Unsigned Theriot Laments Gulf

Not a gulf in his contract negotations; rather, Dodgers second baseman and free agent Ryan Theriot is trying to raise funds for a charity golf event benefitting the Louisiana oil spill recovery, as well as the fight against autism:

Next month, the Dodgers must decide whether to tender a contract to Ryan Theriot and he knows it's no slam dunk. But this week, Theriot's focus is not on baseball.

Instead, the Dodgers second baseman is holding a celebrity golf tournament Friday in his native Louisiana to raise funds and awareness for the recovery from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as well as for the fight against autism.

Theriot, an LSU alum, will donate money to the National Wildlife Federation: Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund, the Autism Society of America Baton Rouge and the Fore! Kids Foundation, which exposes children to the game of golf. The tournament will be held at the Carter Plantation in Springfield, La.

But good deeds aside, let's pivot (as second basemen are prone to do) and talk about whether Theriot, who joined the Dodgers on August 31 last season, is worth picking up next year:

Theriot committed only one fielding error while with the Dodgers and hit .309 in August, but tailed off offensively in September, when he hit .141. He didn't have an extra-base hit after Aug. 26, but he led the club in runs scored from the time he arrived.

"Numbers-wise I didn't feel I was where I want to be," said Theriot, who will be 31 next month. "I can get better, and from a team standpoint, it was disappointing watching other teams in October because we were capable of doing just that."

Theriot lost an arbitration hearing last year with the Cubs, receiving the team offer of $2.6 million and not the $3.4 million he was seeking. Arbitration-eligible again this year, Theriot figures to be looking for something close to $4 million, which makes him a threatened non-tender candidate. The top Minor League candidate at the position is Ivan DeJesus Jr., but there is no obvious in-house choice to step in if Theriot is cut loose.

Yikes. Yet another position where we are pretty thin with alternatives.