The Expendable

The Los Angeles Dodgers made their first trade of the seson last night trading Third Baseman Juan Uribe and Pitcher Chris Withrow across the hallway to the Atlanta Braves Visitor's Locker Room for Utility Infielder Alberto Callaspo, Pitchers Eric Stults, Ian Thomas, and Juan Jaime.

Uribe's playing time had waned over the course of the past couple of weeks with Justin Turner and Alex Guerrero getting the majority of the playing time. Guerrero can play multiple positions and has emerged as a legitimate power threat, hitting his 9th homerun against the Atlanta Braves last night. Uribe was in the last year of his contract, was not off to a good start, and did not have the defensive versatility that Turner and Guerrero have. Alberto Callaspo is also a versatile player and his stats and Uribe's stats about mirrored each other.

Pitcher Eric Stults was drafted by the Dodgers in 2002 and appeared in 35 games with 24 starts from 2006-09, compiling an 8-10 record. He has bounced around the majors since then compiling a 36-48 overall record including 1-5 with the Braves this season. He even spent a season in Japan. He is not really in the Dodgers plans so they immediately designated him for assignment. Internet chatter has the Milwaukee Brewers taking a look at him.

The Dodgers also picked up two relievers, Ian Thomas and Juan Jaime. Both have some major league time under their belt, Thomas appearing in 21 games over the past couple of seasons and Jaime appearing in 18. Thomas was sent to Oklahoma City and Jaime was sent to Camelback Ranch to try to iron out some control issues.

The player I hated to see go was reliever Chris Withrow. He has been a highly ranked Dodgers prospect for years and he appeared in 46 games over 2013-14 but a back injury and Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2015 season. He has always had a power arm but he was not going to be able to help the Dodgers this season.

This was one of those trades that might end up being a blip on the radar. The Dodgers moved an unhappy Uribe, got a more versatile Callaspo, and got some more arms for the bullpen. The Dodgers just shuffled some personnel and sometimes that unhappiness can infect the clubhouse. It was nice to see Uribe get a nice ovation from the Dodgers crowd in his first at bat with the Braves the other night. I remember seeing Juan Uribe play as an Asheville Tourist in the Colorado Rockies organization in the early 1990's and he has turned it into a nice long career.

The Los Angeles Dodgers 2014 Draft Picks

The Major League Baseball Draft may be the hardest of all of the professional sports to predict when it comes to predicting who is going to make it to "The Show". Most baseball draft picks that are taken from high school, toil in the minor leagues for 4 or 5 years before they even get a September call up. College players, because of their age, have a much shorter window than that. College players after 4 or 5 years transition from being "prospects" to "suspects." Only 3 of the Dodgers #1 Draft picks in the past ten years have made it to the professional level. 2006 pick Clayton Kershaw, 2007 pick Chris Withrow, and 2008 pick Ethan Martin albeit with the Philadelphia Phillies have spent time at the major league level. The Dodgers drafted high school right-handed pitcher Grant Holmes from Conway, SC in the First Round of this years draft at #22. The Dodgers drafted 20 pitchers and 20 position players. 32 high school players and 8 college players. Several players selected will probably change positions before their career is over. Aaron Miller, drafted as a Pitcher, is now a DH/Outfielder with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the high Class A team of the Dodgers. He made it as high as AA Chattanooga before arm problems necessitated the switch. It will be 2018 or 2019 before we know the true value of this draft.

Chris Withrow Optioned Out

Chris Withrow was optioned down to AAA Albuquerque to make room for Hyun-Jin Ryu, who came off the Disabled List. Paul Maholm was sent to the bullpen to take Withrow's place. Withrow pitched in 20 games, 21 1/3 innings, and gave up 7 earned runs for a 2.95 ERA. He had one bad outing within the past week in which he gave up 5 runs but I believe the biggest reasons that he was sent down was the fact that he had options left and to work on his control. He issued 18 walks in those 21 1/3 innings. He was one of the least deserving of some of the other relievers of being optioned out but it was about the only move the Dodgers could make. Plus the Dodgers needed another lefty besides J.P. Howell in the bullpen.

New York, New York

To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, the Dodgers have been spreading something but it hasn't been the news. Last night the Dodgers held on to beat the New York Mets 9-4 as they built up a big lead (6-1), almost lost it (6-4), and then finished it off with a three run ninth inning (9-4). They didn't give their bullpen a chance to lose the game. Josh Beckett got the win (2-1) in spite of giving up two homeruns in the bottom of the sixth inning. He pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 earned runs and handed it off to the bullpen. Howell, Withrow, Wilson, and Jansen combined to pitch four innings of scoreless baseball. The Dodgers offense came through in the clutch as they had 15 hits and eight different Dodgers drove in runs. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits including his 11th homerun and drove in two. That puts the Dodgers at 24-22 on the season and luckily no one is running away with the National League West right now. They are 4 games behind the San Francisco Giants and are in third place.

An Anemic Offense And A Shaky Bullpen

After scoring 22 runs in a weekend sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks last weekend, I don't think the Dodgers have scored more than 2 or 3 runs in any game since. The bullpen has not held up well, either. Set up man Brian Wilson sports an ERA of 9 and in spite of Kenley Jansen 5 saves (2 blown saves already), he has an ERA of 5. Middle relievers Chris Perez (although he absorbed the loss last night) and Chris Withrow and lefty specialtist J.P. Howell have been the most consistent of the relievers. The Dodgers wasted a solid performance by starter Zach Greinke last night (6 innings, 1 run) and the starters can't hold out forever. The Dodgers offense can't seem to get their big guns untracked- Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both hitting under .200- and they are being led by Juan Uribe and Dee Gordon, both hitting over .350. The run producers are just not coming up with the clutch hits.

Reds And Diamondbacks And Dodgers, Oh My!

The Dodgers got swept by the Reds last weekend which in the greater scheme of things really, did not mean that much. The Reds needed the wins much more than the Dodgers at this point and time in the season but I am looking at any potential Playoff matchup. The Reds still have to leapfrog either the Pirates or the Cardinals to win the Wild Card spot or even winning the National League Central is not out of the question. The Dodgers have taken the first two games from the Diamondbacks with 8-1 and 5-3 wins and have shown some rarely seen power for this season. In the 8-1, win Juan Uribe went deep three times and Adrian Gonzalez hit his 20th. Starter Ricky Nolasco improved to 8-1 with the Dodgers, 13-9 overall. In Last night's 5-3 win, Pinch Hitter Scott Van Slyke hit a two run walk off homer in the 11th inning to seal the deal. It gave reliever Chris Withrow his third win of the season against no losses. Newly signed Edinson Volquez had a solid showing in his second start for the Dodgers. The Dodgers now own the largest lead, 13 games, of any team in baseball with only 18 games to go in the season.

September Roster Moves

The Dodgers were able to expand their rosters to a max of 40 on September 1st and they quickly recalled five players from Albuquerque. They recalled Shortstop Dee Gordon, Outfielder Scott Van Slyke, Starter/Reliever Stephen Fife, and Relievers Peter Moylan and Chris Withrow, who will be recalled on Tuesday when he is eligible. All five have spent time with the Dodgers this year with the exception of Drew Butera who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins on July 31st. The most interesting and important acquisition they made over the weekend was acquiring infielder Michael Young from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher Rob Rasmussen, one of the Dodgers Top 20 Prospects according to dodgers.com. They are not looking to supplant the Dodgers infield rotation or Juan Uribe at Third Base, but Young can play multiple positions, provide veteran leadership, and be a quality right-handed bat off the bench.

Sweeping The Cubbies

The Dodgers did not exactly knock the cover off the ball (2 hits, 1 run) but it was still enough to win 1-0 and improve their road winning streak to 14 games. Catcher A.J. Ellis drove in Hanley Ramirez with the the games only run and Rookie starter Stephen Fife (4-3) pitched 5 1/3 innings in his return from the Disabled List to get the win. Kenley Jansen closed the door by striking out the side in the ninth and earned his 17th save. Chris Withrow continued his strong pitching in middle relief with 1 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.51 on the season in 11 games and 14 1/3 innings. It seems that Withrow has been on the Dodgers top prospect list since he was drafted in the First Round, #20 overall in the 2007 player draft. He had been mostly a starter in his minor league career until being converted to a full-time reliever this season in Albuquerque. The more the wins pile up, it seems the longer the Disabled List gets. The Dodgers lost Hanley Ramirez to a shoulder injury making a defensive play in the 7th inning. In the Cubs series, they lost Yasiel Puig and Ramirez and they lost Matt Kemp in the series before. They move on to St. Louis next.

11 In A Row

The Dodgers notched their 11th consecutive road victory last night 6-4 over the Chicago Cubs. All four of the Cubs runs came via solo home run- 2 each by Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo. Dodgers starter Ricky Nolasco gave up 3 of the home runs but stuck around long enough to get the win, (7-9 overall and 2-1 with the Dodgers) by lasting 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 runs, and he had 6 strikeouts. He was pulled in the top of the sixth for pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston, Jr. who delivered a two-run single and the go ahead runs. He probably inherited that skill from his father. Adrian Gonzalez later drove in Hairston from third after a Yasiel Puig double and Puig added an insurance run in the ninth with his 11th homerun. Four Dodgers relievers combined to pitch 4 innings of one run baseball. J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow, Paco Rodriguez (who gave up Anthony Rizzo's second home run), and Kenley Jansen, who struck out the side in the ninth for his 15th save. Hanley Ramirez drove in the first two Dodgers runs with a third inning double.

Making Their Push Now

The Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals last night 3-1 in 10 innings and are only 1/2 game out of first place in the National League West. Zach Greinke pitched a great game, pitching out of trouble in several innings including a bases loaded, one out jam in the bottom of the first. He did not factor in the decision. He went 6 innings, gave up 1 earned run, and also went 2 for 2 at the plate. The Dodgers used 6 relievers to pitch the next 4 innins and the only reliever that did not get in the game was Brandon League. Chris Withrow (1-0) earned his first major league win by pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning. Hanley Ramirez drove in Adrian Gonzalez with a double in the top of the tenth inning and he later scored on Andre Ethier's sacrifice to provide the final score. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless bottom of the tenth inning for his 11th save. Ramirez went 3 for 5 for the game. Yasiel Puig went 0 for 5 amd is now 0 for 9 with 5 strike outs since the All-Star break. Matt Kemp should be coming off the Disabled List within the next few games to give the Dodgers their full compliment of outfielders in a couple of months.

Gutting Out A Sweep

The Dodgers gutted out a tough 14 inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last night, 7-5. Hanley Ramirez and A.J. Ellis both hit homeruns in the top of the 14th after Adrian Gonzalez was singled in by A.J. Ellis in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 5. Hyun-Jin Ryu did not have his best outing of the year, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings, but the Dodgers bullpen really held down the fort. They only gave up 2 hits in 9 innings in relief. This was highlighted by the best outing of Chris Withrow's young career, going 3 innings, only giving up 1 hit while striking out 3 and walking 2. Kenley Jansen (3-3) went the last two innings for the win. Hanley Ramirez was the hitting star for the Dodgers going 3 for 6 with 3 RBI's. The win also allowed the Dodgers to pull even at .500 with a 45-45 record. Chris Capuano stays in the rotation with Stephen Fife going to the 15 day Disabled List and he opens against the Colorado Rockies tonight.

Mattingly's Return To The Bronx

Don Mattingly returned to the Bronx for a short two games series with the New York Yankees and earned a split. The Dodgers won the second game 6-0 behind the combined 3 hit pitching of starter Chris Capuano (6 IP, 3 hits), Chris Withrow (a perfect two innings), and ex-closer Brandon League got in some work, pitching a shutout in the ninth. Rookie Outfielder Yasiel Puig continues to produce no matter where he bats in the lineup. He batted second in Game #2 last night and went 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored and a solo homerun, his 5th. His average is still an unworldly .474 and he continues to light up the stats sheets. He also got hit by another pitch so major league pitchers are trying to back him off the plate.