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In today's sports section, The Times' Jason Reid comes up with a pretty good reconstruction of the moves and deliberations behind last week's Dodger shakeup. He reports that the new GM Paul DePodesta confided in the spring that a thorough revamp would be needed, but then the team began to win. If DePodesta could have just gotten rid of Juan Encarnacion, the lineup black hole acquired over the winter by the previous GM, that might have been it for now. But DePodesta concluded the team that was in first place last week couldn't win it all, so he pursued numerous offers and trades that Reid chronicles. A sidebar by Bill Shaikin notes that some baseball people consider Brad Penny, the pitcher the Dodgers get instead of Randy Johnson, as a number two starter at best, "a six-inning guy," says one unnamed executive. [ * Naturally, Penny gives them eight shutout innings his first time out.] Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts also has questions about Penny, and has very good things to say about Daily News writer Kevin Modesti.
Previously on L.A. Observed: Dodgers tinker with success
Personally, I like the deals.
Gammons has a good column on this subject on ESPN.
So, Penny's a good #2 starter. Championship teams need those, too. Penny certainly bumps a lesser talent like, for example, Lima (maybe) out of the rotation. That's got to be a good thing.
The bigger concern, and I think this showed up in the San Diego series, remains the loss of Mota and the lack of talent left in the bullpen. Dreifort blew one game and then it is just totally unbelievable to me that Gagne was used for three innings. Memo to Tracy: It was only Aug. 1. There is a lot of season left. You don't want to blow out your best pitcher's arm. You made the Dodgers look desparate to win a mid-season series that may or may not matter come September.
Posted by: Howard Owens at August 3, 2004 02:38 PMThe problem is they need Penney... but they need Mota too. They are now a slightly better team, but they're not a complete team. But I still have hope! At least get to the playoffs, please!!!
Posted by: ted at August 3, 2004 02:51 PMDid the ad agency c mentioned (wongdoody?) come up with those bobblehead TV spots? If so, good riddance. Those commercials are awful. Make me hit mute every time. At least the LoDuca version won't run any more.
Posted by: Anonymouse at August 3, 2004 04:29 PMEric Gagne threw only 37 pitches against the Padres Sunday. And he had a day off the next day. It was a situation where many factors came into play.
Of course, when Gagne was picking up 1-inning saves, he was criticized for not pitching enough.
Posted by: Bob Timmermann at August 3, 2004 06:04 PM"Marketing" a pro baseball team is a superb joke anyway. You have 20+ inches of free publicity in all major metros, 162 times a year. You have a three hour prime time slot on a local tv 48 times a year, and three hours of local radio 185 times including spring training. You generally are putting out your "product" in the most architecturally visible venue in the city, and everyone in town is equipped with near-genetic memory of what your institution as a "brand" stands for. Anyone who thinks that the addition of pictures of bobbleheads are going to either drive six or seven more people to the park or force a half dozen of them to stay away is in need of replacing their own bobblehead.
Posted by: joseph at August 3, 2004 08:35 PMI'm a big believer in 1-inning saves for your closer, especially one of Gagne's class. Also, 30 pitches over three innings is a lot different than 30 pitches over one inning. I think Gagne's performance last night may butteress my POV. However, if Tracy wants to wear down Gagne over the course of the next month or so, you won't hear any complaints from me. He's welcome to pitch him until his arm drops off.
Posted by: Howard Owens at August 4, 2004 09:06 AMI'm a big believer in 1-inning saves for your closer, especially one of Gagne's class. Also, 30 pitches over three innings is a lot different than 30 pitches over one inning. I think Gagne's performance last night may butteress my POV. However, if Tracy wants to wear down Gagne over the course of the next month or so, you won't hear any complaints from me. He's welcome to pitch him until his arm drops off.
Posted by: Howard Owens at August 4, 2004 09:06 AMI'm a big believer in 1-inning saves for your closer, especially one of Gagne's class. Also, 30 pitches over three innings is a lot different than 30 pitches over one inning. I think Gagne's performance last night may butteress my POV. However, if Tracy wants to wear down Gagne over the course of the next month or so, you won't hear any complaints from me. He's welcome to pitch him until his arm drops off.
Posted by: Howard Owens at August 4, 2004 09:07 AM"eight-inning guy," maybe?
Posted by: Unnamed Blogger at August 4, 2004 09:18 AM30 pitches in a Gagne inning would be one ugly outing.
Posted by: Kevin Roderick at August 6, 2004 11:36 AMAnonymouse: yes, that was wongdoody. but they didn't want to do such crap, they were forced to. by the dodgers. that's why a client should never be allowed to dictate the creative.
joseph: poor media placement is no excuse for poor concepting. think mini - they had almost no budget compared to other car companies and had the most memorable launch in ... well, ever. if the dodgers hired a great agency, gave them the appropriate creative freedom and STILL got junk like the bobblehead campaign, now that would be a different story. but at least I (and I am an art director) can think of a million great executions for them right off the head.
Posted by: c at August 8, 2004 01:02 AMAnonymouse: yes, that was wongdoody. but they didn't want to do such crap, they were forced to. by the dodgers. that's why a client should never be allowed to dictate the creative.
joseph: poor media placement is no excuse for poor concepting. think mini - they had almost no budget compared to other car companies and had the most memorable launch in ... well, ever. if the dodgers hired a great agency, gave them the appropriate creative freedom and STILL got junk like the bobblehead campaign, now that would be a different story. but at least I (and I am an art director) can think of a million great executions for them right off the head.
Posted by: c at August 8, 2004 01:04 AM
of LA Observed
the dodgers also are looking for a new advertising agency after wongdoody la essentially resigned the account because no creative wanted to work on it. the dodgers do not pay and dictate the creative. chiat/day and ground zero have been approached, among others, and after meeting with an extremely unpleasant young man (guess...) both decided it wasn't an account they wanted to work on.
starting to look like the dodgers are going to have a hard time finding an agency they haven't repelled yet.
Posted by: c at August 3, 2004 02:00 PM