Ah, for the days when Walter O'Malley owned the Dodgers. Things were clear, consistent, and the team was generally absent the soap opera quality that plagues some other teams. Oh well, those days are gone.
The Dodger managerial show continues with little really clear, certainly not consistent, and it does look a little like a soap opera. Grady Little has resigned and the Dodgers are looking for a new manager, although I'm not really sure how much "looking" is going on. Joe Torre seems to almost be ready to pick out furniture for his office at Dodger Stadium.
There have been several versions and strains for this story. The most prevalent version now is that after the Dodger collapse last season the General Manager, Ned Colletti met with Grady Little and his coaches; and while taking the blame for the way the season ended, he nonetheless layed some of the fault at Little and his staff. This apparently upset Little, who then indicated he wasn't sure he'd be back next year. So Colletti began looking at other options.
One story is that Colletti wanted to hire Joe Girardi and offered him the job, but he took the Yankee job instead. If that is the case then Girardi was offered the job before Little announced his resignation. The other version is that Girardi or Joe Torre were prime candidates, but since Little hadn't made an decision and the Yankee situation was fluid, no real decision had been reached. In this scenario Little was "still the Dodger manager" and would have been back in 2008 if he wanted to be back.
The actual story is probably only known to a handful of people, but in all probability Little was going to be gone one way or another. Little was under contract for 2008 and so if he was fired, then the club would have been on the hook for his salary. If he "resigned" then that would not be the case; so the resignation part of the story needs a little clarification, since it is hard to believe someone would just walk away from his salary.
Now, onto Joe Torre. If you watch the ESPN interview with Tom Lasorda, he tries to say that he has no real knowledge of the situation as he has been traveling; but then he speaks of Joe Torre and the Dodgers in such a way as to indicate that the deal is done (I doubt that Lasorda has been kept in the dark entirely on this affair). If the deal is done what does Joe Torre mean for the Dodgers? Some points:
What also is interesting is evaluating Ned Colletti and his direction for the team. Did Grady Little's desire to make everyone happy fail and lead to a situation where the clubhouse separated and melted down? (Understanding, of course, having Jeff Kent in your clubhouse makes that more likely on the best of days). Or did Ned Colletti insist that Little not put an "all youth" team on the field, insisting that the guys he signed (Gonzales, Pierre, Nomar) be played regularly. Or, was Little simply not a strong enough personality to convince Colletti that these these three (and Kent) were not helping the team?
Colletti's signals are mixed at best. He doesn't trade any of the core of the young upcoming stars at the trade deadline, so that's good. But he saddled the team with an overpaid Luis Gonzales, but only for a one year contract, so that's perhaps OK as a bridge. Against all the opinion in the western world he signed Juan Pierre to an unbelievable contract for four years, and the Dodger pitchers paid for it all year. In theory there was no way to know that Nomar would just completely fail; but he was a guy without a position and should never have been re-signed (for two years). The Jason Schmidt signing could be viewed as perhaps a little too generous, but not outrageously so, and his injury was unpredictable. However, the signings he made at the end of the season when the team was floundering, with the exception perhaps of Mike Sweeny, bordered on insanity. Only the David Wells signing paid any dividends. The question is whether or not Colletti is committed to building a this team with the great young talent he has on hand or not. There is no way to really know what his intentions are.
The bottom line is that except for a starting pitching, the Dodgers, as currently constructed, are a very good team. They simply need #4 and #5 rotation guys who can between them win more than 6 games for the entire season. They also need to clear out the bench and get good solid back ups (who know they are back ups) on board. Kent needs to be traded, Nomar as well, or simply released. If Jason Repko is healthy and producing like he was before he was hurt, I'd much rather see his great defense and strong arm in the outfield than Juan Pierre.
The A-Rod thing to me is silly. You sign a player for two reasons: He will help your club achieve its goals and at some level will bring people out for the games. That it was announced during the World Series game that he was going to "opt out" of his contract doesn't bother me and I don't think it says a thing about him. Fox Sports was probably happy to have something to talk about rather than one of the most boring and lopsided series in history. Will A-Rod be on the top of his game for the next five years? Probably, and since Dodger stadium is a much better hitter's park than it used to be (there is virtually no foul territory any more), he would do well there. And while the Dodgers had a great average attendance last year, having A-Rod would certainly sell more tickets. Will Mr. McCourt pay $30+ million a year for a five year deal; well it's probably a better investment than the cumulative contracts of Kevin Brown, Todd Hundley, and Darren Dreifort (with the $10 million contract for Luis Gonzales thrown in).
Is Joe Torre the right guy? Well, he's 68 so how many years does he have left. He may be able to bring Don Mattingly with him as a coach (Mattingly's son Preston is in the Dodger organization, but did not have a good year last year). The Dodgers do need coaching help. Their 3rd base coach, Rich Donnelly, was an utter disaster. He seemed to have no real working knowledge of the opposition outfielders or the running speed of his own players. I'm not sure how Rick Honeycutt was as a pitching coach (but of course Leo Mazzone is currently available I think). Their batting coach I think had the job because the Dodgers were on the hook for his salary anyway. Bill Mueller might be good, I'm just not sure.
At best, Torre is a bridge manager, 2-4 years maximum. As a Dodger fan I'd rather go with a younger "Mike Scioscia" type guy. With solid minor league experience and an understanding of how to bring along and develop young players. The Dodger tradition has been stability in the managers' position, but since the days of Fox's ownership and now the McCourt's that trademark isn't there and Torre is not the one to bring it back.
My vote, again, is Ron Roenicke, bench coach for the Angels. He came up through the Dodger system in the late 1970's and early 80's. He's been a very successful minor league manager (manager of the year at two different levels) and managed at all three levels in the minors and won championships. He's been the third base coach and now the bench coach with the very successful run of the Angels. He knows the Dodger tradition, he knows Southern California, he's gotten good training working with Scioscia.
While Torre may have what the Dodgers need in the short run, Roenicke has what the Dodgers need for the long run.
Posted by Narnia3 at October 31, 2007 1:12 PM | TrackBack