15 worst Los Angeles Dodgers free agent signings in franchise history

4. Dave Goltz: Six Years, $2.55 Million, 1979

Don Stanhouse, The Sequel!

Darren Dreifort was the reboot. Dave Goltz was the OG. During the nascent period of free agency, the Dodgers gave Goltz six years of security after a highly successful eight years in Minnesota. Goltz's contributions have been largely lost to history, but he finished sixth in the 1977 Cy Young race and won 20 games.

It's possible, though, that his career tailed off in LA because he threw 303 INNINGS DURING THAT SEASON. The baseball world has changed for the better. We don't allow pitchers to lead the league with 284 hits allowed anymore.

The Dodgers signed Goltz following his age-30 season, when he again led the league in hits allowed with a meager 282 this time (in 250.2 innings pitched). In his first year in LA, the contact specialist went 7-11 with a 4.31 ERA in 1980, surrendering 198 hits in 171.1 innings while striking out just 91 men.

That was his last full-ish season, a fact that is completely unsurprising in the light of day 40 years later. He threw 77 innings with a 4.09 ERA in 1981, allowing two earned runs in 3.1 innings in the World Series. By mid-1982, he was a California Angel, with just under four years left on his initial Dodgers contract.