The Dodgers have signed righty Russ Ortiz and outfielder Michael Restovich to minor league contracts with invitations to Spring Training, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
The 35-year-old Ortiz hasn't been an effective big leaguer since 2004, and even his minor league performance since then hasn't been anything special. The Dodgers do have some openings in the back of their rotation, so it stands to reason that Ortiz will compete for one of those spots.
Restovich, 31, has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, most recently with the Nationals in 2007. He's a career .239/.313/.377 hitter in the Majors, but a .285/.364/.501 hitter in the minors.
Russ Ortiz? Yikes!
Yeah, I had the pleasure of watching him ‘pitch’ in Camden Yards. Awful
How does Russ Ortiz keep getting a job?
Restovich, so much unrealized potential.
wtf lol???????? dodgers dodgers dodgers
wow this spellls disaster for the dodgers…
Yeah because:
minor league deal = lock to be given 30 starts
Get a grip. This is just a depth move.
Yeah, minor league deal can never hurt. You can find something in their sometimes.
Well said. It can’t hurt. He’ll probably be released soon anyway.
All the Dodgers have done is make “depth” moves… and they just keep getting deeper and deeper.
Wow! In the case of the Dodgers, No News is Better News, then this boatload of junk!
bbxxj – Something like this is reason for concern, though perhaps not panic. Ortiz has clearly shown that he can no longer compete at the ML level. However, anyone can have a hot Spring, and I wouldn’t put it past L.A. management to trot this guy out there if he rattles off a couple decent starts.
That, and it further demonstrates how awful things are for this franchise (financially) at the moment. They’re operating like a poorly run, over-extended, small-market club, and while many fans of other teams might say “welcome to the club”… it’s not exactly a building we find too inviting.
Colletti loves old Giants’ junk. Maybe he can find a way to get Dusty Baker and Ramon Martinez.
As an Astros fan let me tell you, Dodgers fans, you want no part of Russ Ortiz. 1.35 K/BB ratio… which right around his career norm. Not sure how this guy has hung around in the bigs for so long, he’s never posted a K/BB ratio above 1.86.
I bet he can get that K/BB ratio down below 1.35 with the Dodgers. Guaranteed.
Come on. At best (see: worst) he’s going to be Jeff Weaver’s replacement. Even if he has a good spring, he still has to beat out the Rule 5-ers we just got. Seems unlikely. This sounds an awful like a signing at the request of the player. A lot of pitchers come to the Dodgers after a down year (or 6?) to try to revive their numbers. Doesn’t mean he’ll get to.
Yeah, look at Shawn Estes. Barely got a cup of coffee.
There is like 56 options for the 5 spot now.. ALL OF THEM SUCK.
If memory serves me the Dodgers used to get owned by Russ.
Are you suggesting he might actually be a decent signing? Just curious.
no..
Jeff Weaver would be a much better fit for the rotation, but it’s true what they say minor league deals are not bad, just hopefully they both have some baseball left in Russ.
i doubt theres and baseball left in russ. he’s probably laughing that he got another contract. he probably can’t believe that someone is actually giving him money to play baseball.
Russ Ortiz is horrible, I cant see why anyone would even give him a minor league deal. They should just give me a minor league deal to.
Shawn Estes of 2010.
Rus Ortiz has been given a minor league deal, but to think that he would be able to compete with major league pitching is a joke. Ortiz will only make big league starts if all of the current 5 get injured and there is literally no one else that can come up and pitch. If that is the case, the Dodgers season might as well be over.
None of the other guys the dodgers have in the minors can win in the majors so russ should fit right in. The dodgers are not a good bet for the postseason with the pitching staff they have. At least resign weaver.I liked that kid leach they brought up last year he was a lefty with a live arm,but he struggled and they sent him down, maybe he can improve a bit and they can look at him as a starter.
The Front Office is dumb because?
The Marlins think the Dodgers are cheap.