Former All-Star Saito may be done in L.A.

Dec 14, 2008 - 12:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Former All-Star closer Takashi Saito may have made his last save for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After an injury-plagued 2008 campaign, the 39-year-old righthander was not tendered a contract by the Dodgers on Friday, which would have made him eligible for arbitration. He is now an unrestricted free agent.

The club also non-tendered righthanded relievers Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban and Mario Alvarez, as well as infielder Angel Berroa.

Saito signed a minor-league contract with the club as a rookie in 2006 but quickly took over the closer's role for injured former Cy Young winner Eric Gagne. However, after 2 1/2 effective seasons anchoring the back of the Dodgers' bullpen, elbow troubles flared up for Saito and he sat out most of the second half of 2008.

The hard-throwing reliever first went down in mid-July before returning for six appearances in September. He had one outing in the first round of the playoffs but got shelled, giving up three hits and two runs without recording an out. He was not named to the NLCS roster.

In three seasons with the Dodgers, Saito registered a 12-7 record with 81 saves and a 1.95 ERA. He burst onto the scene in 2006, striking out 107 batters in 78 1/3 innings while recording 24 saves.

A year later, he was practically untouchable, posting a 1.40 ERA while picking up 39 saves, striking out 78 in 64 1/3 innings. He was named to his first All-Star game, tossing a scoreless seventh inning in the National League's 5-4 loss.

The Dodgers' refusal to tender him a contract is due to mounting health concerns after the elbow troubles that bothered him last season. Were Saito to become eligible for arbitration, he would be up for a raise to about $3.5 million.

However, there is a chance he still may return to the Dodgers given the right contractual circumstances.

"The door remains open to bring him back in 2009, but right now there's just a difference of opinion on his contract," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "We have a great deal of respect for him as a player and a person and we know how difficult the last two or three months of the season were for him from a health perspective. Hopefully we'll be able to come to an agreement with him down the road."

Proctor was acquired from the New York Yankees at the 2007 trading deadline but struggled in 2008, posting a 6.05 ERA while walking 24 batters in 38 1/3 innings.

Berroa, a former American League Rookie of the Year in 2003 with the Kansas City Royals, platooned at shortstop for the Dodgers this season. He hit .230 with one homer and 16 RBI.