The Dodgers brought back left-hander Adam Kolarek on a minor league contract earlier this month, as noted by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Los Angeles has also added southpaw James Jones on a non-roster pact.
Kolarek spent parts of the 2019-20 campaigns in L.A. Acquired from the Rays at the 2019 trade deadline, he’d spend the next year and a half with the Dodgers. The sidewinder was a quietly excellent bullpen piece, posting a 0.88 ERA through 30 2/3 innings. There’s some amount of good luck in any ERA that low, of course, but he held opponents to a .182/.222/.255 line as a situational matchup nightmare for left-handed hitters.
After the 2020 campaign, the Dodgers dealt Kolarek to Oakland as part of a four-player swap. That didn’t pan out as Oakland had hoped, with the Maryland product struggling over parts of two seasons. He allowed a 5.74 ERA in 26 2/3 innings in green and gold, with opponents teeing off at a .313/.403/.455 clip. After posting a 4.58 ERA through 15 outings this past season, he was designated for assignment in late June.
Kolarek finished the year with Oakland’s top affiliate in Las Vegas upon clearing waivers. He allowed a 6.10 ERA across 41 1/3 innings with the Aviators, a disappointing mark even after accounting for the extreme hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League. The 33-year-old continued to induce grounders at an elite clip, though, and he held left-handed batters to a .234/.311/.319 line in Triple-A. The Dodgers will take a low-risk flier to see if he can recapture some of his previous success and eventually reclaim a situational role in the relief corps.
Jones may be better known for his time as an outfielder with the Mariners from 2014-15. An elite runner, he didn’t hit well enough to hold an MLB spot despite stealing 27 bases in 108 games as a rookie. After a rough season in Triple-A in 2016, Jones converted to pitching. He spent a few years pitching in the Rangers farm system, the last couple mostly at Triple-A.
Now 34, Jones continues to work in hopes of getting back to the majors. He has not yet cracked the highest level as a pitcher, thanks largely to scattershot command. The Brooklyn native struck out an above-average 28.8% of the batters he faced through 16 Triple-A appearances this year, but that came with an untenable 19.7% walk rate. The Dodgers were nevertheless intrigued enough by his raw arsenal to give him another minor league opportunity.
I remember when Kolarek was good, certainly a nice depth piece.
Kolarek was very good in his short stint in LA. Bit piss off when the FO traded him with Sheldon Neuse. Also confused why Kolarek fail in Oakland
Coaching has alot to do with it. Oakland pitching coaches are nowhere near the same ballpark as the Dodgers pitching coaches, No pun intended.
I knew Mark Prior would be a great pitching coach taking over after Rick Honeycutt. Scott Emerson is not that good. I miss Curt Young.
Agree. Prior has done wonders.
He pitched very well. But two things. One, it was a very very small sample size, 30 2/3 innings over two seasons. Two, the minimum 3 batter rule change severely killed his worth as many times he came in to pitch to a batter or two. He was clearly dominant against lefties but not so good against right handed batters. I doubt he puts up numbers close to what he put up as a Dodger.
LA makes players then when they leave they’re Meh at best.
“Los Angeles has also added southpaw James Jones”
No cooler signing this offseason than the voice of Darth Vader.
Adam Kolarek, aka Juan Soto’s kryptonite. I like it!
Yup, but for some reason, in game 5, Roberts chose Kershaw to face him instead……
The reason is on a spreadsheet we’re never going to see.
Scrap heap! Dodgers can do much better!
Alas, probably not this year. It’s that gift that just keeps on giving.
Jim Jones will lead the Dodgers in the team’s upcoming exhibition game
To be played in:
Jonestown, Guyana
Fans are dying to see the game…
Still undecided on Bauer? Gotta make it quick!!
Will be interesting to see how the FO and ownership handle this upcoming decision. Do they really eat the $22MM left with nothing in return? Put him on the squad and let the boos and heckling fly. With their hands tied, they need all of the experienced pitching they can get. Two or more years in a row they’ve had starters breakdown toward season’s end and they limp into the playoffs, both offensively and on the mound. Would be a shame to have to jettison useful players like CT3 to reset to pursue Ohtani. Given their track record, would they really go to $500MM+for him? That seems too far out of character for the FO.
Probably they do cut him loose. They might try to throw in a bunch of cash and see if they can trade him, but they have a very short window to make it happen (and likely little interest from other teams). The arbitrator handed the Dodgers a rubber pickle in deciding on this right before the holidays. One thing not mentioned in any of the stories I’ve read is how his salary will be calculated for CBT purposes. The usual method is the total value of the contract divided by the number of years, not what the player is paid in any one season. No reason to think the math will be any different this time, especially if it works to the disadvantage of the team. So the CBT number being floated in every article I’ve read about this so far might be off somewhat, a little high I suspect.
$22 million towards the tax. As I’ve said all along, the Dodgers were tipped off about what the outcome would be beforehand and made their moves accordingly. Apparently they’re coincidentally now $100,000 below the cap. This must have been quite a surprise to BlueSkies.
Rumor has it he will be released and that no team will pick him up.
My preference is for Dodgers to trade him with twenty million in cash for the best prospect they can.
From what I have read the dodgers are on the hook for the 22 million, and any other team can sign him for maximum of league minimum salary of 750k.
In that case any team can sign him for league minimum, but you have to wonder who would be interested in adding that distraction to the team. As far as I’m concerned I don’t care what a players does in the bedroom as long as they aren’t breaking the law, and he didn’t break the law. Morally wrong sure maybe, but illegal no, and none of us are saints
They are on the hook for $22M for 2023, but what seems to be misunderstood is this is likely not the CBT number unless the method of calculating it is suddenly different than what it always has been.
And no, the Dodgers weren’t “tipped off” about the ruling. In fact they were surprised by it coming this soon and told it was coming only about an hour before it was publicly released. Much of the staff had already gone home for Christmas.
This is based on the actual reporting. Insert your conspiracy theories here: ___
So they’re just coincidentally $100 k under the cap? Ridiculous notion.
I explained all of this to you before it happened and you essentially insisted I was full of it. For your information, their adjusted cap hit IS $22 million. That’s it. No more, no less. They’ve known it awhile and that’s why they signed Syndergaard and Martinez etc. equaling just $100 k under the cap. Once again, their intention has been to reset the cap while giving their kids playtime this season. Stomp your feet, pound your fist and squeal all you want but it won’t change the facts. Eventually you’ll come to me for info.
Yes, you are full of it. I wouldn’t come to you for the time of day.
Eventually you will.
I don’t think Bauer throws a pitch with an MLB team in 2023. The Dodgers will eat the money. In 2024, will a team roll the dice and potentially crater their PR reputation? Maybe, but it will also not surprise me if Bauer never pitches again at the MLB level or at least not for a few more years.
A great signing.
I’m cool with the Dodgers stepping back with short term gain, for a long term gain.
It needed to be done. Results prove that what they have been doing hasn’t worked as well as it should have; at least they tried.
I’m a huge Dodger fan and applaud the step back.
Depth is depth
Now if only James could play in a field of dreams game I can go quietly into the night.