Analysis: Los Angeles Dodgers sign Bobby Abreu

After the Los Angeles Angels released veteran outfielder Bobby Abreu to make way for Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Dodgers snagged the 38-year-old according to a tweet from Jon Heyman. The CBSSports.com writer also tweeted that Abreu wants to play for a few more seasons in the MLB.

Just a couple of days ago, the other team in L.A. (the Dodgers) were in heavy talks with Bobby Abreu, who will still be paid $9 million by the Angels.

The left-handed hitter will likely join former Angel Juan Rivera in right, and we’ll see the terms of the deal later on and if Abreu will start. He has a poor .257 wOBA early on this season, but there isn’t much to read into at this point. He’s still a little below the 1.5 WAR threshold, which means that he is either a subpar starter or a great backup.

After a string of solid seasons and a run as one of the most consistently great hitters in baseball, Bobby Abreu finally fell off the cliff with a 0.4 WAR campaign in 2011. Finally starting to show signs of rapid decline, Abreu had a terrible year, and it was easily the worst year of his career. He still provided a solid bat (104 wRC+), but it didn’t make up for some more dreadful defense in the outfield. Abreu still managed to steal 21 bases last year, but it was apparent that his speed had rapidly declined as well (4.4 speed score).

In 2011, Abreu still managed to get on base at a .353 clip, but it was the drop in power that can be attributed to the decline in overall offensive value. After hitting 20 home runs the previous year, Abreu was down to eight in 2011 and had a career-low .112 ISO.

In 2009, Bobby Abreu hit 15 homers, but he was worth 3.1 WAR (the highest of his past three seasons) due to a .390 OBP. However, his OBP fell off last season when it hit .352. It wasn’t like the patient veteran walked less, because it was due to a decline in BABIP. After having several seasons with a BABIP at around .330, it dropped to .296 in 2010 and only picked up to .310 last season.

The drop in BABIP in 2010 can be partially attributed to luck, but his BABIP last season shows that Abreu is undergoing a decline in contact ability. Older hitters make weaker contact, which accounts for the dropping ISO and BABIP totals. His contact has suffered a little bit, mainly because he is chasing it a bit more than he used to and is making less contact on those pitches out of the zone. He’s still patient and the plate discipline statistics aren’t changing, because the main reasons for the decline in value are due to weaker contact.

That said, Bobby Abreu is still a pretty good hitter and can help a team out with his veteran bat. His defense is atrocious, but at least he can draw a walk and get on base for you. Expect him to be worth 1-1.5 WAR, but he’ll be closer to 1 WAR than 1.5. He’s going to help the Dodgers out, and it will be interesting to see what role he starts out in and how his role changes as the season progresses.

Be sure to check out all of Call to the Pen’s transaction breakdowns for the 2011-12 offseason. You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.

Follow Joe Soriano on Twitter here. Check out Lasorda’s Lair for everything about the Los Angeles Dodgers.