Welcome Back to the Blue, Shane

Wow!  This trade may not be the slam dunk that the Hanley trade appears to be, but you can't deny that Shane Victorino is a gamer.  He plays hard and plays with grit.  Sure, the Dodger faithful had grown to despise him.  Heck, some fans may even hate him.  Me, I've been always mindful that he was once a prospect within the Dodger system who was never really given an opportunity to crack the lineup and went unnoticed by several teams before spreading his wings with the Phillies.  There, Victorino's will and abilities took hold as he lead the team to five consecutive playoff berths and one World Championship in 2008.  I welcome his experience and leadership.

Per FanGraphs, they mention that we really didn't trade anything that we would miss, so this could turn out to be a big winner for us.

Okay, they didn’t actually get him for nothing. To acquire the Phillies center fielder (who will almost certainly play left in LA), the Dodgers gave up 25-year-old reliever Josh Lindblom and enigmatic right-handed pitching prospect Ethan Martin. Reports are that the Dodgers felt comfortable moving Lindblom after acquiring Brandon League from the Mariners last night, but in reality, they should have always been comfortable trading Josh Lindblom for value, because Josh Lindblom is simply not a particularly valuable player.

Considering this, it appears that the Brandon League trade was put together to set up a trade for Victorino.  So, we give up Leon Landry, Logan Bawcom, Josh Lindblom and Ethan Martin for Brandon League and Shane Victorino.  UPDATE: According to a @Dodgers tweet, along with Lindblom and Martin a "player to be named later" will also be going to the Phillies. 

Below are stats for Shane Victorino from Baseball Reference.


UPDATE:  The Dodgers alredy have a pic with Shane Victorino in a Dodgers uniform.  See it below:

(pic via twitter @Dodgers)

UPDATE II:  BTW, Shane Victorino is on twitter, but doesn't appear to be very active.  Nevertheless, go ahead and follow him!  @ShaneVictorino

UPDATE III: From a Dodger press release today:

“We’re excited to add an All-Star caliber player with postseason experience,” said Colletti. “He plays the game with passion, gives us a top of the order bat from both sides of the plate, can steal bases and is solid defensively in the outfield.”

Victorino, 31, is batting .261 with nine homers, 24 steals and 40 RBI in 101 games this season with the Phillies. The switch-hitter is hitting .316 against left-handed pitching this season and is swinging a hot bat of late, having hit safely in five consecutive games and nine of his last 10 at a .378 clip (14-for-37) since July 18.