As Eric Milton eyes his return to the Dodgers' starting rotation, general manager Ned Colletti has been out watching some of their minor-league affiliates recently. It's no secret the Dodgers would like to upgrade starting pitching before the trade deadline, and reportedly Colletti is checking out which minor leaguers in the Dodgers' system can be used in a trade to acquire left-hander Jarrod Washburn from Seattle. The Mariners are still hanging around in the AL West, though, so it's not exactly a sure thing they'd be willing to part with Washburn. He does make quite the hefty salary, but his contract is up at the conclusion of this season, so moving him wouldn't really save the Mariners much money.
Washburn, a 34-year-old, is currently 3-5 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 83 1/3 innings of work. He's struck out 54 and walked just 24. An interesting note on Washburn is that he had his best season and won a World Series ring in Los Angeles, when he was a member of the 2002 Angels. That season, he went 18-6 with a 3.15 ERA. Washburn also had a dazzling outing against the Twins in the ALCS that year.
After Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Randy Wolf and Hiroki Kuroda, the Dodgers have been playing musical chairs with the fifth spot in their rotation. Should they fail to land someone via trade, they'll likely move forward with Milton -- who is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA in four starts. Eric Stults (injured) and Jeff Weaver (manager Joe Torre said he prefers to use Weaver out of the bullpen) would be the other two viable in-house options.
