"#Dodgers sign LHP John Grabow. Terms not known."Scanlan coached Grabow in high school, which is how he heard about this news before any media reported it.
Grabow, 33, has been in the Majors since 2003, when he debuted with the Pirates. It took him a few years to get acclimated, but he had his most successful season in 2008, posting a 2.84 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 7.1 H/9, 7.3 K/9. His other peripherals weren't so great -- 1.1 HR/9, 4.4 BB/9, 1.68 K/BB, but he actually did better against right-handed hitters than lefties, despite giving up eight of his nine home runs to righties.
He has a three-pitch arsenal: a fastball that ranges from 87-90 MPH, a low-80s slider and a low-80s changeup. His fastball velocity has been on the decline since 2006, but he's left handed and can throw strikes, which is about all you need to ink a minor-league deal these days.
Grabow does equally well against both sides for his career, though.
He isn't anything special, but I'm going to make a prediction right now: he'll make the Dodgers out of Spring Training as the team's LOOGY.
This allows the Dodgers to let Scott Elbert pitch against right-handers and could spell the end of Hong-Chih Kuo's time in Los Angeles, if there was still any doubt.
Other than that, there's not much else going on in Dodger land right now. There were faint mentions of the Dodgers having interest in guys like Jason Kubel, who signed today with the Diamondbacks, and Prince Fielder, but we all know that isn't going to happen.
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