Check out the totally unbiased and hyperbole-free article by Steven Henson:
LOS ANGELES – Admit it. What for days appeared to be another episode of reckless decisions and bungled stewardship by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt turned into the franchise's greatest coup since drafting Mike Piazza in the 62nd round 20 years ago.
The Dodgers signed Alex Rodriguez? Traded for Johan Santana? Re-animated the corpse of Jackie Robinson to replace Kent at second? Don't leave me in suspense, Steve Henson!
The Dodgers exchanged Forrest Gump for Joe Cool.
And another manager to be named later.
Forrest Gump plays for the Dodgers? Also is that a reference to the character Snoopy plays when he puts on sunglasses? Personally I would think fictional Gump would be the better ballplayer, seeing as how he could certainly run fast, and besides Snoopy would never break a sweat in those sunglasses. Snoopy kind of becomes a dick when he puts on eyewear.
Oh. Torre. The Dodgers getting Torre is it seems the greatest move they've made since drafting Piazza in 1998. Does anyone recall the Dodgers picking up a crusty old veteran that year named Kirk Gibson, who single handedly carried the Dodgers on his gimpy leg to a World Championship (see if you can out-hyperbole that, Mr. Henson!).
Not even going that far back, I would say that there are at least 5 players (I'm being generous) on the Dodgers current roster whose acquisition will have more of an effect on the fate of the 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers than a green tea freebasing manager.
I don't think Henson knows who Joe Torre really is. Look at his criticism of Little:
Little, a man of consummate integrity whose limitations were restricted to sixth-inning pitching changes and a growing inability to communicate with a certain curmudgeonly second baseman, saw through the charade.
Henson believes it seems that a change was needed from a manager with a bunch of integrity and class who couldn't manage a bullpen or an infielder. Let me correct this by re-writing the sentence:
Torre, a man of consummate integrity whose limitations were restricted to sixth-inning pitching changes and a growing inability to communicate with a certain curmudgeonly third baseman, saw through the charade.
But I digress.
In comes Torre, a .605 winning percentage in 12 seasons with the Yankees, a .476 mark in 15 National League seasons before that.
Yes, capital move old sport in bringing in a guy whose career in the National League is that of a losing manager. This is the New Torre, the Torre given credit only for successes and no blame for failures.
"The free agent market is thin, and any team that is trying to build via free agency is bound to be disappointed," he said. "Our young players, we need to maximize their ability. It's also about the individual players we have here getting better. You're not always going to be able to call the cavalry."
McCourt and Colletti did, however, bring in the equivalent of Gen. Philip Sheridan, who any Civil War buff knows was assigned to duty in the West after distinguishing himself in the East by playing a large role in Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Torre knows the drill. He knows about expectations. He knows to watch his back. Given the ammunition, he might even take the Dodgers to a World Series before handing over the reins to Mattingly.
This might turn out to be McCourt's finest hour, Colletti's greatest get. Just don't let the kids in on the details.
Colletti's greatest "get" is a manager with exactly the same flaws as the previous guy and who has had a losing record when not backed by the Yankees.
If I were a Dodger fan (and I'm not even close) I would lament the loss of DePodesta and wonder why exactly Frank McCourt is batshit insane.
Lots of smoke, very little fire. As opposed to every analyst on ESPN who is going completely apeshit for Boston's aquisition of Gagne, I'm glad the Yankees didn't mortgage the future for a guy who will throw at best 18-20 innings for the rest of the year. Now I know Boston is probably more interested in using Gagne in the post season, but they already had a good bullpen, and all Gagne does is take away opportunities from Delcarmen and Okajima. I don't think Boston improved all that much. Gagne would have been much more valuable to the Yankees, Brewers, or Mets, which makes this deal all the more strange.
Trading for Wilson Betemit is a good move. It's not splashy, and Torre probably won't play him very much, but at least now there's a better option than Miguel Cairo. Cairo needs to go. I know Torre will object, but with Betemit and Phillips, you have two guys who can play every IF position. Duncan can play first if needed, as can Giambi when he's back. The Torre loyalty needs to no longer extend to the bench, and Cairo needs to be DFA when Giambi is back. He can't hit and isn't needed defensively anymore.
Speaking of Torre blind loyalty, does anyone else get the feeling that maybe Cashman made the deal in order to take away Torre's favorite toy? Besides the fact that the abused arm of Proctor is likely to have a breakdown, Torre was using Proctor in ridiculous and unneccesary situations all season (and last as well) at the expense of other relievers who were not getting any work and then would be thrown into the fire once every two weeks and relegated to rot in the 'pen again when they (surprise!) didn't perform well after the layoff.
Having Proctor gone allows Chamberlain to get some more opportunities, so he doesn't turn into another Edwar Ramirez or Chris Britton or Sean Henn. I remember Torre saying they were "looking for an opportunity" to use Ramirez, and the following game he used proctor with a 5 or 6 run lead. If you won't trust a kid there, you never will. Same with his statement about using Duncan as the DH as long as he keeps mashing and then benching him for nearly an entire road trip.
I'm hoping Cashman recognized this and made the move in order to protect Torre (and the Yankees) from himself.
This should be evidence enough that Torre is unfit to manage this team, or any team without "veterans with pre-defined roles." Bring on Girardi or Mattingly in 2008. Something in my gut tells me that's been the plan all along, and a possible reason why Girardi turned down the Orioles.
Andy Pettitte threw a simulated game in Tampa today, and had an unusal defense behind him. Throw Cano at 2B and I would honestly be surprised if this infield wouldn't be better than the current one.
Posada caught Pettitte. The infield was A-Rod, Jeter, minor-league second baseman Kevin Russo and a slightly older, slick-fielding first baseman named Donald Arthur Mattingly.
Mattingly made a play on Phillips in the final inning. In the same inning, Jeter fielded a ball and threw short, forcing Mattingly to make a scoop.
