it was way back in may of 2010 that i was struck with 'ely-mania' thanks to a string of quality starts from john ely, one of the two pitchers the dodgers received from the white sox in exchange for juan pierre. the wheels fell off of the bandwagon shortly thereafter, as ely went 1-8 after beginning his career with a 3-2 record in his first 6 starts. here is a 2010 topps update 'peek' (not 'peak') performance autograph of ely
which calls attention to his june 1 start against the diamondbacks. he allowed only two hits in his seven scoreless innings of work that day, but had a no-decision in the dodgers' 1-0 victory - a victory courtesy of a 10th-inning matt kemp walk-off home run.
here is another card featuring ely that i have had sitting around for a while - a 2010 bowman 'topps 100' card
i don't know what 'topps 100' means, but i am showing this card today because ely was traded, with little fanfare i might add, to the houston astros back in december. ely was 4-13 over three seasons with the dodgers and now heads to the american league. the other pitcher the dodgers acquired in the pierre deal, jon link, left the organization after the 2011 season and spent last year in the orioles' and marlins' minor leagues.
ely is not the only former dodger for whom i have had scanned cards sitting around, waiting for a post such as this. so, let's take a look at some other now-former dodgers. like andrew lambo, for instance, and his 2010 bowman 'bowman expectations' card
lambo was one of the players (james mcdonald being the other) that ned sent to the pirates at the 2010 trade deadline for octavio dotel. pittsburgh has become a sort of dumping grounds for ned and former dodger prospects, with andy laroche and delwyn young also sent to the pirates, and ivan dejesus jr and jerry sands (more on him later) winding up there after being included in a deal with the red sox. anyway, lambo and mcdonald for what? six weeks of dotel? dotel was then traded to the rockies for minor leaguer anthony jackson, who is four or five years older than lambo. lambo was suspended for violating mlb's drug policy while with the dodgers, but i don't recall it being for peds. he still has some time to pan out.
eric stults, seen here on a 2008 topps update & highlights gold card
hasn't been with the dodgers since 2009. he spent 2010 in japan before returning to the majors in 2011 with the rockies. he started last season with the white sox, but was picked up by the padres on waivers in may.
more recently dismissed by the dodgers is russ mitchell, whose lone baseball card appearance in dodger blue (as far as i know) came courtesy of 2011 topps heritage
four of mitchell's 14 hits for the dodgers over the 2010 and 2011 seasons were home runs, but he was released by the team last spring. he quickly signed on with the miami marlins, but was released by them after a month or so. he then signed with the giants, but was again released prior to making it back to the big leagues. in december of 2012, mitchell signed a free agent deal with the rockies, so we'll see what happens this spring.
mike macdougal, on the other hand, has yet to sign with a team for the 2013 season. here he is on his 2011 topps update card
as well as his diamond collection parallel thingy
macdougal pitched well for the dodgers in 2011, going 3-1 with a 2.05 era in 69 appearances. he was released after only 7 appearances in 2012, however, as his era was over 7. he signed on with the cubs and then the nationals, but didn't get back to the majors with either team.
rubby de la rosa, seen here pitching in dodger stadium on his 2011 topps update card
and cognac parallel
along with jerry sands on his 2011 topps update card
and 2012 topps heritage card
were part of the big dodgers-red sox blockbuster trade from last year. specifically, they were the players to be named later in the deal, but were known at the time of the trade. de la rosa apparently fits into the red sox' plans, but sands was traded to the pirates in the joel hanrahan (another former dodger farmhand) deal. i'm not sure how this will turn out for sands, as the pirates seem to have a lot of outfield depth already.
i'll end this post of departed dodgers with a 2008 upper deck x autographed card of ramon troncoso
troncoso pitched for the dodgers in every season from 2008 through 2011, but spent all of 2012 at aaa after clearing waivers. his best season by far was 2009 when he appeared in 73 games and posted a 2.72 era. he also had 3 scoreless appearances in the nlcs that year. if he returns to the postseason in 2013 it won't be as a dodger, because after the 2012 season, troncoso signed a free agent deal with the white sox.
that's all for this edition of recent dodgers turned former dodgers. i'm sure there will be more to come, right ned?