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Dodgers In Market For Pitching

By Tim Dierkes [August 18, 2008 at 10:36am CST]

10:36am: Jackson has an article up, and takes a more definitive stance in saying the Dodgers are looking for a starter and remain interested in Maddux. Ned Colletti apparently has conversations going regarding players who would need to clear waivers. 23 year-old prospect James McDonald is a strong in-house candidate if the Dodgers want to go that way.

9:34am: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News talked to Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who does not expect much from Brad Penny for the rest of the season (he may return as a reliever, though). Torre hinted that he would like a starting pitcher to be acquired if it'd improve upon the current fifth starter candidates, Eric Stults and Jason Johnson.

Jackson hasn't heard anything new on the Greg Maddux front. As you may recall, Maddux was said to have cleared waivers according to ESPN's Peter Gammons. The teams were not able to work out a trade earlier this month, because the Dodgers wanted the Padres to pay roughly 83% of Maddux's remaining salary. That amounted to $2.5MM for the Dodgers back then; now it's about $1.95MM.

The Dodgers are in a dead heat for first place in the NL West, so every win is crucial. Last year they were willing to take on $8MM for a massive question mark in Esteban Loaiza, but this year they're trying to keep deals payroll-neutral.

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Comments

James McDonald is available and probably an upgrade at the #5 spot, and all he costs is a 40-man roster spot.

Posted by: mymrbig | August 18, 2008 at 09:56 AM

Penny wise, pound foolish.

Posted by: bjsguess | August 18, 2008 at 10:16 AM

"James McDonald is available and probably an upgrade at the #5 spot, and all he costs is a 40-man roster spot."

McDonald is already on the 40-man roster, which means he will come up in September anyway. The Dodgers seem to be trying to make it through till then without having to make any more roster moves. This cycle through they have an off day, which means they can go with 4 starters for the next 5 days.

I still don't get why they are keeping Park in the bullpen. He has been downright dominant as a starter this year. That said, Stults has shown several times that he can be a very effective MLB starter. That seems to be more an issue of coaching him to trust his stuff and be aggressive than anything else.

Posted by: AA | August 18, 2008 at 12:22 PM

latimes.com reporting maddux is a dodger.

Posted by: neverclever | August 18, 2008 at 07:31 PM

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-maddux19-2008aug19,0,465488.story

That is the Maddux article. I wonder how they put that one together, if they really did. Nothing on Dodgers.com or Padres.com

Posted by: AA | August 18, 2008 at 07:57 PM