Man this would be huge. The Dodgers are close to signing Jason Schmidt for three years at $47 million. That’s a hefty price tag but the Dodgers would be getting a front of the rotation starter and this move would probably make the Dodgers the favorites in the National League Central.
Schmidt had a career year in 2004 and probably should have walked away with the Cy Young. Since then he’s faced some injuries but he’s still been solid. He was 11-9 last year for a mediocre Giants team but he had a 3.59 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP with 180 strikeouts. Schmidt would join Brad Penny, Randy Wolf, Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley in the rotation. Now all the Dodgrs need is a bat to bolster the lineup and it’d be hard not to count the Dodgers in a conversation when you talk about potential National League champs.
The Dodgers also signed Mike Lieberthal to a one year deal. He’ll make $1.25 millon and he’ll most likely back up Russ Martin, who had a nice rookie year. Lieberthal has played his entire career with the Phillies and had some really good years but injuries have been a concern. He only played in 67 games last year and he’s four years removed from one of his best seasons.
