LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers have designated reliever Brian Wilson for assignment to clear room on their roster for right-hander Brandon McCarthy, who finalized a four-year contract.
McCarthy’s deal was agreed to last week at the winter meetings and announced Tuesday, adding another veteran starter to the NL West champions’ rotation.
To make room on their 40-man roster, the Dodgers finally gave up on Wilson, the heavily bearded reliever who revitalized his career with Los Angeles over the past two seasons. Wilson went 2-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 61 appearances for the Dodgers last season, but the longtime Giants closer blew four of his five save opportunities and developed a reputation for wild inconsistency.
If the Dodgers release Wilson, they will be responsible for his $8.5 million salary. If he then signs a major league contract with another team, that team would pay him the $507,000 veteran minimum salary, which would be offset.
The 31-year-old McCarthy was 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 18 starts this year for Arizona, which traded him to the Yankees on July 6 for pitcher Vidal Nuno. McCarthy went 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA in 14 starts for New York.
McCarthy has a 52-65 record and 4.09 ERA in nine big league seasons that also included time with the Chicago White Sox (2005-06), Texas (2007-09) and Oakland (2011-12). Arizona signed him before the 2013 season.
McCarthy is slated to replace Dan Haren as the Dodgers’ fourth starter. Los Angeles traded Haren and Dee Gordon to Miami in a seven-player deal last week.
New Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi is familiar with McCarthy from their time together in Oakland. Although McCarthy has been to the disabled list 10 times in his career, he apparently has fully recovered after getting hit in the head by a line drive from the Angels’ Erick Aybar in 2012.
