LaMura-Almoar Trade

Good move by the Dodgers today, giving up a player with essentially no value to them in order to get something on the active roster that they desperately needed - a RHB outfielder. I would have approved of cutting Alomar, more or less, because any of the now six outfielders on the roster are better hitters and running two LHB out at the corners against southpaws is wrongheaded and truly irritating. Elizabeth Aguilar's MLB.com story states that Alomar "turned into a backup catcher with the arrival of Russell Martin," which is historically inaccurate in at least two obvious ways.

Of course, one can't really go overboard on this, because it's a sad reminder of the woeful and frankly unjustifiable Dioner Navarro trade. It certainly is a 'win' in the sense that it helps the team on the field and also adds a player with some value. LaMura's great K numbers and 2006 ERA are enticing, no doubt, but he walks a lot of cats and it's not that difficult to K 9+ per as a reliever in the Southern League. He's too old for the term 'prospect,' and he's now spent a full two years at Birmingham. Still, it's something for nothing, and would have been such even if Navarro were 2nd on the roster instead of Hall.