At the trade deadline in 2009, the Dodgers acquired one of the hottest closers in the game in George Sherrill.  He was coming off his first all-star appearance in 2008, representing the Baltimore Orioles.  In the first half of 2009, Sherrill posted a 2.40 era in 42 appearances for the Orioles, including 20 saves.

As the Orioles realized that the time to trade Sherrill had arrived, they unloaded him to the Dodgers.  The Orioles received Josh Bell, in return who will probably be the 3rd basemen for the foreseeable future for them.  The Dodgers gave up a very promising prospect but received a lights out pitcher in Sherrill.

Sherrill didn’t disappoint Dodger fans as he posted a .065 ERA and 22 strikeouts in  30 games for the Dodgers.  As the 2009 season ended, the Dodgers were considered by many to have one of the strongest bullpens in all of baseball.  When you combine Sherrill with Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario all you would need is the starting pitchers to get to the sixth inning and your bullpen would shut the door on the opposing team night-after-night.  Though the bullpen looked great on paper, the bullpen fell apart and fell apart quickly.  Sherrill wasn’t the only one who struggled but in 65 games he posted a 6.69 ERA, the highest total in his Major League career.

Things got so bad for Sherrill that he was placed on outright waivers but refused a minor league assignment.

Sherrill is arbitration eligible for the final time this year and will receive a raise from the $4.5 million that he received last year. The Dodgers will almost certainly non-tender Sherrill come December 2nd.

So where does Sherrill go from here?  According to LA Times’ Steve Dilbeck, the chances that Sherrill will return to the Dodgers is “minuscule.”  Sherrill prefers to close games which would not happen in LA so he may look to sign elsewhere.  Sherrill shouldn’t have a hard time finding a job given his track record as long as he is willing to lower his salary expectations and sign either an incentive packed deal or even just a minor league deal with an invite to the big boy camp.

If Sherrill is able to regain the pin point control that has helped him excel in his career any team that signs him would benefit immensely.  So who could have interest in Sherrill?  If Sherrill wants to close and doesn’t care about winning next year and wants to regain his value, a handful of teams such as the Brewers or Marlins could have interest in signing him to a one-year deal where if he improves his trade value he could be flipped at the trade deadline.

If Sherrill was to ask me what he should do, he should focus on being a lefty specialist.  Sherrill actually pitched decently against left-handed hitters this year as he held them to a .192 against him, with only five extra-base hits in 73 at-bats.  If he goes this route, he could become the next Jesse Orosco and pitch into his seventies.  If he doesn’t resign with the Dodgers look for maybe the Rangers, Phillies, Braves or Red Sox (My guesses) to offer him an opportunity to get his career back on the right path as maybe a set-up guy for a competitor.