Dodgers retain Tony Gwynn with 2-year deal

The seemingly never-ending string of Dodger 2-year deals continued today when the team inked Tony Gwynn to a contract worth $2 million.

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports Gwynn will earn $850,000 in 2012 and $1.15 million in 2013.

I wrote about Gwynn's chances of staying with the Dodgers late last night. I thought the team would be foolish to let him go. Thankfully, they didn't. He's the team's best defensive outfielder and no worse than third-best baserunner/stealer. Oh, and he's Matt Kemp's primary backup in center field.

The contract is quite affordable and tradeable, if the Dodgers absolutely need to move him sometime in the next two years.

One negative to this signing could be Jerry Sands beginning the season in Triple-A. Sands being a part-time player in the Majors isn't going to do him any good, so he'll get regular at-bats with Albuquerque.

I was in favor of the Juan Rivera signing when it happened -- well, I wasn't as outraged as the rest of the Internet -- but now it looks absolutely foolish.

The only ways Sands could break camp with the team is if there are injuries, a trade (Andre Ethier) or the Dodgers decide to non-tender James Loney. Sands would have the inside track to the first base job if that were to happen. That decision is less than four hours away, so stay tuned.