Dodgers Failure to Fill Left Field Tops Winter Regrets
Anthony Witrado - SportingNews.com
May 17, 2011
LOS ANGELES -- With the season about a quarter of the way complete, teams are able to assess themselves and some of their offseason decisions with more certainty.
It is no longer "early" and whether a team made a move, decided against one or simply didn't land a player they targeted, the consequences of those choices have become clear.
And there are definitely some teams with winter regrets.
Take the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that graded out well with some of their offseason moves, but most of them were to re-sign players on their roster in 2010. What Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti failed to do was sign an impact left fielder, or even a left fielder capable of having a .300 on-base percentage.
The Dodgers signed Marcus Thames and Tony Gwynn Jr. and retained Jay Gibbons, and the plan was to have Gibbons and Thames platoon while Gwynn Jr. was a wait-and-see project. But through 42 games the Dodgers are getting a .203 average, .266 on-base percentage (OBP), .557 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), no home runs and nine RBI's from the position.
Of the players to split time in left field this season, Gwynn is the only current Dodger hitting over .200 this season.
"We need production out there," said manager Don Mattingly, whose team's overall offense is atrocious this season. "We have to figure out how to do that. We can't sit here and dream (of) a genie and rub a jar.
"We have to do with what we have. We have to find production somewhere, somehow."
There are plenty of other offseason missteps hampering teams right now.
Vernon Wells, Angels
The Angels are another southern California team with a hole in left field. When they failed to land anyone from their offseason wish list, the Angels made a much-criticized trade for Vernon Wells.
The move has not panned out. Through 35 games Wells is hitting .183 with a .224 OBP, and that's before landing on the disabled list last week with a groin injury.
What makes the trade more regrettable is that Wells came to Los Angeles with four years and $86 million remaining on his current contract, and it doesn't look like he'll come close to duplicating his .273 average, 31 homers and 88 RBI's from last season with Toronto. If Wells can't get back to that form during his time with the Angels, the contract could become a hindrance and make Wells nearly impossible to trade again.
Rafael Soriano, Yankees
It looks like Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was right when he fought the organization's desire to give righthander Rafael Soriano a three-year, $35 million contract. That deal is definitely looking like a miss at this point.
Soriano has pitched 16 innings this year and has allowed nine earned runs (5.40 ERA) as well as 11 walks and 10 strikeouts as Mariano Rivera's set-up man, far from the 45 saves and 1.73 ERA he posted as Tampa Bay's All-Star closer a season ago.
Making matters worse, Soriano hasn't pitched since May 13 because of a sore right elbow. Soriano had his bullpen session cut short Monday because of elbow stiffness. On Tuesday, Soriano was placed on the disabled list.
"It's not what you want to hear," Girardi told reporters Monday. "He felt a little bit better, but it's still not there yet, so it's a concern."
Miguel Tejada, Giants
The lamentable decision to sign Miguel Tejada to play shortstop is not only about the aging veteran himself, but also about general manager Brian Sabean's unwillingness to sign an impact bat if he believed Tejada (one year, $6.5 million contract) would be an lineup-changing hitter, he should have his head examined. Tejada is hitting .204 with one homer and 10 RBI's in 37 games.
Sure, the Giants won the World Series last season with basically the same roster, but the pitching carried them and the offense was a concern all year. Doing nothing to improve it, let alone making it worse, was a mistake.
The offense is last in the N.L. with 139 runs scored through Monday, next to last with a .298 OBP and third to last with a .299 weighted on-base percentage (wOBA). The offense is clearly not the reason for the Giants being in first place, rather it's their pitching staff, which is third in ERA (3.31), strikeouts (332) and second in opponents' average (.229).
No. 1 starter, Twins
It's a bit difficult to blame the Twins for not signing a front-line starter since they had one of the league's top-five rotations last season and it looked like Francisco Liriano was regaining ace form.
But Liriano has slipped and the rotation is last in the A.L. with a 4.99 ERA and has pitched the fewest innings (225 2/3) through Monday. That's a big reason Minnesota is basically out of the playoff race in mid-May, but the Twins have several other areas of concern, so it's not all on the front office for not signing a top-of-the-rotation arm.
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