Scott Van Slyke Clears Waivers, Assigned To Isotopes

Dec 222012
 

The Dodgers have announced that Scott Van Slyke has cleared waivers and he has been outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. All that worrying for nothing, rumors of him heading to Pittsburgh, the huge risk of losing him via waivers, and there he is safe and sound with the Isotopes.

Van Slyke, 26, made his Major League debut in 2012 and hit a not-so-impressive .167 (9-for-54) in 27 games, with two home runs and seven RBIs.

In eight seasons in with the Dodgers minor league affiliates, Van Slyke has hit .290 with 86 home runs and 428 RBIs. Last season, he hit .327 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 95 games at Albuquerque. There is no doubting the talent he possesses, nor his immense potential, but the problem is he hasn’t been able to transfer his success at the lower levels over to the big league level.

I’m sure he will get a chance to prove himself again this spring, hopefully he can prove he belongs on the 25-man roster this time around.

 12/22/2012  Posted by at 5:59 pm Dodgers News, Transactions No Responses »

Dodgers DFA Scott Van Slyke, Trade In The Works?

Dec 122012
 

The Dodgers have designated Scott Van Slyke for assignment. The move was made earlier today to make room on the 40-man roster for the newly acquired Skip Schumaker.

This move left me and a lot of Dodger fans scratching their heads. Why? Because Van Slyke is one of the few options the Dodgers have to play first base and both outfield corner positions. The right-hander also possesses some power potential that could come in handy, as the Dodgers bench currently doesn’t have any.

Van Slyke , 26, wasn’t very impressive in the majors this year hitting a dismal .167/.196/.315 in 57 plate appearances for the boys in blue, his first shot at the show. In Triple-A, however, Van Slyke hit .327/.404/.578 with 18 homers in 411 Triple-A plate appearances this summer. So it seems odd to waste someone who still has some time on his prospect clock, and could be on the verge of breaking out. This move grows even more puzzling especially with Juan Uribe (aka giant waste of space) still clogging up the roster.

It’s also worth noting Scott has some good baseball blood running in his veins, as he is son of the long-time big leaguer Andy Van Slyke.

Speculation is growing that a trade could be in the works. Makes sense. Actually it’s the only logical explanation for this move at the moment. Word on the street is the Dodgers are talking a deal that would send Van Slyke and Chris Capuano to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Joel Hanrahan.

Who thinks Ned should pull the trigger?

 12/12/2012  Posted by at 9:35 pm Dodgers News, Dodgers Rumors, Transactions 4 Responses »

Dodgers Rivera Joins Disabled List Party

May 112012
 

Juan Rivera got some really bad news. He got invited to the disabled list party, according to Dylan Hernandez of the L. A. Times, the prognosis doesn’t look good either. Juan Rivera’s hamstring is ruptured, Don Mattingly said. Could be a long-term injury.

The Dodgers on Wednesday placed outfielder Juan Rivera on the 15-day disabled list with a ruptured hamstring, and recalled outfielder Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque. The Dodgers were hoping Van Slyke would arrive at Dodger Stadium before Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants.

“I felt something when I slid into third base,” Rivera said.

Yeah, I am sure you did. Usually when you tear ligaments in your body, you feel it. All in all this isn’t that much of a bad thing, as hopefully some time off will allow Rivera to get back on track, assuming he bounces back from this injury. Rivera was batting just .247/.276/.358 slugging percentages, after a hot start to the 2012 season, Rivera had cooled over the last few weeks. Rivera was still the RBI machine we had hoped he would be, as his 13 RBI’s were third most on the team. He was batting .280 with runners in scoring position, another piece to the Dodgers early season success.

The Dodgers called up Van Slyke instead of Jerry Sands, the previous minor league player of the year. Sands struggled during spring training (.158 batting average) and hasn’t exactly turned it around in Albuquerque (.233, 4, 24).

Van Slyke, the team’s reigning minor league player of the year, was batting .336 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 32 games at Albuquerque, and had .411 on-base and .623 slugging percentages. This is his first trip to the majors. So this is a no brainer and it gives the Dodgers a chance to see what Van Slyke has got. I recently ranked Van Slyke as the Dodgers number seventeen overall prospect in February.

Van Slyke should get plenty of opportunities despite Mattingly saying newly signed Bobby Abreu would get most of Rivera’s playing time in left field, but Mattingly is “not looking at him as an everyday guy” because that would “run the risk of beating him up.”

 05/11/2012  Posted by at 6:11 pm Dodgers Injury Reports, Dodgers News, Transactions No Responses »

Dodgers 2011 Rule 5 Draft Preview

Nov 172011
 
The 2011 Rule 5 draft is set for December 8th, tomorrow is the deadline to protect eligible players from the draft. Two of the Dodgers more notable eligibles, Scott Van Slyke and Alfredo Silverio were recently added to the Dodgers 40 man roster. This should not come as surprise to most as both players had huge years in 2011 as members of the Lookouts.Alright, so what is this Rule 5 draft that everyone keeps talking about?

It works similar to the June Rule 4 or amateur draft, the selection order of the teams is based on each team’s win-loss record from the prior regular season. Any player selected during the Rule 5 is immediately added to his new team’s 40-man roster.

All players selected in the Rule 5 draft must be kept on the new team’s 25-man major league roster for the entire season after the draft. He may not at any time be optioned or designated for assignment. However, the selecting team may waive the Rule 5 draftee. If a Rule 5 draftee clears waivers by not signing with a new MLB team, he must be offered back to the original team, effectively canceling the Rule 5 draft choice. Once a Rule 5 draftee spends an entire season on his new team’s 25-man roster, his status falls back to that of the standard rules, no longer under the Rule 5 rules.

Alright, so the next question is who is eligible? Well to be eligible players can not be on a major league 40-man roster and:

  • were signed at age 19 or older and have been in the organization for four years; or
  • were signed at age 18 or younger and have been in the organization for five years.

Okay, so now all that is out of the way let’s talk about the Dodgers in this years draft.

The Dodgers 40 man roster is currently at 36 including free agents Matt Treanor, Mark Ellis, and Juan Rivera, so there isn’t much room at all for other minor leaguers to be added, especially when you factor in the rest of the free agent signings that need to happen. That being said, the Dodgers can create a little more wiggle room if needed by removing some marginal players from their roster like Trent Oeltjen, Dana Eveland, and Ramon Troncoso. Here’s a quick preview on some players that could still be added.

Here are the players who are eligible for the 2011 Rule 5 draft. These players are: Ethan Martin, Kyle Russell, Tony Delmonico, Jon Michael Redding, Cole St. Clair, Nick Buss, Jordan Roberts, Chris Withrow, Austin Gallagher, Andres Santiago, Chris Jacobs, Josh Wall, Griff Erickson, Justin Miller, Tim Sexton, Jaime Pedroza, Matt Wallach, David Pfeiffer, Jessie Mier,  Pedro Baez, Geison Aguasviva, Rafael Ynoa, Carlos Frias, Bladimir Franco, Ramon Jean, Jose Dominguez, Daniel Tamares, Carlie Mirabal, Pedro Guerrero, Elian Herrera, Christian Lara, Alberto Bastardo, Josh Walter, Steve Smith, Joseph Becker, and Robert Booth.

Some names you know, some you don’t. So who is going to be added to the roster before the freeze? Well here is the rundown on how I think things will play out. First, the Dodgers will designate Oeltjen and Eveland for assignment, thus leaving 6 open spots on the 40 man roster. The Dodgers need at least 3 spots for free agents, that leaves room 3 possible additions. First and foremost let’s get the two must adds out of the way, Ethan Martin, and Chris Withrow. The third spot will likely go to Josh Wall, Tony Delmonico, Kyle Russell, or Austin Gallagher. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti certainly has some work to do, it will be interesting to see what route he decides to go.

 11/17/2011  Posted by at 6:32 pm Dodgers News No Responses »