Dodgers Hire New GM

Originally posted on my MySpace blog, November 18, 2007,

It took a while, but the Dodgers finally have a new GM. On Wednesday, they announced the hiring of longtime Giants assistant GM, Ned Colletti. I wasn't too thrilled with the decision at first, but after hearing his comments at the news conference, and listening to him in several interviews on local radio talk shows throughout the day, and reading what others in the industry said about the hiring, I've come to the conclusion that Colletti might just be the right guy for the job.

Colletti has a reputation for being a hard nosed guy when it comes to negotiations for contracts and trades. He engineered the Giants signing of Barry Bonds. He was a key player in the Giants' acquisition of Jeff Kent from Cleveland. He's also the second person the Dodgers have hired as a GM who was once a member of the media. (In 1988, the Dodgers hired Fred Claire. Claire was already in the Dodger organization, but he was once a media reporter.)

Colletti values more than just stats when it comes to building a team. I for one still believe that stats speak for themselves. Stats are cold, hard facts. Many still buy into the notion that previous GM, Paul DePodesta, was too much of a stat freak, who didn't put too much value into other areas, such as a player's personality, the scouting reports, etc. They're right, he didn't put too much value into it, but more importantly, he didnt overvalue it either. He didn't rely strictly on stats as many were led to believe. But one thing he wasn't very good at, which ultimately led to his firing, was communicating with the players, his collegues, and more importantly, his superiors.

Owner Frank McCourt says he and Colletti hit it off right away. But then again, I believe he said the same thing about DePodesta when he was hired two years ago as well. As soon as Colletti knew he had the job, he and McCourt spent close to 24 hours together over a span of three days, asking questions, answering questions, determining what direction the team was headed. Colletti basically has a very good idea what he wants to do, and it seems as if McCourt is on bourd with his ideas.

Colletti's first order of business will be to find a new manager for the recently "fired" Jim Tracy. We know right now that one of DePodesta's finalists for the managerial post, in fact he was the leading candidate at the time of DePodesta's firing, Terry Collins, will be interviewed again for the job. Also in line are Jim Fregosi and Lou Piniella, although Piniella is a very longshot. There are other unknowns on Colletti's list of candidates so one can only wonder.

Once a manager is in place, Colletti will get to work on free agents and potential trades. He's indicated that he will sit down with Kim Ng and Roy Smith, who running the player personnel ship in between GMs, and find out who they've contacted as far as free agents and other teams for trade matches, and then he'd move forward with some of those and some of his own ideas. The most glaring areas of need are at third base, the outfield, and starting pitching, but Colletti has suggested first base needs an upgrade, as well. That said, its pretty obvious Hee Seop Choi and Milton Bradley's days are numbered in Dodger blue.

There's speculation Colletti is talking with Milwaukee about Lyle Overbay. Not much of an upgrade over the Choi/Olmedo Saenz combo, but if he gets the right guy at third base (rumors persist they are talking to Nomar Garciaparra), then Overbay at first doesn't look so bad.

It's still rather early in the game but the Dodgers just might have saved themselves from a PR nightmare with the hiring of Colletti. Check back in two months to see what the new roster looks like and we'll have a better idea of whether Colletti was the right hire for the job.