It was thought that after finalizing the Rafael Furcal trade to St. Louis Sunday morning, and after Hiroki Kuroda informed the club he would not accept any trades, that the Dodgers were done dealing on a relatively light MLB trade deadline for them. However, at nearly the last minute, the Dodgers were part of a three-way trade with the Red Sox and Mariners, sending minor league outfielder Trayvon Robinson to Boston for three players.
Robinson was then flipped to Seattle as part of a package for Erik Bedard. The Dodgers received catcher Tim Federowicz, a 24-year old defensive catcher who will report to Triple A Albuquerque, along with pitchers Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez. Federowicz was someone Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said the club had coveted for some time, a "good leader" who Dodger scouts had seen several times this summer.
Colletti acknowledged the Dodgers were "ultra lean" at catcher, but it seems like an overpay to give up probably their third best position player prospect in Robinson for a backup catcher and two lottery ticket arms. Robinson at the very least could have been a cheap fourth outfielder for three to six seasons.
It was a desperation move for Colletti, who said, "You can move people around the outfield. You can move people to the infield. You can't move somebody behind the plate." How quickly Colletti forgot former Dodgers Russell Martin and Carlos Santana, who were both converted from third base.
So this was a move by the Dodgers to fill an organizational need, but in the end the real question is, did they even fill that need?
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