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On the first day of the winter meetings, the Dodgers have been very active. They are reportedly close to two-year deals with both utility man Jerry Hairston Jr. and starting pitcher Aaron Harang, both presumably backloaded to shoehorn them into the tight 2012 budget.
The 2013 team is beginning to look a lot like the 2012 team.
Harang, who turns 34 in March, is "very close" to a done deal, per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports the deal in the $12 million range (first thought: wow). He was 14-7 with a 3.64 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres, but after factoring in the pitcher-friendly Petco Park as his home he ever so slightly below average last year. His last two years have seen a sharp decline in his strikeout rate (7.7 per nine innings from 2008-2009 to 6.6 in 2010-2011) and an increase in walks (2.4 per nine to 3.1 over the same two-year periods).
Harang's last three years have also been injury-prone, as he has missed time for an appendectomy and injuries to his back, right ankle, foot, and right wrist all since 2009. From 2009-2011 Harang averaged 25 starts and 148 innings per season. The Padres declined their half of Harang's $5 million mutual option for 2012.
Hairston's deal, now done, is worth $6 million. He will get $2.25 million in 2012 and $3.75 million in 2013, per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times. The 35-year old hit .270/.344/.383 with the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers in 2011, and has played pretty much everywhere in the last few years. Since 2009, Hairston has started 86 games at third base, 81 games at shortstop, 72 games at second base, 32 starts in left field, 14 starts in center field, and five games in right field.
In other news, the Dodgers placed outfielder Jamie Hoffmann on outright waivers, removing him from the 40-man roster, and he was claimed by the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers had a full 40-man roster coming into Monday, so they will need to make another roster move to make room for both Harang and Hairston.