Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Colletti's Investments Give Positive (Very) Early Returns

Shockingly, after standing pat at the July 31 trade deadline, Ned Colletti's snags of Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia seem...actually pretty good. So far. I mean, it's only one start for each new acquisition. But these early results bring fine praise from ESPN.com's Mark Saxon:

So far, Colletti’s two post-deadline moves, fine-print transactions though they were, have achieved exactly what he was looking to do: They’ve made everybody less freaked out about the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in the rotation. Correia pitched six strong innings in the Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Atlanta Braves Monday night, three days after Colletti's other acquisition, Roberto Hernandez, pitched six strong innings in a loss at Milwaukee.

And don't think the people in the Dodgers clubhouse didn’t notice when the trade deadline came and went without any action. Getting a couple of veterans in the ensuing week was, to quote manager Don Mattingly, a "shot in the arm," particularly when both performed well, suggesting a change in scenery to a winning team could suit both players. Hernandez played on another last-place team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Colletti also added utility infielder Darwin Barney, who made his Dodgers debut Monday as a pinch hitter, rapping a sharply hit grounder to the left side that was gobbled up nicely by Chris Johnson for an out.

"Right now, we'll take whatever comes our way and roll with it," Carl Crawford said.

The plan is to leave Hernandez in the rotation as the fill-in for injured Josh Beckett, but Mattingly said Correia, once he recovers from Monday's start, will pitch out of the bullpen moving forward. That is a vote of confidence in veteran Dan Haren, who had one of his finest outings of the year last week in Anaheim, California. But Correia hasn't made a relief appearance in two years, and, while the Dodgers won't say it publicly, he's their safety net if Haren reverts to the form of his previous five starts, in which he had a 10.03 ERA.

Together, Hernandez and Correia will cost the Dodgers about $3 million for the remainder of this season. Both are free agents in November. For a team that spends as lavishly as the Dodgers, that seems a reasonable sum to fix what was clearly the team's most glaring hole.

Also, given they are both waiver wire moves, it's odd that the San Francisco Giants haven't blocked either one of the Dodgers' waiver wire acquisitions. The Giants' big deadline push for Jake Peavy has yet to yield returns; he's 0-3 so far as a Giant, with his next start Wednesday against the White Sox, vs. Jose Quintana.

1 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

I think Correia had completly cleared waivers so nobody actually claimed him. The Twins were free to trade him as if it was before the deadline.
Hernandez may have been the same situation.