On the eve of the Dodgers winning three games in a row (Joe Torre: “We won a game today, if we win again tomorrow, that’s called a ‘winning streak’”) for the first time roughly a century, the great Jeff Passan over at Yahoo! Sports has his annual “All-Overpaid and Underpaid Team”. He is spot on with his selections that I can see, but this seriously should have been labeled “The Los Angeles Dodgers”. Out of every player in the league mind you, the Dodgers manage to crack this list a whopping 4 times out of an available 9 positions. Jeff is right by stating what the Dodger contracts lack in length, they make up for in girth (how many guys have actually tried to claim that, by the way?), and that in no way makes them better. The Dodgers have the enormous problem of overpaying for mediocrity, and a glimpse further on this list shows that the Dodgers already added, or tried to add (if you believe the rumors, and of course I do, for this argument) another 6 of these players. While Dodger stupidity with the pocketbook is nothing new, let’s look at these players and see why they aren’t Dodgers or won’t be for long. Since Jeff already astutely pointed out the flaws of Andruw Jones, Nomar, Kent, and Schmitt, I’ll avoid rehashing his points and add anything else I can to the conversation.
Jeff Kent: The first Dodger to appear on the list, and the first Dodger to actually witness the big bang (this actually would have been Olmaedo Saenz, but the Dodgers let him go last year), Jeff Kent has shown that he still has some pop, but at $9 million a year, his range is limited by his walker because the tennis balls on the legs constantly get stuck while turning a double play. Not a terrible player, but really not worth $9 million.
Nomar Garciaparra: A perennial Dodger favorite for some inexplicable reason, Nomar’s lone purpose is to spend eternity on the DL, and probably provide Indiana Jones with the Holy Grail as well. He also allows giant people with CA or Hispanic accents the ability to yell “No-mah” at the top of their lungs like they are some displaced Bostonian. At the time, the signing of Nomar to the 2 year $18 million was thought to be a terrible move by me, and glad to know I was right. It seems that unfortunately Nomar will be more popular here than any more deserving player due to: 1) His Hispanic heritage; 2) His ONE year of 20 homers and 96 RBI because he managed 3 clutch hits, something the Dodgers didn’t have since Robin Ventura and Steve Finley; 3) His name is Ramon backwards. Ingenious! Seriously though, you know how sad it is as a Dodger fan that the only reason we love a player is there ability to provide a clutch hit or two. The Red Sox love Big Papi for this same reason except he is also a great player. Nomar is not a great player, but had a few walk-off homer runs and he is a Dodger legend. Another prime example is Steve Finley whose lone highlight is the walk-off grand slam to send the Dodgers to the playoffs against the hated Giants in 2004. He will always be remembered for that hit, and only that hit for Dodger fans because it reminded us so much of Gibson’s homer, and we need SOMETHING to celebrate.
Andruw Jones: I won’t issue a response on this because Jeff pretty much has it covered.
Vladimir Guerrero and Tori Hunter: Not shocking that two of the outfielders that the Dodgers coveted ended up with the Angels and no more shocking that they ended up on the overpaid list afterwards. The Dodgers are notorious for driving up the market value of mediocre talent (see Jason Schmitt, and Kevin Brown). In defense of the Dodgers however, they were pursuing Vlad Guerrero at one point who was the most feared hitter in baseball due to his ability to hit to all fields, hit for power and have nice speed. Their scouting was spot on with this one. Unfortunately instead of signing him when he was a free agent, and basically short changing him, the Dodgers decided they’d stick it out with his worthless older brother Wilton, who then ended up being more famous for corking his bat and then trying to grab it off of the field before an ump saw it. Much like his swing against a fastball, old “Corky” as he came to be known, was late again and the ump caught him. Is it any surprise that the Dodgers went after an aging outfielder who everyone know could not replicate the numbers from his contract year? The good news for Dodger fans is Arte Moreno (GM of the Angels) was dumb enough to fall for it. The bad news is he’s still better than Andruw Jones.
Gary Sheffield: A one time thorn in the behind of Fox execs, and part of the most abhorrent trade in Dodger history that shipped Mike Piazza out of town, Gary Sheffield came and went, and brought us nothing but headaches, Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez. So We basically got nothing for him. That’s like trading your first print “Action comics #1” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Comics) and getting herpes in return.
Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt: Rumor has it that the Dodgers drove up the asking price of Barry Zito by attempting to sign him and then giving Jason Schmitt his insane contract. Once they realized that instead of signing a left handed, past his prime, 30 year old pitcher with a declining fastball, they could actually sign a RIGHT handed 36 year old starting pitcher with a declining fastball for nearly the same per year average, the Dodgers leapt at the opportunity. Schmitt has pitched 6 games in a year and a half, lost 4 of them, and still has a freakish giant baby head on a skinny man’s body, and that’s not even what he’s on the DL for. Zito has gone a combined 13-34 since signing his contract and pitches like he should be on the DL. I stay awake at night and yearn for the chance to sign both of them again, but there can be only one overpaid mediocre starting pitcher on the Dodgers, “Highlander”.
Eric Gagne: I was at opening night at Dodger Stadium in 2006 against the Braves (back when Andruw wasn’t only worth his weight in fat) and during a rain delay, my seats allowed me to talk to al the pitchers in the Braves bullpen. They wandered around and we started talking to one player (who shall remain nameless) and he revealed to us a few juicy tidbits. He let it fly that Mike Hampton’s (another person deservedly on Jeff’s list) checks on the Braves were for over $100k every two weeks. That was shocking enough. Then a slur so vile was emitted I didn’t know what to do about it. We were talking closers, and talking about Gagne’s return and he informed us that, “Gagne is going on the DL tomorrow”. We couldn’t believe it. He was going to be healthy this year! True enough was this Braves player. Gagne went on the DL after that. But that was not the slur. When we asked him why, he said it was because of…steroids. Appalled as we were, not realizing I had my first scoop as a burdening blogger, or as an informant for the “Mitchell Report”, we told him he was crazy, only for the truth to actually come out. Gagne now pitches like a man whose steroids weakened everything about him but his ability to look gross. He wanted a big money deal coming back from 2 shoulder surgeries and for once the Dodgers weren’t dumb enough to give it to him. Thankfully he is the Brewers problem now, but unfortunately for the Dodgers (what else is new) prior to going on the DL again, his last successful save conversion was against…The Dodgers.
Danys Baez: Lastly, there is Baez. The man who was supposed to take over closer spot from Gagne, he proceeded to pitch as well as Gagne, if Gagne tried to pitch an hour after his first shoulder surgery. Baez was so bad that they shipped him off that year to the Braves for Wilson Betemit, who they then traded for Scott Proctor. Joy. The Dodgers didn’t over pay for him either, but the $6 million that the Orioles threw at him is just as unbelievable as anyone (myself included) thinking that getting him in the first place was a great idea.
I know I can’t directly blame the Dodgers for the Gagne and Baez contracts that other teams gave them, there has to be some sort of mentality breeding in the clubhouse and MLB baseball in general that rewards mediocrity. The Dodgers just happen to be the ones who over pay for said mediocrity, or they have mediocre players who are worth more than they actually are. That is one thing you can always count on from the Dodgers.
Keywords: Andruw Jones, Baltimore Orioles, Barry Zito, Boston Red Sox, Brian Jordan, Danys Baez, Eric Gagne, Gary Sheffield, Jason Schmidt, Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Piazza, Milwaukee Brewers, Nomar Garciaparra, Odalis Perez, Scott Proctor, Tori Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero
