The Dodgers are next in our arbitration eligibles series.
- First time: None
- Second time: Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Ryan Theriot, Hong-Chih Kuo
- Third time: Russell Martin
- Fourth time: George Sherrill
Billingsley and Kuo will certainly be tendered contracts this offseason. Billingsley trimmed walks, home runs, and ERA this year and is operating from a strong first-time salary of $3.85MM. Agents will be rooting for second-timers Billingsley, Jered Weaver, Matt Garza, Joe Saunders, John Danks, and Jeremy Guthrie to jump to the $6MM range and raise the bar for others. Kuo has a strong case as well, with a fantastic, healthy platform year in which he took over at closer.
Loney, Martin, Theriot and Sherrill form an interesting group of non-tender candidates for the Dodgers. We discussed Loney's case a week ago; about 82% of you expect him to be tendered a contract. A trade is more likely than a non-tender. Martin is in a similar situation - ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted last month that "the perception among rival GMs is that he will have some (but not great) trade value." It doesn't help that Martin is coming off a broken hip. For a look at the trade market for catchers, click here.
MLBTR's Mike Axisa looked at Theriot's case on September 4th, at which point 42% of you predicted he'll be cut loose. Looking at Theriot's numbers since then, a non-tender is even more likely. Sherrill is a lock to be let go after his tough year. He was placed on outright waivers in July and cleared.
Nontender Theriot and Sherrill. Keep the rest. And enough with the trade Loney talk. The Dodgers keep pushing him to be some power hitter he’s not. Leave him at first, let him hit 6 or 7th and find the run producer somewhere else on the field. Loney can hit .280, 15hr, 80-90 Rbis. Solid complimentary numbers. But if you expect him to make up for Kemp’s headcase and Ethier’s inconsistency, you’ll be disappointed. When Loney gets too expensive for that production level, non tender him. But he’s not that expensive yet compared to what you would have to pay to replace him.
Let Martin demonstrate he’s healthy and trade him mid year. He’s no longer a run scorer or run producer. Good catch, throw, and call a good game recievers can be found for cheap. And most aren’t that far away from Martin’s run production the last few years.
Wow, can the advertisements on the main page be any more inappropriate? I have one with women in bras and panties advertising a trip to the Playboy mansion and another for Axe advertising ways to keep “men’s balls clean”….??? Come on, man, I’m at work… I can’t be having this crap on my computer. Maybe we could differenciate with like a mlbtraderumors.com/hornyyoungmen and mlbtraderumors.com/adults ??? Just asking.
Agreed.
The Norelco one I blocked today, should be gone within a few hours. The Axe one I will keep an eye out for.
Thanks, man. I really do appreciate it.
While you’re in the mood… That resort ad bugs me. Ads that have audio and enlarge to dominate the screen makes me want to find a new website.
It autoplays audio?
Yes. Quite obnoxious.
-wtk
I hate adds but at least the clean balls one is hilarious and brings some levity to the workday. I’d rather see something funny like rather than the bullpoop adds you see on other sites like the one about “(insert your home town here)-mom makes millions working from home” or “the secrets about acai berries revealed”.
I would rather look at Melissa Theuriau.
-wtk
Agreed. Good taste.
Damn, I thought I’d get to read 11 comments about the Dodgers’ arb-eligible guys and instead I get talk about mens’ balls. 🙂
Sign Billingsley (and Kershaw for that matter) to a long-term deal
Try and get Martin to sign an incentive-laden one-year deal to rebuild his value
Offer Loney and Kuo arbitration
Sherrill and Theriot – buh bye
Sounds right.
Loney is the best defensive 1ST baseman in the NL. How many games did that win? He hits in the .280s and had 41 doubles and 89 ribbies. Just how much better do you think you are going to get with an extra 15 taters and 20 rbis. He is a smart baserunner and will never embarrass you. He shows up to play also having been in 161 games last year.
They are making him the scapegoat for the poor performance of Kemp and the injury to Either. If you want power then sign a left fielder and a 3RD baseman with power. Think Weirth and Beltre.