Compounding the Carroll mistake

It's been a while but I'm back. Sad to say that I've become somewhat disillusioned by the whole divorce drama and payroll debate. However, the Dodgers made a move today that proves my thesis on Colletti's inability to properly evaluate talent.

Belliard back for a second stint

No, you're not reading that wrong. The Dodgers have re-signed Ronnie Belliard to a 1 year, $825,000 (plus incentives) contract. This, coming weeks after the Dodgers spent half the money the saved sending Juan Pierre to Chicago on soon-to-be 36 year old Jamey Carroll. So the question is: why was Belliard re-signed? Was it the hair? His relationship with other players? Or does Colletti think that having a backup shortstop on the roster isn't really that important?

Belliard has played a grand total of 10 games at short in his major league career. The aforementioned Carroll has played 89, though he hasn't spent an inning there since 2007. The rest of the bench seems to be set with Ausmus and Mientktewicz also returning and either Jason Repko or Xavier Paul replacing Pierre as the 4th outfielder. Unless the Dodgers send Blake DeWitt back to the minors, there's no room for a backup shortstop.

And what's the difference between Belliard and Carroll? Well, their style of play is different. Carroll is defense-oriented and Belliard is a better hitter, but overall their production has been very similar over the past few years. They've each provided their teams with 3.0 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) since 2008. They're about the same age. They play the same positions. But, while Ronnie is signed for one year and around a million dollars, Jamey is signed for twice as long and twice as much per season.

I guess the real question is: will Carroll be twice as good?