In a minor roster move last Friday, the Dodgers gave Larry Bigbie an invite to Spring Training and sold Oscar Robles back to the Mexican Leagues. The biggest thing Bigbie brings to the table is the syllabic structure of his name. The "Bigggggg-Bie" chant is fun and easy. While he showed some promise in his 2003 season when he hit .303/.365/.456, it was a season largely fueled on his high batting average. He put up the same isolated stats in 2004 in more play time, but .280/.341/.427 isn't going to cut it for a corner outfielder. I assumed that Bigbie has been wallowing in the minor leagues since then, but he's actually been hurt for the last two years. Amazing the things you can learn. Bigbie will probably take 10-30 unremarkable at bats this season as he fills the 8th outfielder role.
While I can see letting Robles go if he asked to return to Mexico, I have no clue why you'd drop him and keep Ramon Martinez or bizarre addition to the 40 man roster Wilson Valdez. Then again, maybe I'm overrating Robles. While Robles seemed to be adept at working the count, this rarely translated into actual bases, since he only has an average .064 isolated patience in his career. Maybe I'm putting too much stock in a season where Robles only looked good compared to Cesar Izturis. While it is understandable that he got let go, I have no clue why Ned Colletti loves Martinez and Valdez so much yet abandons Robles.