On the eve of the trading deadline, general manager Paul DePodesta Friday shook his club to its foundation with one blockbuster trade, and he's got more in the pipeline.
In the most dramatic deadline remaking of a first-place team in memory and the most stunning Dodger deal since Mike Piazza was discarded, the Dodgers sent All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca, quality setup man Guillermo Mota and outfielder Juan Encarnacion to the Florida Marlins for right-handed starting pitcher Brad Penny, first baseman Hee-Seop Choi and Double-A pitcher Bill Murphy.
The Dodgers also have a deal to re-acquire Colorado catcher Charles Johnson to replace Lo Duca behind the plate, but Johnson first must waive a no-trade clause. Johnson was obtained by the Dodgers in 1998 in the Mike Piazza trade. The Dodgers would send a prospect to Colorado.
"I've still got to approve it," Johnson told MLB.com. "I haven't told them what I'm going to do yet. I'm still in the process of thinking about it, really."
And DePodesta is reported to have deals in place to obtain Arizona pitcher and four-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson and outfielder Steve Finley by sending the Diamondbacks Penny, outfielder Jayson Werth, pitcher Edwin Jackson and minor leaguers. Finley already has waived his no-trade clause for a trade to Los Angeles, Randy Johnson has not.
The Dodgers would not confirm the potential Arizona deal. The Diamondbacks declined to comment on any talks with Los Angeles.
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While the Marlins deal had not been made official by the Dodgers until the fifth inning of Friday's game with the Padres, all three players were informed in pregame meetings with DePodesta and manager Jim Tracy. They dressed and left the clubhouse in San Diego before the game.
The deadline to make trades without waivers is Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
The dramatic makeover indicates DePodesta's desire to upgrade his club's starting pitching and offense. The addition of either Randy Johnson or Penny to the starting rotation would likely move Wilson Alvarez back to the bullpen, with Darren Dreifort taking over Mota's eight-inning set-up role and Duaner Sanchez inheriting Dreifort's seventh-inning job.
If the deals all play out by Saturday, Choi would take over first base and move Shawn Green back to right field full time. Randy Johnson becomes a true staff ace and Finley joins Green and Milton Bradley in the outfield.
Brad Penny / P
Born: 05/24/78
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 250 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Team Site
Penny, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander hailing from Blackwell, Ok., went 8-8 with a 3.15 ERA in 21 starts (131 1/3 innings) for the Marlins this season. Penny's 105 strikeouts led the Marlins staff and the hurler issued just 39 walks. In last year's World Series, Penny was 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA and ended with a postseason record of 3-1 with a 5.73 ERA. Penny, under contract for one year at $3.725 million, is also the Marlins' all-time wins leader with 48.
Choi, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound lefty from Chun-Nam, Korea, is batting .270 (76-for-281) and slugging .495 with 15 home runs in a career-high 95 games in his third season in the Majors.
Minor league left-hander Murphy, a third-round pick by the A's in 2002, represented the United States at the Futures Game in Houston during the All-Star festivities.
Lo Duca, who is batting .301 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs, had also been the backstop to one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and will provide the Marlins with the veteran leadership behind the plate they lost when Ivan Rodriguez departed after the World Series.
DePodesta had said previously that Mota was not untouchable, but that it would take an impressive offer to wrangle away the Dodgers' outstanding setup man. Mota, who inherited the setup role when free agent Paul Quantrill joined the New York Yankees during the offseason, has gone 8-4 with a 2.14 ERA in 52 appearances this season.
Encarnacion, who was acquired by the Dodgers last December, returns to Florida batting .235 and just .195 (8-for-41) since returning July 19 from a stint on the 15-day disabled list for a sore left shoulder that has bothered him since May.
Charles Johnson's first stint as a Dodger began as part of perhaps the biggest trade in Dodgers history, when Piazza and Todd Zeile were sent to Florida for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Manuel Barrios and Johnson. Johnson's Dodger days were short and not very sweet, as he was traded the next winter for Todd Hundley.
Finley, who leads the Diamondbacks with 23 homers, is batting .275 (110-for-400) and is slugging .493.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20040730&content_id=814270&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
In the most dramatic deadline remaking of a first-place team in memory and the most stunning Dodger deal since Mike Piazza was discarded, the Dodgers sent All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca, quality setup man Guillermo Mota and outfielder Juan Encarnacion to the Florida Marlins for right-handed starting pitcher Brad Penny, first baseman Hee-Seop Choi and Double-A pitcher Bill Murphy.
The Dodgers also have a deal to re-acquire Colorado catcher Charles Johnson to replace Lo Duca behind the plate, but Johnson first must waive a no-trade clause. Johnson was obtained by the Dodgers in 1998 in the Mike Piazza trade. The Dodgers would send a prospect to Colorado.
"I've still got to approve it," Johnson told MLB.com. "I haven't told them what I'm going to do yet. I'm still in the process of thinking about it, really."
And DePodesta is reported to have deals in place to obtain Arizona pitcher and four-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson and outfielder Steve Finley by sending the Diamondbacks Penny, outfielder Jayson Werth, pitcher Edwin Jackson and minor leaguers. Finley already has waived his no-trade clause for a trade to Los Angeles, Randy Johnson has not.
The Dodgers would not confirm the potential Arizona deal. The Diamondbacks declined to comment on any talks with Los Angeles.
Complete Coverage >
While the Marlins deal had not been made official by the Dodgers until the fifth inning of Friday's game with the Padres, all three players were informed in pregame meetings with DePodesta and manager Jim Tracy. They dressed and left the clubhouse in San Diego before the game.
The deadline to make trades without waivers is Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
The dramatic makeover indicates DePodesta's desire to upgrade his club's starting pitching and offense. The addition of either Randy Johnson or Penny to the starting rotation would likely move Wilson Alvarez back to the bullpen, with Darren Dreifort taking over Mota's eight-inning set-up role and Duaner Sanchez inheriting Dreifort's seventh-inning job.
If the deals all play out by Saturday, Choi would take over first base and move Shawn Green back to right field full time. Randy Johnson becomes a true staff ace and Finley joins Green and Milton Bradley in the outfield.
Brad Penny / P
Born: 05/24/78
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 250 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Team Site
Penny, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander hailing from Blackwell, Ok., went 8-8 with a 3.15 ERA in 21 starts (131 1/3 innings) for the Marlins this season. Penny's 105 strikeouts led the Marlins staff and the hurler issued just 39 walks. In last year's World Series, Penny was 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA and ended with a postseason record of 3-1 with a 5.73 ERA. Penny, under contract for one year at $3.725 million, is also the Marlins' all-time wins leader with 48.
Choi, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound lefty from Chun-Nam, Korea, is batting .270 (76-for-281) and slugging .495 with 15 home runs in a career-high 95 games in his third season in the Majors.
Minor league left-hander Murphy, a third-round pick by the A's in 2002, represented the United States at the Futures Game in Houston during the All-Star festivities.
Lo Duca, who is batting .301 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs, had also been the backstop to one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and will provide the Marlins with the veteran leadership behind the plate they lost when Ivan Rodriguez departed after the World Series.
DePodesta had said previously that Mota was not untouchable, but that it would take an impressive offer to wrangle away the Dodgers' outstanding setup man. Mota, who inherited the setup role when free agent Paul Quantrill joined the New York Yankees during the offseason, has gone 8-4 with a 2.14 ERA in 52 appearances this season.
Encarnacion, who was acquired by the Dodgers last December, returns to Florida batting .235 and just .195 (8-for-41) since returning July 19 from a stint on the 15-day disabled list for a sore left shoulder that has bothered him since May.
Charles Johnson's first stint as a Dodger began as part of perhaps the biggest trade in Dodgers history, when Piazza and Todd Zeile were sent to Florida for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Manuel Barrios and Johnson. Johnson's Dodger days were short and not very sweet, as he was traded the next winter for Todd Hundley.
Finley, who leads the Diamondbacks with 23 homers, is batting .275 (110-for-400) and is slugging .493.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20040730&content_id=814270&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
