Three's Company

All indications report that the Dodgers have narrowed down their search to the following three pitchers:

Randy Wolf
Jon Garland
Braden Looper

We have already discussed Randy Wolf and Jon Garland; however, with the Dodgers set to "sign one of them in the next few days" we thought we'd break them all down again.


Randy Wolf

It was Game 1 of the NLCS against the Phillies. The Dodgers were leading 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rafael Furcal had just made a throwing error and suddenly Shane Victorino was standing on second base. Up came Chase Utley. I turned to my fiancee and said, "please let Chase Utley get a base hit." Why would I openly root for the Phillies to score a run, you ask? Because I KNEW Utley was going to hit one out of the park. Before I could even stand up to pace around nervously it was 2-2.

Do you ever get that feeling while watching your favorite team that something good, or bad, is going to happen? Like having ESP that only applies to sports? I get it all the time. And with Wolf my ESP has shifted into levels not seen since right before Chase Utley put the screws to Derek Lowe in Game 1.

Wolf has been injured quite a bit, has been on four teams in the past three years, hasn't had an ERA of less than 4.20 in seven years, and suddenly he's turning down 3 years and $28 million from the Houston Astros? I'm not saying he's going to be awful, but something is not right here. The Dodgers need to be very careful and thorough in their pursuit of Wolf. If he gets anything more than a one year deal for 5-7 million dollars I'm going to blow a gasket.

Jon Garland

A friend of mine recently purchased a pure-bred lab from a pet store and has been trying to teach it simple tricks over the past few weeks. However, during a recent visit with my friend he confided in me that things are not going as planned.

"He doesn't sit, he doesn't roll over, he doesn't shake," my friend explained. "I don't think there are any tricks in that dog."

Upon expressing my sympathy my friend shot back, "at least he doesn't make much noise."

Ladies and gentlemen your quiet, trick impaired dog, Jon Garland. The above example may be a bit rough, but is there anything about Jon Garland that wows? He won't strike anyone out (90 K's in 200 innings last year), doesn't boast the best ERA (4.9 last season) and like my friend's pure-bred lab will probably cost a pretty penny.

The only thing Garland has going for him is his stability. He's never been on the DL, and has appeared in at least 32 games for the past eight seasons. Every rotation needs stability, so signing Garland wouldn't be awful; however, if it's more than 3 years and $30 million dollars I won't ever listen to McCourt complain about money again.

Braden Looper

Due to lack of knowledge about Mr. Looper you'll have to live without a clever analogical introduction. Spending eight seasons as a reliever, he made the crossover to starting for the 2007 season. Statistically, he finds himself with similar numbers to Jon Garland.

Jon Garland .544 winning percentage, .52 K's per inning, 4.47 career ERA
Braden Looper .500 winning percentage, .58 K's per inning, 3.93 career ERA

However, Looper can be had for quite a bit cheaper ($12 million for Garland last year, $5.5 million for Looper) and has thrown 600+ less innings over the course of his career than Mr. Garland. Additionally, he is equally stable having appeared in 30+ games his only two seasons as a starter.

A 3 year, $15-18 million dollar deal would fit nicely into the Dodgers payroll cutting plans, and would theoretically provide a cheaper alternative for the same product. Just like Garland, he won't wow anyone but would help in keeping the payroll lean.

It will be interesting to see which direction the Dodgers decide to go. Whether it be short term, long term, or simply the cheapest option the decision they make won't go without criticism. None of the pitchers listed above are going to hurl the Dodgers into the playoffs, but each would provide a viable option assuming the numbers are right.