Dodgers Sign Tony Gwynn Jr For Two Years

Sticking with his backloaded-two-year deal theme, Ned Colletti signed Tony Gwynn Jr today. The deal is worth $2 million. He'll earn $850,000 in 2012 and $1.15 million in 2013. 


From Dodgers.com:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the signing of outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to a two-year contract. General manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.The versatile outfielder appeared in a career-high 136 games at all three outfield positions with the Dodgers last year in his first season with the club and posted a .907 zone rating, which tied for second among qualifying National League outfielders. The 29-year-old ranked among the league leaders with a .993 fielding percentage, tying for ninth among NL outfielders with just one error in 677.0 innings, and tied for 15^th on the circuit with eight outfield assists. Gwynn averaged 0.11 assists per 9.0 innings, which led National League outfielders.

At the plate, Gwynn batted .256 and posted career-best marks with 12 doubles, 22 stolen bases and 22 RBIs. He also tied with Jamey Carroll for the team lead with a career high-tying six triples. The left-handed hitter batted .333 (8-for-24) in 27 appearances as a pinch-hitter, tying for the seventh-highest mark in the Majors, and has a .288 career batting average in that role.

Gwynn delivered in pressure situations for the Dodgers throughout the season, hitting a walk-off single to beat the Angels on June 26 and batting .286 (18-for-63) in close and late situations. He also preserved a pair of Dodger victories with ninth-inning diving catches in the field, doing so with two outs and the bases loaded on April 29 in a 3-2 win against the Padres and again on June 11 with the bases full to save an 11-7 win at Colorado.

Gwynn was originally selected by Milwaukee in the second round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft and traded to San Diego in exchange for outfielder Jody Gerut during the 2009 season. He attended San Diego State University, where he played for his father and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, and graduated from Poway (CA) High School. His uncle, Chris, was the Dodgers’ first-round selection in the 1985 draft and played parts of seven seasons in Los Angeles (1987-91 and 1994-95).

I'm trying to get my head around this one. Yeah, TGJ's got a good glove and it's nice having in the outfield in those close games, but he was under team control for 2012. All Ned had to do was tender him a contract and he's in Dodger blue next season, yet he gives Gwynn a second year. Huh? Not that it's a lot of money, it's just that the second guaranteed year was unnecessary. 


With five outfielders now signed in 2012, where does this leave Jerry Sands? 

Player Appearance: Tony Gwynn Jr.

Dodger outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. made an appearance today at the Metro PCS Store in East Los Angeles. He was scheduled to sign autographs from 12:00-1:00. 

I arrived at the location at 9:45, and there were about 10 people in line waiting. I wasn't expecting many people to be there because he signed the day before, plus there were many other Dodger appearances around SoCal today.

While waiting in line, the Metro PCS staff passed out ticket vouchers, and other Dodger swag. They also gave us tickets for a raffle. Old School radio station 93.5 KDAY was on hand entertaining the crowd.

TGJ arrived on time. When he got there, I'd say there were 50 people in line. The Metro PCS staff told us we could get two autographs each and take a picture with him.

Once Gwynn got to the signing table, the line moved right away. I had him sign a ball and my autograph hat.

Thanks to Tony Gwynn Jr, Metro PCS and MyAutographsSignings.com for event info. Once again, it was great hanging out with Mike from Nomo's Sushi Platter. I also want to give a shout out to Kenny and Alisha, it was nice meeting the both of you!

Dodgers Sign Tony Gwynn Jr.

According to Tom Krasovic, the Dodgers have signed Tony Gwynn Jr. to a one-year deal.There are no details on the money yet. Gwynn batted .204 with three homeruns and 20 RBI in 339 plate appearances for the Padres last year.

Of course, Gwynn is the son of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and nephew of former Dodger Chris Gwynn.

This signing has me jumping for joy.

Missed It By That Much

With the Dodgers down 3-2 in seventh inning, Matt Kemp hit a two-run homerun off of Padres pitcher Luke Gregerson to give LA a 4-3 lead. Centerfielder Tony Gwynn made an attempt at catching it over the wall, but it went through his glove.

It was nice to see Matt hit that homerun tonight. It was Kemp's eighth home run on the season, but only his first since April 21. He hit it to the deepest part of Petco Park, which was very impressive. Hopefully this gets Matty going.