LA Dodgers fire GM Depodesta.
So I saw today where the LA Dodgers fired their GM, Paul DePodesta, and I just had to laugh.
For one thing, DePodesta actually made some decent value free agent signings, and for another thing, the Dodgers were ridiculously injured this year, but apparently the Dodgers' "high expectations were not met."
I find this argument to be kind of silly, especially if you take into account the fact that J.D. Drew, their highest-paid player, only played in maybe half of their games. Milton Bradley, who managed to play in 75 games, decided to pick a fight with Jeff Kent, claiming that Kent didn't know how to deal with black people and wasn't much of a leader. While this may have been true, Kent deserved at least a little bit of credit for playing the most games of any Dodger.
ESPN said that both Derek Lowe and J.D. Drew were disappointments, but they weren't really. Drew was hurt, and Lowe pitched a ton of innings with a pretty good ERA. Additionally, Eric Gagne was injured for most of the year, forcing the Dodgers to have converted outfielder Yhency Brazoban close. (On a side note, Jason, my friend, caught two foul balls hit by Brazoban in the same minor league game. Craziest thing ever.) Anyhow, Brazoban ain't exactly Mariano Rivera.
So what doomed the Dodgers? Well, it was probably something to the effect of two of their three best hitters being out for half the year (along with Gagne), along with the fact that Jeff Kent can't get along with Milton Bradley. But hey, who can? And Bradley was whining about how Kent couldn't really relate to black players, but really, most of the Dodgers weren't black. As far as I know, Hee Seop Choi, Eric Gagne, Derek Lowe, Jeff Weaver, Mike Edwards, Jason Phillips, Jayson Werth, J.D. Drew, Brad Penny, Scott Erickson, Kelly Wunsch, and others weren't black, and Jose Cruz, Odalis Perez, Cesar Izturis, Ricky Ledee, Wilson Alvarez, and Brazoban were Hispanic.. leaving who? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe Milton does.
So we've talked about the Dodgers' problems last year, which were significant. Now let's move on to the firing of DePodesta.
Look, the Dodgers haven't ever signed any notable power hitters other than Gary Sheffield (and they traded for Shawn Green), but J.D. Drew was pretty much on the cusp of being there. He should have a pretty good year this year. Jeff Kent was solid and he played well... Derek Lowe did what he was supposed to... so did Jeff Weaver and Brad Penny, for the most part. And DePodesta should have been given a large hug for not locking up Adrian Beltre and for ditching Shawn Green's contract. He had the guts to cut some of LA's potential losses.
But now he's gone, hopefully not for long. Moneyball may have its faults, but DePodesta deserved at least a year or two to implement his system, which should work pretty well once the talented minor leaguers the Dodgers have come up. His replacement can at least look forward to players whose long-term deals are somewhat indicative of their value. That's something that good GMs do.
For one thing, DePodesta actually made some decent value free agent signings, and for another thing, the Dodgers were ridiculously injured this year, but apparently the Dodgers' "high expectations were not met."
I find this argument to be kind of silly, especially if you take into account the fact that J.D. Drew, their highest-paid player, only played in maybe half of their games. Milton Bradley, who managed to play in 75 games, decided to pick a fight with Jeff Kent, claiming that Kent didn't know how to deal with black people and wasn't much of a leader. While this may have been true, Kent deserved at least a little bit of credit for playing the most games of any Dodger.
ESPN said that both Derek Lowe and J.D. Drew were disappointments, but they weren't really. Drew was hurt, and Lowe pitched a ton of innings with a pretty good ERA. Additionally, Eric Gagne was injured for most of the year, forcing the Dodgers to have converted outfielder Yhency Brazoban close. (On a side note, Jason, my friend, caught two foul balls hit by Brazoban in the same minor league game. Craziest thing ever.) Anyhow, Brazoban ain't exactly Mariano Rivera.
So what doomed the Dodgers? Well, it was probably something to the effect of two of their three best hitters being out for half the year (along with Gagne), along with the fact that Jeff Kent can't get along with Milton Bradley. But hey, who can? And Bradley was whining about how Kent couldn't really relate to black players, but really, most of the Dodgers weren't black. As far as I know, Hee Seop Choi, Eric Gagne, Derek Lowe, Jeff Weaver, Mike Edwards, Jason Phillips, Jayson Werth, J.D. Drew, Brad Penny, Scott Erickson, Kelly Wunsch, and others weren't black, and Jose Cruz, Odalis Perez, Cesar Izturis, Ricky Ledee, Wilson Alvarez, and Brazoban were Hispanic.. leaving who? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe Milton does.
So we've talked about the Dodgers' problems last year, which were significant. Now let's move on to the firing of DePodesta.
Look, the Dodgers haven't ever signed any notable power hitters other than Gary Sheffield (and they traded for Shawn Green), but J.D. Drew was pretty much on the cusp of being there. He should have a pretty good year this year. Jeff Kent was solid and he played well... Derek Lowe did what he was supposed to... so did Jeff Weaver and Brad Penny, for the most part. And DePodesta should have been given a large hug for not locking up Adrian Beltre and for ditching Shawn Green's contract. He had the guts to cut some of LA's potential losses.
But now he's gone, hopefully not for long. Moneyball may have its faults, but DePodesta deserved at least a year or two to implement his system, which should work pretty well once the talented minor leaguers the Dodgers have come up. His replacement can at least look forward to players whose long-term deals are somewhat indicative of their value. That's something that good GMs do.
posted by mike at 5:53 PM
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