Grading the Dodgers trades

The Dodgers revamped their roster, making some significant trades before the deadline. They have a little more punch in their lineup, but gave up some promising and reliable arms to get them.
The new faces in the Dodgers clubhouse are All Stars Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino, starter Joe Blanton and relievers Brandon League and Randy Choate.
Gone are promising pitching prospects Nathan Eovaldi, Josh Lindblom and a batch of minor leaguers.
To be honest, the Dodgers landed quite a haul for the players they gave up. Ramirez will be around for a couple of years and is only 28 years old. Victorino ends the platoon of Juan Rivera and Bobby Abreu in left field. League and Choate might add new life to a lethargic Dodgers bullpen. Blanton adds a veteran arm to the rotation rather than enduring the growing pains that come with nurturing the likes of Eovaldi and Steven Fife.
Here is a look at how the new players will affect the Dodgers down the stretch and their grades:


Hanley Ramirez B+ – He is a three-time National League All Star and a batting champion. He won the rookie of the year award and has been one of the best hitters in the National League since he came up in 2006. His only drawback is his defense. He has never been considered a slick-fielding shortstop. He is more than capable of fielding his position, but don’t expect him to dazzle with the glove.
His offense will more than make up for his shortcomings in the field. When he was traded to the Dodgers, he became second on the team in home runs and RBIs. He makes the middle of the Dodgers lineup perhaps the best in the National League. Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Ramirez will find few rivals.
Shane Victorino B – Victorino is a three-time Gold Glove winner. He didn’t make much noise about moving from center to left field after he was traded to the Dodgers. There is no way – unless Kemp goes down with an injury – that Victorino plays centerfield. He makes the Dodgers outfield one of the best defensively in the majors.
But Victorino and the Dodgers have some history. When Victorino was on the Phillies, he took exception to an inside pitch from Hiroki Kuroda in the 2008 National League Championship Series. The pitch nearly missed Victorino’s head and he had to be restrained from charging the mound. Kuroda has since moved on to the New York Yankees, but Dodger fans might have a hard time warming up to the fiery Victorino.
Brandon League B+ – League has a 100 mph arm and nine saves from the Seattle Mariners. But he doesn’t have a whole lot of playoff experience, or even pennant race experience. At some point, he might even become the Dodgers regular closer. For the time being, it looks like he is in the set-up rotation for Kenley Jansen. In two and a half seasons with the Mariners, League converted 52 saves in 69 chances and had a 3.26 ERA. He was an American League All Star in 2011 as the Mariners’ closer.
An interesting side note: League was one of six Mariners pitchers who no-hit the Dodgers last year.
Randy Choate B – Another potential candidate for the Dodgers closer, Choate is with his fifth team in 12 seasons in the majors. He didn’t notch his first save until 2009 with the Tampa Bay Rays. He spent a season and a half with the Miami Marlins and was 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 98 games. He won a World Series championship with the Yankees in 2000.
Joe Blanton C – Blanton was not the man the Dodgers wanted to bolster its rotation. But they made a post-deadline deal and landed an effective, if not overwhelming, arm. The Dodgers had their eyes on Ryan Dempster, James Shields and Matt Garza, but ended up with Blanton, who is, at best, in the declining years of his career.
On the plus side, Blanton is playoff tested. He has been to the World Series twice with the Philadelphia Phillies. He has pitched in the postseason five times, both with the Phillies and the Oakland A’s. He has started six playoff games and two in the World Series. His numbers are pretty mediocre though. He has a 2-0 record with a 4.02 ERA in 10 playoff games. If anything, he will knock Aaron Harang out of any postseason rotation. The Dodgers can throw out Clayton Kershaw, Chris Capuano, Chad Billingsley and Blanton in the playoffs. That’s a pretty solid rotation.
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The Olympians from Santa Clarita have yet to medal in the Summer Games in London, but there are plenty of opportunities left.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking story is that of Hart High graduate and swimmer Anthony Ervin. He finished fifth in the 50-meter freestyle after making his first Olympics appearance since the 2000 Summer Games in Australia.
Ervin won a gold medal in the 50 freestyle in 2000. He and United States teammate Gary Hall Jr. finished in a dead heat in Sydney. Ervin also won a silver medal as part of the 4×100 relay.
But Ervin does not have either medal from the 2000 Summer Games. He auctioned his gold medal to raise funds for the Asian tsunami victims after the 2000 Olympics. He has told reporters he lost his silver medal.
Ervin only had one race in the London Games. Florent Manaudou from France won the 50 freestyle in 21.34 seconds. Ervin finished in 21.78 seconds.
No medal for Ervin, who probably made his last appearance in the Summer Olympics.
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Santa Clarita’s Allyson Felix didn’t medal in her first race at the Summer Olympics. She was fifth in the 100, competing in the race for the first time in her Olympic career.
She has two more races before the Summer Games are over. She is in the 200 meters and on the 4×100 relay team for the United States. Felix won silver medals in the 200 in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She was also the winner in the 200 at the United State Olympic Trials in Oregon last month.
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The United States men’s volleyball team, with Saugus High graduate David Smith, beat the No. 1 team in the world in the Summer Olympics. But the Team USA had its 11-match Olympic winning streak snapped.
The United States beat Brazil, the No. 1 ranked team in the world, in four games in group play.
Two days later, the United States lost to Russia in five games. Team USA had won 11 Olympic matches in a row, dating back to the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, where the United States won a gold medal.
The U.S. men’s volleyball team will begin elimination rounds this week.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He also writes for the Santa Clarita Gazette and the ESPN Los Angeles website. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.