7:44pm: Andy Martino of the New York Daily News spoke to multiple Dodgers insiders, with one source telling him, “I’m already hearing all kinds of rumblings” regarding Colletti and, to a much lesser extent, Mattingly. Other sources to which Martino spoke praised Mattingly’s people skills and ability to manage the superstar egos involved in the Dodgers’ four-headed outfield monster. In particular, a source tells Martino, Mattingly was instrumental in getting Ethier to buy into a reduced role.
7:14pm: Following the Dodgers’ postseason loss at the hands of the Cardinals, sources within the organization tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that GM Ned Colletti could be on the hot seat (Twitter links). Ownership is said to have more of a soft spot for manager Don Mattingly, says Rosenthal. He continues, however, by noting that if the Dodgers do replace Colletti, the new GM may very well want to name his own manager. Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com hears similar things, noting that Mattingly’s job appears to be safe, but the outlook for others in the organization is less certain (Twitter link).
This season marked the second straight disappointing exit from the playoffs for the Dodgers, who were considered a favorite by many going into postseason play due to their elite group of starting pitchers. Colletti famously swung perhaps the most talked-about blockbuster in recent history when he acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto from the Red Sox in exchange for Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, James Loney, Jerry Sands and Ivan De Jesus back in August 2012. However, despite solid performances from Gonzalez, Crawford and Beckett this season, the Dodgers will again watch the World Series from home.
Additionally, the Crawford acquisition combined with extensions of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to create an expensive logjam of outfielders for the Dodgers. Yasiel Puig’s emergence as the team’s best hitter has made it impossible for all four to get regular at-bats, and top prospect Joc Pederson has no clear path to everyday at-bats with the Dodgers in the near future, either. Bullpen expenditures Brian Wilson, Chris Perez, Brandon League and Paul Maholm haven’t panned out (though League did recover from a disastrous 2013 with a strong 2014), and trade acquisitions Kevin Correia and Roberto Hernandez yielded sub-par results. Moreover, the team spent a combined $53MM on Cuban infielders Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero, yet neither contributed in 2014 and it’s unclear if both will fit into the long-term picture following the emergence of Dee Gordon.
Of course, there’s plenty to like about some of Colletti’s moves. The decision to re-sign Juan Uribe looks outstanding, and the team’s mere $1MM investment in Justin Turner was perhaps one of the biggest steals of the offseason. That move will continue to pay dividends, as Turner is controllable through the 2016 season. J.P. Howell has produced tremendous results at a reasonable rate over the past two seasons. Also, Arruebarrena and Guerrero had strong performances in the minors, so either could generate trade interest.
If Colletti is replaced, that would incredibly mean that four of the five teams in the National League West would have changed GMs in roughly a five-month span. Padres GM Josh Byrnes was fired in June, while the D’Backs dismissed Kevin Towers in September and the Rockies just announced today that senior director of player development Jeff Bridich would take over as GM, with Bill Geivett and Dan O’Dowd resigning from their posts.
I’ve never been a big Colletti fan, but firing him over this is basically just making a sacrifice to appease the fans. Colletti wasn’t the one who is making Clayton Kershaw turn into Losing Pitcher Mulcahy as soon as the calendar hits October. Until Kershaw starts performing in the playoffs, the Dodgers are going to keep losing in the playoffs no matter who their GM is and how much they spend.
You can’t put Kershaw on three days rest and expect him to pitch like he has all year. Don did it last year and this year and look what happens. You aren’t going to win a World Series with 3 pitchers. His managerial decisions have been absolute toilet feeder and he has to go.
This. Kershaw pitched amazing, was at 91 pitches on 3 days rest going to the 7th with his spot due up second. I was completely shocked when Kershaw hit for himself. Also Puig appeared off the bench as a pinch RUNNER! Unless he has an upper – body injury, not using his bat against Rosenthal was crazy.
What was the excuse for how he pitched in Game 1? Mattingly maybe should have left well enough alone and pulled Kershaw after 6 in Game 4, but Kershaw told him he was OK, and the Dodger bullpen is a toxic waste dump. I would have left him in under those circumstances, too. Managing the Dodgers is like managing the Tigers–take out your starter and it’s Russian Roulette time unless you can go straight to Jansen.
If you want to blame Colletti for that, it would admittedly be fair.
Kershaw had over 10 K’s and was making the cards look like a adult softball league in the first Start. Donny left him in to long. He was already over 110 pitches and then the cards got to him when he got tired.
small sample sizes…anything can happen in one game. What was the excuse for him performing badly in Arizona earlier in the year? Maybe there isn’t a reason, even good pitchers have bad games, unfortunately his happened in the playoffs. If you don’t remember, Kershaw pitched very well in the NLDS last year against the Braves. It seems people tend to forget that.
You can call game one what you want, I initially thought Don blew it, but its hard to say. At that point he’s your ace and he’s dazzled in the previous innings. Cardinals are an amazing team, can’t take anything away from them. They got to Kershaw
Really? I assume you didn’t watch game one. AJ Ellis is at fault for a lot of that. Guys at second base were stealing signs and Kershaw can’t watch them do it from behind. Multiple sports shows talked of this. After game one the Dodgers didn’t get any more offense. One game won and the others two lost by one. This is a powerful team and they just went quite. If the offense does their job Kershaw doesn’t pitch again till game one of the NLCS. Then go look at the pitch charts of Dale Scott the home plate umpire who called several balls in the opposite batters box strikes, against the Dodgers. 38 pitches in the game, according to fan graphs, were not only balls called strike but balls not even close called strikes. They stated this was the worst called game all year, post season and regular season, period. As for Kershaw telling Mattingly he was ok to continue pitching, every pitcher does that.
Shilling&R.johnson did it with the diamond backs in 2001
Different times, pitchers nowadays have regiments and orders to follow. Almost like clockwork. It’s insane, back then it was throw the ball rest, now its technical and complex, some consider it why so my injuries occur but who knows.
How much is baseball different today then when it was 5 years ago. I say that because exactly 5 years ago, the 2009 Yankees won the WS. They played 15 games that postseason, all were started by 1 of 3 pitchers.
Schilling and Johnson were 2 of actually 5 pitchers in the 2001 playoffs. You left out Brian Anderson and Miguel Batista and Albie Lopez. Though Schilling and Johnson started 11 out of their 16 games.
Yankees in 2009 only had 3 starters all postseason, Pettitte, Sabathia and Burnett.
“You aren’t going to win a World Series with 3 pitchers.”
The 2009 Yankees say Hi.
In defense of Mattingly that bullpen has been really bad. Still Haren should have started game 4 and Kershaw should have been out of their after that third line drive by Molina in game 1. Plenty of blame to go around when a team spends so far into the future at such a high level and fails with such talent. The owners have been doing plenty of micro managing with Colletti and Colletti’ s front office identified the wrong players (bullpen arms) in particular. This team is also on the books for around 200 million a year or more from 2015-2018 already. It will be interesting to see no such they are willing yo keep spending. One more year of Kershaw and Greinke before Greinke can opt out. Winning the World Series is hard.
To appease the fans? Colletti has been on borrowed time the minute the Jason Schmidt contract turned to schmidt. Ned’s list of bad signings and trades are epic. He should’ve been gone the day after the ink was dry on the sale of the team. It is a wonder this team has any prospects at all, either Ned trades them away for the old and expensive or McCourt wouldn’t pay for them when Logan White drafted them. Look at the players White drafted who were not signed by the McCourt’s headed by David Price. But that is another rant.
Colletti is the one who built a bullpen that left Mattingly with all of 1 relief pitcher he could trust, Kenley Jansen. And that bullpen has stunk all season, and he still failed to address it at the trade deadline.
The reason that Don Mattingly was so reluctant to pull Kershaw – both in Game 1 and in Game 4 – is because the Dodger bullpen, with the exception of Jansen, had been terrible. That is entirely Ned Colletti’s responsibility.
I think Mattingly should be on the hot seat.
The Dodgers should bring back Grady Little.
As for Alex Guerrero, I mean didn’t he have his ear bitten into? I wouldn’t have been happy if something like that happened to me.
If the Dodgers are going to do anything maybe cleaning house is in order.
However, if I had a choice of keeping Ned or Donnie Baseball.
It would be Donnie Baseball leaving town.
Sure Mattingly could have done things differently in the playoffs, but I most manager would have made similar moves. It was Colletti’s fault that there wasn’t much of a bullpen to Mattingly to use.
But, but, but, but, they spent how much on the bullpen?
It wasn’t from a lack of trying.
Mattingly was uninspiring if you ask me!
Well another $9.5 million will be spent on a middle reliever.
In the end trying doesn’t matter, it’s the results that matter. The money isn’t the issue, you can pay all the money you want for bad players. Brian Wilson and Brandon League are not very good. Chris Perez has never been any good. The fact that he even gave these guys contracts is the problem.
I love it when these teams attempt to “buy” the WS (with $220-250m payrolls) and either don’t make it to the playoffs (Yanks) or lose in the 1st round (Dodgers).
I didn’t realize the Giants are sitting at $149m this year:
Teams Left in Playoffs 2014 Salaries:
1. Giants $149m
2. Cards $111m
3. O’s $104m
4. Royals $92m
My team didn’t make it in with a $90m payroll, but I’m sure you can guess who I’m rooting for…
Go Royals!
Talk to us in a few years when Gordon, Hosmer, Ventura, Perez, etc… start getting close to free agency. Be happy that your team was bad for so long it was able to hoard top five and ten picks. Ask Billy Beane and Andrew Friedman about the half-life of teams who can’t keep their players when they approach free agency. The A’s are looking at a huge roster turnover and the Royals will be too, in few years, because David Glass has never dipped too deep into his reserves for this team.
You can bet if a new GM comes in to LAD they are going to be looking at liquidating many of these large contracts to reduce payroll. I’m sure Kemp is sure to be gone, along with others.
The Dodgers don’t care what their payroll is, as long as they win.
You would have to eat most of Kemp’s contract to move him. The rest of the big contracts are unmovable.
“Most” of Kemp’s contract?
Yeah, it’s not like he was one of the best hitting players in baseball in the second half…but he was.
Why would the Dodgers move a player they were reluctant to move earlier this year, when he’s now producing like the All Star player they signed to such a large contract? Oh wait, to reduce payroll…? This is an ownership group that doesn’t mind spending to solidify a fan base when it’s not really costing them any money out of pocket. The multi BILLION dollar deal they received from Time Warner has allowed them to spend now and build the farm up in the meanwhile in order to replace some of those larger contracts with some eventual homegrown talent. Their immediate plan is to put a product on the field that gets a once angry/alienated fan base (think McCourt on this statement) coming to the ballpark and reaping on merchandising sales. The long term is stabilizing a fan base that will continue to come to the ballpark and… reap on merchandizing sales. You won’t get that done by angering fans by shipping out a homegrown talent who’s primed to have an even better comeback season.
Yeah I’m sure they would trade away their second best hitter.
Matt Kemp was the Dodgers best hitter the 2nd half of the season. If he is finally back to full health, he’s one of the top hitters in baseball. I really doubt he’s going anywhere.
Dodgers ended the season short on starting pitching, woefully short in the bullpen, stuck with defensive catchers who do not help on offense, a big decision to be made on Hanley Ramirez, a minor leagues whose pitching depth was only an illusion, a plethora of infielders with flaws (Guerrero, Arruebarrena, Rojas, Barney), only a few prospects who will serve in the majors or be appealing trade chips, too high a rating/hope for Joc Pederson, Zach Lee and others
Colletti had a chance to address the pitching in July and August and came up with Hernandez and Corriea – drech. He dipped in the minors for inexperienced bullpen help. It is amazing the team got as far as they did with the holes Colletti was responsible for
Unless Colleti brings in Max Scherzer, Russell Martin, Luke Greggerson and a couple of other relievers and gets some strong prospects for the minors all at limited cost, he needs to go
Lester is more likely, bullpen targets should be Andrew Miller and Luke Hochevar.
Hochevar might be a good way to go except the Dodgers drafted him twice and he would not sign with them despite some huge offers – there might be some bad blood left over because of that. Scherzer is the highest rated free agent, but Shields or Lester would help – Miller would be a good pick up if he was one of about 3 relievers added, not the only one
They could also trade OF to the Mets for pitching – Van Slyke for Niese would be great for both sides.
Chances are Ned Colletti is gone before he even has the chance to sign any free agents, but I have no doubt the Dodgers will sign at least one top tier starter (Lester, Scherzer, Shields) and at least a couple strong bullpen arms.
You’re wrong about the Dodgers farm system, though. It is a strong system, and Urias and Seager are probably more valuable chips than Pederson is.
Urias and Seager are definitely strong prospects and should be valuable Dodgers in 2-4 years. The problem is that the system is woefully short on other position players who may reach the majors – especially at catcher and other higher skill positions (SS, CF). It was assumed that the team was well stocked with pitchers, but players like Zach Lee and other highly rated prospects have not panned out and few pitchers now look like they will reach the majors or be valuable as trade chips.. This season showed that beyond Pederson, Urias and Seager, teams were not interested in trading with Colletti for the lackluster minor leaguers to get the pitching the team needed down the stretch.
If not having a decent bullpen is grounds for being fired, then Dave Dombrowski would never have a job.
The new GM will want to name *her own manager…hint hint
I would be banned if I wrote how I really feel about Colletti. In short, I do not rate his skills and do not think he should be a GM in this league.
I couldn’t agree more, he’s probably still on the Giant’s payroll. Meanwhile, everyone else wants Donnie’s head on a platter.
At least 3 major Dodger front office men have left recently – is the handwriting on the wall? Rats deserting a sinking ship? If they were so important, why could the Dodgers not keep them? Cracks in the wall of the kingdom I am afraid – is a full shake up not far behind?
Colletti needs to go, Wilson, Perez, League, Maholm, Correia, were all Colletti’s guys, he didn’t bring in help for the bullpin when he had a chance, he didn’t sign a starterfor the stretch run at tge end, we have a nice outfield already yet he wouldn’t trade Pederson, we don’t need more outfielders, we need pitching and a second baseman, so good-by Colletti you need to go.
Isn’t Dee Gordon the second baseman?
We had an all star second basemen
Rudy – Do you follow the Dodgers at all? Gordon, Guerrero, and Turner would all be starting second baseman for a lot of teams. How do the Dodgers need another one?
To be fair, Dee Gordon totally stunk it up for months and few seemed to notice (especially Don Mattingly). He drew two walks in the last two months of the season, giving him an OBP of .289 for August/September. That’s really terrible for a leadoff hitter.
You also gotta realize this was his first season as a starter. Growing pains were bound to happen. He did better than most expected.
Did ownership have zero input on the contracts given out to Kemp and Ethier?
Of course they did, but that comes with the territory of being a GM, to an extent. Fair or not, the GM typically draws the most praise for great moves and shoulders the bulk of the blame for poor ones, even though multiple people are involved in the decision-making process.
However, to be fair to the current ownership group, they weren’t in place at the time that Kemp signed his deal. They were in place for the Ethier contract.
Kemp’s contract was signed while the McCourt’s owned the team and they signed Ethier to an extension before signing Puig or acquiring Crawford. At the time of the extension, neither were in the Dodger plans. Pederson was still a marginal prospect at that time so Ned convinced them to take the dive.
Could the Dodgers Trade Joc Pederson to the Tigers for something along the lines of Rick Porcello, Soria, and Devon Travis? It would probably take more than that but it fills some holes on both teams. Thoughts, Anyone?
Why would the tigers do that when they still want to compete? They would be dismantling more of their SP if Scherzer leaves and hurting an already terrible bullpen
There is too little CF talent available. A Left-Handed Hitter with some pop would fit very well into that lineup. Other CF options are pretty much just Colby Rasmus and Jackie Bradley, neither of which I am very enthusiastic about. If the dodgers would take Sanchez that would go well too. Obviously, it would include signing at least one starter, maybe Brandon MCcarthy or, while less likely, Max/Shields. Kinsler is blocking Travis anyway, and the Tigers have solid middle infield depth. Also, I would like Luke Gregerson and Andrew Miller for the Bullpen. It would be similar to what we did with Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer before 2010, keeping us competitive.
If the Tigers trade a pitcher this offseason, it’s going to be Sanchez. They aren’t trading Porcello. If they do anything with him it will be extend him. He’s been a solid pitcher for much of his career. He took a huge leap this year in just about every way, most notably by finally developing the stamina to pitch deep into games. No way they are trading a guy with that much experience and playing next season as a 26 year old.
That’s true, Sanchez would work also, but I don’t think the Dodgers would do that trade. There is too little CF talent available. A Left-Handed Hitter with some pop would fit very well into that lineup. Other CF options are pretty much just Colby Rasmus and Jackie Bradley, neither of which I am very enthusiastic about. If the dodgers would take Sanchez that would go well too. Obviously, it would include signing at least one starter, maybe Brandon MCcarthy or, while less likely, Max/Shields. Kinsler is blocking Travis anyway, and the Tigers have solid middle infield depth. Also, I would like Luke Gregerson and Andrew Miller for the Bullpen. It would be similar to what we did with Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer before 2010, keeping us competitive.
Van Slyke for Niese. The Mets get their new power-hitting RF with question marks, the Dodgers keep their CF of the future (Pederson) and acquire a gutty left-handed pitcher under cost-control for 4 years. The Mets could throw in a reliever if need be.
That’s a terrible trade proposal, friend. Rick Porcello by himself would require Joc Pederson – he’s an above-average pitcher and getting even better whereas Pederson has never hit against Major Leaguers and struggled to make contact against Minor Leaguers.
Kim Ng 2015 watch officially begins
I am thinking Mike Hazen assistant GM of the Red Sox, but if they want to make a splash, I wonder what kind of prospects the Rays would want for Andrew Friedman, something along the line of Theo Epstein going to the Cubs.
Friedman is going no where. He seems to like where he is.
Logan White would have to be the favorite.
Does anybody know who would be in line for a Dodger GM position.
Giving Brian Wilson a player option was the dumbest thing colletti did. He’s time is up fire colletti!!! Plus he was part of the McCourt regime!!!
Fire colletti ExGiant !!!!
I am not so sure he’s an “ex.”
$200 million just does not buy what it use to.
I think Dodgers fans will agree that it’s been a looooooooooooooong time coming.
Kershaw would not have been pitching on 3 days rest if Colletti had gotten a pitcher to replace Josh Beckett – he could have had Price, Lester or others. Last year – short on pitchers, the Dodgers were knocked out of the Play-Offs – Colletti should have seen this. Kershaw only wanted to stay in for both games he lost and Mattingly gave in to him only because the bullpen was drech and was sure to lose the game – because of failure by Colletti to get adequate pitchers in the pen – he could have had Street, Miller, Soria or many others. The Dodgers did not hit well enough the last 4 games, Clayton did well until the 7th, but the fault lies with Colletti for not shoring up the starting pitching and the bullpen
Or Colón for that matter. There were plenty of available guys.
Whether it’s Colletti, or someone else, the Dodgers should strike while the iron is still somewhat hot and trade all-star second baseman Dee Gordon. They have plenty of options to plug in there, starting with Justin Turner, or either of the Cubans or even Darwin Barney. Curious to see what an emerging talent who is already an all-star and still developing could bring back from a team like say ATL, TOR, or even the Mets who might move Daniel Murphy if he doesn’t sign an extension. Relief help would be nice.
[Daniel Murphy + relief pitcher ] or Jon Niese straight-up for SVS seems to me like a good deal for both sides. What do you think?
dodgers need another gm .now ” ned colletti likes those older players.
dodgers need most is a power hitting catcher.