Blue Jays Take a Flyer on Scott Podsednik

After turning down a two million dollar option to return with the LA Dodgers for 2011, Scott Podsednik wound up settling for a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal also included an invite to spring training, but it’s pretty safe to assume he would’ve got one of those too had he stayed with the Dodgers. But at least he’ll be able to go out and compete for a spot on the Jays bench.

Why exactly the Jays decided to bring him in is another matter. Whether he makes the team or not it’s a no risk move for Toronto so it doesn’t matter in the long run. The Jays starting outfield is settled for the moment with Travis Snider in right, Rajai Davis in center and Juan Rivera over in left. That leaves Podsednik to compete with Corey Patterson for the fourth outfield spot.

It’s the presence of Patterson that makes the new presence of Podsednik interesting. Their both in camp on minor league deals and are also both left handed hitters too. Podsednik is a good base stealer swiping 77 bases with a 71 percent success rate the last three seasons, Patterson’s only stolen 37 bases but at just a good a rate(73%) as Podsednik. Part of that discrepancy in swipes comes from Patterson playing in just 241 games the past three years as opposed to Podsednik who played in 359.

Podsednik’s better track record health wise the last three years probably gives him a leg up on Patterson. Comparing their hitting over the last three years isn’t ideal because of the large difference in at-bats between the two, just looking at last year’s data isn’t ideal either. We’ll go with a three year sample but keep in mind there’s a massive split in playing time.

Clearly, Podsednik has been more productive the last three years running. He easily bests Patterson across the board except for isolated power. Last season however, the numbers were much closer as Podsednik had a .323 wOBA and Patterson had a .325 mark. Pods walked more and hit for a higher average in 2010 but Patterson was able to make up the difference with better power numbers.

Expecting anything exceptional from either of them at the plate is a stretch however, neither has had an above average wOBA in any season since 2003. Neither mashes righties either, Podsednik is a lifetime .325 wOBA hitter against righties while Patterson checks in at .311. That leaves the comparison down to defense and that’s where Patterson looks to have more value.

Despite being a speedy guy Podsednik is not an option for center field for any length of time. He hasn’t logged significant time in center since 2003 and 2004 and the results were mixed even then. He’s spent the most time in left over the last two seasons with UZR/150s of -1.3 and -9.1. His true ability in left is probably somewhere in the middle of those two numbers but the odds of him being even average in the field at age 35 are slim.

Patterson has had more recent time in center, as recently as 2008 when he logged close to 800 innings and put up a -.4 UZR/150. He doesn’t have much in the way of large samples at any outfield position in the last two seasons, but given his past numbers a healthy Patterson is most likely a better overall defender and more capable of occasional centerfield duty.

Whichever one winds up winning the job, neither figures to threaten the Jays trio of starting outfielders for playing time. Even platooning one of them with the right handed hitting, Juan Rivera, makes little sense because Rivera has a better career wOBA, .333, against righties than either of them.

The Jays could’ve opted to bring in Lastings Milledge on a minor league deal earlier in the off-season or tried to pry Justin Ruggiano away from the Rays when he was recently designated for assignment. Instead of taking a low risk/high reward gamble on one of those much younger outfielders they chose to challenge Patterson with Podsednik, a guy who no matter how well he performs in 2011 likely won’t be around for 2012. A harmless move but also one with no excitement behind it either.