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The offseason for Major League Baseball is officially here, and with that comes the official free agency period. The World Series ended on Sunday night, and at 6 a.m. PDT all players eligible for free agency became free agents, including seven Los Angeles Dodgers.
Only two of the seven free agents, Jamey Wright and Adam Kennedy, began the season as Dodgers. The rest were acquired via trade in season.
Shane Victorino was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on July 31, and hit a disappointing .245/.316/.351 in 53 games with the Dodgers. The switch-hitting Victorino, who turns 32 on Nov. 30, made $9.5 million in 2012. He is unlikely to return to the Dodgers, who have three outfielders - Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier - signed through at least 2017.
Relief pitcher Brandon League was acquired from the Seattle Mariners and put up a 2.30 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 28 games for the Dodgers. He was especially effective for Los Angeles after pitching coach Rick Honeycutt helped fix a mechanical flaw in Leagues' delivery, and the right-hander allowed one run in his final 21 appearances. General manager Ned Colletti said on Friday that he was pleased with preliminary talks with League's representatives, hoping to bring back the right-hander who saved six games in September.
The other Dodgers to hit free agency on Monday were starting pitcher Joe Blanton, acquired from the Phillies on Aug. 3; outfielder and pinch hitter Bobby Abreu, signed on May 4 after he was released by the Los Angeles Angels; and left-handed reliever Randy Choate, who pitched in a team-high 36 of 64 games after his acquisition from the Miami Marlins on July 25.
The Dodgers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster. That includes catcher Matt Treanor, relief pitcher Todd Coffey, and outfielder/first baseman Juan Rivera, all of whom have club options that need to be exercised or bought out this week.