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Dodgers designate Brian Wilson for assignment

Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY Sports

Brian Wilson's tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers has come to an end, as the team designated the high-priced, right-handed reliever for assignment Tuesday. 

The Dodgers will be on the hook for the $9.5 million owed to Wilson next season, but new general manager Farhan Zaidi didn't appear to be willing to saddle himself with the struggling pitcher for the sheer fact that he is being paid a lot. 

"The contract is the contract," Zaidi told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. "We don't want to be tied down by financial decisions. We're trying to put together the best roster possible. After some of the moves we made, we felt that was an area of surplus."

Zaidi has wasted no time reshaping a Dodgers team that reached the postseason in each of the last two seasons, having signed Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy, in addition to trading for Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal, while parting ways with Matt Kemp, Dee Gordon and Dan Haren, all within the last six says. 

Wilson was awful last season for the Dodgers, posting a 4.66 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 48 1/3 innings. He missed 10 games in April with inflammation in his right elbow. 

Zaidi acknowledged that the move was strictly based on poor results and not anything else. 

"This was not a move made out of any medical concern," Zaidi said. "This is a move about performance."

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