The Dodgers picked up Jim Thome today and are apparently planning to use him in a lefty pinch hitter, Matt Stairs type role. Matt Stairs' name was in fact mentioned in several articles about the deal, as though the fact that the Phillies carry an above average bat on their bench is a good reason for the Dodgers to carry a very good bat on theirs. Although Thome's ground balls are up a bit this year he is still second in the majors in HR/FB% and is currently carrying a wOBA of .373, in the same neighborhood as guys like Carlos Pena, J.D. Drew, and Hideki Matsui and just a shade under players like Andre Ethier, Nelson Cruz, and Ryan Zimmerman. Simply put, this is not a group of guys that you would want to get only about a half dozen at-bats a week if they were on your team.
Using Thome in a Matt Stairs type role is probably the only way that he could play in the National League so this isn't really a bad move for the Dodgers but it is still a tremendous waste of talent. Imagine the Red Sox announcing that once Dice-K returns to the rotation Jon Lester would be used strictly as a lefty/lefty specialist for a batter or two per game - that's kind of like using Jim Thome as a pinch hitter.
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