Monthly Archives: October 2007

Is Anyone Buying This?

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Since Joe Torre has yet to be named the official manager of the Blue, we’ll hold off on discussing what that’ll mean until it actually happens. In the meantime, there’s the simply astounding turnabout of the last 24 hours of the Reign of Griddle to discuss.

For the entirety of this drama, this was the chain of events we had all led to believe had occurred:

1. End of another disappointing Dodgers season
2. McCourt and Colletti each state that Griddle is back in ’08
3. After a few weeks, McCourt and/or Colletti change their mind about Griddle and reach out to Joe Girardi
4. After it becomes clear Girardi’s getting the Yankees job, they go to Plan B – Torre.
5. All the while, letting Griddle twist in the wind until he finally quits in disgust and/or before being fired.

120605_colletti_little_lasorda_1.jpgThis timeline has the positive outcome of not having Grady Little as the manager of the Dodgers; but the much more ominous one of making the front office and ownership look awful by letting a good man (though not a good manager) suffer for nearly two weeks before being tossed aside – an especially damning sign for a GM who’s biggest strength is supposed to be people skills. He talks to the fans so the software people don’t have to!

However, now we’re hearing this is how it went down (differences in italics):

1. End of another disappointing Dodgers season
2. McCourt and Colletti each state that Griddle is back in ’08
3. Griddle expresses to Colletti that he’s unsure if he wants to return in ’08
4. Colletti does his due diligence by contacting other candidates
5. After it becomes clear Girardi’s getting the Yankees job, they go to Plan B – Torre.
6. Griddle finally decides to step aside, even though “I wanted Grady Little back,” said Colletti. “We discussed a lot of things, how he felt and how I felt, and we just felt it was best for everybody that this is where it ended up. I encouraged him a handful of times to think it through, that I wanted him back.”

Whew. So what are we to believe here? I have a difficult time thinking that Grady would really need an entire month to decide whether he’d come back in 2008. On the other hand, if it’s the first scenario, it’s mind-blowing to think how bad of a PR botch job this was by the higher-ups.

My best guess? The truth lies somewhere in between. The Dodgers.com article states,

But having taken an inordinate share of the blame for a season gone bad in many ways, Little privately voiced to Colletti that he had doubts whether he wanted to manage as a lame duck, lacking solid support from the front office and being increasingly unpopular among fans.

So what that says to me is, Griddle was going to be welcomed back in 2008 for the last year of his deal, but without a contract extension. Griddle takes that as a sign they don’t trust him and says he’s uncomfortable with it. Ned checks in on other candidates, and somehow the word leaks out and now Griddle is really cooked – it’s unlikely he really could have returned after the events of the last two weeks. But since everyone thinks that Colletti/McCourt are screwing over poor Griddle, in order to avoid a PR backlash they offer him a nice severance package in order to go along with the Scenario #2 story.

There’s also the possibility that Colletti came to the same conclusion most Dodger fans have had for the last year and a half – that Griddle isn’t much of a field general – but.. well, we all know that‘s not the case.

What do you think?

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg

It's Official: Grady Little Out!

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According to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News, the Dodgers have officially parted ways with Grady Little and are scheduling a conference call at 4 P.M. Once all of this madness settles down, we’ll try and make some sense out of it, but until then…

GRADY IS GONE!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Repeat after me…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwnqqj5Q1BU]

NA, NA, NA, NA, HEY, HEY, HEY, GOODBYE!!

Nintendo Baseball triumphs.

- Vin vinscully-face.jpg

RIP, Scott Proctor (1977-2008)

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torre.jpgBreaking news within the last hour..

Peter Abraham of the Journal News is reporting that Joe Torre is going to be hired as Dodgers manager as soon as TODAY. (Edit: Rotoworld is now running with this story too. Thanks, Torgy!)

This is unconfirmed, of course. If this turns out to be true, I’ll delve deeper into my thoughts on how Torre would do as manager of the Blue, but I just wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

And might I say? WOW. I honestly never gave this a shot in hell of happening. Maybe the Girardi rumors were actually accurate about him being bench coach if he didn’t get the Yankees job – except he wouldn’t be bench coach for Griddle, he’d be bench coach for Torre.

The link also states that Don Mattingly, who just quit the Yankees after not getting the manager gig, would come with. Growing up in NJ in the 80s, despite not being a Yankees fan, I was always a HUGE Mattingly fan. How could you not be? Talk about playing the game the right way. Plus, if you don’t know, LA drafted his son Preston in the first round last year. Sure, Preston sucked in the minors in his debut. But still.

More to come. Including whether this rumor is BS or not. But still. Whoa.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg

Is This Silver Lining Coming With a Cloud?

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I know this is like my 4th post on the subject, but the rumors just keep flying. With two more weeks before the Hot Stove officially opens, this is exactly the kind of stuff a blog depends on to keep going in the long, cold, off-season.

Latest updates in the managerial drama:

Joe Girardi has been offered, and will likely accept, the Yankees managerial position, says ESPN. Okay, so there go the Girardi-to-LA rumors, regardless of whether it’s as Griddle’s replacement as manager, or as bench coach to Griddle with the added role of yelling “Dead Man Walking!!” every time Grady strolls out to the mound. (Seriously, could we have given Girardi a black reaper’s outfit and a scythe instead of a uniform if that had happened? How awesome might that have been?)

Well, that’s that. A little uncomfortable perhaps, but now that Girardi’s out of the picture, Griddle can rest easy and prepare for Vero Be.. wait.. what?

According to two people with knowledge of the Dodgers’ universe, the club and Little are talking about a buyout that would leave the manager’s office in Chavez Ravine vacant for Torre to inherit.

So says the New York Post. Leaving aside the issue of whether “people with knowledge of the Dodgers’ universe” could be the janitor and Mrs. McCourt’s personal trainer for a second, this raises some real issues. The article goes on to say that Jo005_05.jpge Torre would be the likely target, and while I’ve described why I think that’s stupid already (why bother paying a new guy way more money than the current guy, when they’re very similar managers and we’ve got plenty of good young arms for Torre to ruin??), it’s sort of besides the point here.

If the Dodgers were planning on upgrading from Griddle to either Torre or Girardi, why are we just finding out about this now? Why was Little left twisting in the wind for a month since the season ended, and why did Ned say he’s definitely coming back in 2008? It’s not as if it’s recent news that one of either Torre or Girardi would not be managing the Yankees next year. And if the goal was more pointed towards “not having Griddle” than specifically having Torre or Girardi, then what’s the point of waiting?

I wouldn’t have minded Girardi in town, and I certainly wouldn’t have minded Griddle being gone. I just really don’t see the point of the bizarre timing and murkiness of all of this, and I really don’t see the point of Torre, who’s a very similar type of manager.

I expect this to get ugly. Soon.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg

MSTI.com's 2007 In Review: Left Field

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Right! Let’s get back on this, because the Rockies are sure doing a good job of making sure 2007 is getting over with ASAP.

luis-gonzalez.jpgLuis Gonzalez = B-

(.278/.359/.433, 15 HR’s, 68 RBI’s)

2007 recap: I know, I know… this grade might surprise you, but take a look at these numbers and it might make more sense:

Luis Gonzalez’s OPS Since 2001:

2001 (age 33-34): 1.117
2002 (34-35): .896
2003 (35-36): .934
2004 (36-37): .866
2005 (37-38): .825
2006 (38-39): .796
2007 (39-40): .792

O.K., so why do these past numbers matter? Because notice the downward trend in OPS (and, for the record, I only used OPS as a quick and dirty check; other numbers show the same trend) and the upward trend in age. Should we really have expected a man turning 40 to put up numbers close to his prime? Not unless you’re Ned Colletti! But the point is, based on his decline and shoulder surgery in 2004, he pretty much met “expectations” and, you know what? He didn’t have THAT bad of a year.

Let’s not forget the circumstances under which we signed Gonzo in the first place. Remember, going into 2007, the OF was in shambles. Ethier was in no way a sure thing; he’d taken a nosedive at the end of 2006. We all loved Kemp’s potential, but most fans agreed he could probably use some seasoning in the minors for a bit first. We needed Gonzo to come in and play some LF unless and until the following two things happened:

1) Ethier and Kemp proved they were ready to each handle a corner position.
2) Gonzo proved he was cooked.

And what can I say? Things worked out pretty perfectly. Ethier and Kemp both proved they could play every day, but it took nearly half the season to get to that point, thanks to Ethier’s slow start and Kemp’s losing battle with the right field wall. Plus, Gonzo was actually one of the team’s most dependable hitters in the first half when he put up a line of .294/.384/.471. He hit 11 HR’s, got on base and, outside of his defense, I couldn’t really complain, he exceeded expectations. I could go into more detail about his first half, but it was summed it up pretty well in the “Real Men Of Genius” article back in July.

However, in the true bipolar fashion that is the Dodgers, he just completely took a shit in the second half.

.251/.316/.368. Only 5 HR and 27 RBI, and a 171-point drop in his OPS. With his usual “stellar” outfield defense.

For an over-40 vet, that’s a pretty clear sign he’s past his expiration date, right? Yeah, he was pretty bad in the second half. Really bad. But I sort of felt like once Kemp and Ethier proved themselves, it wouldn’t really matter what Gonzo did, because he’d be pushed aside unless he was still lighting it up. Of course, I failed to take into account the fact we have a manager with the IQ of a peanut.

Oh, and there was there was the whole petty jackassitude (yep, still making up words) a few weeks ago bashing the kids, but which did lead to this great quote: “They were hitting .340, .350. Loney, Kemp, Martin, Ethier – they’re all great players, but we weren’t winning games. They’re getting three and four hits, but you’re not winning games.” Yes. That was EXACTLY THE PROBLEM! Damn those kids for getting three and four hits a game! They should have taken a nosedive just like you did!

So there you have it. A B-. He did was he was supposed to do for the length of time we needed him to do so, and it wasn’t his fault he kept getting playing time when he was long past his usefulness – that we can thank Griddle for.

2008 outlook: Well, you know the saying. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Which he won’t be. Adios, Luis!

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness msti-face.jpg