Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The Dodger Way Leading to a Blind Alley
The Dodgers attract a lot more media attention than their achievements merit, but there is no denying this is an interesting franchise. Despite the heady days of the 1980s, when the team won four division titles and two World Series, in their 121-year history the Dodgers have only made the postseason on two consecutive occasions. Not even in the Tommy Lasorda days did they appear in three consecutive playoffs.
Finding stability has been a recurring problem for the modern Dodgers. The team has lurched from the old tradition of homegrown players to high-priced imports and back to a predominantly homegrown team. Constantly swapping GMs, executives, and managers under a succession of owners has mudded the waters at Dodger Stadium.
So it was no surprise that Frank McCourt fired his GM a few days after asking him to find the team a new manager. The McCourt family has gutted the higher echelons of the Dodger management since they brought the franchise from FOX less than two-years ago. Frank McCourt's wife, Jamie, is Vice Chairman and President. Their son, Drew, is Director of Marketing. The Dodger's have replaced Moneyball with Nepotismball.
Paul DePodesta took his pink slip from McCourt with dignity.
"I truly believe that this franchise is poised to begin the next great era of Dodger baseball. I have a tremendous amount of affection for the players, staff, and front office and I wish everyone the best of luck. More importantly, I want to thank the fans for their unparalleled support of the team."
Why fire a guy after less than two years of a five-year plan? After a NL West division title in 2004, with a mediocre roster that rode a career year from Adrian Beltre, the Dodgers struggled to 71-91 in 2005. If last year's record was the problem, why wasn't DePodesta shown the door as soon as the season ended? Why wait until almost November? Surely, cleaning up after Kevin Malone takes more than two years?
Injuries, some mediocre pitching, and (Jeff Kent excepted) woeful hitting, condemned the Dodgers to a last-place finish. Still, McCourt gave no indication that his GM's job was on the line. Instead, he handed him the task of firing Jim Tracy and hiring his replacement.
Los Angeles Times insiders are pointing to this as the straw that broke the camels back. Apparently, McCourt was so disappointed with the list DePodesta presented him with that he decided to fire him.
Admittedly, at first glance, the list of alleged candidates is ugly.
Terry Collins, supposedly the first choice of DePodesta, is six years removed from the bench in Anaheim, has "self-control" issues and a reputation for quickly wearing out his welcome with veterans.
Minor league managers Ron Wofus and Torey Lovullo are strictly "who?" candidates.
Alan Trammell is fresh off a mediocre spell in Detroit.
Jerry Royster was hardly a success in Milwaukee.
That said, picking a new manager is hardly an exact science. Mike Scoiscia, Terry Francona, and Ozzie Guillen came into their jobs with sketchy resumes, but all have bagged World Series rings in the last four years. And let's not forget Joe Torre bounced around the NL and the announcing booth for years before sealing his place in the HOF at Yankee Stadium.
If McCourt took a snap decision to fire DePodesta on the strength of a list of potential managers and one disappointing season, then he's an even worse owner than anyone could have feared.
The idea to fire his GM was already in his head before he saw any list or checked the division table. Other forces are at work in Chavez Ravine besides the capricious McCourt's. Forces that were against DePodesta's appointment from day one — and not just Bill Plaschke.
Tommy Lasorda has the ear of the McCourt's as a "Special Advisor" and was undoubtedly a key player in the firing of DePodesta. Don't be fooled into thinking that Lasorda has morphed into a quaint 78-year-old who's happy to sit in front the TV with the grandkids at his feet.
Lasorda has sniped, backstabbed, and done his utmost to undermine anyone who has come into the organization without his personal seal of approval. Fred Claire, Bill Russell, Al Campanis, and DePodesta, amongst others, have all fell victim to the scheming Lasorda.
Ken Rosenthal, of the Sporting News, felt the full force of the aging blowhard while at the press conference to announce the firing of the GM. In an embarrassing display of invective and rage, Lasorda labeled Rosenthal a liar for reporting that he had been "sniping" about DePodesta at Dodger games while sat next to Frank McCourt.
McCourt himself is at pains to point out the influence of Lasorda around Dodger Stadium.
"I appreciate his advice and counsel. I encourage it. I named him Special Advisor to the chairman last year and it wasn't just a title. I want to know what he is thinking. This is a man with almost 60 years of baseball experience, someone who truly loves the organization. Shame on me if I don't reach out to Tommy and say, 'what do you think?'"
The problem with asking Lasorda what he thinks is that he'll tell you — and it won't always be beneficial to "the organization he loves." Lasorda wants cronies and admirers in Dodger Stadium. He wants Bobby Valentine as manager because Valentine worships the ground Lasorda walks on. He wants Orel Hershiser in the organization in some capacity because he knows he can exert influence on his old faithful bulldog.
Maybe both would be good additions to the Dodgers' staff. But let's not anoint Valentine with a particularly outstanding record as a manager. It took him a record 1,704 games to reach the playoffs as a manager, more than any manager since divisional play began in 1969. He was a tired act by the end of his stay in New York but Lasorda loves a blowhard — especially a Tommy-worshipping one.
Lasorda can hardly rip DePodesta for his roster moves. Remember, this is the man who thought it was a good idea to trade a young Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields. Then, when interim GM after the departure of Claire, Lasorda traded young slugger Paul Konerko to Cincinnati for closer Jeff Shaw, who promptly pointed to the clause in his contract that allowed him a trade at the end of the season. The Dodgers had to cough up $8.1 million to keep him.
It's tough to see exactly what moves DePodesta made, except for upsetting Lasorda and the marketing folk, which anyone could take exception to. Much is made of the Dodgers' collapse after midseason 2004 (104-118 since), but can anyone really pick holes in the moves DePodesta made?
Paul LoDuca and Guillermo Mota for Brad Penny was the one that brought the most flak but LoDuca, whilst being great in the clubhouse, is a light hitter who wears down significantly as the season goes on. Dioner Navarro, who was acquired from Arizona, is a significantly better catcher and comes with a low salary, unlike LoDuca. Penny didn't exactly set Dodger Stadium on fire but he was respectable when fit. Mota, who was having a great season setting up for Eric Gagne, wanted to close and he got his wish in Florida. He soon lost the job in 2005.
Juan Encarnacion and his $4 million plus salary was dumped — nobody missed him. Shawn Green took his bloated salary to Arizona and flopped. Steve Finley batted .220 in Anaheim after DePodesta let him go. Adrian Beltre wanted to cash in on his one good year with a $12 million per contract — DePodesta let him walk. He hit .255 with 87 RBIs in 603 ABs.
Kaz Ishii, Hideo Nomo, Alex Cora, Jose Lima, and Dave Roberts were sent packing. None of them did anything in 2005.
Acquiring cheap alternatives to expensive flops is every GMs dream and DePodesta didn't do badly on that score. Jose Cruz, Jr. for Dave Roberts, anyone? Cruz played well and was rewarded with a new contract. Roberts is a one-dimensional player who can't throw. Hee Seop Choi might not be a fan-favorite, but his 15 homers and 42 RBIs in 320 ABs only cost $350K per. Jason Phillips was a steal as a backup C/1B from the Mets for the worthless walk machine Ishii. Jayson Werth for Jason Frasor looks a good trade, as was Milton Bradley for basically nothing, despite his attitude.
The marquee free agent signings of 2005 were a mixed bag. J.D. Drew lived up to his injury-plagued reputation by only playing 72 games, but he was having a solid year up until hitting the DL. Derek Lowe wasn't great, but wasn't particularly bad, except for allowing 28 homers and Jeff Kent carried the team offensively.
Losing Gagne early and Drew in midseason killed the team for 2005, but DePodesta was surely right not to trade away prized farmhands for short-term and expensive veteran help. The Dodger tradition, of which Plaschke and Lasorda are so proud, is to build through the minor league system and endure the hard times rather than pony up for rent-a-vet.
The next GM will at least inherit a semblance of fiscal sanity, after Malone wasted millions on failures like Darren Dreifort and Shawn Green. What the McCourts need to do now is show Dodger fans they aren't the idiotic owners they seem to be. Sadly, the omens are not good on this score.
Where does this once-proud franchise go now? Surely not to Theo Epstein, who is cut from the exact same cloth as DePodesta only comes with more noughts on his paycheck? My own feeling is that Jamie McCourt will get her wish and Kim Ng will be appointed baseball's first female GM. Orel Hershiser will probably be offered a role, but whether it will carry enough status to tempt him from Texas is another question. He could become a managerial candidate if Bobby Valentine proves to be too expensive for the Dodgers.
If McCourt is going to leave Tommy Lasorda in his role as Special Advisor, then he needs to make some managerial and front office choices Lasorda actually approves of, or else the team will be in the same position it's been in for years, with Lasorda and his L.A. Times buddies bitching behind the scenes. The only other alternative is to severe the link with Lasorda, which seems highly unlikely, given McCourt's admiration for the man.
Whoever comes in to replace Tracy and DePodesta needs to be given time to build a foundation. The Angels are a box office threat, something the Dodgers aren't used to in Southern California. McCourt wants to get butts on seats by winning now to take the momentum away from the upstart Angels. To do so, he may have to pay a high price in the future.