Dodgers might non-tender Saito

Dodogers needs Saito
he is a good playear
he was not lost game.at the
play off.
but.boxton gave 2runs to
Phillys.

good. Saito is a dogshit closer now. If Coletti is really serious about his youth movement, he would pencil in Broxton as the closer next year. He has already made it pretty clear that's how he is going about buisness in Vegas and this offseason. By not actively going after the 31 year old Furcal because 4 years is too much and fixing the problem internally, that speaks volumes about his want for youth movement. It's time that Big John starts his rule as closer of the Dodger's because he is a dominating force as it is, and he needs to start preparing for it now.

Someone like Trevor Hoffman is a good relief pitcher to sign for the fact that if Broxton were to fail, he can step in. This also gives the Dodger's a veteran presense in the bullpen and a reliable right hander that can come in and get the job done.

Someone explain, please exactly what non-tender means? Do we have the option of not picking up his contract this year? What would happen - would he be sent down to the minors, would he be off our roster completely, would he be a free agent? Sorry for my ignorance as I try to learn all the details.

It basically means that the Dodgers will not be offering Saito a contract. He'll become a free agent once the non-tender deadline has passed (or has it already?)

You must be joking "dodgers2003." Either that or a bandwagoner. Saito has a 1.95 ERA in 3 seasons with L.A. True he is pushing 39 years of age and his future is questionable but some fans just don't have any respect even for players that have played so well for us. Then you say "Someone like Trevor Hoffman is a good relief pitcher"??? He's even older than Saito and had a 3.77 ERA compared to Saito's 2.49 and Broxton's 3.13 in 2008. I say give Saito a chance in spring training to prove himself and if he doesn't get the job done, give the closer role to Broxton. Enough with so called Dodger fans and outrageous rumors saying to pick up rival players such as Peavy and Hoffman. That would be the day LA loses a lifelong Dodger fan. We could obviously benefit with picking up the right free agents but our the youth movement should be top priority for the organization and lifelong fans!!

No i'm not kidding, the guy is a joke. Obviously you don't look past the numbers when it comes to pitchers. How is an over the hill pitcher such as Saito supposed to mentor Broxton to become the closer he can be when 1) the guy can't even speak english and 2) he's not that good. A bandwagon jumper (as you have called me) would be someone who looks at only numbers and not the long term effect of having someone like Hoffman, the all time save leader who knows how to approach a save situation mentally and can mentor Broxton into the role. You want proof? Look at Chad Billingsley. His breakout year was the first year they traded for Maddux, when asked why he had such an amazing year he attributed it to the mentoring of Maddux on his pitching. Derek Lowe said the same thing. Maddux comes back this year, and does it again with Kershaw. You contradict yourself by saying stick with the youth movement for lifelong fans yet keep an old ****** closer when we have a guy that will probably be the closer this year.

You really do love those Padres eh. Yeah LET'S look past the numbers this time around. Might you forget that Maddux DIDNT want to stay in L.A. after the 06 season. Obviously he will serve the young guys on any pitching staff but we don't need anyone that doesn't want to be here. Anyway, if he really did have such an enormous effect on other pitchers this year, then let's check out what happened to San Diego in 2008! LOL. Saito won't be back to friggin' be a bullpen coach, he would be here to SHUT DOWN the opposition in the 8th and 9th as he's ALWAYS done. Ok, so his english isn't up to par. HEY! We can probably say that about half or more of the best players in the league. RETHINK that one. It's a no brainer that the Dodgers and L.A. celebrate diversity and this is reflective in our beautiful city, the roster, and the teams rich history!

Much like other Dodger fans that would've hated to see Bonds in Dodger blue let alone be in the vicinity of the stadium, ex-Padres such as Peavy and Hoffman would not get the warm welcome Manny did. It wouldn't be too far off to say they would get the boo bird treatmeant like JOnes ANYTIME they play in L.A. If you don't like our players then go take a hike! Matter of fact go back onto the Friar bandwagon. There 100 loss season is imminent even if they do retain all of their stars. :)

Oh wait there's an error in my last comment mr. 03. Better call the grammar policia!! :D

haha reading your stuff makes me laugh. Have you ever played baseball before? Matter of fact, have you ever played an organized sport??? Well let me give you a run down of what the job of a coach, or in the MLB, a GM is supposed to do....produce a WINNING team. It doesn't matter where they come from, whether it be the Padres or the Giants or the Blue Jays. And Jones? Well hell, I boo him too everytime he comes to the plate. you know why? Because he wanted a ridiculous amount of money and showed up to Spring Training overweight and out of shape, not to mention (since you like number so much) the fact that he only hit a mere .200 give or take a few points. The booing is not from the history of where they have played, it's from their production or lack thereof. Bonds in Dodger blue? The reason no one wanted that was his ego and stigmata as a player. All the baggage that came along with him and his steroid infested head. You take that away and look at his ability as a ballplayer (something you obviously do not understand) and you can not tell me you would not love to have him on your team. If you do, well then I'm glad you're not the GM of the Dodgers because we sure would suck. While we're on the subject, let's look at Andre Ethier. We acquired him in a trade with the A's. Do you boo him every time he comes up to the plate because he used to play somewhere else? No, you cheer for him because of the success he's had as a Dodger. If anyone is a bandwagon jumper it's you dude. Every player comes from somewhere like it or not. I'm on the Friar bandwagon because i say we should get a class act guy like Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader who has lots of experience pitching down the stretch including the playoffs? No, that's good buisness and smart baseball right there. If everyone thought like you, we would have baseball like we used to back when it began, before free agency because GM's wouldn't want to sign players because they played for their rival at one time. As for your comment about not wanting guys who do not want to be here, let's take a look at some potentials there. Casey Blake: said in an interview after the playoffs that he wanted to go home to Cleveland again or Minnesota, you going to boo him because he didn't want to be a Dodger and settled? No, you won't because of the year he had last year. Furcal: said he wants to be a Dodger, yet i don't see his name on the roster, why not? Oh yeah, because he understands the concept of buisness and wants money and longevity. If he really wanted to be a Dodger he'd take their offer without a blink of an eye. You going to boo him too? And finally, Mr. Joe Torre: manager for the Yankees all those years. Yet he's now in Dodger blue and I'm sure you give him a standing ovation (which he deserves because he is an amazing coach) despite his history with the Yankees. So do you boo him for that? That's what I thought. Come back to me when you understand the concept of buisness in Major League Baseball and then we can talk.
Oh btw, your quote of me in your first post is wrong. You want to quote me on something, read everything, not just the part you disagree with as i said "Trevor Hoffman would be a good relief pitcher TO SIGN FOR IF BROXTON WERE TO FAIL, HE COULD STEP IN," not just the first part, ***.

Oh and about your whole Maddux and the kids thing? The only way a player will ever learn from another player is to buy in to what they have to say. In SD you had Peavy who doesn't need anything and probably never asked for help and Chris young who again, probably never asked for help.
You're going to say f-you Maddux for helping Billingsley AND Kershaw in their development because he didn't want to be here? What's that say about him, that he doesn't even want to be here but takes guys under his wing and mentors them. That tells alot about a players character and not their wallet. Maybe you should rethink how you watch baseball homie.

First of all i think none of you guys know baseball as you think you do. About the Hoffman and Saito comparison and saying that Hoffman can handle the pressure better then Saito please look at numbers again, and see that Hoffman did not handle the pressure last year while Saito was injured. And the 2 years prior compare them and Saito is a lot better in the closer role. And yet you state Hoffman is such a class act and how much he mentors the San Diego pitchers, please name one reliever on the San Diego squad that has learned from him. I'm telling you cannot, because San Diego has no decent relieving. And about your language argument, that tells me right there you don't know what your talking about. You learn from showing not telling, Broxton learned a crap load from Saito just from watching him go about shutting the door day in and day out. If Hoffman comes into L.A. i am booing him, and about your rival thing. Name one L.A. rival that has come and flourished. 0. Look at some of the examples (Schmit, Tompko, and many more) The only good one i can think of is Kent, but he spent 4 years in Houston before us, so does not count.
And about the whole Maddux thing, he was great for the game of baseball, and will surely be missed. So please don't make a comment of saying that he did not help our guys because he did. Maddux is a guy that every Major Leaguer should want to become. Instead of the guys that are coming up now, Carlos Zambrano and Jake Peavy for example they are both punks, and think their own crap does not stink. And about the issue of him not wanting to be in L.A. please show me once he says that. Because Maddux loves L.A. why do you think he came here twice!

This all cracks me up. We do not need any over the hill RP. Brox is still young and will be fine and if not, do you really think that Kuo or Wade wouldnt work. Wade showed major maturity in his rookie season including the playoffs. Saito most likely will be back but the other 3 are the future, period!

He was lights out two years ago. His failed him a bit last year, and now he might be non-tendered? I personally would resign him, cheap if possible. I think he is worth the risk, if he is healthy he will be stellar, if not then well he was cheap, but I think you have to offer him something! I'd bet a hundred bucks he'd sign a one year minor league deal...ok well, lets make it 20 bucks and you got a bet! Anyway, even if Saito is healthy and not stellar I still think he could manage some good middle relief. He looked too good two years ago to have his entire body go south on him the very next year. I bet he still has a quite a few outs left in that arm.

"2003", I don't have time to read your animosity-ridden comments. Straight up, Saito is "the highest-rated reliever in the National League over the past two years" (according to the news article on the Dodger page today) and is a valuable asset to the Dodgers when healthy. If he's willing to sign a 1 year deal with incentives of equal or less than what he was paid in 08 then that would be ideal. About Maddux, with all due respect, he's one of the greats! I have been a fan since he was a rising star in the early 90s and I was so excited in 06 when he joined the team but alas, decided to join SD in 07. That was a bitter pill and yeah it's his life and he has his reasons but so do us fans. "Hawkeye" is right, if Saito's 09 season falls through, we have a plethora of young talent in Broxton, Kuo, Wade as well as in our top class farm system! See you at the stadium homies!!