Chris Dial has updated his offense plus defense numbers. These use a linear weights based system to determine offensive runs above average, and a zone rating based system to determine defensive runs above average.
Manny Ramirez 21.8
Rafael Furcal 18.3
Russell Martin 13.6
Andre Ethier 10.6
Matt Kemp 8.3
Blake DeWitt -2.6
Casey Blake -4.2
Jeff Kent -5.6
Andy LaRoche -6.0
Luis Maza -6.8
Nomar Garciaparra -7.0
Angel Berroa -7.1
Juan Pierre -8.3
Chin Lung Hu -8.6
Delwyn Young -10.5
James Loney -10.7
Mark Sweeney -10.7
Andruw Jones -20.10
The two most valuable players on the Dodgers have played on the team for a little more than two months combined. Pretty sad. Nothing is too surprising about the list, our only good players that have been around all year are Martin, Ethier, and Kemp, our non Furcal shortstops have been pretty equally horrible, and Andruw Jones has managed to use his time off to not be the worst player in the NL. There were a few interesting things though:
-Manny Ramirez is the 18th most valuable position player in the NL despite only being here a month. He's already passed up Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, and Ryan Braun to become the second most valuable left fielder.
-Andy LaRoche as a Pirate -7.4 runs, only 3.2 less than Casey Blake. Even though LaRoche is doing an amazing job at making me look like a fool by hitting .143/.233/.299 since leaving, Casey Blake's defense means that he's not all that much better.
-James Loney has hurt the team as much as Mark Sweeney. Since these numbers count double plays, and Sweeney isn't allowed to touch a glove, Loney has contributed just as much as the hated Sweeney. Good contact, no speed, and little power might be a terrible combination. If Loney doesn't improve his power and defense, he's going to be a hole for the Dodgers.
Interestingly, three of the top 20 players in OPD this year were obtained for free. Ryan Ludwick, Jody Gerut and Jayson Werth were all taken off the scrapheap and have been far more valuable than anyone that's spent the season with this team. With the huge amount of holes the Dodgers have next year, we need to watch the guys who get non tendered, DFAed, or released this offseason and see if we can pick up someone like this off the scrap heap. Yeah, there's risk involved, but we need all the cheap talent we can get.