Dodgers Set to Sign Orlando Hudson

by Charlie on Feb 20, 2009 7:25 PM EST Comment 4 comments

For one year and $3.8 million, plus $4.6 million in incentives. We'll see how reachable the incentives are, but jeez--Hudson has to be the free agent market's biggest loser so far. He was hoping for a multiyear deal at around $10 million per season, and as a second baseman who plays good defense and has topped an .800 OPS three years in a row, he probably would have gotten it if not for the rotten economy and Elias' silly player rankings, which require the Dodgers to give their first-round draft pick to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Hudson's services. I'm not good at feeling sympathy for multimillionaire ballplayers, but Hudson must feel frustrated, and the Orioles' signing of Brian Roberts, a similar player in many ways, to a $40 million extension today has to make it sting even more.

For L.A., Hudson fills the void left by the retirement of Jeff Kent, and he should be a big upgrade over Blake DeWitt, who'd been penciled in there. Still, it can't feel right to have to give your top draft pick to your main divisional rival.

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I’ve always liked Orlando Hudson, but I think it would have been a mistake to sign him for big money. He’s over 30, had seasons shortened due to injury the past two years and his offense benefited from playing in Phoenix. He slugged over .500 at home the past two seasons and under .400 on the road. Dodger Stadium not likely to help. He is a big defensive upgrade over Dewitt, but LA won’t have as much of a groundball staff with Lowe gone.

by bolton on Feb 20, 2009 8:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Be careful not to overstate the H/R thing.

Some of it is just the normal bounce that all players get from playing at home, relative to what you’d expect from the offensive context of their home park. Typically about 30 points of OPS in a given year, though it varies somewhat from season to season.

And of course, even if Hudson were to hit his road line absolutely across the board this year, he’d still probably be a significant upgrade on DeWitt.

by Vlad on Feb 23, 2009 9:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs