The Dodgers have declined the 2013 contract options for Todd Coffey, Juan Rivera and Matt Treanor, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports (on Twitter). The players are now free agents.
Coffey's contract included a $2.5MM club option with a $300K buyout, Rivera's contract included a $4MM club option with a $500K buyout, and Treanor's contract included a $950K option with a $150K buyout. The team has confirmed the moves (Twitter link). For more on the Dodgers' winter plans, check out my recent Offseason Outlook post.
Juan Rivera??? Why???
Because they can do better???
cmon man… 4mil for a backup of? get real.
Juan Rivera looked like he still had some pop in that bat.
rather have the cuban in the outfield as a back up than him.
Dont understand it.Juan Rivera has delivered everywhere he has played and has a cannon arm. Bad clubhouse guy?
.244/.286/.375 probably has something to do with it…….
he was a key asset with the old dodgers. the new and improved dodgers do not need him.
He was never an asset for the Dodgers. Unless you value him GIDP.
Declining Rivera seemed obvious, but Treanor less so. Granted he didn’t hit much, but that wasn’t his job as a backup catcher. This leaves the Dodgers hunting around for someone else to fill that role.
Yeah, I honestly was expecting them to pick up the option. He was good behind the plate, imo.
Maybe they think Federowicz is ready, though I have no idea why.
because he is ready, when treanor batted, it was like having two pitchers hit (actually i personally believe kershaw and billingsley were better hitters). federowicz is a good bottom of the order hitter.
We will see. He’s had very little time in the majors and looked pretty lost at the plate when he was. If they are ready to bring him along, playing full time backup is probably not the ticket. Unless the Dodgers think he’s going to have a great career as a backup catcher.
if they want to start the development process then why not do it now, and especially as a back up. instead of being in the minors with no competition, hes going to see big league pitching at lease once a week. this is finally going to break the streak of having veterans as the back up role. now they are actually doing what a back up is, someone who isn’t at that level but is in development for the position. i have faith in him, and hope that he can develop as a full time catcher.
Federowicz is pretty much trapped behind Ellis at the moment, and this will limit his playing time to maybe once a week. Sitting on the bench 5-6 days a week isn’t the greatest development path. It’s tough coming up as a catcher since the team only carries two on the roster, and one of them is going to play only occasionally. Ellis was in that situation forever, and so was Navarro. Ellis finally got his chance by default and Navarro was traded. Kind of has to be one or the other.
we can both agree that he inst ready to start at the major league level. so then how else can he fully develop? he’ll get enough reps, yeah maybe just up once a week, but if he shows his talent, then he can sure as hell give A.j Ellis a run for his money at the starting job. as for being a back up, its a good fit i wouldn’t remove him.
Like I said, it’s tough for a catcher coming up. If he’s playing behind a veteran, he gets more playing time. But Ellis is not only relatively young, he is coming off a breakthrough season. Management is going to be reluctant to bench him any more than necessary.
but then again isnt Ellis our future? so management would also like to watch him extra careful, (especially after the dodgers having the most DL stints in the national league) and playing in front of a young guy, he would get more off time. so this gives Federowicz a good chance of seeing the field more often.
Methinks Rod Barajas will soon be available again
Among others, if the Pirates decline his option (seems likely). But if the option is Barajas they might as well have kept Treanor.
Someone needs to fix the “Offseason Outlook” link. The correct web address is:
link to mlbtraderumors.com
I can’t believe some of these comments I’m reading. All three moves are no brainers. Juan Rivera is James Loney but older and worse with the glove. The Matt Treanors of the world are a dime a dozen, it’s not like he’ll be hard to replace, and FedEx could do just as well at half the salary. It’s possible the Dodgers will look for an upgrade at the position so the new catcher can split time with AJ Ellis.
At least we’re all in agreement that Todd Coffey is awful.
AMEN!
at least one person agrees with me
Maybe he can go play beach volleyball.
I would still stick with Rivera
The only player on the Dodgers that grounded into double plays at a higher rate than James Loney…
Yeah what’s up with them dodgers?