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By Joe Hamrahi
When I spoke with Ned Colletti back in January, he had only been General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers for about 14 months. He had just watched his team finish a season with 88 victories and earn a Wild Card berth in the 2006 playoffs. Unfortunately for the Dodgers and Colletti, LA was swept in the division series by the league’s regular season champion, the New York Mets.
While most would consider 2006 a relatively successful season, fans in Los Angeles demanded more. As Ned stated, “The size of the market here is such that the expectations are always very high…You’ve got the history of the Lakers here, the history of the Dodgers here, sports wise, along with a lot of other successful franchises. People expect the best. They expect the effort to be beyond reproach, and they expect to not only be in contention, but to be playing for a championship every year.”
The “failure” of the 2006 season, coupled with the demand for improvement, put the Dodgers GM in a difficult spot. On one hand there was the pressure to win now. On the other hand, the club was loaded with top prospects that could provide long-term security for the foreseeable future. Should the organization sacrifice its young, unproven talent by bringing in high cost veterans via trades or free agency, or should they stay the course and develop their prospects and let them learn on the job?
Having seen what happened to his predecessor, Paul DePodesta, nobody was about to rush to judge Colletti when he signed Juan Pierre to a 5 year, $45+ million contract or brought in Jason Schmidt for 3 years and $47 million to help boost the club’s win total. Still, some were disappointed. While Ned stated that “The young players are very much a part of our present and our future,” I don’t know too many people who actually believed that after seeing such high priced free agent signings. With Nomar Garciaparra coming back for $9+ million over each of the next two years and Luis Gonzalez also in the mix, there were only going to be so many spots on the field for the likes of James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and Chad Billingsley. It didn’t seem to bode well for these up-and-coming stars when Colletti expressed, “I don’t believe you can go into a season with a lot of question marks and a lot of unproven situations.”
Still, the Dodgers “only” spent money. The club’s opening day salary was over $107 million, but who was really counting anyway. That was still $35 million less than the Red Sox and some $82 million less than the Yankees. Besides, this was the Los Angeles Dodgers, not some small market ball club. But more importantly, the Dodgers and Ned Colletti restocked their team without surrendering Scott Elbert, Jonathan Broxton, or Andre Ethier. And Loney, Kemp, Billingsley, and LaRoche were all still very much a part of the organization. Some will criticize Colletti for acting on impulse to fill in spots with veterans whose cost far exceeded their value. Maybe the criticism is justified. After all, it’s not as though Juan Pierre’s .684 OPS or league average defense was worth $9 million this season. Nor were Nomar Garciaparra’s 7 home runs and 41 missed games worth an additional $9 million in the infield. But even though the Dodgers fell to 82-80 in 2007, Colletti did not panic. He gave Matt Kemp and James Loney a chance to play. While Nomar and Jason Schmidt were injured, Kemp, Loney and Billingsley were playing regular roles with the club. From July through September, the three most talked about trade commodities were now prominent starting players for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And don’t think Ned didn’t notice. “For the month of September, Loney had 9 home runs and 17 extra base hits…17 extra base hits!” says the excited GM. “And we were playing good teams. We weren’t playing anyone who was playing their AAA team. We were playing Colorado and Arizona all month.” Rarely do you see a general manager get this excited about a player, especially one he considered last year to “have the chance to make the club as both a first baseman and a swing outfielder.” The past two seasons appear to have provided an on-the-job education like no other for Ned Colletti. Not only has he come to appreciate the talent within the Dodgers organization, but his general philosophy on the club’s development and direction seems to have changed as well…and for the better. Cases in point… When I asked Ned whether hiring Joe Torre, by no means a young man, signaled that the team was going to make more of a push to win now, he had a very interesting answer. I think you always want to win. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’m going to rebuild for the next three years. That’s not how I’m wired. At the same time, however, you have to be smart in your choices. I think we have a chance to have something special here for a very long time…not for a year. It’s incumbent upon us to put together a foundation that’s good for us for years to come.
When I asked about potentially starting Andy LaRoche at third base this season instead of trying to trade for the big name hitter (like Miguel Cabrera), Ned responded: That’s a possibility. He’s of the same ilk as Kemp, Loney, Russell Martin. He’ll have that opportunity. Nomar will be given a chance to bounce back as well. Plus we also have the option of Tony Abreu over there.
After discussing the rotation of Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, and Chad Billingsley as the top 3 starters, Colletti gave me a list of other potential pitchers who might fit into the rotation should nothing else change (and assuming Jason Schmidt is not healthy out of the gate). Esteban Loaiza, Scott Elbert, who was on his way to the Major Leagues before he got hurt, James McDonald who had a great year in AA, Clayton Kershaw…how long someone with his ability can be held down in the minors remains to be seen.
Speaking of Kershaw, I asked if he would have a chance to make the big league club this spring given his age, or if they would let his work dictate where he winds up. Absolutely (he’ll get a chance). You see what some young pitchers have done over the past few years, and just because someone is young, it doesn’t mean he can’t handle himself (at the major league level).
And finally, I asked Ned what he might have done differently in 2007 if he had the chance. That’s a great question. I’m sure there are (some things). One thing I know I wouldn’t have done differently. I’m glad I didn’t trade 3 or 4 kids at the deadline. I think that decision will prove to be valuable for a very long time. People ask about the young players all the time. Teams need young players.
How would you like to have Martin who’s 24, Loney who’s 23, Kemp who’s 23, Billingsley who’s 23, Broxton who’s 23, and you add Kershaw to it, and you add LaRoche to it and you add Chin-Lung Hu to it, and you add Tony Abreu to it…and you let it get better for another year…and that’s not to say we’re going to sell off 2008. We can still win in 2008. Think about the pitching staff we could have…Billingsley and Elbert and Kershaw and McDonald…that’s possible a year and a half from now. And you have two guys, Billingsley and Kershaw who are legit number 1-2 starters. You’d have a great catcher, you’d have a great first baseman, you’d have a guy at SS who might win the gold glove one day…a guy like Matt Kemp who hasn’t even played that much baseball. He’s played about 5 or 6 years baseball. He might wind up being a great centerfielder! So how do you (trade 3 or 4 of your top kids)? If we can stay the course, we can have something very special for a very long time.
So Dodgers fans, are you excited yet? In two short years, Ned Colletti has shown his ability to adapt to the ever changing landscape of professional baseball. He’s kept the scouting department intact and hired arguably the best manager in baseball. With a clear understanding of the players market and the development of his enormously talented minor league system, the future looks quite rosy indeed for Ned Colletti, his Dodgers, and the fans of Los Angeles. |
