As for Stults, he’s optimistic about the move to Japan, and stands to nearly double his salary while the Dodgers also recoup a few hundred thousand as well.  Stults was also out of options, so some sort of move was inevitable.  Stults talked to Ken Gurnick, who has a nice story on the pitcher’s state of mind before his overseas move:

“I enjoyed the Taiwan and China goodwill trips, but I’m a little more excited about this,” said Stults. “Japan is a lot more westernized, there are more Americans there. I talked with Hiroki Kuroda, who played for Hiroshima, and he told me some of the basics and said if I had any questions when I’m there, just to e-mail Kenji Nimura [Kuroda's interpreter] and he’d get back to me. He said they have a great stadium, great fans, a manager he respects and they treat the players well. I think I’ll enjoy it.”

As for Jason Repko, the 29 year-old outfielder was waived by the club today.  I was reading Steve Dilbeck’s column on the hard-charging outfielder, and hadn’t realized he had been with the Dodger organization for 11 years.  Pretty amazing stuff.  But given the arrival of Reed Johnson as the team’s #4 outfielder and the plethera of young talent waiting to replace Manny Ramirez next season, it just seemed like Repko no longer fit into the Dodgers plans, no matter how much they like him.  As Steve notes, there’s always a chance Repko could end up back with the Dodgers if he doesn’t catch on elsewhere, but I’m hoping he earns a slot on a major league roster – he deserves it.

Thanks Eric and Jason for all you gave to the Dodger organization and best luck in the season ahead!

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2010

Photo Credit: Getty Images