You all know that I have had Dave Roberts back since he became the Dodgers’ Manager. Many of you have blamed Dodger’s failures on Roberts – I have put it on the players. Doc is not perfect and has made mistakes, but it is up to the players to execute. Plain and Simple! Let me preface this with “Managers Have a Shelf Life.” It probably used to be a lot longer than it is now. There comes a point whereby a manager’s voice becomes just “background noise.” There is a point where the players simply tune it out.
Many fans have wanted to fire Dave Roberts for a while now. Some because they do not like his decision-making process, some because he is not a “Real Dodger” and others simply because they simply don’t like him. Personally, I have never wanted Doc fired… until now.
I have no fault with most of his decisions. Well, occasionally, I wonder about some decisions, but what do you expect? That comes with the territory. Dave Roberts is a good man. He is an upright man. Dave Roberts is an underdog… I like that.
Dave and I disagree on politics….and that is OK. Believe it or not, I have lots of Democratic friends (there are also a similar number who hate me – that is their problem… not mine). I have championed Dave Roberts for seven years now. I can’t do it anymore! I really can’t! For the initiated, politics are opinions, not facts. If you think otherwise, you are dumber than a bag of hammers.
But, this is not about politics. It is about the Dodgers. Dave Roberts is even-keeled. Dave Roberts does not get overly excited or worked up. Dave Roberts is a player’s manager. He is laid back and he does not apply pressure to the players. That may have worked for a while, but it ain’t working now.
The Dodgers need a new manager. Doc’s shelf life has expired! He was never really a Dodger anyway! Thank you for your service, Dave Roberts, but it’s over.
You have to let go and Andrew Friedman needs to name an ex-Dodger as the manager. This is really hard, Dave… you are a good man. You are almost the face of the Dodgers… but you are not the Dodgers! This team is playing below expectations. Dave Roberts is a player’s manager, but it’s over! The players need to be held accountable. The Dodger’s lineup is composed of Millionaires… from Mookie Betts, to Justin Turner to Cody Bellinger. We have seen this movie too many times: where everyone hits or no one hits.
Who becomes the Manager?
The individual I am recommending may be the long-term solution. Maybe Chase Utley or Justin Turner could be the long-term solution, but right about now, the Dodgers need a “Kirk Gibson-Type-Solution. They need someone who can light a fire, inspire, push, and maybe even move a player out of their comfort zone. It’s not Mike Scoiscia or Joe Madden either. It’s a man who is a lifetime Dodger. The Dodgers are the only organization he has been involved with in his 50 years on the planet. Travis Barbary is 5′ 9” and 180 and his stocky build is that of a ctacher. Catcher Travis Barbary was undrafted out of the University of Virginia and started his professional playing career with the Ohio Valley Redcoats of the fledgling Frontier League in 1993. He was picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 1994 where he hit .178 with 3 2B in 45 AB for the Great Falls Dodgers.
It was decided then and there, that Travis was not MLB material, and his playing career ended. Barbary served as the pitching and catching coach for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League in 1995. In 1996 and 1997, Barbary was a coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats. From 1998-2001, he was the bullpen catcher for the Dodgers. In 2002 he was the hitting coach for the South Georgia Waves.
Barbary was the manager of the Ogden Raptors in 2003-2004. He was manager of the Columbus Catfish of the South Atlantic League in 2005 and 2006. In 2007-2018 Barbary was the Minor League Catching Coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was scheduled to manage the Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Barbary did return to manage Oklahoma City again in 2021 and is currently OKC’s Manager.
Here is a quick interview with Travis when he first took over at OKC.
Players seems to respect and enjoy playing for Travis and I think the fact he bleeds Dodger Blue is nothing but a plus. When you do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, that is the definition of insanity. I understand that a manager managers and players play, but sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is needed. I think this is one of those times. It’s just my opinion and I will not be fixated on it if it doesn’t happen… but I think it is needed.
Disclaimer: None of this will likely happen… but I tried!
Future Dodger Notes & News
- Mitch White pitched 5.2 hitless innings (he walked 2) and struck out 6. I think he wants a spot in that Dodger Rotation.
- Garrett Cleavinger pitched 1 inning and dropped his ERA to 2.40. In 25 IP at OKC he has struck out 25 and walked 9. He has recently been cutting down on the walks.
- Miguel Vargas hit a 2-Run HR (his 10th).
- Mike Busch Doubled and still is playing LF.
- Leonal Valera was 2-4 (.379 BA) playing 3B for Tulsa.
- Gavin Stone proved to be a mere mortal yesterday as he pitch 4 innings, allowed 7 hits and 4 runs to go with 3 K’s and 2 BB.
- Diego Cartaya was 2-4 with 2 RBI and a BB. He is OPS’ing 1.003 at Great Lakes.
- Kendall Williams saw his ERA drop to 3.24 as he pitched 3 innings, allowing 1 hit, 0 Runs and striking out 8 while walking no one.
- Cole Percival looks more and more like a middle reliever as he went 1.1 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 2.
- Damon Keith CF was 2-5 and is still hitting .306.
- Ronan Kopp (2.63 ERA) pitched 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit 1 BB while striking out 3.
- Nelson Quiroz – C was 4-6 with 3 HR and 6 RBI’s. In his minor league career he has hit 4 HR – 3 yesterday!
Discussion (33)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Here is what I would do immediately:
Bring up Zach McKinstry and send down Eddy Alvarez.
Bring up James Outman and send down Hanser Alberto.
Bring up Mitch White and release David Price.
Bring up Marshall Kasowski and send down Phil Bickford.
Bring up Ryan Pepiot and send down Michael Grove if he is on the roster, otherwise send down Brusdar Graterol.
Bench Max Muncy and Justin Turner for awhile, while giving Zach McKinstry and James Outman a shot at starting.
It was a little hard to believe since you come across as a loyal person of firm convictions. And one weekend sweep by the Giants and you wanna pull the plug on Roberts??? Not buying it Boss.
… and I may or may not believe all of this.
Sometimes we need some stimuli!
Hmmm. I see Roberts is STILL Manager. And Belli is STILL batting two bucks and change. Cuz he didn’t bat today. And the Dodgers STILL lead the division.
Reading the posts over the past few days has me shaking my head. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but please try to base those opinions on facts. Here are the Dave Roberts facts:
1. .621 regular season winning percentage is the best in MLB history. The only other Manager (that managed any length of time) with a winning percentage over .600 was Joe McCarthy.
2. Been in the post season all 6 years
3. 3 trips to the World Series (half his years managing the Dodgers), winning one and it could be argued probably would have won the second (2017) if the Astros wouldn’t have known when Kersh was throwing a slider in game 5.
4. Blessed with great player talent, but no greater than some other Managers (Sparky Anderson, Tony La Rusa, Bobby Cox, etc) had but no other winning percentage came close to Docs.
Yes he’s made some questionable moves but so has every other Manager/Coach in history. I have been a fan since the late 1940’s. As a 7 year old, I cried when I saw Bobby Thomson hit the shot heard round the world Iive on TV. I’ve watched Dressen, Alston, LaSorda, bunch of guys in the middle (including Joe Torre), and now Roberts. Trust me when I tell you that all the second guessing and complaining in the world doesn’t change the fact he is damn good at what he does. All I can say is take a deep breath, chill and try to gain some reasoning in your approach.
I think Mark conned you all into ‘agreeing’ with him. I expect his next column to be calling you all dopes, as he posts how the team leads in all offensive and pitching stats. HA HA what dopes
Mark, I am sure you have many DEMOCRAT friends, but I hope they are also Democratic. Not one in the same though. Sorry, we all have our pet peeves.
Personally looking forward to NOT watching every game as downhill mountain bike season is starting up & I will be up on the mountain at least 3 days a week.
Cheers all
Interesting analysis on ESPN. I have said all year I am NOT worried about our pitching. Even with Walker struggling (and now injured) and Urias having some bad games. The Dodgers have the arms. What is interesting is this particular correlation. Walk to strikeout ratio seems to quite accurately predict a team’s success. Absent any analysis of offensive numbers.
ESPN:
A few weeks ago, baseball statistician Bill James did a study on if controlling the strike zone is as important now as it was in Ted Williams’ day. He came up with a simple formula that pretty accurately predicts a team’s winning percentage based only on walks and strikeouts.
In his study, he explained that 90 teams had a strike zone winning percentage of .613 or higher, with an average of .638. Their actual winning percentage was .595. The worst 109 teams had a strike zone winning percentage of .363 and an actual winning percentage of .377.
In other words, knowing nothing about a team other than how well it controls the strike zone is a strong indicator of how good or bad the team is.
Heading into Sunday’s games, the top three teams in strike zone winning percentage:
1. Yankees, .629
2. Dodgers, .627
3. Astros, .573
The Dodgers also led the majors in this category a season ago, although their pitching depth will now be tested with the news that Walker Buehler will be shut down for at least six weeks because of a flexor strain in his right elbow. Of course, the Dodgers excel at getting the most out of their pitchers. For example, Tyler Anderson had a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.90 before signing with the Dodgers. Now it’s at 6.11 and he’s gone 7-0 with a 3.07 ERA. Tony Gonsolin is also 7-0, with a 1.58 ERA. So, as expected, the Dodgers’ 1-2 punch is Anderson and Gonsolin rather than Buehler and Julio Urias.
I have only posted a few times in my years here, but am a little surprised that no one has mentioned what Adrian Gonzalez said immediately after the game yesterday when they went to the studio. I can’t recall word for word, but he basically said that this is going to continue to happen when the organization is telling the players to take their A swings every at bat and never promote just making contact to move runners around. I half expected him to be fired today.
Roberts is going no where. He just signed a new 3 year deal before the season. Now, if the team does not perform up to what the front office wants, then maybe after the season they will decide to eat the remaining two years on his deal and get someone new. JT? Hardly. As good of a player as he has been, he has zero managerial experience. Mark’s suggestion of Barbary makes some sense. He knows the young players in the system and has a history with them. To me, Roberts is nothing more than a glorified back slapping cheer leader. He has been in the game a long time, but is doing exactly as the ownership and front office want.
Roberts is just an easy target. It’s too simplistic. Any manager of this team will implement the organization’s plan for the players on the roster. If they fired Roberts today we’d be right back here in two months hearing people bitch and moan about the new guys’d terrible in game decisions. Because the decisions still wouldn’t be coming from the manager.
The plan needs to change. There needs to be roster changes. New blood. I love JT. He’s been a great Dodger. He needs to sit. Bellinger needs to be viewed as a defensive first CFer. Muncy needs to sit more. And those ABs need to go to other players. Inside the system or outside.
I’m afraid modern mangers (especially on the Dodgers) are little more than PR reps and clubhouse managers. They are empty uniforms and largely interchangeable. Put a new guy in the uniform to do the post game press conference, fine. I don’t believe it will help.
The damn season is 162 games long. That’s a lot of games for even a gifted athlete to keep his focus.
Every team, even this year’s Yankees will eventually have a slump……………or two…………………or three.
We’re having ours now. Maybe we’ll have another before October, but we’ll wind up in the playoffs. That’s our goal for the season. Our goal for the playoffs is to be the last team standing.
It would be nice to have an excellent strategist as we head to the playoffs, but we have Doc. We need to live with that for now.
Dave Roberts is not the best manager on the planet. He over manages his bullpen and under manages his offense.
I completely agree with Phil’s comments about not being aggressive enough when we’re in a funk.
But Doc ain’t goin’ nowhere this year, so we can stop hoping for that.
I would love to see Chase Utley hired next year as manager or bench coach. I guarantee that our basic approach to offense would improve. I really have no opinion about RVS, except that I think that guys like Belli probably tune him out every so often. No one would tune out The Grey Fox. He’s got that aura about him where nobody wants to disappoint him. He’s done it and the players have a tremendous amount of respect for him.
In the meanwhile, I’m concentrating on the fact that we have slumps like this every year, yet we always make the playoffs. It’s really frustrating to watch, but this too shall pass.
Muncy was looking for walks. That’s a lack of confidence.
Bellinger needs to retool his swing and stance and mindset.
Doc could let the team play looser with hit and run and stealing more. Add a bunt here and there.
Dodgers should pair up their rotation and try to get 9 innings out of two starters.
Trade for Bogarts and play him at 3rd base or CF.
I don’t agree that Roberts should be fired. However, Mark made the best argument for such a move. I agree in the sense that something needs to be shaken up. I agree with the diagnosis, I just don’t agree on the best medicine.
I’m with many here who believe Roberts makes far fewer calls than many think. The organization has a system. And they want a manager that implements the system. The issue is certainly obvious, in my opinion. There is no fire. No sense of urgency. Some players simply don’t have that in their makeup, which is fine. Trea isn’t going to be that guy. Lux isn’t going to be that guy. They come out and do what they do. Mookie is certainly that type of player. Bellinger has been that guy. But he has to actually hit the ball to light a spark, and it appears he has forgotten how to do that entirely. But when there is a spark, it’s contagious. Unfortunately, so is apathy. And apathy seems to have become endemic.
I would argue we need a spark from the players side. And it is unlikely to come with anybody on the current active roster. I remember 2013 like it was yesterday. Dodgers were old, fat and happy. High paid players were not playing well or at least not close to how they played in recent seasons. Then a guy named Yasiel was called up and Hanley Ramirez came back healthy. The two of them lit a fire that resulted in one of the greatest 50 game stretches in baseball history. Vin coined the term “Wild Horse” and it looked like veteran players who were having totally forgettable seasons got a spring in their step. Hanley simply raked, week after week.
We need to shake up the roster. Not rebuild. A big move. Something shocking. Not on the pitching side. I would start looking to bring up guys from AAA (or even AA) who can light that spark. Try em out. See how it goes. If Bellinger, Taylor or JT lose ABs, so be it. I’m hoping AF is out there looking at every available trade option. A player who is hungry (young or veteran) who is sick of playing for a loser organization but still has that fire to win. I’d love that to be Mike Trout (who wouldn’t?), even though he perfectly fits that scenario he ain’t going anywhere. But there are others. People we may haven’t even considered. We have a TON of money coming off the books and a very very deep minor league system. We have room in LF. We have room at 3B to make changes. We have room for players who may only be a DH. The right move that makes a huge plash for the right type of player (performance, attitude and leadership) might be the answer.
Firing Roberts will only swap out on PR rep for another. Dodgers need to make a roster move. Something bold.
Just MHO.
Why do some people think the front office makes the in game decisions? And how the hell can the front office do that in real time during the game?
It’s always easy to blame the Manager. So the Dodger bats are slumping and we’re having trouble scoring runs. This team is amazing it what I’ve call the facet offense. The valve is either open full blast or it’s shut off completely.
Now in fairness to Doc, he isn’t batting, pitching or fielding. His team isn’t executing right now. To the point I made previously, sitting around waiting on a big inning isn’t working. When a team is struggling, my nature says it’s time to shake things up. Time to be more aggressive and manufacture some opportunities. No panic, just step on the gas a little when opportunities arise.
That is exactly what Doc DOES NOT do. I could go back and pick out times where opportunities presented themselves to try to make things happen and Doc sat back and watched the game.
Our situational hitting is very poor.
To my point without digging too deep, including the game where we left 14. Here are some examples from yesterday
*After CT doubled, down 2-0 in the 7th, Bellinger comes up. He really needs to move the runner to 3rd with NO outs, anyway he can. Belli could be a team-guy and patiently wait for a pitch that he can pull, just like he always does. Any way he can includes even bunting the ball on his own against the shift to move the runner and maybe get a hit. But apparently Belli is playing to tie the game with one swing. The percentages of that happening are slim. The last 3 seasons Bellinger has a home run every 25 at bats so maybe this is one of the 25?
In perhaps the worst AB possible, Belli hacks at the very first pitch; a pitch up and away, that even he can’t pull. And he pops up to 3rd. Just an awful, selfish at bat. That AB that in previous decades would have come with a fine. Every coached up high school kid knows to take that pitch and get something to move the runner. Barnes than K’s and Mookie grounds out. Out of the inning with CT3 stranded on second. That is just BAD baseball.
* When my team is struggling, I want to be more aggressive and try to manufacture a run. Top 8, Trea Turner singled with one out. Since we’ve yet to score, I’m putting him in motion despite being down 2 – 0. Doc chooses to play it by his book and does nothing. He predictably doesn’t want to risk getting thrown out down 2 with Smith at the plate. But Trea Turner is successful 85% of his attempts. I will take that against Austin Wynns. Trea stays put and with 2 outs, JT singles to right. If Trea is on 2nd he scores a run. But he wasn’t. CT3 ends the inning by striking out again with runners at 1st and 3rd for yet another scoreless inning.
Again Doc chooses to play conservative baseball waiting for that big hit. And we are waiting on that big hit a lot lately.
Cmon, we secretly all love it when the Dodgers don’t play well. It allows us to whine and complain and play GM. Cause we’re all smarter than AF! I bet posts are up when the Dodgers play poorly rather than when they play well. A perfect season would be for the Dodgers to squeak into the playoffs with the worst possible record and then win a WS.
I have always felt Roberts is more of a company man than a good manager. I have always questioned some of his more head scratching moves, especially in the World Series. But his teams have been very successful. Not because of his managing skills, but mostly because of the talent on the team. Taylor to me is not an everyday player. He strikes out too much. His value has always been what he contributes off of the bench. He is streaky and when he is hot, he is pretty good. But still not an everyday kind of player. Kike begged to play every day and left so he could. As Boston’s everyday CF, he has been extremely disappointing this year. I have no idea what is going through Bellinger’s head. Maybe too much success too early. But he looks nothing like the ROY or MVP years. Constantly being beaten by high fastballs, swinging at pitches a snake could not hit. Slumps happen. Freeman was more disappointed with his bad at bat with the bases loaded than we were. But when the entire offense goes into a funk at the same time, changes in approach are needed. Maybe hitters need to go back to the old see ball hit ball ways. I do know that this weekend they lost at least 4 hits to the shift including Cody’s game ending grounder on Saturday. Roberts just got his extension, which probably buys him this year at least. If they do not get to the World Series and win, the fans are going to go nuts. And AF might just be forced to re-evaluate the leadership in the clubhouse.
Aside from Betts, Freeman, Turner and Lux who 9n the Dodgers is hitting. JT appears to be is showing his age, Bellinger is doing what he’s been doing for several years. Muncy has been slowed by coming back from injury. Taylor is doing ok but with so many strikeouts it’s hard to score if you don’t put the ball in play.
When more then half the lineup is not hitting it shouldn’t ge a surprise that the offensive inconsistent. AF is ware of this. That’s why Busch is playing left field. He can platoon with Taylor. Not sure if the splits support it (Muncy I believe has even splits) but how about platooning JT and Muncy at third?
Not sure Doc should be let go but it is time to fire RVS. Dodgers #1 in offense but that is a bit misleading. Bag out 15 hits in a 12-2 game, late inning HR’s in a 9-3 game only to follow that up with being shut out and hitting w/ RISP (aka clutch hitting) seems to be a concept not completely grasped by many Dodger hitters.
If I was AF I would shake up the clubhouse with an RVS termination today. Enough of this offensive play that lacks strategy ( or at least it seems so) and certainly execution. If MLB is a results oriented business and someone has to be held accountable , it’s time to fire the hitting coach who doesn’t have the boys doing much of that lately
I wrote a long post last evening on the thread below, I will not repeat it here, except the point that it is all relative; that I believe that the Giants and the Padres both have better managers than the Dodgers, which would mean that we would always need to have better talent than they do, or they will surpass us for years. Such things do happen in sports.
We also have problems with declining personnel, due to age or injury. The only starters whom we can reasonably rely on next year, are Betts, Freeman, Smith, maybe Lux. Starting pitchers, Urias, probably Gonsolin, maybe May. Bullpen, we need a top closer. We probably need a rebuild, which is not easy, and would frustrate fans.
We need a manager who is every bit the equal of the best in the game. Who can coax surprising performances out of middle-level players. Who can make moves which at least give us the best chance to win a given game. Who knows how to use the bullpen to maximum effect. There aren’t too many of those, but we need one.
I would try to hire Kevin Cash from Tampa Bay, if at all possible. If not, then I don’t know. Barbary is a good suggestion, we might need someone like that, though there may be others with similar qualifications. I don’t think we need a Dodger, per se. There is no special Dodgers way, not since the the 1960’s. We need someone who has proven something, and who management can tell has special quality. Again, I very much wanted us to hire Kapler seven years ago, not Roberts. Roberts is reasonably well-spoken, he is even-keeled, the players probably respect him–but that’s all he’s got. And this dissipates over time, even with great managers, many of who get fired at one point or another.
I suppose we will finish the season with Roberts, and we will likely make the playoffs. Maybe Buehler will come back, and we will do well in the postseason. But I still think that SD and SF will be stronger than we will, going forward, and that may not be easy to fix; who are the great minor league prospects who are going to do it?
Finally, I really would like to see a manager who plays aggressively, at least at times. We have speed, with Betts, T. Turner, Lux, and we rarely use it. We need a verve, not sophomoric rah-rah, but playing smart and aggressive baseball. Yesterday, we had a player whom I was starting to want us to try to sign, loaf his way out of a run in the eighth inning, and then say that his run was not very important then, though it would have made the game 2-1 instead of 2-0, and take away SFG’s buffer. And after the game Roberts said one of his stock phrases, “We showed ‘compete’ out there” Oh? Scoring zero runs, and not running hard?
Actually, I think that we are at a crucial point in the direction of the franchise–that is, in terms of trying to win championships, not just being pretty good and making the playoffs. I think we will see that more clearly in the next few years. We need to get ahead of the curve, before we are left behind. We would end up being the Kerstin Watson Dodgers. “How did it feel to get that double in the fourth inning?” “Tell us how great it was to break that losing streak, and now be only five games behind in the standings.”
Now is not the time for a change of Managers nor is it the time to talk about changing Managers. UNLESS that talk is not in earnest and only meant to send a message to the players.
Some very good points were raised in Mark’s article and the comments of others. Personally, I think Dave Roberts is a baseball manager with both strengths and weaknesses all of which have all been identified on LADT. But, like all positions in leadership regardless of the industry, there comes a time when the dynamics of your environment change and you are no longer the right fit. In looking back at my career in leadership positions, I can see how this happened more than once in my career .
It was hard for me to see at the time but – as a retiree now – it is clear that the changing management environment required a new face with different skills. There is something missing in the Dodgers performance this year and where the responsibility lies is not clearly obvious. But, when you factor in the a $300M+ annual investment, I don’t think the status quo is going to be tolerated for a long time.
The Dodgers were suppose to have one of the best hitting line-ups in baseball. Power and speed. All of the new age hitting instruction. Yet here we are. Not terribly Impressive.
Dave Roberts obviously has concerns. Said as much in the newspapers this morning. The approach has been bad in general, the focus on individual efforts and not on team production.
At times the team is hard to watch. Not to pick on Chris Taylor, but his all of nothing approach is somewhat annoying. Striking out on a ball well outside the srike zone with runners in scoring position is just something he does too often. An inability to put balls in play in key situations is a symptom of approach. Players need to focus on contact, putting the ball in play, especially in run scoring opportunities. Thirteen hits the other day and just two runs. What?
The refusal of Dodger hitters to advantage of the shift with a bunt or two is something I just don’t get. I’ve seen Cody Bellinger pass time and again, then strike out. What is happening here is pretty clear. The failure to adapt and adjust and take advantage of the situation apparently is not in the playbook.
Maybe players being paid boatloads of money make them soft, set in their ways. Maybe the Dodgers believed their own press clippings. How many times have you heard them say how good their line-up is, but expectations seem to be falling well short of what is taking place on the field. They are not the 1927 Yankees, the Big Red Machine or even the Dodgers of yesteryear. More like the little blue engine that can’t.
Dodger hitters aren’t the only bats around the league who are struggling. Corey Seager is hitting in the low .220 range, so is the next greatest player on the planet, Juan Soto. Yes, Mike Trout is still Trout, Bryce Harper is having a very good start and so is Aaron Judge. Mookie Betts was hot, now he’s not and maybe that has thrown a wrench into the vaunted LA offense.
Maybe Tuesday everything kicks in and the offense takes off. But as of now, the Dodgers have a problem. It was a pathetic performance against a team with no real star power. Then again the Dodgers were just as pathetic against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Just maybe star power is over rated. Maybe the big salaries, the luxury environment surrounding the players is making some players soft.
Hey, the roll the ball onto the field mentality just isn’t working.
Maybe Doc needs to bring the fire and brimstone.
Wow its June 13th and we are in first place.
Its a Marathon folks…..this too shall pass….
Mookie will get hot again, Freddie will get hot and the team will get going. Dont panic….
He won’t be fired unless the team seriously, seriously underachieves – like the Padres implosion last year.
Part of the difficulty is that he’s an extension of the front office. He’s a Company Man. He’s an effective PR spokesman, which is part of his job. They collaborate and are on the same page with respect to the overall season-long strategy. No, I don’t think the front office dictates lineups, but I’m sure there is constant feedback about stats and match-ups from the analytics dept. Everything is sort of intertwined – front office, analytics, manager, so firing the manager isn’t like it was with Steinbrenner and Billy Martin.
Scioscia would be the absolute worst manager imaginable in this organization. He ran himself out of Anaheim in part because he told the GM and his sabremetric garbage to go eff himself and went directly to Moreno to let him manage is old school way. He can’t manage today’s game.
I almost thing underachieving early in the season is part of the design. Let the mistakes happen now, work through things so the team peaks at the end of the season – so I think he takes his foot off the gas a little.
The problem with this approach is that a team can forget how to be hungry. You can learn how to be complacent.
I have said the same for a few years now. Dave is a great guy, but not the best manager. It is time for an upgrade!
Wow Mark. That was a unexpected turnaround for you. We all know that many of the players are underachieving right now. I mentioned yesterday that the Dodgers seem to be sleep walking and/or lacking passion right now. And, that they needed a player (or manager) to get into players’ faces and shake things up. The current team is full of nice, professional, but boring personalities. Isn’t this one of Roberts strengths? Too cheerlead, back slap, and defend his players with nonsensical explanations when they fail to execute. He is apparently failing to motivate the players. Most of the players are very talented, highly paid athletes who shouldn’t need motivation. But, in fact, most players to do need someone to motivate regardless of their talent and pay.
Most of us agree that Roberts is a fair to poor field manager. The front office didn’t care because they were going to make the lineup and potential pitching assignments before the game. They wanted Roberts to pacify the players on why they wouldn’t play after they had gotten 4 hits the night before in order to play a person that statistically had a 10% of doing something they had done back two seasons ago or something like that (sarcasm). Roberts was there after the game to explain or bullshit away moves that I believe were made by the front office. HIs postgame interviews were embarrassing at best.
So, the complaints about Roberts are nothing new around here. Mark’s opinion is new though. Not that that makes any difference. Roberts will not be fired anytime soon. And the bottom line is the players need to start performing at a level they are capable of and in a more consistent manor. The hitting coaches should all be fired just for the failure, if nothing else, to get Cody to change his swing and/or make better contact. To watch a former MVP who is a tremendous athlete continue to fail offensively is a tragedy. The coaches may have good ideas, but apparently aren’t good teachers.
It’s a long season. A lot can and will happen before it ends. Will the manager, coaching staff, and players remain in tact? We’ll see.
Carry on.
I don’t blame Roberts for the Dodgers uninspired play. I think the players are too comfortable and feel they already accomplished their pay. They sure ain’t putting on that gotta get it done approach. In simpler words, they ain’t hungry enough. They feel they’ve got nothing to prove and they owe nothing. If that’s not where it’s at, why then don’t they show it. Sure they’ve all played hard before and came up short, so why put so much into it? Most of the time it’s fighting a losing battle so why stress? Why as fans do we stress? Well, what else we gonna do? I think we should just follow their lead and see it as no big deal. I’m sure each has no problem owning up to it. It’d be hard to be disgruntled with themselves when they have nothing to prove.
p.s. I hope you read this players!
Man, I knew you would come around some day, I didn’t ever really believe your words constantly backing Doc and his record. The guy has little value other than a positive attitude and a penchant for delivering meaningless catch phrases.
I love Travis Barbary. He’s a true baseball rat. I love guys like that. He didn’t have the skills necessary to play the game, but stuck around the field anyways, doing whatever he can to stay around baseball. I also love Chase Utley and JT and think either of them would be a good manager. They play the game the right way. Even with JT’s diminishing skills, he still clutches up at the plate and makes good heads up plays.
I don’t expect any changes to come during the season though. A three game losing streak doesn’t often lead to a firing. That’s about 10 games less than Joe Maddon went through to get canned and he was walking a tight rope to begin with.
Honestly, I think things will turn around in short order and this funk is schedule induced from the 31 in 30 run. I’m sure players are feeling a bit of burn out. With three more days off coming over the next week or so, while playing the Angels, Indians and Reds, we should be able to right the ship over the next couple of weeks.
And did anyone mention that Roberts should have pitched an opener for Urias yesterday? Maybe the Dodgers should have a team meeting and talk about politics and religion. That always fires us up at LADT! Now before you come down on me like a ton of bricks B&P I did NOT say here on the site just in the locker room! In fact you can probably pitch as well as Price. Maybe the Dodgers should sign you and put you in that locker room. That would raise the temperature!
Exactly. Why don’t talk of the marvelous(meh!) job the pletora of hitting coaches are doing with the players? How about that hitting approach ?
Instead of talking about Belli hitting two bucks and change, let’s talk about firing Roberts.