The Dodgers have claimed 34-year old righty swinging catcher Rod Barajas off waivers from the Mets. Barajas played in 74 games for the Mets this year and he was 56 of 249 (.225 avg, .677 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 12 homers and 34 RBIs. He has now played in 887 games in his 12 years in the majors and he is 657 of 2,770 (.237 avg, .690 OPS) with 329 runs scored, 104 homers and 389 RBIs. This was a good move for the Dodgers as Barajas will serve as the new starting catcher the rest of the way.

The new Dodgers players are doing their part now they need to old guys to pick up the pace. Scott Podsednik has been solid at the top of the batting order for the Dodgers. He has played in 21 games for the Dodgers and he is 26 of 86 (.302 avg, .729 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 2B Ryan Theriot has also been solid at the top of the batting order for the Dodgers. He has played in 18 games for the Dodgers so far and he is 20 of 67 (.299 avg, .697 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Lefty starting pitcher Ted Lilly has been electric for the Dodgers. He has started 4 games for the Dodgers so far and he is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.57 WHIP. He has only given up 12 hits and walked 4 batters in 28 for the Dodgers while whiffing 26! Righty reliever Octavio Dotel is the only newbie that isn’t producing yet for the Dodgers. He has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers and he is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. The Dodgers GM Nick Colletti seems to have made the right moves but the Dodgers are still fading in the N.L. West.

The Dodgers have placed 32-year old righty starting pitcher Vicente Padilla on the 15-day disabled list with a bulging disc in his neck. Padilla has started 15 games for the Dodgers this year and he is 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Padilla has pounded the strike zone this year as he has only walked 23 batters in 91 innings. He’s also missing a lot of bats as he has only allowed 74 hits while whiffing 79 batters this year. He has given up 13 homers which is quite a lot but he limits the damage by throwing strikes. The Dodgers will miss him as they continue to fade in the N.L. West.

The Dodgers have released 32-year old righty starting pitcher Claudio Vargas. Vargas started 10 games in AAA-ball for the Dodgers and he was 2-6 with a 5.89 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Vargas whiffed 45 batters in only 47 1/3 innings in the minors this season but he walked 20 batters and gave up 52 hits (6 were homers). The Dodgers have a solid pitching staff so Vargas wasn’t about to called up anytime soon so they decided to let him go.

The Dodgers have released 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Bobby Livingston. Livingston pitched in 3 games (1 start) for the Dodgers’ AAA team and he was 0-1 with a 14.85 ERA and a 2.55 WHIP. He gave up a stunning 16 hits in only 6 2/3 innings in AAA. The Dodgers saw more than enough out of Livingston’s audition to know that he wasn’t going to help them any time soon.