Dodgers - Signed Mueller

Los Angeles Dodgers - Signed 3B Bill Mueller to a 2-year contract.

It’s too bad Mueller wasn’t available last season - DePo could have really used him.  That ship has sailed, however.  Mueller’s main job is to man the position for up to 2 years, depending on the progress of Andy LaRoche.  Mueller’s certainly a better player at this point than Willy Aybar, but the time is rapidly closing when the Dodgers will have to make a decision about what to do with their various prospects that don’t have ready-made slots.  No terms of contract have been released yet, but I’m guess the 2 years are in the 8 to 10 million range.  If not, the Dodgers got a steal.

The Pirates are disappointed, but they’re not as bad at 3rd as they think they are.  Still, for a cheap team, the Pirates sure like to spend money for the sake of spending money and will get a 3B.  Joe Randa is the last MLB free agent 3B out there that’s worth anything, so I expect the Pirates to go hard after him for a 1 or 2 year deal.

2006 ZiPS Projection - Bill Mueller
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 AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG  
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481  57  131  27  3  12  58  54  69   1  .272  .350  .416