| Shane Victorino found out he's been traded. |
The Dodgers have acquired outfielder Shane Victorino from the Phillies in exchange for reliever Josh Lindblom and minor-league right-hander Ethan Martin, CBSSports.com's Scott Miller has confirmed.
Victorino this season is batting a somewhat disappointing .261/.324/.401, but the 31-year-old is a career .277/.342/.434 hitter with defensive chops and excellent speed on the bases. To boot, he addresses a real need for the Dodgers.
While two-thirds of the Dodger outfield is All-Star caliber (when Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are healthy, of course), Dodger left fielders this season have combined for an OPS of just .677. So even if Victorino doesn't rebound to career norms, he's likely to provide an upgrade over what the Dodgers have gotten from the position to date. As well, Victorino is substantially better with the glove and on the bases than current place-holder Juan Rivera. So while this can't be considered a jaw-dropping upgrade, it can be considered a broad-based one.
Victorino is owed the balance of a $9.5-million contract for 2012 and is eligible for free agency this offseason. As our own Danny Knobler noted on Twitter, it was roughly eight years ago that the Dodgers lost Victorino in the Rule-5 Draft.
As for those Phillies, Lindblom has a 2.91 ERA in 75 career relief appearances, but his peripherals suggest he's been lucky to post such a low ERA. As well, Lindblom's fly-ball tendencies might hurt him in going from Dodger Stadium to Citizens' Bank Park.
Martina, age 23, has a 3.58 ERA and 112 strikeouts and 61 walks in 118.0 innings for Double-A Chattanooga.
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