The Braves 3 game sweep of the Dodgers this weekend continues the clubs free fall into the basement of the National League. So rather than dwell on the many faults of this team, I address the latest roster move made today. I sometimes wonder if Ned Colletti really wants to turn this franchise’s fortunes around. Today’s decision to send Tim Federowicz back to Albuquerque with the return of Mark Ellis to the roster is about as perplexing a move as can be imagined.
Instead, the Dodgers kept Ramon Hernandez and Luis Cruz on the roster.
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| Tim Federowicz started on Saturday, sent back to Albuquerque on Sunday. (photo by Jayne Kamin Oncea/US Presswire) |
Federowicz has been playing well. An excellent defensive backstop and solid bat off the bench. The presence of Fedex has been a welcome sight as the Dodgers have been able to afford pinch hitting him with another catcher on the roster. That additional backstop, Hernandez, has underperformed with the bat (.045 BA) and is so weak defensively that the club is reluctant to have him catch such players as Ronald Belisario, as he’s had difficulty handling pitches with a lot of movement.
Luis Cruz is having the worst offensive season in Dodger history, and of late, his lapses defensively have now cost the team games. His poor performance his been discussed continuously and his value to the ball club is nil at the moment. With Nick Punto, Dee Gordon, Juan Uribe, Skip Schumacher and now Mark Ellis on the roster, it isn’t as if the Dodgers are short of infield help off the bench.
What this all possibly comes down to is: 1) Fedex has minor league options, 2) Cruz and Hernandez do not, 3) the club is desperate to produce a player from Mexico, (Cruz), as a marketing tool. To number #2, I say, “so what?” What is there to fear? That another club picks them up? If that happened, it would be borderline miraculous and it wouldn’t make a bit of a difference to the Dodgers because they’d be making outs with another franchise. If number 3 holds any water I find that unfortunate as I find it hard to believe that the club would jeopardize the franchises success for those purposes.
Cruz is so lost at the plate and his approach is a mess. If he isn’t popping up on the first pitch he sees, he’s grounding into a double play with it. I can’t recall a worse hitter ever in the Dodger system and that’s saying a lot, because they’ve had there share of duds over the years.
Maybe they’re just delaying the inevitable and Cruz will be DFA’d or placed on the phantom disabled list when Jerry Hairston Jr. returns. Still, why delay the inevitable and put the club in a weaker position? I know management thinks highly of Cruz. He’s a nice guy and someone that was quite an inspiration to the team last year, but reality has spoken. 2012 was a fluke. He’s not a player of major leaguer caliber and it’s time to cut bait and move forward.
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