Mattingly - Not The Right Stuff?
The essence of the article: "... it is hard not to draw the conclusion that Don Mattingly was unable to match the qualities that Cashman saw in Girardi, raising questions about Mattingly’s ability to lead going forward."
There is also an interesting side note on a current L.A. coach:
"When Cashman approached Jeter the offseason after Joe Torre’s dismissal, Jeter said he wasn’t aware of the problem [of losing "two steps" in fielding range].... Cashman said, "He wasn’t aware because nobody had told him. My staff told me they were confronting him on it. They weren’t. Clearly I was being lied to by my field staff." While I hesitate to indict Mattingly with such thin evidence (Larry Bowa is the sensible choice for the majority of the blame), everyone on Torre’s staff becomes accountable when management is lied to and orders go unfulfilled."
When Frank McCourt told a blog group in 2007 that hiring Ned Colletti was the best decision he's made, he pointed to Colletti's abilities to keep the organization "aligned". I hope Colletti's field staff is more aligned to Ned than they were to Cashman. (Perhaps the ability to lie convincingly - or maybe convincingly doesn't even matter - is part of the current vertical alignment of the management of the Los Angeles Dodgers.)
Tip to Eric Enders for posting this link in the Dodger Thoughts comments after spotting it linked by BTF.
9 months ago
David Young
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very interesting
And bringing all this full circle, this is why I’m inclined to believe Hudson over Torre. This “lack of communication”, to put it as nicely as I can, seems to be a pattern with Torre and his regime. I still think that he’s done more good than harm for the Dodgers, but the more I read about the circumstances of his dismissal from the Yankees, the less of a sympathetic character he seems to be.
while hudson maybe right about his situation
I think Cashman is just blowing smoke up Girardi’s ass. Torre was screwed by Hank and Mattingly was Joe’s guy so they had to go to someone else to take Joe’s spot. In Cashman’s mind this is maybe how it went down looking back from 2 years out, but it is my opinion that he is revising history to lend support to the guy he chose. Jeter certainly is aware of his own diminishing defensive abilities and whether or not Cashman was told by his staff that they “confronted him” only Brian and the anonymous staff member know what happened. What Cashman calls confronted could easily be a coach or Joe telling Jeter to play a step closer to 2nd or a step more to the hole and if told to Jeter would most likely just do it and not feel like he was confronted with it.
and the whole thing about “improved scouting” including the statement:
his apparent ignorance of now basic statistical analysis and consistent strategic methodology may doom his first campaign even before he starts.
seems to be pure speculation. Pena or Girardi or Mattingly or any 2 of the three could have been the ignorant parties. Laying it at Donnie’s feet is simply the author accepting his own logic trail from prior in the article. Don did not get hired, someone who interviewed did not understand OPS+ or FIP or some other statistic, therefore Don does not understand “improved statistical analysis”. This article was a hatchet job.
For me personally I am not at all sure Mattingly is the right man to replace Torre when the time comes, I have always felt that a MLB manager should have some experience actually managing before they get the big league job, I also like to have people who have a long association with the team. ala Lasorda or Alston.
Maybe when the time comes to replace Joe, there will be some magic cure for Mike Sciocias’ Tragic Illness.
by MammothDodger on Dec 4, 2009 9:34 AM PST up reply actions
Yeah, the article is a hatchet job, at least to a certain extent – and I used that to tease in the title of the post – but that’s why I wrote more on the Cashman quote, which was made “at a recent gathering with fans” per the linked article. True or not, what Cashman said is far stronger than the usual pablum GMs spew when explaining why they make any given decision. He is certainly in a position to build up Girardi without hammering the old coach staff, especially with something so specific, so what is his motivation to tell the story, particularly if it isn’t true?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I guess it turns on the words "confronted him"
While Cashman plays that up as he was lied to, it could just be a misunderstanding amongst Jeter, the anonymous staffer and Cashman, about the way things were phrased. Then 2 years out Cashman uses the strong phrase “I was lied too” in a setting with what most likely are die hard fans of the Yankees in an attempt to justify the bypassing of the fan fav for the Giradi, who admittedly with the purchase of 3 mega stars was able to bring them back whe WS title.
by MammothDodger on Dec 4, 2009 10:10 AM PST up reply actions
My staff told me they were confronting him on it. They weren’t. Clearly I was being lied to by my field staff.
I read the first “staff” as also meaning “field staff” – the manager and his coaches. It’s hard not to assume that the staff member that Cashman would talk to about Jeter would be either the manager (Torre) or the infielders coach (Bowa). And yes, misunderstanding isn’t unlikely. But I’m still surprise by him presenting a specific story.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
i agree it is suprising to go into that kind of setail
perhaps he feels that Joe burned the bridge with his book and now he just needs to make sure there will be no bridge rebuilt for any Joe loyalists
by MammothDodger on Dec 4, 2009 10:23 AM PST up reply actions
I don't think I can recall
a more depressing week since Depo was fired after the silly manager dance.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Dave Cameron
from FanGraph takes a look the Dodger no arb decision.
However I found this quote from ThinkBlue in the comments interesting enough to share:
thinkblue says:
December 2, 2009 at 3:37 pm
there are rumors that Colletti had a gentlemen’s agreement with the two players to NOT offer them arb after the end of their one year contracts, thereby, making them more attractive FA’s, similar to O-Cab’s contract clause.
This is the first I’ve heard of this rumor, has anyone else heard it?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Hudson said he had no assurances from the Dodgers that they wouldn’t offer him arbitration.
Also, why would Wolf had one? Wolf was a type B FA, and wasn’t offered arbitration from the Astros. And nobody would have projected him to be a type A Free agent.
So basically, Wolf and his agent had to know that 1) He would pitch much better than he has in years. 2) The Dodgers were okay to giving up such a potential pick that may never show up. 3) Why the heck would Wolf and his agent be asking this when he wasn’t ranked type-A and wasn’t projected to be ranked type-A?
Also, why would Wolf had one? Wolf was a type B FA, and wasn’t offered arbitration from the Astros. And nobody would have projected him to be a type A Free agent.
Jon Garland was a Type B last offseason, yet he had a clause in his contract preventing offering of arbitration if he was a Type A.
There are lots of clauses, many unreachable, in many contracts.
The formula for starting pitching.
SP: Total games (total starts + 0.5 * total relief appearances), IP, Wins, W-L Percentage, ERA, Strikeouts
Garland is crappy, but he’s among the league leaders in starts, innings pitch, could have a flukey year where he can have a high total of wins, W-L percentage, and a fairly low ERA for him. The only thing Garland can’t do is the strikeouts.
Wolf before 2009? He still was injury prone, and there was questions if he could pitch for a whole season. So he’d be on the low side of starts, IP, Wins, W-L Percentage, and probably ERA if he didn’t have a near career year.
During The Season....
….I said — here — that I read that Hudson could not be offered arbitration, his agent being acutely aware of how badly Hudson’s marketability was hurt by his Type A status last off-season. Everybody told me I was wrong so I let it go.
Can't agree with that
unless Ned has told you privately that he would never have any verbal agreements again because of the JD thing. If I’m an agent I’m asking for all my clients where they could be hurt by arbitration that they not be offered arbitration before I even start talking about money. Doesn’t matter if they don’t have a stone’s chance of being a Type A I’m still asking for it. Just like I’m asking for those possible MVP top 10 or All-Star bonuses.
From my point of view the decision to not offer arb to either player is so against baseball common sense I would give some credence to the possibility they had agreed not to do so. However if you know something different as a fact I’ll take your word, if you just think it, then I’ll keep my position.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
baseball is full of handshakes, winks, gentleman’s agreements, etc. I am inclined to believe that there is more going on as well, but we’ll never know.
Give me a break.
Joe Torre has been a great addition to the Dodgers. Hudson was playing bad at the end of the season, and Belliard stepped in and did a nice job.
I like the approach that Torre and Mattingly and Bowa
take with the players and the young Dodgers seem to be getting better. Joe Girardi won with a combination of being a good manager and havinga kick ass team. Joe Torre would have won a WS if AROD would have performed like he should have earlier in his career.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 2, 2009 4:51 PM PST up reply actions
but Mattingly really HASN'T gotten one!
been said before a few times, but worth saying again, if only for the sheer improbability of it:
World Series appearance percentage since 1976 for Yankees sans Mattingly: 68% (11 for 16)
World Series appearance percentage since 1976 for Yankees with Mattingly: 0% (0 for 18, ‘82-’95 as player, ‘04-’07 as coach)
certainly wasn’t HIS fault though, especially in the ’80s…
What approach is that?
You have no problem with the way that Torre handled Hudson’s benching by (allegedly) never discussing it with him.
by Michael White on Dec 2, 2009 5:03 PM PST up reply actions
Hudson should have not suck in June and July? =P Really, the problem with is that the benching didn’t come earlier in the season.
It was a delayed reaction, and Hudson probably still thinks that he played well for the whole year instead of having a great April, and a below proficient May-Oct.
I'll tell ya one thing ...
when he was batting 3rd and had 8th and 9th inning PA’s, he sure as hell shouldn’t have been bunting so much that it had to be addressed in the paper!
Torre had to say, “It was his call to bunt.” Which I really can’t believe any seasoned veteran would do. I mean no outs, men on 1st and 2nd and YOU BUNT? AGAIN AND AGAIN, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT!?
by Seanny Rotten on Dec 3, 2009 7:57 AM PST up reply actions
Sorry for answering this the next day.
I am not sure how much discussion is needed with O-Dog and Torre when it was obvious that Hudson was not playing well. It also seems out of character for Torre not to at least broach the subject….I don’t know. This seems like an outlier kind of thing.
But on the whole, I like the communication between Torre, Mattingly, and Bowa and the young players. The players seem to draw from the coaches confidence in them. I like Mattingly’s approach with them, and think it will benefit the hitters inthe long run. Kemp especially. I like how Bowa works with the infielders and I like how fired up he gets in general.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 3, 2009 9:55 AM PST up reply actions
Where are you getting your information from?
What sort of communication is had between the coaching staff and the young players? What do you like about it?
by Michael White on Dec 3, 2009 10:21 AM PST up reply actions
Just general info
that I read in the papers and other media outlets. I often read about how Torre has talks with guys in his office and try’s to straighten things out. I have read several blurbs about having talks with Kemp, Ethier, Broxton, Billingsley, Loney, Furcal. He never once undercut Billingsley this season with all of his struggles and still calls him a pitcher who will be great. I like how Bowa is constantly open to working on fielding with guys like Dewitt and will put forth a good word for a guy like Dewitt if he is showing something like a few seasons ago.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 3, 2009 10:28 AM PST up reply actions
Torre’s purported M.O. is to talk to the kids and assume the veterans don’t need the embarrassing discussion because they know how to read the writing on the walls, being veterans and all. The link at the top points to Cashman believing that Torre and/or his staff told him that they talked to Jeter, a veteran, but they actually didn’t. Your examples are all “kids”, except Furcal. It’s possible Ian and mwhite are both right to some extent.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Hopefully there's an article or fanshot on BA's list on Friday
I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. Canuck’s list was excellent, so it’ll be interesting to compare the two. Right now, here are the locks:
1. Dee Gordon
2. Chris Withrow
3. Ethan Martin
4. Andrew Lambo
This almost has to be the top 4, in some order. The rest is tougher to predict.
been looking for a silver lining to the last few days, how's this
since we’re CLEARLY further away from a World Series championship than we were two months ago- not out of it, just further- does this reduce the chances of trading Dee Gordon to get us “over the hump”, in a probably ill-advised move that we will almost certainly regret later? A lot can happen, of course, but it sounds like he may be ready to take over SS just in time for when Rafael Furcal leaves without an arbitration offer. (Sorry- I tried to stay positive through the whole post, but I’m just not ready yet! :/ )
since we’re CLEARLY further away from a World Series championship than we were two months ago
I don’t believe that. At least not yet. I mean, the reason we were all so incensed about not offering Wolf arbitration, is because we assumed he wouldn’t take it. 2 months ago, we were essentially predicting the team to look the same as it looks today.
What deflated us about yesterday, is the impact to years down the line from the discarding of free draft picks.
by Michael White on Dec 2, 2009 5:21 PM PST up reply actions
yeah, true
the impact of losing Wolf and Hudson is definitely a setback, but not as much as the idea of losing out on 4 first round picks! (including the supplemental round)
Ok, I’ll try again- perhaps the silver lining is that McCourt expects to be gone shortly, thus not CARING what team looks like in a few years?
Plus it says there's no money this winter for free agents
That’s my guess. There’s no money for draft picks, and that suggests there’s no real money available to improve the MLB club next year.
If they just fill in gaps with minimum-wage guys, they aren’t going to get past anybody in the playoffs. They might not even make the playoffs, if the Giants get their act together and make the right moves this winter.
I'm just shocked that Colletti almost DID trade Gordon
for Cliff Lee. There’s no doubt that’s his type of player.
Other then
Juan Pierre why do you keep saying Gordon is Ned’s type of player. Ned hasn’t signed one player who meets Gordon’s profile other then Juan Pierre and that was three long winters ago.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Ned values speed and defense. This is a fact. He preaches these as fundamental ingredients to winning baseball.
Gordon obviously has a sky high ceiling in both areas (that’s if he can stick at SS).
One more thing
When he was asked who would win the World Series on a radio show, the FIRST thing he mentioned in the Phillies’ favor was their speed.
Action vs. Words in a volume contest
What Ned does, however, is acquire or re-sign numerous speedy defensive wonders like Luis Gonzalez, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Mark Sweeney, Mark Loretta, Jim Thome, Roly-Poly, ….
However, because he does say those things, that makes me more comfortable that Matt Kemp is here to stay.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Little shocked the Braves are giving the ball to Wagner in the 9th. How many hard throwing lefty closers who have had arm surgery past the age of 30 have bounced back to resemble themselves in the last 20 years? BJ Ryan sure didn’t. Not to many comp’s I guess since lefty closers are so rare in the first place.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Seeing the headline I figured this post was about Preston
so a little surprised to see it was about his Dad. As I’ve said before I have zero interest in having a lifetime Yankee become a Dodger manager. It is not like the Dodgers dont’ have a plethora of candidates starting with Tim Wallach who at least spent some time in the Ravine.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Someone can rebutt
this by saying just pick the best man for the job but you’d have a hard time convincing me that Don Mattingly is the best man for the job because you would have zero to back it up with since we have no clue what kind of manager he’d be.
Not to belabor the point but has anyone noticed what Russell has hit since Don became the hitting coach? On the other hand look what Andre has done. Maybe we need a right handed hitting coach and a left handed hitting coach. I’ve never quite understood how one single hitting coach who had a certain style can help a roster of totally different type of hitters.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Let's not forget
Somewhat off topic, but Girardi didn’t win a thing, nor did he even make the playoffs, until his FO went out and spent $423 million last off-season.
by Capt Obvious on Dec 2, 2009 6:19 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
I Would Rather...
…see Tim Wallach succeed Torre than Mattingly. I don’t think Mattingly has ever managed in the minors, has he?
I do not like the whole idea that a current coach/manager can name his replacement.
It is all the rage in CFB, and NFL. It makes sure the team can not go out and find the best fit just because of some baloney loyalty issue.
Sounds like Polanco will be a Phillie…3 years, $18m with an option for 2013, to play 3B.
http://zozone.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/12/polanco_close_to_three-year_de.html
at least we’re not doing that. His bat doesn’t play at 3B even if he has a rebound year, does it? And how will his defense be there?
Although I guess having Utley at 2B gives you room to have a different type of 3B
True
I would be legitimately terrified of the Giants if they pull a Beltre/Holliday or Beltre/Bay offseason.
That said, it would be cool to grab Ryan Garko for the bench if he ends up getting non-tendered. He can mash lefties.
with the dodgers in (something approaching) disarray
it’s prime time for the giants. But they’re just the sort to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Have you ready anywhere if
they have money to spend? We already know AZ has about 10 mil, Padres 0 and Dodgers 0.
Reports suggest they can raise payroll to around $90 million
but Lincecum’s big arby raise is going to take a chunk of that and they’ve got Brian Wilson and Jonathan Sanchez to negotiate big raises for as well. In the end, though, they should have some extra money to spend on offense, it’s just a matter of how much.
The team isn't going to be adding payroll,
Or at least not a lot of it, so they’re looking for cheaper versions of Atkins, Torrealba and Marquis to take their places without losing overall quality (should be easy on the first two, difficult for the third) and then spend the excess on maintaining the bullpen. The Rockies hope that Jeff Francis is back and healthy and can pick up the slack for losing Marquis, but as a fan, the shoulder issues concern me and I hope there will be a suitable backup plan by the start of the season.
Like the Dodgers, the core of the team is pretty young and stable so not a lot needs to be done to keep them competitive, but probably like you guys, I’d prefer it if there was more being done to actually improve our chances.
Nope
just a fear.
I don’t think the Dodgers have $0 to spend. I imagine they will spend something like $10m in 2010 dollars on free agents / moves this offseason, but they were too afraid it would be wrapped up in one guy if Hudson and/or Wolf accepted arb.
I’m not sure if Polanco’s combo of offense & defense at 3B will be that much better than Pedro Feliz for the Phillies, but I do have a sense of payroll envy.
The Phillies will have a payroll right around $130m or so in 2010 ($111.625m for 16 guys right now, assuming $6m for Polanco, plus some arb cases).
I’m not saying spend money to spend money, because you could end up spending it on Polanco to play 3B, but wouldn’t it be nice if the Dodgers’ ceiling was $130m instead of ~$105m?
Given that our ceiling does seem to be $105 MM (or possibly less)...
A) What do people hope we can do with the $10 or so million to spend?
B) What do people think Ned is likely to do with $10 or so million to spend?
*non-editors note – this could probably be a separate thread, now that we all have a better idea of the team’s direction as reflected by arbitration decisions.
Must be nice
Maybe the Phillies ownership doesn’t have Frank’s debt load, but they also have a shiny less than 5 year old stadium – and who paid for that? Not to mention it seats about 10k less pax per game.
I don’t know anything about their revenue streams so I’m curious how they can afford to be such a big spending team.
From Jon Heyman
#rockies, marquis had falling out over his reaction to him not getting playoff start. so he isnt expected to accept arb
So at least one NL West team understands the dynamic of a scorned player not wanting to return, and capitalizing on that fact.
Pretty cool blog
from Garrett Broshuis, a 27-year old minor league pitcher in the Giants organization. He provides some good insight, even if he is technically an “enemy.”
http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/
Broshuis was the one who wrote the NYT guest Op-Ed regarding baseball and health care for minor leaguers last month.
Castro officially a Phillie
from Todd Zolecki:
Phillies announce infielder Juan Castro has signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2011
Not sure of the money yet.
Deal is apparently “worth less than $1 million.”
http://blogs.delawareonline.com/philledin/2009/12/03/castro-deal-done-polanco-close/
Just to weigh in on all of the hub bub for a sec.....
It was disappointing that the Dodgers did not offer arbitration, but jus to put a positive spin on it for myself, Frank is in a perilous position right now and is trying to get by somehow. Saving now just so he can keep the ball club running while he straightens things out. After that, he can improve on his own job.
What I do know is that the Dodgers can become a World Series entrant if Billingsley and Kershaw take the next step. If they do that, those are our ace guys who can dominate it. Hopefully Ethier matches last year, Manny improves, Kemp improves and I am predicting Loney turns his road power numbers into home numbers too and hits 25 home runs. That is a lot of room for growth for a team that is already good. With a few good mid season moves, they are contending for the World Series, granted I don’t know if anybody can beat the Yankees for the next few years until Jeter and Arod start falling apart.
I haven’t given up yet. The Raiders are another story though.
Or you can try looking at it from that whole reality angle:
Hope is lost until a new owner emerges
The only thing left to be decided is how many years it will take to recover after this jackass screws up the team.
I won't take that angle
until the team is bad. But as it is, the team is really fucking good. If McCourt starts trading the Kemp’s, Ehtier’s, etc., then I will have a serious problem. And I do look at it from a reality angle. I am not blind to people making mistakes. Not offering arbitration is obviously a mistake down the road, but it is not the end of the world for me yet. I also think it is early in the offseason, so I will not fully judge it until opening rosters are set. Lot’s of things can happen.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 3, 2009 10:33 AM PST up reply actions
I agree
Nothing earth shattering has happened yet to impact 2010. I’m no more optimistic or pessimistic about 2010 then I was a week ago. I knew Hudson and Wolf weren’t coming back and the draft picks wasted obviously have nothing to do with next season.
by Michael White on Dec 3, 2009 10:41 AM PST up reply actions
I agree to a point
My anger / despair over the lack of arb offers has more to do with a general bad feeling about the direction the club is headed in the long term.
Also, the one effect of 2010 was that it really drove home the fact that the Dodgers don’t have the budget to really add anything significant in payroll for next season. However, that was sort of already known anyway, at least implicitly.
by Eric Stephen on Dec 3, 2009 10:48 AM PST up reply actions
The only moves most of us wanted made
were signing guys with high upside/low cost (Harden, Sheets, Bedard) but the club had never demonstrated that they were interested in going that route anyway.
I still don’t mind that the club doesn’t have a ton of money to make the wrong decisions, like trading the farm for Roy Halladay.
by Michael White on Dec 3, 2009 10:55 AM PST up reply actions
I understand
those lack of arb offerings giving you a bad feeling of where the club is heading. I have those feelings, but maybe not as strong yet….
It would be nice if the Dodgers would increase the payroll. But also, there isn’t really any free agents available this offseason that would make sense to sign even if they had that payroll.
Maybe Ned can make up for it by signing a couple of guys for cheap that turn into value signings.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 3, 2009 11:03 AM PST up reply actions
Agree
It’s a case of the team still being incredibly short sighted, and as such, prone to keep making moves that will hurt the team going forward.
Frank is in a perilous position right now and is trying to get by somehow. Saving now just so he can keep the ball club running while he straightens things out. After that, he can improve on his own job.
I don’t know what would change under McCourt’s ownership so he could improve though.
by Eric Stephen on Dec 3, 2009 10:30 AM PST up reply actions
I was just putting a somewhat positive sping on it
in my own mind. He may really fuck the whole thing up. I am aware of that. But I am still thinking of ways that he can improve his position and standing. Somehow. I don’t know? I am sure in his ego, he is thinking the same thing.
by Ian Capilouto on Dec 3, 2009 10:35 AM PST up reply actions
Its good to have optimism
But when a snake has just bit you, you don’t hope the snake will change its ways and trust the snake.
The positive spin
is that the current team is the exact same team that was playing for the NLCS. Other then the fact the best pitcher in the posteason is a free agent (Padilla) and that the best pitcher all season is a free agent (Wolf) and both 2nd baseman are free agents (Hudson/Belliard) it is basically the same team.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Dodger Offseason
As summarized in LA Times article
The Dodgers are expected to explore the possibility of dealing fourth outfielder Juan Pierre for an overpaid back-of-the-rotation pitcher in a trade that would essentially amount to a swap of bad contracts. Pierre is owed $18.5 million over the next two seasons.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-angels-dodgers29-2009nov29,0,6353644.story
Add open tryouts in Spring training to whomever will play for <<<$1 Million/year and you’ve pretty much just summed up the Dodger off-season.
Am I the only one who thinks that would be a good thing?
Swapping Pierre for a back of the rotation starter that is…
by Michael White on Dec 3, 2009 10:56 AM PST up reply actions
Millwood?
Besides Harang and Arroyo who else meets those specifications? What team needs a CF that has a pitcher with a bad contract?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Up until the Brewers acquired Carlos Gomez from the Twins, they had a need and Suppan, but he sucks anyways.
According to a recent article, the Rangers are not trying to move Millwood.
The Mets need an outfielder and have Oliver Perez, but he was terrible last year and even more costly than Pierre.
The Royals need a CF and have Gil Meche, but not sure of his health status.
The Braves would probably like to move Kawakami, but I don’t think they would want Pierre.
The only other team(s) I can think of would be Tigers or Indians who are saddled with guys like Bonderman, Robertson, Willis, Westbrook, Carmona – Can’t see any of these working out though.
The bad thing is
that is the best possible thing that Ned can do in the off-season (and he will be lucky even to do that).
Its is depressing to think that the gaining of Barry Zito will be the marquee off-season move.
I think the best possible thing Ned could do this off-season is sign one of Bedard/Sheets/Duchsherer to a reasonable contract and that person throw 180+ innings.
If any GM knew
that any of those three would throw 180 innings they’d be getting one hell of a contract offer. Based on history the odds of that happening are slim. I’ve never such a group of talented but question mark starters in the free agent market. Not just the three you mentioned by Harden and Escobar as well. You could even throw Mulder into that group.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Dodgers have somewhere between the 16th & 25th ranked farm system
per Baseball America:
L.A. has spent less on draft picks the last two years than any club, and it shows
I think if you were to ask Sickels he would put us slightly higher than that. Just my opinion, but I think BA always overranks entire teams and guys based on draft standing and “raw tools” as opposed to actual results and age, which is why their top ten lists change so much from year to year.
I could entirely be an outlier on this, but its been an opinion brewing for a few years now.
I don't think so
Sickels seems to have a very low opinion of Lambo who many here consider our best offensive product. I’d doubt that anyone gets an A or A- grade from him right now.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
He is not high on Lambo, but overall I think we have to be in the top 5 or 10 in pitching depth in low minors through AA (starting next season) and I think Sickels will recognize that when he publishes his book.
I guess another difference with BA is that if a system has one or two guys with real high ceilings they bump up that team’s overall ranking, whereas I always thought depth of the system should be valued highly and I tend to think that Sickels reflects this.
Can't agree with that summation
our last two drafts have been solid, it was the prior drafts that have given us little at aaa-aa.
Now if they said we have spent less on international players ( which is also true) and it shows I’d agree with that statement. Which they did in fact say, I’m just disagreeing with the quote you are showing. This was in Kensai’s story that I linked to several days ago.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
2006 and Kershaw would like to respectfully disagree with you :)
lol.
Other than Kershaw, was there really anything productive from that draft for the Dodgers?
Braves paying
two Red Sox relief pitchers $10 Million in 2010 while letting go better pitchers in Gonzalez and Soriano so they can get draft picks. Interesting
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I still like Saito’s pitching ability and would have easily been in favor of giving him the same deal to take Mota’s spot, or to replace Sherrill if he were traded.
Read an interview recently where Billy Beane says Ks and K/9IP are the best stats to evaluate pitching.
I like it.
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego
|
76 | 56 | .575 | 0 | Lost 7 |
|
San Francisco
|
74 | 60 | .552 | 3 | Won 2 |
|
Colorado
|
69 | 63 | .522 | 7 | Lost 2 |
|
Los Angeles
|
68 | 66 | .507 | 9 | Lost 2 |
|
Arizona
|
55 | 79 | .410 | 22 | Won 3 |
(updated 9.2.2010 at 3:17 AM PDT)
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