Ned needed to be taken down a shot or two.
by Tripon on Apr 29, 2010 3:00 PM PDT
Email
Print
We all know of the recent criticism Ned Colletti has garnered over the last couple of days due to his comments on Matt Kemp and the team in general. Phil wrote a great article on whether this event is just being used by those who are naturally bent to criticize Colletti and take out their knives to stab him in the chest. Which may be true, but I still think the current criticism is legitimate. This is a man who claimed that not offering Randy Wolf, and Orlando Hudson arbitration was a 'baseball' decision. Deciding that Jamey Carroll, Garret Anderson and Reed Johnson would make great bench players, deciding that Padilla and Charlie Heager would be the 4th and 5th starter. Decided that the Ortizes were pitchers the Dodgers could count on.
You could argue that Torre and the coaching staff wanted these moves as well, and you would be correct, but Ned Colletti is still the GM, and he clearly thought these were quality moves that should be made because he did make them. Ned Colletti is a big believer in the 'process' such as men as Brian Seabean, and Dayton Moore is. Whatever his thinking was, he thought the current 2010 Dodgers was the best team he could assemble under the circumstances he had.
This is a man who got an extension with a significant part of his resume being that the teams he created went to the playoffs 4 of out 5 years. So for him to criticize the team he created for 2010 in the manner he did speaks of his own hypocrisy.He is the GM of the Dodgers, if he truly thinks the current 2010 Dodgers isn't good enough to win the NL West, then he should do all what he can to move and add players. Not take a shot at one of its best players and then claim he really was calling out the whole team. There is no need for Colletti to say the team is playing badly. He should just try to fix it.
28 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Ageed
My biggest problem with Colletti is that he inherited an organization that was just bursting with high-end talent (the Jax 5 et al.) and a healthy payroll. The old “Only an idiot could screw this up” line really applied to his situation. Now, he deserves credit for some astute moves he’s made, but he also deserves blame for not putting us into a stronger current position. Of course he’s hamstrung by the McCourt’s finances/divorce, but he could’ve made smarter decisions in the previous years. The fact that he appears to have unquestioned job security irks me no end, as I felt Dan Evans was kicked out of his job for no good reason. All familiar rants, what what the heck . . .
You do realize that
it was Ned’s free agent signings in 2009, Manny, Hudson and Wolf plus Belisario that were the difference in the Dodgers winning the division last year.
This great young core is no longer young. Some of them (Martin, Loney and to some degree Bills) need to play better this year because it is more their team. Kemp and Either (another Ned acquisition) are going to have to prove that they can hit w/o Manny at some point.
You could argue that out of the players you named
Kemp, Ethier, Martin, Loney, Billz, Manny, Hudson, Wolf and Belisario; only Hudson, Wolf and Manny were not found by scouts. Ng found Belisario and the Dodgers had their eye on Ethier before Colletti became GM. He just cashed in on the scouting reports.
Hell, the argument could be made that only an idiot could have messed up the Manny deal, as Boston literally gave us Manny.
Ned did not help even 1/2 as much as he hurt this team. Look at his signings on the FA market, Jones, Pierre, Schmidt, etc. Hell, he was trained by Brain Sabean… that in itself should get him fired..
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Apr 29, 2010 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Ron Rizzi was the scout that found Belisario…and Monasterios, for that matter.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 29, 2010 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions
really?
I was under the impression that Ng found him. Same concept applies. Ned is relying on his scouts to find cheap talent that covers up his many mistakes, and works with his few hits. That’s not something you write to your mom about
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Apr 29, 2010 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Part of a GM’s job is to “cash in on the scouting reports”. As the manager, you get credit for the decisions you make based on the work of your staff.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
But with Ned gone...
…how much of that would be missed? :o
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 9:06 AM PDT up reply actions
We can't even say he compiled this staff
since Dan Evans did it.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions
Devil's advocate
Evaluating the staff you inherit and deciding who to keep and who to let go is also a managerial skill.
That said, did Ned bring anyone along with him when he got the job?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
That said
my general impression of Ned (based solely on his public appearances and quotes) is that he comes across to me like that guy that got promoted to position beyond his capabilities, or dating a girl out of his league. A fish out of water sort of.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Sure, I give him
about as much credit for that as I do for not trading Clayton Kershaw
That is, having an IQ over 20.
That’s just me though, I have always espoused the virtues of the farm system. :o
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions
And the Dodgers should have been much better
had he not screwed it up in the first place.
What do you think allows Colletti so much financial freedom to sign all these fuckups and still be contenders? The fact that the core was making the minimum and he found a way to almost screw it up is mindblowing.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 9:09 AM PDT up reply actions
He is the GM of the Dodgers, if he truly thinks the current 2010 Dodgers isn’t good enough to win the NL West, then he should do all what he can to move and add players
He does think the team is good enough to win the NL West. He thinks they should be playing better. This really isn’t that hard to figure out.
Yes, Colletti should have handled the entire situation better, but one of these days I hope we will get to a point where Ned Colletti will answer a question and it won’t end up as a referendum on his tenure as GM.
Phil’s parting shot in Duck Talk is his best argument, I think. It’s a two-parter: A) If Colletti had criticized Loney’s power, Phil says, we may not be having this circus… That may be true. B) Because of that, it’s hypocritical — we’re up in arms because he’s criticizing Kemp, a Dodger We Love, and not, say, Loney, a Dodger Who Has Yet to Capture Our Beating Hearts.
I will have to think about that. I have an inclination not to buy Phil’s second point, but I don’t know if I have a leg to stand on there. Am I being hypocritical or is Kemp really different for some reason?
I do think it was wrong for Ned to tie Kemp’s miscues to his new contract. I think that’s tacky, and as I work this over in my head, I think I’d think that was tacky even if Colletti had criticized Loney and his power instead of Kemp’s defense/baserunning.
I’ll have to think about whether his larger point is true. His charge will either sharpen my argument or make me a better fan.
The Ultimate Ned's Kind of Guy
I call it the Karl Dorrell effect
During the last few seasons he was UCLA football’s coach, you could not have a rational discussion about anything about the team without it becoming a referendum on his initial hiring.
Ned is the same way. I think that there are two things going on, one, there are many who just don’t like Ned (which Phil had also raised saying that if Logan White or Kim Ng had said these criticisms, some of the anger might have been tempered, and the other thing, was the Piazza effect (losing Kemp in a way similar to Piazza is something some worry about).
Its the idea that Kemp is the cornerstone of the franchise, Loney may not be here in a couple of years...
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Apr 29, 2010 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, yeah, sure, I get that.
But I’m asking myself if that’s really true. A lot of people, maybe including me, give an argument like “It’s wrong for the GM to trash his players. He should look in the mirror, because he constructed the team.”
For that sentence to hold water, we would have to be equally harsh had it been Loney’s lack of power that had been called out, and I’m not sure we would have. Phil might be right. I have to think about that.
The Ultimate Ned's Kind of Guy
by Humma Kavula on Apr 29, 2010 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions
I think it may have dependent on what Loney's agent did
If Loney’s agent came out with the same anger, meaning that it really affected Loney, we may have had the same reaction. But, in a way, shouldnt we have a stronger reaction for our GM calling out one of the best CFs in the game rather than a 1B who’s biggest flaw is the one thing 1B are generally know for?
I understand your stance, but in a way, I think a lack-of-reaction about Loney would be almost more expected
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Apr 29, 2010 9:29 PM PDT up reply actions
It's not analogous at all, IMO
If Kemp had been hitting .150, I doubt there would be as much a problem here either. But in almost every criticism i’ve read, it’s the fact that he choose to throw him under the bus despite his performance being the least of the Dodgers problems.
It was a pointed question, but if he wasn’t such a fucking dunce, he could skirted the issue and made a broader point.
The “he was just being honest” defense is invalid, for the very reason that everybody else isn’t honest about Colletti’s performance. I think Colletti is an idiot, but Frank McCourt would be a moron to come out and blast Ned Colletti for his dumbass signings. It’s just stupid PR and it creates tension that isn’t necessary publicly.
Usually it’s player-player issues that cause tension (Owens/McNabb or Old Players/Young Players), this time it’s coming from the fucking GM, and it’s RIDICULOUS.
It’s like the Bulls GM/Coach fighting in the locker room. Like what the fuck? If you’re a player, how do you go out on the court and keep focused when your goddamn front office can’t even stop fighting with each other.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 9:22 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I can agree to a point.
I don’t think anybody, including Phil, is saying that Colletti should actually have said what he said. He was wrong to say it, it was bad PR, and I stand by my original comments from a few days back. It was a pointed question but also easy to deflect, and that is what he should have done.
But Colletti did say it.
Phil is talking about our response to those comments, once made. This has become a circus because he criticized Kemp, a Dodger We Like. People like Dave Stewart have been saying “Look in the mirror,” which is a fairly pointed and harsh rejoinder. Phil’s question, and I think it’s a good one, is: if this had all been about Loney and not Kemp, would things have been different and would our response have been more muted? I think Phil’s right that it would have.
The next question, then, is, should it have been more muted? If yes, if you’re OK with a more muted response, then it follows that it’s acceptable for a GM to criticize his players. I’m having a hard time with that one.
The Ultimate Ned's Kind of Guy
by Humma Kavula on Apr 30, 2010 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions
I defend players I don't like all the time if they are producing
So I hope that part of his question wasn’t directed towards me.
I don’t think the Loney situation is analogous either, since it’s not apples to apples, as in, no matter how good defense Loney plays, it’s not going to make up for his current bat. Maybe if he criticized somebody like DeWitt or Blake for his defense, and yes, I probably would have been irked by that. And that’s only if we are talking about the performance aspect as to whether or not our reactions would be different.
Like you said though, this is all after the question was asked, and I can’t name another GM that acts like this in the public eye. Can you?
I can. Kevin Malone.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions
I believe it is directed at the community at-large. “would OUR response have been…”
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Apr 30, 2010 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
The larger point being
Why the hell is he saying anything publicly anyway?
And yes, I did address it on my site when he went on the radio during the first week and started blasting pitchers for not throwing first pitch strikes, it’s on my site.
So there’s my evidence that it bothers me all the same that he’s even talking about player performance in a negative fasion in general.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 30, 2010 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions
Our owner is a dick
our GM is probably a dick
Our assistant GM needs a dick to get the right job.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
by Phil Gurnee on Apr 30, 2010 3:05 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
All the above comments are true, that a lot of the criticism of Ned is because we just don’t like him, or its because we like Kemp more than other players on the team, or we’re being hypocritical in our criticism.
My response is, so? Its all true, yet the criticism is still valid in my eyes. Ned Colletti is the GM of the Dodgers, one of the best franchises in MLB. That he felt he needed to take a shot at Matt Kemp or any player on the team, or even the whole team like he has speaks to his character and acumen on running the Dodgers.
Anyway, I still say this whole situation has brought into light into what really was needed by the media on Colletti, and show casing some of his flaws that the media in general has tried to gloss over in the last year or so as they built up his status as a ‘good’ GM by going to the playoffs 4 out of 5 years.
Really, everything else is secondary to that I think. I’m more concerned that Ned got taken down a peg or two than him saying sorry to Matt Kemp, or that what he actually said might help or hurt the team.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on True Blue LA
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
