Ned Colletti: assembling a team to take on the world... if it was 2000

Our friend Ned recently added the ageless Greg Maddux to his collection of fomer superstars. While the addition of Mad dog was not a bad move, it looks more like a desperate move to save his team's division hopes. But I've got it all figured out.

Colletti has somehow been hypnotized to think that it's the turn of the century again. Because if it was 8 years or so ago, the Dodgers would clean up. It was a simpler time when Maddux was still one of the best pitchers in baseball, Nomar and Andruw were budding superstars, Kent was tearing in up in San Fran, Lowe was a stud closer, Saito was still cleaning up in Japan, Furcal was rookie of the year, Penny, Pierre, and Berroa were hotshot prospects, and Manny was the best hitter in baseball who has not to date been implicated in the steroid scandal. Of course, most of the other players were in little league or high school, but I'm sure Ned has a plan for that.

Colletti Strikes Again!

I bet Ned Colletti was really into baseball cards as a kid and was only interested in collecting the cards with the largest face value. So when I made that trade of Fred McGriff for Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter rookie cards back in '95, he'd have been the kid to jump at the deal. Well not much has changed since he became GM of the Dodgers, and he did it again today.

Colletti's collection of former Red Sox and aging superstars grew again today as he added future HOF outfielder Manny Ramirez to the mix. Shit, I'm surprised he didn't go out and get Jr. Giffey too, but I guess the White Sox beat him to it.

I guess the first question is why? The Dodgers needed a bat, but not a corner outfielder who only bats righthanded, is on the decline, is a horrible fielder and has been known to create distractions. With their duo of horrible contracts in centerfield and two solid young players at the corners, the Dodgers already had too many outfielders. Now they have one more, and in order for this trade to help at all, they must sit Pierre and Jones and play either Eithier or Kemp in center, neither of which will help their defense.

I wish the talking heads would please stop acting like the Dodgers just pulled a coup on the Sawx. As much as they may want him to be, this is not your older brother's Manny. He has been on the decline for two years now since having a career resurgence in 2006. He is leaving one of the best hitters parks in baseball for the much tougher Chavez Ravine, and he has been known to take plays off. Plus, do you really think he's going to get anything to hit with the game on the line? Not with Loney, Kemp, and Martin being the only 3 above average hitters currently in the lineup.

As for the Sawx, they got rid of 3 things they didn't want and got a very good, underrated player who may match the production of Ramirez for the rest of the year. Bay is a clear upgrade from the 1 dimensional Ramirez in the field, on the base paths, and in the clubhouse. He has had some monster years with Pittsburgh, has yet to turn 30, and is under contract through 2009 for less than the Red Sox paid the Dodgers to take Manny.

The Pirates did not net any uber prospects, but got 3 guys who could turn into solid major leaguers - pretty good for a year and a half of Bay.

Look: if this was the same Manny Ramirez of 4 or 5 years ago, this would be a crazy deal for Theo, but its not. This is dumping an old, over the hill cancer from a well oiled machine who has won 2 of the last 4 world series, and has to still be considered one of the favorites to do it again this year. It's true Ramirez was a big part of those world series teams, but he's also a big reason why it's just two and not 3 or 4. Boston can handle an drop off in production from leftfield thanks to stellar years from Drew and Youkilis, and the return of Papi. The addition by subtraction should invigorate the most talented team in the big leagues and may just be enough to put them over the top - again.

As for the White Sox, they have an even bigger problem. They already have one of the worst defensive outfields I have ever seen and they added the aging Kid for no reason other than they wanted to make a headline to remind people that Chicago has two teams. First of all, Griffey isn't even a good hitter in the NL anymore, nor is he a good outfielder. What's going to happen in the AL?

He can't man a corner position with Dye and Quentin taking care of those, he can't DH with Thome entrenched there, so that leaves center and first. There's no way he's going to play first because Griffey don't play no stinkin first, so that leaves center. He hasn't played center since 2006, and hasn't been good at it for much longer than that. Despite the fact that Kenny Williams seems to think center is easier on your body than left and right, it's not and Griffey is a huge injury risk. This bumps Konerko, and his bloated salary from the lineup, at least against right handed pitching which is a good thing on paper, but might not turn out so well in reality. Who knows how Konerko, the team leader for years, will react to being a bench player, plus I highly doubt KGJ will be much of an upgrade offensively. This poses just one question: why would you do that?

Ned Colletti Never Ceases to Amaze

Ned Colletti is probably the worst GM in all of sports unless you still count Isiah Thomas. He has signed numerous horrible contracts and made many head scratching moves over the years, but he had always held on to his young players (even though he wouldn't let them play) until now. Today Colletti traded two solid prospects for journeyman Casey Blake. Blake is 34, in the last year of his contract, and a notoriously poor fielder. This would be one thing if he hit like Ryan Braun or Chipper Jones, but his OPS is only .830. Now, being an Indians fan I have liked Casey Blake, he has been a very pleasant surprise since Shapiro picked him off the scrap heap in 2003, but Shapiro just sold at the absolute high point. Blake may still re-sign with Cleveland. He is a fan favorite and seems to like it there so that makes this deal all the better for the Indians.

The Indians got pitcher John Meloan, and catcher Carlos Santana (no, not that Carlos Santana). Meloan was absolutely nasty as closer in AA last year, and was good in AAA. This year, the Dodgers attempted to convert him into a starter seeing his hits and walks skyrocket. He is still striking out batters and not giving up homers, so it looks like he might just be better suited to relief. He will probably get a shot to close in Cleveland next year, a position where they could use
some help.

Santana would be a great addition even if he had no baseball skills because hey, his name is Carlos Santana! But he may turn out to be the best part of the deal. He was converted to catcher last year from outfield/3b and struggled throughout the 2007 season. This year has been a different story as he has just torn it up posting a stellar .318/.424/.563 line at long A ball. This could give the Indians a logjam at catcher, which of course is never a bad thing.

Back to the Dodgers end of things, the age old question applies: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?! The Dodgers defensively, at least for the short term, will consist of (Dr.) Jeff Kent, Nomar, and Blake. This is an infield only a fly ball pitcher could love. Lowe and Kuroda of course are not.

The lineup has not improved much, the defense has gotten much worse, and the farm system is weaker. This will not be the trade that puts them over the top. This one may have, but they turned that down. Good job Ned.