I'd just like to take this moment to heckle from the stands:
Boooo! Bad Trade! Boooo!
Thank you. The Dodgers just made another crappy trade with Tampa Bay. Does Colletti have friends over there? I really don't care about losing Seo (or, for that matter, Duaner Sanchez, who was traded to the Mets in exchange for Seo, more or less). What bothers me is the massive downgrade at catcher. Navarro is a year younger than Russell Martin and already above average as catchers go. And catchers are not the most durable guys. So why wouldn't Ned keep both prospects for a couple of years? Didn't he notice that Navarro got injured this season? What happens when Martin can't play? What happens, Ned, when Navarro turns out to be the one you should have kept?
The Great Pedro Fiasco is permanently etched in the memories of Dodger fans. I sure hope this one doesn't get anywhere near that. And, by the way, I like Martin, even ahead of Navarro. But Navarro seems like the kind of inexpensive luxury that the Dodgers can treat themselves to with the depth of their farm system.
So, what are we getting?
32-Year-Old Lefty Pitcher, Mark Hendrickson
Um, right. Is this the pitching help then? Career ERA: 5.01, career BAA (batting average against): .291, career OPS against: .793. In other words, the league bats like the 2006 Dodgers against this guy. In case you haven't looked, the 2006 Dodgers are pretty good. Incidentally, what they need is pitching. Still.
Toby Hall: Mediocre/Crappy Catcher
The (probably nonexistant) upgrade at pitcher meant that the Dodgers had to downgrade at catcher. Mission accomplished. This guy is substantially worse (Hall: .659 career OPS; Navarro: .741 career OPS) with the bat than Navarro today, and Navarro is 22 years old. This kills me. What a waste. Oh yeah, and we get to pay him $2 million more than Navarro, too. Yay!
In other news, ESPN reports that we have one of the five great intangibles guys on our squad. I'm thrilled. So I guess we had the catcher position covered without taking back Hall. Which begs the question: would they have let us not take Hall? I don't see where he fits in, so I assume we were forced to take him and his $2.3 million salary.
Come on, Mr. Colletti, I'm pulling for you. But lets try not to trade our prospects for guys you can get any old time. At least rent a good player (say, Greg Maddux) who can keep the bullpen pitchers in the bullpen. You know, guys like former Devil Rays Danys Baez and Lance Carter.
Update
Coletti said on AM 710 that he believes that Hendrickson is better than his numbers indicate, and that he is well suited to Dodger Stadium. From your mouth to God's ears, Ned. You hear me, Big Guy?