Saturday, October 29, 2005

 

Wag The Dog


Some quick thoughts on DePodesta's termination.

Something smelled fishy when DePodesta did not join in on the meeting between McCourt, Lasorda, and Hershiser, but who expected the firing of the GM? It sounds as if McCourt overrid DePodesta's authority in picking the manager, and ultimately decided to remove DePodesta altogether.

In some ways, this situation is no different from Tracy's, whose "creative differences" with DePodesta eventually led to the dismissal. Right or wrong, bosses have the right to dictate an employee's role and judge his effectiveness. Still, 18 months on the job is nowhere near enough to evaluate a GM, unless he shows himself to be utterly incompetent. (DePodesta wasn't)

The McCourts own the team, and they have decided to make DePodesta the sacrificial lamb for the lost season. It's a convenient way of earning some PR reprieve, saving their "brand" in the short term at the possible expense of long term stability of the "product"... Obfuscate the crisis at hand by creating a bigger diversion, which may end up backfiring.

Way to wag the dog, Wormtongue Tommy! A return to the Dark Ages of FOX without the stupid money to throw around!

Perhaps it's not so gloom-and-doom. The McCourts may end up hiring a terrific GM, although it's hard to figure out why such a candidate would want to come to LA if he knows that his authority would be limited. At this rate of turnover, it wouldn't be surprising that if the team needed a new farm director, and a new scouting director, and a new.... My previous post's title "McBroke And His Dominatrix", which was meant to be a joke, doesn't seem so funny anymore.

Somewhere, the Pink Mouse roars.

Comments:
Damn it. First McCourt fires Depo, then blogger eats my detailed and insightful comments on your post.

Oh well, let's hope Tommy has enough buddies to run the team, because I can't imagine anyone else taking a job for the McCourts.

In summary:
Fox = fryingpan
McCourt = fire
 
slack, feel free to use those "detailed and insightful comments" on a brand new post. i'm deliberately holding off on the harsh criticism, for now.
 
Well, things have been pretty boring in Dodgerland -- as expected. But McCourt certainly shook things up like a bag of nuts, didn't he.

I was hoping to have a chance to critique player moves after Depo hired a manager. Now we have to wait for a new GM and manager. At least it gives us a chance to wax philosohical about what might have been under Depo. It will also be interesting to see if McCourt can maintain attendance high enough to keep his financial house afloat.
 
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