Lasorda's Lair | A Los Angeles Dodgers Blog » Trades

This Should Be The End for Ned Colletti

Anuj Agarwal — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:20:32 +0000

(The joke’s on you, Ned)

As the Dodgers sputter along the duration of the 2010 season with merely a sliver of a chance to reach the postseason, the only thing fans can really look forward to is the off-season and what should be the removal of general manager Ned Colletti.

Sure, ownership deserves its share of the blame for the steady decline of what should have been a powerhouse of a franchise, but Colletti’s willingness to dump young and cheap talent for marginal veterans has sapped the organization’s reservoir of talent while failing to add premium players on the major league roster.

The final straw should be the 2010 trades of Scott Podsednik, Ryan Theriot, and Octavio Dotel. The transactions have been discussed and analyzed on the Lair previously, but tallying the number of young talents jettisoned by the team and producing on other rosters is downright depressing. The Dodgers don’t have one elite player in tow to account for the departures of players such as Edwin Jackson, Carlos Santana, and Joel Hanrahan.

Instead of learning from his mistakes, Colletti has further ravaged the farm in 2010. The most glaring transaction is the acquisition of 38 year old reliever Octavio Dotel. Acquiring elderly middle relievers is a specialty of the Dodgers’ GM. Trading away power-hitting 3B prospect Josh Bell for George Sherrill (who has bombed with LA) last year apparently hasn’t discouraged Ned for vastly overpaying for old middle relievers. In July, he pulled the trigger on a deal that sent 25 year old starting pitcher James McDonald and 21 year old outfielder Andrew Lambo for the Pirates reliever. Subsequently, McDonald has used his above-average fastball and very good curveball to post two dominant outings for Pittsburgh as a starter. Dotel has managed to post a 4.76 ERA in 5.2 innings with more walks than strikeouts. Congrats Ned. You gave up four or five years of performance from a potential number 3 or 4 starter for 5.2 innings of bad relief pitching.

Or how about the swap of 24 year old 2B Blake DeWitt for 30 2B Ryan Theriot? Here are their numbers post-trade.

DeWitt: 60 AB, 9 runs, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .300 BA, .364 OBP, .433 SLG, .797 OPS

Theriot: 67 AB, 11 runs, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .299 BA, .368 OBP, .328 SLG, .696 OPS

Congrats Ned. You gave up a superior 2B who was cheaper, younger and under club control for 3-4 years longer than his replacement.

In a recent GM poll, Ned Colletti was voted by his peers to be the most difficult to make a deal with. Considering the one-sided nature of most of his transactions, you might find this to be a bit of a surprise until you consider the possibility that even Ned was afraid of himself when it came to deal-making.

Dodgers Depleting Farm for Marginal Upgrades

Anuj Agarwal — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:22:59 +0000

It’s been one week since the July 31th trading deadline and the resulting carnage of the Dodgers’ dwindling farm system is becoming more evident by the day. Despite losing major ground in the race for the NL West and wild card since the break, GM Ned Colletti pulled the trigger on a series of transactions that led to the departure of three talented youngsters. Gone were Blake DeWitt (24), James McDonald (25), and Andrew Lambo (21). In return, the Dodgers acquired a 34 years old 5th starter headed for free agency (Ted Lilly), 30 years old light-hitting 2nd baseman (Ryan Theriot), and a 37 year old 7th inning reliever (Octavio Dotel) whose services were “needed” because of the abysmal performance of another old-man reliever acquired last year at exorbitant cost (George Sherrill). The disappointment over Ned failing to gain a clue after the donation of future superstar catcher Carlos Santana to Cleveland is only exceeded by the fact that Colletti still defends that trade this day (which netted third basemen Casey Blake), and the latest moves by Trader Ned serve as a sad indicator of the modus operandi for the sportswriter-turned general manager (giving away superior young talent for marginal short-term fixes).

Upon their arrivals to their new clubs, the departing youngsters put on a show for their new fans. DeWitt posted a 3-4 debut with the Cubbies and smacked a home run with four RBIs in his fourth game. Not be outdone, James McDonald debuted for the Pirates and delivered the best performance of his young career by obliterating LA’s divisional rival Colorado during six shutout innings, punctuated by eight strikeouts and a mere five baserunners allowed.

In essence, the Dodgers gave up cheap, young players with considerable talent for older, more expensive, and less productive ones. Consider the 2010 seasons of fellow second basemen DeWitt and Theriot.

DeWitt: .275 BA, .354 OBP, .384 SLG, 2 SB, salary – 400k

Theriot: .284 BA, .321 OBP, .328 SLG, 16 SB, salary – 2.6 million

Why make this swap? Enter Ned Colletti.

“We wanted more speed.”

Ok, then. I guess all other considerations went out the window.

Well, how about the acquisition of the elderly Dotel and the relinquishing of two talented players with a plausible 8-10 years of future major league production?

“Those are the guys they wanted.”

Sheesh, good thing they didn’t ask for Clayton Kershaw or Andre Ethier?

Colletti’s pattern of giving teams pretty much whatever they ask for in return for marginal players is downright frightening for the future prospects of the organization (and I don’t mean the players). Coupled with tight-assed owner Frank McCourt’s frugal ways, the outlook is bleak for the Blue Crew.