Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Ned Colletti On Hot Seat, Don Mattingly Safe

[new_royalslider id=”35″] Despite the experience the Los Angeles Dodgers gained last season and the improved health they had headed into the postseason, they once again were unable to get past the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Dodgers and Cardinals met in the postseason for a second straight year, however this time in the NLDS compared to in the NLCS in 2013. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported days prior to the postseason beginning, the Dodgers could be a team that makes changes in the front office and it would likely be based on how they fared in the postseason.

One day after the Dodgers were eliminated, Rosenthal reported general manager Ned Colletti may be in danger of losing his job with manager Don Mattingly on ground not quite as shaky:

While Mattingly may be in the good graces of the ownership group, Rosenthenal left open the possibility his status could change dependent on a potential new general manager being hired:

According to ESPN LA’s Mark Saxon, Mattingly may return in 2015:

Colletti became the Dodgers general manager in November of 2005 and faced heavy criticism in recent years. Although there were calls for Colletti to trade for one of the multiple frontline starters available at the trade deadline, his failure to address the bullpen proved costly.

The Dodgers have made the postseason in five of Colletti’s nine years as GM, but don’t have a World Series to show for it. Adding to that frustration is the Dodgers’ $240 million payroll resulted in just one NLDS win.

As for Mattingly, he guided the team to back-to-back NL West division titles and successfully managed the large egos that encompass the clubhouse. Mattingly expressed some frustration and acknowledged there’s been difficulties that have come with dealing with the team.

Mattingly’s in-game decisions have also been a point of contention, which is an issue that dates back to last season. After being ousted by the Cardinals in 2013, the Dodgers ddin’t renew bench coach and friend of Mattingly, Trey Hillman’s contract and instead promoted Tim Wallach.

With an unreliable bullpen to work with, Mattingly’s toughest decision in the NLDS came with deciding when to stick with his starter or call on a reliever. More times than not his decision backfired, but management may take into account the few options he had.

In four seasons as Dodgers manager, Mattingly is 354-293 and has posted a winning record each year. He was at odds with the organization last season as they didn’t sign him to a contract extension; though his option vested when the team reached the NLCS.

Mattingly and the Dodgers then agreed to a three-year extension in the off-season.

Staff Writer

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17 Comments

  1. Hopefully they come to their senses and fire both of them. I can’t believe that Mattingly is in their good graces. Being a clubhouse manager is not a real job, managing each game is. He cost us best record and a shot at the Giants in the NLDS by throwing away games during the season. 3 more wins would have netted us the Giants instead of the Cards. Call it bad luck, or Charlie Brown Syndrome, but this guy can’t win the big game. His in game decisions never seem to work. There’s a reason the Yankees won right before him and right after him. It’s because he sucks. If they would have fired him during the season, we might have stood a better chance with Tim Wallach (The next Mike Scioscia) taking over as skipper. Please fire Donnie aka Charlie Brown!

    1. Had we had a bullpen that Mattingly could have turned to OR a team that had a good percentage of scoring with RISP we would have beaten the birds no issue. Colletti didn’t produce players that could get us these stats.

  2. It’s time for ownership to clean house and pick their own GM and manager. They’ve given Neddy and Donny two years and unmatched resources, and the Dodgers continue to fall short with seriously flawed teams and failed gametime decisions.

  3. Mattingly is a below average tactical Manager, but that matters less in baseball than other sports. He seems to have all the more important skills. He can handle a clubhouse, assemble a great coaching staff, handle the Big City media and the rest. I wish that he’d pulled Kershaw earlier in Game 1, but who was he going to go to?

    Colletti, on the other hand, has been terrible. The guys has a nine year track record of paying $1.10 on the dollar. It is fun when the team has money to spend, because deals get done quickly. Still, the team never seems to have below-the-line stuff that leads to post-season runs: youth, a deep bullpen, scrappy grinders …

  4. Donnie has to pull his head out of his arse, when it comes to the playoffs. His choices on who to relieve, and when, are insane! Rookies and guys that have not pitched all year, are insane choices. League had a good year, and is proven. He should have been in after Ryu, Greinke, and Kershaw…….

  5. The dodger’s manager is the 1 Yankee great that never won jack as a player… let’s get the Yanks out of the organization and bring in some blue to lead the team

  6. Don is a good damn coach,is the players that dont produce,we have everything ,our players have really bad habits when they outhere…no productivity…..

    1. Really you can’t make that stupid statement to me. JP Howell can cut it and people get hot. Pretty stupid to not trust your bullpen. What a great confidence boost Mattingly gave them. You know you might as well go ask Donnie if you can rub his feet. Watch video of any championship team. 7th inning and we are up 6-1 and your pitcher is walking batters at and he is at 100+ pitches and you have no one warming up spells disaster. He is a really bad Manager. I beg you go watch footage of Teams who win the Series. They have people warming up in the 6th inning even if the pitcher is still doing good just in case. You don’t see their manager completely shun them like they are not worth a damn and then send in rookies.

    2. You can ask my wife I quit watching the game when Mattingly left Kershaw in and told her we are gonna lose because our manager is an idiot before it happened. Why I said that. No one was in the bullpen warming up.

  7. The team needs to get a decent bullpen in the off season. I know everyone has been decrying it all season long. And in the end, the bullpen is exactly why we lost the series. Mattingly had no faith in the pen and kept Kershaw in too long TWICE. Had he any faith in a quality bullpen, we would still be playing. Even when the bullpen isn’t called in, they cost us the game just by Donnie’s fear of putting those losers in.

    It still baffles me why he kept Kershaw in so long in Game 4 when he had Dan Haren rested and ready to go. The game plan was Kershaw 80 pitches to take us into the 6th or 7th. Then Haren to take us thru the 8th. Then Jansen. For that reason alone, Mattingly should be out… even though he had no clue in any of the games when the right time to pull his pitchers was. He is the most inept manager the Dodgers have had in years.

  8. umpire in sant louis, they cheat. when the cardinals don’t make the playoffs then the Dodgers will make it to the end. unless of course the commissioner puts a stop to cheating umpires.

  9. Maybe if we had a manager that was confidant in our bullpen the pitchers would pitch better. The very fact that their coach doesn’t even believe in them enough when we are up 6-1 and it goes the the 7th inning doesn’t help their own confidence out. Kershaw is 100+ pitches in and we have the lead 6-1. I don’t care what any sportswriter tries to say. He didn’t even have anyone warming up in the bullpen. I have never seen that before ever. Every team I have watched growing up in 30 years that won the World Series never made decisions like that. Don Mattingly and Ron Washington are the worst Managers ever. Texas should have been the Champs a few years back but Ron made really bad decisions that are against Baseball fundamentals. Dodgers should at least be in the NLCS.

  10. Mattingly is not a great strategist. When we needed him to step up and make hard decisions, he wasn’t there. He just threw a dart at the board and hoped it hit something. He needs to go. I like the guy. But he doesn’t have it.

    We also have a huge issue with pitching philosophy. Whether it’s AJ behind the plate, or Honeycutt – something is off. The aggression we need is not there.

    Let’s face it – Kersh, Grienke, and AJ are all nerds. Big, athletic grown up nerdy dorks. Much like Hershiser was – my favorite Dodger. But Lasorda whipped Orel into a nasty fury. We need someone to do the same with the nerds we got now.

    I mean, Kersh and AJ are like the two nicest guys in the world, and Grienke is the shyest dude I’ve ever seen. At least he battles though. Someone needs to slap Kersh and AJ around, tell them to start beaning batters when needed, take control of the plate, and dominate.

    AJ needs to control the pace of the game better. No one did anything to break up the huge momentum swings the Cards had during those innings they teed off on Kersh. No Honeycutt to the mound, no AJ trying to throw them off… nothing. They did it once… to KOLTEN WONG. And Mattingly visited the mound once when it was too late in game 1. The only brushback pitch I saw Kersh throw was to Matt Adams in an early at bat in game 4. Obviously that wasn’t enough.

    There needs to be a shakeup. We need more toughness.

    The hitters… now that’s a whole other story. They just got bullied and didn’t battle. Oddly enough, AJ was the only guy that battled at the plate with some great playoff at bats. The rest of them wilted in Molina’s hands.

    Sad, really.

    Get it together boys!!!

  11. I know Mattingly may have 2 go,but the bullpen of high paid professionals did not do the job,I think there is where the whole weakness is on this team,they need 2 get rid of Wilson primadona attitude unwilling to throw fast balls in one game,just because he wanted 2 save his arm 4 the play offs..really dumb

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