Courtesy of Ken Gurnick...The Dodgers declined the $10 million 2010 mutual option for right-handed pitcher Jon Garland, who can become a free agent. Garland is entitled to receive a $2.5 million buyout, which will be paid by the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of the terms of the trade that sent Garland to the Dodgers for infielder Tony Abreu on Aug. 31.
I'm not one to stress over losing prospects, but giving up Tony Abreu for 36 1/3 innings of Jon Garland is something I'd rather not think about.
That's not an attempt to take away from anything Garland did as a Dodger (153 ERA+), or the prospect of having a reliable, albeit expensive, innings eater for 2010, but Garland's acquisition in late August was anything but necessary. With Charlie Haeger (125 ERA+, 1.053 WHIP), James McDonald (2.89 ERA in August/ September/ October) and even Jeff Weaver (114 ERA+), the Dodgers had more than enough candidates to fill those 36 1/3 innings, and didn't need to sacrifice their probable second basemen for the immediate future. So much for best laid plans, right?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment