The All-Forgettable Team

This article isn’t a proper mailbag, but it comes from the following mailbag question:

Jonathan B:

Since the 2000 season, what is your roster of the most forgettable Dodgers? (I don’t want to include guys who made one appearance, so how about 300 PAs for hitters, 100 IP for starting pitchers and 35 IP for relievers? Feel free to play around with those parameters

This is a really fun question for a few reasons. It gives us a fun chance to say “hey, remember that guy?” It also puts some pretty good restrictions in place that make the task require additional thought. The only thing I’m going to change from the above restrictions is lower the reliever innings pitched threshold to 30IP due to the limitations in Fangraphs’ search pages. I’m also not going to put together a full roster. This list consists of eight starting position players, three starting pitchers, and three relief pitchers.

Before I get to my list, let’s not forget that my memory will be different than yours. Perhaps there’s a player on this list that you remember better than I do. I’ve been watching closely for most of this time period, but for obvious reasons I have forgotten more players from 2000 than I have from 2013.

Catcher: Jason Phillips

I had to give the edge to Phillips, since “played during 2005” is a bit of a tiebreaker. The 2005 team was nearly unwatchable, so I responded by… not watching. Phillips’ glasses almost cost him the title. If I had to pick somebody else, it would have been David Ross.

First Base: Dave Hansen

I gave the edge to Hansen because I don’t remember him on defense very much. I remember him as a pinch hitter, and I remember him taking the fall as a hitting coach. The only other player who came close to this list was Fred McGriff.

Second Base: Jolbert Cabrera

I honestly remember nothing about Jolbert Cabrera other than his name. He was a bit above replacement level during his 380 plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2003.

Shortstop: Jeff Reboulet

Reboulet was a Dodger from 2001-2002 and was exactly replacement level during those two partial seasons. I remember the name, but not much about him as a player.

Third Base: Antonio Perez

The only reason I have for not picking Ramon Martinez is that he has the same name as the pitcher I grew up watching. Perez has the 2005 tie-breaker on his side, too.

Right Field: Jose Cruz

Cruz barely made the plate appearance cut-off and was a bit above replacement level during his time with the Dodgers in 2005-2006.

Center Field: Tom Goodwin

I do have memories of Goodwin, but the center list is stacked with memorable names. As the worst player on the list and the lack of controversy surrounding him, he gets the nod.

Left Field: Jason Grabowski

Grabowski was so disastrously bad that he nearly lost the title to Ricky Ledee, but ultimately the 2005 tiebreaker worked in his favor.

Starting Pitchers: Luke Prokopec, Terry Adams, D.J. Houlton

I remember a bit about Prokopec and Houlton, but nothing about Adams. Houlton is one of the only active players on this list, pitching in Korea after six years in Japan.

Relief Pitchers: Franquelis Osoria, Steve Schmoll, Alberto Reyes

Relief pitchers are almost cheating at this game, given how anonymous middle relievers can be. One would think that somebody with the name “Franquelis Osoria” would be memorable, but I can’t remember anything about him as a Dodger (2005, again). Steve Schmoll was another middle reliever in 2005 and hasn’t made the majors since. Al Reyes was an anonymous middle reliever for the Dodgers between 2001 and 2002.

—

	Reds			Dodgers
	1:05pm PT			Glendale, Ariz.
CF	Hamilton		2B	Gordon
SS	Cozart		CF	Figgins
1B	Frazier		SS	Ramirez
RF	Bruce		3B	Uribe
LF	Heisey		RF	Ethier
C	Pena		LF	Van Slyke
2B	Schumaker		1B	Turner
3B	Santiago		C	Federowicz
P	Simon		P	Maholm

We received both good news and bad news out of Glendale yesterday. The good news is that Matt Kemp played in the outfield for the first time this year. “I feel a little weird” isn’t quite what we want to hear, but it’s still a step in the right direction. It seems somewhat unlikely that he’ll get into a Cactus League game before the Dodgers break camp this weekend, though he might play in some minor league games relatively soon.

The Dodgers also have their first weird injury of camp. Josh Beckett sprained his thumb after closing it in a clubhouse door. At least he didn’t step on a cactus. The injury might explain his reduced effectiveness on Saturday, and also gives the team a potential excuse to start him on the disabled list. The Paul Maholm signing sure seems pretty good right now.

Both Mike and Dustin are at the game today. Will Mike use his time in the clubhouse to ask A.J. Ellis about beef jerky? Stay tuned to find out.