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Also ...
A Season in Savannah (Stanford Magazine)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2005) (Hardball Times)
Rick Monday (Baseball Analysts)
Baseball's Odd Couple (Baseball Prospectus)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) (Hardball Times)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2007) (Hardball Times)
Dodger home record: 35-27 (.565)
When Jon attended: 4-3 (.571)
When Jon didn't: 31-24 (.564)
Dodgers at home: 745-600 (.554)
Jon attended: 293-233 (.557)*
Jon didn't: 457-374 (.550)
* includes road games attended
Current Roster with Estimated 2008 Salaries
(updated March 28)
Most figures are estimates (some are wild estimates) but will be updated as information comes in. Corrections welcome.
More contract details here.
Starting Pitchers (5)
$12,300,000 Hiroki Kuroda
$10,000,000 Derek Lowe
$9,500,000 Brad Penny
$7,000,000 Esteban Loaiza
*$500,000 Chad Billingsley
Total: $39,300,000
Bullpen (6)
$2,000,000 Takashi Saito
$1,925,000 Joe Beimel
$1,125,000 Scott Proctor
*$500,000 Jonathan Broxton
$500,000 Chan Ho Park
*$400,000 Hong-Chih Kuo
Total: $6,450,000
Starting Lineup (8)
$14,100,000 Andruw Jones
$13,000,000 Rafael Furcal
$9,000,000 Jeff Kent
$8,500,000 Nomar Garciaparra
$8,000,000 Juan Pierre
$500,000 Russell Martin
*$400,000 James Loney
*$400,000 Matt Kemp
Total: $53,900,000
Bench (6)
$875,000 Gary Bennett
$600,000 Mark Sweeney
$424,500 Andre Ethier
$391,000 Delwyn Young
$390,000 Chin-Lung Hu
$390,000 Blake DeWitt
Total: $3,071,000
Disabled List
$12,000,000 Jason Schmidt
*$400,000 Tony Abreu
*$390,000 Andy LaRoche
Total: $12,790,000
Also Paying ...
$1,000,000 Brett Tomko
$750,000 Odalis Perez
$540,000 Yhency Brazoban
$500,000 Randy Wolf
$487,500 Jason Repko
$135,225 Rudy Seanez
$100,000 Mike Lieberthal
$50,000 Ramon Martinez
Total: $3,562,725
Working total: *$113,268,725
*Rough salary estimate
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Top MLB Catchers, 2004
| Player | Team | Age | 2004 OPS | 2004 Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivan Rodriguez | Detroit | 32 | .893 | $6,521,554 |
| Jorge Posada | N.Y. Yankees | 33 | .881 | $9,000,000 |
| Javy Lopez | Baltimore | 33 | .872 | $6,000,000 |
| Jason Varitek | Boston | 32 | .872 | $6,900,000 |
| Victor Martinez | Cleveland | 25 | .851 | $304,500 |
| Johnny Estrada | Atlanta | 28 | .828 | $312,500 |
| Michael Barrett | Chicago Cubs | 28 | .826 | $1,550,000 |
| Mike Piazza | New York Mets | 36 | .806 | $16,071,429 |
| Jason Kendall | Pittsburgh | 30 | .789 | $8,571,429 |
| Mike Lieberthal | Philadelphia | 32 | .783 | $7,500,000 |
| Paul Lo Duca | L.A./Florida | 32 | .758 | $4,066,667 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | San Francisco | 27 | .729 | $3,500,000 |
Of the top 12 catchers in baseball in 2004 (including Mike Piazza in the category), seven command salaries of $6 million or more. Through arbitration, Paul Lo Duca figures to become the eighth. All will turn 33 or more next season except Jason Kendall.
Two others earn low six-figure salaries because they haven't earned arbitration or free agency rights yet. Consider Cleveland and Atlanta blessed.
An 11th catcher, A.J. Pierzynski, made $3,500,000 despite an OPS lower than that of Royce Clayton or Tony Womack. Not exactly a bargain, though at age 27, his statistics should improve.
That leaves the Chicago Cubs' Michael Barrett, who hit 16 home runs and 32 doubles in 2004, as perhaps the best don't-break-the-bank catcher around. Barrett is due for a raise through arbitration but apparently is just shy of his free agent rights. A poorer team might consider trading him, but the contending Cubs figure to keep him.
Some other catchers? Here are the most noteworthy remaining free agents at the position, according to Peter Gammons.
| Player | Team | Age | 2004 OPS | 2004 Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damian Miller | Oakland | 35 | .742 | $3,000,000 |
| Mike Matheny | St. Louis | 34 | .640 | $4,000,000 |
| Henry Blanco | Minnesota | 33 | .628 | $750,000 |
Miller had a surprisingly strong season given his age, but that will only encourage him to ask for his own raise. Expect him to draw at least $3,500,000 for a one-year deal or $6,500,000 on a two-year-deal.
Here's the current Dodger starter:
| Player | Team | Age | 2004 OPS | 2004 Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Ross | Los Angeles | 27 | .544 | $310,000 |
If, after the Dodgers resign Adrian Beltre and augment their starting pitching, they have salary left over for a no-holds-barred pursuit of a top-tier catcher, great. But more than any other position, chasing top catchers is closest to chasing rainbows. It's a potentially expensive pursuit and one most likely to leave you empty-handed.
Dave Ross will earn close to the major-league minimum next season. His 2004 performance was abysmal, but you realize as you look at some of these catchers that even for Ross, the journey to average isn't far, the journey to bargainhood even less so.
Let me repeat. There are many catchers out there better than Ross, many not even mentioned above. But there might not be many better bargains out there than Ross. If retaining Ross as the starter and batting him eighth allows the Dodgers to solve their other problems, that may be a satisfactory resolution.
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