The Dodgers announced that they designated outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. for assignment. Los Angeles recalled outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands from Triple-A in a related move.
Gwynn, 29, hit .232/.276/.293 in 277 plate appearances this season while missing some time with a shoulder contusion. He saw lots of action in center field while Matt Kemp was on the DL and is considered to be a strong defender in all three outfield spots by the various advanced metrics. Gwynn is in the first year of a two-year, $2MM contract.
i have never been first to comment on any forum, so this is a double first.
that being said….what are people’s thoughts on picking up lyle overbay since he was DFA by arizona?
Jerry Sands > Lyle Overbay
Not necessarily. Overbay > Loney, but Sands > Overbay? Perhaps, but there is still room for both. Just need to kick Loney to the curb.
They brought up Sands, so that’s what they think about Overbay
Undecided… lots going on right now. Gonna wait
wait for everything to settle down. There is a reason
for everything. Except Uribe..
It should’ve been Uribe…at least Gwynn can field and be a pinch runner.
This seems to be an outfield move. Other shoes to drop in the coming week no doubt but I think they will try to keep Uribe on the roster until the expansion in September.
Now if he could of only hit better then his father. I bet Senior can still out hit him now.
I don’t know. He would still have to run to first so he won’t be getting any infield singles.
Not getting this UNLESS they plan on Sands taking Riviera’s RH 1B platoon spot instead of having him rot on the bench. That said, with both Gwynn & Abreu gone and Kennedy shelved, who is LH PH’ing?
I’m not surprised by the move, but I’m sorry to see him go. I like Gwynn and hoped he would be successful with us.
“us” ?
The Dodgers.
This should’ve been Uribe not Gwynn. I liked Gwynn as a PH off the bench & he could field.
obviously you cant do that to uribe especially with his contract
Why not? With the new ownership, it is more about what happens on the field, and not what a guy’s contract is.
might as well designate loney too then
Uribe should go when Kennedy is back from the DL.
Since June 1st Gwynn had hit .191/.241/.250/.491.
With Victorino’s strong defense and ability to backup CF, Gwynn had very limited usefulness. I would have rather we released Gwynn earlier and held on to Abreu. At least Abreu had solid on-base skills.
Bottom line. .232 is awful
why not designate Gwynn when we got Victorino and keep Abreu then to pinch hit? Dosent make sense to me.
Exactly. Abreu at least had solid on base skills. Victorino’s defense and ability to backup centerfield made Gwynn expendable.
Tony Gwynn Jr. gives u alot of heart and he will fill in nicely with The Giants, Reds, and could be a contributer for The Padres.
He had his run with the Padres, they need guys that can hit. Maybin is Gwynn 2.0 with more pop. Please Padres don’t pick him up just because…..
The Padres are overstocked with outfielders…
cmon braves and pick him up!
Seems like Gwynn provides more value than Rivera, outside of the fact that he can’t play 1B. But Sands plays 1B, so that point is moot. Strange move by Ned & Donnie here.
The plan must be to use Sands as a backup outfielder but I don’t see where his production at Triple-A this season really justifies the move.
Don’t get this at all. Good defense, speed, and he’s 8-for-20 as a pinch-hitter.
Yet Adam Kennedy and the two Juans are still Dodgers? Head-scratcher…
Gwynn had a .364 OPS in July. .364! And had a .586 OPS in June. He was batting terribly.
Plus, with Victorino around, it really nullified any value he had as a defensive replacement or LH hitter.
I think one of the Juans will get the boot when Kennedy returns. Hope its Uribe.
Yeah I hear you. I guess I just would have preferred some other dead weight get cut first. Oh well…
Bring him back home to San Diego, he’s hitting better than Maybin has this season. At worst he’s a utility outfielder with speed and strikes out less than will venable. Maybin, denorfia, quentin, with gwynn the 4th outfielder coming in to replace quentin for defensive purposes if need be, not a bad plan
i bet he will go back to SD
Here in San Diego, no need for Gwynn,Thanks.
No. This will not happen. The Padres actually want to win some games.
DFA Ned for singing Uribe keep Tony Uribe and Rivera r not better then Tony sad day DODGERS fans =(
Some of you guys act like we just designated this amazing player for assignment. This move doesn’t hurt the Dodgers one bit. It’s just Tony Gwynn Jr.
Yeah I know, but I think this is more about the frustration that Juan Uribe is still on the roster rather than the fact that Gwynn is not.
Sands will start at 1st, Donnie is probably unhappy with Loney and Rivera’s production so Loney gets relegated to the LH pinch hitter role and Rivera as backup 1B/OF. Sands has been super hot in AAA so they’ll probably ride it out with him. He’s already old for a prospect so this is probably his last chance to prove he’ll become a decent big leaguer.
I don’t see where you get super-hot out of this line: .286/.367/.518/.885. Remember, this is the PCL and these numbers will probably not hold up in the majors. I hope the Dodgers are not promoting him for sentimental reasons, as you are apparently suggesting.
Since the start of July he’s been hitting .340/.450/.650/.1100. He’s hot. Sentimental reasons? He was promoted to provide better offense at 1st. Loney and Rivera were not cutting it.
u also forgot to mention he hit two slams in one game…i was there….go dodgers baby………
Also hitting .500 with SIX home runs in his last nine games. Put Loney in Triple-A and I wonder if he hits six homers in nine WEEKS.
If those are his numbers over the last few weeks I can see why he’d get another promotion. It sounded to me like you were suggesting that the Dodgers owed him another chance before it was too late for him.
No, he needed to earn his promotion back to the majors(which he did). Now he needs to prove he has a future with the dodgers before they invest in someone else during the offseason. That’s what I believe but not necessarily what the dodgers are doing.
Got it. A lot of Dodger fans (around here at least) thought he should have been the starting first baseman at the beginning of the season even though his plate performance at the Major League level hardly justified it. Does it now? I guess we’re going to find out.
Sands has thunder in his bat. He provides power potential. Key word being potential. This will be interesting to see. The guy is strong. I hope ….I hope etc.
We’ve always known that he has power, but making it pay off at the Major League level is a totally different thing than doing it in the PCL. We can name any number of players who crushed the ball in the minors only to whiff when they face pitchers in the majors who can throw something other than fastballs for strikes. Maybe Sands will be the rare late bloomer. We hope.
I agree totally. I’ve been a Dodgers fans since the early 60s and I always take an optimistic, often times overly optimistic perspective. My mind starts dancing with…. what ifs…. it would be great if he presented the threat of another power bat in the lineup. Loney is so hard to figure out. I thought when he first came up that he had such a sweet natural swing and that the power would come. So much at that level is psychological. Maybe if the coaches would have left Loney alone and not try to tamper with his swing it would have developed naturally? Who knows
Thanks for your response. Go Dodgers!
Loney is sure a puzzle. Not only did he have that great natural swing, he was amazingly consistent against both lefties and righties, for the first few seasons anyway. Not seeing any of that now. And what about that bizarre freeway incident last year? Nobody explained what that was about. So maybe management is thinking Sands might prosper in a better lineup.
Give Uribe back to San Fransico. I also agree with vtadave..
Its about winning. To me Uribe seems over it all.
as a san diegan, seeing .232 next to the word “Gwynn” makes me a little sick to my stomach.
Uribe has been a bust at the plate, time he’s released.
Don’t get all the calls for Loney to be released. The time to have released Loney would have been May or June. He’s traditionally a hot hitter in the second half, and of late that’s proven to be true once again. Gwynn, although I liked him as a player and as a personality, was only of value as a defensive replacement in the OF, which they no longer needed. Sands is going to be the main PH, and backup 1B.
I agree Uribe and Kennedy should be the next to go, though.