Comments on: Wolf Decision Raises Questions

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:29:40 +0000

Jim Hendry should be canned on the spot if he accepted that offer. A quality starter for a 4th OF and an expensive closer? Pass.

By: neuter_your_dogma

neuter_your_dogma — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:37:04 +0000

The move won’t turn the Dodgers into the Pirates, but won’t turn the Dodgers into the Phillies either. :)

By: El Lay Dave

El Lay Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:09:21 +0000

I think the Dodger financial situation would be this bad whether Frank and Jamie were happy as honeymooners or as at odds as The Honeymooners appeared to be at their worst moments. The financial problems must be due to the highly-leveraged nature of the purchase in the first place, the ongoing financial shenanigans (more loans, increased amounts of deferred payments in contracts, etc., plus ballyhooed stadium improvements have been postponed – seemingly indefinitely – probably because McCourt can’t raise the capital since no one will lend him the cheap money anymore), and the badly thought out investments: the overpaid Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt whom the Dodgers knew to be damaged goods and took the bad risk anyway, and perhaps Andrew Jones, though many well-regarded pundits took opposite sides on that signing at the time.

The McCourts just don’t have anyone to run to for bailout money.

By: El Lay Dave

El Lay Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:01:35 +0000

Zambrano is still owed nearly $60M on his contract, plus a vesting option of $19+M sits out there in 2013. The Dodgers clearly don’t have the money to take that on. The Cubs have seen the Juan Pierre show once before; I don’t think they are clamoring for a return. Don’t think that is a realistic deal.

I think Gordon is three years away at best. He played A ball year (not A+) and the nearly unanimous opinion is that he showed a lot of talents but is still “raw” – the word I saw used quite frequently.

By: Ivdown

Ivdown — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:06:41 +0000

Not offering Wolf arbitration was something that is really inexcusable, because it means we now don’t get 2 draft picks when we are trying to rebuild the farm system from one of the lower ones 2 years ago, and even the start of 09. Even though it wouldn’t mean a pick before 17, there are still obviously late first round gems and the more you have the better chance of getting one there is; Especially with Logan White running the farm, though I hope we draft a good hitter next year rather than another pitcher.

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:07:43 +0000

Yeah, even I didn’t build a bridge that long by calling them a payroll mess.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:12:58 +0000

And of course, in this reality where baseballs help to run MLB teams, the Giants were also in Brooklyn, not New York.

Yeah, that’s the ticket. ;)

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:06:48 +0000

No, not the same baseball, but they are brothers from what I hear. Peter Baseball was the GM of the Royals, while Bill Baseball is with the Dodgers and made the decision about the (lack of) arbitration offers.

Both come from a family that has been prevalent in MLB front offices–their father Buzzie Baseball started off as a batting practice baseball in the Giants’ organization when they were still in Brooklyn, and worked his way up to vice president in charge of player development before retiring in the late 80s.

By: nick

nick — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:44:03 +0000

So not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf suddenly turns the Dodgers into the Pirates, being a little overdramatic, aren’t we now?

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:37:02 +0000

Pathetic. Thanks Ned and Frank…for turning the great Dodgers franchise into the Pirates.