Nothing like a good old trade to make me want to write something again. In this case, the Dodgers have exchanged a player to be named for Mark Sweeney, a move that very closely resembles last years move to acquire Marlon Anderson for a lowly regarded Jhonny Nunez.
Much like that deal, the Dodgers DFA'd someone who could perform the exact same role just weeks earlier (Ricky Ledee last year, Anderson this year), and then gave up something in order to fill the gap. Sweeney is the very definition of professional pinch hitter with more career hits of the bench than anyone but Lenny Harris. Over the last couple years, Sweeney has been good for around an .800 OPS against righties, and is completely useless against lefties.
Not quite so like last years deal, the Dodgers probably could use Sweeney for added depth. Right now the Dodgers have no healthy hitters on the 40 man roster and anyone they could possibly want to call up (Chin-Lung Hu, and, well...that's about it) can't waste away on the bench. Sweeney is a nice guy to put on the end of the bench, and call upon him every other game to take a couple swings.
Finally, much like last years deal, it's pretty unpredictable what Sweeney will do, sure he'll probably be a middle of the road pinch hitter, but there's a chance he could go all Marlon Anderson on the league, or there's a chance he could be useless. So long as the player dealt isn't anyone useful, and Sweeney doesn't steal playtime from James Loney, this is a nice, small upgrade for the Dodgers.