Ted Lilly makes his pitch to Dodgers in 3-1 victory over Rockies
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The Ted Lilly question. This one is a bit tough.
There’s no question he would be a valuable presence in the Dodgers’ rotation next season. He has varied between solid and outstanding since coming to the Dodgers from the Cubs prior to the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.
He was back in top form Monday night in Denver, outpitching Rockies star Ubaldo Jimenez in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory, one more twist of the knife to Colorado’s fading playoff hopes.
The loss left the Rockies five games back of the Giants in the National League West. The best they can hope for now is to win out and tie for the division title.
Lilly kept the Rockies at bay all night, their only run coming on a Carlos Gonzalez solo home run in the fourth.
Otherwise, Lilly (9-12) was in command, holding the Rockies to four hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked one in ending a four-game losing streak. He threw only 98 pitches.
No starting pitcher, however, has received less run support than Lilly. He could easily have a much better win-loss record to go along with his 3.71 ERA.
All in all, he’s a pitcher the Dodgers would no doubt like to have back. And Lilly, who will become a free agent at the end of the season, is interested in re-signing with the Dodgers.
Yet there are a couple of other factors that make this less than a slam dunk. Lilly will be 35 to start next season. And he’s making $13 million this year.
If Lilly wants that kind of money, recent Dodgers’ history says there is no way he’ll be back. If it can be assumed at his age that he’ll take less, the question becomes how much less and for how many years.
No doubt the Dodgers would be happy to sign him for one year. Two’s a maybe, but they’d have to think about whether the numbers are right.
The best shot at a one-year deal is to offer him arbitration. They didn’t do that with Randy Wolf last season. Of course if they do, and he rejects it, they get two draft picks.
Lilly was born in Torrance, went to Yosemite High School and still calls Oakhurst, Calif., a small town (population under 3,000) approximately 14 miles south of the entrance to Yosemite, his home.
Still, there is no guarantee Lilly would accept arbitration. This is a lean year for free-agent starting pitchers and he may well believe there’s a three-year offer out there for him. There could be too.
But with only Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley assured of returning to the rotation next year, the Dodgers have to make an effort to bring back at least two of their budding free agent starters -- Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla.
Maybe they go for all three and figure Kershaw is ready to become an ace, but at least a strong effort needs to be made for Lilly and Kuroda.
Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the ninth Monday and earned his 11th save in 12 opportunities.
-- Steve Dilbeck