It’s really sad, I just got done posting this at FanHouse, along with the news that Jason Schmidt is returning to the DL for the second time this year. In my post, I said that the Dodgers were on their way towards receiving as much production from Schmidt as the Yankees got from Pavano. That’s pathetic. So WTF, how can you account for this? Where does the blame go? In my season preview, I praised the Schmidt signing, and truthfully, I thought it was the best deal of the winter. Where did it all go wrong?
Sadly, I must place the blame on the Dodgers for this one. Since day one of Spring Training, it was written that Schmidt had no fastball. He had no velocity on his pitches. It was well-known, and the Dodgers were trying to hide the fact that they were concerned. Clearly their scouting departments and medical staff did not do their homework. If they had, wouldn’t they have known that the guy could no longer hit 90s on the gun? Wouldn’t they have seen something wrong with his arm and health? I honestly thought the contract was too good to be true. Maybe this is why.
Looks to me like the Dodgers were duped, sold a bill of goods here. They focused on Schmidt’s successful past, and failed to do their homework on his off-season struggles. They didn’t check him out thoroughly before signing him. I truly think Jason Schmidt is done for his career, and that this contract could sadly go down as one of the worst in Dodger history.
(photo courtesy Getty Images)
