Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting
Both Ned Colletti and Don Mattingly will return to the Dodgers in 2013.
Colletti’s extension is according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, though no details have been released yet.
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti and the team have a new deal to keep Colletti in the role he’s held since late 2005, CBSSports.com has learned.
Colletti’s contract called for mutual options after this season, but a new deal was being discussed. The Los Angeles Times had reported eight days ago that an offer was on the table from the new Dodgers owners.
Joy. If it’s possible to not win a World Series with a $200 million payroll, Colletti is the one to do it.
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On Mattingly, Colletti confirmed himself that he would be returning to the Dodgers in 2013, regardless of how the team finishes out the year.
“I think he’s done a really good job of keeping it together and there’s never an excuse. He doesn’t give any and he doesn’t take any,” Colletti said. “I don’t have any doubt that our efforts every day are there, and I think that’s one of the main jobs of a manager, to make sure guys are into it.
“You know that if you get beat, it’s not a happy room, it’s not one people take lightly and are cavalier. It means something to everybody and that’s a credit to him and his staff.”
This was expected, but I didn’t expect an official confirmation so soon. I guess with Colletti’s extension being announced, the timing makes more sense.
Update: Heyman says the Colletti extension could be two or three years.
The new deal will be a multiyear arrangement. One person said it could wind up being for three years, though previous reports suggested two.
Le’sigh. Even know I knew this was coming, still disappointing when it actually happens.
This is absolutely appalling. Apparently the new Dodger ownership team has money but no baseball insight. We’ve got Mark Walter, seemingly a great guy, but who knows little about baseball. We have Magic, great smiile, great NBA player, knows nothing about baseball. And then Stan Kasten, a very decent individual, who I thought knew something, but actually did a very poor job as president of the Nationals, who didn’t improve until he left. So all this excitement about new ownership with money faces the reality that money without insight is pretty worthless.
The Dodgers will NEVER win anything with Colletti as GM. Keep him three years, keep him ten years. He will fill up the roster with players on the decline, whom he apparently values by looking at their baseball cards. If Willie Mays were available, he would give him a five year deal. Colletti deplete the farm system, and his rosters consist of these overrated, decining players, plus a bunch of worthless utility players. And the ownership of the Dodgers apparently is incapable of perceiving this. He has now locked the Dodgers into a position where they have absolutely nothing of trade value. The only possible way out is to sign every free agent available, and that won’t happen. If they go out there next year with anything close to this year’s roster, they’ll come in fourth in the NL West, maybe fifth. And ownership can’t understand this–or is it that they don’t care; that all they care about is image?
Mattingly is a nice guy, not very bright, who has no feel for game strategy. He does the same thing every time. He is not aggressive, he is not insightful, he is basically a hack manager with a name because he was a very good player. Colletti doesn’t understand any of this, because Colletti is obsessed with “attitude,” and “grit”; that’s why he signs guys like Pierre and Theriot and Podsednik and Punto. Colletti and his scouts have no eye for talent; Colletti just signs people who have famous names, who were once good. Colletti thinks that a new attitude will turn them back into what they were, but of course it doesn’t. Colletti is the worst GM in baseball, and other GMs laugh at him. He is the sucker at the table, the fish in the poker game.
I could stand not making the playoffs this year, but I cannot stand the thought of Colletti and Mattingly coming back, because that is a road to absolute futility. I had a hunch that we would be better off with Steve Cohen (with LaRussa as president) or Dennis Gilbert winning the ownership bid, and it now seems that I was right. The Dodgers will continue on a path to nowhere, and a bunch of money foolishly spent by a buffoon GM is not going to make it better. If they wanted to spend their money wisely, they should have fired Colletti and Mattingly, brought in a top GM, and let him hire the next manager. That’s how you build an organization, not by rewarding incompetence and letting the incompetents build and manage the team. How dumb can the new owners be, to allow this?
Look at William spitting hot fire!
What he said…
I understand the general feeling here, but it’ll be extremely difficult to not make the playoffs with a $200 million payroll, and once you’re in the playoffs anything can happen. So there’s a good chance they’ll win the World Series eventually if they keep spending money, even if 25% of it is wasted by Ned Colletti.
I do disagree with the “they can’t find talent” part though, as the scouting department has found a ton of talent over the years (one of the best in the league), which is the only reason he still has a job when you think about it.
I think I’ll get around to replying to that comment, but I’m a bit overwhelmed and scared at the moment.
:o
Ya, I assume you’ll have a more substantive response to William and I’ll hold off because you’ll probably make better points.
Not really, I was just intimidated by the wall of text.
Colletti’s offseason should be pretty tame based on the current 2013 roster…
2013 Dodgers
C AJ Ellis
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Mark Ellis
SS Dee Gordon
3B Hanley Ramirez
RF Andre Ethier
CF Matt Kemp
LF Carl Crawford
BN Nick Punto
BN Juan Uribe
BN Jerry Hairston Jr.
BN Tony Gwynn Jr.
SP Clayton Kershaw
SP Josh Beckett
SP Ted Lilly
SP Chris Capuano
SP Aaron Harang
CL Kenley Jansen
RP Ronald Belisario
RP Matt Guerrier
RP Scott Elbert
RP Paco Rodriguez
RP Javy Guerra
RP Shawn Tolleson
My only hope is that since it appears Bills will probably be out for the season, I hope that they sign a #2 behind Kershaw because having a #1 and 4 #4/#5 types behind him is pretty weak. The offense is the offense and short of signing a player to fill in until Crawford is healthy, I don’t see much change happening there. The middle infield seems like the biggest place for improvement, but I’m not sure they will change anything there, since Dee’s 2nd season would really be a big step in figuring out whether he can play at this level or not and Ellis is on the 2nd and last year of his contract so it’s not like they’ve got him for much longer, yet this would be the big chunk of his backloaded deal.
To me it looks like we’re gonna get the same team run out there as we have right now…there’s not gonna be a heck of a lot of change from here on. Ned will make his annual veteran relief signing (if League continues his success, I’d guess he will get too many years and too much money for this role…hopefully the adjustments stick for years to come) and his annual gritty veteran utility player signing as usual (unless Punto has already filled that role). Personally, I’d prefer a SS with on base skills and some speed for the top of the order, as I don’t think Dee is going to be able to be the top of the order guy we want him to be. The team sort of owes it to themselves to see if he can be that guy though because the return will be so huge if he can get on base and field his position. Besides that, I just pray that the Juan Rivera experiment is finally over and a real backup outfielder is chosen to hold the fort until Crawford’s return. Luis Cruz may be setting himself up for a deal from Colletti next season, in which case, I hope it’s not a fluke.
Anyhow, I don’t see much changing over the next year or so for the boys in blue. That’s why I’m so irritated by the performance of the current offense because this is what we have to look forward to most likely for at least 1 more season. Unless they plan to make more weird blockbuster moves that are completely impossible to predict.
You need a backup catcher. With the excellent (by frankly all metrics) year that AJ Ellis has had, it makes the Robinson for Feder (howeverthefuckyouspellit) look even worse. But I assume FedEx will be the backup next year?
Anybody got word on when Hairston Jr. will be back? And isn’t he just signed through this year or does he have a multi-year deal. Looking at this roster, it reminds us once again what a shit GM Ned Colletti was in signing Juan Uribe to a 3 year $21MM deal. He really needs to go.
On Cruz, I think he will definitely be back and definitely not be as good. that’s just the way these sorts of things go. But ultimately, even if he does come back, it will probably be a low millions sort of deal that won’t drastically affect the team either way.
On the whole, as you say, what you see is what you get because of so many backloaded long term deals Colletti handed out this year.
T-Fed will be fine as a backup next year. That’s probably his long-term role anyway.
Jerry Hairston Jr. should be back assuming he’s healthy and ready to go.
Luis Cruz won’t be as good as this year, but he’s better than Adam Kennedy and Juan Uribe, so it has to be an upgrade from where they started this year.
Ned will sign your #2 in Kyle Lohse. ugh. really kills me that Ned got an extension.
Okay … that better not happen.
My primary concern is the rotation and what they’re going to do to improve there.
If they have the money to go out and sign a legitimate #2 in the off-season, then I’ll take back most of my concerns about The Big Trade, since it’s clear that the payroll taken on won’t limit their budget much.