Dodgers Sign Pair To Minor League Deals

Russ Ortiz and Michael Restovich have been picked up off of the scrap heap by Ned Colletti, signing minor league deals. Both have received invitations to Spring Training.

Ortiz will be 36 in June, and has pitched for San Francisco, Atlanta, Arizona, Baltimore, and Houston. Restovich, 31 and an OF, has played for Minnesota, Colorado, Pittsburgh, the Cubs, and Washington.

Ortiz has a career FIP of 4.68 over 11 major league seasons, while striking out 6.45/9 IP and walking 4.65/9 IP. He did not appear in a major league game in 2008, and has also pitched for the minor league affiliates of Colorado and the Yankees. And if you think he's only here for the postseason, well, his numbers get even more pretty to look at: a 4.96 FIP and a 1.73 WHIP (click "Show Postseason" on the above link).

If Ortiz pitches for the Dodgers in a major league game, he will hurt the team. Plain and simple, he will only do damage. Pitching is an organizational strength, so Ortiz should not even sniff the majors.


Restovich has a career .313 OBP and .377 SLG% over 297 plate appearances, spread over 6 seasons. He last appeared in a major league game in 2007 and proceeded to produce and OPS+ of -6. Yes, that's a negative sign in front of what would otherwise have been a very, very manly OPS+ of 6.

Restovich is easily behind Xavier Paul, Brian Barton, and Jason Repko in terms of reserve OFs. I would also put him behind every other minor league OF in the organization, and I can only name a handful off of the top of my head. He's minor league depth, simply put; at least he should be if Colletti and Torre are smart.