Post by Dodgers GM on Nov 13, 2008 2:25:11 GMT -5
LA's GM finally talked about the state of his team with one month to play in the 2000 season.
While the Dodgers had been the NL West favorites to many at the start of the year, the Dodgers season has without a doubt been a disappointment, being 12 games under .500 with one month of the season left.
However, the team's 1st year GM Barack Obama disagrees.
"When we consider the team's philosophy, we are doing a pretty good job," said Obama. "I inherited a team full of veterans pretty much past their ceilings. We needed change, and we needed to build for the future."
"Could we have competed this year? Yes, we definitely could have," added Obama, "but injuries derailed us."
Mark Grudzielanek and Chan Ho Park suffered devastating injuries weeks into the regular season. Grudzielanek will be out until spring training of next season, while Park hopes to come back for the team's final couple weeks of the season. The Dodgers also had to deal with injuries to Eric Karros and Orel Hershiser, and right now has two starting outfielders - Jermaine Dye and Ichiro Suzuki - as well as starting pitcher Aaron Sele - on the DL.
"I like the direction this franchise is going," added Obama, "Bunch of young talent."
Most of the young talent the Dodgers have right now were not part of the organization when the 2000 season kicked off. Obama had to deal some of the team's older but sure stars - such as Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green - to get young talent. Take a look at the Dodgers potential infield in 2 years: 1B Kevin Youkilis, 2B JJ Hardy, SS Carlos Guillen, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff.
That is pretty scary, as Kouzmanoff and Youkilis are 2 of the game's top prospects, Guillen a former top prospect who struggled in his first full season but has considerable upside, and Hardy a 1st round draft pick this season.
The outfield has no less force. Led by new acquisitions Ichiro Suzuki and Jermaine Dye, both in their mid 20s, they will likely play a significant role in Dodgers' future runs, and make fans forget about Sheff and the underperformed Shawn green.
"I love our lineup. In about 3 years, it's going to be a virtual lineup of assassins. Kouzmanoff, Youkilis, Guillen, Hardy, Garko, Cora in the infield. All have great talent and probably some of the highest ceilings in the league. Dye, Suzuki, a very underrated Hollandsworth, and draft picks Gwynn and Choo who both have serious upside, in the outfield. LoDuca a very reliable catcher who can hit consistently and play above average defense, with veterans Kreuter and Wilkins behind him, and a powerful Dave Ross waiting in AAA." - said Obama with a smile on his face.
But teams cannot win without pitching. The Dodgers have a rotation and bullpen full of proven veterans.
"Yeah, we're not as young in our pitchers," said Obama, "but none of these guys seem to be slowing down any. Kevin Brown, Gregg Olson, Jeff Shaw are all performing at a high level. Saito is 30 so he has many years left still, and has done very well since taking over as closer. Sele is also 30 and pitching beautifully when healthy. Park, Dreifort, Osuna, Adams all in their mid to late 20s still can pitch for another decade. Anderson we signed a couple weeks ago as a free agent to fill in for the injured Park and Sele, and he's been a real pleasant surprise."
"Seeing a guy like Orel Hershiser, a guy in his 40s, still pitch well is a very good feeling. Because we know that that means our pitchers can go another 10 years or more if they could. But the key is that we still do have a future in our pitchers," added Obama, "A lot of them."
The organization is indeed loaded with pitching prospects with considerably high peaks. Onan Masaoka has already made it to the majors and did well after a shaky start. And then in the farm system, you have an almost endless list of starting and relief prospects who have very high ceilings, over 85 in Sports Mogul's rating system.
Hong Chi Kuo. Tyler Johnson. Yhency Brazoban. Eric Stults. ERic Hull. Joey Nation. Josh Pearce. Carmen Cali. Cha Seung Baek. Derek Thompson. Steve Schmoll. Luke Prokopec. Heath Phillips.
These are just to name a few. Stults, Hull, Nation, Pearce, Cali, Baek, Thompson, Schmoll all have ceilings over 90.
"Future definitely looks bright indeed," said Obama, who said that he wants to run for the US presidency after his tenure as GM.
Obama also very recently decided for "change" when it came to the coaching staff. When asked if it was because of the poor record, Obama said that was only part of it.
"More than half our roster has changed since I took over," said Obama. "I'm not sure that the chemistry was quite there between the coaches and players. These coaches we had are definitely seasoned, so they had harder times adjusting to our constantly changing roster, especially toward the younger bunch."
"And then of course, our record is not very good. We may be rebuilding, especially on the position player side, but we still are good enough to contend. Sure, injuries played a role, but that's no excuse," said Obama, who a few days ago decided to name Dodger legend pitcher Don Sutton as manager. Sutton will work closely with new bench coach Tommy Lasorda, who agreed to come out of retirement and join the Dodger dugout. Another great Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela was named pitching coach, and Kirk Gibson, the man who hit one of the most famous home runs in history, as hitting coach.
"I have utmost confidence in these guys. They will just finish up the last month of this season and get used to each other and with the players, and tehn by next season, they should be ready," said Obama.
When asked about possible transactions in the offseason, Obama said, "As far as hitters go, I am very happy with what we have now. Maybe Garko could go since we have Youkilis now, and Cora because we have Guillen and Hardy. Maybe a vet like Karros or Grudzielanek could go. But otherwise, our core of Youkilis, Kouzmanoff, Guillen, Hardy, LoDuca, Ichiro, Hollandsworth, and Dye is staying. As far as pitchers go, Brown, Park, Dreifort, and Sele are pretty much set. We may sign a free agent to compete with Anderson for the job, and we may also let some of our prospects like Kuo or Nation compete. We have a load of pitching prospects as well, so a deal for another starting pitcher is possible. Or we could bring Hershiser back another year if he doesn't retire. For the bullpen, Shaw, Saito, and Olson make a great veteran presence, complemented by young Osuna, Adams, and Masaoka, who all performed satisfactorily this year. Maybe an upgrade here and there with all the prospects we have. But not much is going to be changed. Why change something immediately after making all those trades over the course of this year in order to "change" for the future?"
We will see over the next two years if Obama's change plan works out for the Dodgers. Sure, the team will look great on paper. A young, dangerous lineup. A veteran pitching rotation and reliable bullpen. A coaching staff loaded with Dodger legends. But games are not won on paper, are they?
Obama's goal of a World Series may be as difficult as winning a presidency that is his ultimate dream, but he has worked very hard and well to build a franchise for the World Series, and we will keep a close watch on how things play out.
While the Dodgers had been the NL West favorites to many at the start of the year, the Dodgers season has without a doubt been a disappointment, being 12 games under .500 with one month of the season left.
However, the team's 1st year GM Barack Obama disagrees.
"When we consider the team's philosophy, we are doing a pretty good job," said Obama. "I inherited a team full of veterans pretty much past their ceilings. We needed change, and we needed to build for the future."
"Could we have competed this year? Yes, we definitely could have," added Obama, "but injuries derailed us."
Mark Grudzielanek and Chan Ho Park suffered devastating injuries weeks into the regular season. Grudzielanek will be out until spring training of next season, while Park hopes to come back for the team's final couple weeks of the season. The Dodgers also had to deal with injuries to Eric Karros and Orel Hershiser, and right now has two starting outfielders - Jermaine Dye and Ichiro Suzuki - as well as starting pitcher Aaron Sele - on the DL.
"I like the direction this franchise is going," added Obama, "Bunch of young talent."
Most of the young talent the Dodgers have right now were not part of the organization when the 2000 season kicked off. Obama had to deal some of the team's older but sure stars - such as Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green - to get young talent. Take a look at the Dodgers potential infield in 2 years: 1B Kevin Youkilis, 2B JJ Hardy, SS Carlos Guillen, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff.
That is pretty scary, as Kouzmanoff and Youkilis are 2 of the game's top prospects, Guillen a former top prospect who struggled in his first full season but has considerable upside, and Hardy a 1st round draft pick this season.
The outfield has no less force. Led by new acquisitions Ichiro Suzuki and Jermaine Dye, both in their mid 20s, they will likely play a significant role in Dodgers' future runs, and make fans forget about Sheff and the underperformed Shawn green.
"I love our lineup. In about 3 years, it's going to be a virtual lineup of assassins. Kouzmanoff, Youkilis, Guillen, Hardy, Garko, Cora in the infield. All have great talent and probably some of the highest ceilings in the league. Dye, Suzuki, a very underrated Hollandsworth, and draft picks Gwynn and Choo who both have serious upside, in the outfield. LoDuca a very reliable catcher who can hit consistently and play above average defense, with veterans Kreuter and Wilkins behind him, and a powerful Dave Ross waiting in AAA." - said Obama with a smile on his face.
But teams cannot win without pitching. The Dodgers have a rotation and bullpen full of proven veterans.
"Yeah, we're not as young in our pitchers," said Obama, "but none of these guys seem to be slowing down any. Kevin Brown, Gregg Olson, Jeff Shaw are all performing at a high level. Saito is 30 so he has many years left still, and has done very well since taking over as closer. Sele is also 30 and pitching beautifully when healthy. Park, Dreifort, Osuna, Adams all in their mid to late 20s still can pitch for another decade. Anderson we signed a couple weeks ago as a free agent to fill in for the injured Park and Sele, and he's been a real pleasant surprise."
"Seeing a guy like Orel Hershiser, a guy in his 40s, still pitch well is a very good feeling. Because we know that that means our pitchers can go another 10 years or more if they could. But the key is that we still do have a future in our pitchers," added Obama, "A lot of them."
The organization is indeed loaded with pitching prospects with considerably high peaks. Onan Masaoka has already made it to the majors and did well after a shaky start. And then in the farm system, you have an almost endless list of starting and relief prospects who have very high ceilings, over 85 in Sports Mogul's rating system.
Hong Chi Kuo. Tyler Johnson. Yhency Brazoban. Eric Stults. ERic Hull. Joey Nation. Josh Pearce. Carmen Cali. Cha Seung Baek. Derek Thompson. Steve Schmoll. Luke Prokopec. Heath Phillips.
These are just to name a few. Stults, Hull, Nation, Pearce, Cali, Baek, Thompson, Schmoll all have ceilings over 90.
"Future definitely looks bright indeed," said Obama, who said that he wants to run for the US presidency after his tenure as GM.
Obama also very recently decided for "change" when it came to the coaching staff. When asked if it was because of the poor record, Obama said that was only part of it.
"More than half our roster has changed since I took over," said Obama. "I'm not sure that the chemistry was quite there between the coaches and players. These coaches we had are definitely seasoned, so they had harder times adjusting to our constantly changing roster, especially toward the younger bunch."
"And then of course, our record is not very good. We may be rebuilding, especially on the position player side, but we still are good enough to contend. Sure, injuries played a role, but that's no excuse," said Obama, who a few days ago decided to name Dodger legend pitcher Don Sutton as manager. Sutton will work closely with new bench coach Tommy Lasorda, who agreed to come out of retirement and join the Dodger dugout. Another great Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela was named pitching coach, and Kirk Gibson, the man who hit one of the most famous home runs in history, as hitting coach.
"I have utmost confidence in these guys. They will just finish up the last month of this season and get used to each other and with the players, and tehn by next season, they should be ready," said Obama.
When asked about possible transactions in the offseason, Obama said, "As far as hitters go, I am very happy with what we have now. Maybe Garko could go since we have Youkilis now, and Cora because we have Guillen and Hardy. Maybe a vet like Karros or Grudzielanek could go. But otherwise, our core of Youkilis, Kouzmanoff, Guillen, Hardy, LoDuca, Ichiro, Hollandsworth, and Dye is staying. As far as pitchers go, Brown, Park, Dreifort, and Sele are pretty much set. We may sign a free agent to compete with Anderson for the job, and we may also let some of our prospects like Kuo or Nation compete. We have a load of pitching prospects as well, so a deal for another starting pitcher is possible. Or we could bring Hershiser back another year if he doesn't retire. For the bullpen, Shaw, Saito, and Olson make a great veteran presence, complemented by young Osuna, Adams, and Masaoka, who all performed satisfactorily this year. Maybe an upgrade here and there with all the prospects we have. But not much is going to be changed. Why change something immediately after making all those trades over the course of this year in order to "change" for the future?"
We will see over the next two years if Obama's change plan works out for the Dodgers. Sure, the team will look great on paper. A young, dangerous lineup. A veteran pitching rotation and reliable bullpen. A coaching staff loaded with Dodger legends. But games are not won on paper, are they?
Obama's goal of a World Series may be as difficult as winning a presidency that is his ultimate dream, but he has worked very hard and well to build a franchise for the World Series, and we will keep a close watch on how things play out.