I want to focus on one team today, the team that I thought came out of the winter meetings as the big winner - the Los Angeles Dodgers. I happen to be a lifelong Dodgers fan so this is of a particular interest to me as a fan and Dodger Stadium patron.
First, I need to give credit where credit is due - Ned Colletti has done an amazing job in his short tenure with the Dodgers in his first GM role, and the moves he made this week are a clear indication of just how good a GM he has become. Long gone are the days of the nausea inducing moves of Kevin Malone and Paul DePodesta. Ned Colletti is able to use his cool demeanor and personal relationships with his players and future players to draw them away from other suitors, even when those other suitors are offering more money and/or incentives. He is able to sell "L.A." - not just the team but the city. In the past month he has signed 3 players that cited the ability to play for their hometown ball club as a major factor in signing with the Dodgers (Nomar Garciaparra, Randy Wolf, and Mike Lieberthal). He's obviously building something bigger than what the Dodgers have been since they traded away Mike Piazza for a few big name stars in 1998. He's able to lock players up short term (1-3 years generally) for money that could usually be considered a bargain by today's market standards, and he is able to do this without "selling the farm". Signing players to short term contracts is desirable on many fronts, one of which is that it becomes much easier to trade a player with 1 year left in his contract vs a player with 3 years left on his contract, especially if that player is not producing well. Last year he was able to see the development of some of his farm system's highly touted prospects into everyday club roles on the big league club (Russ Martin, Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, James Loney), and there's a good chance there will be some more rookies who get to make an impact this year as well.
The Dodgers signing Jason Schmidt was huge. Not only were they able to acquire who in my opinion was the best starting pitcher free agent on the market (apologies to Barry Zito), but they were able to draw that talent away from their hated rivals. This is another deal that may not have gotten done if Paul DePodesta or someone else was in place instead of Colletti. Jason Schmidt himself admitted that his relationship with Colletti helped seal the deal and get him to come to L.A. Jason Schmidt is a solid #1 starter option, and has been the ace of a fairly successful ball club over the last few years (as much to say that). He has averaged over 200 innings per year for the last 5 years and has compiled a 71-36 record for the Giants in those 5 years. His ERA over that same time period has been just 3.35 - and he's done it in what is not a terribly pitching friendly ballpark... throw him in Dodger Stadium and expect a few points to come off his average. He's sustained a very similar average at the end of each season - his highest being 4.40 in 2005. The even better news is that he lowered that ERA nearly .80 points the following year, having ended the 2006 campaign with a 3.59 ERA. What all this should tell you is that he is a very solid, consistent starter and probably has well more than 3 years of #1 starter quality pitcher left in his arm. The only thing I'm left wondering is who will get the opening day start for the Dodgers in '07 - Derek Lowe or Schmidt? My money's on Lowe, but we'll see.
I just wanted to say a quick word about Luis Gonzales - while his power numbers have dropped off in the last couple of years, I think this could be a good fit for the Blue Crew. He still has some pop in his bat and has an average that you can live with from a 39 year old veteran (batted .271 in both '06 and '05) and he's played in over 150 games in all but 1 of the last 10 seasons. Mark my words - J.D. Drew WILL NOT stay healthy in '07. It was a miracle he made it through 2006 as well as he did. Unfortunately, his body is a ticking time bomb and the Red Sox will need an even greater miracle in 2007 to see him not go down for an extended period of time. Paying him 14 million a year and signing him to a long-term contract is just mind-shockingly ridiculous in my opinion but that's a whole different story.The last thing I want to mention is that the Dodgers are said to be heavily interested in Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells - possibly giving up Brad Penny and one of their young prospects for the powerful outfield bat. I would love to see such a move, but the latest rumor is that he might be put out on the market in January, which means there is still some time we'll have to wait to see if a deal like that can be done. The Dodgers can afford to move a starter like Brad Penny and Toronto could definitely use an arm like him. I'm just going to hold my breath and see if anything develops.
In closing, here's a quote I wanted to share with you - it's from Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle regarding the Giant's signing of Barry Bonds -
"This ranks among the most cowardly, gutless baseball decisions of the post-war era, but then again, it would take a pretty stiff dose of courage for Sabean (and many other people in the organization) to say what they really think, like "His steroid associations have embarrassed us for far too long," or "We've grown tired of looking the other way," or "We're sick of him running the team and the way it's built." So everybody just caved in, and now Bonds has a contract (potentially even more lucrative than last year's) that will stifle the Giants' more pressing financial needs."
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