As if Orlando Hudson could not have a more disgruntled exit from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a recent move that still dumbfounds me, the Dodgers resigned 34-year-old second baseman Ronnie Belliard. Ronnie Belliard was acquired in a trade on August 30, 2009 from the Washington Nationals, a trade that also sent Jim Thome from the White Sox to Los Angeles.
Orlando Hudson had been struggling to say the least, but Torre unexpectedly benched Hudson during the remainder of the playoffs. Although Belliard batted over .300 during his tenure with the Dodgers last year, he was certainly inconsistent.
Belliard at times would shine, coming up with clutch hits such as his RBI-single in Game 2 of the NLDS that kept the Dodgers alive after a “Holliday” gift. However, he often struck out a lot, and looked like Stevie Wonder trying to hit a ball off a tee-ball tee.
The Dodgers already signed veteran Jamie Carroll to a contract, and now they bring in another somewhat old guy into the picture. Granted it was a 1-year, 850,000 contract, Orlando Hudson is now for sure not going to be resigned.
In another predictable move, Hudson was not offered arbitration, and is now looking at the New York Mets or Washington Nationals (quite ironic since Belliard was acquired from the Nationals); a bad team and then another god-awful team—the Nationals will be considered successful if they lose under 100 games next season.
On top of this, the Dodgers are not giving Blake DeWitt a chance to show his true potential. He has constantly bounced up and down from the AAA-Isotopes to the major league club, and has shown he can hit, field, and be another great product out of the Dodger’s farm system.
However, Coletti feels the older Belliard has more to offer. I do not think so. And now I feel even worse for Hudson. He was an exciting acquisition last season, and now appears to be a total bust, when he shouldn’t be.
If it were up to me, offer Hudson arbitration—well he probably would not have accepted it since he was benched last season, so maybe you should not have benched him during the most crucial part of the season Torre. Not only that, but you were not on speaking terms with him about it? Are we missing the bigger picture here?
Who knows? All I can see is the Dodgers organization making moves that continue to puzzle many analysts and fans alike. This includes not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf, or putting money into signing an ace, which is what the Dodgers REALLY need.
In the meantime, Hudson: I wish the best for you, and it is unfortunate that the Dodgers organization screwed you over. Blake DeWitt could have served an excellent back-up to you. Now we have two old farts to compete for second-base, no dominant ace, and have lost Randy Wolf.
At least we avoided salary arbitration with all our other farm system successes. This is the year to shine Los Angeles. Get a dominant ace, strengthen that bullpen, and we have ourselves a contender for the National League pennant. We just have to get past those darn Phillies.