By: Chris Kahrl
LOS ANGELES DODGERS Return to Top
Acquired RHP Brad Penny, 1B-L Hee Seop Choi and LHP Bill Murphy from the Marlins for C-R Paul Lo Duca, OF-R Juan Encarnacion and RHP Guillermo Mota. [7/30]
Acquired OF-L Steve Finley and C-L Brent Mayne from the Diamondbacks for C-B Koyie Hill, OF-R Reggie Abercrombie, and LHP Bill Murphy; acquired LHP Matt Merricks from the Braves for LHP Tom Martin; acquired OF-L Henri Stanley from the Red Sox for OF-L Dave Roberts. [7/31]
It looks like a slam dunk for the Dodgers, but let's place the swag in context of what this does for this year's pennant chase. I know, it's initially unfair, because it reduces Hee Choi's future to the elephant in the room, but indulge me.
First, they got a famous, formerly great center fielder who might no longer really be the no-brainer choice over Milton Bradley in center. Given his just-adequate walk rates, his chief offensive asset is slugging; over the last four seasons (2004 inclusive), you're talking about a guy who slugged .441 away from the BOB. Finley's good, but he may be merely a modest offensive improvement over Dave Roberts, who was basically discarded.
Offensively, that gives you two major exchanges: Moving down from Paul Lo Duca to a Dave Ross-Brent Mayne combination behind the plate, and practically exchanging Hee Seop Choi for Juan Encarnacion (with Shawn Green moving back into the outfield). Encarnacion was virtually worthless: He was easily their worst-hitting outfielder, and he was signed to big money through next year. For that, you swap in an offensive powerhouse. Freed from the twin terrors of first Dusty Baker's opinion and the muggy muck of Miami, Choi should be golden, potentially giving the team its best lefty slugger since Duke Snider, and also a hitter with superb command of the plate. For the sake of argument, if the Dodgers' alternative was going out and getting Carlos Delgado, this is doing themselves one better: They get a player with Delgado's offensive skills on the upswing of his career, and they get at least four more years of Choi, should they want to have them.
Lo Duca was worth something. However, whatever you might say about heart and soul or whatever nonsense is coming out of one famous New York beat writer's hat (I love how some johnnies-on-the-spot can sniff out emotion from another league and three thousand miles away), LoDuca's not a great catcher, and his offensive value these days has withered away to an ability to make contact. At 32 years old, this might be his last really valuable season. There isn't a lot to say about Mayne; at best, he can catch. The hidden bonus in this is that Ross might bop for some power down the stretch. He showed considerable sock last season, and propelled into everyday play, he'd give the Dodgers a defensive upgrade who would also hit better than Encarnacion. Of course, then you should also compare LoDuca to Choi, and that looks like a net gain for the Dodgers, now and into the future.
Then there's the pitching portion of the program: Penny's no slouch to stuff into the rotation, and if you have a choice between a useful starter and a useful reliever like Mota, the useful starter's generally the better option. Mota may be one of the 10 best relievers in the NL right now, but by getting Penny, they're replacing Mota's innings in the pen with Wilson Alvarez, which doesn't hurt. Later, when Edwin Jackson comes off of the DL, either he can help out in the pen down the stretch, or he takes Jose Lima's place in the rotation, and Lima gives the pen some more good stuff. So the pen will be covered, leaving you with the good news that you've got Penny. As persistent as the rumors are that this is the year that Penny's elbow melts down, he might be the best starter the Dodgers have, certainly giving them a fine one-two punch at the top of the rotation with Odalis Perez. Then you've got Jeff Weaver and Kaz Ishii in the back end of a postseason rotation, which is a significantly happier state of affairs.
Now, admittedly, there were costs. But the Dodgers could afford to discard Roberts and Tom Martin. In the outfield, with Grabowski and Werth on the bench, they have fourth and fifth outfielders better than some starting flychasers for a few contenders, and in the pen, Martin was pushed out by the new role for Alvarez. Abercrombie and Hill are disappointments on the prospect front, and Encarnacion was practically worthless. So really, to sum up, DePo gave up a great reliever, a good if graying catcher, two seedy outfielders, a lefty journeyman reliever, and he got a series of offensive upgrades, a defensive improvement behind the plate, and a significantly improved rotation. Then you get into the financials and long-term prospects of someone like Choi, and it's a great two days for the Dodgers. Finley's importance will be overstated, but if anything, his pickup might be the least significant. He's nice to have and came relatively cheaply, of course, but getting Choi and Penny are the real gems.
AGREED 100%