January 17th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka On December 21, 2018, the Dodgers signed (then) 30-year-old right-hander Joe Kelly to a 3-year/$25-million contract with a club option for a fourth year (or a $4 million buyout). The Anaheim, CA native and 2009 third-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals out of UC Riverside finished the 2019 season with a record of 5-4 and a 4.56 ERA in his 55 relief appearances.
On July 3, 2019, the Dodgers acquired (then) 28-year-old right-hander Casey Sadler from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor leaguer Nathan Witt, paying Sadler a grand total of $205,896. The Stillwater, OK native and 2010 25th-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Western Oklahoma State College finished the 2019 season with a record of 4-0 and a 2.33 ERA in his 24 relief appearances and one bullpen start with the Dodgers.
Late Wednesday evening it was reported – and confirmed – that the Dodgers had designated Sadler for assignment to create a roster spot for just turned (on January 12) 29-year-old returning left-hander Alex Wood on a one-year/$4 million free-agent contract. And while there is no disputing that the Dodgers desperately needed to bolster their starting rotation, by all appearances – at least from a statistical standpoint – the Dodgers dumped the wrong guy.
In reality, with a minimum of $17 million (and a possible maximum of $29 million) guaranteed to Kelly, there is/was no way that the Dodgers were going to unload him, especially when he owns a very respectable career record of 48-29 and a career ERA of 3.92 over eight major league seasons. After all, “Money talks and…” well, you know the rest.
Unfortunately, and it is every bit that, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had little choice but to cut Sadler to make room for Wood. Simply put, he really had no other option. Yes, he could have DFA’d 31-year-old oft-troubled right-hander Pedro Baez, especially after the Bani, Dominican Republic native turned down his rather generous $3.5 million pre-arbitration offer, demanding $4 million instead. But despite his past issues, Baez was 7-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 2019. Granted these numbers don’t hold a candle to Sadler’s, but Baez appeared in 71 games and pitched a total of 69.2 innings in 2019 compared to Sadler’s 24 games and 27.0 innings pitched as a Dodger.
Although it hasn’t happened yet, there is zero doubt that Sadler will be scooped up by another team, probably sooner rather than later. That said, he was a great teammate and an absolute pleasure to interview and chat with and will be sorely missed by this Dodger fan.
Godspeed to you, Casey Sadler, and God Bless your beautiful family.
Play Ball!
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@sadler_squared @MarinSadler Yes, was really impressed with his stuff. Didn’t seem to get squared up
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler Maybe. This stuff is all a matter of having space on 25 man, 40 man, etc… https://t.co/og1A2agVHi
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler Yes dfa’d for a rundown arm… bad move.
I strongly agree…
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler I was surprised Sadler was DFA’ed. I thought he pitched better than a co… https://t.co/i1v2LOWSaU
The Dodgers did have another, and IMO, a better option — DFA Tyler White. Both Sadler and White are out of minor league options, but White has right handed hitters Austin Barnes, Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez, and Joc Pederson’s platoon partner AJ Pollock assured of bench spots. Without a trade, White has the same chance of making the Dodgers as a snow ball has in hades. Sadler on the other hand could have gone to spring training and competed for a spot — we all know that many pitchers are needed in spring training. Dodgers have 10 days from the date he was DFA in which to trade Sadler; my guess, he will be traded.
Agree 100%
And then there is this:
Sadler posted a career-high 95 mph average fastball velocity in the majors last season, but he barely struck out six hitters per nine. He also managed a bel0w-average 9.1 percent swinging-strike rate, and ERA indicators such as FIP (4.38), xFIP (4.78) and SIERA (4.58) weren’t high on his work.
Yes, his peripherals were not great. But every spring training I watch as pitchers have assorted injuries, and tired arms. Then there are the NRI’s Dodgers bring to camp. I am certain that Sadler would still be on the roster if he had another option year. I know the odds are very slim, but if he passes through waivers without being claimed look for him to be in OKC in case of emergency.
Hello there.. Today Dodgers traded Sadler to the Cubs for minor league infielder Clayton Daniel. If nothing else Daniel bats RH…..
Good bat to ball skills; k’d 53 times, walked 52 in his 2 seasons of probate. Good fielder, but only 5’7″
We’ll see if Dodgers can coach him up to be a utility player one day
I wouldn’t ever use a players size as a determination of his potential.Only if he can play or not. There have been lots of players like Brett Butler, Altuve, Ekstein, Pedro Martinez that have have proven size as a criteria to be useless.
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler Yes
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler I believe they did.
@sadler_squared @MarinSadler Unferkin believeable a great player on the field and off the field. Arg… https://t.co/npsqC6FrN5
vs Tyler White, yes. Joe Kelly or Baez, no.