This year's Maytag repairman is ... Gary Bennett
Dodgers just signed him to a one-year, $825,000 contract, which is $325,000 less than Mike Lieberthal made as last year's backup catcher but still probably slightly above what Russell Martin will make as a third-year big leaguer -- despite the fact Martin is an All-Star and probably will start at least 135 games. What a system. Anyway, just talked to Ned, and he said it was made clear to Bennett in the negotiating process that he won't be playing much -- although he'll play more than Lieberthal did if the rest of the lineup is more productive. The fact it wasn't productive last year is the reason Grady couldn't sit Russ very often, because they had to have his bat in there.
I'm plagiarizing the following paragraph from myself, as I wrote it in the print edition one day last week. Cut-and-paste is a wonderful thing:
Bennett, a career backup who will turn 36 in April, batted .252 while catching 52 games for St. Louis this season, striking out just 16 times in 155 at-bats.
Tony Jackson is in his fourth season covering the Dodgers for the 
Comments
The same Gary Bennett that was in the Mitchell report? Ha! So much for that frank talk from Frank I guess.
Posted by: The_Great_Arcade_Fire
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December 17, 2007 1:32 PM
I'm told he was taking the stuff to recover from a surgical procedure, not for any kind of performance enhancement. Supposed to talk to him later today. I'll ask.
Posted by: tony jackson | December 17, 2007 2:08 PM
Do you think Torre will let Martin play as many games in 2008?
Posted by: Andrea
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December 17, 2007 3:11 PM
Pretty disappointing. They should've gone for a clean player. Just a shame.
Besides the HGH thing, Bennett's a good little player, but not as good as Lieberthal.
What nobody ever seems to mention when it comes to the Dodgers backup catcher is that the backup catcher's presence as an insurance policy in case of injury to Martin is monumentally important. Who do you want in there for a week or a month or a few months? Bennett, Damian Miller or Lieberthal? My guess it the reverse order of those three.
Posted by: BaseballSavvy.com
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December 17, 2007 3:59 PM
No, Martin won't play as many games - but it won't be a huge difference, either.
Posted by: silverwidow99 | December 17, 2007 7:06 PM
He is going to be alright backup catcher as long Martin doesn't get hurt. Now they should focus on getting a power hitting third baseman. If they can do that than the West will be the Dodgers.
Posted by: Moe | December 17, 2007 9:03 PM
Kinda funny in the previous article you wrote:
Not surprisingly, McCourt trumpeted the fact that no current Dodgers player was named in the report as a user of steroids or HGH --
Frank puts the hip in hipocrite.
Posted by: DGRFNS52 | December 17, 2007 10:14 PM
What did Ned say about no starting Left handed pitchers in the rotation? How does Joe feel about this? While I like our starting 5, the fact that there are no LHP scares me.
Posted by: Brett | December 18, 2007 10:44 AM