Dodgers 3 – 3
65 – 39 Overall (4.5 games ahead of Houston), +153 Run Differential = 70 – 34 Pythag
The Good: Taking 2 of 3 from the NL Central leading Cubs
The Bad: Losing 2 of 3 to the rival Giants. Both by one run. One a 10th inning walkoff.
AL Player of the Week – Darren Daulton (C KC)
NL Player of the Week – Roberto Kelly (CF ATL)
Dodgers are second in the weekly Power Rankings
Mike Benjamin is sent to AAA for rehab.
Paul Molitor collects his 2500th career hit. A 3rd inning double vs Bill Wegman in a 16-3 win loss to the Yankees.
Pittsburgh trades OF Wayne Kirby to Colorado for 3B Sean Berry and OF TJ Staton.
George Brett was claimed off waivers by Philadelphia from San Diego
The White Sox sent C Ron Karkovice to Montreal for OF Kevin Bass
Florida trades C Rich Rowland to the Padres for RHP Omar Olivares and 1B John Fantauzi
The White Sox traded SS Manny Lee and RHP Steve Olsen to the Mets for SP Charlie Hough
The Phillies traded OF Jim Olander and CF Alan Burke to the Yankees for LHP Brian Taylor and OF Christopher Hart.
The Brewers traded CF Chuck Carr to Minnesota for SP Jack Morris and CF Steve Hazlett
And, just before the trade deadline
The Dodgers acquire Scott Fletcher from the California Angels.
Fletcher has a .339/.087/93 line on the season in 409 plate appearances. A +12.8 ZR in 843 innings at SS (and 25 innings at 2B) has him at 2.7 WAR on the season.
The Dodgers give up IF Rafael Bournigal (.388/.085/102 in AAA) and IF/OF Lamarr Rogers (.484/.083/127 in A and .270/.60/48 in AA).
Fletcher is making $1.7 million this season and will be a free agent at the end of the year after signing a one-year deal with the Red Sox.
We were looking to upgrade over Offerman who has been up and down offensively all season and has a -6 ZR at 2B. Fletcher and Offerman are similar offensively, but Fletcher is much better with the glove. We expect that they will split time at 2B. Offerman will, obviously, stay on the roster and Fletcher will replace Bournigal (and Benjamin once he's back from the IL).
Fletcher was in the midst of a lot of turmoil in the Red Sox' locker room and the Red Sox were eager to get rid of him. We hope coming to a winning team with a solid clubhouse will alleviate those issues.
NOTE: As usual, the random decision maker selected Rogers from the Make This Work Now list. As was Bournigal who was a “throw-in” because the deal felt too light on my end.
We also considered trades for Randy Velarde and Bip Roberts centered around Billy Ashley. We also looked into 1B Randy Milligan, C Mike Stanley and C Mike MacFarlane but didn't come to any agreement.
UP NEXT: Three games in Houston.