Los Angeles Dodgers: Agreed to terms with pitchers Jeff Weaver, Shawn Estes, Ronald Belisario, Charlie Haeger and Tanyon Sturtze on minor league deals. Eric Milton wasn't available.
Hey, the Dodgers are signing a bunch of guys who can't get Tommy Lasorda out, but at least they didn't sign Eric Milton!
But life, as they say, is stranger than fiction. Today comes a report that the Dodgers are close to a deal with ... Eric Milton.
Milton is now 33 years old. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007, when in six games with the Reds his ERA was 5.17. He then underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery and spent last year rehabbing in the Yankees' farm system. Late in the season, he got in six starts at Triple-A, going 0-4 with a 5.17 ERA.
Dodger Stadium can make bad pitchers look only below average; below average pitchers look decent; decent pitchers look good; good pitchers look very good; very good pitchers look great. But it can't do anything for Eric Milton.
On the other hand, the Dodgers are only signing these ghosts to minor-league deals, so no harm, no foul.
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Doctor X -- the 'Baseball Medic' -- is an anonymous U.S. government trauma specialist with a Duke University sports medicine background and more than 20 years experience in emergency medicine. From time to time he considers MLB rumors, events and news reports as they pertain to baseball players' injuries, illnesses and various other disabilities, both on the field and off.
MLB Rumors editor Greg Fieg is a former sports news editor and award-winning writer whose bylines have appeared on the wires of the Associated Press and in numerous publications, including San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Light, Houston Chronicle and Philadelphia Bulletin. He formerly was posted in various positions on the U.S.-Mexican border with Freedom Newspapers, and was a regular, independent contributor to United Press International.