, as Duke Von Schamann heads from High-A to AA Chattanooga, and Rob Rasmussen gets the call to AAA.

Duke might have the greatest name ever.

—–

Two minor-leaguers were released, with Alfredo Amezaga being the only noteworthy one of the pair.

Released: RHP Travis Jones, SS Alfredo Amezaga

For better or worse, he was never a real threat to make the club at any point.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke and find him contributing at Yahoo! Sports.

Mark Ellis finally hit the 15-day DL, being placed on it Monday retroactive to April 27. The Dodgers activated Chris Capuano from the 15-day DL in a corresponding move.

It took the Dodgers about a week longer than it should have, but as expected Mark Ellis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a strained right quad. The move clears a spot for Chris Capuano to be activated from the DL to start the series opener Monday night against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

Capuano returns from a strained left calf that sidelined him for 20 days. He made one rehab start, last Wednesday against Memphis with Triple-A Albuquerque, and allowed two runs in 5⅓ innings.

What a season. Also, why would you wait so long, Don and Ned? Does playing a position player short for an entire week with a team already lacking in offensive talent on the bench really sound like a good idea?

——

Jerry Hairston Jr. also joined the injury club, as he was placed on the disabled list due to a strained groin. Elian Herrera was recalled from AAA.

The Dodgers made it official on Tuesday, placing Jerry Hairston on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. Elian Herrera was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque before the second game of a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

I would call the Herrera promotion a surprise, as he is the weakest hitter of the four options from Triple-A Albuquerque, but he is also the only one of the four both healthy and on the 40-man roster.

“He’s and outfielder, pretty much. We feel like those are his best positions, the corners,” manager Don Mattingly said of Herrera. “He’s played the corners. He’s a right-handed bat.”

Herrera was the choice because he was on the 40-man and others weren’t, which led to the following move.

—–

Herrera was soon thereafter sent back to AAA, as Scott Van Slyke was recalled after being added to the 40-man roster.

Van Slyke, who was designated for assignment in December and outrighted off the 40-man roster, came into camp with something to prove this season, and showed it during the season’s first month. He hit .397/.503/.733 with nine home runs, 10 doubles, 32 runs scored, and 30 RBI in 34 games for Albuquerque.

Insurance with A-Gon battling his neck injury. It only makes sense, which begs the question of why they waited so long and had to deal with Juan Uribe and friends at first for multiple games.

—–

To allow SVS’s addition to the 40-man, Chad Billingsley was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day disabled list.

—–

Tim Federowicz was recalled from Albuquerque, as Justin Sellers was sent down.

The Dodgers on Wednesday bolstered their bench by recalling red-hot catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Albuquerque, and optioned infielder Justin Sellers to Triple-A before their series finale against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

“We had plenty of infielders,” said manager Don Mattingly. “We look at it from the standpoint of having a better hitting bench.”

Hey look, three catchers again. Ramon Hernandez‘s days could very well be numbered.

—–

Our own Dustin Nosler brings us the news that righty Ross Stripling was promoted from High-A to Double-A.

The Dodgers on Tuesday promoted right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling to Double-A Chattanooga from High-A Rancho Cucamonga. The 2012 fifth-round draft pick has been on a nearly meteoric rise since the Dodgers popped him last season.

Stripling, 23, posted some impressive numbers in the California League early this season. He struck out 34 batters in 33 2/3 innings, walked 11 batters and allowed just one home run. Those are numbers for anyone to hang his hat on, let alone a guy in his first full season in a hitter’s haven.

Due to his age and performance, he’s understandably being fast-tracked. If he performs at AA, and with the way injuries are going, who knows where he ends up in September.

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

In six short days with the team in 2013, Dee Gordon has already showcased everything that once made him a top prospect and everything that made him one of the worst players in the MLB last year.

It’s a tiny sample, yet he’s managed to fit in so much amazement and failure that his performance has been noteworthy, regardless. In a way, he’s proven both his supporters and detractors correct so far.

Me? I’m neutral on his call-up, because while I think there’s certainly more upside to him than Justin Sellers or Luis Cruz or Juan Uribe, there’s also downside.

Generally speaking, Sellers and Cruz might be around 0 WAR players. Maybe they’re 0.5 WAR guys, maybe they’re -0.5 WAR guys, but at the end of the day, they should fall in around there. Fringe utility players, basically.

Gordon, on the other hand, has always had an upside around a 3 WAR player, but his downside, as seen last year, is that of around a -3 WAR player. Unlike Cruz and Sellers and Uribe, his defense can be atrocious. Thus, if he hits like they do — and he certainly did last year — it’s two negatives instead of just one.

—–

Hitting

He’s hit .316/.409/.421/.830 thus far, yes, but it comes with a .429 BABIP, which is high even for somebody of his speed. The promising part though is his new patience, but the trade-off appears to be more strikeouts, which happen far too often for the slap-and-run type of hitter he is.

Undoubtedly, this aspect of his game has been his strength so far, but whether it continues over a significant sample or not has always been the issue.

Fielding

He’s shown range and the ability to get to balls that not many can (GIF #1), but he’s also shown the tendency to make careless errors and have a lack of fundamental skills (GIF #2/#3/#4).

On only one of the three misplays featured here was he marked with an error, but it’s still poor defense … and it’s only half of the misplays I found.

Baserunning

Electric, right? Look at how he takes all those extra bases and does the little things right and … oh he just ran into three outs in a game? Drat.

—–

Flaws and all, fans understandably tend to side with Dee because of the “wow” moments he brings to the table, stuff that guys with less raw talent simply can’t even fathom doing. Dee is made for mind-blowing bursts of speed and flair that lead to extreme excitement, but he often follows that with lulls of fundamental inadequacy and lack of baseball skills, which is the part people tend to gloss over too easily.

My point? For all the highs and lows so far, his WAR on the year is 0. There’s probably not much more fitting a grade than that.

People fall in love with the explosiveness but tend forget that baseball, for better or worse, is more about the routine and the boring.

For example, Matt Kemp‘s debut was full of flash and flair as well. He bombed seven homers in his first 50 plate appearances, but then got exposed down the stretch due to his lack of refinement. From there, it was the boring things — laying off/hitting hanging breaking balls, working the count, going to right field — that led him to become an MVP-caliber player, not mindlessly hacking and trying to club bombs.

Dee will never get to that level, granted, but at some point I would like to see a hint of progress in the refinement area of his game. Kemp showed that slowly but surely, much like all prospects that pan out do, but the concern is that Dee has been rather stagnant for a while now.

——

Perhaps predictably, articles are being written about how Dee gives this team a “shot in the arm” or a “much needed boost of energy”, but the reality is that’s not the player the Dodgers need him to be. He’s ALWAYS been the “energy guy”, the “tools guy”, the “flash guy”, even last year. What the Dodgers need from him more than anything right now is something he’s never been able to accomplish: stability.

The day he gives the team daily consistency over flashy highlights is the day that I’ll buy in, and I think most others will as well. Until then, though, the Dee Gordon experience will likely continue to be a roller-coaster of alternating cheers and facepalms.

Strap in.

The Dodgers announced the cuts of eight players yesterday, moves that essentially set the Opening Day roster for the team.

The club reassigned right-handers Kevin Gregg and Peter Moylan, utility man Alfredo Amezaga and catcher Matt Wallach to Minor League camp.

In addition, the Dodgers optioned outfielder Alex Castellanos, right-hander Stephen Fife, utility man Elian Herrera and right-hander Josh Wall to Minor League camp.

Welp, this turned out completely differently than what I had assumed was going to happen, with some moves for the better and some for the worse. However, the primary reason that happened was because the Dodgers basically pushed back the tough decisions for a week or two.

—–

Lineup

C – A.J. Ellis
1B – Adrian Gonzalez
2B – Mark Ellis
3B – Luis Cruz
SS – Justin Sellers
LF – Carl Crawford
CF – Matt Kemp
RF – Andre Ethier

Bench

B – Tim Federowicz
B – Nick Punto
B – Juan Uribe
B – Jerry Hairston Jr.
B – Skip Schumaker

DL – Hanley Ramirez

Rotation

1 – Clayton Kershaw
2 – Zack Greinke
3 – Josh Beckett
4 – Hyun Jin Ryu

Bullpen

CL – Brandon League
ST – Kenley Jansen
RP – Ronald Belisario
RP – J.P. Howell
RP – Paco Rodriguez
RP – Matt Guerrier
RP – Chris Capuano
RP – Aaron Harang

DL – Chad Billingsley
DL – Scott Elbert
DL – Ted Lilly

—–

So that’s the Opening Day roster barring a sudden injury or trade.

I still don’t understand why Justin Sellers needs to be the starter when a platoon at third would work just fine. Regardless, nothing we can do about it now except hope that Sellers hits a lot of balls on the ground and those balls find holes over the next couple of months.

Pleasantly surprised though that Paco Rodriguez makes the staff over Kevin Gregg and friends, as he’s probably the fourth-best reliever on this team right now.

As I alluded to earlier though, the bad part is that this is temporary. Scott Elbert and Hanley Ramirez are out months, but Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly can come off the DL soon because their stints are retroactive, so moves will need to be made similar to what I speculated earlier.

Basically, trades needs to happen, and soon. I struggle to see a way they make carrying seven or eight starters work long-term without damaging the potential of the bullpen, because they’d have to make moves like sending Paco down because he has options.

So all in all, while the Opening Day roster is set, what the team has really done is just push the tough decisions back, so it’s now in a week or two that we’ll see what the team truly plans on doing for the rest of the season.

Opening Day for the Dodgers is Monday, and since Spring Training feels like it has taken forever, it’s about damn time. Given the closeness of the start of the season though, it’s a bit odd that there are so many question marks as to what will happen with the roster.

Every team has to deal with decisions on the 24th and 25th man, but it’s rare that a team with World Series hopes is still deciding on the rotation and the left side of the starting infield. Since the team’s starting SS is out for two months and there’s a surplus with eight starting pitchers, it’s anybody’s guess as to how it all shakes out.

Personally though, I have to figure the Opening Day 25-man roster looks something like what you see below.

—–

Starting Lineup

C – A.J. Ellis
1B – Adrian Gonzalez
2B – Mark Ellis
3B – Jerry Hairston Jr.
SS – Luis Cruz
LF – Carl Crawford
CF – Matt Kemp
RF – Andre Ethier

SS – Luis Cruz is a relatively easy choice for me at this spot. He plays solid defense at the position and is the best option available at the moment.

Yes, I’ve read the recent chatter about Justin Sellers getting this spot, which I suppose is possible. However, realistically I can only see that happening if they release Juan Uribe, or they trade both Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano AND go with 11 pitchers, or they roll with no real backup outfielder (Jerry Hairston Jr./Skip Schumaker).

My experience with Ned Colletti and Dodgers roster decision-making has led me to always go with the player who has experience, who is being paid by the team, and who is currently on the 40-man roster. Thus, no Sellers for me.

3B – Jerry Hairston Jr. and Skip Schumaker should platoon here. Hairston doesn’t actually have much of a split (.712 LHP/.694 RHP), but Schumaker does (.762 RHP/.521 LHP). If Don Mattingly plays his cards right here, there an off-chance the Dodgers don’t actually lose much except upside for the two months Hanley’s out, primarily because he plays terrible defense.

The alternative of Sellers’ .607 career MLB OPS, or his ~.700 career MILB OPS outside of the moon base in Albuquerque, is not appealing at all in lieu of an option like this. That logic HAS to win out, right? RIGHT?!

LF – Carl Crawford certainly looks on pace even though his already weak throwing arm looks pathetic right now. Still, he’s swinging a bat and nothing is wrong with his legs, so I can’t see him starting the year on the DL.

—–

Bench

B – Tim Federowicz
B – Nick Punto
B – Skip Schumaker
B – Juan Uribe
B – Alex Castellanos

DL – Hanley Ramirez

IF Bench – The trio of Nick Punto, Schumaker, and Uribe meet Colletti’s three standards, as reviewed above, so they’re basically locks to me. Tim Federowicz makes the team because they cut every other catcher in camp except Matt Wallach, and he’s not making the roster.

OF Bench – Why Alex Castellanos, right? Why over Elian Herrera and Alfredo Amezaga? Amezaga is simple, as he’s not on the 40-man. Herrera, who I don’t think is a quality player anyway, doesn’t provide the potential pop off the bench the Dodgers SORELY lack at the moment. Not putting Castellanos on the bench means the Dodgers would have four hitters with no power … and Uribe, who can’t hit at all.

—–

Starting Rotation

1 – Clayton Kershaw
2 – Zack Greinke
3 – Josh Beckett
4 – Chad Billingsley
5 – Hyun Jin Ryu

The order is jumbled because of injury and what not, but this is what was projected at the end of the off-season, and while it’s been an adventure to get here, it’s basically worked out how it was supposed to.

That said, given the way the schedule looks, it’s possible that Chad Billingsley or Zack Greinke could be put on the DL and have their turn skipped a couple times while they work into shape (Greinke) or recover from injury (Billingsley). Either way though, that would only buy the team 10 games or so to do something before a roster decision would be forced.

—–

Bullpen

CL – Brandon League
ST – Kenley Jansen
RP – Ronald Belisario
RP – J.P Howell
RP – Matt Guerrier
RP – Kevin Gregg
RP – Aaron Harang

DL – Scott Elbert
DL – Ted Lilly

Lefty Reliever – Sorry Paco Rodriguez, you might be better than two, three, or even four pitchers in the bullpen, but you have options, so bye bye.

Veteran Reliever – Kevin Gregg has a 0.87 ERA over 10.1 IP this spring, while Peter Moylan is at a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 IP. Colletti must have a NRI veteran reliever on the team, so it is Gregg. Plus, he has closing experience, which automatically makes him the best!

Starter Turned Reliever – Ted Lilly has to end up on the DL because he looks fucking terrible. Don’t whine to me about language. It is what it is.

What happened to Chris Capuano? I think he gets traded and soon. I picked him to get dealt over Aaron Harang because he’s a better pitcher and more valuable to teams. That said, there’s an extremely compelling case for Capuano to be in the pen over Harang. It consists of Capuano saying that he can come out of the pen, while Mattingly said he sees Harang as a starter only. I get that, but unless the Dodgers want to get nothing in return, I can’t see why a team would settle for Harang when they could have Capuano, especially given their handedness.

Either way, I’m confident something of significance happens with a trade, because if not, I’m unsure how the pen would shake out unless they carry 13 pitchers. As mentioned earlier, an option would be putting Bills or Greinke on the DL, but that’s a stop-gap solution at best. I suppose Gregg could be let go, but we all know that would burn Ned’s soul, so I figure one of the two healthy excess starters won’t be a Dodger for long.

—–

Now we just wait for the announcement that Harang has been traded, Gregg has been cut, and Sellers will start at SS because … of course it would happen.

Javy Guerra has been optioned to AAA after a rough spring in which he dealt with injury and had been limited to just a couple of appearances. The Dodgers have a deep pen and, with Guerra’s injuries and struggles, he was going to have to excel during Spring Training to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Tony Gwynn Jr. was also assigned to AAA Albuquerque. Gwynn was one of the few guys with the ability to backup Matt Kemp and previous big-league experience doing so, but the move reinforces just how little Tony can swing the lumber and the fact that the Dodgers clearly have faith that Carl Crawford will be healthy enough to serve as the number two center fielder.

Shawn Tolleson and Justin Sellers were optioned to AAA, while Jesus Flores was reassigned to minor-league camp. Additionally, Chris Withrow was optioned to minor-league camp along with Juan Abreu and Wilkin Castillo.

—–

The team released three players in Dallas McPherson, Ramon Castro, and Nick Evans.

—–

On the flip side of things, the team has signed Dashenko Ricardo of Curacao to a contract after Dashenko participated in the World Baseball Classic.

Along with Ricardo came the signings of Dominican prospects Dennis Santana and Carlos Aquino – both shortstops – and lefty Cesar Romero.

—–

Tim Federowicz has probably locked up the job of backing up A.J. Ellis with the removal of Jesus Flores from major-league camp.

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

Zack Greinke, who was out with elbow discomfort and forearm stiffness, received an injection after being examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

The team doctor gave Greinke an injection of platelet-rich plasma and anti-inflammatory medication. The pitcher has been prescribed rest for two to three days and then a return to a progressive throwing program.

ElAttrache’s diagnosis confirmed an MRI taken last week that Greinke had no structural ligament or tendon damage in the elbow, which has bothered him since his last start March 1.

Greinke has told the team he’s dealt with similar elbow issues in the past that never kept him from missing a start.

Greinke was set to rest for a couple of days before beginning a progressive throwing program.

For his part, Greinke chose not to speculate on the exact extent of the injury or self-diagnose:

“I didn’t really know exactly what the problem is, and I still don’t. They might, but I don’t. I’m not a doctor, I’m just kind of going what they are saying to me,” Greinke said. “I don’t have any definitive stuff to tell you guys. I don’t know if it’s the same problem as I’ve had in the past, and I don’t know if it’s a little different.”

On Friday, Greinke played catch, the first time he’s thrown since receiving an injection of plasma in his elbow. Afterwards, He reported no pain.

As it stands, the Dodgers are unsure of whether Greinke will be right by Opening Day and are looking into roster possibilities should he not be ready by then.

“Will Zack be able to make opening day? We don’t know that,” said manager Don Mattingly on Thursday.

Honestly, who cares about Opening Day though? It’s just an arbitrary date.

Obviously the primary goal should be getting him healthy, period, just like Carl Crawford.

—–

Carl Crawford is once again taking batting practice against live pitching.

Carl Crawford took the next step in his rehabilitation on Tuesday, as he faced live pitchers at Camelback Ranch. It was the sixth consecutive day Crawford has taken batting practice of some sort, and his quantity has increased from 50 swings each day to start up to over 120 on Tuesday.

He then hit against live pitching in a game and could be DHing soon in Spring Training.

“Carl was good again today. We’ll see how he does tomorrow. We’re talking about him possibly DH-ing soon. We’ll see how he pops out of these two days. We know he was sore today, body wise. Just regular soreness that you’ll have playing, and in a different gear,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow, and make some decisions.”

There is no rush to bring him back, so however long the process needs to take is how long the Dodgers and Carl should be willing to see it through.

—–

Chad Billingsley made a minor-league start on Wednesday even though he’s dealing with some mild groin tightness.

Billingsley had the right leg wrapped for his Sunday bullpen session and manager Don Mattingly said it is nothing major. Billingsley has a history of groin tightness in previous Spring Trainings.

The Dodgers had the day off but Bills carried on with his preparation as he looks towards the beginning of the season.

He ended up clearing the latest test with flying colors, just like all the others.

“Everything felt great with the groin, I had no issues with that. My arm felt great today, everything was good,” Billingsley said. “I had good command of all my pitches.”

It’s hard to not start to get encouraged by this.

—–

Javy Guerra‘s groin issue is more serious than Bills’.

The groin issue that hampered Javy Guerra in his one inning of a Minor League game Sunday, however, will “slow him down a bit, that’s for sure,” Mattingly said. Guerra, in his return from a week off because of World Baseball Classic issues, has downplayed the injury, which he didn’t reveal until after his Sunday outing.

“He’s telling me he feels good,” said Mattingly. “We’re going to be cautious. I don’t think it will be for an extended time, but we’ll be cautious for a day.”

In a crowded bullpen, especially if the team keeps eight starters, it’s not out of the question that he could start on the DL or in AAA.

—–

Shawn Tolleson suffered an injury for the second time this spring after he took a liner off his elbow.

Luckily, it should be fine and he won’t even go in for x-rays.

Tolleson previously dealt with a knee injury a week or so ago.

—–

Ted Lilly missed a bullpen session due to illness, the second instance this spring in which sickness has felled him.

It’s not a big deal, but for a guy who’s coming back from shoulder surgery and needs reps, the sickness throws him off schedule and puts him behind.

—–

Matt Palmer went under the knife for arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is out for roughly six to eight weeks.

The surgery to clean up a medial meniscus was performed by Dr. Brian Shafer. Palmer’s knee locked up while walking after playing catch on Saturday.

Palmer had a 3.60 ERA in three spring appearances, having allowed nine runs (seven unearned) in five innings, his outings marred by several errant pickoff throws. He allowed nine hits.

The non-roster invitee had no shot of making the team, but it’s unfortunate that he suffered a non-contact injury and couldn’t at least compete and make a larger impression, one way or the other, on the club.

—–

Our very own Dustin Nosler is on the scene at Camelback Ranch and reports that Justin Sellers left practice with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury.

Ken Gurnick updates us on Sellers and confirms Nosler’s report, as he says Sellers suffered a sprained ankle.

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

Carl Crawford took live batting practice against an actual pitcher for the first time since elbow surgery last August. However, yesterday he reported forearm soreness and was held out of batting practice and drills.

Crawford, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow last Aug. 23, took batting practice against live pitchers on Monday, but hasn’t been able to do so in the last two days. On Thursday morning when hitting off the tee in the batting cage, Crawford felt tightness in his forearm, and was shut down.

I wouldn’t overreact to it, but forearm stiffness is usually indicative of elbow ligament problems, which does seem normal since he’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but it’s probably an indication that he’s moving a bit too quickly.

Update

Mattingly: @carlcrawford_ will not hit or throw for seven days due to nerve irritation in his elbow.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 1, 2013

Indeed, the problem was elbow related and it seems it was a more serious setback than they initially let on.

—–

Chad Billingsley and his balky right elbow made it through his first start of Spring Training without any complications.

“After the first couple of throws I’m like, ‘Yeah this is fun’,” Billingsley said.

“Normally when you sit for a long half-inning, your arm gets tight and your body starts tightening up. But I went out there and had no problem getting loose or anything, so that’s great.”

“As soon as I left (Arizona) in October, I felt I was ready to go,” he said.

The news is, of course, positive, but whether they want to admit it or not, his condition will be speculated on all year long unless he never falters in terms of both performance and health.

—–

Matt Kemp continues rehabbing and could see live game action sooner than later.

No official date has been set for Kemp’s Spring Training debut, but he’s taking batting practice without issue.

Kemp, who underwent right shoulder surgery in October, hit in the cages Wednesday morning and felt good enough to take on-field batting practice — off of Mattingly — later in the workout. Mattingly said Kemp was fine and his extension, even on full swings and misses, caused no pain.

Seems like he’ll be ready to go once the season starts.

—–

Tony Gwynn Jr. was sidelined with a sore left groin muscle and had to miss a few days of workouts. He later said he expects to be back today, which is a positive since he’s battling desperately for a roster spot.

Gwynn is the only potential bench player with significant center field experience in the majors, so this setback can only hurt him and his chances, especially if it lingers at all like his 2012 injury did.

—–

Luis Cruz missed a couple days of Spring Training action with flu-like symptoms.

Cruz was in urgent care most of Tuesday, where he received IV treatment. He has returned to the lineup and the issue isn’t a concern, unless he actually has the plague or something ridiculous.

Nothing to see here.

—–

Ted Lilly made his Spring Training debut Thursday after an off-season of recovery from shoulder surgery.

Lilly reported no setbacks as he worked his way back into shape.

—–

Matt Guerrier is healthy and ready to contribute to the pen following an injury-plagued 2012.

He opted to not have elbow surgery in the off-season, a la Billingsley, and instead received plasma-rich injections.

Guerrier’s curveball was especially sharp, a sure sign that, like Chad Billingsley, Guerrier has recovered from his injury because of platelet-rich plasma injections to avoid surgery.

“Curveballs hurt me last year when I threw them,” Guerrier said. “Today, it feels completely normal.”

“I was fairly optimistic after that,” he said. “Then once I started to throw in the offseason it felt completely different.”

Guerrier’s health may help us avoid Kevin Gregg, but Matt has never been anything more than a meh reliever, with just one season of an FIP below 3.9, and a K/9 mark that has never reached 7. The Dodgers don’t need to rely upon Guerrier to have a successful pen, but any avoidance of Gregg and the likes is a win, let’s be honest.

—–

Justin Sellers missed workouts because of an ingrown toenail, which he got removed, but he expects to be back today.

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

Justin Sellers, current occupant of the Dodgers 40-man roster, might not have to worry about being on it for much longer, as he was recently arrested by the police (h/t True Blue LA/@dpwtv).

Police said Justin Sellers was doing “wheelies” on his motorcycle in a neighborhood near Riva Drive. When officers tried to pull him over, police said Sellers took off.

After a short chase, Sellers turned himself in, authorities said.

West Sacramento police said they have had repeated reports of a motorcyclist driving recklessly in the same neighborhood for the past month.

Given the fact that the Dodgers have a clog of utility infielder types right now, and that they’ll probably be looking for 40-man roster spots after/during Spring Training, he probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to do this.

I mean, when isn’t running from the police a smart idea anyway? Then again, he was apparently repeatedly doing dangerous shit on his motorcycle for about a month, so … what else should I have expected?

West Sacramento, it should be noted, is in Yolo County.

#YOLO

As I feared when Mark Ellis‘ injury was initially announced, the six week timetable was optimistic, as now he’s out at least two months.

The estimated recovery time of Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis has been extended to two months after an MRI revealed a medial collateral ligament sprain of the left knee.

Ellis already has had emergency surgery to relieve swelling in the left leg, which was injured last Friday in a takeout slide by Cardinals infielder Tyler Greene. Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone said surgery is not currently considered for the ligament sprain.

Falson said Ellis also has an accompanying blister capsule sprain and a bone contusion on the outside of the knee.

“He’s not full weight bearing right now. He’s on crutches. So it just depends on how many days it takes for him to get to that full weight bearing,” she said. “There are a lot of factors here, and it’s not like this is a common, everyday baseball injury that we see all the time. These are best estimates we can give based on tissue healing times. But every person is different so we are going to see how it goes.”

Falsone stressed that because all of Ellis’ injuries are trauma related — and he has a long wound from the surgery — healing time is uncertain.

“Right now we are letting everything heal up and let him recover from the trauma and begin some basic weight bearing exercises and range of motion type of stuff and progress,” she said, adding that the healing of the wound and the knee sprain “both need healing time.”

So Ellis is out until at least August, but by reading the quotes, you find that the training staff doesn’t really have a reliable timetable for this, so it could easily be later than that.

Honestly? I’m looking at it like I just hope he’s 100% for 2013, and anything the Dodgers get out of him in 2012 is a bonus at this point.

—–

Justin Sellers was placed on the disabled list yesterday to make room for Jerry Hairston Jr.‘s return, but he should be back in 15 days.

Dodgers infielder Justin Sellers was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a bulging disk he believes is the result of the highlight-reel catch he made diving into the stands at Dodger Stadium earlier this month.

Sellers has been playing in increasing pain and the injury was diagnosed through an MRI Thursday. Manager Don Mattingly said the club is optimistic that anti-inflammatory medication and strengthening exercises will have Sellers able to return in the minimum 15 days.

It depends on his recovery, but he hasn’t shown to be Rafael Furcal yet, so there’s no reason to expect the worse.

—–

With quick status updates, Matt Guerrier is out until at least the All-Star break and Juan Uribe is having his wrist examined for what seems like the millionth time.

Sue Falsone: Matt Guerrier not expected back until after All-Star break.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) May 26, 2012

Juan Uribe will get his wrist examined tonight by #DrNealElAttrache.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) May 26, 2012

Guerrier is a loss, but as long as Hairston is healthy, I don’t care much if Uribe comes back sooner or later.

Best candidate ever.

Jerry Hairston Jr. is in the lineup today, meaning he has been activated off the disabled list. Unfortunately, the corresponding move is Justin Sellers heading to the disabled list with a bulging disk in his back.

Hairston is batting .315/.403/.463/.866 on the season, which isn’t even the best part, as he was one of the best defenders in the MLB for the month of April. Sellers underwent an MRI the other day due to numbness and weakness in his leg, so it’s safe to say the bulging disk was the cause of that.

That injury saves the roster spots of either Elian Herrera or Ivan De Jesus.

While Matt Kemp figures to be ready by the end of the month, not much else is going right on the injury front.

Matt Guerrier has been shut down in his rehab attempt due to pain, and surgery is now an option.

Dodgers reliever Matt Guerrier, on the disabled list since April 19 with elbow tendinitis, has stalled in his rehabilitation and said the most likely course of action is to shut down completely until his pain is gone.

When a platelet-rich plasma injection failed to resolve his discomfort, Guerrier two weeks ago decided to try to pitch through it. But he was discouraged after a Wednesday bullpen session in which he said he pitched better than he felt.

“It’s not responding as well as I’d like after two bullpens,” said Guerrier. “It’s very frustrating, so up and down and back and forth. It feels good one day, the next day I can’t play catch. The turning point was a couple weeks ago, and I thought I could push through it.”

Guerrier said among the options are exploratory surgery (about which he said, “I don’t think any of us think that’s the case.”), another injection or complete rest.

“Rest is the more likely bet,” he said.

Well then, I guess it wasn’t a fabricated injury to solve a roster dilemma after all, huh?

Fortunately for the team, the bullpen is a strength and they can probably ride out the loss of Guerrier even though it would be far better to have him back.

In other reliever news, Blake Hawksworth might be returning sooner than later, as he finally seems to be on the road to recovery.

Injured Dodgers reliever Blake Hawksworth, who underwent two elbow operations earlier this year, will continue his comeback on Thursday when he makes his first appearance in an intrasquad game at the club’s Camelback Ranch-Glendale complex.

Hawksworth, who spent all of last year with the Dodgers, underwent what should have been relatively minor arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow on Jan. 11 to remove a bone spur and scar tissue. But a post-surgical infection developed that required a second cleansing procedure and powerful antibiotics, setting back his recovery.

At the rate players are dropping, there’s a chance the Dodgers will need him to contribute at some point this season.

—–

Unfortunately, now Justin Sellers is hurting and headed for an MRI.

Just when it looked like the Dodgers were getting healthy, infielder Justin Sellers scratched from Wednesday’s lineup with numbness in his right leg. He will have an MRI exam on Thursday.

Sellers, who was set to start at third base, was replaced in the lineup by Adam Kennedy.

Sellers said the injury could have occurred when he crashed into the stands making a highlight-reel catch of a Miguel Montero foul ball last week at Dodger Stadium.

“I know I played after that and I don’t know if it happened then and got worse. I don’t know,” said Sellers. “It could have happened that way, I don’t know for sure. I do know for sure I was beat up for a couple of days, so it definitely could have been from that.”

Sellers said he’s able to swing a bat, throw and run straight ahead. But when he reaches to make a backhand stop with his glove, “I feel a pinch and a tingle,” he said.

If he’s out for a while, the Dodgers might not have a choice but to turn to Aaron Miles.

You know what? I honestly prefer that option to have Adam Kennedy as a starter. Yikes.

Speaking of middle infielder injuries, even the Dodgers sound a bit pessimistic about Mark Ellis‘ status.

Injured Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis isn’t out of the hospital yet, or out of the woods. He will be sidelined a minimum of six weeks, possibly longer.

It will take six weeks before Ellis can return just from the two operations on his injured left leg to relieve pressure from swelling.

Still unknown is the condition of Ellis’ left knee and ankle in the wake of being upended by St. Louis baserunner Tyler Greene on Friday night. The club suspects one of the joints, if not both, is injured.

Trainer Sue Falsone said Ellis winced when his leg was flexed, but his ankle and knee became secondary when the pressure increased in his leg at the point of contact near the upper left shin.

After undergoing an emergency fasciotomy to relieve the pressure, a procedure that likely saved his leg, Ellis had a long incision sewn closed on Tuesday. Manager Don Mattingly said Ellis is expected to remain hospitalized until Thursday. Ellis will initially be on crutches.

Sounds like six weeks is more like the minimum time required just to be able to get back on his feet again, much less recover and play at the level he was at previously. Additionally, it certainly sounds like they expect ligament damage in either or both the ankle and knee.

Disappointing, but hope for the best, I suppose.

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.

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.

Right-handed reliever Josh Lindblom and infielder Justin Sellers will begin the season with the Dodgers, while reliever Scott Rice and infielders Luis Cruz and Josh Fields were reassigned.

The logical choices, in my opinion.

Lindblom has proven he can be very effective out of the bullpen in the bigs, which is more than Scott Rice could have said.

Sellers, despite his bat, offers a ton of versatility. Of course, keeping Sellers means the Dodgers effectively have three weak hitting utility infielders on the roster, but my rebuttal to that would be the other choices were Luis Cruz and Josh Fields.

—–

Speaking of the Opening Day roster, it’s now set.

Catchers: A.J. Ellis, Matt Treanor

Infielders: James Loney, Mark Ellis, Juan Uribe, Dee Gordon, Jerry Hairston Jr., Adam Kennedy, Justin Sellers

Outfielders: Juan Rivera, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Tony Gwynn Jr.

Starting Pitchers: Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang

Relief Pitchers: Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Josh Lindblom, Scott Elbert, Todd Coffey, Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal, Jamey Wright

—–

So, so, so, so, so ready for meaningful games to start.

The last position spot on the Dodgers roster has come down to infielders Justin Sellers, Josh Fields and Luis Cruz. After hot starts for each, if you pick by what they’ve done lately offensively, “other” would win the election.

Sellers is in a 2-for-14 spell, his average dropping from .385 to .300. Fields is 1-for-16 lately (with seven strikeouts), his average falling from .379 to .261. Cruz is 3-for-15 in recent games, dropping his average from .350 to .286.

It’s almost as if … they all aren’t good hitters or something.

While Spring Training statistics mean little to me, they do mean something when they only reason said players are still in consideration for the roster are their Spring Training statistics.

—–

In other roster news, Trent Oeltjen was optioned.

The Dodgers optioned Trent Oeltjen to Minor League camp after Saturday’s 9-3 win over the D-backs, in which Oeltjen went 1-for-2 with two runs scored to raise his average to .289.

Oeltjen had almost no chance to make the team as a fifth outfielder after the signing of utility man Jerry Hairston, who can play the infield and outfield.

One more down…

Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly’s recurring stiff neck is more serious than originally believed and his status for the first series of the regular season is uncertain.

It begins.

Nate Eovaldi time?

In other injury news, infielder Justin Sellers is “60 percent” healed from a skin irritation, Mattingly said, and might be back on the field Monday.

His roster chances have improved with Jerry Hairston Jr.‘s throwing problems/injured shoulder.

And pitcher Blake Hawksworth, who has missed all of Spring Training with an elbow infection following surgery, is likely to be placed on the 60-day emergency disabled list because he still hasn’t resumed a throwing program and will need at least six weeks to be game ready when he does.

John Grabow just thanked whatever god he prays to, because I think he may have just made the team, as the Dodgers have been pining for a second lefty in the pen since before Spring Training. Jamey Wright is another possibility, but I think* they keep Josh Lindblom instead.

*More like hope.

The Dodgers are off on Thursday, but they did make one roster move. Ronald Belisario, who was on the restricted list all of last season, was reinstated, and to make room on the 40-man roster the Dodgers designated Ramon Troncoso for assignment.

Belisario still must serve a 25-game suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy, presumably for testing positive for cocaine, something the reliever said last month that he only tried once. Belisario needed to be on the 40-man roster to serve that suspension.

The team hopes he clears waivers, but don’t think he will.

The Dodgers are hoping reliever Ramon Troncoso gets through waivers so they can keep him in the organization, but manager Don Mattingly said he expects the right-hander to be claimed.

Yeah, can’t imagine some team with horrible relief depth wouldn’t take a chance.

Anyway, with Troncoso gone, the candidates for the final spot in the bullpen have been revealed.

Troncoso was competing for the final long-relief spot in the bullpen. That competition now is among Jamey Wright, Josh Lindblom, John Grabow, Angel Guzman, Wil Ledezma, Fernando Nieve and Scott Rice.

According to general manager Ned Colletti, Wright and Grabow have opt-out clauses they can trigger on Sunday, which gives the Dodgers until March 30 to guarantee their Major League salaries or grant their releases.

I don’t see how it’s not Josh Lindblom over that cavalcade of crap. They don’t absolutely need a lefty reliever that bad, do they? We should hope not.

—–

Perhaps of greater concern is Jerry Hairston‘s arm, as it even piqued Don Mattingly‘s worry.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he is “more concerned” with infielder Jerry Hairston’s throwing after the veteran utility man picked up his fifth throwing error in the last five games Friday.

Playing third base, Hairston fielded a chopper but spiked the throw to the plate with the bases loaded in the 17-4 split-squad win over the White Sox, pulling catcher A.J. Ellis off home and costing Minor League pitcher Ethan Martin an unearned run.

The 35-year-old Hairston reportedly had some arm or shoulder discomfort earlier in Spring Training but missed no time. Mattingly would not speculate on whether Hairston is trying to play through an injury, but he said the club would “look further into” Hairston’s status.

That sound you hear is Justin Sellers doing cartwheels and praising Jesus.

Chris Withrow, Scott Van Slyke, Alex Castellanos, John Wall, Stephen Fife, Michael Antonini, and Alfredo Silverio were optioned to minor league camp, while Russ Mitchell and Shane Lindsay, both non-roster invitees to camp, were reassigned to the minor league side.

No surprises there.

However, one surprise is third baseman Josh Fields, who apparently now has a good shot at making the roster.

Fields is Mitchell with a history of Major League success, a corner infielder who slugged 23 home runs as a rookie for the Chicago White Sox in 2007, only to have his career get sidetracked by knee and hip surgeries.

His road back to the Major Leagues hasn’t been an easy one and included a detour to Japan last summer. He’s in Dodgers camp on a Minor League contract, but he’s made enough of an early impression that he leaped past Mitchell as an insurance candidate at third base if Juan Uribe should fail again, and at first base behind James Loney.

Fields, Jerry Sands and Justin Sellers are probably fighting for the last roster spot, barring injury.

If that’s true, then Fields is making the team, I think.

Now I’ve basically come to terms with the fact that the Dodgers won’t be keeping Jerry Sands, because … Dodgers. Plus, carrying Justin Sellers would mean taking eleventy trillion utility infielders on the roster, so I’m pretty sure Fields ends up as the odd man in.

While I guess that’s a nice story, let’s get one thing straight here: Fields has a career rWAR of -1.3 and a career fWAR of -0.1. To say the reason his career is currently on the brink is due to injuries is asinine because even in that breakout season he was worth 0.9 rWAR and 0.6 fWAR.

My point is that people should stop pretending like he has a ton of upside because it isn’t true, and he’s far more likely to end up as the 2010 Garret Anderson than 2006 Olmedo Saenz.

NFL veteran Jarrad Page, who showed up to the Los Angeles Dodgers open tryout, was signed to a minor league contract by the team over the weekend.

Page, 27, played football and baseball at UCLA. He pursued an NFL career and played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006-09, for the New England Patriots in 2010 and for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings last season. He was not expected to be retained by the Vikings.

Page, an outfielder, attended the Dodgers’ open tryout on March 1.

He played baseball at UCLA in 2004-05. In 2005, he hit .149 with one home run and 48 strikeouts in 101 at-bats.

Obviously he’s an outstanding athlete, but the concern of everybody has to be whether or not he can hit.

I’d love to see him make it, but it’s admittedly a long shot.

—–

In injury news, Andre Ethier and Justin Sellers appear to be alright.

Outfielder Andre Ethier and infielder Justin Sellers resumed workouts on Sunday, an indication that their Saturday ailments were relatively minor.

Honestly, Sellers’ situation wasn’t as important because he’s a utility guy, but if Ethier’s injury became a lingering issue, it would cripple the offense. Hopefully this really is the end of it.

—–

Trayvon Robinson was not so happy about being traded by the Dodgers.

Trayvon Robinson was riding the team bus in New Orleans last July when his cellphone rang. The caller was DeJon Watson, the Dodgers’ assistant general manager.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Watson said. “You’ve been traded to the Boston Red Sox.”

“What’s the good news?” Robinson replied.

Still, the initial news of the trade “really hurt me,” he said. The Crenshaw High alum was hitting .293 with 26 home runs for the Dodgers’ triple-A team, one step from taking the field for his hometown team.

“Everything they told me to do, I did it,” he said. “I didn’t disrespect the uniform.

“I always tried to wear the Dodger jersey the way Jackie Robinson did, with a lot of pride and courage.”

Understandable. I think most of us were wondering what the hell the Dodgers were doing.

In any case, hopefully Trayvon channels his anger into a productive career.

Dominican Summer League Dodgers: Pitchers
Dominican Summer League Dodgers: Hitters
Arizona League Dodgers: Pitchers
Arizona League Dodgers: Hitters
Ogden Raptors: Pitchers
Ogden Raptors: Hitters
Great Lakes Loons: Pitchers
Great Lakes Loons: Hitters
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: Pitchers
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: Hitters
Chattanooga Lookouts: Pitchers
Chattanooga Lookouts: Hitters
Albuquerque Isotopes: Pitchers

=====

Today I continue my off-season recap of the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates, moving on to the hitters of the Albuquerque Isotopes.

—

I’ll be picking the prospects for the 2012 Prospective Prospect Profiles list from these reviews, so it might be worth reading. Or not.

=====

Ivan De Jesus – 2B – 24

Ivan DeJesus Statistics

I’m still not sure if he just wasn’t ever as good as we thought or that the broken leg truly derailed his career, but he certainly struggled after the injury. While the .311/.387/.432/.819 is nice, the league average OPS was .806, so it wasn’t anything special.

That said, it was just nice to see him get some semblance of plate discipline back, as what used to be a clear strength completely evaporated after his injury. He got back to walking a bit at a 9.9% clip in 2011 to go along with a 15.7% strikeout rate. By comparison, prior to his injury, he posted a 13.6% walk rate and a 14.5% strikeout rate in what was arguably a more difficult environment in AA.

His .188/.235/.188/.423 line with a 5.7 BB% and a 31.4 K% in a short trial in the majors certainly won’t help, but it’s not damning. For me, the bigger concern is whether he continues to make progress on his way back from the injury or if this is as good as we’re going to get. As of now, he could be a useful utility player down the road.

—–

Justin Sellers – SS/2B/3B – 25

Justin Sellers Statistics

After his defensive showing last year, there were ruminations among Dodger fans that he could be a starter, but his struggles with the bat seemed to quiet that train of thought (.203/.283/.301/.583). However, he does have positional flexibility, and has shown gap power, solid contact, and the ability to walk in the minors (.306/.403/.541/.944), so I think becoming a key utility man isn’t out of the question.

Sellers does play solid defense at three infield positions, and if he can make consistent enough contact to keep his batting average closer to .250 than the Mendoza Line, I think he can have usefulness for the team for years down the road.

—–

Tim Federowicz – C – 23

Tim Federowicz Statistics

Federowicz hit .321/.418/.630/1.048 for Albuquerque, but his .278/.341/.413/.754 line in AA for Portland was probably more indicative of his offensive talent.

He has average contact ability, average plate discipline, and average pop in the minors, all of which project to be below average to poor in the majors. However, what keeps him relevant is his solid catch-and-throw ability and good defense behind the plate.

Since catchers don’t need to hit much to be useful, I suppose the hope is that he can become a below average hitter and thus be a useful regular with his defensive abilities. As you already likely know, I’m skeptical of defense first catchers that have to learn how to hit, because I don’t think it generally works out that way.

Spring Training is here, which means all other sports matter less, and wow, there’s way too much news out of the Los Angeles Dodgers camp already.

=====

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Clayton Kershaw will start on Opening Day, which is basically the biggest Captain Obvious moment of the season.

Then Matt Kemp told the media that he doesn’t want the 2011 NL MVP Award if Ryan Braun is suspended.

“I would want to win by them voting me,” Kemp said. “I wouldn’t want them to just, ‘Oh, this person did that so how about we just give the award to this person?’ I don’t think it should work that way.

“If it is that way, then it should be a vacant award for 2011, no one should win the MVP award in the National League.”

Kemp said he hopes Braun is vindicated.

“I know Braun,” he said. “We’ve always been cool. We’ve been friends. He’s been one of my favorite players in the big leagues. I hope it’s not true.”

Kemp has handled this situation extremely well up to this point and that just cements it.

It wasn’t all rainbows and kittens though, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reported that Blake Hawksworth won’t be ready to start the season because a second operation was necessary to clean up his elbow.

—–

As far as roles and playing time go, Eric Stephen of True Blue LA has a ton of news.

“Javy, to me, didn’t do anything last year to say he shouldn’t be that guy,” manager Don Mattingly said on Tuesday. “More than anything, Kenley was saying ‘Hey I can do that too’ by the way he pitched. It’s a good problem for us to have.”

“Javy has been here one year,” said Mattingly. “It’s a competition, you still have to perform. There have been a lot of guys in their first year were really good and struggled the next year. Kenley was a perfect example, as he wasn’t himself [to start 2011] that he was the year before. It took him a half a season with little problems here and there, and he was in the minors for a little bit, but next thing you know he emerged back to what we had seen the year before.”

Javy Guerra will be the closer over Kenley Jansen to start the season, and while Jansen is the better pitcher, I don’t have a problem with this, as it gives the team better flexibility in regards to Jansen’s usage.

“It’s not like he’s a bad guy, or you don’t like him. But to this point he’s been tough to count on,” Mattingly said of relief pitcher Ronald Belisario, who is here in camp, but was not available for reporters as he left for a dental appointment. “It’s a step in the right direction that he’s here.”

The much maligned Ronald Belisario was actually there in person in real life at Spring Training and it’s important because if he looks anything like his old self, Hawksworth’s injury might have just opened up a spot.

—–

In the world of position players, both starting and backup roles are at stake.

Jerry Sands doesn’t necessarily need to win an everyday spot in the lineup to make the opening day roster, but Mattingly said he needs to have a certain number of plate appearances to justify a spot on the big league roster, as the club wants Sands to play nearly every day. While Mattingly shied away from committing to a plan of sitting Andre Ethier and Loney against southpaws, the manager said that figuring out a way to get Sands enough at-bats will be one of his projects in camp.

I have a way to get Jerry Sands at bats: don’t play Juan Rivera.

The backup shortstop will be Jerry Hairston Jr., as Mattingly wants to keep Juan Uribe at third base. Should Dee Gordon go down for any extended period of time, the club would turn to Justin Sellers.

Jerry Hairston Jr. is a fine utility infielder, but that paragraph makes me want to barf. Juan Uribe at third all the time and Justin Sellers is the backup in case Dee Gordon doesn’t take off like they expect.

Could be bad.

Finally, it was announced that Gordon will hit first, while Kemp hits third.

I’ll explore this later, but this could be a bad idea. Gordon got better later in the season, but it was a tiny sample size, and as a whole, he has always struggled at taking a walk. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, putting your best hitter in the three hole is not optimal either.

Ned Colletti has signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a 2 year deal worth 6 million dollars because…of course. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that he’ll make $2.25 million in 2012 and $3.75 million in 2013, which means the contract is back loaded because…of course.

—–

In all fairness, Hairston is certainly versatile and useful, as he can play 2B, 3B, SS, CF, and LF. Being brought on as a utility infielder though is puzzling, as it means the Dodgers arguably have at least five of them in Hairston, Juan Uribe, Adam Kennedy, Justin Sellers, and Ivan DeJesus.

Over 300 plate appearances, he totals -5 batting, -0.5 baserunning, -1 defense, 0.5 position, and 10 replacement.

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In 2010 with the Padres, Hairston put up a .244/.299/.353/.652 line, but followed that with a better 2011 split between the Nationals and Brewers, posting a .270/.344/.383/.727 slash. Given that he’ll be going into his age 36 season, I put Hairston around .260/.330/.370/.700 with a .310 wOBA or so.

With the glove, he’s about average or on the fringes of average at 2B, 3B, CF, and SS, but excels in LF. However, I project him to mainly play the former positions rather than the latter, unless they bench both Juan Rivera and Jerry Sands and any upcoming prospects from that position, thus making my head explode.

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The Dodgers are in a bit of a Catch-22 situation now, as Jerry Hairston Jr. and the rest of the utility infielder Avengers could all be worth their contracts if they get adequate playing time. However, in order to get that playing time, one of these guys has to lose it and thus be completely not worth their deals. Since no projected regular or backup are free of Ned Colletti’s hands except Dee Gordon and Justin Sellers, it’s almost a no win situation having this many guaranteed deals for mediocre players, with some of them being on multiple year deals.

I already mentioned previously that I actually didn’t mind Jerry Hairston Jr. on the team, and I honestly still don’t, mainly because of the versatility he brings to the table. I think there’s value beyond his WAR in the way he fills out a bench. However, the problem, as with most of Ned Colletti’s signings, is the opportunity cost of the deal and his asset management.

I know it sounds like I’m beating a dead horse by saying that, but I can’t not say it, because it’s a sad reality.

Dee Gordon

Dee Gordon’s season was much like the picture you see above: up and down, up and down. Beginning the year in AAA and just an injury or two away from the show, the inevitable happened and Gordon made his way to the bigs. Coming in with a reputation as a contact hitter with speed to burn and a questionable glove, Gordon lived up admirably to that rep.

After slashing .333/.373/.410 with a .366 wOBA in AAA Albuquerque, Flash hit .304/.325/.362 with a .314 wOBA in 233 plate appearances with the big boys. He walked in just 3% of his plate appearances, but on the bright side only struck out 11.6% of the time, allowing himself the opportunity to beat out ground balls (which he hit 55.9% of the time) for hits with that blazing speed of his.

Gordon was successful on 24 of his 31 stolen base attempts, and considering he’s never going to hit for power (2011 MLB ISO of just .058, and a professional best of .100 in rookie ball back in 2008) Dee will have to improve upon that 77.4% success rate on the basepaths to make his incredible speed a positive. The ability to steal bases is one thing; being able to steal them at an efficient rate is something else entirely.

In the field, Gordon was capable of the spectacular play, but also the simple mistakes that often plague shortstops with great arms. Dee started 54 games at short, and to put it mildly, was bad with the glove. His UZR/150 was an astonishingly terrible -21.5, and that – combined with the lack of plate discipline and power – led to a WAR of just 0.6.

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Gordon’s season can be nicely divided in two with the All-Star break serving as the divider. Pre-break, Gordon hit just .232/.250/.280/.530, but post-break he showed that adjustments were made, as he hit .345/.367/.408/.776. The late surge included by far his best month as a pro, a white-hot September that saw Dee mash at a .372/.398/.451/.850 rate. September also saw improvements in his pitch recognition, plate discipline (9:5 K:BB after starting with an abysmal 18:2 mark), and his ability to drive the ball, as he smacked 8 extra-base hits after beginning the month with just 3.

All in all, it was a solid rookie campaign for Gordon. He did battle multiple shoulder injuries that curtailed the ample playing time he was given, but we saw the tools – the speed, the great arm, and the energy that mainstream pundits will talk so much about.

If Gordon can steal bases at a higher rate of success and get himself on base more often by drawing walks at a loftier clip, all the while improving his glove, he could be a huge positive factor going forward from atop the Dodger lineup. Barring anything unforeseen, 2012 will see Gordon manning short and hitting leadoff, and if nothing else, we know it will always be entertaining when Devaris Strange-Gordon is up to bat or has a play to make in the field.

Jamey Carroll

Carroll has already been covered in previous incarnations of the Season Review, but to quickly review, here are his numbers at short in the time he filled in for his injured comrades.

.304/.366/.357/.723 in 66 games, a 27/21 K/BB mark, and a -6.2 UZR/150 in the field in over 500 innings.

Rafael Furcal

When healthy, Rafael Furcal is a dynamic player, possessing a good eye at the plate, speed, the ability to successfully steal bags, a bit of pop, and a gun for an arm in the field. Unfortunately, in his time in Los Angeles, he was rarely healthy for an extended period of time, battling an array of maladies.

Furcal averaged just about 103 games a season in his six years in L.A., and even his unfortunate attraction to injury was a tad bit overblown. He actually played in 138 games or more 3 times, and he didn’t injure himself in idiotic ways (hello, Jason Repko). However, it is undeniable that his true impact was not felt over the last couple of years, and that proved true in 2011 as he only played in 37 games before a trade that shipped him to St. Louis in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Castellanos.

Furcal leaves Los Angeles with a line of .283/.351/.406/.757 in just over 2800 plate appearances in blue. So long, Raffy.

The Three Stooges

Justin Sellers, Juan Uribe, and Aaron Miles combined to start 20 games at short, with Sellers flashing an impressive glove – a 28.2 UZR/150 – in 151.2 innings at the position.

Jamey Carroll

On the back-end of a two-year deal, Jamey Carroll put up another solid season as a super-utility man, and all at the baseball old age of 37. Though his numbers dipped across the board from what was the second best season of his career, he still contributed 2.2 WAR while primarily playing second.

In 146 games and 510 plate appearances, Carroll put up a .290/.359/.347 line with a .321 wOBA and 104 wRC+ while walking in 10% of his trips to the plate, as compared with just over 11% of his appearances ending in a strikeout.

Again, his 2010 numbers were better (.291/.379/.339, .329 wOBA, 12.3 BB%, 2.5 WAR) with the notable exception that Jamey cut down on his whiffs this past season and played worse defense (11.4 UZR/150 at second in 2010, down considerably in 2011 at -8.0 in 330 more innings). However, for a guy who played so much due to injury and ineptitude, he was yet again one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal year.

Carroll was not traded so as to mentor Dee Gordon, and it would make sense to bring the veteran back on a one-year deal to play rover and continue his mentoring duties. Not that I particularly buy that a mentor is necessary for a young player, but if it means less playing time for Juan Uribe, I’m all for it. After all, a good way to improve the team is to stop playing players like Uribe. Carroll’s OBP in 81 games at second was .355; I sincerely doubt Ewribe could pull off that feat.

Aaron Miles

I don’t feel it’s necessary to re-hash too much of my previous spiel on Miles that can be found in my Third Base Season Review post, so I’ll just give his numbers as a second baseman in 2011, a position which he occupied for 72 games.

.288/.302/.362/.664 and a UZR/150 of 0.2 in over 500 innings.

Sigh? Sigh.

Also-Rans

Five other Dodgers saw time at second base, led by Uribe and Justin Sellers. Ivan DeJesus was given just a brief tryout, and with his exclusion from the September call-ups in 2011, his time as a viable option with the Dodgers is probably over. Which is a shame, because the man has shown a great ability to draw a walk during the vast majority of his minor league career, at least prior to his injury.

I could live with Sellers as a one-year fill-in, but the career minor leaguer is nothing more than that: filler. On the bright side, Sellers did display good leather, particularly at short and third, and was a plus at all three positions on the defensive side of things.

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FUN FACT: Eugenio Velez and Juan Castro combined to appear in fifteen games at second, starting eight.