Joel Guzman

The Dodgers recalled Wily Aybar to take the place of the DL-ed Jason Repko. As this is the third DL stint for a starting Dodgers hitter (Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Loften) and the fourth opportunity to recall a minor league hitter (Ricky Ledee), I was surprised to read Joel Guzman did not get the call.

I checked the LATimes and manager Grady little is reported as saying he wants to be sure Guzman gets full-time ABs when he is called-up. (Never mind, he can 100% control that when he fills-out his line-up card.)

This thinking is acceptable in the first couple weeks of the season, but I caution that it is now May 11. 25% of the AAA season is in the books and Guzman has 128 AAA ABs. This is not a long time, but another couple/few weeks and suddenly, the season is nearing the halfway point.

There is also the risk that one of these call-ups goes on a Francoeur-esque tear and blocks Guzman. In this case, Guzman stays in the minors all year and begins 2007 behind that hot player.

If the Dodgers do, in fact, intend for Guzman to be the everyday left fielder, I suggest they install him there instead of recalling other players who have the opportunity to mess-up that plan.