Fire Donnie Dum Dum

[HammerDown]

And Mark Saxon is saying it's 100% on the players and if/when Mattingly is fired, his replacement will probably be less tolerant of their nonsense.

Only the players can save Don Mattingly's job - Los Angeles - Dodgers Report - ESPN Los Angeles

 

[shoktart]

Firing Mattingly won't save the season

Don't get me wrong. Mattingly is easily the worst manager in all of baseball and deserves to be fired. As badly assembled a team as this is, we've lost more than one game this year simply due to horrible managing.

However, even upgrading the manager (and anyone other than Mattingly would be an upgrade) it won't matter. Not for a long time.

The only good move Ned Colletti has made in recent history was overspending for Zack Greinke. An elite starting pitcher is worth overspending for. It gives us a great 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Every quality team needs that.

But Kershaw & Greinke is the ONLY good thing this entire team has going for it. Colletti has completely butchered everything else.

The rest of our starting pitching SUCKS!!! Beckett is the worst starting pitcher in major league baseball at this point and there is zero chance he will ever win another game in his career. Bills is done. Colletti should have known that his career was over due to constant injuries. Lilly, Capuano, etc are all awful. And the Dodgers have no quality starting pitching projects in the farm. NONE!!! That's disgraceful for the Dodgers. After Kershaw & Greinke there isn't another decent arm in the entire Dodgers organization, including every level of their farm system.

Speaking of pitching, the Dodgers have easily the worst bullpen in the majors. They don't have a single quality arm in the bullpen. NONE!!! Unbelievable. How does Colletti, with all those resources, go an entire offseason and whiff on every single move he made regarding the bullpen?? How is that even possible? And once again, there are no good bullpen prospects in the farm system.

Adrian Gonzalez is our only decent hitter. But he's past his prime. He has very little power left and he was NOT worth the baggage brought by Beckett & Crawford in that trade.

Crawford sucks. He started the season well, but it clear now that he can't stay healthy. He is simply yet another steroid guy that is finding it difficult now that he is off the roids. His production will continue to decline. He is already under .300 and will soon be hitting below .250. He is no longer fast and is not a good defensive outfielder anymore. He's completely worthless.

Andre Ethier is the epitomy of average. He does nothing well anymore. Everything he does is at the bottom of the league average. He has zero power, isn't clutch, and now he barely even gets on base. Based on production, he's one of the least productive outfielders in all of baseball now.

Matt Kemp continues to be the biggest disappointment in all of baseball. It wasn't long ago when he was one of baseball's brightest stars. Now, he's making Josh Hamilton look like a success in Anaheim. He's supposed to be our heavy hitter and has as many HR's this year as Dee Gordon. It's a joke.

The Dodgers have easily the WORST and most disappointing trio of starting outfielders in all of baseball. It's laughable how bad Crawford, Ethier & Kemp have been and will continue to be for the rest of their pathetic careers. We have SO much money invested in them. We are stuck!!! The Dodgers future is very very bleak because of these three AWFUL players.

The bright spot for our infield is at 2B. The duo of Ellis & Punto has been surprisingly okay. A.J. Ellis is sufficient at C. And Gonzalez, while past his prime, is still decent at 1B.

The problem is at SS & 3B!!!! You will not find a worse left side of an infield in all of baseball. In fact, I dare all of you to find worse production at SS & 3B in baseball history!!! Uribe & Gordon are beyond dreadful. And Hanley Ramirez is one of the biggest busts in baseball. He will never be able to stay healthy because, just like Crawford, he is a prior steroid user that simply is worthless off his roids.

To sum up the ENTIRE roster there are only two good players on the team/farm system: Kershaw & Greinke.

Then there are 4 decent players: Gonzalez, Ellis, Punto & Ellis.

The rest of the offense, starting pitching, bullpen & farm system is complete and utter garbage and should be thrown out with the trash along with Mattingly & Colletti.

The biggest issue is that this franchise has tied itself up to all that garbage and invested a ton of money and contract years that won't be available to use for years. We are going to SUCK beyond SUCK for the next several years.

I never thought I would say this. But we are in worse shape now than when McCourt owned the team. At least then we had an excuse. There is no excuse now. The money is there. We are just incompetent beyond belief. Even the Detroit Lions look like a well run sports franchise compared to the Los Angeles freaking Dodgers!!!!!

 

[HammerDown]

A few observations. Beckett will have to master location very soon or go home. I'm not sure Billingsley is done at all. I can see him as an inning-eater if nothing else. Gordon has above-average speed while being a total liability at the plate. You guys need Chase Headley at third.

I say tonight is a must-win for the Dodgers or Mattingly is gone this week. I can't wait to see the game but just wish I could hear Vin instead of fucking Steve "Legend in his own mind" Lyons.

 

[Old1949]

Shoktart, thanks for making me laugh during this very depressing season. You are the master of overstatement, my friend.

 

[bluepigpen]

I always enjoy shoktart for the negative, no one can match his seeing the dark. No fan could even follow a team with that negative built up, keep it coming, I'll just let you vent for the fans. Try to remember it is a game and not a life and death situation.

 

[HammerDown]

I always enjoy shoktart for the negative, no one can match his seeing the dark. No fan could even follow a team with that negative built up, keep it coming, I'll just let you vent for the fans. Try to remember it is a game and not a life and death situation.

I think he hates the Dodgers worse than we hate the Giants.

 

[Silas]

That was truly a funny post, Shoktart.

The Dodgers have a lot of problems, no doubt, but as painful as it has been to watch, there are a lot of good players on this team. They just need to perform and, in time, they will.

We do need to rebuild the bench, with the exception of Punto, and we could use a couple of fresh arms in the BP. We have three quality SP's. any team would love to have that. We have a terrific Closer in Jansen........Mattingly just needs to put him in that position and stick with him.

I've seen worse Dodger teams than this......just hang in there.

 

[shoktart]

I've seen worse Dodger teams than this......just hang in there.

Well I will agree with that statement.

But can you honestly say there has EVER been a more disappointing Dodger team? When you compare the payroll, expectations & excitement prior to the season with the actual results, it's the most disappointing & underachieving collection of talent since.....well the current Angels, Lakers & USC Trojans!!

Hell of a time to be an L.A. sports fan?

 

[HammerDown]

I said he'd be fired by the end of the month and he will. Who would have ever thought the Dodgers would fire their manager before June? What a mess!

 

[ksudodger]

Not only will Mattingly last the season before (and IF) a change is made, I am going to call it today (May 22nd, 2013).. the Dodgers will win the NL West. The Rockies are not for real and neither is Arizona....the Ginats and the Blue Crew will battle through September and both make the playoffs
We have WAAAAY too many injuries to blame everything on Donny Baseball. Not to say that he is not responsible for about 6-10 losses with his decisions, but it is not ALL on him and for anyone to say it is must just be BLIND

 

[Silas]

After Mattingly's comments today I'd say the "under" is looking real good. But, I think Mattingly's remarks are accurate. It's about time he ripped the way this team is playing and called Management out for doing nothing to put a "winning" team on the field.

Mattingly is pretty likely to get the axe now. Management won't put up with a manager criticizing them in public.

Now we will get a "Yes" man at the helm when what the team needs are four or five new additions who hustle on every play and act like winning means something.

 

[Old1949]

Mattingly's stock bumped up a few points with me today. I'm glad to see him finally showing some spunk. I hope management can swallow hard and take his words to heart. Mattingly is a problem, as KSU indicated, costing the Dodgers several games this year all by himself. But he is not the biggest problem. The apathy of the players and the poor decisions of Colletti have been bigger concerns. Of course the injuries and some bad luck have been factors too. Mattingly can learn to be a better manager if he wants to and if management gives him the chance.

If I were management I would fire Colletti. He's done a marginal job for years now. I'd also make some player changes...eliminate Cruz, Hernandez, and Uribe. Put Ethier on the trading block. Find a decent 3B somewhere, or put Hanley there and find a reliable SS. Bring up Puig and Pederson or Angle as the 3rd and 4th outfielders. Keep Van Slyke as the backup 1B and pinch hitter. And I would give Mattingly another chance, at least for awhile.

 

[Silas]

Sometimes you have to get rid of a good player to make the team better. I don't dislike Andre Ethier, and I think he's a decent player, but he's become rather pedestrian in his efforts. The most emotion he's shown all season is staring down the umpire that tossed him a couple of days ago.

I agree that the bench players, Cruz, Uribe and Hernandez, need to go FAST! Ned........are you paying attention to the Bench YOU put together??

I would put together a package of Ethier and Gordon and ship them both out of town. Ethier needs a change of scenery and, imo, Dee Gordon is never going to be a quality MLB player.

Detroit is looking for BP help......and they have some guys who can hit. What about Andy Dirks?? A solid player who isn't spectacular, but makes things happen. What about Jhonny Peralta? Move Hanley to 3B and put Peralta at SS. Send the Tigers Guerrier or Belasario or League.

None of the above will probably ever happen because I don't think Ned pays a lot of attention to what other teams are looking for.

There are at least a few AL teams that would be interested in Ethier. Boston, New York, Baltimore, Texas, Oakland.

What about doing a straight up deal with New York for Granderson? Put Granderson in CF........move Kemp to RF. Granderson would hit 30 HR's and play a decent CF. Ethier might find Yankee Stadium to his liking.

Oh well, I suppose these are all pipedreams. Colletti will hold hands with Kasten, fire Mattingly, appoint Wallach the interim manager, and do nothing else.

And so, the Dodger saga continues.

 

[Upstater]

You have to wonder when teams will start learning that when you package a ton of stars on one team it usually doesn't work out.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[HammerDown]

 

[HammerDown]

I just merged the three "fire Mattingly" threads into this one.

 

[BUDSFAULT]

Alienating Ethier and now Kemp.


Donnie Dum Dum needs to go.

 

[HammerDown]

Alienating Ethier and now Kemp.


Donnie Dum Dum needs to go.

It really doesn't matter. Kemp is a virtual liability right now and Mattingly made the right move taking him out. Now that management has given Donnie some teeth, he can make moves that help the team win. If I were Donnie, I'd bench him today and let him think about yelling at me again.

 

[Silas]

And Mattingly did bench Kemp today and is starting Schumacher in CF. I applaud the move. Kemp continues to struggle. He hasn't been much use overall this season and Schumacher probably knows a little bit about Shelby Miller.

Mattingly is trying to do what he can to win. Now Colletti has to get off the dime and do something to improve this club.