Why the Dodgers Are In Last Place
April 28, 2010 at 5:02 pm | Posted in 2010 sucks so far, Joe Torre, Matt Kemp, Ned Colletti | 98 CommentsI was going to react to the lunacy of Ned Colletti calling out Matt Kemp, and then Chad had to go make a flow chart about it and render anything I had to say irrelevant. So instead, I thought I’d see how far down the list of reasons why the Dodgers are in last place ”Matt Kemp is a mediocre baserunner and outfielder” is. Hint: it’s not very high.
- Frank McCourt.
- Jamie McCourt.
- The club broke camp with not one but two Ortizes.
- Ramon Ortiz is still with the team despite a 6.39 ERA.
- Ramon Ortiz has been allowed to throw more innings than any reliever.
- Ten Dodgers have as many or more innings pitched than Jonathan Broxton, supposedly your relief ace.
- Broxton has thrown 38 pitches in the last 13 days, proving that Torre truly does not understand how to run a bullpen.
- Joe Torre is intent on sending Ramon Troncoso to his death.
- Eric Stults was sold to Japan for absolutely no good reason at all.
- The team has played just six home games so far.
- Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson were allowed to walk in the offseason without so much as an arbitration offer.
- Vicente Padilla was the only signing for the pitching staff.
- Jamey Carroll was the biggest free agent acquisition of the winter.
- Jamey Carroll is your backup shortstop.
- Jamey Carroll has a .603 OPS with underwhelming defense.
- When just one starter (Padilla) went down, John Ely was the best you could do to replace him.
- Padilla, Manny, & Jeff Weaver all hit the DL on three consecutive days.
- Hong-Chih Kuo missed most of April with an arm injury and has pitched just 0.2 innings.
- Ronald Belisario couldn’t get himself to camp on time.
- George Sherrill was a disaster for nearly the entire month.
- Chad Billingsley has been consistently inconsistent.
- The pitching staff has the 5th-worst ERA in baseball.
- When the hitters hit, the pitchers fail – and vice versa.
- Charlie Haeger hasn’t lived up to expectations.
- Rick Honeycutt has nothing of value to offer a struggling staff.
- James Loney still has zero homers, and a .312 OBP.
- Rafael Furcal has missed time with a strained hamstring.
- Blake DeWitt has shown a good eye, but has just one extra base hit through the first month.
- DeWitt’s been a “work in progress”, to put it mildly, on defense.
- The entire defense has been atrocious, with the most errors and worst fielding percentage in baseball.
- Garret Anderson – hitting .135 – is supposedly your big bat off the bench, and no steps have been taken to replace him.
- Ronnie Belliard is your backup first baseman.
- Though he’s performed well, Casey Blake no longer has the power of the beard.
- Joe Torre is seemingly more interested in his horses than his baseball team.
- Half the team was forced to go to Asia for a money-making venture.
- The lack of home games means no Vin magic.
- Ned Colletti calls out his best player as being the biggest problem.
- Matt Kemp has shown indifferent defense and subpar baserunning.
And so on. But, Ned’s right. Your All-Star center fielder who’s leading the league in homers really is the biggest problem here.
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This is the best response to this situation ever. Though I prefer OrtizI.
Comment by Table— April 28, 2010 #
Basically, we’re screwed as long as Frank’s in charge. Anything other than that is anecdotal.
Comment by Bill Grabarkewitz— April 28, 2010 #
Every now and then I think Colletti might have a clue, as witness his not trading away Ethier and Kemp. But then, no, he proves me wrong with boneheaded crap like this.
Comment by Rob McMillin— April 28, 2010 #
And — Eric Stults, huh? To Japan? Better or worse than a guy who’s pitched 18 innings above AA, Ned? You wanna answer that?
Comment by Rob McMillin— April 28, 2010 #
I have Stults! #9.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 28, 2010 #
I saw that. I was really just wondering whether there was a contractual reason for doing that (was he out of options?) because IIRC he was an NRI, which meant the team could option him back to AAA if they needed to.
Comment by Rob McMillin— April 28, 2010 #
He was out of options. Still, you could do worse than putting him in the bullpen rather than one of the Ortizes. That way you could have kept him as a longman and as insurance for weeks until Kuo & Belisario came back. At that point, if everything was great, you could dump him, but clearly the Dodgers would have just moved him into the rotation (either for Padilla or Haeger.) The $400k or so they got from Japan was completely not worth it.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 28, 2010 #
Agreed.
While we’re making lists, things I wish we would’ve done this offseason:
1. Resigned Randy Wolf
2. Signed Garland instead Padilla
3. Signed Kelly Johnson instead of Jamey Carroll
This is all on Colletti. Yeah, maybe Wolf was out of our price range, but Padilla’s money could’ve been used on Garland and same goes for Carroll with Johnson.
Comment by J— April 28, 2010 #
Padilla’s pitching is the least of our worries right now. And, actually, Padilla’s xFIP (3.90) is lower than Garland’s (4.52).
Comment by johnclevenger— April 28, 2010 #
Yeah, I agree on that. The fact that he was stupidly named OD starter, had a lousy start, and then got hurt make his season look much worse than it is.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 28, 2010 #
Granted, but Padilla’s also out for we don’t know how long with that nerve thing leading to more rotation issues.
Comment by J— April 28, 2010 #
lol
Comment by Chad— April 28, 2010 #
Did I miss something? This is the first I’ve heard about any of Ned’s comments. Enlighten me.
Comment by Matt— April 28, 2010 #
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5143340
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 28, 2010 #
Sorry, dudes, but I’m an agreement with NedCo here. For the record, Colletti never said Kemp was “mediocre.” He said “The baserunning’s below average. The defense is below average.” And this is the truth, statistically or otherwise. Someone had to say it and I would think that the General Manager of the team has every right to say it.
You’re right – Kemp is not the #1 reason, or even one of the top 10 reasons why the Dodgers are in last place. But you are misrepresenting what Ned said. He never said Kemp was “the biggest problem.” Nor did he name one specific big problem. Just like the fans, Colletti is pissed off and he decided to vent. He shouldn’t have done it over the air, but he was asked a question about Kemp, and this was his dumb answer.
I just don’t see it as Colletti “calling out” Kemp. I see it as Colletti upset with his team’s atrocious play so far against what should be extremely inferior opponents. He is right to say that this is basically the same exact team (minus Wolf and Hudson) that won 95 games last season. They look like a completely different bunch of idiots out there, and I don’t blame him for being upset.
Comment by Higgins— April 28, 2010 #
I too am on Ned’s side on this one. He’s right that this team more or less is the same group of players that one the NL west two years running. As of today the Dodgers are in last place in the NL and if not for Baltimore would have the worst record in the Majors. That is not the record of a team with this talent.
Kemp got criticism because he was specifically asked about and you can say that he’s not the worst of our problems but he has played poorly in the field and that is something worthy of criticism. To be leading the league in errors after being one of the best defensive teams last year is a huge failure. The pitching especially the bullpen has been terrible no doubt and there’s practically no one on the staff that can escape some blame there.
Frankly Ned I think is simply voicing what many of us feel and trust me sooner or later the press itself would be going in the for the kill if the team continues to play at their current level.
My only reason for optimism is that the season is only 20 games or so old so there is certainly time to right the ship but it’s got to happen relatively soon or else we’ll be looking up at the rest of the west.
Comment by Jeff— April 28, 2010 #
Absolutely agree with the above posts. I don’t think Colletti was blaming the Dodger’s situation on Kemp or on anyone in particular. I believe, however, that Colletti was asked about Kemp chose that opportunity to call our Kemp’s mediocre defense as of late. Stand up alide into 2nd, not backing up plays at 1st. Calling off other OFers to make a beautiful over the shoulder catch, only to lose track of where the ball is, over and over.
Kemp is by far a much more gifted athlete than he has been displaying lately. He needs to quit hot doggin’ it in the and go back to playing baseball the way he can.
And yes, again agree with laying blame at the feet of the McCourts. Colletti’s hands are tied, he can only operate under the constrains of the budget handed to him with Frank’s signature at the bottom. We can only hope that the family law Commissioner handling the McCourt’s divorce case is a Dodger fan and forces the sale of the team.
Comment by la1fan— April 28, 2010 #
And who put together the pitching staff? Matt Kemp? Ugh.
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
I see him acting like a child on a message board in public and trying his best to alienate his best players.
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You know what I want from a GM? An idiot who can’t control his emotions! Yeah!
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Ironic that he labels other teams inferior opponents, but then in the very previous sentence says some people think they are better than they really are. Who is to say the Nationals aren’t just better than us because the GM did his fucking job in the off-season while Ned was busy trading away Josh Bell for George Sherrill? Way to insult other teams too.
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
The Sherrill trade didn’t happen in the offseason but don’t let the facts stop your rant.
Comment by carolinabluedodger— April 29, 2010 #
You don’t think I know that? Please. What a poignant response by you to a legitimate criticism of his words.
Comment by Chad— April 30, 2010 #
You know what’s sad? Ramon Ortiz isn’t the worst reliever we’ve had this year. His xFIP is better than that of Weaver, Sherrill, _and_ Belasario (not to mention the other DFA’d reliever whose name must not be spoken).
Comment by johnclevenger— April 28, 2010 #
Furthermore, if Kemp or any other player has a problem with the criticism, then he should let his play do the talking. Don’t mope about it. Go out and execute. Prove Colletti wrong. Prove the fans wrong. Do whatever you need to do to get up for a game and start proving people wrong. If that means playing with a chip on your shoulder a’la Andre Ethier or Paul O’Neill, then do it. Matt Kemp’s response – that he “works out hard” and “shows up early” – is great and all (maybe he learned that from Juan Pierre), but show me that you won’t go to third on a grounder to the shortstop, that you won’t lose a ball in the sun, or that your first 12 games of putting on a power display weren’t just a fluke, etc.
Comment by Higgins— April 28, 2010 #
You don’t think Kemp’s been executing? I admit his defense hasn’t been great, but his bat has more than made up for it.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 28, 2010 #
Not really. Since Manny’s been on the DL, Kemp is 5-26 (.190… 4 singles, 1 double), with zero RBI’s and zero walks. If he wanted to step up and be the leader of this team, now is the time to do it. He has really looked terrible this past week or so on all sides of the ball.
Comment by Higgins— April 28, 2010 #
I agree with Coletti et al. Kemp has really shown his immaturity this week and really most of the season. I am not interested in what he has done but what he could have done…both in the field AND at the bat. He takes AB’s off, (he f’ing stared a three strikes that almost made me break my TV). Matt Kemp could have 11 homers and 35 RBI right now if he would stay focused….and focus seems to be a MAJOR problem of his.
The field…a real letdown….he is loafing around, misjudging off the bat, on his heels (letting a runner tag up from 1st to 2nd was a near 2nd death for my TV).
Methinks I know the problem….too much focus on this
Insert at reason #3 the Dodgers are in last place: Rhianna
Comment by John Young— April 28, 2010 #
“Matt Kemp could have 11 homers and 35 RBI right now if he would stay focused….and focus seems to be a MAJOR problem of his.”
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How the fuck could you possibly determine this? Are you a goddamn idiot? How do you know whether or not he’s focused or what he could have done? Are you Miss Cleo? Actually, you probably are, a fake prognosticator with no real insight.
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You mean Kemp really wasn’t going to continue his pace of 170 RBIs and 90 HRs? Holy fuck, i’m shocked as shit.
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
Where is he moping about it? Taking an inappropriate callout and responding in a calm and rational manner shows maturity beyond that of Ned Colletti, apparently.
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Your train of thought is pointless. By your logic, Colletti should be calling out every single member of the team to do better. Or if Kemp had a 1.500 OPS and 20 steals, well he could always have a 2.000 OPS and 30 steals, right? Go show it!
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No, that’s not how it works. What is this? 5th grade gym?
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
Ned Colletti invested $47 million in Jason Schmidt even though he knew Schmidt had a shoulder problem. Ned Colletti invested $36 million in Andruw Jones. He gave $44 million to Juan Pierre, a singles-hitting outfielder who can’t throw. He has signed the Ortizes, Garret Anderson, Mike Lieberthal, Mark Sweeney, Guillermo Mota. Would you trust Colletti with your money? How is this guy still employed?
He’s a classic example of how politics outweigh merit in today’s workplace. Ned Colletti should be higher on your list and Matt Kemp about another 50 spots down. How about No. 39: Ned Colletti has never taken responsibility for his own blunders.
Comment by dutchbubba— April 28, 2010 #
Right on. Colletti should start shouldering some of the blame. If Matt Kemp were our biggest problem, we would be in first place by a wide margin. Not saying he has been stellar on the basepaths or defensively, but our failings are not because of Kemp.
You can add Bill Mueller, Danys Baez, Mark Hendrickson, many, many more to Colletti’s failings. He and Torre are truly what’s wrong with this team. Torre sits on his ass when an umpiring crew reverses an out call that ended an inning. It’s just like a false whistle in football. It’s an officiating error, but you can’t expect to guess how the play would continue. Torre’s mild mannered first baseman gets irate with a horrible call, and Torre waits until Loney is tossed to get his ass out of the dugout. What was with pinch hitting Reed Johnson against a right handed pitcher today, with DeWiit and Anderson on the bench. He pitches to Adam Dunn and walks Gary Matthews, Jr. in identical situations. He’s just flipping coins and has no clue when to double switch or even what the strategy of that is all about. Joe, go watch your race horse and let us enjoy the Dodgers winning.
Comment by SamAdams— April 28, 2010 #
ACK!
” Torre reiterated that he is considering one of two relievers, veteran Ramon Ortiz or rookie Carlos Monasterios, for a spot start Saturday night against Pittsburgh, the next time Haeger’s spot in the rotation comes up. “
Comment by John Young— April 28, 2010 #
Booooooooooooooooooo!
Comment by EephusBlue— April 28, 2010 #
Ned Colletti should be in the top 5, if not #1. When he has money to spend he splurges on the likes of Andrew Jones, Juan Pierre, and Jason Schmidt; when the McBrokes act stingy he signs benchwarmers for way more than the minimum wage. Not to mention the numerous dumb trades that cripped our ability to court a Roy Halladay. Plus, he worked(possibly still working) for the fucking GIANTS! That alone should be enough to fire him.
Comment by Mike H— April 28, 2010 #
You need to change the site to Dodger’s tragic Illness
Comment by ramo— April 28, 2010 #
I was already freaking out about this team, but this post started to make me panic.
Comment by Brandon— April 28, 2010 #
Last two comments were hillarious!
Comment by DGAF anymore— April 28, 2010 #
The Dodgers need pitching right now. It hurts to see starters like Wolf, Penny, Garland, and Lowe out there throwing innings for other teams. A “big market” club should not let good pitching just go like that. I think McCourt penny pinching is to blame here.
Comment by mk— April 28, 2010 #
To be fair, Lowe is currently rocking a 5.79 ERA and 5.36 FIP and Garland, while having a nice 2.57 ERA, has a 4.65 FIP, so neither one would really be helping us out much more than our own guys. It is true though, we could at least use some pitching depth.
Comment by Thomas— April 29, 2010 #
Holly cow, where are all of these Ned supporters coming from, this is ain’t supposed to happen.
If the Mcourts were presidents (stupid Jamie) and Ned were in their cabinet, I would be calling for their impeachment. Obviously it is not right to compare them to say the Bush administration, at least not in the context of the real world. However it really has been that bad in the baseball fan’s world. We are supposed to hope for smart signings and trades, cool events at the stadium, and admirable public leadership.
We have had shitty baseball decisions, cheapness, scandal, increased prices, and police crackdowns.
It is not as fun to strut around the bay area in a Dodger championship jacket as it should be.
Comment by Table— April 28, 2010 #
ESPN.com boards. I warned you. :o
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
Orrrr, The Obama administration who is pissing away all of our money!!!! And his staff is fugly!
Comment by Johnny— April 29, 2010 #
LoL…no. Iraq war is the biggest financial hamper by far, that was Bush, just..no.
Comment by Table— April 29, 2010 #
Boy, Eric Stults sure would be nice right now…
Comment by zzz— April 28, 2010 #
You KNOW it’s bad when we’re all dreaming for Eric Stults. God…
Comment by Harrison— April 29, 2010 #
Thank the lord we’re coming home. The most important first step to righting this ship is correcting the pitching problems, and there’s nothing like a home crowd behind you to help.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— April 29, 2010 #
man,too many posts by the part timers hired by Mccheap.Kemp didn’t hit after Manny got on DL?What?R u serious?Talking about picking on the best player oh my gosh,stop pissing me off.I’m out.
Comment by mike— April 29, 2010 #
Why don’t you just call me out by name if you don’t agree with me? Don’t give me this “part timers hired by McCheap” thing. I’m not an apologist for upper management. I’m a hardcore, long-time, blue collar fan like any other. Yes, perhaps I’m playing the devil’s advocate role here, but just look at it – Kemp HASN’T hit since Manny’s been on the DL. Kemp didn’t do well on this abomination of a roadtrip. Look at the numbers. ZERO RBI and only one extra basehit in the past 2 series (and he only faced ONE decent pitcher in Johan Santana). And he has been batting cleanup for most of the time since Manny’s DL trip. He is supposed to be “the man” right now. He’s not doing it. I’m not just “picking on the best player.” I’m stating a fact. If Manny Ramirez had a bad stretch like this I’d be calling him out too.
Like I said, if Matt Kemp wants more respect from Colletti or from whomever, he needs to go out and prove it on the field now. NOW. Henceforth. Don’t point to his first 7 HR and 20 RBI of the season. Do it some more, starting NOW. Keep it up.
Yes, his first 10-12 games or so were great displays of his offense. He was hitting for power, driving in runs and scoring runs; BUT all the while, his defense and baserunning were – as Colletti put it – “below average.” Now, over the last 6-8 games, he has been TERRIBLE at the plate, and continues to show me that he is “below average” on defense and the bases.
It’s only because I’ve grown to appreciate the player that Matt Kemp is capable of being that I – like Colletti – have noticed that he’s not playing like Matt Kemp. Consequently, the team is not playing like virtually the same exact team that won the division two years in a row.
Comment by Higgins— April 29, 2010 #
Like others, you are completely missing the point. Colletti venting like you or me isn’t the appropriate or professional. It’s an emotional reaction akin to what idiots on message boards (or blogs, if you will) would do.
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Sorry, but you’re held to a different standard when you’re a franchise representative. Even if you agree with his stance, its’ completely inappropriate to go running your mouth complaining about players AND insinuating that they lack work ethic or drive because they got a new contract. That is classless and bush league. Where was Colletti complaining about Kemp’s work ethic a week ago? Nowhere to be found, because he didn’t need to pass of blame then.
Comment by Chad— April 29, 2010 #
Sorry, but I’m NOT missing the point. My point is that the original post here on MSTI is skewing Colletti’s words to invoke a pro-Kemp emotional response from the fans. That was really my original point. This post is misrepresenting what Ned Colletti said in his rant on KABC. He never said Kemp was the team’s biggest problem. He never said that Kemp was a “mediocre baserunner and outfielder.” These were MSTI’s words, NOT Colletti’s.
Colletti actually said that “the baserunning is below average. The defense is below average.” Isn’t this something that we can agree upon? Kemp’s baserunning and defense HAVE been below average. They’ve been below what Matt Kemp is capable of. We’ve seen him better than this. So has Colletti.
I further argued that even his offense has been below average over the last 6-8 games, and this is something that nobody can deny when you look at the stats. He’s supposed to be THE MAN in Manny’s absence, and he is not doing it.
Furthermore, I already agreed that Colletti venting on the radio was not appropriate. I agree with that. I wrote earlier: “Just like the fans, Colletti is pissed off and he decided to vent. He shouldn’t have done it over the air, but he was asked a question about Kemp, and this was his dumb answer.” It was a dumb, emotional answer – just like how the MSTI post here was emotional and not based in the fact of what Colletti actually said. The misrepresentation of the truth has become the Truth, and that is often the case when the media/bloggers/fans/etc. play the “telephone game” after somebody makes a stupid comment.
Finally, I don’t see it as Colletti “passing the blame” to his players. I see a GM that is confused, frustrated, and miffed as to how in the world the same exact lineup he has fielded for the last 2 seasons (minus the 2B – Kent, Hudson) is playing like a bunch of sad-sack amateurs against perennial LOSERS like the Pirates, Reds, Marlins and Nationals. Frankly, I feel exactly the same way that Colletti does. Yes, he didn’t go out and get “an ace.” Yes he has handed out some bad contracts. No, Colletti is not one of the better GM’s in baseball. But when he looks out on the field and sees the same names that went to back-to-back NLCS playing like garbage, well, I guess he finally lost it.
Comment by Higgins— April 29, 2010 #
Citing this past weeks’ stats are the same thing as people pointing to his ridiculous start. They are meaningless sample sizes. Kemp is not as good as the first two weeks of the season and not as bad as the last week. Calling him out for one bad, if even horrible, week is silly and has much more potential negatives in the future than positives.
Comment by Beasy Bee— April 29, 2010 #
If you get the point, then why are you using a sample size of like a week where Kemp is no longer OPSing 1.150 (he never was going to do it) to make a point about how his play isn’t up to part? It’s pointless.
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I agree with the rest of the comments about Colletti, but again, that doesn’t absolve him of the blame for the fact that he’s an idiot for making the comments public.
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I’ve never said in these comments that Kemp was playing great defense or that his baserunning was good. His play is completely irrelevant to what i’m talking about in regards to what Colletti said.
Comment by Chad— April 30, 2010 #
Wow. Thats a ton of comments. 36. Is that a record?
Comment by EephusBlue— April 29, 2010 #
I don’t know, but if we keep on talking about it….
Comment by Table— April 29, 2010 #
48 comments now! This could be a record. Especially if MSTI doesn’t post anything in the next few days, this thing could explode (with comments).
Comment by Training Dad— April 29, 2010 #
Well, im not worried about it in the short term. Kemp will shake this off and prove everyone wrong by hitting 50 hrs or so and driving in 200 runs…
my main concern is, come free agent time for Kemp, will he want to re-sign with the Dodgers if Colletti is still GM? will he want to re-sign with the Dodgers regardless? or will Colletti’s comments, offensive or not, bite us back?
Comment by Gerson— April 29, 2010 #
Two years from now, Kemp will sign where the money and/or trophy is.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— April 29, 2010 #
Kemp will go wherever Rihanna tells him to…..
Comment by John Young— April 29, 2010 #
Great comments today. We’re all frustrated with the Dodgers’ performance so far but the truth is that there is plenty of blame to go around, and the primary reason for the team’s poor play goes to the heart of the matter – The McCourts. Ned does what he’s told to do. Torre has gotten lazy. Honeycutt should be fired. This Kemp matter should have been handled by the manager, not the GM. But these are all secondary matters. The real problem is that as we all expected when they “bought” the team, The McCourts have been and are running the team on the cheap, and when they do spend money, they generally don’t spend it wisely. Not offering Wolf arbitration was beyond stupid. Letting Stults go for 30 pieces of silver was stupid. Unfortunately, we are stuck with the risk of mediocrity as long as these amateurs are in charge. A REAL owner would have spent the cash to get the best possible starting pitcher in the offseason, which was the team’s primary need. We are all stuck with more of this kind of frustration as long as the McCourts are around.
Comment by Shmolnick— April 29, 2010 #
50 comments! You guys are amazing. Some really good thoughts here.
I believe this is the second-highest post in terms of traffic behind only from July 2008… which also was about people attacking Matt Kemp:
http://mikesciosciastragicillness.com/2008/07/10/no/
Amazing how protective of him we are, isn’t it?
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 29, 2010 #
VERY protective. Ugh. I dreaded hearing Matt’s agents words yesterday. I doubt it will have any real impact when Matt’s next contract negotiations come up (alot can happen between here and there) but wow Colletti sure is an idiot. Calling out the best player on the team. I sure hope Matt just lets it go as the GM bitching and not hold it against the Dodgers. If Matt ends up leaving because Colletti is just that stupid, I may just stop watching this team all together.
Comment by EephusBlue— April 29, 2010 #
Nice response from Dave Stewart: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-mets-20100429,0,7664156.story
Comment by Steve— April 29, 2010 #
This Dave Stewart? http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19840322&id=aOEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VGIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6615,3834282
Comment by John Young— April 29, 2010 #
That doesn’t really matter much. We may not like him, and he may be a despicable person, but he’s still Kemp’s agent, and pissing him off will only serve to hurt the Dodgers in the end.
Comment by Thomas— April 30, 2010 #
The honest and courageous thing for Ned to have done would have been to call out nickle-nosing ownership as the real culprit here. (We all saw this train wreck developing during the off season, did we not?) But it takes major cojones to speak truth to power.
So, instead, Coletti did a stupid and cowardly thing, which was to lash out at Matt Kemp.
The point about Kemp (and other quality players) eventually jumping ship is the real tragedy of this little drama. Until this ball club gets quality ownership, this disaster will continue to roll.
Comment by mk— April 29, 2010 #
Defense has been way more important than #30, and saying Torre is more interested in his horses is kinda dumb, but pretty much, yeah.
Comment by David Sheridan— April 29, 2010 #
Totally agree. Defensive issues have to be a top 5 problem. The second the defense gets better, the pitching gets better…and this team already has enough offense.
Comment by Chris— April 29, 2010 #
…and then the Dodgers go on to lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0. Just when you think you have enough of something, right?
Comment by Thomas— April 30, 2010 #
Speaking of…
after nine long games of Skippy and Biff,
VIN IS BACK TONIGHT!!!!!!!!
Comment by David Sheridan— April 29, 2010 #
Yeah. The #1 problem is Chuck & Rick “You know, They Can’t See You Shaking Your Head” Monday. At least during the FOX era you could sit back and enjoy listening to Vin, if not the team.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— April 29, 2010 #
Yup, the Dodgers need to do better before Vin is gone. But I have a feeling they won’t.
Comment by David Sheridan— April 29, 2010 #
Isn’t this awesome (and by awesome I mean sh**ty) that this is such a pivotal year for us? Joe Torre and Vin have both said they haven’t decided what their future holds, but would see how this season played out before making a decision. Guess we decided we were going to let them leave on a bad note!
Comment by Ken— April 30, 2010 #
At least this is good for business.
Comment by johnclevenger— April 29, 2010 #
Random yes but on fox sports dodgers named #1 rivalry with Giants. So at least we beat NY at something.
Comment by ramo— April 29, 2010 #
What about the fact that they replaced Kernkraft 400 as the home run song with the cringe-inducingly decrepit Rock & Roll Part 2? That’s why the mojo is lacking.
Comment by MBS— April 29, 2010 #
Does anyone wonder what Jeff Kent would have to say about all this since a few years ago he said something along the lines of that a lot of the younger guys didn’t play as hard as the older guys.
Comment by Omer Carrothers— April 29, 2010 #
Jeff Kent would be busy reading his dirtbike mags, or something.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— April 29, 2010 #
I am just as big a Dodgers fan as anyone here. For me a 33 yea love affair. I love Kemp. He is young. He is talented. He has so much potential.
But, he is young. He is talented (and knows it), and still has potential…..
All this to say: why does he wear a “Crooks” shirt on his twitter pic? HE has some REAL growing up to do,especially as a player. He swings at crap, often. He looks at strikes, a lot. He is not even remotely Manny-like in his presence or ability to make a genuine difference in a lineup. He i to be feared…when someone is behind him….
Colletti leaves a great deal to be desired, but he does have every right to say the truth: Matt has been loafing, he has made bad plays, he does lose focus…and this ain’t last year…..I stand by my assertion:
The Rihanna Effect. Can we get a meter for that MSTI?
Comment by John Young— April 29, 2010 #
I like your choice of words, especially seeing as how an assertion is a positive statement or declaration, often without support or reason. As in, there’s no reason for us (or you, for that matter) to believe that Rihanna has ANYTHING to do with Matt Kemp’s play.
And why the hell does it matter at all what a shirt says? I could point to Matt Kemp’s photo shoot with GQ and say “he was wearing a suit for that whole thing so CLEARLY that’s the reason he went into second base standing up!”
“He is not even remotely Manny-like in his presence or ability to make a genuine difference in a lineup.”
This statement just baffles me. Matt Kemp is a 25 year old, relatively new baseball player who is still coming into his own and learning how to play the game. Since when did he become Hank Aaron and needs to have a “Manny-like presence”. How did this comparison even come up? Are all players held to Manny’s offensive standards?
By the way, I’m puzzled why you chose to start your comment with “I am just as big a Dodgers fan as anyone here.” No one is questioning your fandom, just your ability to create a valid argument.
Comment by Ken— April 30, 2010 #
Not Manny like with his presence? Really? Color me shocked. Might as well have said he’s not Pujols while you’re at it.
Comment by Chad— April 30, 2010 #
Wow…these are some of the most asinine comments ever seen on this site. I guess that means MSTI is starting to do quite well for itself.
Baseball is a 162 game season for a reason. The Orioles can beat the Yankees on a given date. Adam Kennedy can hit 3 jacks in one playoff game. However, the Yankees will finish the year miles ahead of the Orioles and AK will hit less than 10 boms this year.
Similarly, Matt Kemp will not hit 81 jacks with over 200 RBIs (as he was on pace for). Also, he will not hit below .200 for the rest of the year. He will hit around .300 and probably hit around 30 HRs and likely end the year as our best player. EVERYONE STOP ACTING LIKE HE IS BABE RUTH ONE DAY AND DAVID ECKSTEIN THE NEXT.
Also, just bc Manny tweaks his calf doesn’t mean than Kemp will suddenly morph into Manny circa 2003. In baseball you can’t just “step it up” because you want to — or because another player has gone down. Hey Kemp…why don’t you just hit like one of the 10 greatest batters of all time for the next 15 or so? Thanks.
Comment by Kenny— April 29, 2010 #
Also, lets replace Colletti with that guy from Weekend at Bernie’s to be the GM (not Jonathan Silverman…Bernie). He looks just like Ned and he never says anything.
Think about it…Ned’s only good moves are the ones he doesn’t make (keeping Kemp, Ethier, Bills, Kershaw, etc). Also, even dead-ass Bernie would’ve taken Manny for Andy LaRoche.
Comment by Kenny— April 29, 2010 #
Just for the record, #1 and #2 are one and the same.
Comment by carolinabluedodger— April 29, 2010 #
It is funnier that a way
Comment by Table— April 29, 2010 #
The irony is laughable now. I don’t know what else to do but to just laugh. That’s about as routine a basehit to centerfield as you can possibly get. The first chance, the VERY FIRST DEFENSIVE CHANCE that Matt Kemp gets and he royally fucks it up.
No, I’m not happy about it. I just can’t even believe it, it’s so ridiculous. I heard and saw a collective groan and hang of the head by every Dodger fan in the world on that one.
Comment by Higgins— April 29, 2010 #
There was nothing ironic about what happened, it was merely a coincidence that occurred right after we all were discussing Matt Kemp, brought on by Ned Coletti’s comments. Nobody’s ever happy about a player making a mistake, but haven’t you ever heard that “with young players, you have to live through their growing pains?” Why is it that Kemp is being held to such an enormously higher standard than everyone else on the team? Yes, Kemp is a talented ballplayer that is capable of great things, but since when must he have the offensive numbers of Manny and the defensive prowess of Willie Mays or else be considered a failure and lazy?
Comment by Ken— April 30, 2010 #
I swore I would stop watching for the weekend to give me a break, but I am weak. God they suck. I still have hope they can turn it around, but its dwindling. I mean help is on the way. Manny and Raphy will be back. So will Padilla. But will it be in time? But WTF is up with Torre?!? GA in the 2-hole? Why does he keep getting starts? Its shit like that the doesnt help. What the fuck went wrong with this season?
Comment by EephusBlue— April 30, 2010 #
Rockies started 19-28 last year
Comment by Table— April 30, 2010 #
The Rockies also went on an unbelievable run of 73-42 the rest of the way with a group of solid second-half performers. The Rockies are also a much different team than we are, so what leads you to believe that we can go on a run like that?
Comment by Thomas— April 30, 2010 #
Just reminding people that it’s possible. Oh and I think we can go on a run like that because I think this is still an elite team, or can be with some tweaks.
Comment by Table— April 30, 2010 #
Fair enough. Guess we’ll have to see what happens. I don’t happen to think we’re elite, but we are pretty good, so who knows.
Comment by Thomas— April 30, 2010 #
[...] an MSTI-record 85 comments on the post about Ned Colletti’s comments on Matt Kemp, Kemp went out and misplayed a ball in the very first inning last night, directly leading to the [...]
Pingback by This Is Going Downhill, Quickly « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 30, 2010 #
http://www.letsgododgers.com/post/561636425/im-deleting-the-previous-dodgers-peanuts-to
A cartoon based on your post
Comment by Ben Goetting— April 30, 2010 #
[...] Why the Dodgers Are In Last Place « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness [...]
Pingback by Collectables Autographs - Who signs the most autographs in baseball? - Cheap Buys— May 1, 2010 #
[...] you wonder why this team is floundering… and sometimes you wonder if the list of poor decisions should be updated on a daily [...]
Pingback by It’s Like They Just Never Learn « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— May 4, 2010 #
[...] and then Ned Colletti had to go call him out for his subpar baserunning and defense, which seemed like a ridiculous statement at a time in which the Dodgers were imploding in nearly every way. It’s like I said on April [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Center Field « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 29, 2010 #
[...] That’s more on Kemp than Colletti, of course, but the comments certainly didn’t help. As I said at the time, there were about three dozen reasons bigger than Kemp why the team was [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Management « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 26, 2010 #
[...] that after his scorching April last year, he headed downhill at just about the time Ned Colletti oddly called him out in April. Then, as it became clear that Torre & crew wouldn’t be back in 2011, he ended [...]
Pingback by Six Reasons for Optimism in 2011 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— February 14, 2011 #
[...] on Ethier. That said, it’s hard to know who to believe here; Colletti may be the guy who foolishly called out Matt Kemp last year told Xavier Paul that he needed to learn how to be a big leaguer, and announced on the [...]
Pingback by Is Andre Ethier Being Treated Unfairly? « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— August 28, 2011 #