In our continuing series of "I can't believe he only got that!" in the 2008-9 offseason our newest episode stars Orlando Hudson and how the Dodgers were able to get him for next to nothing on a one year deal that features up to 4.6million in incentives. While LA does lose a first round pick for signing Hudson considering the skills Hudson brings to the field and with his bat I think its fair to say that they have dramatically improved themselves while giving up very little.
Easily the biggest improvement for the Dodgers by signing Hudson is defensively. Between using Blake DeWitt, a career third baseman and Jeff Kent, a great second baseman who's not exactly great in the field, the dodgers were pretty poor up the middle. Replace that combination with a three time gold glover who's still in his prime and I can see Los Angeles becoming a much stronger team defensively.
But Hudson is also very underrated with the bat as well. While not a great offensive player he has been productive and at times a serious contributor to a club, notably last year posting a very respectable .305/.367/.450 line. Compare that to DeWitt's pretty anemic .264/.344/.383 line you have to think Torre will be happy to take that black hole out of the lineup everyday.
I really think its hard to say anything negative about this deal. Yes the Dodgers lose a first round pick to their division rival, but they also made them weaker in the short term and improved themselves greatly for next to nothing. Its amazing to think that the market has taken such a dramatic downturn when you look back at last years deals for second baseman, namely the absolutely horrible Luis Castillo, gets four years and all he did this year was slug a muscular .305 and this year Hudson can't even get two years!
Speaking of the Mets, I'm taking them to task for nothing pulling the trigger on Hudson, a guy who really really would have helped them fill one of their more glaring holes in their lineup. Yes, Castillo and his albatross of a contract are still there but if you're a team like the mets with the financial means you have to make this move. A guy like Castillo is going to kill you at the plate, and this is not going to change now that he's a year older and a step slower on those balky knees of his. A well rounded guy like this wouldve drastically changed the fortunes of those mets, but I guess this deal was too smart for them.
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