Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Welcome Back, Casey Blake (And Hello Mark Loretta)

Late-season 3B pickup Casey Blake will return to the Dodgers, signing a three-year deal worth $17.5M.

"We are excited to bring back a player whose performance on the field and leadership off the field contributed so much to our division championship this year," general manager Neil Colletti said. "Our club changed when Casey arrived, and we are thrilled that he wants to continue his career with the Dodgers."

Blake's deal is worth approximately $17.1 million. It's believed the Minnesota Twins had offered him a two-year contract in the neighborhood of $14 million.

This of course heralds the way for Blake DeWitt to start at second base next season, filling the hole formerly occupied by Jeff Kent. Given DeWitt doesn't use a walker to take the field each inning, this is a defensive upgrade. But we'll see about DeWitt's bat, which was mercurial in the 2008 season.

The same article goes on to say that the Dodgers picked up Mark Loretta with a one-year, $1.25M deal. Loretta will play utility backup in the infield, sort of like Wilson Valdez except Loretta once had a bat. No official announcement has been posted yet by the Dodgers, pending Loretta's physical.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neil Colletti?

Like Adam Ethier?

Steve Sax said...

Nice catch, kensai the eagle eye!

Neil Colletti sounds better than that Ned guy.

(As of 10:45a PT on 12/10, espn.com's article still had the error posted.)