Thursday, November 10, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
Beaten To The Punch: Kevin Modesti On The Producers-ization Of The Dodgers
Kevin Modesti in the Long Beach Press-Telegram makes the same point I did last year, namely that with the revolving doors in the front office, Frank McCourt is rapidly turning the Dodgers into a situation reminiscent of The Producers, in which the principles decide it could be more profitable to oversubscribe a flop than to legitimately turn out a winner. Only, this time McCourt's plan is to turn a winner into a loser into a winner -- in, say, 2075:Any idiot can build a winner. The Marlins won the World Series in their fifth season, the Diamondbacks won the World Series in their fourth.Ouch. The real fun of this exercise is figuring out which unsuccessful franchise the Dodgers are likely to use as their template. Is it the nepotistic Royals? The corporate Cubs? The muddling and squandiferous Mets?It takes a clever man, and the woman behind him, to build a loser. By which I mean not just a once-in-a-while, fly-by-night loser but a loser you can count on.
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Before a lovable loser makes good, of course, the team has to become a lovable loser. And before a team becomes a lovable loser, it stands to reason, it has to be a confirmed loser.
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After the setback of 2004 (the Dodgers won 93 games and the division title), McCourt got his plan on track in 2005 (the Dodgers lost 91 games and finished fourth). If he can keep this going, he can look forward to millions of dollars in T-shirts, buttons and books celebrating Dodgers futility.
Rich & Bryan Guess On Free Agency
After missing Rich's radio spot yesterday, I suppose today's Baseball Analysts column helps remove the sting a bit, as they talk about who's going where via free agency. Samples:Rich: Yes, teams that win the World Series often times feel compelled to please their fan base by locking up their star players. Other than Ozzie, Konerko is the most popular guy on the South Side of Chicago. You can bet the Sox will do their damnedest to keep him.Bryan: The Chicago Sun-Times reported yesterday that Ken Williams is preparing a 4-year, $52 million contract. I'd say that's their damnedest, wouldn't you?
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Rich: The only money the Dodgers have spent so far is in severance pay. I'm not at all convinced the McCourts are going to pay up for anyone. That said, I don't think the Dodgers can get much worse and in such a weak division, I guess they have as good a shot at winning as anyone else. But the real story here is 2007 and beyond, provided the McCourts and the new GM don't panic first. Oops, silly me. I forgot, the panic button has already been pushed.
Bryan: The Dodgers are the definition of mismanaged, but still should be the favorites in the NL West. Says a lot about that division, huh? Really, the Dodgers concern should be to avoid becoming the number two team in Los Angeles. The Angels have shown an interest in getting rid of Darin Erstad this winter, which is a sign their winning ways just might continue.
Rich: That is a very good sign. But for the life of me, I don't understand why they have so much interest in Konerko. It's not like Erstad is their only option at first base. Bill Stoneman, I'd like you to meet Casey Kotchman. Oh, and Kendry Morales is sitting in the lobby waiting to see you, too.
Bryan: It's funny that the team was so quick to implement Dallas McPherson, but approach Kotchman with such apprehension. They have the chance in 2007 to have Jeff Mathis behind the plate, with an infield of Kotchman-Kendrick-Wood-McPherson and Kendry at DH. I'm not sure Billy Beane could make 1,000 trades to top that future.
Rich: Excuse me, I was salivating. Gotta wipe my shirt off. Not only are those guys up-and-coming players with tall ceilings, they will be cheap for years to come. Arte Moreno will be able to add a real center fielder one of these years and put even more money into an already top-notch pitching rotation.
Hopefully, This FoT Will Be In Japan
Bobby Valentine is near to a deal with Chiba Lotte, which means he won't be working for the Dodgers in 2006. Whew.Ugueth Urbina, Attempted Murderer?
He says he was in bed asleep during the machete-and-gasoline attack on five workers. The Detroit pitcher is accused of attempted murder, but in the Hugo Chavez regime, one wonders if this isn't just a shakedown.Maury Brown Interviews Former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent
Right here. The biggest piece in it is the confirmation of what everyone already knew: Pete Rose is a sociopath who actually believes his own lies.Pads Take Oki Option
The Padres exercised their $1.75 million option on reliever Akinori Otsuka, while declining a $850,000 option on former Dodger Eric Young.
: 11/10/2005 08:12:00 AM
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