We Got Yer Holiday Spirit Right Here
Sweeten Your Online Shopping: Compartes 'Brown Friday' Sale
Local High Schooler Launches 'Hug a Ginger Day' Campaign
Eat My Blog: Blogger Bake Sale Will Benefit LA Foodbank
Midnight Movie: Patton Oswalt's 'Christmas Shoes'
Today is a dark day for Dodger fans.
According to ESPN's Peter Gammons and The Sporting News' Ken Rosenthal, Adrian Beltre has signed a five-year contract with the Seattle for somewhere between $60 and $65 million.
Come on, Frank McCourt. You can't compete with that? Paul DePodesta is an excellent general manager, who will maximize his resources as well as anyone in baseball. But if Frank McCourt wasn't going to raise payroll enough to match $13 million for one of the game's rising young sluggers, then he should reconsider his ownership.
TJ Simers of the LA Times reported on Tuesday that McCourt is failing to make payments of $232,120 on his Boston waterfront property, defaulting a $22 million loan. In the meantime, McCourt's wife just bought a $6.5 million home in Holmby Hills (right by his own $25 million mansion), while McCourt's son Travis saved enough allowance money to spend $100,000 on baseball memorabilia. Needless to say, McCourt is now seeking more loans.
Frank, do LA favor. While I can understand why your wife refuses to live with a poser, like yourself; and can only be satisfied with a $6.5 million home, we'd rather have Adrian Beltre. Ditch the house, and use the spare change on a great third baseman if he hasn't signed on the dotted line yet.
Still, this speaks poorly of Beltre. Where is his loyalty? The Dodgers sacrificed so much to sign him (like their Dominican operations for a year), after it was revealed they did so when Beltre was underage. The Dodgers were painfully patient with him. It finally paid off this year when he realized his potential and led the majors in home runs. While I don't know exactly what the contract negotiations with Scott Boras werelike, I can't imagine that the Dodgers offered much less than the Mariners. Beltre should have given the Dodgers a courtesy hometown discount.
So where do the Dodgers go from here? Paul DePodesta needs to be creative. The offense now has a huge hole, and he still needs to find an ace pitcher. Jeff Kent can play third, but LAist would rather see him at second with Alex Cora traded. Milton Bradley is in jail. Shawn Green's best days are behind him. Hee Seop Choi has never realized his potential. Jayson Werth is hurt. Steve Finley is an Angel. The Dodgers still have no catcher. Brad Penny's arm is a question mark. Odalis Perez might leave via free agency. Jose Lima is already gone in what was a mistake to not offer him arbitration. Edwin Jackson is on the block and may not be ready to start. Jeff Weaver lacks poise. And Kaz Ishii is maddeningly inconsistent.
Paul, we need your creativity NOW.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Phil I think Frank McCourt hired Paul DePodesta for his creativity, probably after reading Moneyball. Now that the cat is out of that bag, DePodesta may find it difficult to be as creative as his days with the A's.
I think DePodesta and McCourt have lost sight of the fact that a Moneyball-directed player personnel strategy won't fly in the No. 2 market in the league. You have to have players who will put 501s in the seats, not just a winning team.
Everything you wrote is right on, Phil. Beltre and Boras should be a little ashamed of their disloyalty to LA, but looking at the bigger picture of where the Dodgers are going (or, more accurately, where they AREN'T going), it's kind of hard to blame him for leaving.
As an Angels fan, all I can say to all the woe you detail is:
Buwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
As for the Parking Lot Attendant (tm Simers), I'm 99.9% convinced that the reason he bought the team is what the rumors said: level Dodger Stadium to built a massive development and get a ballpark downtown in the South Park area.
As for DePodesta, emperor, new clothes, all that. I loathe the sabremetrics geek and hope that they are utterly disgraced and humiliated in the next five years or so, if not sooner.
GO MARINERS!!!
Phil, I think many of your observations are solid. There's no question Beltre cost the Dodgers untold millions in player development, not to mention the damage inflicted on the organization's Dominican operations. But when you start to opine about "Hometown discounts", I feel obliged to respectfully point out that this is something that rarely exists in the world of professional sports, and for good reason. Pro sports are, and always have been, a business first, and entertainment second. Most of today's players realize this before they are even drafted, and because of the short window of opportunity for players to "get paid", they feel they must maximize their earning potential every step of the way. Not to mention the fact that loyalty is a two-way street. How many owners do you know who would sacrifice wins to overpay a fading star? I thought so. And if you need additional evidence of the business aspect of baseball in L.A., look no further than the much maligned trade of beloved former Dodger catcher Paul LoDuca to the Marlins just before last year's trading deadline. Do you think the fans wanted to see him go? Do you think LoDuca wanted to go? All in all, another perfect example of the business trumping emotion. The whole Beltre situation is no different. Also keep in mind that players want to feel respected--and the Dodger contract offer insulted this tempestuous star. For pro athletes, respect is in the wallet. Loyalty is in the bank. And hometown discounts?
Those are a mystical fabrication.
T-Man