Question of the Day- On Architecture and Report Cards

Well put, all of it. We have the best rotation in the game, but our bullpen looks a little pricey with Hendrickson, Tomko, etc. in there. We've got kids that can pitch in the bullpen, it's just a matter of giving them that chance. So, I say trade a couple "extra" starters and put Kuo in the rotation!!! He struggles out of the bullpen but he was a ROCK last year starting. Trade Penny to make room for Kuo in the 5 spot.

Schmidt
Lowe
Wolf
C-Bill
Kuo

Then we've got two lefties in our rotation, 3 fastball guys, a control guy, and a sinkerballer. As for Ned's Lack of success in finding us a power hitter, I think the "power bat" is over-rated. Baseball runs in cycles, and we're getting out of a power-hitter era and into a small-ball/pitcher era. I think we're going to see a lot more teams over the next few years letting their starting pitchers go deeper into games, giving more baserunners the "green light", and pining after a hitter like Brett Butler that practically played tennis with his baseball bat. Sure, everyone will still oooh and aaaah when Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, or Alex Rodriguez cranks one so deep that it ends up in a different zip code - but that won't be what's winning games.

That said, Ned did exactly what he should have for this team. He's playing to the game in 2 or 3 years - he picked up a speedy baserunner, a couple solid starters, and kept the parts of our team that have been reliable in years past. All without giving up another prospect. I give Ned an A- only because his over-exuberance may have made it so that Kuo and C-Bill can't both be in the same rotation this year.

I like the potential lineup. I think the rotation is definitely one of, if not the, best barring injuries of course. And with the bullpen we should be in good shape.

I think Ned did the right thing in his approach. With Kris Benson going down for surgery, I was looking at the Orioles roster to see who they might have to trade. Alas, they have nobody I'd want. However, that is exactly the type of situation that might arise during spring training where our "glut" of starters might make somebody with a bat available.

Butch

It's nice to see that Ned agreed with me and made a move for Scott Rolen. I still say, that Rolen -- and not Vernon Wells, was the player the Dodgers needed to focus on getting in the off-season. That said, I think Betemit will surprise a few people this year and give the Dodgers 25 homers this season.

On another topic, and I've said this now so many times I sound like a broken record, but Theo Epstein is a joke. How did this guy ever get to be an MLB general manger?

I mean, really. Broxton, Loney and Kemp for ManRam? That kind of proposal only proves my point that Epstein has officially reached his level of incompetance.

Len

Just think, if Penny is our #3 starter, he will be matched up with the #3 starters for most teams. Should be advantage Dodgers! Problem with Penny last year was he was a #1 type starter in the first half and #4 or 5 in second half. Hopefully, this year we get more consistency throughout the season.

I agree with keeping him and I also think we can win with what we have. Unless a deal comes down the pike that Ned just can't refuse, we should stick with this group of guys. We didn't have a power bat last year and were still scored a lot of runs. Let's not overpay for 1 player by giving up our advantage on the mound.

I really like our team as it stands now. There's a good reliable pitching rotation all around, and there's two rabbits on the bases. With these two rabbits on base I think it makes opposing pitchers throw more pitches in the strike zone for Garciaparra, Kent or anyone who can get on base. I think the best thing Colleti did, was something he didn't do and that's to get rid of The princess.
Anyway, Colleti gets an A- for having done what he did with what he had..
Can't wait to get the season started.

I couldn't agree more with the "keep LOTS of arms" sentiments.

I think, Drew did the Dodgers a favor. We lost his near constant health issues and his leaving kept Ethier out of the stopgap role of centerfielder until Kemp could prove himself in the bigs. Ethier is just not a true major league CF, but Pierre is and I'm so glad we didn't waste money on a guy like Carlos Lee in left. Pierre's speed, in concert with Furcal will change the whole character of our offense and rightly so in non-power-hitter-friendly Dodger Stadium. This in turn gives Loney a regular-if not everyday place to play (LF & 1st) as Grady will again work his magic of getting near full year production out of aging stars like Gonzo, Kent and Nomar. Can you imagine the pressure that would have been on Loney if he'd been given the starting 1st base job replacing the hometown star that Nomar quickly became last year? I love what Ned is doing. He obviously values a deep bench (hooray!), the young guys and knows to bring them on steadily. All in all 2007 has the potential to be a memorable season on many levels.

I think the team has improved. I think we will go as far as Kent and Nomar can physically take us.
If we can get 4 or 5 guys to hit 20 to 30 HR's we should be ok power wise.
There are only a few HR hitters that don't strike out a million times anyway. And I want to see this team put the ball in play and whatever happens, happens. THAT is fun baseball.

With this team the pressure is off the young bats and arms, and that could mean some above average production from the kids.

I can't wait for the first pitch!

Coletti is the best GM the Dodgers have had since I can remember. He truly understands that players are people and people win games. When a player is happy and where he wants to be, he will perform up to his potential and beyond...ergo his approach of seeking out talent that really cares about being a Dodger. I cannot overstate how valuable this phenomena is today and in the future. There is not a single malcontent I can see on this club (the only one we had from last year up and went to the BoSox). The Dodgers are the most talented team in the West on paper, but as a group of ballers are perhaps the most personally satisfied with their circumstances in the game today. This will be the critical difference. Just look at the 2002 Angels for more evidence of this effect.

On another note, I wonder how Grady is going to handle Ethier if he starts hitting .360 or .370 and is able to avoid the K like he was doing for much of the year in '06. Can he possibly afford to have him in the 7 or 8 hole with those kind of numbers? I think if this happens you gotta look at him as a two hitter behind Furcal and in front of Nomar and Kent. Pierre, unless he plays over his head, should be in the 6 spot ahead of Betemit/Laroche and Martin/Lieberthal. This combo will produce significant runs from the bottom half of the order and make the top half that much more deadly.

Lastly, don't trade Penny. He really began to emerge as a true #1 guy during the first half last year. I think he tweaked his arm during that explosive display in the All-Star game and threw himself out of his rhythm for some time after that. Look for him to learn to pace himself better now that he knows he has a damn good chance of being a go to guy in the playoffs this year.

I had a dream last night that the dodgers started 20-2 and all the sport's writers were saying "damn, sure didn't see that coming"....hey but we did!!! Anyway, I guy can dream can't he?

I give him a B. I like what he has done with the pitching, but for the life of me I can't understand Juan Pierre. He's like a Corvair, terrible at any price. I understand Lee and Soriano were way too expensive, that doesn't mean power hitters won't be available ever again at reasonable prices. Juan Pierre is the only contract beyond 3 years Colletti has given, unquestionably to the guy least deserving of it. He gets an above average SS in the prime of his career for 3 years. He gets a top of the rotation starter in an insane market for 3 years. So why 5 years for Pierre? If he was told by his agent he had a 4 year deal from another team, what made Colletti think he absolutely had to have Pierre that bad by giving him another year when he's never followed that thought process before? I mean, he swooped on Furcal right before he signed with the Cubs for more years and guaranteed money.

The game is definitely not moving to some small ball renaissance. Power is still what the game is all about offensively. Dodger Stadium is considered a neutral park to homeruns by most metrics, and less of a pitchers park than it used to be with less foul territory. The lack of power is concerning, and none of our prospects project to be some kind of Ryan Howard. If Pierre can't keep his batting average up, we're in a lot of trouble because .270 something isn't going to cut it from a punch and judy hitter.

Taking into consideration that Colletti had to navigate around that most evil of sharks known as Scott Boras, I think his grade is an "A" all around. You'll never hear them say it out loud, for fear of making the guy who got them all of their money mad, but I don't think any of them wanted to play for a different team.... They were told to look elsewhere by their agent (The worse thing that ever happened to baseball), who clearly has it out for Ned Colletti. Had Ned been able to keep Maddux, Penny would have been traded for certain. I'm not wild about converted starters in the bullpen, but who do you trade them for? What team is going to give up anybody worth taking? This is clearly a case of the devil you know, versus the one you traded Brad Penny for.

BK:

Funny you mention the 80s era in baseball. It has been on my mind that perhaps the Colletti-Little combo had an epiphany this off-season. Given this move away from the steroid/HGH era baseball might be returning to the execution/pitching styles that won consistently in the 70s and 80s. When 25-30 HRs was a GOOD number and 100 RBI's really meant something. That era pitching was so very important and no team outside of the Big Red Machine teams won w/o outstanding pitching and defense. Face it the BRM did not have great pitching or great defense. They had timely pitching...Pedro Bourbon...need I say more? I still cannot believe he was a Dodger for a brief instant...ewwwwww!!!

I am thinking that the Dodgers are getting the jump on the rest of baseball by hording pitching over hitting. And I think the HR numbers will being to decline to a point then the umpires will crunch down the strike zone again to keep the game "interesting" for soccer-mom's/ You know the ones who find soccer a great exciting game yet consider baseball dull and low-brow...daaang I think I am ovulating or something...I HATE THAT.

I just get a good feeling from the team. It's a collection of players who are good character/baseball guys, yeah even Kent the rat bastage he is for ever playing in 'frisco. No referring to themselves in the 3rd person (read "El Canon"...what-a-maroooon) and crap like that...they just play the game and have fun earning millions and maybe win a championship along the way. I do agree there needs to be one guy who can change a game with one swing. But perhaps that guy will be someone who doubles with the bases loaded or drives in runs every 5th or 6th time up. This team for some reason brings to mind the '76 Dodgers team that was just getting going and rolled on for pretty much the next decade. It's just the pitching is not quite there based on last season. But it might be close enough.

;)

Colletti has done an above average job as GM this offseason--I'd give him a B+. As others have noted, he improved an already good club without sacrificing the future, a feat all the more remarkable when early into the offseason both what Colletti had hoped (signing Soriano) and what he did not expect (Drew opting out) put him back a few steps before he got started. Remember how before he snagged Schmidt and Wolf, and had only signed Pierre, and that for five years, there was a little cloud of darkness and doubt on whether Colletti had lost the touch he displayed his first year? Now, with spring training about to start, I am pleased with what Colletti has accomplished, but it's all the more impressive considering how things began. The other thing to appreciate is Colletti still did what he did in a market where other GM's ridiculously overspent and overcommitted. Each GM has to compete against all others for a limited number of players, but when a majority have free agent-itis and are reckless about their teams' futures, it only makes the work of the sensible GM even more difficult. Colletti deserves praise for sticking to his principles, not losing his head when other GM's had lost theirs, and showing flexibility to pursue plans B & C when plan A fell through, mainly because the winning offer was so ridiculous.

Then why don't I give him an A or A-, especially since many of the rest of the class of GM's didn't deserve even C's? Well, it's not because the signing of Pierre for a 5 year contract, which I agree is two years too long, brings Colletti down a whole mark. My main reason is one that has not been mentioned, a need Colletti has not addressed even though it cost the team too many games during the season last year (and thus first place in the division), and was the main reason for the 3 game sweep by the Mets. Scoring runs last year, including in the playoffs, was not the Dodger's problem. Holding a lead, or worse, losing it again after the offense had come back from a significant deficit, was the killer. I'm talking horrible middle relief, which had too many opportunities to give the game away with a rotation posting only 5 inning starts. (And Wolf, although not Schmidt thank goodness, has the same can't make it past the 5th weakness.) Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that the Dodgers had the best win record in the majors for a team leading after the starter came out? And that wasn't just due to Gagne at the time, since the middle relief corps was able to give him a lead to save in the first place. Colletti's (and Little's) basic approach last year was to make relievers out of ex-starters, with mediocre results (some success at first giving way to a sinking dread whenever the starter came out). Considering that Colletti hasn't even focused upon, let alone addressed, the problem of middle relief, and has stocked up a surplus of starters, he seems content to repeat the the same mistake this year. I realize finding middle relief pitching is a lower priority than starters and closers, and that with the bullpen a certain "we'll find out during the season what works and what doesn't" approach tends to be the norm in the big leagues. Still, that doesn't mean that you go again with what didn't work last season, using the same pitchers who always seemed to make a mess of the 6th & 7th before we could give the ball to Broxton in the 8th and Saito in the 9th. I can't give Colletti the highest grade because he had not done anything for one of the biggest weaknesses, and this puts the one damper to my genuine enthusiasm and realistic hope for a great season from the Dodgers in 2007.

By the way, I don't fault Colletti for not resigning Gagne; he seriously tried and Gagne/Boras refused a generous offer. But if Gagne returns to form this year, I won't be able to keep from wondering about a great what could have been: Broxton in the 7th, Saito 8th, Gagne 9th. Seeing how this would have handily addressed the problem of middle relief carrying over into this year, I pray the absence of Gagne is not felt all the more because the 6th or 7th inning remains the team's nemesis.

Michael D,

Like BK stated above don't underestimate speed. His Cards were a championship team in the 80's. They were a good fun team to watch play too. That's why Ned was ok with bringing in Pierre. To have speed opens up another aspect to the game. Usually only good things happen when one has speed and if you don't have speed you better be able to hit HR's. Because he couldn't get the BIG HR BAT he needed, he got the next best thing for the price and he had a serious need for some stability in the outfield and couldn't risk being shut out. So to me, Ned getting Pierre makes all the baseball sense and I'm thankful we got him. Pierre is in his prime and we should get solid consistent play from him for the next 5 years.