Headlines

  • A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger
  • Mariners Designate Rowdy Tellez For Assignment
  • Braves To Select Didier Fuentes
  • Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”
  • Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg In “Advanced” Talks To Sell Team
  • Rafael Devers To Start Work At First Base With Giants
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Dodgers Could Trim An Additional $5.775MM

By Tim Dierkes | August 31, 2010 at 11:05am CDT

The Dodgers already saved about $3.8MM by unloading Manny Ramirez yesterday.  With a 4.1% playoff shot according to Baseball Prospectus (5.5 games out in the wild card), they're still not committed to packing it in for 2010.  But let's do some simple math to determine how much additional cash the Dodgers would save if they cleaned house.  Here's who could go and how much is left on their contracts:

  • Hiroki Kuroda, $2.33MM.  Kuroda was placed on waivers on August 24th, tweeted Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  If he was claimed, the window to make a deal or dump his contract closed yesterday.  Perhaps Kuroda was claimed and the Dodgers pulled him back, killing the chances of a deal.  Or maybe his $13MM salary allowed him to clear waivers, and a trade is still possible.  UPDATE: Scratch the Kuroda idea, he was pulled back over the weekend after the Padres claimed him.
  • Ted Lilly, $2.15MM.  Lilly was placed on waivers on August 27th, tweeted Rosenthal.  The Dodgers could come out ahead financially on the Lilly portion of their deal with the Cubs.  The Dodgers could keep the $2.5MM the Cubs sent but trade the lefty again today, allowing another team to pay the $2.15MM left on his contract.  SI's Jon Heyman tweeted today that Lilly will not be moved, however.
  • Octavio Dotel, $583K.  It's a similar story with Dotel, as the Dodgers could keep the $500K the Pirates sent but trade the reliever again.
  • Scott Podsednik, $296K.  This assumes Pods voids his 2011 option.
  • Brad Ausmus, $179K.
  • Reed Johnson, $143K.
  • Rod Barajas, $90K.  The Dodgers may also save money on Barajas' performance bonuses.
  • We'll leave Jeff Weaver, Ronnie Belliard, Vicente Padilla, and George Sherrill out of this discussion, as Padilla can't be dealt and the others are not appealing.
  • To sum it up, if the Dodgers moved or dumped Kuroda, Lilly, Dotel, Podsednik, Ausmus, Johnson, and Barajas today, they'd save $5.775MM and add a few prospects.  Add in $3.8MM for Manny and the $3MM received in July, and that's a cool $12.575MM.  I don't expect the Dodgers to gut their team in this fashion, but it's fun to think about.
Share 1 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Los Angeles Dodgers

5 Surprises: Colorado Rockies
Main
Hiroki Kuroda Will Not Be Traded
View Comments (27)
Post a Comment

27 Comments

  1. Brian Culpin

    15 years ago

    They’d save $5.775MM in payroll, but how much do you think they’d lose in fan attendance/concessions? I can’t imagine their fan base would approve a fire sale of that magnitude. Next years season ticket sales might be in jeopardy, as well.

    Reply
    • melonis_rex

      15 years ago

      Huh? They’re all going to be free agents after the season anyway? They won’t lose fan attendance for trading non-marquee players who are FAs anyway. Actually,Pods, Dotel, Barajas, and Lilly haven’t been on the team for more than a month anyway.

      Reply
      • Brian Culpin

        15 years ago

        Are you more likely to go to a game before or after a fire sale? I think it would severely affect their attendance for the remainder of the year. Maybe not next, but definitely the remaining games this year.

        Reply
  2. Patrick OKennedy

    15 years ago

    I would think that the Dodgers would like to have players like Kuroda, Barajas, and Lilly back in 2011. The rest of the players aren’t worth the effort to trade at this point.

    Reply
  3. BlueSkyLA

    15 years ago

    Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see the “fun” here. A lot of teams are playoff long-shots at this point, but we’re not having “fun” talking about ultimate fire sales for them. It’s all so arbitrary anyway. Why are Ausmus and Barajas “appealing” (leaving the team with only AJ Ellis and no backup catcher), and Padilla (nearly ready for reactivation) not?

    Reply
    • jaydubdub

      15 years ago

      BlueSky,

      Padilla isn’t “unappealing” but rather he cannot be dealt, due to his status of being on the DL. Thems is the rules.

      I agree, though… “fun” is hardly the word I’d use to describe the thought of a lost season and a quasi fire sale.

      What I really don’t get is why they didn’t deal Kuroda to SD. He’s as good as gone, let’s be honest. They’re not re-upping for a 36-yr-old who just made $13mil. Who cares if he helps SD this year?!

      Same for Lilly… why keep him around for Sept?! He’ll be 35 and is coming off of two $12mil seasons. He won’t be back in ’11.

      They *desperately* need to restock the farm system, and these were two prime opportunities to do so.

      Reply
      • BlueSkyLA

        15 years ago

        I realize that Padilla is not eligible for trading at this very moment, but he’s getting ready to come back, if the reports I read this morning are accurate. As with Manny, dealing players at this point in the season surely does not guarantee prospects in return. Better to offer them arbitration.

        EDIT: Yes, I know that players not on the roster on Sept. 1 are not eligible for the postseason.

        Reply
    • thegrayrace

      15 years ago

      To be fair, none of the players he’s talking about moving are under contract for 2011. Hardly a fire sale. “Fire sale” implies selling off parts of the team’s core talent. This is just a discussion about dropping players who probably have no future with the Dodgers.

      Personally, I’d like Lilly and Barajas to resign with us, and obviously they’d be more inclined to do so if we hold on to them. I wouldn’t move them. I have no idea what Kuroda’s intentions are, so I’d have to trust management there. If they feel he’s inclined to go to the highest bidder this off-season, I wouldn’t mind moving him. If it seems he’s comfortable in L.A. and prefers to stay, I’d keep him. But I’d be wary of more than a 2 year deal.

      Podsednik has been great, but I don’t see him returning in 2011 (I’d hope if we are going to spend any money, Werth or Crawford would be considered). Why not give Jerry Sands some playing time? I’d be fine with Johnson, Ausmus and Dotel being moved, too. Xavier Paul, A.J. Ellis and someone like Rubby De La Rosa, Justin Miller or Javy Guerra can take those spots.

      Reply
      • BlueSkyLA

        15 years ago

        I take your point, but it’s also about throwing in the towel and fielding an A-ball team for the last month of the season, for all the damage that does to fan confidence in the team’s future, which is pretty fragile right now. But my real objection is entire premise of the article, which is that the Dodgers might be ripe for this sort of massive payroll shedding. Anybody else? No, just the Dodgers. We all know why. The McCourt soap opera rules.

        I sure hope the Dodgers can extend Kuroda for another season or two. Offering him arbitration is hardly out of the question.

        Reply
        • thegrayrace

          15 years ago

          I don’t know. Kuroda would probably be due $16m or so if he accepted arbitration (as he made $15.4m this season). With his age and injury concerns, I doubt I would want to risk spending that much on him.

          Reply
          • BlueSkyLA

            15 years ago

            Hard to say what he’d get in arbitration ($16m for a Type B?), but even assuming the worst, it’s probably the only way the Dodgers get him for less than two or maybe even three years some clubs would offer. I don’t see where he’s been a major health risk. His most significant injury was from getting hit by a line drive last year.

            Reply
            • thegrayrace

              15 years ago

              The line drive was simply the most dramatic of his injuries. In 2009 he made 1 start in April and missed all of May. He only threw 111 innings in 2009. I believe he’s been on the DL 3 times. He missed 3 weeks in 2008 as well. He’ll be 36 entering next season.

              Again, unless he’s taking a significant pay cut, I’d look elsewhere. No way I’d risk offering him arbitration.

              Reply
            • BlueSkyLA

              15 years ago

              Dramatic is not the right word. Unavoidable is a better one. That was in 2009, btw — the year he pitched only 117 innings (not 111). A lot of pitchers don’t come back from things like that at all. Yes, he’s had a few trips to the DL, but nothing out of hand for a starting pitcher at his age. He pitched 183 innings the year before that, and very likely his totals will be the same or better this year. If you don’t offer him arbitration, then you probably don’t offer it to anyone. Which has been the Dodgers’ policy of late.

              Reply
  4. neoncactus

    15 years ago

    Please don’t give Ned any ideas…

    Reply
  5. bjsguess

    15 years ago

    Why hold onto these guys. The fans aren’t all of a sudden going to abandon the team over the final month. Have people stopped attending since the news of Manny leaving hit?

    I wish my team (the Angels) adopted this aggressive attitude. Rodney, Rivera, Hunter, Kazmir, and Abreu.

    Reply
  6. John W

    15 years ago

    The Dodgers could probably “trim” $20MM if they got rid of anyone named McCourt.

    Reply
  7. grabarkewitz

    15 years ago

    I don’t see any fun in this either, Tim. I realize that through our clown-like ownership the Dodgers are a joke to most of the media, but what is the purpose in making sport of them when the your beloved Cubs are equally as “funny”. As humorous as the McCourts may be, the contracts of Soriano, Fukudome and Soriano are even more “fun”.

    Reply
    • Tim Dierkes

      15 years ago

      Weird comment…I’m not kind on the Cubs and I do find talking about their bad contracts fun. At any rate, in this context fun just means this isn’t going to happen and we’re playing around with the scenario anyway.

      Reply
      • grabarkewitz

        15 years ago

        It could be that more than a few Dodger fans I have spoken to regarding your site find that some your comments regarding the Dodgers to be more spiteful and less subjective than other teams. Yes, we realize that Frank McCourt is a never-ending joke and that his GM is a mixed bag of dumb luck and an almost maniacal need to divest the farm system to keep his boss in folding money, but I doubt any of us take as much joy in that fact as you seem to.

        Reply
      • BlueSkyLA

        15 years ago

        If you’ve seen my weird comments, you’ll know how I feel about seemingly every Dodger story having to be wrapped in the divorce story, one way or another, directly or otherwise. I’m asking why we’re reading a “fun” story about the Dodgers dumping salary like crazy but we’re not seeing anything similar for any other team skating on the edge of contending. It’s a fair question, don’t you think?

        Reply
  8. Vin Smith

    15 years ago

    …I recall a Twilight Zone episode way back in the early sixties… It had a futurist theme, not exactly sure what it was exactly–memory fades… But at the end of the episode, a kid asks the character involved in the futurist plot angle–perhaps time travel?–If the Dodgers were still in Los Angeles. The future time frame was 1999! The answer: “Yes, but they finished in last place!” I thought that wholly absurd. Not with the O’Malley’s at the helm! This current ownership thing, with Frank McCourt and estranged wife, Jamie, is totally reminiscent (in terms of franchise instability) of the late Charley O. Finley in Oakland. An ownership driving baseball’s second or third (behind the Yankees, and perhaps the Cardinals) most storied franchise straight into the ground. A fire sale of Dodger players? Unthinkable under the O’Malley’s…

    Reply
    • BlueSkyLA

      15 years ago

      Nobody in Dodgerland is a happy camper these days. You know, we get it. But come on, blaming the McCourts for three postseason appearances in a row when the Fox ownership gave us years of nada is more than a little forgetful. It’s time to stop pining for the past. The O’Malleys aren’t coming back.

      Reply
      • vtadave

        15 years ago

        Agreed. It’s time to start pining for the FUTURE. A future that includes owners not name McCourt.

        A future that includes a payroll that is NOT less than the far smaller-market Twins.

        A future where the DODGERS are mentioned in connection with big-ticket FAs like Carl Crawford.

        A future in which the farm system returns to its former glory rather than it’s current shell of its former self.

        A future in which we are not forced to sacrifice guys like Carlos Santana for right to pay guys like Casey Blake $18 million.

        A future…ah screw it. This would take all day.

        As for the Dodgers’ season being over, all I have to say is, Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

        Who’s with me?

        Reply
  9. Gaston Hinostroza

    15 years ago

    Pods, Dotel, Barajas, and Lilly have been the ONLY bright spot a the season is getting done to the final outs…and they ALL play like they wanna stay and are the ONLY guys putting up any numbers. Lose Dotel and keep the rest.

    Reply
  10. olddodgerfan

    15 years ago

    between honeycutt and torrie……a total collapse of broxton…not saying he was great…..and they helped on the destruction of sherrill……and management has no idea what their pitchers can do….very, very low morale ….

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Mariners Designate Rowdy Tellez For Assignment

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”

    Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg In “Advanced” Talks To Sell Team

    Rafael Devers To Start Work At First Base With Giants

    Giants Acquire Rafael Devers

    Shohei Ohtani To Make Dodgers Pitching Debut On Monday

    Roki Sasaki No Longer Throwing; No Timetable For Return

    Nationals To Promote Brady House

    White Sox, Brewers Swap Aaron Civale, Andrew Vaughn

    Justin Martínez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Brewers’ Aaron Civale Requests Trade

    Angels To Promote Christian Moore

    Brewers Promote Jacob Misiorowski

    Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala

    Jackson Jobe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Shane McClanahan Pauses Rehab, Seeking Further Opinions On Nerve Issue

    Royals Place Cole Ragans On IL With Rotator Cuff Strain

    Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony

    Recent

    Fantasy Baseball: Targeted Streaming for RHPs

    MLB Issues Suspensions Related To Dodgers-Padres Incidents

    MLB Issues Four-Game Suspension To Pirates’ Dennis Santana

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Ron Washington Taking Indefinite Break From Managing Angels Due To Health Concern

    Pirates Re-Sign Brett Sullivan To Minor League Deal

    Blue Jays Notes: Rotation, Yesavage, Outfield

    Poll: Should The Cubs Extend Jed Hoyer?

    Tigers Release John Brebbia

    Reds Place Wade Miley On IL With Flexor Strain

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version