Where’s The Fun In Fiscal Restraint?

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• D. Meeker December 13, 2012 at 9:29 am

  Next time you see Bud, do me a favor and give him the one-finger salute…

  This.
• taskmaster4450 December 13, 2012 at 9:39 am

  The Dodgers are definitely putting themselves in position to be major contenders. Yet I remember reading all the posts by Marlins fans about who they were going to the World Series only to see things collapse.

  Winning the off season is fun but it leads to disappointment if that does not translate onto the field.

  If I recall, the Angels got the #1 FA pitcher and everyday player last year and they still missed the playoffs.
• Jon December 13, 2012 at 9:50 am

  All true but the Marlind payroll wasn’t even in the top ten after their spree. Going from 50 mil to 95 mil isn’t getting you in the mix on its own. The Dodgers are going from 100 plus to 250 million and will spend to correct whatever mistakes they have already made. Yankee like which doesn’t guarantee titles but goes get you to the playoffs
  As far as the Mets, we suck
• jessep December 13, 2012 at 9:59 am

  “Can you imagine what it must be like to be a Dodger fan these days?”

  I bet it’s fun now, but a fun off-season doesn’t guarantee a fun season.

  This is the same team that needs to get $20mil of performance out of Carl Crawford. Will have to deal with the $17mil “golf when i’m injured” Josh Beckett and the .250 hitting “star” in Hanley Ramirez.

  I’m not saying their roster doesn’t look loaded. I am saying, the Philly Eagles and Miami Marlins looked loaded too.

  When they made the blockbuster deal, the Dodgers were 2 games out of the division and tied for the 2nd wildcard and had a .542 win pct.

  After the deal they went 17-18.

  This season unfortunately for Mattingly is his job. A failed playoffs and you can bet they will can him.

  Personally I’d rather my team not try to be like the Yankees. Maybe that’s just me. I’d prefer a team that exceeds expectations rather than a team that is paid so much they either win the WS or are a total bust.
  • Squidoo December 13, 2012 at 10:07 am

    Not counting attendance, national TV money, and merchandising revenue, they have $250 million a year in the local TV deal revenue. As someone mentioned above, there’s plenty of dough to make adjustments or erase mistakes along the way. This is unprecedented.
    • jessep December 13, 2012 at 11:09 am

      I’m not saying they do not have the $. I am saying with salary comes great expectation. IE our fans with Wright now.

      If the Dodgers miss the playoffs in 2013, it will be the biggest financial failure in the history of the sport.

      The only way they aren’t a failure is if they win the World Series. In todays game, that usually doesn’t pan out well for the team and the execs and coaching staff.

      If you’re a Dodgers fan today – you are WS or bust. What’s fun about that? Isn’t that why we hate the Yankees also?
• Alex68 December 13, 2012 at 10:15 am

  One thing i’ll say, i rather our team have a fun offseason even if it doesn’t mean we win the WS for many reason:

  Get the fans excited for the new season
  Show the Owners and FO cares about winning
  Prove to the fans they’re willing to spend the money they have invested on the team
  Chance to win
  Improve the team

  I rather have those feelings about an offseason anytime rather than having our GM lie year after year about not punting yet not doing anything during the offseason…
  By the way, noted how the only person who’s actually not happy about the dodgers offseason is the same guy who wrote a stupid ass article is the same one who went nuts about last year offseason declaring it a victory to sandy alderson because he got rid of reyes and acquired francisco, rauch and ramirez… Lol.. amazing
• Joey D. December 13, 2012 at 10:28 am

  “Can you imagine what it must be like to be a Dodger fan these days?”

  Hi Joe,

  Yes, especially with the price of tickets and type of seats they are offering with their mini-plans. Even though individual seats will no doubt be higher, a day at the ballpark with good seats for a family of four would not break the bank.

  Dodger fans are getting the best of both worlds, a possibly better team and low ticket prices. We are getting the worst – a possibly worse team at higher ticket prices.

  http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ticketing/mini_plans.jsp#pricing
• Donal December 13, 2012 at 10:54 am

  “Can you imagine what it must be like to be a Dodger fan these days?”

  I don’t have to. We felt that way in the Winter of ’06…and ’07

  How did things work out for us?
  • Met Maniac December 13, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Thanks to David Wright and Tom Glavine, pretty phukkin awful.
    • jessep December 13, 2012 at 11:13 am

      Man you are so full of it!

      2007 2nd half: .251 average, .316 on base, 32K .719 OPS
      2007 September: .205 average, .279 OBP, 15K, .612 OPS

      2007 2nd half: .364 average, .465 OBP, 14HR, 56 RBI 1.061 OPS
      2007 September: .352 average, .432 OBP, 6HR 20 RBI 1.034 OPS

      Tell me David Wright had more to do with the 2007 collapse than Jose Reyes. Look at the facts and tell me that

      I guess you see what you want to see to fit your agenda
    • Alex68 December 13, 2012 at 11:18 am

      Maniac, all i remember in 2007 was how awful delgado, the bullpen and in part reyes was down the stretch…
      In 2008…. David Allen Wright. His 243 BA with RISP cemented us all year, and that one famous strikeout was the catapult that killed any hope for us during that season.. One at bat pretty much summed up what we all were thinking, the guy is just not clutch… But hey, these people keep bringing up numbers as if they tell the whole story.. SMH
      • Kay December 13, 2012 at 1:05 pm

        You keep bringing up that strike out and every time you do, you FAIL to mention that the bottom of the 8th ended with a runner on third and Jose Reyes softly grounded out to end the inning leaving the go ahead run stranded. But hey, keep bringing up that one strikeout

        Glad to see things haven’t changed around here, like a soap opera, you can leave for months and come back to the same old story.
      • Kay December 13, 2012 at 1:14 pm

        ………and that one awful strikeout still left the game tied, but that weighs much more than that awful bullpen coughing up three runs after that strikeout.

        Yeah, lets talk baseball………….ok
    • Donal December 13, 2012 at 1:37 pm

      So, you blame 2 seasons of collapse and 2 more seasons of sub .500 ball on a guy who played the best of his career during those collapses(Wright) and a guy who was here for one of those seasons(Glavine)?

      And I bet you don’t see a problem with a 41 year old being in such a situation to affect us like that.
• MDonaldWilpon December 13, 2012 at 11:12 am

  2006, 2007? That was a baseball lifetime ago, Jeff.

  So what’s the plan- hope and pray on a farm system that has produced a whole lot of nothing since 1984?
• Jon December 13, 2012 at 12:56 pm

  Yes
  Donsl and Jessep are more interested in Pirate like off seasons ….. Can’t even say Royals like anymore
  Guys what exactly is the plan? Go the Nats and Rays way and finish last 10 years running
  • jessep December 13, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    Not really. I’d prefer my favorite team not have to spend $200m to be competitive. If that makes me like the pirates or whatever, then so be it.

    I prefer that when my team has 6 starting pitchers they don’t go out and sign 2 more just because. I prefer my team not take on clubhouse cancers like Josh Beckett and I prefer my team to be likeable AND good.

    I don’t like the yankees because they spend spend spend and increase the market value of players to absurd amounts. So I can’t celebrate what the Dodgers are doing because it’s the exact same thing.

    I’d be much more happy if the Dodgers went down in flames than winning.
  • Donal December 13, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    You’re right, lets do it like the Cubs and Dodgers and spend $130 million to not make the playoffs and cement a bunch of has beens into our line up with big money deals.

    Wait, we’ve done that before…