Dec
29
Los Angeles Dodgers Rumors: State of the team
ByBill Shaikin of the LA Times recently had an opportunity to speak with Los Angeles Dodger’s president Dennis Mannion regarding the state of the club. Here are few highlights from their discussion:
- The baseball and business discussions have not been impacted by the McCourt divorce proceedings. Mannion or GM Ned Colletti have not been asked to limit long-term liabilities.
- Dodger fans have been skeptical regarding the team due to lack of off season moves. Mannion assures the fans that Colletti has the ability to make the right moves at the right time. They expect to compete for a World Championship year after year.
- Their $500 batting practice opportunity sold out six times last season.
- Colletti is working on an extension for manager Joe Torre through 2011. Don Mattingly may be the heir apparent to Torre after he steps down from the managerial role.
- Shaikin questions a few of the Dodger’s recent decisions including: declining to bid on top free agents, delaying playoff ticket refunds, not reinvesting the Jason Schmidt insurance money or the Manny Ramirez suspension money and not bidding on top international talent. Mannion dances around the decisions and partially blames it on the economic disruption throughout the country.
- Shaikin also questioned the Dodger’s decision to not offer Randy Wolf contract arbitration. Shaikin believed that Wolf would have signed a long-term deal somewhere regardless of the Dodger’s offer of arbitration. Shaikin believes that the Dodgers did not want to acquire draft picks from losing an arbitration-eligible player and be forced to invest millions of dollars into these draft picks. To avoid this scenario they let Wolf walk away for nothing.
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