Dodgers Officially Hire Torre; LAD Rundown
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by Audino237
ESPN.com has reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers have inked Joe Torre to a 3-year deal worth just over $13M. According to those reports assuming that they are true, that works out to about $4.4M annually, a slight decrease from the Yankees' one-year insult.
From the moment the Boss announced that if Torre's Yankees failed to advance, I saw Los Angeles as a perfect landing spot. GM Ned Colletti acted swiftly and aggressively and made the right moves. Though it may seem unfair to one of the great men in baseball, Grady Little, who resigned, the Dodgers are better off. They have an outstanding mix of talented veterans and up-and-coming youngsters. The age differences caused a rift in the clubhouse this year. Many of the older players were vocal about playing time, included Luis Gonzalez. Here are some reasons that LA chose the right man for the job.
1. Torre comes with a winning resume. That should be obvious to anyone with a pulse. He came to the Bronx a loser and left one of the game's all-time greatest managers. He has shown to be the best personality manager in baseball. On a team full of egos, he has made transititons from star to star seamless (save for a few outlying situations). Gonzo is gone, but Jeff Kent has shown that he can go off at any moment. Who knows about the happiness of Derek Lowe, Takashi Saito, Nomar Garciaparra and the injured Jason Schmidt.
2. His first few years at the helm (i.e. his Title years) he had superior talent but not the assembly of stars that management thrust upon him. He drove them to success. The makeup of those teams reminds me of the Dodgers. Some seasoned veterans, some what-ifs, hot young prospects and a big free agent or two. Torre is older now, but he and Donnie Baseball are good teachers. He commands respect because of his name but is friendly and personable enough to not need that.
3.He wanted to manage the Yankees, which is no small task. This contract will take him to 70. He was still too prime-time and enthused to take a job like Sweet Lou did in a baseball purgatory like Pittsburgh, Tampa, or Kansas City. LA is obviously a huge market with a serious fan base, but it is not as relentless a press. The ownership is more lenient (so was Adolf Hitler) then in New York. Joe will be re-freshed and have something to prove. If he can restore this once-proud franchise, it will help erase some of the ugliness that surrounded his departure.
4. The uncertain division works in favor to turn things around quickly. Remember, this team was the NL's best for a good portion of the year. The Dodgers and Padres were heavy favorites, and they were beat out by the Diamondbacks and Rockies for playoff slots. Torre could be the key to a sharp turnaround.
Now to the roster. In one of my first 2 or 3 blogs here, I wrote about how much I loved the makeup of this team.
C: Russ Martin- Young super-star in the making.
1B: James Loney: Big, homegrown player. Colletti promises he will be special.
2B: Jeff Kent: Getting up there in years, but still producing (.302, 20, 79 last year).
3B: Nomar Garciaparra: Played some first also, and had a decent year when healthy. He is backed up by promising young Andy LaRoche.
SS: Rafael Furcal: Switch-hitting speeder is the straw that stirs the drink.
LF/RF: Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp: Young studs impressed in the bigs last year and will both gain alot of attention this year. Very good athletes, they can both man center.
CF: Juan Pierre: Getting older, but one of the fastest players still. Torre likes to send runners, and this team is built for it.
Bench: Shea Hillenbrand, Ramon Martinez, Tony Abreu: All 3 did well in pinch-hitting duties and filling in for injuries. Mike Lieberthal is a good backup for Martin.
Pitching has the potential to be a great strength. When healthy, this rotation could be on of MLB's best.
Ace: Brad Penny: Penny achored the rotation yet again, and has developed into a leader.
2: Derek Lowe: Lowe has big game experience, starting every series-clincher in 2004 for Boston.
3: Jason Schmidt: On the hook for 2 more years, he spent most of the year on the shelf. No one know what he has left, but something from him is better then all for most starters.
4: Chad Billingsley: Young future 2 is a flamethrower who only figures to improve.
5. Esteban Loaiza: Adequete at best in spot-duty.
Wild Card: Randy Wolf: Colletti took a gamble on the rehabbing southpaw and heperformed pretty well. He is now a free agent and could command a 2 year deal for $6-7 million a year(maybe).
David Wells: Who cares.
Bullpen:
Takashi Saito was an outstanding closer since coming over from Japan.
Jonathon Broxton: One of my favorite players, he was lights-out and will most likely be the closer by 2009.
Joe Beimel: Solid lefty did well in 7th inning role.
Yhency Brazoban, Scott Proctor, Rudy Seanez, and Mark Hendrickson form a good patchwork middle relief.
The Dodgers have money as a franchise, but they, like the Angels, have held onto their kids and have one of the 5 best farm systems in baseball. There are rumors that A-Rod will follow Torre and Mattingly to Hollywood, but I don't think they would devote a little under a third of their payroll to a team that already fought some chemistry issues and has a good young nucleus that should be kept from spoiling. Here are some more likely free agent targets.
Mariano Rivera: Big wild card. He seems extremely bitter about losing Torre and the Yankees not negotiating an extension with him in-season. If the Bombers don't bring him back, he'd love to be reunited with Torre.
Sean Casey: He still is a very good hitter, and is known as the ultimate clubhouse guy. Vets and young'ns alike would gravitate to him and ease some wrinkles in the clubhouse.
Tony Clark: Switch-hitting first basemen would be a great option if the DBacks choose to let him walk. He played for Torre, is a great fielder and a good guy. He also enjoys playing in Southern California (He went to San Diego State).
Bartolo Colon; Freddy Garcia: Both are low-risk, high-reward guys probably looking for a one year deal and a chance to regain their dominance. Most of these one-year deals occur in places with no hope, but the Dodgers have a very solid rotation and should take a flyer on one.
Joe Kennedy; Jason Jennings: Both pitchers are still relatively young and are formers NL West pitchers(Rockies). Both were jettisoned via trade, and had bad years in other towns. They would relish the chances to be a 5th starter on a competitor.
Scott Linebrink; Luis Vizcaino: Both have very good track records as solid middle-innings guys. A team can never have too many.
