How Long Til Pitchers and Catchers Report?

I was feeling rather pensive last night and wanted to give the blue an easy time of it with my final remarks on the 2006 season, however it is quite difficult to find silver linings in a season that should have been more then what was delivered. I am never the less amazed as to how some players seem to fall part come the big moment.

Greg Maddux may have over 300 wins, but that fact that he slid in to 1 world championship when the bumbling Bobby Cox managed to luck out and be pegged against another idiot in Mike Hargrove and his Cleveland Indians says a lot about a guy that is a supposed "genius." On Saturday night Maddux decided to pack it in, and laid an egg in front of the home crowd of over 54 thousand to gift the Mets a 9-5 victory. It goes without saying, that this was a series more lost by the Dodgers than won by the Mets. I am glad he won't be back next season as I was growing pretty tired of his overly condisending, psuedo-intellectual, act with the media. The supposed calculating mind of Maddux is nothing more than the simple calculations of a washed up pitcher. Cerebral my ass. All I saw was a guy that gave the Mets four early runs and grabbed his gear when he got lifted for a pinch hitter to leave the dugout area. Great team mentality there Gregie.

I hate the fact that Grady will be back, had I been in control of the Dodger ship I would have fired him minutes after the final out was recorded and called Dusty Baker to come home once and for all. The Dodgers need Dodgers at the helm, not guys that couldn't manage their way out of paper bags and got themselves run out of Boston for being a poor tactitian. Ned Colleti, still collecting a pay check from the Giants, should have hired the Bulldog Orel Hershiser to lead this squad. Instead we got stuck with the 'ah shucks' boy and his crew of guys that single handedly destroyed the 88 win season. Rich Donnelly should have been fired on the spot after that baserunning blunder in game 1, and Rick Honeycutt may have had a pretty decent career, however he can't coach worth a damn and his inability to fix mechanical problems in pitchers and provide the guidance for solid performances should also warrant a pink slip.

Regardless, the Dodgers will have to be busy this off season with the shopping list being fairly obvious. The team needs to get a real first baseman, one that has power and is a prototypical first baseman, not a converted infielder. Unless they are willing to commit to James Loney, they have to go out and find a guy like Richie Sexson or Mark Teixeira. Kent is still a good second baseman, Betimit can shore up 3rd, and Furcal is a mainstay at short. In the outfield, the Dodgers have to commit to Andre Eithier in left and sign a solid center fielder like Scott Podsednik, Vernon Wells, or Willy Taveras. Drew would round out that outfield quite nicely.

Then the Achillies Heel of the team has to be addressed. The starting pitching has three guys that are committed, Penny, Billingsley, and Kuo, after that I would expect that everyone is in play. The market is going to be flooded with solid 1 and 2 starters, all NED has to do is go out and spend some of that McCourt money. They guy on everyones list is Roy Oswalt, if he's not a Dodger then you can run Ned out of town a la Kevin Malone because Oswalt should be begging to play in a stadium that will make his fastball look like Don Drysdale's. After that, you sign a buy like Tim Hudson, Carlos Silva, or the guy that I asked for back in May, Dontelle Willis.

Regardless, the face of the Dodgers will have to be redone to contend in 2007. Fans will have to demand that they field more then a bunch of Punch and Judy hitters to round up a lineup. It's not rocket science, it's only common sense, and no Ned, having 9 guys that are essential carbon copies of each other is not exactly a good idea. Hey Ned, way to go!