Alfredo Amezaga To Dodgers
by Eric Stephen on Feb 2, 2010 3:33 PM PST
in Roster
126 comments
The competition for backup shortstop just got a new member, as Alfredo Amezaga has apparently signed with the Dodgers, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Rosenthal reported that Amezaga signed a minor league deal worth $650,000 if he makes the team, with another $800,000 in performance incentives.
The guess is that either Nick Green or Angel Berroa, also on minor league deals, were going to make the team as backup shortstop anyway, so with Amezaga in the fold there is an option who plays all over the field, including the outfield. Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness summed it up nicely last week:
Amezaga’s terrible bat and recent injury scare the hell out of me. Now, the one benefit with him is not only is he a plus defender in the outfield, he’s also got experience at shortstop. If you carry Amezaga, you can save a roster spot and you probably don’t need to suffer through Nick Green.
The problem of course with Amezaga is his bat. The 32-year old Amezaga is a switch hitter, and hits considerably better from the left side (.687 career OPS) than the right (.510 career OPS). He has never had an OPS higher than .682 in a single season.
Amezaga's 2009 season was cut short with a bone bruise in his left knee in May. It was serious enough that he ended up having microfracture surgery in July to repair the damage. Amezaga's last game was May 16.
Is Amezaga worth a roster spot? In a vacuum, probably not. But, given that the choice is likely between him, Nick Green, or Angel Berroa, I'll take Amezaga.
UPDATE: Joe Frisaro of MLB.com has confirmed the deal, through Amezaga's agent.
UPDATE: Video of a spectacular play by Amezaga in Mexico
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5th outfielder, backup infielder
say hello to AAA Xavier Paul, Jason Repko, Nick Green, Angel Berroa. Who gets dropped from the 40 man?
Bench headed into Spring Training
Ausmus, Belliard, Carroll Alfredo, Johnson, Minky
Starting Lineup:
Furcal, Martin, Kemp, Manny, Andre, Loney, Blake, Blake
11 pitchers
Or
Ausmus, Carroll, Alfredo, Johnson, Minky
Starting Lineup:
Furcal, Belliard, Kemp, Manny, Andre, Loney, Blake, Martin
12 pitchers
CF
in a platoon with Johnson if Kemp goes down, SS if Furcal goes down.
Though for any expended time we might bring up Paul to play CF.
lol
though if he starts for furcal.. it wouldnt be as much of a downgrade as you think.. now kemp it is a HUGE downgrade
Speak of the devil
per Andrew Baggarly (San Jose Mercury News):
Giants sign RHP Guillermo Mota to minor league deal. Mota invited to big league camp, but RHPs B.K. Kim and Horacio Ramirez are not.
LAT'd?
1) What do you guys prefer in your stats for a league, especially if it is 5 and 5 with the categories? I am thinking of AVG, OPS, RBI, Runs, SB and for pitching: ERA, WHIP, QS, K, SV.
I don’t love all of those stat categories, but I am making compromises with people that worship the RBI and roll there eyes at me when I tell them it is not the best indicator of performance….same as ERA.
2) Would it make more sense to split OPS into OBP and SLG, or does it end up being a wash…or are there pros and cons for both?
Thanks
by robotmadeofnails on Feb 2, 2010 3:39 PM PST reply actions
Haven't done a league in a few years
but the last league I did used:
SLG, OBP, HR, R, RBI
W, Sv, ERA, WHIP, K
I like those stats but I might switch W with QS.
The problem is that I hate the Hold stat, so I would like to have 6 batting stats as: SLG, OBP, RBI, R, SB, AVG
and for pitching: K, ERA, QS, SV, WHIP….and then I don’t know what to do for the 6th one.
by robotmadeofnails on Feb 2, 2010 4:09 PM PST up reply actions
Anyone know if Amezaga would be useful to swipe a base as a late inning PR?
Or has he lost his speed?
Don't know
but 2009 was a terrible year for him. Before that he was at least useful. His BABIP does not even offer much hope, his xBA based on his BABIP was .199, even worse then his .217 average. Contact rate dropped from a consistent point of 85% to 77%.
Hopefully just a bad year for a bad offensive player and he can bounce back to simply being a bad offensive player again instead of super bad.
Micro-fracture surgery implies there is bone on bone in the affected knee joint.
A series of holes are drilled into the end of the femur.
a collection of blood forms a scab, which then becomes scar tissue, this then is intended to act as cartlige.
the patient must put no wieght on the knee for about four months.
Then you find out if it worked.
Success rate about 70%
Even if successful, this might rob a speedy runner of a step or two?
by 68elcamino427 on Feb 2, 2010 7:32 PM PST up reply actions
Active players with 100 games at both SS & CF
Amezaga: 115 (69 starts) at SS, 255 (190 GS) at CF
Melvin Mora: 195/177 at SS, 158/130 at CF (although not really since 2003 for either position)
Bill Hall: 261/244 at SS, 138/119 at SS
Willie Bloomquist: 149/112 at SS, 116/86 at CF
hey eric a request
in the series that you guys write"Better Know a Stat" maybe you could explain the difference between command and control.
thanks.
lol at the giants
Command = being able to spot your pitches within the strike zone
Control = being able to throw strikes
all right
I always thought command got something to do with the mechanics of a pitcher
thanks silverwidow
by hirambocachica on Feb 2, 2010 4:04 PM PST up reply actions
Lost tonight
This is from the Yankee blog River Avenue Blues:
The numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 are all retired by the Yankees.
Awesome.
My condolences to you Lost fans out there
I gave up on that show years ago…
my two cents
Lie to Me, its my new favorite tv show. I’ve always loved Tim Roth as an actor but he’s amazing on this show. Watch just one episode and I promise u won’t be disappointed. For those with HBO check out True Blood! I’m not a TV guy at all but these shows have me hooked like The Sopranos did in its prime.
by VeroJoe on Feb 2, 2010 4:15 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I pulled out of 24
I can only deal with so much ludicrous before I pull the plug. I got through 3 hours this time.
24 still has enough action for me, though it is mostly a guilty pleasure. I like cracking jokes while watching it to pass the time.
Renee is the equivalent of Old Jack this season, so I’m sold.
I wish I could rec a comment from my phone
by Eric Stephen on Feb 2, 2010 7:35 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
woaaah
microfracture surgery… didnt know it was that serious
Hopefully he can return like Amare Stoudemire
Although Amare is all offense and no defense, which is the opposite of Amezaga. :)
Hopefully he can return like Zach Randolph
by Michael White on Feb 2, 2010 4:16 PM PST up reply actions
Michael
is vindicated. Pretty much the sole voice at the Clip site who said trading Zach was a bad move. Good to be on an island and be right.
I do feel vindicated
in a way, and I do still like watching Zach play (like against the Lakers last night.)
That being said, its still frustrating that Memphis is probably not a better team otherwise, yet they are in the playoff race and the Clippers are now out.
by Michael White on Feb 2, 2010 4:24 PM PST up reply actions
I have one good friend who is a big Clips fan
I don’t think he goes to the SB Nation blog, but he absolutely detested the Zach Randolf trade, and to go one step further, absolutely hated Blake Griffin and wanted to draft Brandon Jennings. That would have been interesting.
Interesting
If he correctly called Jennings, he definitely knows his stuff, since the logic was on the PG depth chart going into the draft that it was 1) Rubio 2) Evans 3) Jennings, and people were concerned that Jennings didn’t dominate in Italy.
by Michael White on Feb 2, 2010 4:28 PM PST up reply actions
He knows College BB better than anyone I know, so I think he has a pretty good feel for pre-NBA talent.
One of the biggest USC basketball fans around. He told me like a year before when Jennings went to Italy how good he was going to be when he got to the NBA. His play in Italy didn’t phase his assessment. He said from the get-go he was all about Jennings and Griffin wasn’t even in his top 3 picks.
Defense
Plus/Minus and UZR suggest Amezaga is awesome defensively in CF, and above average at SS and 2B. Slightly below average at 3B. I do like the versatility.
between the knees with the glove pointed toward the ground
by 68elcamino427 on Feb 2, 2010 7:34 PM PST up reply actions
SS
and I would take the CF UZR with a grain of salt due to his injury.
BTW, at what point do you need to add players signed to minor league deals to the 40 man? Only if they make the team?
vr, Xei
I will admit to unabashedly rooting for Amezaga because of his defense, versatility, and most of all I just love his name. I could say “Alfredo Amezaga” over and over again all day.
I will take him
over Green, Berroa, Carroll, and even Hu provided he hits like he did from 2005-2008 and not like he did in 2009.
I pretty much agree
and it makes paying Carroll $2.5 MM in 2011 sting even more.
Carroll
is like a wasp sting while the rest of Ned’s signing this winter were like pool soaked bee stings.
Hearing that name reminds me of the Marlins’ PBP announcer (whatever his name is) who’s pretty good as I recall.
yeah, I remember him as a kid when he announced briefly for the Yankees (right before John Sterling)
I also have a vague recollection of a pregame show, where I THINK it was he that was interviewing an impressive young man who wrote for Cheers AND announced for the Orioles, and went by the name Ken Levine. :)
I meant to say Hutton was the color guy…I like those two together, although I didn’t hear them last year because I was without extra innings for the first time in 8 years
Hutton annoyed me last season
when Jeff Weaver hit Hanley Ramirez, Hutton would not stop mentioning how the Marlins couldn’t retaliate because of the (admittedly stupid) rule about ejecting a pitcher for retaliation. He went so far as to say when the Dodgers started to come back a little bit, it was because the Marlins pitchers were afraid to throw inside, due to the fear of being ejected. (He seemed to catch just how whiny he was sounding and retracted somewhat, but didn’t shut up about it until one of the Marlins pitchers DID end up hitting Orlando Hudson.)
Nicely done, Eric
Now I am REALLY pulling for Loney, as I am sure to never hear the end of it if he doesn’t come through! :))
billingsley is glad amezega is on the dodgers..
if i remember correctly.. amezega owned billingsley
randy winn
kinda owned billingsley too.. or was a pest for him..
yup
amezega was a pest for bills… he had a hard time witth the guy/
More fun for Don Drysdale
Hank Aaron hit 17, Willie Mays hit 13, and Willie McCovey hit 12. Other than that no one over 7. So the best of the best took him deep but other then that he took care of business. The most pedestrian hitter to do him harm was Del Crandell. Man there are some great hitters who took Don deep alot. A virtual who’s who of the 60’s.
i hate tim mccarver
and i love don for owning tim mccarver to a line of .214 .211 .286 .497
wow
willie jones had Only 25 at bats against don and had 16 RBIs… wow
how do we see sandy koufax vs everyone?
i really wonder who hit sandy good…
hank aaron owned him.. hes the only one in the top 35 most PA vs koufax to hit over .300… WOW
and the most hr he gave up to 1 player is 7 to 3 different players
apparently, he made Ernie Banks
look like Clayton Kershaw. (Kershaw as a hitter, in case that wasn’t clear! :) )
hmmmm...on second thought
Banks showed good power, surprisingly. So I guess you could say that Sandy Koufax made him look like Steve Balboni…
Outside of Ozzie Smith, I’m not sure.
I remember watching a video of Ozzie one time on TWIB, and he was talking to the camera about how he prepares for grounders, etc. As he was walking and talking, from no matter where he was, Ozzie would flip the ball without looking to a base as if it was nothing. The throws had zip and were right on the money each time. It was amazing.
Oz was Ozzsome
Though I thought at the time the Padres had made the better move in getting Templeton. Talk about a SS going downhill after such a promising beginning.
Templeton is destined to be remembered for one thing…the line “If I ain’t startin’, I ain’t departin’” (in reference to wanting to go to the All-Star game one year).
I had zero idea
that Garry Templeton never walked. I remember being so impressed with his two 200 hit seasons by the time he was 23 I never noticed he never walked. Which is odd because I was always a big fan of the walk which is why the Toy Cannon and Ron Cey were two of my favorite players.
I mean this dude never ever walked.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/templga01.shtml
WOW
those stats of his are so polarizing (great hits, triples, BA, SB vs. lack of BB coupled w/high Ks, shocking number of CS), I think it would make pro/con arguments about Juan Pierre appear to be downright civil!
i think it was pushed back
he isnt hurt, just wanted more pen sessions before throwing
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Feb 2, 2010 6:40 PM PST up reply actions
WTF
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers signed right-handed free-agent pitcher Ramon Ortiz to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Major League camp.
Russ Ortiz and Ramon Ortiz on the same team? I’m sure we’re going over quota for the Ortiz’s portion of the list.
Ha Ha
now I have to edit this post
http://www.truebluela.com/2010/2/2/1290192/is-this-the-worse-group-of-free
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Photo error
I had a photo of Emilio Bonifacio up earlier. My bad.
The photo above is indeed Mr. Amezaga
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego
|
60 | 42 | .588 | 0 | Lost 2 |
|
San Francisco
|
60 | 45 | .571 | 1.5 | Won 2 |
|
Los Angeles
|
54 | 50 | .519 | 7 | Lost 4 |
|
Colorado
|
54 | 50 | .519 | 7 | Won 3 |
|
Arizona
|
38 | 66 | .365 | 23 | Lost 1 |
(updated 7.31.2010 at 9:51 PM PDT)
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