Aybar, Hendrickson Head for the Sunshine State

Mark Hendrickson signing with the Marlins was Wednesday's news, but today we learned that the Rays had acquired yet another erstwhile Dodger: Willy Aybar. From Bill Chastain at MLB.com:

In 105 career Major League games for the Dodgers and the Braves, the switch-hitting Aybar has a .292 average with five home runs, 40 RBIs and a .387 on-base percentage; he has played 81 games at third base and 21 at second. Friedman said the Rays plan to look at him at first and in the outfield as well.

(Rays executive Andrew) Friedman did not back away from addressing Aybar's problems off the field.

"We did a lot of due diligence into his problems from last year," Friedman said. "While we recognized it's a risk, we feel it's a risk worth taking."

Friedman said Aybar's problem "needs to be monitored."

"And it's something we will be aggressive to help him any way we can to put a support network into place," said Friedman, who noted such issues are a private matter.

Aybar has spent the offseason playing third base for Licey in the Dominican Winter League, batting .268 in 27 regular-season games. He is currently hitting .339 for Licey in the league's round-robin tournament with a home run and six RBIs.

* * *

Lee Panas of Detroit Tiger Tales has been assimilating (maybe that's not quite the right word) different defensive metrics, and finds that Andruw Jones was tops in the National League at his position in runs saved.

* * *

Finally, a souvenir photo from Wednesday: Andy LaRoche

Comments

[silverwidow]

1.  Hopefully Andy is starting to impress his new boss.

[Branch Rickey]

2.  It seems that in all of the talk about A. Jones, his defense is usually mentioned only after hashing through his offensive stats. I realize you need to be strong in both to be worth $18M. But I think the defensive upgrade in CF will be the biggest improvement the team will or could make and it will make the team at least competitive. I think it's very hard to be a Championship caliber team without an excellent defensive SS or CFer. We now have both and for that I am excited about '08.

[Gen3Blue]

3.  I was LATed at the last post, but I had trouble expressing it and it is too painful to repeat. In brief--Torre has a chance to play who he should.

[Gen3Blue]

4.  If runners hesitate to take an extra base on their hit or a subsequent batters, I believe it means between 15 and 25 games a year. No mean result. (But it might be prudent to have a left fielder like Ethier!)

And when you figure out what good defense means to pitchers stats, I think it may cast offense in a different light. In play-offs and World Series pitching and defense( which leverages pitching) does seem to dominate.

[CanuckDodger]

5.  Who said LaRoche looks fat? He looks fine.

[CanuckDodger]

6.  5 -- Well, not exactly "fine," since I have long thought that LaRoche's face is suggestive of Cro Magnon man, but weight-wise he is okay.

[jasonungar07]

7.  I totally agree number 2 ( I sound like Picard) you can add a solid defensive catcher to go with the other two...as well.

[jasonungar07]

8.  5 He's not fat, he's big boned. I blame Canada.

(Kidding Canuck. Don't tell me to take off eh.......)

[Andrew Shimmin]

9.  Is he wearing a weight belt, or a back brace, or something? Looking at the full size picture, there's a line above where one would expect his belt to be. Unless he's trying to reach out to the old guys by wearing his pants up under his arm pits.

[68elcamino427]

10.  5 This looks like a fine defensive, power hitting third baseman, who is on the rise.

[Jason in Canada]

11.  Actually Americans are the fat ones, hoser. :)

[Jason in Canada]

12.  er, big boned ones.

[Gen3Blue]

13.  Ahh. Have I gained restraint with age? Perhaps. Goodnight all on both coasts. And I wonder where Bob T. is in his central European Odysee.

[MarLoKemp]

14.  I thought by trading Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes away, the "Rays" were moving away from talented but troubled youngsters.

Their acquisition of Willy Aybar apparently signals that I misread those earlier moves.

I really don't get this. If you're willing to put up with problem kids, why not hold on to truly outstanding talents like Delmon and Dukes?

I can only conclude that the Tampa Bay club is suffering some kind of schizophrenia.

[bhsportsguy]

15.  13 I think Bob is sitting in his apartment laughing at all of us thinking he is in Europe.

[Gen3Blue]

16.  15 you are right. I would rather have Delwyn. Over and out.

[Vishal]

17.  6 i know he's a baseball player, but for an up-and-coming athlete, he seems to have a bit of a gut.

[silverwidow]

18.  Kemp has spent most of the off-season working out in Arizona and said he has lost 25 pounds since the end of the last season.

http://tinyurl.com/2gv6fd

[bhsportsguy]

19.  17 He looks fine in the video posted on dodgers.com

[Jon Weisman]

20.  14 - They are different people with different problems.

[underdog]

21.  My lord, I knew the Lakers were going to be downgrading at center with Bynum out, but I'd forgotten how much until watching the atrocity known as Kwame in this awful game (so far) vs Suns tonight. In fairness, all the Lakers are playing poorly, but he's just awful. If they play like this, .500 will be too much to ask for in Bynum's absence. Ugh-ly.

Luckily, Notorious is on TMC so I can switch to something less atrocious.

[Marty]

22.  25 pounds is a lot. I hope it doesn't sap his Bisonish awesomeness.

[Bluebleeder87]

23.  La Roche actually doesn't look that bad in that picture, but like Vishal says...

[trainwreck]

24.  Odom misses so many gimmes.

[Andrew Shimmin]

25.  Stanford's up by two with 10.7 left on the clock, Arizona ball. If anybody's looking for something to watch.

[trainwreck]

26.  I am happy Arizona continues to lose.

[regfairfield]

27.  14 Dukes is so bad that even I wouldn't want to touch him. I think the Young trade was selling on a guy that hadn't improved at all in the last three years, so it was pretty fair.

[D4P]

28.  Did Matt Kemp really have 25 pounds to lose...?

[Bob Timmermann]

29.  If Matt Kemp weighed more than 25 lbs, he could lose 25 lbs in theory.

[StolenMonkey86]

30.  He was listed last year at 6'2", 230lb. 6'2", 205 doesn't sound too bad, and part of that might include weight he gained in the offseason.

[D4P]

31.  29
I'm just wondering if he was indebted to 25 Jews or something.

[Bumsrap]

32.  But Torre expressed concern that the bench, as it is shaping up, could be very young, especially if Garciaparra is a starter. Among likely candidates are Delwyn Young, Tony Abreu, Pierre or Andre Ethier, Chin-Lung Hu and Jason Repko, along with backup catcher Gary Bennett.

"With youth coming off the bench, there's always a question mark how they'll handle not playing," Torre said. "Andy Phillips had that problem [in New York]. He had trouble playing off the bench."

One good way to get more veterans available for bench strength would be to have Nomar and Pierre on the bench.

[Bumsrap]

33.  31
Pound of flesh or pound of fat?

[Bumsrap]

34.  Does anybody know if Kemp was working out at Athletes Performance in Tempe like Martin, Dewitt, etc did last year?

I can't see into the clubhouse but I can see Kemp running very hard on every ground ball and crashing into outfield walls. Now he works hard on the off season and comes into spring in what appears outstanding shape. I seem to appreciate his attitude. Willie Davis ran through a few stop signs and scored from second on bunts or ground outs. Kemp = excitement. He probably is fun to watch even when he is merely moving a trash can.

[Gen3Blue]

35.  32 Excellent. I almost said the same thing last night but I had signed off. You beat me.

[Bumsrap]

36.  35 I had to restrain myself from adding Kent to that bench strength.

[Terry A]

37.  Torre's matter-of-fact appraisal of Andy Phillips' inability to play effectively off the bench sounds an awful lot like the kind of pigeonholing through small sample size that many of us despise.

Broxton can't close. Betemit can't hit. Kemp is a bad baserunner.

[Jon Weisman]

38.  Bobby Fischer has gone on to the great, cantankerous chess match in the sky.

[D4P]

39.  38
Don't bother "searching" for him down here...

[Disabled List]

40.  38 What a strange life he led.

[MC Safety]

41.  So, I am back from my road trip to Colorado. I'd like to thank Hallux Valgus (I Think, its been a while) for the pointers. I didnt get to venture back to Idaho Springs for Beau Jo's, but I will for sure this summer. Eldora was 15 minutes away from where I was staying and was virtually empty. I must say that was THEE best snowboard trip I've been on. My customized Dodger shirt didnt seem to be a big hit out there, but thats understandable.

Glad to hear we signed Brazoban, and I am especially glad to hear Nomar and Andy are battling it out for the job. I really hope Andy gets it together this spring.

Also, I was not aware the Dodgers play the Tigers this year, that is going to be something to watch. A friend works for Don Slaught's company Right View Pro. I havent been this excited about the Dodgers ever, being born in 1983 and all.

[regfairfield]

42.  Oh god, he still loves Andy Phillips. He should be thrilled with Nomar hitting nothing but singles.

[cargill06]

43.  regarding the fat issue, look at pictures of Andruw Jones at the work-outs he looks fat. Kemp losing 25 pounds, hopefully he lost all body fat, his first few steps out of the box looks pretty slow compared to when he finally gets to full speed. Maybe the loss of weight will help with his acceleration.

Torre said he prefers to have a lefty in the rotation... i can think of a couple lefties on the trading block, is he hinting at something?

[cargill06]

44.  regarding the fat issue, look at pictures of Andruw Jones at the work-outs he looks fat. Kemp losing 25 pounds, hopefully he lost all body fat, his first few steps out of the box looks pretty slow compared to when he finally gets to full speed. Maybe the loss of weight will help with his acceleration.

Torre said he prefers to have a lefty in the rotation... i can think of a couple lefties on the trading block, is he hinting at something?

[cargill06]

45.  regarding the fat issue, look at pictures of Andruw Jones at the work-outs he looks fat. Kemp losing 25 pounds, hopefully he lost all body fat, his first few steps out of the box looks pretty slow compared to when he finally gets to full speed. Maybe the loss of weight will help with his acceleration.

Torre said he prefers to have a lefty in the rotation... i can think of a couple lefties on the trading block, is he hinting at something?

[paranoidandroid]

46.  31 Why 25 Jews? I don't get it.

[cargill06]

47.  43 ,44 , 45 , sorry

[ToyCannon]

48.  Pound of flesh?

[D4P]

49.  "Jews" probably wasn't specific enough. Maybe "Jewish merchants" would have been better.

[D4P]

50.  Still: I didn't look at Kemp and think "That guy needs to lose 25 pounds". That's a lotta weight. I guess maybe he'll be able to beat out even more infield grounders, but won't the weight loss likely hurt his power?

[cargill06]

51.  50 if he still keeps his muscle mass than no. if he's losing the weight by eating better and still lifting weights if would just make him leaner but just as strong

[cargill06]

52.  and like someone said he was listed at 230, maybe he got up to 240-245 at some point and is down to about 215-220

[cargill06]

53.  and like someone said he was listed at 230, maybe he got up to 240-245 at some point and is down to about 215-220

[paranoidandroid]

54.  cargill, you tend to be redunant. Yet, you are redundant.

[paranoidandroid]

55.  Jon,

Any insider buzz on Piazza?

[cargill06]

56.  54 ya i've been a little trigger happy this morning. however, i don't believe i've repeated myself other than then the duplicate posts

[Disabled List]

57.  49 Unless that's an oblique reference to something I'm not getting, I don't think either of them are very good.

[D4P]

58.  57
It's an oblique reference to something you're not getting.

[Disabled List]

59.  58 Ok, that's what I thought.

Without an explanation, of course, it's still oblique and confusing.

[D4P]

60.  59
This should get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shylock

[cargill06]

61.  55 i would bet 8 boxes of honey bunches of oats that Piazza isn't coming here, just because it makes no sense.

[Disabled List]

62.  60 Shakespeare was never my strong suit.

[silverwidow]

63.  Torre said he prefers to have a lefty in the rotation... i can think of a couple lefties on the trading block, is he hinting at something?

No, the rotation is set. If a lefty is needed, he will be called-up.

[Benaiah]

64.  63 - I agree, if anything the Dodgers have a surplus of starting pitching (though I thought that last year too) so I can't imagine they will acquire another starter. Hopefully Elbert or Kershaw will make it a moot point by midseason anyway.

[underdog]

65.  Huh. The Dodgers just re-signed Jason Repko (as per Dodgers.com.) Still have Beimel and Proctor to lock up. I wonder if they're planning on keeping Repko around and not trying to trade him somewhere, or only if they don't trade Pierre...

[regfairfield]

66.  65 They can still stick Repko in AAA.

[ibleedbloo]

67.  Edit: As I was TinyURLing I saw i was beat to the punch, but I'll post anyway.

May be old news around here by now, but Repko agreed to a deal worth $487,500. http://tinyurl.com/2v9kwl

[underdog]

68.  66 True 'nuf. Seems like an expensive AAA player, but they wanted to keep him around just in case.

[regfairfield]

69.  68 We can afford 487 thousand dollars for insurance.

[cargill06]

70.  68 espically with the 1,600 bucks pres. bush will be giving the mccourts

[ToyCannon]

71.  The weights for players mean nothing. They are weighed once and then that weight is assigned to them. It is not like they get weighed every spring and the new weight becomes part of their database. I'm sure internally it is but not the numbers the public views when looking at 40 man rosters, baseball cards, or baseball reference. The Height will normally stay static except for those HS boys who grow between 17-19. Kemp at Arizona in 2005 looked leaner then he did this year. Big guys with big butts put on weight very easily. Dave Parker was a big man when he came into the league but he was a very very big man just a few years later. Matt Kemp will always have to work hard to keep his weight at the ideal playing weight for himself.

In the old days of steroids when a player announced he had lost weight it was usually a nod and wink that they had de-juiced. At least that is what my grand pappy tells me.

[ToyCannon]

72.  I don't see how Repko is insurance since he can never stay healthy enough to actually play the game. If he takes someone's spot and we lose that person on waivers I'll be irritated. Other then that I wish him luck in getting enough service team to qualify for a pension.

[Andrew Shimmin]

73.  62- D4P only likes the ones with lots of cross dressing.

[Jim Hitchcock]

74.  62 And he'll never make it as a Jeopardy contestant.

[Dane Bramage]

75.  15 LOL! Bob answers that allegation in the latest Griddle post.

[Marty]

76.  Maybe they are keeping Repko around as a designated injury. Someone is bound to get hurt, so why shouldn't it be Repko?

[paranoidandroid]

77.  74 I'll take Anti-Semitism for 500 Alex.

[cargill06]

78.  77 this chess player was a prodigy at the age of 15

[paranoidandroid]

79.  If Repko stayed healthy, we might not have seen Ethier in 06 until September. Repko got out of the gate smashing the ball and playing great defense. Climbing that wall on a ball he couldn't ever get to was stupid. And he's paid a very high price for it too. I think he still has a big upside, especially if we let him take some grounders and he can become a Chone Figgins type of reserve. He has speed and more power than Pierre. If we could trade our former CFer...

[bhsportsguy]

80.  2 questions:
1. Is it Jon or John Meloan?

2. When your own team website misidentifies you as Adam LaRoche, should you be upset?

[regfairfield]

81.  80 Don't most Jonathans go as Jon?

[cargill06]

82.  Eric Karabell projects a 25 HR 90 RBI and 15 SB season out of the Kemper

[ToyCannon]

83.  Is Scott Boras changing his stripes? My favorite player from last year just signed a 3 year deal with Ray's instead of going to arbitration and heading for free agency at the end of the year. Either Pena is really worried about repeating his historic season or he wants to be part of the onslaught that crumbles the empires of the Northeast.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rays-pena&prov=ap&type=lgns

[CanuckDodger]

84.  80 -- "Jon" is short for "Jonathan," except in the case of one Mr. Weisman, whose first name is like the letter "S" in "Harry S Truman." "John" is not short for anything, but is a completely different name than "Jonathan."

[kinbote]

85.  I can't say I really understand the Repko situation. To me, it looks like another case of Colletti loving depth regardless of roster spot availability. (That being said, if Pierre is traded, Repko has a job.)

[silverwidow]

86.  Matt Holliday just got a 2 year/$23 million deal.

What a bargain.

[regfairfield]

87.  85 We have only seven outfielders on the 40 man. If someone gets hurt, we would have to call up Xavier Paul. Having Repko in AAA is completely necessary.

86 Why on Earth would he sign that deal?

[paranoidandroid]

88.  86 We'll get a similiar bargain with a Mr. Kemp in the near future.

[ToyCannon]

89.  79
When analysts call players a 4th outfielder I think of players like Repko and Cody Ross not players like Byrnes or Ethier or any of the other innumerable outfielders who are everyday outfielders.
If we didn't have D Young and 4 other outfielders I think Repko would have some value if he stayed healthy, but I don't ever foresee Repko being useful if he ever got 350 at bats. If you think Juan Pierre has OB problems then Repko's sub 300 OBP would really hurt. He has some power against LHP and can play off 3 outfield positions. I'd rather have Cody Ross if given a choice which the Dodgers were given in 2006 and they went with Repko

[kinbote]

90.  Maybe it's time to give Blake DeWitt an outfielder's glove.

[ToyCannon]

91.  87
No it isn't. It doesn't have to be Repko, there are plenty of NRI's who can be Jason Repko.

86
That is the strangest signing I've seen by a player.

[cargill06]

92.  http://tinyurl.com/23u2mo

http://tinyurl.com/yt9ds3

in all fairness to mr. colletti when you look at these clips how is he supposed to have any idea about what would in occur in '07

[screwballin]

93.  37 Torre's matter-of-fact appraisal of Andy Phillips' inability to play effectively off the bench sounds an awful lot like the kind of pigeonholing through small sample size that many of us despise.

I think it's a tough gig for anyone to hit well when starting only occasionally, since it's all about timing. So wouldn't it be doubly difficult for a rookie who's still getting his feet wet in the league?

I think that's all Torre was saying. Presumably a veteran on the bench would come in to a key pinch-hitting spot, or a fill-in start, with some experience against the pitcher he's facing. A rookie with only a vague idea about the pitcher is presumably at a greater disadvantage.

[paranoidandroid]

94.  I just don't ever want to see light-hitting Ramon Martinez in left field ever again.

Repko has never stayed healthy enough to know what he can and cannot do if given a shot. I think we envisoned him platooning with Kenny Lofton before he got hurt. He showed he was able to hit lefties well.

Delwyn can hit from both sides of the plate but has left speed, less major league games under his belt, and strikes out albeit with more power in his bat. I don't see them both sticking with the team unless Pierre or Ethier are gone or injured.

[bhsportsguy]

95.  Jayson Stark of ESPN.com asks the question, how many free agent starting pitchers who started last season, have signed a guaranteed multi-year contract.

Answer, 2 if you count Kurada. Only Carlos Silva (4/48 million) has signed a multi-year deal. Stark also says that only Kyle Loshe is probably going to get more than 2 years and only 2 other pitchers will get even 2 years.

[paranoidandroid]

96.  I just don't ever want to see light-hitting Ramon Martinez in left field ever again.

Repko has never stayed healthy enough to know what he can and cannot do if given a shot. I think we envisoned him platooning with Kenny Lofton before he got hurt. He showed he was able to hit lefties well.

Delwyn can hit from both sides of the plate but has left speed, less major league games under his belt, and strikes out albeit with more power in his bat. I don't see them both sticking with the team unless Pierre or Ethier are gone or injured.

[paranoidandroid]

97.  computer issues, i'm outta here

[alex 7]

98.  re: Andy Phillips

It seemed to me Torre was discussing the mental part of the rookie vs. veteran pinch hitter. Sounded like he felt rookies might have a harder time mentally dealing with the lack of playing time, as opposed to the veterans who have settled into a back-up role.

[underdog]

99.  76 Ah hah! I just figured it out. Repko was signed to be the designated injure-another-player guy, and they plan on playing him alongside Pierre in the outfield in spring training. That will solve all their problems! Now it makes perfect sense.

[ToyCannon]

100.  That is what I got out of the interview. Not every kid is ready to be Lenny Harris, Mike Sharperson, or Dave Hansen. Adjusting to lack of playing time is not going to be the same for everyone. Sounded like Philips couldn't handle it mentally. His performance may not have been an issue but maybe he was driving everyone crazy on the bench.