Dodgers Waiver Wire: PRAY FOR DEPTH

I’m not mentally ready for more of this Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

So the trade deadline came and went, and nothing happened. The Tigers got David Price for pennies on the dollar. The Cardinals upgraded their rotation twice. The A’s got Jon Lester. Chris Perez threw a pitch as a Dodger yesterday, Paul Maholm‘s knee said “see ya”, Dan Haren‘s pitching ability said “LATER” everything is awful.

Well only kind of, I mean sure there was last night’s stinker of a game. Dan Haren got rocked, absolutely shelled. Whatever wartime expression for getting completely moved around in a violent matter you care to use, you can use it, because that’s what Haren did. Chris Perez forgot how to throw a baseball. Yet, despite all that, the Dodgers are still 2.5 games ahead of the Giants, and have the most wins versus the fewest losses in the entire national league.

It’s not that bad, yet it’s amazing. It’s amazing that a team that has compiled -1.2 Runs Against WAR (This WAR measures the sheer number of runs given up and sorts out value from that) from Dan Haren, -0.6 Runs Against WAR from Chris Perez, and -0.9 Runs Against WAR from Paul Maholm and they have the best record in the National League. Of course, having the best record this time of year has it’s perks, and has it’s detractions.

They need pitching, Maholm’s knee is shredded with a torn ACL, Dan Haren, Chris Perez are bad, there needs to be changes, clearly. And in case you haven’t noticed, Zach Lee, Carlos Frias, Red Patterson are all putrid in Albuquerque. Chris Reed has a 5.00 ERA in July, and has been stuck in AA for 3 years. Stephen Fife is hurt. Ross Stripling blew out his elbow. Matt Magill is a reliever. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad news in the minors. There’s a chance that Zach Lee comes up and makes a start soon, which I wouldn’t hate, but expecting him to be a reliable starter is not a great position (neither is the one they’re currently in).

Waivers works roughly like this: players in the AL go through the AL teams bottom to first primarily, then they get transferred to the NL and go bottom to first. So essentially, for players like Drew Pomeranz, or Ricky Nolasco, the Dodgers have the last overall shot at. They are last in the NL in the waiver wire, so they would have the last crack at players like Bartolo Colon and Kyle Kendrick among teams in the NL, but before teams like the Astros and Twins. And those are definitely names to look out for.

The bullpen is a huge issue, and after all the rambling of “DEPTH ISN’T ANY GOOD IF THEY’RE ALL BAD PLAYERS BLOCKING THE GOOD ONES”, for the first time the Dodgers will have to tap into that bullpen depth, and making into August 2nd in the position that they’re in is pretty incredible.

Ideally Colon would drop to the Dodgers, and Ned ridiculously overpays for his services without giving up one of the big 3 prospects. Think Anderson/ZLee/Schebler for Colon. Most people would hate that, but that’s a hell of a lot better than praying that Zach Lee figures it out against the likes of Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Troy Tulowitzki, Anthony Rizzo, etc, etc. Do I expect Colon to fall that far? No reason that the Giants won’t block that, and then you’re looking at Kyle Kendricks, Ricky Nolasco, Edwin Jackson after the inevitable blockage occurs, Colon is a 3 WAR pitcher, and those don’t grow on trees. However all of the potentially bad aforementioned names in Kendrick/Nolasco/Jackson would all be useful right now.

That’s clearly not ideal, but staying pat at the deadline comes back to bite the Dodgers in a horrible way considering the loss of a potential Cliff Lee deal, Paul Maholm, etc, etc.

There are 2 really underrated elements at play here. Josh Beckett likely will start a game in the postseason as long as his hip doesn’t completely implode within him, and Chris Perez has a almost assured shot at making it to the end of the regular season, and one half-decent spell will probably assure him a spot on the poastseason roster, so there’s that. Hey, if Carlos Marmol could…….