Los Angeles Dodgers: Who's In Left for the Team in 2011?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have done a lot of good things this offseason. I like the Ted Lilly and Jon Garland signings and I thought they got Hiroki Kur0da and Matt Guerrier (all things considered) at a reasonable cost. I also thought they were smart in letting Russell Martin walk as well.

I wasn’t a fan of the Juan Uribe and Rod Barajas contracts, but when you consider some of the ludicrous contracts that were handed out this winter, this deals don’t look as bad as I thought they were when they were signed. 

Despite all the things the Dodger's have gotten done; one thing they have not done however, is address their left field situation. Gone are Manny Ramirez and Scott Podsednik and right now, there is a gaping hole in left for the Dodgers.

So the question is—who is going to join Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier in the outfield for the Dodgers? They have a couple of options, but none of which will blow your hair back.

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Right now, their in-house options are the legendary Jay Gibbons and the “I couldn’t be further from my father” Tony Gwynn Jr. Those two wouldn’t start on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

There other options don’t appear to be much better.

One option they are looking at is Scott Hairston. Hairston played with the San Diego Padres last season and hit a whopping .210/.295/.346 with 10 HR’s in 336 plate appearances. I would suggest the Dodgers might want to use him in a platoon and start him against left-handed pitching, but Hairston hit only .233 with a .655 OPS against lefties in 2010.

There goes that idea.

Another option could be Marcus Thames. Thames had a nice little season with the New York Yankees last year when he hit .288/.350/.491 with 12 HR’s in 237 plate appearances. Thames was once again solid against left-handed pitching as he hit .300/.352/.454 against lefties.

Other options that are available to the Dodgers are Johnny Damon, Lastings Milledge, Jerry Hairston Jr., or Jeremy Hermida. Out of that group, Milledge might be the best option for LA.

Milledge has always played an above average left field, which is something a lot of the other options in this post can’t say and at 26, maybe Milledge is a late bloomer. Highly doubtful, but you never know.

I am going to venture to say the Dodgers sign Thames to play left against left-handed pitching and they will platoon him with Gibbons. Not the best combination in the world, but maybe the best of what the Dodgers have to work with.

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