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[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/dodgers-agree-to-sign-alfredo-amezaga.html[/h1]
[h1]Dodgers To Sign Alfredo Amezaga[/h1]
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 2, 2010 at 5:17pm CST]
The Dodgers have agreed to sign Alfredo Amezaga to a minor league deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The utilityman makes $650K if he makes the club and could earn up to $800K more in incentives. The 32-year-old worked out for four teams this week and attracted interest from ten-plus clubs earlier in the winter.
Heappeared in just 27 games last season, hitting .217/.267/.261 as hestruggled with knee problems. Amezaga distinguishes himself from otherpowerless hitters with his versatility. He has major league experienceat all four infield positions and all three outfield positions. Most ofhis experience comes in center field and at shortstop; he grades wellin limited samples at both positions, according to UZR/150.
[h1]http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/dodgers-to-resign-jeff-weaver.html[/h1][h1]Dodgers Re-Sign Jeff Weaver[/h1]
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 2 at 10:49pm CST]
The Dodgers have re-signed Jeff Weaverto a minor league deal worth $800K. The 33-year-old righty pitched to a3.65 ERA in 79 innings for the Dodgers last year. He started sevengames and finished five, serving as a swingman in Joe Torre's bullpen.Weaver paired a 3.8 BB/9 with a career high strikeout rate of 7.3 K/9.
We heard this weekend that Scott Boras was trying to find interest in Weaver. There wasn't much buzz around the sidearmer this offseason; the Dodgers were the only team linked to him.
Yahoo's Tim Brown first tweeted the agreement and Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times added the terms of the contract and tweeted when it became official.
[h2][/h2]
[h2]Stars shine in Dodgers' outfield[/h2][h3]Team's fate seems to hinge on Ramirez, Ethier and Kemp[/h3]
http://search.espn.go.com/tony-jackson/In a city where star power means everything, can there be anything more perfectly suited than the Dodgers' starting outfield?
In this corner, you have Manny Ramirez,the dreadlocked superstar who has an entire section of the DodgerStadium stands named in his honor, the guy around whom the team'smarketing department built much of its campaign last year before hedrew a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's substance-abusepolicy.
In that corner, you have Andre Ethier,the guy who led the team in home runs and RBIs last seasons and hasbecome synonymous with Hollywood endings after delivering nine walkoffhits, five of them home runs, in over the last two seasons.
And in the middle, you have Matt Kemp,who they say has the potential to one day be the best player of thebunch. He just happens to be dating singer Rihanna, which makes sensewhen you consider that you're not a real Hollywood star until you're ina highly public relationship with another star of equal or greaterstanding.
All that glitz and glamour means little to Dodgersmanager Joe Torre and general manager Ned Colletti. What they need,desperately it would seem, is for this trio to produce the way it iscapable of producing. Last season, Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier combinedfor 107 doubles, 76 home runs and 301 RBI. Add to that what Ramirezcould have done during the two months he missed, and you have a prettyexplosive outfield.
These three probably will hit third, fourthand fifth (in no particular order) in the Dodgers' lineup. If theydon't get it done, the Dodgers won't go very far. But if they performthe way they can, the possibilities are endless.
[h3]Left field[/h3]
Byand large, Dodgers fans seemed to forgive Ramirez for his suspension,especially since the club went 29-21 during his absence and gainedground in the NL West standings. What they found more difficult toswallow was his performance after he returned, a stretch during whichthe whole "Mannywood'' thing seemed to lose its luster.
[h4]Manny Ramirez[/h4][h5]#99 LF
Los Angeles Dodgers[/h5]
2009 STATS
- GM104
- HR19
- RBI63
- R62
- OBP.418
- AVG.290
Ramirez's average dropped almost 80 points, from .348 before thesuspension to .269 afterward. And while he slammed six homers and drovein 20 runs in 27 games before his ouster, he hit just 13 homers with 43RBIs in 77 games afterward.
Wherethe blame lies for Ramirez's statistical plummet depends upon whom youask. One of the most popular theories was that he suffered from nothaving had a real spring training -- the Dodgers didn't re-sign himuntil March 5, more than two weeks after the start of camp. Another wasthat, for all his talent, he suddenly started playing like the37-year-old guy he was.
So the big question for the Dodgers nowis, which Ramirez will show up for this final season of what is now atwo-year, $45 million contract? Even his post-suspension numbersproject over a full season to 27 homers and 90 RBIs, which should beplenty good enough if the other key players in the lineup carry theirshare of the load.
[h3]Center field[/h3]
Kemp's offensivecoming-out party of last season has been well documented, as has thefact he showed improved patience at the plate, drew more walks and cutdown on his strikeouts. The one aspect of his season that didn't get asmuch notice was his outstanding defense, which resulted in the first ofwhat figure to be several Gold Gloves.
Los Angeles Dodgers[/h5]
2009 STATS
- GM159
- HR26
- RBI101
- R97
- OBP.352
- AVG.297
That defense will be critical for the Dodgers this season, as Kemp willbe responsible for covering much of the ground in left-center that theaging Ramirez can't anymore, and never really has anyway. That's notsuch a tall order at Dodger Stadium, where the gaps are small. The realtest will come at places such as Colorado's cavernous Coors Field,where all nine of the games the Dodgers play there this season figureto be critical in the division standings.
Beyondthat, Kemp appears to have overcome most of the pitfalls that plaguedthe early years of his career. His base-running instincts haveimproved, his feel for the game has gotten better, and he finally seemsto grasp the patient hitting philosophy that Torre and Don Mattinglybrought with them from New York.
Kemp has historically been mediashy, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles his sudden status asa target of the paparazzi. Armed with a new two-year, $10.95 millioncontract, he could be in for a monster season if he can maintain ahealthy focus on baseball.
[h3]Right field[/h3]
One dayduring spring training in 2007, when he was coming off a rookiecampaign that suggested a budding superstar, Ethier told a reporter hethought he needed to hit more home runs that year. Told a few minuteslater of Ethier's comments, then-Dodgers manager Grady Little shudderedat the thought that Ethier might mess up his sweet, line-drive strokeby suddenly swinging from his heels to generate more power.
Los Angeles Dodgers[/h5]
2009 STATS
- GM160
- HR31
- RBI106
- R92
- OBP.361
- AVG.272
By last summer, when his worst fears appeared to come to fruition,Little was long gone and all but forgotten. Yes, Ethier's average felloff 33 points from the previous year, and his strikeouts increased by28. But in the grand scheme of a season in which he was arguably theirmost valuable player, the Dodgers were more than willing to take thegood with the bad.
Ethiershattered his previous career highs last season by slamming 31 homersand driving in 106 runs. Of course, there was no one Dodgers fans likedseeing at the plate more in the home half of the ninth inning or somesubsequent inning. And lest anyone think Ethier was all about the longball, he also drew a career-high 72 walks and posted a .361 on-basepercentage.
There was also the little matter of that seven-pitch, bases-loaded walk he coaxed from Philadelphia's J.A. Happin the eighth inning, forcing in the winning run in a tension filledGame 2, the Dodgers' only victory in the National League ChampionshipSeries.
As for that sweet, line-drive stroke, well, Ethier still had 42 doubles.
Ethierisn't the five-tool player that Kemp is, but he might be the best purehitter in the Dodgers' lineup. Ethier just signed a two-year $15.25million deal. With both Ethier and Kemp locked in through 2012, theywill be starting alongside each other in the Dodgers' outfield for theforseeable future.
That makes for a pretty scary one-two punch in the middle of the order.
