From KSPN710:
18-22 hours with the McCourts, talk about a tough interview.

Excellent post Jon. What a fabulous place this is to discuss Dodger baseball.

Stan from Tacoma

"...but I'm not sure any of us can really know how he'll act wearing the black robe until he throws it over his sport coat."

I tend to picture denim cut-offs under those robes...

Posted on the other thread, the Mason and Ireland interview:

Colletti is prepared to join the dark side, and Colletti can't stand Sabean (who Mason or Ireland called a jackass). They're just messing around

Colletti wouldn't really answer a question regarding using his knowledge of Sabean and the Giants against them. He said Tracy could go against us just as easy

Colletti isn't worried about ending up like DePo. He said he asks a lot of questions (said this a few times). He claims he is not someone who can't read or understand the newspaper. He spent 5-6 hours with Frank last week, 9-10 on Monday, and 2-3 more with Jamie yesterday. He's not an introvert, that's for sure

He won't admit he's more traditional than DePo, but he did say he needs to know everything about a player before signing them, including how they live their lives. He made several comments that clearly go against Bradley

The Orel rumors are untrue according to Colletti. A new manager will be judged like a new player, then he started naming off the same things he said during the press conference.

Our farm system is "on the verge of being very good." What does that mean? He seems to like the prospects, but doesn't want the entire team to be rookies. A new manager must be open minded about rookies. Hopefully that means no Piniella or Baker. He will start his phone calls in the next hour or two, and hopes to have efveryone notified by tomorrow

He can't answer a question about payroll. He claims he's not being evasive. He brought up numerous expensive players to McCourt, and McCourt assured him he could get who he wanted. I wouldn't completely trust McCourt

Kent isn't really a leader, just a hard worker. He signed Kent originally because some other executives said he was going to be very good, despite being quiet, and wants as many Kents as possible

Man does he talk a lot.

So McCourt went to the other extreme and went with someone who will not shut up. The fatter faced Kevin Malone comparison is becoming more and more accurate.

Jon, in your post you mentioned Lasorda being quiet about Colletti, Lasordas Blog is updated on Dodgers.com if that helps at all.

Steve Phillips will now do a mock press conference for Mason and Ireland (it will be new, Mason and Ireland will be the reporters).

I don't knwo the difference between Mason and Ireland, but one of them summed the interview up nicely, Colletti talked a long time and said nothing

Phillips likes Colletti, but doesn't think he can get things together. He was a rational choice based on what McCourt had left to choose from

4 The whole deep-background check thing comes off to me like an aversion to uncertainty and risk-taking. This is why the D'Backs acquired and extended Shawn Green. By definition guys like Navarro and Choi aren't going to have a long list of character references throughout major league clubhouses and front offices. To me this is the curse of being in a big market- you can't give 500 ab's to a guy and see if you have the next Jason Bay.

Plaschke didn't put Kent on a pedestal overnight. His 9/11/05 column lauded Kent. It was Part 3 of his "Dodgers and character" trilogy. Part 1 was McCourt's mea culpa, Part 2 was "Milton Bradley: Enemy of the State" and Part 3 was "Kent: The only guy on the Dodgers who tries hard"

Jon you are one heck of a writer. Thanks so much for all that you do.

I am excited in that at least we can move forward instead of being stuck with nowhere to go.

8
But you CAN give 500 ABs to Jason Phillips.

Phillips likes Colletti, but doesn't think he can get things together.

The idiot caucus is split.

Kim Ng's husband better get her a nice gift for her birthday tomorrow to keep her from getting too bummed about losing out on a promotion.

if colletti should let logan white handle all talent evaluations.

Kim Ng may say that, but if the Red Sox offered her their GM job I have a hard time seeing her turn it down.

I would be very surprised if Ng were offered the GM job in Boston. I can't picture an organization of that size taking that much of a chance.

15 - Oh, sure. The point is, she isn't quitting out of disgust.

17 -- which doesn't say much for her.

Excellent write up Jon. Hearing that Ng is coming back is somewhat comforting. Colletti seems to be good with the media; maybe he should have stuck to being a PR guy.

Did anyone notice that she said,

"There are a lot of good things happening here on the baseball side."

So what's happening on the non-baseball side?

16 No, I don't really think so either. But she's at least in the discussion, apparently.

I think after two years we can begin to answer the question of what kind of owners the McCourts are. There were I believe two main questions. First, are they, as one anecdotal account had it, incompetent? I don't think "incompetent" is exactly the mot juste, though you can see where that judgment comes from. The matter of building seats without checking the sight lines is an example of what gave them that reputation. The thing is, people who are incompetent might get rich, but they don't stay rich. I think a better term would be "flaky", but their flakiness is balanced by prudence. Thus the Kagemusha approach to the famous property in Boston. Indeed, flaky though it may seem, dumping DePodesta could be seen as a reflection of their prudence: They were at the point of no return as far as committing themselves to DePodesta's strategies was concerned, the questionable move of hiring Terry Collins as manager rang alarm bells, and they resolved to take a less risky approach before it was too late. The downside of this is, if they were truly incompetent then they wouldn't own the team for long. If they are competent but flaky they could run the team poorly for years. This is particularly disheartening after we've spent so many years in the wilderness and it seemed as though we were almost out.

The other question is, do they have enough money to run a baseball team? The answer seems to be, yes, but not as a large market team. The Dodgers are beginning to look like the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, a team run more or less on the same lines as the Angels were before their breakthrough. The thing is, the Dodgers are at a point where they could win with a middle class payroll.

The problem is not that the McCourt's don't have good impulses but that they seem to have a bad impulse for every good one. On the one hand they restore the natural warning track and eliminate that irksome saddleback pattern behind home plate and on the other they create a ballpark ambience of the most extreme vulgarity. They want to project an old school image, but they do so through pointless or counterproductive gestures like taking the names off the jerseys and putting the team in "throwback" jerseys that no Dodger team ever wore. They adopt a cutting edge approach to management then do a 180 when the pressure is on. What we have to hope for right now is that their good impulses outweigh the bad, and that hiring Colletti was one of the good impulses.

Hopefully between Ng, Smith, and White they can explain to Flanders that statistics play a bigger role in evaluating talent then Ned seems to think right now.

Is character the same thing as chemistry? It seemed to me that Colletti was saying he didn't believe in chemistry (everyone in the clubhouse being best friends) but values character (playing hard, being willing to learn, not causing publicity problems). I took his comment about "being able to make it through the whole season" as being less about stamina/injuries and more about mental makeup (pressing when you go into a slump) and not getting suspended for detrimental conduct. Taking it that way might help to reduce the dissonance.

Hi. It's great to be aboard, and I think this blog is terrific. Whether or not I agree with what Jon and the other contributors say, I learn and think. And I really think that the most important thing the front office has to do is to make sure that Vin Scully doesn't retire at the end of his current contract, because that will be the whole ball game.

As to the new GM, McCourt hasn't carved out an impressive track record, but Fox certainly didn't, and what Bob Daly did can be endlessly debated. DePodesta did not get a fair chance to strut his stuff, but that's over and now we have to give Colletti a fair chance.

A couple of additional points. One is that we tend to wax too nostalgic about Peter O'Malley. While I think he was terrific, I also spent a lot of time from 1988 on wondering what was wrong. And remember that during all of those years of stability under Walter Alston, Walter O'Malley brought in several high-profile coaches (Dressen and Durocher, for example) and put him on the hot seat. The history of the Dodgers has been more controversial than many tend to remember.

Now I will indulge my cynical, nasty streak and say that if you want to know how Lasorda really feels about Colletti, or anything else, read Plaschke.

15-18, etc.

I'm not sure Boston is the best place for Kim Ng to cut her teeth as a GM. You think we have a boorish, petty, and vicious press corps here? They got a bit of that old ownership/management dysfunction goin on, too. That's not at all to say she can't handle it because of her gender, more like I'm not sure who can handle that job.

That said, you can only cheerfully stay put while you get passed over for promotions so many times. If I were her, I'd say whatever makes me look good (like what she said today), interview for whatever I can, and take the first train out of town that doesn't end up in Boston.

22 - I thought that was an excellent post, Robert. Another interpretation is that the good or bad of some of their decisions is achieved accidentally - they do some things on impulse without really understanding how rational they are. They also seem, in some respects, to have too many impulses. In any case, I really think you captured their ownership quite well.

"Now I will indulge my cynical, nasty streak and say that if you want to know how Lasorda really feels about Colletti, or anything else, read Plaschke."

Nicely said. I wondered where that out-of-left-field reference to Jim Fregosi (not to mention Jim Fregosi, the "winner") came from. I think you nailed it.

The idiot caucus is split.

hahahahah

26
I could see her ending up in Boston as an assistant GM. Remember they lost both the GM and the AGM. She shouldn't stay in LA, it will be to uncomfortable for both of them.

"I take nothing for granted. I know the value of finances, I know the value of people. I've had to be street-smart since I was a little kid," Colletti said. "I've had to know who's right, who's wrong, who's pulling my leg, who's lying to me, who's got integrity, who I can trust.

So you allow yourself to be hired by Frank McCourt?

I grew up in L.A. and the road by my house went north-south so I grew up avenue-smart.

Because something figures to happen soon...

The Dodgers have 33 players on their 40 man roster. Grabowski, Ross, Edwards, and Myrow are all on the roster still. Can we assume Colletti removes them? Also, what impact do FAs offered arbitration have? I heard somewhere that FAs offered arbitration remain on the 40 man roster for the Rule 5, but this could be wrong. The arbitration deadline in the 7th, thew Rule 5 is the 8th

32 - LOL I was first drive-smart, then lane-smart for two decades or so.

25--Great post, but how could you prevent Vin Scully, who is in his 80's, from retiring if he wanted to?

28--Steve, one of the traveling circus of ESPN idiots (Buster Olney) was mentioning on the radio that Fregosi was a Colletti favorite. Time to break out those old Angels hats with the halos on the top?

Hmm..Colletti/Fregosi/Lasorda; bad news for those conspiracy theorist posters who continue to mutter about a sinister "Italian connection". (Somehow DePodesta missed the membership cut.)

25 And I really think that the most important thing the front office has to do is to make sure that Vin Scully doesn't retire at the end of his current contract, because that will be the whole ball game.

I have to disagree here. Vin Scully will be 78 years old next season - 13 years past retirement age. If he chooses to walk away and do something else that he loves during the last years of his life, be it retire to a tropical island or move in next door to his grandkids, God bless him. He may be the voice of the Dodgers, but nothing lasts forever. You simply can't blame the front office if Scully opts for a long-earned retirement. I would rather his fans recognize that's it's his time to let go, on his terms.

In fact, the idea that the McCourts would try to pressure an octogenarian into continuing to slave away because he's good PR is frankly inhuman. Let him go. He deserves it.

One of my first jobs as a librarian was in Valencia. I once told a coworker that I had to find a kid a book on sex ed so he wouldn't have to learn the info on the paseos.

Jim Fregosi would be a very, very, very odd choice. But nothing would surprise me anymore.

The new manager is also going to have to hire a whole new coaching staff too. I don't think anyone had their contract renewed or they all left for Pittsburgh.

I heard Lasorda being interviewed on Tony Bruno this morning just after the Colleti press conference ended. It was very depressing. I certainly got the impression that Lasorda had helped pick him (the Italian connection?). But, mostly Lasorda just talked about himself and how much he had to offer to the team. He was effusive in his praise for the McCourts, since they brought him (Lasorda) back in as chief advisor. When asked if he wanted to be GM, he said no, because he had already reached the pinnacle in Baseball (induction in the hall of fame) and "there was nowhere left for him to go but heaven." Anyhow, the whole interview made my stomach turn. And, it makes me very concerned about this new GM.

On a side note, I thought Colletti aquitted himself quite well during the press conference. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

While I respect everyone here who is trying to hold out hope, I simply can't believe there is any.

Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

---

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

---

I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

39 - I'm trying but I haven't found any yet.

39--Spoken like a man who;
a) Has given up all reason to live and is waiting for a meteor to strike the earth to end his pain;

or

b)someone who knows that the bar results will be out in a week or so.

39
It's hard to love there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time

Jon, your memory is better than mine. All I could think of was Corinthians:

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Or maybe that sitcom with Kelly Ripa and the other blonde (who IS that? Was she the girl on Night Court?), Hope and Faith.

42 -- good man.

Hope is a thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings a tune without words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest, in the gale, is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That keeps so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea
Yet, never, in extremity
It ask a crumb of me.

It's a thing with feathers.

Also, it floats.

44
Faith Ford

five seconds.

13. Bob, I would hope Frank would get Kim Ng a nice birthday gift to keep her from getting too bummed. That gift should be a fat bonus. (but I doubt it)

44 - Faith Ford - she was on "Murphy Brown"

Probably already mentioned, but 'Catfish Stew' blog has a funny article up about Colletti. It's on Jon's sidebar. The TINSTAAPP link is great. vr, Xei

103 seconds, but I provided context

48, 51 Ah, that's right. I watched Night Court (our local ABC station puts reruns on between the late local news and Nightline) more than I did Murphy Brown, but thanks to you guys I remember her now.

Any ideas on who he has in mind since he wants to get permission to speak to them. I think we can rule out anyone who has not been involved with a sucessful team at some point. It also sounded like the anti-Tracy type because he did not want someone who would be stubborn (Phillips at 1B) and not let young guys learn on the job.

Jon, who were the early candidates that the board talked about? I don't think there was anyone in the final Depo 3 (Collins, Hershiser and Trammell) that fits his profile. Could Bud Black or even Dusty Baker be in the picture.

I meant to bring this up over at 6-4-2 too, but can we just have a Dusty Baker moratorium for like, two weeks? Just ignore the fact that this is almost certain to happen now?

Please don't say that Steve. It's too painful...

If Dusty Baker is in the picture, then I need to readjust my set.

Why would Black be more qualified than Hershiser?

Rotoworld has their trade predictions up now. They are just predictions/guesses so take with a grain of salt (or in Steve's case a case of beer).

They have Milton Bradley being traded to the Yankees for someone named Melky Cabrera that I've never heard of. They have Abreu to the Dodgers for Derek Lowe and Andy LaRoche (but they have this one as doubtful). Other Dodger trade candidates mentioned were Choi and APerez. They even mentioned the outside possibility of Lowell being traded to LAD.
vr, Xei

Who else fits the description? Who bleeds Dodger blue and Giant orange? Who already brought this up during this season? Who has been there for the "last" game? If Colletti isn't just blowing smoke up everyone's $$$ (and, let's face it, this appears to be the only reason he was hired, because he can speak the media's language of meaningless gasbaggery -- He wants to improve the team immediately through trades and free agency -- what amazing insight into the heart of a winner), Dusty Baker is the guy he's talking about.

This may in fact be the Timmermann Prophecy writ true. Be careful what you ask for, Steve, you just might get it.

[56] maybe firedustybaker.blogspot.com would just transfer ownership to us or something.

60
Roger Craig...?

Didn't Colletti say something, though, about letting young players play? Wouldn't that rule out Baker? Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? (Man, Dusty Baker used to be one of my favorite players.)

[59] anyone but lowell. i have a feeling that aybar in 4 weeks was better than lowell's' whole season last year.

56. NO NO and NO!!! That cannot happen. I would rather have JT than DB. (And that is not hyperbole. I mean it.)

A Couple Questions Now that Colletti is onboard:

-Is Gagne a Dodger now in '07?
-Will Colletti bring back Bradley and pacify kent like he did with Bonds?
-Is there anything available that makes us a real contender in '06? If not, will Colletti punt the year for '07?

Melky Cabrera was a brief Yankees experiment in center field. He wasn't very good. He made Bubba Crosby look like Carlos Beltran.

I still can't believe Baker would want to come back to the Dodgers. He didn't exactly leave on good terms, being accused of drug abuse and all that.

Seems like there's been a bit of a "revolution of rising expectations" concerning Ng. She's 36. She's qualified to be a GM, certainly, but it's no shame for her to stay and try to learn what she can from Colletti rather than quitting in a huff. There are only 30 jobs better than her current job in all of baseball. She will get her chance.

Is there anything available that makes us a real contender in '06?

Yes... Padres, Giants, Rockies and Diamondbacks. vr, Xei

Just 30 jobs better? Wouldn't some team's AGM jobs be better than being the GM for the Royals or Pirates?

Roger Craig is going to be Jim Fregosi's pitching coach.

Ratt there are really 59 jobs in baseball better than hers. 30 GM positions and an AGM job with any team not owned by the McCourts.

Darn Bob! 57 secs!

71
Where does that leave Perranoski?

How does the Asst GM on one of the worst teams in baseball even get considered for a head job. Bringing back Dan Evans would have been quite entertaining.

75
There's that whole "promoting from within" thing.

Ng started with the Dodgers before DePodesta and was highly recommended by other GMs such as Brian Cashman and Bill Bavasi.

And likely Dan Evans too.

I'm not worried about seeing Dusty Baker as manager here. In all seriousness, that won't happen til Lasorda, indeed, goes to heaven.

The guy I could see coming here that would fit Colletti's description is Lou Pineilla.

We're lucky Leyland is tied up in Detroit.

Hargrove maybe? Didn't I read here that Ichiro has told the M's it's him or me? Or did I dream that?

Showalter?

Scioscia would be an obvious choice, except I think he'd sooner become a vegetarian.

LaRussa?

Whoever it is is going to bunt like it's 1852.

65, I agree. This whole idiotic trip is brought to you by Frank McCourt.

I post here often. I am not a saber follower, nor am I anti-saber. I do think I like intelligent leadership no matter what it calls itself. At the end of the year McCourt had a decision to make: bring back DePo or bring back Tracy. I could have supported either, though I think a good GM is more important than a manager. McCourt sided with DePo. Tracy is out. Wait a minute, McCourt fires DePo. Tracy is still out and now DePo is too. The Dodgers hire a GM who probably could have worked with Tracy. So now the Dodgers have a void at manager with who knows who to be hired.

Post #22 mentions McCourt's good impulses and bad impulses. Maybe so, but what stands out to me is that McCourt simply is impulsive. That is not a good thing to be when running a baseball franchise.

The only hope I have for this franchise is that McCourt will be forced to sell sooner rather than later.

Stan from Tacoma

Kim Ng and Boston: When you have a celebrity executive, why do you replace him with another team's assistant? One reason is that because you as an owner are tired of being in the shadow of the celebrity executive, you want to impose more of your personal vision on the team