| Scott Essman. 20th May, 2008 - 5:20 pm
 Whether or not it was for reasons stated, the Dodgers made an adjustment that has been a long time coming this season on Monday against Cincinnati: big offseason free agent signing Andruw Jones, who is currently hitting .167 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 42 games, was on the bench.
What effect did this have on the team? First, outfielder Matt Kemp moved to center field from his usual right field spot while Juan Pierre stayed in left in favor of his natural position in center field, allowing Andre Ethier to get playing time in right field. Why Ethier did not play left, allowing Pierre a return to center with Kemp staying in right is unclear, but this much is perfectly clear - these players responded in kind to the modification: Pierre and Ethier had two hits apiece while Kemp had four hits in four tries. Together, the three had eight hits in 13 at-bats in the Dodgers' 6-5 win over the Reds, a victory that came in the bottom of the ninth.. This might be an indication that manager Joe Torre has his eye on changes and tonight was an eager experiment. Are there more to come?
If Jones' $18 million dollar a year salary for both this and next year play any type of role, we are to expect him to come off the bench fairly soon. But with Kemp hitting .320, Pierre .286, and Ethier .291, the team, chasing the Diamondbacks by five games in the loss column, cannot afford to carry Jones and his 44 strikeouts in 132 at-bats. Plus, with Jones plummeting last year at age 30 to a .222 average, he would be worth virtually nothing at this point in a trade situation.
Simply put, the Dodgers know that their future rests on the youthful shoulders of Kemp (23), Ethier (25), catcher Russell Martin (25), and first baseman James Loney (24) to anchor their lineup. Added to that is the enigmatic 22-year-old third baseman Blake DeWitt, who had two more hits tonight plus two RBIs include the game-winner. Thus far, the youngster is hitting .322 and seems to have solved the team's problem at the hot corner left by Nomar Garciaparra, whose career appears to be dwindling (he has played only nine games this year with little production).
Should the Dodgers build a team around that young core plus pitchers Chad Billingsley (23), Jonathan Broxton (24), and Yhency Brazobán (27), they will have a team that resembled the 1990s Dodgers of Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth. Any group of young players needs to be surrounded by veterans, but thus far, the best Dodger position players are their youngest ones. |
