Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times believes that the answer to the Dodgers' lack of power is riding the pine on the Angels' bench.
"As the Dodgers try to add a power hitter without subtracting from their young core, they need not look beyond the visiting dugout today.
They'll find Juan Rivera there, at the end of the Angels' bench, buried under the weight of Gary Matthews Jr.'s contract."
Obviously the Dodgers have to trade the Angels something back, so who does Mr. Shaikin recommend?
"The Dodgers could play Rivera, Matt Kemp and (fingers crossed) a healthy and productive Andruw Jones in the outfield. Russell Martin, with a .407 on-base percentage through Friday's games, could lead off until Rafael Furcal gets back.
The Angels love collecting arms, preferably power arms, so give them their choice of middle reliever Cory Wade or Javy Guerra, a fireballing Class A reliever with erratic control."
Okay, first let's deal with the suggestion that the Dodgers actually want Rivera.
Rivera has a career OPS of .800, and has put up an OPS higher than .800 twice in his career. After bouncing around...
"As the Dodgers try to add a power hitter without subtracting from their young core, they need not look beyond the visiting dugout today.
They'll find Juan Rivera there, at the end of the Angels' bench, buried under the weight of Gary Matthews Jr.'s contract."
Obviously the Dodgers have to trade the Angels something back, so who does Mr. Shaikin recommend?
"The Dodgers could play Rivera, Matt Kemp and (fingers crossed) a healthy and productive Andruw Jones in the outfield. Russell Martin, with a .407 on-base percentage through Friday's games, could lead off until Rafael Furcal gets back.
The Angels love collecting arms, preferably power arms, so give them their choice of middle reliever Cory Wade or Javy Guerra, a fireballing Class A reliever with erratic control."
Okay, first let's deal with the suggestion that the Dodgers actually want Rivera.
Rivera has a career OPS of .800, and has put up an OPS higher than .800 twice in his career. After bouncing around...
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