Yes, the Dodgers are a mess right now. There are problems with the offense, defense, and pitching. To blame one person for this mess would be stupid. Yesterday, Ned Colletti made some comments to Peter Tilden on 790 KABC about Matt Kemp. He said Kemp's defense and baserunning were below average and wondered aloud whether Kemp might be too comfortable now that he has a new two-year, $10.95 million contract.
Ned Colletti:
"I told him I didn't single him out, the same thing I told [the media] earlier. We had a five-minute conversation."
Asked if it was a two-way conversation, Colletti said it was. Asked if everything was fine between him and Kemp, Colletti simply said, "It's fine with me."
He's not singling Kemp out? Huh?
Obviously, Ned's got a problem with the way Kemp has been playing. And maybe Ned's right. But that's not the way you go about things when you are the General Manager of a professional baseball team.
Kemp's agent, Dave Stewart said it best:
"What I would suggest for Ned Colletti to do is look at himself in the mirror. No player has called out Colletti for wasting tens of millions of dollars on Jason Schmidt or Andruw Jones, and that players deserved the same level of courtesy from their general manager."
"You have to look at the fact that Matt is a 25-year-old player. He's been very successful, but you cannot forget the fact that he's still learning to play the game. He's only played center field for two years. He's done everything the organization has asked him to do."
Stewart is right. Ned's made plenty of mistakes as GM.
Ned Colletti put this team together. He needs to take responsibility for the problems the Dodgers are having.
The Dodgers are finally coming home after a 2 and 7 road trip. Stringing some wins together at home is exactly what this team needs. In the end winning cures all.
Ive never liked Matt Kemp.
ReplyDeleteHe finally became a hitter last year and he has been hitting this year but his base running and his fielding have always been off.
Maybe he doesnt pay attention, who knows?
But at least he is staying away from sliders now.
I think him being called out will make him play. I think NedCo should call EVERYONE out esp Torre for using 7 pitchers a night.
Hell, Ronni BellyLard and Blake DimWitt are error machines. BellyLard on the field and DimWitt in his head.
If we cut out the stupid mental mistakes we can easily be 5 game sup on this NL WEST division.
But who am I kidding? NedCo has made stupid deals since he became a dodger and ownership doesnt help him either. He has been lucky at the half recycling garbage players.
No pitching the last two years when we knew we needed it and we got Two division titles and two NLCS appearances.....this year we needed pitching even more and we did nothing....
this is going to be a LOOOOOONG season in LA if we dont make massive trades.
TRADE:
Kershaw, Bills, Xavier Paul, Blake Dewitt, Ivan Dejesus, James Loney, George SHerril......and give away Chin Lun Hu....i would say trade martin but at this point there is no catcher out there.
TRY TO AQUIRE:
Roy Oswalt, Ben Sheets, Adrian Gonzales, Heath Bell and really thats it...there arnt pitchers/players out there that are possibly on the trading block...OR just trade the farm for Pujols and offer him a fat ext.....lol ya right. In our dreams
Yeah the Dodgers need to make some moves. The team as is now simply will not get very far. But I wouldn't trade everyone away.
ReplyDeleteYFNS - May be you're right. Maybe Ned's comments get Kemp going. We'll just have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, the entire team seem to be out of sync. You can't single out one player, specially the way Ned did. I do agree that they need to make some changes, the pitching is awful and I'm no expert, but I don't think that this team is the kind of team that will make us proud and take it all!..... I've only been a fan for about 5 or 6 years but i can tell you that this is the worst I've seen so far. But who know, maybe they will gain their confidence back when they come home. all we can do is hope and pray. GO BLUE!!!
ReplyDeleteI also think that Kemp is a bad outfielder bc he cant read the ball of the bat. WHat saves him out there is his speed.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who wants to trade Kemp and Kershaw is a jackass.
ReplyDeleteSimply a jackass.
Or Ned Colletti.
Of course, those two are one in the same.
This is a very simple situation, one pretty common in sports. Young athlete hits it big, gets hot celeb girlfriend, gets paid an insane amount of cash and predictably falls flat. Two years later he matures and leaves all that Hollywood garbage behind and becomes the baller he was destined to be. A lot of this is on Kemp for allowing himself to get sucked into this but some of the blame goes to Joe Torre, Colletti and LA as a whole for letting this happen.
ReplyDeleteNed Colletti on the other hand is making a big mistake saying this publicly. I'm sure he is trying to motivate his player but this rarely works. Most athletes are spoiled babies and despise being ripped in the papers. Mr. Colletti needs to realize that messing with a player with a guarenteed contract is a recipe for disaster. If he had an issue he should sit him down with Torre and set the kid straight.
As for the Dodger season, everyone needs to sit back and chill. A season is not over in the first 20+ games. Baseball is a grind and tings will even itself out. The talent is there, the manager is in place and Manny will be back soon. Although I must say Manny is a shell of his former self.
Dodger fans need to remember what this season is really all about and that is Vin Scully. Savor the legend and let the season play out. The Dodgers will be around forever, Vin wont.
GO BLUE!!!
Cachetona - Yup. They need to all get on track. This is just sad to watch. They will eventually get it together.
ReplyDeleteCH Norman - Well said.
ReplyDeleteKempKershaw -Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
ReplyDeleteI would never trade Kemp or Kershaw, ever. They are both studs. They will only get better. They are the future of this franchise.
But I agree with YFNspiderman82 in some reguards. I think the Dodgers do need to make some trades. Unfortunately, I don't think Ned is capable of making a good trade. He always gets taken advantage of.
That's not an opinion, that's lunacy. Should we build a team full of Garret Andersons and Juan Pierres and Jamey Carrolls?
ReplyDeleteKemp's head a rough week plus, christ people overact so much it's ridiculous.
Love the label "Winning Cures All". Too true.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course winning can also overshadow actual problems too.
KK - Let's hope they start winning soon.
ReplyDeleteHey hey, look what happened!
ReplyDelete